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Sept 2003

18 Sept: Calendar

This term’s calendar has now been posted.

17 Sept: Extra–Curricular Activities

The programme for this term is now online.

10 Sept: Term Dates

The term dates for 2004–2005 have now been posted. Please note that the calendar and list of extra–curricular activities for this term will be published as soon as they are ready and should be available here by the middle of next week.

5 Sept: Oxbridge Update

We are delighted to announce that all of our Upper Sixth girls met their conditional offer requirements. The following girls will therefore be going up to Oxbridge in September to read:

• Eleanor Connolly: Modern History at Oxford
• Lingjie Kong: Mathematics at Oxford
• Emily Reid: Geography at Oxford
• Linglin Su: Mathematics and Statistics at Oxford
• Quynh Tran: Natural Sciences at Cambridge

Aug 2003

[NB See the main examination page for the most recent updates.]

21 Aug: GCSE results

The overall pass rate was 98%, with 100% of girls achieving 5 or more passes at grades A* to C and 64% of all entries being awarded an A* or A. These excellent results reflect a real team effort from the pupils and the staff. Many congratulations to all our girls!

14 Aug: A Level results

Our girls achieved 100% success at A to E grade and 83% got A to C grades. We are very proud of the outstanding achievements of the girls at A Level this year and we are particularly thrilled that 48% of all the A Level passes were at grade A. This success is a direct result of the hard work and dedication of the staff and students.

July 2003

10 July: A first–class school

‘A first–class school’: that is how the Cambridge Evening News referred to St Mary’s this evening in their report on yesterday’s annual prize–giving ceremony. The event was hosted by our Head Girl, Emma Britton, who welcomed the new Bishop of East Anglia, Michael Evans, to present prizes and awards to the girls. The Chairman of the Governors, Dr John Tudor, was delighted that the Bishop had found time in his busy schedule to visit the school for the second time. The Bishop talked in his speech about teenagers and how special they were. The Headmistress, Mrs Jayne Triffitt, presented her report and after music, speeches and prizes, parents, girls and guests enjoyed a strawberry cream tea in the school garden. Highlights from Mrs Jayne Triffitt’s speech:

• Boarding facilities at the school are to expand as a result of increasing demand from students for boarding.
• Her speech celebrated the achievements of individual students: “unlocking the particular genius of each individual is part of St Mary’s magic”.
• The Headmistress celebrated the school’s 100% pass rate at AS/A2 and GCSE. 25% of A level students achieved 3 A grades at A level.
• The Head was delighted with the launch of new scholarships in September 2002 which widen access to the school and have attracted high calibre students.
• Her final comment was that at St Mary’s: “We are here to make our girls’ passage from girlhood to adulthood as smooth and as creative as possible and to stand alongside them when the going gets bumpy.”

June 2003

10 June: We are now back online

Many apologies for the loss of web and e–mail services over the past few days. This was a situation totally beyond our control: our domain name was ‘detagged’ in error and we had to wait for Nominet to retag us. It can happen to anyone, even The Register and Ebay...

3 June: The IT Girls

Our Affinity girls are thrilled to announce that they were shortlisted to the final 12 for the 2003 CISCO Systems Young Enterprise ICT Award! Although they did not win, their efforts were ‘highly commended’ by the judges.

May 2003

22 May: Our Golden Girls

Special congratulations to Astrid Bellamy, Helen Pickard and Emily Reid for the successful completion of their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award!

2 May: Affinity is the best!

We are delighted to announce that this year’s Young Enterprise company, Affinity, won the Best Company Award for 2003 and the Award for Manufacturing Excellence at the Cambridge and District Area Finalists Awards last night. Well done to one and all! They now progress to the Regional Finals.

2 May: Site Updates

School fees for 2003–4 have now been posted and the calendar and extra-curricular activities for this term have been updated.

April 2003

4 Apr: Affinity is going places!

This year’s Young Enterprise company, Affinity, has been selected as a finalist in the next round Cambridge and District Area Finalists Awards.

3 Apr: Well done, Victoria!

We are delighted to announce that one of our pupils has been chosen to receive the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Award for her outstanding contribution to the school. Victoria Husband has been chosen for the Award because of her commitment and determination to overcome her physical handicaps. The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Award was launched nationwide in April 2000 to recognise and celebrate the outstanding contributions made by many secondary school students to their schools and communities. The Award is given to those students nominated by their schools for:

•  Improving the life of others; or
•  Enhancing the school or community in which the young people live; or
•  Showing exemplary progress in personal development, especially in adverse circumstances.

Each secondary school in the United Kingdom can annually nominate one student or group of students for the award. Since the scheme began as a pilot in September 1999, over 3,600 pupils from 1165 secondary schools across the UK have received awards. We are very proud of Victoria and held a presentation ceremony for her on Monday 31^st March.

2 Apr: St Mary’s News and BBC News

St Mary’s news has been somewhat neglected in recent months as we have been concentrating on developing our Alumnae Centre. However, normal service will be resumed after Easter and, meanwhile, this area has been enhanced by the addition of a BBC News box for your interest and convenience.

February 2003

27 Feb: St Mary’s webALUMNUS launched!

Our online Alumnae Centre was launched today. This will make it much easier in future for everyone to keep in touch: members are able to post their news, advertise and book events and update their Who’s Who. Networking opportunities are a special feature of the system and members will also be able to promote their professional services. Please visit the Alumnae Centre for further information or log on at St Mary's webALUMNUS.

January 2003

14 Jan: Oxbridge Success!

The Sixth Form at St Mary’s is delighted to be celebrating another year of Oxbridge success after five U6 students gained conditional places at Oxford and Cambridge colleges:

10 Jan: web site updates

Various pages have now been updated, including the calendar and extra-curricular activities for this term. Our new Alumnae Centre will be launched on 27^th February and we will be accepting pre-registrations for this from 5^th February.

Calling all current pupils, teachers, parent and governors:

Please keep the informed of any newsworthy items - thank you!