April 2020 Newsletter – Issue 24 A It was ELECTRIFYING – GREASE THE MUSICAL Grease was the word on everybody’s lips on 25 – 28 February 2020. Tolworth Girls’ School and Sixth Form and Southborough High School collaborated for the second time on one of the most loved musicals ‘GREASE’. The tale of a whirlwind summer romance, leather-clad greaser Danny (Teddy) and pretty-little Sandy (Kitty and Rosanna) were unexpectedly reunited when she transferred to Rydell High for Senior year. Tolworth Girls’ School Hall was full of the trials and tribulations of teenage life in the 1950s, during four nights of which most were sell out performances. The students stepped up to the challenges of some of the most energetic musical numbers to grace the stage, with the show’s vibrant colours and the casts talent made this a spellbinding performance week for the audience. Mrs Wilson (Head of Drama at Tolworth Girls’ School) and Miss Parsons (Head of Drama at Southborough High School) directed the show and couldn’t be prouder of the achievements of the 70 odd In this issue: performers involved. They are proud that the show was a Letter from the Headteacher 2 student lead production with the backstage crew, lighting operators, sound operators and band all being students. All Year 7 3 participants worked together to create a show which was truly Year 8 4 electrifying and we couldn’t be prouder! Year 9 5 Year 10 6 Year 11 8 Year 12 and Year 13 8 Events for all Year Groups 12 PFA News 18 General Information 19 For further photos, please see Page 13 www.tolworthgirlsschool.co.uk // Tel: 020 8397 3854 // Fax: 020 8974 2600 April 2020 Newsletter – Issue 24 3 April 2020 Dear Parents/Carers and Students Tolworth Girls’ School & Sixth Form What a term we have had! As I write this, the sun is shining and we are anticipating a most wonderful weekend of sunshine and high temperatures, the hottest so far this year. We would ordinarily plan some excursion, a long walk, a visit to see relatives, a picnic, bike rides, a chance for the ‘kids’ to meet their friends and have some fun. However, we are not able to plan to do most of those things, life is temporarily on hold as we adjust to a new norm. For the first time in forever school is shut, not closed but shut, and that place where we spend a great deal of our time is now an echoey place with empty classrooms, hallways and playgrounds. I did a walk around school last week and although I swear I could hear laughter and chatter and footsteps down the corridors, it was sadly my imagination - how I missed our students. My mum says that you do not appreciate something until it is gone or taken away from you and I find myself in that place really appreciating what we have as a school. Tolworth is so much more than an exam factory, it is a real community caring for the students and our families within that community, so we do what we always do in a crisis, ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’, or as I said to our staff, ‘When the going gets tough, Tolworth will get going’. So we are determined to keep our students educated and also looked after; we are all used to a rhythm and a routine and of course socialising - when that is taken away from us our Wellbeing and Mental Health could become an issue. It is therefore important that you ask for help if you need it. We are the Lead School in Kingston for the Wellbeing Project and are well placed with contact details of those who can offer support and a listening ear. We will continue to provide work for our students and I will be sending a package of information over the next few days on how this will work and what it means for parents. I do think you need to be kind to yourselves and realise that it is not ‘Home School’ but ‘Home Learning’ and that there are so many different types of learning that happen incidentally. It will be our job to pick up all of the pieces when we get back to work and help all of our students to reach their true potential. My heart really does go out to our Year 11 and Year 13 students, I did think that I would have been able to let them know what we are going to do about their examinations, but the Department for Education (DfE) has not yet released that information. Please do be reassured that we do have the data that we need and we will be looking at your potential grades as well as work covered to date. As soon as we know, you will know. We will, I promise you, have our celebrations and our ‘cheesy poems’ and I will personally DJ your Prom, even if we have to hold it at school; I can do wonders with net curtain and sparkles - you will all get to go to the ball… Please do take the time to look at our newsletter, it really does showcase this amazing school and the people that make it such a wonderful community. I have had my daily exercise today and am meeting so many new people as they go on their daily rambles in my area. All of us are so keen to say, ‘Hello, how are you?’, share a moan, check that we have all we need - complete strangers are now becoming friends and we are all looking out for each other. I will certainly be banging my saucepans for our NHS workers tonight, we have donated nearly 200 goggles to local hospitals and GPs – please let us know if more are needed, we do have spares. We are continuing to run our ‘Mini School’ for key workers and please do contact us if you need anything, food drops have taken place, laptops and dongles have been loaned, and as a community we really are all in this together. Keep safe, stay at home, wash your hands and contact me if you need a hand: [email protected] Yours faithfully Siobhán Lowe Headteacher www.tolworthgirlsschool.co.uk // Tel: 020 8397 3854 // Fax: 020 8974 2600 2 April 2020 Newsletter – Issue 24 Year 7 News From the Acting Heads of Year, Miss Pondaven and Mr Garnham and the Deputy Head of Year, Miss Durcan I would like to say big congratulations to every single Year 7 student here at Tolworth Girls' School & Sixth Form. The students have transitioned to life in secondary school very well. This year we have had fun at the Year 7 Disco and the Festive Foyer, and got to experience learning outside of the classroom on the Whole School Curriculum Day, which involved going on an RS trip to Neasden Temple, and a Geography/Art trip to Kew Gardens. A huge congratulation needs to go to 7 Opal for having the highest attendance and 7 Topaz for having the highest ePraise point total out of every form group so far this year. I have been incredibly impressed with how Year 7 have maturely handled the current situation that we are in and I am very pleased to see so many of you getting into good routines early and producing some fantastic work. Trips and Activities - Year 7 Performance Poetry: Whole School Curriculum Day 2020 On Whole School Curriculum Day this term, our normal timetables were suspended and Year 7 took part in a unique and one-off Performance Poetry Workshop for the day. Students had the privilege of spending the day with the renowned performance poet Kat Francois; Kat is not only a performance poet, but a playwright, director, actor, comedian, and personal trainer! She was the first person to win a televised Poetry Slam in the UK, on BBC3 in 2004, and a year later went on to win the World Slam Poetry Championships in Rotterdam. Kat has worked with young people for many years, as a youth worker and teacher of dance, drama, poetry and performance skills. She has also performed numerous times on radio and television, including Kat doing what she does best! BLUE PETER and the BIG POETRY SLAM. On the day, students were given the exciting opportunity to explore and deepen their poetry writing and performance skills, as well as being treated to a whole host of activities, some of which included mystery food tasting; poetry readings delivered by Kat; voice and performance exercises, alongside being able to write, perform and compete in a ‘Poetry Slam’ in the afternoon. The work produced and the performances delivered were absolutely stunning and huge congratulations to the group from 7 Pearl who won the slam. We hope to repeat the event again next year - watch this space! Performance Poetry in action! The Winning Team from 7 Pearl and the judges: Miss Gatt, Kat Francois and Mrs Marillat www.tolworthgirlsschool.co.uk // Tel: 020 8397 3854 // Fax: 020 8974 2600 3 April 2020 Newsletter – Issue 24 Year 8 News From the Head of Year, Miss Lowe and the Deputy Head of Year, Miss Hall Year 8 have had another successful term. The focus for Year 8 has been the selection of their GCSE choices. The students have approached this process with maturity and careful consideration and they seem excited to start their GCSE courses in September 2020. The PSHE programme also supported them with their GCSE options decision making. The first part of the term was spent looking at careers and the skill sets that are needed to go alongside certain careers.