newsletterIssue No 13 | 2015-16 | Friday 10 June 2016

Follow us on Twitter: @SPFSchoolsDear Parents,

It’s often surprising where an initial, seemingly small step can take us. I don’t suppose that two Year 10 girls making the decision to attend STEM Club after school last year could have foreseen that this would be the start of a two-year journey that would see them travel to Stockholm to present an original idea to 3,000 delegates from all over the world. Further to my news earlier in the term about Jenny Rodgers and Anna Morris in Year 11 being awarded the ‘Future Water Dragons’ prize at the Big Bang Fair, they have since taken their system for recycling water to the national stage of competition where they won the CIWEM Tomorrow’s Water Final and will now be representing the UK in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize Competition held in Stockholm this summer.

The Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management, Alastair Moselely said: “they really impressed the judging panel with their knowledge of the subject, their articulation of the project and its application and their maturity of delivery. We think that they will make excellent ambassadors for the UK and the Water Industry when they compete on the World Stage!” The competition is part of World Water Week, run by the Swedish International Water Institute, which takes place between 28th August and 2nd September. It is one of the most significant annual events for the world water industry and Anna and Jenny’s attendance there is a reminder to each of our pupils of the importance of making the most of all the opportunities they are provided with to pursue what interests them. We wish both girls the best of luck in presenting their project on this international stage.

Elsewhere, Year 8 spent the day yesterday exploring the site of Verulamium, the Roman town located in modern-day St Albans. The focus of the day was to find pieces of evidence for what life was like in Roman Britain (as the girls are currently reading stories in the Cambridge Latin Course revolving around the Celtic King Cogidubnus and the nefarious Salvius, Roman governor of Britannia). After a wander around the top of the bank that formed the tiered seating of the amphitheatre and a moment to reflect on the different scenes it might have been host to, the girls visited the museum which holds a huge collection of artefacts discovered in the excavations at Verulamium. They were given the rare opportunity to handle many of these real Roman objects, from giant mortars and mill stones to delicate make-up grinders and compact mirrors. A short walk across the park to see the hypocaust system used to heat the bathhouse of a nearby villa completed the visit. The colourful mosaic covering the floor here was clearly created by an accomplished craftsman, but the eagle-eyed will have spotted his 2000-year old mistake in the form of a main panel laid 45 degrees out of sync with its counterparts. This hopefully serves to bring the odd error in recent exams into proportion: errare humanum est.

Kind regards,Abbey JonesDeputy Head of Senior School

Verulamium mosaicAnna & Jenny last month

at the Big Bang Fair

newsletterIssue No 13 | 2015-16 | Friday 10 June 2016

Follow us on Twitter: @SPFSchools

Junior Maths ChallengeEarlier this term, the whole of Years 7 and 8 sat the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge. This is a multiple-choice quiz designed to motivate and develop mathematical reasoning. We congratulate Qu Gao Qu for qualifying for the Junior Maths Olympiad, alongside 11 girls who will be sitting the invitation-only Junior Kangaroo paper in mid-June. This is twice the number of qualifiers as last year. In all, 90 students were awarded certificates.

The following students gained a Gold certificate and will be sitting the Kangaroo

round on 14 June.

Eleanor AndersonPhoebe EverittNaomi Black

Sarah MarshallChihiro NaganoEva RavenscroftJuliette Richards

Elena RoweKailiti SinghHannah SeoHetty Symes

The following also achieved Gold certificates, awarded to 7% of the entrants

nationally.

Catherine CaleyRachel DarkMaddy Frear

Gabrielle MarciniakElla McLoughlinTilly OllerenshawMeghana Shimoga

Hannah SimonLauren Timperley

UKMT

UKMTUKMT

NT Live Encore Screening The English and Drama Departments teamed up recently to take Year 10 students to see the NT Live Encore screening of the Young Vic’s highly acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge.

This was a taut, claustrophobic production: the stage was almost bare and resembled a boxing ring in which all the characters seemed trapped. Powerful performances by all the actors, but especially Mark Strong, brought this exam text alive for the students and helped them experience the central character’s inexorable journey to his tragic end in a more visceral way, rather than merely studying the text in the classroom.

Year 7 Wind Turbine ChallengeThe Year 7 finished off their exam week on the Friday afternoon with a fun making activity using dowels and rubber bands.

The girls worked in teams and were asked to build the tallest and most stable structure to support a wind turbine; there was also a prize for the best engineered design. There were some great structures including one nearly two meters tall! All the models are being exhibited in the Cabinet of Curiosities for a couple of weeks. You can take a look at the photo’s on the website.

newsletterIssue No 13 | 2015-16 | Friday 10 June 2016

Follow us on Twitter: @SPFSchools

OpportunitiesAhead

A careers fair forCambridge

Looking for an employmentopportunity?

Want to know more about whatCambridge has to offer?

Unsure about your next steps?

Fear not, Opportunities Ahead is Form the Future's first careersfair in central Cambridge. Designed to help young people findapprenticeships, employment, connections & much more.

TUESDAY 28TH JUNE 12:30 ‐ 18:00@ THE GUILDHALL, CAMBRIDGE

So if you are doing your GCSE'S or A‐LEVELS, applying forUNIVERSITY, looking for an APPRENTICESHIP or seekingEMPLOYMENT, this is the event for you!

Search 'Opportunities Ahead Student' on Eventbrite& register today!

Coming up... The Stephen Perse Foundation presents...

Thursday 30th June &Friday 1st July 20167.30pm, Senior School Hall

Tickets available from SS Reception£5 adults, £2.50 students

Adapted by John Hildrethfrom the novel by Jules Vernewith kind permission of Playscripts Inc.

Around

th

e World in 80 D

ays

PFA Year 11 Mums LunchMums and their daughter’s are welcome to join us on

Friday 17 June, 12 - 2pm, at The Orchard Tea Gardens. Come and chat about the end of exams, and summer

happenings. Contact Carrie Glinsman with any queries, carrie.glinsman@btopenworld.com.

Not an SPF event, but may be beneficial to attend.

SPF 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.

Sign up here.