Tuesday 27th June saw the LVI Historians take a trip back in time to the Chalke Valley History Festival. Nestled amongst the rolling downland of the Wiltshire countryside was a wonderful mixture of academic lectures, historical storytelling and living history re-enactment. The students were able to attend four talks from leading historians in the field of their A Level studies.

The Dragon Boat Festival (duan-wu jie, 端午节) is an important traditional festival which has been celebrated in China and other Chinese-speaking countries for over 2000 years. It is inscribed on the representative list of the intangible culture heritage of humanity by UNSECO in 2009.

The staff and students at St Mary's were very proud indeed to be marking Pride Month with our own Pride Week celebrations! The week kicked off on Monday with an excellent Chapel lead by Izzy and Eléa, followed by a Pride themed bake sale at breaktime.

On Monday, during a special outdoor Chapel in the Lime Kiln Garden, we unveiled a new bronze resin sculpture created by Sophie, LV (Year 10). ‘Grace’ is inspired by the Cherhill White Horse and has been kindly sponsored by the Calne Girls’ Association and The Art Society Wessex as part of the school's 150th Anniversary celebrations.

Earlier this year, the LVI entered the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Analyst Competition, organised by the Northumbria University. The students performed complex titrations and analysed unknown compounds, and, we are delighted to share, that Hattie and Thea came first in school! They were worthy winners, working with real care and accuracy.

Last week, the LV Geographers spent three days exploring interesting geographical features in Dartmoor National Park, Boscastle, Paignton Beach and Bristol. Here, May and Kitty report on the trip. 

We were delighted to welcome the group of Primary School students back for the second and third weeks of their Science Workshops. The children very much enjoyed the inspirational sessions and the lovely treat of a cookie, juice and time to play in the garden before being presented with their certificates at the end of the final week.

Last Friday, the LVI English Society met for our termly meeting, in which we all came dressed as the literary figure (dead or alive!) whom we would most like to attend our own ‘dinner party'. Not only did we have to dress up as this figure, but also take on their identity for the evening, voicing our figures' literary and social views.

Many congratulations to Tabitha (MIV, Year 8) who won Anthea Bell Young Translator’s Prize in Mandarin Level 1 in the South West region. This is a fantastic achievement, especially given the number of entries received this year was over 15,000!

LIV (Year 7) students recently completed their 'Turtle Art' project where they were tasked to code, using Logo programming, to create geometric art which was used to create their own personalised mugs.

LIV (Year 7) vocalist, Jemima, was delighted to perform at a charity Celebration Concert in aid of the Church of the Holy Cross, Seend, on the evening of Saturday 24th July.

Book Clubs are growing in popularity at St Mary's! Here, representatives from the MIV (Year 8) and LV (Year 10) Book Club share their thoughts on novels they have recently read and discussed - Vanity Fairby William Makepeace Thackeray, Radio Silence by Alice Oseman and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.