Monday 7th September

New Girls’ Day Boarders

return from 12 noon

Tuesday 8th September

School begins

25th- 27th September

Exeat Weekend

Friday 23rd October -

Monday 2nd November

Half Term

20th- 22nd November

Exeat Weekend

Tuesday 8th December

Carol Service

Thursday 10th December

End of Term

V O L U M E 5 I S S U E 2 S u m m e r T e r m 2 0 1 5

Dates for the Diary

Inside this Issue Renaming the Boarding

Houses

Moors Valley Cycling

Chaplaincy Update

Adios to our Mexican

Friends and Others too

All good things come to an end – and this year we are all very sorry to see the end of

Junior House as we know it! Goodbyes are said to many of our girls, who are either

moving on to Middle House or have completed their time here and are returning to

their own schools in their own countries. We also very sadly say farewell to our

wonderful Assistant Housemistress Miss Hulls who is continuing her education and

moving to Bristol to start her Masters in Nutrition, Physical Activity and Public Health.

Miss Hulls has been highly popular and enthusiastic and we will all miss her in so many

ways, we wish her well as she returns to her studies. We hope she takes many fond

memories with her and finds the time to pop back and see us next year. Summer term is

always full to the brim of events, visits, trips and many different experiences. The girls

have embarked on many adventures including how to be code breakers, cave

explorers, Saxon warriors, kite flyers, mountain bike cyclists, sand castle builders,

farmers and campers and of course well - practised shoppers!

At this time of year we take the opportunity to reflect a little, thinking of the people

who make our time here run smoothly and happily, Junior House boarders are always

keen to acknowledge and thank the Support Staff who look after them when they are ill,

clean our house, cook our food, wash our laundry and mend, repair and maintain all that

we need to live here. We are thankful to them for being so kind and helpful to us.

For those girls returning or joining us in September, Junior House will be as welcoming

as ever – only we will have morphed into ‘Rose House ‘– our new name and a change

for the better.

I wish you all a wonderful summer holiday with your family and friends, I hope the sun

shines for you and you take many good memories away from another happy year at

Leweston.

Mrs Lorraine Roberts

Housemistress, Junior House

Here Comes the Sun! (Hopefully)

….and Miss Phipps

The weather has been kind to us this term with many sunny days and the

chance for the girls to enjoy the nearby countryside. Having all this space

around the school enables the evenings in summer term to be used to the

full: tennis, running, rounders, cycling and not forgetting dog walking! It

seems unfair then, that in our education system we ask the older girls to sit

exams at this time of the year - how unreasonable to see the sun shining

and be stuck indoors revising and preparing for exams! Year 13 have

certainly got their heads down on the revision front and have been very

dedicated, I am sure all their hard work will pay off when they get their

results at the end of summer. I wish them all the best in the future and the

place will not be the same without them.

We also say farewell to two of our Graduate Assistants: Miss Hulls and

Miss Russell. Miss Russell has played an important part in Senior House this

year and I know all the girls are going to miss her calmness and ‘get it done’

attitude. Miss Hulls will certainly be missed by the girls in Junior House and

I suspect a few tears will follow in the coming weeks.

It is always at this time of year that I look back and think about the highlights of the year and this year there is a stand

out winner: the Harry Potter Studios. The whole trip from start to finish could only be described as ‘magical’ and we

all had so much fun we plan to run it again next academic year! On that note I will wish you all a happy and fun filled

summer – let’s hope the sunshine stays around.

Miss Lyndsay Fielding

Director of Boarding and Housemistress, Senior House

A Note From Miss Fielding

New Houses I cannot believe another year

has passed so quickly, it does

not seem two minutes since

we were welcoming new girls

in September and now we are

ready to say goodbye to

our Mexican and Spanish

girls who joined us for the

year and also to the girls

visiting this term. I hope

they keep in touch with

the friends they have

made; I am sure there will

be lots of tears as they

leave!

As always the term has

been packed with exciting

trips: the beach for ice creams

and kite flying, visiting Cheddar

Gorge, some of the girls even

learnt to ride a bike in order to

join one of our favourite trips,

Moors Valley, cycling around

the forest all day and having a

picnic!

Year 11 rose to the challenge

and settled down to do the

long awaited GCSEs, the exam

period seemed to stretch a

long way ahead at the start and

it was a relief to finally reach

the end!

At this time of year we usually

say goodbye to our Graduate

Assistant, however, this year

Miss Leigh will be staying at

Leweston but, sadly for us,

moving to the Sixth Form.

Wishing you all a lovely

summer!

Miss Gina Phipps,

Housemistress, Middle House

From September, no one will ever board in Junior,

Middle and Senior House at Leweston School.

Don’t panic! It is only because the Houses are being

renamed.

After much consideration and consultation with

students and staff, the Houses have been renamed in

order to link to the history of the estate.

Junior House will become Rose House.

This is in honour of Mr Eric Rose, of the Rose’s Lime

Cordial family, who restored Trinity Chapel and

owned the estate at one point.

Middle House will become Glyn House

Renamed in recognition of Sir Richard Glyn who was

Master of the Blackmore Vale Hunt and added the

wing where the current Middle House is situated.

Senior House will become Hamilton House

Mr George Hamilton Fletcher designed the

Belvedere, an area predominately used by Sixth Form

as one of their privileges for being head of the school.

This is why his name was chosen to represent Senior

House.

Chaplaincy Update The summer term heralded exams for many of our girls and

many candles were lit in the chapel and prayer intentions

included in our boarding Mass. A candlelit service was held in

Trinity Chapel for Senior House to pray for their revision and

exams.

Trinity Chapel will also be used to hold the final PJ prayers of the

term for Junior House. Night prayers for the younger years have

been an enjoyable mix of activities and prayers, including: Marian

devotions such as the Rosary, singing the ‘Our Father’ in Swahili

accompanied by bongo drums, crafts and time for personal prayer.

May I take this opportunity to say thank you and farewell to all the

girls at Leweston for their participation, enthusiasm and

prayerfulness, as I finish my own time here. I wish you a restful

summer.

Dr Genevieve Cox

A Celtic Blessing: ‘May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the

sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God

hold you in the palm of His hand.’

Moors

Valley

Cycling

We visited Moors Valley on a cycling trip. It

started out with an uneventful bus ride, save

for the occasional song being sung and the

constant chatter. Moors Valley was a

country park and it was very big in my

opinion, just like any good country park

should be. As we cycled down the trail, we

passed many tall trees with deep green

leaves that cast long shadows over our path.

The water in the lake that we rode quickly

by was crystal clear. At one point we

stopped at a children’s playground to rest

our aching legs and bums, sore from sitting

on the mountain bikes too long. Nothing

noteworthy happened, how could it? We

practically chased everyone else out!

After the break, we kept cycling for a while

longer before stopping to try a rope swing

across a shallow stream. It ended up with a

lot of people soaking wet! After that, the

rest of the cycle ride went pretty smoothly,

very unlike the path that we were cycling on,

with countless dips and a great deal of small

stones that would make you bounce in your

seat when you rolled over them. I’m sure I

would do it again in the future, even though

I did come back quite tired!

Isabella Ahrendt, Year 9

This was the Viking I met when we visited Corfe

Castle. He thought he was scary, he hadn’t met

anyone from Junior House before though! Monica Larrinaga, Year 6

Gaudere et bene facere Gaudere et bene facere Gaudere et bene facere

Making a break ….

Bye Bye Bye

I’ve had such a great time here at

Leweston! I feel really lucky to have

had the opportunity to get to know

you all and thank you for the laughs

and giggles we have shared!

A big thank you goes to Junior House

and Mrs Roberts for helping me

settle into Leweston life and making

the job so enjoyable – you’ve all been

great.

I wish you all a great summer holiday

and hope you have a well-deserved

break! Miss Hulls xxx

I’ve had a great year here at Leweston. Thank you to Miss

Fielding for making me feel welcome in Senior House as well

as Senior House itself for keeping me on my toes.

I hope you all have a sunny summer with lots of relaxing.

Good luck to everyone for next year: whether it’s at

Leweston or off at University.

Miss Russell xx

I really loved my year here at Leweston. My advice

to anyone else would be to enjoy every minute and

not to worry that time passes so quickly.

Leticia Pietrini, Year 9

The best year of my

life!

Tamara Mansur Year 9

I came here to learn

English but I have learnt

so much else too!

Thank you to everyone

who looked after me,

all the friends I made in

Middle House and Miss

Phipps, Miss Leigh and

Miss McGuigan too.

Sofia Garcia-Sainz Year 9 I came here to school

but it has become my

family.

Andrea Tello Reyna

Year 9

Summer Term at Leweston