South Hampstead High School

[shhsforgirls]

Farewell to South Hampstead: Second Half of Miss Pike's Final Assembly

During my first whole-school assembly, I talked about beginnings and endings in fiction.  I reflected on an observation by the critic James Wood, that novels usually begin much better than they end.  Make sure that life is better than art, I exhorted the girls: make sure that your school careers end better than they begin.

But while what James Wood says about beginnings being better than endings bears some truth for fiction, it doesn’t hold true for poetry, where the quality of the thought and the language often come together at the end.  Imagine what Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach would be like without the final verse.

I have been reflecting on poetry this term because, good student of Growth Mindset that I am, I leapt out of my comfort zone and tried to teach poetry with my Year 7s.  I say ‘teach with’ because I do not see facilitating writing or any form of creativity as something that I can teach ‘to’ anyone.  And as for delivery as opposed to teaching—one of the many reasons I abhor this word in the classroom is that ‘to deliver’ is even less collaborative than ‘to teach.’

Every Headmistress of this school sets her own tone, and the job is essentially one of stewardship.  As a headmistress, whether you are here for three years or thirty, the best you can hope for is to leave the institution in a slightly better state than when you joined it. This has been a remarkable school since 1876, and it will be in 2076, too. I hope that the girls will be here to celebrate the bicentenary; sadly it is unlikely that I shall be with you for that celebration, much as I enjoy a big party.  There is however the 150thin ten years’ time, and we do need a full history of the school to be written by then.  Some of the girls have suggested that we mark the 140th this year, and there will be some festivities in November.

One of the many pleasant surprises of becoming a Headmistress is that one is called on to assume the role of school bard.   Being a narrator of the school history is a less obvious aspect of the two poles of my job, namely carrying the flag (that flagpole pun was also for you, Mrs Wagner) and carrying the can.  Which is all by way of saying that I have spent a lot of time during the past three years thinking about what makes this school so distinctively remarkable.  

There are three key elements: the first is the tradition which sustains the school and gives it ballast and confidence.   I am convinced that we can draw from our history and celebrate it more, as I have already said.   It is partly for this reason that I have appointed a school archivist, and I am delighted that Mrs Coates has assumed this mantle. It will suit her well. We also now have an alumnae officer, so that we can keep on touch with former pupils- who will all too soon be you- forever.  You will always be a South Hampstead girl, and you will remain one of the school’s key assets.  

The second and third key elements of what makes SHHS the great school it is are carefully interwoven, and they are the spirit and love of learning which animates the place, and the way we wear quite lightly the high-octane achievement which permeates everything.  (I fear that was a mixed metaphor; my apologies to the Chemistry department.)  There are some schools in which the sense of school is somehow much bigger than the individuals who inhabit it; here my guiding principle is that you are the school, and everything else is an abstraction which is only of value insofar as it makes the school of the present and the foreseeable future the very best it can be.  Your parents entrust us with a significant chunk of your childhood, and making that full of joy and possibility is what gets all of your teachers out of bed each morning.  

To repeat more plainly: what makes this school really great, every day of the week, is all of you.  That you have formed a ukelele orchestra.  That senior girls write plays for the junior girls, coach them in sport, help them with their homework and friendships. Above all, the things you do when everyone isn’t looking.  That Kira Noussia-Hinsley spent a week in Greece helping Syrian refugees. That Yasmine Lingemann did work experience in a hospital in Morocco.  That Rebecca Lawson has been so generous about my failure not only to pass but even be in the building to take my Grade One Saxophone exam.  I could give you many excuses for this, not least my being psyched out by all the teachers who claimed they were going to fail, only to secure eye-wateringly high distinctions.

I have talked a lot about love this year in particular, and here is where words fail me, because I am not always sure that I am able to communicate how much I have enjoyed being your Headmistress.   As I hope you are learning, love makes you confident and strong, and I would not be able to contemplate a second headship with any joy at all if I had not been so fulfilled here.  This is what I hope that all of you will come to understand, when you leave this place.  It is not an easy school to leave, and for me, as the school song whose words we never can quite remember has it, it is always full of joyful light.

When I first joined the school, I approached diligently the question of what our motto, Mehr Licht, meant.  As an historian, I was frustrated that I could not read to you what Mrs Allen Olney, the first Headmistress, intended when she chose it.  I was even more perplexed when  I discovered it was not clear to scholars whether or not Goethe, when he called for Mehr Licht on his deathbed, was making a plea for further intellectual stimulation or for his curtains to be opened.  (From the teachers in the windowless offices on the Fifth and Sixth floors, I am confident of the latter, more literal interpretation.)

Goethe was an early theorist of the science of colour.  He regarded Newton as wrong.  To him, colour was not about laws governing light waves; it was about perception and temperament.  While Goethe was wrong in challenging Newton as fully as he did, Goethe did anticipate our understanding that colour isn’t just about different light waves entering the eyes, but that it is also about how our brain perceives them.  Hence colour blind people perceive colour differently, and we react to colours in different ways depending on our mood or how they are placed next to each other.    

But now, having been your Headmistress, I have approached this question of the meaning of Mehr Licht from a different perspective. I see more light everywhere; even—and perhaps particularly-- in the Maths office.  I see it in the liberal, tolerant traditions that we foster in our inquiry; in our lightness of touch with regard to school rules and formality; in the lightness of tone which characterises conversations between you and your teachers, and each other; and, yes, in the new glass-fronted building which houses our aspirations; and even in that splendid early Faraday chandelier which now hangs in Oakwood.  I see how wise it was to have a school motto which understands that enlightenment is going to be no more than invisible bouncing waves of light and sound, if it is not able to find a welcome home in the minds of those who receive it.  If we are not open-hearted, as the second of the school watchwords which you chose has it, then we cannot hope to open our eyes and our minds.

And so I wish you many happy years of more light.  Certainly you will always have a home in my heart.

[shhsforgirls]

Doorstep Christmas Present Appeal

Despite being somewhat buried in an avalanche of work and carol concert rehearsals, the Sixth Form managed to find time to respond to the Head Girl Team's call to arms to provide gifts for children at the homeless families' shelter, Doorstep, based close to school on the Finchley Road. Every Sixth Former was allocated a specific child, so that presents could be as personal as possible. The enthusiasm was overwhelming - the presents were delivered on Monday 7th December after a few frantic hours of elf-like wrapping and labelling. Thanks to the thoughtful cooperation of Years 12 and 13, with some girls even getting siblings involved, or providing multiple gifts, all 150 children will have a present come Christmas Day. The charity, which recently lost council funding that supported the invaluable work it does for the Camden and Kilburn community, expressed its gratitude to SHHS Sixth Formers, and some members of the year group are thrilled to be invited to the Doorstep Christmas Party to meet the children opening their gifts. 

Written by Jess Brown, Head Girl Year 13. Top Photo.

All SHHS girls in the senior school also collected presents for children’s charity, Barnardos (Bottom photo). They were for children of all age range and will be distributed to families locally.

[shhsforgirls]

Classics Trip to Greece, October Half Term

Last Half Term, a group of 30 odd senior classicists embarked on their own Odyssey through mainland Greece, visiting a multitude of museums, temples and other well-known sites along the way.

The journey began in Athens, where, after ascending the Acropolis to reach Greece’s most famous landmark - the Parthenon, we wandered through the ancient agora, and were thoroughly impressed by the New Acropolis Museum. The next day included a trip to the National Archaeological Museum, where we came face to face with Agamemnon (in death mask form). We then moved on to Delphi, and visited the sacred sanctuary of Apollo, hoping to receive some insight into our futures from the famous Oracle. While we were disappointed by the lack of prophecy, the scenery provided by the neighbouring mountains certainly created an exciting sense of mysticism!

Olympia was next on our itinerary, and while our athleticism proved lacking in the stadium, the other ruins at the site- including the impressive pediment depicting the myth of the city’s foundation - were definitely not to be forgotten. Our hotel for the last two nights was situated right on the beach, where we happily made the most of our last sunny days. Despite the unusual and unexpectedly British weather, we made our way under the Lion Gate up to the ancient fortifications of Mycenae, following in the footsteps of both King Agamemnon and Alexander the Great. We stopped for lunch in Nafplion, deemed one of Greece’s most beautiful towns, before moving onto Epidavros, home of the healer god, Asclepius, where he provided a welcoming sanctuary to those in need of help. Perhaps the most eye-catching of the ruins at Epidavros was the huge theatre, whose outstanding acoustics were demonstrated by performances and the applause that followed.

On our final day, we waded through the floods at Corinth which was convincingly tragic as the setting for Medea. Our last stop was the scenic Temple of Poseidon, 60m directly above the sea, which was admired from across the bay, as we enjoyed our final Greek meal. Aside from our extensive tour of ancient sites, other highlights included several evening activities, such as performing our own tragedies and a hearty game of classical charades. Last but not least, our exploration of authentic Greek food was thoroughly enjoyed. We would like to thank Mrs. Marriott for organising and leading such a fantastic trip and would definitely recommend it to future classicists. 

Written by Fushu Beauthier 6.4a and Anna Herzog 6.1a.

[shhsforgirls]

12 Days of Christmas?

December 2015

As we approach the Winter break, I find myself reflecting upon my first term at SHHS. Let me tell you how joyful it has been for me – here are my 12 happy moments (so many to choose from!).

1. Early in the term, I delivered my first whole school assembly – usually a make or break moment for any teacher. I think I passed the test, but better still was the reaction of the students – so many came to see me to say they wanted to ‘do their bit’, to volunteer, to support a charity, to run a club. Thank you, for hearing my message, and taking it forward.

2. I had the chance to observe a most inspiring teacher this term – working with Year 9, decoding and unpacking the messages found in popular culture, linking them to a book they were studying. What joy – yes, really, it was joy! – to see and hear the Year 9 girls debate, argue, use their critical thinking, all under the very skilful direction of this teacher. I wish I had had such an inspiring English Literature teacher when I was at school. Thank you for this moment.

3. In November, terrible attacks happened in Paris. Girls were shocked; angry, sometimes; incredulous, often. Whole-class discussions on these events were the focus of two of my French lessons. How heart-warming to see girls engage with their world. How promising to know their sharp mind, and their kindness, will take charge of tomorrow’s world. Thank you for your compassion.

4. I attended my first Winter Concert – music can often say so much more than words, so my gratitude will no doubt be poorly expressed. I had goose bumps all evening! Thank you to the amazing teachers who masterminded the evening, and to the girls, whose dedication to music enchanted everyone.

5. As part of my role, I am on Atrium duty every Friday morning. You might think it tedious to stand there for 20 minutes (on a Friday, of all days) …. but I actually rather like saying good morning to the students and teachers as they pass through the doors – and am secretly thrilled when they say good morning back!

6. From January, SHHS will be supporting a local charity, The Winch. I am so pleased we can make this happen. Thank you to the Charity Committee, who went to visit the centre, and to the students who will contribute to it next term.

7. What a lovely evening did the Modern Languages department organise a few weeks ago! I laughed, and laughed some more. Heartily so. Merci!

8. The Charity Committee and I have met a few times this term. We had a meeting a couple of weeks ago, and I left feeling we were finally getting somewhere. I cannot wait to see how students will contribute to our chosen charities. Thank you for giving hope.

9. The cakes at school… Need I say more?

10. I was invited to attend the LGBTQ Discussion Group earlier this term. I listened, more than I participated, and was quite astounded by the level of maturity in that room – toleration was palpable. As it should be.

11. The Festive Fair! Working with FOSH to make this possible was very exciting – as was the crowd’s delight on the day! Thank you to the parents and girls who supported the fair.

12. Above all, the friendliness of staff and students alike has made this term a marvellous one. Every day, be it grey or windy outside, I see many smiles, bringing sunshine in the school. Thank you, for making my first term a happy one.

By Sandrine Paillasse, Deputy Head (Community and Professional Development)

[shhsforgirls]

House Lip Syncing

Written by Georgia Wright, Bodington

October 2015

On the last day of Half Term the whole school came together for the newest house event, House Lip Syncing, which was hosted by Mr Crockatt. Everyone was in good spirits and the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement.

Walker’s Year 7s kicked it off with a very strong and polished performance of ‘Low’ by Flo Rida. The crowd went wild at their impressive break dancing skills and stage presence. Next up was year 10 with a super cool performance of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme tune. Their Sixth Formers captivated the audience with their emotional rendition of ‘Tell Me Why’ by The Backstreet Boys. It was going to be hard for the other houses to compete with this lot! Potter’s Year 7s gave a charming performance of ‘Let It Go’ from the popular Disney original Frozen. Their Sixth Formers gave us lots of attitude in their performance of ‘Down with the Trumpets’ by Rizzle Kicks, showing off their remarkable dance moves. Next up we had Bodington with a classic, ‘Ice Ice Baby’. Their dancing was perfectly synchronised, as was their lip syncing; a spectacular performance. Their Year 10s gave a rather inspiring yet lengthy(!) performance of ‘Super Bass’ by Nicki Minaj, bursting with energy and enthusiasm, you couldn't help but dance along (for the whole 5 minutes!). Their Sixth Formers gave a heart-warming and moving rendition of ‘Start of Something New” from High School Musical which brought members of the audience to tears.

Finally Benton wowed the crowd with ‘I Will Survive’, a fantastic performance with buckets of energy. Their Year 10s had a hilarious performance of ‘Summer Loving’ from ‘Grease’ with half of them playing the guys and half of them playing the girls. We really did have a blast! The Benton Sixth Formers ended the event with a bang, with a sensational performance of ‘Pina Colada’ (non-alcoholic of course!).

The suspense was high as we waited for the result. All of the Houses cheered and chanted to support their fellow house members. Finally, we found out the result; Walker won! Benton was second followed by Bodington in third, leaving Potter with last place. It was a well-deserved win; congratulations Walker! Overall the day was a complete success. Now it’s time to warm up our vocal chords and practise our scales to prepare for House Music!

[shhsforgirls]

Into the Shadow World, In Every Grave a Life

A poem communally Written by SHHS Students and Staff on the 2015 WWI Battlefields Trip

October 2015

I.

The whizz-bang flash of tourists’ cameras Illuminate the names of the missing. The hurt and pain felt, but not by them, Not by how they choose to remember.

A photograph captured effortlessly but filled with pain. We, too, were here. We visited the graves. We will never forget eerie silence, that hangs like a shroud Caught on barbed wire, the noise of war no longer heard.

Crisp, white headstones in uniform like blank Staring faces, come to life and turn into soldiers Lined up as straight as the day they died; Rows and rows, lines and lines of them

Stretching forever, from dawn until dusk. Squares, crosses, writings on cold stone while Spirits moan. Below the files of marble, scattered Bones lie, muffled cries of the past. One brave soul –

No number. No name. A soldier of the Great War As a flower he was cut: Crimson red, Blood red; A poppy under the baking sun: The red flower that shattered our country

Into a million red petals in disturbed ground. A stone replaces years of heaven and months Of hell. Forget-me-not.

II.

On this fair field a hundred years ago, A poison spread over the world, not of Chemical strength but of human weakness. On this fair field a hundred years ago, A war that showed the true nature of man.

A poppy danced against the current Of swirling winds and cold showers. A soldier danced against the current Of steel: unforgiving shells shooting

Into the sky. Big shoes worn by small men. On the hills, all of our comrades hand in Hand. We remember those brave souls that Fought, fought for our future and our

Lives.

III.

Now, on those fields, farmers milk cows Grazing on grass in disturbed soil, Fertile with memory, cows chewing A blood fed cud.

To the left: a structure built to encourage Creativity and play. To the right: a structure Used to kill minds and bodies of the young. One generation encourages young minds

The other leaves them behind.

[shhsforgirls]

Berlin Exchange Visit in London 2015 

 We are proud of our established link with the Berlin Grammar School Goethe Oberschule. Our recent trip to Germany was a great experience for all our students. In return, our German students and colleagues came to visit us between the 25th and 30th of September 2015. On Monday, the 28th September they visited our school and shadowed our Y11 girls during the whole school assembly and their morning lessons. On the same day we organised a welcome breakfast buffet (with lovely pastries and hot chocolate!) for our guests, who enjoyed it so much! We had great pleasure in inviting our Headmistress Helen Pike, all Senior Management Team and our MFL teachers to this meeting who came along and greeted our exchanges in person. It was a very memorable get-together experience for all of us and all our guests appreciated being able to come here, to strengthen the relationships with their hosts and to experience the English school routine.

Mrs. Bartnicka (German & Spanish Teacher/ Visit Leader)

[shhsforgirls]

Berlin Exchange Visit in London 2015 (25-30 Sept 2015)

October 2015

We were really excited to see our exchanges again after 5 months and we were really looking forward to showing them around London or the next 5 days. After taking our exchanges home so they could meet our families and get settled we then went out again to show them around Camden. On a Friday afternoon the Lock was bustling and so we showed them around the market, which the exchanges all loved, before taking them for dinner around the corner at Wagamama. With all the English and German people mixed up along the table it was a really great bonding experience for everyone. 

On Saturday, Natalia and I went with our friend Martha up to Westfield Stratford to show them the Shopping centre and the Olympic swimming pool, where we briefly watched Natalia training in the pool. We then met up with Gaia and her exchange Alex and went shopping with the exchanges and having a lunch together. After that we all went back to our respective homes and relaxed for a couples of hours before heading out in the evening to meet up with everyone on the exchange and socializing at on of the English people’s house for the evening. 

On Sunday all the people on the exchange went out to Oxford street to show the Germans one of London’s most famous roads and circus, which was really enjoyable and the Germans really loved the experience.

On Monday the German students accompanied us for the first 4 periods of school, or shadowed us. After spending the morning shadowing our lessons, we went out with the exchanges to The City were after getting some lunch we went onto the London Eye, which was a wonderful experience for everyone as we were all able to see the entirety of London in all its glory. After this we all went home and Natalia spent the evening watching a film with her exchange, which was very enjoyable.

Tuesday was our final full day with the exchanges, and while we were at school that day, they went out to look at more of the cultural aspects of London, which we were later told was really fun, and after school I took some of the exchanges back to Camden, as they had loved it so much. We ate in the Cereal Killer Café and my exchanges bought some gifts for all her family, which was nice.

The exchanges left early on Wednesday morning, and it was a sad experience for everyone to see them go, with everyone hugging and promising to see each other again soon.

This exchange will definitely not be an experience we will ever forget, every moment was so fantastic and we are so happy to have been a part of it.

By Kitty Clarke  & Natalia Kaczmarczyk (Y11)

[shhsforgirls]

Can’t be bothered to vote?  Go and see this film….

Friday 16 October 2015

Yesterday we were lucky enough to have a school screening of Suffragette at the Everyman Hampstead.  This remarkable film is special to the school for a number of reasons: a parent, Eve Gabereau, is the film’s distributor; and one of its stars, Helena Bonham Carter, is an alumna of SHHS. Helena sent a message to us at the beginning of the film, saying she was sorry not to be able to come and introduce the film, since her experiences at SHHS with its fine history of educating women had been very much in her mind when she was preparing for her role, and because the school contributed so much to who she is.  

SHHS also has historic connections with the suffrage movement in the person of one of the school’s first Classics teachers, Margaret Wynne Nevinson.  Nevinson was a pioneer in many ways.  In 1882, she was one of sixty-three women who gained diploma and title Lady Literate in Arts from the University of St Andrews.  In common with many suffragists and suffragettes, she was photographed in 1910 in her academic robes.  She studied Education, German and Latin, subjects which are particularly consonant with the intellectual interests of South Hampstead at its foundation; hence our motto, Goethe’s dying words of Mehr Licht.

Nevinson was involved in a number of women’s suffrage groups.  The post for which I have most affection is that of treasurer of the Women Writers’ Suffrage League; Nevinson was also a member of the Church League for Women’s Suffrage and the Cymric Suffrage Union.  

The film was also introduced by two representatives from the Fawcett Society, who spoke to the girls about the history and context of the film, and the continuing work that the Society does to promote equality.  Many girls went to speak to them at the end, so we hope for some new members and ongoing collaboration.  

Margaret Nevinson left South Hampstead to be a school manager, first in the East End, then for the LCC in St Pancras.  In 1904, she became a Hampstead Poor Law Guardian. (It is remarkable to note that the last workhouse was not closed in Britain until 1926.)  This role led to the publication of her best-known book, Workhouse Characters, which was published in 1918.  

Less readily available is Nevinson’s autobiography, Life’s Fitful Fever, which was published in 1926.  Nevinson had much about which to write.  And having seen Suffragette, South Hampstead girls had much to talk about— once they had recovered themselves.  It is a cliché to say that there was scarcely a dry eye in the house, but yesterday it was true.  It should be said that this is a film which showed an astonishing ability to avoid (or perhaps breathe convincingly and fresh life into?) the more obvious potential clichés.  The film ends shockingly, even to those who know the story of the suffragette movement, then has a moving coda.  The happy ending comes less for the characters than it does for the cause, and scriptwriter Abi Morgan refuses to compromise on that.  The credits list the year in which women achieved the vote in various countries around the world; the girls gasped when Switzerland appeared in 1971.  (Mrs Wagner points out that we in the UK do not understand federalism, and Basel-Stadt, the Canton from which she hails, gave women the vote in 1957.) The roll ends with the news that Saudi Arabia has promised women the vote this very year. Who knows?  This might be another happy ending for this surprising and humbling film.  

Any woman, or indeed man for that matter, who thinks they can’t be bothered to vote should go and see this film.  And if you do vote, go and see it anyway.  

Major source: Angela V John’s biography of Margaret Wynne Nevinson, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 40

Thanks to 20th Century Fox and Pathé Films for the special SHHS screening, and to Miss Paillasse for organising the evening.    

@SuffragetteFilm @BittersweetBC @FawcettSociety

[shhsforgirls]

Head’s blog on HMC Conference

October 2015

Last week I attended my first HMC Conference (the Headmasters' & Headmistresses' Conference) in St Andrews.  It was a thought-provoking week, devoted to reflection on preparing young people for the challenges of the future.  On the first day we heard from Rohit Talwar, a futurologist who spoke about the impact of technology on our lives, and the need to rethink work if our children are to live to 120.  

The Chairman’s address tackled, among other things, some of the anomalies and iniquities of the current examining system; HMC, along with the GSA, has done much work behind the scenes to try and ensure fairer marking at AS and A2 of creative subjects and Modern Foreign Languages in particular.  The issue is not simply one of justice and the UCAS prospects of the candidates who take the exams, though these in themselves are critical; it is also one of the fate of subjects such as German, which are already flagging in terms of uptake and suffer disproportionately therefore from the body blow of harsh, inaccurate marking.  

The debate as to whether or not it would be better to have one exam board, and/or an unprivatised examining system, and/or whether or not the exam boards should be subsidised, continues.   A major argument against one exam board in England is a practical one, we are told: the number of candidates who would need to be processed.  At present, schools do at least have some sanction in the face of erratic marking and a byzantine appeals process: they might (for most subjects at least) take their business elsewhere, as SHHS has done in a number of subjects recently.  I cannot think of any one of the exam boards which would currently inspire my confidence, were it to be the only award-making body in the UK.  I would rather see a review of the prioritising of how scripts are marked and by whom, and of the regulations relating to appeal.  As many of you know from experience, these are currently a quagmire with some added booby-traps.

The HMC conference is an occasion which attracts considerable press coverage.  What became increasingly salient was the disjunct between what was being said during the conference and what was reported.  By Thursday, the decision was therefore taken to ask the press not to attend the session on Wellbeing, which was a great pity since the independent sector is doing so much enhance the health and resilience of pupils in its schools. At SHHS, our commitment to mindfulness and our having another Wellness Week in November are not badges we wear nor events we deploy to tick boxes; they are part of a programme which springs from the ethos of the school.  Of course, “Heads have reasonable discussion about their pupils’ wellbeing" is not an attention-grabbing trope in journalism.  

My favourite study in what can happen to a story came from the panel I attended at the University of St Andrews.  The speakers included two MSPs; Louise Richardson, Vice Chancellor of the University of St Andrews and the first female Vice Chancellor-elect of Oxford University; and Mary Curnock Cook, the Chief Executive of UCAS.  The latter’s remarks dominated the proceedings; and rightly so: she knows more about higher education as a whole than anyone else in the panel.  She began with a letter which had appeared in the Times the previous week  from a girl who had done a degree in Physics, had not enjoyed it, and had then got an accountancy job, and was also not enjoying that, and wished she’d had the courage to work out what she did actually enjoy.  We don’t know where this girl went to school— but let’s imagine, Curnock Cook suggested, that she went to an independent school.  Why?  Because people from independent school apply to only about 10% of the 30,000 courses which UCAS has to offer.  These tend to be at Russell group or equivalent universities, and they are in the more “traditional” courses. The point Curnock Cook was making seemed to me to be twofold: first, we should ensure that our pupils are considering the full range of what is out there in higher education and in their future lives—a key theme of the conference; and second, we should keep doing what we are trying to do with regard to careers education and broader exposure to the jobs of the future…. many of which won’t have been created yet.  (A phrase which was much used at the conference and is in danger of becoming in cliché in education circles, but I digress.)  Curnock Cook gave us one memorable phrase: 'pupils should not sleepwalk through an identikit education into an off-the-peg life.’ And there the story was born.  It appeared in the Guardian as http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/oct/07/private-school-students-are-sleepwalking-into-predictable-careers

Then began its half-life on twitter, with Sam Freedman’s #tinyviolins summing up the predictable lack of sympathy which this story of poor little rich children blindly following their parents inspired in most readers who then tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Chairman’s attempt to defuse what he terms “toffism,” the antipathy to independent schools which puts us all in boaters and top hats then beats us all around the head with the walking canes which have presumably just been wrested from our exquisitely manicured hands, inspired a similar and perhaps predictable response.  

Fascinating though the conference was, it is always good to be back in school.  And in the meantime, you as parents continue to make the decisions and often the necessary sacrifices to send your daughters to SHHS, while we get on with the job of securing their flourishing…..

@HMC_Org

[shhsforgirls]

Blog on South Hampstead’s Refugee Week by Molly Windust, Year 12

October 2015

Last week South Hampstead embarked on fundraising mission for Save the Children, Unicef and Oxfam’s refugee crisis appeal. 

We started the week with a screening of The Guardian’s documentary following one family’s journey from Syria into Europe and the hardships they endured. This was an extremely moving film but also very uplifting as it showed how brave and determined this one family were. Following this on Tuesday, the lower years took part in a quiz about the history of refugees in Britain and the current crisis. This had some astonishing facts about how many refugees have previously been in Britain and how many are fleeing Syria right now. This was a really important part of the week because sometimes we run charity events and we don’t even know about the cause or how our money could help. However, I thought it was really important for everyone to know about the facts and figures of this crisis so we can learn what exactly is happening and how we can help. On Thursday we took part in Oxfam’s “give it up challenge” where students gave up something for the day which we deem important or necessary for our lives, such as the internet or our phones. Girls got very involved in this and we had some Year 8 girls giving up their socks, voices and electronic devices for the day and collecting sponsorship money for it. Finally on Friday we had a large bake sale in the atrium, and made over £200 so thank you to everyone who baked or bought something.

Throughout the week forms also took part in a coin collecting fundraiser to see whose box of spare change was the heaviest. 8D was the winning form so, congratulations! We also collected clothes throughout the week, which we received a lot of. A parent at the school kindly helped deliver these to the charity. This was perhaps the most poignant thing we did as we know refugees are benefitting directly from old clothes that we may have just thrown out, but are now being put to use. Plus any book donations are going to be sent to the London location of a small NGO run by two men who started the Jungle library in Calais.

During the week we raised lots of awareness throughout the school of what the lives of the refugees were like and how badly they needed our help. This is so important as sometimes we can become so isolated within our own lives and begin to not associate ourselves with issues going on outside of our comfort zones. Therefore this week was not only for actually raising the money but to raise awareness of what’s happening to people outside of London. Sometimes we start to associate other people’s suffering as none of our business and a lot of the time we end up blocking it out and continuing with our lives. But during this week we aimed to concentrate on the refugees and learn about their situation and actively do something, which I believe we achieved.

Thank you to everyone who took part in this week in every way, by donating or giving something up or buying a cake on Friday. Students both at the Junior and Senior Schools have raised an incredible amount of money – it’s not over yet, as we have our cycle to Syria event on Thursday. The money will be sent to Save the Children, Unicef and Oxfam’s crisis appeal who have camps in in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, and are providing life-saving clean water, sanitation and vital support for families.    

[shhsforgirls]

Head’s blog on the new school year

September 2015

Every morning I walk through some fields on my way to the tube station.  It is a fifteen-minute walk from my house, and I suppose I could take a bus, but I never actually have.  Often it is raining, sometimes it is snowing, sometimes it is even sunny; but most of the time, it being London, it is just a bit chilly.   At this time of year, the sun has been up for an hour or so, and already the leaves are being coloured by what John Clare called an “Autumn-tipt pencil.”   By December, it will still be dark when I leave, and there will be frost or fog.  Whatever the weather or the visibility, there will be many dogs walking their owners through the long grass.  Some dogs have flashing red lights on their collars as they zoom about, making them look like ships or possibly UFOs. The reason why I don’t wait for the bus, apart from an ingrained lack of patience, is that I enjoy the changing of the seasons.  

Now for a question.  How many of you know in which month wheat is harvested? Back when I used to teach a lot more history than I do now, I used to begin courses on medieval, early modern and nineteenth century history with that very question.  I would go around the class and write everyone’s answer on the whiteboard, along with a reason.  November and December were favourites, because everyone wants lots of food at Christmas.  Other students correctly identified that the winter months are not great for growing most things on account of the lack of sunlight and frost, and not great for harvesting cereals because of the rain.  The spring months seemed sensible, but again incorrect, responses.  The correct answer is usually August, and this is why the new school year begins in September.  Harvesting is heavy, time-critical work, and young boys and girls could not be spared to go to school at such a crucial time.  

What this reminds us is that until the second half of last century, Britain was still broadly an agricultural nation, and the rhythms of that history have not been altered.  (Another legacy of agriculture determining the rhythm of our time is the continuation of daylight savings, or the clocks going forward and back in October and March.)   Many other arguments are now made for why it makes sense to keep the school year as it is, a key one being that while the UK remains so messianically keen on lots of public exams, it makes sense for you to sit them in the spring and summer, when on balance, you are less likely to be ill—unless of course you are a hayfever sufferer.  

You might be forgiven for wondering if this is little more than a quintessentially English assembly about the weather. As city dwellers, you may not be particularly interested in the seasons beyond their impact on fashion, and the only autumn-tipt pencils you notice are the ones you buy from Paperchase.   The reason why I don’t get on the bus each morning but rather walk over the field is the same reason why I enjoy the distinct rhythm of the school year, and indeed the entire reason why I have always chosen to work with young people and those who inspire them.  All these things help to give my life meaning.  Now a meaningful life can take as many forms as there are lives.  This is not about the grand narratives of religion or the heady heights of fame and success.  For once, it is not an exhortation from a Headmistress to achieve and excel, partly because I know that the girls at SHHS will do anyway. If we are going to make any form of new school year’s resolution, I hope it will be for us to live each day the best we can, and not to berate ourselves if the day doesn’t go as quite well as we would have liked and we are not our best selves as a result.  The chances are another day will be along very soon after it.  The knack is to learn and to be better prepared for it.  

At SHHS, we practise mindfulness in order to remind ourselves that there is value to be found in simply being. Every morning, I notice how the air smells different according to the season, the weather, the day.  As I get older, I am reminded of other seasons I have tasted before, and the challenges and joys they brought with them.  There might be nothing new under the sun, and in fact there might not be much sun; but there is certainly much to look forward to in this new school year.  

[shhsforgirls]

Head’s blog on China

The stereotype of diligent Chinese students wrecking their eyesight in the pursuit of excellence in Maths and Science is a familiar one.  Last week I observed lessons in a Middle School in Zhenjiang, an hour by bullet train west of Shanghai, to witness the reality.   

May 2015

It is Friday lunchtime in Jingnan Middle School, and a dozen students have given up their half-hour nap to practise their English with me.  The school goes quiet around us as 1800 heads hit their desks; the pupils have been in school since 7 am and will be there until 5 at the earliest and usually six pm, so a rest is vital.  My interpreter is Bert, a thirteen-year old who speaks eerily good English.  In addition to the five-and-a-half hours of lessons he receives in school, he says he studies at home and listens to English people on YouTube. Bert asks if I am happy to take questions, which I am, but first I want to know who everyone is.  Do I want their English names or their Chinese names?  Bert asks.  When I reply that this is up to the students, this causes some anxiety, so I settle on English names.  Yuki (sic) wants to know if it is true that English girls are allowed to wear make-up at school.  Most of the questions are in a similar vein, until Sue Ellen asks what happens in my school if someone makes a mistake in a lesson.  ‘I like mistakes,’ I tell her. ‘They are how you learn.’ This provokes astonishment. I ask her how she feels if she makes a mistake. ‘Nervous,’ she says.  

 I am taken to a Biology lesson.  The noise level is what you would expect from forty thirteen year olds in a small classroom, and spirits are high—until the teacher greets the class and the pupils bow and sit down.  Then, the sense of focus and discipline is remarkable.  First, there are compulsory eye exercises to ward off myopia—by adulthood, 87% of the population is currently short-sighted. While the pupils look at funghi, I ask the Principal what makes a good lesson in his school.  'One where the teacher is the Director and the pupils are actors, like in a film,’ I am told. He points to one of the eight groups of five pupils who are on low stools, clustered around small tables.  They share a microscope, a magnifying glass and a tray of various mushrooms.   All have their textbooks open.  The lesson follows the textbook- which is approved by the provincial education department- to the letter, and discussion points are projected on the whiteboard. There are sentences with gaps in them, what teachers in the UK call writing frames— and which we would only deploy at this level for the less able.   When the teacher asks everyone to stop what they are doing and face the front, she reads the sentences and invites a response with raised eyebrows and an upward waft of both hands.  The pupils chant the right answer in unison.  From time to time, the teacher varies this regime by asking a pupil to respond individually.  All those who are asked are boys.  All stand up confidently and give the correct answer.  All of the chosen ones, the Principal reassures me, are very good at science.  ‘How does the teacher know if everyone has understood?’ I ask. ‘The lesson aims are very clear,’ he responds.  

 At 3pm I observe a Maths lesson.  I am excited about seeing this:  Zhenjiang is close to Shanghai, where the Pisa global tables report that the world’s best Maths students are to be found.  How will this class of eleven- and twelve year olds cope with simultaneous equations on a Friday afternoon?   I resolve to fix my attention on a pupil who is clearly struggling.   I choose a girl. She does not write anything on the worksheet she has given, and she does not join in with the chanting as a boy goes through his answers on a visualiser in front of the class.  Again, the pupils are clustered in eight groups of five or six, and the room is stuffy despite the three windows which open onto the corridor. (There is no air conditioning in summer and no heating in winter.)  The pupils return to their worksheets, and this time they are allowed to confer with each other.  One or two are visibly bored. The girl who is struggling gets some help from the boy next to her, and soon she is chanting along with the rest.  On the third attempt, she is confident enough to have a go. There is something powerfully reassuring about this vocal rote learning, and it came to define for me the concept of harmony which pervades so much of Chinese thought. Harmony ensures the peaceful co-existence of 1.4bn people, and produces stunning visual art.  It is also a socially conservative concept which justifies keeping people in their place in the name of maintaining the social order. Although arrangements often seem fluid, there is a reluctance to depart from the script.  

 At 3pm the school breaks into Clubs and Associations, which looks like our Mehr Licht programme, Chinese style.  I visit a choir, a cross stitch club and a Chinese Chess Club.  The standard of extracurricular achievement might not be what we would expect, but the enthusiasm certainly is.  All pupils do some physical exercise every day, though the playgrounds are dominated by the boys in the session I saw. There is a national epidemic of obesity, and the school is keen to tackle it.  There is no tutoring system, though each form has a class teacher. At 4pm, I come across one of the Maths teachers leading pupils in Tai Chi.  I drop my handbag and join in; it has been years since I learnt the Short Form, but one of my favourite memories of this extraordinary trip was joining this group and moving more or less in synch with those around me.

At a banquet in a Party hospitality lodge that evening, the local Education Chairman tells me that he is responsible for over 400 schools serving a population of three million.  Many schools are large, with year groups of five or six hundred.  (Zhenjiang is one of 42 cities in China with a population of over 1 million.)  Education is compulsory only until pupils are 15, but the majority go on to High School or some form of College.  Competition for High School places is fierce: in Zhenjiang, a pupil confides there are no places for 40% of those who want to continue with their education.  And if he goes to a second tranche school, he will never go to one of the top universities.  His solution?  To work, until 11 pm every night and all weekend, if that is what it takes.

The school day runs from 7 am to 5 or 6 pm, and staff come in on Saturday mornings.  All pupils have 5 ½ hours of study per week in Maths, Science and English, and this alone should account for the region’s high attainment. Surprisingly, staff contact time is low—around 10 hours a week, something which UK teachers were swift to comment on when primary Maths teachers were flown in from Shanghai early this year on order to raise London children’s numeracy.  Staff at Jingnan Middle School had roomy offices and a badminton net strung across a corridor for their recreation.  Their time is taken with professional development, meetings with staff and pupils, and sometimes anxious parents.   Few pupils have brothers and sisters—only a couple who are both only children may have two children—so there is considerable pressure on children in a very family-orientated culture.  An English Professor in Beijing says that in the past ten years, his pupils have become much more rebellious by the time they reach University: much less respectful, and much more keen to be treated as individuals.  I cannot help but wonder how long it will be before those attitudes make their presence felt in Chinese schools.  

 I was struck by the pride which everyone I met in Zhenjiang had in their city, their education and in China’s development.  Equally,  as many in the UK feel that we have much to learn from how the Chinese educate their children, so the Chinese Government and many teachers I spoke to feel that they can learn from us.  Our focus on confident individuals who can think critically is prized, though time will tell if the Chinese political landscape can accommodate such citizens with comfort. The only universal source of anxiety I encountered during my trip was the poor air quality caused by industrial pollution.  ‘I loved England,’ the Principal tells me. (He visited schools in East Anglia for a week in 2011.) ’There you can see the sky, blue sky.  Here the sky is white.’   

[shhsforgirls]

Top: A Biology lesson

Left: English conversation with a group of students and a visiting American teaching assistant.

Right: Recreation is a key part of Chinese teachers’ professional life.  I was invited to play table tennis with the school’s Principal and was beaten resoundingly.

Bottom: Choir Club.  Pupils are in a mix of spring and autumn uniform.

[shhsforgirls]

Head’s Blog: Every week is Science Week

March 2015

Have you ever wondered what moon rock looks and feels like?  Girls at SHHS know, thanks to a loan from NASA to the Physics Department last week.  As the moon turned Friday morning's sun into a crescent, girls could hold the moon in their hands. This didn't entirely compensate us for not actually being able to see theeclipse owing to heavy cloud.  We had arranged an Open House event to coincide with the eclipse so that our visitors could also enjoy the spectacle from the roof garden. As it was, we gathered on the roof to a faintly apocalyptic scene of unusual cold and Novemberish mist.  Any hushed birdsong was drowned by excited girls’ voices… but there was no break in the cloud.  Last week was Science Week, and we marked this at SHHS with a range of speakers and activities.  We were privileged to welcome three distinguished scientists to speak to the girls.   Professor Essi Viding of UCL spoke on What Makes a Psychopath?, and Ilina Singh, Professor of Science and Society of the Oxford Department of Psychiatry gave our keynote address.  Dr Emily Grossman, an ex-pupil, came in to talk to Year 9 about her life in Science.  She explained how lucky she is to be able to combine her twin passions of science and drama as a regular presenter on TV and radio. In one sense it is always science week at SHHS: we are proud that all girls undertake three separate sciences from Years 7 to 11, culminating in  triple science IGCSE for all, and almost three quarters of our Sixth Formers take one or more STEM subject at A Level.  (This compares with 55% at girls’ independent schools overall.) And it needs to be science week every week: the Independent Sector sends a disproportionately high number of scientists to Russell group universities.  And while one in twenty of each A Level Physics candidates comes from a girls’ school, one in four of the A* grades goes to those girls.  By comparison, almost 50% of secondary schools saw no girls at all go on to do Physics A Level. At SHHS by contrast, we continue to run three Physics groups at A Level, and our Good Schools Guide Award in the subject was given as much for strength as numbers as for the quality of our results.Back in Science Week - it was probably Year 8 who had the most interesting time of all: they learned about how to use electricity to seemingly bring back bodies from the dead at the beginning of the week and about the relative speeds of the sun, moon and Earth at the end of the week.  I am told that many of them were so inspired they have bought mini planetariums for their bedrooms.  To my knowledge no-one has acquired an electricity generator….

[shhsforgirls]

Head’s Blog: Can girls do everything?

What does it take to get 11 A*s at GCSE? Or Grade 8 in Piano by the age of fifteen?  Or to be a nationally-ranked tennisplayer?  Parents often wonder about thesevery questions. As the Year 9s make their option choices, many girls and parents have been weighing  up whether or not their daughter should do 10 or 11 GCSEs. Just over 20% of Year 11 achieves 11 or 12 A*s at GCSE at SHHS each year, and these sixteen-year-olds have been very busy at their books in order to achieve this.  Does it come at the expense of their wider extra-curricular interests?  Is there inevitably a trade-off here? Well, no, not always or exactly.  

There is much debate about whether or not it is more desirable to specialise or to have a portfolio of activities/specialisations. Some parents might worry that all the extra-curricular activities which we offer are a distraction from the main event, namely the securing of qualifications.  Others fret that the emphasis on assessment in our education system risks freezing out the very things which make for a rounded individual. Still others want academic excellence and prowess in a particular non-academic area at the expense of others which are dismissed as irrelevant.  How to navigate all of this?

Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Outliers’ has pushed into the mainstream the sometimes uncomfortable fact that it takes a lot of time (Gladwell argued 10,000 hours) to become very good at anything. In one sense, such pop psychology is a boon to SHHS.  We try not to praise girls for their talents and avoid giving them the impression that whether they succeed or fail is the result of something that is innate; rather we encourage a ‘growth mindset’ which encourages mastery of skills and maximising of potential.  

But in another sense, the moral of the ‘Outliers’ story is that we need to focus our attentions if we are to flourish. We must pay attention to what we attend to. And we must pay attention while we are doing it: a recent book by Daniel Levitin has brought into the mainstream neuroscientific research which shows that what we have become used to calling multitasking is in fact the brain switching between various tasks, at cost both to the effectiveness of those tasks and to the long-term functioning of the brain.  What JoAnn Deak, of whose visit to us I wrote last term, calls the ‘shotgun brain’ is the enemy of the kind of concentration which produces great inventions, works of literature or pieces of music.  

So what do we find in a school, when pupils are devoted entirely to their development and brains are still being formed?  When I look at the current Sixth Form, it is clear that academic success and being a serious musician, sportswoman, actor or writer are by no means mutually exclusive—in fact, quite the opposite. One of the best sets of GCSE mock exam results was achieved by someone who represents the UK in her field, and is a fine musician into the bargain. The girls I have spoken to say that the focus and the sense of achievement which they derive from their non-academic pursuits has a positive impact on their work ethic and confidence when it comes to exams.   

Of course, it would be naïve to suggest that time is infinitely elastic and girls can do grade 8 in two instruments, swim for their county, get 11 A*s and have a social life.  (Though amazingly, some do…) Just as we now recognise that women cannot ‘have it all’ in career and personal terms, so we have to work with the girls to manage their expectations of what even their exceptionally able and committed selves might be capable of.

So all this an endorsement of the old adage ‘mens sana in corpore sano’?  To an extent, yes.  But the good news for those girls who don’t care for team sports is that the spirit of the adage is not confined to the military or the playing fields of Eton.  A healthy body might be one that plays music, sings, does zumba or indoor rock climbing.  It might decide to do one of these things at a national competitive level, or many of them because they are enjoyable and good for us.  

[shhsforgirls]

Head’s Blog: Exam Reform - Cambridge

There has been much fluttering in Headmagisterial dovecotes at the letter from Mike Sewell, Director of Admissions at Cambridge University, informing them of something we knew already, namely that Cambridge is wedded to AS and is therefore urging schools to think very carefully before scrapping it. 

It has long been recognised in the sector that the Department for Education has made a particular mess of the exam reforms for the pupils beginning AS/linear courses leading to A2 in September 2015.  For many, some or all of their subjects will be unreformed.  At SHHS, it looks likely that only a handful of girls would offer wholly reformed subjects, with most offering a 2/2 split or wholly unreformed subjects.  In those circumstances, is it surprising that Cambridge might seek to persuade schools to hold on to AS for longer?  

The Grammar Schools’ Association attacked Cambridge for its heavy-handed approach in taking the trouble to write to every school in the country.  Presumably it would have preferred Cambridge to have talked to the press and for the message to trickle down indirectly?  An analogy can be drawn here between senior schools and their feeder primary or prep schools; while primary schools should do much more than simply prepare pupils for their entrance exam, senior schools would have something to say if they felt that the entire primary sector was taking a path which compromised the fortunes of the pupils later on. Cambridge is one of the world’s elite universities; it has been strange indeed to witness the outrage among some Heads that its Admissions Chief might take a view on the examination system on which it relies, particularly in the current circumstances. 

This is where Cambridge’s position falters a little, as a letter from some Heads in the GSA London region pointed out in a letter sent to the Telegraph.  The Universities have become fond of blaming a modular culture for a perceived decline in rigour in their Undergraduates.  "Encourage them to read more and examine them less!"  Is a fair summary of this argument.   Those Heads who have embraced linearity and returned to three academic subjects in the Lower Sixth year now feel that they are being damned by Cambridge whatever they do. Indeed, their almost messianic embrace of three linear subjects has become mystifying to me. After all, girls do better when they have the chance to sit modular exams, and the reformed A Levels do not abolish assessment objectives, which are the chief culprits in narrowing pupils’ academic focus and making them worry about knowing too much. Indeed, the decoupling of AS and A2 increases the opportunity for different assessment objectives to be created.

Is it therefore irrational for Cambridge to be suggesting strongly/desiring/demanding that its candidates should sit exams in the Lower Sixth Year?  Not entirely.  The University will know that the Exam Boards are in the process of devising “benchmarking exams” which will be marked by schools but can be declared to the Exam Boards.  Will these exams provide the “reality check” which Cambridge rightly points out that AS currently provides?   

It is not beyond all schools to provide rigour, stretch and challenge regardless of whether or not they have a linear approach.  Those of us who sat the old A Levels will recall that we too had to read more than the basics if we were to develop intellectually.  This is nothing new, and the reasons why some young people might read less than we did are not confined to modular versus linear exams.  Let us also not throw out the advantage of Curriculum 2000, that of a commitment to breadth in the A Level Curriculum, with the bilge which accompanies the current raft of reforms.   

It was I have to confess ironic to see Independent Heads attacking Cambridge for an admissions policy is only likely to favour Independent School pupils.  Cambridge’s emphasis on 2 A*s at A2 already gives the well-taught elite an advantage.  (In contrast, Oxford tends to ask for one A*.)   Suggesting that candidates should continue to offer four subjects at AS (and  also at A2? This was unclear in the Sewell’s letter) may well be impossible for many state schools.  I am all in favour of pupils doing at least four subjects during their Lower Sixth Year, as means of providing breadth and of offering a choice of which if any subjects to drop at A2, but then I would be, wouldn’t I?  

Mike Sewell’s letter did of course acknowledge that the university would interpret whatever data the schools chose to send it.  Candidates who attend the minority of schools which currently adopt a linear model still receive offers from Cambridge; more importantly, if the majority of state school candidates are likely to be sitting three linear exams, Cambridge is unlikely to thumb its nose at 93% of the UK education sector.  But if it does, we have all been warned.

All this is of concern to those who are not considering Cambridge, since other Universities may well follow in its wake, as they have done in the past. In the meantime, Heads will try to do what is best for their charges, and bewildered Universities will attempt to chart—or steer—a course.