THE NEWSLET TTER OF

S T T E R E SA’ S

E F F INGHAM ISSUE 9 – SEPTEMBER 2016

EXCELLENT RESULTS

PROJECT 16/18 UPDATE Work on the new multi-million pound development project that includes a new Art Centre, four new Prep classrooms and a Sixth Form Study Centre is due to commence later on this year. Frustratingly there has been an initial delay due to difficulties with the planning authorities because of the proposed scale of the building. Undaunted, the school has engaged a new specialist team of architects and new plans will be presented within the next couple of months.

The Upper Sixth leavers celebrated fantastic A Level results this year. The girls gained 50% A* or A grade, and as a result the vast majority gained places at their first choice university; indeed, a record-breaking number will be attending Russell Group universities. Not to be outdone, the Year 11 also achieved some wonderful GCSEs. Director of Studies, Gareth Beynon, commented that ‘the girls and staff must be congratulated for all their hard work and tremendous success; they have really done us proud.’ We extend our congratulations to the girls who are leaving us as a credit to the school. ABOVE RIGHT: Off to read Medicine are Rhiannon Meller and Victoria Morgan RIGHT: Hannah Garnett and Ellie Thomas are heading off to Oxford University.

HIVE OF ACTIVITY The school maintenance team (and a small army of contractors) have had another frantic summer of activity. They have worked tremendously hard and deserve thanks and praise for all their achievements. RE S O O . M OT E.. D PH NSI I

DON’T FORGET

OPEN MORNING SATURDAY 24th SEPTEMBER 10am–12.30pm • HEADMASTER SPEAKS at 10.15am

COME AND SEE WHAT’S NEW!

You’ll find all the latest news on our website at www.st-teresas.com

New Faces Simon Conrad – Chaplain

Tim Faunce-Brown – Maths Teacher

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Simon Conrad to the post of Chaplain.

Tim gained his degree in 1995 then took a PGCE in Maths and qualified as a secondary Maths teacher in 1998. He continued working for Reigate school, where he had completed the second half of his teacher training; here he taught both Maths and RE. During his first year he also taught part time at St Anne’s special needs school. From there he went to Sussex Downs College as a personal tutor, where he also taught Maths and PSHE to sixth form students. In 2008 he started working for the Queen Elizabeth Foundation, again teaching Maths.

Mr Conrad has over twenty-five years experience as a teacher, and has developed a particular interest in Religious Education and the spiritual development of children and young people in both parish and school settings. He has experience in parish and Diocesan youth work, as a catechist for sacramental programmes and both planning and leading liturgies, especially for children and young people. He is a keen musician and enjoys using this skill to enhance worship and liturgy so that all can participate. After leaving school, Mr Conrad took a year out and worked as a volunteer for the Diocesan Youth Service, including working at a residential retreat centre and participating in pilgrimages to Lourdes and the Holy Land. He read Theology at the University of Durham, specialising in Biblical Studies. After a year as a Housemaster at Westminster Cathedral Choir School, he trained as a teacher at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. More recently, Mr Conrad has been accepted as a candidate to become a Permanent Deacon and has recently completed the first year of formation. Mr Conrad looks forward to taking up the post as Chaplain at St Teresa’s, especially by supporting the school’s values Faith, Compassion, Community, Character and Intellect.

Samantha Rippington – PE Teacher Samantha is an experienced PE teacher who is passionate about developing a love of physical activity in children and young people and helping them to achieve the best they can. She has taught a variety of sports from Nursery to Sixth Form including netball, hockey, swimming, cricket, football, rugby, cross country, tennis and gymnastics. She is a committed sportswoman herself in the fields of canoeing and kayaking, representing Great Britain at the 2009 and 2010 World Championships and winning Silver and Bronze medals as well as being placed 12th in the world. In recent years, she has taken up running, weight training and obstacle racing and competed in the ITV series ‘Ninja Warrior UK’ achieving furthest lady on the course. When she is not involved with sporting activities, Samantha enjoys gardening, bird watching and spending time with her 2 cats!

Since 2011 he has studied music production and has designed and built his own recording studio, in which he writes and records songs in a variety of styles and collaborates with other musicians. His other interests include sailing and most outdoor activities.

Katie Durham – English Teacher Katie is delighted to be joining the creative and successful English Department at St Teresa’s. She is looking forward to meeting the staff, girls and their parents, and becoming part of an energetic and vibrant community. She spent six years teaching English Literature and English Language at A Level at a boys school in Berkshire before moving on to teach at a Catholic girls School in Ascot where she spent three years, learning a great deal as Head of Year. Katie loved the experiences and opportunities offered in both schools where she fostered her love for bringing English to life in the classroom with animated and enthusiastic young learners. At university in Nottingham and Reading, she studied English Literature with creative writing and enjoys working with students and the brightness of their imaginations developing their own creative energies. Katie also enjoys working with students on public speaking and debating, and developing a love of learning through extracurricular forums. Her personal interests are reading extensively, broadening her horizons through travel, visiting the theatre and continuing to learn. She looks forward to meeting the St Teresa’s community and enjoying the marvels of English with you.

Robert Brown – History Teacher Robert grew up in Worcestershire and studied at Cardiff University. He gained a passion for teaching whilst working for the Humanities department at Cardiff University and as a lecturer for an Adult Education Centre. After leaving Cardiff he worked at Westacre Middle School in Worcestershire and at Ryde School with Upper Chine on the Isle of Wight teaching History, Drama and RE. Robert’s interests include theatre, cycling and exploring historic sites. He is passionate about bringing history to life in a way that inspires and motivates pupils, and working with colleagues to aid students in achieving their goals. Since moving to the area Robert says he has already fallen in love with the Surrey countryside and is thrilled to be joining St Teresa’s School in September.

Helen Bulford – Reception Teacher Helen is an exceptionally experienced Early Years teacher who has worked for over 20 years in the private sector and is joining us from Glenesk. She particularly enjoys incorporating outdoor learning within the curriculum. Outside of school Helen’s passions are travelling, rock and roll music and dancing. She is looking forward to working with the children and staff at St Teresa’s.

Emma Brailsford – Year 5 Teacher Emma has taught in a number of independent schools in Surrey and has a reputation for helping all pupils to achieve their full potential. She has experience teaching across Lower and Upper Prep and is looking forward to taking up her position as a Year 5 teacher at St Teresa’s. In her spare time, Emma enjoys Pilates, walking and trips to the theatre.

Rose Gelona –Year 1 Teacher After finishing her degree in Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent, Rose worked for Sony before deciding that her true calling lay in teaching. She completed her PGCE at St Mary’s University, Twickenham and went on to work at Cardinal Newman Primary school. In her free time Rose enjoys horse riding, snowboarding, cooking and reading.

Helen Canning – Year 6 Teacher Helen Canning is looking forward to teaching at St Teresa’s, being an old girl herself. She left St Teresa’s in 1995 and went on to complete her teaching degree at St Mary’s, Strawberry Hill. She has spent her teaching career in central London, Dubai, Guildford and Leatherhead. Helen is married and has three sons aged seven, five and three.

Melanie Kearley – Year 4 Teacher Melanie feels as though she has come full circle as she is an old St T’s girl. She joined St Teresa’s when she was 4 ½ years old and left at the end of Year 13 as Deputy Head Girl, Head of St Francis House and Head of Choir, with many happy memories and life-long friends. Following a Gap year teaching in India, she went on to study for a BA (Ed) with QTS at Exeter University. After qualifying in 1998, Melanie moved to London and taught years 4 and 5 at Wendell Park School in Hammersmith, where she also held responsibility for the Integrated Arts. More recently, she has taught at St Andrew’s Primary School in Cobham, where she has had experience teaching all year groups in Key Stage 2 as well as being the Music Co-ordinator for 10 years. Her daughter joined St Teresa’s last September and Melanie was delighted when she was invited to join the teaching team in the Prep School. She looks forward to all the new opportunities that this role will present.

Agata Reyes – Spanish Teacher Agata joins us as a Spanish teacher working in both the Prep and Senior School. Agata is from Spain and is fluent in both French and Spanish; she has been a language teacher for nearly 15 years. She is married with a six year old boy and in her spare time enjoys reading, baking and practising yoga and Pilates.

Boarding Alison Walton – Housemistress Ms Alison Walton has a teaching background in Design and Technology and is joining us from Oriel High School in West Sussex. An active member of her school community running various trips and activities, Ms. Walton is also a keen player of Petanque and has introduced many young people to the game. She will be the new Housemistress for Boarders in Years 7–10.

Kay Widlake – Housemistress Ms Kay Widlake has been running her own business for the past two years. Prior to that she was on the residential Boarding team at Felsted School in Essex, where in addition to her boarding duties her skills as a swimming coach and administrator were much appreciated. She is mum to a grown up son and daughter and is joining us as the Housemistress for Boarders in Years 11 and 12.

Lucy Parr – Gap Assistant Miss Lucy Parr is joining us from Bookham in Surrey as a Boarding Gap Assistant. She is a keen musician, playing both piano and violin to a high standard, and has shown her commitment to community through running her annual Church holiday club. In addition to her boarding duties, Lucy will be assisting in the Music Department.

María Inés Morales Orozco – Gap Assistant Miss María Inés Morales Orozco comes from Guadalajara in Mexico. She has a strong spirit of service and has combined studying for her end of school examinations with time spent supporting vulnerable children in hospital and at an orphanage. She will be working as a Boarding Gap Assistant, and providing some support to the Modern Foreign Languages Department.

Summer Activity

PRIZE GIVING 2016 Prize Giving is always a wonderful occasion in which we celebrate the many successes of all our girls; but most particularly our Year 13 girls, who now leave St Teresa’s for the wider world. There were tears, of course, but the mood was one of happiness and jubilation. We were privileged to welcome and listen to the inspiring story of Guest of Honour, Liz Johnson, a Paralympian who won gold in the 100m breaststroke in Beijing 2008, and bronze in London 2012. Her story of personal triumph against the odds was mesmerising. In addition, we heard a motivational speech from Andrea Ize-Iyamu, an amusing sketch on the rigours of the school inspection from Grace Gibbon and Sophie-Louise McClean, an academic round-up from Ellie Thomas, and a moving tribute to her time at St T’s, in poetic form, from Immy Kelly. Rhiannon Meller’s speech as former Head Girl offered excellent advice to every year group in the form of quotations from various Disney films; perhaps the most salient being Dory’s advice from Finding Nemo: ‘Just keep swimming.’ Chairman of the Board of Governors, Mr Michael Bray, and Headmaster, Mr Mike Farmer, moreover, paid huge tribute to the staff and students for all the successes of the year.

TREE PLANTING As part of the Boarding Orchard Project Robin Fletcher, Chief Executive of the Boarding Schools’ Association, visited St Teresa’s in the spring and planted a Cherry Tree in the school grounds. Robin Fletcher is pictured below with Headmaster, Mike Farmer, who is also Chair of the Boarding Schools’ Association, and Vanessa O’Dea, Head of Boarding.

The ceremony also included musical interludes, and, of course, distribution of the prizes, and a fond farewell to our superb, outgoing Year 13.

PSHE Ireland’s next big boy band comes to St T’s! The library was temporarily turned into a concert venue in March when Irish boy band ‘Taken’ came in to perform for Year 9 as part of their PSHE & Citizenship course! Stephen, Eoghan and Richie, who have previously supported Olly Murs and Union J, performed several tracks while the girls danced and sang along, before they broached the more serious topics of online safety and cyber-bullying.

MATHS AWARD WINNERS Following on from the success of our students in the Senior Maths Challenge, girls in Years 7 to 11 took part in the Intermediate and Junior Maths Challenges. Of particular mention in the Intermediate Challenge are: Kristy Weng – Best in School, Best in Year 11 and a Gold certificate, Jessica Guan – Best in Year 10 and a Bronze certificate, Sofié Davidson – Best in Year 9 and a Silver certificate. Ella Lau was awarded a Silver certificate and Bronze certificates were awarded to Amelie Bickenson, Sandy Guo, Nicole Qi, Rosie Miller, Yoon A Chung, Lia Rockey, Olivia Jenkins, Georgia Wensley, Jemima Brown, Amelia Schmid and Andrea Ize-Iyamu. The Junior Maths Challenge also resulted in success for our students. Sophie-Louise McClean achieved Best in School, Best in Year 8 and a Gold certificate, with Ruby Dean gaining Best in Year 7 and a Bronze certificate. Silver certificates were awarded to Honor Edwards, Katie Dunmore, Natasha Tait, Esther Han and Eleanor Sutton. Bronze award winners were Kirstin Malcolm, Alice Jenkins, Laura Hill, Isabelle Honey, Sophia Wallin, Rafi de Pommes, Elena Jarrett, Rachel Bayley and Sophie Jennings. Congratulations go to all students who took the Challenges; the Maths Department is very proud of you.

STAYING SAFE We were very pleased to welcome back self defence instructor and writer, Jason O’Connor, to teach our Year 10 girls some vital strategies for staying safe while they are out and about. From how to get out of a stranglehold to how to avoid being a target for thieves, Jason gave them plenty of practical tips to keep them out of danger. Right:Year 10 Self Defence sessions

YEAR 11 PROM AT THE BURFORD BRIDGE HOTEL

CHARITY AFTERNOON Charity Afternoon was great fun and very successful despite having to be held inside due to rain. Approximately £850 was raised for the various House Charities that we support.

YEAR 10 PGL Year 10 enjoyed a great weekend on the Isle of Wight conquering the Jacobs ladder, the trapeze and the giant swing. They also enjoyed Kayaking, dragon boating and challenging obstacle courses.

Boarding Boarding Tea Parties This year we have enjoyed hosting two tea parties for the teachers to come and experience boarding and see where the girls live. During the first tea party both Governors and teachers had tours of the boarding houses from Boarders. Teas were poured and cakes served by proud Boarding Staff and Boarders and all the teachers enjoyed it, especially when the table football and air hockey got going!

Getting active – news from Miss Raymond Boarders have been busy beingg active in all sorts of physical activity this year. An extensive xtensive extraffe ffeeered to curricular activity programme offered boarders has meant girls have been een able to experience all different kinds of exercise to suit various interests. Our regular ular offerings have included bootcamp p circuits, swimming, badminton, spinn class, yoga, indoor rowing, dance or rn even the opportunity to do modern pentathlon. The girls have also beenn ve joined by the boarding staff who have been involved in interhouse sportingg events at weekends which are knownn to d get quite competitive; team mascots and er relays, face painting included! Dodgeball, water re amongst basketball and hockey tournaments are the other physical activities we have run this year, and boarders have even started to swim the length of the channel collectively!

Boarding International Suppers Friday nights are filled with lots of activities and have included two very successful international suppers, where Boarders have worked with Head Chef, Gary, to produce special meals for the Boarding community. In the first round senior boarders made Chinese chicken wings, Spanish omelette and sushi; the junior boarders then had a go with Ukrainian noodles and delicious dumplings on the menu. The girls loved making all the different foods from their home countries, and especially enjoyed learning cooking tips from Gary.

Activity Week RE ACTIVITY WEEK

FOOD TECH H

Year 10 listened to an interesting presentation given by Richard Iago on “Love, Sex, and Marriage” from a Catholic Christian perspective. Richard was a highly gifted speaker who spoke with clarity and in-depth knowledge about Christian theology and the Sacrament of Marriage. The girls showed their interest by asking searching and pertinent questions which were skillfully answered with integrity and sensitivity. At the end of the afternoon we were all left with much to think and ponder upon.

Year 9

Year 7 and Year 8 were treated to a day of drama and activities on Wednesday from the RISE theatre company. The workshops were led by two indefatigable actors, Stephen and John, who amazed us all with their talent and energy. Their activities covered themes such as Fruits of the Holy Spirit, the life and martyrdom of St Alban, choices of life, along with periods of prayerful reflection. All girls entered wholeheartedly into the activities and fun was had by all! Thank you RISE theatre, we will be seeing you again next year.

We had great fun taking part in the Year 9 Bake Off in Activities Week. We had two hours rs to make pastry, cake and bread read products in groups of four and present them for judging. Working in a team was exciting and we worked well together to do this challenge. Miss Bates and other teachers tested the things we made like the judges do on the Great British Bake Off, it was quite stressful. The winning three teams from the 12 that took part had a mug for a prize. We shared the food and took it to camp with us.

Year 7 In activities week we got to make shortbread rtbread and decorate them with icing and sweets. We were shown how to make a piping bag and d tried piping icing. It was great doing this. Eating what we made was good too! On Friday morning Year 9 took part in a workshop delivered by the Jewish Holocaust Education Trust upon the theme of “Collaborators.” This was followed by a talk given by Marcel Ladenheim, a Holocaust survivor from Nazi occupied France. He spoke most movingly about his family and experiences as a young boy. The girls listened intently and with interest. At the end of the talk questions were asked and answered with honesty and good humour. Marcel concluded with his own outlook on life and words of advice for the future. Everyone agreed he was a wonderful man. Malcolm Giles, Head of RE.

YEAR 10–12 DAY In Activity Week Miss Pitchford and Mrs Randall welcomed Year 10 to come and spend a day in the life of a Sixth Former. There were taster A Level lessons for the students to select from including Government and Politics, Economics, Drama, Science and Classical Civilisation, three St Teresa’s Alumni speakers returned to talk to our students about studying at St Teresa’s Sixth Form and university life, Mr Collins delivered a critical thinking workshop offering the Year 10 students a taste of A Level study skills and we all enjoyed a very British indoor BBQ lunch.

YEAR 7–9 CAMPING IN TILFORD In Activity Week, Years 7, 8 & 9 enjoyed a 24 hour camping experience in Tilford, Farnham. The girls stayed in Tepees, built fires, carved butter knives, went climbing, cooked bread on open fires, conquered obstacle courses and enjoyed pizza, smores and hot chocolate.

Art Below: A Level and GSCE work Overleaf: Arts Festival and Fashion Show

Science

SCIENCE CLUB Science Week 2016: Members of the science club enjoyed dissecting eye balls, supervised by Rhiannon Meller, one of our sixth form scientists.

SCIENCE WEEK 2016 Our chickens were the highlight of Science Week in school. Eight eggs hatched into adorable chickens and all the girls were keen to get involved with checking on their progress each day.

SCIENCE MUSEUM Year 9 enjoyed a trip to the Natural History Museum, where they walked with the dinosaurs, explored the many exhibits and engaged in a little retail therapy. FLOSSIE: Last week was National Science Week. We all had a whole week devoted to the eight chicks that hatched in room 29. I loved holding the chicks and watching them fall asleep in my hands. FREYA: Freddie was the first chick to hatch. Bugsy was one of the noisiest and Kya was one of the heaviest chicks and liked to poo on our skirts. RUBY: It has been fascinating to watch the small fluffy chicks grow and mature. I am so happy to have been a part of their lives. These have been the best science lessons ever! LARA: During the week we learnt: how to care for them; learned all the different parts of the egg; that eggs can breathe; what chicks like to eat and the best environment for them to survive. I loved to measure my chick’s mass, height and foot length. ELLIE: All the chicks grew so much in one week. I felt exhilaration when Pippi was able to jump out of the box, TWICE! OLIVIA: The baby chick I had was called Phosphorous. He was very cheeky because he kept trying to jump out of the box. He was so cute and soft. I love him so very much. ELLA: I have really enjoyed the eggsperiments and taking responsibility for the chicks has been fun and challenging. We have also cracked some eggselent jokes. TORI: I would like to thank all the science teachers for letting us have time with the chicks, and I’m so glad that they trusted us to look after them. The chicks were so cute!

SCIENCE WEEK MUFTI DAY

A LEVEL LECTURE ON DNA FINGERPRINTING

As part of our Science Week celebrations the girls were invited to dress in something scientific. There were many imaginative costumes, including DNA, Calcium and Aluminium. Steph Williams and Miss Weller made an excellent pair of Shrödinger’s Cats, but the most entertaining (and bravest?) were the four girls who dressed as their Science teachers.

May 2016 – DNA fingerprinting – Lecture with Sir Alec Jeffreys. Sir Alec Jeffreys is the inventor of the forensic technique ‘DNA fingerprinting’. In a unique Q&A evening at the Science museum he gave his recollections on how he invented the technique in the 1980s that is still used today. Four Sixth Formers joined Mr Atkinson and Dr Scott who all wanted to learn more about the origins of this technique which is studied in the A-level Biology course. Kristjana Bjarnason, Jo Jo Lee, Esther Omo and Harin Oh

CHALLENGERS’ WEEK Girls in Year 11 were very successful in the recent Biology Challenge run by the Royal Society of Biology. Four girls were awarded medals: Lydia Lynn, Hannah Al-Memar, Lia Rockey and Jess Freeman who gained a Gold Medal – a fantastic achievement!

YEAR 7 SHOW THEIR ‘DAB’ IN COMPUTER SCIENCE Year 7 have been studying a brand new curriculum and have focused on computational thinking. From Dr Snow’s cholera epidemic investigation in 1854, to creating an emergency evacuation plan to learning algorithms, lessons have certainly been different. Recently Miss Butt had to teach the girls algorithms which is a set of step by step instructions. To make this more interesting the girls were given an algorithm to a dance to learn which was the “Don’t mind challenge” which showcased the current trend of “dabbing”. All girls thoroughly enjoyed it and it is fair to say there were some groovy moves seen.

English

Public Speaking Senior Team

PUBLIC SPEAKING St Teresa’s continued their winning streak in the Rotary Club of Dorking Youth Speaks Public Speaking competition. Catherine Morgan (main speaker) spoke passionately about her recent visit to Auschwitz and why we should never forget what happened. She was supported by Amber McEvoy (chair) and Lydia Lynn (vote of thanks). They proved to be an excellent team and won the local round. Third Place in the Rotary Club Dorking

Public Speaking Winning Team

Also competing were Lia Rockey, Amelie Bickenson and Fabienne Bellamy. Lia delivered a very clever and amusing speech about the significance of body language in politics. The team narrowly missed out on the top spot and are to be congratulated on their super team performance. In the intermediate competition Andrea Ize-Iyamu (speaker), Lauren Ewer (chair) and Rafi de Pommes (vote of thanks) were awarded third place in a very hard fought competition with nine other teams. Andrea spoke about body image and impressed the judges with her knowledge and composure. Also competing were Ella Lewis, Sophie Jennings and Amelia Deer in their first competition. Sophie spoke about our ever increasing reliance on technology and all members of the team delivered very polished performances.

SIXTH FORM ENGLISH TRIP TO STRATFORD UPON AVON AND PIZZA NIGHT Sixth Form A Level English Literature students enjoyed a fantastic trip to Stratford Upon Avon to see the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Dr Faustus, an A Level set text. The play tells the story of a man who sells his soul to Lucifer and charts his inevitable downfall. This was a very different style of production with some inspiring physical theatre and choral work. All agreed it was an excellent way of revising the play and helped to generate further discussion about different ways of interpreting the play. This visit was followed up a few weeks later with a pizza revision evening watching The Globe’s production of the same play.

MFL

YEAR 7 EURO CAFÉ

LANGUAGES SESSIONS IN THE PREP SCHOOL In the week before half-term, Language Leaders from Years 8, 9 and 10 visited our Prep School to give the younger pupils a taste of French, German and Spanish. Years 1, 2 and 3 enjoyed their language experience with lots of fun and games and our own Language Leaders are teachers in the making!

In March the Year 7 Languages Leaders organised a Euro Café for everyone in Year 7. The girls put their three languages to the test to order and buy delicious, authentic snacks and drinks from France, Spain and Germany. With music playing in the background and a lot of chatter, a truly European ambiance was created. Thank you Year 7 Languages Leaders!

LANGUAGES AT WORK On Monday 13th June, 28 girls from Year 8 were lucky enough to go to the University of Surrey for a fun day of languages. In the morning we were given a welcome talk on the importance of learning languages. We learnt many interesting and new facts about languages throughout the world. After that we were spoken to by an interpreter. Her job seemed very interesting and she has interpreted in many strange places – including a refrigerator! We then had a talk from a man who works at the GoetheInstitut. He told us that learning a language will help us greatly in the future, especially when being interviewed for a job as it will stand out on our CV. In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to learn some words in two different languages: either Russian or Chinese and Italian or Portuguese. It was a great experience and now we can all count to 10 in Chinese!

Spanish Lessons in Prep

This was a really fun trip and given the chance, I think we would all do it again! By Emily Smith and Kirstin Malcolm - Year 8

French Lessons in Prep German Lesson in Prep

Music SPRING CONCERT The Spring Concert in February was highly acclaimed and included the orchestra playing the first movement of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, and the flute quartet performing the haunting Cantique de Jean Racine by Faure. Olivia Hogben played an energetic clarinet hornpipe by McDowell and Alex Jukes was very powerful in ‘Defying Gravity’ by Schwartz. The Senior Chamber Choir stole the show however, with the most moving rendition of In Paradisum by Faure. A lovely concert that was enjoyed by all.

GUTIAN ZOU SINGING AND PIANO CONCERT Our musician in residence Gutian Zou, as a bel canto singer and concert pianist, performed wonderfully in Chapel on 10th March for her lunchtime recital. This is Gutian’s fifth recital in St Teresa’s. She sang the famous soprano aria ‘O mio babbino caro’ from Puccini’s opera ‘Gianni Schicchi’ and ‘Ave Maria’ by Bach and Gounod. She played Liszt ‘s ‘Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11’ amazingly, which is noted for its difficulty. Audiences were impressed by her beautiful voice and flying fingers.

14TH MARCH: CLASSICAL SQUARE PIANO CONCERT BY MR CHARLES THOMPSON AND HIS STUDENTS Mr Charles Thompson has been an amazing singing teacher at St Teresa’s for over fifteen years and has produced incredible soloists for the school, including Portia Cantwell, Louise Gundry, and the current performers. He has been a great mentor to myself with advice about conducting, accompanying and organ playing. We will miss him but celebrate all that he has given to the school. Director of Music, Tim Caister

YEAR 7 CHOIR COMPETITION

SUMMER CONCERT

The inaugural Year 7 Choir Competition was great fun and all classes sang their hearts out! It was a very close competition but 7S emerged as the winners, as announced by the guest judge, Mrs Knight. The edible prizes disappeared very rapidly! A most enjoyable competition. A huge thank you to Mrs Yalden for coaching the classes.

“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent”. Victor Hugo At our 4th May event, the Year 13 leavers sang and played beautifully to express their reluctance to leave. It was an unforgettable concert performed by Year 7 and 8 Chamber Choir, Senior Choir, Senior Chamber Choir and Orchestra.

SPRING SOIREE On 24 February our musicians performed in The Chapel. The Clarinet and Saxophone ensemble played Brown and Homer’s ‘Sentimental Journey’. Carla Burdett Zulaica sang ‘How Many Tears’ by Schonberg. Tsz Ching Ho played ’Sonata in F minor’ by Scarlatti.

STRING QUARTET EVERY WEDNESDAY The String Quartet meets every Wednesday lunchtime and is coached by our cello teacher, Mr Rivers. The group makes beautiful music to a very high standard. They have performed quartets by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert in recent concerts.

MUSIC FESTIVAL The Music Festival was held on 9th and 10th June in the Chapel and the winners’ lunchtime concert was held on 10th June. Whether they won or not, the girls collected their performance experience, certificates and medals. The house winner was Benedict.

STAFF TROMBONE CLUB EVERY THURSDAY The staff trombone group meets on Thursdays after school with some emerging talents on show. Showing most promise were Miss Burns Begg and Mrs Risbridger. There are also trombone groups for pupils at lunchtimes which have proved to be great fun.

FAME JNR Actors, dancers and singers from Year 7 to Year 13 performed in the St Teresa’s Performing Arts Department’s lively and energetic production of Fame Jnr in March 2016. The production showcased the many talents of the girls at St Teresa’s and celebrated the artistic delights of the Performing Arts. The strong cast was lead by Emily Williams Spires, Jessica Lange, Kate Warner, Olivia Jenkins and Anya Chowdhry, and supported by Sybilla Platt, Carly Johnson, Sienna Lakin, Lauren Sainthouse, Allegra Phipps, Georgia Maclennan and Tilly HansenHamilton. The girls, with the help and support of other talented members of Year 7–10, produced an excellent evening of entertainment embracing the fun, energy and fashion faux pas of the 1980’s. Ophelia Hansen-Hamilton did a sterling job with the production’s demanding sound score and Cara Ballard, Carla Burdett Zulaica and Sophie Jennings complemented the technical excellence of the show with their combined efforts on lighting. The production was co-directed by Miss Hansen and Miss Holmes, both new to St Teresa’s this year, who enjoyed working with the girls and inspiring the next generation of performing arts students to ‘light up the sky like a flame’, and the cast and girls of St Teresa’s did exactly that with this production of Fame Jnr.

‘WHAT ARE THEY LIKE?’ St Teresa’s Performing Arts Department proudly participated in the National Theatre’s Connections 500 Festival. This year is the 21st anniversary of the National Theatre Connections - a nationwide celebration of new plays for young people. St Teresa’s was delighted to be a part of it and the girls performed ‘What Are They Like?’, a touching and poignant play written by Lucinda Coxon about parenting and teenagers. The girls performed ‘What Are They Like?’ at St Teresa’s in April and were delighted that a director from the National Theatre came on opening night to watch it, meet the girls afterwards and discuss their production with them. The girls’ performance was outstanding, effective and engaging and the feedback was extremely positive, both from the National Theatre director and members of the audience. The girls then performed the play again in May at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, as part of the festival, alongside other theatre companies and schools. The girls did a magnificent job and enjoyed performing in a professional theatre with professional facilities and to a full house. The excellent cast of Year 9–Upper Sixth members consisted of Francesca Wilkinson, Eloise Arthur-Hammond, Jessica Lange, Cara Ballard, Carla Burdett Zulaica, Mariella Hatton, Georgia Lewis, Fabienne Bellamy, Lia Rockey, Ophelia Hansen- Hamilton, Lottie Peel and Issy James. Georgia Maclennan and Tilly Hansen-Hamilton controlled the sound and lighting and enjoyed the opportunity to work alongside professional technicians. The play was directed by Miss Hansen, Director of Performing Arts, and she and the girls enjoyed being part of such an exciting, creative and inspiring opportunity, culminating in an excellent performance in a professional London theatre.

Sixth Form MUNICH TRIP As part of their History A Level course fourteen girls from the Sixth Form visited Munich at Easter.

SUMMER BALL The Sixth Form Summer Ball 2016 was hosted by the beautiful Harbour Hotel Guildford where we all enjoyed a three course dinner, copious amounts of dancing and taking many comedy pictures with props in the photobooth.

SIXTH FORM PRESENT EXCHANGE Year 12 and 13 celebrated the time that they have spent together this year with a present exchange and movie night in June. As a surprise for the Year 13 students, each Year 12 student selected a Year 13 student to buy a present for to thank them for their support and mentoring this year, following a lot of laughter and tears the Sixth Form snuggled up together to watch a comedy on the Sixth Form sofa. This fun and thoughtful event was organised by our Sixth Form Events Committee, lead by our Year 12 Senior Prefect Lucia.

YEAR 13 LEAVERS’ CELEBRATION ASSEMBLY HIGHER EDUCATION WEEK Higher Education Week 2016 was a whirlwind three-day event in June, designed by Mrs Randall and Miss Pitchford to inspire our Year 12 students to begin their university applications. The three days included:

In May our Sixth Form students and staff celebrated our Year 13 students in their Leavers’ Assembly. We enjoyed a traditional St Teresa’s Tea, Gary’s Special Punch, Miss Pitchford’s Year 13 Awards, Eleanor CraigFisher’s Leaver’s Video and staff and student speeches to reflect and celebrate the time that Year 13 have enjoyed at St Teresa’s.

• A whole year group trip to Royal Holloway University • A Parent Event with a Q&A about Higher Education • Over 14 subject seminars were offered to students including PPE and Human Nutrition • 10 career workshops including Equestrian, Primary/Secondary Teaching and Human Resources • Specialist seminars exploring medicine and studying abroad and overseas applications • 3 alumni speakers, spanning experiences of foundation, undergraduate and graduate, returned to us to deliver a talk to our students about their experiences at university. • Our keynote speaker was Mr Richard Sowerby who delivered an engaging and inspiring lecture about succeeding in the workplace in an increasingly competitive market • Surrey University delivered a lecture and Q&A to our students exploring how to write an effective Personal Statement • All of our students undertook workshops on Personal Statement writing, the UCAS form and effective methods to research and compare undergraduate courses and institutions • All students benefitted from individualised support in allocated one to one mentoring sessions with their Form Tutor All of Year 12 were exhausted by the end of the three days but not so exhausted that they did not have enough energy to enjoy celebrating their success with a cream tea on Friday afternoon with their Personal Tutors and Form Tutors, feeling inspired and ready to begin their university applications.

YEAR 12 WORK EXPERIENCE Work Experience in June was a wonderful success with placements varying from working for an events management company to shadowing employees at one of the leading lights of the British textile world. The girls were a credit to St Teresa’s and comments on their feedback forms included “outstanding student, heading for greater things!” Mrs. Randall, Head of Careers

Hockey Success Goal Keeper clinic with Tom Millington from Fortitude Hockey Kara McIntosh recieved the U12 Performance Contribution Award at Surbiton Hockey Club

Interform Hockey - 7W

Surbiton High School U13 tournament

Tamera Cookman winning the U12 In2Hockey Club Finals with Surbiton Hockey Club

Miss Kay celebrating with the In2Hockey Schools South Championships with U12A squad

Olivia Wilde at the Lee Valley Olympic Hockey Centre winning the National U14 Clubs Championships for Surbiton Hockey Club Tasmin Cookman winning the U12 In2Hockey Club Finals with Surbiton Hockey Club

Miss Kay donating old school sticks and GK equipment to England Hockey’s Africa project #TAP U15 XI at the district tournament

U12A squad are South Champions

The U12 Surrey Schools trophy won by U12A VII U12 A XI District winners – 1st Place

Interform Hockey - 8B won 1st place

Guernsey Hockey Development squad on tour at St Teresa’s – 2nd place in tournament U12A VII on an attacking penalty corner Nia Munro, Tasmin Cookman and Kara McIntosh

U13 XI team - 2nd place in Districts

U12B squad In2Hockey Surrey Schools tournament

U12A Squad team talk with Miss Kay #tuttifruity

1st XI team with Miss Kay & Miss Nelson- 3rd place in Districts

Sophie Jennings (far right) playing for Guildford Hockey Club at In2Hockey Clubs National finals - 4th place Guildford Hockey Club and Surbiton Hockey go head to head – Sophie Jennings v Tasmin Cookman, Pippi Spawforth & Tamera Cookman

U12A squad and Miss Kay at In2Hockey Surrey Schools Tournament – first place and through to the South Championships

Pippi Spawforth (U12 captain) has been selected for the Junior Regional Performance Centre (JRPC) in the U15 group

Sport THE NETBALL SEASON 2015-2016 This year’s netball season has seen success, commitment and great progression from all 120+ girls that have participated. There have been no less than 100 fixtures, and the school has been represented at 14 different tournaments. Congratulations should also go to Chloe Duncan and Amy Caporn who were both successfully selected for the U14 Surrey County Netball Squad.

U13 A Danes Hill Tournament In January, the U13 Netball team ventured to Danes Hill School to compete in the ‘H’ Garside memorial tournament. The girls took on the challenge and showed fantastic teamwork on the day. Having narrowly missed out by 1 goal to Hall Grove in their final match, they finished runners up. Congratulations to all those who participated on the day.

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Surrey Tournaments One of the big tournaments of the year is the Surrey Schools netball tournament. This season we entered in the U12, U13, U14 U16 and U19B age groups. The girls showed excellent camaraderie, team work and sportsmanship at these events and were a credit to the school. Special mention to the U12 team who finished 3rd in their pool, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the Surrey Finals. The U19 team also finished 3rd overall in their U19B Surrey Plate Tournament and should be congratulated on playing such high quality netball on the day.

Central Surrey District Tournaments The girls played fantastically in the Central Surrey District Tournaments this year with great success at all levels. We entered both the A and B tournaments for U12, U13 and U14 age groups. The U15 and U19 teams also competed in their age groups. The results were as follows: U12A Central Surrey District Champions U13A Central Surrey District Runners up U14A Central Surrey District Champions U14B Central Surrey District Champions U15 Central Surrey District Runners up Huge congratulations to all those who participated in these events!

Surrey Storm Netball Trip

On behalf of myself as Head of Netball and all of the netballers at St Teresa’s, we would like to say a huge thank you to FOST for the beautiful netball shirts to wear at tournaments. The girls feel very professional in their sticky bibs and many other schools have commented on how lovely they are. Moving forwards, we look ahead to the 2016-2017 season and the success it will bring.

Bring it on! On 12th March, 18 girls travelled to Surrey Sports Park to watch some Superleague netball live in action; Surrey Storm vs Team Bath. It was a fantastic event, and the girls saw lots of current and retired England netballers playing at a very high standard. The final score was Storm 54, Bath 42. There was an opportunity to take part in a shooting contest at half time and the girls were able to collect autographs and have pictures taken with the netball stars at the end of the match. Photos: 1 U13 A Netball Squad at the Danes Hill ‘H’ Garside Memorial Tournament

2 The U13 A Netball Squad at the Surrey Netball Tournament

3 The U15A netball squad with their District Tournament medals

4 U19A netball squad following the District Netball Tournament

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FOST

U12B Central Surrey District Runners up U13B Central Surrey District 3rd Place

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5 Surrey Storm Netball Trip 6 The U12A squad at the Surrey Tournament 7 Alice Jenkins and Victoria Boadi with ex-England Captain Pamela Cookey

8 Action Shot from the U14 National Netball Tournament

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SURREY INDIVIDUAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS Ella Beater finished 4th in the Junior girls 100m Freestyle Elena Jarrett finished 3rd in the Junior girls 100m Backstroke Lana Finnegan finished 3rd in the Junior girls 100m Breaststroke Charlotte Wensley finished 4th in the Junior girls 200m individual medley 5

Maddie Doré finished 3rd by 4 one hundredths of a second, in the Junior girls 100m Butterfly We were then awarded points for where we finished in each race. We finished in joint 1st place with Guildford High School, something no school has achieved since 2003.

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NATIONAL AQUATHLON In June eighty girls from St Teresa’s took part at Caterham School. The U12 and U13 teams performed brilliantly with the following notable results: Hannah Knocker finished 6th, Pippi Spawforth finished 4th, Tilly Jarvis Smith finished 2nd and Charlotte Wensley is National Champion. Isabella Summers finished 5th, Jasmine Peel finished 3rd and Olivia Hogben finished 2nd in the U13 category. In the Olympic distance a big congratulations to Lana Finnegan who finished 2nd.

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SURREY TENNIS FESTIVAL The girls enjoyed a great day playing lots of different schools at St George’s Weybridge and taking the opportunity to improve their tennis.

Prep News JUNIPER HALL Year 4 went on their first residential trip to Juniper Hall. They were extremely lucky with the weather which was particularly good when some of them found they had holes in their wellies after going river dipping! They took part in lots of exciting activities, finding invertebrates that lived in either the river, woodland or grassland and using keys to identify them. The girls saw how they were different colours depending on their habitat and how they were best camouflaged. They took the invertebrates they found in the river back to the centre and examined them up close under a microscope. They also set some mammal traps and Tabby and Anna in 4CP caught a shrew, named Rick! Everyone got to have a good look at him before releasing him back into the wild. There was a campfire where songs were sang, which the teachers cannot now get out of their heads, and marshmallows were toasted – yummy!

SCIENCE DOME The Science Dome came to visit St Teresa’s Prep School. The girls enjoyed interactive sessions that were fun and educational. Each year group had an opportunity to experience a different science topic ranging from Dinosaurs to Space in amazing 3D!

YEARS 5 & 6 ST TERESA’S SINGERS – YOUNG VOICES In February Years 5 and 6 St Teresa’s Singers performed at the O2 Arena in the Young Voices Gala Concert. The girls joined with 8000 other children to sing as part of a massed choir along with a number of celebrity artists including award winning Katie Melua, Lemar and Ben Haenow! With a full live band, backing singers and internationally acclaimed conductor David Lawrence, the evening was one of the most exciting and memorable musical experiences you can imagine. The girls sang beautifully, danced with great enthusiasm (as did the parents and staff!) and represented St Teresa’s superbly. Thank you to all those who came to support the event – we hope you had an enjoyable and entertaining evening.

NURSERY – SHOW AND SHARE Our Nursery children were asked to bring an item in from home to show and share with the group, which helped them to foster their public speaking skills whilst in familiar surroundings. During small group sessions, the children discussed their objects with their peers and were encouraged to ask open ended questions to promote their ‘thinking skills’.

ENGLISH COMPETITION

BUTSER FARM

A team of Year 4 girls attended their first ever English competition at Greenfield School. They played games, took part in quizzes and wrote a group story. No medals this time, but it was a fabulous experience for us all and the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

As part of their topic on the Celts, our Year 3 girls went on a trip to Butser Ancient Farm. We were extremely lucky with the weather and we spent the whole day outside. The girls participated in a variety of activities: spinning, mosaic making, an archaeological dig and jewellery making. We also sat in a Celtic round house for a talk and visited a Roman villa. It was a fascinating trip.

PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION Lana Scott, Katie Roberts and Maisy Beall in Year 6 and Cerys Love, Corellia Wilson and Taylor Coetzee in Year 5 took part in a public speaking competition at Downsend School. This was our first competition and the girls were feeling rather nervous before it began. However, in true St Teresa’s style, the girls rose to the occasion and were very composed, speaking confidently about their subject and answering the questions posed with ease. They were all superb and at the end, three of our girls were mentioned by the judges for their outstanding speeches.

YEAR 5 TRIP TO OSMINGTON BAY Year 5 went on their residential trip to PGL in Osmington Bay, Dorset, stopping off at the beautiful Lulworth Cove for lunch and an ice cream on the way. Right on the coast and bathed in sunshine, the setting was perfect and everyone was ready and raring to try out some exciting activities which included: the giant swing, abseiling, climbing, dragon boat racing and zip wire. In the evenings, the centre organised group games such as Ambush and a lively camp fire where the girls sang songs and learned different rhymes and games.

The teachers were really proud of the girls as they all tried their best to conquer any fears and embrace challenge. Many of the instructors commented on their excellent attitudes and behaviour. Well done to all the girls on being superb ambassadors for the school!

SCIENCE WEEK In Science Week there were a number of different activities for the girls to enjoy. Many of the girls watched an extract of Frozen Planet to find out about how animals survive the winter months in the poles. The Year 6 girls were very lucky to visit the chicks which had hatched in the Senior School the previous week for a cuddle and to see where they were living. The grand finale of the week was the Science Fair with a total of 22 stalls run by almost all the Year 5 and 6 girls. There was a great amount of work put into organising these stalls; some groups had been planning since before half term! All the girls from Reception upwards came to visit to try out some experiments such as adding Mentos to Coca Cola, taking part in quizzes and watching videos that had been prepared earlier. Huge congratulations to all those who took part and helped to develop our scientific knowledge in such a fun way!

WORLD BOOK WEEK A fantastic week was had by all. The girls were immersed in wonderful stories, danced scenes from books and dressed up as their favourite characters! We also enjoyed a visit from the children’s author Tanya Landman.

E-SAFETY In today’s climate it is essential for all young people to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to navigate the online environment safely and responsibly. It is also essential that parents are aware of how to support their children in this and have a clear understanding of the pitfalls and dangers young people can encounter when engaging with today’s technology. With this in mind, we invited Karl Hopwood to lead a number of e-safety sessions for Preparatory and Senior School parents and students. Karl, an ex primary Headteacher, has built up an excellent reputation as an independent e-safety expert so we were very fortunate to have him at St Teresa’s! Not only does he sit on the advisory board for the UK Safer Internet Centre, he has also worked for a number of key players

in the UK and abroad including the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and the European Commission. The student sessions were perfectly pitched for each year group – from Reception right through to Year 12. We were also incredibly pleased that the parent session was so well attended, which no doubt demonstrates how important you feel this topic to be in your daughters’ lives. During this evening session, Karl covered three vital areas: what children and young people are really doing online; what the real risks are for them (as opposed to what the media might lead us to believe), and what solutions parents can use to help keep their children safe. I’m sure all those who attended would agree that it was an extremely enlightening and valuable experience.

RECEPTION WISLEY TRIP

YEAR 3 WISLEY TRIP

Reception had a fantastic time visiting Wisley, as part of their topic on the lifecycle of butterflies. Thanks to Mr Radscheit (Momiji’s Daddy) and Mr Ovenden we were able to visit the room where the cocoons are kept, the girls were also able to hold the butterflies on our hands and release them into the beautiful butterfl y habitat. We had a fantastic day enjoying this special and unique experience!

Year 3 went to Wisley to examine seeds and soil which we had been learning about earlier this year. We got to dissect a broad bean and then we looked at lots of different seeds. Some were very tiny and we used magnifying glasses to see them, others were almost as big as our heads! We thought about how these seeds moved away from their parent plants, using either wind, water, animals or even by exploding! We looked at some different types of soil and got rather messy hands as we felt their texture and rolled the soil into sausage shapes. Finally, we just had time to plant some courgette seeds using two different types of soil before heading back to school.

YEAR 5 WISLEY TRIP Year 5 also went to Wisley to focus on plant adaptations. We looked at pictures of plants that had adapted to live in the rainforest and desert before going into the beautiful glass house to see some real life examples. We drew different plants, examining carefully the shape of their leaves, and we saw some amazing plants with roots hanging in the air from the branches. We then also got to take a cutting and plant it in our own little flower pot to take home.

DS VISIT N A L K O O BR Brooklands

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FRANCE TRIP Congratulations to all the Year 6 girls for the way in which they represented the School on our recent trip to France. Every single girl made the most of all the opportunities that this fabulous trip offers, whether it be abseiling, shopping in the market, snail eating or any one of the many other things that we got up to. The girls’ enthusiasm and good behaviour, together with the week-long sunshine that we were lucky enough to enjoy, made this a memorable trip for us all.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION Ella, Eva, Kate, Katie and Sophie made their First Holy Communion here in the Chapel at St Teresa’s. It was a very special occasion for the girls and their families and we hold them, and the other St Teresa’s girls who have also made their First Holy Communion this year, in our thoughts and prayers.

TEDDY BEARS’ PICNIC On Saturday 11th June, we held our Teddy Bears’ Picnic in the Prep School and Nursery. It was a great opportunity for our current and new families to find out about the exciting and stimulating curriculum we have on offer in our Early Years Department, enjoy tours of the school and take part in a range of fun activities including; Forest School, face painting, soft play, a visit from Sunny, one of our resident ponies, and meeting our own ‘Teresa Teddy’. What a fabulous day!

CHAMBER CHOIR TRIP The girls from the Year 5 and 6 Chamber Choir went on an amazing trip to London. We went to see the English National Opera perform The Mikado at the London Coliseum. As well as watching the performance, we also had a chance to go backstage and see behind the scenes. We were allowed on the stage too! Before the performance we went into the orchestra pit and some of the girls who learn instruments decided that they would like to play there.

PLAY THE ORGAN WORKSHOP In April, 11 girls in Year 6 travelled to St Michael’s Church in Betchworth for a Play the Organ Workshop. The organ is very new and the girls were treated to some playing by a professional organist. He then demonstrated various different types of pipes and explained how the organ works. They also learnt about some of the history of the organ. Then the girls were allowed to have a go! All the girls play the piano and had taken pieces to play. They tried the different manuals (keyboards) and tested the sounds of different stops as well as the swell pedal which makes the music get louder and quieter. Finally the girls all tried playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the pedalboard with their feet!

BIATHLON

CROSS COUNTRY

On Saturday 28th November, Connie Mortimer took part in the National Biathlon Final in Solihull representing St Teresa’s Prep School. Almost 400 girls competed in the qualifying stages held across the country during September and October, so to qualify for the final was an achievement in itself! Connie competed in the U11 girls’ category based on her year of birth (not school year) and, despite being one of the youngest in the field, managed to finish in an impressive joint 8th place with a personal best in the run coupled with a great swim. Well done to Connie on this fantastic achievement and we look forward to more success next year.

Years 3 and 4 and Years 5 and 6 took part in a cross country competition at Danes Hill School. This was a first time for the Prep School competing in this Danes Hill annual invitational event. 6 girls in each team ran along the undulating and surprisingly long course. There were approximately 40 competitors in each race. Years 3 and 4 set off first and we are delighted to announce that Abi Bushell in Year 3 came 3rd place overall. This was a huge achievement for Abi and she should be particularly proud off her efforts. Her mum was! Years 5 and 6 ran double the distance and there were certainly a few red faces at the finishing line. All of our girls tried their absolute best amongst a very strong field of schools from as far afield as Sevenoaks and Clapham. Well done to all who participated. You were great!

AQUATHLON On Sunday 6th March over fifty St Teresa’s Prep girls from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 braved the cold weather to take part in the Aquathlon here on our beautiful site. The event included over 10 schools and nearly 360 competitors. The Aquathlon is a continuous swimming and running event similar to a triathlon but without the cycling phase. Despite the freezing conditions all the girls competed to the best of their ability and they should be very proud of themselves. Particular congratulations go to: Year 3 IG event Abigail Bushell 1st Year 4 IG event Phoebe Wilson 4th Year 5 IG event Connie Mortimer 1st, Fiona Murphy 2nd, Louise Murphy 5th Year 5 SG event Rosie Runnicles 4th, Mollie O’Callaghan 5th Year 6 IG event Tabitha Homan 2nd, Francesca Phipps 3rd, Bella Wiles 5th

SKIING Surrey Schools Ski Race A group of 7 Prep School children represented St Teresa’s in the Surrey School Annual Ski meet at Aldershot. The competition was particularly high with schools represented all over the county. The girls competed in two sections: Minis – Years 3 and 4 (Isla Paton, Phoebe Wilson and Harriet Coughlan) and the Years 5 and 6 section (Hannah Pollock, Anna Brown, Mia Sherazee and Charlotte Bunton). All girls gave a highly commendable performance racing to time whilst navigating the slalom course. For the very first outing, the girls showed courage and absolutely gave their very best to the course. Well done girls!

National Schools Aquathlon On Tuesday 7th June over 30 St Teresa’s Prep School girls from Years 3 to 6 took part in the National Schools Aquathlon at Caterham School. The girls competed against approximately 20 schools with over 300 girls competing in total. Fortunately they managed to escape the thunderstorms and successfully complete the Aquathlon. All the girls enjoyed the event and competed to the best of their ability. Particular congratulations go to: Year 3 Jamie Summers 2nd Year 4 Tabitha Littler 3rd and Abigail Bushell 5th Year 5 Connie Mortimer 1st, Ella Everitt 5th, Fiona Murphy 6th A fantastic result, well done girls !

SWIMMING Primary Schools Relay Gala On Saturday 30th January the Year 5 swim team including Connie Mortimer, Fiona Murphy, Louise Murphy and Rosie Runnicles, took part in the Year 5/6 primary schools relay gala at the Guildford Spectrum. The competition was open to all primary schools in Surrey and despite being the youngest team in the competition they finished an incredible third place in both the medley and freestyle relay. A fantastic result, well done girls.

English School Swimming Association – South East Regional Final Following on from the success in January at the County ESSA competition, the Year 5 swim team qualified for the South East Regional Final which took place on Saturday 23rd April. The top teams from Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Kent and Buckinghamshire all travelled to Guildford Spectrum to compete in the Year 5/6 event. Despite being the youngest team in the competition the Year 5 team including Connie Mortimer, Fiona Murphy, Louise Murphy and Rosie Runnicles swam fantastically and held their own against the older teams. The girls achieved qualifying times in the heats of both the mixed stroke relay and freestyle relay that placed them into the final putting them as one of the top eight swim teams in the South East region. The girls even managed to improve their position to 6th in the freestyle relay final – a tremendous outcome overall.

GYMNASTICS British Schools Team Gymnastics St Teresa’s took part in the South East British Schools Gymnastics Team Championships at St John’s School in Gravesend Kent on Sunday 7th February. Amelia Gallagher, Chloe Hansard, Ella Everitt, Emilia Salussolia, Francesca Phipps, Harriet Bruce, Keya Patel, Sophie Knocker, Olivia Jackson, Tabitha Homan and reserve Lucy Sarch. The girls made up two teams in the under 11 novice category. Each gymnast had to perform a floor routine to music and 2 vaults, they performed really well. The 2 teams came away with 1st place and 4th place which was an excellent result, well done to you all.

British Schools Individual Gymnastics On Sunday 15th May, 11 of the St Teresa’s gymnasts competed at Holmewood House School in Kent. Each had to perform a set floor routine along with two vaults, they all did extremely well and were placed as follows: Novice Level Year 4 - Sophie Knocker 3rd place and Lucy Sarch 11th place Year 5 - Keya Patel 4th place, Emilia Salussolia 10th place Intermediate Level Year 3 - Harriet Bruce 1st place Year 4 - Millie Gallagher 1st place, Olivia Jackson 5th place Year 5 - Connie Mortimer 6th place Year 6 - Tabby Homan 5th place, Aimee Thompson 8th place Advanced Level Year 6 - Francesca Phipps 2nd place

National IAPS swimming final Following on from the qualifying rounds earlier in the year, St Teresa’s Year 5 swim team qualified for the IAPS National Swimming Final which took place on Saturday 7th May at the K2, Crawley. It is an achievement even to qualify for the finals with only the top 12 teams in the country being invited to compete in the relay finals and our Year 5 swim team qualified for both the mixed stroke relay and the freestyle relay from over 130 schools nationally. In addition to the relays, the top 16 individual swimmers for each stroke also qualify to compete in the finals and we were delighted to have both Louise Murphy qualify in the backstroke and Connie Mortimer qualify in the breast stroke. The girls swam amazingly and finished 6th in the medley relay and 11th in the freestyle relay. Louise Murphy swam a personal best in the back stroke finishing 15th and Connie Mortimer also swam a personal best and made it on to the podium receiving an IAPS bronze medal for 3rd place nationally. A huge congratulation to our formidable Year 5 swim team; Connie Mortimer, Fiona Murphy, Louise Murphy and Rosie Runnicles. A special mention goes to Sophie Hurford who was a key team member in the preliminary rounds and helped the team make the finals. An outstanding result – well done girls!

PREP TENNIS

GREAT BRITISH TENNIS WEEKEND 15TH MAY Fun was had by all ages when STTA hosted their first Great British Tennis Weekend Event on Sunday 15th of May. STTA ran four hours of free tennis clinics for adults and children which included a delicious barbecue and refreshments provided by the school. Many of the children had never played before but have now caught the tennis bug which was lovely to see! We will look to hold another event next year to continue to encourage participation levels in tennis across Great Britain. Please contact Kirsti at [email protected] for any tennis queries.

We were so proud to see our STTA mini red players take part in their first ever match play event this year against Parkside boys! The girls won some of their matches and there were some closely fought deciding points. Although St Teresa’s lost overall, the girls showed great competitive spirit and enjoyed their time on court! We were really impressed with how much the girls have improved since starting tennis with us at STTA and believe that more match play events such as these are a great way for them to put their tennis skills into practice. We would like to say a huge well done to the STTA tennis girls who took part in the U8 and U10 match play events against Parkside boys on Tuesday and Wednesday: U8 Team: Augusta Mais-Harding, Siena Chapman, Scout Harper, Eva Lanceley, Abigail Bushell, Sophia Maylen, Harriet Bruce, Amber-Jade Black. U10 Team: Phoebe Wilson, Evelyn Nallen, Taylor Coetzee, Harriet Proctor, Emily Proctor, Celine Cheesley, Rosie Runnicles, Freya Edwards. We were so proud to see how much the U8 girls have improved since their first match a few months ago! Although Parkside won overall the girls put in some fantastic performances with really long rallies and tight score lines. Well done! Our U10 team had some tough competition for their first match play event, but played some great tennis with some close results. Congratulations!

Hello and welcome back to the Autumn Term from St Teresa’s Equestrian Centre (STE). We hope you have had a fantastic summer break.

HOLIDAY NEWS The Summer Term concluded with the STE Prize Giving. The following awards were made: Sportsmanship Award – Eleanor Craig-Fisher Teamwork Award – Mia Sherazee Empathy Award – Katie Pope Most Improved Junior Beginner – Isla Paton Most Improved Senior Beginner – Kate Gullen Most Improved Junior Novice – Connie Cook Most Improved Senior Novice – Katie Roberts Most Improved Senior Intermediate – Jenna Boyd Top Volunteer Award – Annabelle Loweth Horseman Award – Tabitha Sarch Top Student Award – Soraya Rogers Most Dedicated – Izzy Seaton Best NSEA Grassroots Rider – Maddie Thurkle Best NSEA Seniors Rider – Chloe Duncan Sonny (right) was awarded the STE Best Horse/Pony – what a superstar and he loved attending the ceremony! We then had eight weeks of Pony Camps which were well attended and much fun was had by everyone. We also hosted the International Summer School to some enthusiastic Italian students, who all thoroughly enjoyed their riding. On Wednesday 6th July a combined Pupils and Staff team went to Hickstead to take part in the London & South East Riding Schools team dressage competition. It was a wonderful day out for everyone and St Teresa’s Equestrian came home with the title of South East Champions. On the 5th of August, Chloe Duncan and her pony, Bella, competed in the 90cm qualifying showjumping at Felbridge. They rode a brilliant and speedy round, placing 3rd overall, qualifying for the NSEA 90cm Plate in December at Keysoe Equestrian Centre.

EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS FOR 2016/17 We have already completed additional infrastructure and have been using our wonderful woodland trail and grass hacking ride around the fields for hacking on site, as part of lessons. We are now offering termly private teaching slots in addition to termly group lessons. We are able to take riders from around the age of 6 for private lead-rein lessons and are able to take new riders into groups when they are able to walk and trot off the lead rein (even if they still need some support). We will also be offering private adult lessons on Tuesdays and Fridays 2pm to 4pm. Please speak to us about availability as they will get booked up quickly. If you are not already registered with STE, please do come and have a chat with us at any time, or pop in and see us during the first week of term. We will be offering riding assessments and private lessons that week. A 30 minute assessment lesson is all that’s needed to register with STE. Our termly riding lessons begin on Saturday 10th September, running through to 16th December. We do have some spaces available on our Autumn Timetable so please speak to us. We have Pony Days running daily through the two October Half Term weeks and during the Christmas Holidays. More information can be found on the website.

STE Term dates Saturday 10th September to Saturday 15th October 2016 Half Term weeks commencing 17th October and 24th October 2016 (Pony Days) Monday 31st October to Friday 16th December 2016 Christmas Holidays – Mon 19th Dec, Tues 20th Dec, Wed 21st Dec, Tue 3rd Jan, Wed 4th Jan, Thurs 5th Jan, Fri 6th Jan, Sat 7th Jan (Pony Days) Please contact us on 01372 750257 or email [email protected] for more information.

ACTING STE DIRECTOR – ALISON CRAIG St Teresa’s is privileged to have Alison Craig to lead the Equestrian provision. Alison has had her full BHS Instructor’s Certificate for 20 years. With her 40 years of teaching experience in total, and a broad experience of the equine industry & competition environments, as well as dressage and training knowledge, Alison is uniquely placed to encourage and support our St Teresa’s budding equestrians. Alison has had her own competitive eventing career in her teens and early 20s, including many happy years in Pony Club and Riding Clubs. She was representing and captaining the Edinburgh University, the Scottish and the British Universities Equestrian teams in international competitions (dressage and showjumping) in the late 70s/early 80s. She then competed in dressage to Intermediaire 2 and trained to Grand Prix, in parallel to a career in KPMG Management Consulting in the 80s and 90s. Having taught since her late teens, when she gained her BHSAI, then BHSII, she added her full BHS Instructor (BHSI) qualification in 1996. She is, amongst other things, a freelance BHS Registered Instructor and Accredited Professional Coach, UKCC Level 3 Coach through British Dressage, a listed BD judge, Pony Club Specialist Dressage Visiting Coach, and BYRDS (Young Riders) Assessor and Trainer. An in-demand local trainer and coach, as well as mentoring other coaches, Alison still rides and trains horses and ponies of all types and sizes. She can handle the team training required for our NSEA Dressage, Show Jumping and Jumping with Style competitions at all levels (delete). A passionate horse lover and enthusiastic coach, Alison enjoys everything from starting off young riders with their early dressage and eventing careers, to course-walking with keen showjumping and eventing competitors up to 1m 20, to the joys of coaching dressage, sometimes to music, from Introductory level up to Prix St Georges and beyond for the more experienced riders. She was also District Commissioner of Cobham Pony Club for 11 years, and Secretary of the BHS Fellows and Instructors Association for a similar period. So Alison covers the ground for St Teresa’s girls and their parents from many perspectives!

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COMPASSION OUR SCHOOL VALUE OF THE YEAR, 2016–2017 “And so it is: love attracts us and sends us, it draws us in and gives us to others. This tension marks the beating of the heart of the Christian.” (Pope Francis, ‘The Church of Mercy’). Compassion comes from the Latin words ‘com’, meaning together, and ‘pati’ meaning ‘to suffer’. So when we feel compassion for someone, we suffer with them. We are able to put ourselves in their shoes and imagine what it may be like to be walking their path. Jesus constantly drew alongside others in their suffering. When a woman who had been bleeding for many years touched his cloak in the hope of healing, Jesus ‘felt power flowing out of him’. He felt her pain, her isolation, her need, her hope. She was attracted to the love of this enigmatic man whom everyone was talking about but no-one really understood, a man of compassion so intense that he was ready to give everything but expected nothing in return.

ST T E RE SA’S E F F INGHAM

FAITH CHARACTER COMMUNITY COMPASSION INTELLECT

Jesus is the love that attracts us – if we are willing, he will draw us further in, to the very heart of God, to an encounter with grace so profound that we will be transformed. Our hearts unfurl and blossom, and because we understand fully that with God we lack nothing, we are free to give everything we are in service to others. Our challenge this year is to explore, as individuals and together as a community, how we are making this journey into the compassionate heart of God. We are invited to draw in towards Jesus and be loved - in our assemblies, in time in Chapel, in moments of reflection during Masses and services, in the quietness of our own hearts. And when our hearts are full we are asked to turn to others and throw that love out there in a thousand compassionate actions – serving on a school council, taking donations to a food bank, giving time to listen to another, packing a Christmas shoe box - the list is as diverse and as unique as the individuals that make up this community. Mrs Vanessa O’Dea Head of Boarding

St Teresa’s, Effingham, Surrey RH5 6ST Telephone 01372 452037 [email protected] • www.st-teresas.com St Teresa’s School Effingham Trust • Registered Charity No. 1095103