MSJ
NEWS SUMMER 2016
From the Headmistress ere we are at the end of another fabulous year at Malvern St James, and there is so much to tell you about in this latest edition of the MSJ News. To truly encompass all that we have done, the magazine would need to be at least three times the size! We can only show you a snapshot of what has been happening across the School, but I hope it gives you a sense of the energy and momentum that drives MSJ forward.
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As you know, I will be heading off to Switzerland in September for my next Headship, and I leave MSJ in the highly capable hands of Mrs Olivera Raraty who comes from Notting Hill and Ealing High School in London. We have spent a lot of time discussing what makes MSJ special and where it is heading over the next decade. Olivera has plentiful ideas, and will bring her own expertise and vision to bear on the existing plans. In the meantime, I very much look forward to wishing all of my girls well, particularly those who will be leaving school for the last time this Summer. Our Year 13s are a special bunch. When I first started at MSJ six years ago, they were girls; now they are women. And it has been wonderful to watch them grow in self-confidence, in their academic abilities and into the kind of people it is a joy to spend time with. They are bright, engaging and have a story to tell. Sharing a lunch with them, a Somerville Supper, or just ‘whatever’, is an uplifting and inspiring experience and I will follow their futures with interest. I will be here to see them collect their A Level results in August and I am pleased to report that they are holding some excellent university offers. This includes Medicine at Edinburgh, Biomedical Science at Warwick and Dental Surgery at Liverpool; Politics at Exeter, UCL and Warwick; Environmental Science at York; Mathematics, Computer Science and Geology, all at UCL; Physics at Durham; Chemistry at Liverpool; Classical Studies at Exeter; Architecture at Manchester and International Relations at Kings College London. We also have three girls holding full scholarships for US universities. This year, we launched our Founders’ Awards bursary programme, funded solely through generous donations, and have made awards to two girls entering the Sixth Form in September. We hope to grow this philanthropic programme in the future so that we can offer financial assistance to a growing number of bright and talented girls to support this vital part of their school career. We are also shortly to launch a new Development programme. This incorporates a number of capital projects in school which we are keen to move forward with the help of significant fundraising. The centrepiece will be the redevelopment of the Library. This is already an exceptionally creative space for learning enrichment, with some fantastic projects led by Dr Jones in conjunction with teaching staff. We have a radical plan to further revolutionise this crucial resource. More than ever, the Library will be at the heart of every student’s learning, reflecting the demands of a changing curriculum and the way in which pupils consume information. It will be a modern learning hub for a generation of girls who have grown up with information on demand. It will guide them
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to a more independent way of learning in readiness – eventually – for university. Read more about the Library in this issue. Next academic year MSJ celebrates its ‘Ten Years On’ anniversary. We will launch a yearlong programme of anniversary activities with a birthday party on October 18th, the day that MSJ was officially opened by HRH The Duke of Gloucester. (The Duke’s mother, Princess Alice, attended St James’s School). We will be aligning ourselves to Malvern Special Families, with the aim to fundraise £10,000 for this charity which does superb work in our community. The year will culminate in a night to remember on Saturday 17 June 2017. All of our girls and their families, past and present, are invited, as well as Staff, former Staff, Old Girls and all of our friends in Malvern, to celebrate in style. More details will be released shortly, but in the meantime please save the date. The Old Girls’ Association, of which it has been my privilege to be Honorary President, is thriving. My last OGA event was the Summer Reunion in June, which saw over 150 Old Girls attending the day’s activities, plus well over 100 for a celebratory dinner. We have welcomed many Old Girls to talk to current cohorts, and more still have offered to mentor and guide girls as they consider university applications, and as they start to think beyond university to careers. I am delighted to see our alumnae association embedded in school life in this way. It is a very creative and productive partnership, and long may it continue. I now become a Patron of the Association and fully intend to be an active member of its network, not least so that I can see where all of ‘my’ Old Girls travel on their career path! We always say that MSJ is all about the girls. They inform everything we do. The truth is that it couldn’t be this way without superb staff. The teaching and House staff whose commitment is exceptional, the staff who support us in the background so that we can get on with the business of teaching, caring and leading, and the wonderful community of parents, past parents and former staff who continue to be involved in school life. The experiences I have enjoyed as Headmistress at MSJ will be with me forever. This is a special school full of amazing people. I wish you all – students, parents, staff, and the school itself – all the very best for the next decade and beyond.
In the Spotlight Dr Rebecca Jones is Learning Enrichment and Support CoOrdinator and Librarian at MSJ. One of her main interests is teaching information literacy skills, which she does throughout the school from Prep to Year 13, in collaboration with subject staff and also through the Project Qualification. She is currently the School Representative on the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Information Literacy Group (ILG) and a committee member of the School Library Group. This year she was invited to judge and present the Information Literacy and Research Award on behalf of the ILG at The Royal Society, London. Dr Jones writes and speaks at national events and has been instrumental in producing the ‘Research Smarter’ schools’ resource sheets.
and flexible, independent and collaborative learning space that meets the needs of the “always-on” digital-native generation and the demands of the new curriculum. The Library will be a hub of learning, reading, relaxation, discovery and excitement. We want to encourage recreational reading, as well as give our girls the opportunity to learn, discover and push the boundaries of their academic learning. For our users and especially the Sixth form, we need to develop a
You run the Project Qualifications programme at MSJ. Tell us more about this. Project Qualifications are a great opportunity for girls to flex their research, enquiry and curiosity muscles. In Year 10, students can do the Higher Project Qualification (HPQ) and in Year 12, the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). Project Qualifications are incredibly flexible and enable our girls to pick a topic they are passionate about and decide how they want to pursue it. The girls can write an extended essay or produce a written report or an artefact, which can be a piece of art, website, short film or a podcast. Students learn how to reference and utilise a range of resources effectively including databases that are similar to those at universities. EPQs are equal to 50% of an AS Level and they are a talking point on a UCAS application as they show students’ ability to think laterally. What are your plans for the Library? We have big plans. We want to redevelop the Library into an inviting
Dr Rebecca Jones
transitional space that prepares them for the expectations of the next level of scholarship – an understanding of databases, the importance of evaluating and choosing sources, access to journals and resources that widen their thinking and fixtures to encourage sustained study, group study and also, perhaps a refreshing cup of tea. To achieve these aims, the vision is to remodel the room into a multipurpose and interactive learning space through learning zones that denote usage such as a current awareness zone, reading zone and creating zone.
The future of learning looks very exciting! Tell us about Learning Enrichment. I try to create interesting opportunities for our girls to learn both inside and outside of the curriculum; sometimes this involves whole year group activities whilst other experiences are more tailored, such as the Academic Lectures trip in March to Oxford that are aimed at more able and academic scholars. Our most recent project was with Year 9 who were challenged with creating their own political party. The whole year group was taken off timetable for 3 days and encouraged to engage with key issues by comparing manifestos, political speeches and party political broadcasts and then creating their own versions. With the EU Referendum being a hot topic, the girls gained an understanding of the key messages of the ‘Leave’ and ‘Remain’ campaigns. The challenge ended with presentations to a panel and then a final vote by the girls. Rabiya Baig, from Conservative Futures (the youth movement of the Conservative Party in the UK) came into school to be one of the judging panel and talked about the importance of having your voice heard and being part of the political conversation. What are Somerville Suppers? These take place twice a term, with girls from Years 9 to 12 being invited to take part. The Suppers offer a wonderful opportunity to discuss a topic on a more academic level. School Governors are invited so the girls have a range of different people to meet and discuss their ideas with and we are always looking for ‘experts’ to extend the girls’ thinking. We talk about and question perceptions based on big concepts such as reality, science and truth. We always have challenging and stimulating evenings which are as enjoyable as they are thought-provoking.
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Curriculum & Enrichment Literature Lucinda Wins Corpus Christi Essay Competition By eloquently answering the question ‘Does Literary Criticism Do Us Any Good?’ Lucinda Hobden (Year 12) has won the Cambridge college’s Christopher Marlowe prize in English. Lucinda explains, “I entered the competition simply because I was interested in the question. I really enjoyed the research and it gave me the opportunity and incentive to consider deeper questions around English literature.”
Lucinda Hobden
Flora Wins BBC’s Poet Search Congratulations to Flora Barber (Year 12) who has won her age category (13 – 17 years) in the BBC Hereford & Worcester Poetry Writing Competition. Flora and Mr Morris, MSJ’s Head of English, were interviewed by BBC Hereford and Worcester and Flora read her poem ‘Home’ live on air. This poem can be seen on the MSJ website. Shortly after receiving news of her win, Flora attended an English Literature Taster Day at Newnham College, Cambridge. Flora Barber on air with the BBC
More Poetry Please! Year 8 girls enjoyed a trip to Wightwick Manor, a pre-Raphaelite and Arts-and-Crafts period-piece near Wolverhampton. This was part of their exploration of 19th Century poetry in a context of the Victorian fascination with the romance of the Middle Ages.
Rotary Young Writers Competition Emma Green (Year 7) and Flora Barber (Year 12) won their respective age categories in the local Rotary Young Writers Competition.
Cymbeline at the RSC Year 9 visited Stratford for the English Department’s Cymbeline trip. The girls enjoyed a drama workshop to explore aspects of the play before seeing an exceptionally engaging performance at the RSC. The production has particular significance to MSJ as we have an Old Girl, Felicity Rogers, in the cast.
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Curriculum & Enrichment Classics Bathed in History Year 9 visited Bath to find out more about its classically-inspired architecture and Roman Baths. Identifying Ionic, Cornithian and Doric columns in the Circus was the
first project; then on to the Roman Baths Museum to discover the significance of this historical gem and how the baths were an integral part of Roman life. Latin Students Meet Author Caroline Lawrence The Roman theme continued for Year 11 students who went to a talk by Caroline Lawrence, author of the Roman Mysteries which has inspired the TV series of the same name. Caroline has recently written a book called Night Raid,
went to London to watch Aeschylus’ trilogy, The Oresteia. The production received excellent reviews and told the story of the murder of Agamemnon and the cycle of vengeance that followed.
Latin Reading Competition Girls from Years 8 and 11 represented MSJ in the Gloucestershire Latin and Greek Reading Competition held at Cheltenham Ladies’ College in the Spring. Our girls turned in excellent performances and scooped several prizes. Imogen Townsend won 1st prize and Liza Bayankina took 2nd in the Intermediate Latin section. In the Junior Latin duologue, Mia Greenland and Ani King gained 3rd prize. In the Senior Latin section, Eve Garland Hellewell was awarded 2nd prize and Imogen Townsend 3rd prize. All the girls who took part deserve congratulations: as well as those already mentioned, Tilly Broadhurst, Ibble Watson, Emily Cox, Georgia Hughes, Hetty Meen, Ellie Moore, Ella Rice and Tolu Onadele.
Modern Foreign Languages The joint GCSE and A Level Spanish and A Level Art trip to Barcelona was a great success. Casa Battló, the Dalí Museum, Sagrada Familia, the Joan Miró Foundation and the chance to see a Flamenco performance were all on the itinerary. The artists took time to sketch and those learning Spanish took advantage of Mrs Amodeo-Howell’s daily conversation classes. “Barcelona was fantastic. I learnt a lot about the lifestyle and culture in Spain and we visited many beautiful galleries and buildings. I was able to practice my Spanish in restaurants and shops and I learnt a lot of new vocabulary.” Coco Chernel (Year 11)
“Fue genial conseguir mi primera experiencia de la cultura española (no había estado allí antes) y así habiendo tenido una experiencia excepcional me gustaría ir allí de nuevo en otro momento de mi vida – ojalá pudiera pasar unos años trabajando en una ciudad en España.” Eve Garland Hellewell (Year 11)
based on the story of Nisus and Euryalus, which is the GCSE set text. She chatted to our girls before the lecture and signed books and posters. The talk itself was lively, wide-ranging and inspirational. Oresteia at The Globe Theatre Sixth Form Classics and Latin students plus interested others
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Curriculum & Enrichment Focus On Enrichment: MODEL UNITED NATIONS MUN is an academic competition, based on the working of the United Nations where students learn about diplomacy and international relations. It teaches them the skills of debating, critical thinking, teamwork and researching.
MSJ MUN15 Report by India Wilkinson (Year 13) “I arrived at the inaugural MSJ MUN in November, excited about the day ahead. As the Hall began to fill and we were asked to take our seats, it was interesting to see what a range of ages were present; the youngest delegates being from around Year 9 right up to the eldest delegates in Year 13. It was incredible to imagine that the conference and the topics that were being covered had inspired so many individuals and had caused those individuals to want to get their country’s views across. After the opening ceremony we all moved off into our own committees. I was chairing the Health Committee and I had already written briefing papers on the chosen
topics. These were the use of medical marijuana and the debate regarding the growth of human tissues in the lab. These were two of the ten topics that were considered carefully by the hundreds of delegates that attended the one day conference. The debates in every committee were intense and a great deal of information was covered and many decisions were made. However, during the debating period all the delegates were able to have fun, whether this was related to the “drug raids” that occurred in three of the committees and the endless note-passing and bribery that went on throughout the conference, or the simple joy of arguing your state’s views. All of these aspects were then reported on in the MSJ MUN newspaper that was released at the end of the day, much to the delegates’ amusement. A live feed of these events was also posted across social media, including a live twitter feed that meant that all the delegates could receive any necessary information as soon as possible. After the committees had finished debating the topics, they were all invited to the General Assembly where the delegates were grouped into their countries and asked to give the views of their delegation. The crisis debate was based on two video news reports that we had produced specifically for the conference. The debate remained on topic and consistent, and was insightful. At the end of the day, there was a ‘Bring out the Flags’ themed social and disco which allowed the delegates a chance to properly meet students from different schools and different committees. The day was a great success and as a Chair I learnt a great deal from the delegates in my committee.” MSJ is now planning its next conference for November 2016.
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Curriculum & Enrichment Geography Iceland Trip 2015 – A Report by Harriet Senior and Miranda Davies (Year 13) “During the October half term, a selection of Sixth Formers and teachers ventured to the frozen wastelands of Iceland. Whilst we had seen photos, the true beauty and majesty surpassed any expectations. The first stop was a museum where we absorbed the Icelandic culture and took photographs of the breath-taking scenery. The next day involved a walk around the city centre and a visit to the Golden Circle. This included the historical and geological wonder, Thingvellir National Park, where the American and Eurasian tectonic plates are pulling apart at a rate of a few centimetres per year. The following day was soon upon us and the first location on the itinerary was the Seljalandsfoss waterfall. This was a popular choice as we had the ability to go around the waterfall itself and take photos of our silhouettes, despite the deafening noise of cascading water not too far away. One of the highlights of the trip was the geysers, which are hot springs that explode regularly and are often located near active volcanic areas. The hydrothermal explosion is caused by the boiling of pressurised water. We had the incredible opportunity to visit icebergs and glacier lakes during our stay. The icy blue scenery made a picture-perfect view and despite knowing that significant erosion is taking place constantly, the area was unbelievably tranquil and surreal. The following day involved walking up a glacier, wearing crampons, suitably kitted out in numerous layers of clothing! As keen geographers, this was a perfect chance to observe spectacular rock formations shaped by the glacier. This enjoyable opportunity enabled us to explore the wonderland of ice sculptures, water cauldrons, ridges and deep crevasses on the glacier, which for most of us, was a first-time experience. To round off our trip, we went to the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa located amongst the remarkable Icelandic landscape. Having heard a lot about the lagoon, which is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland, we were keen to experience the magic ourselves. The spa certainly did not disappoint and was a fantastic ending to our trip. The only stop left was the airport, but before that we were treated to the best fish and chips in Iceland, while we reminisced about the highlights of the trip and the fond memories created, which I am sure will last for many years to come. Iceland is a country rich in physical geographical wonders, such as roaring volcanoes, icy mountains and deep fjords, but what is most evident is the timeless natural beauty of the country and the irresistible serenity that is found there.”
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Curriculum & Enrichment History, Politics and Economics in the US America Trip 2015 by Sasha Lloyd (Year 12) “Over Half Term, pupils from Years 9 to 13 were lucky enough to go to Washington D.C, Gettysburg and New York as part of a school trip to expand our knowledge of History, Politics and Economics. Leaving school at 3.00am to make our way to Heathrow, meant our first day included a lot of travelling; 7 hours and 4 movies later we arrived in Washington DC buzzing with excitement. Our first evening was spent in the hotel resting for our busy week ahead. For day 2, we went to the Supreme Court and US Capitol Building and after security checks, we were able to look around the House Galleries. Later, we were able to sit in a talk, where we were informed that the furniture in the Senate came from places all around the world, so no one state had more control or influence than the other member states. Next we were able to sit in the viewing gallery of a Senators’ discussion on Cyber Security. After this, we were free to follow our own itinerary, with the suggestion that we should visit some of the fantastic museums Washington has to offer. Our day was finished off with an evening meal at the Hard Rock Café and a chance to see the Washington Memorial at night. For our last day in Washington, in the morning, we all went to the White House Visitor Centre, where we learnt about life inside the White House and how different people who have lived there have made an impact and changed it to the place it is today. For the afternoon, 10 A Level Politics and History students were invited to meet the Kentucky Congressman, Mr Ed Whitfield. It was particularly interesting to find out why he had swapped Parties half way through his political career and to discover his opinion on women in Congress and in the traditionally male playing field of Politics. The other group were able to walk down the lake which separated the Lincoln Memorial from the Washington Memorial. That evening, we were free to choose where we wanted to eat in our small groups.
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The following day, we travelled to New York via Gettysburg. When we arrived in Gettysburg, we had a guided tour, which showed us the current city and statues where famous battles had taken place. It was particularly interesting to discover why the Battle at Gettysburg was the turning point in the Civil War for the Union. After arriving in New York and settling into our accommodation, our evening meal was at the famous Bubba Gump in Times Square. Our first day in New York was unforgettable! We went to the Statue of Liberty and were able to walk around the base, taking many photographs! The ferry then took us to Ellis Island, where we were able to see where immigrants would have been taken in the past before being allowed into America. Personally, I found the museum at Ellis Island eye-opening and it really touched raw emotions. That evening, we went up the Empire State Building to watch the sunset and see the city’s lights switching on. Our experiences and views on that day will never be forgotten. The 6th day was more slowly paced, with a visit to MOMA in the morning, to see the modern art and paintings. We were free to follow our own itinerary for the rest of the day, which for most of us meant shopping along 5th Avenue! In the evening, we watched the spectacular show, Matilda the Musical. The next morning, we were able to explore and go Ice Skating in Central Park, which was right next to our accommodation. In the afternoon, the older years were able to visit the Federal Bank, where a quarter of the world’s gold is kept. The older years then met back up with the younger groups in order to see the 9/11 Memorial and Wall Street. For the rest of the day, we were free to follow our own itinerary and many of us chose to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge back into Manhattan. That evening, we had our meal at the Stardust Café, where constant singing and entertainment generated a lively atmosphere.
Curriculum & Enrichment
Our final morning in New York was spent in the United Nations Headquarters, where we were given a full tour. It was fascinating to see the different gifts that countries had given to the UN and to be informed that we could say that we had been in 193 States at once. This is because the UN Headquarters in New York is partly owned by each member state of the UN. For lunch, we went to Grand Central Station and were able to pick our own lunch from the many different stands in the Food Hall. The trip was utterly unforgettable with some once-in-a lifetime opportunities! It is hard to
say which part stands out the most, however, I will never forget the reflection of the Lincoln Memorial on the lake at dusk and the view from the Empire State Building at sunset. The trip has certainly developed our knowledge and understanding of History, Politics and Economics and would not have been possible without the support and organisation of the Staff. On behalf of all 48 students who went on the USA Trip, I would like to thank Mrs Huntley, Mrs Hemphill, Miss Van Ravenstein, Miss Haw and Miss Farris for all the work they put into organising it in order to create such a cherished trip.�
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Curriculum & Enrichment Food Tech We are very proud that MSJ has recently been given an award by the Good Schools Guide for A Level Food Technology. Food Tech students have also enjoyed the attention of two national cookery legends this Spring: Prue Leith and Mary Berry. Prue spent time with A Level Food Technology students, as well as Leiths students, when she visited school to open the new Alice Dining Room. More girls enjoyed meeting Mary Berry at the RHS Malvern Spring Show. Mary shared the cake the girls had made for the Queen’s 90th birthday, as they enjoyed a private back-stage meeting with the baking supremo. Four Sixth Formers – Pippa Wollen, Eleri Clarke, Eleanor Revill and Katie Cupper did a cook-off, involving creating a main course and a pudding in just one hour, in front of the professional judges. They were all commended on the delicious dishes plus their level of skill, team work and time management.
The Young Enterprise Scheme This year forty-one girls joined the Young Enterprise scheme, a fantastic enrichment opportunity run by Miss MacDonald, which fosters entrepreneurialism, leadership and business know-how. Three teams - Fuzed, New Nation and Phoenix – created their management teams, designed their product offering and put in place a sales and business plan. They launched to the public with two big trade fairs in Worcester.
A 10-page annual business report and formal presentation followed to a panel of professional judges at the South Worcestershire Presentation evening. All three groups did extremely well: Phoenix received the prize for Best Teamwork, Angela Liu and Sere Oluwayemi (from New Nations) were awarded Best Managing Directors and Fuzed won Best Company.
Duke of Edinburgh It has been a big year for ‘DofE’ as the Awards scheme celebrates its 60th birthday. Mrs Sue Cole, Outdoor Pursuits Co-ordinator, went to Buckingham Palace to join the Duke for a party, and she and two of our Sixth Formers were on BBC Radio to talk about what makes DofE such a valuable experience. This year the following have picked up the coveted Gold Award: Victoria Shiu, Eleanor Revill, Thamonwan Wan Mecasuwandamrong, Angela Liu, Shanya Roberts, Charlaine Yam, Teresa Hui, with two more expected to be confirmed as we go to press.
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Boarding It has once again been an extremely busy year in the boarding community. It is really amazing that any of us have time to sleep! We have had an extremely varied weekend programme this year with girls enjoying everything from outdoor Christmas ice skating to llama trekking and heaps more besides. This term alone, we’ve been rock climbing
Windsor Castle
International Day of Culture, above and below
in the Wye Valley, doing an orienteering and ropes course in the Forest of Dean, kayaking on the Wye, punting and shopping in Oxford, testing our limits at the Blackwell Adventure Centre, joining Harrow School for a social, trampolining in Wolverhampton, sailing in Gloucestershire and watching Mamma Mia! in Bristol. Phew! This is on top of the closer-to-home activities of visiting the cinema in Worcester, having supper out in Malvern, and walking the glorious Malvern Hills. In the Houses, we’ve had a camp-out at Benhams, a Barbeque at Greenslade, a spa pamper night, popcorn and movie nights and various Bake-Offs. We’ve practised our singing, dancing and theatrical skills for the Variety Performance, and we’ve enjoyed just dancing around the houses to let off steam. The highlight of the year by far was our International Day of Culture - a fantastic experience which gave us an insight into the vast variety of cultures within our boarding community. What we enjoyed most was tasting each others’ food – a delicious, global feast. Some of the Sixth Form boarders and a few Year 11s were lucky enough to be invited to Windsor Castle as guests of a Military Knight of Windsor, Colonel Maclean, and his wife, who are the parents of Old Girls of St James’s and The Abbey. Nothing will beat the feeling of seeing the Windsor Castle bollards move down and our minibus being waved in past the line of queueing tourists. The behind the scenes stories from the Macleans were particularly relished and we all now know to look out for fast approaching Land Rovers in The Great Park!
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Sixth Form The Gambia The Gambia Trip for Year 12 runs every other year. In fact, it is far more than a trip; it represents a meaningful contribution to the Gambian community, through the local school which we fund and through other infrastructure projects. For most girls, the experience is a lasting one. They see a completely different way of life that is a million miles from their own privileged existence. Girls wishing to participate have to apply for a place. Once selected they must fundraise a significant amount of money for the charity, and attend teambuilding and preparation courses. A lot will be expected of them. This trip is a chance to ‘step up’, to show their independence and maturity, and makes for a fantastic talking point on their CVs.
In the words of Elle Hatt: “At the school, we started each morning with a warm up activity such as the Wake Up song or the Hokey Cokey, which became firm favourites. The days were split up into blocks of being in the classroom doing Maths and English and outside playing games and learning songs. The children had such a hunger for learning – when they got something right they were so happy and when they got something wrong they wanted to try again. One afternoon we attempted to do some painting with the children and learnt a valuable lesson – make more templates and bring more wet wipes than you think you need!
It was challenging for everyone as we were out of our comfort zone and in extreme heat. The most draining thing was staying enthusiastic throughout the day whilst teaching. But even if we were tired we remembered that it wasn’t about us, it was about the children. Teaching them was so rewarding and I can only encourage you to do it as words don’t really describe the experience.”
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Careers The Careers Fair took place at the beginning of this academic year, and was open to all girls in Senior School. There were 32 stands, including exhibitors from several UK universities and a diverse range of careers sectors. Old Girl and Neuroscientist Dr Caroline Copeland (MGC 2005) came to talk to School about her career as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Bioengineering department at Imperial College London. Caroline did a ‘Meet the Scientist’ session for Prep girls, which was very lively, and then an Admissions Workshop for girls interested in Life Sciences at university, followed by a lecture on her research into how cells in our brains compute sensory stimuli and how this may be altered in psychiatric disease.
session was highly informative, and it was particularly useful in providing an insight into the considerations of securing a training contract. Elizabeth Gowing (MGC 1990) hosted an inspirational talk about her journey from MGC, via Oxford University and a career in teaching, to her work in Kosovo and the founding of her charity, The Ideas Partnership. She talked to the girls about social entrepreneurism and the power of volunteering. Elizabeth is a published author and her latest book, The Rubbish Picker’s Wife: an unlikely friendship in Kosovo, formed the title of her lecture.
Caroline Copeland and Life Sciences Workshop Elizabeth Gowing with former English teacher, Linde Melhuish
Old Girl Isabel Evans (MGC 1974), a Banking and Finance Partner at international law firm, Bird & Bird, hosted a workshop for those girls interested in a career in Law. As well as MSJ students, we also had students from Malvern College and an Old Girl attending. Isabel’s
We are looking forward to talks next academic year from the Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, an Old Girl of MGC, on November 4; and Gay Haines, also an MGC Old Girl, who is CEO of Grace Blue, a global executive search agency to the media and creative industries. Both women are on the Sunday Times / Debrett’s list of the 500 Most Influential Britons. Edinburgh University undergraduate Rebecca Fisher (MSJ 2011) returned to School in the Autumn to talk to the Medical Society about her training. She has come back again this Summer to deliver a workshop to Year 11s considering careers in Medicine. As part of National Science and Engineering Week, Dr Kim Dale from the University of Dundee gave a careers talk on where a Science degree can take you. Dundee was recently scored as the top University in the UK for research into Biological Sciences.
Isabel Evans with Law Society Presidents Louise and Rahama
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Expressive Arts The Expressive Arts Department has been incredibly busy this year. There have been theatre visits to see Hamlet, Lysistrata and Odyssey; music workshops; MSJ Inter-Ship competitions; Autumn and Summer Music Concerts and Evensongs. Congratulations to all of our girls who took Speech and Drama exams this year – an excellent 100% pass rate, with 96% gaining Distinctions and Merits. Well done to everyone who had successes in the Worcester Competitive Arts Festival too.
Frantic Assembly Workshop Steve Kirkham, Assistant Choreographer for the acclaimed production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and previously in the cast of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, did a physical theatre workshop with Year 10 ahead of the school production Mermaid.
The MSJ Variety Show involved around eighty-five girls from across the School. The girls worked hard preparing for the show throughout the term and their commitment and dedication was completely apparent.
Mermaid
The MSJ Variety Show
Year 11 GCSE and A Level students enjoyed seeing Measure for Measure at The Globe Theatre Trip.
This year’s School Play was an adventurous choice. Written and originally directed by Polly Teale, one of the rising stars in 21st Century theatre, it captures the essence of current theatre trends, where women are beginning to dominate. Last year eleven West End Theatres pledged to boost female roles, directors and playwrights. And, if you look at the list of cast and creatives at the National, or many of the West End Theatres, you will see woman after woman bringing theatre to life. The logical response is to emulate these talented and ground-breaking women. And our MSJ students did it superbly, creating a tour de force performance. Sets were designed by our Artist in Residence. The music was written and adapted by our Musician in Residence and the scenes were directed by the Drama Department, supported by girls.
Alex Joins the National Youth Theatre Measure for Measure trip to The Globe Theatre
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Congratulations to Alex Wallace (Year 10) who has been selected for the National Youth Theatre.
Expressive Arts MSJ hosted a fantastic day of choral music from around the world at our Singing Bonanza, which was attended by 175 pupils from nine schools. Claire Hollocks, a vocal specialist and soprano with the celebrated English choir Ex Cathedra, led three workshops which culminated in a finale concert with songs in Spanish, Gaelic, Swedish, Polish, French and Swahili.
Congratulations to Genevieve Phillips (Year 12) who gave outstanding performances at the Worcestershire Competitive Arts Festival recently and won both her competition classes. She received trophies for the 16 and Under Composition Class and the 16 and Under Solo Strings Class, winning both with Honours. Genevieve went on to compete in the showcase along with Anieshka King in the Mary White Young Musicians Platform Competition as part of the Bromsgrove International Young Musicians Competition.
Pitch Perfect at Malvern St James
Sister Act
MSJ students were inspired by a choral workshop with The Sons of Pitches, winners of BBC2’s The Naked Choir competition, and were then invited to join them on stage for an incredible public performance in York Hall to an audience of over 400.
Tiggy Manning (Year 7) and sister Vivi (Year 9) competed in the Herefordshire Performing Arts Festival at the end of April. Tiggy entered Girl’s Solo in which she sang Maria Wiegenlied by Reger, and Songs From The Shows in which she sang Out of my Dreams from Oklahoma. She came First in both categories. She also entered the Grade 5 Piano Class playing Kavaleriiskaya by Kabalevsky, in which she achieved third position. Vivi entered the Grade 7 Piano Class, playing Mozart’s Fantasia in D Minor where she was awarded joint First place.
Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts
The Year 10 Trip to Cornwall has been a great success for all Year 10 pupils who are taking GCSE Art or Art/Textiles. They visited a range of galleries including the Barbara Hepworth Gallery, the Eden Project and the Minack Theatre, an open-air theatre built on the cliff tops near Penzance. Botallack Mine provided a dramatic backdrop of sky and sea, giving the girls fantastic sketching opportunities. The trip also included visits to the studios of professional artists, including Naomi Frears and Michael Chaikin where the girls took part in interactive workshops and demonstrations.
Emma Jennings won the Under 14 Any Woodwind Class at the Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts.
This year we welcomed twelve Primary and Prep schools to our Junior Schools’ Art Exhibition, where an impressive array of artwork from Reception to Year 8 was on show. The competition was judged by Glenys Dray, a local artist and illustrator.
STEM At MSJ, we like to get creative when it comes to STEM. Girls from Prep through to Year 13 have an amazing host of enrichment activities to support and enhance classroom learning, and to switch them on to all that the sciences have to offer. This includes workshops and lectures on-site and elsewhere, links with local engineering companies, university visits, field trips, challenges, competitions and more. Here are just a few of the highlights of our scientists’ year at MSJ. National Science and Engineering Week (NSEW@MSJ) was a co-ordinated event between the Senior and Prep Departments offering STEM enrichment in a week-long programme of activities, all based around the theme of Year of Light.
Year 9 Cheltenham Science Festival
Year 7s attend the Malvern Young Innovators day at the Festival of Innovation where they learned about PI robots, watched a movie in the Space Dome, and investigated much, much more Year 12 Tobi Cole has secured a place at University of Birmingham Summer School at the Institute of Microbiology and Infection.
Year 12 Biology Field Course at Lower Smite Farm, Worcestershire
Year 8 Bubbles and Resistance on the At-Bristol Trip STEM Club Rocket Launch
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Bioskills: Weekly sessions where A Level pupils develop their practical investigation skills.
STEM Women & Engineering As part of National Women in Engineering Day, ten of our Year 9s visited Malvern Instruments, a hightech engineering company based in Malvern with subsidiaries worldwide. After an extremely informative careers presentation, everyone enjoyed practical workshops diffracting lasers through chocolate, using
a very expensive 3D printer and seeing how engineers use Physics and Mathematics to solve day-to-day problems with high-precision instruments. The girls now know why Galaxy tastes so good (it’s the 50 micron particle size) and that the best way to the top is to keep your eye on the goal and never give up.
Sixth Form Physicists took a trip to the National Science Museum to see the excellent Russian Cosmonaut exhibition. This was the first time Russian artefacts from the Space Race had been seen outside of Russia.
In the Spring Term six Year 10 girls went to IBM’s Blue Fusion event. The day was mainly about overcoming problems using technology and teamwork. Activities included a ‘pi maze’ (using coding to navigate a robot), Twitter drones (using the ‘internet of things’ to tweet directions to send a drone around a course), and the highlight, ‘Hackberry’, a code-cracking mission. This term, Dr Guy and Mr Harris took Year 12 Chemistry students to Bristol University. It was an opportunity for our students to carry out experiments in the undergraduate laboratories of a world-class Chemistry Department. They were able to use equipment which is far too expensive to have in a school and they worked under the guidance of an inspiring team of young PhD and post-doctoral students.
Angela Liu (Year 12) won joint first prize in Oxford University’s Corpus Christi College Science Prize with an essay addressing “Does the rock recovered from Mars provide evidence for the theory hypothesised that we are Martians?”
Girls looking at Vostok-6 descent module, flown by the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, in 1963.
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STEM
Product Design Product Design has had a very successful year. As part of her GCSE coursework Charlotte Li (Year 11) created a beautiful dress based on Chinese culture, which also incorporated modern styles. Year 12 produced some very interesting coursework – Gigi Ng made a storage unit, Natalie Hui produced a coffee table and Maryam Ibrahim created a lamp. Wan Mecasuwandamrong’s (Year 12) final piece was an innovative architectural model using shipping containers to provide a housing solution for a site in Malvern.
Mathematics Charlotte Li (Year 11) achieved Distinction in the Mathematics Olympiad that she took part in last term. This places her in the top 50 of her year group in the country and is a truly fantastic achievement. The Alun Turing Cryptography Competition caused great excitement for a number of girls in Years 7 to 11. The girls organised themselves into teams and eagerly waited for the next puzzle to be released to break the code. A group of four Year 7 girls - Eleanor Nutton, Grace Knuth, Cicely Gallagher and Marnie Probert - managed to break five of the six codes. They were the top performing group in the school and were in the top 20% in the country. Maths Challenges and Olympiads are a great enrichment opportunity which stretches the girls’ classroom learning. MSJ has had some significant successes this academic year. In the Junior Challenge, forty girls entered and of these, 3 achieved Gold, 2 Silver and 5 Bronze certificates. Well done to all, and particularly Grace Knuth, Cicely Gallagher and Xia Yiting who took Gold. Forty-seven girls entered the Intermediate level, with 7 achieving Gold, 8 Silver and 11 Bronze. Thirty-five girls entered the Senior Challenge, and of these 8 achieved Gold, 2 Silver and 11 Bronze.
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STEM
Computer Science Raspberry Pi Club: From September to April, six Year 9 girls have supported the weekly Raspberry Pi coding club, where they have explored ‘physical computing’ to affect real-world outcomes. To this end, they learned to use Scratch to program LEDs to flash in sequences. They extended this to constructing a prototype circuit and added (and programmed) a switch to start and stop the program. In the Autumn, Year 11 GCSE Computing students will be undertaking a Controlled Assessment investigating the operation of a Raspberry Pi.
BBC micro:bit The BBC has partnered with several industrial organisations and produced the micro:bit, targeted at Year 7. We received our batch of micro:bits just after Easter and, after their exams, the Year 7 students have been learning to use the ‘Block Editor’ to create, download and run programs. They are currently designing, coding and testing a program whereby the player moves the Hero left and right and shoots at a randomly moving Baddie. Great fun!
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Sport News from our amazing sportswomen and athletes‌
Lacrosse Penny and Sophie Green played in the U19 Home Internationals representing Wales earlier this year. Penny was also selected to represent Wales at Senior Level against the U.S. Penny has also been awarded a Lacrosse full scholarship to go to University in the US this Autumn, as has Elysia Garland.
Hockey Lucy Walton was selected for HIPAC which is the next step up from JRPC and also invited to train with the England U18 squad despite being a year young. This also means she is elected for the British Athletics Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) programme.
Hannah Atkinson, Charlotte Atkinson and Charlotte Harmer have been selected for the highly competitive U15 Junior Regional Performance Centre (JPRC) Hockey Squad. Georgie Jeynes Cupper has been selected for U17 JRPC. Meanwhile, Year 8 are the U13 reigning Midlands ISA Hockey Champions and Year 9 the U14 National ISA Champions
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Athletics Hannah Tapley (Year 12) has been selected for the British Athletics Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) programme for her High Jump. Hannah is currently Wiltshire County Champion. Grace Nolan (Year 6) won the ISA Triathlon competition this year and qualified for the British Modern Biathlon Championships. Grace has also been selected to represent the West Midlands team at the inter-regional triathlon championships in Glasgow on September 4. Grace is one of three triathletes selected for her age group and will race against the three best triathletes from all the other regions around the UK.
Sport Golf
Skiing
Victory for Lucy at Welsh Golf Championships
Six girls represented MSJ at the ISA Skiing Championships. Our young team made up of Alice and Martha Bond and Annie Morris did extremely well with Martha who is in Year 4, finishing in 2nd place in her category. Meanwhile, the U14 team of Ibble Watson, Marnie Probert and Jemima Green finished 4th out of 150 competitors. Overall Ibble Watson won her age group class.
In April, Lucy Walton competed in the Faldo Series Welsh Championships. She won her age group and has qualified for the 20th Faldo Series Grand Final to be held in the USA in late September. Faldo Series past winners include Major Champions Rory McIlroy and Yani Tseng.
A team of four girls represented MSJ at the South West Schools Championships at Gloucester Ski Centre in May. Alice Bond won her age group and is now South West Schools Under 8 Champion.
The Canada ski trip
Lucy has also represented England Schools in two matches this year and won them both.
MSJ girls of all abilities had a great time on the Canada Ski Trip.
Netball The U9 Netball team came 3rd in the Midland ISA Championship and the U11 were also 3rd and went through to the National Finals.
U9 team
U16 Netball were winners of the plate competition at the U18 ISA National and won overall at the U16 Midlands ISA Tournament.
The U11s
Our 1st Netball team finished in 2nd place at the ISA National Tournament.
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Sport
Cricket Katie Guthrie (Year 8) is playing for Worcestershire U13s and scored her first county half century in her first match in May. She also took four wickets and was man of the match. Kiera Johnston (Year 9) also represents Worcestershire at Cricket.
Equestrian
Incredible Achievements for Lottie Trevethan Lottie Trevethan (Year 8) is on the English Talent Programme for Modern Pentathlon. In April she took Bronze in the British Modern Triathlon in the U15 Girls’ category, and then won the U15 Girls’ event at the Millfield Pentathlon. A couple of weeks later she took a medal in the British Young Fencing Championships in the U14 Girls’ Epee category. Lottie had a great weekend competing at British Pentathlon Championships in June. She won the individual Silver medal and Team Gold medal in the U15 Girls’ category.
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MSJ equestrians have enjoyed a successful year. At the NSEA Championships in October our girls had qualified to compete in every class but one. More success followed in the County Show Jumping Qualifiers and the Dressage Competition in March. Congratulations to all of our individual and MSJ team riders, including Eve Hobbs, Aerin Thomas, Holly Coles, Izzy Lee, Lucy Blum, Genevieve Manning, Teagan Manning, Jess Morris, Ginny Wood, Ibble Watson, Lottie Trevethan, Pippa Wollen, Millie cooper and Millie Pope.
Visitors to School A Royal Visit We were honoured to welcome HRH The Duke of Gloucester in March to take part in the celebration of the 120th Anniversary of St James’s School, one of the founding schools of Malvern St James. The Duke has a close association with the school. His mother, Princess Alice, attended St James’s and the Duke officially opened Malvern St James in 2006 after St James’s and Malvern Girls’ College merged.
Prue Leith Opens New Dining Room
Chef, restaurateur, cookery writer, businesswoman and novelist Prue Leith visited MSJ in April to officially open the school’s new Alice Dining Room. Prue cut the ribbon on the new facilities which are part of a £1.4million repurposing of the School’s Lower Ground floor. She was impressed by the importance the school attaches to food and nutrition, by the breadth of the menus, and the culture of staff and girls sitting down at mealtimes to relax and unwind. Prue stayed for Tea and spoke with staff and girls, as well as signing copies of her cookery books. Eleanor Revill, Year 13, presented Prue with a pot of her honey, home-produced in Little Witley.
Iskra’s Army Model and body positive campaigner, Iskra Lawrence, Old Girl of Malvern Girls’ College, came to talk to Senior girls whilst on a whistle-stop tour from Los Angeles. Iskra, a social media guru with over 1million followers on Instagram, has long been committed to encouraging women to accept and celebrate the body they have, instead of hankering after ‘the body beautiful’ as presented in the media. She has just completed a campaign for Aerie’s in the States where her images are deliberately un-retouched. Iskra is a guest author to many publications, including Time and the Huffington Post, and the managing editor of fashion and beauty website RunwayRiot.
Prep & Pre-Prep
The year in pictures
Prep Stem Club Our dolls’ houses are finally nearing completion! The girls have used saws, drills, screw drivers, soldering irons, paints rollers; have constructed lampshades, wiring systems, gable ends; tried their hand at wallpapering, exterior paintwork and interior design; but above all they’ve had fun and improved their independence and problem solving skills beyond recognition.
Junior Olympics
There are always new things to try – including Polo and Fencing.
Years R - 2 enjoyed Swedish Language Day celebrating the language, history, art, dance and traditional food of Sweden and in such wonderful costumes!
Years 3 to 6 had a wonderful time on their residential trips.
The Prep Nativity was a great success.
Sublime Science: To kick-start National Science and Engineering Week, ‘Sublime Science’ presented a captivating workshop
Prep & Pre-Prep Grandparents’ Day Grandparents’ Day this year was based around a Science immersion day, as the timing coincided with National Science and Engineering Week. The theme was ‘Balloons and Bands’, with 6 workshops designed to exploit the energy stored in elastic bands and balloon, in order to make things move. The culmination of the day was a paddle boat race in the swimming pool, to test our designs.
Prep became Roman Centurions for the day.
There was great excitement among the Pre-Prep and Year 3 girls when they welcomed some special visitors - Hungarian Vizsler puppies thanks to parent Mrs Wall.
Learning to ride safely with Bikeability sessions. Pre-Prep 2 love their Role Play Area.
Pre-Prep took the train during one of their Autumn Term trips.
MSJ girls are a green-fingered lot!
MSJ became Hogwarts for Harry Potter Day.
The Friends of MSJ This year has been another successful year for The Friends. We have raised thousands of pounds, all of which will be used to benefit the girls from Reception to Sixth Form. The donation that The Friends are most proud of and excited about for 2016 has been the provision of new gowns for the School Prefects. The red gowns had been handed down year-on-year, with many names sewn in to each one, which made the thought of a change to new blue ones difficult. However, after many months of searching, we are now in receipt of the new gowns which will begin to build their own history within School. How fitting that these gowns have arrived in time for the 10th anniversary year. I am sure you will agree that they look fantastic on our prefects and as you will see from the quotes below the girls are excited about the prospect of being prefects next year and having their name labels sewn in: “They make us stand out from the rest of the School, and hopefully inspire younger students to want to wear them one day” Eleri Clarke “The sense of pride you get in representing the school is symbolic of the prefect gowns.” Flora Barber “The gowns give us a sense of responsibility and it is an honour to wear them.” Eugenia Liu “When we wear them as a team, I feel united.” Anita Ikpea “I am excited to be having my name sewn into a gown, and being part of the history of MSJ prefects.” Lucy Walton
ur other gifts this year range from cookers for the Prep Department to an outdoor table tennis table for the Quad. We have provided funds towards the Prep Department leavers presents, the Sixth Form Venetian Masked Ball and the Year 11 party. The Friends have been proud to support several important days in the school calendar, including the Internet Safety day and substance abuse talks, by contributing towards the cost.
O
In February we had a fantastic Quiz Night with a fish and chip supper that was great fun and we are now planning our golf day followed by supper and social at The Worcestershire Golf Club on September 23. There will be a Friends-sponsored BBQ on Bonfire Night on November 5th and the Christmas Fair will be on 11 November.
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Life Stories From the Old Girls’ Association By Elizabeth Gowing (Malvern Girls’ College, 1990 Leaver) As I lined up with the others in maroon uniforms for the regular headlice check from Matron in 1980s Lindfield, I wouldn’t have ever dreamed that thirty years later I would still be taking part in headlice checks, but this time in a community of rubbish-pickers in Kosovo. The things that a Malvern education prepares you for… I came to Kosovo in 2006, accompanying my partner who had been appointed as advisor to the Prime Minister of Kosovo. We discovered that this place gets under your skin (indeed, we were to learn that it would crawl into warm hiding places across your scalp too) and as we learned Albanian and Serbian, and made friends, we found ourselves reluctant to leave. Kosovo is the size of Devon, and we travelled around enthusiastically, leaving the chic coffee shops and jazz bars of the youthful capital. We discovered UNESCO World Heritage Site Serbian Orthodox monasteries; villages high in the ‘Accursed Mountains’ where families’ income comes from selling wild-gathered herbs and berries and workshops making silver filigree in the Ottoman capital… we thought we knew this country. So it was quite a shock after four years when I found myself by chance in a Roma and Ashkali community just five miles from my home in the capital, but several hundred years away in development. This community lives on what they can scavenge from the rubbish, and children toddle barefoot across piles of waste. When I got talking to a girl of nine, who told me she wanted to go to school but that the school had told her she was too late, the medieval atmosphere intensified. When I went to visit the Ministry of Education they assured me that Gjelane was telling the truth. ‘They’re just too difficult to teach,’ the Ministry official confided. I later discovered that a terrifying 96% of Gjelane’s community have not finished compulsory education. I spent an afternoon visiting some houses in Gjelane’s neighbourhood. In 18 houses we found 21 children in the same position as Gjelane, so this wasn’t just the tragedy of one child. That night I couldn’t sleep. By the morning I’d decided I would try teaching these children while also lobbying to change the policy keeping them out of school. So this is where the headlice re-entered my life. We rented a flat above a minimarket and told Gjelane she
could let her friends know that there were lessons available there with me and my friends as volunteer teachers. I doubted that many of the children would come, but on the first day we had 23 pupils and by the end of the first week there were 50. By the end of six months we’d convinced the school to accept these children, but by then we’d realised that it wasn’t just education that these families needed – if the children were to succeed and stay at school we needed to support their families economically because when the children attended classes they were not out earning money for their families. There was also a need for health and nutrition education (Unicef found that only 23% of the children in this community have a minimal acceptable diet) and the work of our volunteer team grew. We’ve now employed a community health assistant who supports a weekly ante-natal class and regular parenting classes. I am also now the owner of a social business which shares all its profits every month with the 30 women employed. They’ve been trained and equipped with sewing machines, craft equipment, vegetable seeds and other raw materials, and are part of the project on condition that their children attend school. My book about what my friendship with Gjelane’s mother led to, for me and for her community, was published in 2015. The Rubbish-Picker’s Wife; an unlikely friendship in Kosovo tells the story of what happens when you find your community but it’s a long way from home. To learn more about our charity The Ideas Partnership, or about how you can help our work visit www.theideaspartnership.org.
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Cover image: The Malvern Hills Window on the Blue Stairs leading to The Alice Dining Room
Farewell Class of 2016
@malvernstjames
Call 01684 584624 admissions@malvernstjames.co.uk www.malvernstjames.co.uk Malvern St James, 15 Avenue Road, Great Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 3BA