Subject focus

WE ALL NEED A LITTLE DRAMA IN OUR LIVES

Lizzie Nurse

Director of Drama and Dance

Often decried as an easy or lightweight subject, Lizzie Nurse, Director of Drama and Dance proves the value of studying Drama and Theatre Studies.

“If you think about it, the skills developed through Drama echo those behaviours and life skills needed for the boarding house, university and ultimately in the work place.

Drama A Level is the only subject I can think of where every single lesson requires collaboration: you simply have to work with other people and work as a team. Each lesson, pupils are set a task with an expectation that they ‘show it back’ or perform it to the group. They must take ownership of their learning and develop the confidence to take feedback and give critique to others. Time management: during every lesson there is a time pressure to deliver their work which forces them to manage time and hit deadlines. Public speaking: there’s nothing like delivering lines in a school production to quell nerves – suddenly a presentation in a classroom (or in a work environment later on) doesn’t feel so nerve-wracking. Close friendships: they learn to trust those they are working with in a drama production and the bonds formed create a very unique group friendship. Reading body language: analysing drama scripts, plays and films teaches them how to read body language. Girls will learn how to interpret signals that give an insight into someone’s feelings which is invaluable and has uses far beyond the drama classroom and exam questions. And finally, linguistics: the in-depth analysis of the use of language and lexicon choice considerably enhances every other subject they are studying.

If you Google the list of ‘Top 10 Employee Skills’ valued by employers you will find everything I’ve mentioned above – another reason why Drama and Theatre Studies should not be underestimated. Aside from that, I’d argue that it is the most fun you can have in a classroom!”

Lizzie went on to talk about the way the creative industries had rallied during lockdown. “What did everyone turn to in the first lockdown? Books, films – classics and old favourites - were revisited. Look at how inventive actors and production companies were, creating new ways to engage with audiences and making it all happen so quickly. Our girls have thoroughly enjoyed watching Romantics Anonymous live from the Bristol Old Vic, Crave from the Chichester Festival Theatre and the fabulous production of Emelia all from the comfort of The Merritt Centre.”

With in-house productions of Fahrenheit 451 and Miles Apart: Letters from beyond the Theatre still going ahead, the Drama Department is adapting and rising to the challenges that socially distanced performances require to ensure that ‘the show must go on’.

MATHS OLYMPIAD

Following a performance in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge, which placed her in the top 1.5% nationally, Lauren Carty (L6) was subsequently invited to take part in the Maths Olympiad Summer School which, in a first for the UKMT, took place remotely.

Every year our strongest Maths students enter the extremely challenging UK Maths Olympiad for Girls but this year four girls in particular have excelled: Lauren Carty (L6), Daisy Kwong (U6), Amy Ye (L6) and Daisy Du (M5).

With the competition elements being completed online this year, they should be incredibly proud of their achievements: Daisy Kwong came in the top 25% nationwide, whilst Daisy Du, the youngest of our entrants, made the top 10% of all pupils across all age groups – truly marvellous.

To encourage and stimulate interest in the subject, the Department runs extension clubs which stretch and challenge the girls. The problem-solving activities really help to put their Maths theory to good practice and support the other STEM subjects too.

Paul Utting, Head of Mathematics

The School has a long tradition of participating in Maths Challenges, both run by the UK Maths Trust and other organisations. During the last term, I have been fortunate enough to compete in several of these Maths Challenges, along with many of my peers. These challenges provide a new way to see Maths and a unique approach to problem-solving that I haven’t encountered elsewhere. What I really love about the Maths Challenges is the accessibility – as they encourage you to think about what you already know in new ways. I’ve really improved my critical thinking and problem-solving by doing them, learning to think about the questions logically. I have found the questions interesting and inspiring and at times almost impossible, but at the same time they are infinitely rewarding, and I cannot recommend these challenges enough to anyone who enjoys Maths.

WOMEN IN ENGINEERING

James Grierson, Head of Physics and former Oxbridge physicist, gives us his view on why a career in engineering is more appealing than ever.

At Sherborne Girls the number of pupils opting for Physics A Level is steadily increasing. This is due to a number of factors – the well resourced department, the wealth of experience of the teachers, the excellent course and results we obtain – but also the number of girls who want to become engineers, for which Physics is a required A Level.

Across all year groups, the Physics Department caters for and encourages this interest. From the Paperclip and Eureka challenges and electricity and forces topics in the Fourth Form, to the huge array of practical work covered in our GCSE course, engineering skills are being developed every step of the way. Each time the pupils design and plan an experiment, put some apparatus together or gather and analyse results, we are replicating the very same skills a structural engineer would use for bridge design, or an electrical engineer would use for the next generation of tablets or smart phones.

When times allow, we look forward to hosting competitions with Year 10 groups at other local schools, where boat, tower and bridge design activities with limited time and resources, again replicate and test the skills required by engineers in the real world.

Our A Level course digs deeper into these fundamental skills, notably exploring and explaining the ways different materials behave under stress, combinations of forces and how they change as a load, for example when a vehicle on a bridge changes position, and designing and explaining the workings of electrical sensing circuits. Engineering is essentially applied Physics and, the higher order skill of application of one set of physical rules and ideas to new situations is at the heart of our teaching in the Sherborne Girls Physics Department.

For me, engineering is vital. It supports our everyday lives and allows us to push boundaries, whether that be in space exploration, nanotechnology or travelling faster than the speed of sound. This is why I am so drawn to engineering and Sherborne Girls has helped me massively in achieving my aims. Through evening talks, after school clubs and competitions, the School has dispelled any belief that girls can’t be engineers. About a year ago we had an engineering week, that showed all of the students how versatile engineering is as a subject, and through this event I found my particular passion of mechanical engineering. At Sherborne Girls, no ambition is too great, and the School is creating the next generation of engineers.

Milly Holford (U6)

A LOVE FOR LANGUAGES

This term we offered a very warm ‘Bienvenue’ to Sophie Blewitt who joined us as Head of Modern

Foreign Languages.

Look out for an interview with Sophie in the next issue of The Voice, where she will give us her vision for the MFL Department and tell us about the language enrichment opportunities at A Level.