eNewsletter Issue 112

@stgeorgesascot

eNewsletter

ISSUE 112 EASTER

/StGeorgesSchoolAscot

ST GEORGE'S ASCOT

Our New Willow Sculpture Details on page four

From the Head As I said to the girls in the final assembly of the term, the lasting impression of recent weeks can largely be summed up in one word - snow! Whilst this led to a number of frustrations (not to mention the fun too!) it did not hold the girls back in their endeavours. Sport probably took the biggest ‘hit’, however I am immensely proud of the 1st Lacrosse team who won the National Small Schools Lacrosse Tournament, in challenging weather conditions and with a number of injuries to key players, and retained the title for the third year running.

To top off many exciting trips and achievements, we ended the term with a fabulous, if rather terrifying, Drama Prefect’s Play ‘Lord of the Flies’ and the photos enclosed give a flavour of the spectacle for those not lucky enough to be able to see it.

the product of a wonderful art workshop undertaken by some of our many talented girls. Be sure to look out for her keeping watch over the school by the flagpole outside Loveday House.

It appears that Spring has, finally, sprung in time for the holidays and along with a good rest and time with family and friends, I wish everyone a very Happy Easter.

Liz Hewer Headmistress

Finally, we were very pleased to welcome a new addition to our St George’s family at the end of term as you will see in the picture above; Georgie the willow sculpture dragon! This was 1

World Book Day @SGA_Library On Thursday 1st March 2018, both staff and girls braved the wintry conditions to come together and celebrate World Book Day. This year’s theme was Roald Dahl, and Ms Kennedy started the day with an assembly exploring some of Roald Dahl’s best-known children’s and adult literature. Throughout the day the girls embarked upon a treasure hunt to win hidden Roald Dahl books. They also sought out teachers who were posing as characters belonging to Roald Dahl books. Sophie R and Ellie P both matched all 16 teachers to the books they featured in and won a National Book Token each. Finally, girls were asked to design a chocolate bar or a type of food fit for a Roald Dahl book. Imogen H not only created a Wonka Bar but she crafted a real-life mock-up of it and so she was rewarded with a National Book Token.

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Trips & Talks @SGA_Academic Apprenticeships Information Evening and Fair On the evening of Wednesday 7 March, St George’s hosted its first Apprenticeships Information Evening and Fair in the Chapel and Sue Cormack Hall. Given the increasing costs of university tuition and the premium given to experience in the workplace, it has become increasingly attractive to look at the alternatives to traditional higher education courses.

This is especially the case as a variety of major employers have begun to show greater interest in taking on school leavers alongside their traditional graduate intake. Responding to this demand, Mr Carroll, who is leading the school’s work in championing apprenticeships, organised an Information Evening and Fair for our girls as well as a number of visitors from the wider community.

Having been given an introduction to the idea of apprenticeships and their possibilities, we were fortunate to hear from a representative from CGI who spoke about her experiences as a degree apprentice. After this inspirational presentation, attendees visited the Fair which saw stands and staff representing a variety of significant apprenticeship providers including Railtrack, the Army, Arcadia, Moore Stephens, CICM and others.

Upper Sixth Government and Politics Lectures On Wednesday 7 March, the Upper Sixth Politics group attended a series of revision lectures organised by Hodder Education to support the girls’ learning. The Upper Sixth course is focused on American Government and Politics and, as it is challenging to ignore, this is an area of fairly constant change and development over the last two years! Whilst this making US Politics fascinating, it is also challenging given the continuing need to keep up-to-date with developments.

Lectures, by two experts in the field, targeted key areas of the girls’ Edexcel A Level course and were particularly interesting for showing how key examples, such as Second Amendment rights and debates over the Affordable Care Act, which could certainly be used to answer a number of different questions from the curriculum.

Although lectures were high-paced and there was little time for any rest between the eight talks, the girls enjoyed the experience which will have certainly helped in their exam preparations.

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Trips & Talks @SGA_Academic Jack The Ripper Lily J, Fifth Year writes: “On a dark and gloomy Monday night a brave group of Fifth-Year historians ventured out onto the streets of Whitechapel to learn more about the infamous serial killer, commonly known as ‘Jack the Ripper’. Having studied his case in class, we believed that nothing could shock us, that was until we met our incredible tour guide, Lindsay. She ensured that we were all transported back in time for the afternoon, with her detailed descriptions of the horrific events that took place on the quaint cobbled streets of East London Having spent the best part of 30 years researching the infamous killer, we were able to tap into Lindsay's unparalleled knowledge surrounding the complexities affecting the case. This really helped broaden our understanding and perspective of the events that took place.

We all had an amazing time and would like to thank Mrs Kratt for the fantastic experience, along with all the teachers took the time to venture into London with us. It's safe to say we all enjoyed another great school trip!"

Willow Sculpture The Art Department invited experienced willow artist and teacher, Judith Needham into St George’s to work with a group of 21 girls across two days. The majority of the sculpture was made from willow, however, Judith created a metal frame beforehand on which the girls wove and attached the willow. The girls learnt skills in the ancient craft of willow weaving, the different types of willow and its qualities for weaving. Whilst the aim was to create a large scale Dragon sculpture for the School the girls could decide the shape and look of the dragon as it would be unique. The sculpture celebrates the strong interest and talent that girls have for the Arts here at St George’s and reminds us of the legend of St George.

There was much discussion, decision making and problem solving as the dragon developed and the girls worked well in small groups on various parts of the dragon. This was a kinaesthetic learning experience; one girl was diligently creating beautiful claws, others building up the body and legs whilst two were working on a long tail with a pointed end. The wings took time and were considered carefully.

The shape and size was important as was how much willow to use. If they were full of willow would they be too heavy and break the sculpture? Everyone learnt techniques in the ancient craft of basket weaving in order to create the Dragon’s head and eyes. Initially the mouth of the dragon was going to be closed but the students worked out how they could effectively create a more interesting open mouth. They then used some red branches from a bush on the School grounds for the flames. We are very proud of their hard work and we hope the sculpture will last for some time.

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Music @SGA_TheArts Spring And Junior Concerts Friday 9 March, saw a first class Junior Concert with great solos from Lucy A, Annabel M, Eleanor M Hannah B, Honey P, Maia W, Ellie F and Lucy P. Ruby W and Annie D played a lovely flute duet, Lucy P and Alice N performed a fun a Ukulele duet Ruby W, Jessica S and Kendra J a great Ukelele trio. The Rock and Pop Choir were in excellent form and the programme ended with three upbeat songs from the First Year Choir. Many thanks to Miss Mason for all her hard work.

Our Spring Concert took place just under a week later, the evening featured three of the House competition ensemble entries and a wide range of soloists and groups. Outstanding moments included: Chloe H who sang ‘Waves’ by Dean Lewis, Elizabeth S who played Preude in D minor by Bach, Olivia C's version of 'On my own', and Annabel S who played a Brahms intermezzo on the piano. The First year Choir sang, The Orchestra played two pieces in tremendous style and the Chapel Choir sang pieces associated with Holy Week.

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Music @SGA_TheArts

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House Music Competition The annual House Music Competition took place on 13 March with each House presenting beginner, intermediate and advance solos, an ensemble, a special item and their House Song. The House song is a real highlight as every girl in the school takes part. Our adjudicator this year was Mr James Manwearing from the Windsor Upper Schools who commented on the high standard of many of the performances. The prize for the best performance of the day went to Lily C and Isabel K –Stowe for their performance of ‘Waving through a Window’. The winning House was Darwin, congratulations to everyone involved!

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Spring Term Awards @SGA_Academic

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Lord of The Flies @SGA_TheArts

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Girls from the Fourth Year and Lower Sixth did an outstanding job of performing the Drama Prefect's Play during the last week of term: a dramatisation of the William Golding classic, Lord of the Flies.

The incredible set design by Mr Pearn instantly transformed the audience to the island on which the characters were stranded; a pool of water, masses of trees, a huge plane wing and real wire on stage were just some of the elements that absolutely wowed us about this production.

Miss Johnson said “The rehearsal process was intensive and the girls worked incredibly hard to pull off such a complex play. The cast of talented actors rose to the challenge and produced a tense, terrifying and very emotional atmosphere, which everyone could feel in the room. In order to capture the essence of Lord of the Flies, you have to clearly show the journey and complete decline of each character throughout the piece. The well-known story was given a twist as the school boys changed to girls, which worked just as effectively, given our cast’s very convincing transformations into savage and primitive beings. I also made use of the girls’ amazing dance skills by incorporating some rather disturbing tribal movement sequences throughout. The professionalism and talent on stage meant the whole piece was achieved to a very high standard.” However this could not have happened without our Drama Prefect.

Charlie produced the play, created some wonderful costumes, and coordinated all the work that happened behind the scenes. All in all, a gritty and gory success which made our palms sweat and our hearts pound!

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Boarding @SGA_Boarding

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Loveday

Markham

The Loveday boarders have enjoyed a range of different treats this term which provided a fun distraction from their hard work during the day. Continuing the series of #UpperSixthTreats, the Loveday girls prepared for the February Half Term with a Pancake Evening which was 'flipping fun'. School resumed with the celebration of the Chinese New Year which the Upper Sixth boarders decided to celebrate in style by dining out. Back in the House, the girls have tried their hand at making bubble tea and pampered themselves with face masks and bright nail polish. And, of course, special mention to the wonderful Snow Day and an Upper Sixth snowman called Andrew George!

Over the last term the girls have been given the opportunity to explore their creative sides by designing their very own pieces of pottery. From plates to mugs and everything in between, the girls showed exemplary attention to detail, making excellent gifts for loved ones. Our regular bowling trips are always a huge hit with fun had by all, not to mention a dash of competitiveness thrown in for good measure. The winning team this time around Included Amira, Joanna and Annabel. Well done girls!

Our most exuberant trip came on the 20th of March with a trip to Gravity Force for the end of term celebration, and celebrate we did! With jumps, tumbles and smiles all-round the trampoline park proved the perfect place to blow of some steam at the end of term.

Knatchbull It has been a busy term in Knatchbull with lots of events being put on for the girls. We have enjoyed celebrating various cultural events from around the world, including Burns Night which was run by our resident Scotswoman, Ms Kennedy who cooked Tatty Scones for the girls to try and read poetry from the famous Robert Burns. We also joined together with Markham to celebrate Chinese New Year with a huge take away and movie night. Other events included a Valentine’s Day and St Patrick’s Day celebrations where the girls thoroughly got into the spirit of things.

The Knatchbull boarders have been keen to attend the newly introduced Boarders’ Boot Camp fitness sessions in the gym with Miss Myers, as well as the early morning Running Club. These activities have been well attended and have given the girls the motivation to keep fit and switch off from their studies.

First & Second Year Social

The First and Second Year girls had a fantastic social with Papplewick school pupils on Saturday, 24 February. The girls, dressed up and greeted the boys with a drinks reception, followed by an impressive buffet of spring rolls, duck wraps and samosas. After dinner, they spent the evening dancing away to their favourite songs at a disco in the Sue Cormack Hall. An enjoyable evening was had by all.

Boarders' Carnival On Tuesday, 6th March, the boarders were invited to a Carnival in the Sue Cormack Hall. The First Year boarders created masks the night before with Miss Karnilaviciute and dressed up to enjoy a disco and party. All the boarders were delighted with the snacks and got fully involved in the party. The surprise hit was our DJ for the evening, Kanyinsola, who was more than happy to take requests from the younger years!

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House Parties Darwin

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On Friday 23rd of February 2018, the entire Darwin House community celebrated with an evening of excellent food and entertainment. This year’s theme was The Circus. Girls, their families and staff were treated to a fiesta of colour and joy as tables were adorned with balloons, flowers made to look like popcorn, and red noses for those brave enough to wear one.

After a delicious supper, everyone made their way to the Sue Cormack Hall to enjoy the girls’ performances.

The evening’s entertainment started with a fantastic rendition of Waving Through a Window, performed as a duet by Lily and Isabel, with Isabel also playing the piano. Solo singers included Somadina, Honey and Lydia, while Amelie sang and played the Ukelele. Solo instrumental pieces were by Eleanor on the trombone and Lucy on the flute. The evening ended on a high as all girls sang the House song, On Top of the World, with characteristic Darwin enthusiasm.

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On Friday, 16 March Alexander House hosted their annual House party. The theme for the evening was Disney, we had an array of Disney princesses and princes that attended. Both girls and parents enjoyed an Aladdin themed main course of chicken tagine and a Disney inspired Mickey Mousse for dessert.

During the evening performances parents and girls were treated to two fantastic soloists - Katie S and Khushboo K. The girls also used the opportunity to perform their winning House Play - Cinderella. This event took place in the first term, so the girls had to attend lots of rehearsals to remember their lines!

The girls also performed their House Music pieces that they had performed earlier in the week at the House Music competition. The final performance involved the whole house singing ‘Its Time’ by Imagine Dragons. A huge congratulations to the girls involved!

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House Parties Alexander

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Sports News @SGA_Sport

Small Schools National Lacrosse Champions On Saturday 17 March, the 1st team travelled to Rendcomb School to defend their title as National Small Schools Lacrosse champions.

In some bracing, snowy and very testing conditions, the team eased through the first few games, defending well and scoring some nice individual and team goals. The games soon became tougher as injuries and fatigue began to mount and St George’s lost to the hosts, Rendcomb, in the round robin stage of the event, 4-1.

This gave the team a semi-final against Denston. Scoring early on, the team managed to keep possession of the ball and run the clock down to progress through to the final.

Waiting for them from the previous semi-final was Rendcomb once again. In a tight match, St George’s had a goal disallowed and then swiftly followed with a goal to take a 1-0 lead. The final hooter sounded early and so as they celebrated their win, the players were told that they still had 4 minutes to play. Rendcomb put a lot of pressure on the team in the final stages of the match, however St George’s held out until the (second) final whistle and were crowned National Small School Champions for the third year in a row.

Well done to all the girls who participated throughout the year and help the squad develop and grow into a team capable of retaining this title.

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Abbots Hill Lacrosse Tournament

National Schools Lacrosse Tournament

On Saturday 24th February, the U12 and U13 lacrosse teams competed in the Abbots Hill Tournament. Both age groups were split into 2 pools played in a round-robin format. The competition was tough, but even the cold weather wasn't enough to dampen our girls' spirits.

The National Schools Tournament, rearranged due to the poor weather, took place over the exeat weekend at Wycombe Abbey School. St George's had a very tough draw on day 1, playing the defending champions and several of the larger schools.

The players approached each game with a positive mindset, and despite defending for long periods of each game, the day saw some of the best lacrosse the team have played all season.

Commitment, communication and teamwork were all shown as the team worked hard throughout day one. Several fast breaks were created and scored and the team were looking forward to playing in division two the following day.

The U12s had a tough start against the eventual winners but bounced back to put in some very admirable performances.

They worked exceptionally hard in defence to limit the attempts on goal from the other teams. Their passing play was good and their tactical awareness improved throughout the day.

The U13s showed dogged determination in every game, only narrowly losing to some very strong sides. Their positional play was impressive and marked a great improvement from the start of the season. In attack, the girls kept pressing to score and the defence worked tirelessly to turn over possession.

Unfortunately, as the team warmed up for their first match on day two, news filtered through that due to heavy rain the tournament would be cancelled and only the championship was going to be played. In addition, the U13s was called off due to poor weather and, despite being rescheduled the U15s was eventually cancelled in the second bout of snow.

All the girls thoroughly enjoyed the tournament and displayed tremendous hard work and determination on what was a hugely demanding day.

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U13 Netball

1st Team Fast Net Netball

On Tuesday 6 March the U13 netball teams competed in the Ascot School’s Netball Tournament.

On Wednesday 14 March, the 1st team entered The Abbey’s Fast Net Tournament. In Fast Net Netball, you can shoot outside the circle to score double points, each also selects one quarter to be the "Power Play" meaning every point scored during the selected quarter is worth double points.

The U13B team faced some tough matches in their pool but fought hard throughout. Good movement on the court was

by Milly H and Imogen H and some great defensive work was displayed throughout. The B team placed 5th in their group displaying tremendous grit and determination as they continued battling until the final whistle.

The A team also faced some tough opposition in their group and also showed some excellent timing and passing into the circle.

The girls worked well together and were strong defensively.

The team finished A tremendous 3rd place overall, which points towards a bright the future in store for SGA netball.

All girls played exceptionally well but special mentions go to Ruby W and Milly H for their terrific performances on the day.

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The girls started off strong with an excellent match against The Abbey, winning 10-8. They then faced the eventual winners of the group, Queen Anne’s. This was a tougher match but the girls remained positive throughout. They then won their final match of the group meaning they were through to the semi-final.

The semi-final was against Downe House, and despite some excellent movement on court, the final score was 9-18. Special mention must go to Iona W who scored a 4 pointer in every match, by scoring from outside the circle during our power play, with excellent accuracy!

House Volleyball The last Monday of term is traditionally marked with the House Lacrosse Tournament. This year however, snowfall on 19 March and water logged lacrosse pitches forced us to seek an alternative inter-house activity to keep the House spirit, competition and enthusiasm channeled. House Volleyball was born!

All four houses had an A and B team in both the senior and junior age groups and the Sports Hall came alive with colour, volleys, digs and laughter. Teams cheering from the balcony and players encouraging each other on the court. A few reminders of the rules were required but the girls adapted brilliantly. There were some extremely close matches with the Senior B teams all finishing on exactly the same number of points. It was a great atmosphere and the overall results were as follows: 1st Place - D House, Joint 2nd Place - B and C House 4th Place - A House.

Sport Relief 2018 Sport Relief is all about getting pupils feeling good while they do some good, and this year’s Sport Relief theme is ‘Whatever Moves You’. In support of this initiative, girls and staff participated in a range of sporting activities to raise money including, fancy dress, a House dodgeball competition, a volleyball match in which the staff took on the pupils and a mufti day.

The dodgeball competition was held within Houses in each year group with Becket House finishing top overall, Churchill coming in a close second, Darwin third and Alexander finishing in fourth position. The Sixth Form took on the Staff in a volleyball match, the staff team were dominant and ran out 3-0 winners, although the Sixth Form improved over the 3 games and came within 4 points of winning in the final game. Finally, the Sport Relief inspired Mufti Day allowed the girls the opportunity to dress up as their sporting hero’s. There were some fantastic outfits, particularly from the First and Second Years.

At the time of ‘going to press’ total funds raised at St George’s were still being counted. Should you wish to donate, please go to: https://secure.donate.comicrelief.com

British Schools National Judo Championships Many congratulations to Farah, who recently competed at the British Schools National Judo Championships in Sheffield having qualified with a gold and silver medal at the Regional round held in November. Farah has recently moved up the gradings to a much higher level and narrowly missed out in the Fourth round of the competition. We are very impressed with her commitment and determination and feel sure she will continue to thrive with more experience in her new category. Well done Farah!

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A Warm Welcome

Meet Our New Director of Sport Mrs Alison Earnshaw-Punnett What did you do before St George’s?

I was Head of Lacrosse at Walthamstow Hall, Sevenoaks and St Catherine’s Bramley, and have been a PE teacher for 13 years. Before that I was Financial Markets Training Manager at Reuters in London for 11 years. I have been involved in lacrosse coaching for 25 years so took the opportunity after my children were born to switch careers to pursue my passion, teaching PE!

What’s your biggest sporting achievement?

I have two types of sporting achievement – as a player/performer and as a coach and both are equally important to me. As a lacrosse player, I competed at junior and senior regional level for South, North and East of England and once I stopped playing, I took up British Military Fitness and Crossfit and competed in a number of adventure races (which involve running, cycling and kayaking!). I have run the London Marathon, competed in a sprint triathlon and am now focusing my attention on Kettlebell Sport.

As a coach, I have had National Lacrosse wins with my U15s at Walthamstow Hall and most recently have won back to back Nationals with my U19B at St Catherine’s. Our win at Rendcomb College this last weekend was very special as well very, very cold!

Describe yourself in three words?

Positive, encouraging, approachable

What attracted you to this role at St George’s?

Having learnt a great deal at St Catherine’s, I am really keen to go back to a smaller school where I can focus on participation as well as performance. I like the ethos at St George’s and I like the way the girls compete with such heart and energy and represent their school with pride. These are the kinds of girls I want to work with! I enjoy the fact that you can get to know girls very well in a small school environment – this helps you understand what motivates them - and that each girl can access a range of sporting opportunities to help her discover her talents. I also think St George’s girls know how to have fun and I am looking forward to working in this environment.

How will you encourage all girls to participate fully in sport?

For me the secret of encouraging all girls to not only get involved in sport, but also to want to get involved, is building confidence. I am keen to help girls discover their own strengths and natural abilities and to find an activity or sport that suits them and inspires them.

Confidence comes when girls know that they can complete a skill or movement, can see their improvement and therefore believe that they can be successful. Our challenge as PE teachers is to give girls a positive experience, to make PE fun but purposeful, and to help all girls understand how to improve their movement and mobility so that they can get the best out of their opportunities to physically active. There is a sport or activity out there for everyone and our mission is to help girls find the one for them!

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Who do you perceive to be good ambassadors for girls sport?

Women are not always fully represented in the media and it can be difficult for girls to be aware of the leading figures in women’s sport. I would like to promote female role models in sport so that girls can take inspiration from them and use them to guide their own sporting aspirations. I asked my youngest daughter Millie, who is 18, who inspires her and she said Katarina Johnson-Thompson. She chose Katarina because of her perseverance and her ability to pick herself from numerous disappointments at international level and to come back and win the recent Indoor World Championships in the Hepthalon. I am continually inspired by our Parathletes who do not let anything hold them back from competing in their sport. Male or female, they are inspirations to us all.

I also think that girls are inspired by their peers or older pupils in their school, and watching the progress and success of senior players and athletes can encourage girls to follow in their footsteps more readily as they can relate to the path they have taken. I am really keen to encourage St George’s senior girls to work closely with the younger girls to offer them support, guidance and inspiration.

How do you relax in your spare time?

Having just finished a full lacrosse season, spare time has been a rarity! But when I do have some free time, I like to exercise, work on my kettlebell technique and go out on my mountain bike. My oldest daughter is at Exeter Uni so I look forward to the holidays when I can catch up with her and the rest of my family. I also seem to spend some of my free time coaching lacrosse – either at Wales Academy or on holiday camps - so lacrosse usually features somewhere!

What are you most excited about in your new role?

Being part of the St George’s community, getting to know the girls (as that is the favourite part of my job), finding out what motivates them and driving their progress in physical movement. I’m also looking forward to getting involved in school events outside PE.

International Women’s Day St George’s marked International Women’s Day on Thursday 8 March in a number of ways. Earlier in that week, Mr Hoar gave an assembly concerning the representation of women in mainstream cinema and the frequent absence of females in lead roles underlined by the widespread failure of films to pass the Bechtel Test. At this point Helen, the Charities Prefect, took over and highlighted to the girls the issue of Period Poverty. This blights the educational experience of many young women in the United Kingdom and globally who are often forced to choose between spending money on sanitary products or other vital necessities and even missing out on days at school.

On International Women’s Day itself, the girls added a splash of colour to their school uniform and brought in sanitary products or donations which will be given to a local food bank for distribution.

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+44 (01344) 629900 | @SGA_Head @StGeorgesAscot St George's School, Ascot Berkshire SL5 7DZ | @SGA_Boarding @SGA_Academic @SGA_TheArts office@stgeorges-ascot.org.uk | www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk | @SGA_Sport @SGA_Library @SGA_Sixthform