Head’s LinesDear Readers,Traditionally, the Spring Term is the shortest in the academic calendar, and it is often the most intense, as we try to fit in a huge amount of teaching and learning, and extra-curricular activities into relatively few weeks. This Spring Term has been two weeks longer than usual, due to the exceptionally late date of Easter this year but there has definitely been no slackening of the pace! The term began with the Entrance Examinations and much of my diary in late January and early February was given over to interviewing, with senior colleagues, around 170 prospective 11+ pupils who had performed well in the written tests. In recent weeks I have been interviewing, again with senior colleagues, numerous applicants for places in our Sixth Form and it is good to know that so many young women aspire to complete their secondary education at Withington. It was lovely to meet all the girls and their parents, and I am pleased to say that numbers for September 2011 are extremely healthy despite the impact of the economic climate on many families. It has been absolutely wonderful to be able to offer life-changing opportunities to some very able girls whose families’ financial circumstances mean that they would otherwise not be able to come to Withington. The successful completion in January of the WGS 100 Plus Appeal has helped to secure the funding of this means-tested bursary provision and I do thank most sincerely all those who contributed.I have been delighted to have the opportunity to meet so many parents of girls currently in the school, whether at the Lower Sixth Presentation Evening in January, at one of the four Parents’ Evenings or either of the meetings of the Parents’ Association that I have attended this term or, indeed, at social events like the Spring Fair. I have also met dozens of parents on a one-to-one basis for a variety of reasons this term, and read hundreds of reports for girls in Upper II, Third Form and Lower V. One of the highlights of my week recently has been to teach a Lower Sixth General Studies module on the UK political process and the role of the monarchy. All of these different activities are giving me opportunities to get to know the girls better, and I look forward to continuing the process next term. Continued on Pg 2.

APRIL 2011Editor: Mr Ray KingTel: 07768 022 082

Joseph Triumphs!Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the School’s biggest and most ambitious musical theatre production for a number of years, proved a huge hit with audiences and a triumph for all those who took part.

Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s vibrant musical was performed for an invited audience of local primary schools and senior citizens at a matinee performance on Monday 7th March and on the evenings of the 7th, 8th and 9th March for an audience of parents, fellow pupils and friends.

The production, months in the casting, planning and rehearsing, involved a cast of more than

200 girls from the Sixth Form, Senior and Junior Schools and virtually everyone in the design and production of costumes, props and scenery.

Continued with more pictures on the centre pages.

The new food service introduced in the week after February half term has been universally praised by pupils and staff. Mrs Cartledge and the catering team have earned the admiration and thanks of all who have enjoyed the sheer variety, quality and freshness of the food on offer.

Prepared from fresh, nutritious ingredients, lunch now features four classic main and ‘green’ meat-free choices and a hot or cold pudding. The new Market Table loaded each day with colourful fresh salads and cut fruit has proved to be a huge hit with the girls. And they LOVE the puddings, especially the homemade yogurts and mousses with toppings, brownies and cupcakes!

The new puddings, cakes and biscuits are made by new Pastry Chef, Mr Dominique Schickele. Using only fresh ingredients – no premixes – Mr Schickele also bakes a delicious range of fresh breads for lunch time each day. He has also made some wonderful chocolate Easter eggs which Junior School pupils raffled to raise funds for charity.

Almost universally students in all Years say they think the new service is ‘amazing’ and that it’s fantastic having more choice.

Food Glorious Food!

I look forward to lunch much more than I used to.

It’s more social and I spend more time having lunch now.

Hannah in Upper Sixth

Now I’m having salads, and hot food. I used to only eat pasta,

now I eat veggies and other things. It all looks really nice.

The people who are making the food have got it just right!

Tamara in Upper II

Continued from the front page.During this busy time I was also called up for Inspection duty and spent a very interesting and informative few days as part of a small team inspecting St Paul’s Girls’ School in London. This famous establishment is a very similar school to Withington in many ways, and it was fascinating to have the chance to spend some time there, looking at how and what they teach, as well as learning how the new Inspection regime operates in practice. As Withington is due for an Inspection at any time now, this was extremely valuable experience which I will be sharing with the staff on our forthcoming INSET day. As you will learn from the articles in this edition of the Bulletin, the girls have had an absolutely fantastic term! Who will ever forget the marvellous whole-school production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat? (It was so good I saw it twice!) More recently, I witnessed the Lower Sixth production of Anouilh’s Antigone and Lower Fifth devised response to Euripides’ The Bacchae. Both of these drama performances were beautifully staged and the girls’ performances were extremely moving. I have also been delighted to attend an Informal Concert for flute and guitar which blended the talents of girls of all ages and levels of experience, and also the Spring Concert which featured an astonishing range of musical talent. The Gym Display in February was a truly inspiring evening as the girls performed with such joie de vivre and a real sense of pride in each other’s accomplishments. I was also proud to be asked to open the Latin and Greek Reading Competition which was held here at Withington, and in which so many of our own students excelled! One of my enduring memories from this term is of the poise and confidence with which 10 year old Sasha Geim (Upper II) told the whole school in Assembly about her father’s Nobel Prize for Physics, and the experience of going with him and her mother to Stockholm, to see him receive his award from the King of Sweden!There are school trips going out this holiday to Russia, Barcelona and France and I wish the staff and girls involved safe travel, and happy and memorable experiences.A separate letter to current parents will accompany this Bulletin and key dates for next term are given on the back page of this Bulletin.I would like to send you all my very best wishes for a peaceful and happy holiday at Easter.

Mrs. S. E. Marks, Headmistress

Geography In ActionWorkshopLinks established by Mrs Julie Buckley between Withington and the Education Department of Manchester University brought 25 Geography PGCE students to School to take part in a twilight workshop.

The after school session, attended by 25 geographers from the Lower and Upper Sixth, provided almost a one-to-one class and centred on the statistical analysis of various data.

ManchesterUpper Fourth geographers embarked on a fieldtrip aimed at discovering more about the commercial and residential regeneration of Manchester City Centre in recent times. Cloud 23 high up in the Beetham Tower gave us an impressive view of the mixture of old Victorian Manchester and the clean lines of modern developments such as Spinningfields. We also employed a new technique – ethnography – where we used all our senses to gather empirical data on the bohemian society and culture of the Northern Quarter.

Environmental assessments, land-use mapping, sketching and interviewing the public gave the girls insight into the residential and commercial areas of the city. By the end of the day girls gained a much deeper understanding of why people are moving back to live in Manchester City Centre.

CastletonThe Third Form trip to Castleton on 28th March was blessed with glorious weather this year. Nearly 90 girls were able to sit on top of Mam Tor looking down on the valley where they could sketch the view and identify the small village nestling alongside the steep limestone cliffs. They were able to appreciate the site and situation of the village as well as the stunning physical characteristics of the limestone scenery, all bathed in lovely sunshine.

Trips down the Blue John and Treak Cliff Caverns revealed an underground landscape of stalactites and stalagmites and helped the girls to appreciate the debate about whether St Winnat’s Pass may once have been a huge underground cavern!

Once in the village observations, environmental assessments and asking the public to complete questionnaires helped pupils to understand the many reasons why limestone landscapes attract tourists. They returned to Manchester with a much greater sense of appreciation for this unique environment so near to our city.

Warm WelcomeMiss Amanda Phillips

Miss Phillips has joined the Mathematics Department from the Manchester Creative and Media Academy in Moston, where she taught Science and Mathematics. Bradford-born

Miss Phillips is a graduate in Mathematics and Chemistry from the University of Durham and spent eight months travelling the world after graduation. En route she stopped off to teach for two months in South Africa and for a short time in Nepal. A Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award winner herself, she is looking forward to becoming involved in the D of E programme at Withington.

Mr Dominique Schickele

Mr Schickele has been appointed as the School’s very own Pastry Chef as part of the transformation of Withington’s food service. He hails from Strasbourg in the French region of

Alsace and trained at Le Notre, one of the best cookery schools in Paris.

Since coming to Britain he has worked in hotels all over the country including the five-star Lanesborough in London and he was in charge of patisserie when Selfridges opened their first store outside the capital in the Trafford Centre.

Mr Schickele said: “I have never worked in a school before, so it was a bit of a challenge at first – I am not used to working in such a small kitchen – but I love it, it’s great.”

D of E ExpeditionsThe second Duke of Edinburgh Award programme Bronze training walk from Marple to Hayfield took place on Sunday 13th February. Fifty-three Year 10 girls started off in very wet weather that got steadily worse.

The exercise was not a race because teams plan different routes, but the first groups in were Never Eat Shredded Wheat and Accidently Went Backwards - all muddy, but most finishing fairly cheerful.

The Upper Fifth Silver practice walk went ahead on 20th March; all the participants worked hard to improve their knowledge of map and compass navigation. The Lower Fifth Bronze practice expedition took place on Sunday-Monday, 3rd-4th April.

Read on...The Library has a new management system, Eclipse, produced by Stockport-based company Microlibrarian. Yes, it will make life easier for the Librarians, Mrs Wells and Mrs Sutton, but more importantly, because it is web-based, the software incorporates more interactive content.

Initially, girls will be able to search the Library catalogue from any computer in school. Later on, they will be able to check their accounts, reserve books, read and write reviews and keep an eye on changing items such as Library News and Book of the Week.

Pictured, right, is a facsimile of the home page of the system.

Blind Date with a Book!Valentine’s Day this year was celebrated in the Library by offering girls a ‘blind date’ with a book. A steady flow of girls visited the Library and took the chance of borrowing a mystery-wrapped book chosen by the librarians.

When they returned their books they answered a few questions about their experience of Blind Date and, since then, many had decided to go on a return date with ‘their’ author!

Some girls wrote book reviews of their choice to enter a competition to win an Amazon gift certificate.

Sitara Bartle of IIIX won the competition for her review of River Boy by Tim Bowler.

Informal Recitals Two Informal Recital evenings were staged this term. The first, on 10th February, was led by Julie Murray (flute) and Peter Batchelar (guitar). The Arts Centre was set out cafe style and the pupils performed around the tables, decorated with flowers and tea lights, which all contributed to a wonderful relaxed ambience. Pupils from the Junior School through to the Sixth Form performed solos and ensembles for an audience of family, friends and staff.

Director of Music, Mrs Gillian Sargent, said: “The two most striking things about the evening were that the girls accompanied each other; guitar pupils accompanying flautists with such poise and confidence - a massive achievement - and how lovely it was to see such a varied age range within these performances, for example, a Lower II pupil being accompanied by a girl in Lower Sixth. It really was a fantastic evening of music with a delightful programme rounded off by an inspiring performance by Julie and Peter.”

The second concert on 24th March, showcased flute and piano, led this time by Nichola Hunter (flute) and Simon Leach (piano). The age range of the performers, as for the earlier concert, was from seven to eighteen. It featured 15 flute and four piano solo performances ranging through traditional, classical and jazz.

At the car wash...Withington’s 14-strong World Challenge team have been raising funds for their forthcoming expedition to Tanzania and Mount Kilimanjaro in the summer by operating a car wash.

Their ‘soap opera’ ran in the staff car park at the School every lunch time between 28th March and 8th April. Charges were £4 for an outside wash for small cars and £6 for large and £8 and £10 respectively for an inside and outside valet - an absolute bargain!

Two compelling extracts from Diane Samuels’ play Kindertransport kicked off a very busy season of activity for the School’s Drama Department in January. Year 10 Drama students performed their pieces to the entire Year group and then participated in an insightful question and answer session with their teachers and peers, exploring the challenging themes and ideas of the work.

This was followed by the LAMDA Senior Showcase on February 1st. Seventeen girls from Year 10 onwards performed extracts from modern and classical dramatists for Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals. Now a well established extra-curricular pursuit, the LAMDA programme has proved complementary to the GCSE and A-level syllabuses.

Head of Drama Mrs Jen Baylis said: “LAMDA supports the curriculum work very well. You can see the girls incorporating the skills they have learned in LAMDA lessons and it has raised the level of achievement at all Key Stages in the School.”

On 9th February 20 Withington Drama and English students attended a talk at Manchester Grammar School given by one of Britain’s leading theatre directors, MGS former pupil Nick Hytner, before seeing his production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet at the Lowry Arts Centre, Salford, the following day.

On 15th February Withington’s Drama Department teamed up with MGS for an extra-curricular joint project based on Jim Cartwright’s Bed. Bolton-born Cartwright’s play features seven elderly people sharing a vast bed, to dream, remember and reflect on a long past. The production also gave two girls, Rebecca Stockton and Laura Clayson a chance to try their hand at directing as well as acting.

Next up on 29th March was the AS Examination piece, Antigone. The production explored the central conflict between two antagonists and was presented ‘in the round’ using a stark black and white set and minimal lighting.

On 31st March the Lower Fifth GCSE Drama class presented Unleashed, a devised piece conceived in response to the questions posed by the ancient Greek play, The Bacchae, by Euripides. The girls used a variety of physical theatre techniques which reflected the different moods within it.

As we go to press the Upper Fifth GCSE Drama group are in rehearsals for the final presentation of Examination practical work to be performed on 5th April. The play When She Was Bad is linked to the theme of monsters and monstrosity. Having studied the way these concepts are treated in literature the girls have devised a series of pieces using a range of dramatic techniques to explore the stories and communicate their ideas.

In addition to this series of multiple Studio productions and of course, Joseph in the Arts Centre, many WGS pupils have been involved in the Manchester Grammar School production of Bugsy Malone.

Dramatic Goings On

Greyhound AssemblyMiss Davies’ greyhound, Flashie, was the star of an Assembly in January. After learning a little about the history of greyhounds as a breed, greyhound racing and the Retired Greyhound Trust, the girls were able to meet an ex-racing greyhound in the flesh.

Flashie did not have the most successful racing career, but she has been a fantastic pet for the last six years. Greyhounds are notably calm and friendly and Flashie demonstrated this perfectly, while being more than happy to be stroked by over eighty Junior School girls.

Eco WarriorsBig Schools’ BirdwatchFor the second year running, the Junior School took part in the RSPB’s Big Schools’ Birdwatch. The Outdoor Club, from Upper II, have been helping to keep the birds supplied with food in the trees at the bottom of the field and small groups took turns to watch between 8.15 and 9.15am. They saw numerous species of birds and reported back to the RSPB.

Endangered AnimalsLater in the term the Junior members of Eco warriors were busy again. The group wanted to sponsor an endangered animal so six groups of girls from UII prepared a short presentation for Junior School Assembly on their chosen animal. They asked the girls to vote for their favourite; the animals were leopard, pandas, orangutans, cheetah, polar bears and tigers. They all presented a good case (with lots of pictures of fluffy animals!) but the winner was the Polar Bear, whose case was presented in a very entertaining fashion by Tamara Kwartz and Hannah Wolowacz. The next job is to come up with ideas of how to raise the funds to pay for the sponsorship. Watch this space!

Farewell to Poet David HornerDavid Horner, the Junior School’s favourite poet, came for a two-day series of workshops with each of the Junior year groups.

From his introductory Assembly to the final farewell ‘get together’, he constantly inspired the girls to produce amazingly creative poems in his very own inimitable style!

The Transitioners went to the moon; Form I produced ‘can’t poems’ and colour riddles; Lower II took on surrealism and Upper II did ‘twice upon a time ... ‘ Great fun was had by all and, in between periods of busyness, there was lots of laughter.

Sadly, because he is retiring this year, this was David’s last visit to Withington. Thank you, David, for the many years of enjoyable and hilarious days you have shared with us and we wish you health and happiness in the future.

Birds of Prey visit the JuniorsOn the 17th February the Junior School had a visit from the Welsh Birds of Prey Centre. As we entered the room we were stunned into silence by the beauty of these creatures. There were birds such as eagle owls, snowy owls, falcons and many more.

Two lucky people from each class were able to hold the birds; it was an experience of a lifetime for them. Anam, from Upper II, was one of these lucky people and she said, “The eagle owl, which I held, was not as light as I thought it would be, but I was too astounded by its beauty to think about that. The man, who was called Mike, put a very thick glove on the person’s left hand. This glove was to protect your hand from the sharp talons which are used for hunting their prey. He then instructed them to hold out their left hand in a fist and then with their right hand clasp it from underneath. After that the bird would perch itself upon the hand and pose for the camera. Everyone had a wonderful time and it was very memorable.” By Chantelle and Sasha

Amazing Joseph!Every girl in the Junior School had the chance to perform in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Transition were naturals in their roles as angels while Form I danced as sheaves of corn and golden stars. Lower II and Upper II sang in the choir adding their voices to those of the Senior girls.

AJIS Netball Plate Winners!On 17th March 2011, ten Upper II girls played in the annual AJIS Netball Tournament held at Stockport Grammar School.

The squad played brilliantly in the group matches, losing only one game against the eventual trophy winners. They finished second in the group stage taking them on to play in a ‘round robin’ tournament against the other groups’ second-placed teams.

An excellent performance by all girls resulted in WGS winning the plate on goal difference. Having lost only two games throughout the whole day the team was a true credit to the School.

WELL DONE! Mrs Jayne Lane, Netball Coach

Overnight Trip to EdaleOn Thursday and Friday, 17th and 18th March Transition and Form l enjoyed an exciting adventure to The Peak Centre, a residential childrens’ activity centre in Edale, Derbyshire.

With bags as big as themselves and teddies in tow, the two youngest year groups in the School descended on calm and beautiful Edale. As we arrived, the girls unpacked in their dormitories and the first activity of bed making began. Following this, the girls took part in puppet making, outdoor activities, circus skills and fencing. It was a fabulous two days and the girls can’t wait to go away again with School.

Junior FencingFencing coaching provided by Coach Robert Kiss has been part of the Junior extra-curricular physical exercise programme for almost eight years giving many girls the chance to participate in this thrilling and heroic sport. We were delighted to hear that Mr Kiss has recently won the National Veterans Championship. His impressive resume includes two Olympic Games in 1996 and 1992. He has also been Hungary National Champion no less than seven times.

Tennis AssemblyNew extra-curricular Tennis Coach James Oliver came to talk to the Juniors in Assembly on 10th February. He talked about his love of the game and how he came to be a tennis coach. He showed some video-clips of Andy Murray playing at his best then some of the girls had a try at some tennis exercises with racquet and ball. James has run indoor mini-tennis sessions during the Spring Term and is all set to begin outdoor tennis coaching after school on Tuesdays in the Summer Term. Bring on the sunshine!

Book FairThe Book Fair visited the Juniors for the week beginning 28th March. Our Book Fair representative told the Junior girls about all the new books on offer and also reminded them about the old favourites. The Fair opened every lunchtime and during the PTA Spring Fair. As always, the Book fair stimulated much discussion about favourite books and how much Junior girls love reading.

A Very Happy Visit!The Juniors welcomed a very famous celebrity on Wednesday 30th March – ‘Mr Happy’ himself spent a few hours with the girls.

He was on his way from John O’ Groats to Land’s End, running the entire 874 miles in aid of Leukaemia research. Senior girls were bemused to see Mr Happy wandering the corridors with a troop of Junior girls in tow and many stopped to stare!

Mr Happy told the girls all about his run and that he will shortly be running the London Marathon along with his friend Mr Bump, Mr Tickle and a few other friends. He will be half way through his challenge when he reaches Congleton. The Juniors were inspired do some fundraising for Children with Leukaemia, a national charity dedicated to wiping out childhood Leukaemia. Upper II will begin the campaign by selling Little Miss books that they have written and illustrated themselves. The Juniors all wished Mr Happy good luck in the second half of his run. Anyone can keep up with his progress by visiting his website: www.mrhappyrunsbritain.org

Weekend at WinmarleighFrom directing a robot, to reaching the target on the climbing wall, Upper II had a fabulous time at Winmarleigh Hall. Winmarleigh Hall is one of the PGL centres, in North West England.

I asked Rosie and Claudia how they found Winmarleigh Hall. Claudia commented, “The overall experience was amazing, I will never forget our trip!” and Rosie said, “A great way to end our exams!”

There were over ten activities including the sensory trail, which is when your sight is taken away and you have to follow a piece of rope, through obstacles (tyres, water) and over obstacles (planks of wood), and the Disco which I gave eight out of ten. The food was very inviting, including vegetarian and halal options. The dinner menu on Saturday was toad in the hole, vegetable hotpot with sides and a jam doughnut; I liked how they had a salad bar and a soup of the day with your lunch. Even though the weather was rain, more rain, and even more rain we still had fun.

By Zoe, Upper II

Cold, wet, muddy... but fun! Upper II stepped out of their comfort zones and plunged into the muddy depths of Winmarleigh Hall. From programming robots, to zooming down the zip wire, Winmarleigh Hall had plenty of activities to keep us busy.

“For me, Giant Swing was the best experience ever!” babbled a thrilled Tamara as she leapt excitedly off the sling she was strapped into. “When I dropped it felt like I was going to die!”

Many girls had to face their fears, including heights and mud! There were plenty of opportunities to do this, including Team Challenge and Sensory Trail. “The worst bit was getting blindfolded,” said a wet, muddy Elisha as she crawled under the last obstacle on Team Challenge. “It was very claustrophobic, but it was still great fun.”

The food was delicious, and warmed us up when we were cold. The rooms were really cosy, and the beds were comfortable. Everyone was really sad to leave, as it had been a thoroughly enjoyable time.

By Hemma, Upper II

Recipe For Success 4-Schools Project On February 1st, a group of 30 Year 7 students from Manchester Grammar School, William Hulme Grammar School, and Withington Girls’ School joined forces and travelled to the Catalyst Museum in Widnes for an exciting, stimulating day of Science. This collaboration started just over a year ago involving four schools in the local area. (Unfortunately students from The Manchester Academy were unable to join us on this trip.)

Girls who participated said:

Withington’s business ‘Apprentices’ have turned out to be very smart cookies.

The School’s Young Enterprise team Yum, which designed an original children’s cook book featuring healthy eating recipes, scooped awards for Best Company Report and Best Overall Company and will now represent North and South Manchester at the Young Enterprise Greater Manchester Final at the Bridgewater Hall on 3rd May.

Their latest triumph came at the Young Enterprise North and South Manchester Area Board Final, held at HSBC, Spinningfields in Manchester’s business district. Seven companies took part. It meant that Withington teams have chalked up four Best Overall Company titles in the last five years and the School received the prestigious Centre of Excellence award recognising outstanding involvement with Young Enterprise over the period.

Yum had emerged winners as more than 40 companies from schools all over Manchester competed at the YE Trade Fair at the Trafford Centre. The team had earlier been awarded a prize of £100 for coming out top in the Dragon’s Den phase of the YE competition at the city offices of accountants Ernst & Young.

Withington’s second YE company, Embark, which engaged in the marketing of customised USBs and cards for all occasions, also performed well throughout the process.

The School’s Young Enterprise Coordinator, Mrs Catherine Ositelu, said: “Both our teams are to be congratulated for their enthusiasm, competitive spirit, teamwork and excellent performance in all areas: presentation, trade stand and company report.”

Going to the Catalyst Museum was

fun and exciting but still educational.

We learnt a lot from Dr Bunhead’s

Exploding Energy Show, which taught

us interesting facts about combustion

and energy-related Chemistry.

Dr Bunhead had a great sense of

humour. I also enjoyed the Stings

workshop where we had to find the

best cure for different types of stings.

Lily Gu

I found the Catalyst trip an amazing

experience, giving breadth to extra-

curricular Science activities which

were taught in a relaxed and fun

environment. There were plenty of

explosions in Dr Bunhead’s show!

I loved the trip and made lots of new

friends from MGS and William Hulme.

Ayesha Chaudry and Adi Jacobson

Diplomatic Coup Brain Olympics!Withington’s delegates at the big Model United Nations Conference in Bath, staged over the first weekend in March, achieved a string of impressive results against strong national and international competition.

The conference, staged at the Kingswood School is one of the biggest in the MUN calendar, involving over 600 students from as far afield as Russia, Germany, Portugal and the Czech Republic and, from within the UK, Edinburgh, Glasgow and York.

Withington’s 21-strong contingent represented four tricky delegations – Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and Latvia – and the first two won Commended Delegation Awards. It was a ‘significant achievement’, said Head of History, Ms Jane Maher. Withington also picked up an array of individual awards.

Leila Mehrez, Nisha Desai, Charlie Moss McCrory and Izzy Greer were named Commended Delegates, as was Fifth Former Hunadda Sabbagh who won the award for the testing task of representing Lebanon in the Security Council. Talisa Ross and Charlotte Ward won Highly Commended Delegate awards for work in Politics and the Middle East respectively and Holly Ward earned a coveted gavel as Best Delegate in the Africa Committee.

Ms Maher said: “Considering the numbers involved at this conference these were excellent results and all the girls participated fully, speaking really well and being involved and engaged in committee. Miss West and I would like to thank all those involved for their excellent company.”

Meanwhile, the next generation of Withington conference delegates – Little WiMUN - have been engaged in regular lunchtime debating sessions. Topics covered have included many difficult and sensitive issues such as enforced sterilisation, child marriage, internet freedom, use of torture, child soldiers and nuclear proliferation.

Linguistics OlympiadMore than half of the 54 Withington girls who participated in the first round of the second UK Linguistics Olympiad in February received awards.

At Advanced Level, the girls undertook a challenging two and a half-hour paper that involved problem solving in unfamiliar languages. “They performed very well and the examiners were impressed by the overall standard of our participants – and especially by the scores achieved by our top pupils,” said Dr Anne Maisey.

Three Withington girls – Alison Coxon, Sophie Ngan and Holly Whiston – achieved Gold Standard; Zainab Anwar, Elizabeth Le, Roshi Mitra, Nabeeha Qazi, Charlotte Senn, Rachel Solomons, Rebecca Waterman and Siyang Wei achieved Silver and a further 17 girls achieved Bronze.

Physics OlympiadNineteen girls took part in the British Physics Olympiad Physics Challenge competition open to GCSE students. The challenge involved a testing one-hour paper for which questions were not only taken from topics the girls had studied as part of their GCSE course, but also from areas that were totally new to them. Silver Awards were won by Sophie Ngan and Charlotte Senn and a further 14 Bronze awards were achieved.

Biology OlympiadSix Upper Sixth girls entered the prestigious Institute of Biology Olympiad competition early in the New Year. The girls were all rewarded with medals and have been invited down to London for the presentation ceremony and lecture in July. Silver medals were awarded to Emma Callanan, Emily Goddard and Tashy Rodgers and Rhea Bhagdev, Fei Lin and Faye Sheldon all achieved Bronze.

Chemistry OlympiadFive girls from the Upper Sixth entered the Chemistry Olympiad on Tuesday, 8th February. The competition is run by the Royal Society of Chemistry and is only suitable for the best – and most mathematical – of student chemists.

Head of Chemistry, Mrs Jillyann Farrell said: “The paper was difficult, requiring analytical skills beyond A Level and I expect the girls found it quite a challenge but also interesting and intellectually stimulating.” Results will be published later in the year.

Congratulations to all who stepped up to be taxed and tested by these challenging competitions.

(Full lists of pupils who achieved so well at all levels will be published in the Annual Newsletter)

Ground control to Withing Ton....Sixteen Physics pupils accompanied Mrs Ruth Lindsay Dunn to the morning session of the North West Gifted and Talented day of lectures staged at the Queen’s School, Chester, on 16th February.

The highlight of the event was a unique opportunity to hear a talk by Professor Alexander Martynov titled The Manned Mission to Mars.

Professor Martynov worked in the Russian Space Programme’s Mission Control Centre from 1968 to 1992 specialising in the design of re-entry modules and controlling their flights to provide soft landings on Earth, Mars, Venus and other planets in the Solar System.

That was followed by a presentation by Ian Jones, Chief Executive Officer of the Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall, who has been involved in many space education initiatives, contributing to several government studies and strategy initiatives, developing space education centres and resources and delivering space lectures in schools.

Mrs Lindsay Dunn said: “The Russian space scientist was brilliant. He gave an excellent presentation with a lot of entertaining video of how cosmonauts coped inside the space station and was very persuasive about the desirability of a mission to Mars. The girls enjoyed it and all went smoothly.”

Open UniversityTwenty-five members of the current Upper Sixth have successfully completed science-based Open University short courses, giving them the opportunity to develop their independent study skills and to pursue their passion for a scientific topic of their choice at first year undergraduate level. Topics credited included Molecules, Medicines and Drugs: a Chemical Story; Human Genetics and Health Issues; How the Universe Works; Empire of the Microbes and Elements of Forensic Science. Well done to all girls who took on this extra challenge.

Born To Dance Phenomenal fundraisingWithington’s phenomenal fundraising efforts continue to bear much fruit for a whole range of good causes.

There have been cake sales and raffles aplenty but the biggest project has been the Upper Fourth’s Masquerade Ball in aid of the Maua Hospital and the victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami. The girls began with a cake sale to raise money to purchase raffle prizes then went on to raise even more funds from the raffle of a hamper and a designer charm bracelet. They also made and sold decorative masks, all leading up to the big event of the ball at the Hilton Hotel Manchester on Thursday 31st March. The Junior girls also joined in by donating to the fund and then making their own masks. At the time of going to press the total raised was £1200 and counting.

A cheque for £3950 - half the funds raised by the Fashion Show 2011 - was presented to Barnardos and the same was sent to Living Water Africa.

Some of the many activities too numerous to list in the space available here were an own clothes day for CHIVA, the Africa HIV charity; Easter Egg Hunt; Don’t Laugh for Comic Relief; Paper Cranes for Japan earthquake victims and the Gambia group’s Balloon race.

Funds raised this term brought the year’s total to more than £20,000.

Lower Fifth pupil, Georgina Ashworth Kwasnik has been awarded a scholarship at the English National Ballet summer school. She took part in the Young British Dancer of the Year competition on the 12th March where she was the absolute baby of the competition for girls aged 15 – 17, as the first round was on her 15th birthday. She was one of only two dancers not at the full time vocational Royal Ballet School to make it through to the semi-final, and has since been offered a place as a Senior Associate at the Royal Ballet School.

Georgina has also been selected to represent England at the International Dance World Cup to take place in Paris in June 2011 where she will perform 5 dances before an International panel of judges.

Georgina trains 6 days a week at Centrepointe Dance School and at the Northern Ballet Theatre.

Georgina, who has attended Withington since Transition, says she is very grateful for the continued support from School which allows her to pursue her passion for dance.

Fond FarewellThe School bids farewell with thanks to Mrs Sarah Mounteney, Miss Nicki Maddern, and Mrs Emma Othen who have left Withington since the end of last term.

Mrs Mounteney who joined the staff at the beginning of 2004 to teach Mathematics and latterly acted as the School’s Fire and Risk Assessment Officer, left Withington at the end of the Autumn Term to take up her new post as Head of Mathematics in the Girls’ Division of the King’s School, Macclesfield.

Miss Maddern joined the Junior School staff as Form I teacher last year, providing maternity cover for Mrs Helen Stallard, and left at February Half Term. She is off on an extended long haul holiday and we wish her all the best on her travels.

Former Withington pupil Mrs Othen leaves us after covering in the Classics Department during Mrs Elizabeth Robinson’s maternity leave. Emma was very active in, and a great supporter of, the School Choir and gave her time most generously for extra-curricular visits and activities and benefitted Department meetings with her experience in other schools.

Continued from front page...

Director of Music, Mrs Gilly Sargent, said: “The aim of Joseph was to enthuse, nurture and promote the performing arts within Withington Girls’ School; to provide the opportunity to cement friendships and develop self-esteem through the joy of music and dance as well as learning and employing the need for commitment, self-discipline and knowing what it is to be part of a team.”

She added: “It is the ideal vehicle for this because the musical is fun, lively and totally inclusive, offering something for everyone. It’s just a very happy show.”

“ For me it was brilliant to see how the characters and the girls themselves grow in confidence and see the delight on their faces as they took their standing ovations. It will provide the memory of a lifetime. The sounds, lighting, props, scenery and costumes were all fantastic and engendered a sense of team spirit as all the different departments made their contributions. I cannot thank colleagues enough for the massive support they gave to me and to the girls.”

Headmistress, Mrs Sue Marks, said: “It has been a real joy to watch the entire school community come together over the past several months to bring this production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to life. I cannot recall ever having seen a whole-school activity which has so evidently brought so much pleasure to those involved.”

Mrs Sargent’s belief that involvement would be an unforgettable experience was echoed by all the leading members of the cast.

7th ~ 9th March 20117.00pm in the Arts Centre

Withington Girls’ School Proudly Presents

To celebrate reaching the 100 Plus Bursary Appeal target, School is holding a Celebration Ball at The Mere Country Golf Resort & Spa in Knutsford on Saturday 11 June 2011. We hope you can join us at this fun event as we

celebrate the Bursary Scheme to date and look to its future. Priced at £50, tickets are now on sale from the Development Office. Places are limited so

do make sure you reserve your ticket as soon as possible.

Telephone Laura Firth on 0161 249 3494 or email firthl@withington.manchester.sch.uk

for your ticket. See you there!

Celebration BallThe Mere Golf Resort & Spa

Saturday 11 June 7pm

We are delighted to announce that the 100 Plus Bursary Appeal has reached its target of £2 million. This means that the current provision of means-tested Bursaries is now secure and will continue to grow in the future. Thank you for your contributions - without these and the support from the WGS Trust, the School would be unable to offer one in six girls in the Senior School a Bursary.

Some of the many stories from our Bursary recipients at university and beyond show the real value of the Bursary Scheme at Withington. The very many donations and letters of support demonstrate the depth of support for the Bursary Scheme from former pupils, parents and staff. We now plan to build on the success of the Bursary Appeal to raise further funds. This will ensure that all bright girls across the North West are made aware of the Bursary Scheme and can attend Withington regardless of their family’s financial circumstances. Thank you.

We’ve Done It!

£1,500,000

£1,000,000

£500,000

£0

£2,000,000+

Prestigious Appointment for Former PupilOne former pupil has been in touch recently with some exciting news. Our congratulations go to Dr Sindy Newman [née Buttoo, 1977] following her appointment as the new President of the British Red Cross for Lancashire.

Sindy lives in St Annes-on-Sea, and is no stranger to charity work, having recently raised thousands by organising a charity ball at the iconic Blackpool Tower Ballroom, in aid of the Kim Foundation for Children, Victims of War. The guest of honour, Miss Kim Phuc,

UNESCO Goodwill Peace Ambassador, was a child victim of the Vietnam War and became known as ‘the Girl in the Picture’ when she was burnt in a napalm attack.

As Lancashire President, Sindy, a mother of three and physician specialising in medical obesity with four practices across the North West, will help promote the Red Cross as an advocate and ambassador, hosting and attending events and helping the organisation to raise funds and find new volunteers. Sindy became involved with Red Cross due to her passion to help those who are suffering, and says: “People tend to be aware of the emergency service work of the Red Cross, particularly abroad, but they also do a lot to help vulnerable people in their homes to maintain their independence across the UK. Taking on this role with the Red Cross is a tremendous honour and really comes from the heart. I feel there is a huge amount of work to be done and can’t wait to get started.”

Exclusive “Access All Areas” WimbledonAlumnae and Former Staff are warmly invited to a very special ‘Access All Areas’ Wimbledon event, at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon, on Tuesday 3rd May 2011, from 6-9pm.

At the event, guests will be treated to a ‘behind the scenes’ tour led by Denise Parnell, 1979 leaver and Assistant Referee at The Wimbledon Championships, followed by a drinks reception and hot buffet; and will also be given the opportunity to hear Denise speak about her fascinating career in the world of professional tennis, which has spanned over thirty years and has taken her around the world.

Numbers are limited so please contact Laura in the Development Office on 0161 249 3494 by Monday 25th April to buy your ticket.

Alumna Laura Offers Careers Help In the recent Alumnae Census, produced by Withington’s Development Office, many former pupils volunteered to help other Alumnae and current pupils in their careers. The Development Office is now developing a network of Alumnae who are able to offer both current and former pupils support and guidance in their chosen profession.

Laura Yates [1998 leaver], one of the speakers at the successful ‘Withington in the Media’ event held at School in November, generously assisted 2008 leaver Laura Cress in securing a week of

work experience at BBC North West Tonight last Autumn. Laura, who is currently studying English Literature at the University of York, is hoping to go on to study an MA in Broadcast Journalism after graduation, and was delighted to be able to gain such valuable experience.

We are always looking to work with former pupils who wish to offer Alumnae and current pupils assistance with their career choices. If you have not already offered your help, but would like to do so, please contact the Development Office on 0161 249 3494, or at firthl@withington.manchester.sch.uk.

Withington After Hours, LondonWithington’s first ‘After Hours’ informal drinks event for Alumnae was held on Wednesday 23rd February at Babble Bar in London’s Mayfair.

At the event, over twenty-five leavers from the 1950s through to the 2000s gathered together over drinks and nibbles, sharing their current news and laughing over memories of their time at Withington. Timed to fit in with the busy work schedules of our London-based Alumnae, many commented that the informal format was something they had thoroughly [and in some cases, unexpectedly!] enjoyed.

The lively atmosphere ensured that guests headed off into the evening smiling. Future ‘After Hours’ events are being planned so keep checking the Alumnae webpage at www.withington.manchester.sch.uk for news.

Forthcoming ReunionsWe are looking forward to two upcoming reunions held at School during the Summer:

A special ‘Sizzling Seventies’ open reunion. All 1970s leavers and staff are warmly invited to join us at this special event on Saturday 14th May 2011, from 10.30am-4pm.

On Saturday 18th June, a Golden Anniversary reunion will be held at School for all 1961 leavers, to celebrate the fiftieth Anniversary of their leaving Withington.

Tickets are now on sale for both events, and guests are more than welcome. Please contact Laura in the Development Office on 0161 249 3494, or at firthl@withington.manchester.sch.uk to reserve your place.

WGS OnlineSchool’s Alumnae Association, Withington Onwards, is fully online, now keeping up with hundreds of Alumnae through Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter! Join us.

Add: Laura J HoldernessJoin: Withington Girls’ School Alumni - group

Add: Development Office - Withington Girls’ SchoolJoin: Withington Girls’ School Alumnae - group

The Development Office ‘tweets’ news of School and Alumnae every day, so make sure to follow @WGSAlumnae to stay in touch and be the first to hear the news hot off the press!

Got To Dance Huge congratulations go to Upper Fifth pupil Maya Szlachetko and her sister, former Head Girl and 2010 leaver, Sophia, who as part of Ukrainian dance troupe, Podilya reached the live semi-finals of Sky 1’s Got to Dance competition. Despite recording a flawless performance, including some very dangerous moves with swords, Podilya were disappointed not to advance through to the final.

Sophia and Maya, whose mother Linda is Podilya’s choreographer, regularly travel together to festivals and dance competitions to perform. The group, all of whom are second-generation Ukrainian, rehearse together weekly and are passionate about celebrating their Ukrainian heritage.

Sophia, who is currently studying Economics and French at Nottingham University, said: “Rehearsals were very intense, requiring a huge level of commitment and sacrifice from all members of the group. Although all our hard work didn’t take us all the way through to the final I think we did achieve our aim to entertain!”

Germany Calling Seventeen girls – five from the Lower Fifth and 12 from the Upper Fifth – participated in this year’s German Exchange and spent the February half-term at Withington’s partner school, the Auguste Pattberg Gymnasium in Mosbach, near Heidelberg.

During a sunny but freezing cold week, the group - the biggest ever – visited Stuttgart’s TV tower and the city’s shopping centre, the castle and Museum of Pharmacy in Heidelberg and the shops and Technical Museum in Mannheim as well as spending time in school with the girls’ exchange partners.

They were accompanied by Deputy Head Mrs Sarah Haslam and Miss Jane Ellis, who said: “It was a really challenging but worthwhile experience. The girls were excellent company and all made a good effort to speak lots of German!”

The return visit by pupils from the German school took place between February 26th and March 4th and included visits to Liverpool, Quarry Bank Mill and Imperial War Museum North.

Classic TimesThe Classics Department has had two successful ventures recently: Holly Whiston of the Lower Sixth won herself £75 and a great deal of prestige by winning an essay competition set by St John’s College Oxford. She says:

“The essay I wrote was about the importance of historical accuracy in films set in the Classical world, so it was a great opportunity to combine an interest in Classics with the fact that I watch too many films. I was surprised and really thrilled to have won and the money will be well spent.”

The second success was our participation in the Classical Association’s Latin and Greek Reading Competition. Withington hosted this event on Wednesday March 16th, with 100 pupils from 10 schools participating, and enjoying Mrs Cartledge’s tea afterwards. Withington almost swept the board by winning five of the six competitions: the Beginners’ Section, the GCSE Classical Greek, the Sixth Form Prose, the Sixth Form Verse and the Sixth Form Classical Greek. Many congratulations to all pupils who practised hard but special mention must go to Radhika Saggar and Frances Li of Lower Fourth, Naomi Rasmussen of Upper Fifth and Sixth Formers Nicole Barber, Charlotte Ward and especially Rebecca Livesey who won both Latin and Greek verse competitions – a feat not achieved by anyone in recent years.

Other external activities in the Department this term have been a visit to Manchester University by the Sixth Form for a “Texts Day” and involvement in the CICERO Translation Competition; CICERO being the acronym for ‘ a world-wide translation competition’ with pupils from Australia, France, Spain, UK, tackling the same demanding extract on approximately the same day, linked by video-conferencing.

Awards galore Withington’s entrants in the Intermediate Maths Challenge run by the Leeds-based UK Mathematics Trust reaped their best harvest of gold, silver and bronze certificates in years.

Faced with tough problem-solving tasks involving all strands of Mathematics, especially Geometry and Algebra, girls from the Upper and Lower Fifth forms excelled. Head of Mathematics Mr Kal Hodgson said: “It was a very impressive performance – the best for at least five years.”

Upper Fifth entrants scooped 13 gold certificates, 22 silver and 13 bronze; Lower Fifth girls took six gold, 26 silver and 24 bronze awards.

Dr Louise Terrill said: “The mathematical challenges are lively, intriguing multiple-choice question papers, which are designed to stimulate interest in Mathematics and to equip students with problem-solving skills. We use the resources provided by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust to challenge and enthuse pupils at all levels.”

Three Upper Fifth formers, Helen Carrington, Charlotte Senn and Sophie Ngan, and three girls from the Lower Fifth, Helen Wheeldon and Lucinda Chamberlain, progressed to the next round. Results will be known after Easter.

In the Regional Team Maths Challenge Final on 3rd March, Helen Ng, Julia Rea, Izzy Byrne and Penny Jones who represented Withington were very pleased to be placed 3rd – just missing out on 2nd place by a single point. One of the biggest challenges the girls had to face was to fight their natural preference for perfection over speed in order to tackle as many questions as possible – an instinct which they conquered admirably!

The Lower Fifth GCSE class visited The Gallery of Costume at Platt Hall on Thursday 24th March. The purpose of the trip was to gather important critical and contextual reference material for their current textile-based project called In The Wardrobe, in which the girls will be designing and making their very own body adornment. It was a very inspiring and enriching visit where girls were able to see and experience rich and diverse garments, accessories and fabrics from different centuries, with additional exhibits from very current and contemporary fashion designers too. What was also rewarding was being able to explore Platt Hall itself from the exterior and interior, from its beautiful plaster work in the main dining room to the decorative and grand wrought iron staircase.

Artistic Excellence

Living Edge Magazine CompetitionFantastic and varied artwork from three girls in school was carefully selected and entered into the annual Living Edge Art Competition which celebrates and rewards North West schoolchildren for their achievements during the year in Art. In the under 14 category, Ella Langley’s imaginative self-portrait was entered which was created using the reduction lino-printing process. In the under 16 category, Yini Zhang’s breathtaking Native American inspired painting was entered and in the Under 18 category, Ellie Fleming entered her technically brilliant figurative pencil drawing of a pair of jeans! Both of these pieces of work were part of their Summer Examination projects. Their work formed part of an excellent exhibition held at the Lowry Art Gallery in Salford Quays. The contest was judged by an expert panel of current practitioners and they awarded Yini’s self-portrait with a highly commended prize. All the girls’ work is being shown currently on the Living Edge website and in their magazine.

Gambia 2010Extracted from a longer article by Rachel Lloyd

Teaching, painting, singing, early mornings, dancing, jeep rides, baby wipes, hand sanitiser, Malarone, Rihanna’s latest song and a Gambian hospital. All of these came together for a week to make the 2010 Gambia trip (15th - 22nd December 2010) an unforgettable experience. Twelve Withingtonians - plus Miss McManus, Mrs Pickering, Mrs Browning and Miss O’Neal - immersed ourselves in the Gambian culture and way of life, even if that meant using the laidback Gambian approach to excuse a rare lack of punctuality or simply eat delicacies such as chicken yassa and domoda.

Our main activities took place up-country in Sibanor, where we taught arts and crafts to children aged between 3 and 7. Finger painting with 3-5 year olds is no easy task as 6 members of the team discovered when one child tipped over a whole pot of paint. Luckily, they simultaneously discovered the versatile uses of the baby wipe, and why Miss Browning had insisted it was a staple item to pack. Half the group returned the next day and painted a Garden of Eden scene on a wall whilst the other painted an African sunset at the nearby HIV clinic. Both murals were extremely successful and striking and we were assured that they would be thoroughly enjoyed by the children and patients. A tour of the clinic was one of many moving experiences of the trip, as we observed first-hand the schism in medical resources between the Western and Third World and the invaluable work being done for the local community.

We spent the remaining days at an environmentally sustainable farm and Lamin’s compound. The farm aims to give practical advice to local farmers and teach the workers, who are mostly women, sustainable and productive agricultural techniques. The trip to Lamin’s compound was outstanding, not only because of the mass of adorable children who waited for us and held our hands upon arrival, but also as we were able to see the chicken farm which had been funded by the previous WGS group and the computer centre which we had contributed to. It was rewarding to see Withington’s hard work paying off in reality and a song composed by the staff of Mama Tamba nursery school commending our continued support was extremely touching.

Whether singing “What’s my name?” at the top of our voices in the Jeep, handing out pencils, crayons and sweets to children on the street or clutching our noses at the smell of the fish market in Banjul, the Gambia trip was a truly educational and extraordinary week. I would like to thank both the staff that accompanied and tolerated us, the other ‘Gambia Girls’ themselves for being such great value and Miss Browning, without whom the whole trip would not have been possible.

The full article can be read on the School website.

Oxbridge and the Ivy League beckonThe dreaming spires of Oxford and Cambridge Universities beckon for seven Withington Sixth Formers who have won conditional offers of places at leading colleges.

Head Girl Alison Coxon, who represented the UK in the Linguistics Olympiad in Stockholm last year, is set to read German and Spanish at The Queen’s College, Oxford; Julia Rose has been offered a place at Downing College, Cambridge, to study History; Emma Callanan has won a conditional offer of a place at Exeter College, Oxford, to read Medicine; Claire Abrahams has a conditional offer of a place from Trinity College, Cambridge, to study Politics, Psychology and Sociology; Grace Carroll, Emily Goddard and Emma Scholefield have won conditional offers of places at Fitzwilliam College, Murray Edwards College (formerly New Hall) and St Catharine’s College Cambridge to read Politics, Psychology and Sociology, Natural Sciences and Mathematics respectively. And for Deputy Head Girl Tashy Rogers has achieved an offer to read Medicine at Harvard.

Headmistress Mrs Sue Marks said: “Naturally we are delighted for these girls to have achieved their ambition to win the offer of places at Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard. We are equally pleased for the many girls who have also achieved success in applications to other fine Universities and Colleges of Art in the UK and abroad.”

Gym-tasticGymnastics of a brilliant standard made the task of Mrs Sally Fletcher, judge for Withington’s 2011 Gym Competition, an extremely difficult one. The first three in each category then went on to perform their routines a week later at the annual Gym and Dance Display in the Arts Centre. The Display also included every girl in the Junior School and the whole of the Third Form. It was a heart-warming and breathtaking occasion as around 180 girls demonstrated their amazing routines.

Business Skills CompetitionIn February six Lower Sixth Economists entered the Institute of Chartered Accountants business skills competition. They had to solve a challenging business problem and present their findings to a large audience. The Withington team came runners up in their section. Congratulations to all!

Stop PressLife in the fast lane Former Withington pupil Clare Sibley has embarked on a trailblazing career path by starting work at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth, Northants whose principal business is the design and manufacture of Mercedes-Benz engines for Formula 1 racing cars. Their primary F1 team is the McLaren-Mercedes all-British team of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, but they also supply and support the Force India and Mercedes teams.

Clare, who specialised in Material Science at Cambridge, has been involved with material and mechanical engineering design work on computers at Brixworth since last September. She said: “I really enjoy the job. It’s definitely a challenge in that the engineering has to be so precise for engines capable of powering cars to well over 200mph.”

Ski ItaliaDid they eat cake?...

Seventeen girls accompanied by Mrs Ferrol and Miss Richards enjoyed a week of brilliant skiing in the Italian winter sports resort of Folgaria during the February half term.

The party flew to Verona-Brescia followed by a three hour transfer to their home for the week, the Hotel Kapriol, which offered a friendly welcome, comfortable rooms and fantastic Italian food.

With snow falling on the first and second day, conditions remained superb throughout the week and the instructors were excellent. All the girls had great fun; the beginners made fast progress and the advanced group particularly enjoyed tree hugging – all wearing helmets.

Next year’s trip – to Bulgaria – is already planned and the Withington skiers, staff and pupils alike, can’t wait.

A small group of Lower Sixth historians spent the first weekend of the February half term break touring the key places of Revolutionary Paris, seeing sites and artefacts linked closely to their AS studies.

The party, accompanied by Ms Maher and Mrs Gavan, visited the Museé Carnavelet and the Conciergerie where Marie Antoinette and many others spent their final hours before the tumbrils carried them to their deaths. They sampled the peace of the beautiful chapels of Notre Dame, Sacré-Cœur Basilica and La Sainte-Chapelle and the contrasting bustle of the Place du Tertres in Montmartre, the shops of the Champs-Élysées and the bohemian gaiety of the Latin Quarter.

A day was spent at the Palace of Versailles where an excellent guided tour showed them the inner rooms and the wonderfully restored Opera. Snails and other French delicacies were sampled at the splendid restaurant of Chartier where only French is allowed!

A closer look at Biological SciencesLower Sixth biologists interested in a medical research career, spent an informative day at the Paterson Institute which is the research wing associated with the Christie Hospital. They were able to see how cutting-edge research can be used directly in the development of new diagnostic procedures and treatments for patients with cancer.

In addition, Dr Allan Jordan from the Paterson Institute came to School to talk to the Lower Sixth about recent work on new medicines and their impact on society.

This talk was part of the General Studies lecture programme and timed to take place during Science week.

In addition, 10 Lower Sixth pupils considering a career in Medicine took part in a one-day workshop offered by The Christie. All the girls enjoyed a very busy day visiting the different hospital departments, talking to medical students, consultants and other hospital staff (including the hospital porters) to gain a snapshot of the hospital environment. Staff from Manchester University Medical School were also on hand to offer advice and guidance about the medical admissions process.

Withington’s Question TimeIn a first for Withington, the School staged a local version of the BBC’s Question Time before an audience of more than 300 in the Arts Centre on the evening of 16th December.

The event, which attracted a panel of leading North West academics, politicians and media personalities, raised more than £2,200 towards a community building project planned by the 14-strong party of Withington pupils on their World Challenge Expedition to Tanzania next summer.

Chaired by veteran BBC North West Tonight anchorman Gordon Burns, the panel comprised Jim Hancock, the BBC’s former north west political editor; David Mowat, Conservative MP for Warrington South; Lord Bradley of Withington, former minister in Tony Blair’s governmen t; Professor Roderick Coombs, Deputy President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Manchester; Professor Jonathan Tonge, Head of Politics at Liverpool University and Liberal Democrat Manchester city councillor, Marc Ramsbottom.

The evening was initiated by Sixth Former Hannah Fitzgerald who applied many times to be a member of the audience on BBC television’s Question Time, but was never successful. Hannah said: “We were brainstorming about how to raise funds

for the trip and I suggested hosting a Question Time. From there, I was fortunate that Gordon Burns and the panellists so generously agreed to take part.”

During the entertaining and informative two-hour session, questions covered a wide range of topical and controversial issues ranging from whether democracy is aided or undermined by WikiLeaks revelations through to whether the general election TV debates had rendered political ideology less likely to win votes than party leaders’ looks. Debate also centred on whether Britain had become America’s 51st state; the chances of the Coalition Government lasting a full five-year Parliamentary term; which of Labour’s Miliband brothers would have posed the greater threat in Opposition and whether politicians ever took any notice of protest. The hottest topic of the evening was sparked by the question: “Could universities survive in the current economic climate without increasing tuition fees and would the cap be lowered if the economic climate improved?”

The School’s World Challenge Coordinator Ms Kaeren Browning closed the evening by thanking Gordon Burns and the panellists for giving up their time to facilitate what had turned out to be a most thought-provoking and entertaining evening.

Spanish ExchangeThirteen pupils from both AS and A2 Spanish groups participated in the first WGS Spanish Exchange with the La Vall school in Barcelona where they stayed with a great variety of families ranging from one to eight children!

The families welcomed our pupils with open arms and they were able to actively use their Spanish during a whole week. Attendance at lessons was combined with trips to the Sagrada Familia, the Gothic Quarter, las Ramblas, Montserrat and other attractions and interesting places in Barcelona.

The Spanish pupils came here a week later and were able to see the performance of Joseph and share life in Manchester with our girls.

Every single family commended the behaviour and interest of our girls in Spain. A highly enjoyable and productive experience for all!

Top HonourThe highest award the University of Manchester can bestow – the Medal of Honour – has been presented to Mrs Margaret Kenyon, Withington’s eighth Headmistress.

Mrs Kenyon, former chairman of the University Press Board, received her medal along with Mr Warren Smith, Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester and Rabbi Rubenstein, the university’s Jewish Chaplain.

The Medal of Honour recognises individuals who have made a real contribution to the university, the city and the region.

Mrs Kenyon was Headmistress at Withington from 1986 to 2000 and remains a member of the WGS Trust.

Sporting SuccessesNorth Lacrosse Champions!Extracted from a tournament report written by Withington parent, Howard Sinclair.

The next generation of Withington Girls’ School Lacrosse walked in the footsteps of their elders with a convincing win on 12 January 2011 in the U14 North Schools Tournament at Queen Margaret’s School in North Yorkshire.

With seven teams and two manicured pitches, the tournament format was Round Robin with each match lasting 15 minutes including a change of ends at half time. The first match was against Harrogate Ladies College which WGS won 5-0. It was Queen Margaret’s for their second match and a hard fought match saw WGS win 5-2. Afterwards the team agreed that the extra practice afforded by the newly installed floodlights at WGS had made a big difference to their confidence and skill.

The last match before lunch was lost 8-1 against Moreton Hall but, fortunately, because they are a Midlands team and were competing only for practice and pleasure, were not allowed to win the tournament. After studying the morning’s results, Withington overcame Casterton and Queen’s Chester in the next two matches, and went on to win 8-4 and 6-2 with some excellent individual goals and passing of a high standard.

Withington enjoy a healthy sporting rivalry against local schools and a tournament decider against Bolton was greeted with a mixture of excitement and nerves. The girls went through their pre match routine with a rousing rap before inserting their mouthguards and marching onto the pitch to take up their positions. There were plenty of goals in this Withington team and a 5-0 win was testimony to their team spirit, morale and tactical nous.

When the final whistle blew, our U15s who had been cheering on the touchline ran on to congratulate the U14s and the celebrations began. Then in front of the pavilion, the Withington captains were presented with a cup by the Headmaster of Queen Margaret’s to loud cheers and applause as the best U14 school team in the north of England.

Mr Sinclair’s full report can be read on the School website.

Hockey heroesThe School’s U13 Hockey team have won through to represent Greater Manchester in the next round of the National Schools Tournament.

In the Greater Manchester round’s section matches on Thursday, 3rd February, Withington beat Altrincham ‘C’ 2-0 and St Bede’s 1-0 before securing a 1-1 draw against Altrincham ‘A’. In the crossover matches, a breakaway goal against a very strong Cheadle Hulme side was enough to take Withington through to the final. Despite a 0-2 defeat to Altrincham ‘A’, leaving us runners-up in the competition, both finalists progress through to represent Greater Manchester in the North of England stage.

**Congratulations to four Withington girls who have been selected to play for their counties. Katie Bodha and Julia McCarthy have been chosen for the Greater Manchester Squad and Eleanor Hughes and Lauren Woodhead have been selected for Cheshire.

Penalty!Upper Sixth Former - and amateur football referee - Jasmin Lane hit the headlines this term when she spoke out about the controversial dismissal of Sky Sports’ football pundits Andy Gray and Richard Keys.

Jasmin thought ‘the sacking of the two presenters was no more than they deserved’, when they were caught making off-air sexist remarks about female assistant referee Sian Massey’s ability to understand the offside rule before a Premier League clash between Liverpool and Wolves.

Jasmin, 18, who officiates in Sunday league matches around Stockport and has run the line in the Cheshire League, says she regularly has to put up with similar jibes from the touchline during matches. Jasmin - who captains Withington’s netball team and has represented Cheshire at the sport since she was 12, began refereeing football three years ago – reckons she’s shown the red card to about 30 players.

Jasmin, who is hoping for a career in Medicine, said: “Their views haven’t put me off. It’s more of a challenge because I deal with that kind of stuff every week and just shrug it off. There will be more women coming through – don’t forget that Sian Massey demonstrated just how well she knew the offside rule by getting the most contentious decision in Saturday’s match absolutely right.”

“I’m determined to keep at it and my next development stage as a referee will be stepping up to officiate in Cheshire League matches.”

National Schools Lacrosse TournamentBy Tashy Rogers and Sophie Whitehead

On Thursday 3rd March 16 eager Lacrosse players set off down to London’s Imperial College for the annual National Schools Tournament. After a lengthy 5 hour journey, including many renditions of Mamma Mia, we finally arrived - at the wrong hotel!! With lots of curious looks we changed hotels quickly.

On the first day we had a lot of success, including drawing with one of last year’s finalists. Therefore we won our group on goal difference after an unbeaten day. This put us through to the top group for day two. Knowing that we had a hard day ahead of us, we all endured 7½ minute ice baths to relieve our aching legs and had a tasty three-course carb loaded meal at Pizza Express.

On the second day we started very well with two draws against two of the top teams. Unfortunately our fitness did not stand up to the boarding schools’ training, and we closely lost the last four of our matches. However owing to the complicated point system we were placed 5th in our group and 10th in the country. This is the highest Withington has ever been placed in the National Schools Tournament.

Many thanks to Miss Richards and our coach Maddie for an amazing weekend of Lacrosse.

House MatchesFrom 14th-31st March, Senior girls have been involved in winter sports House Matches. This year’s weather has been kind and during lunchtimes all the sports pitches have been alive with girls playing Netball, Hockey and Lacrosse. All Senior girls get the chance to play in this annual event and all matches are fought in a highly competitive but friendly spirit. Sixth Form House Captains do much of the organising up to and including very loud cheers from the sidelines!

TennisTennis coach James Oliver has joined the School this term as extra-curricular Tennis Coach and Sixth Form Fitness Instructor. Transition and Form I have had the opportunity to receive indoor mini-tennis coaching on Thursday Mornings and Sixth Form pupils have enjoyed circuit training sessions on Tuesday and Friday lunchtimes.

James, a coach at the Manchester Tennis Centre at SportCity, captained Cheshire at the age of 16 and later became skipper of the Manchester University Tennis team whilst completing his degree in Psychology.

He has also coached at the Northern and High Legh Tennis Clubs and spent six months in Perth, Western Australia, running a coaching programme for Matt Bull, twice winner of the Australia Tennis Award for coaching ‘hot shots’.

James will be providing outdoor extra-curricular tennis coaching for Juniors and Seniors on Tuesdays after school in the Summer Term.

Cross CountryThree Withington girls took part in the Manchester Schools’ Cross Country event in Wythenshawe Park on 19th January. The trio raced in the Year 8 and 9 girls event and Flora Whyte of the Lower Fourth achieved a brilliant third place and Upper Fourth’s Maddie Williams and Charlotte Menzies, came ninth and 33rd respectively.

The results meant that Flora and Maddie were selected as members of the Manchester team that participated in the Greater Manchester event which took place on Saturday 5th February at Canon Slade School in Bolton. Flora was placed eighth in the race – a splendid effort which led to her being selected to run for Greater Manchester in the North of England event in Nottingham in March. The Greater Manchester team came 8th overall.

Well done to all!

Summer Term 2011APRIL

26th [Tuesday] Staff In-service Day (No pupils in School)

27th [Wednesday] Term Starts

29th [Friday] Royal Wedding, School closed

30th – 2nd [Sat - Mon] DofE Gold Practice Expedition: Lower VI

MAY

2nd [Monday] May Bank Holiday

4th [Wednesday] Parents’ Evening: Upper IV 6.00 – 8.00pm

5th [Thursday] Informal Concert 6.00 – 7.00pm

6th – 7th [Fri –Sat] Stratford Weekend

12th [Thursday] Art Exhibition: GCSE and A Level

Junior School: Form Photographs

13th [Friday] Study Leave commences: Lower VI & Upper V

18th [Wednesday] Musical Showcase: Thirds – Lower V 7.00pm

20th [Friday] Geography Fieldtrip to Llandudno – Lower IV

23rd [Monday] Leavers’ Concert and Dinner 7.00pm

23rd – 27th [Mon – Fri] Junior School Examinations

25th [Wednesday] Biology Trip to Chester Zoo: Third Forms

26th [Thursday] Informal Concert 6.00 – 7.00pm

30th – 3rd June [Mon-Fri] Half Term

JUNE

6th – 10th [Mon – Fri] Senior School Examinations: Thirds – Lower V

10th – 12th [Fr – Sun] Junior School Trip to Abernant Lake: Lower II & Upper II

13th [Mon] Lower VI return from Study Leave

20th – 21st [Mon – Tue] DofE Bronze Qualifying Expedition: Lower V

22nd [Wednesday] Enterprise Day: Lower IV

LAMDA Showcase 6.30 – 8.00pm

23rd [Thursday] Third Form Induction Day

27th – 28th [Mon – Tues] DofE Silver Practice Expedition: Upper V

27th – 7th July [Mon – Thurs] Work Experience Placements: Upper V

29th [Wednesday] Enterprise Day: Lower V

30th [Thursday] Junior School: Strawberry Serenade 6.30pm

JULY

1st [Friday] Swimming Gala

Talk by Recent Leavers: Lower VI pm

2nd [Saturday] PTA Summer Party

4th [Monday] Sports Day

5th [Tuesday] Citizenship Day

6th [Wednesday] House Plays pm

7th [Thursday] Festival of Spoken English & Drama

8th [Friday] Term Ends 2.30pm

9th – 12th [Sat – Tues] DofE Gold Expedition

9th – 13th [Sat – Wed] Trip to Berlin: Upper IV

Geography Trip to Sicily: Lower V – Upper VI

10th – 15th [Sun – Fri] Trip to Disneyland/La Rochelle: Lower IV

World Challenge Expedition to Tanzania (dates tbc)

AUGUST

18th [Thursday] Results Day: A2 and AS

25th [Thursday] Results Day: GCSE

26th – 1st Sept [Fri – Thurs] Biology Fieldtrip: Upper VI

Pupil absence: Please would all parents use 0161 249 3476 to inform the school of pupil absence before 8.30am on each day of absence.

For contact after school please use these numbers:Senior Late Room: 0161 249 3492Junior Late Room: 0161 224 1077

Do call us (Before we call you!)Withington Girls’ School, Wellington Road, Fallowfield, Manchester M14 6BLTel: 0161 224 1077 Fax: 0161 248 5377 Email: office@withington.manchester.sch.uk Web: www.withington.manchester.sch.uk Registered Charity No. 526632

Destination Downing StreetLower Sixth Former Nikita Sinclair enjoyed a fascinating tour of the Palace of Westminster and No 10 Downing Street after winning a national writing competition.

Nikita, studying Politics, English Literature, English Language and Mathematics at A-level, won the competition Write Now, organised by the Parliamentary Press Gallery. The challenge was to write a 500-word political blog on a current issue; she chose the controversy surrounding proposals to give prisoners the vote.

Nikita, who wants to read Politics at university, said: “As well as touring Parliament, there was a visit to the ITV studios at Millbank which was really exciting. I’d never seen anything like that before. And being inside Number Ten was amazing.”

She was presented with the winner’s certificate by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Mr John Bercow, in the Speaker’s House.