'Snapshot' news from Wychwood
Old Girls Careers Morning, Saturday September 25th 2010
Wychwood Old Girls are hosting their first ever Careers Morning 11.00 - 13.00 hrs followed by a light lunch.
The Careers Morning is an opportunity for parents and pupils to learn about lots of exciting careers from Old Girls who have first hand experience.
Old Girls will be available to talk informally to the girls about their chosen professions.
These will include: publishing, medicine, finance, secretarial, administration, dance and drama.
Also available: Workshop on interview skills and CV writing and interviews about universities and gap years
A level results, August 19th 2010
A level results are once again extremely good with over half of all grades at A or A*. Girls achieved the new A* grade in subjects as diverse as English, Maths and History of Art. Congratulations to all!
Study 2 Leavers' Ball, June 25th 2010
Sweet Hearts
Ex-Wychwood teacher Jo Cotterill, who only left the school at Christmas, is already celebrating the publication of her new book Star Crossed. The first in a brand-new series for girls aged 9-13 called Sweet Hearts, it focuses on Fliss, a shy girl who dreams of being an actress. The second book in the Sweet Hearts series, Strictly Friends? will be published in September 2010, and Jo is already hard at work editing the third book, Ice Dreams, to be published in February 2011!
Rockley Watersports Trip, June 2010
A trip with Rockley Adventure is a unique experience combining social, physical and environmental experiences that provide youngsters with a sense of freedom and adventure which in turn improves their self-confidence, motivation and personal abilities. More...
Ranthambhore Special School, India
This is the roof that was purchased at the Ranthambhore Special School in Rajasthan, India this Easter with the retiring collection from the Carol Concert. It has given the children a covered space where they can play and have meals. Until now, the space could not be used in the monsoon months.
AS Biology Field Trip.
Young Art Oxford 2010.
‘I REMEMBER’
Thursday 6th May 6:00pm and Friday 7th May 10:00am – 6:00pm
The Young Art Oxford exhibition will take place on 6th and 7th May at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road.
Children from reception to Year 9, from twenty-four Oxfordshire schools, have created a vibrant mix of paintings, drawings and prints. The following girls for Wychwood will have their work exhibited:
Phoebe Croysdale
Stephanie Kirkman
Rachel Leung
Kate Robinson
Olivia Sinclair
Anna-Maria Thomas
Meggie Woodman
and Bethan Sennett, who won third prize.
Postcards and the works of art are for sale and all the money raised is in aid of Cancer Research UK. The funds will go towards their research into the genetic causes of cancer in children.
Alice Hall, Young Artist Prize for 2010
Former pupil, Alice Hall has two pictures on show in the present exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours at the Mall Galleries and has been awarded the Young Artist Prize for this year. At the end of last year she won one of the three Young Artist prizes awarded by the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, which is an impressive and rather unusual double.
www.alicehall.co.uk
Philippa Ashdown
Philippa Ashdown, former Head Girl, who left Wychwood in summer 2009, successfully completed the London marathon in 5 hours 11minutes - many congratulations!
Dr. Daisy Hay (Old Girl)
Wychwood Old Girl Daisy Hay has just published her first book, Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron and Other Tangled Lives (Bloomsbury). Young Romantics shatters the myth of the Romantic poet as a solitary, introspective genius, telling the story of the astonishingly youthful circle who gathered around Percy Shelley and Leigh Hunt in the decade following 1813. It encompasses tales of love, betrayal, sacrifice and friendship, all of which played out against a background of political turbulence and intense literary creativity. Daisy is currently the Alistair Horne Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford, and a former Bye-Fellow of New Hall, Cambridge. More information about Young Romantics is available at www.daisyhay.com
Wychwood School Equestrian Team at Addington, April 2010
The team competed in the Headington School and Heythrop Hunt Inter schools and Pony Club show jumping competition. The pupils involved were Olivia Sinclair, Francesca Quesnell and Katie Bettison and all three competed in Class 3. Congratulations to the team!
Olivia and Katie also competed in the Pony Club competition, Katie successfully came third with her team earlier in the day.
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Wychfactor, March 25th 2010
Once again, this was a real treat for all who attended. The evening covered diverse talent ranging from acting, solo musical events and a hilarious take on the Abba song, 'Money, Money, Money' by Henrietta and Anna. However, after a lengthy discussion, the judges: Mrs Chalstrey, Mr Cotton, Miss Odlin and Mrs Corkhill agreed that the first prize went to Eppie Howard, second to Rebecca Goldie and third place to Daisy Ogle. The event was organised to help raise funds and awareness for CLIC Sargent, a charity that supports caring for children and young people with cancer and their families - in hospital and in the community. You can find out more about this charity by clicking here.
Maths Challenge, March 22nd 2010
Wychwood entered a team made up of 2 girls from the LTs and 2 from the Inters for the annual Team Maths Challenge held in the Examination Schools, Oxford.
Form Plays, March 18th 2010
This year’s title was “Just Do It” and the competition was won by the Remove. The cup for the Best Script went to Shell, the cup for Best Production Design to Study II and Best Actress cup to Ella Ashdown, in Shell.
Combined Music and Art trip to the Bate Collection – Musical Evolution and the Ashmoleon Museum!
This combined trip extended the girls' first hand experience beyond what they had been learning in the classroom. At the Bate Collection, near Christ Church Meadow, they saw some wonderful and weird instruments that showed historical ‘evolution’. The girls had the added bonus of actually playing some of the instruments. The Ashmoleon Museum also offered a first hand opportunity to analyse Joseph Turner’s paintings for their Art project on Landscapes. Click here for photos
Inter House Netball, March 9th 2010
Click here for further information
Wychwood Race for Life, Sunday March 7th 2010
World Book Day, March 4th 2010
Wychwood celebrated World Book Day 2010 with a series of events.
We began with an assembly for the whole school. First we had a Quiz about Characters from books then we heard girls and staff members talk about their favourite books followed by Remove reading out a poem about books and then finally ex Wychwood English Teacher now full time author Jo Cotterill, whose new series of books ‘Sweet Hearts’ for girls aged 10-13 launches in June, announced the winners of our Short Story Competition. First prize went to Beth Saward (Shell) with Rozhin Tajermanshadi (Inters) as runner up.
During the morning we had a visit from children's author Marie-Louise Jensen who talked to the girls from Remove, Inters and LTs about her books and her writing. The girls were given an insight into the inspiration and ideas behind Ms Jensen’s latest book ‘Daughter of Fire and Ice’ on a visual journey into life in Iceland during the time of the Vikings. The morning ended with a writing workshop where girls dressed up as Viking characters and everyone had to write about the lives and thoughts of these people. A selection of Ms Jensen’s books were available to buy and many girls went home at the end of the day with a treasured copy signed by the author. A big thank you goes to Marie-Louise Jensen for taking time out of her busy schedule to come and give us all such a special morning.
At lunchtime we had a second hand book sale with books donated by girls and staff and we raised £40 for Book Aid International ( www.bookaid.org )
French with a twist!
Instead of working in class Mrs Wingfield Digby took the Remove boarders to the Café Rouge for some French cuisine and to learn snow related vocabulary en route.
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Snow updates
As we are coming to the time of year where snow and ice may affect travel, we would like to inform parents and pupils that we will do our best to operate as normal in spite of severe weather conditions. Wychwood can never be fully closed because of boarding pupils, but we may take the decision to send pupils home early when the weather is particularly severe. We understand that travel from outlying villages may be particularly difficult (both for pupils and staff) and we do not wish people to take unnecessary risks. We are also aware that if the buses cease to operate girls cannot get in to school.
In exceptional weather situations we will post updates on this site. Please check the website before telephoning the school, but please also keep us informed of absences.
Grimm Fairy Tales, Upper School drama, December 8th
Gym and Dance Evening, December 4th
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Friends of Wychwood Christmas Fair, November 27th.
Click for further information on the Friends
RS Sixth Form Conference, November 19th
History of Art, November 5th
Meeting ex pupil Emma Davidson, Director of Development at the Courtauld Institute of Art.
Remove trip to a Hindu Temple, November 4th 2009
Celebration Day, October 22nd 2009
The new fitness suite is now up and running!
Girls Go Green Week, October 5th 2009
Wychwood School launched Girls Go Green week with an assembly on Friday October 2nd in which girls were made aware of the 10:10 campaign and Girls Go Green week. One of our girls is actively involved, through her father and sister, in the 10:10 campaign and has written a 6 minute speech for Youth Speaks which she delivered passionatley and flawlessly at the end of Friday's assembly. Girls were urged to take a piece of pink card (as in the 10:10 campaign) and write on it what they personally (or their families) will try to do to achieve the 10% reduction in emissions by 2010.
The school has also signed up to the 10:10 campaign and will enlist the help of an environmental specialist at Oxford Brookes University to assist with this.
All the week's assemblies, and some lessons, will be on the Green theme.The boarders will have a "Green Fashion Show" one evening. For our remaining assemblies we will use, among other things, some material from the excellent Guardian article of Saturday September 26th, which includes pictures, poems and short stories. In addition girls will bring in their ideas on their pink sheets of paper. We will combine the GGG theme with that of National Poetry Day on Thursday to sing "Morning has Broken" (words by Eleanor Farjeon) and to read some other poems on this theme. We will then launch our own poetry competition on a green theme, the prize for which will be an apple tree to be planted somewhere appropriate.
The final assembly of the week will be by our Head of Chemistry and she will give more scientific data on the various green agenda.
And, of course, it won't end there....!
Open Evening, September 30th 2009
Day of languages, September 25th 2009
Welcome to Study dinner, September 14th 2009
In the first few weeks of the Michaelmas Term girls are treated to various events which enable them to make friends with both Study years, to meet staff and to bond together as a group. This year's Welcome to Study evening, held on the 14th September, incorporated Italian cuisine with fine wines and a very pleasant champagne reception. There are several other events planned for the forthcoming weeks.
Old Girls' lunch, September 12th 2009
Judi Whymark, outgoing chair of the Old Girls, Deborah Pluck, treasurer of the Old Girls and Chair of the Board of Governors and other Old Girls' committee members came together to welcome Michèle as honorary member following her recent retirement after 38 years at Wychwood.
Art Exhibition, June 29th 2009
The Art Department threw open its doors on Monday to show off a magnificent display of art, textiles and photography produced by this year's GCSE and A level students.
General Studies Week, June 8th 2009
During General Studies week, all Study 1 girls visited Oxford Central Mosque, the University Church and Oxford Synagogue. During these visits, the girls met members of each of the faith communities and were given the opportunity to ask questions and develop their understanding of different faiths in more depth.
Remove History Trip, June 2009
Remove had a fantastic afternoon visit to Oxford Castle as part of their history curriculum. This included a tour of the castle and a workshop in which they were able to handle primary artefacts and develop their historical skills.
Art, Art, Art, May 2009
Eight Lower Transits have had their paintings chosen to be exhibited at the University Museum in Oxford, with Amba Tawake achieving 2nd place in the Years 7-9 category, and Charlene Ng being Commended. The exhibition runs at the Museum from 3pm on Wednesday 6th May to 6pm on Thursday 7th May.
Paintings by 3 Wychwood pupils: Alice Boggis-Rolfe, Christabel Forbes and Rebekah Jones are being exhibited at the North Wall gallery in Summertown, in the Young Artists Open, organised by the Oxford Art Society. Alice Boggis-Rolfe has been awarded the Broad Canvas prize for her oil paintings of 'hands'. The exhibition runs until Saturday 9th May 11-4pm.
Miss Odlin makes it to the premiership!
Congratulations to Miss Odlin, a member of Reading Hockey club, for making it through to the premier league for next season. This is in addition to playing in the national cup later this month.
St George's day social, April 24th 2009
LTs and Inters hosted a thoroughly enjoyable and successful social with boys from Shiplake College on the day after St George's Day. The dancing was fun and a great time was had by all.
Heythrop Hunt, April 8th 2009
Well done to all of those who took part in the Headington School & Heythrop Hunt Pony Club Show Jumping Competition, held at Addington Manor on 8 April
History of Art trip to Rome, March 2009
History of Art trip to Rome, March 2009
A happy and action packed art history trip to Rome. Not only did we explore the buildings of ancient Rome and admire the masterpieces of the High Renaissance and Baroque period but also we had ice creams to sample and shops to investigate in order to encounter the true experience of this great city.
Stopping to catch our breath outside St Peters.
Form Plays, March 17th 2009
This year’s form plays were adjudicated by former pupil, Isobel Lawrence, who works as a stand up comedian and artist. Isobel is an interesting and talented person who wrote the winning script for a number of form plays in her time here. She did a degree in Geography at Bristol University but has always been drawn to drama and opportunities to be creative.
This year’s title was “What really happened” and the competition was won by the Study 2. The cup for the Best Script went to the Study 1 (Sheena Ford-McNicol and Eppie Howard), the cup for Best Production Design to the LTs and Best Actress cup to Tessa Cobb, in the Remove.
A most entertaining afternoon was had by all.
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Staff v Study Netball, March16th 2009
Congratulations to the Study, who after a well fought match, beat the Staff 4-1.
Comic relief, March 13th 2009
Economics and Business Studies trip: Bank of England and London Metal Exchange, 11th March
The girls from both Study 1 and II visited the City of London to experience first hand life inside the square mile. The first appointment of the day was with the Bank the England where they learnt about the Bank's involvement in helping to manage the economy and their role in the setting of the infamous interest rates! In addition to a very informative presentation and dvd, they also got to touch a bar of gold worth £265,000 and have a go at trying to manage the economy themselves; not with much luck!!!
After a quick lunch break to re-charge the batteries, we made our way to the London Metal Exchange. This was a fantastic opportunity to see how the trading floor operates and to hear all the shouting between traders and the famous hand signals that miraculously turn thousands of dollars into firm contracts.
A great day was had by all and it is one that will be repeated in the future.
World Book Day, 5th March
Wychwood celebrated World Book Day 2009 with a visit from prize winning children's author Julia Golding. 35 girls from Remove and Inters were given a real treat during an hour long talk, where they were given an insight into the inspiration and ideas behind Ms Golding's latest novels: Dragonfly and Empty Quarters.
A selection of Ms Golding's books were available to buy and many girls went home at the end of the day with a treasured copy signed in silver pen by the author.
A big thank you goes to Julia Golding for taking time out of her busy schedule to come and give us all such a special morning.
Remove experience a French play, 4th February
Remove had the pleasure of welcoming into school the Onatti Theatre company where they were treated to a fantastic French play in terms of acting and script.
Iceland Trip December 12th 2008
26 intrepid explorers ventured to Iceland on December 12th for a six day awe inspiring trip along the south coast, accompanied by our Icelandic guide Geir. There was never a dull moment from dog sledding, egg boiling in geothermal pools, the fantastic scenery, glaciers, icebergs, waterfalls and amazing geology. All this was enhanced by perfect weather conditions; glorious blue skies, sunshine, combined with a white winter wonderland. We started and finished by swimming outdoors in the steamy environment of the Blue Lagoon.
Close-Up Nature: Science department competition
Caption: Clare Heath-Brown: Junior winner
The science department held their first photographic competition with the title Close-Up Nature. There were 73 fantastic entries!
Art Historians visit the Tate, November 7th
Caption: Art Historians on a previous trip.
Wednesday 5th November 2008
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Former pupil, Alice Hall, announces her latest exhibition.
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Alice Hall, a former Wychwood student, graduated in fine art from The University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in 2007. Since then she has painted landscapes, portraits and still life full time. Alice's abstract grounding resonates in her work to date.
Further examples of Alice's work can be viewed on her web site www.alicehall.co.uk
Celebration Day, Thursday 23rd October 2008
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Religious Studies and History trips, 2nd and 17th October
A visit by the Inters to Dorchester Abbey on the 2nd October gave all the girls a fantastic opportunity to reenact a Medieval Pilgrimage.
On the 17th October, Remove visited Northmoor Trust and the Timescape exhibition where the focus was on understanding chronology through the exploration of the site and artifacts found.
Caption: Remove visit to Northmoor Trust
Caption: Inters visit to Dorchester Abbey
Holden Point, East London 13th October 2008
Caption:Holden Point
The Geographers from Study and Shell visited East London on Monday 13th October to attend a talk at Holden Point, a 23 floor tower block which has a viewing platform for observing the development of the Olympic Village. A talk was given on the impact of the Olympics 2012 on the regeneration of the most deprived part of the city. Later they visited the Docklands and Canary Wharf to experience the changes which have already taken place.
European Day of Languages, September 26th 2008
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Exam Success, August 2008
Caption: Hing Yan: Ranked in top ten
In addition to Wychwood Biologist and Physicist of the year, Hing Yan was amongst the top ten students according to Edexcel, the UK's largest awarding body. Hing Yan sat the GCE Mathematics exam earlier this summer and the results, issued in August 2008, show that out of 28886 candidates, Hing Yan achieved one of the highest overall marks. Many congratulations to Hing Yan!
Study Ball, June 20th 2008
Caption: Study Ball 2008
The sun shone, the party dresses were out and Mr Cotton et al. braved the 'Bucking Bronco'!
June 9th - 13th: Study 1 General Studies week
Caption: June 11th, Chalfont Classic Cuisine
Click here for further information on the
Study 1 greater Extension Programme.
Study v Staff Rounders match, June 9th 2008
Well done to the staff, who after a lot of tactical fielding, running and throwing, narrowly beat the Study team!
Caption: The staff team!!
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Oxford Brookes Oxfordshire Schools Poetry competition 2008
Yet another poetry success....More...
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Fair Trade Fashion Show
High Tea at the Randolph for the poetry winners!
On Thursday 6th March 2008 the winner, Jennifer Heath Brown, the runner-up Daniella Ashdown, and the two girls who were Highly Commended in the recent school poetry competition, Hollie James and Bethanie Saward were treated to High Tea at the Randolph Hotel, here in Oxford. More...
Mrs Cotterill keeps on writing...
Mrs Cotterill, part time teacher of English (who writes under the name Joanna Kenrick) has a new book out – MIND-SET which is published by Barrington Stoke. This is in addition to RED TEARS AND MOONDANCE. More....
Team Wychwood have done it again!
Many congratulations to Daniella, Rosie and Tara, who have got through the second round of the Intermediate Rotary Youth Speaks competition with another outstanding performance of their presentation on Global Warming, ‘An Uncomfortable Truth.’ More...
Heather Tranter Award
Many Congratulations to Head girl, Jennifer Sainsbury, who has been awarded the Heather Tranter English award.More...
Wychwood Biologist of the Year
Many congratulations to Teresa Tsang who has been voted Wychwood Biologist of the Year for 2007-08. Teresa will attend a presentation ceremony as part of the Oxfordshire Independent State school partnership at the Museum of Natural History, Oxford to collect her award.
Pink Carpet treatment for 3 Wychwood Old Girls!
There are not many young 22 year old women who could close Magdalene Rd in Oxford for an evening but Wychwood Old girl, Vicky Jewson, who left in 2004, realised her lifelong ambition on Tuesday 22nd January as she waited for the Premiere of her first feature length film, ‘Lady Godiva’. More...
Wychwood Winners!
Wychwood hosted the annual Rotary Club ‘Youthspeaks’ Intermediate competition on Monday 21st January and we were delighted to welcome teams from Leckford Place, Rye St Antony and The Cherwell. Seven teams competed in total and the judges were awed by the overall standard this year; ‘the bar has been raised and it frightened us!’ More...
BBC Wildlife Poet of the Year
The 12-14 Winner of the BBC Wildlife Poet of the Year competition was Jennifer Heath-Brown with her poem, 'Bats'. More...
English Literature Top 5
Many congratulations to Lucy Jeczalik who came to collect her GCSE grades last August only to discover that she had another envelope to open. She had received one of the top five marks for GCSE Literature in the country, just one year after Jenny Sainsbury and two years after India Bannerman had done the same.
Eco School
The Wychwood Eco-Schools project is part of a nationally co-ordinated project that we joined in 2007. It aims to achieve a better world by guiding young people of all ages in their understanding of their environment. More...
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