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9 October 2015 Leadership and Resilience This week I have been fortunate enough to attend the Annual

HMC conference in St Andrews. Under the theme of ―Look Forward‖ the conference explored the question to what extent the education in all our schools is fit

for purpose when set against the future world our students will be

living in.

One of the speakers who seemed to hit exactly the right note when addressing this question was the explorer, ex-Royal Marine and TV presenter Monty Halls.

His speech examined the nature of leadership and his understanding of how, when the pressure is increased, our true natures and indeed our leadership

capability is put to the test. Drawing from recent personal experience of working

in the Amazon jungle, he had noticed that there were a number of stages in the completion of any project, which involved pressure and stress. The first feeling just before the project was excited anticipation. The second was the point at which the project is commenced in which the feeling is

enthusiasm. As the project develops there is inevitable fatigue, leading to possible bouts of illness,

even depression. And at that point there is a red star moment – a moment of decision – whether to give up or to press ahead.

Monty was very clear what the results of deciding to give up would be: a sense of failure and recrimination. He was equally clear about the consequences of deciding to continue, to push through, to see the project through to the end – a sense of achievement and exhilaration.

How often are we confronted with the siren call to abandon projects, plans, etc. because at some point

we feel tired and despondent? How often have we lost those early, initial stages of enthusiasm and excitement when things have got more difficult and tougher?

But the decision to carry on, to see a plan through to the end, and to persuade and encourage others to do the same is the grit and determination which is essential to any effective leadership. And it is something that will certainly be needed by our young people in the future.

C Muller

Head

Current Year 10,11,L6 visit to Auschwitz, Oct 2016 Reminder: The deadline for securing a place on this visit is Wednesday 14 October 2015.

Oxford Chemistry Experience This week a group of L6 Chemistry students went to

Oxford to experience the Chemistry teaching labs at the University. They all got hands-on experience to produce a diversity of fragrant molecules and were able to use high-tech analytical equipment to confirm the purity

of their products. In the afternoon the girls enjoyed a

very informative session on writing personal statements and had a tour around Brasenose College grounds led by current Year 2 students. It was a very inspiring day out and

the girls have gained a g reat i ns ight i nto University life.

L Lewis and C Bodkin

High Notes Congratulations and a big thank you to Music Scholars Catherine Abela and Lauren Christian for their very

fine performances on the bassoon and oboe during the morning assemblies on Monday and Tuesday.

T Scrutton

Mufti day approaches The first mufti day of the year is Friday 16

October. This year we are again raising funds for SABRE (Supporting Afr ica by Rural Endeavours) who help

m a k e G h a n a i a n children‘s dreams

come true by building sustainable primary schools and training primary school teachers. Students should come wearing the colours of the Ghanaian flag: red, green, gold and black and donate £1 to this very worthy cause.

Students may also like to combine this with ‗Wacky‘ Hair day on Friday 16 October as part of 7M‘s fundraising for Cancer Research. Though please note, that requires another donation of £1, which will be

collected on Thursday 15 October (to avoid collecting money for two different causes on the Friday). We are looking forward to seeing your quirky hairstyles, but

there are some practical rules to follow as to how wacky your hair can get! Hairstyles should not include:

Items that cannot be put up or removed for

science

Flammable items/products

Any colour that lasts beyond one wash

Shaving hair off

Mohicans

G Penfold-Ward & T Tyler

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SWPS Learning What a treat to have so much poetry in

the air this week at SWPS. On the

evening of National Poetry Day, a colleague and I attended the Battle of

Ideas satellite debate on ‗What every new teacher should know‘, hosted by the Pimlico Academy. It was a good ‗appetiser‘ before next weekend‘s Battle of Ideas weekend at the Barbican (A feast of debate for which tickets are still available!) where SWPS has

sponsored a debate on research and education – ‗Goodbye Mr Chips.‘ It also reminded me of how hard it is to get hold of what lies at the heart of teaching and of education and their fundamental purpose, a purpose which Plato describes as ―to give to the body

and to the soul all the beauty and all the perfection of

which they are capable." The ‗beauty‘ and the ‗soul‘ can get lost in the systematisation of education and the reductive effect that testing can have, and that thought took me to this poem of Brian Patten‘s, The Minister for Exams:

When I was a child I sat an exam. This test was so simple There was no way I could fail. Q1. Describe the taste of the Moon. It tastes like Creation I wrote, it has the flavour of starlight. Q2. What colour is Love? Love is the colour of the water a man lost in the desert finds, I wrote. Q3. Why do snowflakes melt? I wrote, they melt because they fall on to the warm tongue of God. There were other questions. They were as simple. I described the grief of Adam when he was expelled from Eden. I wrote down the exact weight of an elephant's dream Yet today, many years later, For my living I sweep the streets or clean out the toilets of the fat hotels. Why? Because constantly I failed my exams. Why? Well, let me set a test. Q1. How large is a child's imagination? Q2. How shallow is the soul of the Minister for exams?

P Marriott @SWPSLearning

Rowing News—Reading Small Boats Head The senior rowing squad were out in force at Reading Small Boats Head last

weekend. Temporarily removed from the comfort of big crew boat rowing, the girls

raced in 1x and 2x events across the day. The early

head season is a great opportunity to test the technical progress in a competitive environment and despite the aim of the race being to focus on form and technique, the SWPS team achieved some impressive

results, with Frances Dawson coming 3rd in the adult IM3 1x event; Mary Dalton placing 4th in J16 1x and an impressive win for Amelia Berry and Kate Hide in the J16 2x event; narrowly beating fellow

SWPS rowers, Izzy Wilkinson and Georgia Cox-Lousada into

2nd place. Well done to all the girls who raced, especially those who were racing a 1x for the first time. Onwards to Bedford Head this weekend!

J Farmer

Model United Nations The first Model United Nations Conference of

the season took place

in the impressive sur round ings o f Christ ‘s Hospital School in Horsham last weekend. Seven students represented

the views of Angola, China, Spain, Thailand and New Zealand participating in a Security Council enactment crisis. They faced challenging issues such as natural disasters, international piracy, human rights atrocities and US military intervention in Asia, a particular concern for our Chinese delegation who had to find

some common ground with the team from the US delegation from RGS Guildford! All seven, Issy De Costa, Aoife Carroll, Tess Lambert, Katie Ingram, Harriet Cook, Janelle Xiao and Annabel Williams gave a very good account of themselves in extremely elite company standing up for what they believed in, or at least what their countries believed in!

The weekend was topped off by a black tie diplomatic dinner in a candle-lit hall at Christ‘s Hospital School with the world‘s oldest dining club in attendance and an insight into a very different school‘s life, from

sixteenth century tunics to ceremonial marches into the dining hall. Further MUN conferences are on their

way this term at London Oratory and Croydon High for Girls.

R Willis

Staff Sudoku Champ! Huge good luck to our Head of

Maths, Miss Golding, who is

travelling to Sofia, Bulgaria, this weekend to represent the UK in the World Sudoku Championships as part of a four man team. She out-performed the competition in July to win the UK Championship which qualified her for entry into the World Championship. We‘re sure she‘ll do us proud!

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Academic Scholars‘ Society The Academic Scholars'

Society have been a s k i n g ( a n d a n s w e r i n g ! ) t h e question 'What is Science?' this term. The academic scholars have been listening to Radio

4, watching TED talks and reading newspaper articles

trying to understand what makes good and bad science, covering topics ranging from understanding the behaviour of bees to dodgy fish oil trials (where the girls identified many of the flaws in the "research" published on this topic). This week, the academic

scholars took part in an activity based on one of the most famous set of lectures in scientific history, namely Michael Faraday's "The Chemical History of a Candle" (which was the origin of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures). Careful observation of candles was the order of the day as Mrs White led the girls in Faraday's footsteps, as the scholars got thinking about

exactly what is going on when a candle burns. The Academic Scholar's Society is open to all Year 7 to 9 pupils and meets on a Tuesday at 1pm.

D Schofield

Area Maths Challenge Once again we were pleased to host the Chertsey

Area Maths Challenge on Wednesday.

We had a record number of 7 teams attend, so there were 84 students from years 7 to 10 solving problems, cracking codes, figuring out logic problems and making

shapes with tangrams. All the students met the challenges with great

enthusiasm.

The overall winners were

St George‘s College, with newcomers Heathside second. Well done to all students concerned, many thanks to the Sixth Form helpers

and the Maths Department, without whom this event could not have taken place.

A Meechan

Sports News ESCC Cup

On Tuesday 6 October 12 girls from

Years 7-10 competed in the English Schools Cross Country Cup. The Junior Girls team of Anya Froggatt, Matilda

O'Dea, Sophie Young, Grace James and Alice Hogan achieved 8th place as a team over all. The Inter Girls team of Henrietta

Owen, Emily Read, Izzy Henderson, Sophie Hudson, Sophie Thomas and Eleanor Moss collectively came 6th

overall. Well done to all

involved! England Hockey Futures Cup Following two weekends of competition in Bristol, Hannah Birchall has been selected to represent Wessex Leopards at the England Hockey U16 Futures Cup at Cannock, near Birmingham, from 29—31

October. This gives the girls first-hand experience of an international tournament environment.

Selected players from the

Futures Cup will be invited to attend the National Age Groups Squads training, and

possible selection to England U16. Hannah will have 2 further days of training at Br i s to l pr io r to the tournament. We wish Hannah all the very best and hope

she is successful over the coming weeks!

T Tyler