Sydenham High Magazine 2015 by Sydenham High School

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR YEAR

2015

FOREWORD

elcome to our magazine round up of 2014/5. Our brilliant new Junior School PSHE programme Flourish and Fly has set the tone and the whole school has been flourishing and flying this year. You will see that this year’s connecting theme is the hexagon but exactly what is the connection? Hexagons - in nature, patchwork, science, building blocks or tessellations all have components that interlock and connect to form something larger and stronger - just as at Sydenham High each one of us contributes our strengths, skills and talents to make up our Sydenham High community. Think hexagonal honeycombs and cooperative, hard-working bees working together towards a common aim. You will find bees and hexagons linking a variety of the school’s activities this year. From the moving Bee Song performed in Estonia by our choir on their Estonian tour to a rapturous audience, an article on bees linking Maths and Biology, to hexagonal shelving units created in DT and echoed in the furniture for our fabulous new Dining Hall. And the teamwork of those bees is echoed in diverse areas in and beyond our curriculum. It is at the heart of the year’s many achievements: from the successes of our PE teams, drama productions, music groups and charity events to departments working together to create our Ancient Worlds evening of co-curricular opportunities for students and parents. Our dedicated PSA has also been working together to raise phenomenal sums of money to enhance the work of the school. The Junior School’s contributions in this magazine reflect a brilliant patchwork of ideas created by classes working together to make a whole. Thank you Mrs Langthorne and the editorial team, whose creativity always finds a fresh, imaginative angle for presenting our school’s successes - academic, and co-curricular - to such effect. We hope you have as much pleasure reading and remembering the year as we have had experiencing it. Best wishes

Kathryn Pullen Headteacher

CONTENTS 4 Maths, bees and snowflakes 5 Design Technology and the hexagon 6

Science

Choir tour to Estonia

10 Teambuilding 12 Charity: Trashion Show & Nepal walk 14 Community links and beyond 16 Australian Exchange 18 World Challenge to Peru 20 San Francisco, Sicily & Ancient Worlds 22 We Remember: Archive, Archie Dobson & Ypres 24 Challenges & prizes 26 Young Reporters 28 Individual successes 30 Sporting highlights 32 Drama 34 Dance achievements 35 Flourish & Fly 36 Junior School Year group pages 50 Junior & Senior Music highlights 52 New Dining Hall 53 Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;arT Exhibition 54 Art & Design Technology 58 Celebrating Success 59 GSCE & A Level Results, Destinations 62 Staff Changes & New Uniform SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

HEXAGONS BEES & MATHS

WHY DO BEES MAKE HEXAGONAL WAX CELLS TO HOLD HONEY?

don’t know if you have ever looked at a beehive but if you do you will see many regular hexagons. This is where honey bees make honeycomb. The interesting thing about these wax cells is that they are all perfectly shaped hexagons, repeated many times, exactly the same size and shape. The reason why is because bees are very clever insects. They have come up with a solution which enables them to store the most honeycomb possible by using the least resources and amount of effort. To produce just 1 oz of wax they must consume 8 oz of honey first. It’s hard work and this means they want to get the most out of the wax they produce. A circle would not have worked because the shape needed to tessellate. The definition for tessellation is: ‘an arrangement of shapes closely fitted together, in a repeated pattern without gaps or overlapping’. If you try to tessellate a circle, there are gaps in between the shape - therefore not tessellating! The same would happen with pentagons. It all

depends on the interior angles being a factor of 360°. The pentagon’s interior angles are 108o and this is not a factor of 360° so, as a result, a pentagon does not actually tessellate. What options do the bees have then? Equilateral triangles will tessellate as their interior angle is 60°, which is a factor of 360. Squares will also tessellate, as they have an angle of 90°. The final option is hexagons, which have an interior angle of 120° (so three of them will fit together to make 360°). Mathematicians have worked out that hexagons are the best option, as they use the wax in the walls of the shape most efficiently, so bees have to do less work to have somewhere to hold their honey! But do bees actually make hexagons? No. What they really do is to make circular cells, and then the surface tension in the walls pulls the gaps shut, turning them into hexagons. So they aren’t actually clever mathematician bees after all!

Isabella Daley and Carrie Wyncoll Year 7

SNOWFLAKES AND SCIENCE

dust particle coming into contact with water vapour high in the earth’s atmosphere creates a tiny crystal. if temperatures are sufficiently cold - below 35°- this will freeze. Being heavier than the surrounding air, it falls to earth, collecting more moisture as it goes. Why does it form a six-sided, hexagonal shape? In simple terms, the snowflake is six-sided because this is a particular arrangement which allows water molecules to form together in the most efficient way - each with one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. As the tiny hexagonal structure is repeated, it buils up to give the snowflake its six-sided appearance.

The snowflakes will only fall collectively as snow, if the temperatures stay at below freezing all the way to the ground. Amazingly, although each snowflake forms in this hexagonal way, they are all intrinsically different. Their intricate structure will depend on the humidity conditions as they fall. Some may have long, needle-like arms, others are flat and wide and some look like branches. The branchlike structure is probably the one that is most familiar and often seen stylised on Christmas cards and in winter scenes. This is known as a Dendrite formation.

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY AND THE HEXAGON

ucy Glover, one of the Year 11 Design Technology students, produced a beautiful wall mounted storage unit for her GCSE coursework (below and right). Each hexagonal unit was made using laminated flexiply which was bent over a former. The natural grain of the flexiply exterior is a stark contradiction to the bright blue and grey painted interior, which is typical of postmodernist design. If you look beyond the basic aesthetic aspects of Lucy’s product you are left with a complex geometric shape: the hexagon. Designers, like Lucy, draw inspiration from the world around them, in particular nature. Traditional designers such as those from the arts and crafts and Art Nouveau movements highlighted the detailed aesthetic appearances, whereas postmodernism tends to simplify and stylise specific features associated with nature such as shapes, forms, and patterns. Lucy’s product is essentially a repetition of hexagons, which are also found in nature. Nature’s architects use a repetition of hexagons to create honeycomb. This tight matrix of regular polygons then forms a three-dimensional structurally sound structure known as a hive.

From bees’ honeycombs to the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, hexagonal patterns are widespread in nature due to their efficiency. 2,000 years ago Marcus Terentius Varro proposed “The Honeybee Conjecture” which was later mathematically proven by Thomas Hales allowing us to solve a mystery of nature. Bees construct their honeycomb in the shape of perfect hexagons (all sides are of equal length). The cells of honeycomb constructed by bees are this exact shape as it is makes effective use of space and building materials and is able to sustain the hive. This means that honeycombs require less wax to construct and can withstand compression.

Even the laser cutter in our Design Technology department has a metal honeycomb mesh which acts as a very strong platform for supporting the weight of materials to be cut on the laser cutter.

Hexagons are often used in architecture due to their mechanical properties. They have strong structures, making them suitable to be used in construction as the distance between the centre and each vertex is equal to the length of each side. They are flexible, strong and can create a dynamic design. Hexagons allow the rise of the building to be varied as they can be used to create high or low rise buildings. Architects for the Eden project in Cornwall, translated and tessellated these polygons to form a large geodesic dome of transparent panels which provide shelter to a variety of plant species.

Katie Mills Year 12

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

STEM DISCOVERIES

IN GERMANY

In order to further enhance our Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education, the GDST had the opportunity to work with School Energy Efficiency (SEE) and SASIE Ltd, one of the UK’s leading installers and trainers of renewable energy. Thanks to a successful European Union funding application from ERASMUS (Education and student exchange programme); (ERASMUS being a European body that promotes education throughout the EU.) They were able to offer a group of Year 12 students the opportunity to take part in a subsidised two-week sustainability trip to Wildpoldsried in southern Bavaria, home to the Energiewende, an innovative renewable energy generation project. In addition to giving students a full and thorough understanding of different renewable technologies, participants also saw conventional and experimental versions of different technologies first hand and ran their own experiments and tests. These activities were delivered through a combination of academic study and field trips. Rachel Honeysett and Tanuja Kulkarni report:

n the 4 July, we departed for the small town of Wildpoldsried in Germany, stopping off at Brussels on the way, with 17 other girls from the Girls’ Day School Trust. In the first couple of days we launched into earning a vocational qualification in the rational use of renewable energy by constructing photovoltaics solar panel kits. It was an interesting, meticulous task, which we managed to complete within the course of two days. The qualification, a Level 3 award in the rational use of renewable energies, consisted of three main tasks. First we produced a presentation on the topic of sustainable energy that particularly piqued our interest. After we had learnt enough about the different sustainable products, it was time to see how our knowledge could be put to use in real

life; we constructed a proposal for installing solar panels into a building, such as a home or a church. When this was done, all that remained was to explain the rest of the points on the specification onto one last document. But the trip wasn’t all work! We had access to a local naturally filtered pool, we were able to go the Fendt tractor factory, and got to know each other by having a photochase around the village of Wildpolsried. To the delight of many Disney fans, we each got to visit and take selfies next to Neuschwanstein castle, the castle that Sleeping Beauty’s palace is based on in the classic film. We also spent a great day in Munich, where we accidently walked into the Gay Pride march and got a chance to visit the Deutsche museum. Aside from that, we had plenty of time to get

accustomed to the streets of Germany – i.e. go shopping! Altogether we got a lot of help and support from our mentors. At any point we could ask them for help with the coursework because they were very approachable, which made the whole experience much more enjoyable. Overall we found the trip not only a great way to connect with the girls in other GDST schools, but also a way to develop new interests and learn new things. The trip was a perfect balance between education and fun events. All in all if you have an interest in renewable energy or want to improve your presentation or communication skills - even if you just want to be inspired, this trip is definitely worth participating in.

SCIENCE MUSEUM GERM CONTROL CHALLENGE

team of ourYear 8 scientists made it to the national final of the 2015 GlaxoSmithKline Germ Control Challenge. The Germ Busters – Ella Albert-Wade, Sophie Hudson and Tiana Escoffery-Hodges

(pictured right and below), headed to the Science Museum on 17 June with Dr Waites and Ms McKeever-Willis to present their data to judges from GSK, Maclaren and the museum. They competed against five other teams from across the country, having successfully come through two previous rounds involving 150 school teams. The Sydenham High Germ Busters’ investigation compared the amount of bacteria on touchscreens at the Science Museum with those at the V&A. They discovered that the Science Museum harboured more bacteria on its touchscreens than the V&A, which got them thinking about how this discovery can be applied to the increasing use of touchscreens in the developing world.

The GSK Germ Control Challenge is designed to encourage greater public participation in science and to help students understand the impact of biology in their lives as well as improve their investigative skills. Despite being pipped to the post by another team, they were praised for their teamwork and presentation and should be very proud of their achievement.

SCIENCE WEEK

SCIENCE LIVE!

here was so much to discover during this year’s Science Week - from exploring how to make the ultimate cup of coffee and identifying SydBeast, (a mystery animal skeleton) to watching laser demonstrations and debating the ethical issues surrounding the use of smart drugs in society. The week started with a stimulating assembly to highlight some of the WOW factors in science at the moment, including recent controversy over #thedress and the partial solar eclipse.

Charlotte Reisser-Weston and Isabel Helszajn-Jewett Year 10, report from the Science Live! event at Westminster Central Hall, where they experienced a series of lectures given by top science professionals:

Practical lessons included dissections, trying out different coffee-making combinations and Year of Light demonstrations from lasers to eyes on National Demo Day. Year 9 Science Challenge students also put their Lego Midstorms EV3 colour sorting robot through its paces, having spent 5 weeks building, coding and testing. The project has allowed students to combine robotics and coding skills into an end product that completes a particular task – sorting small blocks into separate pots.

There were also opportunities to attend external scientific STEM seminars, including an A2 Chemistry Conference covering both revision topics and an enrichment session on the nature of energy. Three Year 12 students also attended the ‘Engineer Your Future’ career awareness day to meet representatives from engineering companies and other like-minded students, and gain valuable understanding of engineering careers.

We were lucky enough to hear talks from Professor Steve Jones, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Professor Lord Robert Winston, Professor Jim Al-Khalili and Dr Andrea Sella. They inspired us on issues and topics in science and we found what they told us very engaging. The lectures covered many topics, from the possibility of time travel (it seems it is possible to travel forward in time but not backwards), to the genetics of obesity and the idea of spaghettification.

The week culminated in a Science Fair, organised and run by members of Year 8 and attended by girls from Year 4 to Year 6. The fair offered a circus of activities from foam rockets and identifying the properties of elements, to blending perfumes and calculating density.

MARSHMALLOW ENGINEERING

o celebrate National Women in Engineering Day (23 June), students tackled the Marshmallow Challenge! This involved the use of 20 sticks of spaghetti, a metre of tape and a metre of string to see how high they could raise a marshmallow off the bench surface – in a strict time limit of 18 minutes. The most successful group managed a height of 58 cm! The students learned the importance of prototyping - which is a key engineering skill - and the consequent discussion

e were joined by hundreds of students from schools all over the country and it was really fun to learn in an atmosphere where every student was interested in what the scientists had to tell us.

One of the most popular lectures was by Professor Lord Robert Winston, who gave us a unique insight into the female and male reproductive systems; he really engaged the audience and made us all laugh at some rather awkward topics! There was also a very informative talk given by an IGCSE examiner, who provided us with some hot tips about exam success. We will be sure to remember his advice when we are taking our exams next year.

allowed the girls to highlight the wide range of engineering careers and opportunities now available.

Overall it was a very informative and interesting day and we would definitely recommend it to anyone who had the chance to attend another Science Live! day.

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

BEEHIVE SONG

CHOIR TOUR TO ESTONIA

he Senior School choir returned in triumph from their concert tour of Estonia (13-18 April) having won the hearts of their audiences with magical vocal performances. They even found themselves headlining the local press as well as the concerts.

Here are translations of just some of the audience comments:-

The 31-strong choir - some of whom were as young as 11 - amazed and delighted their hosts with their strong, clear voices and ability to sing from memory in four languages, including Estonian. In fact many audience members were moved to tears when the choir performed the traditional and much-loved Estonian Ta Lendab - the Mesipuu or Bee Hive song. Led by Choral Director Caroline LentonWard and accompanied by Director of Music Andrew Baars, the girls sang to hugely appreciative audiences in four venues: the medieval Holy Ghost Church and Hopner House in Tallin, the colonnaded University Hall in Tartu and the atmospheric St Peter’s Church in Viljandi.

“Years ago we went to (see) the Vienna boys choir in Tartu and we can confidently say that the Sydenham girls sang better.”

“Sydenham High School girls’ choir are the real cultural ambassadors – no-one would stand and applaud with tears in their eyes for a grown-up attaché!”

“The concert was super. People were crying. Let more such choirs come here please!” “The girls sang like professionals. The songs were sung really clearly. This concert was a huge event (for Tartu).” The choir reprised part of their programme at a special concert for the British Estonian Society in St Stephen’s Church, Dulwich, in June and then attended a party in the Vicarage gardens.

or me, the song ‘Ta Lendab Mesipuu Poole’ was more emotional than I thought it would be. My grandma and grandpa came to each concert, and in each one, my grandma cried. I think the most emotional concert for me was the church in Viljandi. At the end the choir sung ‘Ta Lendab Mesipuu Poole’. Even right at the beginning of the song everybody stood up and started to sing along. It was a very touching moment and one that I will never forget. When I sang the song with my choir, I felt very close to it. Being on the trip made me see a different side to Estonia and realise how lucky I am to go there every year on a holiday with my family, where previously I had taken that for granted. My mum comes from there, and she shares many sad and happy experiences of what Estonia has been through. My great grandad (pictured far right), who survived World War II, was a priest and a bee keeper from 1939 until 2003 and he loved watching the bees. I have eaten the honey that he produced. When I was seven, my mum and grandma took me to a huge festival in Tallinn with 33,000 people singing the Beehive song together. At the time, I was too young to appreciate this wonderful moment, that this one song united all the people in Estonia together singing for freedom, actually not just Estonia, but another ten nations! The title ‘Ta Lendab Mesipuu Poole’ means the bees fly towards the beehive, which might seem funny, but the meaning is quite moving; it indicates the fact that bees are quite vulnerable to the rainstorm and they have to get to their home, like humans who love their home and don’t want war.

Helen Schunemann Year 7

ESTONIAN HISTORY Elo Allik-Schunemann, mother of Helen Schunemann and pictured right with her own mother, talks of the importance of ‘Ta Lendab Mesipuu Poole’ to Estonia and the history of its fight for democracy. She is also the artist of the Estonian landscape paintngs that were used for the choir tour programmes and posters. Here she talks about her cultural history.

uring Easter 2015 Sydenham High School choir performed a beautiful song in Estonian language, called ‘He Flies Towards the Beehive’ (‘Ta Lendab Mesipuu Poole’) - first at St Stephen’s Church and then during their very successful choir trip in Estonia. The song that appears to have very simple lyrics is of a very important emotional value to the Estonians and indeed for anyone searching for a safe home. In 1905 Estonian poet Juhan Liiv’s poem ‘He Flies Towards the Beehive’ was published. It was all about bees flying to their beehive whilst the thundercloud was approaching, resulting in some bees arriving home safely and others being washed down by the rain. The bees were all meant to be the people on a journey into safety. It described the mood of the time (1905) very well, as the revolutionary ideas coming from the east also made the people in Estonia think about their future. They had been part of several different empires for seven hundred years and yet they liked calling a place ‘home’ and were hoping to govern themselves again. The song might also be interpreted as a song with a pacifist message. These feelings of ‘searching’ and flying into any safety led to Estonia becoming a free and democratic little country in 1920. This formed a Manifest of all Nations as part of their law so that all the different bees, all the different people,

would happily feel like part of that community, a country. Juhan Liiv’s dream came true! Why this song is so emotional for the Estonians to hear is because being a very small country, (a very small beehive?) they can’t always take their freedom and happiness for granted, because a thundercloud may come. The music for this over a hundred year old poem was only written in 1994 by Peep Sarapik and it only really became known in 2001. Since then it has been sung at big choral festivals that take place in Tallinn every five years in the Song Festival Ground where 33,000 people sing in choirs together and many more listen to their singing, with picnics, overlooking the Gulf of Finland, in Tallinn. Twelve other countries took part in the last song festival in 2014 so the song has been sung by many people before but not as beautifully and personally as by the Sydenham High School choir. Helen’s grandmother, Tiiu, came to listen to all 4 concerts in Estonia in three towns, Tallinn, Tartu and Viljandi, as did her grandad and other relatives and family friends. There were tears at each concert and they said how professionally the girls had sung and how effortlessly and beautifully they sang the high notes of the Beehive song and how well the girls were conducted. This song could bring together many people in hope amid wars and the thunderclouds of the 21st century world.

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

TEAM BUILDING GOLD DUKE OF EDINBURGH

hree students who completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards last year have been presented with their certificates and gold insignia by Prince Philip at St James Palace. Joanna Hall, Elizabeth Treece (not pictured) and Isobel West, who left the school last Summer, attended the ceremony on 26 February. Mrs Pullen was also presented to Prince Philip and received a framed certificate confirming the school as a Directly Licensed Centre for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme. In total seven students achieved their Gold Award this year.

CHALLENGING POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT

here has been much written about the problem of decreasing political participation, particularly amongst young people. However, there was no shortage of interest in the subject for Sydenham High’s Sixth Form during their innovative Induction Day challenge, or for members of the Junior School in their Student Council Elections this term.

into groups to look at four possible features of political disengagement: politicians and political parties; the Internet; the media and the issue of the current voting age. Following their research, reading and discussion, each group presented their analysis and conclusions and took questions from the floor.

On their induction day the Year 12 & 13s were challenged to examine the causes of and potential solutions to political disengagement in a university-style day of lectures and seminars, led by a team from Southampton University. After listening to a keynote lecture, they split

At the end of the inspirational day, Year 12 student and HSBC scholar Orlane Doumbe said: “Before this project I never really thought much about politics but now I am determined to be more engaged.”

YOUNG ENTERPRISE

ulwich College and Sydenham High School’s joint Young Enterprise team put in a brilliant performance at the South and Central London finals.

The team’s 1Tap wallet to prevent card clash greatly impressed the judges and saw them win the prize for the best interview with the panel of local business experts. They also picked up the award for best trade stand at the event, thanks in no small part to the promotional video and app game they developed. Sadly they were knocked out at this stage by a formidable rival team but made a fantastic impression – so much so that one team member was offered an internship on the spot by one of the judges! 10

On Friday 3 October, Junior School held their School Council elections. With a campaign trail underway, excitement had been building amongst the girls as to who would be our new School Council Representatives. The girls created personal manifestos, detailing their vision for Sydenham High Junior School and how they would like to make the school even better. This was presented in an array of creative ways - videos, posters, emails, even on garments of clothing! Students were inundated with exceptional ideas and, through a secret ballot, every class voted at the polling station for their selected candidate. Since these hugely successful elections, the School Council has gone from strength to strength, with propsals already presented to Ms. Boyd for consideration.

BIANCA RETURNS TO INSPIRE STUDENTS

ntrepreneur, businesswoman and Apprentice runnerup Bianca Miller returned to school in February as part of a day of talks and workshops to help prepare Sixth Form students for life after school, including employability and building a personal brand. The students were challenged to make elevator pitches – 30-second summaries about themselves – and were given tips for writing a great CV and developing a networking culture. Bianca also urged them to take care with their social media profiles and make this the first day of thinking about themselves as a brand, in preparation for their futures.

and her hosiery business plan, Bianca Miller London, is on schedule to launch in Autumn 2015. She also confirmed that, yes, the candidates do only get 20 minutes to get ready; the boardroom is truly scary; the café where the losing team meet is a real place; the interviews were by far the hardest task and her favourite moment was launching the drinks brand in New York.

Bianca also held a Q&A session so that girls from across the school got the opportunity to ask her all those burning questions about her time on The Apprentice as well as her own career journey, her plans for her skin-tone hosiery business and, of course, her time at school.

In answer to a question about what her time at Sydenham High had given her, Bianca said that being in an all girls school had allowed her to feel that everything was within her reach so she never felt uncertain of her ability and strength when she started to work in the corporate world and a mixed business environment.

Bianca said that she had taken a huge risk in entering The Apprentice process as she had to leave her successful business, The Be Group, to take part. However the risk paid off as the publicity from the show has helped her to grow her existing work

Afterwards Bianca attended a reception with staff, school governors and the Sixth Form Young Leadership team, which included a display of highlights from her time at school.

t the beginning of Year 7, the whole year group went on a trip to Downe to get to know each other better. We left school at lunchtime, so that by the time we got there we’d have time for some afternoon activities. On arrival we were assigned a partner and a room and had 20 minutes to get ourselves organised. This was followed by a quick run around outside and a few games with the Sixth Formers. We were put into groups and set off to experience different activities.

BONDING IN DOWNE Alannah Bresnihan in Year 7 reports on her experiences during an overnight trip to the Downe Activity Centre

In the evening we had a bonfire where we could toast marshmallows and sing a few songs. As we didn’t know each other that well, everyone had to show their talents and we had lots of fun entertaining each other. Back in our rooms, with our pyjamas on, we went to bed early, to be ready for another day full of activities. We woke bright and early to set off for new activities. It was pretty challenging and we ended the trip with a walk through the woods. Sadly, it was time to drive back to school where our parents would be waiting. Everyone had a great time and really got to know each other much better, making some really good friendships. SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

CHARITABLE EVENTS

TRASHION SHOW

orget the X-factor, Sydenham High students have got the eco factor, having turned everyday rubbish into stunning fashion for a fundraising catwalk show this term. The aptly-named Trashion event was masterminded by Head Girls, Tallulah Boote Bond and Alexandra Terrieux-Taylor, to build House spirit and raise money for the newly-selected school charity, Mind. Each of the four school Houses was challenged to design, make and model a selection of dresses made entirely from items and materials that would normally be thrown away. Each House had to deliver a dress in one of five categories: 1970s,

Eveningwear, Nature, 1950s and Futuristic. The evening event also featured musical entertainment from some of the school’s most talented performers and an auction of promises organised by the Sixth Form. Girls volunteered their skills in baking, babysitting and gift-wrapping, and there were other donated prizes including theatre tickets, paintballing and family portraits. Two experts – fashion designer and curator Giuseppina DeCamillo and fashion photographer and modelling agency owner Fay Louise Hill – judged the impressive creations and awarded winners in each category.

The winners were: Gurney for 1970s; Grey for Eveningwear; Grey for Nature; Gurney for 1950s and a tie between Shirreff and Stanley for Futuristic. The event was not only a fashion triumph but also a fundraising one – making £2,000 for Mind. Senior Community Fundraising Officer for Mind, Maria Healy, attended an assembly at the school to talk about what a major difference the money will make and received a cheque from charity prefects Kasia Spechko and Alice Winter.

WALKING 7192KM TO NEPAL

tudents and staff successfully travelled 7,192km – the approximate distance from London to Kathmandu - in a challenging 12-hour sponsored event in June to raise awareness of and aid for the victims of the devastating Nepal earthquakes.

The aim of the trek was to not only raise awareness of the difficulties faced by the people of Nepal but to provide actual aid. In addition to all participants making a £2 donation to wear sports kit for the day, girls also gained sponsorship in the form of items from a specific aid package list.

Over 450 girls from Reception to Year 10 cycled, jogged, ran and walked to Nepal on the school’s Astroturf, as well as rowed in the fitness suite, in shifts from 7am throughout the school day. Several teachers challenged themselves to trek for the full 12 hours, including Deputy Head Karl Guest who, together with Acting Head of PE Georgina Calvert, masterminded the fundraising event.

The intrepid trekkers were joined in the afternoon by Geraldine Finney, Regional Director (London) of Excelcare and Excelcare nurses Bhim Shakya and Anita Gurung, whose father is a Gurhka. They were co-ordinating major aid deliveries to particular areas of the stricken region which are home to the families of staff working in the care homes including Bhim and Anita.

“The staff at Excelcare are delighted and touched at the compassion shown to them by this amazing school community,” said Ms Finney. The school’s JustGiving page - https://www. justgiving.com/sydenhamhighschool, raised over £1,700 towards a grand total of more than £3,000 for the Disasters Emergency Committee campaign.

NEPAL VISIT

ow would you like to spend your Summer holiday at school? No? Well, how about a school situated in the Himalayas where you can really make a difference to children your own age? That’s what Sophie Hudson (Year 8) and younger sister Xanthe (Year 5) did when, along with their mother and brother, they volunteered to help at a school in central Nepal - both before and after the devastating earthquakes.

Living with a host Nepalese family, the girls quickly settled in to helping the school’s teachers and children. The school buildings were completely destroyed by the earthquakes so lessons are being conducted in tents and will continue until the school can be rebuilt. Sophie helped to deliver a range of science lessons in a fun way, using simple resources that she had to create from the limited materials available; for example, demonstrating the colour spectrum using a handmade paper spinning top. Sophie described the whole experience as ’amazing’ and it made her appreciate her own situation much more as “life is not sugar-coated” and not everyone has the choices that we have in the UK.

A CLOSE SHAVE FOR CHARITY

ne of the more unusual fundraisers came from Year 9 student Liberty Monroe. When she decided to raise money for Cancer Research UK she came up with the idea of asking the school if she could shave off her luscious locks. Headteacher’s permission given, the deed was done just before the end of the year. Liberty has so far raised £800 from her close shave. What’s more, her hair has not gone to waste: it will be used to help make wigs for cancer patients.

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

COMMUNITY LINKS AND BEYOND REPRESENTING LEWISHAM AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN STRASBOURG

or the second year running, the Sydenham High School Year 12 Politics students won a prestigious borough wide competition to represent Lewisham at the European Parliament. Their debating skills shone through during their presentation on whether the UK should remain part of the EU or not. The judges praised the way the whole group participated and how they engaged the whole audience. The students who went to Strasbourg from April 22 to April 24 included Emmanuelle Chaloner, Meridith Dewar, Clementine Joly, Caitlin Porter and Eleanor Wyncoll. They travelled by Eurostar from St Pancras. At the European Parliament they mixed with students who had gathered together from over 25 different

PSYCHOLOGY STUDY DAY

tudents from Bromley High, Croydon High and Dulwich College joined Sydenham High Sixth Formers to listen to a line-up of some of the UK’s top Psychology experts on Friday 21 November. Speakers from Goldsmiths, King’s and the Psychology Review formed the star line up at the school’s first Psychology Study Day. “The Psychology Study Day was a great way to expand our knowledge of the subject. I found all of the speakers very engaging, which made the presentations thoroughly enjoyable. Cara Flanagan made the first presentation about succeeding in exams and also the last presentation on research methods which is a huge part of psychology, so it really helped to reinforce what we have already learnt. The next presentation was on forensic psychology by Dr Fiona Gabbert and this made me realise how psychology can branch into many

different jobs. I found the presentation by Raphael Underwood on schizophrenia and mental illness especially interesting, as the topic is part of our A Level syllabus so it really helped me to prepare for the topic in class and further my knowledge before we start the schizophrenia section. Stephen Pereira then gave a talk about what it’s like to be a psychiatrist. Many people found this inspiring and informative as he explained what he does on a day-to-day basis and how rewarding the career can be. Overall, the day helped to develop my understanding of psychology and encouraged me to become more interested in the subject.”

Christina Wimpory Year 13

European Union countries. During the conference the students were able to become MEP’s for the day. They learnt more about how the parliament works and how decisions are reached. They were able to take part in whole range of workshops and discussions on issues that face the EU such as: imigration, defence, the environment, education and food production. There was also an opportunity on the final day to enjoy Strasbourg itself and parents were grateful for the selection of French delicacies the students purchased for them! The students have returned from this experience as much better informed citizens of the European Union.

COMMUNITY THINKING

ear 10 have been undertaking a Community Project challenge which has involved them in various activities inside and outside the school. One class spent a day down at Junior School running fun enrichment activities for the girls such as face painting, biscuit decorating and apple bobbing. Wonderful bonds were forged and the girls are looking forward to further visits next year. Another class has been creating a magazine focusing on history. A third class has been collecting goods to support the local Lewisham foodbank. They discovered that whilst the food bank had good supplies of certain items they were very short of some important basics such as coffee, cooking oil and tinned meat. Their successful collections were gratefully received by the food bank at the end of term. Year 7 also went into the local community with their “How hard can it be?” project, visiting seniors at the Grove Centre. (right) As part of their Aspire programme, they baked cakes and served afternoon tea, then exchanged facts about their lives. They took old-fashioned games to play and recited poetry and songs to round off the afternoon.

ROYALTY AT CITY FARM

ydenham High School students Alanna

LEARNING TO LEAD

ear 12 considered what makes a good lesson and learning experience before breaking into small groups to plan their own teaching for Year 4. They had to teach for an hour about Roman Gods, Famous Romans or Roman cities. They were expected to impart knowledge to Year 4 whilst aiming to teach the students revision skills. The Year 4 girls left with a précis of text and annotated photo and some key words for revision. Many were also sporting helmets and swords as they strode back down Westwood Hill. Year 12 were very creative in the ways they taught. Every Year 4 contributed to a ‘show and tell’ assembly in front of the Year 12, their peers and members of the SLT. The Year 4 girls showed a really good knowledge of facts and performed confidently having been usefully tutored by the older girls. Year 12 looked very proud as their young charges performed. The Year 12 teaching was assessed by staff. They were praised for being well prepared

Wyncoll (top right Year 9) and Carrie Wyncoll (Year 7) got a royal reward for their volunteer

work at the Vauxhall City Farm in October. The sisters, who have spent 3 hours a week for

with a variety of activities and resources, all gathered from their own research and past learning experiences. Year 12 were confident in their delivery and commanded the respect and attention of Year 4. All the Year 12 interacted in a confident yet gentle manner putting the younger students at their ease. When asked to rate their ‘teachers’ using the Roman thumbs up / down they universally approved. The Year 12 were equally positive about their young students.

the last year helping care for the Farm’s sheep

Several Year 4 girls commented on what a lovely experience they had enjoyed and that they hoped to come again because it was better than normal school. Year 12 were touched by the thank yous and goodbye hugs that flowed naturally from their charges. New relationships have been forged.

Princess as part of the Farm team,” said Alanna.

and pigs, were lucky enough to be presented to Princess Anne when she opened the Farm’s new riding stables. After helping with a riding demonstration by some disabled youngsters, Alanna and Carrie were presented to the Princess Royal, who is President of the charity Riding For The Disabled. “I felt very privileged to be able to meet the “She asked us about what we do on the farm and whether we enjoyed the work.” Alanna and Carrie are both aspiring vets. “We’ve learned a lot about looking after the animals there and this Summer we got to show some sheep at the Lambeth Country Show.”

Many Year 12 students commented that they had learned how hard it was to prepare lessons and hadn’t realised how much effort it took to put a simple lesson together or keep children on task. Managing enthusiasm and exuberance gave the Year 12s some empathy for their own teachers! Some natural leaders emerged from the group but even the girls who don’t normally put themselves forward very much ‘stepped up’ and worked well in their teams.

With invaluable experience like this in the bag, before they have taken their GCSEs, the girls should be on the right track for their future careers.

Every girl shone in some way - for example contributing ideas, making powerpoints, props and a wide array of teaching resources. There was a tangible, buzzy atmosphere throughout the day.

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

AROUND THE WORLD

As well as links with the local community, Sydenham High School has been building links much further afield - to the other side of the world in Perth, Australia. Year 10 students Beatrice Eades and Niamh O’Sullivan report on their amazing experience

AUSTRALIAN EXCHANGE T

his Summer Year 10 students Beatrice Eades and Niamh O’Sullivan swapped student life in the UK for the Australian equivalent as part of a unique new international educational and cultural exchange programme. Beatrice and Niamh, both aged 14, joined their Year 10 counterparts at St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls, Perth, Western Australia for five weeks in July. In the first part of the programme, St Hilda’s students Molly Stafford and Ella Boetcher came to the UK and spent four weeks being Sydenham High students. Unlike traditional exchange programmes, the experience is totally immersive as all four girls are completely integrated into their new school life: wearing school uniform, going to classes, taking part in extra-curricular activities and, in Beatrice’s and Niamh’s case, becoming boarders. At the launch of the scheme Kathryn Pullen said “St Hilda’s is one of the most highly respected and well–resourced schools in Australia and was selected as an ideal partnership school because of its closely matched ethos to both Sydenham High and the Girls’ Day School Trust as a whole. The girls always come first and the opportunities that are offered are tailored to give the students the best possible outcomes.”

Kim Kiepe, Principal of St Hilda’s, said: “Over many years we have been sending our students to experience incredible schools across the globe including New York, South Africa, Japan and New Zealand. We are delighted to begin our partnership with Sydenham High in the UK – a place close to our heart and with historic links with St Hilda of Whitby.” The exchange also involved science teacher and Sixth Form tutor, Samantha Sookdeo, who also spent time at St Hilda’s. She was studying St Hilda’s approach to personalised learning - particularly cross-curricular collaborations - and reviewing any differences to the UK approach to bring back useful best practice and ideas to share both at Sydenham High and within the GDST as a whole. She also looked at equivalents of the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) programme, which she has co-ordinated at Sydenham High, with a view to setting up links with potential mentors and/or experts in particular subjects. Ms Sookdeo said: “Everyone had so much to learn from this unique opportunity. We hope that it will be the start of an expanding worldwide exchange programme for our school and for the whole GDST.”

We explored a lot of Perth, which wasn’t hard as it is very small. We went to Caversham Wildlife Park where we got to feed kangaroos and hold koalas. They also had many strange animals such as some gigantic bats, Tasmanian devils, European red foxes, swamp wallabies and long nosed potoroos. One of our favourite places was Freemantle and the Freo markets. The beaches were also incredible, especially Cottesloe beach which was beautiful even in the middle of their winter.

n the morning of 17 July, Bea and I, along with Ms Sookdeo headed to Heathrow airport, extremely early in the morning, on our way to St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls, Perth, Western Australia. We were the pioneers for the very first International Student Exchange. When we finally arrived at the boarding house we were terrified but it was nothing like we expected. We were told in advance that there would be a divider between the two beds, but we didn’t expect it to be so spacious with lots of privacy. We had never boarded before so we didn’t know if we would enjoy it and if we would be able to cope with being away from our families for so long. Beatrice was especially nervous because her birthday would happen while we were there, and it would be the first that she would spend without her family. The first day of school, we had to go and get our uniforms although we were very lucky as we didn’t have to wear their summer hats! For some reason the uniform actually managed to grow on us. One of the strangest things about the uniform was that everyone had to wear the same blue ribbon in their hair everyday. School was so much fun and we were fortunate enough to study subjects that widened our knowledge base and experience. For example: Media studies, photography, textiles, Japanese, Chinese, philosophy and many more. They also had two Olympic-sized swimming pools and you could go surfing in the morning before school. The school had a very different atmosphere: in Media studies we watched and shot our own parodies and in photography we made a fashion shoot. The food at the boarding house was amazing. In the morning you could have a cooked breakfast including sausages, bacon and pancakes. The evening meal always consisted of rice with a curry, or pasta, but there was always a wide range of options. On one occasion, we even tried kangaroo stew which was delicious.

On reflection, Niamh and I agreed that Camp to the outback was honestly one of the most amazing things we have ever done! Despite the fact that we were camping in the middle of nowhere for 8 days, not seeing anyone other than the 15 people in your group and not having a shower or toilet and having to constantly wear fly nets…. it was incredible. Every group started at a different place and walked to different campsites so we didn’t see anyone other than our group for 8 days, and it is fair to say that we got very comfortable with each other, almost too comfortable. We walked between 6 and 9 kilometres each day. One of the toughest days was when we had to walk through a swampy lake, and sunk deeper with every step. We did so many other things than just walking, like: climbing through caves,making our own henna, creating paintings based on Aboriginal art. The stars were definitely the best though. They were amazing and looked like a painting, you could very clearly see the Milky Way which none of us had seen before. We had the amazing opportunity to be able to talk to some Aboriginal women. The Aboriginals were the original inhabitants of Australia, and they told us many stories about their tribe. The sunsets and sunrises were incredible to watch and were almost as amazing as the stars. Our camp leader, Amanda, was incredibly inspiring, her enthusiasm kept us motivated, even when we were hungry and tired. We are so pleased that we have had the opportunity to go on this trip as it has been an incredible experience and we have learnt so much about another country and about ourselves. It was the most amazing and unforgettable experience ever.

Beatrice Eades & Niamh O’Sullivan Year 10

WORLD CHALLENGE

PERU EXPEDITION M

r Copper, Ms Gonzalez Lens and a group of adventurous students spent four fantastic weeks exploring the South American country of Peru this summer. The plans for our trip and all the activities were researched and chosen by the students. Once in Peru it was up to the girls to organise everything for the group including booking hostels, arranging transport, contacting activity providers, planning food and all the time ensuring we kept to our budget.

Over the four weeks we did many brilliant and varied activities but there were two main sections of the trip that were the central focus. Firstly, we spent six days working on a community project with a small community located on the shore of Lake Titicaca who needed help to develop their village to enable them to accommodate tourists. This would allow them to

bring in some much needed money. The other main part of our trip was a six day trek through the Andes Mountains, finishing at Machu Picchu. The trek was challenging, climbing to over 4600m in altitude and sleeping in tents in freezing temperatures, but the scenery was breathtaking and exploring Machu Picchu at the end was a spectacular reward.

ver the summer we embarked on a journey that we are sure not to forget for a very long time. We travelled to Peru with World Challenge for a month. This was an exciting yet new experience for all five of us. In preparation for the trip we all helped each other decide what we were going to do out there and what to bring. The whole trip was very independent and all decisions were made by us which proved challenging sometimes. Normally on school trips the teachers organise everything, but this time it was the students. Teamwork played a vital part in the expedition - whether it was counting and sorting money for accommodation or food or encouraging each other when exhausted from trekking or even for the relaxation activities such as white-water rafting working together was vital. Stepping into a foreign country that speaks a different language with a massive responsibility is quite nerve-racking for a group of 16-year olds but we were all motivated and supported each other along the way. Eleanor Jeffery Year 11

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

SAN FRANCISCO & SKIING

n the last day of the Spring Term, 48 excited students and five teachers gathered outside the school gates as we waited for the coach that would take us to the airport, where we would then go on to fly to the famous city of San Francisco. After a long flight and coach journey, where we saw the beautiful sunset on San Francisco Bay, we arrived at the spectacular Grand Sierra Hotel in Reno, Nevada, where we would stay for the skiing part of our holiday. The hotel was truly astounding and had everything we ‘needed’ from a 50-lane bowling alley to a spa and a go-kart track.

architecture, and wonderful famous sights. We arrived at our hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf and, after a fun and delicious lunch, we left straight away on our first tourist trip to Coit Tower. We were taken aback when we climbed to the top and had a panoramic view of San Francisco, after looking at the Great Depression-related murals. We then followed a sunset walk along the dramatically sloping streets of San Fran, where we found the famous winding Lombard Street and the seals at Pier 39. In the evening, we ate at the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant - a tribute to the film; Forrest Gump.

Every morning after breakfast, we travelled to our ski resort, Squaw Valley in California, with lovely views of Nevada on the way. We were split into groups based on ability and had five hours’ of ski lessons each day. The mountains were amazing to ski in, with wonderful views of Lake Tahoe, which we visited one day after skiing. After a fun and tiring day of ski, we had some time for chilling in our rooms before dinner. We were spoiled for choice at dinner with an ‘all you can eat buffet’ every night and more food on offer than most of us had ever seen. The dinners were followed by an activity. We went go-karting twice, laser quest shooting and bowling, plus two trips to the local ‘Walmart’, which amazed us at how many different products it had on offer.

The next day, we took a boat trip to visit the world-famous Alcatraz prison, which was incredible as we had the opportunity during our tour to meet one of the prison wardens and see Ai Weiwei art installations. We also walked onto the great Golden Gate Bridge, which is as breathtaking as it looks in pictures. We then walked around Haight-Ashbury, the ‘hippy’ area with shops that are original, alternative and very trendy, plus amazing tie-dye shops. That evening, we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe which was also great. On our last day in the stunning city of San Francisco, we managed to squeeze in rides on the iconic cable-cars, a little shopping trip and a visit to Chinatown and a book shop that one of our teachers was extremely keen on visiting.

After a truly memorable five days, we got ready to leave our hotel, as we embarked on our muchanticipated journey to San Francisco. From the moment we arrived, it was really magical - to see all the things we have so often seen in pictures now in real life was amazing. The city itself was breathtaking, with both old and modern

It was an incredible trip, and we can all dream of going back, where new friendships were made, ski skills were improved and an extraordinary city was discovered.

Laure Denaro Year 9

ANCIENT WORLDS

he Ancient Worlds evening saw students, parents and staff having a go at a variety of engaging activities and games from the life and time of Ancient Rome and Greece. Creating beauty products from salt and essential oils left us smelling sweet; making ancient delicacies from dates and honey left us sticky, but deliciously full. As well as life drawing and

cuneiform tile design, everyone had the chance to experiment with ancient scientific theories and engineering. Others took up the challenge of completing a giant mosaic or competing in a house competition to paint the most extravagant Greek pot. There was a Roman treasure hunt while Year 13 drama students Polly, Phoebe and Tallulah

CLASSICAL TRIP TO

SICILY

Although everywhere we visited was interesting and exciting in its own way, some unanimous highlights were the theatre in Taormina and the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. The ancient theatre in Taormina is one of the most celebrated sites in Sicily, due to both its remarkable preservation and beautiful location. An arduous climb up seemingly endless steps in the baking Sicilian heat was made undoubtedly worth the heatstroke when we sat on the top stone steps of the theatre, in stunned silence at the view before us. It is strikingly easy to imagine a bustling crowd of Sicilians from ancient times rushing to get the very seats we’re sitting on, and like us, marvelling

GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES

ur trip to Sicily was a whirlwind five day classics extravaganza, which saw 20 girls staying in three hotels and visiting seven towns while travelling along the coast of Sicily. From Catania to Siracusa, then Taormina, Agrigento, Selinunte, Segesta and finishing in the buzzing city of Palermo. Each day was a new and unique experience and visiting sites such as World Heritage Site Villa Romana del Casale, brought our lessons vibrantly to life.

delivered a fascinating lecture on Greek Tragedy. Outside, a hard fought competition took place in the grounds with two field events from the origins of the Olympic games. The discus event was won by Maia Mattinson (Year 7) and the javelin event by Milly Taylor (Year 10).

at both at the theatre and the panoramic view the columns frame, of miles of rugged landscape, and the hulking shadow of mount Etna, one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The Valley of the Temples is a 1300 hectare mountaintop park, housing around ten ancient temples. We were able to wander at our leisure up a sun-scorched path, taking in and reading about the temples. Again, the ruins are so remarkably preserved, you almost feel as if you’ve fallen back in time, and start to wonder why you’re not wearing a toga, where your slaves have got to and, for once, leave the modern world entirely behind. Immersion in a subject just doesn’t get any better than this.

tudents in the Geography department enjoyed residential trips to Dorset and Snowdonia this year. The AS students visited Snowdonia where they stayed in a remote hostel close to Cwm Idwal, a stunning glacial corrie. Alongside appreciating the beautiful glacial scenery, the girls prepared for their skills based exam where they need to be able to evaluate fieldwork methods and demonstrate their understanding of the landscape. The trip really helped students to consolidate their appreciation of the relationship between glacial processes and the features of the landscape. Year 10 visited Dorset where they completed an in depth study of tourism in Swanage, leading to some outstanding coursework projects. The trip also involved studying the coastal landscapes of the beautiful Jurassic coast including Lulworth Cove and beautiful Durdle Door. We have an action packed field trip calendar in 2015-16 with the highlight being a trip to Iceland in February for Years 10-12.

WE REMEMBER

WORLD WAR II YEAR 6 USING PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL

ear 6 had a wonderful opportunity this year to really find out what it was like studying at Sydenham High School during the Blitz years. They looked at photographs, magazine articles and read personal accounts from students who were at the school in the War Years. We have a beautifully illustrated book given as a leaving present to Miss Hare in 1935. Our students were surprised at how similar these girls looked to themselves now and there was a lot of interest in the hats that the older girls wore, including the school badge. This snapshot of a happy school was shattered in 1939 with the declaration of war and the school, along with Streatham Hill and Clapham, was evacuated to Brighton. We used articles in the school magazine to find out what it was like for Sydenham girls to be evacuated, and small groups of Year 6 acted out the tedium of turning up at school each day with gas mask and luggage, waiting for the announcement that the school was to leave.

Watercolour illustrations from the leaving book to Miss Hare by students in1935

The school was welcomed by Brighton and Hove High School who continued with their lessons in the morning and the evacuees had their lessons in the afternoon. Poignant articles in the school magazine illustrated the longing for home and Sydenham. Back in Sydenham the school had only a few students, the Assembly Hall was used for furniture storage by Cobbs for people who had left London, the hat racks were empty, the maids had gone and the only adults were the Head, Miss Smith, and Mr Cull, the school caretaker. As Brighton, too, came under threat, the school returned – to the Blitz. Another important source of information for the students was Ann Westcott – who was at the school from 1937-1947. She wrote about the difficult decision her parents made to evacuate her and her brother to safety in Canada – only to change their mind when an earlier ship carrying hundreds of children was torpedoed with a huge loss of life. Our students read out a letter from one boy who had been rescued after days on a life boat. The students also acted out French lessons in the school shelter, (and lunch in the shelter when the air raid siren went), sheltering from a Doodlebug on Westwood Hill and using a school hat for protection against falling shrapnel. Ann also wrote describing picking up small bombs without realising the danger; how she was always cold; what it was like to spend the night in a Morrison shelter (and using it as a ping-pong table during the day!). She praised her parents for not allowing fear to dominate their childhood. Several students wanted to know more – so they wrote to Ann with tricky questions – did you

like wearing your hat? Who was your favourite teacher? What type of clothes did you wear? What were school dinners like …. Ann generously answered each question

individually and we are very grateful for the time that she gave to this project. Ann left Sydenham in 1947 and became a student at the Royal Free Hospital. She qualified as a doctor in 1953 and decided to specialise in anaesthetics. She was a registrar at the Radcliffe Infirmary until 1959 when she passed the higher qualification in Anaesthetics (FFARCS). A year spent in Boston at the Massachussetts General Hospital turned into three years, and then the rest of her working life. She met her husband in Washington D.C. and retired, with him, in 1997 so that they could start travelling the world! She managed to answer all of Year 6s questions before setting off on a cruise visiting 22 different countries - Nyle ye Drede!

ARCHIE DOBSON’S WAR

he author of BBC play Archie Dobson’s War praised Sydenham High Junior School’s performance of the WW1 centenary tribute as “remarkable” and the production as “stunning.” Staged by Year 6, the play about a young boy living through the Great War wowed audiences with mature and poignant performances usually associated with much older actors. Writer Rob John attended the final performance on 21 May with the play’s musical arranger Barry Gibson and BBC School Radio editor Andrew Barnes. Afterwards, Mr John paid tribute to both the young actors and their teachers, saying: “I was honoured to write the play and it has been a joy to see it being performed all over the UK and in Europe. However, I doubt any production will come anywhere close to this one. The skills you showed as a team and individually were remarkable and the production values were stunning. You and your teachers should be so proud of what you have achieved.” The play, originally written for radio, followed the fate of nine-year old Archie as the war gradually impacts on the lives of his friends and family between 1914 and 1918. With a backdrop of factory work, national conscription and trench warfare, the play blended humour, emotion and historical fact to powerfully highlight the sacrifice made by the millions of men, women and children during WW1. The school approached the play not only as an extra-ordinary theatrical exercise but as full educational experience. The girls even visited the war graves of Northern France to seek inspiration for the production. The girls worked collaboratively to devise the set, props, sound and lighting as well as compose their own locally

STAFF TRIP TO

focused and femaleorientated additions to scenes and the original musical score. Resulting additions included a scene about the Women’s Land Army, a song about Zeppelin attacks on Sydenham and a sequence on how women knitted to help win the war. The strong creative result attracted attention from the Imperial War Museum who also attended a performance. Alongside their rehearsals, students also experienced a Make Do & Make-up master class so that they could apply their own and each other’s theatrical make-up. A Frontline Food cookery workshop gave them a literal taste of WW1 so that they could make trench cake to serve at the play interval. An art, jewellery and artefact workshop also enabled them to make poppy brooches, bracelets and hair slides to sell at the performances in aid of the charity War Child. A surprise star of the show was Winston, a pug puppy belonging to Year 4 parent Mrs Alex McGovern, who appeared as Archie’s present from his father on his return from the Front. The play was directed and produced by Year 6 class teacher Cheryl Mitchell-Morgan who, prior to teaching, was a professional theatre director and trained actress at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Mrs Mitchell-Morgan was ably supported by fellow Year 6 teacher, Zoe Shippey, and by Head of Junior School Music, Biann Duval.

YPRES

he long- awaited first day of the summer holidays arrived at Sydenham on 9 July 2015. Yet on that morning, 50 members of staff arrived at school a good few hours earlier than they might have expected to on a normal school day. It was time for the staff trip to the Battlefields of the Ypres Salient. The skies were blue and the sun was out as we crossed the Channel to Calais and drove towards Belgium, the fields of Flanders stretching before us.

The destinations on our itinerary deeply impressed upon us the significance of the Salient to allied troops and the nature and scale of warfare on the Western Front. At the Bayernwald Trenches, we studied how little the front line moved over the course of four years, and explored the trenches and mine shafts which testified to the importance of new developments in warfare. The St. Julien Canadian Memorial at Vancouver Corner gave us an insight into the events of the Second Battle of Ypres in the spring of 1915, when gas was used for the first time on the Western Front. We also visited Essex Farm Dressing Station, where the Canadian Medical Officer, John McCrae, wrote his famous poem In Flanders Fields, following the death of a close friend. At the Poperinge Firing Post, we listened to sombre tales about those executed for cowardice and desertion during the war, and grappled with the moral questions these generated. As the day progressed, we continued to struggle to come to terms with the huge loss of life, and nowhere was this more apparent than at the military cemeteries; Lijssenhoek and Langemarck (the German cemetery) and at the astounding Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing.

The day ended at the city of Ypres, where the square was full, for as fate would have it, our trip coincided with the 30,000th sounding of the Last Post at the Menin Gate. As we witnessed the moving ceremony, surrounded by the names of the missing war dead, we were touched by the individual stories, by the scale of the conflict and how its impact still resonates today. It was an illuminating and unforgettable trip for all involved.

Ms Ormanczyk SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

CHALLENGES AND PRIZES

RYMAN’S NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CHALLENGE

n the Spring Term, Year 9 competed in the primary round of the Ryman’s National Enterprise Challenge. This was a day spent designing our very own rollercoaster with the theme “fantastical escapism”. After being told which groups we would be in, we were assigned a series of stimulating tasks to follow, in order to prepare us for our presentation at the end of the day’s work. In our pitch we had to have a strong branding, theme, before ride story, enthralling TV advertisement and a captivating poster. Moreover, the challenge was made more difficult when we discovered that computers and any electronic devices were not allowed to be used at any time throughout our display. After a series of exceptional performances, the judges came to the decision that the team that would be through to the final round of the competition was “Decimation” (a ride based on the Apocalypse). This meant that myself, along with Khadijah Mellah, Chloe Harris, Emily Ross Hicken, Alanna Wyncoll and Rebecca O’Connor would be competing in the final round of the challenge at Alton Towers, in Manchester, along with 160 other schools. To our amazement, we soon discovered that one of the judges would be Theo Paphitis, a dragon from Dragons Den.

On the last day of term, Decimation travelled nervously up to Manchester for an extremely exciting day. The train journey mainly consisted of perhaps a few too many practises of our speech and a series of “Well done” from the passengers around us, who most likely knew our entire speeches by heart, after having to listen to them for at least two hours.

CHRYSTALL PRIZE

Once we arrived at Alton Towers, we quickly found our seats and were greeted by a magician from CBBC, who performed later on that day. Our pitch was not until late in the afternoon, so the majority of the morning was spent queuing up for rides and practising our speeches. We were told the prize for the winners would be an all-inclusive trip to Paris for three nights, which made the competition even more exciting. After a few hours of waiting, it was our turn to perform. We presented exceptionally well and every single team member was excellent. Whilst the judges decided who would go through to the top six, X Factor’s Only the Young performed. After waiting nervously we soon discovered that although captivated by our truly exceptional prototypes and images, the judges had not put us through to the final six. This however did not upset us as we had had a truly exceptional day and made memories that would last forever. The journey home was rather more relaxed than when we travelled up there and consisted of us trying to find as many games as possible to play on a train, which soon became rather interesting. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are very thankful to Ms. Cornell, who very generously helped and supported us.

Annabelle Simmonds Year 9

n 29 January, girls in Year 10 were able to witness the five compelling speeches of other GDST students taking part in the Chrystall Prize award, hosted by Sydenham High school. The five girls were able to express their feelings on matters they clearly felt extremely passionate about, in front of a panel of judges and inquisitive students. Our own student, Katie Sawers (above), with the help of her co-writers Evie Richards and Zoe MacCormack, gave an ardent speech about the domination of white males in the English curriculum. She successfully portrayed the unquestionable lack of diversity in the syllabus, and insisted that it should include more female writers and those of different origins, confessing how she feels that the literature we study is all the work of ‘dead white males.’ The stimulating topics put forward throughout the Chrystall Prize, gave the audience a lot to deliberate, and we were the cause for many disputes between the opposing opinions of the spectators. After a short break for discussion, the winner was announced. As part of the GDST we have many opportunities to take part in competitions and debates for all of our different interests. This competition gave the aspiring politicians and journalists in Year 10 an insight into the world of debating and speeches. A massive congratulations to Katie and her fellow writers, who were runners up in the competition, receiving extra credit from the judges for the most researched topic and congratulations to Annie Thorpe of Bromley High, the winner of the competition.

Three Year 11 students scooped a total of four awards in this year’s prestigious Young Reporter Awards. Evie Richards won the Interview category with her interview with local MP and London Mayoral candidate Tessa Jowell and Rachel Honeysett took the award for Most Read report with an amazing 1,250 views for her story on the Penge Mystery. Rachel was also highly commended in the Best Feature category for her piece on the future for sci-fi heroes and Sophie Allen gained a Commended award for her Breaking News story on saving the Coronet at Elephant & Castle. Read three of their articles on the next pages:

YOUNG REPORTERS

GDST SPELLING BEE

ive Sydenham teams made a strong showing in this year’s GDST MFL spelling bee. They won second place in the Year 9 French and German competitions and were narrowly beaten into third place in the Year 9 Spanish competition, after a tie-break. Year 8 French and Spanish teams also did well and were complimented particularly on their pronunciation All the girls had prepared really well for the competition and it was good to see their hard work rewarded. The vocabulary they learnt will stand them in good stead for their language studies next year. It was a happy event where all the teams were of a high standard and it was good to see so many girls showing an impressive knowledge of vocabulary.

SCOOP TOP AWARDS

THE REAL CROWN OF ELEPHANT & CASTLE

group of petitioners launched a campaign last July entitled ‘Save the Coronet’ in protest of property developer Delancey and Southwark Council’s plans to close the iconic Elephant and Castle club. The South London music venue, located on New Kent Road, has been home to a range of performers for over 100 years including Justin Timberlake, Oasis as well as silent movie star Charlie Chaplin, who is said to have performed at the venue as a young child when it was known as the Elephant and Castle Theatre. The events space was even used as a shelter throughout The Blitz – a rather stark contrast to being renowned more recently as the host to some of the biggest club nights in the capital. Sadly, the Coronet now finds itself under threat due to plans for the redevelopment of the shopping centre as well as the surrounding area. The plans for the Coronet’s impending closure once its lease expires in November 2015 have been met with anger from local residents, the venue’s 100-strong team of staff as well as some of the club’s average 250,000 revellers per year. The building’s proposed closure is under further scrutiny as the building itself boasts a whole range of art deco features, which were initially designed in 1932 by William Riddell Glen, one of the leading theatrical designers of this period. Designs including the highly-decorated ceiling and fluted pilasters have since been restored and add a wonderful balance to the club’s atmosphere by blending such a colourful history with the modern suburban setting of ‘The Elephant’. Many attempts have been launched in order to prevent the closure of the historic entertainment site including a Change.org petition, which has received just over 4,000 supporters – unfortunately still short of its 10,000 target. Some of the Coronet’s defenders have heralded The Coronet as a ‘historic and amazing venue’ and have said it ‘adds hugely to the quality of life’.

I contacted Simon Hughes, local Liberal Democrat MP for the Bermondsey and Old Southwark Constituency, but his office was unfortunately unable to comment on the matter of the Coronet’s closure. I was however able to talk to Richard Littman, Director of the Coronet who has championed the campaign from the start and I posed some questions to him regarding the impact on the surrounding area if the closure were to be effective. 1) Why do you think it is important for the Coronet to remain open? With such history and architecture and the fact it is a trading business and brings thousands of people to the area to use the local amenities all year round, I feel The Coronet is more than capable of fitting in with the redevelopment without being closed down in order for there to be a sense of new and old within Elephant and Castle. It would be a shame to lose yet another classic venue from the 19th Century, as so many are disappearing from modern environments up and down the country. 2) How do you think the closure of the club will affect the local residents? I imagine that the local residents will benefit from the redevelopment although losing the Coronet will certainly impact on the heritage of Elephant and Castle and one may worry that the shopping centre will just simply become another commercial Westfield. Several members of the community visit the Coronet whether it is for live music, dance or even sporting events, and I’m sure many of the locals can even remember when the club operated as a cinema in the 1980s too. Subsequently, several of the younger residents may have to travel further afield to be entertained if the closure goes ahead. The Coronet is one of many features that adds to the eclectic mix of activity in the area and losing it will result in the loss of some great importance for the residents too. You can support the #SaveTheCoronet campaign by signing the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/ southwark-council-save-the-coronet

by Sophie Allen SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

YOUNG REPORTERS DAME TESSA A WOMAN TO BE RECKONED WITH

espite 51% of the UK’s population being women, this proportion is not reflected within the British legislature. Only 1 in 4 members of the House of Commons is female. Therefore I decided to seek my local MP’s – Dame Tessa Jowell, former Minister for Women experience of government and her opinion on the underrepresentation of women in politics. After university, Dame Tessa Jowell began work as a child care officer in Brixton, and subsequently pursued a career as a social worker at Maudsley Hospital in Camberwell. Of her early career, she said, “I was always very positive about the work I felt I could do as a social worker and how, in small but effective ways, I was able to help change the pattern of behaviour of my clients. I have always been very interested in the power of intended and unintended human behaviour and had planned to continue to explore this field in social work and research”. She then explained how these early experiences led her to address the central issues from a different angle, thereby having impact beyond the individual clients with whom she worked. “…I also felt that the big solutions to the life of someone like one of my clients back then are the solutions that politics brings, and that it is within the realm of politics that you can help bringabout significant change to improve the lives of so many people.”

As Dame Tessa had also been a local councillor in Camden for 15 years with cross-London responsibilities, the move to stand for election as a Member of Parliament must have seemed like a natural progression.

Since 1992, when Dame Tessa was elected to parliament, she has held various positions: Minister for Public Health, Minister for Employment, Minister for Women, Minister for London, and Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General. Her illustrious career includes implementing the Sure Start Programme, which has supported children in communities in Britain and in developing countries. Dame Tessa was also integral to the success of the London 2012 Olympic Games, with Lord Sebastian Coe - a former Conservative MP and Minister for Sport being unstinting in his praise and admiration for someone whose political leanings are different from his own. Lord Coe believes that Dame Tessa was the “political driving force” behind the bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, and said that she was an “inseparable part of their ultimate success”. Dame Tessa announced last year that she would be standing down as an MP in 2015, which resulted in a further torrent of praise of her work as a politician, including Ed Miliband describing Dame Tessa as a “unique politician” of warmth, spirit, loyalty and generosity. As I wanted to focus on politics at a local level, I asked Dame Tessa about the changes that she had seen her constituency of Dulwich and West Norwood go through during the twenty two years that she has represented it. Impact on education, health and policing all feature in her response: “I do feel proud of what has been achieved to improve the lives of local people. Together, through community campaigns and improved funding, we have seen King’s College Hospital overhauled and mostly rebuilt; we have more primary school places and four new secondary schools. The development of neighbourhood policing was key in bringing down

crime, and the successful campaign to save Gipsy Hill Police Station will be crucial in maintaining confidence in local policing. A new health and leisure centre is now open in West Norwood leading the way in integrated health and wellbeing improvements. The big outstanding challenge is to see this matched with a new community health centre on the Dulwich Hospital site with, I hope, a secondary school for local children and I am doing a lot of work on this at the moment.” She was characteristically robust in her response to my question regarding the gender imbalance still present in British politics. As feminism is a subject close to my heart, I asked her how we can combat the underrepresentation of women in politics. Her answer? “When I was elected in 1992, there were more MPs named John or Jonathan than there were women in Parliament. I’ve written and spoken about this a lot – on the tone and style of politics, and on practical measures. The Labour Party has introduced all women shortlists until such a time that there is equality of gender representation in the House of Commons and this is something I have supported.” Dame Tessa was extremely generous in agreeing to answer my questions and providing me with such a breadth of information, including additional links to her previous interviews. Ultimately, my research into her career, alongside her detailed answers, has left me with the same impression of her that Tony Blair succinctly described when he said that Dame Tessa is “immensely able, tough minded and determined. But at the same time and with the same people, she is kind, decent and loyal in a way I have seldom seen in politics.”

by Evie Richards

WILL SUPERHEROS BE SAVEDIS THERE A FUTURE FOR SCIENCE FICTION?

ver since Marvel Comics brought us the X-men film franchise, superheroes have come back into fashion. Smart is the new sexy, and fashions like ‘Geek Chic’ have made being a bit of a nerd, well, not quite as nerdy as it used to be. One haven for anyone with an interest in sci-fi or superheroes is Time Trek in Bromley High Street. This sci-fi merchandise and comic book shop may not be very big, but it is a virtual Aladdin’s cave for anyone with any fandom, selling everything from Lightsaber umbrellas to My Little Pony bookends. I spoke to a man that works there, the appropriately named Xavier Blanc, about why he thinks Superheroes and sci-fi are returning to popular culture. “Science fiction is becoming more popular now with the new movies and fashions,” says Blanc. “It’s got a broader audience. It used to be just for geeks but now people from every walk of life come here” It does certainly seem to be true; in the forty minutes that I’m there many customers and, as Xavier told me, there seem to be equal numbers of men and women. It’s a busy time of year for all businesses and with its vast variety of stock, Time Trek is the perfect place to buy Christmas gifts. Twice in the past year, Time Trek has had Doctor Who day to celebrate Titan Comics re-launching Doctor Who comics in England. The first, in July, did not get the reception they were looking as many people were on holiday, but the second was very successful. Both saw a replica of the TARDIS land outside the shop, and the people working there giving away free jelly babies in a reference to Tom Baker’s fourth doctor. It’s clear that Doctor Who has moved on from the days twenty-eight years ago when watching it was something that made you the opposite of cool. Still in Bromley, although a little out of the way, further up the High Street is the specialised comic book shop Piranha. As I enter the shop, I notice a life-size model of Spiderman is very kindly holding the door open for me. Looking around the shop brings the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory to mind; the shop follows the American archetype of the perfect comic book store, with a wide range of superheroes covered and a section at the back of the shop for merchandise. I had the opportunity to speak to a regular customer of Piranha, Adam, who says he comes to the store around once a week.

“It’s different to other comic book shops” says Adam, “you can come in here and just read the comic books and have a conversation.” It is certainly true that the staff are very helpful and friendly. The first time I came to Piranha, all I had to do was say that I had never read any comic books and they helped me find a place to begin. In both Time Trek and Piranha, the staff agreed that entering the world of comic books can be daunting for newcomers, with publishers such as Marvel and DC having around 75 years of continuity. However, Piranha makes easy for super-newbies. I ask what effect the new super hero movies have had on Adam and the staff and the response is very varied. “Movies have a huge influence on the comics,” one of them says, “as soon as Guardians of the Galaxy came out, everyone wanted to buy the comics” “Marvel movies are the best,” says Adam, “they have a whole team of people whose job it is to make the films true to the comicbooks.” This seems to have one exception: everyone in the shop concurs that one particular film, X-men Origins: Wolverine, has failed by ruining one of Marvel’s funniest characters, Deadpool. They inform me that it got such a bad reception from comic-book-lovers that there has now been an entire series of comic books, featuring Deadpool, in which he tries to stop the film from ever being made. One thing I notice about Piranha, compared to Time Trek, is that I am one of only two women in a busy shop. I ask whether they think that this is because women don’t like the big-breasted, often sexualised women in the comics. “The majority of readers are boys, and usually they’re a bit geeky and awkward, so the comic books often picture the women of their dreams,” says Beck, a man that works in Piranha. “It goes both ways, though. The men are ripped with muscles and both the male and female characters are the epitome of human physique.” So long as we want something to aspire to, superheroes are here to stay, and with new films of such good quality, who can complain?

by Rachel Honeysett

RACHEL HONEYSETT YEAR 11 YOUNG REPORTER INTERVIEWS TARA MOHR

ara Mohr, the well-known speaker and expert on leadership, visited in March to give a talk to girls and parents to ‘Play Big’ in both their personal and professional lives. I was fortunate enough to have an interview with Tara prior to her talk. As soon as we start the interview, Tara is friendly, welcoming, and very eager to answer my questions. I begin by asking her what the main themes of her new book are. The message of the book is to help women “be loyal to their dreams rather than their fears. It’s based on work I’ve done coaching women for the past years”. One of the most recent posts on Mohr’s blog was about asking for advice, where she said that people were going about it in a wrong way altogether. For someone at school, deciding which subjects to study next year or where to go to university, this was something I found particularly interesting. “The answers to the biggest questions are inside ourselves. Sometimes we don’t know how to turn down the critic side of ourselves. When getting advice, ask ‘What’s your experience? What helpful information can you give me?’ or ask yourself ‘What do I feel naturally motivated about? Is there something I’m interested in but won’t do because of my inner critic?” Much of Tara’s work focusses on the so-called ‘inner critic’, a figure inside us that wants to be safe, the voice that tells you “not to put your hand up in class, you’ll get it wrong and it’ll be embarrassing”. She goes to explain that “the inner critic is very repetitive, and sees everything in black and white”. Identifying you inner critic should help you make better decisions.” In her talk, Tara said that one of her reasons for being so driven in trying to help women reach their goals was because, when she was at school, she saw that there was a lack of women in the English literature curriculum and she wanted to do something about it. I ask why much of Mohr’s work focusses on women. “A lot of what I write about is applicable to men too, both have selfdoubt, but men have more encouragement. Women have so much more conditioning. They’re made to think ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’.” In the talk she gave later, she expanded on this point by talking about some women, including the pioneering engineer Cherry Murray, who suffer from ‘imposter syndrome’, a phenomena where people feel as if they don’t deserve to have their job, and that at any moment everyone will realise how bad they really are. SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

INDIVIDUAL SUCCESSES ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC

ear 9 music scholar, Ella Plumb, has been accepted at The Royal Academy of Music. She started a two year jazz course in September on Saturday mornings. They hold regular gigs at The Pizza Express in Soho Street, She is also becoming a regular at the prestigious SE London jazz club The Hideaway. She plays with The Vince Dunn Orchestra and is far and away the youngest in the band.

SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS Frances Newe Year 7 took part in the Surrey County Swimming Finals and came 3rd in 200m butterfly, 4th in 400m individual medley, 7th in 100m butterfly. She came 9th overall in the county and qualified to go to London regional finals. Grace Fullerton Year 8 - 1st in 75 m hurdles at Trust, 2nd 75m hurdles, London Year 8 Athletics. Amy Miller Year 7 - 1st at Trust Cross Country, 2nd in London Year 7 Cross Country and 1st in 800m at Trust Athletics, 1st in 800m at London Year 7 Athletics.

Ella said: ‘Not many 14 year olds get to play in a professional Big Band. I am so lucky that Vince has given me this opportunity. It’s so much fun ! Anyone interested in going to see any performances, go to www.hideawaylive. co.uk to find out more details.

Amelia English Year 7 - 2nd 1200m at Year 7 Lewisham Athletics. Margaux Brewin Year 7 - 1st 200m Lewisham. Sophie Harris Year 7 - 1st Long Jump, 1st 300m Lewisham. Eleanor Press Year 7 - 1st Javelin Lewisham. Laure Denaro Year 9 - 1st Discus at Trust Athletics. Alexandra Housley Year 10 - 2nd Javelin at Trust Athletics. Phoebe Emburey Year 10 - 1st in Hammer at London Athletics.

CADET PERSONALITY

OF THE YEAR

ast year’s Head Girl and Year 13 student, Alexandra TerrieuxTaylor, has been awarded the title of Cadet Personality of the Year for Southwark (South) Volunteer Police Cadets (VPC). Alex has been a VPC for a while and her award relates to the performance of her duties as Deputy Head Cadet in the last year, including duty at the Southwark Civic Awards at Southwark Cathedral. 28

Lola Cookman Year 10 - 5th in Shot Putt; 6th in High Jump at London Athletics.

ARKWRIGHT ENGINEERING AWARD

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD

alented young Sydenham High photographer Olivia Bertie has won international acclaim in a photographic contest with her first wildlife assignment. 14-year old Olivia’s fun photo of greedy chimps filling their mouths with apples, has won her both a national and international award from National Geographic in a competition run in their Kids magazine. ‘Any more apples?’ not only took the UK ‘Weird But True’ category prize but went on to scoop the international prize in the same category as well. The competition attracted 16,500 entries from around the world.

LAURIE MAGNUS POETRY PRIZE

armen Malik Year 6, won the GDST Laurie Magnus Poerty Prize Junior category for her poem Gallipoli. The study of Gallipoli was linked our Year 6 preparation for the production of Archie Dobson’s War: “ I chose Gallipoli because I felt it showed passion, maturity and muscle in the writing and found a new and personal way of relating to the famous poem by Wilfred Owen, Dulce et Decorum Est.” Carmen recited her poem in assembly to girls from across Junior School and was commended on her fluency and the powerful and emotive imagery deployed within the poem:

Although Olivia is already a keen landscape photographer, this was the first time that she had focused on wildlife. The photo was taken at Edinburgh Zoo last Summer and was a really lucky break – a case of patience and being in the right position at the right time. Olivia’s prize of a £500 professional camera and £150 worth of prints, should ensure she continues to take more award-winning images. As a result of her win, Olivia has also been asked to submit photos of Sydenham Arts events by the organisers and her broader work may be considered for inclusion in the Artists’ Trail.

We struggled on through the smothering heat, An inferno hotter that the Outback, Fires blazed scarlet at the edge of the field A storm of shellfire fell from the clouds of smoke Shrapnel flew like jagged slinters of glass The explosions roarded louder than thunder Whirlwinds of bullets enveloped the men Falling like flies, lost to cruel Turkish guns. Wading through a sea of rotting corpses, We searched for those whose lives could still be saved. Hoping for a strange face on each dead man Hoping for friends and brothers still to live. Then I saw him, My old friend, lying on the bloodstained ground, His unseeing eyes turned to the sky above, His face contorted with pain and fear My dreams are turned to nightmares by that haunting face, Broken, inside by all that I have seen. If you too, had lost your dearest brother And looked on your comrades as they were slaughtered, If you had seen the horror of a girl Whose lover would not be returning home. “My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardernt for some desperate glory The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est pro patria mori”

ixth former Katie Mills, who has been awarded a prestigious Arkwright Engineering Scholarship, officially received her award at a ceremony in London. The Arkwright Scholarship identifies Katie as one of the country’s future leaders in engineering and technical design. She achieved her success by competing against a field of 1,300 candidates from across the UK, undergoing a rigorous selection process including a two-hour aptitude exam and an interview at a top engineering university. She was presented with her scholarship certificate by representatives of her sponsor company, TATA Technologies – a very appropriate partner as Katie’s burning ambition is to work in the automotive industry, one of the company’s key areas of expertise. Dr Martin Thomas, Chief Executive of the Arkwright Scholarships Trust, said: “I am delighted to see a student from Sydenham High School secure this prestigious accolade. Clearly, there is considerable technical talent here. With the competition for rewarding jobs becoming ever-more fierce, the receipt of an Arkwright Engineering Scholarship can help dynamic young people at the start of their journey to be the country’s future leaders in engineering and technical design.” Sixteen-year old Katie is certainly well on the way with her journey, as she also secured a place on the Jaguar Land Rover Summer Experience Programme. SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

SPORT NETBALL Senior Year 7 were victorious in the Lewisham Borough Netball tournament. They swept aside their opponents, not letting in a single goal, so qualifying to represent the borough in the London Youth Games. U16 squad followed this triumph by successfully negotiating the Kent Netball prelims in amazing style. This talented team claimed victories in all their matches and, against a field of 57 other schools, secured a place in the Kent finals in December. Since September all of our year groups have been taking part in Kent Netball competitions. Our Year 8s missed going through to the Kent Finals by just

one goal; it could not have been closer!

thoroughly deserve their runner-up medals.

Year 7s and 8s went to Condover Hall for a weekend of GDST netball and adventure activities at the beginning of March. Our Year 7s were in a tough pool but still managed to win through to the cup final playoff, where they unfortunately lost to Putney High by one point. This meant they finished in the top six schools out of 26 teams.

Junior Year 3 took part in a collaborative coaching session at Oakfield School and came second overall. Year 4 A&B teams won 3-1 against St Dunstan’s, with a win against Streatham & Clapham High also under their belts. Year 5 played successful matches against Blackheath Preparatory School, St Dunstan’s and Dulwich Hamlet. Year 6 also had a busy term with a draw and a 7-1 win against St Dunstan’s; a 5-0 A team win against Blackheath Prep and tremendous 9-2 and 13-2 wins against JAPS.

The Year 8s won all but one game over the entire weekend, and that one loss was only by 1 point, but was unfortunately the final! However we are extremely proud of how well they played and they

RUGBY

uring 2014/15 the Rugby team continued to grow in numbers with an enthusiastic bunch of Year 7’s joining the squad, bringing with them lots of potential. We started training at Crystal Palace Park whenever we were able to, which allowed the team to develop contact skills in a more game-like situation. The benefits showed with the Under 15’s team winning the inner division of the Met Kent Cup and an inexperienced Under 13’s team showing great promise to do really well and finish third in the same competition. A number of friendly matches were played throughout the year against other schools and there were also friendly tournaments, giving the girls lots of match time. The extra time has seen the standard of rugby at Sydenham High rapidly improve. Two of our players, Eleanor Press and Sophie Hudson, were selected by the Kent coaches to represent West Kent in an intercounty match in March and heading into the 2015/16 season we now have three players regularly training and playing at Old Alleynians RFC.

ATHLETICS

ear 7 triumphed in the Lewisham competition and are now borough champions with first places in six events – Amy Miller in the 800m, Sophie Harris in the 300m and long jump, Margaux Brewin in the 200m, Jessica Josephs in the 100m and Eleanor Press in the Javelin. Eleanor was also 3rd in the discus and Amelia English came 2nd in the 1,200m event. The girls went on to compete in the Years 7 & 8 London Athletics championships at Mile End. Everyone performed well at this high standard competition, including 1st place for Amy Miller in the 800m, Grace Fullerton 2nd in the 75m hurdles and Sophie Harris 3rd in the 70m hurdles. Meanwhile at the Battersea Meet, notable successes included Isabella Hilditch (Year 11) winning the 300m hurdles and breaking a 22 year-old record. She also won the 80m hurdles and went on to participate in the English Schools championships in Gateshead. Phoebe Emburey (Year 10) came first in the hammer.

JUNIOR FOOTBALL

he first matches of the year were against JAPS and we defeated their A and B teams - both with a 2-0 score line. All girls who attend football club got the chance to play in what was a fantastic afternoon of sport. The U11 team also played exceptionally well in a tournament at Alleyn’s. They came third overall, having played against teams from Dulwich Hamlet, St Pauls and Blackheath Prep as well as Alleyn’s. In a match against Rosendale, the A team narrowly lost 7-5, but the B team won 3-0.

CROSS COUNTRY

ur first major success of the year was in the London Schools’ Cross Country championships in February. Out of 129 runners our Year 7 girls came 3rd, 23rd, 41st and 47th, leaving our team in 4th place overall out of 21 teams in London - an absolutely fantastic achievement. Amy Miller was our star performer taking 3rd place with Amelia English, Sophie Harris and Margaux Brewin (pictured above) finishing in

the other respective positions. This was followed by an increased number of Sydenham High girls taking part in the Lewisham Cross Country. Our teams finished in 1st, 3rd and 4th places with a number of girls coming in the top 10 - Amy Miller 1st, Amelia English 3rd, Margaux Brewin 7th, Abigail Reinfeld 8th and Sophie Harris 9th.

KENT RUGBY MEDALISTS

Our Year 8 teams also performed well finishing in 2nd and 5th places overall. Our top runners were Sally Prifti (4th) and Edith Alderton (9th). All these girls then went on to represent Lewisham at the London Year 7 & 8 Cross Country Championships at Avery Hill Park where Amy Miller achieved a fantastic 2nd place, narrowly missing the top spot by 15 seconds.

JUNIOR GDST GALA

he Annual GDST swimming Gala took place in October. The standard was high; our girls did extremely well and enjoyed the whole experience of taking part.

fter attending an opening training session run by Kent rugby coaches, two of our talented rugby players – Sophie Hudson (Year 8) and Eleanor Press (Year 7) - were selected to play in an intercounty game as members of the West Kent team and received medals at the end of the tournament.

CRYSTAL PALACE TENNIS LESSONS

irls in Years 3-6 had the fantastic opportunity of free tennis tuition at Crystal Palace Sports Centre during their PE lessons. They completed a 6-week course with coach Emma Wells. Emma has started a tennis academy at Crystal Palace under the ‘Miss-Hits’ scheme, set up by Judy Murray and the British Tennis Association. The girls thoroughly enjoyed their tennis lessons and made excellent use of the facilities.

SPORTS DAYS

he sun shone on our athletes and their endeavours on the sports field for Sports Day. There were no less than five records broken, including three for Year 7. Stanley won the fun run and Grey triumphed in the cheerleading competition but Shirreff were the overall champions, with Grey as runners-up.

Highlight of the day was the official opening of the wonderful new long jump by Mrs Pullen who cut the ribbon and was also the first person to perform a jump into the pit. Once again members of Years 5 & 6 joined the Senior School for races.

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

STUDENT WORKSHOP WITH

EMILY JOYCE

ow can a student really get inside the text of a challenging play? One great way is from a current member of the cast. Sydenham High’s Year 11 drama students got exactly that opportunity when celebrated actor and alumna Emily Joyce came into the school to give a workshop and Q&A on their GCSE play, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Ms Joyce, who has many screen and stage screen credits to her name, is currently starring as Judy in the acclaimed National Theatre production now playing to packed houses at the Gielgud Theatre. During the workshop Ms Joyce helped the students to explore some of the critical scenes in the text, including an epic monologue which is a key moment in the play. She also helped the

students to explore the unique physicality of the play – such as the cast-simulated movement of the packed underground train that the central character Christopher ‘builds’ as the play progresses. At the end of the workshop Ms Joyce answered questions from girls from across the school about her acting career. Students also wanted to know about her acting at school and she revealed that her favourite role had been a monologue based on Shakespeare’s Ophelia. She also offered further advice to anyone hoping to follow in her acting footsteps, including making sure they follow through with their chosen A levels to demonstrate that they have both commitment and staying power.

YEAR 13 PERFORM PARAGON

he Year 13 Theatre Studies students were set the task for their Unit 3 exam to devise an original and unique piece of theatre. At the beginning of the rehearsal process the students were given two different stimuli - Maya Angelou’s poem Phenomenal Women and Matisse’s blue cut out women - to inspire them in their devising process. They also watched The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time which is currently on the West End stage, and this had a big

impact on the ideas behind their stage design. The students decided to set their piece in a dystopian world which also had hints of the 1950’s. It was clear that the two novels Brave New World and 1984 which they had used as part of their research, had a huge influence on their piece. The students impressed not only with a fantastic play and a range of excellent characterisations but the technical choices they made. This included a grid projected on to the floor, white cubes which had images and wording projected on to them, both supporting the storyline and juxtaposing some of the plot, and fantastic use of light and sound. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the performance which took place in the Westwood Theatre. Well done to Phoebe Robinson, Tallulah Boote Bond and Polly Pullen for such impressive work.

SPOTLIGHT ON

DRAMA I

n October the Westwood Theatre hosted ‘A Spotlight On Drama’ - a showcase of some of the stunning work from our GCSE and A Level Drama students, along with pieces from the Senior Drama club, Musical Theatre Club and some LAMDA student monologues and duologues. The showcase was an opportunity to show some of the work that has been created both inside and outside lesson time. With the performance being only six weeks into the new academic year the students really did impress the capacity audience. It was also fantastic to be able to give a platform for some of our LAMDA students who had recently taken their exams and received extremely high marks. It is always very different performing in front of an audience in a large space than in front of an examiner and the students really enjoyed the challenge of this transition. The evening saw a range of performances both scripted and devised and showed the diverse range that is explored within the Drama department at Sydenham High.

DAISY

PULLS IT OFF!

he energy backstage was buzzing; after months of rehearsals, and having to keep up some extremely posh accents, the opening night of Daisy Pulls it Off had finally come. It all started when we found out that Years 7-9 could audition to be part of the play Daisy Pulls it Off which is about Daisy Meredith, an elementary school girl who gains a place at Grangewood School for Girls: a very posh boarding school. It follows Daisy as she attempts to fit in at Grangewood. Whilst having to tackle some of the girl’s snobbish ways, she discovers the treasure of Grangewood, scores the winning goal at the hockey championships and finds her long lost father (thanks to the help of her trusted friend, Trixie Martin, and the other girls at Grangewood) The very nervous auditionees came from every year group to try out for the various parts that the play offered: we took part in a series of workshops for the Drama Department to see who was best for each role. When the cast sheet went up everyone was excited for what the next few months would hold. I was lucky enough to be cast as Daisy Meredith and, as this was my first time playing a lead role in such a hard play, I was extremely nervous. The first few rehearsals were quite scary. When we saw our scripts and the immense amount of lines to be learnt, we knew that we would have to start working hard straight away. As we started to become much more confident with our roles, everyone could relax and have a great time whilst

working on the play. As the weeks went by, rehearsals became a little more stressful as we got closer and closer to the opening night of the show, and learning all the very energetic and particular lines proved to be a challenge for everyone. But it was still tremendously enjoyable; I made loads of friends whilst doing the show and I still miss seeing them for rehearsals every week! Before we knew it, the set, costumes and props began to arrive and it soon dawned on us: the show was nearly here and we hadn’t finished blocking the play yet! A switch around of the main characters didn’t help matters as some girls had to learn a completely new part! When the set was finished, it was so exciting to see all of the elements coming together: the professionalism of the production was almost overwhelming but it set the expectations high, and we rose to the challenge. Our rehearsals were going really well and the show was looking great: it was only a matter of time until our tech rehearsal for the Junior School. Even though everyone was quite nervous, we all knew what we had to do, we just needed to focus and perform to the best of our abilities. There were only a few small errors and we knew we could fix them for the big opening night. And then it was finally here. After a big warm up and a relaxation exercise, we put our costumes and makeup on and got ready for the show. It was amazing! Even though it was very stressful

at times, everyone loved it and we couldn’t wait for the show the next day. Yet again, the audience began to take their seats after being greeted to the school, Grangewood style. Obviously, we wanted to top the performance from the night before (which was an extremely tough task). The show went on and yet again, it went really well. There were some mishaps, like me staying onstage for a whole scene when I wasn’t meant to, but the audience still thoroughly enjoyed it! The next day, the already very tired cast prepared for the closing night. We were all so sad that it was going to be over in two acts’ time, but we were ready to show our final audience what we could do. The atmosphere was amazing and we definitely pulled it off! As we finished our final song, there was a sense of relief that we had done our last show, but when we said our thank you’s to the wonderful Drama Department and tech team, who we could have never done it without, everyone was devastated that it had come to an end. Being in Daisy Pulls it Off was an experience I will never forget: my confidence has definitely grown since doing it, every challenge it threw at us, we overcame together and I loved every second of it! (Even though I still find myself saying some of my lines occasionally!) In the words of Daisy Meredith, it truly was spiffing!

Edith Alderton (Daisy Meredith) Year 8

HOUSE DRAMA

he Drama department ended a busy year with House Drama. The Sixth Form Head of Houses from Stanley, Grey, Gurney and Shirreff battled it out with four stunning plays; Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs and The Little Mermaid which they performed on the morning of the last day of term. Each play had a selection of students performing in them from Year 7 to Year 10. Our guest judge, actress Sarah Mahoney, said she was impressed with the standard of the work presented and that Sydenham clearly has a lot of talent across the school. SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

DANCING WITH UNITY

rom ballet to Bollywood and street style to jumping Jazz, Sydenham High girls certainly put their best foot forward for their 9th annual dance show, Unity Through Diversity. Not even a first night power cut and the loss of

their professional sound just before curtain up put them off their stride. Over 100 girls took part in 28 separate acts, representing dance curriculum groups, soloists and a range of popular clubs, including a Jazz dance club from Years 5 and 6 at Junior School which is led by Year 13 student Eleanor Smith. The school also gained a place on the Royal Academy of Dance’s ‘Step into Dance’ programme (see below). Students in the programme are also in a position to be scouted for the Royal Academy of

Dance Youth Company, one of the world’s largest and most recognised dance organisations. 2015 will be the show’s 10th anniversary and there are already plans to invite alumnae back to take part in an even bigger show.

STEP INTO DANCE

ur Step Into Dance girls had a great year, with them getting to the semifinals of The Great British Dance Off. This was held at The New Wimbledon Theatre on Friday 13 March. Although the girls did not get a place on the winners’ podium they were much complimented on their performance – their first in a national dance competition – and learned a huge amount from the experience. Earlier in the term, the girls also visited the world famous dance studios, The LABAN Centre, where they had a tour around the building, gaining knowledge of how the choreographer, Rudolf Laban’s dance ideas had influenced the architecture of this award-winning building. This was followed by a contemporary dance workshop led by a dance teacher from LABAN, part of the Centre Of Advanced Training scheme (CAT), which is a dance programme designed for high-achieving young dancers. The students

have also enjoyed linking with Drumbeat School, a special needs school in Brockley, where both sets of students participated in an inclusive contemporary dance workshop. Following on from competing in the Great British Dance Off, the girls went to compete in a borough dance event at St Matthews Academy in Lewisham. They were then selected from 500 schools to audition at the prestigious Ballet Rambert for the Royal Academy Of Dance’s forthcoming show ‘Step Live’. We were thrilled that the Royal Academy of Dance invited them to dance in ‘Step Live’ on 12 July, at the world famous Sadler’s Wells Theatre. The girls performed a piece based on the Suffragette movement. This was a tremendous achievement. We look forward to competing in more dance events next year.

FLOURISH AND FLY AT SYDENHAM HIGH

ydenham High GDST is showing its youngest pupils how to flourish and fly, rather than flip and flop, to the challenges of the future with its most ambitious co-curricular initiative yet. Building on an already strong reputation for developing student resilience and whole-girl centred learning, Sydenham High’s Flourish and Fly is an extensive programme of activities and challenges designed to ensure girls are equipped to reach their full potential. It is being embedded into all aspects of Junior School life and complements the highly developed PSHE curriculum already in operation throughout the whole school, all the way from Early Years to Sixth Form.

Corner and a forensic detective workshop. Head of Junior School, Claire Boyd said: “This is an exciting and bold initiative which has true Sydenham Spirit at its heart. We want every girl to find her spark, challenge herself and soar ahead knowing that she has the ability to see around obstacles when they arise. All our girls need to be able to truly flourish and fly, not flip and flop, when it comes to facing the future.“

The initiative works across subjects and year groups to stretch ability, to build confidence and to develop collaborative working. Each half-term will take on one of the four Girls’ Day School Trust values – Be Bold; Girls First; Be Principled and Networked – as its theme, culminating in a week of activities and challenges to bring that particular value to life. Last half-term, students from Reception through to Year 6 explored what it means to ‘be bold’. The final week’s activities gave students ample opportunity to challenge themselves. Highlights included a collaborative mosaic; a playground Speaker’s

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

Working as bees in a colony, here are the highlights from each year group of the Junior School...

RECEPTION

RECEPTION ON THE

LONDON EYE

s part of our learning journey Magical Me the Reception class went to visit the London Eye. We travelled by public transport to London and had great fun spotting all the famous London landmarks we had been learning about. We even saw the Queen waving from Buckingham Palace! We had an exciting ride on the wheel and loved being high up over London. We enjoyed the 4D experience of London and particularly enjoyed the snow at the end. It was a great day out learning more about where we live.

CHINESE NEW YEAR

eception have been learning about Chinese New Year. Jih Win-Yeh from Step Out Arts came for the day to further our understanding of the Chinese culture. The girls started the day by learning some Mandarin including how to say and write hello, big, small and count up to three. We were then involved in a storytelling session followed by our favourite part of the day â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the ribbon dances. We were really inspired by Jih Win-Yehâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ribbon dance and everyone had great fun dancing with the ribbons to Chinese music.

FUN AT THE FARM

eception had great fun being farmers for the day at Lady Land Farm. We were led around the farm by Farmer Ray and had great fun learning about all the different animals. Our highlights included holding baby chicks, stroking baby rabbits and feeding calves with bottles of milk. We enjoyed an incredibly bumpy ride on a tractor driven by Farmer Phillip and had to hold hands to stop us falling off the seat! We loved playing on the bales of straw and pretending to drive old tractors. We had an amazing funfilled day at the farm.

STORY HUNT WORKSHOP “We’re going on a story hunt, we’re going to catch a good one…”

eception went on an amazing adventure through hot sands, squelchy, oozy mud, cold water and through a dark gloomy cage to find clues to tell a story. Along the way they met Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Winnie the Pooh and Polly the parrot! They were very brave explorers especially when there was scary growling sound from the bears in the woods. Reception loved their story hunt workshop and couldn’t wait to go on another story hunt again.

GROWING WILD AND WONDERFUL THINGS...

s part of our Wild and Wonderful topic Reception enjoyed planting and growing their own seeds. They planted sunflower seeds and beans. They learnt that seeds need water, light and warmth to survive and grow. They first had to look after their plants carefully in school and then continue growing them at home. Meera and Freya’s sunflower was incredibly tall and eventually it grew even taller than them! Wow!

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

YEAR 1

CENTRE FOR

WILDLIFE GARDENING

ear 1 visited the Centre for Wildlife Gardening in East Dulwich in May. The girls took part in a teaching session called Plantastic Meadows which linked with our science work on plants and our Yum Yum learning journey. It included a leaf hunt, games on plant growth and flowering plant parts and hunts for minibeasts through bush-beating and log-hunting to see the creatures that enjoy different habitats. Luckily the weather was great and we had a lovely picnic lunch in the meadow before heading back to school.

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

uring their DT sessions, Year 1 made their own teddies using felt, wadding, fabric glue and some sewing. They decorated them with gems, buttons and fabric. Each bear was given a name and a label around its neck. This linked with the learning journey Yum Yum and the work on bears.

TEDDIES

MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD Josie Griffin Year 1, wrote about her experiences on a trip to the Museum of Childhood:

ear 1 had a fantastic trip to The Museum of Childhood. This was the Marvellous Middle to their learning journey ‘Back in Time.’ We saw toys from many different ages and got to play with some. We took part in a fantastic workshop about Victorian toys where we made our own peg dolls, tried out some Victorian toys and grouped toys by age. We talked about the materials toys were made from in the past and how this has changed. We have learnt a lot about the past through looking at toys and had a lot of fun as well.

BACK IN TIME

n Year 1, we have been on a creative learning

THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER’S LUNCH

fter reading The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch by Ronda and David Armitage, Year 1 made models of lighthouses using tubes, card, tape and pâpier-maché. They used paint to decorate the lighthouses with stripes and glued on windows.

journey called Back in time exploring events from the past includung the gunpowder plot and the Victorians. Our stunning start was a fun drama workshop with the Freshwater Theatre Company. The girls learnt about the key events during the Great Fire of London. They performed the actions that led to the fire and learnt rhymes to remember key facts. The girls performed some of the rhymes they learnt in their class assembly. SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

YEAR 2

ear 2 have had a fantastic year. Here are just a few snippets of what they have been up to:

They went outside do some of their learning (when it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t raining!), to look for right angles to feed their right angle monsters before they got too hungry! They found them in the Wendy house, the fences, on the court and even inside the pagoda. A lady pretending to be Mary Seacole met the whole of Year 2 in the Museum of London! She told them some of her life stories and they all felt like they were actually there with her. She inspired them to never give up, be

(bottom far right) They all got a turn being the head of the dancing dragon too. Linking with their work on the Great Exhibition, they went to the V&A Museum. Here, they got to look at some of the magnificent things that would have been on display during the Great Exhibition. They were also allowed to try on a corset and crinoline which was really uncomfortable! Some girls tried to sit down whilst wearing them, which was impossible. They also tried on some old hats (far right) that made them laugh. They later went to the Crystal Palace Museum to see the dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park. They really enjoyed both of these trips. The whole class focussed on planning their work in Literacy this year, by writing notes on bunting and then talking about what they were planning before starting writing.

determined and be kind to others. They were very lucky that during Flourish and Fly: Be Networked Week, some Chinese Dragon dancers came into school and taught them some beautiful dances with fans. They got to touch a dancing dragon and learn how to dance inside it. 40

Year 2 discovered that they were great team players when working in groups. They designed and made puppets then wrote and told the story. It was really hard work making sure everybody was happy but they managed it and enjoyed watching each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s puppet shows.

“

We have been very excited to learn about Alexander Bell and different forms of communication in history. This has continued through to our English work where we have looked at shadow puppets communicating stories from other cultures. In science we have been learning all about living things and what they need to survive and have had fun finding out about our senses. Sequences, fractions and shape have featured in numeracy and we have enjoyed sharpening our mapping skills in Geography.

“

We went back in time to 1851 and were lucky enough to receive tickets for the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. Whilst at the V&A we got to see some of the items that were on show in the Great Exhibition. To ensure we looked the part we all got to wear some rather fetching hats before attempting to get into a corset and crinoline. Josie also showed off her sophisticated walking with a swagger stick. We saw paintings that helped us understand how and why the Crystal Palace was designed; Megan even found the original design by Joseph Paxton! We also attempted making our own Crystal Palace.

“ SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

YEAR 3

HEALTHY EATING

ating a healthy, balanced diet is incredibly important and we created our own menus for a Sydenham Café that promotes healthy eating. In our Design Technology lessons, we made a delicious fruit salad which we all enjoyed eating. Inspired by all the beautiful, brightly coloured fruits, we created a Carmen Miranda inspired portrait using collage materials to create different fruits. Perhaps these outfits and headresses could be the uniform at our healthy eating café?

MUSEUM OF

LONDON

hen Year 3 visited the Museum of London in April, they were lucky enough to bump into the 19th Century nursing pioneer Mary Seacole who told the girls some fantastic stories about her life. The girls were able to smell the different herbs and spices that Mary’s mother, a Jamaican

doctress, used to heal people when she was a young girl. Mary told students the story of her sea journey, which made everyone feel a bit seasick in sympathy. Then Mary told the girls about how she was so determined to help people she didn’t take no for an answer and made her own way to the Crimean War’s battlefield, risking her life to save

the soldiers. They got to sing with Mary and began to understand why the soldiers looked after her once the war was over. Everyone was glad to get back to 2015 in time for lunch, having seen many ways that the world has changed since Mary Seacole was alive.

BEING EGYPTIANS

ear 3 journeyed back in time to the Ancient World of Egypt and relished the chance to experience life during these times. The Discovery Zone was transformed into an Egyptian tomb filled with many different activities for the girls. The day began with dressing up and painting our eyes like Horus, the God of the Sun and protector over evil. In role as Egyptologist detectives, the girls enjoyed exploring artefacts, making reed mats and amulets, using a quern to grind wheat seeds into flour and writing on papyrus to create a ‘Book of the Dead’.

THE STORY OF DAEDULUS AND ICARUS

ing Minos, the evil King of Crete, summoned Daedulus, a clever craftsman and his son Icarus, to build him a wonderful palace. Evil King Minos told Daedulus that he wanted twisted towers and beaming marble floors. Under the palace, in the gloomy, dark cellars, there was to be a maze with winding passageways, some leading somewhere and some not. Daedulus was surprised, “Why do you want a maze?” he asked the king, “I pay you to work, not to ask questions”, shouted King Minos. When Daedulus found out that there was going to be a Minotaur in the maze he was horrified. The Minotaur had the head of a bull, the body of a strong human and the legs of a bull too. The Minotaur ate men and women. Daedulus wanted to have his money and forget about Crete altogether. He asked the King if he could have his money and leave Crete. “No!” shouted King Minos, “You are the only one who knows what is in this maze!” “How long will you keep us here?” asked Daedulus. “Oh well, just until you die!” chuckled King Minos. So Daedulus and Icarus lived the life of prisoners. Even though their apartment was like a normal prison, it definitely was a luxurious one. They had lovely clothes, exquisite foods and gold. Still Daedulus was not enjoying it, because at night, the door of their luxurious apartment was locked. Every day, Daedulus liked to study and feed the seagulls. Daedulus was sad because the birds had the freedom to come and go as they liked. So Daedulus came up with a plan. Every day he begged the birds to give him a feather and he sewed them together with his blanket wool and began to make wings. Every night he hid the wings under his bed. It took one whole year to make two pairs of wings. One day early in the morning, Daedulus shook his son’s shoulders. “Icarus, we are going to leave” Daedulus whispered. “But how?” Icarus whispered back. Daedulus took the two pairs of wings out and said, “We’re going to fly! Stand still, we need to put wax on our shoulders to keep the wings on”. Icarus stood on the window ledge and Daedulus fixed the wings onto Icarus’ shoulders. “Do not fly too close to the sun”, he told his son and nudged him off the window sill. They were flying! Icarus had a competition with the seagulls and flew higher and higher until he was face to face with the sun. Icarus shouted, “I can fly higher than you!” Then the wax began to melt. The wings slipped off his shoulders and down he fell, into the sea with all the fish, sharks and other things.

Daisy Patton

OUR EGYPTIAN WORKSHOP

n May we had an Egyptian Workshop. When we walked in we saw Cos. She was doing Egyptian dancing and she showed us how to do it too. Then Tim came in to join us and we got dressed up in Egyptian costumes. We had our eyes painted. We did this to remember Horus the Egyptian God of War and he was also the son of Ra, God of the sun. People said that he had the head of a falcon and in Egyptian, his name meant ‘falcon’. We did some Egyptian activities: We crushed chalk into powder so that we could make paint with it. We also used a ‘quern’ to grind corn into flour. We became ‘History Detectives’ and wrote the ‘Kings Book of the Dead’ so that he could go through the Underworld safely and we also made clay amulets for good luck. We even turned Jeeya into a ‘mummy’. We had a brilliant day and learnt a lot about Ancient Egypt.

Leila Synge

HORTON KIRBY

n March, we went to Horton Kirby Environmental Studies Centre. First we went on the coach and drove there. After that, we got out and had our snacks. Then Heather talked to us about the river.

Next we went for a walk. We put on our wellies and soon we came to a bridge where we played Pooh Sticks. Polly came first, I came second and Olivia came third. Then we kept on walking on our walk. Soon we came to the river and got some jobs. I was the person who wrote the scores. Somebody threw a dog biscuit into the middle of the river, front or back. When the dog biscuit started, the stopwatch people started their stopwatches. When the biscuit reached the stick, the stopwatch people stopped their stopwatches. Then the scorer wrote down how fast the dog biscuit went. Then we got to walk in the river, it was such fun. I got wet socks. After this we had to go because it was lunch time. We walked back to Horton Kirby Environmental Studies Centre. For lunch we had a sandwich, a piece of fruit, chocolate bar, juice and a bag of crisps. After lunch we were allowed to go into a different room and look at stuffed animals in cages. It was very interesting. I loved to look at the stuffed animals. Next we went outside and learnt how to make a curve in a river. First we tipped the tray with soil in it on top of the big tray. Next we drew a backwards C. Then we poured the water at the top of the C. Then we put on our trainers, got into the coach and drove back to school. I thought the trip was brilliant!

Laura Smart

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

YEAR 4 ADVENTURE AT STUBBERS

he annual trip to Stubbers in Essex is the very first residential trip Sydenham girls attend. It lasts for three days and two nights and is primarily concerned with helping instil a sense of independence in our girls in order to prepare them for other residential trips away from their families further up the school. They participated in a range of adventurous activities, many of which they have not experienced before; sailing, kayaking, rifle shooting, rock climbing, archery, jet-skiing, highropes, bush craft and raft building. The girls spent all day outside (in all weathers) exploring the extensive grounds of the centre, located in rural Essex. They were responsible for cleaning and tidying their dormitories and there was an official room inspection every morning carried out by Mrs White and Mrs Byrne! Throughout the trip the girls demonstrated how mature they were and threw themselves into every activity with gusto. They co-operated with each other in order to complete teamwork tasks to the best of their ability. They showed independence and epitomised the Sydspirit throughout their stay, with staff saying that they had never before had such an enthusiastic and mature group of Year 4 children at the centre. They really were flying the flag for the school. And how did the girls feel about the experience? They came away with a new sense of excitement for the outdoors, with many students saying that they would love to try new challenges in the future.

HENRY V111 AT HAMPTON COURT

ear 4 classes spent an engaging and interactive day at Hampton Court Palace. This memorable experience has brought our history learning about the Tudor area, in particular Henry VIII, to life. Walking in the same rooms and corridors as Henry VIII, his wives and children was truly amazing.

The girls were fully engaged throughout the day, asking curious and inquisitive questions and absorbing the atmosphere of their magnificent surroundings. They enjoyed attending the workshops about Tudor Kitchens, learning about the different types of food that was served at banquets and comparing the way we cook now to the way in which we cooked 500 years ago. ‘Serving the monarch’ was a hugely interesting session and we agreed that the job of ‘groom of the stool’ would certainly not be on our career wish list! Seeing the Great Hall adorned with its large tapestries on the walls and the Chapel Royal, the venue of the christening of Edward VI, proved to be one of the highlights of our visit. We simply did not want to leave this enchanting palace, as there was so much more to explore!

YE-HA!

HORNIMAN MUSEUM

he Horniman Museum is such a valuable science resource upon our doorstep! The Year 4 girls spent the whole afternoon hunting for any examples of vertebrate and invertebrate species. They have been studying classification of living things in their science lessons. The girls have worked in small groups looking closely at the features of animals and deciding each one should belong to a specific category. After this busy afternoon the girls took their findings back to classroom to compare and to conduct a scientific analysis. They had lots of fun!

n March, Year 4 performed a western-themed musical ‘Ye- Ha’ . The girls thoroughly enjoyed being involved in all aspects of the play- from rehearsals, learning the songs, costume and stage design to performing in front of the whole Junior School, their parents, relatives and friends.

The performances were a great success and very well received by the audiences. The standard of singing and acting was incredibly high. The girls have excelled in their acting, dancing and singing alike. All staff involved felt privileged to work with such a talented pool of students. The ‘ Ye- Ha’ will surely be remembered for a long time as the girls can often be heard still singing the tunes in the school corridors.

ROMANS FOR THE DAY

ear 4 had a really wonderful trip to Kent Life where they learned about all aspects of Roman life. This was thanks to a day packed with memorable workshops that the girls took active part in. We met Boudicca - the queen of the Iceni tribe - and also had a chance to try on the Roman helmets and shields. It was a truly amazing hands on experience. It is clear that this Roman day visit has helped the girls’ understanding of how the Romans lived and what a huge impact they still have on our lives today. Just think of Roman numerals, the straight roads they have built and names of our calendar months - to name some of their influences. By the end of the autumn term the Year 4 girls will be equipped with a broad knowledge about this important era of the British History.

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

YEAR 5 THE RAGGED MUSEUM

RAGGED SCHOOL DIARY ENTRY BY ELLA WEISS 19th September 1884 Dear Diary, This morning was painful. I stumbled along the road to school, with my feet frozen and blue, while little bits of stone dug into my feet making them very sore. Eventually I got to school and had lovely cocoa and bread. All happily, I went to the classroom. But I forgot about my hands, which were brown and lumpy as mud! The strict Miss Perkins was sure to rage out at me. I sat down at my desk, trembling, because I knew she would tell me off for my hands being super dirty. Next was the register “Mary?” began Miss Perkins. Miss Perkins is NOT a nice teacher. She has scary piercing eyes which would make you cry. “Sit up straight! Hands on laps! Eyes looking at me!” Miss Perkins would screech this every day. After register we had hand inspection. Well I’m sure she’s not going to like my hands! At last she came to my desk, looking at my dirty horrid hands. “What is this Ida? Didn’t I tell you yesterday that if you had dirty hands today I will get out….” the only word I hate “scrubbing brush” boomed Miss Perkins. Later on, after my fingers were aching from the scrubbing brush, Miss Perkins chose three monitors to give out the slates and rags. Of course I wasn’t a monitor, but one of my friends Victoria was, and she gave me the best chalk board there was to practise my copperplate writing. This was easy for me because I write with my right hand and Miss Perkins likes my handwriting. “Lunch time children,” shouted Miss Perkins. Lunch time is my favourite part of the day because it’s lovely filling your tummy full of hot soup and a crust of bread. Always after lunch, we say tongue twisters and we need to repeat sayings after Miss Perkins. Just then Miss Perkins caught me talking to my friend. “THIS WILL NOT DO!” Miss Perkins was furious. “Ida! Stand up!”. I felt petrified. She pulled me by the ear out of the classroom and made me stand in silence until it was the end of the day.

he Year 5 girls had the opportunity to experience life as a real Victorian child. They dressed up as poor, ragged children and visited the Ragged Museum in East London, founded by Dr. Barnardo. In the morning they took part in Victorian school lessons and were horrified that they were made to write with their left hand. They were relieved that their teachers today no longer use the cane or make them sit up straight. They found some things haven’t changed since the Victorian era, such as learning their times tables. In the afternoon, they experienced life in the Victorian home of a working class family. They took part in washing clothes using carbolic soap and a mangle. They looked at the living conditions and how the family meal was cooked on the open fire. They learnt that taking a bath wasn’t an easy task. The water had to be boiled in a large pot on the open fire and that washing took place in a tin bath in front of the family.

WILLIAM MORRIS PROJECT

he girls spent time examining motifs from Morris’s medieval-style tapestry work, displaying a historical influence that his early work in the decorative arts shares with the Pre-Raphaelite artists and with their supporter, the art critic John Ruskin. Following a set of preliminary designs, Year 5 used a variety of media to present their print work. It some cases it was a real challenge to spot the difference between Morris’ work and that of the girls. The girls also researched the impact of William Morris & Co, the company founded by William Morris in 1861 and which continues his legacy today by producing authentic versions of his original designs alongside new interpretations sympathetic to his aesthetic.

OSMINGTON BAY ROCK POOLS

“I

n the rock pools at Osmington Bay we saw four different types of zones. There is the Splash zone which is the top zone and it is called the splash zone because it only gets splashed. We found very few sea creatures living there. The next zone is the Upper Intertidal zone. In this zone we found quite a lot of sea creatures that lived there .The next zone is the Lower Intertidal zone, which had loads of creatures living there because there is a lot of water. The last zone is the Subtidal zone, where we found many creatures living, such as crabs. Animals and plants that live in rock pools have adapted to the harsh conditions produced by waves and the tides. For example, seaweed sticks firmly to the rocks and sways easily in the waves. Mussels also root themselves firmly to the rocks. Animals and plants in rock pools include: Sea anemones, starfish, mussels, barnacles, limpets, small fish, hermit crabs, crabs and different types of seaweed.

Giant’s tears, frozen in the harsh winter breeze. Long, frozen daggers, dangling dangerously in the dark, night sky. Crystallised mammoth trunks, frozen in time. Icicles smash frozen pond. Bars of steel, waiting for their prey. The icicles wish that they could finally be turned the right way round. Lilly Russell

“

6 WAYS OF LOOKING AT ICICLES

Written by 5G

GLOBE THEATRE

n March Year 5 went on a spectacular trip to the Globe Theatre.

We started our day by going inside the theatre and learnt about what a performance would have been like hundreds of years ago, when Shakespeare was alive. First we sat in the lower seats (which the lower class would have to pay 2p for) but the people who were standing (the groundlings) only paid 1p. We also sat in the middle row where the middle class would sit and it would cost 3p. Even though these rows of seats gave the best view, the upper class would be higher because they are the upper class! Despite their poor view of the stage, they would be seen by the rest of the audience. The stairs were on the outside so the groundlings (the people who were standing) could not sneak up to pretend that they paid for a middle or upper class seat. The first Globe Theatre burnt down through

canon fire. During a performance of King Henry VI the wood supporting the canon broke and the shot landed on the thatched roof which quickly burst into flames. The Globe was rebuilt with tiles on the roof, but this one also burnt down! Afterwards we were lucky enough to go to the rehearsal rooms where we did some drama from Twelfth Night. We had loads of fun doing the scene when Malvolio puts on his yellow stockings and thinks that Lady Olivia is deeply in love with him! It was a brilliant day out and we can’t wait to visit the Globe to see a play for real!

Lilly Russell and Carys Hill SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

YEAR 6

FRENCH ADVENTURES

ear 6 experienced an action-packed, fun-filled trip to the Chateau du Broutel in Northern France in March. From mayonnaise-making to rock-climbing and abseiling challenges this was an unforgettable week away from home. After the journey through the tunnel to Rue, all the girls wanted to do was unpack and relax. But now it was time to test their stamina with the evening activities. From the Chateau Olympics to scavenger hunts, the fun went on until bedtime. It was an emotional day for the girls when they explored the World War I Museum in Albert and the Newfoundland trenches and Beaumont-Hamel. They felt what it would have been like for the ill-fated soldiers in the devastating Battle of the Somme. During the week the girls also faced a series of activities in the grounds of the Chateau, including obstacle courses and rafting (everyone fell in!). Beyond the Chateau we enjoyed “le shopping” in Etaples Market, divine chocolate at le Chocolaterie de Beussent Lachelle and making plated wheat hearts for “le fette des meres”. Despite being sad to leave, they rounded off the week with a campfire and toasted marshmallows - delicieux!

CODE BREAKERS

irls in Year 6 enjoyed developing their mathematical skills when they embarked on a code-breaking challenge.

Their task was to crack a wide range of codes, including Caesar Shift, Braille, Morse, Pig Pen and Transposition, and find pieces of a puzzle. The first team to crack all of the codes, locate the puzzle pieces, and make the puzzle won. Well done to Esme Burke, Grace Dudzicki, Sienna Morgan-Nelson, Charlotte Nevrkla-Wood, Sinead Aidoo-Adade, Eve Elliott-Sidi and Mia Wilmshurst. Engaged and inspired by this entry point to World Wars 1 and 2, the girls went on to independently research what interested them most about life in the early to mid-1900s.

CAST AWAYS

ver wondered what it would be like to be stranded on an island alone, with no food, no shelter and no fresh water? Year 6 girls imagined and re-enacted just that situation when they took part in a Robinson Crusoe workshop. With development for the girls’ creative writing in mind, they were first inspired by a play that alternated between the past and present. In the present, the girls imagined they were stranded in an airport after all flights had been cancelled, desperate to get home. They were told the story of Robinson Crusoe and transported back to the past. Later in the day, the girls took part in many drama activities, including hot-seating and improvisation. A thoroughly successful day, enjoyed by all.

YEAR 6 POPPIES

otivated by their study of the Great War Poets, the Year 6 decided to raise money for War Child as part of their preparations for the production of Archie Dobson’s War. Supported by parent helper, Mrs McGovern, the girls crafted a range of poppy-inspired accessories from clay and putty. Brooches, hair clips and bracelet made by the girls were then available in the foyer of the Westwood Theatre for audience members to purchase. All proceeds were donated to War Child and the charity was so delighted with the money they wrote a letter of heartfelt thanks.

e did lots of different activities about the First World World and our play Archie Dobson’s War. We decided to raise some money for the charity War Child by making some things to sell on the day of our performance. I was in the group that made poppies to be made into badges. Mrs McGovern brought in soft clay, there were three groups. I took a piece of red clay and moulded it into petals. I made a small circle of black clay for the middle of the poppy and the yellow represented the seeds. I put the yellow on top of the black and with a toothpick I scattered it over the black. It looked terrific. Mrs McGovern took them home to bake and then glued the silver badge backs to the poppies. We sold them during our Archie Dobson’s War -they were very popular and we were pleased to raise money for War Child.

BEHIND THE SCENES IN ARCHIE DOBSON

ollowing Grace, I ducked behind the thick back curtain and into the narrow space between the curtain and the wall. The passageway was lit by a string of glowing purple lights that reflected in Grace’s glasses. Quickly, we darted down the passage, through the door and up the stairs to the lighting box.

It was the opening night of our Year 6 production, Archie Dobson’s War. Rehearsals had started weeks ago, when the cast had been announced. Many of my good friends were playing major characters. Along with three other girls, Grace and I had chosen to work backstage: helping with costumes, props, and, in our case, the lighting and sound. We had had two dress rehearsals for the Years 3, 4 and 5. Both had gone amazingly. Still, I was very nervous, especially since my dad was going to be watching it. Not to mention the fact the play was being filmed. A cloud of worries filled my mind. What if someone couldn’t change in time? What if the scene changes took too long? And, more importantly, what if I did something wrong? The last thought stayed in my mind as Grace and I entered the box and were greeted by Mr Mathews and sat down. It was still there as the parents, including my dad and Grace’s mum, started to fill the theatre. Finally, as the last person came in, I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the start of the play. I didn’t need to worry. Everyone was amazing: Simone recited Dulce et Decorum Est perfectly, the Olivias’ duet as Archie and Mabel and Katrina’s solo of Silent Night were both beautiful, and everyone managed to conceal the poppies inside their helmets until the finale, when there was not a dry eye in the theatre. And not just them: even up in the box we could hear every line clearly. I did Ok (I think!) and Grace was great. It was an incredible experience to do the play. Archie Dobson’s War is my favourite school play of all time; the story of a young boy and his family living through WW1 is poignant. It was fun to work on the play with people I’ve known for seven years, some of my best friends ever. And of course, our amazing teachers, Miss Shippey and Mrs Mitchell-Morgan. This is my last year at Sydenham High, which makes the play all the more unforgettable. I’ll definitely never forget this, as well as all the other crazy, funny, and brilliant things I’ve done in my time here at Sydenham High.

Carmen Malik (above right) Abby Waller Year 6 (above with her poppy) SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

MUSICAL MOVEMENTS

JUNIOR MUSIC

he Junior Orchestra started rehearsing for the first time in September. It was exciting to see all the pupils and different instruments turn up for the first rehearsal, and the right combination of instruments to make this new ensemble a success. This ensemble is for pupils who play an orchestral instrument and have already passed their Grade 1. It is a perfect opportunity to play together, meet new friends and improve on our instruments during lunch time. Even better, we get to rehearse in the lovely Recital Hall. The first concert by the orchestra was a success and they prerformed four more concerts for audiences over the course of the year. A huge thank you to the PSA, who kindly purchased a harp for the Junior Music department. It has already made a huge impact on us, as we have been able to have performances at Open Day and in assemblies. Harp students have much better access to the harp, but also all girls in the school are able to hear it and try it. Year 5 worked on their own version of ‘Sydenham’s Happy’ for open day which went down a treat and thank you to the girls who performed solos on the day and at our Open Morning.

Tea time concerts kicked off with a rather unusual but successful collaboration between brass and guitar students. Junior pupils joined seniors to perform in the Recital Hall on Thursday 2 October. Eleanor Varnier Moore performed Gone from My Window on the cornet, Lily Russell entertained with Twelfth Street Rag on the trumpet, Yoko Thomas gave a strong rendition of When the Saints on trumpet and the Brassketeers played Batman. Guitar students Georgia Sullivan and Shanna Tagwireyi played Open String Rock, and Think Piece was performed by Ruby Stephens and two senior students, Francesca and Sophie. Thank you to Ms Harris and Mr Moffett for their work with the students to produce this concert for us. In January pupils in Year 5 were able to spend some time with Lisa Evans, our harp teacher, who played beautifully for the girls and then let pupils spend some time playing in smaller workshop groups. February saw every pupil in Years 3-6 50

performing in spring concerts in the Longton Hall. Girls were performing solos, singing in the choir, demonstrating their work from class music, playing in the orchestra and our new Year 6 group ‘The Pentatones’ even arranged their own music. The Junior Orchestra continues to flourish with nearly 30 girls rehearsing weekly in the Recital Hall. They played Song of the Fishermen, by Schubert, and Theme from Love Story in the spring concerts. Year 5 and 6 performed beautifully at the Easter choral concert at St. Stephens Church, while Year 4 worked hard on their musical version of ‘Ye-Ha!’. Spring term was rounded off by the staggering news that Pupils in Years 3-6 raised £1110.37 for Clic Sargent with the annual Practice-a-Thon. The Summer term started with performances from our younger musicians with the annual ‘Little Stars Concert’ where pupils in Year 1 and 2 sang their favorite songs, performed solos with their instruments and sang pieces they had composed. Ukulele club got toes tapping with Rock around the Clock and pupils performed enthusiastically in the Recital Hall for their first concert. This was swiftly followed by the poignant and poised performance of ‘Archie Dobson’s War’ by Year 6, using songs from the era that the girls had been learning and some they had devised themselves. Favourites such as It’s a long way to Tipperary were balanced with the thoughtful Can you Remember? ABRSM Music Exams took place with a range of instruments and grades from Prep Test onwards and lots of Merit and Distinction marks were awarded to Junior pupils. Congratulations. In June the Junior School sang songs all afternoon on a beautiful sunny day, while orchestra performed both classics and summer tunes such as Caribbean Cocktail. The Junior Orchestra was invited to perform at St. Christopher’s Hospice, the first performance for this new group outside school, and hopefully the start of more to come! The year ended with performances from the choirs at Celebrating Success. Thank you for the music.

Ms Duval Head of Junior Music

SENIOR MUSIC

e started the year with the Year 10 and Year 11 GCSE concerts in which students delivered a variety of instrumental and vocal pieces. Phoebe Emburey began with a famous rock ‘n’ roll number Rock Around The Clock. Putting down her trumpet she then performed Choc-Ice Blues on the cello. Hannah Faja sung I Could Have Danced All Nght with a lilting rhythm. Every Year 11 performance brought out the style and sensitivity of the music, ranging from Mozart’s aria Voi Che Sapete, sung by Rachel Nicholson, to Ed Sheeran’s Photograph, sung by Amber Morris, who accompanied herself on the piano. Music for guitar resonates particularly well in the Recital Hall so Evie Richards’s Maseline Harbour (Lindsay-Clark) and Gabrielle Carberry’s Gardens In the Rain (Cottam) drew the audience into a sound world that is both intimate and programmatic. Rebecca Kent’s flawless piano interpretation of Granados’s Spanish Dance No.5 (Andaluza) on the piano surprised and delighted with its charm and musicality. Highlights from the Music Scholars’ Concert highlights included Jade Lucas’s Viola Concerto by Telemann and Flamenco (VIzzutti) performed by Marie-Abelle Hoare on the trumpet. The Autumn Concert delivered fantastic performances from the newly established Concert Band, made up of 28 wind and brass players, and the Strings Sinfonia which played three beautifully crafted arrangements of Chitty Chitty Bang, Bang, Alan Menken’s Beauty & the Beast and Tchaikovsky’s Sleeeping Beauty waltz. Jazz Collective’s arrangement of Herbie Hancock’s Chameleon wrapped up a sensational evening of music. A combined school choir took part in the Lewisham Festival Concert at St Mary’s Church for the second year running and there were notable performances from guitar and trumpet players in the ‘Sound the trumpet, strum the guitar’ concert in the Recital Hall. Junior pupils joined Seniors for this concert. (See left for Junior report.)

House Music Competition produced astonishing performances and congratulations to Gurney House, who by the closest of margins took the overall House Music cup, one point ahead of Stanley. Stanley took the House Choral trophy with a performance of Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics. Gurney’s overall success lay in its strong performance in the Upper School ensemble category with a great rendition of Whitney Houston’s I Want to Dance with Somebody. Once again, Sydenham High voices raised the roof at the Royal Albert Hall for the Singing with the Stars Christmas concert, in aid of Leukemia and Lymphoma Research. The girls performed Gaudeamus Hodie By Rentz and All for a Baby by Schramm, while the massed voices of students, staff, parents and supporters led the carols, sang the African Alleluia by Althouse and accompanied London quartet Cantabile in a version of Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King. The Junior Choir were also in the spotlight, taking part in the annual carols by candlelight concert at St Martin-in-the-Fields in aid of Ronald McDonald House at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital. In between record numbers of girls performing in school there were trips to hear the London School Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican and an evening at the English National Opera to enjoy Puccini’s the Girl of the Golden West.

Mr Baars Director of Music

ALL THAT JAZZ

orty aspiring Sydenham High jazz musicians got a money-can’t-buy master class from some of the top names on the London jazz scene in an inspiring workshop. Award winning jazz musician and musical educator Phil Meadows, who directs the Sydenham High Jazz Collective, brought a contingent of his pioneering Engines Orchestra to the school to run the workshop. The girls, whose ages ranged from 11 to 16, joined Mr Meadows in writing a new piece of music without a manuscript in sight! This culminated in an ensemble performance in the school’s Recital Hall. The instruments involved ranged from saxophones and trumpets to violins, trombones and a bass guitar. The workshop is one of a series being funded by the Arts Council and coincides with the launch of Phil Meadow’s latest compositions, which was premiered by the Engines Orchestra at the London Jazz Festival.

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

NEW BUILDING WORKS

tudents and staff had their first full meal in the school’s wonderful new Dining Hall after it was opened in March.

Headteacher Kathryn Pullen officially ‘cut the ribbon’ with Catering Manager John Pearson as the first eager diners from Junior School arrived to have their lunch. New menus have been on trial and are now being fully introduced with additional, healthy options. Parents also got a chance to sample dishes from the school’s new lunch menus and hear them praised by a nutritionist, at an event to officially open the Dining Hall. Finance Director of the Girl’s Day School Trust, Tom Beardmore-Gray, unveiled a plaque in the impressive new facilities – comprising a glass Orangery café, renovated historic Dining Hall and state-of-the-art kitchens – at an evening reception on 28 April. Headteacher Kathryn Pullen told guests that both the school and the GDST are firmly committed to

ensuring students receive a high quality, nutritious midday meal to support their ability to learn and their social interaction. Mrs Pullen also confirmed that the commitment to educating students about healthy eating goes beyond school lunch; it involves providing cookery life skills classes for students in Years 7, 8 and 12 so that the girls understand how to produce healthy food as well as choose it. Cookery tutor Mikkaila McKeever-Willis, who used to work at the Dorchester and is better known to the girls as Chef, outlined what happens in the lessons and explained the importance of each girl using her own tasting spoon. The skills learnt by students in these classes and in Bake Club were also on show, with live demonstrations in the Cookery Suite. The evening finished with a healthy eating talk by nutritionist and author Fiona Kirk. She also praised the school’s new menus along with the principle of a providing a good lunch to help ensure an important ‘energy gain’ in the middle of the day.

D’ART DT & ART EXHIBITION

his year’s D’Art Exhibition once again amazed and delighted visitors with it’s range of creative and original work – from paintings and drawings to stylish and practical 3D pieces which would not look out of place in a high street store. The Longton Hall was transformed into the Longton Gallery for the show, which ran from 24-25 June. It was opened at a special Private View by the Associate Dean of College at Camberwell College of Art, Amanda Jenkins. Ms Jenkins, who is also an examiner of GCSE, A level and first year degree work and had just returned from an examination assessment, declared the standard of work on display as outstanding. She was also delighted to see work from younger students and gain an insight into their creative journey through a display from talented Junior School artists as young as seven. But her greatest praise was for the amount and quality of making in the work on show: “Our creative industries are a very important part of the British economy and yet art education and 3D teaching is currently in crisis. International students want to come to study 3D here in large numbers but our own students shy away from it. To see those studying both Art and Design Technology is fantastic but to see art work that’s clearly influenced by learnings from DT and vice versa is a wonderful thing.” Ms Jenkins also told students opting for a one year Art Foundation course, whether or not they planned to take a full Art degree, they would not only have a great experience but acquire a set of very transferable skills in the process.

t the end of last year was hectic for all Year 11 students, especially those involved in Art, and we had hours of art coursework to finalise and complete. GCSE Art was very enjoyable and I have massively developed my skills during this time, in the future I would like to embark in a career to do with art so it is a good starting point. In the Spring Term we were developing our ideas toward our final piece in the summer exam. Having all your work come together in one final piece is really satisfying. D’arT is an event at school to show off brilliant pieces of art work and projects, I have never been featured in this event before, but to have my GCSE final piece displayed was a treat. Seeing it displayed in a gallery type of atmosphere made me look forward to my future career in art.

Eleanor Jeffery Year 11

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

ART GALLERY

A2 MAIA DECAMILLO PHILLIPS

PHOEBE MAN

KASIA SPECHKO

AIMEE METCALF EMILY GOUVEIA

ALEXANDRA TERRIEUX-TAYLOR

ASHA OGBOMO

AS LUCY PATTERSON

CHARLOTTE WILLIAMS NICOLE CARON-DELION

ZILE KALNS-TIMANS

GCSE

TANUJA KULKARNI

LUCY GLOVER jESSICA ROWLEY LARA MACLENNAN

EVE TREDWEN-BARRY ALEXANDRA ROCHE

OLIVIA TYE

ALICE LEONARD

GCSE ANNA CARRINGTON

ZOE MacCORMACK

AYEESHA RELA

ELEANOR JEFFERY

SARAH ARMSTRONG

CEIDRA MURPHY BADGER

ELEANOR MICHAEL

CONNIE MONROE

ELLA BRIGHT

EMMA DAVIES

KAYOWA MORRIS

FRANCESCA LAIT

CHARLIE REYNOLDSTHOMPSON

GRACE COOPER

REBECCA KENT

FRANCIS JONES

ELENA BERRY

GABRIELLE CARBERRY

ISABELLA HILDITCH

KATIE SAWERS

ISSA FERRIS

PHOEBE PROCTOR

TEAH OTOMEWO

ANYA WICKREMASINGHE

NEREA ASUA LOWE

RUBY McGUINNESS

RACHEL HONEYSETT

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

DT GALLERY

CHARLOTTE WILLIAMS

A2 PHOEBE MAN

AS ELEANOR WYNCOLL SAVANDHI GOONASEKERA

KATIE MILLS

NICOLE CARON-DELION

BEATRICE GANE

TAMARA BAILEY

CHARLOTTE WARD

TANUJA KULKARNI

TILLY SULLIVAN

NEREA ASUA LOWE

GCSE

GRETA HOLMES

REBECCA BARNES

KEMI OKE

LUCY GLOVER

MILLIE ZEFFERTT

MARTHA CROW

ELISE VERNON

ELLA BRIGHT

JULIETTE CLARK

AMY LLOYD

KATE WYNCOLL

HANNAH BUCKNOOR

JESSICA MALIM

ELLA COUSE

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

CELEBRATING SUCCESS

he achievements of students across the school from Reception to Year 13 were celebrated in the final weeks of term in the presence of three inspiring guest speakers. Entrepreneur and Apprentice runner-up Bianca Miller (2007) presented the prizes and awards for Years 10-13 and offered her top tips to make a business dream a reality. In particular she exhorted girls not to fear failure and to take full advantage of the networking opportunities provided by the school and GDST to make useful contacts who will help them on their way. She said they should also remember that there are three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wondered what happened. Sydenham High girls are of course destined to be the first kind! Maddie Warren (2001) inspired the audience of Year 7, 8 and 9 and their parents with her personal story of determination and resilience. At the age of 14 she lost both her kidneys to an autoimmune disease. A kidney transplant followed after she left school but this was also attacked and she has been on home dialysis ever since. However, this didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop her getting ahead in her career and enjoying life to the full. As well as holding a high-powered role as Vice President of Talent Development at Goldman Sachs, Maddie finds time and energy to ride retired race horses and is a fully qualified solo and formation skydiver. She is also a trustee of Kidney Research UK and a lay advisor to the London Strategic Clinical Network for Renal Medicine. Paralympic swimmer turned Channel 4 presenter Rachael Latham was the guest of honour for the Years 3-6â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Celebrating Success. Before presenting the prizes, Rachael explained how she had conquered many challenges to follow her dreams â&#x20AC;&#x201C; first to swim with her siblings, then to swim for Britain and then, when injury made competing impossible, to switch to a career in the media. She told the girls that life is really like a big game of snakes and ladders: sometimes a ladder comes along that takes you a long way on your path; at other times things might not go your way but you should never give up if you slip back a bit. Her firm advice was for the girls to follow their dreams and be like the Junior School mascot Fina the giraffe - stick your neck out to get what you want because it will be 100 per cent worth it!

GCSE RESULTS Name

Passes

Distinctions

Name

Passes

Distinctions

Allen Sophie

MacLennan Lara

Armstrong Sarah

Malim Jessica

Asua Lowe Nerea

McGuinness Ruby

Bailey Tamara

McSpadden Kathryn

Barnes Rebecca

Michael Eleanor

Berry Elena

Monroe Constance

Bright Ella

Morris Amber

Bucknor Hannah

Morris Kayowa

Carberry Gabrielle

Murphy Badger Ceidra

Carrington Anna

Nada Mary

Chathli Kira

Naidu Anujaa

Clark Juliette

Nicholson Rachel

Cooper Grace

Norris Josephine

Oke Kemi

Crow Martha

Otomewo Teah

Curle Alessandra

Painter Lucy

Davey Helen

Paterson Lily

Davies Emma

Patterson Lucy

Dickson Gemma

Persaud Rachel

Proctor Phoebe

Couse Ella

Ferris Issa Fullerton Amber

Rela Ayeesha

Glover Lucy

Reynolds-Thompson Charlie

Hilditch Isabella

Richards Evie

Holmes Greta

Roche Alexandra

Royle Catherine

Saleh Vina

Holmes Madeleine

Honeysett Rachel

Housley Eleanor

Sawers Katie

Itam Jessica

Straker Olivia

Jeffery Eleanor

Sullivan Tilly

Johnson Olivia

Tye Esme

Jones Frances

Tye Olivia

Kent Rebecca

Vernon Elise

Kulkarni Tanuja

Walsh Rosie

Lait Francesca

Ward Charlotte

Leonard Alice

Wickremasinghe Anya

Lloyd Amy

Williams Nubiah

Lound Kira

Wyncoll Kate

MacCormack Zoe

Zeffertt Millie

Distinction = grade A*/A

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

A LEVEL RESULTS

Name

Subjects

AHMED Sara

Government & Politics

Maths

Spanish

ALATISE Solape

English Literature

Government & Politics

Religious Studies

BOOTE BOND Tallulah

English Literature

French

Theatre Studies

BUTTERWORTH Elena

Geography

History

Psychology

AS DT

DECAMILLO-PHILLIPS Maia

Art

English Literature

History

AS Theatre Studies

AS Psychology AS Spanish AS EPQ AS Geography

GOUVEIA Emily

Art

Sociology

Spanish

HENRY Lucy

Business Studies

Government & Politics

Maths

AS Physics

JIMENEZ Gabriella

History

Sociology

Spanish

AS Psychology

JOSEPH Ruby

Business Studies

Geography

Government & Politics

AS English Literature

LABATE Anastasia

English Literature

Government & Politics

Spanish

AS Geography

LAKHDARI Hanaa

Biology

Chemistry

Maths

AS Spanish

LOUND Sara

Geography

Government & Politics

History

MAN Phoebe

Art

Business Studies

METCALF Aimee

Art

English Literature

Sociology

AS Geography

MILLINSON Francesca

English Literature

Maths

Physics

AS Chemistry

OGBOMO Asha

Art

English Literature

Geography

PEREIRA Saloni

English Literature

History

Maths

AS DT

PULLEN Polly

English Literature

History

Theatre Studies

AS Art

RAJAN Kavita

Biology

English Literature

Physics

ROBINSON Phoebe

Biology

Psychology

Theatre Studies

AS Business Studies

ROYE Rebecca

Biology

Business Studies

Geography

AS IT

AS EPQ

AS Psychology

AS DT

SHAH Tasnima

Chemistry

Maths

AS Biology

SMITH Eleanor

Biology

Chemistry

Maths

AS PE

SPECHKO Kasia

Art

Biology

Geography

AS Chemistry

TERRIEUX-TAYLOR Alexandra Art

Biology

Chemistry

THOMPSON Kate

French

Government & Politics History

AS Sociology

WALDRON Jasmine

English Literature

Government & Politics

History

AS Psychology

WARD Sophie

Geography

Maths

Sociology

WILLIAMS Charlotte

Art

Sociology

AS Religious Studies

WIMPORY Christina

Biology

Chemistry

Psychology

AS Maths

WINTER Alice

Government & Politics History

Psychology

DESTINATIONS Name

Destination

Course

Sara Ahmed

University of Brighton

Law with Business

Solape Alatise

University of Aston

Politics and Sociology

Tallulah Boote Bond

Guildhall Drama School

Drama

Elena Butterworth

University of Sheffield

Urban Studies and Planning

Maia Decamillo-Phillips

Central St Martin College

Art Foundation

Emily Gouveia

Kingston University

Art Foundation

Lucy Henry

University of Greenwich

Business Administration

Gabriella Jimenez

University of East Anglia

International Relations and Modern History

Ruby Joseph

University of East Anglia

International Relations and Politics

Anastasia Labate

Gap Year

Hanaa Lakhdari

University College London

Pharmacy

Sara Lound

University of Liverpool

Law and Criminology

Phoebe Man

Ravensbourne

Art Foundation

Aimee Metcalf

Camberwell College of Arts Art Foundation

Francesca Millinson

University of Southampton Physics

Asha Ogbomo

University of Sussex

American Studies and English

Saloni Pereira

University of Manchester

History

Polly Pullen

University of East Anglia

History of Art

Kavita Rajan

De Montfort University

Architecture

Phoebe Robinson

Gap Year

Rebecca Roye

University of Bath Spa

Business and Management with Geography

Tasnima Shah

University of Kingston

Actuarial Science

Eleanor Smith

University of Bath

Sport and Exercise Science

Katarzyna Spechko

Gap year

Alexandra Terrieux-Taylor University of Exeter

Medicine

Katherine Thompson

Gap year

Jasmine Waldron

University of Liverpool

History and Ancient History

Sophie Ward

University of Manchester

Urban Studies

Charlotte Williams

Camberwell College of Arts Art Foundation

Christina Wimpory

Gap Year

Alice Winter

University of Birmingham

History and Political Science

SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

STAFF CHANGES

s the academic year drew to a close, inevitably there were some departures but also some new arrivals to welcome for September 2015.

team. Susie Miller, Admin Assistant left to take up a post at BTS, a corporate training company, and Jessica Romano, Database Manager, embarked on a teacher training course at the Institute of Education (UCL) in September.

Fond farewells Colin Laverick left us after 17 years to work as a GDST timetabling consultant. Andrea Erling, Head of German relocated to Spain; Eddie Rowe, ICT teacher (formerly Head of ICT) left to take up a post as a teaching assistant in a local primary school; Caroline Paice, Head of English embarked on a new career path with her venture into café society in Herne Hill; Donna Richardson, Junior School teacher/Maths Co-ordinator took up a new post at Bromley High School whilst Zoe Shippey has been promoted to Head of Maths at Notting Hill Preparatory School in West London. We also said farewell to Ben MacDonald, Acting Head of Geography, and Gillian Addison, English teacher, who left to take up permanent posts at other schools following the return of Alice James and Jennie Morrow from maternity leave. Ahi Nitkunan, who has taught some Chemistry this year, left to take up the Head of Chemistry role at Greenacres School in Banstead. There are also changes in the Admin and Support

Changing roles Following the appointment of Craig Batty as Deputy Head (Academic) there have been a number of changes in responsibility at the Senior School. Matthew Llewellin (Physics) became Digital Strategy Leader and Janie Tilley, Head of Science took on the additional role of Head of Physics again. Georgina Calvert (PE) was appointed Enrichment Co-ordinator in addition to her new role as PSHE Co-ordinator (in place of Lisa Cornell). Samantha Sookdeo (Biology) took over as Head of Year 8 in place of Kristina Symons, whilst Jemma Roye (Head of Sociology) took over from Samantha as EPQ Co-ordinator. Rachel Bhadeshia (PE) became our first ever House Co-ordinator; exciting new responsibilities for them all.

Warm welcomes Having already welcomed back Penny Branson, Head of PE, from maternity leave in the Summer Term, September saw the return of Alice James and Jennie Morrow to the English and Geography departments respectively. They are joined by: Danielle Feehan as Head of English; Mark Martin to teach computing; Mariella Belardo – Italian Teacher and Language Assistant; Arleta Cloud German teacher; Alys Leighton - Year 1 class teacher; Sonia Ribeiro Pereira - Year 3 class teacher; Adam Porter - Year 4 class teacher; Michelle Taylor - Year 5 teacher; Year 5 teacher Andrew Hart also became English coordinator; Daud Botan - Chemistry Technician; Edward Holmes - ICT technician; Amanda Woodcock - Art technician; Harriet Seaton - PE volunteer.

DR COLIN LAVERICK

r Colin Laverick joined Sydenham High School in September 1997 as Head of Geography. A brilliant teacher, highly respected and inspirational, whose examination results were invariably excellent. He relinquished the Head of Geography to concentrate on his Deputy Head responsibilities but he never relinquished his passion for Geography. That passion informed his lessons and inspired his students many of whom went on to read Geography at University and still seek his advice and guidance from there and beyond. A man of huge integrity, he helped students to understand what it means to be an educated person and what is arguably harder – a decent human being. Colleagues and girls all through the school and beyond would turn to him for his wisdom and sound common sense. He was invariably forward thinking, always looking for an even better way of doing things to make teaching and learning as good as it gets and of course leave time for assemblies. Dr Laverick’s assemblies were a treat. September without his holiday photos will never be the same again. We have all got our all-time favourites. For example, I have no concerns about being eaten by a bear - I know exactly what to do - as would anyone else sitting in that memorable assembly! Dr Laverick has an amazing sense of humour: there was the time he came to a final Christmas assembly dressed as an elf - we still don’t know why, but it has passed into Sydenham legend. He has been part of the fabric of this school and helped to shape it. His legacy? Sydenham High is the school it is because of the dedication and commitment of people like Dr Laverick.

NEW UNIFORM UNVEILED

n June 2014, Sydenham High School launched its new school uniform range to great excitement at two fashion shows: an evening event for parents and a lunchtime show for students.

The smarter, more contemporary uniform, which is being supplied by Schoolblazer, will apply to both Junior and Senior schools and is being phased in up to September 2016.

MAGAZINE 2015 EDITOR DESIGN & PRODUCTION: JO LANGTHORNE EDITING & PROOFING: ALISON MILES MAEVE PRENDERGAST

PHOTOGRAPHY: FEMI MATHEWS ALISON MILES SPLAAT MEDIA PHIL RIPLEY CITY SPACE PHOTOGRAPHY SENIOR & JUNIOR STAFF

THANKS TO ALL STAFF AND STUDENTS WHO CONTRIBUTED ARTICLES AND IMAGES FOR THE SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

15 & 19 Westwood Hill Sydenham London SE26 6BL 020 8557 7000 email: info@syd.gdst.net www.sydenhamhighschool.gdst.net

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SYDENHAM HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2015

15 & 19 Westwood Hill Sydenham London SE26 6BL 020 8557 7000 email: info@syd.gdst.net www.sydenhamhighschool.gdst.net