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About St Mary’s

Headmistress’s Letter: 14 November 2004

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I am writing this letter before leaving tomorrow for the annual GSA Conference which is to be held at the Alton Towers Conference Centre! It is always good to meet with other Heads and have the opportunity to discuss national initiatives and share good practice.

Date Changes

Can I please inform you of some changes of dates for next term:
Year 8 Parents’ Meeting is now Tuesday 22 February (replacing Year 9)
Year 9 Parents’ Meeting is now Tuesday 8 March (replacing Year 8)

Fun Run: sponsor money

Please help your daughters to collect the remaining sponsor money from the Fun Run. There was a great atmosphere at this year’s event and it was good to meet so many parents there. We were amazed that yet again the rain held off until the end of the Run.

Forthcoming Events

Please support the School Concert on Monday 22 November at 7.30pm if you can. The PTA Christmas Fair will be taking place on Monday 6 December. Thank you to the members of the PTA who organized the Gift Wrap sales.

Congratulations!

I would like to offer my congratulations to two girls for their successes in activities outside of school. Firstly, to Claire McCarthy (year 9) who has been awarded the British Junior Carriage Driving Scholarship for 2004/5. The presentation of this award took place at the Horse of the Year Show at the NEC in October. Secondly, to Charlotte Murray (year 10) who danced in the U22 National ‘Mardi Gras’ Dance Competition. There were 150 teams and Charlotte’s Elite Jazz Group managed to attain one of five prizes. Charlotte is the youngest member of her group.

Sixth Form Open Evening

It was good to see so many parents and students at the Sixth Form Open Evening. We started the evening in the Sixth Form Centre which gave everyone the opportunity to see the great facilities we have in this building. We are keen to offer bursaries to any parents who might withdraw their daughter from St Mary’s for financial reasons at the end of year 11, so if this is the case, please write to me or come and see me. Sixth Form scholarships will be awarded in the summer term after the bursaries have been processed.

Mobile Phones and Electrical Equipment

Please be aware that while the school recognises the convenience of mobile phones, it accepts no responsibility for their loss. Bringing iPods, MP3 players, hair straighteners, mobile phone chargers and other electrical equipment to school is also at the owner’s risk and under no circumstances should such equipment be connected to the mains at school. Any electrical equipment attached to the mains at school must be officially approved safe by the maintenance team. Use during the school day must be confined to breaks and any interference with the smooth running of the school will result in confiscation from the student.

Sporting Successes

I would like to highlight some of the sporting successes of this term and offer my congratulations to all the girls involved with team or individual success.

U16 and U14 Hockey Squads had a very successful tour to Holland in the October half term. They took part in advanced coaching sessions, matches against local Dutch teams and finished the week with an exciting tournament. All the girls worked incredibly hard throughout the week and the PE staff were especially delighted that both teams won the tournament, which was a first for St Mary’s.

The Under 16 Netball Squad are County Champions and will represent Cambridgeshire in the regional round of The Daily Telegraph National Schools Championship on Saturday 22nd January: Naomi Miles, Pippi Bereton, Sophie Davidson, Ellie Herbert, Philippa Markley, Harriet Arbuckle, Cathy Oates, Caroline Haines, Abi Erian.

The Under 16 Hockey Squad played in the District Schools annual tournament and were very unlucky not to get through to the final, losing only by goal difference: Elizabeth Jones, Jane Glazebrook, Pippi Bereton, Amelia Hamilton Kennaway, Abi Erian, Philippa Markley, Caroline Haines, Ellie Herbert, Lucy Crosland, Harriet Bowman, Briony Mullan, Nicky Bareham.

The Under 14 Hockey Squad played in the District Schools annual tournament and missed out reaching the final by 1 penalty corner. Both the U14 and U16 represented St Mary’s in the Cambridgeshire Hockey National Schools Championships.

Congratulations to Sophie Davidson and her netball team: Ellie Herbert, Caroline Haines, Philippa Markley, Harriet Arbuckle, Abi Erian and guest players from the Perse who represented St Mary’s in the Adult Cambridge and District Summer Netball Leaague. They won all their seven matches in the Adult D league by a very wide margin of a total of 177 goals for and 99 goals against. The team has subsequently been promoted to the Adult B league because of this great achievement.

With very best wishes for the rest of this term.
Yours sincerely,

Jayne Triffitt
Headmistress