St George’s Ascot News

Issue 26, 13^th February 2009

With the public and mock exams now over, school expected, after Exeat, to return to its usual routine. However the winter weather delayed “normality” with the regular after tea activities being cancelled in favour of snowball fights, snow men making and impromptu sledging (mostly on dining room trays). Thank you parents for getting day girls in and fitting in with the change of afternoon pick up times. It made a change to see day girls NOT wanting to be collected on time! Hopefully “normal service” is now resumed, and the second half of term will be as planned. I hope you all have a lovely Half Term.

SINGING WITHOUT THEIR SUPPER

The Governors’ Dinner for 4^th Year Parents was a lovely occasion with informal chat over a delicious meal. A memorable highlight for many was the delightful musical interlude provided by Polly, Lydia and Claudia.

PARIS

Over 2 000 Economics and Politics students from all over Great Britain descended on Paris for the weekend in order to go to the Your Future in Europe schools’ conference. Chaired with predictable humour by John Sergeant, all the talks were educational and memorable. The only complaint was that the talk by the MD of GÜ puddings didn’t involve any free samples. Free time activities included visiting the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d’Orsay, Montmartre, the Latin Quarter and, of course, shopping, not to mention lots of time spent eating crepes and drinking hot chocolate in warm cafes. There was a lot of travel on the metro, which always involved many changes of lines, but this was all part of the adventure. The staff became experts at squeezing 4 girls into the space of 3, then shouting information about where to get off to the whole squashed carriage, and finally trying to bodily hold the doors open until all the girls were off the tube.

THE MORE IT SNOWS…… If you thought school was closed on Monday 2^nd February, you were wrong. The wonderful snowy weather conditions meant that day girls and most staff couldn’t get in and out of school safely, so they were advised to stay at home. However for well over 100 girls school is home. With a skeleton staff of SMT, housemistresses and resident tutors we came up with a timetable of activities that included cookery, drama, board games, art and sport. We also allowed time to fully enjoy the snow, and screams of enjoyment came from all around.

OUR HEROES A huge thank you goes to the gentlemen in the works department. During the recent severe weather they were out very early in the morning to help to assess the situation, and then they set to work, whilst many of us were still in our pyjamas, to get the paths and Quad cleared of snow and ice. As we have struggled into school, we have all appreciated their unfailingly cheerful greetings and their well tended blazing log fire in the Main Hall.

ART DEPARTMENT We would like to congratulate Mi Soo and Sophia for gaining places at Chelsea College of Art for Foundation Art and Design.  Chelsea is the oldest established Art School in London with an excellent reputation and the competition for places is fierce. We are currently holding an exhibition of works from years 1, 2 and 3 (hopefully our future Chelsea students), including both painting and sculpture

Mi Soo

Sophia

HALF TERM CONCERT Girls from all Years performed in an evening of musical treats. It was a varied programme with orchestra, string group, 1st Year and Chapel Choirs, solo piano, flute, saxophone, violin and singing. For six of the performers, it was an opportunity to practise pieces for their forthcoming Grade 8 exams. We hope their examiners are as impressed as we were. We wish them, and all those taking music exams, the best of luck.

FRIENDS’ OF ST GEORGE’S COFFEE MORNING: REWARDS AND SANCTIONS We all reward, punish and praise our children, but are you confident that you’re doing it the right way? This question was tackled by Ms Masters on Wednesday at the Friends of St George’s coffee morning.

UPPER SIXTH BOARDERS TRIP TO SEE GREASE On the first closed weekend of term, despite the cold and snow, the U6^th boarders made their way up to London, to the Piccadilly Theatre to see Grease! Before the matinee performance we were able to have a wander around Regents Street, with some people indulging more than they should! We were all huge fans of Grease from seeing the film version, and it was even better on stage. Thanks staff for taking us. Fran

Mother with vaccination record card

MUFTI DAY IN AID OF UNICEF Mufti Day this term was held on Thursday February 5^th. The girls raised money for the education and support of poor children in Papua New Guinea through UNICEF.

L6^th YOUNG ENTERPRISE GROUP – STAMPT Our Young Enterprise group is called STAMPT and as our product we decided to create a range of t-shirts featuring popular or comical slogans. We have been selling our t-shirts at lunch breaks and tea breaks and had a further sale at the Bracknell trade fair. Young Enterprise has been an incredible experience where the whole team has learnt how to time manage, work alongside people they would not usually be with and hold responsibility within their section of the company. I speak for the whole STAMPT team when I say we have all enjoyed the experience of running our own company. We have not only learnt a lot about one another but also about ourselves and the world of business. Charlotte

ECLIPSE Our company produces customised plimsolls. It has been a really useful and fun experience for all of us especially because we have been able to work with people outside of our friendship groups. We've held several fundraisers, including a car wash and sweet sales. Our 'slave auction' was particularly popular with the 1^st and 2^nd Year. We are well on our way to making a profit! The Trade Fair in Bracknell gave us an opportunity to sell shoes to people from outside school. It was very interesting to take a look at what other Young Enterprise groups had done and take a look at our competition! Arianna

4^TH YEAR RIPPER WALK The 4^th Year History group enjoyed the experience of this night time trip and as Queenie explained, ‘The Ripper Walk was very helpful as now we can put a picture to the sources we have been studying’. Other girl’s impressions below…. “Night fell across Whitechapel and evidence that was hidden in the daylight became clear in the dimly lit alleys and streets. The hollow winds of Jack the Ripper’s time whistled through the schoolgirls’ coats and pictures of Whitechapel in 1888 ran across the streets and rang in the church bells.” Lucy “The Ripper Walk consisted of several locations where Jack the Ripper’s victims had been discovered. The eerie darkness added to the atmosphere and aided our understanding of what happened. Even today the dark alleys still hold the feeling of mystery. We stopped outside the Ten Bells Pub, which was the last place all the women drank before they were found, mutilated.” Fabienne “We learned that the Whitechapel of about 120 years ago was a very crowded, cheap area with many alleyways where no more than two people could stand side by side comfortably. It is likely that as many as five prostitutes were probably murdered in the alley we were in.” Queenie

CRIME SQUAD

Incident Board

Bomb Disposal

Victim Rescued

“I loved the bomb disposal because it was challenging” Lily “It was great” Jessica “It was very challenging. You had to use your head.” Kai Rui “The bomb game was fun because it was tense” Violet “It was very interesting and I’d do it again” Louise “Some of the challenges were really demanding but everyone worked really hard and we all got through it in the end” Lauren Murder, bombs, kidnap and robbers… It was very exciting at St George’s on Saturday 7^th February as girls took part in Crime Squad! This enrichment day involved 4 teams working against each other to solve a murder, rescue a kidnapped baby gorilla, try to outwit each other in a cunning game of cops and robbers and break the codes in order to defuse a bomb. It was lots of fun but there were serious learning goals behind the games.

WELCOME THOMAS! Congratulations to Mrs Rowe, of our Science Department, on the birth of her baby son, Thomas James. It was an exciting but slightly anxious time for Mrs Rowe and her husband, who had been snowed in at home when the baby was due. Sensibly Thomas decided to wait until the 4^th of February to be born, when travel was a bit easier. We would also like to extend every best wish to Mrs Welsh who has gone on maternity leave; we hope all goes well over the next few weeks and that we will be able to report on baby Welsh's safe arrival in our end of term edition.