newsletterIssue No 10 | 2015-16 | Friday 22 April 2016

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Dear Parents,

Wednesday marked the final day of lessons for Upper 6th IB students, who now embark on their study leave prior to what will be a busy examination schedule. It has been genuinely inspiring to talk to them about what they feel they have derived from their education and their hopes for the future. One repeated comment has been the importance of flexibility of thinking - both in their 6th form studies and beyond. Indeed regardless of subject area, they have developed and honed skills of creativity, collaboration and communication. These are values which lie at the heart of the IB, indeed behind an excellent education and rather than being simple rhetoric, are very real skills for life.

Schools and colleges want their students, just as companies want their employees, to be able to find a range of answers to challenges so they can select the best fit. It’s a quality which resonates in our global society: we are in need of innovative solutions to issues we may not even be able to identify yet. Thus in order to effectively prepare our students for the challenges of tomorrow, their education must start fostering creativity and flexibility both within and outside the classroom…. and we hope these lessons will truly be lifelong.

These strengths of creativity and endeavour were so evident in last night’s outstanding Spring Concert at West Road. Many of our students have truly enriched the cultural life of the Foundation over many years and it is with great pleasure that we celebrate their contribution. One is always struck not only by the technical quality of such events but the clear sense of joy which permeated the evening from both performers and audience. A special mention must also go to our truly exceptional soloists Naomi Choy (Ronald Binge’s Saxophone Concerto) and Kristie Leung (Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2). I am always struck by the ability of so many students to balance academic excellence with a range of high level pursuits outside of the classroom and to see so many 6th form students contributing to the event marked a real celebration of their skill, creativity and balance. The event’s finale, excerpts from Mozart’s Requiem, brought together a wide range of the Stephen Perse community, from Year 7 to friends and parents, marking a real musical celebration.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the enormous individual and collective contribution of our Upper 6th students. They have helped to shape the evolution of the Foundation not just over the last two years, but for some, over a decade. A good deal of hard work lies ahead, but they are well set for the challenge, both this term and beyond.

With best wishes,Stuart Jack Head of 6th Form

newsletterIssue No 10 | 2015-16 | Friday 22 April 2016

Follow us on Twitter: @SPFSchools UK Chemistry Olympiad CompetitionCongratulations to the following students for their success.

Gold Award WinnerLeonie Woodland

Silver Award WinnersKatherine WongCatherine OxleyKrisite LeungMonica Xia

In total 19 students took part in this national competition aimed at Year 13 students. This number includes 8 very brave Year 12 students so watch out for their names next year!

Special mention needs to go to Leonie Woodland who was among the top 27 of the 5822 UK participants and has been invited to take part in the selection process for the team who will represent the UK at the international Olympiad competition later in the year. Leonie scored a very impressive 67 marks. As can be seen from the graph on the right; this was an outstanding performance.

Also competing James CrasterJessie TseEnoch WooAnna ValchanovaAlexander Bennet

Bronze Award WinnersYutong YinLi An CowleyElanor BrooksValeriya KopanitsaMan Si ChengYordon IgnatovTrinity HalesVictoria NieldLauren Lau

On the last day of term before Easter, IB Art students and teachers and the TOK teaching team brought a pop-up art exhibition to the Reception area of the 6th Form. Objects such as a pen, a skull full of sweets and a series of corroding batteries were displayed on plinths as artworks; everyday objects such as the lift, the fire extinguisher and the male and female symbols on the toilet doors were also given ‘exhibition text’ and presented as artworks for consideration. The students had sticky dots with which to ‘reserve’ their favourite pieces - and they couldn’t resist decorating each other in the process. We even had a gift shop selling postcards of the exhibits. We talked about what makes something ‘art’; whether the way in which something is displayed affects our feelings about it; how we value art and whether other people’s opinions of it shape our own responses.

“For me, I think having not much to it and putting an everyday object on a plinth and having it glorified - like, put in a situation it wouldn’t normally be in - made us think about the meaning of art and made us think about the object more. Like “Why is it there? Why is it art?” It also is a kind of homage to the human race in a way...a little appreciation session of the unappreciated, the taken for granted, what we have managed to achieve as a species.”

‘Poetry of the Object’ opens to mixed reviews

newsletterIssue No 10 | 2015-16 | Friday 22 April 2016

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Careers Fair, Speed Dating and Workshops

Wednesday 11 May, 6th Form College, 7.00pm - 9.00pm, for Year 9 to Upper 6th.

Follow this link for more information and to register for the event.

From Palermo to Brixton, from English Lawyer to Sicilian writer:

a woman’s personal experienceFriday 6th May, 4.30pm - 6.00pm, 6th Form

College (Fitzwilliam Building).This FREE event hosted by the Stephen Perse

Foundation is open to everyone and will be a talk by successful author Simonetta Agnello Hornby.

Follow this link for more information and to register via Eventbrite.

Dates for the diary

A former student, Izzi Wilson, and her colleague, James Henderson, came into the 6th Form College to talk to current students about their experiences of studying Psychology and Pharmacology at university and their general impressions of student life. Izzi was also able to give lots of advice to the students on midwifery and nursing courses, based on her experience prior to studying Psychology at university.

Students were able to find out first-hand about subjects such as the perils of Freshers’ week, 9am lectures (!) and sharing a student house. All in all, it was a very useful talk and our students were able to ask the practical questions which teachers don’t always know the answer to!

Psychology and Pharmacology University talk

University Question TimeOpen to all in Year 9 to U6

Wednesday 15 June, 7.30pm - 8.45pmSenior School Hall

Paul Teulon, Director of Admissions at King’s College, London; Helen Waters-Marsh, Head of

Schools’ Liaison at Nottingham University;Dr Sam Lucy, Director of Admissions

for Cambridge Colleges; Brendan Tighe, International Affairs Manager at SciencesPo,

France.We will be inviting questions shortly and

taking bookings!

LUNCHTIME CONCERT AT MICHAELHOUSE

FRIDAY 29 APRIL 2016, 12.30 pm

Telemann: Suite for Recorder and Strings

Ouverture

Les Plaisirs

Air à l’Italien

Menuet

Réjouissance

Passepied

Polonoise

Rachel Glinsman flute Agatha Pethers and Erell Mourouga violin

Annabel Butler viola Juliette Richards cello Kira Bhamra piano

ADMISSION FREE (retiring collection)

Next Concert – Friday 6 May (Music for Piano)