eNews Issue 82, Friday 22 November 2013
American University Tour 2013
On the first Saturday of half-term, the Upper Sixth History students along with Mr Sharkey and Miss Jackson made their way to Washington DC. After a long journey we arrived in America in the early evening. Despite being exhausted, we went to the Hard Rock CafĂŠ where we all enjoyed our fifth meal of that day! Continued ...
Rising early due to the time difference, a few of us went for a run on the brisk Sunday morning and watched the sunrise over the capitol building, which was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. The day was filled with sightseeing and a visit to the Smithsonian museum. We walked the full length of the mall and visited the Korean and Vietnam War memorials. After lunch in the National History Museum, we were allowed the afternoon for museums and a bit of shopping.
On Monday, we made our way to colonial Williamsburg and to the College of William and Mary where we were to study. It took 3 hours on the train but it gave us a chance to prepare for the week ahead. When we arrived, we had a lovely, but very big meal in the college deli. The food portions defeated us all and not one single person finished! The week was followed by a series of extremely useful and interesting lectures to help us with our coursework and also to broaden our knowledge of history and university life. An old St George’s girl who was studying there, along with her friends, showed us around the university. They took us to an a cappella singing concert, which was great fun. We were also given access to the Swem Library, which gave us an excellent opportunity to research information and sources for our coursework. We enjoyed a live witch trial, which was great fun, and most of the girls managed to take part as part of the jury! We also visited Jamestown, the original settlement, and then Yorktown where it all ended. This was extremely useful and it pieced our coursework together. We also visited a reconstruction of Williamsburg in the 17-18th century; it was amazing to be able to ask people questions and to get a feel for how life would have been. On Saturday we had free time. We used this to visit the outlet mall where we spent the morning, and in the afternoon we were lucky enough to attend the home coming football game. We cheered on the college team, despite having no idea what was going on. We returned exhausted and full of knowledge and food! It was an amazing trip. We are so lucky to have the opportunity to use the library and to attend the lectures, but also to get a taste of university life. I would highly recommend it to any girl, not only the History students. Lucy Sedgwick 6A
Chapel Choir sing at St Paul's
On Monday 4 November, the Chapel Choir had the immense honour of being invited to sing Evensong at one of the world's most famous cathedrals; St Paul's in London. The Choir spent the afternoon rehearsing in this most spectacular location, before singing to a large congregation gathered for the daily office. The girls rose to occasion superbly and sang beautifully. Well done to all the girls for representing St George's so well yet again.
ADITYA CHAKRABORTTY On Tuesday 19 November, we were very pleased to welcome Aditya Chakrabortty, the Lead Economics Writer for The Guardian to St George's. Mr Chakrabortty joined staff and Sixth Form Economics students for an informal supper where girls had the opportunity to discuss current economic affairs with our guest. At 7.30pm the economists were joined by other members of the school, as well as parents and pupils from several other local schools, for a fascinating talk on Globalisation with a particular focus on how Apple operates as a company. Mr Chakrabortty contacted us after the talk to say how impressed he was with the girls, particularly their pertinent questions. It was an excellent evening and our thanks go to Mr Verma for organising the event.
Fireworks Display Fireworks
Thank you to all the parents, girls and staff who made the Fireworks Display such a great event on Friday 8 November. The stalls were bigger and better than ever and the hog roast and mulled wine were a definite hit! We were incredibly lucky with the weather too!
Reading Hebrew Congregation
Outstanding Music Results The London College of Music Musical Theatre Examinations took place this week and St George's girls have received an absolutely superb set of results, with every girl being awarded either a Merit or Distinction - the two highest bands possible. Very special mentions go to Eliza Ballin (5Y) who was awarded a Distinction for Grade VIII, Katherine Gibb (5Y) who was awarded a Distinction for Grade VII with 92 out of a possible 100 and to Camelia JoelDavison (2X) and Catherine Sedgwick (2X) who both scored over 90 in grades III and II respectively. These results are a testament to the dedication and commitment shown by the girls. Well done! Name
On Tuesday 12 November, the Second Year went to the Reading Hebrew Congregation, also known as Reading Synagogue. We arrived at the Synagogue and as we entered they had amazing stained glass windows with fruits on them because they are not meant to worship idols so instead they had fruits on the windows. It was very beautiful. Then the Rabbi came and met us. We had lots of questions and he answered them all and that was very helpful. Then the Rabbi put on the clothes he would have on for a ceremony. He talked us through an Orthodox ceremony and told us why women had to sit up at the balcony; it was because the women would distract the men through prayer. Next, the Rabbi showed us the ark where they keep precious scrolls. The scrolls were beautiful and were very well kept. Then we split up into groups and we had a guide who took us into a room with all different types of Jewish celebrations. First we had a look at a table prepared for Shabbat. Our guide talked about Shabbat and we learnt a lot. Then there were many other activities which our guide explained and finally they prepared little plates of Jewish food which we all got to try. It was a great experience. Alice Hayward 2X
Grade
Result
Catherine Sedgwick
2
Distinction
Ruby Winter
2
Merit
Camelia Joel-Davison
3
Distinction
Claire Fifield
3
Merit
Chantal Humphreys
4
Merit
Chloe Horswell
4
Merit
Grace Wiszowaty
4
Distinction
Holly Fanning
4
Merit
Imogen Sandford
4
Merit
Leila Bennett
4
Distinction
Sophia Lyons
4
Distinction
Katherine Gibb
7
Distinction
Eliza Ballin
8
Distinction
Music Parents' Evening As is tradition, on Thursday 7 November, parents were invited to meet the visiting music teachers for an informal parents' evening before girls gave a wonderful recital of solo works culminating in the first outing for the First Year Choir! Thank you to all girls for a lovely evening of music.
Senior Mathematics Challenge Results
Richard II comes to St George's!
Congratulations to the following girls who took part in the UK Senior Mathematics Challenge this term. Special mentions go to Marija Dacic (6A) who was awarded a Silver Medal and best in year for the Upper Sixth and to Gina Clare (6B) who was also awarded a Silver Medal as well as best in Lower Sixth and took the top spot of Best in School. Both Marija and Gina were also within 4 points of receiving a Gold medal. Year 13 Marija Dacic Yeming Li Kai Rui Zhen Linh Pham Phuong Jiaxun Yang
Silver (Best in Year) Silver Bronze Bronze Bronze
Year 12 Gina Clare Lu Lu Klara Barisic Suzanne Pritchard Anna Blackburn Angela Liao
Silver (Best in Year, Best in School) Silver Silver Bronze Bronze Bronze
On Friday 15 November, A Level English students had the amazing opportunity to see a broadcast, in the Cormack Hall, of Shakespeare's 'Richard II' live from the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. The eponymous character was played by David Tennant and has received rave reviews. The venture was part of the RSC Live project which screens live theatre in cinemas around the country - on this occasion schools were given the chance to screen the play in their own schools and we jumped at it! The girls and the English department thoroughly enjoyed seeing the play and we hope that the RSC will continue with this most exciting project.
Stage Combat Workshop
Resident Artist Exhibitions
The cast of the upcoming production of 'Tales of Woe' (a double bill production of an abridged 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'After Juliet', a play that explores the fall out after Romeo and Juliet die) had a wonderful evening learning how to fight on stage with a professional stage combat tutor. After a general masterclass for the whole cast, each fight scene was then carefully choreographed for the play. The girls worked very hard and learnt a huge amount in the evening. Do make sure that you come to see the play which will take place on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 December at 7.30pm in the Sue Cormack Hall. No tickets are required.
Our Resident Artists will be displaying some of their work in the South Lawn Room from Monday 2 - Sunday 8 December. There will be a private viewing on Monday 2 December from 6.00-9.00pm. Why not make an evening of it and visit the Art Exhibition before watching 'Tales of Woe' in the Cormack Hall at 7.30pm! The RTs statements are below describing their work. Holly Rozier: Manipulation and transformation of the body is the main focus of my work. My chosen field of practice is soft sculpture, as it allows me to create voluptuous, fleshy forms that remain malleable and tactile. Exploring the juxtaposition between beauty and the grotesque, using luxurious embellished fabrics against crudely stuffed tights, my work has the ability to attract and repel simultaneously. Frances Daws: I use painting as a way of reconstructing my experience with landscape. Through an abstracted terminology of ‘mapping’, I create intuitive abstract paintings based on a sense of a place and a response to me being in that space. I find it integral to construct work based on the interaction of colour relationships found within nature. I use deliberate form and ‘signs’ to force the way my work is viewed, essentially guiding you around a painting. This makes reference the many imposed directions we are given through signage maps and roads. In effect we are all tourists. Personally, through these devices I have become to understand how temporarily I am in a place, moving consistently like the horizon, leaving no physical marks of where I have been, but collecting and archiving all I can until I next move on.
Christmas Boxes Appeal 2013 Christmas Cards
Coronation Arch
Girls in the Fifth Year will be selling St George's Christmas Cards in aid of READS School in India. The cards are limited edition and feature a stunning picture of the school in snow, so get your orders in soon!
Congratulations to Victoria Rayner (5Y) who has been awarded a certificate for her work volunteering with the Royal Windsor Rose and Horticultural Society in building the Coronation Arch, a floral art installation in honour of the Society's patron, HM the Queen.
The Starbucks Story Carol Wise, Starbucks interim Managing Director UK delivered an inspiring talk last Friday at the Castle Hotel Windsor. The fifty guests listened intently to Carol and we were allowed to share with her a journey, which although not meteoric was fascinating, real and attainable. Sixth Form pupils from Windsor Girls’ School, St Mary’s Ascot and St George’s Ascot joined the guests to hear her speak and they left feeling able to take on the world.
5 Minutes with the
Geography Club!
In Geography Club we’ve been watching the movie ‘Ice Age’ and discussing it at the end. We talked about the glaciers and the effect the Ice Age had on all the living inhabitants. Also we have been doing a 1000 piece world map puzzle (which still isn’t finished!). In one session we did Geography word searches, and played with the inflatable globe, finding all the global locations. We are currently watching ‘The Impossible’, which is a true story about the tsunami in Thailand and the effects it had on one family. Once we finish ‘The Impossible’ we are moving on to make model volcanos! Georgia O’Brien 3Y If you want to join in, please see Miss Cartlidge!
National Poetry Day The English Department held a Poetry Competition in response to National Poetry Day in October. The topic was water, and the girls were invited to submit a poem on anything that the word conjured up for them. The girls submitted some delightful poems, and there were three particularly interesting ones from senior girls. Special mentions go to Sarah Ireland (5Z) and Alisa Efremova (5X), but the senior prize winner was Catharina Caspers (5X) and the Junior Prize winner, Ruth Taviansky (2X) Well done to all who entered.
The Sound of Rain How do you describe the sound of rain? An expression of your pain? The thing that keeps you sane? As it drips down the drain, does your sadness melt away, so only sunlight remains? Or does it fill you with a quiet madness, A restless desire that you hardly refrain? Or does the soft pitter patter, leave you feeling like you don’t matter? Rain can be beautiful, Or grey and dull, Rain can be strong, or a slow song, Rain can be hard or soft, And as I sit in the loft, Watching drops roll down a window pane, I think about the sound of rain, Once again.
Water Blue as the skies As the sun rises To see its reflections. Drip, drop, the rain falls Landing in watery silks. The sky clears and a rainbow forms. The waves splash, The hot sun burns As the sea cools. As the cool clear water moves Crashing on the shores It flows onwards.
Ruth Taviansky
Catharina Caspers
Boarding Life The Boarders had a fantastic time last weekend at Paint-a-Plate!
Blitz & the Ritz
A House Party Saturday 9 November 2013
C House Party Saturday 16 November 2013
Swingin Sixties!
HOUSE NETBALL 2013
Unfortunately, a wet and windy day forced House Netball to take place in the Sports Hall which limited each house to only one junior and one senior team. However, this did not dampen the spirits of the players and the games were played in a very competitive and determined manner. Both Becket and Churchill House came out of the blocks quickly in the senior event and with Darwin leading the way for the juniors it all looked good for a close tournament. Mrs Collingwood and Miss Spencer ensured that the play stayed within the rules of the game and kept the tournament moving swiftly. Plenty of team talks were heard off court and strategies were put in place to try and beat their opponents. The senior competition came down to the last game with Becket and Churchill battling it out to become champions. Churchill were last year’s champions but Becket got their tactics right gaining revenge on them this year. At the end of the tournament Becket won the senior tournament and Darwin the junior. Congratulations go to Becket House senior team for being the only unbeaten team in the tournament. Miss Lofthouse | Director of Sport
Congratulations to B House: Champions 2013
U12 South East Berkshire Plate Winners
On Wednesday 13 November, the U12A team performed in the South East Berkshire Tournament in the Plate Section. The U12 team played Luckley House in their opening match of the tournament. After only a few seconds Annabel Cunningham had her first opportunity to shoot and scored a great goal allowing the rest of the team to calm down and relax a bit. This was followed by accurate passing down court and good spacing out of our players. The final score was a resounding 4-0 victory to us. After a quick team talk explaining that everyone should run forward until the ball is in their hands, to keep dodging in to space and a reminder to both of our shooters to jump for the rebounds we went to play Garth Hill B Team. Straight away we took command of the match and our mid-court players; Hannah Schick, Ellie Pusey, Alice Winchester and Anna Ewens kept intercepting passes and moving the ball to our shooters in the goal circle. Annabel and Sophie Griffin who was gaining in confidence worked well together moving forward in the confines of the goal circle to score five goals giving us an impressive 5-0 win. Our next match was against the Holt B team. Here, Lily Jones our Goal Keeper became more involved, with the ball reaching our defending third on a number of occasions. Working closely with Hannah both girls managed to stop the opposition from scoring and the final score was a 2-0 win to us. Next came Heathfield and by this point we were confident and catching the ball well despite the cold conditions. The opposition
had a couple of strong key players who kept managing to intercept our passes but both Tejasvi Muvvala and Hannah in defence kept them from scoring. Once the ball reached our goal circle both Annabel and Sophie performed their job well with the final score a 3-0 victory to us. Our last match in this group was versus LVS and at this point the girls realised that a win here would put them through to the Plate competition final. With great determination and concentration all the girls worked very well together and scored a well deserved 6-0 win. This meant we faced the winner of the second Plate group who were Garth Hill A team. Having beaten their B team by five goals in our section we knew we had a chance. After a tense first few minutes Annabel scored the first goal and then it was a case of keeping possession and not letting them score. Once another goal went in giving us a 2-0 lead we knew we were almost there and all the girls cheered excitedly when the final whistle blew. Now they were the Plate Competition winners! Overall, the girls really gained in confidence throughout the tournament and have gelled well as a team. This experience has taught them an enormous amount and given the whole team the boost they needed. Mentions go to Alice Winchester, Annabel Cunningham and their captain Hannah Schick.
West Counties Lacrosse Tournament
After attending trials, and extensive training sessions, several girls from St George's represented Berkshire in Lacrosse and competed in the West Counties Tournament on Friday 8 November. The girls did exceptionally well. Anna Mason and Octavia Mason played on the U19B team and placed first in their bracket. Esme French played on the U15A team and placed third in her bracket. Rosie Fisher, Emily Hughes, and Stephanie Bankole played for the U15B team and placed first in their bracket. This is a huge accomplishment for the girls individually, for St George's, and for Berkshire County. All of the girls played well and represented St George's with a great attitude and ability during a day of competitive lacrosse. Well done girls!
Tickets for the annual Parent Association
Christmas Raffle on sale now! Prizes include two 'Teen' Hampers and one bumper Family Hamper! Tickets cost 50p and are on sale from the Front Office.
Professor Carolyn Muessig (University of Bristol) will be delivering a talk on
Visionary Women 7.25pm on
Wednesday, 27th November in the
CHAPEL All Are Extremely Welcome. Please see Mrs Magill for more information.
Young Enterprise
Dragons ’ Den Thursday 28 November 2013 7.30pm in the Cormack Hall Open to Girls in All Years Come and see the St George’s Young Enterprise Teams pitching their business ideas to our governors to win real cash for their companies.
Tales of Woe a Double bill of an abriDgeD
romeo & JulieT anD
afTer JulieT monDay 2 & TuesDay 3 December 2013 aT 7.30pm in The cormack hall all are Welcome, no TickeTs requireD
Looking Forward... Monday 25 & Tuesday 26 November 2013 Drama A2 Devised Performance 7.30pm, Sue Cormack Hall
Monday 2 & Tuesday 3 December 2013 Tales of Woe 7.30pm, Sue Cormack Hall
Tuesday 26 November 2013 Compline, 9.00pm, Chapel
Saturday 7 December 2013 B House Party, 7.00pm
Thursday 28 November 2013 Young Enterprise Dragons' Den 7.30pm, Sue Cormack Hall
Monday 9 December 2013 First Year Pantomime 7.30pm, Sue Cormack Hall
Friday 29 November 2013 Fifth Year Candlelit Supper 7.00pm, SLR
Tuesday 10 December 2013 Christmas Dinner, 7.00pm
Saturday 30 November 2013 D House Party, 7.00pm Sunday 1 December 2013 Advent Service followed by Mulled Wine & Mince Pies 7.15pm, Chapel
Wednesday 11 December 2013 Carol Service 11.30am, Windsor Parish Church Term Ends after the Carol Service
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