Blackheath High School - Summer Term 2012

HIGHLIGHTS EMBRACING THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Summer Term 2012

EXCITING RESIDENTIAL TRIPS

CELEBRATING SIXTH FORM SUCCESS Another year of excellent exam results BHS_5_rev2.indd 1

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welcome

Introducing Julian Vennis – Chairman of Blackheath High School’s Governing Board Julian is Director of the

including ministerial delegations. He has also established

World City Links, a dynamic

leadership programmes for education leaders in London and

and exciting organisation

abroad. Julian is also involved in knowledge transfer of mega

which shares education, skills

events such as the Olympics between Beijing to London and

and government expertise

now between London and Rio De Janeiro, particularly around

between London and other

the areas of skills and workforce preparation.

cities throughout the world.

Prior to this, Julian was the ICT Manager in an inner

Julian has led many UK

London Education Department for 6 years and has held

delegations to countries such

other senior positions within London Local Authorities. He

as China, Brazil, Thailand and

was also previously a teacher and Head of Department in a

Canada where professionals

comprehensive school and is currently also the Director of a

can share expertise and build

schools Education ICT Company.

networks of good practice.

Being an expert on international professional development

“It is a great honour to work with the staff and students of Blackheath : the school has a real positive dynamism. The

for teachers, Julian has established joint curriculums and the

Governors are always impressed with the commitment and

transnational delivery of courses.

dedication the staff show. My hope for the school is that we can

Under Julian’s leadership, World City Links has developed

maintain high academic standards and rigour, whilst developing

hundreds of curriculum partnerships between London and

new and exciting curriculum innovations and continuing to

other world cities and has supported inter-government forums,

emphasise the holistic development of our students.“

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farewell

Fond Farewells - Sandra Clements, Deputy Head “It was September 1993 that I joined Blackheath High School, at Wemyss Road, as a biology teacher. This followed a short break with my young family and several part time teaching posts. I arrived amidst much upheaval because the senior school was due to move to the VP site in December, and so the labs were ripped out ready for transfer to the new building and the school was preoccupied with ‘the move’. The science department had to be inventive about teaching science on dining room tables, with no equipment, as this too had been packed for transit. To our horror – the move to VP was delayed until September 1994 as a result of building problems and so my first year at the school can best be described as ‘different’.

It was not long after our move to VP that I was promoted to be Head of Sixth Form by Miss Musgrave (Head at the time); this was a post that I had held at Hayes School in Bromley before my brief career break. I still believe that being a Head of Sixth Form is one of the best posts in a school. I love working with the older students, guiding them through the transition from GCSE and preparing them for successful entrance to University. We see the girls transform from pupils to confident and outgoing young women set to face the future. It remains a joy for me to follow the careers of the girls I have come to know. The OGA Pimms Party this summer was such a great opportunity for staff past and present to catch up with Blackheath students and share their success stories.

Miss Musgrave’s parting gift to me was promotion to the post of Assistant Head (then termed Senior Mistress) and this was the start of my time working with Mrs Laws when she became Head in 2000. I know that we became a formidable team and, with our colleagues, saw a great transformation of the school to the exciting and sought after establishment that it has become. I

was delighted to be appointed Deputy Head in 2005. The tasks I have tackled, and the teams I have led, since I have been at Blackheath have encompassed just about every aspect of school life, and there have been many proud moments of achievement for the school – too many to name. The Senior Leadership Team, and the staff of both the Junior and Senior Schools, are extremely proud that Blackheath High is often held up as a beacon of excellence in the GDST. Of course this is to the benefit of the children – who are the centre of all we do.

It was with much heart searching that I came to the decision to retire this year. After 38 years in the classroom, and having been both a GCSE and A level examiner in Biology, I thought I would see what life is like outside academia – and see if I could survive in a life that is not ruled by school bells and timetables. It has of course been necessary to think about my future so that I am able to answer the perpetual question ‘What will you do?’

So here is my plan. I have already begun as a volunteer at Kids Company (google it) in London. I am about to rediscover my creative talents ( I really am a scientist by accident) – Art classes and History of Art lectures begin next week. Then there is the annual resolution to get fit, so I can be found doing laps in the swimming pool. I also have time to spend with my husband Graham, who retired last year. We like to travel and intend to do more trips to ‘far flung’ places. Finally there will be more time for our children, Stephen, Anne and Peter; to follow their very different careers as an engineer, a teacher (it is in the genes) and a Vet. I will of course follow the fortunes of Blackheath High School and remain truly grateful for the colleagues, students and friends that have become part of my life since joining the school 19 years ago.”

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sixth form

Celebrating Sixth Form Success!

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oth years 12 and 13 celebrated the end of their examinations at the Sixth Form Ball in July. Students and staff enjoyed a fantastic three course meal together and then proceeded to boogie the night away, at Devonport House in Greenwich.

All of the students looked radiant, relaxed and sophisticated in accordance with the ”Black Tie” dress code and enjoyed feasting on delicious delights that included smoked chicken kebabs and chocolate puddings.

The girls had booked a DJ;” DJRugged”, who pitched the music brilliantly, managing to please the sprightly youngsters and staff alike!

We were all still dancing at midnight, although most of us had discarded the perilously high heels!

Happily, former teacher, Mr Denton, was able to attend as official photographer and he managed to capture many charming images that showed the spirit of the evening.

The next Sixth Form student group is now chomping at the bit to organise something even more special for next year!

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sixth form

BHS Bucks the Downward Trend in High Grades Attained!

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ell done to all our girls on their excellent achievement at A Level, AS Level and GCSE level this year.

The morning of A level results day tends to involve feelings of trepidation across the country. However, here at Blackheath High School, we enjoyed a morning of celebration, with the majority of students gaining a place at their first choice university.

Our students’ results defied the decline in top grades as we attained 100% pass rate at A level with 67% being graded A*, A or B. At GCSE the results were equally pleasing with 99% of grades at A* to C and 62% of grades at A*/A. Nearly half the girls gained at least 8 GCSEs all at grade A* or A. Once again this year, the range of courses applied for was indeed diverse; from English to Chemical Engineering.

This wide range of university courses is something that we are very proud of and reflects the breadth of our students’ ability across a diverse range of subjects. Our students are also very successful when

applying for traditionally male dominated areas such as Economics, Chemical Engineering and Mathematics.

Our girls are bucking the trend, fulfilling their dreams and I am sure will go on to enjoy successful careers.

Anna Edgar achieved 3 A* and is going to Cambridge to read Psychology and Behavioural Sciences. Lauren Benson attained a very impressive 2A* and an A and has achieved her much longed for place at Oxford to read English. Freya Miller is off to Manchester to study Medicine after amazingly gaining three offers, which is almost unheard of for Medicine, and so was spoilt for choice!

Some examples of the diverse pathways our girls are following include: Abby Lee going to Bristol to study Economics; Lourdes Anton, joining Kings to read Neuroscience; Ifiemi Kemenanabo going to Manchester to study Chemical Engineering; Maria Lulu Kinunda reading Financial Mathematics at Sheffield and Connie Wroe gaining a place at York to read Sociology.

Grace Englefield

Anna Edgar

“Although my long standing career plan is to become a political journalist, I see myself embarking on a postgraduate course, having completed my degree.

Aside from my academic studies, involvement in clubs has meant I can build upon certain skills, such as being self-motivated, and can widen my awareness of other topics. I have taken part in a range of reading discussion groups, and I regularly attend Senior Debating, which is an ideal platform for me to debate current affairs and develop my public speaking skills. My need to keep up to date with world affairs is one reason for my joining the Amnesty International Club. I play an active part in school life through my roles as Peer Mentor and Pastoral Prefect and through helping to run Creativity Club; all of which have given me a greater role in shaping the school’s development and improving the pastoral care available.

Above all, Blackheath High has given me the skills and increased confidence to pursue independent study and achieve my aspirations.” Lauren Benson

Sally Lardner celebrating her superb set of 11 A* GCSE grades plus one A grade.

Sade Kalsi who achieved 10 A* GCSEs plus a B

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year 6 leavers party

Y6 ‘MovingUp’ Party – Hollywood Style

“The decorations were amazing and the DJ played just the right music.

Everyone had a fantastic time.” Ellie Hillier

“I really enjoyed the party, it was amazing and everything was perfect – from the food to the decorations!”

Emilia Hughes

“I really loved the Hollywood themed party. It was really good fun dressing up as different characters.”

Nadia Cooper

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talking heads

TALKING HEADS:

Sandra Eastaugh, Head of Early Years Foundation Stage I have very much enjoyed my first term as Head of EYFS, particularly because of the charm, politeness and individuality of our lovely girls.

• A typical day for me involves... a wide range of activities with both children and parents of Reception and Nursery classes.

• What makes Blackheath High School different is... the cosmopolitan and international feel that is has, so many of our tiny girls are multilingual, it’s quite amazing!

• We try to instill... in even our very young pupils a sense of resilience and we use a mantra, -“be brave and strong when little things go wrong.”

• I was attracted to BHJS because... of the school ethos of a high achieving all girls’ school which is stated so clearly by the Leadership team and followed through by a committed staff.

• I would like BHJS to be known for... innovations in education combined with traditional values.

• I most enjoy about my new role... being a part of each girl’s development, right from being tiny Nursery girls, right through to the confident and so capable young women we have in our Sixth Form.

“I have been very happy at Blackheath High School ever since my very first day, having been made to feel welcome by the whole school community: children, parents and colleagues. Ours is a lovely school to be involved with and the Foundation Stage classes are filled with delightful, thriving, busy girls who are getting a really good start to their school life.”

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junior music

Junior Music

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lthough every term at BHJS is full of music making, the summer term was brimming with spectacular musical events! The music department waltzed from one concert straight into the next and the girls were astonished us time and again with their ability to learn repertoire at top speed and give of their all in rehearsals and concerts alike.

Years 1 and 2 proved to be a very talented group of musicians in their Tea Time Concert. The girls performed maturely and seemingly without nerves - quite a feat at such a young age! We were also delighted to hear from every girl in Year 2 who had all taken part in the string instrument

taster scheme. This runs as part of Year 2’s curriculum, so that each girl has the opportunity to learn the violin, viola or cello. All the girls showed how much they had learned and played their group pieces beautifully.

We were grateful to the BHJS Quintet who performed at both the opening of our Art Exhibition and the Year 6 Leavers’ Reception. We have to remind ourselves that these girls were only in Year 5, as they play with the confidence of professionals!

Following the sparkling performance of Year 5/6’s play, “Alice in Wonderland,” the very next morning Mrs Dudley, Miss Syrad and I began rehearsing for the annual concert at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel.

We were amazed by how quickly the girls in Years 4, 5 and 6 learned the repertoire for Carnival!: a fun and engaging arrangement of Saint-Saens “I am very “Carnival of the Animals” for voice. thankful to have a Originally written for KS3, we were very proud of how the girls rose to career that allows me to play and the challenge of learning difficult sing every day. Music is a gift that is harmonies and rhythms and given to you, to be cared for, nurtured quickly mastered the pieces in and shared. It is not simply about learning an order to sing them brilliantly in concert. The evening, at instrument. All my memories, happy and sad, are the Old Royal Naval College, accompanied by music and it continues to enrich was certainly one to my life every day. If I can pass on the smallest remember. Not many girls of degree of this understanding of what music is 8-11 years old can say they have performed choral about to children, I will pieces by Handel at such a feel I have done my prestigious venue.

job well.”

Mrs Coles

The music department remains as busy as ever as we enter into the academic year 2012-2013, with fourteen peripatetic staff working tremendously hard to fit in as many individual lessons as possible into the school week. I am delighted that Ms. Lisete da Silva, who has been part of our music staff for some time, has now taken over tuition in flute as well as recorder. We have also recently welcomed Mr David Grubb, a familiar face from the Senior School, to our team as he takes on teaching in cello and piano, and Mr Todor Nikolaev who is also teaching violin from September.

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junior drama

“When the girl said ‘seashells’ we had to stand straight, with no noise coming out of our mouths, and put our hands above our heads - it was great fun.” (Martina, 1NG) “When the girl sang a song we copied her actions.” (Annabel, 1NG) “She was always feeling seasick, which is funny because she is a pirate!”

(Alice, 1NG)

Junior Drama

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rama is an integral part of learning at Blackheath High School, bringing to life many areas of the curriculum. This term, Y4 took part in an exciting Humanities-based drama workshop at the Senior School in which they used sound, movement and freeze frames to act out the rainforest at different stages. An imaginative Roman workshop for Y3 culminated in a lively and interactive pantomime version of ‘Pyramus and Thisbee’ which involved lots of audience participation. Earlier this term the whole of Reception and Key Stage 1 were treated to a ‘Pirates and Mermaids’ workshop in which they were taken on a journey through a story of a sea-sick

lady Pirate!

The highlight of drama activities this term was the Y5 and Y6 Production, a magical retelling of the ‘Alice In Wonderland’ story. The stage at the Junior School was transformed into a beautiful garden and great talent was displayed as ‘Alice’ sang

and danced her way through the garden, encountering many strange creatures: animals popping unexpectedly out of her pool of tears; a blue caterpillar with a quiff appearing suddenly on a toadstool; lobsters who could dance and many other colourful characters; before she finally realising that they were “nothing but a pack of cards”. The audience was amazed by the quality of the dance numbers, including a line dance and a tap dance, performed by everyone in Y5 and 6. The girls had been busy in their DT lessons as well, producing two stunning animations which blended seamlessly into the live story to give the show a truly dreamlike feel.

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residential trips

Exciting Residentials!

Residential trips allow more time for in depth learning and bring many other benefits including the development of independence and confidence.

During the Summer term our girls visited many places, practiced foreign languages, learned new skills and conquered some fears!

Notre Voyage à Rambouillet by Yasmeen Cooper (Y10) Le dimanche 1 juillet, nous nous sommes rencontrés à Ebbsfleet International Station. Nous avons pris l’Eurostar, le métro et le train pour aller à L’Institut International de Rambouillet. Quand nous y sommes arrivés, un prof de l’Institut, Mathilde, nous a montré le site. Nous avons vu la cafeteria, nos chambres, la salle d’Internet et la salle de recréation, avec un babyfoot. Après le diner, nous sommes restés dans nos chambres.

Le lundi, nous avons fait beaucoup de cours de français – pendant la matinée et l’après-midi. Le soir, un groupe des étudiants d’années 9,10 et 11 ont regardé un film, L’Italien, avec des étudiants chypriotes.

Chaque jour pendant le reste de la semaine, nous

faisions les cours de français, et nous faisions les activités à Paris ou Rambouillet chaque après-midi.

Le mardi, nous sommes allés au Musée d’Orsay. Ma peinture préférée était ‘Un Bouée rouge’ par Paul Signac. La vue depuis le dernier étage, derrière la pendule, était très belle.

Seulement une vue pendant toute la semaine était meilleure que la vue du Musée d’Orsay, et c’était la vue panoramique – 360 degrés, au sommet de la Tour Montparnasse. Nous avons visité la Tour Montparnasse le mercredi. Aussi, nous avons fait un tour de Paris en bateau. Nous sommes passés sous un petit pont, avec une histoire très romantique. Apparemment, si vous dites un désir sous le pont, puis vous fermez les yeux et vous embrassez la personne assise à côté de vous, le désir va se réaliser! Aussi, je pensais que c’était très mignon quand j’ai vu beaucoup de cadenas, avec le prénom des amoureux, qui ont jeté les clefs dans la Seine!

Le jeudi, tout le monde sauf moi a fait du vélo à Rambouillet, mais je ne sais pas comment faire du vélo, donc au lieu de partir avec les autres, j’ai assisté à un cours avec les étudiants âgés de 19-30 ans. J’ai retrouvé mes amies plus tard, et nous avons fait du shopping!

Le vendredi, après le dernier cours de français, nous sommes rentrés, et quand nous avons dû dire ‘au revoir’ c’était un moment triste!

Je voudrais dire merci beaucoup à Jessie et Madame Newman, mais surtout à Monsieur Baker, car c’était un voyage super!

Terrific Trier Back in 2010 we were delighted to set up a school exchange with the ‘BischöflichesAngela-Merici Gymnasium’, a grammar school for girls in Trier in the beautiful Moselle region of Germany. This Summer we enjoyed a return visit which was a great success, with several girls visiting their exchange partners for the second time.

Our girls were very warmly welcomed by the German families they were staying with and the Headteacher, Herr Dr. Zeck, greeted us in a full school assembly to introduce us to their staff and students.

Our girls were able to experience German

family life and to visit Trier, with its Roman heritage, and Cochem, with its fairytale castle overlooking the Moselle. We had an interesting visit to a vineyard and wine cellar (owned by a member of staff at the school) to understand the process of winemaking from the vine to the bottle, which ended with a barbeque for the whole group.

There were a lot of tears when we left, but we knew it would not be long before they would be coming to England.

The educational value of such a trip is evident in many areas. The girls’ language learning has greatly benefited from the

experience, as they had the opportunity to be immersed in the language, to practise and improve their German vocabulary, especially in areas of mutual interest, such as music and fashion. It has enabled them to broaden their understanding of a different culture, and perhaps most importantly, it has rekindled their desire to study the language further.

The German exchange partners were equally enthusiastic about their very recent visit to Blackheath High School. They loved Blackheath and the trips we organised for them to see the sights of London. Just as

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residential trips

Lovely Liddington by Matilda Marcus 5SD This Summer Year 5 went to our long awaited trip to Liddington! It took about 2 hours to arrive but the wait was worth it!

When we arrived, we played some very peculiar games including a red oval-shaped squishy thing being thrown backwards!

Next we had our safety talk and found our dorms. With a range of people in dorms from 3 to 5 the pressure was on to win point to go towards a prize for our dorm.

Then we had our evening activitywacky races! Team 1, 2, 3, and 4 battled it out to see which team was the loudest and, most importantly, the wackiest! Soon enough it was time for bed.

The next morning we enjoyed lots of activities then in the afternoon we went to visit HMS Great Britain, the ship that brought Brunel to fame and followed our first term’s humanities topic of ‘The Victorians.’

On Wednesday we went to Sailsbury Cathedral. We had a tour of the famous cathedral and then had a treasure hunt getting jigsaw pieces and the overall picture was the Queen!

After Thursday morning’s outdoor activities, we went off to the place we’d all been waiting to visit...Birdland!

The aquarium was great - the fish and amphibians ranged from a beautiful, calm clown fish to a funny, cheeky turtle that had, we were told, escaped and ran away previously!

This experience was very exciting and I don’t think we’ll forget it in a hurry!

we had done, they enjoyed experiencing a different school environment and routine.

We are confident that this second exchange trip has firmly cemented a long and successful partnership between our two schools and that the friendships we have formed will continue to grow.

Mrs Bond “When I first went to Germany, the first thing that struck me was the many differences between my exchange partner’s life and my own. There was a real sense of ‘family’ that I found very comforting. All meals were eaten together and in the evenings we played a

board game or watched a movie together (with subtitles for me!).

Meal times were very different – dinner consisted of one course, usually something plain, followed by a selection of meat (sausages and ham), cheese and bread.

There were also many snacks and cakes; throughout the whole day I was offered almond cake from the delicious Konditorei (bakery) and biscuits, along with apple juice.

It was lovely, although I was mystified about how everyone seemed to stay so slim!

The school day was also significantly different to ours. Lessons began earlier and, as school finished at one o’clock, I didn’t

need lunch. Instead, I was given a bread roll and a bottle of water for my break time snack. Lessons were shorter, 45 minutes, and consisted mostly of dictation and worksheets. I much prefer our school, in many ways but not least because here I can understand everything!

I really enjoyed the German exchange and would encourage anyone learning German to go. My German speaking greatly improved and my confidence increased, I made lots of new friends and learnt a lot about Germany in the process. Overall the trip was fantastic!”

Jessica Cox Y10

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senior sport

Senior Sport

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ince Easter, students worked towards a World Record Attempt as part of this year’s ‘Big Dance 2012.’ This year’s dance was themed on the summer Olympics. Key olympic sports were incorporated in small phrases into the dance, along with the vibrant colours of the Olympic Rings which fitted beautifully with our girls’ dance kit. During Dance lessons, with extra practice time, our Key Stage 3 pupils learnt and perfected the dance for the big challenge that ran on Friday 18th May. It all went smoothly with over 150 students taking part on the day.

We have really progressed in Athletics this year, which was evident in our packed Senior Sports Day during National Sports Week. We set BHS records in Long Jump, High Jump and Shot Put and smashed 12 existing records. With Paragon and Vanbrugh vying for the lead throughout the day, Paragon were the eventual winners, for the first time in 12 years, by three points!

We joined in the 140th GDST Athletics and Dance rally held at Bath University Centre of Excellence where many of our GB Athletics team were training. With a squad of some of the successful winners from our Sports Day we were very lucky to be able to meet one of our most successful swimmer ever,

Karen Pickering, who gave the girls some words of wisdom on how to approach their events. Quite a few of our girls went on to further extend their skills and gain PBs, notable successes were in Year 9 200m, Year 9 Relay team, Year 9 Shot Put, Year 8 High Jump and Year 7 Shot Putt.

It was also a busy term for Rounders fixtures with our Year 7, 8 and 9 teams hosting teams at our sports field and attending tournaments; the

U12 and U13 teams have been particularly successful throughout the term and very competitive. We extended our Summer Watersports Programme and had students working towards their RYA Level 1 Sailing and both BCU Level 1&2 Canoeing Awards.

Our Sixth Formers visited the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament and we were fortunate to be able to get Centre Court tickets, watching some of the quarter finals in between showers of rain.

Finally, as you would expect, many of our girls went to watch many of the Olympic sporting events which you can read all about on pages 16 and 17!

“Lets Play Netball launched the Blackheath Academy in May with sessions taking place on a Sunday between 10-11.30am. The girls are split into three groupings (Years 3-4; Years 5-6 & Year 7-8).

The Netball Academy proved very popular during the summer term and was well supported by Blackheath High and students and we would like to take this opportunity to say a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who has been part of this project. LPN will continue to deliver sessions in the Autumn term.

The head of the Netball Academy is ex-England International and current Surrey Storm player Natalie Seaton. The academy is open to girls of all abilities with our primary focus being individual development and, of course, having fun! Lets Play Netball is looking forward to building a long lasting relationship with Blackheath High and our coaches are excited about the future prospects at this academy.

For more information please go to www.letsplaynetball.co.uk Natalie Seaton, Head Coach

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junior sport

Junior Sport

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he Summer Term saw Junior PE fixtures and lessons hampered by the weather. But the girls still worked hard to maintain their skills and fitness in both Rounders and Athletics.

On May the 2nd there was the very successful Mini Marathon with girls from year 3 to 7 competing on the heath.

Individual Results

Year 3

Year 4

1st

Freya Burton Franklin

Megan Aljian (4.56min)

2nd

Elizabeth Reczek

Tilly Evans

3rd

Anna Emmanuelle Hadingham Dumont

Year 5

Year 6

Year 7

Georgina Quinn Julie Makki Elliot Ready (4.42min) (4.30min) (4.45min) Valeriya Orlova Matilda Jarvis

Lara Atkinson

Ellie Brannigan

Emelia Hughes

Tegan Paku

We also hosted the first of a local Mini Olympic Event for Year 4 with teams from schools including Colfe’s, Farringtons, Babington House, West Lodge and Merton Court attending. The beautiful weather, and competitive Olympic activities, resulted in a very exciting and enjoyable afternoon. Year 3 and Year 4 also visited other schools for further Mini Olympic competitions.

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senior art

Senior Art

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This year’s GCSE and A Level Art exhibition was a huge success and saw the girls achieving superb results. The GCSE girls produced fantastic garments based on fairy tales and folklore using processes such as screen-printing, hand and machine embroidery and applique. These were accompanied by lino prints that explored their own identities and heritage. Their exam pieces demonstrated a wide range of processes and illustrated how well the girls are able to work independently, exploring their own ideas and concepts.

The A Level students this year produced some really exciting and ambitious work with outcomes ranging from short films and digital work to textile collections and installations. They received wonderful feedback from both the visitors to the exhibition as well as from the moderator from the exam board.

Many congratulations to all the girls on their excellent examination results!

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junior art

Junior Art

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he ‘Olympic Games’ was the theme of the Junior School Art Exhibition this year, which took place in June 2012. Every year group chose different techniques to represent the Olympics, and the Olympic values.

Nursery chose the theme of bicycles, and used line painting and drawing, as well as creating tyre pattern on polystyrene tiles in order to make block prints of bicycle wheels.

Reception created work in the style of David Hockney, using the paint programme on the iPad. They began by making sketches using pencils and experimented with charcoal.

Year 1 worked with digital photography, and took photos of their friends doing various sporting activities. Their two favourite photos were cut into strips and positioned alternatively to create a sense of movement.

Year 2 created a wonderful Olympic Collage on a piece of hessian. They each chose and researched a specific country, designed a team kit, and made its flag out of felt.

Year 3 used the Olympic Rings as inspiration for their artwork. Each Olympic Ring contained a small piece of artwork, which was relevant to the games being hosted in our capital city.

Year 4 chose their favourite sport and used a printing technique called mono printing to

create bespoke sporty bunting.

Year 5 created work related to the 7 Olympic and Paralympic values; Friendship, Respect, Excellence, Determination, Courage, Equality and Inspiration.

Year 6 took the chance to celebrate the wonderful city of London, the host of the Olympics 2012. They developed a brand and marketing products for Lewisham market and, using a combination of art making skills, such as mark making, concept drawing, typography, mono printing, relief printing and embroidery, they created fantastic canvas bags.

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london 2012

Our Olympic Experience

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e really were struck by ‘Olympic Fever,’ having been looking forward to the games as part of the ‘Get Set Network’ which linked Blackheath High School to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games. In the Summer term, each department across the whole school, added aspects of the Olympics to schemes of work and, at Seniors, each form adopted a country participating in the 2012 games to support. This came to a head at Sports Day when girls painted their faces in their team colours and waived their team flags (as well as cheering on their own House of course).

We strive to live by the Olympic values of Friendship, Respect and Trust; and the Paralympic values of Courage, Determination, Inspiration and Equality and these values have been discussed regularly both in assemblies and within Form times.

We were very lucky to receive a number of tickets through

the Get Set Network and many of our staff gave up their time to escort the girls to many, different events across the Olympics and Paralympic Games;; sports included basketball, football, shooting, wrestling, boxing and Paralympic athletics.

Paralympic Athletics We took our seats as the stadium was nearly full and you could feel the ‘buzz’ of the crowd. We watched many events on the track – for visually impaired, amputees, wheelchairs – and in the field – discus, javelin, shot and, to my amazaement, long jump for blind competitors; these athletes were inspiring, using their coach’s clapping as a guide to keep them on the track to the take off board and relying on technique to land safely in the pit.

The crowd showed support for all athletes but the noise was deafening when a British competitor was introduced; we saw some incredible sporting, competitive performances.

Afterwards, another highlight: three pupils, Yasmeen Cooper, Ella Jollands and Lera Wood, were interviewed on Radio 5 Live by Paralympic gold medallist swimmer Marc Woods, talking about their experience at the Paralympics. Following the interview we were shown up to the studio -Tanni Grey-Thompson had just finished her interview – what a wonderful experince to end an incredible day.

Women’s Basketball On the 30th July 6 students ventured into the Olympic Park accompanied by Miss Johnson, Mrs Stevens and Mrs Hrebien. We headed to the Basketball Arena to watch two exciting matches as part of the Women’s Basketball Heats. Team GB stepped up against Canada and the crowd burst into a frenzy of cheers and Union Jacks. After a very close match, Canada won 73-65. We then watched the USA, who went on to win Gold, beat Angola 90-38. By 16 Blackheath High School Summer 2012

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london 2012

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the time we left the arena, the sun had set and we had a magical walk back through the glowing Olympic Park.

Women’s Football The following day, 18 girls went to see the women of Team GB

against Brazil at Wembley Stadium. At over 70,000, the crowd was by far the largest that the British women’s team had ever played in front of. It was a thrilling evening with some excellent football…. and it was fantastic to watch GB score an early goal and go on to win the match!

“During the school’s Olympic ticket ballot there were 3 tickets for the women’s shooting and I was one of the lucky winners. We were accompanied by Mrs Hibberd and Mrs Elliot. On arrival at the Woolwich artillery barracks we were given schedules for the day’s events so we decided to start off with women’s target shooting but then we wanted to see something a bit more engaging and exciting so opted for ‘skeet shooting.’ Skeet shooting is an incredibly hard sport, one ball roughly the size of a golf ball is fired at top speed into the air and the person on the ground is meant to shoot it. Then two balls are fired opposite sides of the pitch within a few seconds of each other, the aim is obviously to shoot as many skeets as possible. We saw Kimberly Rode win a Gold medal and set a new Olympic record. “ Ella Jollands Summer 2012 Blackheath High School 17

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juBilee celeBrations

Joyful Jubilee Celebrations!

F

riday 1st June saw the senior school decked in bunting as we prepared for our very own ‘street party’ to kick off the jubilee weekend. Everyone came to school in outfits from the 1950’s – and the girls looked absolutely stunning in their tea dresses and cropped jeans! At Seniors we launched the celebrations with an assembly that looked back at the life of Queen Elizabeth II and life for ordinary people in the 1950s…

In the days where few people had televisions and the country was just emerging from the austerity measures of the Second World War, this was a decade of enormous optimism.

At Juniors, the playground was set out in a street party style with long tables adorned with red, white and blue balloons, napkins and flags.

Lunch was a traditional fish and chips lunch before ‘The Queen’ arrived at Juniors (Olivia Marsh, along with her attentive Ladies in Waiting, Eleanor Waring and Caitlin Cole).

Olivia made a wonderful speech before receiving flowers from girls in

Reception.

Seniors spent the afternoon,within their house groups, enjoying many different traditional activities including crown-making, learning to sing ‘Rock Around the Clock’, learning to jive dance, planting red, white and blue flowers into old plastic drink bottles to decorate the area around the pond – and they look stunning. We even played traditional 1950’s games such as marbles, throw and catch, hop scotch, skipping and chess.

The Junior School Jubilee Art Competition winners were announced, with the overall prize going to Sunanda Saxena for her excellent portrait of the Queen. Then each year group made a presentation relating to a decade of the Queen’s reign; starting at the present day with Nursery and ending with the 1950s from Year 6. The finale was members of staff dancing to Abba’s Dancing Queen!

Everyone finished the celebration with afternoon tea of cucumber sandwiches and cupcakes (served in a Union Jack lunchbox). It really was a wonderful, memorable day.

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forthcoming events

Forthcoming Events

NOVEmBER BHSA DIWALI CELEBRATION EVENING 16th November, Junior School JUNIOR CHAmBER CHOIR TO BECKENHAm FESTIVAL 24th November

RECEPTION AND KEY STAGE 1 NATIVITY 14th December, 1:45pm

DECEmBER CHAmBER CHOIR AND OUT OF THE BLUE CHOIR SINGING AT LEWISHAm SHOPPING CENTRE 5th December

KS2 CAROL CONCERT 17th December, 6:00pm

NURSERY CHRISTmAS PERFORmANCE 13th December, 9:15am

mARCH 2013 THE TEmPEST Greenwich Theatre

SENIOR PRIZE GIVING 18th December, 7:00pm

monday 25th march 2013 Tickets £10.00 for adults, £5.00 for students and concessions Tickets on sale from January 2013 from Greenwich Theatre: in person, by phone on 020 8858 7755 and online www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk

Note from Blackheath High School Old Girls’ Association BHSOGA (www.bhsoga.org.uk) “The inaugural Blackheath High School Old Girls’ Association Pimms Party was held in the Theatre of the Senior School on Tuesday 3rd July. Nearly 100 girls and staff, who had left the school within the last ten years, attended the event. Mrs Laws welcomed everyone to the evening and Sarah Soulsby (nee Payne) (19801993), Vice Chairman of the BHSOGA, said a few words about the Old Girls and showcased the new website (www. bhsoga.org.uk). Harriet Jackson (2001), talked about the new careers networking scheme that is being set up between the current sixth form and recent school leavers. There are many events planned for this and it is hoped that alumnae of the school will attend career events,

offer email advice and help with work experience. A group of sixth formers at the school kindly volunteered to take tours of the senior school, which were thoroughly enjoyed by all. For the remainder of the evening, the Theatre was filled with chatter and laughter between all those who attended, catching up on news and old times, while enjoying canapés and of course Pimms! There was some wonderful feedback from the evening including: “Excellent evening, thoroughly enjoyed, would love more of the same in the future”

“Great! Lovely to see so many old faces and have a chance to look around the school” “Really well organised. Great tour. Nice canapés.

Great atmosphere” It is very much hoped that this will be one of many future events for the recent alumnae of the school. All school leavers are automatically members of the BHSOGA for 5 years and then after that, membership costs £10 for 4 years. For more information please email: info@bhsoga. org.uk. For more information about the careers networking project, please email: r.hibberd@bla. gdst.net.”

Sarah Soulsby OGA

“Great night – lovely to see our teachers and catch up. Thank you for putting it on” Summer 2012 Blackheath High School 19

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20 Blackheath High School Spring 2012

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