Sixth Form News
Oxbridge Success
The group intend to study subjects as diverse as Engineering, French and German, Geography, History and French, Human Sciences, Mathematics, Medicine and Music. As ever the competition was tough and even more hard work lies ahead as the girls focus on gaining the grades they need. But for now there is time for celebration; we are very proud of all of you!
Former Teacher remembered
At the forthcoming annual Joint Choral Society and Orchestra Concert with St Albans School, the performance of the Mozart Requiem will be dedicated to Lady Runcie as it was one of her favourite pieces. The Concert will be held on Wednesday 21 March at 7.30 pm in the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban. Tickets are available from the Music Administrator by emailing musicinfo@stalbans-high.herts.sch.uk.
High School Foreign Language teaching showcased
The filming is part of a series of videos and is now available to view on their website. Click here to view.
Simply Indulge
Written by 'Simply', Young Enterprise
Senior School Production features Guys and Dolls
The standard of performance was extremely high as students performed classic songs such as 'Luck be a Lady Tonight' and 'Rockin' the Boat' to packed audiences every night. The show was run by the Drama Department and supported by staff from Music, Textiles and Art and was a huge success. Congratulations to all who were involved.
MyDaughter December Newsletter
The December edition of their Newsletter is out now. Click here to download a copy.
High School supports the Katie Piper Foundation
Please click here to listen to the YouTube clip which shows the inspiration behind, and the making of, this iTunes download.
STAHS hosts Women in Science Conference
On Wednesday 16 November, staff and students from more than 15 schools across Hertfordshire, joined lecturers, graduates and undergraduates from Balliol College to talk about opportunities to study Science and Mathematics at Oxford before breaking into smaller subject specific discussion groups.
Global Child Dental Fund
Isabella has aspirations to become a dentist and spent some time with the GCDF, a registered charity, set up by Professor Raman Bedi. Additionally Isabella raised in excess of £1200 by organising a fundraising event in her locality. The money raised was used to purchase dental chairs and toys for the dental hospital in Cambodia and Isabella was invited to the charity's offices to present the cheque to Professor Bedi.
St Albans High School for Girls welcomed to London 2012's Get Set network
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) awarded St Albans High School a plaque and certificate to acknowledge their involvement in the London 2012 education programme. The Committee said the School was an excellent example of how London 2012 is helping to spark young people's imagination and inspiring them to get involved and make a difference. It said that they have clearly demonstrated that London 2012's education programme extends far beyond PE and Sport and they are now a part of an active London 2012 community of schools and colleges across the UK – the Get Set network - and will receive access to exclusive competitions and 2012 Games related opportunities over the coming years.
11/11/11
Artist in Residence
Our Year 11 students found the sessions very productive and increased their versatility, giving them a myriad of possibilities for coursework, other than painting and drawing, such as working in 3D. Sixth Former, Olivia, said "It was a great opportunity to work with Philip, a practising artist. He helped me with my personal art work and after one practice trusted me to weld and saw my own sculpture! I enjoyed the artist experience and venturing into 3D work". We look forward to seeing their finished sculpture.
Fireworks Extravaganza
Parents and children enjoyed hot chocolate, mulled wine and hot dogs as they were entranced by the display which painted the sky in magical colours.
MyDaughter October Newsletter
The October edition of their Newsletter is out now.
St Albans High School Amnesty International Concert
The concert showcased musical talent from all year groups within the Senior School and was organised not only to raise money for a very important cause, but will also be an entry in Amnesty International's annual fundraising competition.
Congratulations to those Sixth Form girls who organised the event and for raising in excess of £2000.
High School Foreign Language teaching showcased
The filming will be part of a series of videos which will shortly be available on their website. Click here to go to the CIE website to view other videos available in this series.
Olympic Champion visits the Senior School
Sally was invited to officially open the School Sports Pavilion and to give the second memorial lecture in honour of former Headmistress, Miss Elizabeth Diggory. Sally talked to the girls about her road to success and the determination and commitment required, explaining that 70% of what it took to become an Olympic champion was in her mind. Urging the girls to 'feed themselves positive thoughts' in whatever they wished to achieve, the afternoon concluded with a lively question and answer session.
High School celebrates la Journée européenne des langues
It's not just about the coffee...
August/September update on the developments at the Senior School site
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The coming months will see the completion of the steelwork, the laying of all the masonry and the construction of the roofing. This will ensure that internal fit-out can proceed regardless of weather conditions as we move into the autumn. Furthermore, the extension to Ringwood, to provide additional music teaching and practice space, is rising higher with every passing day.
These are a exciting developments which will provide state-of-the-art facilities for pupils to enjoy for many years to come.
The sky's the limit
Birds flew away in shock as their natural habitat was invaded by High School girls taking to the treetops during the induction programme for Year 12. Sixth Form girls are, of course, used to hitting the heights, but they moved through the trees via a combination of zip wires and ropes with grace and ease, demonstrating courage and determination. Lauren and Hannah were the undoubted queens of the skies. Others proved more adept at raft building or kayaking. Zoe and Phoebe will surely feature in the London 2012 kayaking squad, but the highlight of the day was Tabby’s graceful dismount from the raft.
South Africa Netball Tour 2011
The tour included netball matches against local schools and townships, a safari and charity project work. This charity project involved coaching netball to local girls to take the skills and drills learnt back to their villages in order to continue developing netball in rural communities. In preparation for the trip, the girls raised hundreds of pounds to make donations of kit and equipment to two South African charities. The girls and teachers had an amazing experience and although the netball was sometimes played in a different style compared to the English game, the girls always played with great enthusiasm and passion!
Click here to read the full report.
Click here to see an article about the tour in England Netball's 'digimag' (page 7).
What a result!
96% of girls won places at their chosen universities, with six girls taking up Oxbridge places and many more heading to other prestigious universities across the country.
Among the top achievers were: Katharine, Hannah, Marianna, Janine, Paige, Eloise, Anjali, Emily, Santhya and Nisha.
Mrs Martin said:
"I am extremely proud of all the girls' results and delighted for them that they are now able to continue their education at a university of their choice."
Congratulations to all our 2011 leavers!
Summer Holiday Tips for your daughters
The full list, entitled '38 things to do before you go back to school' is available to read here.
Sports Day Fun
Verulam continued their sporting success with a clean sweep of all the team trophies for both junior and senior competitions as well as the jumping cup. Well done to everyone!
High School High Achievers
Promising young (U17) lacrosse players, Sophie and Lizzie, have been selected to represent Centex and Wales respectively at the Lacrosse Festival in Hanover, Germany in August this year. This will give the girls a fantastic opportunity to experience competing against teams from other countries. Congratulations to Sophie and Lizzie.
Former pupil is English champion
Since winning the title, Lucy has been selected to represent England in the European ladies' team championship in Austria from July 5-9. We wish her the very best for this latest challenge!
MyDaughter May Newsletter
The May edition of their Newsletter is out now. Click here to download a copy.
Sports Pavilion Completed
The newly-levelled sports pitches add to the feel of this being the sports field as we have never seen it before. This year's Sports Day will be held at the field and will provide an opportunity to see and enjoy the transformation which has been achieved.
Former High School pupil stars in 'The Apprentice'
Felicity explained that as part of her education at the High School, learning how to apply herself and how to work as part of a team proved advantageous in participating in the tasks on the hugely popular TV programme.
In answering a vast array of questions from a very interested audience, Felicity described the audition process and the truths and myths surrounding a typical day's filming and gave her opinion on some of her fellow participants!
We would like to congratulate Felicity on her success in beating 72,000 applicants to become an Apprentice candidate and to thank her for sharing her experiences with the School.
Summer Orchestral Concert
This special concert showcasing the Junior, Intermediate, Senior and Chamber Orchestras, the Senior Choir and Senior Chamber Choir and the Lower Strings Ensemble featured a selection of very special works, including some by Vaughan Williams, Dvorak, Vivaldi and a new orchestral piece by Emma.
A scholar returns
Amy offered the girls an insight into the selection process and gave an idea of the benefits of the scheme, which included a generous pro rata salary, a travel bursary, funding through university and several other perks.
Highlights of Amy's year had included camel rides in the desert, being escorted in a Kuwaiti prince's car to his desert camp, a weekend stay in the 6 star Palm Atlantis hotel in Dubai and meeting 'Diversity'! The poise and confidence Amy showed in her delivery were clear evidence of how much she had gained from the experience and will have inspired some of the current Year 12, who were generous with their applause, to rush to the appropriate website.
Founders' Day
To coincide with this, members of the whole school community have given of their time in support of the children of Japan following the recent earthquake and ensuing tsunami. Cards were prepared containing brief messages of hope and friendship, which will be sent by the Japan Society UK to Japan and then, following translations of the messages into Japanese, they will be distributed to School children after the Spring break.
Album released by High School pupils in St Albans Abbey Girls' Choir
Staff put their best foot forward
PE Specialist at Wheathampstead House, Mrs Still, is running the London Marathon with Virgin Money Giving this year for 'Children with Leukaemia' and recently gave an assembly for the pupils with the theme "Setting yourselves personal challenges". Click here to go to her sponsorship page.
Two members of the Music Department will be running the London Marathon on 17 April for charitable causes. Mr Onissi, who teaches saxophone, is running for the NSPCC, with all funds raised going towards their Children's Helpline - click here to find out more information. Miss Dumbrill teaches flute and is running for a charity close to her heart 'Help the Hospices' - click here to read all about her cause.
Head of PE, Miss Bacon, is participating in the British 10K in London for bowel cancer on 10 July. Click here to go to her sponsorship page.
To support any of these budding sports stars, please visit their fundraising page via their links. What a healthy and inspiring group they are!
Gym and Dance Display
Congratulations to everybody who performed.
Former High School pupil achieves tennis success in US
Miss Bacon, Head of Physical Education remembers that Lauren managed to balance her studies and tennis extremely well and we all wish Lauren continued success in the future.
Lessons from Auschwitz Project
By Amy and Rebecca, Year 12
Clean sweep in swimming league
The School swimming teams have been competing in the Panagraphics County Swimming League since October. Girls from all years have been swimming in highly competitive galas and earning valuable points for the teams. Following hard work in training and a positive team spirit, the Panagraphics swimming league was won in all four age groups; Year 7, Junior, Intermediate and Senior.
Well done to all those involved for this excellent achievement!
Be inspired...
The award, presented to her during the Council's Sports Awards 2011 ceremony last month, aims to celebrate her achievements in alpine skiing over the past year, including becoming the English Schools Ski Champion.
Jo was delighted to receive the award in a sport which she was introduced to through the High School Ski Team's involvement in the English Schools Ski Championship. She hopes that it will inspire other High School girls to participate in her chosen sport.
Well done, Jo!
Coming Soon to STAHS: Cambridge Admissions Conference - Book your place now!
This informative and thought-provoking event is a follow up to successful conferences in the previous two years, and promises to be useful for anyone considering applying to Cambridge or Oxford. The conference begins at 4.00pm on Wednesday 30 March and is already proving popular, so please email oxbridge@stalbans-high.herts.sch.uk for more information, or to enquire about attending. Please note that pre-booking is vital!
'Have a Heart' - Rowathon 2011
The lack of any notable waterway flowing through the school site could not deter the girls, who took to the rowing machines in the fitness suite to demonstrate their prowess. Olympic rowing coaches may soon be descending upon the High School and Katie, Hannah and Laura will surely feature in London 2012 squads. Over 100 elite (?) athletes took part, all wore red and a total of £660 was raised for the British Heart Foundation.
Well done to all participants.
Former pupils delight with virtuosic display
The audience was enraptured by pieces ranging from the 18th century 'Hamburger' Sonata in G major by C.P.E. Bach through the dramatic movements of Carl Reinecke's 'Undine' Sonata, to a captivating modern piece by Ian Clarke called 'Spiral Lament'. This last piece was written for the dedicatee's giant African snails and requires many extended playing techniques on the flute.
Hannah, now in her final year at the Guildhall School of Music, will be going on next year to study as a postgraduate at the Royal Academy of Music and Lynn is now a concert pianist and staff accompanist at the Royal Academy of Music.
Over £250 was raised from the retiring collection, in aid of the Grove House Hospice in St Albans.
Click to play video clip of Hannah Watts (flute)
Cambridge Success
As ever the competition was tough and even more hard work lies ahead as the girls focus on gaining the grades they need. But for now there is time for celebration; we are very proud of all of you!
MyDaughter February Newsletter
The February edition of their Newsletter is out now, covering both educational topics and parenting issues. Click here to download a copy.
Success in Scotland for Senior Lacrosse Team
On the weekend of 5-6 February, the Senior Lacrosse team travelled to Edinburgh, to compete in the S.L.A Open Schools' Lacrosse Tournament. With 12 teams entered from England and Scotland, the girls faced both familiar and new competition throughout Saturday. Fortunately, the previous four months of training paid off and the High School rose to the challenge, being placed 1st overall in the tournament.
What a wonderful, well-earned result – well done!
FROG leaps into action for Senior School students
With an abundance of features and resources available to students, including access to interactive homework, participation in forums and debates, online voting for the Head Girl and her team and a diverse selection of 'programmes' available on STAHS Radio, the VLE will be limited only by the girls' imagination.
FROG will be rolled out to other Senior School pupils next week, with training to Wheathampstead House staff to follow.
Bagels and Baps for Breakfast
The HGCA is the cereals and oilseeds division of the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board and each year they promote cereals in the UK to emphasise the importance of eating a healthy breakfast every day.
On Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 January, pupils visiting the Dining Hall at break time were able to digest complimentary samples of new, healthy breakfast items. These ranged from Cinnamon and Raisin Bagels with fruit and yoghurt, Brunch Packed Omelette, Cranberry Spiced Porridge, Marmalade Glazed Sausage Baps and Hot Chocolate and Raspberry Shake. The foods were on sale for the rest of the week for the girls to enjoy.
January Concert
The concert was given by the Junior Chamber Choir, Middle School Choir, Junior Gospel Choir, Townsend Band, Guitar Ensemble, Intermediate Flute Ensemble, Intermediate Saxophone Ensemble and Brass Ensemble. Each group presented music it had been working on since September and it was great to see the younger girls taking centre stage. A wonderful evening of music ensued with a wide variety of styles of music and many very polished performances.
Click here to play an audio clip from the Middle School Choir
Books to Share with your daughter
'Your Daughter' features the combined wisdom of the Heads and Teachers of the leading girls' schools up and down the country. With decades of experience teaching hundreds of thousands of girls they have seen and had to deal with every emotional, social and educational problem imaginable.
Based on their hugely popular Mydaughter.co.uk website, the book is the ultimate guide to raising girls and compiles all of the best articles and features from the website plus a whole host of new and original material. It contains everything a parent needs to know for dealing with girls of all ages.
Mydaughter.co.uk is a website dedicated to providing information, expert opinion and useful advice on all aspects of raising and educating happy, fulfilled girls.
Please see their website for details on how to pre-order this book. Alternatively click here to pre-order from Amazon via our fundraising webshop, buy.at.
Oxbridge Success
The girls gave up a Saturday to attend a workshop provided by Impetus Coaching where they learnt what Oxbridge interviewers are looking for, tested their interview skills and explored ways of improving their confidence. Historian Maria commented: "It's a good way to motivate you and to get you thinking about what you would do in an interview, it also makes them seem less scary".
Mrs Cubbon, who also attended the workshop, was pleased by the day. "The workshop built interview skills and confidence, and sent the girls off with a plan to develop further. Additionally they know there is follow up and support available", she said. Impetus Coaching's facilitator, Melissa Mehta, said: "Many very able students are rather intimidated by the thought of a challenging academic interview. By demystifying the process, and developing techniques to build their confidence and calm their nerves, the girls can be themselves and show off their amazing talents at interview."
ISI Inspection Report – January 2011
