Head’s LinesDear Readers

“ I regard it as the foremost task of education to insure the survival of these qualities: an enterprising curiosity, an undefeatable spirit, tenacity in pursuit, readiness for sensible self-denial, and above all, compassion.” Kurt Hahn

I was reminded of these inspirational words by Kurt Hahn, the founder of Gordonstoun School, when I read through the first draft of this latest version of the Bulletin. The foremost task of the excellent education we offer at Withington is not the collection of qualifications for their own sake, nor the maintenance of our leading position in national league tables, though both can be considered useful indicators (amongst many others) of our pupils’ successes. Our foremost task is to encourage the girls to be curious about the world around them and their place in it, to develop resilience to cope with the inevitable ups and downs of life, and to be willing to make personal sacrifices and show kindness to others in order to make a difference in the world.

The pages which follow are full of illustrations of the ways in which Withington girls have, this past term, explored beyond the narrow confines of examination specifications, challenged themselves mentally and physically and,

Continues on page 2...

APRIL 2014

Withington’s MUN SuccessWithington’s Model United Nations team swept the board at Edinburgh’s prestigious George Watson’s College conference, with all twelve WGS delegates winning individual awards before celebrating the news that the School had also scooped the top accolade of Best Delegation overall.

The Withington contingent, who represented the United Kingdom at the conference on the weekend of 14/15 March, triumphed against strong competition from 55 schools from as far afield as Norway, Portugal, Germany, Florida - and even one school from Iran. Seven girls won Best Delegate in their committees, three were Highly Commended and two were Commended, speaking on topical subjects that encompassed Human Rights, Disarmament, Security Council, Politics, the Environment, Health and the Media.

Said Withington’s MUN Coordinator, Jane Maher:

“ The girls were incredible. This was no mean feat - each committee was made up of almost 50 students so to make an impact was very difficult and required some excellent diplomatic and strong public speaking skills. The girls had worked hard ahead of the Conference and prepared themselves well. This was an outstanding achievement.”

This latest success follows on from Withington’s victory at the Bath MUN conference last year when the team became the first all-girls school to win the title, proving, says Ms Maher, “girls can really excel at this activity which has been dominated far too long by Boys’ schools or mixed ones.”

“ It is clear that WGS really is a force to be reckoned with on the MUN circuit,” she added, “and with the recent Withington Conference - WiMUN - attracting girls from Year 7 upwards, we have a steady stream of talent already developing their diplomatic skills ready for the major conferences in the future.”

The MUN Conferences held annually in Edinburgh and Bath are two of the largest of their kind in the country.

Representing Withington were: Giulia Baggaley Simpson, Caroline Cartmill, Lucinda Chamberlain, Orlagh Fallon, Kavneet Jolly, Penny Jones, Jo Lees,

Rosy Martland, Sheanna Patelmaster, Vidya Ramesh, Jess Stolberg, Haleh Taghinejadi

S U N D A Y 9 T H F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 4

The WithingtonMUN ConferenceOn Sunday 9th February, almost 300 delegates from 18 schools attended the sixth Model United Nations conference to be hosted at Withington, the biggest and most successful conference so far. Most schools attending were from the Greater Manchester area, but schools from Birmingham, Shrewsbury, Chester and Liverpool also took part.

Unlike most MUN conferences, the event was aimed at younger pupils in Years 7 to 10 - with Withington Sixth Formers taking on the roles of Committee Chairs, Heads of the Secretariat, Presidents of the General Assembly as well as the Secretary General. WGS Sixth Form pupils also reported on events throughout the Conference and produced a comprehensive magazine about the day.

Opening the Conference, Headmistress Mrs Marks spoke about the value of MUN in encouraging young people to think about the wider world and the betterment of society globally.

The guest speaker was one of Scotland’s top human rights lawyers, Mr Aamar Anwar; he delivered an inspirational speech about standing up against human rights abuses in society and taking a stand against inequalities, one of the most important functions of the UN.

Withington’s MUN Coordinator, Ms Jane Maher, said the standard of debate was excellent.

“ WiMUN is all about giving younger pupils a chance to take part - and they rose to the challenge, speaking confidently and knowledgably,” she said.

Our thanks go to Mr Anwar for travelling all the way from Glasgow to speak at the Opening Ceremony, and for his thought-provoking and inspirational words that fired up the young Conference delegates to speak out with conviction and passion. As ever, thanks to Mr Mark Morris, Withington’s Site Services Manager, for his fantastic photography.

Stockport Grammar School MUN Conference A busy term for MUN began on Sunday 26th January, when WGS participated in the SGS MUN conference. Withington had four delegations, France, Spain, Jordan and Japan. The Withington delegations were made up of many younger, inexperienced delegates, for whom this was only their second conference after WiMUN V last summer. The conference was won by China, comprised mainly of Upper Sixth Formers from Cheadle Hulme School. Withington picked up many individual awards, which bodes extremely well for the future. Well done to all!

In addition, five Upper Sixth girls took on the roles of Conference Chairs.

MUN Coordinator, Ms Jane Maher said:

“ They were an absolute credit to themselves, MUN and Withington.”

...Continued from Page 1...

above all, worked hard to make a real difference to those who need their help, locally in Manchester, at home in the UK and abroad. I hope the girls and their families will enjoy being reminded of their numerous activities and their outstanding achievements in so many fields.

Schools cannot afford to stand still and we have recently announced plans to build a new, larger Junior School, and to enclose the resultant ‘quadrangle’ in order to provide better access and much-needed additional social and exhibition space. I hope to have some news for you soon about planning permission and, in the meantime, we are also making plans in conjunction with the council for some important traffic calming measures to be introduced around our Wellington Road entrance during the summer holidays. These measures will improve the girls’ safety as they cross the roads around the school.

I hope you thoroughly enjoy reading about what the girls have been doing this term, and I should like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a very restful Easter holiday.

Mrs Sue Marks Headmistress

Organic Inspirations...Manchester Art Gallery was the destination for the recent Art Trip for the Lower Fifth girls, whose aims were to gather a wealth of ideas and inspiration for their new ceramic project entitled Organic Vessels. Even before entering the gallery we were greeted outside by a large-scale sculpture of an ice cream which began our journey of understanding and appreciation for the Portuguese contemporary artist Joana Vasconcelos, who has created wonderful site-specific works especially for the gallery, and are well worth a visit! Valuable time was also spent exploring the gallery of craft and design to examine the many ceramic pieces on display. Nothing can compare to seeing artwork ‘up close and personal’ and this experience has certainly inspired the girls in their own designs and creations as part of this project.

Mrs Ruth Fildes Head of Art

London Scrawling!With exam papers, sketchbooks and pencils in hand, the artists in the Upper Fifth and Sixth Form embarked on an exciting and rewarding expedition to London in order to gain invaluable

inspiration for their final Art projects. The brisk morning took us to the Victoria and Albert Museum which is

billed as ‘The world’s greatest museum of art and design.’ Here the Upper Fifth were taken on a ‘Sketchbook Sculptures’ workshop where they were challenged to

draw in unusual ways from the European marble sculptures, whilst brushing up on their knowledge of historical myths and legends. The Sixth Form enjoyed exploring the many, many exhibits from beautiful John

Madejski Garden Commission: Travelling to the Wonderland by Xu Bing to Dale Chihuly’s enormous glass chandelier.

Jumping onto the Underground after lunch brought us to Bankside, under the imposing architecture of the former power station, which now houses the Tate Modern. Again, the wealth of artwork at our fingertips was somewhat overwhelming, and in many instances a great contrast to what we had seen at the V&A. All of the girls worked feverishly capturing all they could of the British, modern and contemporary art on show. The varied and intriguing sketchbook work produced on the day was a fabulous beginning to each of the girls’ creative and personal journeys for this important project.

Career EngineersOn Wednesday 22nd January, nine Lower Fifth pupils visited Manchester University for an Engineering Experience day.

We were greeted by one of Manchester University’s PhD nuclear engineering students who talked to us about the different career paths involving engineering and his own study and career. After our introductory talk we headed outside for a brief University campus tour, including the library which, amazingly, holds over 4 million books.

Our workshops began with an activity involving the inhabitancy of Mars and the problems that human kind would face. This was an engaging and hands-on experience which allowed us to develop our problem-solving skills.

After lunch we attended our final workshop which involved engineering our own headphones whilst learning about the different aspects of electronic engineering.

Finally, our day ended with a question and answer session which allowed us to interact with current PhD students at the University. Overall, the day was a captivating experience that confirmed all our interests in engineering.

Lucy Owen & Imogen McLean Lower Fifth

ART

At lunchtime on Saturday 14th December we met at Manchester Airport to set off to The Gambia and at that moment I don’t think any of us fully understood exactly what we were going to experience on our week long trip. We were well equipped with everything from life jackets to bubble blowers for the children in our bags, prepared with lesson plans and design sketches for painting and extremely excited for what lay ahead. Upon arrival we met Mr Lamin Jammeh who runs the projects Withington is linked to in The Gambia and who looked after us for the week we were there.

Having arrived after dark the night before we hadn’t really observed much outside of the tourist district of Kolioli and this added to the staggering contrast we found between the levels of development there and in the capital, Banjul, the next day. It was easy to imagine how you could visit The Gambia and never truly see the everyday reality of the country beyond the sanitised façade of the tourist district.

We then moved on to the main purpose of our trip and set off up country to the village of Illiassa, home of Mama Tamba Nursery School. This involved getting up at 5am and travelling by jeep, a ferry across the river and finally by donkey cart. We had spent the year in the run-up to our trip fundraising for a new kitchen and storeroom to be built there and had immense fun painting the new rooms and an older classroom, then adding graphics designed to stimulate learning.

The next day we were back to teach the lessons we had planned; there were different age groups in each of the three classrooms spanning from ages 3 to 8 and the help of their teachers was greatly appreciated in the making of bracelets, crowns, wooden puppets and musical instruments. We then moved outside to play games beginning with a version of Blind Man’s Buff and ending the Hokey Cokey, which proved very popular!

Soon it was time for us to leave Illiassa and travel back across the river by canoe, however, all of us were sorry to leave Mama Tamba and the children who had been incredibly welcoming and friendly. The journey across the river yielded beautiful scenery and wildlife, the highlight being the black dolphins. We spent that night at Tendaba Camp where we all had much appreciated showers.

In the morning we headed off towards My Farm, a sustainable farming project. We saw the making of eco-friendly soaps, which many of us purchased as gifts for friends and family. We then headed back to the hotel and the next morning on to the sacred crocodile pool in Bakkau and all, teachers included, stroked a crocodile. The belief associated with the pool is that bathing in water from there can cure a woman of infertility and, if it does, the child conceived must be given the nickname that signifies this.

Our final visit whilst in the Gambia was to Lamin’s family compound and then to a graduation ceremony at a computer centre that Withington jointly sponsors. It was very interesting to see how Lamin lives with his extended family and we were all very taken with the 1-month-old baby who is the newest addition to their family.

The Gambia trip was an amazing experience into a different culture and way of life. The strongest impression of which, for me, was a striking ability to cope with adversity whilst remaining positive. No matter where we were, from the streets of Banjul to the rural villages, there was vibrant energy. It was an extremely humbling experience that gave a sense of perspective which will last long after the trip is over.

Sheanna Patelmaster Upper Sixth

The Gambia 2013

6th Form SeminarsThis term’s seminars continued to offer an excellent opportunity for our Sixth Form pupils to experience ideas outside the scope of their syllabuses and offer opportunities to develop their knowledge.

This term we have welcomed researchers from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell-Matrix Research; Dr Imanol Arozarena introduced the pathways to becoming a research scientist; Professor Charles Streuli discussed the Biology of the Breast and Cancer and Dr Ina Berg, from the School of Archaeology of the University of Manchester, led a fascinating talk entitled Islands of the Mind, which focused on our attraction to islands and explored why islands are anything but simple constructs.

Dr Cristina Vilela Oxbridge Coordinator

Bank of England CompetitionFollowing their success in the first stage, a team of Upper Sixth Economics students, representing the North West of England, took part in the second round of the Bank of England interest rate challenge vs teams from Scotland and the North East of England.

Their presentation was warmly received and showed evidence of careful planning, sound analysis and extensive research. They had to analyse the economy looking at a range of variables such as unemployment, wage changes, the housing market and international pressures and use these to decide whether the Bank should change the interest rate and programme of Quantitative Easing.

They had to answer a set of detailed and challenging questions from the Bank’s economists and we were delighted when they were awarded the runners-up prize – a cheque for £500, half of which will go to charity and half to the Bursary Fund.

Mr Stephen Boddy Head of Economics

Greek Trip to London, 12th February

Celebrating that the tube strike had been called off at the last minute, we set off for a busy day in London with 16 Lower and Upper Fifth girls. We had been invited down to see the King’s College London Greek Play. This college has a history of putting on a play in Greek every year since the 1950s. This year, Zara Tso (who left Withington in 2012 and is in her first year at King’s reading Greek and English) was starring as the leader of the chorus in Aristophanes’ Wasps.

First of all, we visited the British Museum where the girls were set the task of finding artefacts to support their knowledge of the Ancient Greek world for their Sources for Greek Life paper and then walked back to get the tube to the theatre through increasingly wet and windy conditions.

The play was very entertaining. Fortunately there were subtitles so that we could all appreciate the script but there was plenty of visual humour too and Zara was a star! We were delighted to chat with her and the director afterwards when she admitted that she had forgotten her lines at one point but threw in a line of Greek which she remembered from the Reading Competition at School!

Bright sunshine greeted us as we left the theatre but, after dispersing to get tea at Euston, it became clear that all was not right with the transport. All trains to Manchester were cancelled due to the high winds and the station at Crewe had been shut after the roof had blown off, hitting power lines and causing a fire.

We then had a long journey home via Birmingham and Tamworth, the latter part of the journey taking three hours, so that we eventually arrived at Manchester Piccadilly at nearly 1am. The girls were all very good natured and followed instructions, some even managing to grab a little sleep, and we were relieved to bring them all home safely that night so that three of them could join the French Exchange the next morning!

Mrs Jo Howling Head of Classics

Ancient Theatre in the 21st CenturyThe Classics Department were delighted to welcome back Melvyn Rawlinson who gave his annual presentation and workshop on the ancient theatre to the Third Form. The girls learned about some of the characters and customs of both the Greek and Roman theatre and made their own masks, choosing between the tragic and comic characters.

Classical Association Reading CompetitionWGS took part in the annual Classical Association Reading Competition which was held at Stockport Grammar School on Wednesday 12th March. Many schools from the North West sent competitors and competition was fierce in the Beginners’ Section (nearly 20 pairs) and the GCSE Latin Section (nearly 30 competitors). Lower Fourth pupils Namitha Aravind and Natasha Anson were commended (3rd place in the Beginners’ section) reading a passage from the Cambridge Latin Course about the destruction of Pompeii and Lower Sixth Former Vidya Ramesh won the A Level Greek Section, reading a passage from Oedipus the King by Sophocles.

Drama on and off stageClassical Times...

History Trip to HelmshoreSeventy Lower Fourth pupils, accompanied by six members of staff, spent the day at Helmshore Mills Textile Museum in the Rossendale Valley this term. The trip, which supports the Lower Fourth Scheme of Work, proved to be invaluable in helping to bring the Industrial Revolution to life for the girls. The girls were given the opportunity to try their hand at carding (with varying degrees of success!), see first-hand the only working water frame in the world, and visit both the fulling mill and the spinning mill. Engaging and informative guides were instrumental in furthering the girls’ understanding of the Mill through a combination of knowledgeable tours, useful interactive tasks, and valuable Q&A sessions. The visit also enabled the girls to see the importance of the geography of the Rossendale Valley in explaining the history of the area.

French Exchange 2014Withington pupils spent the February Half Term holiday on the eighth successful Exchange with the Lycée des Flandres in Hazebrouck, Northern France.

Twenty-two girls, along with eight boys from the Manchester Grammar School, entered into the spirit of the Exchange and enjoyed discovering French daily life, benefiting tremendously from the experience of spending a week with their French host families.

The girls made the most of their week in France and enjoyed some of the local highlights such as a Treasure Hunt in Lille followed by guided tour of Palais des Beaux-Arts and a return visit to the ever-popular art gallery La Piscine. They also visited The Louvre-Lens, an art museum in Lens, Pas-de-Calais.

Other excursions included a day in Ypres where the party visited the In Flanders Fields Museum; World War 1 French, German and British cemeteries; a trench and the Menin gate.

After an extensive introductory lesson, everyone enjoyed sand-yachting on the beach at Dunkirk on a cloudy, but dry day.

The group was accompanied by WGS teachers Mrs Yorke Menzies and Mrs Anne Humblet and Mr Dan Taylor from MGS.

** Our French counterparts arrived in Manchester on Wednesday 24th March, and the Manchester host families very much enjoyed the company of their young French guests, and were very pleased to reciprocate the wonderful hospitality Withington girls received in France.

Recital EveningsTwo delightful evenings of music were enjoyed by many proud parents this term - an evening of Strings and Piano Music was performed by pupils of Vivienne Blumfield and Anne Wilson and then an evening of Piano, Clarinet, Saxophone and Percussion by the pupils of Ruth Evans, Lynne Racz and Emma Crossley. From beginners to accomplished Grade 8 performers, both evenings provided a variety of music and instruments being performed to the very highest of standards. These early evening recitals are not only a pleasure to listen to but also a joy to witness the confidence and performance skills develop amongst our up-and-coming musicians.

Mrs Gilly Sargent Director of Music

Halle Youth EnsembleOn Sunday 9th March I had the pleasure of attending the Hallé Youth Ensemble Concert at the Bridgewater Hall. The first half was the Children’s Choir, Training Choir and Youth Choir, all three choirs giving outstanding performances. The second half was the Children’s Choir, Youth Choir and a performance of William Walton’s Suite from Henry V by the Hallé Youth Orchestra. This performance was absolutely phenomenal! I sat in the audience, proud of the musicians from Withington who were part of this amazing performance - Sophie Foreman, Amy Brown, Adi Jacobson, Georgia Morley, Maddy Williams and Rosie Dow. Well done ladies!

Mrs Gilly Sargent Director of Music

PIANO PIANO PIANO STRINGS STRINGS STRINGS STRINGS STRINGS STRINGS

andandandandandandPIANO PIANO PIANO andPIANO PIANO PIANO andPIANO PIANO PIANO andPIANO PIANO PIANO andandandandandand

Tuesday 21st January 20146pm in the Arts Centre

THE

InstrumentalistsPercussion, Clarinet, Saxophone and Piano Recital Evening

Withington Girls’ School Proudly Present

Monday 10th March 20146pm in the Arts Centre

Physics MasterclassOn Wednesday 26th March, we took a trip to Daresbury Laboratory for a Particle Physics Masterclass. We attended insightful presentations about Particle Physics given by experts about the accelerators at Daresbury, the Large Hadron Collider and Astroparticle Physics. We were given the opportunity to learn about the different applications of Particle Physics, attempt to optimise luminosity in particle colliders, and try a few of the calculations that were involved in designing the accelerator at Daresbury.

Of course, a Particle Physics Masterclass would not be complete without mention of the Higgs which, with the help of Lancaster University’s simulation, we all managed to discover for ourselves!

The Masterclass was rounded off with the results of the quiz we had been given at the beginning of the day, and we were amazed to discover that we had won both the first (Penny Jones) and second prize (Haleh Taghinejadi and Teneeka Mai) the former with full marks!

Overall the trip gave us a real understanding of Particle Physics and was excellent preparation for our upcoming trip to CERN.

Teneeka Mai Lower Sixth

Swapping Books for Dancing Bells...Krishna Panchmatia is to appear on two national TV shows in India following a recent dance tour which took the Sixth Form student to Delhi and Agra.

Krishna had been invited to perform Kathak - a classical Indian dance - at two leading TV studios in Delhi with the shows scheduled to be broadcast across the country over the coming months. One of the programmes, a short documentary which featured Krishna dancing and an interview, is due to be entered for an international film award.

Krishna, who travelled to India with her mother Kalpna, then went onto Agra where she performed her dance at the prestigious cultural Taj festival before an audience of around 1,000 people, which included national and local Government ministers as well as world renowned Indian singers.

“ I just feel so grateful that I was given this once in a lifetime opportunity. The whole experience has taught me so much. I met so many incredible people who inspired me. I first watched Kathak being performed when I was ten years old. I really connected with it from the start and the storytelling format taught me so much about our history. It’s very difficult for young people to maintain our culture and it would be a real shame for our generation if we lost our heritage,” she said.

Krishna has been learning the historic Kathak dance for the past seven years at the Academy of Indian Cultural Education and had been invited to accompany her teacher, the acclaimed performer Kajal Sharma, on the trip to India. She is currently working towards her Grade 5 exam on the dance which is performed barefoot with bells and accompanied by traditional Indian drums, sitars and other instruments.

Geography News Geographers continue to have an exciting and varied extracurricular programme. The Sixth Form have attended some thought-provoking Geographical Association lectures at the University. The highlight this last term was the Herbertson Memorial Lecture titled: Borders, migration and sanctuary: changing geographies of mobility, presented by Jonny Darling from Manchester University. He was dynamic and passionate about the issue of refugees opening our eyes to the problems they face and the way a receiving country like the UK manages the situation. His approach gave a very different view than the media because the plight of asylum seekers was viewed through a geographer’s eyes.

Geography offers a holistic viewpoint balancing environmental, social and economic understanding of the situation. The sheer contemporary nature of the issues Geography covers was well illustrated. We also had the privilege that evening of the School being presented with the Ogden Prize awarded to Harriet Macleod for attaining the highest mark in Geography A Level last Summer.

An enterprising group of motivated geographers in the Lower Sixth have set up a Geography Club to hold fun Geography-based activities in the lunch hour to inspire younger girls to appreciate the versatility of the subject. Their first successful activity was a Geography Film Competition. Upper Fourth girls were invited to watch extracts from the film The Day After Tomorrow; the link with Geography was the theme of global warming triggering the rapid onset of a new Ice Age. In the film, tornadoes flatten California and the entire Northern hemisphere begins to freeze. Far-fetched maybe, but the special effects showing an Ice Age kept everyone gripped and made for lots of discussion about what living in an Ice Age must have been like. The following lunch hour, teams from each Form battled it out with Geography-based questions taken from events seen in the film. ‘What damage did the tornadoes bring to Los Angeles? How low did the temperatures fall in New York?’ The prize went to UIVX who won a most appropriate inflatable Globe. Future plans are to hold a Geography Treasure Trail and Geography Music Quiz so Lower Fourths and Third Formers also get a chance to put some novel Geography skills to the test. Well done to our enthusiastic Lower Sixth team for keeping Geography on the map!

Mrs Julie Buckley Head of Geography

Warm Welcomes... Mrs Toni Leden Former Withington parent Toni Leden has been appointed as the school’s new Development Director, bringing with her a wealth of fund raising experience in the charity sector.

Toni, who replaces Clare Flynn, has an impressive track record in fundraising having worked in the charity sector for 24 years. Previous roles have included the post of Director of Appeals at The Christie where she worked on high profile campaigns for eight years - and latterly she worked as Acting Head of Charities at the Central Manchester University Hospitals.

Formally appointed in February, having ‘acted’ as Development Director since December 2013, Toni says she is looking forward to exciting new projects planned for the future; building on the School’s solid foundation for bursary provision; and working alongside Penny Knipe the Development Officer with Withington’s 3000-strong alumni group to encourage even greater networking opportunities and to expand the existing career mentoring and University buddy schemes.

“ I am delighted to be joining the staff at Withington and am keen to focus my knowledge, experience and skills to lead the Development strategy for the School and contribute to its continuing success and reputation.” she said.

Toni - who has been a Trustee of the WGS Trust for the past 18 months - has long established personal links with Withington stretching back 100 years. Her daughter, Rebecca Stern, now a drama teacher, left WGS in 2007 - and her grandmother Marjorie Gibbons Sankey was a pupil at the school between 1912 and 1914, making the then long journey from her home in Alderley Edge by a combination of train and horse and carriage.

Toni holds a BSc degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from Surrey University. After graduating she worked as a Nutritionist in Papua New Guinea before going on to work in sales and marketing and then the charity sector.

Ms Leden’s interests include yoga, travel, the theatre, and fitness – she took part in the 26 mile Great Manchester Cycle last year.

Mr Kirk Eckersall Mr Eckersall has joined the Chemistry Department after 12 years teaching at Audenshaw School, a 1,300-pupil comprehensive boys school with a mixed Sixth Form (where Withington’s former Head of Mathematics, Mr Kal Hodgson, was Assistant Head). He was Head of Chemistry and served as a Head of Year for several years. Along with Mr Eckersall’s teaching responsibilities, he will be leading the Eco-Warriors into battle and assisting with Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Mr Eckersall is an active member of Manchester Cathedral where he acts, among other things, as thurifer.

Dr Zoe KennyDr Kenny is providing maternity cover for Mrs Cottam as Teacher of Biology. Dr Kenny formerly taught Science at Irlam and Cadishead College. She holds a First Class Honours Degree in Biological Sciences from Edinburgh University and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Manchester.

One of her highlights whilst studying Biology at University, she says, was an Ecology expedition to Sri Lanka where she spent three months investigating the gecko population. A 2nd Dan in Karate and a member of the Shotokan Karate Academy in Manchester, Dr Kenny, who has a one-year-old son, also enjoys cookery and art.

“ The staff and girls at Withington have such warmth and energy that it has been so easy to settle in,” she says.

Mrs Nicola ByrneMrs Nicola Byrne has joined Withington to take up a newly-created part-time position as Human Resources Manager. Mrs Byrne, who holds a BA in Business Administration from Huddersfield University, was previously Head of HR at Liverpool Football Club and prior to that had spent 17 years in a similar role at healthcare company SSL International.

Responsibilities in her new post will include a broad range of HR functions including recruitment, induction, training and development and performance management. Mrs Byrne, who has a 5-year-old son, is a keen sportswoman and charity fundraiser. In May Mrs Byrne will be joining a group of 2,000 ladies in supporting the Women v Cancer charity with a 100km night cycle roundtrip starting at Windsor and taking in London’s landmark sights.

Farewell and Best wishes to Christine EvansThe Art Department bid farewell in December to part-time Art Technician, Ms Christine Evans, who joined the School in September 2012. An enthusiastic long-distance cyclist, she worked at Withington in addition to being a freelance artist and creative project worker with people suffering Mental Health conditions. She has left to dedicate more time to her own artistic pursuits.

Cancer Research DonationIt was with great pleasure that Mrs Marks, Vocal Studies Tutor Mrs Fiona Clucas and her husband, Jeffrey Wynn Davies presented a donation of £2000 in aid of renal cancer research to Christie hospital representative, Clare Dickenson.

The money was raised at a concert entitled Choirs for Cancer, organised and performed in the Arts Centre by Mrs Clucas and Mr Wynn Davies last term, in appreciation for the care and treatment given to Mr Wynn Davies when he was suffering from renal cancer.

Oxford ‘Recce’ On Wednesday 22nd January, a group of 18 Lower Sixth girls accompanied by Dr Vilela and Mr McKenna joined Manchester Grammar School, Manchester High School for Girls and Loreto Grammar School on a trip to Oxford University.

The girls met with admissions tutors, subject tutors and former Withington pupils currently studying at Oxford. The day provided an excellent introduction to the University and its demands and opportunities. This was an excellent day enjoyed by all involved.

Dr Cristina Vilela Oxbridge Coordinator

Careers 2014Mrs Nichola Watson is managing the Careers Department for the duration of Mrs Nicki Cottam’s maternity leave.

Upper Fifth girls are currently finalising placements for their Work Experience week which is scheduled to take place after the public examinations in the Summer Term. A mentoring scheme provided by Withington Alumnae has been set up to support students as they make decisions about degree courses and any future career aspirations.

On Friday 21st March, Mr James Batham, a partner at the law firm Eversheds, gave an inspiring and informative presentation - Law without Walls - to a group of students from Upper Fifth to Upper Sixth.

Mrs Watson said:

“ This was a wonderful opportunity for our girls and we are most grateful to Mr Batham for generously supporting the School and for contributing to the girls’ development.”

This year’s Gym and Dance Competition on 7th February and subsequent Gym and Dance Display on the 11th was themed on Superheroes. Withington’s Wonder Girls certainly demonstrated strength, agility and courage as they spun, flexed, flew and stretched to the themes from films such as Superman and Flash.

Encouraged and clapped along by the audience of family, friends and staff, every Junior and Third Form pupil took part. The show also featured girls from the Advanced Gym Club made up of girls from the Junior and Senior Schools working together in routines choreographed by GCSE PE candidates and Sixth Form pupils.

The audience were also treated to a big Rhythmic Gymnastics production number featuring virtually every Junior girl. The Juniors have been enjoying Rhythmic Gymnastics this year under the tutelage of Miss Kathryn Gardner, Lower II Form Teacher.

Gym Competition and Display

Junior Food Matters...On Friday 17th January, the School Catering Manager, Mrs Sheena Cartledge, and Head Chef, Mr Neil Pheasey, gave a presentation about food during Assembly.

Mrs Cartledge and Mr Pheasey asked us about our likes and dislikes on the menu and if we had any ideas on how to improve our school food and its organisation. They listened carefully to all our suggestions and discussed them with us. By the end of the Assembly every class felt like they had been heard and that their ideas had been taken into account. Everyone agreed that the lunches were delicious and the kitchen staff very kind. Thank you Mrs Cartledge and Mr Pheasey.

By Aanya Khandelwal and Catalina Alvaro, Upper II

Lower II’s Trip to Ordsall HallOn the 22nd of January, Lower II went on a History trip to Ordsall Hall. First, we visited the servants’ quarters. This included the kitchens and we got to see where the servants slept.

Then we visited the rich side of the hall. This included the Lord and Lady Radclyffe’s chambers, the living room and the Great Hall. We ground spices, found out about Tudor inventions and about Tudor food. Some fun things we learnt were:

• The Rich Tudors would have their favourite servant sleep under their bed in case they needed any assistance during the night!

• Rich Tudors would bathe once a year! They also slept sitting up so they didn’t choke from disease.

• The bigger their ruff was, the more important they were.

• The servants had different jobs like spit boy, cook or housekeeper

• Servants usually slept 40 to a room and during harvest time it could be as many as 100!

We enjoyed this trip because it was really fun and we learnt lots of ‘whacky’ facts.

By Maya Davies and Sara Sherwood, Lower II

The Music of HistoryThe lute is an instrument from the Tudor times and one of Henry VIII’s favourite instruments. There are very few of them now but my guitar teacher, Mr Batchelar, came into Lower II and showed us a lute. He even played some beautiful Tudor music for us! He let me hold it and it was so light compared to my guitar. The end of the lute is bent and this helps the fifteen strings stay in tune.

By Olivia Corbett, Lower II

Pets Club AssemblyA huge thank you to the Senior girls in charge of Pets Club for their informative Assembly presentation. They showed us the hamsters and guinea pigs and explained how to handle them in a safe yet gentle way. They also spoke about how to behave around animals, so as not to alarm them and ensure they do not feel threatened.

Juniors visit Ancient TimesTony North from Time Trips visited the Junior School on two days in January, first of all transporting Form I to Ancient Egypt, then, on his second visit, taking Transition back to Roman Britain.

For Form I, sphinxes, pharaohs, scarab beetles and hieroglyphics were the focus of the day as Mr North guided them in making their own Ancient Egyptian artefacts. By the end of the day, they were able to write their own names using hieroglyphics. Ancient Egyptian fashions were also on show as some of the girls were able to dress up in plaited wigs and exotic jewellery.

Transition thoroughly enjoyed their day learning about Roman Britain. In the morning they planned and created their own Roman town and then in the afternoon they designed and made their own weaponry, from shields to daggers. Thank you to the mums who came in to help.

RSPB Big Schools BirdwatchOne early morning in January, as part of their participation in the RSPB Big Schools Birdwatch, the Junior Eco-Warriors went out into the School grounds in search of birds, large and small. Kitted out in their wellies and brandishing their binoculars, the girls counted and catalogued all the birds they saw, recording a wealth of raw data for spreadsheet and graphical analysis in their ICT lessons.

“ Sometimes we saw great flocks of birds but at other times we saw one or two birds pecking on the food we set out.” Shaila Mulch

“ We managed to discover about 50 birds altogether, from tall crows to tiny robins.” Ishika Ruia

Trombone Tunes and RaspberriesAnyone walking past the Junior Resource Room one Monday morning in February would have wondered what on earth was happening, as they would have heard the whole of the Junior School seemingly blowing a mass ‘raspberry’!... But they were only trying out the technique for getting notes out of a trombone.

The School’s new peripatetic trombone teacher, Mr David Price, visited Junior Assembly to introduce Junior pupils to the idea of learning how to play the trombone.

Mr Price explained that you don’t just blow into the trombone, you have to vibrate your lips, like blowing a raspberry. After a noisy interactive introduction to trombone notes, many Junior girls got the chance to have a go themselves. Every girl who tried - and also Mrs Burrows and Mrs Odeyinde - succeeded in getting a ‘noise’ from their ‘P-Bone’. It was a great way to start the week, putting everyone into high spirits!

Wes Magee visit On Friday 21st March, we had a visit from the well-known author and poet Wes Magee. This was to coincide with the beginning of our Junior School ‘Book Week’. We really enjoyed performing some of his poetry in our special assembly using plenty of actions. Wes was also able to spend time with each of our classes doing a poetry workshop so that we could write our own poems.

Crazy for ColourThank you to Mrs Buckley and LVIJ who amazed and entertained us in assembly for the launch of the Senior Dance Competition. The theme this year was Crazy for Colour and the Lower Sixth girls certainly had lots of fun performing their dance. They also spoke about how the competition will raise money for the Maua hospital in Kenya, which is run by former Withington pupil Dr Claire Smithson.

Junior Girls’ Half Term FundraiserTwo kind-hearted Junior pupils gave up part of their Half Term holiday to help raise funds for the homeless charity, Shelter. Sofia Risino and Amelia Thompson - who are both in Lower II - were hoping to collect £20 but were thrilled to find their four-hour stint at their local Aldi store had raised more than £200.

The girls had contacted Shelter to tell them of their plans and were provided with leaflets, posters, badges, stickers and collection boxes to help in their efforts. The recent bad weather had prompted them to think about how they could help people in need of a safe and warm place on wet and windy nights.

Amelia said:

“ Aldi agreed that we could collect money in their Stockton Heath shop. We would like to thank them for their support and the customers for their generosity.”

Visit to Manchester CathedralOn the 26th February, Form I visited the Manchester Cathedral as part of their Religious Studies. We were fascinated by the artefacts, statues and symbols that we saw and were intrigued by some of the history that accompanied these. For example, each of the beautiful stained glass windows had a story attached to it.

We were interested by the architecture of the Cathedral and how the roof of the Nave looked like a ship. We had a tour of the Cathedral followed by a practical craft activity session where we were able to make a brass rubbing and a stained glass window.

Junior Maths SuccessCongratulations to Upper II pupils Lucy Mehandjieva and Zainab Shah who gained Silver Awards and to Zara Liu who gained a Bronze in the final bonus round of the National Primary Mathematical Challenge. This truly is a magnificent achievement.

Only 523 children in this age group were invited to take on this bonus round, on the basis of their marks in the November paper. Of the 523, only 39 Gold, 76 Silver and 143 Bronze Medals were awarded.

Barnardo’s are the REAL winnersOn 4th March 2014 the Junior School held a penny race for Barnardo’s. Junior Houses Williams and Hunter battled to see who could place the most pennies down the Chemistry corridor. It was an intense race and in the end Williams won.

Upper II had the joy of picking up, counting and weighing the coins and they had a production line going in the Junior Resource Room. The total raised was £224. The girls followed up the penny race with a Teddy Bear raffle which raised an additional £100.

Earlier in the term, the Juniors had welcomed a representative from Barnardo`s into Assembly and heard about their work with less fortunate children, so the Juniors were very pleased to be able to contribute to Barnardo’s work.

Recycling FashionAs part of the PSHCE lessons, the girls in Form I were given the task of designing an outfit only from recycled materials. The results were truly outstanding and we believe we may have some future fashion designers in our midst!

Sophie is a published author!Well done to Sophie Wheeler in Upper II, who has been awarded a Highly Commended in the All Write! Competition, a Manchester Children’s Book Festival project for young writers, run and judged by Manchester Metropolitan University. Even more exciting – this earned her the honour of having her story published in the Competition anthology. On 20th March she went with her parents to the Awards Ceremony where she received her certificate and her own copy of the anthology.

Junior Drama ShowcaseWell done to all the Drama Club girls who performed very shortened versions of Annie and Grease on Thursday 20th March. They all had many lines to learn and some had two or more characters to play. They produced very convincing performances which were thoroughly enjoyed by players and audience alike.

Bexwyke LectureOn Wednesday 19th March, Lower II attended a lecture about World War I at the Manchester Grammar School. Half of us went in the morning, and the rest joined in the afternoon. There were lots of other schools there, and in the morning we were split into groups. We began by writing diary entries of soldiers in the War, trying to use excellent descriptive writing. After lunch, we went to a classroom where we re-enacted trench warfare with ping pong balls, bean bags and tables. It was informative and great fun! In the afternoon the lecture began, led by a representative from the Imperial War Museum. She gave a presentation with interesting information about the role of women during World War I. All of us had a great time at the Bexwyke Lecture!

Katie Hine, Lower II

Junior School pupils have recently participated in two Art and Craft clubs run by the Art Department. The girls learnt new techniques in the popular Painting and Drawing club and they enjoyed making paper flowers after school.

Crazy ChameleonsPupils looked at a range of exciting resources and watched interesting videos of reptiles to better understand the characteristics of chameleons. They then used bright collage papers, watercolour pencils and fine liners to create their very own colourful chameleon!

Floral Fun!Girls were taught how to precisely cut and fold different cards to construct paper petals. They then added buttons, made leaves and attached pipe cleaners to complete the flowers. To finish the whole bouquet, the girls wrapped the stems in tissue paper and secured the flowers with pretty ribbons. The bouquets were taken home just in time for Mothers Day!

Peak Centre TripWhen we arrived at the Peak Centre on Wednesday 12th March, we were all very curious about what lay ahead. After we walked 250 metres to the Peak Centre we entered the conservatory and the teachers told us who we were sharing a room with. After that we unpacked, made our beds, had some yummy dinner then we all went to bed.

The next morning, we all had breakfast and were put into groups for all the activities that we were doing such as arts and crafts, archery and we had lots of fun playing outside. In arts and crafts we made flower boxes, decorated wooden spoons or sewed felt bugs / caterpillars. Then we made our own lunch to eat outside in the beautiful shining sun. Later on in the afternoon we had a talent show and the group ‘Woolpacks’ won. Then we had fish fingers and chips with ketchup for tea. After that, we watched a film called Ratatouille. Then we went to bed.

In the morning we all stripped off our beds so that the sheets and pillow cases could be washed. Then we had to pack our suitcases, get changed and have breakfast. When we were all ready and fine and dandy, we did some circus skills. This included diablo, flower sticks, and a pedal/wheelie thing. Next, we made our lunch – sandwiches with crisps, juice, fruit and biscuits. Finally, we all went to the conservatory and we walked to the coach, which was waiting patiently in the car park.

We all had lots of fun at The Peak Centre!

By Vaani Jairath and Hannah Sakhdari, Form I

Winmarleigh Hall 2014 Despite the inclement weather, Upper II still set off with much excitement for a weekend away to Winmarleigh Hall. Along with the assistance of Miss Gardner and Mrs Burrows, an army of determined girls battled through a weekend of perishing weather; driving rain and high winds. We did a range of exciting activities from controlling robots in the ICT room to shuffling off a tall tower and gliding down the zip wire.

A popular favourite of the Upper II class was the Jacob’s ladder. This involved putting our teamwork skills to the test by helping each other climb up eight bars of very thick wood placed far apart. We had to help each other by giving ‘leg ups’ and encouragement to carry on, even when the task seemed impossible.

Another favourite of Upper II was the sensory trail where the whole group was blindfolded and led around a course of tunnels and tyres. The leader at the front had to make sure everybody knew what lay ahead.

On the last night we all danced the night away with an incredibly energetic disco. We most definitely showed that Withington girls knew how to party!

The next day we were all very tired, but this did not stop us enjoying our activities to come. Eventually our weekend came to a close, and we all travelled home on the coach. What an amazing time we had!

By Brontë Horsfield and Erin Howells, Upper II

Junior Netball ExploitsThe Junior Netball teams have enjoyed a busy and successful term. Worthy of note are the matches v Greenbank on 12th February – the evening of the extremely high winds. Huge tribute must be given to the pupils and staff of both schools who were not intimidated by the atrocious weather. It was definitely not a night for the fainthearted and both matches saw the ball going through the hoop numerous times, despite the gales.

Results for the Spring Term:

AJIS Netball TournamentOn Friday 14th March, nine Junior girls travelled to Stockport Grammar School to compete in a really big tournament - the Under 11 North West AJIS Netball Tournament in which 16 schools took part.

After emerging out of the group stage in third place the team qualified to go through for a chance to win the Plate. Hard work paid off.

Jasmin Lane (a Withington alumna [2011 leaver] now studying Medical Sciences at the University of Swansea and going on to study Medicine at Keele in September - and daughter of Mrs Jayne Lane, Junior School Netball Coach), gave them some playing tips and told the girls of the day Withington Juniors last won the Plate - in 2004 - when she herself was in Upper II!

In the Quarter Finals, against King’s Chester, the girls played outstandingly and pulled off a win! In the Semi Finals, against Queen’s Chester, the girls went into the match confidently and were winners and through to the final v Newcastle-under-Lyme.

At half time change round the score was level 3-3 with both teams fighting hard to win. The mums spectating were all tense and encouraging the girls to keep on going. With two minutes to go, our defence got the ball and passed it up court and into the circle to our shooter who scored. 7 - 6! With Aanya and Lucy solid in defence the final whistle was blown and the AJIS Plate was Withington’s.

Said Mrs Layne:

“ The girls were overjoyed and collected the Plate and their medals with great delight - all the hard work in training paid off and their determination and teamwork was second to none.”

Form I’s Very First Netball MatchOn 5th March, Form I took part in their very first Netball match. Against Pownall Hall, it was a great success. With Momo and Hannah S as goal shooters and Eve as Captain, the team won 2-1. Everyone enjoyed the match, especially as we got to change positions every quarter.

By Eve Beckford, Sophia Lewis and Amelia Khan

Junior LacrosseIt’s been a very successful season for the Withington Junior Lacrosse Teams, showing excellent improvement in skills and game play throughout the season. At the last tournament of the season the A and B teams both showed what they were really made of, passing the ball with ease and checking with control and accuracy. They played against some really tough, fast and skilled opposition but never looked outclassed; beating the likes of Hale Prep and Bowdon. Withington’s two teams both finished in the top 10, showing a good depth of talent in the teams. The girls’ passing and composure on the ball is a particular strength and shows excellent promise for future tournaments. Well done to all the girls who have competed and attended practices this year.

Miss J Richards, Teacher of PE

W D L

vs MHSG 2 0 0

vs Cheadle Hulme 2 1 2

vs Greenbank 1 1 0

vs Terra Nova 4 0 0

Sound of MusicPreparations are well underway for Withington’s Sound of Music Summer Spectacular, jointly produced and directed by the Drama and Music Departments.With a cast of more than 100 girls, from Transition through to Sixth Form, and an army of support volunteers, around a quarter of the School is involved in bringing this iconic musical to Withington’s Arts Centre. Joined by five boys from MGS, the cast and production team have been busily attending rehearsals which have been taking place after school and at weekends.Head of Drama Ms Jen Baylis said the work involved is a mammoth task. Quoting the example of costume making. She explained: “ We are very fortunate that Mrs Nichola Watson has taken on the task of looking after the costumes. There are 60 nuns costumes to make – that involved measuring up each girl and then sewing the individual nuns outfits. It’s the same with the soldiers and the party-goers – we have so many of each!”

With the exam period imminent there will be a break from rehearsals before starting up in earnest again before the show premieres in the Arts Centre on 2nd July. Running for three nights, until 4th July, tickets will be available in the Summer Term.To keep up to date with all the latest Sound of Music news please follow @WGSMusical on Twitter and keep an eye on the school website.

Bare Boards and a PassionUpper Fifth GCSE Drama students performed extracts from two plays - Teechers by John Godber and Two by Jim Cartwright - to a delighted Studio audience. Entitled Bare Boards and a Passion, the eleven girls were divided into groups to perform the four extracts. The girls’ performances on the day will count towards their final GCSE course grade.

LAMDA ShowcaseSixteen Withington girls celebrated success in their LAMDA Speech and Drama examinations with a polished series of performances in a Showcase event for an invited audience of friends and family. The pupils, from Years 10 to 13, had taken their exams earlier in the day - and all were delighted to have received either High Merits or Distinctions across a range of grades, from Grade 4 through to Grade 8.The LAMDA evening, held on 5th February in the Drama Studio, saw the girls in full costume against a backdrop of music and lighting, showcasing extracts from works by a variety of acclaimed playwrights including Shakespeare, Noel Coward, Charlotte Keatley, George Bernard Shaw and Jim Cartwright, whilst a number of girls chose to perform devised work which they had written themselves.

ShakersWithington’s Drama Studio was transformed into a trendy cocktail bar for a production of Shakers by Lower Sixth students.The show, involving four actors and one lighting designer on 24th March as part of their AS Drama Course, was watched by an audience of more than 60 family and friends who were treated to a WGS take on the play originally written by John Godber and Jane Thornton and set in a Northern cocktail bar during Margaret Thatcher’s ‘Yuppie’ era. Ms Baylis Said:

“ Congratulations to all. It was a brilliant night. They couldn’t have done a better job, they worked their hearts out and it showed in the performance.”

Dramatic Times... A Midsummer Night’s DreamSixth Form drama students enjoyed a contemporary performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Lowry Theatre, Manchester in February.

The group of A2 dramatists described the all-male production by Shakespeare company Propeller, directed by Edward Hall, as “high energy and very funny.”

In a modern twist on the traditional text, the performance by 14 actors was a vibrant ensemble piece with imaginative use of costumes, props and music.

The War HorseDrama students from Lower Fourth to Upper Sixth visited Manchester’s Lowry Theatre in January to watch a mesmerising performance of Michael Morpurgo’s The War Horse.

The multi-award winning production by the National Theatre was “spectacular”, said Ms Baylis.

Based on Morpurgo’s epic novel, The War Horse tells the uplifting tale of love and loyalty between a young boy, Arthur and his beloved horse, Joey, during World War 1. Hailed as a ‘landmark theatre event’ set to stirring music, one of the memorable features of the play was the life sized puppets that brought the galloping horses to life on stage.

The Last LaughFive girls from Withington joined MGS boys in a production of the farce noir The Last Laugh staged at Manchester Grammar School.

The play, by former MGS student Dan Dockery - a mix of comedy with classic noir - was performed to packed houses in the school’s theatre from 27th to 29th March.

International Women’s Day 2014

Withington recognised as ‘trailblazers’ for girls’ educationWithington Girls’ School ‘was founded in 1890 by a group of eminent and far-sighted Manchester families who wanted the same educational opportunities for their daughters as were already available for their sons’. For the ensuing 124 years, this principle has remained at the heart of a Withington education.

So it was highly appropriate that the School sponsored the STEM award at the International Women’s Day event on at the Manchester Town Hall on 7th March 2014. In the presence of the Chair of Governors Mrs Elisabeth Lee, Deputy Head Mrs Sarah Haslam and Bursar Mrs Sharon Senn, Mrs Marks presented the award to the Centre for Women’s Mental Health at the University of Manchester. The Centre works with vulnerable and hard-to-reach women with mental illness and their families throughout the North West and is focused on promoting and facilitating women-centred research.

Withington was cited throughout the evening as a ‘trailblazer’ for its recognition that women have high ability in all spheres, not least Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. (STEM)

NURTURINGP O T E N T I A L

Supporting Bursaries at WithingtonA Lasting LegacyAn extraordinarily generous charitable bequest will fund several full means-tested bursaries for bright girls for the duration of their time at the school. This wonderful gift was bequeathed by former teacher Miss Margaret Connell who taught Mathematics at Withington from 1955 to 1966 and who sadly died in October 2013. Miss Connell worked under the headships of Miss Bain and Miss Hulme and then left Withington to teach at John Dalton College, later Manchester Metropolitan University where she rose to become Senior Lecturer and where she remained until her retirement. During her time at Withington, Margaret oversaw many bright girls succeed in their university entrance to read Mathematics at Oxford, UCL and Queen Mary College, as well as at Nottingham, Durham, Aberdeen and Manchester Universities to name a few. Education, and the opportunities provided as a result was Margaret’s passion and her very generous parting gift to the Withington Girls’ School Bursary Fund will stand as a legacy to her memory. This remarkable show of generosity is one which Withington Girls’ School will treasure in Margaret’s memory for generations to come.

NURTURING POTENTIAL...

Supporting Bursaries at Withington

Physics Star Party On Thursday 23rd January, several girls from the Third Form to Upper Fourth went to Daresbury Laboratory, Cheshire, accompanied by Dr Maisey and Mrs Bradshaw.

When we arrived we had a talk about sizes and distances in space. This included many edited photos of planets next to stars and small stars next to huge supernovas so we could try and get our heads around the relative sizes. We also looked at some equations, working out the distances between different galaxies and a very puzzling question about how big the Universe is. We learned about the different theories of how the Universe was formed - The Big Bang and the Big Bounce. We were then told about new projects and new telescopes being planned now.

Next we checked the weather but unfortunately it was too cloudy to get the telescopes out. Instead we went in the inflatable planetarium and had a short slideshow about the different planets, their temperatures and conditions. Finally, there was a projection of the stars inside the dome where we were shown the different constellations we could see in February in the Northern Hemisphere. We were also told how to find these constellations for ourselves and some of the stories that gave the constellations their names and shapes.

Alice Hackney Upper Fourth

Spotlight On:

Tori Longdon [Class of 2009]

University of Durham, BA(Hons) 1st Class - English Literature 2012

www.torilongdon.com

Tori has recently been awarded one of only two places on the world renowned conducting course at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She was competing against applicants from America and Singapore. Conductors on this course are expected to continue to work professionally, so she hopes to be able to continue in some of the positions she currently holds.

Graduating from University in January 2013, Tori has dipped her toe in a few different areas of the working world, from speech therapy, to advertising - and she’s found that all of them have widened her skill base and benefitted her in different ways even though she has now, ‘found her calling’;

She says: “After graduation, I embarked on an eight month hospital placement working in voice therapy. I always approached this from a singing perspective - my voice has had its problems. It’s really useful for singing teachers and conductors to know what’s happening physically with the voice so they can fix problems. I was very lucky to be allowed to complete such a placement without an undergraduate degree in Speech Therapy!”

The next job was a total change, working at a specialist Marketing Development firm called Rainmaker in London. I knew from the start that this wasn’t my passion, but didn’t realise quite how fast I would be dragged back to the world of music; after just four months I had used up all my annual leave doing freelance conducting, and was presented with an ultimatum in the form of a ‘dream’ conducting job with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. That was the day, nine months ago, that I walked out of Rainmaker.

Over the last nine months I’ve built up a portfolio of seven choirs, and have just returned from Poland where I was vocal coaching voices alongside Dominic Peckham and Robert Evans from The Sixteen. I’m also very lucky to have backed James (the band) at the Royal Albert Hall and conducted a choir of fifty for Ellie Goulding, at Wembley Arena”.

Tori now directs eight choirs across the country, including the Templar Scholars, the Choral Scholars of the London Youth Choir, Ermine Voices and the Lincoln Cathedral Ladies’ Choir. She recently founded a charity, which has just received £27,000 of funding and over the next two years will be providing leadership training for singers in the most deprived areas in the country.

“ I feel like I’ve joined the profession at the crest of a big wave of choir popularity. If I were to offer any advice to Withington girls, when it comes to following your passion, I’d tell them not to worry - it’s easily OK to have a false start or two. Advertising at Rainmaker was a false start, but the sales, marketing and branding training have all come in useful for my career. Just make sure you turn your false starts to your advantage.”

Reminiscing about her time at School, Tori says:

“ I have lovely memories of my time at WGS. I often smile to myself when I remember all the phrases Gilly Sargent used to throw at me in the Music Department - I now find myself throwing them back to my choir students; ‘it’s character building’ is a classic - I use that a lot. I received excellent guidance at Withington and I made a lot of good friends.”

The Emily Simon Society has been established in recognition of the generosity of Founder, Emily Simon, who bequeathed the Playing Fields to School upon her death in 1920. The Emily Simon Society allows School to recognise those who would like to support the School’s future through a Legacy gift, enabling projects such as the Bursary Fund to grow and enhance the opportunities for all current pupils. School is now inviting membership to become a Founding Member of the Emily Simon Society where you will be invited to join the Headmistress and Patrons at the inaugural Emily Simon Society reception.

Please telephone Toni Leden, Development Director, on 0161 249 3494 or email ledent@wgs.org for further information or for a confidential discussion.

Alumnae Dates for your Diary10th May 2014, 1990s Decade Reunion10.30am - 3.30pm, Withington Girls’ School.For all Alumnae who left during the 1990s

17th May 2014, Alumnae Sports Reunion10.30am - 3.30pm, Withington Girls’ School.

12th – 18th May 2014, ‘Withington Week’A week of Alumnae-led activities to support Withington’s Enhancing Opportunities programme. Check the website for an event near you.

9th June 2014, Former Staff Tea Party4.00pm - 5.30pm, Withington Girls’ School, Staff Dining Room. The annual tea party and reunion for Withington’s former staff members.

14th June 2014, Annual Open ReunionIncluding anniversary reunions for 2004, 1989, 1974 & 1964 leavers 10.30am - 3.30pm, Withington Girls’ School.

More details of all our events can be found on the Alumnae webpages. Please contact the Development Office on 0161 249 3494 or at development@wgs.org to reserve your tickets.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

WGS OnlineOur Alumnae Association Withington Onwards stays in touch with hundreds of Alumnae through Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter!

Add: WGSAlumJoin: Withington Girls’ School Alumni - group

Add: Development Office - Withington Girls’ SchoolJoin: Withington Girls’ School Alumnae - group

Follow: @WGSAlumnae for daily School and Alumnae updates

World Book DayWorld Book Day extended into World Book Week this year with a range of activities taking place, starting with the art competition From Imagination to Image where girls drew a picture representing a character from a book and ending with the debate ‘Can a film ever live up to the book?’ In between came the Connections game, dressing as a book character, an origami bookmark-making session and Agamemnon, a play by the Classics Club. A wide range of girls joined in, though some faces turned up on several occasions.

Thank you very much to all the girls who gave of their talents, both in the setting up of the activities and in taking part with such enthusiasm and thank you too to Mrs Fildes, Miss Brown, Mrs Haslam, Mrs Howling and Ms West for enabling these events to happen.

Mrs Di Sutton Librarian

Dof EBronze

Our nine groups that took part in the Bronze training walk from Marple to Hayfield on 2nd March had a bit of a race. Not against each other, because every group planned a different route, but against the weather forecast which had correctly predicted increasingly heavy rain.

Commendations go to Moody Cows and Six Chicks With Walking Sticks, who finished the walk, mostly dry, in under four hours; commiserations to Sheep Whisperers, who took seven hours but still just made it in daylight. Well done to all groups, all of whom completed the challenge.

Silver

We had sunshine, cold, wind, hail, showers and rainbows in the Peak District on 23rd March, as 28 Silver DofE participants completed their first practice walk. All the girls worked hard to improve their confidence in map and compass navigation and prepare for the expeditions to come. Keeping up with the Kampers were fast and confident and first to finish at Whaley Bridge Station.

On both expeditions, we were grateful for the help given by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable group of parents, who managed to keep their groups on track. Thanks also go to Mr Snowden, Mr Eckersall and Mr Lindsay-Dunn for their invaluable support.

Mrs R Lindsay-Dunn DofE Coordinator

WWI ExperienceA group of Year 10s enjoyed a workshop on World Book Day given by the great grandson of a soldier who fought in WWI. It was arranged through the Central Manchester Library and provided more background to the girls that are studying Journey’s End for their IGCSE English Literature text. Girls were able to handle a WWI rifle and dress up in the typical uniform of a WWI soldier. They were given a more personal insight into what it was like to be a solider between 1914-1918. The workshop was conducted by Stewart Cook.

Classics Club Celebrates World Book DayClassics Club helped the Library to celebrate World Book Day with a performance of Agamemnon (or Murder in the Library) to an audience on Friday lunchtime. They took us through the many dramas and deaths of his family (in a tragi-comic format!) and showed how the story is a starting point to explore many other topics in the Library.

Crazy for ColourThe biennial Charity Dance Competition - one of the most fun and exciting events on the Withington calendar - has raised in excess of £4600 in aid of the Maua Hospital in Kenya. Entitled Crazy for Colour, the Competition, involving every Form in the Senior School and Sixth Form, took place in the Arts Centre on 13th March. Mrs Buckley’s Form group (L6J) took on most of the organising and planning but many more staff and pupils gave time and support to make this energetic and exuberant evening possible. The Maua hospital is run by a former Withington pupil, Dr Claire Smithson [1979 leaver], and the money raised will help to provide shelters and basic furniture for local AIDS orphans.Mrs Buckley said: “ Everyone’s involvement helped towards raising this incredible total. The excitement for the girls and the fact we had more whole-Form groups dancing than ever before indicates how the whole school community can pull together and feel motivated to be involved for such a worthwhile cause. I know Dr Claire Smithson will be more than grateful and getting in touch to say thank you.”

Mrs Buckley added:“ The Dancing Staff Team did brilliantly; in fact we peaked on our final performance which was perhaps a good thing. Our thanks go to the three pupils who choreographed and so patiently taught us the dances.”

Young EnterpriseThis term has been very busy for all YE participants. On 5th February, both companies, Educake and UnderCover, took part in the Dragons’ Den competition where they presented their companies and marketed their products to a panel of four judges. Faced with some very challenging questions, both companies performed in a well-prepared and professional manner.

On 13th February, both teams attended the Trafford Centre Trade Fair where over 30 companies from all over Manchester competed for four awards. The standard of the competition was high. Our companies had attractive trade stands and answered the judges’ questions very competently. UnderCover Finance Directors impressed the judges with their knowledge and understanding of the accounts and won the ‘Best Finance’ award.

On Wednesday 26th March, both companies took part in the Salford & Manchester North and South Area Board finals, held at the HSBC in Spinningfields, where they were competing with five other companies. Educake put up an attractive, colourful and informative display stand which deservedly won the ‘Best Display Stand’ award. UnderCover came third in the overall competition and will be competing at the Greater Manchester Finals with the 11 area board winning companies on Thursday 1st of May at MMU Business School.

Well done to all participants and good luck to UnderCover in the next round!

Ms Catherine Ositelu Young Enterprise Coordinator

Spring Fair

The Wheels ARE on the Bus!An amazing total of £4,839.20 was taken at the Spring Fair on Saturday 28th March. This means that the PTA, with the support of all parents, has reached their target of having sufficient funds to purchase a new minibus for the School. Special congratulations should go the magnificent Form IIIW whose stand offering face and henna hand painting and selling jewellery raised £205.7 - the best of all the Senior Form groups. For the Juniors the amazing UII raised £210.75 with their cake stall.

Thanks go to all pupils, staff and parents who all pulled together to make it a most enjoyable day!

A Delighted Dozen!In an exact reflection of last year, one dozen Withington pupils have been offered undergraduate Oxbridge places this January. Of the twelve seeking places at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, ten current Sixth Formers have conditional offers, whilst two recent leavers - Ella Baggaley Simpson and Zara Ali - have secured unconditional offers having taken a gap year in 2013/14.

Seven girls have received offers from Oxford: Aditi Aggarwal - Trinity, Medicine; Freya Sykes - St Edmund Hall, Geography; Lucinda Chamberlain - Brasenose, PPE; Antonia Halliwell - St Hugh’s, French and German; Emma Ratcliffe - Merton, Spanish and Portuguese. Open* college offers have gone to Leila Parsa for Law and Ellie Gorton for Chemistry.

Offers from Cambridge have been achieved by a further five pupils: Rachel Solomons - Magdalene, Medicine; Sheanna Patelmaster - Girton, Philosophy; Hannah Loftus - Newnham, HSPS; Zara Ali - Newnham, Medicine and Ella Baggaley Simpson - Newnham, Economics.

Another former pupil, Hannah Redhead, is also celebrating after being given a conditional offer at Wolfson College, Cambridge to read Veterinary Medicine on a postgraduate course.

Headmistress, Mrs Sue Marks commented:

“ Competition for places at Oxford and Cambridge has always been intense, and in recent years it has become increasingly international. We are delighted for our girls’ success in competition with some of the world’s best students.”

* Open offers are offers made to candidates where a place at Oxford University and a College is guaranteed should they fulfil the conditions of the offer. However, the specific College is decided in August once the examination results for all candidates are available and it is known which Colleges have vacancies.

Road Safety MeasuresWe are delighted to share the plans produced by Manchester City Council for additional road safety measures at the front of the School (on Wellington Road) and at the side of the School (on Victoria Road).

All parents will be aware that safety of our pupils is absolutely paramount and we have been working with the Council for many years to bring about these proposed developments.

The proposals are currently at a ‘consultation phase’ with the local residents. Subject to the proposals being acceptable we are anticipating that the works will take place this summer.

The key elements are as follows:

• A legally enforceable 20 mph speed limit will be in force (this is advisory at the moment)

• A flat-top road hump will be built on Wellington Road at the front of the School with speed cushions on either side of it. Speed cushions will also be built on Victoria Road.

• Double yellow lines will be painted at the junction of Wellington and Victoria Road and along part of Wellington Road (including the area across the road from the School).

• Bus stops along Victoria Road will be extended and an advisory bus stop will be created on Wellington Road.

• The ‘School Keep Clear’ signs will be extended along Wellington Road. No parking/dropping off will be allowed in these areas between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm. Parents will, however, be able to drop off their daughters on the single yellow lines as is currently the case.

Further details of these plans are included on our website. If you have any queries about the above please contact Sharon Senn, Bursar, on senns@wgs.org

Uganda Trip 2014Withington’s new Uganda project was an ‘eye-opening’, ‘rewarding’ and ‘life-enriching’ experience for Sixth Formers who visited the East African country during the February Half Term break.

The group of ten students, accompanied by Ms Jane Maher and Miss Amanda Phillips, spent nine days in Uganda – 6 days in Jinja, a small town three hours bus-journey from Entebbe airport, with an itinerary that included visits to a Ugandan ‘WGS’ (Wanyange Girls’ School); GIASCO, a residential centre for homeless street boys which two former Withington students helped to establish; the Small Steps’ Glory Be Nursery, a school for children aged 3-7 which includes a special needs unit; the Home of Hope, a home for severely disabled children and finally, a baby home for infants from difficult family backgrounds –including many who have been orphaned.

Rounding off the trip the girls spent two days experiencing a short hike to the spectacular Murchison Falls, a river boat ride amongst crocodiles and hippos and a safari where they were able to spot a wide variety of African wildlife, including elephants and lions.

Ahead of the Uganda visit the girls had raised almost £5,000 for special projects. This fund enabled them to purchase a cow, named Rachel by the Nursery children, which will ensure a supply of milk for the Glory Be Nursery. In addition the nursery also received toys, stationery and First Aid equipment and a giant parachute - and the girls also spent three afternoons there painting and renovating the gate posts and latrine block. A computer and a much-needed fridge were donated to GIASCO as well as sports equipment and T-shirts, which the girls helped them to design. Wanyange

Girls’ School also benefitted from sports equipment and T-shirts as well as a variety of science equipment including stopwatches. Toys and sensory items such as space blankets and rattles were delivered to the Home of Hope, with toys and baby formula being left for the baby home.

The 2014 trip stemmed from a visit to the country last year by Ms Maher who says she was drawn to Uganda by the experience of two former Withington pupils, Liberty Bridge and Olivia O’Malley, [2009 leavers]. Both had been on a gap year when they had come across boys - many of whom were orphans - living rough on the streets, some, sadly addicted to paraffin. They were determined to help and were instrumental in helping to establish the charity GIASCO (Get Involved with African Street Children), of which they are both still trustees.

Another former pupil of Ms Maher’s, Cat Dunlop, formerly at Cheadle Hulme School, was responsible for establishing the Small Steps Foundation and the Glory Be Nursery.

Said Ms Maher:

“ For our girls to see another world as they did in Uganda is most definitely a life-enriching experience. Some of the visits were very sobering and difficult places but I couldn’t have asked for a better team to travel with. Their company and their commitment was fantastic.”

With 13 girls already signed up to join the Uganda project next year, Ms Maher said:

“ I hope this is the first of many visits – and it’s extra special because this is a trip that has very special links with former pupils of Withington and with the school itself.”

Flash Bang ShowThe excitement of explosions and seeing chemical reactions happening in front of our eyes has encouraged countless generations of enquiring minds to focus their attention on Chemistry. This was clearly the case during the University of Manchester’s Flash Bang Show, held in the Art Centre, on Tuesday 26th June. Our Years 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 students were engaged for over an hour by a series of chemistry reactions, including combustion processes, energy, fuels, the difference between combustion and explosion, colour chemistry and luminescence. The experiments were performed by Dr Jonathan Agger, a lecturer at the School of Chemistry of the University of Manchester and Deputy Director of Outreach, who was very impressed by his audience, describing them as an “enthusiastic, knowledgeable and superbly behaved group of children”! This was a fabulous experience for all involved and one we hope to repeat in the future!

Science Week...

Café Sci NanoparticlesThis term we welcomed Anna King from the University of Manchester who is a PhD student studying nanoparticles.

We learnt what a nanoparticle actually is, how she made them, how she looked at them and how she could coat them with a substance.

She described how nanoparticles are being used in medicine to send drugs directly to organs in our bodies and how she sometimes used radioactive nanoparticles to trace their passage through a body.

Café Sci’s continue to be popular and are a great way to find out about different topics that we may only have the chance to touch on in school - so if you haven’t been come along next term!

Chemical EngineeringOn Tuesday 18th March, as part Science week, the Chemistry Department welcomed Niku Nobakhti back to Withington. Niku left Withington in 2008 and gave a brilliant talk on chemical engineering as well as other engineering disciplines. A group of over 40 girls in Years 10, 11, 12 were a fabulous audience and, as usual, asked some brilliant questions.

Medical Physics Eleven of the Lower Sixth physicists spent an evening at the Christie Hospital learning about medical Physics and its applications. The evening featured an informative lecture from Prof Richard Lawson on a ‘Different View of Life’ where he looked at how Physics was used in medical diagnosis, PET scanners and endoscopes. We were also fortunate to see behind the scenes in a clinical linear accelerator. The evening was very enjoyable and we would like to thank Mr Forrest for organising our visit.

Sarah Alvi Lower VI

Sports ReliefGreat fun was had by all fundraising for Sports Relief on 21st March. In a pupils vs staff dodgeball match, numerous teachers and support staff braved the onslaught for a £1 donation.

Science Olympiads

Silver Medal Ellie Gorton , Heather Lewis, Rachel Solomons, Surabhi Desai & Roshni Mitra

Bronze Medal Yae-Joon Kim, Charlotte Feldman, Catriona Kendrick, Hannah Lyons, Sinead McCarthy, Sabah Chughtai & Maria Francisca Gil

GCSE Bronze Helen Ng

A Level Silver Penny Jones, Teneeka Mai & Haleh Taghinejadi

A2 Physics Olympiad

Bronze 1 Izabella Edmonds 2 Eleanor Gorton

Commendation Rhona Dawson & Surabhi Desai

AS Physics Challenge

Silver Penny Jones & Haleh Taghinejadi

Bronze 1 Amy Brown

2 Teneeka Mai, Siyang Wei, Tanya Drobnis & Eugenie Yen

GCSE Physics Challenge results

Bronze 1 Sofia Salim, Deeya Kotecha, Alice Gandee & Philippa Slattery

2 Daisy Johnston, Isabelle Dudley, Jamie-Anne Rochford, Corlyn Lee & Helen Ng

Silver Aditi Aggarwal, Heather Lewis, Rachel Solomons & Yae-Joon Kim

Bronze: Hannah Huet & Roshni Mitra

Highly Hannah Lyons, Rebecca Commended: Reed & Francisca Gil

Commended: Tamara Searle

Spectroscopy in a SuitcaseFor the second year running, the Chemistry Department has welcomed visitors from the Royal Society of Chemistry Spectroscopy in a Suitcase scheme. This is an outreach activity, which gives Sixth Form Chemistry students the opportunity to learn about spectroscopy through hands-on experience.

As well as covering the principles of spectroscopic techniques, the activities use real-life contexts to demonstrate the applications of the techniques.

The workshop, delivered by Manchester University students, also provided our girls with an opportunity to learn about life at university, the study of Chemistry and Chemistry career opportunities.

Dr Cristina Vilela Head of Chemistry

Chemistry Olympiad 2014 Results

Withington girls successfully compete against pupils form many other independent and state schools in a wide range of Science competitions. We were delighted by the recent results which are shown below. In all three Olympiad competitions, a number of girls just missed out on a Gold Award by one mark! Very many congratulations to all the girls who participated.

Biology Olympiad 2014 Results

Physics Olympiad 2014 Results

Chemistry

Physics

Biology

ENHANCING OPPORTUNITIESSupporting Annual projects at Withington

Aspiring authors from Withington were treated to an inspirational five-day residential creative writing course over the Half Term break, thanks to the generosity of the School’s Annual Fund supporters.A group of sixteen girls from Lower Fifth to Upper Sixth were accompanied by English teachers Ms Nadine West and Mrs Jill Bowie on the course, provided by the Arvon Foundation, a charity that promotes creative writing.Thought-provoking; enriching; awesome; eye-opening; insightful; exciting; magical; stimulating; engaging; enlightening; soul-nourishing; inspirational and literally amazing – were just some of the adjectives used by the students to describe the course which was held at the former home of Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, Lumb Bank in the Yorkshire village of Heptonstall.Set in 20 acres of picturesque countryside, the 18th century mill owner’s house with its Japanese garden, woodland and extensive grounds, was the perfect backdrop for the girls to immerse themselves in their writing through a varied range of workshops run by award-winning short story authors Adam Marek and Clare Wigfall.Mornings were spent on a variety of sessions that included writing circuits, word cricket, a metaphor hunt outdoors, discussions on film and music and a focus on the subject of Dystopia. In the afternoons there was free writing time and one-to-one tutorials, with the course culminating in each student writing and presenting an individual piece of work on a topic of her own choice, now compiled in an anthology Pies and Pylons.

Said Mrs Bowie:

“ The standard of work produced was outstanding. The course provided an opportunity to write outside the curriculum with no distractions. There was no wi-fi, little mobile signal and a peaceful environment that allowed the girls the opportunity to purely focus on their writing.”

Evening meals were cooked by the group, who were split into four teams, taking it in turns to cater for 20 people using ingredients and recipes supplied by the Lumb Bank hosts. “ The girls were preparing two course meals every night including a vegetarian option and were cooking everything from scratch using fresh ingredients. It was great fun and the girls did very well,” said Mrs Bowie.

“ Arvon was an amazing experience and one that I would thoroughly recommend to anyone wishing to write, be it just for a hobby, or for a future career,“ said Iris Skipworth, a Lower Fifth pupil.

Alvira Kumar and Ayesha Choudry – also in Lower Fifth – commented:“ Surrounded by 20 acres of striking woodland, we embraced the chance to take the time to focus on our writing. Inspiring workshops partnered with home-cooked meals led to a week we would never forget; from generating ideas to crafting dystopian universes, the week was a truly valuable experience.”

“Literally Amazing” creative writing... This year’s Annual Fund needs your supportFour new projects were identified by staff and girls to enhance their passion for learning in their subjects. The theme for the current year is technology and knowledge share. The four key projects costing a total of £24,000 are:

• Geography fieldwork mobile technology devices which will bring the latest mapping technology to the girls’ fieldwork exercises. £4,000

• The ActivExpression tool, shaped as a smartphone, will enhance the learning and participation of all students in lessons using the latest technology to encourage full class participation and engagement in a fun way. Feeding back information in real-time to the classroom teacher, this system will also help students build confidence with every answer where they can track their progress through both instant feedback and scores tallied over time. £3,000

• An external seminar programme to be led by leading external academics and professionals giving the girls an opportunity to formulate new ideas and informative discussions which will help them in the increasingly competitive higher education and work environment. £15,000

• A digital spectrometer and data loggers for the Physics Department which will connect to the computer, allowing students to advance their studies using the most up-to-date equipment. This piece of equipment has already been funded thanks to a generous donation from a friend of the School. £2,000

Heartfelt thanks go to all those parents, alumnae and friends of Withington who are giving a monthly regular gift to the Annual Fund, your donations this year are supporting the current projects. This is providing a substantial proportion of the funding needed but further support is required in order to reach the target of £24,000 to fund all of the projects before the end of the school year.

We would be delighted if you would consider making a donation. If you would like further information about the Enhancing Opportunities Annual Fund, please contact the Development Office on 0161 249 3494 or at development@wgs.org

Holocaust MemorialIn February, the girls in the Sixth Form were fortunate enough to meet Eva Neumann, known as Bobby, in commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day. Bobby, now 85, endured unimaginable suffering at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. She was sent there at the age of 15, along with her family.

She described witnessing her family murdered in the camp, her experiences of her treatment and the labour she was forced into, as well as enduring the infamous death march, of which she is now one of few survivors. There are a multitude of aspects to Bobby’s story that can be related; only some of which I have included in this article to give a taste of how incomprehensible and moving her story is.

Bobby told of her time working outside the gas chambers, and how she watched her grandmother walk into it, knowing that she was going to be killed. Her grandmother asked, “Eva, where is Mummy?” She told her grandmother, “Mummy is in there, when you go in, you will be with her again.” She told of hearing the harrowing repetition of the Jewish prayer, ‘shema yisrael’ (Hear, O Israel), sung by hundreds upon hundreds of prisoners in the final moments before their deaths. What really hit home with the girls was when Bobby showed them her tattoo of her number on her arm. After her story was told, the girls asked insightful questions and really used the opportunity that they had to speak with Bobby.

Perhaps the most inspiring thing that Bobby told the girls was not to hate. She explained that she did not carry any feelings of hatred towards those that imprisoned her, tortured her, and murdered her family. It is much more important, she explained, to accept what has been and move forward with your life, appreciating everything that you do have and making the most of the time you have left with those around you.

We are forever grateful to Bobby for coming in to speak with the girls, because it is an opportunity that is, unfortunately, increasingly rare. Girls lower down the School may not have this opportunity to meet a first-hand survivor of the Holocaust in years to come. I am very pleased that we were privileged enough to meet someone with such an incredible life, and inspirational philosophy. I would like to thank Bobby for her time for coming in, and also to Mrs Day and Mrs Morton for helping me to organise this event.

Jess Stolberg Head of the Jewish Society, Upper VI

Ski Sansicario 2014A group of 36 girls and four members of staff from Withington enjoyed perfect conditions on this year’s Half Term Ski Trip.

For the second year running the chosen resort was Sansicario in the Italian Alps - and according to trip leader Mrs Ferrol - it was so successful that plans are already in the pipeline to return there next year.

After flying into Turin, the group travelled to their hotel, Rio Envers, to a flurry of snow, a foot falling on arrival day to be replaced by blue skies and sunshine for the remainder of the week.

From beginners through to expert skiers, the girls enjoyed four hours of ski school each day in “amazing conditions”, whilst the evenings were spent with pre-arranged entertainment; quiz nights, DVD evenings and the highlight of the trip, a night time skidoo ride which ended with hot chocolate, crepes and a snowball fight.

Said Mrs Ferrol:

“ We skied all day, every day, and in the evening, we enjoyed great entertainment. And best of all,” she added,” there were no injuries. We look forward to returning to Sansicario next year.”

The group was made up of girls from the Third Form, Lower Fourth and Lower Fifth, accompanied by Mrs Ferrol, Dr Madden, Mrs Smith and Miss Hardwick.

Congratulations... Congratulations to Lower Sixth Former Penny Jones who is the first ever Withington pupil to be accepted onto the work placement programme at The Accelerator Science and Technology Centre (ASTeC) at Daresbury Laboratory near Warrington. Renowned for its world leading scientific research in fields such as accelerator science, bio-medicine, physics, chemistry, materials, engineering and computational science, the Daresbury site is a centre of excellence.

Penny applied to Daresbury Laboratory in December through their work placement application process and heard in March that she had been accepted.

She said:

“ I am so excited to have the opportunity to spend a week learning more about how the particle accelerators work and the projects currently being undertaken, especially in such a prestigious centre which carries out world class research on a day-to-day basis. I would encourage any girls interested in these subjects to consider applying next year!”

NetballGreater Manchester County Tournament Finalists:

The Third Form team won through five hard-fought rounds to reach the final v Saddleworth on Wednesday 19th March. The full-time score was 7-all with the team only just losing out in extra time.

South Manchester League Winners:

At the final reckoning at the end of Term, the Third Form team were crowned South Manchester League Champions!

Greater Manchester Schools Tournaments:

There were impressive performances from Lower Fourth, who finished 5th overall and Upper Fifth who made it to 4th place. Upper Fourth played fantastically well and retained their crown for the second year running!

Outstanding year of Netball for Upper Fourth!

This has been an outstanding year for the Withington Under 14’s Netball team. They began the season winning the GSA Masterclass tournament at Condover Hall, Shropshire. Seven of the girls were then selected for the Cheshire East squads, with Grace Bodha and Sejal Karmarkar also playing for Manchester Thunder. In November, the girls took the Manchester and District shield, and qualified for the Regionals of the National Schools’, by finishing runners-up in the County round. Hard work and determination saw them finish 3rd in the North West, and latterly the girls have won the Greater Manchester Schools’ tournament, the South Manchester league, and the play-off between North and South league winners.

Congratulations on an incredible year of Netball!

Front Row: Niamh Senior, Ellie Hayton, Grace Bodha, Sejal Karmarkar (capt) & Lorna Mayo

Back Row: Alex James, Lauren Cheyne & Lexi Archer

LacrosseNorth Schools Lacrosse Championships

On 15th March, the U12 and U13 Lacrosse teams travelled to Moreton Hall School in Shropshire for the North Schools Lacrosse Championships. The U12s finished in an impressive 3rd place showing excellent promise for the future. The U13s fought hard against tough competition and finished in 4th overall.

National Schools Lacrosse Championships

The Senior Lacrosse team (Upper Sixth) had a big weekend at Surrey Sports Grounds, Guildford at the National Schools Lacrosse Championships. The team drew some strong opposition from schools such as Haberdasher’s Askes, Downe House, Marlborough, Fettes and St Paul’s. The girls qualified out of the group stage to the First Division, a fantastic achievement. After another round of tough matches on the second day, the girls just missed progressing to the quarter-final.

Said team-member, Emma New:

“ This ending to the tournament was a landmark for the members of the Upper Sixth for whom it was now time to bid farewell to WGS lacrosse with the hopes of representing their universities in the future. Every member of the team enjoyed the experience, playing teams we had never played against previously and the southern sunshine over the two days certainly did not go amiss!”

All the winter sports teams – Hockey, Lacrosse and Netball - have had a full fixture list of matches against other local schools this term. All have battled hard to secure some very good wins and the vast majority of the losses have been narrow. Well done to all for tremendous commitment and resilience. Special thanks should go to all parents for their unstinting support in many ways, including cheering the girls on.

Worthy of note, though, are some of the National and Regional tournaments involving competition against multiple schools.

Cross CountryThe five girls who participated in the Manchester Schools Cross Country Championships on 27th January gave excellent performances. Maya Fullwood came in 8th out of 93 runners, resulting in her selection for the Greater Manchester team.

Four Upper Fifth runners won the Senior Team Event: Francesca Lugo, Daisy Johnston, Iona Whyte and Flora Whyte. Flora won the silver medal!

Hockey NewsCounty Tournaments:

Very well done to the U16 Hockey team, who were runners-up in the County Tournament on 22nd March and to the 1st XI who took fourth place overall, despite missing key players who were ill or injured.

National Schools Tournament:

The U13 team finished in 5th place overall going out only to very narrow defeats to both finalists.

Congratulations to...The School is very pleased and proud to congratulate the following pupils who have achieved greater recognition this term for sporting achievements outside School.

Rowing at Eton Dorney

Olivia Coyne, Upper Fifth, and Bronya Sykes, Upper Fourth, represented Trafford Rowing Club in the National Championships at Eton Dorney, the 2012 Olympics venue. Olivia, who was in the Under-16 squad, finished 28th out of 38 crews, whilst Bronya scooped a bronze medal after coming third in the Under-14’s coxed squad.

GB Water Polo Selection

Lower Fourth pupil Anna Ticehurst has been selected for the GB Water Polo Squad. Having played water polo since Year 4, Anna has followed her brother’s lead in pursuing the sport and now trains three times a week.

County Swimming Selection

Lower Fourth pupil, Rebecca Dawson, whose specialist stroke is the butterfly, has been selected to swim for the County team.

County Hockey Selections

Ellie Hughes, Penny Jones, Lauren Woodhead, Katie Roberts and Ellie Gray have been selected for Cheshire.

Julia McCarthy, Gabby Marfani, Lexi Archer, Catrin Parry, Alex Marsh, Charlotte Westbrook and Silvia McCarthy have been selected for Greater Manchester.

This an outstanding achievement by all the above girls, but special mention should go to Silvia McCarthy who, at aged 10, has been selected for the Greater Manchester U12 team.

Netball Selections

Katie Bodha and Leia Griffin, both of whom play netball for Northern Thunder, the North West’s Netball Superleague franchise, were selected to participate in the England Netball National Screening Day, a fantastic achievement! Both girls made the first cut and Katie has been selected to go for further trials at the National performance Academy.

Intermediate Maths ChallengeIn February, the whole of Lower and Upper Fifth entered the Intermediate Maths Challenge. The girls achieved 16 Golds, 42 Silvers and 41 Bronze awards. The following girls, as well as achieving Gold Awards, were also invited to sit the next round of the competition: Verity Henfrey, Philippa Slattery, Sofia Salim, Katyann Harris, Ella Pennington, Deeya Kotecha, Alex Edmonds and Francesca Jess. Deeya should also be congratulated for achieving the best score in School.

UKMT Junior Team Maths ChallengeOn Wednesday 26th March, Lauren Wheeler, Alys Owen, Iyal Kannan and Sasha Geim represented Withington in the Junior Team Challenge held at Manchester University. The girls performed extremely well in all three rounds and eventually came 2nd out of 30 teams.

MEM Senior ChallengeEach year Liverpool University publishes two mathematical problem-solving journals at Junior and Senior levels. Candidates complete written solutions to a number of problems, set in a wide range of contexts. Over 1800 pupils enter the competition, from nearly 90 schools, which makes Aneesha Adlington’s impressive 3rd place a massive achievement. Aneesha will receive her prize at an evening of mathematical recreation in Liverpool next term.

Pupil absence: Please would all parents use 0161 249 3476 to inform the School of pupil absence before 8.30am on each day of absence.

For contact after school please use these numbers:Senior Late Room: 0161 249 3492Junior Late Room: 0161 224 1077

Do call us (Before we call you!)Withington Girls’ School, Wellington Road, Fallowfield, Manchester M14 6BLTel: 0161 224 1077 Fax: 0161 248 5377 Email: office@wgs.orgWeb: www.wgs.org Registered Charity No. 526632

Withington Wind Turbine ChallengeOn the last day of term the Lower Fifth took the Wind Turbine Challenge. They were asked to design and build a wind turbine that costs as little as possible yet generate as much energy as possible. Judging criteria were design and stability, total cost, teamwork, power generated and aesthetics. The girls in true Withington style rose to the challenge and gave some interesting designs. Fun was has by all and it was a great engineering experience.

Mrs Lisa Bradshaw Head of Physics

Year Group ChallengesEach term teams of up to four girls go head to head, over three rounds to put their problem-solving skills to the test.

This term’s winners were:

Year 7 4 Slices of π Elena McLean, Freya Metcalf, Dalia Hodari, Talia Merrie

Year 8 The Jumping Amazing Super Optimistic Noodle Squad (J.A.S.O.N.S) Sophie Wood, Alys Owen, Lauren Wheeler and Timi Iliffe.

Year 9 Pieces of π Sasha Geim, Mimi Johnson, Iyal Kannan and Aiswarya Dayal

Year 10 Clingy Xs Alvira Kumar, Francesca Jess, Radika Sood, Alex Edmonds

Year 11 Who ate all the π Jamie Anne Rochford, Rishem Khattar, Isabelle Dudley and Neha Syal

Withington TournamentOn the afternoon of Tuesday 4th March, the Maths Department organised and hosted the second Withington Tournament, which is a team challenge for gifted mathematicians in Lower Sixth.

The Withington team was made up of Ellie Stonehouse, Eugenie Yen, Penny Jones and Haleh Taghinejadi; all of whom had to qualify for the team by scoring highly in a fiendishly difficult qualification round made up of a cross-number puzzle and a selection of mathematical problems.

There were representatives from seven local schools in attendance; Audenshaw School, Parrs Wood, Manchester High School for Girls, Manchester Grammar School, Kings Macclesfield, William Hulme Grammar School and Withington.

The Withington team got off to a flyer! The first round consisted of cracking codes which involved counting in a variety of different bases. The challenge had been specifically designed so that it was highly unlikely that any team could score full marks in the allocated time, obviously nobody told that to the Withington team and they did exactly that, meaning that after the first round they were in the lead.

The second round was made up of two very different cross-number puzzles; success in this round would be dependent on working well as a

team, sharing the workload and communicating ideas effectively. Again the Withington team rose to the challenge, scoring very highly and maintaining their position at the top going into the final leg, the group round.

The group round was the big one, twice the number of points in comparison to the previous rounds, the groups had to work through a selection of mathematical problems, all of varying degrees of difficulty but worth equal points. Part of the skill with this kind of activity is to filter out the easier problems, answer them and get the points on the board before attempting the more difficult ones. During this final round, the boys of Manchester Grammar, who had been within touching distance of the leaders, got their tactics spot on and were able to amass an impressive amount of points and pipped the Withington team at the post to be crowned Withington Tournament champions.

Final standings were:

1) Manchester Grammar School

2) Withington Girls’ School

3)Manchester High School for Girls.

The event was enjoyed by all teams and all schools will be back to battle it out again next year, hopefully with a couple of extra teams too.

Mr Andrew Parry Teacher of Mathematics