St George's Ascot, eNews winter 2016 issue

eNews @stgeorgesascot

Issue 104, Winter 2016

/stgeorgesascot

Christmas Carol Service Windsor Parish Church was once again the backdrop which brought a Christmas sparkle to our traditional end of term festive Carol Service, held this year on Friday 16 December.

Friends and visitors were warmly welcomed to the church for an enchanting afternoon of candlelit carols sung by the Chapel Choir and First Year Choir. This festive occasion encompassed an atmospheric performance of carols, old and new, traditional and modern, interspersed with advent readings from Reverend Sistig, the girls and Mrs Hewer.

The Retiring Collection this year raised over £440 for The Church of England's Children's Society which helps vulnerable children. We would like to thank Mr Hillier and Miss Mason for organising the music, Mr Carroll for preparing the readers, and Reverend Sistig for leading the readings on the day. Of course special thanks to the girls for entertaining us with their lovely voices!

From The Headmistress I can hardly believe that it is the end of my first term at St George's. As I look back over the term, it does not seem a moment ago since I stood up in front of the girls and staff for the first assembly in September, yet as this newsletter exemplifies, a great deal has been achieved since then.

I have been delighted to discover for myself that the warmth, care, commitment and aspiration I suspected were characteristic features of St George's are very much part of all that we do here. The girls, staff, parents and governors have made me feel very welcome and have been a great support to me as I have settled into my role. I am particularly proud of the strength of the relationships between everyone in the St George's community, coupled with a collective desire to be the very best we can be in all that we do.

The last week of term has been a whirlwind of colour, carols, crackers and Christmas cheer and the girls have been great company throughout. They will certainly appreciate a good rest, and I am sure they are looking forward to spending quality time with friends and family over the holiday.

With very best wishes for Christmas and the New Year

Mrs Liz Hewer Headmistress

Christmas

Christmas 2016 Christmas Carols at Coworth Park Hotel We were privileged once again that our Chapel Choir were invited to sing festive carols to the guests at Coworth Park Hotel during Afternoon Tea on Thursday, 1 December.

The guests very much enjoyed the girls accomplished performance and the joyful atmosphere; congratulations to Mr Hillier and the girls for yet another stunning performance.

To view more photographs from this event, please visit our website at www.stgeorge-ascot.org.uk

End of Term Awards On Friday 16 December, the whole school community came together to celebrate the achievement of those girls who were presented with awards for the autumn term.

Mrs Hewer presented girls with trophies and certificates for awards including new Chapel Choir members, LAMDA Awards, Music Awards, Sixth Form Scholarships, Effort and Achievement Cups.

Congratulations to all girls who received awards and good luck with your future endeavours!

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Chapel Choir at Coworth Park Hotel

Christmas

Christmas Pullover Power On Thursday, 14 December staff celebrated the festive season and supported ‘Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day’. In exchange for a small donation of £1, Staff donned some very sparkly, colourful (and in some cases utterly tasteless) festive knits to fundraise for Save the Children, who this year are fundraising for children from mid-western Nepal. The funds raised will go towards healthcare, and to educate Nepali children about the dangers of child marriage. The girls voted for the best staff jumper; congratulations to Ms Kennedy our Head Librarian, who won the competition!

Pullover Power - Staff

Christmas Hampers The school Parents’ Association continued their great annual tradition of raffling four lavish family hampers full of the most magnificent Christmas goodies.

Raffle tickets went on sale in November and the winners were drawn at the Christmas Awards on Friday 16 December.

Congratulations to the winners; Ms Townsend, Aimee, Lily, Georgia and Annabel

Pullover Power - Girls

Christmas Dinner and Party On Wednesday 14 December, the whole school community was treated to a superb Christmas dinner, followed by fun festive party to mark the end of term.

As always, the Christmas feast laid on by Mr Cornish and his team was absolutely superb and most gratefully received by all.

Girls and staff also enjoyed the opportunity to come together and celebrate a successful term. After dinner, the girls made their way over to the Sue Cormack Hall where Mr Pearn got the Christmas party started with his superb DJ’ing skills!

Everyone had a lovely festive time!

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Academic

Religious Studies Trip to Reading Synagogue On Tuesday, 8 November girls in the Second Year visited Reading Synagogue to learn about the Jewish faith.

Second Year pupil Carmen commented: “I thought that the RS trip to the synagogue was really good! I have learnt a lot of things such as what Jews eat on the Sabbath Day, where the legend of Hanukkah came from and much more. The people working there were very informative and the food served on the day was especially good; potato cakes, honey cakes, apples, crackers and bread."

Reading Synagogue

Molly remarked: “In my opinion the talk was very interesting and he explained everything very well. The food was tasty and fascinated me. Our guide, Sue, was very good at her job and overall the trip was really intriguing - I would recommend it for the lower years too”.

Spanish Day of The Dead On Tuesday 15 November, we ran a very special Spanish lesson where the Second Years discovered the festival of El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, which takes place on 1 and 2 November in México. The girls listened to a presentation in Spanish about the history behind this custom and the current celebrations. They decorated their own ‘calavera’, a cookie skull and created the traditional decorations of the Ofrendas: garlands, cut paper and flowers. There was also a quiz about the key facts they had discovered. Prizes for the best group effort were given and Lucy, Rosa, and Megan won the best cookie skull prizes though the competition was tough as they were all beautiful! All girls also enjoyed some homemade chocolate skulls, however, we don’t think any of the cookies made it home, as they were devoured at afternoon break!

A Level Spanish Trip On Tuesday, 29 of November, the Upper Sixth Spanish A level students travelled to The Cervantes theatre in Southwark which staged its first play: Blood Wedding. The play by Federico Garcia Lorca is the tale of two families preparing for a wedding marked by their traditions, passions and suppressed past. The girls had just finished studying the play and very much welcomed the opportunity to improve their understanding of the story by watching it.

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Festival of El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead

Academic

Music Classical Spectacular at The Royal Albert Hall On Thursday 17 November, girls from the Fourth & Fifth years, and Sixth Form travelled to London to see Classical Spectacular at The Royal Albert Hall. This trip which was aimed at girls studying music at GCSE and A level, allowed the girls to see music from across all the musical periods performed by inspiring musicians and set to engaging lighting. The girls loved the show which treated them to classic … after classic … after classic!

A Day in the Life at Credit Suisse St George's Sixth Form girls, together with Mrs Obaditch, were delighted to attend the Credit Suisse Modern Muse day at the firm's offices in Canary Wharf on 18 November. The Credit Suisse Modern Muse programme is designed and run by senior directors at the firm and is aimed at encouraging girls into careers in finance. In particular, it seeks to support women in achieving senior roles in banking where there is underrepresentation of women. The day at Credit Suisse was packed with a variety of activities. Students had a tour of the office, including a visit to the trading floor. They learned about the various functions within the bank's operation to explore potential careers paths. A number of interactive activities were carried out during the day including a trading role play game and a branding and marketing challenge.

We would like to thank Old Georgian, Arabella Maguire who is a Director at Credit Suisse for this very kind invitation.

Sixth Form Girls at Canary Wharf

Scholastic Book Fair From Tuesday 8 November until Monday 14 November the Vagliano Library hosted a Scholastic Book Fair. Scholastic are one of the longest standing children’s book publishers. The fair gave the girls the opportunity to browse a selection of specially selected fiction and non-fiction. Throughout the week, the library also ran a creative writing competition with five prizes of £5 vouchers to be won.

The lucky winners were Isabel, Rosa, Jacqueline, Olivia and Beatriz. As a result of hosting the fair, our school library was awarded with over £300 worth of Scholastic books to further expand our collection. During the run up to Christmas, the girls have enjoyed the Twelve Days of Bookmas – a lucky draw competition with a Christmas themed book to be won every school day of December!

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Lectures

Headmistress’ Lecture Headmistress’ Lecture - Natasha Devon The School was delighted to welcome Natasha Devon to give Mrs Hewer’s first Headmistress’ lecture on Thursday 8 December in the Sue Cormack Hall. The first ever government mental health champion for schools gave an inspirational talk to the girls, teachers and parents. She discussed her own experiences of surviving an eating disorder as a teenager and how pupils can learn from this in building resilience and improving their own mental health. Everyone lucky enough to hear Natasha were inspired by her message and challenged in their own perceptions and understanding of the mental health issues confronting so many in society.

Youth Speaks Competition The Youth Speaks Competition, held on 21 November at St George’s, was attended by a number of local schools, parents and Rotarians.

In the Intermediate Competition there was stiff competition from St Mary’s, Charters and Brackenhale. Jacqueline, ably supported by Rosa and Isabel, challenged the audience to think again about what intelligence really was. The judges certainly enjoyed their entry giving them excellent feedback. Although not the eventual winners, there is definitely promise there for future victory. However, the winners of the Intermediate Competition were Olivia (who also gained best speaker – again!), Avah and Solana who were confident, professional and entertaining with their focus on ‘The Evolution of a Teenager’. They now go onto the next round and should do so with confidence.

In the Senior Competition we were ably represented by Lily, Isabella and Tare with their entry ‘The pursuit of happiness ending only in misery’. They spoke very well and were clear in their delivery and as the youngest in the age group this year, will no doubt triumph in the years to come as they showed definite talent.

Katie, Omosigho and Alexandra were also in the senior group and delivered a very challenging talk on ‘Teaching the Teachers’. It provoked much discussion, but again being young in their age group I have no doubt there will be a victory in the future.

The history of St George’s success in this competition will no doubt continue.

Girls receiving their Awards

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Junior Concert On Friday 25 November the First, Second and Third year musicians put on a concert for parents and students in the Chapel. All the girls sang and played with great talent and enthusiasm, and the concert was a treat. There were guitar, piano and flute solos, along with some solo and group songs. Highlights included the song ‘The Owl’ by Peter Jenkyns, ‘Banjo Bill’ on the guitar, a group performance of ‘The Power of Love’ from Isabel, Jacqueline and Matilda, and the first year choir performing ‘Amazing Grace’, ‘The Bare Necessities’ and ‘Somewhere Only We Know’. The concert finished with performers and audience joining together to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Mrs MacPhee!

Music

Music

Autumn Concert On Thursday 10 November, St George’s held a Music School Open Evening followed by the Autumn Concert in the Sue Cormack Hall.

Many girls participated, and the event showcased the diversity and excellence that music at St George’s has to offer. As well as solos from girls in several years, the audience was also treated to performances by the First Year Choir and Chapel Choir.

With pieces ranging from Mozart and Gershwin to the ‘Bear Necessities’, everyone was well entertained and had a wonderful evening. Many thanks to all the girls who took part and to the teachers who led them, especially Mr Hillier for organising this event and who once again showed why music at St George’s is so special.

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Arts

Arts Life at St George's

Drama

First Year Pantomime - Jack and the Beanstalk Our talented First Year girls enjoyed an exciting start to the festive season as they played host to the great British tradition of pantomimes, performing the ancient story of Jack and the Beanstalk to children from a local primary school as well as family and friends.

Pupils from Whitegrove Primary School were invited to a matinee showing of Jack and the Beanstalk directed by St George’s Director in Residence Miss Johnson. The ambitious production was the culmination of an intense four week rehearsal process resulting in a laugh-a-minute performance with upbeat songs and dances, a mind-blowing set and plenty of cow jokes to leave the audience in a good mood for the rest of the Christmas season!

Director in Residence, Miss Johnson commented “This cast has been an absolute pleasure to direct, owing to the commitment and enthusiasm shown by the entire year group. For the majority of the cast, this was their first theatre production at St George's and I am hugely impressed by the incredible talent and confidence among such a young cast. It’s clear that the girls have been studying Pantomime in their drama lessons alongside rehearsals, as their comic timing and ‘over the top’ characterisations were nothing short of wonderful.”

The cast of Jack and the Beanstalk

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Arts

Sport

Sport News U15 SE Berkshire Tournament On a cold Wednesday evening on the 9 November the St Georges’ under 15A and B teams took part in the South East Berkshire Netball Tournament.

The girls played exceptionally well with the under 15A team winning all their matches but one. They then went on to play in the Cup where they made it to the semi-final. They faced tough opposition but persevered and achieved 4th place out of the 21 teams who attended the tournament. Special mentions go to Ally and Grace.

The Under 15B team faced difficult opposition but played really well, winning one of their matches. The results from the girls’ other matches really didn’t reflect their strength of play. Mentions go to Louisa and Lily. Overall both teams played very well and the girls should be very proud of themselves.

Under 15s Team

U12 SE Berkshire Tournament On Tuesday 22 November the U12A and B team played in their first South East Berkshire Netball tournament. The B team faced some tough opposition but worked well as a team. Their strongest match was against Maiden Erleigh who they beat 1-0.

Special mention goes to Amira for her excellent ‘dodging’. The A team also faced some tough opposition in the group stage but managed to win their matches against St. Marys B, Waingels, Holt C, The Marist B. They also drew against Dolphin which was an excellent result. These strong results in the group stage meant that they came 2nd in the group and got through to the play offs.

Overall the A team came 5th out of 21 schools.

Under 12s Team

Winter Term Lacrosse Round-Up The lacrosse teams have had a positive start to the year. The school hosted a coaching clinic for all the teams in mid-September, with current international players from Wales coming in to school and coaching the squads. The girls gained a lot from listening to high level players and enjoyed the day immensely.

Many of the girls have been committed to playing every weekend and representing the school in matches, with some fantastic results for all the teams.

St George’s also hosted the county trials this year, where Emily Hughes was selected to play for the County B team. Emily had a successful tournament and helped her team win the B team tournament at the South West counties tournament.

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Activities enjoyed by our boarders this term have included a trip to the Savill Garden Art Sculpture Exhibition, a trip to the Windsor Christmas Gift Fair, making Christmas decorations and a fun filled evening at Hyde Park’s, Winter Wonderland

Boarding

Boarding Life

Boarding Taster Night On Friday 2 December we welcomed ten very excited Year 6 girls for a festive themed Boarding Taster Night! On arrival the girls were delighted to be given ‘St George’s VIP Sleepover Kits’ before being taken to their dormitories to settle in.

The Markham House staff and First Year Boarders made Christmas decorations, decorated reindeer cupcakes before pulling on their pyjamas and coming down to the Front Hall to decorate the Christmas tree in front of an open fire. After a lot of chatter in the dormitories, the girls woke early to a hearty St George’s style breakfast before setting off on a treasure hunt. There was barely time to enjoy a slice of chocolate birthday cake before the girls’ parents arrived to collect them late morning.

We loved hosting the girls and look forward to welcoming them back to St George’s very soon.

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Houses

Houses House Drama On Tuesday 13 December the House Drama competition took place. Girls from Alexander, Becket, Churchill and Darwin Houses competed with fantastic energy and imagination to perform Drama pieces for fellow pupils and staff, with the aim to win this year's contest. Well done to Becket House for winning the 2016 House Drama Cup!

House Drama Competitors

House Netball On Friday 16th December, each House competed for the House Netball winning spot. There was healthy competition between the girls leading up to the end of term. The overall winners were Becket House with Churchill house coming in close second place. Well done to all the girls who competed!

Results Juniors

Seniors

Overall

1st Becket

25 1st Becket

26 1st Becket

51

2nd Alexander

16 2nd Churchill

19 2nd Churchill

33

3rd Churchill

14 3rd Darwin

18 3rd Darwin

29

4th Darwin

11 4th Alexander

3

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4th Alexander

Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Mr Moran and Miss Mason challenged the Bronze level DofE participants to a ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ competition! Girls were given the challenge of cooking a two course meal on a trangia!

The winning meals, judged by Mr Carroll, Mr Lee, and Mr Moran, and were judged on use of ingredients, edibility, presentation and creativity. It was lovely to see some of the past Golds DofE girls helping out with the younger girls.

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Fireworks Display On Friday 11 November, St George’s hosted its annual fireworks night. Boarders, day girls, parents and staff came down to enjoy the delicious hog roast and mulled wine, and support the many stalls that had been set up and run by our Young Enterprise groups. The fireworks themselves were spectacular as always, and were greeted with a round of applause by everyone.

Community

Community

The Sky Has No Limits For Helina Many congratulations to Helina in the Fourth Year who is working really hard and putting in long hours outside of school to achieve her goals. Helina who is part of the 459 Squadron Windsor Royal Airforce Cadets, has been flying aircraft, taking part in outdoor tactical leadership training and participated in the November remembrance parade. Well done!

Staff Festive Football Match On Monday 6 December, the teaching staff took on the support staff, in a friendly festive football match.

Mr Naeem, who had promoted himself to Captain (for no obvious reason), felt confident that this year would be the year that the teacher’s would be victorious!

This was a fantastic opportunity for camaraderie and friendship in true St. Georgian style; great display of skills shown by Mr Skinner’s team who were the better side on this occasion.

The girls in the viewing gallery were generous and vocal in their support for both teams and greatly enjoyed the match. We look forward to a re-match in 2017!

The teaching staff revealed their secret weapon, Mrs Hewer, who played in mid-field, making frequent raids on the oppositions’ goal. Some very foul, fouling ensued in a vigorous, heated but generally friendly first half. With Mr Wright in goal, St George’s had never seen a fitter, more able and competent goal keeper in its entire history! The first half saw support staff team, led by Mr Skinner, leading 7 – 1. The game ended 10 – 6 when the final whistle was blown, and with it, another defeat for the highly-talented teachers’ team.

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Community

Community Parent Association Quiz Night On Friday 18 November, the St George’s Parents Association held their Quiz Night.

The quiz started with a selection of cryptic clues that left many baffled as they tried to decipher the cities they referred to, before moving on to each round. The music through the decades left many of the girls scratching their heads, having never heard of Mungo Jerry, but Mr Pearn was on hand to lend a few suggestions.

The competition certainly hotted up as the evening progressed and the teams jostled for the top spot with much good natured heckling between the teachers, parents and students. There was a stand-off between Mrs Simpson and the Sixth Formers as they competed for chocolate in a game of Heads and Tails – Mrs Simpson’s nerve held as she walked away with the prize.

Amongst the tables of parents and teachers were sixth formers and a small table of third year girls who had braved the questions on the night. They were well rewarded; the ‘Flying Buffaloes’ as they were named won a large pack of chocolates for having the best name.

The Quiz Master also handed out prizes to the Lower Sixth girls for their vocal enthusiasm and enjoyment. However, despite spending much of the night in first place, SS Lappers were pipped to the post in the last round by Knights of the Round Table who ended up winning the top prize – Top Shop vouchers. These vouchers were promptly donated by the winning parents to some of the younger girls and were gratefully received.

The Parents Association Quiz Night was an enjoyable and fun evening. Thank you to all the parents and girls who came along to support the event – and a special thank you to Petra Hardie who worked so hard to make the evening happen and everyone who helped. The next Parents Association event will be a Ball – watch this space for more details!

Bath Christmas Markets

Christmas Markets On Saturday 3 December the Lower Sixth with Mr Wright and Mr Carroll visited the Bath Christmas market.

After a long journey we arrived and found the market to be beautiful and very festive. The stalls had an array of different products from brownies to Christmas lanterns. The atmosphere was wonderful although it was very crowded! After lunch at a Nepalese restaurant, a few girls went on the tour bus which passed the famous Roman baths before arriving back in the city centre. As well as visiting the market the girls popped into Primark to stock up on Christmas pyjamas, socks and light up Christmas tree earrings.

After a couple of hours in the market buying treats and gifts we enjoyed the last few hours of the day ice skating! Mr Carroll accompanied us which resulted in an ice-skating race, snowball fight and many tumbles. Mr Carroll was also the camera man for the girls’ mannequin challenge in the middle of the ice rink. Just as we were about to leave we all lined up for a photo in which Izzy was so keen to be involved she crashed into Charlie causing a domino effect to occur! We all bought hot chocolates for the long journey home.

We thoroughly enjoyed the trip and it was the perfect way to start Christmas.

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Charlotte, Sixth Form

Admissions Day The prospective First Year cohort for September 2017 visited St George’s on Saturday 19 November to meet staff and share a taste of lessons St George’s style!

The girls had a fun day with taster lessons of Science, Religious Studies and English. After a hearty lunch they were treated to an energetic Zumba session. The day was great success and we are thrilled to report that we have a record number of girls sitting our entrance examinations in January. We look forward to welcoming the girls into our community next year.

Should you wish to view St George’s, you are warmly invited to attend our next Open Morning which will be hosted on Friday 24 February at 9.00am.

To book your attendance, please email: admissions@stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

Taster Lessons

Independent Schools Show The Independent Schools Show held in London is arguably the largest forum for parents to meet the biggest name in British education and St George’s was very proud to attend this event for the tenth year running and meet a large number of prospective families.

The leading schools, the brightest thinkers and most respected Heads gather for the world’s biggest Open Day. This year, Mrs Hewer was privileged to be invited to participate in a public debate with Sarah Thomas, Headmistress of Bryanston School in the popular Education Theatre about the pros and cons of co-ed education. Mrs Hewer, and Sarah Thomas guided the audience through the key considerations to help parents choose what is right for their son or daughter.

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Christmas Card Competition Christmas Card Design Competition Congratulations to Karina in the Lower Sixth, for designing the official 2016 St George’s Christmas card. Thank you also to all of the girls who submitted an entry!

Wishing you a MerryChristmas and a Happy New Year

from all at St George's School, Ascot Samaritan's Purse - Operation Christmas Child This year, the whole school once again supported the Samaritan's Purse 'Operation Christmas Child' campaign. Girls from all years filled a shoebox with gifts for underprivileged children, which included toys, toiletries, stationery and clothes. The school filled an impressive number of boxes again this year with Isabella in the First Year very generously filling five!

SHOC - Serena Hall, Slough The whole school have, once again, supported the Slough Homeless Our Concern's 'SHOC' charity, by donating items to the homeless at Serena Hall in Slough. On 12 December, Reverend J Sistig and Mr Wright attended the centre with Sixth Form girls to deliver a collection of items that pupils, staff and parents had donated to the homeless. Amongst the items there were warm clothes, sleeping bags, gloves and Christmas decorations

+44 (01344) 629920 admissions@stgeorges-ascot.org.uk www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

St George's School Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7DZ