Issue Number 2, w/c 25th February 2013 & w/c 4th March 2013

Form III trip to Barcelona

On Friday 1st March Form III, accompanied by Mrs Diaz, Mrs Ingram, Mr Valner and Alison

(Form III Housemistress), departed for Barcelona. The girls certainly had an action-packed

itinerary which enabled the year group to visit Torres Winery, Barcelona History Museum, Casa

Milà—Le Pedrera, the Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell and the monastery at Monserrat. The girls

also found time to visit a theme park and go bowling. Throughout the cultural trip the girls

undertook a number of academic projects which covered Geography, Spanish, Art, Classics and

Religious Studies. Everyone on the trip had an excellent time and came away with many

memories as well as new skills including a greater understanding of the Spanish culture and

language, geographical skills including sketching, survey taking and interpretation plus the

development of observation and recording skills.

I enjoyed the trip as it was a chance to be independent. I loved the history museum, it was so fascinating to see the ruins. I also enjoyed Parc Güell, it was a beautiful garden and we were lucky to be graced with such beautiful weather that day! Maya, Form III

Mrs Diaz, PSHE Coordinator

World Book Day— 7th March 2013

Heathfield’s group of “Leader Readers” helped to

organise a highly successful celebration of World

Book Day. Throughout the academic year, the girls

have invited members of staff to share an extract

from a favourite book and World Book Day

featured a range of guests from different

departments and different areas of the school. We

began with a vivid description from an established

classic: Great Expectations; Ms Lavender

eloquently conveyed a scene of tense and bitter

conflict. Mrs Reeves chose a mysterious encounter

from The Hobbit, re-creating the sinister accent of

the menacing Gollum with dramatic flair. We ended

with a memorable evocation of the meeting

between the eponymous hero and his adversary in

an extract from Artemis Fowl: Miss Wells captured

the mood of the writing perfectly.

Mr Grey, Subject Leader: English

Fifth Form Dinner

On Saturday 2nd March, Form V girls had the opportunity to get dressed up for Heathfield’s annual Fifth Form dinner. The girls invited boys from Harrow School to join them for a delicious supper and dancing to DJ Dan’s favourite playlist. Before the dinner Form V had taken a vote and decided on a Moroccan theme for the evening. On the night the Assembly Hall was transformed into a magical room of lanterns and candles.

The excited boys arrived and were greeted by their hosts; everyone took their seats and there was the sound of constant laughter flowing down the long candle-lit tables. After a delicious three course meal the girls traded their high heels for some comfortable flats as the dance floor filled up.

Everyone had a great evening and thanks must go to Miss Talbot for organising the evening. Also, thanks to Miss Murray, Mrs Holsgrove-Jones, Miss Dawson, Miss Alphonsine, Miss Kong and Janet for joining us for the evening, and to Catering for the delicious dinner. Also to all the teachers from Harrow School and of course the boys for making the night possible.

Ella and Daisy, Form V

Issue Number 2, w/c 25th February 2013 & w/c 4th March 2013

‘A Little Less Conversation, A little More Action, Please’

Confirmation classes took a completely new approach this year, becoming what can best be described as a ‘Christian Life Skills Course’. Instead of just focusing on the big questions such as evil, salvation and creation we also looked at the small and crucial skills essential to the Christian life such as how to choose a bible that is right for you, how to overcome times of spiritual difficulty, what to expect when you pray, how to love, forgive and serve. The classes, based around Bible readings, were prayerful and after each session prep was set. The classes taught how small daily challenges, designed to go beyond confirmation, could provide a faithful lifestyle change. You will be pleased to know that the very cornerstone of every confirmation class, an iced doughnut at the end of each session, still remained.

During the confirmation service Bishop John Bone asked our thirteen candidates ‘to affirm their faith‘ and there was a distinct sense that it truly was their faith. They had worked hard for it, to have ownership of it; they each had discovered separate struggles and persevered with them and God willing they now have the tools to maintain a rich relationship with Christ for the rest of their lives and beyond. We are immensely proud of them.

Please continue to pray for those recently confirmed, also our Roman Catholic students Tayiwo, Elinor and Antonia to be confirmed later this year and Christy being confirmed in her own parish.

Fr. Tim, Chaplain

HPA Quiz Night 2013

Heathfield’s Parents Association held a fundraising Quiz Night in St Mary’s Theatre on 7th March 2013. The event proved to be a huge success allowing parents and staff to socialise with each other. At the beginning of the evening each of the ten teams brought along picnics which helped provide some sustenance before the challenging quiz questions started. The evening was thoroughly enjoyed by all and £3,698.72 was raised through ticket sales and fundraising efforts during the evening. The HPA are fundraising for a new camping area which will be put on the school’s top field. Congratulations to everyone who entered the quiz especially Mr and Mrs Clarke, Mr and Mrs Parker, Mr and Mrs Briggs, Mr and Mrs Minoprio, Mr and Mrs Shelton-Agar and Mr and Mrs Medlock who made up the winning team. Thanks to quiz master John Taylor, Mrs Cave and the HPA committee for making the quiz night happen. Also to Geraldine Horne, Paula Lavender and the Catering Team who helped make the evening run so smoothly.

Miss Lloyd, Marketing Manager

Data Collection in Windsor

Braving a cold and grey February Tuesday morning the Form VI ‘Geography Squad’ travelled to Windsor to spend the day collecting data for their controlled assessment. Everything was viewed with an eye on their investigation of the ‘different management strategies for tourism’, especially around the Castle and the Royal Windsor shopping area. Despite being outdoors all day in freezing temperatures the girls completed all tasks and warmed themselves with hot chocolates and a taste of shopping (for survey purposes of course!) The next few weeks will be spent on interpreting and analysing results to aim for top grades!

Mrs B Mason, Head of Humanities Faculty

Word of the Week

Librocubicularists (people who like to read in bed).

Bibelot (small object of beauty or rarity).

Quixotic (unrealistically optimistic) from the character Don Quixote who was impractically optimistic.

Issue Number 2, w/c 25th February 2013 & w/c 4th March 2013

National Schools’ Lacrosse

The 1st lacrosse team found themselves in a tough group for the first day of matches with Caterham School and Lady Eleanor Holles School (eventual losing finalists), the second seeded teams in their section. The team put up a valiant fight but lost both these matches. The girls narrowly lost to North London Collegiate 3-4 in an extremely exciting game but drew with Rendcomb College 2-2 and beat neighbouring rivals St George’s Ascot 2-0 and Kings Canterbury 6-2. This meant the team finished fourth in their group and qualified for the Division 2 play-off (a division higher than last year). The second day of the tournament saw sixteen very tired players take to the field again for another tough day of competition minus co-

captain Octavia (Form UVI) who had badly injured her ankle the day before. The team lost four games but drew 2-2 with St James’s School and beat Loretto School 1-0.

All the girls played extremely well and should be proud of their achievements, but a special mention must be made of co-captain Emily (Form UVI) and Daisy (Form IV) for their goals and, at the other end of the pitch, Tallulah (Form UVI) was outstanding in goal, often pulling off saves to keep the team in the game. Congratulations!

Ms Reynolds, Director of Sport

@HeathfieldAscot

Heathfield School Ascot

South East Berkshire Netball Tournament Winners

Congratulations to Heathfield’s U12 netball team who were named U12 Plate Winners at the South East Berkshire Netball Tournament. The girls played exceptionally well, beating seven out of the eight teams they played.

Miss J Talbot, Head of House — de Valois and Teacher of PE

Steve Reich concert

On 5th March, the Music department took the GCSE and AS Level music students to the Royal Festival Hall to watch a Steve Reich concert, which was organised especially for schools. As well as learning about new techniques, we actually got to take part in the concert! The presenter showed the audience some rhythms to clap and together we produced a brilliant sound. After some wonderful counterpoints, we saw Steve Reich - the real composer! Unfortunately we did not manage to get an autograph. The last piece was an incredible mix of rock and minimalism and from my point of view, it was the best piece performed on the night. I personally picked up some interesting techniques to use for drum playing alongside some new ideas for my GCSE music composing. This was an amazing opportunity.

Diana, Form V

Prep Schools’ Choral Day

Form I joined 430 pupils from 12 prep schools for a day of choral workshops held at Wellington College, run by Ralph Allwood, MBE, founder of the Eton Choral Course and who was recently a choral consultant and judge on BBC Two's The Choir: Sing While You Work.

The day was filled with singing and laughter. We sang The Saga of the Seven Days by Tom Cunningham, written in 2006 for the National Youth Choir of Scotland National Boys' Choir. Musically and chorally it was very satisfying, with witty and informative narratives, with one song for each day of the week: Sun, Moon, Tiu, Wodin, Thor, Freya and Saturn. Later in the afternoon when The Saga of the Seven Days was performed in the chapel, Chloe (Form I) was chosen as one of the narrators and did a wonderful job and made Heathfield proud. We enjoyed afternoon tea in the dining hall which is just what we all needed as singing is hungry work! We were exhausted by the end of the day, but our girls, as ever, did us proud and a great time was had by all.

Mrs Dance, Director of Music