On the 1 February, Years 7, 8 and 9 were treated to a Physics Laser Show, putting their class lessons into a much more exciting context.  Please press the download button for the photos.

The House Music Competition finals took place on Friday 29 January, with Digby coming first.  Well done Digby and to all those who took part.

Our ski team comprising of six girls took to the competitive slopes of Flaine at the end of January, to take part in the British School Girl Ski Races, run by the Ladies' Ski Club.  Four of the girls were ranked in the top 100 in various slalom races, which is a wonderful achievement.  Press the read more button for the full report, by Grace Harding, Year 8.

Woldingham old girl, Carey Mulligan has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in the upcoming Academy Awards for her role in An Education.  With the BAFTAs also just around the corner, and for which she is nominated as one of the Orange Rising Stars, she also picked up a nomination in December for a Golden Globe award and scooped Best Actress prize at the British Independent Film Awards only a few days before that. 

Carey left Woldingham in 2003 and has achieved a remarkable amount in her short career.  Her role in An Education is her debut starring role - not many actresses can boast such an early accomplishment.  We wish Carey all the best for the on-going Awards season.

Some of our students have been taking part in a House music competition with the finals taking place in concert form on Friday 29 January.  Press the read more button for more details and good luck to the finalists.

MEP and a founder member of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage, is to visit Woldingham School on Monday 1 February.  He has been invited by the School’s Greenwell Society to speak at one of their regular lectures. Previous speakers of note have included Anne Widdecombe, MP, Crispin Blunt, MP, Sir Nicholas Soames, MP and Mark Lanning, Cultural Attaché from the US Embassy.

As MEP for the South East region,  Mr Farage is noted for his outspoken views on the UK’s membership of the EU and has recently and controversially recommended banning the burka in the UK.   He will undoubtedly fuel the Euro-sceptic debate amongst the enquiring minds of the Woldingham students.  With the Upper Sixth Form in particular, reaching eligibility to vote at the next General Election, Mr Farage’s talk will certainly help to influence the decision-making process.

Our Senior choir will be singing the 6pm Mass at Westminster Cathedral, on Saturday 30 January, the first Mass of Sunday.  All are welcome and this is a lovely opportunity to hear the choir singing in this beautiful cathedral. 

We are delighted to report on the achievements of our past students, who  graduated from Newcastle University in 2009:

Emma Brayne, Geography BA Honours
Joanna Cottrell, Financial and Business Economics BA Honours
Zoe Dickinson, Combined Honours BA Honours
Olivia Alexandra Gibson, Politics BA Honours
Lucy Strong, Media, Communication and Cultural Studies BA Honours

Congratulations on these superb results.

Our girls have been busy organising some fund-raising and awareness for the plight of the Haiti earthquake victims.  Their target is £1000 and they have already raised over £800 from two home-baked cakes sales, a cupcakes and lollies sale, pizza evening and collection points inside their tuck shop. One boarder, who had brought in her tuck after Christmas, sold it to her friends to raise more money.  Further plans include another pizza sale, a jewellery sale of the girls' home-made bracelets, a Rwandan craft sale and a raffle ticket sale for a foot spa prize.  Some of the funds raised will also go to the Rwandan Genocide victims.

Special mention must go to the Year 11 girls who  inititiated the fund raising as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award -  Maisie Breen, Charlotte Pearce and Abbi Murphy.  Also Year 9 girls, Marta Cavestany, Ana Paula Larrea-Mijares and Andrea Velazquez and Year 10s Adunni Adeleke, Rose Hung, Valerie Man and Orode Moju, who have all pitched in with ideas and self-sacrifice.  

A gentleman from the Bourne Society, Mr Ken Harman, was visiting the School and kindly donated £20 towards the cause, for which we thank him.

We have taken the decision to cancel these events on 16 January due to the weather conditions.  We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to seeing you next year.

External exams planned for next week will take place as scheduled on our published timetable. 

We are closely monitoring the weather forecasts, and since there is snow forecast for Sunday evening, we understand those girls planning to sit exams on Monday, 11th January may be particularly concerned.  Provided it is safe to travel, however, you should make every effort to be at the exam room for the beginning of your exam. Please click the read more button for further details

We are delighted to welcome Mr Nick Waite as Deputy Head from January 2010.

Nick Waite was previously a Housemaster at Tonbridge School, where he was a teacher for 13 years.  Prior to his appointment as Housemaster, he was Head of Physics. He went to Bristol University where he achieved a first class honours degree.  He is married to Caroline, an actress, and has four young children aged between 3 and 8.

A keen sportsman, he plays football regularly and currently coaches football, hockey and swimming as well as taking charge of water polo. He is familiar with Woldingham, having accompanied several groups of boys to socials here. Nick and his family are regular churchgoers at their local Anglican church.

Nick has already moved to Woldingham with his family to live on site and we look forward to making them part of the Woldingham community.

The Odyssey – Your Daughter’s Work in Print!

The English Department have put together a beautiful book of creative writing done by Years 7, 8 and 9 this year.   The 80-page book is packed with poems, stories, letters, reviews and even the students’ own newspaper pages.  Some of the illustrations featured are the girls’ own work as well, showing their imaginative versatility.  This delightful souvenir is available for parents to buy at just £5 each and there is only a limited supply available.  You will find a flyer in your end-of-term mailing, or you can download the flyer here.  Hurry while stocks last!

Lucy Manning, (Year 10) has been selected to represent Kent under 16s in the South East Inter Counties Water Polo tournament. She will be playing teams from Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and Middlesex. At this age group, teams are mixed. Lucy is the only girl selected by Kent, and is also the only 14 year old, all of her team mates are 15.  Photo to follow.  Congratulations Lucy!

On the night of Monday 30 November, seven old girls will sleep rough, on the floor of Spitalfields Market in London, to raise money for Action for Brazil’s Children Trust (ABC Trust).  The charity helps to improve the lives of over 7 million children who sleep rough every day on the streets of Brazil.

The brave team from the year group of 2002 inlcudes: Georgina Farr, Elaine Burke, Caroline Hyde, Emily Clark, Clare Pelly, Samantha Bonnar and Isobel Stanley.  The girls are looking for sponsorship in order to take part in the challenge and would be delighted to hear from potential benefactors – please contact Georgina Farr on 07967 162405 or 01462 742815, or email georgie_farr@hotmail.com.  For more information about the charity, visit their website at http://www.abctrust.org.uk/

Carey Mulligan has been tipped for an Oscar for her recent debut lead film role in An Education, which was released in the UK on 30 October and in which she plays alongside Emma Thompson, Dominic Cooper, Alfred Molina and Peter Sarsgaard.  She has been compared to Audrey Hepburn and called "the Sundance It Girl" following the screening at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year.  A boarder at Woldingham between 1999-2003, she has admitted to secretly adding three drama schools to the bottom of her UCAS application form, though was accepted by none!  Her rapid rise to fame, from landing a small role in the film version of Pride and Prejudice, through to An Education – in which her performance has been described as ‘sparkling’ -  has secured her next role, that of Gordon Gekko’s daughter in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street sequel.

On Saturday 10 October our Senior Amaris choir took part in the International Choral Competition in Rimini, Italy.  The numerous rehearsals in the first weeks of term paid off, when they came fifth in the Equal Voices Class, only 13 points behind the winners.  The achievement is even more impressive considering that they were the only school choir taking part, being up against more experienced adult choirs.  Congratulations on this tremendous result!

CYCLE CUBA IN AID OF THE CHILDREN’S TRUST, TADWORTH
NOVEMBER 2010

Nina Jackson, mother of past Woldingham students Portia (1995) and Olivia (1997), is organizing a cycle challenge to take place in Cuba in November 2010, in order to raise funds for The Children’s Trust in Tadworth.

Former Woldingham student, Rachel Bromilow (2003) has successfully graduated from St Andrews University, gaining a Master of Arts (Honours) Second Class (Division 1), in Economics and French (with Ingegrated Year Abroad).  Congratulations on your success, Rachel.

We are delighted to announce our latest series of Dineen Lectures for this year.  Please press the download button for details.

Following their successful training weekend in Buxton, Derbyshire, our challengers headed off to Venezuela in July, having spent many months raising the necessary funds for the final goal of the World Challenge.  Among their exciting ventures, they climbed Mount Roraima, the inspiration behind Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Lost World’ and visited Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world.  It was an experience they will never forget.

Please download the information for U10 Invitational Netball Tournament on Saturday 3 October.

Musicians from the Sixth Form are helping to develop links with local Prep Schools by visiting for an informal concert and workshop.

Pictured are Isabel Cobb, Beatrice Downing and Alice Heywood at Warlingham Park School, where they played for the whole school and answered questions about their instruments and Music at Woldingham.

The girls plan to visit more schools this year as the experience has proved a valuable performing opportunity and a wonderful opportunity to establish a productive relationship with local schools.

Three girls from the Sixth Form visited the Royal Academy of Music with Mr Jensen, a former student of the Academy, and Miss Jones, a current student. The girls were able to observe a masterclass with world renowned singing teacher Diane Forlano, go on a guided tour of the facilities and watch a rehearsal for the Music Theatre course production of Sweet Charity.

All three girls also sang for the Head of Vocal Studies at the Academy, Mr Mark Wildman, who is Mr Jensen’s former teacher from many years ago.  The visit gave the girls a wonderful insight into the life of a conservatoire student.
Pictured are Kate Millett, Scarlett Smith and Charlotte LaThrope.

All the new Year 7 girls took part in practical Music workshops on Friday as part of their induction to the school.

Students and staff are thrilled with this year’s GCSE results, with 68% of all grades achieved being A*/A, representing a 4% improvement on last year.  91% of all grades were A*/A or B.

Once again our girls have demonstrated their ability to excel in the traditionally more difficult subjects, producing outstanding results in Biology, Chemistry and Physics where 93% of all the grades in each subject were A or A* with at least 80% of the grades being A*.

Our special congratulations go to:  Alessandra Kurr from Woldingham, Christina Hulsmann Diamond from Haywards Heath and Natalie Hackmann from Ghana, who each achieved nine A* grades and one A.

Headmistress Jayne Triffitt said: “ I am immensely proud of the girls who richly deserve these results. I would like to pay tribute to the outstanding teachers at Woldingham who work very hard to ensure the success of the pupils.”

Rosanna Stoker, a pupil at Woldingham School has not only secured tremendous results in her A Levels, with three A grades, in Maths, Chemistry and Biology, but has been awarded an Exhibition from Trinity College, London for achieving the highest marks for Grade 8 Solo Acting across the whole country last year.  This is a fantastic achievement, well deserving of our congratulations.

Philippa Winstanley from Oxted was understandably delighted with her A Level Results, achieving 4 A grades in Economics, ICT, Music Technology and Music. These impressive results guarantee her place to study Music at Jesus College Oxford, where she has been awarded the Organ scholarship.  Congratulations Philippa!

Students and staff at Woldingham School are celebrating another year’s superb crop of A level results, with a 100% pass rate across all subjects. These latest impressive figures continue the school’s excellent record and reveal that over 88% of students achieved passes at A - B grades, with four candidates achieving at least 5 ‘A’ Grades  and a further five candidates achieving 4 ‘A’ Grades. Full results will be published shortly

Please press the download button for information relating to the SCAST, benefitting students who were at Woldingham during 2001-2004.

The Dineen Chimteka Trust is hosting a charity golf day on 9 October to which all are welcome.  This is the first of such fund-raising events with the aim of sending Woldingham gap year students to Chimteka in Malawi, Africa, for a six month period helping on the ground.  Details of the charity and the golf day together with an entry form can be found by pressing the download button below.  The event will be held at the Woldingham Golf Club, Halliloo Valley Road, Woldingham, Surrey CR3 7HA.  Non-playing guests are also very welcome to the dinner and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.

Year 8 have been studying rural-urban migration in Kenya. They have looked at what happens to the people when they arrive in the city of Nairobi and have had the opportunity to build their own shanty to increase their ability to empathise with the situation of the migrants. Below are two excerpts from pieces of travel writing by Year 8 students that highlight the problems and suffering of those who live in Kibera, a shanty settlement 6km outside of the main city.

Sports day this year was held on 27 June in bright, hot sunshine.  Competitive House spirits were high with girls decorating themselves very creatively in their house colours and carrying huge banners which they had made.  Events included hurdling, running, high jump, relays, discus and tug-o-war among others, as the athletes were cheered on loudly and tirelessly by their supporters.

Stuart were triumphant for the second consecutive year with an overall score of 588, Barat following closely with 559, then Duchesne with 538 and Digby with 510. More photos will follow.

All the girls have been working so hard during their recent examinations we decided that their reward would be an impromptu BBQ and Fun Evening to celebrate the end of their examinations. In true Woldingham style the girls rose admirably to the challenge of having fun! However, they could not resist showing off their artistic and sporting prowess, albeit in a slightly unorthodox fashion!

Students from years 9 and 10 involved in exchanges are hosting partners here and travelling abroad.

We have set up two blogs the students are going to run throughout this period at the following addresses:

www.zaragozalive09.blogspot.com
www.bondueslive09.blogspot.com

Please visit the blogs to see where the students are going, their itinerary, what the weather is like over there at the moment, and even to check out today’s front page of a French or Spanish newspaper. When the exchanges start students will be putting photos up on the blog, adding text on what they have been doing, and even recording audio to let you know how they are getting on.

As part of their Geography course the Year 8 students have explored the dynamic landscape and the physical processes that shape it. In particular they have studied the agents of erosion: ice, wind, sea and rivers. Cuckmere Haven in the Seven Sisters country park was a perfect location for the pupils to see a landscape that had been created by the work of the river and sea, but is also continually changing and evolving. The sun shone all day as the wardens of the Wildlife Trust gave us guided tours of the area. Activities such as annotating a field sketch of the area, acting out the process of longshore drift on the pebble beach and measuring the velocity of the river were included.

On what looked like a cold misty day two coaches set off from Woldingham carrying all of Year 9 towards a day of adventure in the beautiful Ashdown Forest.  The girls completed four tasks throughout the day.  In their tutor groups they were trying to accumulate points to be the overall winner.  Those tasks were High tree adventure, archery, team challenge and rock climbing.

The girls worked hard throughout the day with many pushing their boundaries of comfort.  On the whole the groups supported and encouraged each other.  It was good to see girls working together in a team to achieve their goal.

The final team scores were very close but for the second year running Barat were the clear winners.

This is the first year we have had a Year 8 Water sports trip and it was very successful.  We were blessed with fantastic weather including the all important wind.  The girls rose to the challenge in each activity and had a great time.  The activities included windsurfing, dinghy sailing, kayaking and raft building.  I don’t think I have heard so much laughter especially during the sailing of the raft boats, most of which disintegrated within the first few seconds.

A huge well done to Digby House who have raised £2143 for Great Ormond Street Hospital. On Friday the 26th during Digby’s House Assembly they were delighted to handover the giant cheque to the charity co-ordinator from Great Ormond Street.  Well done girls all on all your hard work and effort, the money raised is certainly going to a worthwhile cause.

 

Old Girls’ day on 10 May dawned warm and sunny – perfect weather for the fun-packed day ahead.  We started with coffee and pastries in the Millenium Centre, where everyone gathered from 10.30am.  It was evident that many had not seen their former classmates since they had left the school, as there was huge excitement upon recognising each other.  Some had travelled from Jamaica, Israel and The Netherlands, as well as all corners of the UK.

On the 8th May, Woldingham geographers were set and ready for a "Geog Soc
Quiz" against Caterham. Serious training had taken place amongst the U6
geographers, and Harrie Pinnington was confident about her knowledge of capital cities.

Although they were a year younger than any of their opponents our Year 7 Fencing Team battled  bravely and achieved a very creditable 5th place at the recent British Schools Fencing Competition. Well done to Susie, Susannah, Anna and Cecilia.

The British Schools Fencing Championships were held at Whitgift School on 2 May 2009. Our U16 team – Francesca Maule, Catherine Leatherbarrow and Henrietta Stockdale came a very creditable 3rd. Well done girls.

On Friday 1st May the junior school put on their drama production, the sell out audience were treated to a fantastic performance of the Rudyard Kipling classic The Jungle Book. As usual the girls rose enthusiastically to the occasion under the direction of Phil Young. The costumes and make up were inspired as were the performances. Full report to follow.

The Sixth Form let their hair down before exams begin and enjoy their Masquerade Ball. The teaching staff also feel the need to hide their identities. Is that a 'Phantom' I spy! More photos to follow.

Woldingham School Ski Trip to Heavenly, USA


When you send 51 girls and 7 teachers away skiing for a week, you expect to have fun. But nothing could have prepared me for how enjoyable, how exciting and how exhausting this trip would be. Read Amy Tyler's account of this memorable trip.

One of our Year 9 students has written a very solid article about the global fashion industry.  She has clearly researched her topic thoroughly and gives us all food for thought. Well done Felicity

On Saturday the 21st of March the First XI Hockey Team faced a team of Old Girls who were under the false impression that they would be able to defeat our infinitely superior team! The match was enjoyed by all, in particular the Old Girls who were reunited with their old friends.

A mixture of sunshine and smiles contributed to the excellent atmosphere of the match. The First XI managed to win 7 goals to 2. More importantly Padraig and his colleagues laid on a delicious spread of food whilst the Old Girls were able to reminisce about their memories in particular about their embarrassing hockey experiences.   Hopefully this is the first of what is to be an annual event and we can look forward to facing the Old Girls, once again next year. A huge thanks to Nikki Freeman and the Sports Department for arranging what was a fantastic event. Georgia Calnan Sports Ribbon

Our annual invitational rounders tournament for the under 10s and under 11s will be on Saturday 9 May.  Please press the download button for all details.

Our annual Spring Concert held in the Dineen Auditorium on Sunday 22 March was met with an enthusiastic reception from all who attended. It was an ideal opportunity for our girls and staff to showcase their musical talents. To view some of the photographs of the event please read more.