Issue 74, Friday 8 March 2013

eNews

Goldie Sayers’ Olympic Story

Goldie Sayers - British Javelin Record Holder, 10 x British Champion and 3 x Olympian took time out of her training to visit St George’s on Wednesday 27 February 2013. Olympic fever returned to St George’s as Goldie Sayers walked onto the stage. It was utterly inspiring to hear how Goldie went from playing school sports, to discovering the javelin aged 13 and her amazing journey since then.

Goldie was the youngest member of the British track and field team at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and has performed consistently in the world top ten since then. Just prior to London 2012, Goldie broke her own PB and was in contention for a medal, only to dramatically tear a ligament, leading to her withdrawing after the first round. Despite this huge disappointment, Goldie’s overriding experience of London 2012 was incredible as she was able to support the rest of Team GB, particularly her friend, and roommate Heptathlete Jessica Ennis.

The girls were thrilled to be able to meet her after the talk and many (including some staff) even got autographs!

House Debating Congratulations to all the girls who took part in the House Debating Competition on Thursday 28 February. The first debate between Becket and Churchill, proposed the motion: ‘This House believes that parents should be punished for the crimes of their children’. Both sides fought hard but the opposition, Becket, won the debate after some excellent points of information and excellent presentation. The second debate between Alexander and Darwin was an equally controversial topic; ‘This House believes that thin models are poor role models’. After proposition from Darwin, and strong opposition from Alexander, this debate raised the most comments from the floor before the summarisers made comment, with Alexander pipping Darwin to the post.

The final then saw Becket and Alexander debate the motion ‘This House believes that men are finished.’ In a passionate final, the girls on both teams excelled themselves with Becket narrowly missing out to victors Alexander represented by Anna Blackburn, Sophie Karl and Sophia Lyons. Tiggy Wainwright-Parker took the prize for individual debater of the competition. Congratulations to all girls for all the hard work put in and to Mr Sharkey for organising such a great occasion.

Oxbridge Explained

We are very grateful to Dr Joe Organ from Brasenose College, Oxford and Ruth Holmes from Newnham College, Cambridge who visited St George’s on Thursday 28 February to address members of the Fifth and Sixth Form who are considering Oxbridge entry. It was a very useful talk and it was excellent to see so may girls and their parents benefitting from this opportunity.

Tower of London

Members of the Second Year had a most enjoyable and sunny day visiting the Tower of London and other Medieval buildings in London led by Miss Jackson and the History Department on Tuesday 5 March. The girls took part in an educational session which saw them interrogating Richard III on his part in the murder of the Princes in the Tower and they really got into the spirit of it. They also enjoyed meeting several Beefeaters and were excited to see the Muppets being filmed right outside the Tower. Thank you to all the girls who were excellent ambassadors for St George’s.

On Thursday 7 February, the Upper Sixth went to visit the Churchill War Rooms in London. We enjoyed our visit: the structure of the museum is very interesting, with Churchill's personal belongings, his life story, his career as a Prime Minister, all of which we were able to explore through installations,videos, interactive timelines,voice recordings and imitations of the actual rooms he slept and worked in! It was a great trip, interesting and very useful for our A2 ‘Appeasement’ course.

Alexandra Tyan 6C

Churchill War Rooms

Well done to everyone who took part in the UK Intermediate Mathematical Challenge and congratulations to the following girls who achieved certificates.

Silver, Best in Fourth Year and Best in School: Moe Kishima Silver and Best in Fifth Year: Gina Clare

Bronze and Best in Third Year: Anastasia BykovaBronze: Anna Blackburn, Kate Gibb, Angela Liao, Anna Mason,

Hannah Palmer and Amelia Pheysey.

The UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) is a registered charity whose aim is to advance the education of children and young people in mathematics. The UKMT organises national mathematics competitions and other mathematical enrichment activities for 11-18 year old UK school pupils. It was established in 1996 and last academic year over 600,000 pupils from 4000 schools took part in the three individual challenges, the UK’s biggest national maths competitions.

UK Maths Challenge

First Year Bob-a-Job

Congratulations to every girl in the First Year who took part in the annual bob-a-job to raise funds for their chosen charity; Water Aid. They raised a magnificent £721.85 by doing jobs for others ranging from cooking lunch for 12 people to mucking out stables and from cleaning the house to gardening. Special mentions go to Valerie Boakye, Emily-Louise Brett and Victoria Wyatt who raised nearly £250 by holding a cake sale in Virginia Water.

“Bob-a-Job was a great experience, I loved the feeling when I really helped someone.

Once I had got started on my jobs there was no stopping me, I was rushing everywhere! My mum asked me to clear out the shoes and the kitchen cupboards, I helped my sister with a project and I also organised her bookcase.

At the end of the week, I totalled the amounts for the jobs I had done and it all came to £13.50.

I was very pleased with my total and I found that I really made a difference by helping my family but also to Water Aid, our chosen charity. “

Laura Beaumont 1X

Solution (Part 5) (Please see previous editions for Parts 1-4)

Last time we finished with 3 possible tables. It is easy to apply fact #13 (The South American plays golf) as there is only one place that this can fit in each of the 3 possibilities we had.

Yellow Blue Red Green Pink

N America Africa Europe Asia S America

Tea Milk Coffee

Hockey Golf

Horses Dogs

or

Yellow Blue Red Green Pink

N America Africa Europe S America Asia

Tea Milk Coffee

Hockey Golf

Horses Dogs

or

Yellow Blue Red Green Pink

N America S America Europe Asia Africa

Milk Coffee Tea

Hockey Golf

Horses Dogs

Next, we use fact #12 (The person who plays Lacrosse also drinks Ribena). This can’t fit anywhere into the first or third tables, so we can eliminate all but the second option, leaving us with just one table again.

Yellow Blue Red Green Pink

N America Africa Europe S America Africa

Tea Milk Coffee Ribena

Hockey Golf Lacrosse

Horses Dogs

We are very near the final solution now. The only clues we have not yet used are 6, 10 and 15. See if you can use them to work out who owns the fish?

Σinstein Club!

This year has seen the launch of 'SL5' an auditioned senior drama company at St George’s. SL5 were been selected to take part in the prestigious National Theatre Connections project, performing a newly commissioned play at the Lyric Hammersmith in April 2013. This week, the girls performed their play to audiences at St George’s, including the assessor from the National Theatre. The play, 'We Lost Elijah' is written by Ryan Craig. Set during the London riots of 2011, the story follows the story of Elijah. Elijah’s older brother and two friends were charged with getting him home safely while the riots were raging. Somehow though, somewhere on route, something happened and they didn’t make it home together. Did Elijah get caught up in the events or was there another reason for his disappearance?

If you would like to attend the performance of ‘We Lost Elijah’ at the Lyric Hammersmith on Wednesday 17 April at 6.30pm please contact the School Office for more information.

Sport LifeSUPA National Schools Arena Polo Championships

On Sunday 3 March, 2 teams from St George’s travelled up to Gloucestershire to take part in the National Schools Arena Polo Championships. Our ‘B’ team included Stephanie Bankole and Mia Yang who were both playing in their fi rst championships.

After a long journey, the girls were fi red up and ready to take on the challenge. The ‘B’ team borrowed a player due to a late withdrawal and struggled in their fi rst match against St Swithun’s, mainly due to the fact that the girls were not used to playing with each other. However, they used this as a stepping stone and performed much better in their fi nal 2 chukkas, narrowly missing out on winning both games.

The ‘A’ team started off with a fantastic 6-2 win against the Cheltenham Ladies’ College and followed that up with a 2-0 win against Cheltenham College which put them through to the Division 2 Championship fi nal. In the fi nal they met a strong SUPA team in a very close game in which there was never more than a goal in it. But, after some excellent teamwork and some superb goals, Darcy Winter, Grace Holley and Ariella Joel-Davison completed a fantastic victory by 4-3 to become National Division 2 champions. Many congratulations go to all players.

Polo National Div2 Champions

Please see the Sportsboard on the website for more results and match reports.

5 Minutes with …

Name: Miss Helen Woodward

Job Title: Resident Matron

What did you do before St George’s?

I was brought up in Wales on a farm. I trained as a Mental Health Nurse in Shropshire and have been Matron at Radley College- (Boys) and at Hanford School (Girl’s Prep).

What is your greatest achievement?

Passing my driving test after 4 attempts which meant I could move back to the countryside. However, I did a parachute jump a few days before and think this helped too!

How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

Positive, Friendly, Calm.

Who is/was the most influential person in your life?

Joanne, a friend for last 24 years. She taught me not to take myself too seriously! I know Joanne would always be there for me.

What was the last book you read?

Divas and Door Slammers - The secret to having a better behaved teenager! By Charlie Taylor. A practical handbook which is full of simple, effective techniques for improving your teenager’s behaviour. I thought it might come in helpful!

What would you do if you won £2m in the Lottery?

I have never done it - but the usual house/car/family and would give most of it to Cat Rescue and the NSPPC.

If money was no object where would you travel to?

Whitby, Yorkshire - I love their ‘fish and chips’ and hope to retire there one day and would also visit Tibet to see the Dalai Lama.

What is your ultimate Desert Island Disc?

‘Gloria’ by Laura Branigan, I would have loved to have been called Gloria.

Which person alive or dead would you most like to spend a day with?

I have recently turned to Buddhism so the Dalai Lama.

What makes St George’s so special?

The caring community feel and them allowing me to have my elderly cat, Eric live onsite!

The U15/14 and 1st Lacrosse teams attended the Rathbones National School Lacrosse Tournament at the beginning of March.

Despite the weather and playing some very tough competition on the first day, the 1st team played hard, really proving themselves against quality teams. On the second day, the team was placed into pool play and finished with a record of 1-5. The entire team played tremendously and worked hard to play together as a team, losing these games by only 1 goal. The entire coaching staff was very proud of them. Great play was seen in the midfield by Lavinia Jones and Jennifer Tilley, and Emily Hancock on attack. Darcy Winter also recorded 2 goals on Saturday. Freja King and Suzanne Pritchard both had multiple interceptions and turnovers on defence, and Georgia Cooper tallied over 20 saves on the weekend. The whole team is credited for a fantastic weekend!

The U15/U14 Lacrosse team competed in the U15 Rathbones National Schools Championships on Tuesday 5 March. They did very well on this beautiful day placing 3rd in their pool and recording wins against Glenalmond and Abbott’s Hill as well as a draw against Malvern St James. Despite losing to both Godolphin and Haberdashers, the girls played tremendously and the difference was only a few goals. Great play was seen by Jade Agnew and Anna Mason in the midfield, as well as Ella Walker. Defensively both Catharina Caspers and Stephanie Bankole came up with great stops and Olivia Haig moved the ball nicely on attack. We are very proud of all the girls’ efforts. This was a great day for U15/U14 lacrosse team in a tough National tournament.

U13 Ascot Schools Netball Tournament Plate Winners

On Wednesday 6 March, the U13 A and B teams entered the Ascot Schools Netball Tournament. The A team were entered into the cup competition which meant they were up against some tough opposition from Charters, The Marist, St Mary’s, LVS and Heathfield. Despite winning two matches against St Mary’s, overall, the girls came 6th but should be proud of how they played and worked together as a team. A special mention must go to Jade Pusey whose movement in the circle was excellent.

The U13 B team were entered into the Plate competition. After losing to Charters in the first game the girls were keen to show what they could do. Their hard work paid off as they secured great wins against Marist, LVS, St Mary’s and Brigidine. Having won all of their games except one, the St George’s U13 B team won the plate competition and went away with gold medals! Every single member of the team played hard, and they deserved to win first place. Great play was seen from Samira Shafai in defence and Florence Livingstone who played both defence and attack, scoring some great goals. Chloe Horswell also showed some excellent dodging throughout the tournament. Well done to all the girls that played, a well deserved victory!

Rathbones National Schools’ Lax Tournament

School Website Sportsboard Citrix School EmailScan the QR codes below using your smart phone to go directly to the web page you need.

Looking Forward...Friday 15 - Sunday 17 March 2013

Model United Nations Conference Edinburgh

Friday 15 March 2013Parent Association Quiz Night

7.00pm, Sue Cormack Hall

Monday 18 March 2013 Sixth Form Discussion Group

7.30pm, Garden House

Tuesday 19 March 2013 Parents’ Forum

4.30pm, Old Library

Wednesday 20 March 2013House Lacrosse

4.15pm, Sports Field

Thursday 21 March 2013 Lower Sixth D House

Dinner with Headmistress 7.00pm, Garden House

Frdiay 22 March 2013Lower Sixth Parents’ Meeting4.15pm, Sue Cormack Hall

Sunday 24 March 2013 Palm Sunday Choral Communion

10.45am, Chapel

Tuesday 26 March 2013 House Music Competition 4.15pm, Sue Cormack Hall

Teams - maximum of 8 peopleTickets: £15 adults, £10 students To include a drink and a hot supperCash bar: wines, beer and soft drinks Can YOU beat the teachers? Complete the booking form asap to avoid disappointment - no tickets will be sold on the night

**top prize **£200

Urban Outfitters

vouchers, raffle

and much more!

Parent association

ST GEORGE’SASCOT

Quiz Night

Friday 15 March 2013 7.00pm in the Cormack Hall

Wednesday 27 March 2013Concert of Highlights from House Music

7.30pm, Sue Cormack Hall

Thursday 28 March 2013Upper Sixth Parents’ Meeting 4.15pm, Sue Cormack Hall

Term ends at 4.00pm