We congratulate and thank the indefatigable Bill Browning and his team who have successfully brought to fruition their ambitious campaign to guarantee a fully funded means-tested place for one of the nine bursary recipients joining St Paul’s in year 7 this September. Following a launch party, a mass mailing and a phonathon, they have surpassed their target by raising more than £152,000 from parents of students leaving our year 13 this summer. Spending much of their spare time phoning all the parents in the year group was a massive task for the committee but certainly worth the effort. This success makes a big difference to what can be done for a gifted child. We are currently able to offer financial assistance to 58 Paulinas and it is one of our top priorities to increase that number much further. We depend on the generous support and initiatives such as the 2010 leavers’ bursary to be are able to maintain and work further towards our ambition. However, Bill hasn’t given up yet! With 49 donors in the year participating to date, he’s still hoping that a few more might join him, as even the smallest amount is welcome.
For information on how to assist St Paul’s transform the lives of talented girls, please go to the development section of our website or call Rosemary Torrington 020 7605 4814 to discuss how you can help.
Year 8 educates peers on social networking
June 2010
Last term's drama curriculum cast students from year 8 as the educators when the director of drama, Victoria Watkins, asked every girl in the year group to take part in a challenge to teach their peers about social networking sites. Drawing on their own knowledge of safety on the web, they gave their performances to year 7 during an on 11 May and some groups performed to the rest of their own year on the 18th.
"The students experimented with a variety of strategies relevant to Theatre in Education and pooled what they already know of the advantages and disadvantages of social networking," Victoria says. "The advice included: use privacy settings, don't trust that people online are necessarily who they say they are and don't get obsessed with social networking sites."
"I found the social networking performances very interesting and funny," says one year 7 student, Georgina Thomas. "I used to think social networking sites were all bad. I now see there are some good points but you still have to be careful - you should add only people you know and wait until you're old enough to use the sites."
Students have warm memories of Cold Comfort Farm
June 2010
When two friends from year 9, Alethea Redfern and Bel Parker, took up the challenge of directing their first studio play, 16 more students from the three youngest year groups at St Paul's had the chance to act in Paul Doust's adaptation of Stella Gibbons's comic novel Cold Comfort Farm - all thanks to some healthy competition among siblings.
"Bel and I had discussed doing a studio play together before but we weren't sure which one we wanted to put on until I saw my brother perform in the same play," says Alethea. "My sense of sibling rivalry kicked in but, more importantly, I knew this would be an ideal first play for us."
"Our drama teachers, Victoria Watkins and Isabel Foley, helped us get the rights to put on the play and then choose the actors," Alethea says. "Our Easter breaks were longer than some of us expected when five of our cast had trouble getting back to London during the volcanic ash cloud, yet soon enough we had costumes and set at the ready, lines almost perfect and cues well on their way. We had a little trouble finding some of the more obscure props, including a tricycle with a platform on the back. Thanks to the drama technician Nicky Deeley, we were able to use a service trolley that worked like a charm but took a little convincing to be moved on, off and across the stage."
After a busy final week of rehearsals, the cast performed twice on 25 and 26 May. "My favourite night was the 26th, once everyone had settled their nerves and could really blow up their characters," says Alethea. "Although the play is a comedy, there were one or two extremely sweet moments and mad old Aunt Ada was terrifying. I look forward to directing another play with Bel and hope she hasn't had enough of me!"
Alumna reaches senior England lacrosse team aged 18
June 2010
It's been less than a year since Olivia Watson moved on from St Paul's to study history at UCL - and the passion for lacrosse she built up over seven years on our sports fields have already seen her, at the age of 18, achieve places on both the Under 21 and senior England lacrosse squads.
Olivia took her step up to senior level in March 2010 when she competed in the Under 21 Home Internationals against other national squads in her age group from the United Kingdom. "After the Home Internationals - which also involved two other alumnae, Alice Leach and Anna Harrison - I was invited to the senior England trials and was fortunate to be selected," says Olivia. "When we played the senior Home Internationals in Edinburgh on 16-18 April despite the volcanic ash, I was part of the England A team that beat Wales A 25-2 and Ireland 22-0."
Olivia has since played on a UK team in Italy against Team Prague, the Czech national development team and Johns Hopkins University. "It's a first for an alumna to make both these England teams in the same season aged 18," Olivia says. "Now, I want to inspire young lacrosse players at St Paul's to work hard and achieve such results.".
Mission accomplished as rowers reach National Schools final
June 2010
Twelve rowers from St Pauls - four from each of years 11, 12 and 13 - travelled to Nottingham on 29 May for the high point of their season: competing in the National Schools Regatta with the objective of qualifying for the final race.
"Spirits were high in the run-up to the regatta even though all our rowers are in exam years," says Rachel Harris, geography teacher and rowing coach. "The girls' training had been going well and the double and the eight had both had excellent outings in glorious weather on the Thames. Unsurprisingly, though, Nottingham was cold, wet and windy on the 29th - the six-lane course was so cloudy it was hard for us to see the start 2 km away from where we rigged the boats."
The double earned a place in the first semi-final after coming ninth in a processional of 14 crews, yet bad luck meant the crew had to conserve energy in their next race and came last. Meanwhile, the determined eight fought hard in the repechage after only just missing out on third place the first time around.
"The eight needed to come first or second to make the final and were racing against King's School Chester, who had already beaten them once," Rachel says. "A tenacious last 200 m resulted in a photo finish, which proved our eight had won the repechage by half a second. Our aim for 2009-10 had been achieved and all the girls' hard work had paid off - we were now in a final at National Schools. The pressure was now off and the rowers could enjoy this last race."
Rachel and the assistant rowing coaches, alumnae Natasha and Abigail Carpenter, watched proudly as the eight lined up for the final. "They paddled off to the start tired and elated," Rachel says, "and what a start they had! They were still in the mix at 250 m alongside Headington and LEH - but the other two crews had had an easy heat and drew ahead."
Strings and singers join forces at early summer concert
June 2010
This year's series of concerts that has put every specialism of our music department into the spotlight ended on 11 May with a combination summed up by its title: Singing Strings. The bumper evening involved 182 girls from year 7 to year 13 - not only string players and singers but also students following our school-directed course in music, whose original compositions formed part of the musicians' repertoire.
After two songs by the Junior Madrigal Group - first Edward German's setting of "Orpheus with his Lute" and then "Kalinka" - several joint vocal and string ensembles performed settings of popular music and poetry. The quality of each of these small vocal ensembles is very high," says John York, the head of senior music and head of keyboard. "It's a testament to the dedication of their in-house coaches."
The contrasts of the programme gave a flavour of everyday musical life at St Paul's. "A new vocal group, Off Beat, gave us the classic show-stopper 'Lullaby of Broadway', catchily and effectively dressed up by Simon Walters," John says. "By way of complete contrast, the Baroque Group, conducted by the director of music Yeo Yat-Soon, played three of the minuets from Handel's 'Water Music' and 'Music for the Royal Fireworks'. Only at St Paul's could such items stand together and all be so brilliant."
The concert ended with two world-famous items: Michael Nyman's simple but emotional setting of Anne Frank's words, "If...", and Karl Jenkins's ceremonial "Adiemus", joined by the Chamber Orchestra and the Percussion Ensemble. "Some of the repertoire was very familiar indeed, some current pop material, some baroque, some light, some hot off the press," says John. "It all made a very rewarding and substantial feast.".
Being here 