St Paul's diverse community of staff and students celebrated European Day of Languages on 26 September.
After Hilary Barker, the Head of Modern Languages, set the tone in the morning with an assembly about what it means to be able to speak another language, staff suspended normal language lessons in favour of language games and activities to do with film, literature and current affairs. We also organised a bright variety of displays about all the countries which speak the languages we study, including poems, pictures of famous landmarks, biographical information about famous people and current events involving languages.
"Other members of year 12 and I organised a multilingual feast in the year 7 classrooms at break," says Harriet Marsden from the Modern Languages Society, who organised their own programme to mark the event. "We had flags of all the European languages we do in school, quizzes, and food relevant to each country (we had representatives for Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, French and Chinese). Plenty of year 7s turned up and they seemed to enjoy themselves although they found some of the 'fun quizzes' a bit hard – luckily the Italian activity was learning about making friends in Italian, which they seemed to enjoy."
St Paul's kicks off the football season
September 2008
The St Paul's football team started their season on 25 September with a 1–1 draw in the first Hammersmith derby away at Latymer Upper School. "As the underdogs the draw was a victory in itself," says midfielder Sarah Phillips. "Our defensive side in the first half and the more attacking side in the second would combine to make a triumphant team." Goalscorer Phoebe Tickell adds – "It was such a triumph shooting the goal that clinched the draw, with everyone in the team contributing to the result, from the focus of the goalie and the tactics of the defence to the sheer brutality of our attack."
"Everyone on the team played very impressively," says Phoebe, "taking into account that the headmaster of Latymer has made it his goal to make the school's female football team the best in the country and we managed to match them, almost beating them. Their one goal against us was scored in the last five minutes of the game, and I think it was a lesson to all of us – never let down your guard."
Lacrosse teams play Haileybury
September 2008
On 27 September our Under 12 and Under 13 teams played Haileybury. "Everyone played extremely well and it was really good that we had a match early on so we could enter into the swing of playing lacrosse," says Under 12 player Lydia Ladbrooke. Her teammate Lily Stroud adds – "The match was really exciting and it is awesome that we won!"
Results:
Under 13
18–1
Under 12
9–4
Netball teams play Harrodian
September 2008 Results from our netball matches against The Harrodian School on 24 September:
Under 14 B vs Harrodian Under 14 A
9–8
Under 14 C vs Harrodian Under 14 B
8–0
Netball teams play Godolphin & Latymer
September 2008 Results from our netball matches against Godolphin & Latymer School on 23 September:
Under 15 A
17–9
Under 15 B
17–10
Under 12 B
8–6
Under 12 C
7–6
Lacrosse teams play Putney High
September 2008 Results from our lacrosse matches against Putney High School on 23 September:
Under 13 A
3–8
Under 13 B
2–7
Year 13 biologists see seashells on the sea shore
September 2008
Year 13 biologists caught the best of the September weather last weekend as they visited the Isle of Wight for three days of practical fieldwork. During the visit to the Medina Valley Centre which was designed to illustrate the ecology component of the A2 syllabus they studied a salt marsh and investigated how living things coexist with their environment on a rocky sea shore – and there was still time to play basketball, gather round a campfire and celebrate one teacher's birthday with an evening of karaoke (not all at once).
"We found the biology trip an enjoyable experience and it was great that we were able to apply classroom knowledge to real world scenarios," say Avneet Khambay and Alicia Hedges. "Although we had to do some work, we had loads of fun singing songs and roasting marshmallows by the bonfire as well as playing basketball and enjoying the (obviously non-alcoholic) cocktails."
Senior scholarships 2008
September 2008
We're very proud to announce the 2008 winners of the Senior School Scholarship, an independent research or practical project which students carry out over the summer. The topics typically cover every subject we teach here and some we don't – the aim is to encourage independent learning and originality, develop skills of enquiry and organisation and celebrate practical and artistic skills. This year we had 51 entries from students who are now in year 13.
Scholarships have been awarded to Bella Hammad for her essay on time in the works of Virginia Woolf, Anjali Itzkowitz for her comparison of the tales of Odysseus and Rama, Emma Maitland for her analysis of Diderot's pre-revolutionary text La Religieuse and Sophie Stephenson-Wright for her work on tool use by the New Caledonian crow (watch Betty the crow in action on YouTube).
Four other entries were highly commended: Anna Cavaliero's response through song to Emily Dickinson's poetry, Emma Colliver's study of ERM proteins in cancerous cell lines, Annie Gilchrist's study of a protein matrix in crude brain tissue and Sophie Skeet's essay on the politics of mythmaking in the ancient world.
Netball teams play Haileybury and Edge Grove
September 2008 Results from our netball matches against Haileybury and against Edge Grove School on 20 September:
Under 13 A vs Haileybury
9–3
Under 13 A vs Haileybury
9–3
Under 13 A vs Edge Grove
10–0
Under 13 A vs Haileybury Under 12 A
18–0
Under 12 A vs Haileybury
2–10
Under 12 A vs Haileybury Under 13 A
4–8
Under 12 A vs Edge Grove
9–3
Under 13 B vs Haileybury Under 12 B
12–3
Under 13 B vs Haileybury Under 12 C
13–0
Under 13 B vs Haileybury Under 13 B
12–3
Under 12 B vs Haileybury Under 12 C
5–1
Under 12 B vs Haileybury Under 12 B
5–5
Under 12 B vs Haileybury Under 13 C
2–4
Under 12 C vs Haileybury Under 12 B
3–7
Under 12 C vs Haileybury Under 13 B
2–6
Under 12 C vs Haileybury Under 12 C
10–2
Lacrosse teams play Queen Anne's, Caversham
September 2008
"Both the 1st and 2nd lacrosse teams managed decisive wins over Queen Anne's, Caversham," reports Miranda Critchley, "which was a good achievement especially for the 1sts who lost against them last year. The 1sts' match was hard-fought but had a final score of 7–3 and Queen Anne's never really looked like catching us. A good tea provided by Queen Anne's and the beautiful weather made it an enjoyable and successful afternoon."
Claire Sabel adds that the squad has started a new tradition of nominating a player of the match from each team, "to be commended for particular excellence on the pitch."
Results from our lacrosse matches against Queen Anne's School, Caversham on 20 September:
1st
7–3
Player of the match: Hannah Chambers / Chandler Benet
2nd
8–3
Player of the match: Emily Bradley
Under 15
1–6
Player of the match: Hebe Foster
Under 14 A
7–1
Player of the match: Gemma Lowcock
Under 14 B
10–1
Player of the match: Izzy Cullinan
Year 7 outdoor team-building day
September 2008
Soon after the start of term, year 7 visit the Stubbers adventure centre in Essex for a day of outdoor team bonding activities – including a rafting challenge where each group builds and races its own raft.
"I really enjoyed the trip to Stubbers, especially as I didn't really do team activities at my old school," says Beth Hindhaugh. "We signed in at the cafeteria at 8:15, then sat on the coach for two hours. When we got there, my team did the team challenges first. There were things which involved us passing other people through holes in a giant man-made spider web without them touching the ropes, hauling our teammates up a smooth eight-foot wall and getting across from one platform to another (quite far apart) with merely two planks of wood to help us. It was fantastic fun, and everyone had their moment."
"Stubbers was amazing! It was loads of fun and a perfect occasion to make friends, as everyone had to help each other out," says Orsina Dessi. "In all the activities you had to include everyone in the team because otherwise you wouldn't get anywhere! We had a time-limit for the raft-building, so we had to work fast. Some people fell in, and I did up to my waist, but even though the water was freezing most people were laughing by the end of it! Our raft came last, and it was the most expensive one too, but nobody really cared because it was so much fun!"
You never know when knowing how to build a raft or climb an eight-foot wall might come in useful, but the chance to make new friends is what matters most. "It brought out people's characters, it stretched us and we may have pushed some buttons; but we are no longer 21 individuals – we're a team," says Rosie Blamey.
Lacrosse teams play Lady Eleanor Holles
September 2008 Results from our lacrosse matches against Lady Eleanor Holles School on 17 September:
Under 14 A
4–9
Under 14 B
6–1
Under 13 A
1–14
Under 13 B
0–15
Netball teams play Lady Eleanor Holles
September 2008 Results from our netball matches against Lady Eleanor Holles School on 17 September:
1st
11–16
2nd
24–9
Year 7 gets to grips with lacrosse
September 2008
Joining us in year 7 is often the first time you encounter one of our favourite winter sports, lacrosse. Everyone plays lacrosse in years 7 to 9 and many students keep on playing throughout their time at St Paul's (and beyond). Grasping the skills (and the ball) when you start out in lacrosse can be a bit tricky, so on Saturday 13 September we ran a half-day training session for this year's new girls to develop their confidence and enthusiasm for the game.
Under the watchful eye of experienced lacrosse players Alex Harle (former England captain and a top lawyer), Rachel Kircheimer (a current England international), Jane Dougherty (who plays in the South Region and left St Paul's last year) and Steph Walker (a US Division 1 player), not to mention our own PE staff and some year 12 and 13 students, our youngest lacrosse enthusiasts covered shooting, goal keeping, basic stick skills, attacking and defending before tucking into a picnic lunch and doughnuts at the end. "It would take a whole term to cover what we did, but now we have a great introduction to lacrosse," says one of the girls, and another adds, "Although I played pop lacrosse at my old school, I feel I learned a lot. It was also a good opportunity to meet people from other tutor groups."
Foyle Young Poet of the Year Competition 2008
September 2008
We'd like to congratulate several of our student poets for their achievements in the Foyle Young Poet of the Year Competition 2008, the UK's most prestigious poetry prize for young writers aged between 11 and 17. Emma Jourdain and Sophie Stephenson-Wright (both from year 13) were winners and Emily Carpenter (year 10) and Austin Colligan (year 13) were short-listed. Sophie's also a BBC Wildlife Poet of the Year 2008 with another poem. Our alumnae are involved in poetry too: Nina Bahadur had two poems selected for the new UK poetry e-zine Pomegranate in July and has now been approached by a publisher.
We encourage our students' passion for creative writing by regularly inviting working writers to St Paul's. Frances Leviston will be visiting us on 12 November to read some of her poetry and run workshops, and in March we'll be welcoming Joanna Kavenna, the winner of the Orange Prize for New Writers 2008. In April some of our most talented writers will be spending a week at the Arvon Foundation to develop their work with the help of professional authors.
Student selected for England junior chess team
September 2008
A year 9 student has been selected for the England junior chess squad after an outstanding performance at the British Junior Chess Championships in Liverpool this summer. Jenni Ehr and the rest of the squad will have the opportunity to take part in international junior tournaments and learn from England's top senior chess players.
Interest in chess is growing all the time at St Paul's, and on 4 December Jovanka Houska, a British International Master and Woman Grandmaster, will be joining us for a charity chess challenge. Jovanka and a team of accomplished chess players will take on more than 30 students in simultaneous games of chess to raise money for the school charities, which we'll be voting on soon.
Netball teams play North London Collegiate
September 2008 Results from our netball matches against North London Collegiate School on 13 September:
1st
17–7
2nd
20–9
Under 16
14–7
Under 15
21–8
Under 14 A
17–8
Under 14 B
14–8
Under 13 A
27–8
Under 13 B
9–13
In memoriam: Dame Alison Munro, High Mistress 1964–74
September 2008
We are deeply sorry to announce the death of Dame Alison Munro on 2 September 2008. As someone who forged her early career during the Second World War, she was used to sustained, hard work and achieving the best from scarce resources. Mrs Munro came to St Paul’s as a distinguished civil servant (she had been Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Aviation since 1960), not as a teacher, but her decade here was a sparkling one, marked by administrative efficiency and her natural gifts as a communicator: by the end of her first term, she knew the name of every girl on the roll. After St Paul’s, Dame Alison moved on to yet another career, as chairman of a health authority, while remaining a warm and supportive friend of the school.
A private family funeral will be followed by a memorial service at Chichester Cathedral on Monday 10th November, at 2:30pm.
Year 11 girl invited to UK maths squad training camp
September 2008 One of our own Olympic hopefuls was in intensive training this summer – but these Olympics happen every year and they're in mathematics. Si Chen from year 11 and the UK's other top 40 contestants in this year's Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad were invited to a summer school at the University of Birmingham for some training and testing . She's now been chosen as part of a highly select group of 14 students to attend a UK IMO squad training camp during the first week of September. During the event the potential squad members will have a go at some intensive problem solving, be introduced to new ideas and work together with other talented mathematicians – and some will go on to represent the UK in a forthcoming International Mathematical Olympiad, the annual world championship of secondary school mathematics.
Reminder about 2008–09 term dates
September 2008 We'd like to remind you of the 2008–09 term dates:
Autumn term 2008
Wednesday 3 September to Friday 19 December
Half term: Monday 20 to Friday 31 October (inclusive)
Extra day's holiday: Friday 21 November
Spring term 2009
Tuesday 13 January to Friday 27 March
Half term: Monday 16 to Friday 20 February
Extra day's holiday (not year 11): Friday 30 January (first year entrance exams)
Summer term 2009
Tuesday 21 April to Friday 3 July
Half term: Monday 25 to Friday 29 May
Bank holiday: Monday 4 May
Autumn term 2009
Thursday 3 September to Friday 18 December
Half term: Monday 19 to Friday 30 October (inclusive)
Extra day's holiday: tbc
Lacrosse teams play Guildford High
September 2008 Results from our lacrosse matches against Guildford High School on 6 September:
1st
0–11
2nd
3–9
Under 15 A
4–5
Under 15 B
0–9
Under 14 A
4–14
Under 14 B
3–5
Under 13 A
2–22
Under 13 B
0–11
New prospectus and website
September 2008 What's it really like to attend St Paul's Girls' School? This week we launch our new communications materials, designed by a former student, Amanda Tatham. In the prospectus, informal reportage style imagery is interwoven with text expressing the essence of St Paul's in the words of the girls themselves. Our new website tells you more and will be updated constantly, giving news and information about events in school. A unique signature, expressing the school's key qualities, will appear on all external communications. Thought you had St Paul's pigeonholed? Think again.
St Paul's joins London 2012 education programme
September 2008 The London Olympiad starts on 17 September when the Paralympic flag is handed over in Beijing – so that also marks the launch of the London 2012 education programme, helping young people realise their potential while engaging with the wider community. Four of our students have already got involved by testing the programme's website, making sure its navigation, design and content are as effective as possible. Our commitment to the education programme will continue throughout the four-year Olympiad, with school council selecting and carrying out a student-led project reflecting the Olympic values.
Year 12 history students visit Paris
September 2008 After a year studying the tangled politics and radical fervour of the French Revolution, year 12 history students and four members of staff visited Paris between 12 and 15 July to see some of the most important sites (and this year's Bastille Day celebrations) at first hand. "We'd never have stumbled upon some of the museums and sites without our teachers' advice," says one happy historian, "but we were always allowed to wander round them at our own pace. I particularly enjoyed hearing about the role each historical hotspot had played in the Revolution – it was a really rewarding end to the AS course to finally see the places we'd read about for ourselves. Thank you also for taking us to such a wonderful restaurant for dinner – by far the best set of meals I have ever enjoyed on a school trip!"
GCSE and A level results arrive
August 2008 This year's GCSE and A level results came out in August, and we'd like to congratulate our students on their achievements and hard work. At A level, the average points score per candidate was 412.35, and 98.59% of all grades were As or Bs. Almost all students who applied to university through UCAS this year have got their first choice of place, and 46 students with offers from Oxford or Cambridge have been able to take up their places. At GCSE, we had our second best set of results in the last ten years, with 81.5% of entries awarded an A*.
Being here 