Marist students were continuing in The Marist Senior School’s strong tradition of creative writing when they entered the Young Times’ Writers competition, ‘The Claws of Macra’. The girls responded enthusiastically to the newspaper’s challenge: to write a winning Dr Who story which was spotted by Mrs Barnard the Schools Librarian.

Lucy Farrell in Year 9 beat readers all over the UK and online readers worldwide to see her story published in The Times.

Her story sees the doctor and Amy confront giant crustaceans, or Macra, in a gas refinery, with Amy turning into a crustacean herself. The Doctor needs to get her into the Tardis before she transforms completely.

Miss Lydia Spoors, English Teacher at the Marist, runs the creative writing club and encouraged the girls to enter the competition. She is delighted that Lucy Farrell’s story won, “this is a fantastic achievement for Lucy and our creative writing club which has gone from strength to strength this year. The girls have vivid imaginations and are very gifted when it comes to expressing themselves with originality and flair. ”

Not only will Lucy see her work in print but she will also receive a pass to the Dr Who Exhibition in Cardiff, Dr Who books and a treasured Sonic Screwdriver!

Photo: Lucy Farrell with her story in print in The Times (this Mondays edition)

In a lively discussion, the girls’ knowledge of recycling building materials and efficient energy use was expanded until they appreciated the features commercial properties need to achieve the ‘very good’ BREEAM* rating that this attractive and contemporary business park now has (*Building Research Establishment Assessment Method). The talk was followed by a quick tour of the park to highlight its variety of tenants and the different types of buildings on the park, from industrial units and artisan studios to the pure office space in Queen’s Square.

Hurst Lodge School has a tradition of awakening the curiosity and creativity of children through practical projects. They are currently setting up a small holding on their 20 acre site in Ascot and the first clutch of chicks are about to hatch. The aim is to make a closer connection with the natural world and to give students the opportunity to make decisions and manage resources through a small holder’s council. Hurst Lodge is collaborating with the award-winning Eden project in Cornwall to implement a carbon and waste reduction programme. The visit to the Ascot Business Park fitted in well with the school’s ethos and new direction.

Last Friday Year 8 students at the Marist Senior School, Sunninghill experienced a hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) day. This was facilitated by the charity Smallpeice and it was aimed at introducing engineering to women as a future career option. The girls embraced the tasks and challenges with enthusiasm and designed highly commendable models of working wind turbines.

Louise Duncan, course leader from the charity set the girls construction challenges which required problem solving skills and lateral thinking. Lynn Trainor, Science teacher said “I was extremely impressed by how diligently the girls worked together to address the assigned tasks.” Throughout the day the girls were competing to design and market an operational wind turbine. Groups were assessed for aesthetics, efficiency (ie highest voltage), cost, stability and teamwork. Most teams successfully completed all elements of the task and some students were refining design details towards the end of the afternoon

Mr Mark McCloskey, Headteacher of the Marist remarked that “Science, technology and maths are high priority, corner-stone subjects in the Marist curriculum. The introduction on an engineering component with team work and thinking skills was a refreshing initiative which was well received by all.”

Kayla Spitzer, a year 13 student in the Marist has been offered an unconditional offer at Villanova University in America to study Engineering. She selected this course because it combines Maths and Science and gives her so much scope for her future professional career development.

Head of Science at the Senior School, Ann Royston, was delighted by the response of the girls during the day and commented, “It was a thoroughly enjoyable day. It was very hands on learning for the girls, and it introduced them to the practical applications of science in our world.”

Further to this highly successful day, the Marist School has been given the opportunity to offer six free places on a residential engineering course at Portsmouth University in July. Competition for places amongst the girls is likely to be very high.

Marist Year 7 Students become published authors!

Twelve Year 7 students at the Marist Senior School, Sunninghill have had their stories selected for publication following success in the latest Young Writers’ creative writing competition, Mini Sagas.

Students were challenged to write a fifty word story that would either be thrilling, thought-provoking or amusing.

A copy of the book, Mini Marvels, published by Forward Press, will be kept at the British Library and further libraries across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, providing a lasting record of their achievement.

The editorial team selected the stories for publication based on “imagination, perception, expression and creative use of language.” Twelve Marist Senior School students were selected for the book, and Miss Spoors English teacher at the Marist school is delighted with the girls success, “We have a strong year of creative writers in Year 7 and it is very exciting for them to have their stories published at the ages of 11 and 12. Fingers crossed we may in due course have the overall winner amongst our girls!”

Winners, Olivia Johnson, Melissa Fry, Olivia Smith, Catriona Wood, Rumneeq Dhaliwal, Amy Ghandi, Charlotte Phillips, Olivia Coleman, Roberta Cipolletta, Elika Bedroud, Ruth Weaver and Alice Karsten (front to back in photograph) are looking forward to the next stage of the judging process, where the editorial team will award a £1,000 prize for ‘the best story’ once the book has been published later this summer.

Photo: (front to back in photograph) Olivia Johnson, Melissa Fry, Olivia Smith, Catriona Wood, Rumneeq Dhaliwal, Amy Ghandi, Charlotte Phillips, Olivia Coleman, Roberta Cipolletta, Elika Bedroud, Ruth Weaver and Alice Karsten.

Ultimately experience tells us that children who are happy at school learn better and face the future with optimism and, for parents, their children’s happiness plays a large part in their own.

We believe too that the challenges of the next 50 years will demand the best of us and that C. S. Lewis’s phrase; “while science may lead us to truth only the imagination can lead us to meaning”, is an important insight.
So…at Hurst Lodge we seek to inspire curiosity and imagination and encourage our children to experience a rich cultural life, encompassing creative and performance arts, science and citizenship, developing leadership and teamwork skills and instilling in them a joy of education which we hope will be sustained throughout their lives.

We also believe in the importance of underpinning this by making the connection between ourselves and the natural world real. This is why the Hurst Lodge community of staff and pupils will together embark on a journey of exploration by undertaking a programme of integrating the school’s operations into the learning experience.

We will be collaborating in this with the award-winning Eden Project in Cornwall, with whom we will be implementing a carbon and waste reduction programme with special emphasis on reducing and replacing our reliance on fossil fuels and looking at alternative technologies and managing these ourselves. We also intend to trial growing some of our own food and establishing a smallholding, to give our young people a greater understanding of the things so many take for granted. The children have already placed some fertile chicken eggs in an incubator and during the 21 days incubation process the chicken house will be constructed. Bee hives have been ordered and the bees are ready and waiting to occupy their new homes.

We are holding our first ever Saturday Open Day on June 12th from 10.30 to 14.30.

www.hurstlodge.co.uk

Sophia Hall, a Year 8 student at the Marist Senior School in Sunninghill has been selected for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Sophia is a highly talented musician instrumentally and chorally. In addition to her prowess on the saxophone she sings with Taplow choir. They who were recently chosen to represent the UK in the National Choir Competition. Sophia is understandably delighted with her success and Sophia’s teachers share in her delight.

Jocelyn Slocombe, Head of Music at the Marist Senior School, was so impressed by Sophia’s talent, she recommended to her parents at Parents Evening in March that Sophia should consider auditioning for the National Youth Jazz orchestra at a later date.

Not being one to delay, that very evening Sophia researched the orchestra, and promptly presented for an audition with the orchestra as well as performing solos. Her final audition was with a famous Jazz Musician who was very delighted to invite Sophia to join the Orchestra.

At 13 Years of age, Sophia is the youngest musician in the orchestra. The second youngest is 15 and the other numbers are significantly older.

Sophia started to play the Saxophone at the age of 7. She only recently started taking grade exams and she is already on grade 7. She practises every evening and every Saturday with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra.

The Marist Senior School are extremely proud of Sophia’s accomplishment. Miss Slocombe adds, “It is an outstanding achievement and we are very proud of Sophias individual success and the wider musical life of the Marist school.”

Photo: Sophia Hall with her Saxophone

Padworth College Sixth form students visited the ICMA Centre at Henley Business School, University of Reading to find out more about courses and careers in finance and investment and to participate in a practical share dealing session in the brand new state-of-the-art Dealing room.

The group of 10 students from Padworth College, who are all studying Business Studies and Economics A Level, attended two lectures during the afternoon. The first was given by Dr Adrian Bell, Director of Teaching and Learning who spoke about the role of the ICMA centre and the Finance and Investment Banking course at the University of Reading followed by an interesting talk from Graham Philpott, Deputy Director about the range of careers which former graduates had forged after the course. Mr Philpott also gave the students some useful tips on preparing a successful CV.

The students were then given a tour of the Dealing room and shown how to operate the sophisticated dealing system. Economics student, Alma Pereira said, “It was so interesting – not only did we gain the fundamentals of the share market but we actually applied them in the simulation exercise. At the end, some of us made huge profits while others ended up with equally huge deficits – we all found this an exhilarating experience”.

The ICMA Centre has the most extensive non-investment bank dealing room facilities in the world and was established with funding from the ICMA. The Centre is equipped with all the latest trading technology giving it the feel of a real trading floor and it is sponsored by Thomson Reuters.

Head of Economics, Michael Laizans said, “This trip has given our students a real insight into the world of banking and share dealing – the hands-on experience in the Dealing Room was extremely useful and I think will really help their understanding of investment and banking practices. We are very grateful to Reading University for giving our students this opportunity”.

National Science and Engineering week was from the 12-21 March, and the Marist Senior School, Sunninghill, fully embraced it within the Science Department.

Glass Frogs, Yeti Crabs, Sea Pigs and Blob Fish were just a few of the strange creatures encountered during National Science and Engineering week. A full week of activities culminating in a Pub Quiz (non-alcoholic!) attracted up to 30 girls every lunchtime in the Science departments labs.

The Marist students began the week with a spot of forensic investigation, taking their own fingerprints and seeing if they could then identify whose was whose (move over CSI!!).

With the beautiful spring weather having finally arrived the girls took the opportunity to photograph the buds and emerging flowers, hoping to chronicle their unfolding through the week as they basked in the sunshine.

Another lunchtime saw teams of Marist girls exploring and discovering around the school site trying to colour match leaves, twigs, Joe (our Maintenance Manager) work gloves and other outdoor finds to a colour chart, with chocolate goodies for the winning team with the best match. The girls also took part in a quiz to identify weird and wonderful images, including images seem through a microscope.

Rev Lynn Trainer, Physics Teacher, commented, “National Science and Engineering Week was a week of fun and mayhem with HUGE thanks to our Senior Lab Technician, Mrs Wood, who put everything together and lead the sessions. The girls thoroughly enjoyed all the challenges and experiments we set and we can’t wait for next year to create even more exciting things for the girls”

On the weekend of March 12th and 13th March Hurst Lodge School, Ascot hosted the ISA Southern Section of the ISA Drama Competition, as it has for the previous 13 years. Every member school of the Independent Schools Association is invited to participate

This competition is organised by ISA to promote drama in schools. Schools may enter in 4 categories, Infant, Junior, Middle and Senior.

A total of 19 different pieces of theatre were performed over the weekends by children aged between 4 and 18 from a variety of schools from all over the country -The Northern competition was held the previous weekend at The Hammond School in Cheshire.

All were adjudicated by Mr Mark Oldknow (GODA) who was impressed with the standard of professionalism of all the entries. Hurst Lodge was praised for its facilities, the technical support given by the team and its general organisation of the event.

Following the weekend of performance we eagerly awaited the results. When these were published Hurst Lodge was delighted to discover that we had received two first place awards. The marks achieved were awarded for the technical, production, acting and entertainment value.

Pupils from years3-6 performed “Percy Parker’s Flying Bathtub”, a curriculum based musical that was devised by Andrew Holdsworth, a teacher at Hurst Lodge School. An overall mark of 63% was achieved.

One of the senior entries was a piece based on “The Good Person of Szechwan” a play written by Bertolt Brecht, which was awarded a creditable 72%. The other senior Hurst Lodge entry was “The Listener”, a devised production using the Walter de la Mare poem of the same name, as the stimulus for a piece of physical theatre. This gained the best results in the country, as well as being awarded The Clewborough House Cup for the Best Senior Production and The Dair House Trophy, (the Adjudicator’s Discretionary Award for “the most innovative and creative” piece).

These results rounded off a great weekend for the school and were well deserved by the girls for all the hard work they had put into the performances.

This term has seen the two major school productions at The Abbey. ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was an ambitious and impressive Senior School play and the Junior School put on a lively, musical version of The Tempest.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Senior School production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was a great success. The most famous of the Bard’s plays has everything – star-crossed lovers, conflict in fairyland, a royal wedding and the humour of Bottom and his head of an ass!

In order for as many girls as possible to be involved the two Directors, Miss Sutton and Mrs Airton, worked with two entire casts to stage three evening performances and an understudy matinee. The audience was welcomed and immediately travelled through time, escorted by the mischievous fairies, encountering actors in the corridors before taking their seats in a magical evocatively-lit setting.

The actors displayed incredible professionalism and had really worked hard to develop their characters in both the drama and comedy of the play.

The Tempest
All the Year 5 girls were involved in an exciting performance of ‘The Tempest’ to a delighted audience of family and friends. Not quite using all Shakespeare’s original words, the cast conveyed through drama, dance and song, the thrills, laughter, romance and wonder of the Bard’s tale.

With a cast of 50, the musical play thrilled the audience with a shipwreck, the machinations of Prospero and his unsurping brother, the three headed monster Caliban and enough Hobglobins and dancing Sprites to cause much mischief and mayhem. Ariel, a hard working crew of sailors and various other characters completed the line up of the play which showed us how a modern-day class of children learned to love the Bard of Avon.

The music and dance numbers were a delight, the costumes sparkled and a jiving rendition of ‘All shook up’ injected a surprise factor into the historical setting.

Photo: The Tempest

For further details please contact Nicky Hurley on 0118 987 6908 or marketing@theabbey.co.uk

The coveted Eco Schools Green flag is the culmination of a year’s work by the Marist Senior school in Sunninghill, Ascot. In securing this prestigious accolade the school has improved its environmental efficiency and taught students about the importance of protecting the environment through sustainable development. The Green Flag is awarded to schools who exhibit proactive environmental work covering topics such as water, health and wellbeing, waste management, litter, transport, school grounds, biodiversity and energy.

Schools throughout the country can work towards gaining one of three awards – Bronze, Silver and the elite Green Flag award, which symbolizes excellence in the field of environmental activity. Bronze and Silver are both self accredited through this website and Green Flag is externally assessed by Keep Britain Tidy. The Marist Senior School obtained their Bronze and Silver Award last summer and have since been working diligently towards the Green Flag status.

Among the numerous projects the Marist Senior School has undertaken, some of the most successful and popular have been the lunch time Growing Club, the reduce poster competition, the recycling competition and the sunflower race. The staff and pupils have made significant efforts to reduce paper through purchasing new printers that offer a double-sided printing facility, recycling boxes in every classroom, an online newsletter and e-mailing letters home to reduce paper consumption further.

During the schools’ inspection for the award, the Marist School was praised for embracing the message throughout the curriculum, its informed student Eco Action Team and its litter free environment. Year 11 Students are assisting and taking an active part with the growing Club as part of their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Miss Spoors, the Eco Schools coordination teacher said: “The Green Flag Award is a combination of hard work over the year with a huge number of staff and students involved. I would like to thank Environmental Officer Charlie Atkin and her team for helping us achieve the Bronze and Silver Award in the summer term and this final result which we will now build upon. We are especially proud of this award as it puts us amongst the few secondary schools in the country to have achieved this!”

Mr Karl McCloskey, Headteacher for the Senior School added, “This award is something the whole school is exceptionally proud of. It would not have been possible without the commitment of the whole community to become more eco friendly. The wider community of parents and friends have embraced being contacted via our E-Newsletter, and I eagerly anticipate the fruits of Growing Clubs’ garden and herb patch this summer.”

The Marist Senior School, Sunninghill, had an impressive week of sporting successes starting with Swimming on Monday 3rd March, where their swimming teams attended the Ascot School’s Relay Competition at Heathfield School.

The Year 9 team came first over all in their age group, and the Year 7 teams also came in top positions after being placed 2nd and 3rd.

Cross country was their next event on Wednesday 3rd March at ‘The Look Out’ in Bracknell. The Swinley Forest Cross Country Relay was entered by Ffion MacKenzie and Chelsea Tinniswood in Year 7, Greta Spitzer and Emma Davis Year 8, and Kate Reynolds and Lucy Campbell in Year 9.

The Marist Relay Team came first and two minutes faster than the other competitors!

Also on Wednesday, fifteen teams entered The U13 Ascot Schools Netball Tournament held at St George’s School. The Marist Team were unbeaten in their pool games and then played Licensed Victuallers School and won 6-2 in the semi-final. They went on to beat The Abbey School 4-3 in the final.

The Marist Senior School has won Swimming Relays, Cross Country Relays and Netball Tournaments all in one week!

Mrs Bishopp, Head of PE at the Marist Senior School is extremely proud of the successes of the PE department in such a short space of time, and Mrs Karen Thompson a PE teacher at the Marist comments, “we have had a strong sporting year at the Marist so far and are so proud of girls and their team spirit and comradeship. We are looking forwards to our next matches over the coming weeks.”

Talented Musicians from the Marist Preparatory School triumphed at the Woodley Festival of Music and Arts held earlier this month.
The Marist Recorder Consort was highly commended for their ‘lovely sense of ensemble playing’ and took home a gold medal. A silver medal was awarded to the Guitar Quartet for their rendition of ‘The Drunken Sailor’.
The Marist also had solo medal winners including, Catherine Abela who won silver on the Violin and Abigail Harding who won Silver on the Recorder and achieved a Merit for her Oboe playing
In the Upper Junior Choir Class, the Marist Preparatory Junior Choir, who were the largest Choir at the competition, were given Highly Commended. The Chamber Choir took home a Distinction as well as being awarded the prestigious John Keane Trophy for the best performance.
Mrs Hercock, the head of Music at the Preparatory School commented, “I was thrilled with all the results, in particular I was overjoyed for the chamber choir as we faced very stiff competition in this class. It is only the second year this choir has taken part and they should give themselves a pat on the back for their outstanding effort!”
The Marist Preparatory School are delighted to have received the honour to be invited back to perform at the Gala. Congratulations to all those who performed!

On Thursday, 4th March, Bearwood pupils of all ages celebrated World Book Day a number of ways. Firstly, the librarian visited the Prep and Pre-Prep Schools, where the children dressed up and were treated to storytime as well as some free literary gifts and World Book Day cupcakes. The themes for Year 3 and Year 5 were based on what they’ve been reading, namely Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Greek myths. The younger children dressed as their favourite book character.

At the College, four Year 8 writers, Holly Bishop, Alastair Cameron, Aidan Sakakini and Frances Tidey, spent five hours being creative as they worked together to produce Chapter 4 in their inter-school e-book. The first three chapters were written on Monday to Wednesday by the Emmbrook, Cranford House and Sandhurst schools, and Bearwood wrote the final chapter, and named the whole story “The Fallen Angel.” Copies of the final story are available in the Bearwood College Cook Library.

Photo: Bearwood College Prep School’s Year 5 children dressed as Greek Gods

Luckley-Oakfield welcomes top teenager fiction writer

‘Characters turn the wheel of a plot’ popular fiction writer, Mary Hooper told girls at Luckley-Oakfield when she visited to share the secrets of her successful writing.

With the same editor as J K Rowling and over 40 books to her name, Mary was able to offer the eager Year 7 and 8 girls a real insight into the art of story telling. She shared with them about her approach to researching her novels, planning and editing, as well as working with publishing houses and the difficulties surrounding book covers.

Mary talked about drawing inspiration from all kinds of sources; including films. She explained how Ground Hog Day had sparked the idea for one of her novels about a boy who wishes to have his birthday everyday. Her early books featured 15 year old modern heroines, but having felt she had exhausted modern plots Mary moved to writing historical fiction. She explained how she uses eye witness material to ensure her historical settings are authentic.

Mary showed the girls how she plans her writing – no software package for her, but a storyboard divided into the same number of boxes as there will be chapters in the book. She adds post-it-notes with ideas about characters, settings and action. As she uses an idea in her script she destroys the sticky note.

The group heard that authors have no opportunity to participate in book cover choice. This is the publisher’s task.

At the end of a gripping talk there was an opportunity for girls to ask questions and they learnt that Mary’s favourite children’s books were the Just William series. She confessed to having no ambition at school and did not start writing seriously until she was 30 years of age.

The hour long session ended with book purchasing and signing.

School Librarian Mrs Jean Warwick commented, ‘The girls have much to think about after listening to Mary. I hope a few may copy her novel plan for their essays and perhaps some have acquired inspiration for stories of their own. Mary’s love of writing and history should convey enthusiasm and passion for the girls to emulate. Mary was very complimentary about our pupils. She said that she could not remember such a rapt audience.’

Hurst Lodge School, Ascot has recently been visited by Becky Wing a British Championships Gold Medal winner in gymnastics. Becky comes from Farnborough in Hampshire and is an extremely stylish, mature and elegant young performer who stands out for her high level skills, great dance ability, and for the beautiful quality of her work. Hers is undoubtedly a name to look out for in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics.

Also present was Paul Reeve representing Sports for Schools in ‘The 2012 Inspirational Campaign’. Sports for Schools wishes to encourage young pupils through this scheme to help reduce the amount of health problems faced in today’s society. Changing the culture in modern society via encouraging children to see sport and fitness as the “norm”, not a chore, is crucial to tackling these health epidemics.

The session started with a fitness circuit in which all of the junior school plus Years 7 and 8 children enthusiastically took part. This was a sponsored event and the money collected is to be split between the school, to purchase sporting equipment, and the other half going to the “Development of Young Athletes” hosted by the Sports for Schools organisation.

The Kindergarten and a representation of senior students then joined the audience to watch Megan Rhodes, a Year 11 pupil perform a dance, choreographed by the Hurst Lodge Dance Department, followed by a gymnastics display given by Becky. There was then a question and answer session to round off the highly enjoyable afternoon.

Hurst Lodge wishes Becky and the School for Sports campaign every success in the future.

Littlehurst Nursery, which is based at Hurst Lodge School, Ascot has been taking part in the RSPB Little Schools’ Birdwatch. It is designed to educate and inspire three- to five-year olds about the birds that share their outdoor space and links well to the Early Years Curriculum. Young children have a natural curiosity in the world around them, so we used our outdoor area to hopefully spark a lifelong interest in nature and wildlife!
To encourage the birds into their playground the children made some bird seed cake. They enjoyed rolling their sleeves up, mixing the lard and seed together, then pushing and squeezing the mixture into pots before hanging them outside.
The children then watched the birds that came to visit and recorded their findings by putting a picture of each species of bird seen into a box.

The first hour brought along a number of blue tits, wood pigeons and rooks.

Everyone who took part thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the children loved to see how their efforts had attracted the wildlife.

Luckley-Oakfield School, Wokingham, 1 February 2010: Business Technology specialists from Panasonic recently visited Luckley-Oakfield School, Berkshire to learn about technology in UK Schools. During their visit the Panasonic staff were given a tour of the school and able to watch various classes to see how interactive boards form a part of everyday teaching at Luckley-Oakfield. They were particularly interested in the use of hardware in the school and also keen to see how software is used by teachers to deliver the curriculum.

Linda Stephens from the School Economics department had been instrumental in helping the global brand develop products for the UK market by testing future designs and sharing insights with Panasonic’s European Development Team. Linda, the Head of Economics at the School also took part at the recent BETT show in London by hosting the Panasonic “Classroom of the Future” stand and explaining how new technology from the company can be used in UK schools. Following the show the six executives from the Japanese Headquarters wanted to further their understanding of how UK schools use technology and Luckley provided the answer.

The school was thrilled to have an infrared wireless speaker and microphone as well as an interactive whiteboard and ruggedised “toughbook” laptop donated to them by Panasonic.

Staff at Luckley-Oakfield School were fascinated to learn that in Japan technology does not feature as part of school life or as a tool to aid pupils and teachers.

Headmistress Vivienne Davis commented, ‘It was a wonderful opportunity for us to share our experiences of using IT throughout the school; use of interactive software and wireless networked laptops. It is really interesting to learn about the cultural difference between the Japanese and UK education systems, particularly in regards to technology. We hope the trip to the UK and to Luckley was informative for our visitors.’

Matt, a sixth former, is currently in New Zealand, ready to compete in the ICC Under-19 World Cup which takes place from January 16th -30th, 2010. The bi-annual tournament involves 16 teams with England facing Afghanistan, Hong Kong and India in the group stages.
The squad left the UK on January 1st for Wellington, New Zealand, where they spent time acclimatising before reporting to Christchurch for the start of the World Cup. England plays in two warm-up matches against Papua New Guinea U19 on January 11 and New Zealand U19 on January 12.
England’s first match in the group stages will be against Hong Kong on January 16th, followed by Afghanistan on January 18 and India, the current World Cup holders, on January 20th. The top two teams in each group will progress to the quarter-finals.
Headmaster Stephen Aiano comments: “This is such an exciting time for Matt and everyone at Bearwood is following the team’s progress closely. The team has this fantastic opportunity to test themselves against some of the most talented young cricketers in the world. We wish them all the best and hope he will be back celebrating success at school soon.”

Pupils from Hurst Lodge School in Ascot sang a collection of songs from a new curriculum-based musical to thousands of delegates at the internationally renowned “BETT” show in Kensington Olympia last week. The largest educational exhibition in the world, BETT attracts over thirty thousand visitors annually, and the performance by seventeen junior pupils from Hurst Lodge had hundreds of teachers and education professionals humming along throughout the giant hall.

“The response from the crowd was fantastic”, said Russ Payne from Scholastic Education, the publisher of the musical. “The children performed with such enthusiasm and their singing really brought the exhibition to life. Several visitors said that the pupils’ performance was the highlight of the exhibition, and one lady commented that the singing must have been recorded, as it sounded too good to be ‘live’. She was wrong of course. It was live, and it was brilliant!”

“All of the songs from Percy Parker’s Flying Bathtub have been recorded by pupils from Hurst Lodge over the past eighteen months,” explains composer Andrew Holdsworth. “The musical is modular, so teachers can pick and mix from a collection of scenes and songs which are based on topics they’re covering in the classroom, such as the Tudors, the Victorians, the Egyptians and the Ancient Greeks. Pupils from years three to six at Hurst Lodge learnt a large number of brand new songs, which they recorded with great commitment and accuracy in a series of professional recording sessions arranged at the school. An infectious enthusiasm for singing and performing coupled with a willingness to embrace new ideas made Hurst Lodge the perfect place to bring these songs to life. The junior pupils were full of ideas, many of which have been incorporated into the musical in some way or another. I’m absolutely delighted with the results of our work together and I’m very grateful to Hurst Lodge for helping me bring this teaching resource to life. Teachers from as far away as Denmark, Mexico and India approached me after the children’s performance to tell me they were looking forward to using the songs and scripts in class, so hopefully it won’t be long before classrooms all over the world will be singing along with the children from Hurst Lodge!”

Pupils from the school made a short movie about their involvement in creating the show, which can be viewed at the school website, www.hurstlodge.co.uk.

On Friday 2 October, the new Jane Austen Wing at The Abbey School in Reading was formally opened by Jessica Powell, Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Google.
The formal proceedings were started by Peter Smith, Chair of Governors at The Abbey, who talked about this significant investment for the future and how the selection of a leading international businesswoman was indicative of The Abbey’s ambitions for its pupils. Mrs Barbara Stanley, Headmistress paid homage to Jane Austen who attended the Reading Ladies’ Boarding School in the Abbey Gateway in Reading in 1785 and who ‘pushed the boundaries for women’ in her own day. The naming of the building is also particularly appropriate as it finally fulfils the intention of Headmistress Miss Musson and the Governors (in 1926) to ‘honour the name’ of Jane Austen.
Jessica Powell unveiled a commemoration stone in the new wing which has really transformed the frontage of the school, and girls performed poetry and readings from Jane Austen for the invited guests who included governors, staff, the architects and builders and key representatives from the community including The Mayor and Mayoress of Reading and local MP, Rob Wilson. All the proceedings were filmed and streamed to pupils on a live feed to other parts of the school. The Mayor, whose own daughter attended The Abbey, said he was ‘delighted to see The Abbey investing in the future and recognising Jane Austen’s connection with Reading.’ Rob Wilson added that he was ‘proud to have one of the top independent schools in the country in his constituency’ and praised The Abbey’s links with the local community.
The invitation to Jessica Powell reinforces The Abbey’s important relationship with Google and continues the association with leading communication and technology companies that is such an important part of education at the school. Ms. Powell, an inspirational role model for the girls, then spent time with pupils talking to them about the opportunities brought by ICT.
The Jane Austen Wing itself is now a particularly vibrant part of the school. It maintains the character of the old building, sitting well alongside the refurbished entrance, and consists of three self-contained floors of four classrooms each, which enables 300 girls and staff to work in state-of-the-art facilities. There are classrooms for Years 8 and 9 and dedicated subject areas for Classics (Latin and Greek are taught at GCSE and A Level) and History. The Art Department has stunning, bright Art Studios and a kiln room alongside an ICT room used for graphic design work.

Further Background follows: Jane Austen and her links with The Abbey School

When Jane Austen was a child she attended a school in Reading housed within the gateway of the old Abbey called the Reading Ladies’ Boarding School. Known by the name of the building that housed it, another of its famous alumnae Mrs Sherwood, author of ‘The Fairchild Family’, wrote in 1791:‘The Abbey House had been a school longer by far than any person now
living has a record of. The house itself was exceedingly interesting. It consisted of a gateway with rooms above and on each side of it a vast staircase of which the balustrades had been gilt.’

`This name was lost to Reading when the school and its occupants later moved to London.

In 1913, at the time of its incorporation, Miss Musson was searching for a new name for the school which she had purpose-built in Kendrick Road. She chose to revive the name of the long-gone school that Jane Austen had attended and the Reading High School for Girls became The Abbey School.

Miss Musson said:‘…and while we are recalling these traditions of hard work, which are ours to guard and carry on, I think we may feel proud to remember that we are reviving the name of a Reading school very famous in its day – The Abbey School which had Jane Austen and Mrs Sherwood among its pupils at the end of the eighteenth century.’

At the time the school was built the size of the building had to be limited due to financial constraints. Becoming ever more popular, the school numbers increased until, at the end of the 1920s, a loan was secured and plans drawn up for the first extension to the school.

It was opened in December 1931 by Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, and during the proceedings silk purses containing money for the building fund were presented to the Princess by a large number of the girls. We are fortunate to still have one of these silk purses in the school archive.

The arched door at the back of the Hardcastle Hall was opened for the first time and the new wing, which now is home to the Chapel, was revealed.

When the proposals for the new building were being discussed in 1926 Miss Musson said: ‘…and we have now in consideration a scheme by which we may do honour to their names, and keep fresh in the hearts of succeeding generations of young ladies the reverence for true scholarship and learning which marked them out from their fellows…’

Twelve Sixth Formers at The Abbey School were delighted when their postman made it through the snow to deliver their Oxbridge offer letter – five from Cambridge and seven from Oxford. Mrs Rachel Dent, Director of Sixth Form said “I am delighted for the girls. This year has been more competitive than ever at these prestigious universities with a conservative estimate of over 30,000 students applying so they have done incredibly well.”

Three of the girls are doing the International Baccalaureate Diploma this summer – the first year group to take the IB at The Abbey. Both Head Girls have been offered a place – Katherine is studying the IB and has been offered a place to read English at Cambridge and Annabel is doing A levels and has been offered an Engineering place at Oxford. The other girls have been offered places on a truly wide variety of degree courses – Law, French, Linguistics, French and Italian, Chemistry, Physiological Sciences, ‘Anglo Saxon, Norse and Celtic’, Engineering and both Music Captains at the school have been offered Music degree places – one at Oxford and one at Cambridge.

In November, these girls were among the ninety students from The Abbey and five state schools from the area who attended a successful Oxbridge evening at the school to help reassure and prepare them for their actual interviews which took place at the end of last term. We wish them much success in their A levels and IB exams this summer.

Hurst Lodge School, Ascot encourages environmental awareness through their Green Team of form representatives. They seek to intergrate environmental and sustainability issues in every decision made.

The Green Team recently challenged each class to make their own bin for recycling classroom waste paper. The design had to be practical and fun. The competitive buzz that surrounded this event surprised and delighted Mrs. Hooker, the teacher in charge. Lunchtimes and breaks were given up to meet the deadline. It was particularly good to see the team spirit that resulted. When asked who had done most of the work Year 5 responded very earnestly ‘We all did it’. Year 11, determined not to be outdone, took time out from coursework and astonished themselves with their enthusiasm.

The next challenge is to produce an outfit from recycled materials. If the models look as glamorous as the green bins, the fashion show should be an impressive event.

The eventual aim is that by initially involving the children, the school, the community, and the environment will all feel the benefit.

The Governors of St Joseph’s Convent School in Reading have made the landmark decision to move from being a predominantly girls school, to becoming a co-educational school, with the first intake of boys to take place in September 2010. St Joseph’s currently takes boys from 3-7 years old and girls from 3-18.

As from September 2010, St Joseph’s will start to introduce co-education into the senior school by welcoming boys into Year 7 (that is, at age 11) and also into Year 12 (the first year of Sixth Form). The Preparatory Department, which currently takes boys to the age of 7, will take boys and girls throughout. By introducing a new co-educational group each year at Years 7 and 12, the school will become fully co-educational from September 2014.

St Joseph’s has enjoyed a range of successes in recent months and this summer, students gained the highest GCSE and A Level results the school has achieved in recent years, with 100% pass rates throughout and 71% A*-A’s at GCSE level and 62% A-B at A Level. The School was also awarded an ‘Outstanding’ grade in the Diocesan Validation Report* in December 2008, as well as being judged to deliver an outstanding quality of care of pupils, alongside a high quality of education, governance and management in June 2009 by the Independent Schools Inspectorate**. The Governors and Senior Management at St Joseph’s would now like to build on these successes to expand and invest further in the school, developing facilities and resources for the benefit of all pupils in the future.

Whilst adding to the availability of independent co-education in Reading, the move will also give boys the chance to attend an independent Catholic senior school for the first time since the closure of Presentation College in 2004. St Joseph’s will naturally continue to accept pupils of all denominations and faiths.

The School is fortunate that the site on Upper Redlands Road already has the capacity within its buildings and grounds to accommodate an increase in pupil numbers and the requirements of co-education. It has ICT, Technology and Science Laboratories, Music Rooms, an Annexe and Drama Halls. Within the grounds, the School offers excellent sporting facilities, including an indoor swimming pool, astro-turf sports pitches, a gymnasium and large playing fields. St Joseph’s also regularly makes use of the sporting facilities at Reading University and nearby Palmer Park Athletics Stadium.

Maureen Sheridan, Headmistress of St Joseph’s, said: “This is an exciting time for St Joseph’s. As a school which is selective but not highly selective, we are especially delighted with the individual performance of each girl against her ability. This focus on the individual needs and achievements of pupils is recognised in the Inspection Report. There could not be a better time for extending our first-class educational opportunities to the brothers of our pupils. This can only add to the family feel of the school and the quality of the preparation for the world of University and work into which our students will move. It seems wholly appropriate that as the School celebrates its centenary anniversary on the Upper Redlands site, it should be asserting its forward-looking mission in a way that recognises the needs of today’s world”.

In its new co-educational status, the name of the Senior School will change to become St Joseph’s College, Reading, and the junior section will continue to be called St Joseph’s Preparatory School.

St Joseph’s has already started planning the changes that will need to be made to accommodate boys, including sporting opportunities and facilities, training of staff where necessary, curriculum offered and cloakroom facilities. The majority of staff have already taught in co-educational schools, including the Headmistress Maureen Sheridan. Deputy Head and Head of Sixth Form Nick Crean has extensive experience of teaching in a boys school.

Parents are welcome to call Registrar Debbie Kendrick on 0118 966 1000 to arrange an individual visit to the school, at a time convenient to them.

On Sunday 28th September Neil Fox, led by 3000 cyclists, crossed the start line at Buckingham Palace for the 45 mile Palace to Palace bike ride in aid of the Prince’s Trust.

The ride took the cyclists around some of London’s most opulent sites including the backdrop of Buckingham Palace, the deer of Richmond Park and finally arriving in Windsor where good crowds were there to encourage everyone over the finish line.

Amongst the throng of cyclists who took part was Robin Coe, a Surrey teacher who works at Hurst Lodge School, Ascot.

The day ended with perfect sunshine. Huge congratulations to him and all the other cyclists who have raised money to help change young people’s lives in the UK.

It was an amazing day and let’s hopes that the sunshine comes out again for another fantastic day next year.

The next achievement features Jackie Stuart from Woking who teaches Business Studies at Hurst Lodge School.

Following several aborted attempts she and her team of 5 other swimmers swam the channel from Calais to Dover. It took 15 hours and 45 minutes to successfully complete the challenge setting off at 5.30am from the French beach and eventually arriving in Dover in the dark at 9.30pm.

The final swimmers had to wear glowsticks in their costumes so she could be seen in the dark! The group took lots of seasickness tablets and they worked although cramp was a problem. It was very hard both physically and mentally – although the training was good it is hard to replicate the sea swell and sheer toughness of the task.

Jackie and her colleagues eventually raised circa £15,000 (raising approximately £1000 per hour) for Chase a charity which supports children and teenagers with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions giving help in the community as well as at Christopher’s their children’s hospice, based in Guildford.

Students enjoyed the day which saw some extremely inventive and amusing ideas. Hurst Lodge feel that this is a very worthwhile cause as the air ambulance relies almost entirely on the generosity of the public. Since its launch in 2007 the service has gone from strength to strength now attending on average two missions a day.

It was a fun day with the added feeling that the school have helped to pay for a life saving emergency.

In 2008 the NSPCC launched the Child’s Voice Appeal with the aspiration that no cry should go unheard. When a child needs help, ChildLine and the NSPCC Helpline may be their only hope

Hurst Lodge School, Ascot had a special treat today when ‘Buddy’ (centre) the NSPCC and Childline Schools’ mascot came to visit them with Schools’ Organiser, Mandy Elton.

Assemblies were given about the work of the charity and their special listening service Childline. Pupils and staff were pleased to pledge their support to help the charity to continue their work in helping children and will be raising funds over the coming year.

Mufti Days, coffee mornings and perhaps something for the more adventurous will be on the school’s calendar of events. Watch this space for more news.
www.hurstlodge.co.uk

To support the Child’s Voice Appeal, please visit www.childsvoiceappeal.org.uk

We are happy to announce that two students of Hurst Lodge School, Ascot were Highly Commended in the Windsor Festival Schools’ Programme 2009. Congratulations go to Sophie Pikus who was highly commended for her oil painting ‘Jamestown’ and Katie Ellesley, also highly commended for her textile diptych ‘Sanctuary’.

The Exhibition took place at Ascot Racecourse last weekend where Winning entries of the 2D and 3D Category could be viewed alongside entries for the Creative Writing and Music Composition.

Both girls are A Level students at Hurst Lodge with Katie specialising in Textiles and Sophie studying Fine Art.

Congratulations to Montgomery Sadler who received 1st Place in the Windsor Festival Participatory Programme for Senior Schools 2009, in the Music Composition category for her piece ‘The Stars’.

The Festival aims to encourage imagination, creativity and artistic talent in senior schools, both state and private, through the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Young people in years 10, 11 and 12 submit work in any of four categories: Music Composition, Creative Writing, Two-dimensional Art and Three-dimensional Art. Every new academic year submissions are judged by a panel of highly qualified professionals and selected for public exhibition.

Prizes are awarded to first, second and third places, and to the pupils’ school in each case at a ceremony held in Windsor Castle’s Education Centre to which parents, judges, teachers and pupils are invited.

Montgomery will be given the opportunity to tour the Royal Library, which is not normally open to the public, and all those exhibiting are given a private tour of the State Apartments in Windsor Castle.

This is a very exciting achievement – Well done!

Oompa Loompers, Willy Wonka and creative writing make the day a resounding success!

The Marist Senior School Year 7 and Year 8 students celebrated Roald Dahl Day this week by writing their own books to celebrate the famous author’s life, dressing up as their favourite Roald Dahl characters, and writing ‘revolting’ rhymes.

Students put a lot of thought into the books they had written about one of Britain’s best loved authors. The girls were encouraged to carry out their own research into Roald Dahl during the summer break and to work in groups to produce an illustrated biography. Beautiful pictures and poems were written and even secret recipes for Wonka chocolate! Teachers and students voted for the best written books which were all available to read in the school library. After all the votes were counted, the top prize went to Fiona Fullilove, Kelly Jones, Lucy Hannam and Katy Hurt for their beautifully illustrated and constructed work.

To share Roald Dahl’s sense of fun and mischief, many girls dressed in yellow (Dahl’s favourite colour), wore clothes and shoes back to front, and participated in the Roald Dahl character costume competition. The winners of the competition were:

1st Place: Olivia Bertram, Georgia Bennett and Amy Shortis who dressed as a Wonka Chocolate Bar

2nd Place: Bethany Broughton as Willie Wonka

Joint 3rd Place : Anna Southgate and Victoria Chessun–Lawrence who dressed as an Oompa Loompa and Matilda respectively.

All competition winners received a Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bar provided by Mr Todd Stitzer, Chief Executive of Cadbury PLC.

In addition to the book and costume competition, over lunch students could visit the school library to get involved in a Roald Dahl quiz and the ‘Revolting Rhyme Competition’ in addition to many other activities.

The Roald Dahl day was a UK wide initiative and the Marist event was organised by the school librarian, Mrs Liliana Barnard. Mrs Barnard said “the girls have really enjoyed getting to know more about Roald Dahl, his life, and his books through their involvement in the day. They have produced some very creative and inventive pieces of work and have had enormous fun doing so. Roald Dahl day has been such a success with involvement from the teachers and younger pupils, we hope to make it an annual event to encourage more students to enjoy reading and get involved in literary activities.”

PHOTO: Olivia Bertram, Georgia Bennett and Amy Shortis (‘Wonka Chocolate Bar’), Bethany Broughton (Willie Wonka), Anna Southgate (Oompa Loompa) and Victoria Chessun–Lawrence (Matilda).

Students, teachers and parents delighted with results

84% of Marist GCSE students have achieved A*, A and B grades this year, with 100% of students achieving five A* – C passes in their examinations overall. The average points score for Marist students rose to 607 points with the average number of GCSEs per student 12.3.

Although envelopes were opened with anticipation this morning, students were delighted when they saw their results. Josie Teale received A* grades in eleven subjects plus one A grade in addition to achieving an AS Level grade A. Alexandra Goulds and Suchita Patel received A* grades in ten GCSE subjects each. Alexandra also achieved an AS Level grade A and a B grade in a further AS module. In addition to her GCSE success, Suchita achieved B grades for one AS Level and an AS module. Libby Rose-Innes and Jacqueline Harte also did exceptionally well. Libby achieved eight A* and three A grades at GCSE plus an AS level grade A and an AS module grade B, and Jacqueline achieved five A* grades, two A grades and six B grades at GCSE in addition to B grades in one AS Level and a further AS module.

Thirty seven Year 10 students were fast tracked in taking some early GCSEs and, as a group, achieved 19 A* – A grades overall. Rachel Pyle, a Year 8 student who was also fast tracked to sit her Spanish GCSE, received an A*.

Karl McCloskey, Headteacher, said: ‘The girls have achieved exceptional results in their GCSEs this year and I am proud to award many of them with prestigious academic scholarships and exhibitions to the Marist Sixth Form.’ He added, ‘Teachers and parents alike are delighted to see that our girls have been justly rewarded for their exceptional dedication in studying for their GCSEs. We will continue to support them throughout their Sixth Form years so they flourish and no doubt excel as high achievers during their A Levels in due course.’

MARIST GCSE RESULTS 2009
Pupils with 5 A* – C grades = 100%

Average points per candidate = 607

A* 25%

A* & A 60%

A*, A & B 84%

Photo (left to right): Jacqueline Harte, Josie Teale, Alexandra Goulds, Karl McCloskey, Suchita Patel and Libby Rose-Innes.

Bearwood College’s GCSE pupils have achieved an impressive set of results this year, with 87% of entries gaining a Grade C or above. 30% of entries are at Grade A* or A – consistent with last year.

Mr George Penlington, Academic Deputy, comments: “87% of candidates gained 5 GCSE’s, including Maths and English, at Grade C or above – a six point increase on last year. The overall success rate of pupils achieving entry into the Sixth Form with 5 A*-C Grades, including English and Maths, has risen over the last two years (2008 – 81%; 2007 – 77%). This is testament to the commitment and diligence from all our pupils, staff and parents.”

Stephen Aiano, Headmaster, said: “This is a tremendous achievement. All our Year 11 students and all the staff have put in some serious work throughout the GCSE course, and are suitably rewarded. I am really pleased for them. These results are part of a long-term trend of continuing academic improvement at Bearwood. We are especially pleased with our strong ‘value addition’ which has resulted, on average, in every GCSE subject entry scoring marks strongly above expectation.”

Jonathan Crane, one of the top scoring students said: “I am so thrilled with my results and pleased to have the grades to study Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Geography at A Level at Bearwood College’s Sixth Form.”

Another high achieving student, Lucy Darrall comments: “It’s such a relief that this day is finally here. I got an A* in Photography so will definitely continue this at A Level along with Psychology, Business Studies and Graphics.”

Pupils have an exciting range of A Level subjects to choose from, with Environmental Studies and Photography being examples of the varied subjects Bearwood College’s Sixth Form has to offer. Small class sizes guarantee individual attention and the Sierra Club, is a purpose-built Sixth Form centre facility designed to promote independent study as well as offer a social space for relaxation. These elements contribute to the strength of Bearwood’s unique support system which can make all the difference to pupils managing the pressures of A Level study. Whilst ensuring academic issues are thoroughly addressed, Bearwood also helps prepare well-rounded individuals, ready for university and life beyond.

Photograph:From left – Lewis Gallagher, Joe Powell, Rian Howlett, Jamie Gilmour, Lucy Darrall, Harriett Plaskitt, Danielle MacRae

Ten Year 12 students from the Marist Senior School have been presented with the Buxton Trophy for ‘most promising youth performance’ in the 2009 National Drama Festivals Association (NDFA), British All Winners Festival (BAWF). The girls performed in the BAWF final on 22 July which took place at the Rhoda McGraw Theatre, Woking.

The all female cast performed, ‘A Memory of Lizzie’ by David Foxton, which explored the dark story of Lizzie Borden who was tried for the murders of her father and stepmother in America during the 19th century. Alice Ordish, who played ‘Lizzie’ was also nominated for an individual award for her chilling performance.

Drama Groups which have won Full Length or One Act Member Festivals between 9th June 2008 and 7th June 2009 were eligible for invitation to take part in the BAWF. In early May the girls won 5 awards during the Maidenhead Festival, then followed this success in June by winning the semi-final round of the All England Theatre Festival, and performed to an appreciative audience at the All England Festival final at the beginning of July. It is a rare achievement for a school to see this level of success at the All England Festival which places them amongst the top performing amateur theatre companies in England.

Jane Harris, Head of Drama at the Marist Senior School, said “I am really delighted for the cast as they have worked really hard and pulled together as a team at each and every stage of our journey. The girls have grown in confidence and learnt more than they could have believed possible. Each adjudicator gave constructive criticism as well as much praise which will help to inform their development over the next year of their A level. Their dedication and achievement can only serve to inspire younger pupils to get involved with drama.”

Photo –: Cast members Hannah Lee and Michelle Percy with Marist Head of Drama, Jane Harris.

Bearwood College saw a strongly improved performance in the A/Level results for A-B grades at 69% (2008 – 48%; 2007 – 44%), and for A-C grades at 84% (2008 – 80%; 2007 – 76%).

The A-E grade pass rate was 99%, two points up on last year. The average score per candidate at Bearwood College is 347 UCAS points, equivalent to grades AAB or BBBc, and 71 points above last year’s score. The top personal score was 540 points, the best ever individual score for the College.

Commenting on this year’s results, the Headmaster, Mr Stephen Aiano, said: “These tremendous results are evidence of the long-term academic progress at Bearwood College. All the Upper Sixth Form students and teaching staff, under the academic leadership of George Penlington, Academic Deputy, have put in a great deal of effort and commitment over the last two years to achieve these impressive A-Level results.”

For Bearwood’s Academic Deputy George Penlington, seeing individuals who have been nurtured through the College exceed their academic expectations is the one of the greatest rewards a teacher can receive. “The culmination of every Sixth Form pupil’s development at Bearwood is reflected in their A-level results; our aim is to ensure that each individual is given both the academic and psychological support to fulfill their greatest potential. We are very pleased with the ‘value added’ improvement. On average, every candidate achieved 105 points beyond their UCAS expectation. This is equivalent to each student achieving a grade and a half above predictions for each subject.”

For a local pupil, Tom Bell-Williamson from Wokingham his 440 UCAS points has secured him a place at Manchester to study Business. ‘I can’t believe that the day has finally arrived and that I have the points to study at my first choice University. I am so excited and relieved!”

Bearwood College’s top-scoring A-Level candidates, Kemal Atayev, said: “I am so pleased with these results – it’s been brilliant. They confirm my place to read Business and Accounting at the University of Birmingham.” Kemal, who was a boarder in Blake House, gained an impressive 540 UCAS points.

Sixth Formers are provided with 360 degree support throughout their A/Level studies at Bearwood. In addition to committed subject teachers, academic progress is closely monitored by the Key Stage 5 Coordinator and the Academic Deputy. Pastoral needs are cared for by a dedicated Tutor as well as by a Houseparent. The advice of the in-house careers service is supplemented by the resources of Futurewise, the Independent Schools Careers Organisation. Small class sizes guarantee individual attention and the Sierra Club, is a purpose-built Sixth Form centre facility designed to promote independent study as well as offer a social space for relaxation. These elements contribute to the strength of Bearwood’s unique support system which can make all the difference to pupils managing the pressures of A/Level study. Whilst ensuring academic issues are thoroughly addressed, Bearwood also helps prepare well-rounded individuals, ready for university and life beyond.

Marist Senior School – students receive 7% rise in A grades based on previous year.

Students from the Marist Senior School received excellent A Level results again this year, with students achieving a 7% rise in A grades.

Although students opened envelopes with some trepidation, nerves soon turned to excitement and parents, friends and teachers were eager to offer congratulations on the excellent results achieved. Wallace Martin Kerr achieved A grades in all four of her subject areas of Economics, English Literature, History and Latin. Wallace achieved 598 marks out of a possible 600 marks for History. Wallace will go on to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at The University of Oxford. Rebecca Brown achieved A grades in all four of her subject areas of Biology, Chemistry, French and Mathematics. Rebecca will now study Medicine at Imperial College, London. Laura Fox, and Giuseppina Magistro each achieved A grades in 3 subjects in addition to A grades in their AS subjects. Laura will study Land Economy at The University of Cambridge and Giuseppina will study Economics at The University of Exeter. Katie Horbury, Nasreen Hussain and Charlotte Luxton were also very high achievers with A grades in three subjects each. Laura Fox and Amy Jewitt Harris also produced full marks in A level Economics and Art respectively.

Further AS Level high achievers in Year 12 were Stephanie Charbine, Madeleine Gale, Roisin Kirby, Bianca Luxton, Georgina Ingham and Kayla Spitzer who all achieved grade A in four AS subjects each. Madeleine Gale also achieved full marks in both English and Latin AS. Alexandra Kyjak-Lane achieved full marks in one History module.

Karl McCloskey, Headteacher, said: “Results day is always an exciting occasion at the Marist. Every student deserves our utmost congratulations, they have all studied very hard to achieve their excellent results. The Marist Sixth Form environment provides a good balance of challenge and support for our students to enable them to achieve the best possible results.”

Royal Borough Mayor visits the Marist to recognise high achieving students during the annual prize giving ceremony

Royal Borough Mayor and Mayoress, Councillor Jesse Grey and his wife Mrs Christine Grey, attended the Marist Senior School on 9 July as guests of honour at the school’s annual prize giving awards ceremony for students in Years 7-10.

The Marist Senior School was delighted to welcome the Mayor and Mayoress to the School to present awards to the highest achieving students. Many girls in the school were recognised during the ceremony with awards being giving in all areas of the curriculum and also community awards. The highest performing girls in each year were:

Lucy Hoade – Year 7

Emily Ducas – Year 8

Emily Smith – Year 9

Coral Hall-Casserly – Year 10

The Mayor spoke of the many outstanding achievements the school has seen over the past year including the expressive arts, sports and charitable giving events. He congratulated all award recipients on their effort and achievement and recognised that the good relationships the students have with their peers, teachers and families are crucial in enabling students to achieve their goals.

Mr Karl McCloskey, Headteacher at the Marist Senior School said “we are very honoured that the Mayor and Mayoress have been able to join us today. All our students work extremely hard during the course of the year and it has made the event all the more special that the achievement awards have been presented by the Mayor himself.”

Photo left to right: Emily Ducas, Coral Hall-Casserly, Councillor Jesse Grey, Mr Karl McCloskey, Mrs Christine Grey, Emily Smith and Lucy Hoade.
Notes to Editors:

Bearwood College’s Nursery and Reception classes (Foundation Stage) were recently moderated by the Local Education Authority (LEA) and passed with the highest outcome that could be achieved. The moderators were particularly impressed with the positive relationship the staff have with all the children and the parent feedback forms.

The moderation is a process where the Foundation Stage Portfolios on individual children are checked to ensure that the have been carried out in accordance with current regulations so our children’s progress is evaluated positively, correctly and fairly.

The moderation was focused on two of the six areas of learning – Creative Development and Language for Communication and Thinking.

Key points made from the moderation were:
· Staff have excellent knowledge of their children
· The environment is a wonderful place for children to learn
· Staff have made enormous progress in the development of their learning journeys
· There is a very good range of evidence – photographs, long and short observations and video

Lorraine Beamish, Nursery Manager said: “I am really proud of all of my team as they have worked hard to maintain the profiles I designed when I took over the running of the nursery last year. It is very satisfying to have recognition of the effort and work that in involved in implementing and maintaining this moderation process.”

Once a year the senior students and staff at Hurst Lodge get together to honour the memory of the schools founder Miss Doris Stainer. The event is usually a formal sit down dinner but this year because of the wonderful weather the schools extensive grounds were used to host the supper party. Founders dinner is a time for speeches about the eccentric founder, the head girl makes a speech about her time at Hurst Lodge and it is an opportunity of the staff and the girls to say goodbye to those that are leaving and to celebrate the successes of the past year. The Principal Victoria Smit said that it was wonderful to see so many elegant and poised young women some who had been with us since they were two and a half now discussing their excitement about taking up their places at University.

Hurst Lodge School have just performed a musical theatre production of Bugsy Malone. Set in 1929 in New York and more particularly in Fat Sam’s Grand Slam Bar, Bugsy, Blousey Brown, Tallulah, Fizzy and a host of colourful characters fight for survival against Dandy Dan, his hoodlums and the dreaded splurge guns. Students from year three to year thirteen have been involved in the show either as performers or as backstage support. The students and staff all worked extremely hard learning lines, rehearsing songs and running dance routines over and over again to ensure a successful and entertaining show. The result of all of this hard work was a fluid, fun, lively musical comedy full of colour, style and flair. The feedback from the audience has been very positive and, even with the threat of being splurged, the cheering, clapping and support has been fantastic.

Marist Sixth Form Leavers’ Ball is a sparkling occasion

A glamorous Leavers’ Ball was held for the Sixth Form girls of the Marist Senior School who have now completed their final exams and will shortly head off to their chosen university.

On Tuesday 30 June, Year 13 students attended the ‘red carpet’ themed event at the beautiful Northcote House, Sunningdale Park, with their partners, parents and Marist staff. The girls all looked beautiful in their gowns and the late evening sunshine added an extra sparkle to the occasion. The evening began with a champagne reception followed by dinner and dancing. The Royal Borough Mayor and Mayoress also attended – Mr Jesse Grey and his wife Christine.

Mr Karl McCloskey, Headteacher at the Marist Senior School said “It is always sad saying goodbye to our girls but it is wonderful to be able to give them a happy and memorable event to end on. We wish every blessing and much happiness to the girls as they leave school to embark on their university education and future professional careers. It has been a pleasure knowing each and every one of them.”

Photo:The Marist Year 13 Leavers with Mayor and Mayoress, Mr Jesse Grey and Mrs Christine Grey.

The national competition is open to all pupils aged 4-14 to showcase their handwriting skills. Even though computers are now commonly used in schools, homes and businesses, it is just as important to learn good handwriting skills as it ever was as pupils must adapt their skills to suit different situations. Mrs Tina Francis, Class 2 teacher and an English Co-ordinator at the Marist Preparatory School said “the girls are taught the essentials of handwriting during their infant years. Once they start their junior education they have already developed a good style of handwriting that will stay with them throughout their school life.”

Mrs Jenny Peachey, Headteacher at the Marist Preparatory School said “Good handwriting skills learned early on will effectively take them through their senior school years and serve them well into their undergraduate degrees and beyond.”

School girls have organised a special ‘Bag2School’ clothing collection to raise money for charity

Sunninghill, Ascot, Berkshire, March 18, 2009: Two pupils at the Marist Preparatory School have organised an event with school friends to raise £448 for the Thames Valley Hospice.

Rianna Monteagudo and Olivia Waldron, both aged 10, heard about the ‘Bag2School’ initiative as an ideal way of supporting a local charity. They spoke to their Headteacher, Mrs Jenny Peachey about it, and then presented the idea to the rest of the school during an assembly. The girls showed an example ‘blue bag’ and explained to their school friends that if the bags were filled with clothes, soft toys, bedding and shoes, a donation could be made to a local charity. The girls made posters to put up around the school showing that the bags should be returned by Thursday 5 March.

On 5 March, Marist families and friends brought over 200 blue bags into the school which were filled with clothes and toys. Bag2School collected the bags on the same day, weighed them, and confirmed how much money the school had raised for the Thames Valley Hospice.

Headteacher, Mrs Jenny Peachey said “Rianna and Olivia have shown great initiative in organising an event which has raised money for a very worthwhile cause without asking for cash. With a dated and timed collection, it meant the initiative could be readily supported. The girls have done an excellent job. We look forward to welcoming a representative from the Thames Valley Hospice early next term to collect the donation and speak to the girls about the work the Hospice does.”

Photo:L to R, Olivia and Rianna with one of the posters they made and some of the blue bags collected on 5th March.

Pupils in Year 4 of Hurst Lodge School Ascot had a wonderful African cultural experience on Monday morning.

A parent from Northern Nigeria flew in specially from Kano, Nigeria with one of her domestic staff to teach Year 4 girls a Fulani dance. The girls were fully dressed in beautiful hand-woven traditional Fulani costumes and jewellery for boys and girls.

The pupils thoroughly enjoyed going through their dance routines, and performed their dance before the rest of the junior school. They also attempted to balance calabashes on their heads and were taught how to play the dondo, an African drum.

In all it was an excellent educational experience which Year 4 thoroughly enjoyed.

Padworth College welcomed local minister, Rev Malcolm Duncan as the guest speaker at Presentation Day. Rev Duncan, who also acts as a church consultant and is involved in many community development projects, gave a lively and inspirational speech urging students to pursue their ambitions, to face setbacks with fortitude and resolve and to make the most of every opportunity.

Sixth former, Jonathan Bates gave the vote of thanks and Mr Duncan then presented the prizes which were awarded to students from each year group for academic achievement and commendations for Academic progress. This year, the Principal’s Prize for Service to the College was given to A Level student, Sean Pham for his outstanding contribution to the College community.

The audience were entertained by The Padworth Singers who sang “The Birks of Aberfeldy” and Hannah Windmill gave a solo performance of “I’ll give my love an apple”.

Principal, Linde Melhuish said, “I should like to congratulate all of today’s prizewinners – they have all made an outstanding effort to achieve the highest standards and to contribute to our community. In line with their excellent example, I think we have also all been inspired by the words of Rev Duncan who has highlighted the importance of determination and dedication in achieving personal goals. I would like to express our thanks to him for making the time to join us for Presentation Day.”

Prizes for Academic Achievement
Year 9 Karl Spires and Stephanie Lloyd
Year 10 James Horn, Kapnie Umana and Anna Jadczak
Year 11 Frank Chang
Year 12 Sarah Ayromloo and Hieu Nguyen
Year 13 Jonathan Bates, Jenny Wang, Aryan Bathory, Hannah Windmill Nazi Amini and Sean Pha
ISC Yuri Nishizaki

Photo: The Principal of Padworth College with this year’s prize winners

Arts Council England has awarded an Artsmark Silver to the Marist Senior School in recognition of the school’s commitment to, and excellence in, arts education.

Practitioners in art, music, drama and dance have been regularly invited to visit the Marist Senior School to showcase different skills and styles in each area of the expressive arts. These include Sadie James who worked with Year 7 students on a Street Art project to explore aspects of identity, Mime Artist Steve Murray who conducted a drama workshop with Year 10 students to explore relationships, and the Black Eyed Theatre Company who helped Year 11 drama students understand the dramatic themes in Chekhov’s play ‘The Cherry Orchard’ to improve their practical understanding of theatrical techniques.

Since Artsmark began 9 years ago, almost 10,000 awards have been made, with 1649 schools receiving the award this year. Karl McCloskey, Head teacher of the Marist Senior School in Sunninghill, said: “I’m delighted that the Arts Council has recognised The Marist’s dynamic arts education programme. Our students have really enjoyed working with all the practitioners we’ve been fortunate enough to welcome to the Marist, and I’d like to thank all our staff for their hard work in achieving this award.”

Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said: “Arts Council England is committed to great art for everyone and we believe that the earlier children are creatively inspired, the more likely they are to have a lifelong engagement with art. Artsmark sets the standard for an outstanding arts offer in schools and it’s great to see so many new schools attaining the Artsmark award this year. The award recognises the Marist Senior School’s passion for the arts and belief in the power of creativity.”

A school must dedicate a minimum of 10 per cent of its curricular teaching time to the arts to receive an Artsmark; 12 per cent wins a Silver Artsmark and 15 per cent qualifies for Artsmark Gold. An Artsmark school also provides teachers’ professional development and involvement with local artists and arts groups. The Marist Senior School’s Head of Art, Mrs Sandra Maynard, will receive the award officially from Arts Council England on Monday 29th June at the Corn Exchange Theatre, Newbury.

Any school in England can apply for Artsmark at: www.artsmark.org.uk

From winning five trophies at the Maidenhead Drama Festival, students perform as finalists in the All England Theatre Competition

Eleven Year 12 students from the Marist Senior School have performed as finalists in the All England Theatre Festival, which took place on Saturday 6 June at the Strode’s Theatre in Somerset.

Further to their success at the Maidenhead Festival in early May where they won 5 awards, the Year 12 actresses won the semi-final round of the All England Theatre Festival competition at Leigh on Sea on 23rd May and followed this success by performing in the competition final which took place in Somerset at the weekend.

The all female cast performed, ‘A Memory of Lizzie’ by David Foxton, which explored the dark story of Lizzie Borden who was tried for the murders of her father and stepmother in America during the 19th century. Competing against over 250 other original entrants, many of which were adult groups, it is a rare achievement for a school to see this level of success at the All England Festival which places them amongst the top performing amateur theatre companies in England.

Jane Harris, Head of Drama at the Marist Senior School, said “we have all been overwhelmed by the positive reception we have had from the adjudicators and audiences at each stage of the festival. It has been such a wonderful experience for the girls to get into the top four theatre companies at the final. At this level, the standard is the highest is the country which is an immense achievement.”

The Year 12 students used both naturalistic and abstract styles in performing the drama about Lizzie Borden who was tried for the murder of her father and stepmother during the late 1800s. Although Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the murder, she was believed by the majority of society to be guilty of the crime and her story has since become an infamous legend. The cast unwound the dark story of Lizzie through their focused and realistic portrayal of a range of characters from taunting playground children to adult witnesses relaying disturbing evidence during Borden’s trial.

Photo: ‘Memory of Lizzie’ Cast – Katy Eynon, Emma Hall, Alice Ordish, Hannah Lee, Megan Palfreyman,
Michelle Percy, Patricia Rocco, Iselin Radmore, Ruby Donnelly, Roisin Kirby and Poppy Nowell with drama teachers Juliet May and Jane Harris.

The Marist Senior School Promotes Eco Initiatives During An Environment Week

The Marist Senior School has been awarded an Eco Schools Bronze Certificate and has held an Environment Week to raise further awareness of environmental concerns by involving the entire school in a range of different eco projects.

The theme of the week which ran from 1-5 June was to ‘Reduce’. All students aimed to check a print preview of their school work first before printing documents to ensure no unnecessary paper was wasted, that lights were turned off where possible to reduce electricity, to always turn taps off properly to save water, and to diligently recycle waste. During the course of the week, all form rooms competed for the title of ‘Most Eco Friendly Classroom’ by adhering to these goals. In addition, students participated in an emailed ‘eco quiz’, made posters out of recycled materials using the ‘Reduce’ theme, and began measuring sunflower seedlings as part of their sunflower race!

The school library encouraged the girls to learn more about environmental issues by visiting the displays that had been created in connection with concerns at both a local and global level. The displays included photographic images and news articles about environmental concerns affecting everyone and tree saplings to be planted in the school grounds later in the week. A book exchange programme was also instigated as a further way to save paper.

On 8 June, several girls planted the tree saplings in the school grounds with responsibility to take care of the trees as they grow. Miss Lydia Spoors, Head of Year 11 said “Environment Week has been a very popular event as it has helped students to become even more aware of the impact they have on the environment. The school already has a good recycling and ‘low light’ policy but Environment Week has encouraged everyone to think about how they use natural resources even more. The school is a supporter of the Eco Schools initiative and has already been awarded the Bronze Certificate. The week has enabled us to engage in more activities to promote further sustainable development within our school.”

Hurst Lodge School is delighted to announce that pupil, Milly House from year 7 has won the South Central regional prize for the first ever Step into the NHS schools competition. The Step into the NHS competition was designed to encourage children aged 12-14 to think laterally about health service careers and their future work prospects.

Milly House won with her job description for an occupational therapist for Frimley Park Hospital. She recognised that the role of an occupational therapist is to help with the rehabilitation and re-motivation of people who have had difficulties with every day living. She also highlighted that the role provided excellent career progression opportunities and that it is possible to either specialise or move into a research position.

Statistically, almost 1 child in every class in England is likely to work for the NHS in the future. However 70% of teenagers surveyed have never considered working for the NHS because they aren’t aware of the career options available. When asked to give their perceptions of the NHS over half of young people polled (57%) associated it entirely with hospitals and medical professionals. A large number of teenagers surveyed didn’t associate non-medical jobs such as architect (74%), carpenter (83%) and IT trainer (63%) with the NHS. Yet with over 350 different roles and 1.3 million employees, the health service means more than being a doctor or a nurse.

The winner Milly House from year 7 impressed the judging panel by demonstrating a broad understanding of the different roles in the NHS and by taking a creative approach to the competition brief.

A winner’s presentation took place today (1st June) at the school. The ceremony was attended by Danielle Calvert who will present the prizes.

Miss V S Smit, Head Mistress of Hurst Lodge School says: “We are delighted to have won this prize. It’s great to see pupils thinking creatively about the different types of roles in the health service and to see how these fit into the broad spectrum of the NHS. We are extremely proud of Milly House and her achievement “

Danielle Calvert – Head of Paediatric Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, NHS Berkshire East – said: “When people think of working in the NHS occupational therapy might not always be the first types of career that come to mind. So it was really refreshing to see the Hurst Lodge entry looking at life as an Occupational Therapist and reflecting the diversity of the job. Working as an OT and helping people to overcome the physical, psychological or social problems arising from illness or disability is a demanding career choice but the rewards of seeing someone progress and achieve are limitless.”

Alan Simmons, a Careers Consultant at NHS Careers, says: “Congratulations to (insert name of winner/s) for their fantastic competition entry – hopefully their efforts will inspire many others to step out of the classroom and into the NHS. Students taking part in the NHS Careers schools competition had certainly taken a lot of time and effort in their entries. Those that made the final 10 demonstrated a wealth of creativity and ideas in their entries and had clearly done their research. It made the judging quite a challenge!”

“Our aim with the competition was to try and broaden young people’s horizons when it comes to perceptions of the NHS and the career prospects available to them. Many young people today want to work in an environment that is stimulating and makes a positive difference to other people’s lives. The health service offers this and much more. Among the 350 roles within the NHS there is an opportunity for everyone to develop a skill set and begin a real career.”

The Marist Senior School is working towards ‘Investor in Careers’ the quality standard in careers education

The Marist Senior School is now working towards Investor in Careers, the nationally recognised quality standard for the management of careers education and guidance in schools.

The purpose of working towards Investor in Careers is to provide students with a careers programme that is regularly evaluated and continuously improved. The Marist Senior School will be working alongside Connexions Berkshire to achieve the award.

Investor in Careers is one of a number of initiatives the Marist Senior School careers department is participating in. During April, six senior school students attended the Channel 4 “Inspiration Week” which gave them access and an insight into the areas of scriptwriting, journalism, presenting and production management. A number of parents and former pupils (‘Maristines’) have also visited the school to speak to sixth form students about their profession, such as law, accountancy, film script supervision and journalism.

Mrs Suzanne Barclay, Careers Coordinator at the Marist Senior School said, “It is very exciting to be at the beginning of our journey towards achieving the Investor in Career Award. During this process we will be raising the standard of careers education and providing a high quality service to our students. The opportunities available through the Careers Education and Guidance programme give students a broader understanding of the world of work and will help them make informed decisions about their future careers”.

Pupils donate funds from their Easter Egg Raffle to the charity ‘Christopher’s Smile’
Sunninghill, Ascot, Berkshire, 12 May, 2009

Pupils at the Marist Preparatory School have donated a cheque for £226.62 to Mrs Karen Capel who, with her husband Kevin, is a founder of the childhood cancer charity ‘Christopher’s Smile’.
Infant and junior girls participated in an Easter egg raffle to support the charity which took place at the end of the spring term. Mrs Capel visited the school this week to speak to the girls about Christopher’s Smile and to thank them for all their hard work in raising the donation.

Christopher’s Smile was set up in October 2008 by Karen and Kevin Capel following the tragic death of their only son Christopher from medulloblastoma, an aggressive childhood brain tumour. The charity works in partnership with the Institute of Cancer Research to help find effective treatments for children who suffer from childhood cancers. Current treatments are designed for adults and can leave the children that survive cancer with devastating side effects. The money raised by the Marist Preparatory School will help fund a ‘Higher Scientific Officer’ who will test new drugs that may be suitable for providing more effective cancer treatments for children.

Mrs Capel explained that ‘25% of children diagnosed with cancer fail to survive as adult therapies such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy are not targeted and were originally developed to treat adult cancers which behave differently to childhood cancers. Christopher’s Smile hopes to raise enough money to assist the paediatric drug development team at the ICR (Institute of Cancer Research) to develop the world’s first drug specifically for treating childhood cancers. This will mean improved survival rates and will limit the crippling side effects of current treatments.’

Mrs Jenny Peachey, Headteacher at the Marist Preparatory School said “As a school for young children, we have all been very moved by Christopher’s story and are full of admiration for the work Mr and Mrs Capel are doing in order to benefit young cancer sufferers. The pupils and staff at the school have been very glad to contribute to Christopher’s Smile and it has been a pleasure to welcome Mrs Capel to the school to hear more about the much needed work that the charity is involved in.”

Photo (from left): Karen Capel (founder of Christopher’s Smile), Jada Brevett, Hannah Brayshaw, Elizabeth Burn, Katie Walsham and Marist Prep teacher, Sue Johnson.

Student actresses scoop five trophies at the Maidenhead Drama Festival and qualify for the All England Theatre Festival

Eleven students from the Marist Senior School have won five awards at the Maidenhead Drama Festival, which took place recently at the Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Maidenhead.

The Year 12 students used both naturalistic and abstract styles in performing the drama ‘A Memory of Lizzie’ by David Foxton which explores the story of Lizzie Borden who was tried for the murder of her father and stepmother during the late 1800s. Although Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the murder, she was believed by the majority of society to be guilty of the crime and her story has since become an infamous legend. The all female cast unwound the dark story of Lizzie through their focused and realistic portrayal of a range of characters from taunting playground children to adult witnesses relaying disturbing evidence during Borden’s trial.

The girls won the Maidenhead Youth Drama trophy for best performance in the under 21 age group, the Aubrey Harding trophy for best short play, the Frank Richard’s Cup and the Maidenhead Advertiser trophy. To cap all of these successes, the girls were delighted to hear that they had also won the Walter Rivers Cup plus the Roy Bates Memorial Fund and the chance to compete in the semi-finals of the All England drama competition taking place at the end of May.

The Marist actresses are a highly motivated and dynamic group at A-level and used varied styles and practitioner influences and techniques during their rehearsal process. Mrs Jane Harris who is head of drama at the Marist Senior School said “the Maidenhead Festival is such a big event with so many different competitors of all ages, the girls are really amazed to have done so well. They sustained their focus and characterisations throughout the performance and I really am very proud of each and every one of them.”

Marist charity ball raises over £17,000 to share with Helen & Douglas House
Parents and friends support an ‘Oscars’ themed spring ball at Wentworth to raise charity fund

Sunninghill, Ascot, Berkshire, 1 May, 2009: The Marist Schools spring charity ball ‘A Night at the Oscars’ was held at the Wentworth Golf Club on Saturday 25 April which raised over £17,000 in support of Helen & Douglas House children and young adults’ hospice and The Marist Schools.
Organised and hosted by the Marist Friends Association (parents of pupils attending the Marist Schools), over 200 people attended the event contributing to a grand draw and fundraising auction. Auction items such as a limited edition signed print of Lewis Hamilton, 2010 Ryder Cup tickets and a ‘desperate housewives’ cook, clean and pamper package were generously donated by Marist parents, local businesses, and the Wentworth Golf club in addition to sought after tickets for ‘X Factor’ and ‘Dancing on Ice’ shows. The auction was hosted on the night by Mr Tom O’Connor. The glamorous Hollywood Oscars theme was carried throughout the event with the décor at Wentworth assuming a distinctly red carpet feel, and Marist sixth form students taking the roles of movie star look-a-likes to sell last minute raffle tickets and to show guests to their dining tables.

The Marist Schools were very pleased to be able to partner with Helen & Douglas House, a charity recently featured in a moving BBC documentary which provides respite and end of life care for children and young adults with life shortening conditions and their families. Sr Frances Dominica, the founder of Helen & Douglas House, also attended the event. Derek Willard, Chairman of the Marist Friends Association said “The care provided by Helen & Douglas House is truly inspirational. We are so very proud to be partners with Helen & Douglas House and to be able to highlight the wonderful work they do through an enjoyable event in support of such worthy causes. The generosity of many people has contributed to the success of this event and we extend our gratitude to everyone who has helped.”

Mary Boullin, Community Fundraiser from Helen & Douglas House said “Helen & Douglas House are incredibly grateful for the support of the Marist Schools. It is because of people such as the Marist Friends Association and everyone who attended the Spring Ball that we are able to continue caring for over 250 families every year”

Congratulations are due to Olivia Gibbon of Hurst Lodge School, Ascot. Olivia is a Year 12 student who has been presented with the Margaret Milner-Williams Medal in the ISA Drama Festival Awards of 2009.

This award is presented to the Best Senior Girl in this nationwide competition. Olivia and other sixth formers performed “Playhouse Creatures” by April de Angelis. She played the part of Dol Common, as shown in the attached photograph.

Congratulations to Olivia and the other girls and boys from Hurst Lodge who participated in this competition. They all worked very hard in preparation for this event and the standard of performance was very high.

A group of Sixth Formers from Padworth College have just returned from the Dale Fort Field Study Centre where they spent a week at the internationally renowned coastal ecology centre based in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

The students made the most of the superb opportunities offered by the Centre to investigate marine biology in a variety of coastal habitats and to study coastal processes, geological formations and ecosystems. Each day was spent outdoors in practical tasks such as surveying the shoreline, identifying and recording marine life followed up with analysis and project work back at the Centre in the evenings, supported by both their teachers and the scientific staff based at Dale Fort.

Amongst other excursions, the students took part in a plankton sampling trip where they ventured out into the open sea in a speedboat to collect plankton in nets to view under state-of-the-art microscopes linked to projectors and to discuss plankton’s role in the marine ecosystem. Much of the work undertaken fulfils the fieldwork requirements of the A Level Biology and Geography syllabus and will form the basis of the students’ coursework in the months to come.

Geography teacher, Dr. Alex Mitlehner said, “Field trips like this really bring a subject to life and give ecology students unrivalled access to a full range of specialized field equipment, expert tutors and well-equipped laboratories. Our students have really enjoyed all of the activities but the highlight of the week for many of them was the boat trip to Skomer Island which gave us a fascinating insight into the ecology and conservation management of this unique location and the chance to see many different species of seabirds, seals and porpoises.”

Padworth College is an independent co-educational day and boarding school offering a distinctive education to suit the individual needs of students aged 13 to 19. The College is situated in between Newbury and Reading.

Percy Parker was born five years ago when Andrew Holdsworth was asked by a science teacher at Hurst Lodge School to compose a song to help his pupils remember their physics formulae. Five volunteers from years 7 and 8 formed the “Percy Parker Band” and spent many hours in the school recording songs which are now sung daily by thousands of children at schools all over the UK and beyond.

“Percy Parker – The Musical” started life on a beach in Cyprus two summers ago with a fairly ridiculous plot about the time-travelling adventures of Mozart, Gandi and an angry duck called Reggie with Percy Parker in his flying fridge. The musical has been expanded to include fifteen scenes about history and science.

The first performance of part of the musical was seen at Hurst Lodge School last weekend. The children at the school played all of the characters and an audience of around 200 people enjoyed the performances.

It is planned to develop the musical and perform it in front of other audiences and at other venues.

School girls have organised a special ‘Bag2School’ clothing collection to raise money for charity

Sunninghill, Ascot, Berkshire, March 18, 2009: Two pupils at the Marist Preparatory School have organised an event with school friends to raise £448 for the Thames Valley Hospice.

Rianna Monteagudo and Olivia Waldron, both aged 10, heard about the ‘Bag2School’ initiative as an ideal way of supporting a local charity. They spoke to their Headteacher, Mrs Jenny Peachey about it, and then presented the idea to the rest of the school during an assembly. The girls showed an example ‘blue bag’ and explained to their school friends that if the bags were filled with clothes, soft toys, bedding and shoes, a donation could be made to a local charity. The girls made posters to put up around the school showing that the bags should be returned by Thursday 5 March.

On 5 March, Marist families and friends brought over 200 blue bags into the school which were filled with clothes and toys. Bag2School collected the bags on the same day, weighed them, and confirmed how much money the school had raised for the Thames Valley Hospice.

Headteacher, Mrs Jenny Peachey said “Rianna and Olivia have shown great initiative in organising an event which has raised money for a very worthwhile cause without asking for cash. With a dated and timed collection, it meant the initiative could be readily supported. The girls have done an excellent job. We look forward to welcoming a representative from the Thames Valley Hospice early next term to collect the donation and speak to the girls about the work the Hospice does.”

Photo:L to R, Olivia and Rianna with one of the posters they made and some of the blue bags collected on 5th March.

The Marist Senior School has yet again proven its sporting prowess in securing successive netball championship wins at school, regional and county levels.

The Marist School has a history of strong netball successes and the 2008/9 season is again proving to be an excellent one for the girls. On 24 February, the school’s U13 team won the Ascot Schools Championship having also secured a championship win last season in the U12 category.

District and regional wins have also been secured by the Marist U12s, U14s, U15s and U18 netball teams. Sophia Candappa, who captains the Marist U18 team, is a member of the England U21s and will compete at the European Netball Championship being held in Gibralta next week.

Marist School raises £1846.89 for the NSPCC in a ‘Number Day’ Challenge
Students pit their wits to raise money for charity

Sunninghill, Ascot, Berkshire, February 9, 2009: The Marist Senior School has raised £1846.89 for the NSPCC’s Childline charity from sponsoring a maths challenge ‘Number Day’ which took place in December. Mrs Annabel Hill from the NSPCC visited the school today to collect the donation and to speak to students about the current work of the NSPCC during a special assembly.
The NSPCC runs a Number Day challenge for schools every two years. The Marist Senior School has been participating for quite a few years but this is the highest amount of money the school has ever raised for the charity which has delighted its students and teachers. 240 girls participated altogether in raising the donation.
During the challenge, students in years 7-10 worked in teams on maths puzzles and games. The Number Day ran in place of normal lessons with teams aiming to get as many questions right as possible in 50 minutes as their correct answers were sponsored. Puzzles covered all areas of the academic curriculum and included number, algebra and spatial topics. Basic number work and problem solving were included posing questions such as ‘The Tardis disappears at 9:00am Monday morning and reappears a million seconds later. On which day of the week does it reappear?’ Questions were graded for each age group including easy to more challenging questions which made the Number Day accessible for all students and provided a fun way to learn. The girls were sponsored by friends and family.

The work of the NSPCC is discussed during school assemblies and PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) at the Marist enabling students to understand the charity and the essential support it provides for children at risk. This year, the collection was for ‘ChildLine’ part of the NSPCC charity the students and teachers were very keen to support.

Mrs Annabel Hill from the NSPCC said “The impact of the recession means that the NSPCC’s work relies on the kindness and generosity of supporters more than ever. The money raised by The Marist Senior School will help the NSPCC keep its vital services open, so we can reach as many children as possible in 2009, by being there for them when they desperately need help.”

Mrs Sheila Heard who is Head of Mathematics at the Marist Senior School said “Working with the NSPCC cements what the girls learn in PSHE lessons and enables them to extend their knowledge of the supportive charities that exist. We are very proud to support the NSPCC. The Marist Maths Department is always delighted to enable charitable giving and it supports the ways in which the NSPCC brings the subject to life for children. The girls enjoy competitions and a lot of maths takes place in a vibrant and engaging manner. The atmosphere in the classroom just buzzes and the girls not only learn about maths but teamwork and social responsibility as well.”

Photo: Olivia Chilton and Victoria Palmer, Marist students who helped raise the donation, with Mrs Annabel Hill (NSPCC) and Mrs Sheila Heard, Head of Mathematics at the Marist Senior School.

Marist Senior School Girls celebrate second year of success

Sunninghill, Ascot, Berkshire, 24 September, 2008: The Marist Senior School U18 Netball Team has won the Ascot Senior Schools Championships. The team also won the event as U16’s last year.
The girls played exceptionally well and were unbeaten in all nine games against other schools during the tournament which took place on 18th September. The scores in each game were:

7-0 against The Abbey School
2-0 against Charters School A team
6-1 against Charters School B team
3-0 against Licensed Victuallers School
4-1 against Langley Grammar School
4-1 against St Mary’s School, Ascot
10-0 against Brigidine School, Windsor
6-3 against St George’s School, Ascot
2-0 against Gordon’s School

The school has a reputation for excellent netball with Years 7–9 and Year 11 teams all having won the Ascot Schools Netball Tournaments last year. Sophia Candappa, 16, is also a member of both the England Under 17 and Under 21 Netball squads.

Mrs Jen Bishopp, head of PE at the Marist Senior School said “the girls played exceptionally well and showed outstanding team work. The scores they achieved were all the more impressive given that each match was only 5 minutes long! I’m very proud of them to have won the tournament again. We look forward to defending the title next year.”

Playing in the Marist School team were:

Sophie Alder
Ruby Reynolds
Trisha Rocco
Maddie Gale
Emily Gale
Ece Bakici
Gabby Rowney
Kayla Spitzer
Sophia Candappa

Marist Pupils put the fun into learning

Sunninghill, Ascot, Berkshire, October 22, 2008: Pupils at the Marist Preparatory School tested their general knowledge by holding an inter-house general knowledge quiz.
Junior pupils in years 3-6 were all involved in the event. Thirty general knowledge questions suited to each age group were handed out to all students in a preliminary round and correct answers totted up by the teachers. The highest scoring girls – four from each year, each representing their school house (St Bernadette, St Elizabeth Ann, St Catherine and St Teresa) – then won the opportunity to participate in the main competition, supported by the entire school who had made banners and were holding mascots to support their house champions. Six enjoyable rounds of questions, geared towards specific age groups, were then offered to each girl sitting in each house team. Questions relating to English, History, Geography, Science, Maths and General Knowledge were included such as:

‘Who do we remember on Remembrance Day?’
‘What is the opposite of expand?’
‘What must be added to 154 to make 180?’

After a very enjoyable afternoon, the girls in St Bernadette’s House were celebrating their success with blue ribbons tied to their quiz champion’s cup. Year 4 teacher, Mrs Teresa Stolagiewicz, who had prepared the questions said, “The girls enjoyed the competition very much. It was an enjoyable way to get the whole school involved in a collaborative activity that also gave the girls the chance to demonstrate their knowledge and some of what they had learnt in class.” Mrs Jenny Peachey, headteacher added, “We listen to the suggestions the girls make via their school council and one of the activities they enjoy each year is the quiz. A house competition like this is a super way to involve the whole school in an enjoyable learning activity.”

Emily Gale, A level student at the Marist and national squad aerobic gymnast from Bulmershe gymnastics in Woodley is the 2008 British Aerobic Gymnastics Champion

BULMERSHE GRABS 42 GOLD MEDALS AT THE 2008 BRITISH AEROBIC GYMNASTIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Aerobic gymnastics is THE hottest ticket in British gymnastics today. Bulmershe in Woodley continues its remarkable surge as this country’s standard bearer for a sport that is now perceived as the most dynamic and energetic of all gymnastic disciplines.

At the 2008 British Championships held at Fenton Manor in Stoke-on-Trent the 3-5th October, gymnasts from Bulmershe were on fire. They amassed 42 Gold, 18 Silver and 7 Bronze medals in an exceptional display of prowess in individual, trio and six team competition. Of the 17 British Titles available, Bulmershe claimed an outstanding tally of 11, including the top prize in the elite Senior FIG (over 18 group). It was a fantastic weekend and the best ever record of results for this club. Medals around necks were on display across every category, including the elite FIG (Federation International de Gymnastique), Foundation and NAC (National Aerobic Code.)

In a stunning demonstration of grace and power, Emily Gale, unseated the defending Senior Individual female champ to become the 2008 British Aerobic Gymnastic Champion. This followed her success at qualifying for the final at the French Open Grande Prix last May where she achieved the highest score ever awarded to a Senior British Aerobic gymnast abroad and came in 7th.

And throughout the weekend of the British Championships, medals for Bulmershe just kept on coming. Sebastian De Verteuil, reigning European, French and 2007 British champion easily retained his title. He wowed the assembled and inspired the over 300 gymnasts who participated. Chloe Farrance, in the 15-17 age group, was in top form as she powered through three routines – individual, trio and six team. taking gold in each. Her trio mates are Seb De Verteuil and Ellie Spooner. Chloe’s sister Olivia, competing in the 12-14 age group, repeated her hat trick from the French Open and like her sister, took gold in all three of the events in which she competed. Team mate Georgia Mackie was right behind her and took silver in the individual category. Then, Olivia’s trio, along with Hannah Owen and Robyn Irvine saw off tough competition to claim gold before her six team along with Hannah and Robyn, as well as Ella Augier, Conor Glancy and Kayleigh Silva from Martines Action Pack in Cardiff took gold, edging out the other Bulmershe six team of Emily Boyce, Angharad Callaghan, Georgia Mackie, Myfi Mountford, Darcy Tyler and Stella Vinet who took second place honors with a silver.

In other FIG action, Rebekah Galpin struck gold in the under 12 National Development comp while Katie Boyce scooped her silver in the Foundation under 10’s. Marvin Gordon and Joshua Lockwood took top honors in the individual male Foundation and National Development categories.

In NAC, Shelby Tyler, competing in the 15-17 age group was awarded a silver medal in her individual as well as silver in her trio with Joanna Carrick and Eve Burns. Next, Rebecca Hughes took silver in the 12-14 as well as a gold for her trio, along with team mates Daisy Walters and Alyson Gale. Lastly, Jessica Kirkpatrick,in the under 12’s, brought home bronze in a tightly contested NAC battle and her. trio, along with Kate Wilson and Amy Watts took top honors at the podium with another gold. Credit for getting these gymnasts to such excellent levels of attainment goes to their dedicated coaches, Gemma Kirkham, Kerry Scotts, Katie Richards and Holly Lowe.

In the next few years, when the UK along with the other 124 world members of the FIG are successful and aerobic gymnastics is finally designated as an Olympic sport, we will look back with pride on these dramatic achievements out of Bulmershe. The successes of these brilliantly talented gymnasts will have been pivotal in making such an accession possible.

Three sixth form students from Padworth College are in the enviable position of having received offers from Cambridge and Oxford Universities. Hannah Windmill from Brimpton has been offered a place at Girton College, Cambridge to read Social and Political Sciences; Eric Xiang from China has been offered a place at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford to read Maths and Statistics and Sean Pham from Vietnam has also been offered a place at Worcester College, Oxford to read Computer Science.

Padworth’s Higher Education Adviser, Dr Alex Mitlehner who has worked closely with all the sixth form students to prepare their UCAS applications, said, “We were delighted to hear that these three outstanding students have been successful in their applications to Oxford and Cambridge – they are all ambitious and hard working and I am confident that they will achieve the A Level grades necessary to take up their places. We all wish them well for the future.”

The majority of the Year 13 students at Padworth have applied to a range of Universities through the UCAS system for entry later this year – most students have achieved good offers and are now working towards their targets in the run-up to the final A Level examinations in May and June.

This month two girls from Hurst Lodge School, Ascot participated in the I.A.P.S. and Combined Independent Schools Judo Congress for Girls held at the High Wycombe Judo Centre

Jade and Holly Eccles have each been involved with the sport for a number of years and have previously achieved some excellent results in other competitions.

Representing Hurst Lodge on this occasion, Holly won a gold medal in the under 28 kilos section and Jade achieved Gold in the under 32 kilos weight group. (see attached photograph)

Miss Smit, the Principal of Hurst Lodge presented the trophies and certificates to the girls in a School Assembly.

Year 11 of Hurst Lodge School has set up a Young Enterprise company called Fusion in their business studies lessons. Their chosen charity is CHASE.

CHASE cares for and supports babies, children and young people aged 0-19 years who have a life limiting or significant life threatening medical condition.

CHASE believes a child’s time may be limited but their lives needn’t be. Their Care and Fundraising Teams make life fun for children who don’t have much time to live. It costs around £4million a year to run the charity which touches the lives of over 1,200 family members every year. CHASE headquarters, Christopher’s Hospice, is located in Guildford.

The Young Enterprise Group based at Hurst Lodge School clearly demonstrated their entrepreneurial skills by raising somewhere in the region of ₤1,000 in aid of CHASE.

Guided by Jackie Stuart, Head of Business Studies at Hurst Lodge, the group used its commercial expertise throughout the academic year to raise money for the appeal. The pupils were extremely committed and used a variety of initiatives to raise funds, so far they have run a successful car wash for staff and parents, cake sales for parents, hot chocolate sales to other pupils during break times and a Bag2School collection. There is also a Christmas Fair organised by Fusion which will be open to everyone and the girls are actively involved in the collection and manufacture of seasonal gifts to sell on the day.

Jackie Stuart, Head of Business Studies explained why she and the pupils were delighted to assist the Appeal. “We all felt it is an extremely valuable educational experience raising money for a charity whose aim is to enable these poorly children enjoy life as much as possible and give much appreciated support to their families.”

Receiving the cheque on behalf of CHASE, Melanie Hill commented on how the charity could put this money to good use and expressed her gratitude to the Young Enterprise Group, Hurst Lodge School and all the parents and friends who helped make their activities so successful.

It’s not the recent chilly weather that has tested the mettle of two Bearwood College pupils but their selection to compete for England in Ice Hockey and Ski Cross.

Chris Beal in Form 2, age 13, has been selected to play for the England under 14s Ice Hockey Team and Martin Trotter in the Lower Sixth, age 16, has secured his place on the England Ski Cross Freestyle Development Team.

Both Chris and Martin have a very busy schedule ahead of them over the school Christmas holiday. Chris will fly to Canada on Boxing Day to compete at an International Ice Hockey Tournament in Toronto. Martin is headed for Switzerland the day after the school term ends, for a five day training camp with the England squad and then competes in the Swiss Europa Cup shortly after Christmas.

Both Chris and Martin’s ultimate goal is to compete in Russia at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Mr Stephen Aiano, Headmaster, says: “What the boys have achieved in their individual sports so far is outstanding. They have demonstrated such dedication to their sport and make all efforts to fully contribute to school life too. I am in no doubt that they will achieve their goal of competing in the 2014 Winter Olympics and it will be exciting to track their progress and support them until then.”

Both Chris and Martin seek sponsorship from local businesses. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities then please contact Bearwood College for further contact details.

Over the last few months, a Russian TV company 1+1 in collaboration with the British Councils in the Ukraine and Russia, has run a competition for the ‘brainiest pupil’. The top prize for the winning pupils is a one month stay at Bearwood College.

The two competition finalists who won the ‘super prize’ are Valeriya Lazarenko from Kiev and Andriy Sydorenko from Yakymivka, a small town located by the Sea of Azov in Southern Ukraine.

Headmaster, Mr Stephen Aiano says: “We are very pleased to welcome Andriy and Valeriya to Bearwood College. Their achievements to win this ‘super prize’ is tremendous and they are thoroughly enjoying their stay here, immersing themselves in the British GCSE and AS Level curriculum and culture.”

The contest is shown on Ukrainian and Russian TV every Saturday night for 13 weeks. Valeriya comments: “There were 48 children in the competition so I feel very proud of what I have achieved and so thrilled to be here, as it is an amazing experience.”

Mr Aiano continues: “This is the second time that Bearwood College has hosted the winners of this competition. The next series is currently being filmed in Moscow and we look forward to the next series winners coming to study with us next year.”

Photo: (from left) Andriy Sydorenko, Stephen Aiano (Headmaster) and Valeriya Lazarenko

85% of Marist GCSE students have achieved A*, A and B grades this year, with 100% of students passing their examinations overall.

Madeline Gale and Alex Kyjak-Lane each received A* grades in ten subjects. Last week, Alex also achieved an A grade in A Level German for which she had been fast tracked. Kirsty Crowder, Victoria Sauven and Nanaki Virk received A* grades in nine subjects each. The girls scoring the highest overall points in the year were Kayla Spitzer with six A* and five A grades, and Georgina Singer with six A* and four A grades. Both girls took 12 GCSEs and achieved A*- B grades in all subjects.

Two students who were fast tracked to early GCSEs were Luisa Schulte-Bockum, Year 8, who received an A* in German, and Laetitia Viskovic, Year 10, who also achieved an A* in French.

Karl McCloskey, Headteacher, said: ‘The Marist GCSE results maintain the high standards of academic attainment which featured last week in our students’ excellent A level achievements. The teachers and I are very proud of the girls. We have also maintained our 100% pass rate again this year. Those students with outstanding results will now be awarded prestigious academic scholarships and exhibitions to the Marist Sixth Form.’

Marist Senior School girls received excellent A Level results again this year, with 83% receiving grades A & B, and students achieving a 100% pass rate overall.

Sophie Morgan achieved A grades in all four of her subject areas and will go on to study English at St John’s College, Cambridge. Other high achievers include Stephanie Halksworth, Stacey Begg, Charlotte Brooks and Abigail Hobbs.

The girls also produced full marks and perfect module scores for some of their subjects. Sophie achieved full marks for English, History and Latin, Stephanie achieved full marks for English and Spanish, Abigail achieved full marks in two Art modules, and Charlotte a full module score in Art and Design.

Karl McCloskey, Headteacher, said: “Every student has worked extremely hard to achieve these outstanding results. The key formula for success is the student’s hard work, good quality teaching and supportive parents. These combined areas ensure that every student has the opportunity to reach their full potential.”

AS Level results have also been very good and the School is delighted for all its students. Katie Horbury, Wallace Martin-Kerr, Guiseppina Magistro and Laura Fox all achieved 4 subjects at grade A. Alexandra Kyjak-Lane, Year 11, has achieved an A grade in A Level German while still in her GCSE year.

White House received an “Outstanding” judgement from a recent Ofsted inspection in our Early Years department in June 2008. The inspector found that the co-educational nursery and the reception provision are excellent.

Come and see for yourself at our next Open Morning, Saturday October 18th from 10:00am.

White House also achieved outstanding Key Sage 2 SATS results this year, with 100% obtaining Level 5 in Science; 93% obtaining Level 5 in English and 71% obtaining a Level 5 in Mathematics.

White House’s pastoral care too, is “Outstanding” (ISI – May 2007)

The AS-Level field trip to Bath University was an invaluable experience for Bearwood’s Sports Science scholars to witness elite athletes in action and to see the preparations being undertaken for the 2012 Olympics.

The Sports Facility in Bath boasts only one of four 50 metre swimming pools in the country, a brand new beach volleyball area with bleep testing equipment and a tennis centre jointly run with the LTA.

Using some state-of-the-art experimental technology, the scholars were able to experience some of the physical tests undertaken by potential 2012 Olympic athletes, with one achieving levels expected of a professional footballer.

The day concluded with an excellent lecture from the University’s Senior Physiologist on Sports Nutrition, stressing the attention athletes must pay to their diets to ensure optimal performance.

Linde Melhuish, the Principal of Padworth College, said, “I am delighted with this year’s GCSE results – they are testimony to the determination and hard work of our students and our committed staff. As a non-selective school, we are committed to enabling each individual student to fulfil their academic goals and I believe that these results reflect the College’s inclusiveness and the strong learning and achievement culture which motivates and supports all of our students.”

Padworth College is a fully co-educational, non-selective school for students aged 13-19 and provides a very broad range of subjects at GCSE and A Level courses taught in very small classes with an informal atmosphere. The College is situated in between Newbury and Reading. Day student places and scholarships are available in September for GCSE and A Level re-takes. For further details, please contact the Principal on 0118 983 2644

Bearwood College’s strong GCSE results

Bearwood College’s GCSE pupils have achieved a spectacular set of results this year, with 90% of entries gaining a Grade C or above, five points up on last year. 31% of entries are at Grade A* or A.

Other highs include 81% of candidates gaining 5 GCSE’s, including Maths and English, at Grade C or above – a four point increase on last year. The Single Science subject results were outstanding with many students choosing to continue studying Biology, Chemistry and Physics at A Level. The Bearwood College results overall are substantially up on the previous five year average, and are well above the national average.

Mr Ian Smith, Academic Deputy, commented: “Excellent results are the reward for the commitment and diligence from all our pupils, staff and parents. Over three years, since inspection, GCSE’s per candidate at A*- C have risen from 72% to 90%.”

Bearwood is very proud of local pupil Matthew Bell. He was amongst the top ten students according to Edexcel, the UK’s largest awarding body. Matthew sat the Physical Education exam earlier this summer and the results, issued today, show that out of 70,000 candidates, he achieved one of the highest overall marks.

Stephen Aiano, Headmaster, said: “This is a tremendous achievement and testament to the hard work pupils put into preparing for their exams. We are very proud with this outstanding achievement.” Matthew achieved top grades across all of his nine subjects, said: “I am absolutely thrilled with what I have been able to achieve. I am now really looking forward to embarking on my AS and A2 Levels at Bearwood College.”

He continues: “All our Year 11 students and all the staff have put in some serious work throughout the GCSE course, and are suitably rewarded. I am really pleased for them. These results are part of a long-term trend of continuing academic improvement at Bearwood. This process continues to be taken forward by Mr George Penlington, the College’s new Academic Deputy Head. We are especially pleased with our strong ‘value addition’ which has resulted, on average, in every GCSE subject entry scoring marks over half a grade above expectation.”

Pupils have an exciting range of 23 A Level subjects to choose from, with Environmental Science and Photography being examples of the varied subjects Bearwood College’s Sixth Form has to offer. Small class sizes guarantee individual attention and the Sierra Club, is a purpose-built Sixth Form centre facility designed to promote independent study as well as offer a social space for relaxation. These elements contribute to the strength of Bearwood’s unique support system which can make all the difference to pupils managing the pressures of A Level study. Whilst ensuring academic issues are thoroughly addressed, Bearwood also helps prepare well-rounded individuals, ready for university and life beyond.

Photograph:(From left) Edward Cole, Miren Patel, Angela Stevens, Matthew Bell, Helena Adkins and Ian Sears

Bearwood College is delighted to congratulate its Upper Sixth Form students on their strong 2008 A/Level results, yet another improvement on the results of the previous year.

Bearwood College saw a strongly improved performance in the A/Level results for A-B grades at 48% (four percentage points above 2007 and six points above 2006), and for A-C grades at 80% (also four percentage points above 2007 and seven points above 2006).

The A-E grade pass rate was 97%. The average pass score per candidate completing two or more full A/Levels at Bearwood College is 275 UCAS points, equivalent to grades BBC. The top personal score was 530 points, the best ever individual score for the College.

Commenting on this year’s results, the Headmaster, Mr Stephen Aiano, said: “All the students in the Bearwood College Upper Sixth Form, and their teaching staff, have put in a great deal of effort and commitment over the last two years to achieve these impressive A-Level results. This fine progress is a great tribute to teachers and students alike, under the academic leadership of Ian Smith, Deputy Head (Curriculum). I am confident we shall continue to see this kind of steady long-term progress at Bearwood College.”

For Bearwood’s Second Master, Richard Ryall, seeing individuals who have been nurtured through the College exceed their academic expectations is the one of the greatest rewards a teacher can receive. “The culmination of every Sixth Form pupil’s development at Bearwood is reflected in their A-level results; our aim is to ensure that each individual is given both the academic and psychological support to fulfill their greatest potential. We are very pleased with the ‘value added’ improvement. On average, every candidate achieved 30 points beyond their UCAS expectation.”

For a local pupil, Philip Tattersall from Lower Earley, his 440 UCAS points has secured him a place at Bristol University to study Computer Science. ‘I can’t believe that the day has finally arrived and that I have the points to study at my first choice University. I am so excited and relieved!”

Bearwood College’s top-scoring A-Level candidates, Julia Retzmanik, said: “I am so pleased with these results – it’s been brilliant. They confirm my place to read English Literature and History at the University of Durham.” Julia, who was a boarder in Drake House, Bearwood’s dedicated boarding facility for female students, gained an impressive 530 UCAS points with four A grades at A2 Level, in English Literature, History, German and Psychology, on top of an AS Level in Chemistry.

Sixth Formers like Julia are provided with 360 degree support throughout their A/Level studies at Bearwood. In addition to committed subject teachers, academic progress is closely monitored by the Key Stage 5 Coordinator and the Deputy Head (Curriculum). Pastoral needs are cared for by a dedicated Tutor as well as by a Houseparent. The advice of the in-house careers service is supplemented by the resources of Futurewise, the Independent Schools Careers Organisation. Small class sizes guarantee individual attention and the Sierra Club, is a purpose-built Sixth Form centre facility designed to promote independent study as well as offer a social space for relaxation. These elements contribute to the strength of Bearwood’s unique support system which can make all the difference to pupils managing the pressures of A/Level study. Whilst ensuring academic issues are thoroughly addressed, Bearwood also helps prepare well-rounded individuals, ready for university and life beyond.

Photo:(from left) Scott Pryor, Ellie Cundy, Natasha Adkins and Philip Tattersall

The Sixth form students at Padworth College maintained consistently high standards in this year’s A Level results. The overall pass rate was 100% and 75% of all entries achieved A to C grades.

Of particular note were the outstanding performances of scholars Annalise D’Souza, who gained an A grade in all her six subjects, and Zamira Monteiro, who gained 3 A grades having completed her AS and A2 examinations in just one year.

All students are going on to universities of their choice.

At AS level a number of students gained 100% in a variety of modules.

Linde Melhuish, Principal of Padworth College, said, “My colleagues and I are delighted with these AS and A Level results and are very proud of what all of our sixth form students have achieved this year. At Padworth, we endeavour to work very closely with students to achieve their individual academic goals and the results reflect our continuing success. I should like to congratulate all of the students and wish them well in the next stage of their education.”

Padworth College is a fully co-educational, non-selective school for students aged 13-19 and provides a very broad range of subjects at GCSE and A Level courses taught in very small classes with an informal atmosphere. The College is situated in between Newbury and Reading. Day student places and scholarships are available in September for A Level and GCSE Re-takes. For further details, please contact the Principal on 0118 983 2644.

Membership of SHMIS follows a successful inspection of the College by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) and accreditation by the Independent Schools Council (ISC). Principal, Linde Melhuish said, “We are delighted that Padworth has been recognised and accredited by both the ISC and SHMIS – it is testimony to the hard work of all the staff and students and is a seal of approval which gives prospective parents the utmost confidence in the college’s leadership and management.” Padworth has also recently become a member of the Boarding Schools Association.

Padworth College is an independent co-educational day and boarding school offering a distinctive education to suit the individual needs of students aged 13 and 19. The College is situated in between Newbury and Reading.