Year 5 visited by Scientist - 1st December

Year 5 enjoyed a visit from a Rutherford Laboratory scientist, to complement their science topic on sound he helped the girls measure the speed of sound. First there was a discussion about how to measure speed and they looked at the speed equation, the first scientific equation the year 5s have seen. The class then went outside to measure their speed at walking, skipping, cantering and running. On return to the class the pairs worked out their average timing and then using the equation distance divided by time worked out their speed in metres per second. Following this the class was shown an oscilloscope and measured the time it took for the sound of each girl banging a box to be measured. By using these figures the class were able to calculate the speed of sound. What a fabulous session!

 

Year 6 Victorian Workshop - 1st December 

Mrs Whitten returned to St Helen’s to run a Victorian workshop for Year 6. Assuming the role of Granny Thomson, she described the life of a Victorian family. Pupils were given the opportunity to dress in Victorian style clothing and as questions about the role of Victorian children before learning about Victorian artefacts and invention. They all had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

 

The Life Education Bus  - 30th November

Years 5 and 6 were visited by The Life Education Bus - packed full of information about PSHE topics. We looked at videos, photos and TAM (Transparent Anatomical Model). Through these interactive sections we learnt about the systems in the body; Respiratory, circulatory, nervous and digestive. Year 5 concentrated on food types, healthy food and a balanced diet. We then thought about medicines and how they are not always helpful to the body.

In the year 6 session we furthered the discussion to include how all drugs are harmful when misused, however, some drugs are designed to help the body - medicines, but others have no benefits and many side effects - illegal drugs.

The girls enjoyed the quizzes and learnt a lot about these subjects as well as reinforcing knowledge from PSHE and Science.
 

Yr 8 Science Trip to Bristol - 30th November

Half of Year 8 went on a science trip to the 'At Bristol' science centre. They had a busy schedule which included a workshop on ’how light works’ and a visit to the planetarium. The remainder of time was spent looking around at the hands on exhibits. The exhibits were very varied and ranged from watching a heart dissection, making giant bubbles and creating their own movies.

 

Yr 8 Trip to the Design Museum - 30th November

On a visit to the Design Museum in London, Year 8 DT pupils used product analysis to understand Eco Design in workshop sessions.
Exhibitions of international contemporary design gave everyone a good idea of how important the impact of design is on the modern world.

 

Lecture on Spanish Cinema - 29th November

A group of Spanish students from SHSK, Abingdon School and Our Lady's attended a lecture on Spanish Cinema and the film director Pedro Almodovar by Professor Mark Allinson of Regent's College London. It was a very inspiring evening for our Spanish cinema lovers!

 

Salters' A Level Chemistry Award

The Salters’ Institute Annual Awards Ceremony, a prestigious event celebrating high levels of excellence within the science education sector took place on Friday 18 November 2011 at Salters’ Hall.  
The Rt. Hon. David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science presented the Awards at the Ceremony and commented:
“It’s been an honour to present these awards and join the Salters’
Institute in recognising the science talent we have in our schools and universities. I have been incredibly impressed by the standard of winners and hope many will go on to be leaders in the science field.”
Over 200 guests attended the Prize giving Ceremony and also enjoyed a buffet luncheon
Katerina Johnson was presented with her award for the Salters’ A Level Chemistry Project and we send her many congratulations!
 

The European Commission Juvenes Translatores competition - 24th November

In order to promote language learning and translation, the European Commission Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) runs an annual Juvenes Translatores contest.  The competition is in its fifth year having proven immensely popular in schools across Europe.  Participants translate from a language they are studying in school into their mother tongue.  DGT evaluate the translations and choose one winning translation from each Member State of the EU.  The winning pupils are then invited to the awards ceremony in Brussels in March and will meet the Commissioner for Multilingualism.
On Thursday 24th November 2011 four members of Upper School at St Helen’s took part in the challenging contest.  Examples of sample texts can be found on the followingwebsite.  Each of the four languages taught - French, Spanish, German and Italian - were represented.  We await the results in February with great eagerness!
 

Charity Badminton Match – 23rd November

The current SHSK badminton doubles champions, Alice Atkins (Year 11) and Brodie Miller (Year 10), took on the two top players from Abingdon Boys School, Nick Topping and Rupert Waterson, in a charity badminton match for Children in Need.
The two Abingdon boys are both in the upper sixth, several years older than the St Helens pair, and the match was an entertaining display of explosive smashes and delicate drop shots.
The girls made good progress by winning the first set 21-12, but they trailed in the second set as the boys established a 16-9 lead.  Not to be beaten, the girls dug deep and fought their way back to level the scores at 17-17, where the match continued to 20-20, where two clear points were needed to win.  Several huge rallies followed, with the girls eventually claiming victory at 24-22, to win the match 2-0.
Thank you to all who supported the match, raising £66 for Children in Need. See the photos in the gallery.
 

Roman Cooking - 21st November

Would-be Roman cooks gathered in Hayward House to create and eat the Roman banquet which has become a termly tradition of Helicon Classics Club. The menu included something for all tastes, from the honey-smeared comfort food of the pancake-like "Roman toast" - ably rustled up by year 7's, 6's and 5's, to the interesting and tasty "bread salad" and braised green beans made by year 8's and 9's.

The most amazing feature was the discovery that Roman cuisine is a still living tradition, as some particualrly creative year 10 and 11's improvised on an ancient recipe for a spicy herb sauce for dormice (but fear not - they used hard-boiled eggs as stand-ins) to produce a really fantastic new flavour. Thanks to the hospitality and help of Mrs. Grant-Ross, this gastronomic Odyssey was enjoyed by all.

 

 

MFL Society Event - 21st November

Members of the Sixth Form from St Helen’s and Abingdon School met for the final event this term.  St Helen’s hosted a twin-room cinema and pizza evening showing a Spanish and German film; a French and Italian film evening is to be scheduled during the first half of the Lent Term.  The Hispanists enjoyed a classic from renowned director Guillermo del Toro and producer Pedro Almodóvar  – El Espinazo del Diablo – set in an orphanage on the outskirts of Madrid at the end of the civil war.  The Germanists enjoyed Das Inferno –an exciting drama set in Berlin. On Tuesday 29th November from 4.30 – 6pm, all Upper School linguists have been invited to attend a lecture by Professor Mark Allinson on "Interpreting film: Almodóvar and gender".

 

 

Senior Team Maths Challenge Success

Congratulations to Beatrice Allen, Dana Patel, Charlotte Salt and Katya Richards who took part in the Oxfordshire and Surrounding Area Regional Final of the Senior Team Maths Challenge. The girls obtained a high score and managed to finish 9th out of 26 teams. The competition lasted for three hours and was organised by the UK Mathematics Trust - well done girls!

 

Christmas Fair - 19th November

School played host to over 70 stallholders at the 8th St Helen and St Katharine Christmas Fair on Saturday.
It was a very happy occasion with pupils, parents, families and friends all enjoying the chance to browse the gorgeous gifts, sample the delicious food stalls and do some early Christmas shopping.
Our three Young Enterprise teams, Buzzin', Rouge and Retrospect all did a brisk trade on the day and showed, once again, that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive at well at St Helen’s!
Proceeds from this year’s fair will go to two charities Ten for Ten and the Alzheimer’s Society.

Retrospect	Buzzin'	Rouge

 

 

Biology Society Guest Night - 18th November

A group of thirty Upper School girls attended the annual Abingdon School Biology Society Guest Night on Friday. The evening began with a lecture entitled ‘Bioenergy – a green future or just hot air’ by Professor Chris Howe from the department of Biochemistry at Cambridge University. A very clear and engaging speaker, he started by describing the huge increase in global energy demand that is predicted as countries such as India and China become more developed. He then talked through graphs that estimated when we are likely to have exhausted all of our reserves of fossil fuels. He suggested that energy from biological sources could be a feasible solution to this problem and outlined three areas of current research into bioenergy.

The lecture was followed by a buffet supper, during which pupils had the chance to speak to a number of ‘guests’ who work in scientific fields. We hope that these conversations were stimulating in their own right, but also useful leads for organizing work experience placements and in preparing for university interviews.

It was an enjoyable and informative evening for all.
 

Year 5 visit the Oxford Mail - 18th November

Year 5 were greeted by Mr Jeremy Smith, a journalist and features editor of the newspaper. He very kindly showed us around the offices and the tour included seeing the print and distribution area. It was all very interesting and exciting to see articles being put together for the following day’s edition. Everyone was very kind and told us a little about their work on the paper, from the reporters, to the designers and printers. We were even allowed access into the editor’s office, but he was not there. At the end Mr Smith answered questions in a conference room and the girls were presented with Oxford Mail goodie bags.

 

Classics trip to Clytemnestra - 18th November

On Friday night, several Classicists again ventured to the theatre - this time to the Oxford Playhouse, to see a Greek Tragedy. "Clytemnestra" was the title but it was really Aeschylus' play "The Libation Bearers", performed by students at Oxford University in the original Greek. Not only that, but the production was in the style of Japanese Noh theatre, resulting in a mixture of cultures that worked surprisingly well. The actors gave a polished performance and the play overall gave much food for thought. We all had an excellent evening and look forward to our next dramatic outing in the Summer.

 

U15 Aegon Tennis Championships - 17th November

Many, many congratulations to our U15 Aegon Tennis team, who competed in the National Quarter Finals of this prestigious competition.
Alice (Captain), Rebecca, Lizzie and Jemima won the group stage last summer and this term continued to win all of their matches in the knockout stages. Their achievements put them among the top 16 teams in the country, and yesterday we travelled to compete at Bath University. It was a fantastic experience for the girls to be among performers of many sports at such a high level and to see the fantastic facilities. The standard of tennis was incredibly high and the girls played some of their best tennis. Talbot Heath (last year's winners) were put under pressure by our girls, but took the match.

The girls should be very proud of all they have achieved in the competition. It is a fantastic result and we look forward to the future.
Well done, girls!

 

Upper School Theatre Studies Performances - 16th November

Students from St Helen’s and Abingdon School performed four original plays. Each play has been written, directed and performed entirely by the students as part of their A level exam and covered a range of topics, from how Lucifer fell from Heaven to what effects a pill to prolong life would have on society. The diverse selection of characters, puppetry and clever use of lighting and sound gave the audience a lot to think about and respond to in their feedback forms, which will be very useful to the students as they now set about writing their coursework.

 

US2 Radley Conference - 16th November

The 17th annual conference for the Upper Sixth at Radley and St Helen's took place on Wednesday and pupils enjoyed an extremely busy and stimulating programme.  This year's theme was Leadership and our four speakers came from a fascinating range of careers, covering the media - Fru Hazlitt, CEO of ITV online; business - David Richards, founder of Prodrive; sport - Ed Smith, sports journalist and writer and Commodore Jake Moores - Commander of Britannia Royal Naval College.

The afternoon was spent exploring a huge range of different historical figures and debating their styles of leadership. As ever, girls returned to school full of new ideas and having formed several new friendships.

 

Year 10 Printmaking Workshop

Printmaker Janet Lueck (member of Oxford Printmakers' Co-operative) led two very successful printmaking workshops with Year 10 art and design students. In the first session Janet showed the students how to make complex plates to print from using a rich variety of materials - carborundum, pva, sandpaper, wallpaper, mount board to name just a few!
The GCSE students based their designs on coursework they have done this term working to the theme of INSIDE/OUTSIDE. The prints were in black and white and were printed on the two Rolloco presses in the art rooms. Great fun and very inky fingers!

 

Year 5 Cake Sale - 11th November

On Friday the Year 5 class held their first cake sale, with the proceeds going to Children in Need. The cakes were eagerly bought by girls and staff around the school and were all sold before the end of break. In total the class raised £72.83 so many congratulations to them on their hard work. Also, the “Guess how many sweets in a jar” was a big success and the winner will be announced shortly.

 

Radley Conference Debating Dinner - 11th November

The annual Radley/St Helen's debating dinner took place on Friday 11th November and was unanimously agreed to be the most successful in the history of this event.  The topic for the joint conference this year is Leadership and the debate was on the motion 'This House values co-operation above leadership.'  In spite of very spirited argument from our two debaters - Georgina Stockley and Kitty Hutchison - the boys, who proposed the motion, had the easy task and managed to persuade more people of their case.  Lively discussion and argument continued over the most delicious dinner and the level of noise in the refectory suggested that everyone had a most enjoyable evening.  The conference takes place on Wednesday 16th and all of US2 will have the opportunity to explore the issue further.

 

Classics trip to the Watermill – 11th November

On Friday night a brave band of Classicists defied the autumn storms and ventured out to Newbury, to the Watermill Theatre. There the Watermill Young Company (including Harriet Carter, of St Helen's fame) were putting on "The Clodly Light Opera and Drama Society", a play based incredibly loosely on Aristophanes' "Lysistrata". This new comedy was just as outrageously silly and wittily amusing as the original Greek play, though it had the added advantage of being in English, with the jokes updated to the modern world. We all had a thoroughly enjoyable time and were able to pretend that this was a cultural evening as well as a lot of fun.

 

Year 11 Drama Trip - 9th November

Year 11 Drama students went to see the performance of ‘Woyzeck on the Highveld’ at the Oxford Playhouse. The production was put on by Handspring Puppet Company, the South African company who specialise in bringing breathtaking puppets to life on stage and are renowned for their horses in the global smash hit ‘War Horse’. It tells the story of Woyzeck, a man with a troubled mind living in 1950s Johannesburg being driven slowly mad by his unfaithful partner. The combination of acting, puppetry and animation flowed seamlessly, and introduced new ideas and inspiration for Year 11 as they start devising their own pieces.

 

Outstanding Sixth Form Biologist 2011

Alexandra Finch of US2 is the St Helen's winner of the Oxfordshire Independent and State Schools Partnership (OISSP) Sixth Form Biology prize. Alexandra was presented with a book token and certificate at an award ceremony held at Oxford University Museum of Natural History on 10th November. The ceremony was preceded by a tour of the museum and a lecture given by Timothy Walker, the director of the University of Oxford’s Botanic Garden and Arboretum. In his lecture, he explained global initiatives to conserve plant biodiversity, keeping the students, teachers and parents present engaged with his enthusiastic delivery and interesting case studies.
Congratulations Alexandra!
 

AQA Business Studies Conference - 7th November

US1 Business Studies pupils attended an examination conference in Central London on Monday. They gathered vital advice on examination technique and key topics. Celebrity entrepreneur Frazier Docherty highlighted the importance of gaining a wide range of business knowledge and skills, and learning from case studies for what ever career you hope to succeed in.

 

Romanes Lecture - Sheldonian Theatre - 2nd November

A group of sixth form scientists were fortunate to have the opportunity to attend the 2011 University of Oxford Romanes lecture.  The Romanes Lecture is the annual public lecture of the University; a distinguished public figure from the arts, science or literature is invited by special invitation of the Vice-Chancellor. The lecture was created in 1891, following an offer by John Romanes of Christ Church to fund an annual lecture, and the first lecture was given in 1892 by William Gladstone.

This year the speaker was Professor Lord Rees of Ludlow OM FRS; the title of his lecture: 'The Limits of Science'
 

Biology Society Lecture on Brain Development - 1st November

A group of Upper School biologists attended a lecture entitled ‘Brain development – how the body’s most complex organ and the world’s most complex computer wires itself during early development'. The lecture was given by Dr. Jeremy Taylor from Oxford University's department of anatomy, genetics and physiology.
He outlined his research into how cues affect the growth of nerve fibres in the brain and discussed the phenomenon whereby 90% of human neurones cross over to the other side of the body at the top of our spinal cords. This crossing over is found in all other mammals that have been studied with the exception of hyraxes (African rodents), a finding that no scientist has yet been able to explain. Another inexplicable finding was that the auditory and visual abilities of albino people are impaired slightly by their condition. The audience were challenged to become scientists who searched to find explanations for findings such as these.

 

Year 11 Italian Exchange to Novara, Italy - 18-25^th October

Ten girls and two members of staff participated in a cultural and linguistic exchange with the Liceo Classico e Linguistico Carlo Alberto in Novara, near Milan in Northern Italy. The visit was a great success with girls settling in well with their host families, experiencing cultural life and practising their use and comprehension of Italian language. The group enjoyed trips to the Lago Maggiore, Lago d’Orta, Milan and Turin as well as spending time in the Italian school experiencing different styles of teaching and learning. Highlights included the visit to the National Cinema Museum in Turin and climbing up steps to the roof of the cathedral in Milan. The girls settled in well and were a credit to the school showing great positivity, energy and enthusiasm. I’m sure that their comprehension and spoken confidence in Italian will have greatly benefitted from the experience, here’s to the return visit in February!

Spanish Exchange - 19-26 October

A group of year 11 Spanish students from St Helen and St Katharine and boys from Abingdon School spent nine enjoyable days at Colexio Manuel Peleteiro  in Santiago de Compostela in the north-west of Spain. They had the chance to experience Spanish culture in their host families, in school and in and around the beautiful Galician city of Santiago. The group visited La Coruña and INDITEX (fashion firm Zara’s Headquarters), the Torre de Hércules (the oldest lighthouse in the world) and the Aquarium. They also visited the old town of Santiago with a tour of the thirteenth century cathedral and its rooftops, the Sotavento Parque Eólico (wind farm) where research into renewable energy is carried out. We look forward to welcoming the Spanish group in March.

 

Dido and Aeneas - 18/19 October

On Wednesday 18th October, girls from years 10 – 13, in conjunction with St Peter’s College Oxford, gave their first performance of Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell. Through beautiful harmonies accompanied by an authentic baroque band, the opera follows the tragic love story of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and a Trojan prince, Aeneas. The young cast showed an astute maturity in tackling such a musically and theatrically challenging piece.

 

Outstanding Sixth Form Chemist 2011

Joanne Ridgley of US2 is the St Helen's winner of the Oxfordshire Independent and State Schools Partnership (OISSP) Sixth Form Chemist prize.  This prize is awarded in conjunction with the Society of Chemical Industry and is given to an outstanding AS chemist in each school.  Jo was presented with a book token and certificate at an award ceremony held at the University of Oxford Physical Chemistry building on 20th October. The ceremony was followed by a lecture demonstration titled 'The Magic of Chemistry'.

Congratulations Joanne!

 

German Exchange

On 19th October we said sad farewells to our partners from the Ratsgymnasium in Bielefeld, who had been spending ten days with us here in Abingdon.  In addition to attending school, our German friends went on excursions to Portsmouth to see HMS Warrior and HMS Victory, to Warwick Castle and to Stratford-upon-Avon, and of course to Oxford to explore Keble and Christchurch Colleges and to do some final souvenir shopping.  Many thanks go to Lucy Samuel’s parents for organising a party for the group, who soon made firm friends at St Helen’s.  The English girls are now looking forward to our return leg of the exchange, when we shall be travelling to the Ratsgymnasium in Bielefeld in February.

 

U15 Tennis Success

Congratulations go to Alice, Elizabeth, Rebecca and Jemima, their Under 15 tennis team has reached the quarter finals of the National Schools AEGON Team Tennis competition 2011. Their latest win against Stroud High School put them into the last 16 teams in the competition from across Great Britain and they  go on to the South West Quarter Final at Bath University on 17 November – Good luck girls!
	The winning team pictured with the Headmistress, Mrs S Wilson and Mrs A Wilson of the PE Dept.

 

 

STFC School Science Prize

Francesca Welham is the St Helen's winner of the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) school science prize for 2011.
The aim of this prize is to reward achievement and to encourage scientific endeavour.  Each school in Oxfordshre and wider area was invited to nominate a Year 10 pupil who showed interest and success in science over the previous year.  
The prize, a £25 book token and certificate, was presented in a ceremony at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory on Friday evening.  The ceremony was follwed with a talk on 'super intense lasers' by Ceri Brenner.

Many congratulations Francesca!
 

Public Speaking competitions -  13th October

Years 9 and 10 held their annual public speaking competitions on Thursday 13th October and the standard was as high as ever, with an excellent range of topics presented.  The six Year 9 groups were all extremely strong and Mrs Hughes had a very difficult job deciding which team should be our winners.  In the end, she settled on the team presentation on Advertising, consisting of Eleanor Watts as chairperson, Carly McIntosh as main speaker and Alex Baxter giving the vote of thanks.  Book tokens were also awarded to Imogen Potter and Rebecca Chadder for their excellent individual speeches.   In Year 10, Mrs Hughes-Morgan was our judge and she too had a very difficult choice to make.  Everyone was enthralled by Eloise Carey’s speech on ‘Ghost Boy’ and definitely felt she deserved an award for this; the best team prize was then given to 10J ( Brodie Miller, Lizzie Hancock and Heather Conder ) for their very professional and informative presentation on Censorship. Teams will now go on to compete in the Rotary competition later in the year.
 

Year 7 "At Home" - 12th October

Year 7 put on a very entertaining evening of singing, dancing and drama for their parents at their "At Home" evening on Wednesday. In the week leading up to the event, the girls had worked hard in their form groups to compile and edit a form video, which reflected their first few weeks at St Helen's. The films were then shown as part of the evening.After the performance the parents were invited to join the girls and their tutors for refreshments and a wonderful selection of cakes, home-made by the girls.

 

Ten for Ten - 10th October

Monday morning – and the school was awash with Red White and Blue! Students and staff supporting the Ten for Ten initiative to raise £1 million in 10 days for injured soldiers and their families, in recognition of the 10 years the troops have been in Afghanistan. The ever popular cake sale produced, as ever, some wonderful creations, the Ceroc dance class inspired elegance and (occasional!) poise, and Friday’s badminton extravaganza saw staff magnanimously admitting defeat against the superior skills of Alice Atkins and Brodie Miller. The total raised will go to the charities Help for Heroes and ABF The Soldiers Charity. Well done everybody!

 

 

Years 5 Pitt Rivers Trip - 7th October

Year 5 visited The Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, they were taken on a voyage of discovery around The Aztecs and how they may have looked and dressed. By using artefacts from the museum the guide showed us patterns and colours used in Aztec cloth. She also showed the class various statues to suggest the shape and colour of Aztec people’s heads. The Aztecs apparently found head shaping attractive and encouraged babies heads to grow in the shape of corn. The class then had time to complete some work based on the amazing wealth of history that is kept in the museum. It was a truly fascinating afternoon.

 

Year 9 Classics trip to Bath – 5^th October

The whole of Year 9 went to see for themselves the Roman baths where their Latin course this year is set.  They visited the Great Bath, steaming gently, but no longer invitingly, due to its modern-day population of algae, and the spring itself (our “King’s Bath”) bubbling mysteriously and suggesting – to the Roman and Celtic mind – the healing presence of the goddess Sulis Minerva herself.  After exploring the other remains and examining the finds from the site in the newly-refurbished museum, the girls had teaching sessions with local experts and a chance to handle some Roman artefacts for themselves.  Many even fitted in a visit to the legendary (though non-Roman) fudge shop – a useful way to take away the taste of the healing waters themselves, which the girls sampled in the Pump Room.

 

Upper School Art Trip to Italy - 2nd-5th October

Upper School art, art history and Italian AS and A level students travelled to Florence, Siena and San Gimignano for four days to support their studies in art, architecture, language and culture. Highlights of the trip included drawing in the cathedral in Siena, the New Sacristy at San Lorenzo (to work from Michaelangelo’s sculptures), and the Uffizi art gallery for the art students. Art historians were able to see major works of art in situ, such as The Holy Trinity by Masaccio in Santa Maris Novella as well as the Duomo and Baptistry in Florence. Language students visited Dante’s house in Florence for a guided tour and a Contrada museum in Siena. Everyone enjoyed being so immersed in Italian art and culture!

 

St Helen's supports Ten for Ten – 1st - 10th October

St Helen’s pupils have teamed up with soldiers from Dalton Barracks in Abingdon in support of the charity Ten for Ten, a 10 day fundraising appeal to mark 10 years in Afganistan.

The idea for Ten for Ten came from St Helen’s parents, Alix and Marcus Hodge, after Marcus, an artist, was commissioned to accompany the troops to Afghanistan to record what he saw. During his 10 days with them the army suffered some of their worst casualties. Pupils were so moved by the stories of courage and huge sacrifice made by our Armed Forces, their families and children that they decided to join in the national fundraising efforts to try and raise £1 million in the 10 days between 1 st – 10th October 2011. All the money raised will go directly to the two largest military charities, Help for Heroes and ABF The Soldiers’ Charity.

The School’s fundraising events include a red, white and blue dress up day, cake stalls and a whole school dance class!

 

GCSE Drama Performances - 27th and 28th September

Ten GCSE drama groups performed extracts from the play My Mother Said I Never Should by Charlotte Keatley. Each group had worked on four to six scenes or an act and they were presented in sequence over the two days, giving an overview of the play whilst seeing how scenes and characters had been interpreted differently. These performances counted for 30% of their GCSE practical coursework assessment and will enable them to write about the play in their written exam next summer.

 

UK Chemistry Winner

Katerina Johnson of last year's US2 has  been awarded a prize for her A level chemistry project.  Katerina's project is one of the best three Salters projects in the UK and she will be presented with her award at a prize giving ceremony in November.  In her project Katerina extracted and identified a group of pigments called anthocyanins from fruits and vegetables.  She then went on to investigate their properties as natural acid-base indicators. Katerina was supported in her work by her supervisor, Mrs Armstrong as well as by Head of Department Mrs Bell.

Congratulations Katerina!

 

Upper School Theatre Trip - 29th September

US1 and US2 Theatre Studies students, along  with Abingdon School, went to see Kneehigh’s production of The Wild Bride  at the Oxford Playhouse. Based on The Handless Maiden by Brothers Grimm, The Wild Bride used a combination of live bluegrass music and mesmerising  dance to chart a girl’s life from childhood to adulthood. The instinctive  storytelling, fantastic design elements and devilish humour inspired a  wide range of responses from the audience resulting in a highly  successful trip.

 

MFL Society Lecture and Formal Dinner - 26th September

On Monday evening, 88 pupils and staff from St Helen’s and Abingdon School gathered in the Charles Maude Room at Abingdon to mark the European Day of Languages 2011. The evening began with refreshments, an opening speech by the President of the girls’ side of the Society (Alice Sarsfield-Hall), and lecture by Mr George Van den Bergh, founder and director of www.thisislanguage.com. Mr Van den Bergh delighted his audience with a whistle-stop tour of the history of cinema with particular emphasis on the competition that exists between Hollywood and European film-makers, highlighting some of key-players and defining moments along the way.  A ‘Q&A’ session followed the lecture.

We had a delicious three-course meal whilst participating in a ‘name the faces’ quiz.  The atmosphere was very jolly, with both girls and boys commenting on how enjoyable they had found the evening.

 

Art Trip to Oxford - 22 September

To start their GCSE, Yr 10 artists and ceramics students visited Oxford on Thursday to work from the 'Ghost Forest' exhibition outside the Natural History Museum and then went to the Museum of the History of Science to make drawings from the collection.  
After a very full and interesting day, Chris Parkin, Education Officer from the MHS, introduced the group to how they might use the collection further and showed them drawings and prints from the museum’s library that related to what they had been looking at on the topic of Inside/Outside.

 

Girls Go Gold – Conference for Elite Sportswomen - 21st September

Approximately six hundred sportswomen from schools across the country congregated at Edgbaston High School for this year's GSA 'Girls Go Gold Conference'.

Following the Head Mistress’ welcome and introduction, Baroness Sue Campbell, Chair of UK Sport, started proceedings with her keynote speech. The room was spellbound as she gave an inspiring address on how to achieve, weaving into her talk the words of "If I Can Just Believe in Me", one of two songs performed by the EHS Chamber Choir at the start of the day.
The schedule was full, with a constant roundabout of specialised workshops hosted by professional athletes and experts in sports-related fields, such as 'Sport Psychology in Applied Practice', 'Sport Science' and 'Week in the Life of an Elite Student Athlete'.

It was a busy morning of activity, building up to the hotly-anticipated arrival of the special Guest Speaker, Dame Kelly Holmes. Dame Kelly's keynote speech to delegates, wove together clips of her amazing performances at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens into her inspiring speech. It filled the girls with confidence as she spoke of how her love for sport and athletics all started as a young girl at school and how any of them could one day be like her, too. Dame Kelly was incredibly generous with her time and spent a long time answering questions, signing autographs and posing for photos with the girls - footage of the day even made the News!
 

Upper School Geography Fieldwork - 21st September

The US1 Geographers undertook fieldwork on the Hampshire coast at Barton-on-Sea and Hurst Spit. The aims were to develop fieldwork skills and to answer the question “Is Hurst Spit Worth Protecting?” As usual, we were blessed with excellent weather, considering both the Tuesday and the Thursday were wet! The US1s are now up to their eyes in data analysis, methodologies and write-ups.

 

Animazing! - 21st September

On Wednesday 21st September each Year 7 form had a session with Steve Bridger from 'Animazing'. The girls were shown a wide variety of animals and heard about their adaptations and lifestyles. This fitted in well with the classification topic that they are currently studying in biology. Judging by the excited squeals and beaming smiles, the highlight of the experience for the girls was when they were given the opportunity to handle the animals. The three baby albino hedgehogs were loved by all as was the (thankfully) descented skunk. Some girls were even brave enough to have a cockroach climb on them and a python round their shoulders!   
 

Biology Society Lecture - 20th September

A group of about twenty Upper School biologists attended a lecture entitled 'Malaria - a fateful scourge?' at Abingdon School. The lecture was given by Dr. Kirk Rockett from Oxford University's Welcome Centre for Human Genetics. He outlined the history of the disease, its course of infection and the devastating effects that, even today, it has throughout tropical regions world over. With resistance to antimalarial drugs such as chloroquine and paludrine now very common, research into the development of new drugs and other methods of treatment and prevention is critical. Dr. Rockett outlined the exciting research that his group, together with partners in a wide variety of countries, are doing to to investigate genetic polymorhpisms associated with malarial resistance. It is hoped that this will lead to a significant reduction in the incidence of malaria in the future.    
 

"Blue on Blue" - 9th September

Last Friday saw a performance of a very special nature take place in St.Helen's Studio Theatre, as for the first time ever in the history of the school, Drama staff combined with a handful of last year's leavers and current sixth form drama students performed a 'rehearsed reading' of a new play by Charly Clive. "Blue On Blue" was a dense and intricately-plotted study of the machinations of War, its role as a commodity and a business and how it personally affects the myriad of people it touches. This mature and absorbing work played to a sold-out audience and an assured and eloquent question and answer session by the writer followed the event.

 

Outstanding GCSEs complete a record year for St Helen’s - 25th August

Pupils and staff are celebrating another set of outstanding GCSE exam results. 92% of entries were awarded A* or A, 69% A* and 72 pupils, 87% of the year group, obtained 8 or more A*/A grades.

69 % A* grade
92% A*/A grades
99% A*/A and B grades

87% of year group obtained 8 or more A or A* grades
44% of the year group obtained 9 or more A* grades
      
Headmistress Rowan Edbrooke said:
“Congratulations to all our pupils and staff on the latest GCSE results. They are the result of outstanding teaching and the talent and hard work of all our pupils. An impressive 9 out of 10 entries were awarded A*/A and, in 8 subjects, 100% of entries were awarded A*/A including Chemistry, Music and Italian, illustrating strength across a wide range of subjects. We believe in teaching above and beyond the curriculum, offering every girl the opportunity to extend and challenge themselves and this year’s GCSE results clearly illustrate the strength and depth throughout the school. Very well done to every one!”
 

 

Record A Level results.... again! - 18th August

100% pass rate at A Level
39% A* grade
82% A* or A grades
92% A*, A or B grades

54 candidates (over 66% of year group) obtained 3 or more A* or A grades
14 candidates obtained 3,4 or 5 A* grades
 

Headmistress Rowan Edbrooke said:
“Our latest record A level results are a credit to our pupils and staff. We believe in teaching above and beyond the curriculum, offering every girl the opportunity to extend and challenge themselves, developing their wider learning and interests. Our consistently high number of A and A*s at A level is a reflection of this approach in action and is a testament to the quality of teaching and the hard work of everyone involved – they are richly deserved.”