Nineteen pairs of eager tennis players gathered on the morning of Sunday 12th May for this year’s Ed Rich Family Tennis Tournament and the weather couldn’t have been better. The competition was played in good spirit along with a, not unexpected, degree of competitiveness.
On Saturday 11th May, the girls in Florence Dyas House (Year 12) welcomed some boys from Radley College for a fun, social evening.
Following their success at the County Final, six members of ‘Bella Gaia’, St Mary’s Young Enterprise company, went to Kings Weston House near Bristol to represent the school at the Regional Final on Thursday 9th May.
On 8th May, the LIV (Year 7) visited Bristol Aquarium to help their Environmental Science lessons come to life.
Many congratulations to Year 10 pupil, Kimberley, who has been selected to represent England in the U16 team at the European Youth Bridge Team Championships in Norway in July.
On Wednesday 8th May, with UCAS applications open for registration in less than two weeks, a presentation on ‘Applying to University and writing your Personal Statement’ from the University of Bristol proved somewhat timely for the LVI Form (Year 12).
On Thursday 2nd May, Andrew Miller, Schools Liaison and Access Officer at Merton College, Oxford, hosted our annual Oxbridge Information Evening. We were delighted to welcome an audience of around 100 guests, which included our own Year 11 and Year 12 girls and their parents, and a number of local school students and their parents from Calne, Chippenham, Corsham and Marlborough.
The girls on this year’s 'Walk and Camp' started out on a very grey day, with groups getting dropped off at Aldbourne Church, Liddington Road Crossing, North Farm Lane and various places north of Aldbourne. The groups walked to Sugar Hill, Shipley Bottom, Upper Upham, Roundhill Down, Oak Stagger and some places not marked on their route! However, most of the teams managed to stay on course and to time, dodging the rain clouds for the best part of the day.
On Thursday 2nd May, six members of St Mary’s Young Enterprise company, ‘Bella Gaia', represented the school at the Wiltshire County Final, held at the Wiltshire Hotel in Royal Wootton Bassett.
The AQA GCSE Religious Studies course, which all Fifth Form girls pursue, includes a philosophical and ethical topic called Relationships and Families which includes learning about marriage, different types of families and relationships. Given that some of our girls had not previously personally experienced a religious wedding, we felt it helpful to immerse our LV (Year 10) in a live performance with which they eagerly engaged.
On Friday 26th April, the Year 7 and Year 8 girls enjoyed the first week of their annual Summer Term sports trips to the Cotswold Water Park, as part of their 'Challenge and Adventure' programme.
This year the LVI (Year 12) Economics students took part in the BASE competition, run by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). This is a national competition for students aged 16-17 in which students engage in business challenges that enable them to develop key employability skills and understand what it’s like to be an ICAEW Chartered Accountant.
