Malvern St James Summer 2013 Newsletter

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MSJNEWS

OPEN DAY

Saturday 12 10.00am October – 1.30pm

Summer Term 2013

From the Headmistress

It's been another bumper year of celebration at Malvern St James! This newsletter is testament to just 4 months in the life of our vibrant and exciting Community.

We bid our leavers a very fond farewell - all the very best for everything the future holds for you and do please be sure to keep in touch with us; as alumni you are critical fabric in the MSJ tapestry.

I wish you all an invigorating and fun-filled summer break - make the most of the sunshine. We look forward to September 2013, heralding the largest number of girls in the history of MSJ.

Mrs Patricia Woodhouse

Clever Cadet Scoops Trip of a Lifetime Petty Officer Cadet Susan Utting (Year 13), a member of Ross and Monmouth Sea Cadets, has been named as one of nine winners of the CVQO Duke of Westminster Award 2013.

CVQO is an educational charity which has been helping cadets gain internationally recognised vocational qualifications. Each year, CVQO's most outstanding learners from across the UK are nominated for the Duke of Westminster Award - a prestigious and challenging competition delivered by CVQO and sponsored by the charity's patron.

Susan, who plans a career in the Royal Navy or the defence and security industry, now has the chance to travel to South Africa on a three week educational expedition.

Life Changing Experiences The 2013 Gambia Trip was indeed an experience. Our twenty Sixth Form students worked tirelessly, in searing temperatures, to enhance the lives of children.

Isobella Bradshaw (Year 12); “Before I came to The Gambia I had no idea what to expect, however these past 12 days have delivered a hundred times more than I could ever have asked for, in giving me the opportunity to explore this amazing place - seeing the real side of Africa and interacting on a personal level with the locals in their everyday environment.”

Phoebe Whitehouse (Year 13), summarises perfectly, “It was a moving experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Thank you for the amazing opportunity to be part of Gambia 2013”

Susan Utting

The full version of all these stories can be found at

www.malvernstjames.co.uk If you wish to receive future copies of the newsletter electronically, please email: marketing@malvernstjames.co.uk

@malvernstjames

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Academic New this year!

GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION Below are two of the entries which met the brief, an example of human or physical geography.

Hannah Nolan (Year 9) New York, Times Square. 89% of British people and 80% of Americans live in urban areas. The effects of so many people living in cities is that the pollution levels rise, there is more chance of getting ill because there are much more people around you, the air is murkier as there is much more traffic.

From Aintree to the Beatles Our A Level Communication and Culture students visited Liverpool to explore High Culture and Mass Culture, to aid understanding of key concepts for their studies.

The trip toured The Museum of Liverpool to explore Spaces and Places, Accent and Culture within the city, before heading on to the Museum of Maritime with an intriguing exhibition on The Titanic. After lunch, we saw the Museum of Slavery before visiting Liverpool One. A tribute was paid at the Hillsborough Memorial, before venturing to the Walker Art Gallery to marvel at amazing Pre-Raphaelite paintings and modern art, including a sculpture made of rubbish.

Tilly Wows Michelin Chef Congratulations to Tilly Storrie (Year 7), MSJ Masterchef 2013, as judged by Michelin-starred Chef, Stephen Bull. Tilly’s winning dishes were seared tuna steak with quail’s egg, asparagus salad and basil dressing, and melting chocolate pots. The whole School enjoyed Tilly’s tuna dish in the first week of June as part of the MSJ lunch menu.

Lottie Jones (Year 9) Breaking the calm of an estuary in Suffolk. Soon beautiful places like this will be destroyed by global warming. Rising sea levels will result in the flooding of estuaries. This means one day places like this will no longer exist. We must learn to appreciate life and to love the world.

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Academic

Fantastic French Foray Years 5 - 8 sampled the continental way of life on their fantastic excursion to France.

After an exciting ferry crossing, featuring HMS Daring in dock, we arrived at the palatial Chateau du Molay in Normandy which would be our home for three funfilled days. Despite the cold, we very much appreciated a visit to the Normandy beach heads and the solemn forces cemeteries. On a lighter note, we also visited the Bayeux Tapestry, explored a goat farm and shopped!

The evenings were also busy, with some of the girls trying their hand at karaoke, crepe eating and even protecting an egg from all manner of abuse - including being hit with a baseball bat!

Mary Beth Prindezi (Year 8) reported, “Despite the bad press the frogs’ legs and snails were quite nice, though we agreed they weren’t something to eat on a regular basis! I think I can say on behalf of everyone that our time away was a lot of fun.”

Let’s go fly an ...Egg? The MSJ STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Club was launched this year.

Girls from Years 8 - 13 took part in a thrilling competition, creating a ‘glider’ to transport a quail egg, in unpowered flight as far as possible, without breaking it.

With the assistance and guidance of volunteers from global engineering firm Malvern Instruments, girls were encouraged to combine their skills in all STEM areas.

The Final was a tense experience for all, with some exciting near misses, inevitable breakages and great distances travelled. After 3 attempts per group, some winners were found: - The KS3 Distance Prize went to Year 9’s Genevieve Phillips, Rosie Baird, Alex Rovira and Jadie Luo, with a distance of 6.9 metres.

- The KS4/5 Distance Prize went to the engineering of Year 11’s Jennifer Lam, Kacy Chou, Nicky Clift, Jennifer Robb and Harriet Gloag, for the great distance of 9.24 metres.

The prize included a trip to the Apps Lab at Malvern Instruments.

- Finally, one Year 12 team won the Design Prize, for Great Innovation in their Design.

MSJ in Science National Science and Eng ineering Week at MSJ saw: Year 10 competing in IBM ’s Blue Fusion Competition in Win chester ● Year 12 learning new skills on their Biology Field Trip to The Knapp and Papermill Nature Reserve ● The Annual MS J NSEW Lecture, supported by The Institut e of Physics, presented by Prof Allan Boa rdman from The University of Salf ord – his talk was entitled ‘Invisibility Cloaks’ ● The Chemistry Department entertaining pupils with exc iting demonstrations and girls participating in the Malvern Instrument STEM Club Challenge No wonder 3 of our Upper Sixth this year have received offers to stud y Natural Sciences and Engineering at Oxford and Cambridge! ●

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Academic

Expressive Arts@msj Year 10 Mathematicians

Champion Olympiads Sixty one girls in Years 9 - 11 took the Intermediate Maths Challenge this year, gaining a very commendable 8 Gold, 11 Silver and 10 Bronze awards. Jennifer Zhang and Angel Xu (Year 10) have both won places at the inaugural Maths Summer School for Girls, organised by the UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) held at Balliol College, Oxford.

Added to this superb success, a team of Sixth Form girls from MSJ came first in the Regional Senior Team Maths Challenge earlier this year, going on to successfully compete in the National Finals in London.

MSJ girls have also achieved excellent results against thousands of other pupils in this year’s Linguistics Olympiad, and the National Science Olympiad Competitions. Special congratulations, for their outstanding achievement, go to Sixth Form students Sara Devereux (Biology); Weiyi Zhang and Jiaying Yan (Chemistry) and Dan Qi Li (Physics).

This year’s Expressive Arts Programme has been packed out! Alongside the much talked about events such as ‘Joseph’, the ‘Exposé Musical’ and the GCSE and A Level Art Exhibition, The Music Department hosted concerts, Young Performers’ Platforms, Evensongs, instrumental and vocal workshops, trips to concerts and recitals, and has performed at numerous events within the School and its wider community. The Art Department enjoyed Printing, Textile and Life Drawing workshops, visits to Art Exhibitions in Birmingham and London and the annual Year 10 trip to Cornwall. The Drama Department has explored highly contrasting productions such as ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Malvern Theatres and The Globe Theatre in London, as well as the controversial ‘Forests’ a Theatre of Cruelty play, which provided much discussion and debate. Preparation for the Shakespeare Festival Workshop and Performance, the Telling Tales Drama Showcase, Silver and Bronze Arts Awards and the many examination performances have complemented the mix, culminating in our fabulous Expressive Arts Week.

MSJ GCSE and A Level Art Exhibition Our annual end of year exhibition was a resounding success (as usual!) and extremely well attended. Girls are always pleasantly surprised when all their work is displayed so professionally! This year’s exhibitors revealed a high level of talent in both Fine Art and Textiles; A Level pieces covered the whole spectrum from fairy tale to fish. The exhibition was inspiring and challenging with a painting of Ms Weissberg herself providing a real talking point!

Years 7 & 8 Arts Week

CRUISING THE CONTINENTS WITH CLASS..ICS Congratulations to Jennifer Robb (Year 11), who has been awarded the ISAC (Independent Schools Adventure Cruises) Eric Sherwin Scholarship, and Rosie Baird (Year 9) who has also received an ISAC Scholarship.

As a Charity, ISAC subsidises cruises for all students to some extent but is able to reward those who submit original projects of real merit. The week-long voyage will take place in October and will encompass three continents, visiting Greece, Turkey, Israel and Egypt. Bon voyage girls!

JUNIOR SCHOOLS’ ART EXHIBITION This year, our Junior Schools’ Art Exhibition attracted an extremely high standard of entries from the ten schools which took part.

Congratulations to MSJ’s Emily Hutsby (Year 7) Winner of the Year 7 category and Sanchia de Villiers Kuun (Year 8) who won the 3D category.

In addition, the Group Work featuring decorated glove puppets produced by our Year 2 girls was also Highly Commended.

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Expressive Arts

Fairytales, Friendships & Fantasy GCSE and A Level Examination Performances 2013

Ashputtel

Alice in Wonder land Little Red

Don’t Forget Me

Telling Tales Telling Tales was a spectacular evening of dance and drama, featuring the work of the Speech and Drama Department alongside curriculum Drama, plays by the boarding Houses and the REP Group, and performances by the MSJ Dance Group.

The Dance Group, led and choreographed by Zoe Hutber and Yemi Shittu (Year 13), created and performed some lively and powerful dances, where they opened and closed the evening.

Dancers in Year 8 - 13 have been inspired by Zoe and Yemi’s enthusiasm and commitment to dance. This has been evident throughout their Sixth Form with some dazzling performances for Arabian Nights in Year 12, and Joseph earlier this year. All of the MSJ Dance Group must be congratulated on their skill, commitment, energy and creativity.

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Expressive Arts Dreaming the Dream Congratulations to Grace Harris (Year 10) and Natalie Coventry (Year 11), who will spend their summer rehearsing for the Malvern Theatres Young Company performance of the musical ‘Les Miserables School Edition’ which runs from 14 - 18 August. Grace auditioned for the principal role of ‘Eponine’ with over 200 other hopefuls aged between 14-19 years old, and was delighted to be cast

by Director Andy Reiss.

Exposé Musical a standing ovation for all

“I wanted to play Eponine but didn’t mind what I was offered as it was my first audition” said Grace, “when mum received the email I was really, really excited” The show will be professionally directed, choreographed and accompanied by a live band.

Grace Harris

Worcestershire Young Musicians Christy Wong (Year 11, violin), Catrina Leung (Year 13, saxophone) and Rachel McKie (Year 7, voice) were selected from over 50 students at this year’s audition process for the Worcestershire Young Musicians Showcase. Each girl performed brilliantly in front of a large audience at the Huntingdon Hall in Worcester.

Mrs Lynne Lindner, Helen Liu, Mr David Strange, Ronnie Yeung, Mr Malcolm Forbes Peckham, Saska Ingham, Epiphany Poon, Ms Jenny Pearson, Catrina Leung, Mr Graham Lloyd

At the start of the Summer Term, our A Level Music students took to the stage in front of a capacity audience to play their own choice of concerto movement in MSJ’s newest platform for showcasing the outstanding talent being nurtured in this School - the Exposé Musical.

The five young ladies, Ronnie Yeung, Saska Ingham, Epiphany Poon, Catrina Leung and Helen Liu were joined on stage by The Malvern Sinfonia, MSJ’s Associate Professional Orchestra and performed concertos written by Wieniawski, Vivaldi, Elgar, Mozart and Grieg.

The combined Choirs of Malvern St James also featured on the programme, performing music by Borodin, Puccini and Humperdink. In typical MSJ fashion, the girls complemented their glitzy performances by wearing dazzling evening dresses, transforming the evening into an extraordinary and very professional affair; it’s hard to believe that this was a school concert.

This was a fabulous and unforgettable evening! Congratulations to all the soloists and girls who took part; we are extremely proud of you all.

Orchestral Extravaganza Hits The Right Notes!

Conservatoire for Grachase

(Year 11) Talented flautist Grace Higgins am Junior been accepted on to the Birmingh or Juni The me. ram Prog re atoi Conserv to ing train t ialis spec rs Conservatoire offe nal potential. young musicians with exceptio ty and We are delighted that Grace's abili ies has been dedication to her musical stud to seeing her recognised and we look forward flourish!

Local Prep and primary schools joined forces with MSJ’s young musicians for a fun day of making music together in our inaugural Orchestral Extravaganza. The children worked throughout the day and were treated to performances by senior MSJ girls in a special lunchtime concert. The day culminated in a performance of Schumann’s Chorale, the Theme from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and ‘Dead Dog Boogie’, which was especially composed for the event. It was a marvellous opportunity for the young musicians to play together in such a large orchestra. We are looking forward to welcoming more schools to our second Orchestral Extravaganza in the Spring Term 2014!

Happy Birthday Elgar!

On 2 June an appreciative audience at Malvern Priory enjoyed MSJ in concert, celebrating Sir Edward Elgar’s birthday. Our School musicians played many favourites, including the Movement I from the ‘Cello Concerto’, the beautiful ‘Salut d’Amour’ and the School Choir sang some of Elgar’s charming vocal music. It was a perfect way to celebrate Elgar’s birthday.

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Prep Department

You want some more???!!!

Going back in Time

This year’s performance of ‘Olivia’, a reworking of the classic musical Oliver Twist, was a total triumph for the Prep Department! A huge well done to all, for a show that demonstrates what our girls can achieve working as a team.

Pre-Prep girls ‘enjoy’ Victorian Day

Seaside Fun

for Years 3-6

Bollywood To link with Prep 2’s study of India, the girls have tried Bollywood dancing using a mix of classical Indian Dance (known as ‘Kathak’), along with Bhangra and some pop moves from more western cultures.

Oooh La La! Pre-Prep girls dressed in French Chic to celebrate French Day. They cooked French Apple Tarts, and enjoyed creative activities. The most accurate replica of the Eiffel Tower was won by Rose Taylor and Elizabeth Motteram, seen here with their winning model.

MSJ Strikes Gold in Well Dressing Competition Year 5 won a prestigious Gold award with Rapunzel at the Malvern Well Dressing Competition

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MSJ Sport MSJ SPORTING HIGHLIGHTS

● Lottie Van Praag, Nicky Clift and Natalie

White (Year 11) represented Wales in the Junior team again this season.

Well done to all girls involved in MSJ Sport this year. Outstanding achievements include:

Cross Country ● National ISA Cross Country: Sarah Ellis,

Elysia Garland and Penny Green (Year 10) ran for The Midlands team, each finishing within the Top 20 runners.

Netball ● U14s won Worcestershire County Netball

Tournament and qualified for the regional U14 Netball Championships in Birmingham. ● U14s also won the Worcestershire West

School Games Level 2 Netball Tournament and are now the Worcestershire School Games Champions.

Lottie Van Praag in action

Badminton ● The MSJ Badminton Team reached the

regional round at Birmingham University.

Athletics ● Five MSJ Athletes represented the Midlands

at the National ISA Finals ● At the ISA Midlands championships, MSJ

won the overall Year 8/9 and Year 10/11 age groups, beating the other 18 schools taking part. ● Three girls represented Herefordshire and

Worcestershire County at the Mason Trophy in Birmingham. ● At the Hereford and Worcester County

U14 ISA National Hockey Champions

Schools Athletics Championships: Natalie White (Year 11) won the Inter girls Javelin Saska Ingham (Year 13) won the 400m and the Long Jump ● Hannah Tapley (Year 9) won both the ISA

Hockey ● Four girls have been selected for the Junior

Regional Performance Centre phase of England Hockey selection. ● U15s were undefeated and crowned

National Champions at ISA National Schools Hockey Tournament. ● U14s were named U14 Worcestershire

County Champions and reached the Semi Finals of The Midlands Finals. ● U14s won the ISA National Hockey

tournament and are now U14 ISA National Champions! ● U11s were unbeaten and named

Worcestershire County Champions, finishing 8th in the Regional round.

Lacrosse ● 1st, 2nd and U15s won the Berkhamsted 8-

a-side tournament for their respective age groups. ● U14s finished 3rd at the South West

tournament. ● Six U15s selected for the Gloucestershire /

Worcestershire team. ● Four girls selected for the U19 County Team. ● Head Girl Lottie Van Praag (Year 13) was

selected for the South West Regional Team. ● The 1st Team finished 16th in the UK at the

National Schools Lacrosse tournament

National High Jump, and the Hereford and Worcester County Schools Championships.

Jumping 1.62m, Hannah has broken Championship and County records.

Hannah is now ranked 2nd in UK, and has qualified for the ESAA National Championships in July.

Rounders ● At the Worcestershire West School Games

Rounders Tournament: Year 10 MSJ teams finished 1st and 4th. MSJ went on to win the Worcestershire Final, and are now Worcestershire School Games Champions.

Tennis ● Sisters Katie and Georgina Jeynes-Cupper

(Year 9 and Year 8 respectively) won the title of U14 County Doubles Tennis Champions. ● Georgina has enjoyed a string of successful

tournaments, knocking out top seeds, and is now ranked in the UK’s Top 30 for her age group.

Eventing ● Having attended Junior training with Team

GB, Imogen Gloag (Year 13) was invited to Haras de Jardy in France in May, which is where the Junior Europeans will be held later in the year. Imogen has now been long listed for the Junior European Eventing Championships.

Golf ● Lucy Walton (Year 9) competed in the

Murcia Ladies Open held at Hacienda del Alamo in Spain, finishing 4th.

Lucy is now preparing for the Scottish U16 Championships, English U15 Championships and her biggest challenge to date The English Women’s Amateur Championships.

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Outdoor Activities Kayaking

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

● Sarah Ellis (Year 10) represented Great

Britain in her first International Kayaking competition in France.

The number of girls who signed up for the Bronze doubled this year to 36 in total. We also have 21 girls undertaking the Silver Award, and 11 at Gold Level. Training days have been in the Malvern Hills, Stiperstones, Shropshire, Black Mountains, the Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia. The Qualifying Expedition will take place in the Three Peaks of Yorkshire in the summer.

Swimming ● Davina Lam

(Year 13) represented The Midlands at the ISA National Championships and won a Gold medal in the 50m freestyle relay.

Ice Skating ● Nicky Connell (Year 7) has passed her Ice

Skating Level 10 and has now completed the Stake UK's "Learn to Skate" Programme.

Building Friendships and Working Together Welcome back to Year 9 from your Adventure Activity Trip to Gilwern

MSJ Croquet Society The Summer Term has seen lots of activity on the croquet lawns for MSJ girls.

There have been visits to Severn Hill and School House at Shrewsbury School, for croquet afternoons with lunch. Eton College kindly hosted us to a delicious Al Fresco lunch and Croquet session. The play was quite competitive, with much hilarity. Malvern College have also challenged us to a return match following last year’s contest.

Summer Term Outdoor Pursuits We have been offering a number of watery activities this term. Sailing at Croft Farm Water Park has seen a number of Sixth Form girls working towards their RYA certificates. Also, a number of Year 8 and 9 girls have been ‘messing about on the river’ trying out sculling and water skills on The River Severn, home to our Rowing Club.

Our climbers have been scaling the heights both at Gloucester Warehouse and outdoors at the very scenic and adventurous Symonds Yat in the Forest of Dean.

Congratulations to Isobel Adye-Ashdown (Year 9), who is now a certificated ‘Lead Climber’.

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Boarding At MSJ Batsford

The Mount

Batsford has had a very exciting term making the most of the good weather, enjoying our huge garden: on the swings, building dens, and playing with all the new outdoor games that The Friends bought us.

The highlight of the term was the trip to Alton Towers braving the scary rides, and getting Mrs Cardy soaked on the rapids. We have enjoyed Batsford boogies, bowling, shopping and the cinema. The Alice in Wonderland party and the party with the inflatable in the pool were also great fun. The girls loved Aztec water sports, and the beach, both a super way to end the term. We say a fond farewell to Miss Jack, and to all the Year 8 as they move up into Year 9 and their new Houses.

The last two terms have been very busy with visits to Alton Towers and Drayton Manor Park,

Weekend baking sessions followed by tea parties are always a great favourite and made ‘Revision’ sessions more enjoyable. Birthdays were in abundance, with cakes made for friends, a speciality. Supper parties with Mrs Woodhouse have also been fun.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award camp practices in the snow and latterly blazing sunshine; Intership Cross Country, Tennis, Rounders, Swimming and the Public Speaking competition, rival BBQs and croquet at Shrewsbury School and Eton College.

Musicians have played and sung in the House as well as the Exposé Musical and we have enjoyed film and supper nights in the House with ASK suppers and the latest Will Smith film.

We have raised several hundred pounds by selling personalised sugar candy canes, followed by handmade ‘Valentine’ cookies, individually iced. An Easter egg raffle and finally a sale of ‘Krispy Kreme’ Doughnuts saw us reach around £400.

We say a fond farewell and ‘Thank you’ to our fabulous Year 11 as they move up into the Sixth Form; they have been fun and wonderful role models. Their activity-packed final week of term will give them the send off they truly deserve.

World of Events in Akhundova Hatfield! Ulkar (Year 10) SJ The Friends ofir firsM t ever

ends for the Thank you to The Fri ms, strawberries and Pim the d ‘Pig Roast’, an ll as the following we as cream at Sports Day, generous donations: o t: Year 6 Gifts and Leg ● Prep Departmen Mindstorm Robots hairbrushes; football ● Houses: games; ment, rounders table; cookery equip : posts, net, set on int dm ba ; posts cks co ttle racquets, shu

soon: Coming GM

nds’ A g The Frie y Evenin Myster r e rd u M

ember 26 Sept er b 5 Octo

Games for the Houses

I came to Hatfield last September, when I first joined this School. All of the social events have helped me meet more and more people. In my opinion, the BBQ with the bouncy castle was one of the best events, which was held in the garden. We had so much fun on the castle and a delicious lunch!

One of the recent events was a trip with Mount to the cinema to see The Great Gatsby! I enjoyed the movie so much that I have read the book twice and now my dream party is the party at Gatsby’s. We enjoy cinema and theatre trips with other Houses after Supper and pizza nights and Chinese meals in the House.

We are also allowed to cook in Hatfield, with

our Housemistress. We have a big kitchen and a great variety of kitchen utensils. With the help of Mrs Cole I made my own ‘qutabs’. This is our national Azeri cuisine. Everyone seemed to really appreciate the ‘new’ food.

One of my favourites this year was the Hatfield Easter Egg Hunt! Our Housemistresses hid our chocolate Easter eggs around the House with our names on them. Everyone was delighted with their eventual chocolate eggs, it was really fun.

Poulton & Greenslade Farewell to our Year 13 Leavers - well done for all your dedication and hard work, and good luck for your A Level results in August!

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Other News

Let’s Aim for

Oxford!

In the Summer Term, twenty-two enthusiastic Year 10 and 11 girls set off for a day exploring Oxford University.

MUN Annual Dinner Summer Term started with the last event in the Model United Nations Calendar - the legendary annual Dinner!

Ambassadors presented reviews of each conference with interesting insights and celebrating successes across the board. This year we attended a record number of conferences in Manchester, Hampton, Edinburgh and Oxford with many awards for Highly Commended delegates. We have not yet won the wooden gavel, but maybe next year…

This was followed by our tradition of endless toasts by anyone who wanted to get up and

speak. Some were polished and serious such as ‘The Queen’ and ‘The United Nations’, whilst some were politically outrageous.

Many were full of thanks to Zoe Hutber, Catherine Stylianou and Chloe Moore, the amazing trio of leaders who have been quite brilliant. The new team were duly announced: Presidents Elizabeth Rees and Ife Otegbeye, supported by Lucinda EllawayBell as Vice President. Here’s to a great year ahead, full of new adventures!

The idea was to raise expectations at an early stage and encourage girls to consider applying to Oxbridge. One of the key aims was to allow the girls to see what student life is really like by meeting and talking to Old Girls in their colleges. We hope to organise a similar event next year at Cambridge and also ask Old Girls who are at / have been to other universities to come and chat to the girls at School and bust the myths.

Lucy Darling (PPE, Worcester College) welcomed us in and gave us a wonderful tour of her College. This was followed by a lunch where Alice Porter (English, Regents Park College) sat and chatted to the girls and answered lots of questions. After meeting an English Don at Merton College and a History Don at Christ Church, Jess Wright (Geography, Christ Church) gave us another great tour of her College, including her room in Peckwater Quad and encouraged the girls to apply to Oxford.

NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY Over 60 girls from Years 9 - 13 joined a business discussion evening at the beginning of May. Annabel Rayer, an Old Girl of the School who is now Managing Director of her own Cheltenham-based PR company SilverBall, described the pitfalls, opportunities and excitement of starting your own business.

Carolyn Lazarus, founder of totally4women.com an online community aimed at women, discussed her business model, the hard work of launching a business and how to find the positives from all challenges. Short presentations by visiting entrepreneurs were followed by questions, enabling girls to explore any aspect of starting up and running your own business. The Year 10 Business group reported back on their participation in the Real Business Challenge Regional Final in Birmingham. The evening was a great success with the girls asking intelligent and challenging questions, and left us all inspired to get developing our own business ventures!

Year 7 discuss the Carnegie Award shortlisted books

Year 6 and Year 7 have been reading and reviewing the best books shortlisted for this year’s CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards. Year 6 have been considering the impact of illustrations for the Greenaway Award and Year 7 have been analysing writing styles and characterisation for the Carnegie Award.

The three Old Girls were wonderful role models; not only had they worked hard at School, but they had also done a lot of other things whilst at MSJ, including Lacrosse, setting up a Drama group, all attending MUN Conferences and Debating, not to mention being Head Girls or busy Prefects. Their main message to the girls was: aim high, organise your time, and don’t waste it.

Grace Higgins (Year 11), said “Today was an incredible opportunity to meet academics and students and to find out what Oxford is all about. It was great to see 3 very idyllic colleges and it has really inspired me to work hard for my GCSEs”

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Other News MSJ Old Girls’ Association OGA Summer Reunion Let’s Nail the Nineties Year 13 Daring girls with the Daring Crew

Ahoy There!

The Ships have been busy this term battling it out for the final round of this year’s Admirals’ Cup. With Intership Swimming, Rounders, Tennis, Public Speaking, the Quiz Challenge, Prep Department Talent Show and Sports Day there has been enthusiastic participation throughout the School, and Daring even managed a trip to visit HMS Daring and crew in port!

Over 100 leavers from the 1990s joined us in May, including four former Headmistresses. The very last visitor to leave - Emily Styles (Johnson, 1995) gave four charming books she has illustrated to the Prep Department.

Ten Years On The Class of 2003 returned in June to enjoy exploring MSJ, meeting staff and ‘sleeping over’ in Benhams.

Race for Life

Debating ge success at MSJ again

More than 90 MSJ entrants took part in this year’s Race for Life at Worcester Racecourse, raising over £3,500.

a hu Debating has been Willis ulations to Hannah rat ng co Big ar. ye this d ete mp co o ar 10) wh and Louise Hayes (Ye against schools from throughout the Midlands to reach the Finals in the Taylor Trophy held in Solihull.

Introducing our Head Girl & Deputies Our new Head Girl for 2013-14 is Georgiana Kwok, supported by her Deputies Elizabeth Rees and Kellina Gannon: “Having moved through the School together since Year 10, we enjoy the strong bonds of friendship and with our fellow Prefects, we look forward to upholding the values of our School with pride, exceeding all expectations!”

Epic, Iconic and Supernova Our three Young Enterprise companies this year, Epic, Iconic and Supernova, developed a variety of products, including a Chinese Cookery Book, a Malvern Calendar, a tablemat jigsaw for young children, lanterns and coasters engraved with images of Malvern.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Open Morning Saturday 12 October Prep Schools Pop Lacrosse Thursday 7 November Sixth Form Experience Friday 8 & Saturday 9 November

Iconic and Supernova were Finalists in the Young Enterprise South Worcestershire competition, where Supernova won an award for the Best Teamwork, and went through to the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Final winning the prestigious award for the Best Presentation.

Prep Department Open Morning Wednesday 13 November Sixth Form Scholarships Monday 18 & Tuesday 19 November Senior School Entrance Examinations Wednesday 27 November Carol Service Wednesday 11 December

Malvern St James Girls’ School, 15 Avenue Road, Great Malvern, Worcestershire, WR14 3BA, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1684 892288 Fax: +44 (0)1684 566204 Email: admissions@malvernstjames.co.uk

“This YE experience has been useful and enjoyable. Learning how to build up a company from scratch, with no previous experience, has given us great insight into the world of business.”

(Harmony Chan, Year 12)