The first Asian culture assembly at St Paul's on 29 January not only saw in the Chinese Year of the Tiger but also added a new custom to our weekly calendar - an extra satellite assembly on Thursday mornings alongside the Indian, Muslim and Jewish assemblies that have run for many years.
Since Catherine Yuen, Agnes Jung and Natalia Green from year 11 decided to start the assemblies, more than two dozen students now go to them and talk about festivals celebrated around Asia throughout the year. "This week we talked about the Spring Lantern Festival and made our own lanterns," says Catherine. "Next week, we're going to talk about the Japanese doll festival, Hinamatsuri. It's a fun and interactive way to discuss various cultures and I hope more people at St Paul's will be able to learn about East Asia."
News and schools on the agenda at year 7 discussion group
February 2010
Getting to know the youngest members of St Paul's last year inspired one pair of year 11 students to start organising a weekly discussion group for year 7 girls. Camilla Higgins and Katriona Barr, who are both in year 12, have now spent five terms running the Friday lunchtime sessions. Approximately 30 girls from year 7 take part every week, representing almost a third of the entire year group.
"We wanted to start the society to give year 7 girls a chance to discuss current events and the media," say Camilla and Katriona. "We noticed that they were well-informed about these topics but didn't have a forum where they could talk about them - and we thought it would be a good way for them to get to know each other as well as older girls at St Paul's."
"So far, the year 7s enjoy chatting about St Paul's and how the education system works," they add. "Many of them ask about GCSEs, A levels and universities. They particularly liked one session where we came up with the policies we'd have if we were a political party. Generally, we discuss whatever the younger girls want to, which has varied from the idea of parallel universes to whether married couples should get tax breaks."
Participants at last Friday's session gave the discussion group their own vote of confidence. "You always have a chance to say your ideas," they said. "We talk about everything from school to the news but always in a fun and relaxed way."
St Paul's historical highlights
February 2010
If some of St Paul's first governors had had their way, a space fondly remembered by generations of alumnae would never have come into being. According to new research by the St Paul's archivist, Howard Bailes, the governors nearly decided to use a modern floor covering, rather than a marbled surface, in the foyer - turning the Marble into the Linoleum. Instead, the Marble has lasted more than a hundred years, even though when the future King George V visited our opening in 1904 he worried needlessly that the surface might prove slippery.
Howard Bailes, a history teacher and the St Paul's archivist, familiarised an audience of 270 people with the story of the first royal visit and other historical highlights of St Paul's during an evening lecture on 2 February. Among the listeners were 75 alumnae, ranging from one woman who had left in 1939 to others who had only been gone for six months. Staff, students, parents and governors all returned to St Paul's to hear how the 19th-century educational reform movement inspired Frances Gray to found the school and how the St Paul's community weathered the disruption of the Second World War.
"The talk about the history of St Paul's enthralled us all," says Kat Spooner, a student in year 11, "whether we were eager girls in year 7 or returning alumnae. We discovered how the school rallied in times of trouble and heard about the numerous royal visits to St Paul's - everyone enjoyed it."
The St Paul's family continues to support us. Two governors in the audience had attended St Paul's themselves and one of these also has a daughter here. Several other current and former parents had generously donated to our bursary fund and one group are assembling a syndicate of 2010 leavers' parents, helping to make a St Paul's education possible for the most talented girls of the future.
Students relax with London arts day after mock exams
February 2010
Mock GCSE exams at the start of the spring term are an inescapable part of life in year 11. For this year's entire group of 96, January also meant an all-day set of visits to London arts venues, which our staff arranged to mark the end of the winter exam season.
On 28 January, groups of year 11 students met at various art galleries in central London and gathered in the afternoon to see a musical. "Everyone went to different places, such as the Wellcome Collection, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Gallery," says one student, Sarah Binney. "Some of my friends and I went to the Tate Modern to explore it in our own time."
"After lunch, we met the rest of the year at the Victoria Palace Theatre to see Billy Elliott," Sarah says. "It was a fantastic show and the dancing was incredible."
Year 10 student wins inter-city tennis tournament
February 2010
A year 10 student, Mallika Sood, triumphed in an inter-city tennis tournament on 30 and 31 January when she won the 2010 Will To Win Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton. Competing only a few miles from St Paul's, Mallika beat contestants from New York, Dubai and Dublin and received her trophy from a former UK Davis Cup captain, Roger Taylor.
Mallika qualified for the grand finals in June 2009 after winning the London round of the competition, which took place in public parks across the capital. Her victory won her the opportunity to attend a tennis camp and act as a ball girl at last year's Dubai Open.
Successful auditions for St Paul's singers
February 2010
Five students will join the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain after successful auditions, confirms St Paul's head of singing, Heidi Pegler. Eleanor Warner from year 11 and Mary Galloway from year 13 will be taking part in the main choir, Clemmie Warner and Meg Griffiths from year 9 will join the training choir and Keshara Hallock from year 11 will sing in the girls' choir.
Three other St Paul's singers have achieved university choral scholarships after auditions. Trinity College, Cambridge has offered a place reading English to Anna Cavaliero, who moved on from St Paul's in 2009. Two current students, Catherine Shaw and Alicia Ejsmond-Frey, hold respective conditional offers to read economics at Trinity College, Oxford and classics at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
Being here 