2018 Autumn Term

Sixteen students from LIV-LV (Years 7-10) are through to the second round of the UK Bebras competition. This is a Computer Science competition organised by Oxford University. The international challenge introduces computational thinking to pupils and promotes Computer Science in over 40 countries.

At 5.30am on 9th December, Uyi, Erica and I made our way to London to take part in the InvestIn Young Engineers Programme. The Great Hall — Imperial College London’s single largest venue — sat 300 or so aspiring engineers, including myself. We were all there to learn, collaborate and problem-solve.

In der Weihnachtsbäckerei… following German Christmas tradition, the LVI and UIV (Year 12 and Year 9) have been busy baking some festive biscuits, which has been a long-held tradition in most German households in the run-up to the festivities.

On 4th December, we welcomed Dr James Ryan, who came to deliver a lecture about Lenin. Lecturer in Modern European (Russian) History at Cardiff University, his published work focuses mainly on the area of political violence and the intellectual history of Russia, looking at why the USSR proved to be the most violent and destructive state system in modern European history during peacetime.

Congratulations to LV Form (Year 10) pupil, Kimberley, who has been selected for the U16 England Bridge team.

Saturday, 1st December was a rather damp and dreary winter’s day but that made no difference to the warmth with which Confirmation was celebrated.  For the 27 Confirmation candidates the day began with a special breakfast with the Bishop of Bedford, The Right Reverend Richard Atkinson.

This year saw the first Politics Society Dinner at St Mary’s. Organised by the UVI (Year 13) Heads of Subject, Michaela and Chiara, those studying Politics at A Level were invited to a meme-themed evening.

Alexandra Haydon, Senior Teacher and Head of Science, was very pleased to receive a copy of the book Classroom-based Interventions Across Subject Areas, Research to Understand What Works in Education, through the post last week, as Chapter 4 was written by her. 

On Thursday 29th November, the Debating Society ventured into the wilds of Wiltshire, to Stonar School for round one of the national debating competition, organised by the English Speaking Union.

On 27th November, the LVI and UVI (Year 12 and 13) Psychology students went to 'Education in Action' at Warwick University. 

As part of their preparation for Confirmation, 19 girls attended a residential weekend (23rd-25th November) at the Beacon Centre, Lee Abbey. Lee Abbey is a wonderful location on the North Devon coast with a huge range of facilities and its own private beach.

We were delighted to welcome Team GB Athlete and aspiring Winter Paralympian, Sophie Elwes, to Calne on Tuesday 27th November, to talk about Finding fun and reigniting a passion for sport, after a life-changing accident.