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About St Mary’s

Headmistress’s Letter: 20 October 2004

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope that our new girls have settled down happily into life at St Mary’s and everyone will benefit from a well–deserved break in half term.

School Events

We have enjoyed two very successful occasions in October. The first was the Fun Morning when well over 100 girls in years 5 and 6 came to take part in a multitude of activities on Saturday 2nd October. The second was our Open Morning last Saturday which was attended by more than 400 people. The School looked at its very best and was buzzing with activity. I am very grateful to all the girls who attended to help in any way and were such a credit to the school and to their parents. The tour guides were particularly impressive. Thanks too to those parents who supported this event. For the first time this year I used six girls from year 7 to help in my speech to prospective parents — their initial impressions of the school spoke volumes to our visitors.

Hong Kong

In the week of 4 October, Mrs Ryder and I visited Hong Kong to meet prospective pupils and our current parents. We held a Reception for parents in the Harbour View Hotel in Hong Kong which was a splendid event. It was good to meet so many of our loyal parents from the Far East and understand more about the education system in Hong Kong.

Fun Run

We are looking forward to our annual Fun Run on Friday 22nd October at Coe Fen from 1.15pm. This year we will dressing up as toys and board games. In a rash moment, I said I would dress up as Barbie! The proceeds this year will go to the work of the CJ (Congregation of Jesus — former IBVM) community in Zimbabwe, including paying school fees for needy students and to the CJ Children’s Home. We will also be supporting CAMFED, Educ Aid in Sierra Leone and Street Child Africa.

Gap Year Fair

We held a very successful Gap Year Fair at St Mary’s on Monday evening. This was attended by girls from year 10 to U6th and students from several other local schools were invited. Representatives from 40 Gap Year organisations took part in this event. Thank you to Mrs Goy for her organisation of this occasion.

Half Term Trips

During this half term, 29 girls are participating in Gold and Silver D of E expeditions in Derbyshire and another 29 girls from years 10 and 11 are taking part in a Hockey Tour in Holland. Thank you to all the staff who are giving up some of their half term to run these trips. In addition, students from France and Italy will be staying with our students as part of the French and Italian languages exchange.

6th Form Open Evening

We are holding our annual 6th form Open Evening on Wednesday 3rd November from 6.30pm until 8.30pm. Please note the change of date. Girls from years 10 and 11 are welcome. The sixth form at St Mary’s is going from strength to strength — the numbers overall have risen in each of the last four years. This year we have 48 girls in our L6th. A new sixth form prospectus has been published and will be given out on this evening. This year alone, a Sixth Form Society has been introduced as well as AS Critical Thinking. We are very grateful to Mr Peachey for his enthusiastic leadership of the Sixth Form, ably assisted by Mrs Hurles and the Sixth Form tutors.

Forthcoming Events

The School Concert will be taking place on Monday 22 November at 7.30pm. The support for this event has been fantastic recently so please buy your tickets as soon as possible. The PTA Christmas Fair will be taking place on Monday 6th December. The doors will be open from 2pm for the girls and parents from St Catherine’s and our girls will be joining them at 2.45pm. Please feel free to come in and join the fun at any stage of the afternoon.

Term Dates

We have included a new list of term dates in this mailing. This list includes a slight change to the term dates for Autumn Term 2005. Apologies for any inconvenience this might cause.

Internet Safety

Also included in this mailing you will find a small booklet entitled Keep your Child Safe on the Internet which has been prepared by the Home Office to circulate to the parents of all school students. I hope you will take the opportunity to read it and to take the advice it offers if you are not already doing so. Here in school the ICT department do all in their power to ensure the safety of students using the Internet and I am sure you would wish to maintain the same level of security at home.

Uniform Reminder

Please can I remind parents that girls should return after half term in winter uniform with dark coloured tights or socks. Flesh coloured tights should be worn with summer uniform only. Girls should be wearing dark coloured coats that will keep them warm and dry; denim jackets are not acceptable.

With good wishes for an enjoyable and restful half term.
Yours sincerely,

Jayne Triffitt
Headmistress