Private School News

St Edmund’s College ‘Recycled’ Fashion Show

As part of St Edmund’s College’s annual Charity Week, some of its students organised a ‘Recycled Fashion Show’, as part of a week of fundraising efforts to raise money for ‘The Passage’ – a charity that supports the homeless in London.

The inspiration for the fashion show came from one of the school’s own students – budding fashion designer,13-year old Mario Dellow. Just before Christmas, Mario conscripted the aid of one of the school’s Art teachers who has a passion for textiles, to set the ball rolling.

To prepare for the show, fifty students and their models started to do an hour’s worth of preparation every week, and with the theme based on recycling, they saved and collected various pieces of ‘rubbish’. Three months later, on the afternoon of the 10 March, with the lighting set, choreography accomplished and music ordered, the models finally strutted down the catwalk in their amazing ‘recycled’ creations.

Miss Tessa Rankin, the College’s Art teacher who helped to organise the show said: “The tremendous effort that was made by the girls and boys resulted in a fabulous event. From ‘crisp packet’ mini dresses and ‘bin bag’ ball gowns, to ‘yellow pages’ ‘haute couture’, complete with extravagant hairstyles and empowering makeup, the students gave the rest of the school an afternoon not to be forgotten”.

The College was also very fortunate in the support offered by one parent in particular, Mrs Colegrave, who with an unprecedented determination not only helped the students create their designs and provide the materials, but also obtained many raffle prizes to support the event. For the event itself, she managed to recruit a professional photographer, Tony O’Brien, from www.aobrienweddingphotography.com, who kindly gave his services free of charge, as well as two ladies from Toni & Guy in Hertford, who styled the models hair and make-up. Their hard work and volunteered time truly made the Fashion Show even more spectacular.

The Fashion Show raised over £600 and the College hopes to beat the overall funds it raised during its charity week last year, which was over £5,000.

Pupils from Ralph Sadleir get the measure of Wallace & Gromit

A team of four prep children from Ralph Sadleir walked away with the Haileybury Prep Schools Science Challenge trophy last Thursday.

Seventeen prep schools in all took part. As well as the overall title, there were also three individual section winners, with Brambletye winning the Biology section, Kingshott the Chemistry section and Loyola Prep the Physics section.

Wallace & Gromit was the theme of the day, and different activities in each of the sciences were devised by Haileybury’s science teachers. For Physics, the children had to construct a tower as tall as possible out of uncooked pasta to support a were-rabbit. The Biology section involved testing various foods such as the Wensleydale cheese so prominent in the film, while in Chemistry, the teams had to analyse soil samples to advise the gardeners which vegetable to grow in which soil.

Congratulations to all those schools who competed in the Challenge:

- Beechwood Park
- Brambletye
- Duncombe School
- Hilden Oaks
- Kingshott
- Lochinver House
- Lockers Park
- Loyola Prep
- Orley Farm
- Orwell Park
- Rickmansworth PNEU
- St Hilda’s, Bushey
- St John’s, Northwood
- St Joseph’s In The Park
- The Beacon
- The Ralph Sadleir Middle School
- Westbrook Hay

Young Enterprise Company’s International Opera Event

On Tuesday 24 February 2009 a glittering night of music and opera was organised by ‘21’, the Young Enterprise company comprising 21 sixth formers, in the Chapel at Queenswood School near Hatfield in Hertfordshire.

The event, called “La Notte d’Amore”, had a distinct international feel and three professional and highly accomplished musicians from Korea were the guest performers. The renowned Korean tenor, Mr Dong-ho Shin, and his colleague Mrs Hyun-Kyung Kim (soprano), were accompanied by pianist Miss Do-Yeon Kang. Other performers from the school included: violinists Mr Christos Kokkinos, Ms Paula Clifton-Everest and sixth form Music Scholar Annaliza Ranetunga, who is also a member of ‘21’.

Mr Shin is father of Queenswood sixth form Music Scholar Mari Shin, Managing Director of ‘21’, and was delighted to assist the Young Enterprise company with this novel event – a first for the school. Mr Shin, who is Dean at Chung-ang University in Korea, completed his operatic training in Italy and has performed around the world in such prestigious venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall and at Lucca in Italy. Mrs Kim, who teaches in Korea, studied music in Korea and Italy where she has had much success in competitions.

Our renowned performers sang popular arias from Puccini’s La Boheme and Verdi’s La Traviata and enthralled us by thoughtful and intriguing performances of traditional Korean folk songs. Mr Shin’s solo performances were delivered with both great power and sensitivity to an enraptured and appreciative audience of nearly 200 people in our beautiful chapel here at Queenswood.

After such a wonderful evening – which included sampling Korean sweetmeats in the interval – Mari Shin (aged 18) thanked the performers, the audience and her fellow company members. Following the event, Mari said: “La Notte d’Amore was an ambitious project which took two months of planning. We learned a lot and are so pleased it was a success. We have raised over £350 for our chosen charity, The Friends of Chernobyl’s Children.”

Photo:(l-r) Mari Shin (daughter of Dong-ho Shin), Dong-ho Shin, Hyun-Kyung Kim and Miss Do-Yeon Kang in the Chapel at Queenswood.

RENOWNED TELEVISION AND FILM WRITER JOURNEYS BACK TO SCHOOL

Pupils and staff at Bishop’s Stortford College were delighted to welcome back Old Stortfordian Dick Clement who, in partnership with Ian Le Frenais, is one of the leading TV and film scriptwriters of the 20th century. Following a chance meeting in the 1960s whilst Clement was working at the BBC, the pair began working together, building their reputation primarily on four iconic TV series The Likely Lads, Whatever happened to the Likely Lads?, Porridge and Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

Their list of credits is impressive and includes films such as The Rock (with Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage), The Commitments, Goal! and Flushed Away. With four films out in the past four years, the dynamic partnership shows no sign of slowing down. As Le Frenais puts it, they are “Hollywood’s most successful couple!”

Clement has also written many film versions of some of their television successes, which he often directed too. He is now commonly known as the Hollywood “script doctor”, working on series such as The Tracey Ullman Show and films like Never Say Never Again. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s 2007 birthday honours list.

As well as sharing stories from his career during his lecture at Bishop’s Stortford College, Clement also recalled some favourite memories of his time as a boarder at the Hertfordshire-based independent school in the 1950s, including being taught and influenced by artist and linguist, Walter Strachan, a teacher he claimed “he learnt a great deal from that wasn’t on the syllabus”. He described his time at the College overall as time well spent, “sneaking down to the cinema” and “becoming involved in drama”, which strongly influenced his career path.

As a leading scriptwriter for over 40 years, he is loved and known for his interest in portraying ordinary people, his ability in capturing everyday speech and relationships and his distinctive regional accents. It was a great honour to have such a significant, yet modest, role model return to Bishop’s Stortford College to inspire another generation of writers and directors.

Bishop’s Stortford College science student selected to represent the UK

A sixth former from Bishop’s Stortford College is one of just five students chosen to represent the United Kingdom at the 2009 Professor Harry Messel International Science School at the University of Sydney, Australia from Saturday 12 – Saturday 25 July 2009.

Selected from over 100 high calibre applicants UK wide, Paul Bramley had to demonstrate his academic excellence, his ability to act as an ambassador for his country and his profound interest in contemporary scientific developments during the rigorous selection process.

Paul will attend lectures on some of the most exciting developments in science given by leading experts in those fields and visit various research groups in the Science School. There will also be a variety of social activities designed to promote long term friendships within the group.

The theme of the Science School will be ‘Genes to Galaxies’. During his two weeks in Sydney Paul will work with students from ten countries including Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, New Zealand and the United States of America to further develop his considerable interest in the pursuit of a science career. On his return to Bishop’s Stortford he will disseminate the impact of his experiences through a formal report, an article in Education in Science and through personal presentations.

Paul is currently studying A Levels in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Economics at the Hertfordshire-based independent school for 4-18 year olds. “I was ecstatic when I heard I had been accepted,” he said. “To be given this chance of a lifetime is amazing.”

Photograph: Paul Bramley pictured by one of the mirror displays in the Bishop’s Stortford College Science Action Centre (see below).

About the Science Action Centre:
Opened in 2006, the Science Action Centre is a hands-on facility with over 40 interactive displays designed to intrigue, inspire and engage pupils of all ages about science. To our knowledge, it is the only facility of its kind in a UK school. Used on a regular basis by Bishop’s Stortford College pupils, the centre is also open to other schools, with over 2000 pupils visiting from schools based in Hertfordshire, Essex and Cambridgeshire.

BISHOP’S STORTFORD COLLEGE JUNIOR SCHOOL PUPILS ACHIEVE BRONZE ART AWARDS

The high achieving Art Department at Bishop’s Stortford College Junior School is celebrating after six pupils aged twelve and thirteen successfully passed Bronze level of the Arts Award.

Portland Samek-Richardson, Phoebe Poulter, James Scott-Flanagan, Stephanie Malyon, Emily Neill, and Amy Roberts had to prepare a portfolio based on four parts including taking part in an arts activity, going to arts events, researching an arts hero or heroine and sharing their skills with others.

Arts Award is a national qualification that recognises how young people develop as artists, arts practitioners and arts leaders. Young people aged between 11-25 can achieve Arts Awards at three levels bronze, silver (equivalent to GCSE) and gold (equivalent to A level) on the national qualifications framework. Introduced in 2005, Arts Award is run by Arts Council England and Trinity Guildhall, two organisations with a high profile and considerable reputation in the arts sector.

Bishop’s Stortford College Junior School is one of the very few schools in the country to be an accredited Arts Award centre. Centres are organisations with at least one trained Arts Award adviser, and support young people to develop their arts activities, including arts centres, theatres, schools, colleges, youth projects, and voluntary clubs or community groups.

Achieving an Arts Award says a lot about a person. It shows a commitment to the arts, interest in developing skills and understanding, communication, planning and evaluation skills. It demonstrates skills in leadership as well as personal arts practice. These skills are what colleges, universities and employers are looking for and many recognise the Arts Award as an additional qualification.

“The pupils have worked extremely hard to gain the Award,” said Head of Art Emma Neville. “I’m very proud of them.”

Haileybury’s Modern Languages Centre gets under way

Work has begun on Haileybury’s new £2,5 million Modern Languages Centre (MLC), which is due for occupation in January 2010.
The new two-storey building is being project managed by Ainsley and Partners, while the main building contractor is Newlands Construction, a Hertfordshire-based building firm experienced in installing the latest eco-technologies in schools, public buildings and homes.
It will boast nine teaching rooms, a staff area, three language assistant rooms, a library, disabled access, and a fully wireless system to provide state-of-the-art technology for teaching the subjects.
In all, the building will provide 1050 square metres of new space, freeing up classrooms in the school’s Form Room Block for other subjects.
“When planning the new Modern Languages Centre, Haileybury knew it had to tackle rising energy costs and contribute to a reduction in CO2,” says Estate Bursar, Andy McDonald.

“Haileybury’s commitment to saving CO2 and reducing fuel costs is proven by the fact that we plan to install a Ground Source Heat Pump, a system that takes heat from the ground and converts it into useable energy,” he adds.
Says The Master of Haileybury, Stuart Westley: “The teaching of modern languages is becoming ever more important in today’s global environment. Languages are key to understanding people from other countries and cultures, and we are thrilled that we will soon be able to offer our pupils such a wonderful facility.”

Pupils from St Hugh’s School ‘Skip’ for Charity

On Tuesday 18 November, pupils from St Hugh’s School, near Ware, took part in a ‘Skipathon’ to raise vital funds to support the work of the NSPCC, which includes the confidential telephone helpline service for children, ChildLine.

Almost 200 pupils took part in the event by skipping for around 30 minutes during the day, including some of the youngest children in the Nursery. The children completed sponsor forms and have so far raised over £3,000 for the NSPCC.

Mrs Jacqueline Hart, Head of St Hugh’s School said: “The children really enjoyed the event, some having a go at skipping for the very first time. As well as helping them to get fit and healthy, they enjoyed raising money for other children less fortunate than themselves. We would like to thank all the children, staff and parents who kindly supported the event.

Photograph: Children from St Hugh’s Year 1 take part in the Skipathon.

St Hugh’s School Football Tournament

On Saturday 8 November, ten teams from five local primary schools in Hertfordshire and North London competed in the annual Prep School’s Football Tournament, organised by and held at, St Hugh’s School.

The five schools that took part were St Hugh’s (near Puckeridge) Sherrardswood (Welwyn), Duncombe (Hertford), St Joseph’s In The Park (Hertingfordbury) and Loyola (Buckhurst Hill). They each entered football teams for the Under 11’s and Under 9’s.

The St Hugh’s Under 9’s team played some fantastic football to win the Under 9′s tournament. They played five matches, won five, scored ten goals and conceded two goals. The final was against Duncombe School, where goals from Kene Chigbo and Andrew Byrne in the second half gave St Hugh’s the victory!

The Under 11’s final was won by St Joseph’s in the Park after beating Loyola.

Mr Gary Goodfellow, the Sports Manager at St Hugh’s School and tournament organiser said: “All of the school’s teams played extremely well, demonstrating some excellent skills, both in attack and defence, in particular the winning teams from both St Hugh’s and St Joseph’s. Well done boys!

Photo: The winning St Hugh’s Under 9’s team

Local MP Visits St Edmund’s College

Mark Prisk, the MP for Hertford and Stortford and Shadow Minister for Enterprise, Deregulation and Competition visited St Edmund’s College, near Ware, on Friday 7 November, to talk to its 160 Sixth Form students, as part of their visiting speakers programme.

Mr Prisk talked to the students for over an hour about a variety of topical issues, including local political issues, the Economy, the American Presidential elections, ID Cards and Europe.

Mrs Maggie McCann, Head of Sixth Form commented: “The students really enjoyed meeting Mr Prisk and hearing his views on a number of local issues, as well as those affecting Britain and the world today”.

Photo: Left to right: Mrs Maggie McCann, Head of Sixth Form, with Mark Prisk MP (centre) and students Katie Sharp, Harry White, Billy Ford and James Stockman.

Haileybury pupil wins London photographic competition

Sixteen-year-old Haileybury pupil, George Fuest, recently won The London Lens photographic competition organised by the Anne Frank Trust (AFT).
George entered after finding out about the competition on the Internet. The brief was to take a photo of London or in London and his “Escalator” image was judged to be the best out of more than 300 entries by a panel including a representative from The Royal Photographic Society, two representatives from Olympus, and two from the AFT.

The prize was an Olympus U 1050 SW worth £260 and a portfolio of the Royal Photographic Society which he was presented with during an evening event at the Camden Roundhouse.

British independent school opens in Kazakhstan

Haileybury, an independent, co-educational boarding school in Hertfordshire, today opens a satellite school in the former capital of Kazakhstan, Almaty.

The school, which is known as Haileybury Almaty, will be a fee-paying but not-for-profit enterprise, which is as close to a charity as one can get in Kazakhstan. The money for the $50million project has been donated by a group of founders and benefactors who has supported the main benefactor, Haileybury parent, Serzhan Zhumashov, in his quest. Even through the recent challenges of the credit crunch, the project has remained on schedule and it opens its doors this week to more than 300 children. Eventually, the school will educate 600 children who will take IGCSE and International Baccalaureate examinations in the English language. The majority of students will then go on to universities in Kazakhstan, the UK or America.

The project is the brainchild of Mr Zhumashov, who wanted to offer an English-style education to Kazakh children who were unable to attend Haileybury in England.

A contract was signed in January 2007 with Mr Zhumashov’s property development company, Capital Partners, whose recent projects include the prestigious Ritz Carlton Hotel in Red Square in Moscow. Haileybury provided expert consultancy for the development of the school, which is for children aged 5-18 and which offers an English curriculum taught to Kazakh pupils in English, Kazakh and Russian.

The design of the school was given to the London office of HOK, a world-renowned firm of architects. The project was the responsibility of Stefan Jacobek, who has designed a stunning modern building which sits on a city centre site of four hectares. It was completed in an astonishing 12 months and yet evidence of the high quality of design and finish is ubiquitous.

Haileybury UK will provide five governors for the governing body of the new school and will be responsible for ensuring the standard of education is worthy of Haileybury”s name.

Mr Michael Gatenby, the Chairman of the Haileybury UK governing Council, welcomed this important development: “We are proud to have been chosen as the partner for this extraordinary project and we are absolutely delighted that a school of such stunning design and quality has been finished on time. The provision of an English education to pupils in this part of Central Asia is a hugely exciting challenge and one which we are confident Haileybury Almaty will meet.”

OUTSTANDING RESULTS AT BISHOP’S STORTFORD COLLEGE

Bishop’s Stortford College strengthened its position as one of the country’s leading co-educational boarding and day school with A level records tumbling for the sixth consecutive time. 62% of A levels were awarded an A grade, 88% an A or B and 98% an A, B or C. Once again the pass rate was 100%.

Top performers included Rikesh Rajani of Harlow, who gained 6 A grades, and Terry Chou of Hong Kong, with 5 As. Rikesh heads to Cambridge University to study Natural Sciences, whilst Terry will pursue her interest in Economics at the London School of Economics.

Outstanding English student, Joanna Green, passed the Advanced Extension Award in English Literature with distinction (600/600) as well as gaining 4 grade As in her A levels. She will be combining her love of English with Philosophy at Bristol University.

An impressive total of 42 pupils (one third) gained at least 3 A grades at A level, with 11 of these achieving 4 or more A grades.

Headmaster John Trotman said, ‘We expected this hard working and talented group to do well and I am so pleased that they have lived up to their promise. Enthusiastic and very engaging young men and women, they will flourish at university and in later life. Congratulations to them and to their immensely committed teachers”.

Meanwhile at GCSE level, 39 Bishop’s Stortford College pupils, out of a year group of 94, joined the College’s ‘10 Club’ with the release of this year’s GCSE results, each gaining at least 10 A* or A grades in this year’s examinations.

65% of examinations taken were graded at A* or A (A* 30%, A 35%).

99% of pupils achieved 5 or more A*-C grades and 98% achieved 5 or more A*-C grades including English and Maths.

PHOTO: BSC A-level students celebrate their outstanding success

2008 – The Year of the Scientist!

Students at The Princess Helena College have again excelled in their GCSE examinations. For the third year running, Science results have been outstanding; all girls studying the individual science subjects were awarded an A* – B grade.

The School is particularly pleased that pupils excelled in a wide range of traditional and so-called ‘modern’ subjects. This is very much a reflection of the College’s ethos of offering a flexible approach to education, tailoring the curriculum and extracurricular activities to enable each girl to develop her talents and to succeed.

On the one hand, Science at PHC is continuing to grow in strength and in each successive year since the Science Centre was built, the results have excelled. There was a 100% pass rate A*-A grade in Chemistry, 100% pass rate A*-B in Biology & Physics. At the same time, girls studying Sport Science were all awarded A*- B grades and we were delighted that pupils taking our newest GCSE, Dance, were all awarded B grades.

Deputy Head, Camilla Wilson, believes that “where possible, girls should be given the opportunity to study subjects they enjoy and for which they have a particular aptitude. It is fantastic that girls have got A*s in such a wide variety of subjects including Latin, Sport Science, History and Business Studies. We are constantly looking to improve our curriculum, ensuring it suits the needs of each year group and we now offer over 20 different subjects.”

Overall Summary
• For the fifth year running nearly half of all GCSE’s taken were awarded an A* or A grade.
• For the second year, three quarters of all GCSE’s taken were passed at A* to B grade.
• We are delighted with all the girls’ results from those who got a string of A*s and As – including Julia Bevan, Isabelle Milton and Rachel Prosser – to those who got a mix of As, Bs and Cs – all of whom maximized their potential.
• For an impressive third year running there was a 100% pass rate A*-A grade in Chemistry and 100% pass rate A*-B in Biology & Physics.
• 100% pass rate A*-B in Religious Studies, Latin and Dance.
• 80% of all girls who took Music GCSE were awarded an A Grade.
• For the second year there was a 100% pass rate A*-B in Sports Science
• 100% pass rate A*-C in French, German, History & Business Studies.

PHC celebrates a record number of A Grades!

Students at The Princess Helena College are celebrating their excellent A Level exam results – with more girls than ever before gaining A Grades. Overall, 35% of all A Levels taken were awarded an A Grade and nearly 60% were passed at A-C grade.

The School is particularly pleased that all girls who studied Business achieved A Grades and are going on to study Business or Management at undergraduate level.

Not only have the pupils excelled this year, but the College too has passed its recent inspection with flying colours. The Independent Schools Inspectorate outlined that: “The school provides an environment in which each pupil is genuinely valued as an individual and offered a stimulating and enriching curriculum, together with other activities that offer varied opportunities for personal development. The pastoral care provided is outstanding.”
The ever-improving examination results are a testament to the strengths that Inspectors highlighted: “The school’s pastoral, tutorial and other support systems make a highly significant and effective contribution to academic achievement and progress and to the personal growth of pupils”

2008 has brought continued success in the creative and performing arts. For the 6th year running, all A Level Candidates excelled with 80% passing with A Grades. Two girls even gained full marks in every single one of their A2 modules – which is an outstanding result! The Art Department is delighted at the results and the fact that inspectors stated: “The aesthetic and creative curriculum, particularly art, drama, dance and music, is a particular strength of the school.” They are also thrilled that once again this year another pupil is heading for the world renowned Central St Martins to study Art.

Overall Summary
• Over a third of all exams taken being passed at A Grade (35%) – an increase of 10% compared to last year.
• For the fourth year running nearly 60% of all exams taken were passed at A or B grade (57%)
• For the second year running there was an 84% pass rate at A-C grades.
• For the fourth year running there was a 100% pass rate A-E in all subjects
• 100% of girls studying Business Studies achieved an A Grade.
• Girls studying Modern Foreign Languages, including French, German and Spanish, achieved excellent results – 100% A-B grades.
• 100% pass rate A-C in English, Geography, Religious Studies, Information Technology & Music
• For the 6th year running all A Level Art candidates excelled, with over three quarters passing with A Grades (this year; 80%)
• We are delighted that for the second year running there were ppositive value-added results, with many girls achieving as much as two grades higher than their nationally predicted A Level grades, based on Cognitive Ability Test (CAT) scores, in each subject.
• All girls are delighted to have gained places at their chosen University

Toyota Challenge 2008