Mr Bevis' Words Autumn Term Week 9
I guess the highlight of my week was when I returned from the ISA Autumn Study conference to attend our Senior School production “A Night at the Movies”. What a joyous performance that was and I was delighted to see that we had twenty seven performers from Senior Girls. My congratulations to all of them, our wonderful Sixth Formers and not forgetting the Senior Boys. My thanks to the staff involved - Miss Goodsell, Mrs Warren and of course the director/producer Mrs Olivier.
I enjoyed meeting Year 10 parents at the Parents Evening on Wednesday of this week and to hear that GCSE studies have got off to a great start. It also seems to me that parents are providing just the right blend of prodding encouragement and......... food! Our challenge is to work with you to ensure that our pupils work consistently, independently but without over focussing on only this aspect of school life. It was great to see so many Year 10s engaged in the production and maintaining their creative lives.
On the drama theme I attended the Year 11 GCSE Devised Piece performance. This is where they have to script, stage and perform their own group pieces. I was most impressed with the physicality of their work along with some of the challenging themes, including Alzheimer's, that they took on. I am sure they will have gained great marks and congratulations to all of them.
Some excellent sport results with our Under 14s defeating LVS and The Marist, and under 12s winning against Newlands. The Under 13s achieved a very creditable 5th place at the ISA London West Netball Championships, just missing out on a place at the national finals. The Under 12s came sixth which bodes very well for next year. Their strength was really evident when the Under 12 B team won their latest RBWM tournament by defeating Trevelyan, Holyport, St Peters and our own C team, who came 2nd. What fantastic strength in depth from this year group. In tennis we are nervously awaiting the results for our attempt to get to the National Finals.....
This has been national Anti- Bullying week and on Tuesday Year 11 lead a presentation on bullying that took ‘Power for Good’ as their theme. They reminded all of us to find our voices and perhaps most importantly to not be a bystander, because if you are a passive, you are complicit.
I am looking forward to seeing Year 8 and their parents on Monday at the Parents Evening which will start at 6pm. I know that many Year 11s and their parents will be attending the Sixth Form Open Evening on Thursday. For those who love music do please come to the Senior Girls Autumn Concert on Wednesday when some of our great musicians and singers will be on show.
It seems that our government has at long last woken up to the dearth of music in many schools, as a result of funding cutbacks and the deliberate narrowing of the GCSE curriculum diet. They have recently announced continued support for local music hubs - https://goo.gl/3MvScn. But frankly unless you are prepared to insist that music remains on offer to all children via a school curriculum and extra curricular programme it will wither on the vine. So whether your daughter is performing or not please come along and support.
I am also asking for your support in ensuring that your daughters are adhering to our uniform and dress guidelines. We are seeing an increase in the use of nail polish, false nails, make-up, and incorrect shoes and I have asked staff to be vigilant and to report any infractions. I appreciate that such things are often a bone of contention at home but your support is very welcome.
So I’m now off to the PTA ‘Fright Nite’ our Junior Disco.... and a night of great fun ensues. I look forward to seeing you many of you next week and please have a great weekend.
Where words fail, music speaks. Hans Christian Andersen
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