king's high king's high

king’s high
news
Summer 08
www.kingshighwarwick.co.uk

Special Successes
Charlotte Cornwallis (second left) with captains (l to r): Becky Sleath,
Jess Reed and Rebecca Sherren
Sports Awards
The second annual King's High Sports Awards Evening was held
on Friday 25th April. Charlotte Cornwallis, the current number
one ladies real tennis player, was our Guest Speaker. We were
delighted to welcome such a prestigious sportswoman to our
school, who is currently the British singles and doubles champion,
having regained her titles in early April.
Ms Cornwallis gave an inspiring speech speaking of the need
for commitment, determination and sheer hard work in order
to reach the top in sport. She described how setbacks make
you stronger and your eventual successes even more satisfying.
We reviewed the last twelve months and reflected on the
considerable success that King's had had in the sporting arena
both locally and nationally.
Charlotte presented colours to many of the girls and the special
Key Stage Awards for Excellence, Commitment and Endeavour to:
• Hannah Edwards – Year 9
• Grace Cutts and Hazel Nichols – Yr 11
• Teddy Middlebrook – Yr 13
She also presented the Captains’ Awards to:
• 1st XI Hockey Captain – Jess Reed
• 1st VII Netball Captain – Becky Sleath
• Swimming Captain – Rebecca Sherren
It was a tremendous evening which gave pride and inspiration
to girls, parents and staff alike. We are delighted that Charlotte
Cornwallis now offers coaching to the girls at King's.
Literary Awards
In April, two Upper Sixth Formers
were presented with prestigious awards.
The 16th Gertrude Bark Award was
presented to Madison Plantier. The award
is for a student of literature, music or
drama from the local area. Eighteen
year old Madison receives the award
in recognition of her achievements as
a poet. She impressed the Trustees
by the breadth of her studies, covering
both arts and sciences, and by her
academic achievements.
The Mary Dormer Harris Memorial Bursary
was awarded to Chloe Riddle in recognition
of her outstanding commitment to Sixth
Form Studies. The award is made to
a Sixth former who shows promise in
the widest possible sense. Chloe is an
able scientist and a student of
English literature.
Music for Youth
The King’s Junior Chamber Choir has made
it through to the National Festival stage of
the Music for Youth finals in July this year.
Music for Youth is an educational charity
with a worldwide reputation for its work
in music education. 100,000 young
musicians take part in their festivals and
concerts every year.
The King’s choir of thirty-six Year 7 and 8
girls sang a beautiful rendition of Chilcott’s
“All for Love of One” as well as “Top of the
World” by the Carpenters at the Regional
Festival stage in Northampton earlier this
year. They beat a number of performers to
reach the next stage which will take place
at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham in
July. At this level they will compete with
twenty two other Junior Choirs from
around the country for one place to sing
at the School's Proms in November at the
Royal Albert Hall.
We wish the nicknamed “Singing
Baguettes” (Mrs Jones practises with the
girls at lunchtimes) well in their quest.
Duke of Edinburgh Gold
Awards
We are very proud that for the first time
two King’s girls who are still here at school
have completed their Gold Duke of
Edinburgh Award. Alice Meaden and
Emma Wall completed the challenging
programme which covers five different
areas of achievement – service, skills,
physical recreation, expedition and
residential experience. The Gold Award
can take up to two years to achieve and
usually girls only complete it on leaving
school. One such girl was Lucy Antrobus
who recently collected her Gold Award at
a ceremony at St James’s Palace.
Madison Plantier (left) and Chloe Riddle (right)
with members of the Gertrude Bark Trust and
Mary Dormer Harris Trust
The triumphant Junior Choir in practice
Lucy Antrobus at St James’s Palace to collect
her reward

Trips
unique and stunning country of Iceland. Their five-day trip saw
them based in the south-west of the island, within reach of some
of the most amazing natural scenery that anyone could ever wish
to see.
Enjoying the wonders of Iceland
Icelandic Adventure
Early in the Easter holidays, twelve girls from years 10 through
to 13, accompanied by twelve Warwick School boys, visited the
Vast waterfalls, thermal swimming pools, geysers, an outlet
glacier, volcanic craters and the rift valley of the Mid-Atlantic
ridge were among the amazing sites (and sights) that were
explored. Away from the pure majesty of the landscape, a
further highlight was a tour around a geothermal power station,
a fascinating insight into the country’s ‘clean’ energy production.
A taste of Icelandic culture was gained through a visit to the
colourful and rather quaint capital, Reykjavik. The weather held to
enable one more remarkable experience – at night they were able
to see the utterly amazing phenomenon of the Northern Lights.
Having heard stories of frequent failed trips into Iceland’s interior
to try to get a view of ‘nature’s laser show’, we couldn’t believe
our luck in getting a perfect view from our hotel car park!
Visit to Oxford
In March, thirteen students in Year 11, accompanied by their parents, spent
a day at Oxford. After an illuminating talk by Lucy Hawkins, The School
Liaison Officer at St John's College, which examined the benefits of studying
at Oxford, students experienced a meal in Hall at Exeter College, followed by
a visit to the Natural History Museum, where the highlight seems to have
been a close examination of cockroaches.
Girls examine the
wildlife in Oxford....
Old Girls News
In the Presence of Royalty at Sandhurst
We spotted in “The Times” a photo of former King’s pupil, 2nd Lt. Alice Salt who was Commissioned into the Royal
Engineers on 11th April, 2007 in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal. In addition to this achievement she was
awarded the ‘Most disinguised cadet of the term to join the Corps of the Royal Engineers’, was women’s Captain
of Boats and received both her Rowing and Rugby Colours whilst at Sandhurst.
Alice at her passing out
parade at Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy
At the Commissioning Ball at Sandhurst she was joined by three of her ex King’s High friends – Claudia Bosworth,
Suzie Lucas and Verity Neale.
Alice is now undertaking her Troup Commanders Course at the Battlefield Engineer Wing of the Royal School of
Military Engineering and also managing to find time to row for the Army.
Old Girls Association Luncheon
Over seventy former pupils, former staff and current staff attended the annual OGA
lunch at the beginning of March. The Headmistress gave an illustrated talk on life at
King’s High today, and was joined by the current Head Girl, Nellie Wheeler and her
team who each told their stories, with great affection, of their school life at King’s High.
We were delighted to welcome back to school Old Girl Mrs Christina Jackson –
who celebrated her 94th birthday on the same day. The occasion was marked with
a birthday card and cake from the OGA, which were presented to her as everyone
sang Happy Birthday.
Mrs Christina Jackson celebrating her 94th Birthday,
with Polly Beidas and 2007-08 senior team: Eleanor
Wheeler, Lucie Browning, Rachel Weston Smith &
Hermione Mackay

Other News
Live on Camera – Maths goes interactive at
the Independent State School Partnership
King's girls joined pupils from Warwick,
Aylesford and Myton Schools in a
video conference with the School
of Mathematics and Education at
Cambridge University. This formed
part of our Independent State School
Partnership initiative. The title of the
video conference was “101 Uses of
a Quadratic Equation”.
Pupils from the four schools
working on the problem.
This exciting event saw girls from
King's collaborate with students from the other Warwick schools to
solve problems posed by the lecturer at Cambridge. Not only did the
students learn something about the history
of quadratics and their real world applications but then had the
daunting task of presenting their findings to their peers and on
camera live to Cambridge.
Our Fundraising Campaign for our Creative
Arts Centre is Under Way
We are delighted to announce that we have secured a number
of early donations towards the fundraising target of £300,000,
which represents the fitting out cost of our superb new Creative
Arts Centre.
New campaign brochures will
be mailed out this term to all
Year 7 and 8 parents, followed
up by two in-school
information events, on the
evenings of 26 June and
1 July.
Fundraising will continue Campaign brochures
throughout the Autumn Term,
with mailings and events planned for the new intake of Year 7
parents, and all other parents within the school. We hope who can
will support us generously.
Feedback from Parents
In an effort to continuously
seek feedback and improve
the service we offer, all
parents were sent out a
questionnaire at Easter. This
has been followed up by a
series of focus groups with
parents from all year-groups.
The results will be fed back to
the Senior Management Team
to facilitate future planning.
Mrs Bray, Marketing Manager, leads
one of the parent discussion groups
Staff Farewells
We say goodbye and thank you to
members of staff who are leaving.
Ms Bagshaw (Singing Teacher) and
Mrs Coles (Receptionist) are relocating;
Mrs Williams (Spanish Assistant) and
Mrs Stubbs (Modern Language Teacher)
are retiring. We also say goodbye to
Miss Young (English Teacher) who is
changing her career, and to Miss Smith.
Miss Smith leaves us after twenty-eight years
of service. Her school productions have been
memorable, among them this year’s intelligent
and hilarious “Importance of Being Earnest”, a
30 minute “Taming of the Shrew” (of breathtaking
energy) for the Shakespeare Festival a few years
ago, and of course the Shakespeare comedies she
has put on with such enthusiasm over the years.
Put together Miss Smith’s love of good
conversation, her wit and sense of humour,
Top: from left to right: Miss Young, Mrs Coles and Mrs Stubbs
Middle: Mrs Williams who has been with the school 19 years
Bottom: Miss Smith
her boundless interest in people,
with her years of professionalism
and integrity, and you have the
formula for a much loved and
respected teacher and colleague
who has made such a difference
to so many King’s girls.
Leavers’ Concert
The Senior Team planning the concert
The now annual tradition of a “leavers’ concert” took place in the
Sixth Form Centre at the end of May. It was an informal evening
which was enjoyed by girls and parents alike. Parents enjoyed a glass
of wine before settling down for a trip down memory lane to
Dracula! Most of their daughters had taken part in the musical when
they were in Year 8. Rachel Weston-Smith did a great job in putting
the concert together, which was compered by herself and Nellie
Wheeler. The evening was a wonderful opportunity to experience the
versatile sixth form common room which leant itself to a concert
space because of its superb acoustics.
Important Dates for your Diary:
• August 14th A and AS levels results published
• August 21st GCSE results published
• September 3rd Term begins