World Book Day is next Thursday 5 March and during library lessons next week the pupils will be giving 'chapter and verse' to our Librarian, Mrs Copeman! Year 7 girls received their delivery of bookmarks handcrafted by students from the Delhi World Public School in India. The bookmarks were received as part of the International School Library Bookmark Exchange Programme, which involves schools making homemade bookmarks to post to their partner school abroad. Mrs Copeman informs me that the books and biscuits are back as Senior Book Club relaunched this week; bigger and better! 

We were also pleased to report that many of our books which were hidden around the borough over half term to kick off ‘World Book Day’ have been found by local residents and their families.

Congratulations to Elise, Year 7, who has achieved her accelerated reader bronze star book point award and I will be presenting her with a Head Teacher Certificate in assembly on Monday. 

It was good to welcome the Year 11 parents this week, and I do hope that you have found the guidance given helpful and supportive, as they prepare for their final few weeks. Girls will be receiving their Maths GCSE results next week on Thursday 5 March, outcomes from which will of course permit some further discussions to the final few weeks scheduled thereafter. 

Mrs Rogers Head of Sixth Form took the opportunity to speak to parents about the further opportunities in the Sixth Form and the great UCAS outcomes we had this year - offers from Cambridge, Harvard and twenty five from Russell Group Universities with a further 25 unconditional offers. A fantastic achievement from our broad ability cohort. 

Our proven teaching quality at this top level is matched with the strong relationships pupils have formed both with our teachers and also with our way of working, our close support and our strong adherence to our values, which inevitably place your children at the forefront of our thinking. The co-educational approach is a vital part in the mix, and where our intake is enriched not just from our own girls division but from the range of girls’ high schools around which don’t have a co-educational offer.

Year 10 and 11 artists visited the Stanley Spencer Gallery on Wednesday to view an exhibition entitled 'Painting by the Thames'. The trip fitted in perfectly with the Year 10s 'my world' project and the Year 11's 'event' exam project. Pupil were taken on a tour around Cookham, looking at the sites where Spencer painted and were given a very informative talk on Spencers' life and work by previous Claires Court Head of Art, Jan Price. The other half of the day was spent in the Art room reproducing paintings by Spencer that can be used as research for their projects. It was a very productive and enjoyable day and pupil managed to produce a large amount of work in one day!

We wish Year 7 pupils Emily and Ellie all the best with their entries for the Shakespeare ISA Monologue competition. Emily performed an extract from ‘King Lear’ and Ellie ‘A Midsummer Night's dream’. 

Next Friday we are holding an Open Morning for prospective parents and their daughters. As ever an opportunity to see us at work in lessons; teachers and pupils working together. 

‘The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.’ Dr. Seuss