Legis Plenitudo Caritas
Telephone: 01509 263901 Website: www.olcs.leics.sch.uk
Issue 28 | winter 2012
Established in Loughborough since 1841. Member of ISA. An Independent Day School for girls aged 3 to 18 and boys aged 3 to 11.
A word from the Headteacher
In this issue: Sixth Form Summer Ball................................. 2 Macmillan Coffee Morning............................ 2 Year 6 Talk About Meteorology................. 2 Diana Award Ceremony.................................. 3 Achievement Assembly................................... 3 European Day of Languages....................... 4 School Council...................................................... 4 Why Caritas?........................................................... 4 Loughborough Lightening Masterclass.............................................................. 4 ISA Art Competition 2012/13..................... 5 National Poetry Week....................................... 5 Jeans for Genes................................................... 6 Textiles GCSE Year 11 Students.................. 6 Senior Citizen VIP Lunch............................... 6 Prizegiving 2012................................................... 7 Nottingham University Summer School.................................................... 7 Sports Day 2012.................................................. 8 Boys’ Football........................................................ 9 Jess Ennis Meets Representatives From The Convent................................................ 9 Millie-Mae’s Tennis Triumph......................... 9 Emily Hedger Flies With BYRDS.................. 9 Who Done It?.......................................................10 Reach 4 With The Sixth Form.................10 Open Evening A Huge Success................ 11 A Level Success 2012..................................11 100% GCSE Pass Rate...............................11 Parents’ Association News.......................11 Holly Whittaker Climbs Kilimanjaro..........12 Encouraging Children’s Reading...........12 Tigers Rugby Match 2012.........................12 Harvest Boxes 2012.......................................13 Shakespeare Schools Festival................13 Lourdes 2012......................................................13 Outreach..................................................................14 Summer School Experience.....................14 National Catholic Young Writers Award........................................... 14 Remembrance 2012.......................................15 Gardening Club Takes Root......................16
Welcome to the Autumn/Winter 2012 Newsletter. At Our Lady’s Convent School we value and celebrate the individual as part of our larger community. Community is immensely important within the School as are our Christian values and ‘family’ environment. We help each young person to enjoy the learning journey and achieve personal goals. We are proud of all that our School offers students; we are able to meet the demand for excellent exam results whilst adding value to the educational experience. Behind each student and each set of exam results is an individual story and it is some of those stories that have been combined into this newsletter. I do hope you will enjoy reading it, celebrating students’ achievements and experiences and join with me in congratulating each and every student for their contribution to the School community. Mrs Hawley
ide! Take a look ins 1
OLCS news | issue 28
Summer
Sixth Form Ball
At the end of the Summer term the Sixth Form held their ball at Loughborough Town Hall. They arranged an excellent evening to round off the Summer term and students and staff enjoyed dressing to impress.
Macmillan Coffee Morning
Year 6 talk about Meteorology
As part of the Houses’ continuing support for Macmillan we took part in the ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ with a bit of a twist, as we swapped coffee for milkshakes.
By Jessica France, Lucy Grinham, Katie Harris, Maya Prasad, Naomi Wilbram and Alicia Wood Mrs Viv Davison came from the Met Office on 12th October to talk to us about the weather and its impact on people. It was fascinating. Near the end we had a quiz about the Met Office and we had to show whether it was true or false. We learnt that they did not have an earthquake monitor but they are starting to record and report on weather in space. There was an interesting PowerPoint slide show and we liked the pictures showing the different types of weather conditions.
The girls were asked to bring in cakes and other scrumptious items and a bevy of Sixth Formers helped to sell the shakes and cakes at break-time and lunchtime. The Cloister was decorated with balloons, banners and bunting and a lively and enthusiastic crowd gathered to buy, drink and eat with gusto. Overall we raised a fantastic £197.02 Well done everyone!
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Diana Award Ceremony in London On Monday 24th October, Emily Adams Brown and Sarah Yates, Year 13 Caritas prefects, travelled to Canary Wharf, London with Miss Joss to collect the Diana Award on behalf of the School. Sarah said, “We felt privileged to receive such an award and it was great to see what other young people have achieved to help others. We were presented with our certificates and trophy by Martine Wright, who was deputy team leader of the Sitting Down Volleyball team at the London 2012 Paralympics. She lost both her legs during the 7/7 terrorist bombings in London; other speakers included Sinita from the X Factor. We really enjoyed the day and were honoured to be invited to such an event.”
Achievement Assembly, October 2012 Mrs Hawley welcomed everyone and congratulated them on an excellent start to the year. She then handed over to Mrs Chatburn to announce the outcome of the ISA Art Competition 2012. ISA Art Competition First prize to Charlotte Matthews and second prize to Razeea Hajat in the Year 12/13 Drawing category. Katherine Moorehouse and Saskia Inkley both achieved a second place in 2D Art and GCSE Exam Piece respectively. Sixth Form Ms Petchler, Head of Sixth Form, spoke of the achievements, dedication and hard work of all the girls in the Sixth Form, particularly drawing attention to all those involved in the Outreach Assemblies and Teambuilding, The Diana Award, Senior Citizens’ Lunch, Harvest Boxes, Young Enterprise and Student Council. Poetry Competition Mrs Blainey announced the Winner of the KS3 Poetry Competition as Olivia Preston and Megan Hall as runner up. KS4 Poetry Competition winners were Hannah Bursell and Bethany Green. Catholic Young Writers Competition Congratulations to Cara and Iona McNeill for achieving joint first in the Catholic Young Writers Competition. Their awards will be formally presented in the next half term.
Sport Miss Joss reviewed the School’s sporting achievements to-date and congratulated the Year 7 Netball team who recently played four matches at Loughborough High School, putting up a spirited defence but ultimately losing three of the four matches. Earlier in the week, eight girls travelled to Leicester Grammar School to compete in the U16 County Netball Tournament. As always our girls played really well, showed great determination and sportsmanship throughout. The team were drawn against some stiff competition and they were only beaten in the semi-finals by Sir Jonathan North Community College.
contributing to the life of the School. Mr Henry particularly thanked everyone who supported and were involved with the Choir and the Orchestra. Students in KS3 were awarded a certificate and metal ‘bronze’ pin badge to mark their achievement, and KS4 students achieving the highest number of House Points in their form were awarded a ‘high street shopping’ voucher with their certificate. The winners of the vouchers were: Ellie Craven Joanna Siddall Frankie Devine Sophie Fern
Medals and trophies were awarded for the KS3 House Cross Country competition:
The overall House Point total currently stands:
Year 7: 1st Lily Matthews (Rosmini), 2nd Eve Lyon and 3rd Mollie Brown. Year 8: 1st Jess Moody (Rosmini), 2nd Jess Ward and 3rd Caroline Hardy
Rank House House Points 1st Peter 1960 2nd Rosmini 1952 3rd Agnes 1853 4th Teresa 1545
Year 9: 1st Lucy Jones (Peter), 2nd Anna Wanstall, 3rd Cara McNeill
The next achievement assembly will be in February 2013.
House Points Bronze House Points Certificates and badges were awarded to those who had achieved 50 or more House Points in the term to date. House Points are awarded in recognition of achievement and involvement in School activities including academic, music, sport and
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OLCS news | issue 28
Loughborough Lightening Masterclass By Miss Joss
School Council Jessica Cox Y12
European Day of Languages By Mrs Adley On 26th September 2012 we celebrated the European Day of Languages with a fancy dress parade, where pupils had to dress up to represent a country of their choice, not necessarily a European country. As usual the effort from the Primary School was fantastic and our two Sixth Form judges Ellie Marsh and Becky Crawshaw found it hard to choose the winners. Eventually they selected Jessica Watkins and Soraya Khakbiz as joint winners. Holly Jones and Alisha MarriottBest won the senior parade. To continue the theme of languages, 8P together with Mr Schavier produced a very interesting assembly on Brazil together with Samba dancing and interesting anecdotes from Mr Schavier’s travels.
Languages online Following the Open Evening, a reminder that everyone can access Linguascope at home by using the OLCS user name and password, so if you want to learn a language, brush up on some old skills or continue to progress, this is the website for you. Grammar help is always freely on hand from www.languagesonline.org.uk
This year in School Council we have elected the important roles within the council, such as the positions of the Chairman and the two Deputy Chairmen. Each candidate had to deliver a short speech about why they would like to be Chair and the Council voted for the girl they felt would fulfil the role to its fullest potential. Jessica Cox in Year 12 was elected as Chairperson, with Caroline Garfield and Frankie Devine both in Year 11 as Deputies. The Council decided as a whole that the position of the Secretary would be shared as it is a very time consuming role each week for just one individual. A Publicity team of Anisha Jalota, Iona McNeill, Shreena Sanghani, Sophie Fern and Angel Brooks, headed by Eleanor Hopewell was also elected. Mr John Orrill, Catering and Events Manager attended a meeting to explain the new Refectory system and to answer any questions the representatives had collected from their peers. This year the School Council hopes to support various charity events as well as helping to improve the School as a whole. Some of the male members of staff have taken up the School Council’s suggestion to raise money for male health through growing a moustache during the month of November or ‘Movember’. I am sure that they will be generously supported.
Jessica Watkins and Soraya Khakbiz, Primary winners with classmates
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On Tuesday 9th October we had the privilege of Olivia Murphy former England Netball Captain and Head Coach for Loughborough Lightening and four U21 England netball players coach a selection of 40 girls from Years 8-11. The session at Loughborough Leisure Centre lasted two hours and involved a warm up and then the girls were split into three specific areas, shooting, defending and attacking. While in these areas they worked on ball skills, movement and small game situations. The session ended with some match play where the girls applied the skills learnt. All girls thoroughly enjoyed this fantastic opportunity and gained some brilliant new ideas.
Why Caritas? Liana Malhan, Y12 Many of you may wonder why the girls at Our Lady’s Convent School do so much for charity. Is it because they are made to? Is it because they feel it’s a good thing to do? Well the answer to your question is quite simple. Yes, giving to people in need is a great way of showing appreciation for what we have, yet this is still not the main reason why we do so much. Our School is a Rosminian School, a school founded by Blessed Antonio Rosmini. Antonio Rosmini is the reason why we help the elderly, give money to the sick and generally show so much empathy to those in need. Our School ethos is ‘Legis Plenitudo Caritas’, which is Latin for ‘Charity fulfils the law’. This means that we live our lives in service to those who are less fortunate than ourselves.
ISA ART COMPETITION 2012/13
National Poetry Week
By Mrs Chatburn, Mrs Schofield & Mrs Chadwick Although OLCS is not a very large school, we do have a large impact when it comes to ART!!
At this term’s Achievement Assembly Mrs Blainey announced the Winner of the KS3 Poetry Competition as Olivia Preston for her ‘visual imagery and strong use of colour’ and Megan Hall as runner up. The standard of entries in the KS4 Poetry Competition was so high that a single winner could not be identified; therefore Hannah Bursell shared the award for her ‘range of exciting vocabulary’ with Bethany Green who wrote ‘a very effective piece with a tragic last line.’ You can see for yourself the excellent work they produced:
We had some very impressive work for both A Level and GCSE Art and Textiles last year. As there was such a lot of excellent work to choose from, it was difficult to select which pieces to submit to the annual ISA Art Exhibition. After much consideration, we entered a selection of 2D Painting, Drawing and Mixed Media work to the Area Award Exhibition at Malvern St James School. We were delighted to learn that two of our strongest A Level candidates had gained first and second prize in the Year 12/13 Drawing category. These were Charlotte Matthews’ ‘Lily’ pastel work and Razeea Hajat’s graphite drawing of her brother. Katherine Moorehouse was awarded second prize in 2D Art for her mixed media response to Notre Dame in Paris and Saskia Inkley achieved a second place with her GCSE exam piece ‘Cut & Paste’.
Winner KS3 In My Dreams… (Olivia Preston) Hidden behind a world of change, Endless words written amongst the sparkling page, Delicate candles wandering the deep ocean, Floating as such a sight of motion,
We are very proud of all these achievements and are looking forward to seeing Charlotte’s work go forward into the National ISA Competition in November. It is an opportunity to get their work seen and also to show what we can do at OLCS! We hope to put up copies of all of the winning pieces around the School to remind us of this and to encourage others to aim high!
Fields of corn glinting a blaze, Children point; watch; gaze, Tippex blobs covering the ink black night, Light, bold, twinkling bright, Diamonds scattered over the curtains of magenta, A navy blue egg speckled with silver in the centre, These things whatever they are, Reach from my dreams to the sky a far. Runner Up KS3 Stars! (Megan Hall)
Flung into outer-space by an unseen hand, Guiding three kings to a whole new land.
Star fruit, fleshy yet firm, Soft, yellow and tasty. Star shaped or ellipsoid, From hot countries like Haiti.
A mysterious ball of blazing fire, A symbol of hope and burning desire.
Star bar, Milky Way and Galaxy, Crunchy, velvety, chomp! A mouth-watering explosion of sweet and sour, Off to the shop we stomp. Stars that fill our T.V. screens, Britney, Béyonce and Bieber. Not really that important, but, You’d think they’re the Queen of Sheba!
‘Lily’ by Charlotte Matthews
Stars that make a difference, Parents, nurses and teachers. Often forgotten, never thanked, The good ones are definitely keepers.
‘Brother’ by Razeea Hajat
Stars shine high above, Big, bright and beautiful. Twinkling, twirling, sparkles of light, Like diamonds in the dead of night. Star on top of the Christmas tree, Waiting, watching, wondering. Looking for the big fat man, To come, down the chimney thundering. Star that leads to Christ, Shone brightly over a manger. Shepherds, Angels and Kings. In Bethlehem to visit the new born saviour.
‘Façade’ by Katherine Moorhouse
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Joint Winner KS4 Stars (Hannah Bursell)
Glistening beauty; celestial light, Bringing comfort and peace in the darkness of the light. Countless, unnumbered, unfathomably vast, I gaze in awe at these relics of the past. Joint Winner KS4 Fallen Stars (Beth Green) How do they cope? Blinding cameras constantly flashing, A name in bold print for the world to see, For them to judge. Always in the public eye, The pressures and expectations on their shoulders, A reputation to rely on, That could shatter and bring bad luck, Delicate as a mirror. Size zero, Deep crimson red lipstick, Signature perfume, Designer clothes, Only the best. The thought of being alone, No friends, Just expectations, Driven to the edge, Becoming fallen stars.
OLCS news | issue 28
Jeans For Genes Jeans for Genes Day is one of many annual House fundraising events which this year took place on Friday 5th October. Everyone at School was invited to wear a pair of jeans to School for the day and make a donation for the privilege of doing so. Jeans for Genes Day raises money for the organisation Genetic Disorders UK which aims to change the world for children with genetic disorders. Individually, genetic disorders are rare but together they affect 1 in 25 children born in the UK - that’s more than 30,000 babies each year. Their associated health problems mean that genetic disorders are the biggest cause of death of children aged 14 years and under.
Textiles GCSE Year 11 Students By Mrs Chadwick On Friday 12th October, Year 11 Textiles students headed off to The Alexandra Palace in London to visit The Knitting & Stitching Show. As we arrived in glorious sunshine to be met by the stunning views across London we knew we were in for a treat, and we were not disappointed. The Alexandra Palace was filled to the brim with inspirational textiles work, materials, equipment and demonstrations. All three halls were alive with colour and texture and although it was hard on the feet the show was a fantastic resource for all the textile students. There were stalls of exciting materials and sparkling embellishments and demonstrations to watch and techniques to try. Everyone came away feeling inspired and it has certainly been a brilliant aid to the Textiles GCSE girls.
Jeans for Genes Day provides funding for the care and support of children with genetic disorders through their grant programme. We all donned our denim and raised a very healthy £287.11
well done everybody!
Senior Citizen VIP Lunch By Sruthi Pillai, Y12 On 17th October, the Lower Sixth invited twelve local elderly churchgoers to enjoy a complimentary meal within our School, after a successful fundraising effort in the form of a cake sale. The guests, or as we like to refer to them, the V.I.P.s, delighted in a three course meal, entertainment, and the company of the girls. Overall, the V.I.P.s thoroughly appreciated the afternoon and the girls truly think it was a heart-warmingly pleasurable experience.
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Nottingham University Summer School By Jodie Legrand, Y13 This Summer I was lucky enough to win a place on this year’s Food Summer School, hosted at Nottingham University on the Sutton Bonnington Campus. In total 50 of us attended the course and it was a great experience to be allowed to look into various aspects of Food Science. We were each assigned a sponsor who was going to pay for our stay and expenses whilst we were on the Summer School; ‘The Chilled Food Association’ sponsored my stay. We were all accommodated in the new residential block and enjoyed many great experiences while we were on the course, from creating and marketing pizzas to a specific opening in the food market (my group’s being a high quality vegetable pizza), to trialling different yogurts and seeing how our sense perception affects what foods we like and dislike. We had a meal with industry professionals and were informed about the various jobs that are so widely available in the food industry. Even though it was Summertime, I was astonished to hear that despite the fact that I was wishing for a heat wave, Tesco had just finished and finalized their 2012 Christmas range and advertising, they’d even just successfully hosted their Christmas party! On the final day of our stay on the university campus we were rewarded with the amazing opportunity to visit an active factory and food production line, which is normally closed to the public. We were split into various small groups and travelled to six different factories ranging from Dairy Crest and Samworth Brothers (who manufacture both desserts and meats in two different factories within the East Midlands and supply to Waitrose, Marks and Spencer’s and Tesco) to Pepsi Co. This was an eye opening experience to see the vast number of employees that work in the factory and how they transform the initial ingredients to the food we expect to see in front of us.
Prizegiving 2012 The annual celebration of achievement both academic and non-academic was held in September this year. This was a change from the usual November date to enable more of our Upper Sixth, who left in the Summer, to return and participate before they departed to join their various universities. This year we were honoured to host David Wells, Director of the Vicariate for Formation, Plymouth Diocese, the Mayor of Charnwood, Councillor Diane Wise and Mr Colin Price, Vice Chair of Governors as well as Trustees and parents. As Mrs Hawley summarised the last academic year it was apparent how much the students have achieved and been involved with; from celebrating The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics to many sporting successes including the U15 Leicestershire Netball Championships, the ISA and Charnwood Netball Leagues. The theme for the evening was Community and it was clear right from the start with Mrs Hawley’s address and presentations from current students that ‘community’ is a major part of the life of the School. David Wells’ engaging, entertaining and thought provoking address prompted everyone present to ‘believe in what we do’. He emphasised how student differences enrich each and every one of us and how as a School based on Catholic values we are a wonderful community, full of beautiful diversity where together we can each be an individual. After the formal end of the Prizegiving ceremony guests gathered in the Cloister for wine and canapés to chat and further celebrate the achievements of the prize winners as well as the choir and orchestra who supported the event with professional aplomb.
It was a great experience to carry out various tests and experiments in university labs and be able to have a short preview into life as a student. We had many social events that ranged from team building to just chilling out with one another. I am still in contact with many of the people that I met on the Summer School. I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Food Science as it’s an incredible experience, and it opens your mind to the rapid growth of the food industry as a whole.
David Wells, Georgia Cave (Head Girl) Cllr Diane Wise (Mayor of Charnwood), Mr Colin Price (Vice Chair of Governors)
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OLCS news | issue 28
Sports Day 2012
Year 10 100m 1st 2nd 3rd Year 9 100m 1st 2nd 3rd
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his year the Summer term has been marred by the persistently poor weather. On Senior Sports day the deluge was so heavy there was flooding in the School (of course we remained open), hail stones the size of golf balls were reported and flash floods around Loughborough. Unsurprisingly the athletics track at the University was also flooded and sadly the event was postponed. The following day was scheduled to be the Junior Sports Day and whilst there was rain, it was not sufficient to cancel the event and it proved to be an ideal opportunity to combine the Senior and Junior Sports Days into one packed afternoon.
E Carrier A Simes A Clarkson
200m 1st E Beachell 2nd H Webb 3rd H Ball
S Hahn L Haynes L Thompson
800m 1st L Jones 2nd A Wanstall 3rd C McNeill
200m 1st E Astbury 2nd E Fathers 3rd A Watkins 800m 1st A Matthews 2nd T Bignell Year 8 100m 1st E Mitchell 2nd L Clarkson 3rd J Hunt
The event was extremely well managed by the PE department of Miss Joss and Mrs Durham ably assisted by Miss Werritt, Mrs Matthews and many other members of the teaching staff. Due to members of the GB Olympic Team being based at the University we were given very little choice as to when we could hold the events, as a result the majority of the Year 10s were out on their final Duke of Edinburgh’s Bronze Expedition, however they did compete in the 100m during PE lessons prior to departing.
Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10
1st Peter Teresa Peter Agnes
2nd Rosmini Peter Agnes Teresa
Total House Scores:
3rd 4th Teresa Agnes Rosmini Agnes Teresa Rosmini Rosmini Peter
First: Teresa - 790 Second: Agnes - 774 Third: Peter - 704 Fourth: Rosmini - 639
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Year 7 100m 1st O Jones 2nd H Grinham 3rd A Bown-Bhandal 200m 1st G Elliott 2nd E Cairns 3rd S Stevens 800m 1st J Moody 2nd J Ward
Boys’ Football Mr Gallagher has once again started Football training with the Junior boys at lunchtime on a Monday. Currently: Robin, Abi, Frank, Harry, Ben, Leon and Sam all enjoy getting to grips with passing and goal kicks.
Millie-Mae’s Tennis Triumph
Jess Ennis meets Representatives from The Convent On Saturday 7th July 2012, 24 girls represented the School at the LEAP (Loughborough European Athletics Permit) meeting held at Loughborough University. Our girls were kit carriers and had to look after the kit while the athletes were competing. The girls were provided with a T-shirt and had the chance to meet Jessica Ennis who was competing on the day. Our girls’ conduct was exemplary and they showed great self-restraint when meeting world class athletes; their calm and professional conduct was noted, appreciated and commented upon by the organisers of the event. Jessica competed in, and won, the Long Jump, this was her final competative event before her huge success at the London 2012 Olympics.
Millie-Mae Matthews in Year 5 is already proving to be a real tennis star, by winning her First Grade 3 Orange Girls 9 and Under Tennis Tournament at the 83rd Felixstowe Open in August. Millie finished 1st in the Nottinghamshire Summer County Leader Board and also 1st in the Midlands Summer Regional Board, and ranks number 25 in the UK. Since the start of the Winter season, Millie had played four tournaments and won three, at Leeds, Goole and Loughborough and come second at Derbyshire, so the season is off to a good start! With one more season to go Millie-Mae’s sights are set on achieving a place in the UK top 10 or above, and we wish her every success in her endeavours. Millie-Mae’s potential has already been spotted and she is part of the ‘My Tennis’ Graduate Programme at the Dan Maskell Tennis Centre at Loughborough University.
Emily Hedger Flies with BYRDS Emily Hedger in Year 11 has recently returned from competing at the British Young Riders Dressage Scheme (BYRDS) Home International, at Bishop Burton in East Yorkshire. The road to achieving a place at the competition has been paved with hard work on Emily’s part and a great deal of support from her family. To be considered for selection to the team Emily participated in a number of high level competitions, the results of which she submitted to BYRDS as did many other aspiring dressage competitors. After an agonizing wait, the good news finally arrived – she was selected for the team! Each team consisted of four riders; one each competing for the Novice, Elementary and Medium dressage tests, with the fourth rider acting as back up. Emily was selected to compete at the Elementary level in the Over 16 class – despite being only 15.
Emily and Oscar competing at Bishop Burton, Yorkshire
Once selected, Emily attended many additional training sessions and extra lessons which often
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meant missing school. She said, “I have really enjoyed the whole experience, even the hard work leading up to it. At times it was stressful, but in a good way, but I think my mum was anxious and found it very stressful. I completed three dressage tests over two days. For the first one Oscar and I didn’t do so well, luckily this didn’t affect the team competition, but the second test went really well and in spite of missing out a movement, I won! On the second day it was so foggy you couldn’t see the other end of the warm-up area and I didn’t feel the third and final test went so well, but still I came ninth.” At the end of the competition Emily’s hard work had paid off: she achieved an individual 3rd overall and her team achieved a 5th place overall. Congratulations to Emily and Oscar!
OLCS news | issue 28 The ‘photofit’ rogues gallery
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n the last day of the Summer term, a shocking sight met the senior students as they arrived; there on the lawn was the unmistakable outline of a body... The Heads of House had once again pulled out all the stops, this time to host a ‘Murder Mystery’ House competition as a start to the Summer holidays. The girls, whilst not knowing what was in store for them, had prepared for the event, having been advised to dress as ‘detectives’, and many had taken the challenge to heart, with hats and badges to match. On arriving at School the girls were informed of the unfortunate demise of ‘Mr Trevor’ the erstwhile and much appreciated Premises Officer. During the morning the House teams were given the opportunity to earn clues by completing challenges such as ‘photofits’, ‘fingerprinting’, ‘blood type analysis’ and anagrams. At break time ‘do-nuts’ were provided to refuel the teams as they progressed though the challenges. The final result was correctly identified by the super sleuths from Rosmini House who deduced that PE Teacher, Mrs Durham, was the ‘guilty’ culprit. Speaking after the event, Mrs Hawley, said, “It never ceases to amaze me how creative our House Heads are, or how dedicated the staff are. They have worked tirelessly in their own time to formulate alibies, and challenges such as collecting finger prints on different items for the ‘forensic teams’ to analyse during the day. This has been a fun but challenging end of a great academic year.”
Who done it?
The all-important briefing
Reach 4 with the Sixth Form Jessica Cox, Y12 On Tuesday September 18th, four members of Reach 4 came to the Convent and spent the morning with Years 12 and 13. The Sixth Form were split into four groups and learnt the key skills needed to lead a group of Year 5s and 6s. They were taught a variety of games based on trust, team building and FUN! The Reach 4 team helped the Sixth Form learn how to make the games more interesting whilst still carrying an important message. Through learning how to lead a youth group, the Sixth Form carried their skills on to local Primary schools at the end of September and beginning of October when they visited. Each Primary school learned valuable skills such as teamwork and trust, whilst having lots of fun through games and mini competitions. The Sixth Form found this challenging but very enjoyable and felt that the Reach 4 team inspired them to continue leading youth groups.
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Open Evening a Huge Success
A Level Success 2012
The Open Evening in October was a great success with a record number of new families visiting the School and taking a tour. This upturn in interest in our excellent School is heartening in these financially challenging times. As you would expect, everyone within the School who was able to, participated in some way. Our Sixth Form acted as knowledgeable ambassadors and tour guides and senior students stayed after School to assist staff and participate in activities to give visitors a feel for life at the School. The Primary Department hosted a very successful and well attended Haiku Poetry Workshop between 4pm and 6pm enabling visitors to participate before joining the Open Evening.
Students, parents and staff were in a jubilant mood as the A Level results were announced this year. We are delighted with this year’s results; a 99% pass rate with 85% achieving A* to C really reflects the hard work and dedication of the students and staff. We take a pride in knowing and understanding individual students, therefore it is a matter of great joy when they achieve and then exceed their targets.
From the anonymous on-line feedback 100% of respondents would recommend us to a friend, and other comments included: “My daughter commented on how friendly both the teachers and students were” “My children and I thought that the science experiments were fantastic. The children wanted to stay in the science lab all evening.” “It is still early days for us, in terms of making a decision as to which school to send our daughter. Having been at the Convent myself from infants through to Seniors, it was lovely to return and I must say we were hugely impressed. The atmosphere and feel was very special and reminded me so much of the happy times I had at school...we were very impressed.” Feedback gathered over the months from new parents visiting the School would indicate that most referrals come to us via parents of our current students. No amount of advertising carries the weight of one personal recommendation - so share the good news and invite friends and family to participate in our other Open Events throughout the year.
Whilst we are always sorry to see our Year 13s move on, we know they leave us well equipped academically and socially for the excitement and challenges of university life. Georgie Hughes summed it up brilliantly when she said, “When I was at primary school no one expected me to achieve much but since joining OLCS, I’ve excelled myself. Not only did I achieve GCSEs but now I have my A Levels and I’m going to study Business Management at Swansea.”
100% GCSE Pass rate for OLCS Students
After the excitement and celebration of the A Level results we were also able to celebrate tremendous GCSE results. One hundred per cent (100%) of students passed their exams with a staggering 94% attaining 5 or more A* to C grades ensuring an excellent start for their A Levels. It is such a pleasure to see the expressions of delight on students’ faces as they open their results envelope. They work hard to achieve their goals and fully deserve their success. Congratulations to each and every one of them on their achievements and we wish them well as they continue with the next phase of their education.
Parents’ Association News Mrs Baker, Chair of Parents’ Association Thank you to all who came along and supported the Fish, Chip & Casino evening on Friday 12th October. The evening was a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. The atmosphere was fantastic and the fish, chips & mushy peas supplied by John Orrill were delicious. Our next event is the Family Quiz Night on Saturday 26th January from 6.30pm to 9pm – so come along and support us and enjoy a fun evening. Tickets are £5 for adults and £3 for children. Ticket price includes a meal. Enquire at School Reception to purchase tickets.
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OLCS news | issue 28
Encouraging Children’s Reading Introducing Eclipse.net and JuniorLibrarian Online Mrs Taylor, Librarian We are delighted to inform you that the School has recently made a significant investment in our library with the introduction of a new online version of our library catalogue. The new system allows pupils, staff and parents to view our School library catalogue online and pupils are encouraged to use this to help with research, to write reviews about books they have read and search for new books and other library resources. There are two attractive versions of the system, Eclipse for the Senior Department and JuniorLibrarian for the Primary Department which have been designed to appeal to students of all academic levels.
Holly Whittaker Climbs Kilimanjaro In the previous edition of the Newsletter we heard from Holly Whittaker about collecting her Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award from Prince Phillip at St James’ Palace in March. Holly was inspired by her D of E successes to become a member of the first team from Aberystwth University to climb Mount Kilimanjaro on behalf of Childreach International. Last Summer (2011) she worked hard to raise £3000 for the charity; unfortunately she then contracted glandular fever and was unable to participate. Understandably Holly was very disappointed at the time but since then the charity asked her to become team leader for the University’s 2012 climb. She lead a team of 19 towards their own fundraising targets and then participated in the climb which started on the 20th August. Holly relished the challenge – particularly achieving the summit!
The system includes such features as: • Individual student accounts where current and past loans can be viewed • ‘Who Next’ which recommends new books and authors based on the books that the students have already read • Weblinks – access to pre-approved and curriculum relevant websites • Meet the Author videos and Author’s Corner • The chance to read and write online reviews and star rate a book • New Arrivals, Top Ten and News Bulletin sections Our School is strongly committed to improving literacy and knows the importance of reading for pleasure. There is good evidence to suggest that young people who read for pleasure daily perform better in reading tests. We want to encourage students of all ages to enjoy reading; to read a wide range of good quality literature; to improve their research skills and their ability to find information for their studies.
Tigers Rugby Match 2012 By Alice Baker Y12 In late September, Mr Gallagher arranged a School trip for students and their parents on behalf of the Parents’ Association, to see the Leicester Tigers vs. Harlequins rugby match. We were transported to the Tigers ground via bus, and were lucky enough to receive a tour from one of the guides. This meant that we could walk all around the pitch and were able to see all the cups the team had won. We had really good seats and could clearly see the pitch. At half time, we walked the Lap of Honour around the pitch, waving to everyone as we went by. The dads also took part in a ‘try’ kicking competition. Then we had the chance to have a big group photo taken with the massive Tigers mascot Welford. Unfortunately, Tigers lost against the Harlequins but, I’m sure, especially from the levels of noise, that we all had a really good, fun day out. Due to the trip being such a success, there will be another one arranged for next year. Let’s hope Tigers win!
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Harvest Boxes 2012 By Alice Baker Y12 The motto of Our Lady’s Covent School is ‘Legis Plentiudo Caritas’ meaning ‘charity fulfils the law’, and in Year 12, it is our duty to uphold the school ethos and organise charitable events. Harvest boxes are traditionally given out to residents in the local community. The harvest boxes were made by the infant and junior pupils as part of their Harvest festival. We took the boxes to Hodson Court, Park Court, Connaught House and John Storer House and we were joined by Naomi Wilbram and Katie Harris from Year 6. We successfully delivered around 70 harvest boxes. When the residents received the boxes, we were all overwhelmed by the gratitude that they showed to us. Katie said, “I’m going to be happy for the rest of the day now; giving something to someone else has made me really happy, and they were so grateful too.” I believe this sums up the ethos of the School, and it really made the whole principle of harvest boxes more worthwhile.
By Mrs Maddox, Ella Astbury, Olivia Platts, Alex Shannon and Amber Savage The Shakespeare Schools Festival (SSF) is the largest youth drama festival in the UK. By the end of this year’s Festival 100,000 young people will have performed an abridged Shakespeare play on a professional stage. A cast drawn from Years 8, 9 and 10 performed The Winter’s Tale on Wednesday 14th November 2012 at Melton Theatre. The feedback our students received at the end of the evening was outstanding with clear diction and storytelling abilities highlighted as their specialities. Members of the cast had the following to say… “I played the part of Florizel; I enjoyed doing the Shakespeare Festival, it was fun and fab. I enjoyed working with my friends and getting to know the people from other years.” Ella Astbury (Y10)
Lourdes 2012 Alice Baker Y12 On 16th July 2012 we arrived in Lourdes, in the South of France, to begin a week long pilgrimage helping elderly people find spiritual healing. In total 18 girls from Years 11, 12 and 13 attended the trip to Lourdes. The majority of us travelled on a 28 hour coach journey, whilst a few travelled on a two hour plane journey assisting the elderly people. Our main job whilst in Lourdes was to push the elderly people, which we called VIPs, around in wheelchairs to various masses and places of worship. We also got the chance to go out for coffees and shopping with our VIPs. This was really good fun as we were able to get to know them and all about their lives – they had many funny stories to tell, and we were able to really connect with them. This also gave us a chance to remember why we were in Lourdes. In Lourdes we all made many good friends who we still keep in touch with now! Everyone was really friendly and there was a deep sense of community on the pilgrimage. On the Tuesday and Thursday nights there was the candlelight procession at the Grotto. The Grotto is the main church in Lourdes and we had the advantage of sitting at the front steps during the candlelight procession. The scene before us was beautiful, and the sky was lit up by the candlelight. That is a night I will never forget. Whilst in Lourdes we had lots of opportunities to go shopping and to buy presents for our friends and families – as well as trying out the various ice cream shops! In the middle of the week, we went on a trip to a nearby lake and water – park. The surrounding scenery was beautiful, and it was an afternoon full of laughter, and gave us all time to relax. Unfortunately, before we knew it, our week in Lourdes was coming to an end, and on the last night, after the talent show, we visited the Grotto at midnight. We were told to walk around silently and sit and reflect on our week. I can’t quite describe the feelings that everyone experienced, however I know that we all experienced something we hadn’t before. Leaving Lourdes and all the friends we met was very emotional, but we left knowing we had had an amazing week. I personally loved every minute of Lourdes and would urge anyone thinking about going to go – it truly is a phenomenal week.
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“I played the role of Paulina; I have really enjoyed this year’s Festival. My favourite scene is the last scene, I get goose bumps, everyone loves a happy ending!” Olivia Platts (Y10) “I play the part of Leontes, I really enjoyed taking part in the Festival this year; I took part last year as well. It is really good fun, as you get on with people you don’t normally talk to. My favourite part of the play is at the beginning when I shout “Too Hot” the heartbeat in the background really builds up the suspense and Leontes’ suspicion. It’s all very dramatic” Alex Shannon (Y10) “I played the parts of a gentlewoman and a villager, it has been really good fun to be involved in, I would definitely do it again!” Amber Savage (Y8)
OLCS news | issue 28
National Catholic Young Writers Award for The Convent Mrs Joanna Bogle, jounalist, writer and broadcaster, and one of the Judges of the National Catholic Young Writers competition recently joined with pupils, parents, governors and staff at Our Lady’s Convent School, to celebrate the achievement of twins Cara and Iona McNeill in winning this competition.
Outreach By Emily Dunne Y12 Since the beginning of the School year, a group of Upper and Lower Sixth Form girls have taken part in an activity called Outreach which I have been fortunate enough to be a part of. Outreach is an activity where a group of Sixth Formers go to different Primary Schools in and around Loughborough to perform a small role play to the children in their assemblies. This year the theme was Community and this was demonstrated by each of us portraying a colour from the rainbow, boasting about how each of us was the best until we realised that all the colours are important and make up the rainbow as a community. I especially enjoyed and looked forward to performing to other schools, I loved to see the children have fun which made them rewarding and memorable experiences for me.
To celebrate this excellent achievement the School hosted a special celebration assembly in the School’s Pugin style 19th Century Chapel. Parents and family members of the winners and eight runners up were invited to join in congratulating the girls for their submissions.
Summer School Experience Catherine Hooper Y13 At the end of Year 12 I had the opportunity to attend the Reading University, Food and Nutritional Sciences Summer School and was one of the lucky few students who was selected from nationwide applicants. The aim of the Summer School was to show potential students what a degree in Food Science consists of. Throughout the time on campus, I not only got to eat fabulous lunches sponsored by M&S, but I also got a taste of what university life is going to be like. I participated in many activities and lectures, but the ones which stood out to me the most were the chocolate tasting session, being able to produce and taste our very own ice cream and using the sensory analysis booths. After these few days, this confirmed that Food Science is definitely the degree I want to pursue.
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In judging the competition Mrs Bogle said, “The standard of entries was high however there were two entries which stood out from the rest. Each entry is judged on its merit and no notice is taken of the author’s name or school until a decision has been made. In the end the panel decided there was nothing to separate the two entries so decided to award a joint winner, it was at this point we realised that the winning articles had been submitted by twins, Cara and Iona McNeill, from Our Lady’s Convent School.” Cara and Iona received a £50 cash prize, books and a shield to display at home. Each of the eight runners up received a certificate and decorative cruciform necklace. The eight runners up were: Olivia Iyayi (8P), Ruth Elsegood (9P), Megan Hall (9P), Stephanie Pattinson (9P), Alice Cox (10Q), Kate Freckelton (10P), Katie McCauley (10Q), Alexandra Pickavant (10P). Congratulations to them all.
Remembrance 2012 OLCS in Windsor By Holly Newing Y12 On Tuesday 9th October, eleven Philosophy students, including myself, were privileged enough to be asked by The Royal British Legion to work with them on the topic of Remembrance. This also enabled us to expand our knowledge on remembrance acts themselves. The week began with a short introduction where we discussed ‘what remembrance means to you’ however, our typical and almost ignorant views allowed the members of the Legion to understand how little, in fact, we knew about the acts of remembrance. Throughout the packed four days in which we were in Windsor, we were honoured enough to hear numerous speeches from serving war-veterans; veterans who were involved not only in current wars, for example Afghanistan, but also from those who fought in the Falkland Islands back in 1982 and those who dedicated their lives to the parachute regiments, not just to the battlefield. In retrospect, we were completely unaware of the dangers of war and the drastic effects upon not only the soldiers involved, and also the devastation left surrounding the families of lost loved ones. On returning to School we were compelled to share our experiences and to inspire those who were not able to attend, of the true and horrific realities of war. We have many plans for the future to communicate the message of remembrance around not only our School, but into the wider community. Succeeding such an inspirational few days, Sunday 11th November this year - and undoubtedly for the rest of the years to come will have a very personal and strengthened meaning to me; all thanks to The Royal British Legion.
How We Remembered By Olivia Preston Y8 At Our Lady’s Convent School remembrance has always been an important part of our School life, but this November our School has had the chance to have some direct accounts of war. Our very own Sixth Form had an amazing opportunity to hear first-hand the consequences of war from
people who have witnessed and have been affected by it. They heard first-hand accounts from brave soldiers who have served and fought in Hong Kong, Northern Ireland, the Falkland Islands, both World Wars and Afghanistan. When eleven of our Sixth Form journeyed down to Windsor to be part of the British Legion, in their services and conferences, they were inspired to tell the compelling and pertinent stories of the veterans who attended the event. The School was lucky enough to have an assembly produced by the Sixth Form girls and we watched and listened to it, it was very moving indeed. In our own way we all have been affected by war in one way or another, maybe losing a friend or a family member but we all come together to remember them. We were encouraged to wear poppies and were proud to wear them. I saw the whole School wearing poppies together in remembrance, showing how thankful we were to be free. We had a service in the Chapel where we were privileged enough to share the two minutes silence with the veterans who knew how destructive war really was and still is now. We all showed gratitude and respect throughout the whole service and I was very proud of all who served in the wars and I am sure everyone else was too.
Our Remembering Hearts By Grace Elliott, Chloe Slee and Olivia Iyayi Y8 At Our Lady’s Convent School we always honour Remembrance Day but this year was more pertinant than any other year. The reason for this is that a group of 11 Sixth Form philosophy students had the opportunity to attend a conference with the Royal British Legion in Windsor. After four days they came back to School to prepare a thoughtful and reflective assembly about their time at Windsor. Holly Newing and Nirah Sanghani who went to this conference put together two videos including photos and footage of their trip. On Monday 12th November, our School held a touching and inspirational Remembrance Service in the School Chapel. Some past
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war veterans joined us in this service and at 11am we had a two minute silence in which the ‘Last Post’ was played very movingly. As we do annually we have the Poppy Appeal that raises money for the good work of the Royal British Legion which was well supported by our pupils and staff members. Our hearts will always will remain with the men and women who sacrificed their lives for us and those who are still fighting today.
We Will Remember Them.
Remembrance This Year Was Memorable Because…. We had visitors from the war that came and they said prayers to remind us about the people who died for us in the war. The music was nice and it was good that they sang with us, they also brought a blue flag that one of the veterans carried in at the start when we were all singing a song. By Hannah Gillen & Megan Williams. Y8 The Remembrance service this year was memorable, because we had visiting veterans to share this service with us. We also enjoyed hearing the ‘Last Post’ being played by a trumpet before the two minute silence and the ‘Reveille’ to mark the end of the silence. The speech by the Sixth Form was very moving and made us realise how the soldiers gave their lives for our generation’s peace. We will always remember and cherish this for the rest of our lives. By Amelia Leeland, Jessica Moody, Lauren Astbury, Olivia Jones and Olivia Sherwood Y8
Legis Plenitudo Caritas
Telephone: 01509 263901 Website: www.olcs.leics.sch.uk Fax: 01509 236193
Issue 28 | winter 2012
Established in Loughborough since 1841. Member of ISA. An Independent Day School for girls aged 3 to 18 and boys aged 3 to 11. Gray Street, Loughborough LE11 2DZ Email:
[email protected]
Gardening Club Takes Root Over the Summer holidays and during the first part of the Autumn term, the garden at the centre of the Cloister or the Cloister Garth as it is correctly known, has been regenerated thanks, in part, to a donation from the Parents’ Association. This space is now a garden for quiet, calm study and relaxation for Sixth Form and staff. The lawned area is now carefully managed and surrounds a wildflower border around the base of the statue of Jesus to encourage bees and other insects into the garden. Existing, well established plants will be pruned over the coming months and the garden will be tended by the new Gardening Club. Mrs Hawley meets with senior girls at lunchtime on Tuesdays and together the group tackles different gardening challenges. Currently they are establishing a small ‘Kitchen’ garden in a sunny but previously unused corner of the School, behind the Food Technology room. Mrs Jennings is very pleased to have a fresh herb bed situated so close to her classroom. Over the coming months the Club plan to add pots of lavender to the Cloister Garth and to ensure the roses planted around the Convent House are deadheaded and weeds removed. The girls are keen to receive donations of plants, cuttings, excess gardening tools and small plant pots that are no longer needed. They are also in need of any large, old, mens’ shirts they can use as protective overclothes.
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