NewsTo celebrate World Book Day Study girls came to school with a 'clue' to the identity of a well known book character. Among the many 'clues' were marmalade sandwiches, honey, wands and a scar, bottles saying 'Drink Me', golden tickets, long noses, Turkish Delight and even a collar and lead (but no dog)! Guess the following characters:
Wilberforce House girls held a Book and Cake Sale to raise money for this term's charity, St Raphael's Hospice. They raised the fantastic amount of £437.07.
Inspired by their studies of Charles Darwin during Science Week, the girls took part in a competition to design an imaginary plant or animal which had adapted to its environment. Everyone made the most of their creative skills and scientific and geographical knowledge to create some amazing plants and animals. Here are the deserving winners with their intriguing designs.
For one full week, from Monday 8 February, Study girls will come off their normal timetable to learn about science in the most stimulating and creative ways! 'We are looking forward to a week full of fun, experiments and hands on learning. Science is all around us and we want our girls to be inspired and curious about the world, to ask questions and to enjoy finding the answers!' says Miss Bishti, Head of Science.
Click here to see just a little of what the girls got up to…
Everyone was really looking forward to the Public Speaking Competition Final, especially the finalists! It took place on the afternoon of Friday 5 February, so it made a perfect start to the weekend. First were the Year 4 and 5 finalists who had prepared talks on all sorts of subjects like The Dogs Trust, Table Manners, Schools around the World, Life in Nelson's Navy and Strictly Come Dancing. Then it was the turn of Year 6. They had had only a short time to prepare a talk on 'If I were Prime Minister' – they all did brilliantly! Our adjudicator was Mr Tully who is Head of Drama at Arts Educational School. Before he announced the winners, he said how impressed he was by all the finalists. The audience clapped wildly as he announced the winners and runners up. I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.
Jessica Price, Year 5
Mr Tully with the Winners
Congratulations to our Year 6 Cross Country Team who came first in the recent 4km Schools' Cross Country Meeting at Barn Elms. The Year 5 team did extremely well too, taking third place. All our competitors finished in the top half, and we are particularly proud of the following girls: Charlotte Clover, Olivia George, and Millie Horner who came first, second and fourth, out of 44 girls taking part!
After hearing about the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Study girls, staff and parents decided to respond as a community. We held a 'giving' day, Years 3 and 6 held cake sales and some Year 5 girls made thread bracelets and bookmarks to sell. Altogether we raised £1,866 for the DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal. Thank you to everyone who contributed their time and effort for this most worthy cause.
Reception girls have been learning all about people in the community whose job it is to help us. So far this term they have had visits from a doctor, a nurse, a postman, two policewomen and, as you can see here, the local fire brigade.
While it was snowing outside Reception had fun creating their own snowmen.
On Wednesday 25th November Year 3 joined lots of children from Merton schools at The Children's Society Christingle Service at Westminster Abbey. Here are some of Year 3's thoughts about the special event:
'The Christingle Service was lovely and loud. We sang lots of songs while the organ played boldly. I thought that Westminster Abbey was so tall it made people feel humble.'
Sheharbano Saleem
'It was interesting to find out how to make a Christingle and what it means.'
Isabella Petrou
'We did a good job singing and I loved the stained glass windows.'
Ellis Schilling
'I absolutely loved all of it!'
Phoebe Plummer
Year 6 'pros' at work
Winning cake design!On Saturday 21 November at 10.00 sharp, people piled into Wilberforce House for the Study Association Christmas Extravaganza! As the crowds flooded in, stalls were inundated with customers, rapidly raising money for our school and our two charities, Tree Africa and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Highlights included fantastic face painting, professional nail painting from Year 6, traditional French cheeses, sparkling jewellery, an astonishing Eastern bazaar, delicious cakes and biscuits, the exciting cake decoration competition and every child's favourite stall - the chocolate tombola! 'The fair was phenomenal, a definite hit' quoted one Study girl, while one of our teachers, Miss Popjoy, smiled and said, 'Yes, I had a lot of fun at the fair and I even won a bottle of wine!'
Isabel Davies and Lucy Walker, Year 6
RehearsingThe Spencer House Choir had a wonderful experience on Saturday 7 November, when they joined with choirs from other schools to take part in the Royal School of Church Music's Young Voices Festival at Salisbury Cathedral.
Doa and Yeonjoo, Year 5 report: We had been busy rehearsing the anthems and hymns for the festival since the beginning of term and we were really looking forward to singing in the Cathedral and seeing the very tall spire! When we arrived, we could not believe how high the ceiling was. Our singing sounded amazing. It was a great trip.
About to play the hose pipe!Two musicians called Clive and Victoria visited Wilberforce House to perform the story of Paddington Bear through music. Clive played the piano and Victoria told the story and played different brass instruments, including the trumpet and flugel horn. We liked the different voices she used for the characters, she was loud and clear with lots of expression. It was very funny when she chose someone in my class to play the hosepipe. She made it sound like a trumpet. I really enjoyed listening to the music.
Sophie Taylor, Year 3
Netball Year 6 'A' TeamThe Study Year 6 'A' Netball Team Scores a Hat Trick!
Our formidable Y6 Netball 'A' team has triumphed again! This week, our sporty stars won 1st place in the Year 6 Small Schools' Netball Tournament 2009 against 11 other top local schools. This is the third year this unstoppable team has won the Small Schools' Tournament for their age group, and the girls' triumph in this prestigious tournament is a testament to their hard work, dedication and teamwork. Well done, we are all exceptionally proud of their achievements!
Year 6 Study Prep girls with their Pollock canvasThe Arts Council England has selected The Study to be the School of the Month on their fantastic website!
Click onto the Arts Councils website to see the great write up The Study has received regarding the attainment of the prestigious Artsmark Gold award this summer, and what the Arts Council has to say about The Study's commitment to and excellence in the creative arts.
On this creative note, congratulations on The Study girls' recent achievments at the ISA London South West art competition.
One of our Year 6 pupils won first place in the 7-11 age group 2-D category with her painting inspired by the work of Kandinsky, part of a wider project initiated by the school: SIX on SIX. Two of our Year 4 girls were Highly Commended with their wonderful works in the Under 11 Textiles category, whilst Year 3 won second place for their fantastic collaborative sculpture in the 7-11 age group 3-D category.
Enjoying a sensory game at London ZooAs part of their science topic on living things, Year 1 enjoyed a trip to London Zoo. Sophia Harley reports: We saw three gorillas playing with dressing up things. The big one was trying to put a pot on his head. The mummy one was sitting down. We saw giraffes. They were busy eating the hay. We saw some leopards and tigers. We learnt about how animals use their senses. Butterflies and flies use their feet to taste.
Author Liz Kessler visits the schoolChildren's author, Liz Kessler visited Year 5 to talk to them about the process of writing a book. She was full of good ideas. Lizzie Lenon reports: All Liz Kessler's books are imaginative and descriptive. One of the tips she gave us was to always plan your story so that when you start to write, it is easier. Another tip was to look around at people and places for ideas. Liz has been travelling around the world and has got lots of ideas for characters from the people she has met on her travels. She jots down ideas in a notebook. I really enjoyed Liz Kessler's visit.
Victoria with Year 6 girlsSpencer House girls enjoyed a surprise visit from old girl, Victoria Roberts, who was a pupil at The Study until she emigrated to Australia in the 1980s. As well as hearing about her happy Study memories, the girls were enthralled to discover that she participated in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. She told them that her favourite motto is 'Dream, Believe and Achieve' and she spoke very convincingly about the importance of believing in yourself, effort and teamwork. What an excellent role model she is for Study girls!
Dr Nelson with some of our Wilberforce House School Council RepsThis term we are raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and so we were very pleased when Dr Nelson came to visit our school on Jeans for Genes Day to tell us about genetic diseases, particularly cystic fibrosis. She said that one in thirty three babies are born with a genetic illness and some are dangerous. Cystic fibrosis is a serious disease passed through your genes. It means that your lungs keep getting filled up with mucus so you can't breathe well. She told us about a boy called Mat and he has to have a special breathing machine. He is only six so it must be quite scary for him. I found this talk interesting as I have asthma and that is a genetic illness. I felt very touched by the talk and I am really pleased we are supporting the CFT.
Navya Lobo, Year 5
Everyone enjoyed wearing jeans and helping others by joining in the national Jeans for Genes Day on Friday 2 October. Some of the Spencer House girls made the most of their creative flair by jazzing up their jeans for the Jazzy Jeans Competition! Great fun was had by all and we raised £358.90 to help people with genetic disorders.
Year 3 girls show off their Harvest of the land and sea displayThis year we were delighted to welcome two special guests to our Harvest Festival, Dr Barbara Moreland, from St Mary's Church, Merton Park, and Jane Platts from The Wimbledon Guild. Harvest Festival is always a particularly special occasion for us, as it is the first time in the school year that everyone at Wilberforce House and Spencer House gather together. We enjoyed singing hymns, and listening to wonderful readings and prayers of thanks for nature's bounty composed by the girls. All the girls' generous donations of delicious foodstuffs will go to The Wimbledon Guild's Harvest for the Homeless and Needy.
As well as settling down to the start of another busy and vibrant term, our Year 6 girls are looking ahead to their senior school entrance exams. To help them on their way, we invited former Head, Mrs Ailsa Vincent, to hold 'mock interviews'. Mrs Vincent quickly helped the girls feel at ease and encouraged them to talk about current news stories, their general knowledge, their love of reading and their many interesting hobbies and interests. The girls came out of their interviews smiling and we are sure that their positive experience will help them shine when it comes to the real thing!
