A Million Plus - Withington Girls` School

Editor: Mr Ray King Publicity Officer
Mobile: 07768 022 082
Bulletin . . .
SUMMER 2006
A Million Plus
Head’s Lines
We are delighted to announce that thanks to your generous support, the 100 Plus Bursary Appeal has now
raised just under £1.1 million. We are deeply grateful to all our individual donors and to NM Rothschild,
Beaverbrooks, The Zochonis Charitable Trust, The Stoller Charitable Trust and The Garfield Weston
Foundation for their significant gifts. Your ongoing support is vital if we are to achieve our £2 million
target and ensure that no girl with high academic potential is denied a place at Withington because of
social or financial background.
Another summer public examination
season is drawing to a close, internal
reports are being completed and
Swimming Galas, Sports and Trips Days,
Summer Serenade, Music Festival, House
Plays and summer holidays are just
around the corner. As ever, our sorrow at
saying farewell to all our pupil leavers is
somewhat tempered by the excitement
of meeting the next generation of Junior
and Senior School pupils at their
respective recent induction days.
Schools’ populations are necessarily
dynamic in all areas and details of those
members of staff who will not be
returning in September are given herein.
They will all be much missed and longer
farewells will be published in the annual
Newsletter.
For further information about the 100 Plus Bursary Appeal or to make a donation please contact Helen
O’Donnell, Development Director on 0161 249 3491.
Dear Readers
Over the Easter holidays we were
delighted to learn that John Lee, former
Government Minister, parent of two
Withington pupils, current School
Governor and Chair of the Withington
Girls’ School Trust had become a Lord of
the Realm. Lord Lee of Trafford gave his
maiden speech in the House of Lords on
June 15th; a photo of him and his
daughter, Elspeth, former Withington
Head Girl, at the Senior Club House of
Lords’ Reception is printed below.
Continued on page 2
Continued from front page
Congratulations also go to the new Lord
Bradley of Withington, who continues to
be a valuable contributor to our Politics
Department.
For the past 18 months, we have
benefited from the knowledge and
expertise of well-known journalist and
writer, Ray King, in his role as part-time
Publicity Officer. Ray has kindly donated
a signed copy of his book Detonation
published to coincide with the tenth
anniversary of the IRA Manchester
Bomb. It is a fascinating account of the
day of the bomb, the consequent
investigation and the regeneration of
the City over the following decade and
has already received excellent reviews.
As testified by all this year’s bulletins,
many wonderful events have occurred
and achievements been secured during
this year. We are delighted that the
Bursary Appeal has passed its halfway
mark, and we are proud of the successes
of our pupils and the commitment of
the staff who ensure an ever-expanding
range of opportunities for them. We are
all looking forward to a break over the
summer and I do hope that for all
readers their holiday, be it at home or
far afield, will provide many
opportunities for rest and relaxation.
ABRSM Exams
Congratulations to the 41 girls across all
year groups who took their Associated
Board Music Examinations, 12 of whom
achieved distinctions.
The Class of 1956
Twenty-six members of the Class of ’56 – ‘girls’ who left 50 years ago – attended a reunion at the School
in June and pledged to “put something back” for what they received as pupils at Withington through
donations to the Bursary Appeal.
Former pupil and mathematics teacher Mrs Val Hempstock, now Archivist and Senior Club representative
on the Governing Body, organised the gathering at the instigation of fellow former pupil Mrs Barbara
Thackray (nee Hughes) who lives in the United States but was back in Bramhall for a family reunion. The
old girls were also reunited with three of their former teachers, Miss Brenda Thomas, Mrs Elizabeth Taylor
and Miss Amy Morris.
Mrs Hempstock (nee Winstanley) said: “Afterwards I had cards saying the reunion was a highly enjoyable
and memorable occasion and how wonderful it was to catch up with old friends.
The old girls particularly liked having the reunion at the School and seeing all the amazing changes; but it
was also nice to see the original gym and the art room still there.
Everyone said this was the best reunion and the end result is we have agreed to couple up with the
Bursary Appeal and we are hoping to sponsor a pupil in the name of our year.”
Mostly Mozart
GCSE music students from Trinity High in Hulme and Withington played at the Northern Chamber
Orchestra’s Mostly Mozart Concert in the Arts Centre on May 18, part of the celebration of the composer’s
250th anniversary.
The concert also marked the climax of a partnership project between the two schools supported by the
DfES under the Government’s Building Bridges initiative.
The scheme involved a series of workshops where pupils from both schools collaborated under the
guidance of professional classical musicians from the NCO.
At the concert , Chris Li from Trinity played his own composition on the piano and Helen Shaw and Harriet
Lau, also Trinity pupils, performed the first movement from Mozart’s Flute concerto in G and the Andante
from Mozart’s Piano Concerto 21 in C, respectively. The Withington students, Imogen Lewis Holland and
Madeline Clare were soloists for Mozart’s first movement from Violin Concerto in G and Bach’s Adagio
from Violin Concerto in E.
The girls also accompanied the orchestra in the performance of selected compositions by GCSE students
at both schools, written during their joint workshop sessions.
Out of Africa
Former Withington pupil Ann Lipson
made another welcome return to the
school in May.
Miss Lipson, who attended morning
assembly and spent the day in school
talking about her work as Deputy
Director of the InterChristian
Fellowship’s Evangelical Mission in
Kimilili, a rural area in the west of Kenya.
She had originally travelled to the
African country in 1974 on a two-anda-half year British Government contract
to teach A-level physics at a girls’
boarding school near the Ugandan
border… but taught there for more than
24 years.
Staff at Withington have supported two
girls at Lugulu Girls’ School for each of
the past 20 years. Miss Lipson, from
Didsbury, joined Withington in 1949 as a
scholarship pupil aged 10 and left to
read physics at Manchester University.
Her younger sister Judith, who died of
leukaemia in 1990, was Head Girl at
the school.
Later, Miss Lipson taught at a school in
the Midlands and worked for the
Nuffield Foundation on a science
teaching project that saw her take part
in one of the earliest programmes on
BBC2 television.
Ballet Good Show
MORE congratulations are due to Junior School pupil Georgina Ashworth Kwasnik of Lower II who has
accepted the offer of a third year as a Junior Associate at the prestigious Royal Ballet School.
Georgina recently added a first place for her Song & Dance routine from the film Anastasia and a first for
her new Character Dance as Jo from Little Women at a Blackpool festival to her growing list of medals and
trophies for dance.
Earlier this year she won first place out of 22 competitors for ballet in the Lancaster Festival and also took
third place for her Character Dance, incorporating specially choreographed scenes from the famous book.
Georgina has recently performed in The Nutcracker with the
English Youth Ballet at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Her mother Fiona says: “We are all very grateful for the support and
encouragement given to her by Withington. Without the understanding
and help given by the school her dancing success would not be possible.”
Now 67, Miss Lipson says: “I always
regarded myself as a teacher and, as a
Christian, I am living and working where
God wanted me to be.”
She was among the guests at Reunion
for the Class of ’56 on 10th June (see
separate article) before returning home
to Kenya.
Engineering Flair
KRISTINA Milanovic of the Upper Fifth
has been selected to receive a
prestigious Arkwright Scholarship after
successfully passing the Arkwright
Aptitude Paper, demonstrating flair and
originality in solving engineering design
problems and presenting GCSE work to a
panel of interviewers.
Scholarships are sponsored by industry
and charitable trusts and will be
formally presented at a ceremony hosted
by the Institution of Engineering and
Technology at Savoy Place in London on
27th October. During the day scholars
have the opportunity to meet their
sponsors and other scholars.
Easter Excursions
The Easter Holidays saw Withington girls making a series of exciting overseas trips including Paris,
Normandy. Berlin, the ski resort of La Plagne and Classical Greece.
Full reports of these adventures will be included in the annual Newsletter later in the year.
Upper Sixth leavers celebrated their last day before study leave with the traditional bouncy castle and a Wild West theme.
Medals Galore
WITHINGTON’S athletes scooped a hatful
of medals in the Manchester Schools’
Athletics Tournament at SportCity.
The U17 squad’s crop of two golds, three
silvers and a bronze saw the team come
second overall out of the 12 competing
schools. The U15’s two silvers and two
bronze medals put the team in sixth
place.
War at Withington
War broke out at WGS on the 16th May when Civil War enthusiast, Colonel Desmond Thomas arrived with
his musket and his canon to bring to life the realities of the English Civil War. The Colonel drilled the
Lower Fourth pupils for a full day, even firing the canon in the school grounds.
Charlie Paul’s amazing time of 12
seconds won her the individual gold
medal in the U17s 100m sprint and
Alana Livesey powered to gold in the
800m. Silvers went to Lauren Murray in
the 300m and Charlie Hughes in the
1500m.
The 4x100m relay team comprising
Charlie Paul, Antonia Adebambo, Alicia
McKenzie and Antonia Juskiw also took
silver and Tena Walker won a bronze
medal in the shot.
In the U15 competition, Amelia Coyne
and Sophia Szlachetko won silvers in the
high jump and long jump respectively
and Lily Vickers and Olivia Sinclair won
bronze in discus and hurdles.
Geography Matters
Geography staff and members of the
Upper Fifth gave a highly entertaining
and informative assembly focusing on
their research about the transformations
of Manchester’s inner-city district of
Hulme from Coronation Street style
terraces to ugly system-built flats, now
in turn demolished to make way for
desirable homes.
Upper IVW Geographers also undertook
an audit of multiculturalism in the
immediate area around the School.
Further details of this project will be
given in the Annual Newsletter.
Computer language
THE PTA have donated £10,000 towards
the cost of converting the Languages
Laboratory to a fully digitalised
multimedia facility over the Summer.
Mrs Yorke Menzies, Head of French, said:
“We are all delighted about the new
facilities and grateful to the Governors
and the PTA for making it all possible.
We will be able to use audio-visual
materials and each girl will be
designated a computer for her study
sessions. The equipment will be
programmed for the core languages of
French, German and Spanish and we will
also be able to teach other languages.”
P-Art-ners
The three-day Easter Art Workshop for Year 6, 7 and 8 pupils staged at the school during the Easter
holidays produced an impressive and varied body of work across four main fields of activity.
The workshop offered ten places for Withington girls and ten from Whalley Range High School as part of
the DfES-funded Independent/State School Partnership initiative.
Techniques included felt making, fabric painting and book binding, three-dimensional work in card and
plaster casting.
Further workshops under this partnership are planned during the Summer holiday. Lower Fourths are
invited to attend a one-week workshop at Whalley Range and Upper Fourths are set to share a workshop
held at Withington.
There are a few places left and the planned dates are: Whalley Range High School: Mon 24th - Fri 28th
July; Withington: Mon 31st July – Friday 4th August.
Dramatic Developments
SCRIPTWRITER Mark Catley, best known
for his theatre credits including Scuffer
and currently writing for EastEnders,
Holby City and Casualty, hosted a
workshop for Sixth Formers from
Withington and Manchester Grammar
School in June.
Learn to play an instrument, write the music
and perform it live in concert….all in just
four days.
That’s the challenge thrown down to
Manchester’s budding musicians aged 14-17
by the directors of a new Summer Music
Course hosted by Withington in July.
Under the guidance of a skilled team of
musicians, course participants will form their
own bands and, after four intensive days of
workshops and rehearsal, perform the gig on
Saturday, July 30th in the school’s Arts
Centre.
Our usual course for boys and girls aged
eight to 13, runs from Monday July 31 to
Friday August 4.
Application forms are available from School,
can be downloaded from the website or via
email:
[email protected].
Duke of Edinburgh Award
52 Lower Fifth pupils completed their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award expedition on the 24th and 25th
May. 8 further pupils also completed their Silver award practice expedition. Gold and Silver Award
expeditions are planned in July.
Earlier this year two of Withington Sixth
Formers saw Scuffer at the West
Yorkshire Playhouse and came back fired
with enthusiasm for such an innovative
and exciting piece of new writing.
Fortunately Head of Drama, Mrs Jen
Baylis had ‘a friend of a friend’ and was
able to get in touch with Mark and ask
him to come and give a workshop based
on the characters and structure of his
play. The girls and boys had a great time
at the workshop and are now planning
to perform their own interpretation of
the piece next term.
Mark has agreed to come and help with
rehearsals and watch the opening night.
THE last week of term anticipates House
Play madness in the Arts Centre. Third
Formers will take part in plays directed
by the Sixth Form House Committees.
This year the event is themed and all the
girls will present their interpretation of a
Shakespeare play in ten minutes.
Highlights will include ‘Macbethany’
fighting to win the Miss Manchester
Competition (Macbeth) and Becks and
Rooney battling it out for the hand of
Sven’s daughter (Much Ado About
Nothing).
Fortunate Event
Congratulations to Holly Cartledge of
Transition who won a special weekend
for two in London, courtesy of an online
competition mounted by the publishers
of the popular Lemony Snicket books.
Holly, whose mother Mrs Sheena
Cartledge is Withington’s Catering
Manager, is an avid reader of author
Daniel Handler’s stories. Her entry
through the official website, unlike the
Lemony Snicket tales, will trigger a very
fortunate series of events.
Holly and a friend will travel by train to
London and stay in a city-centre hotel.
Among the visits lined up is a tour of
the Clink Prison Museum – a one-time
Grim Grotto on the South Bank.
Count Olaf would have loved that.
Junior Highlights
Highlights of an activity-packed Spring term in the Junior School included a visit to the
school by Starlab, the mobile planetarium; crossed swords at the Fencing Club, readings by
poet and storyteller David Horner and an expedition to the Drapers’ Field Centre, Betws-y-Coed in
North Wales.
Alexandra Blodorn writes: “When I stepped into the inflatable Stardome I couldn’t see
anything. When my eyes adjusted to the vast expanse of darkness I realised that it wasn’t so
big after all.
Chris, our demonstrator, told us that scientists in America think they have discovered a tenth
planet called Xena. He showed us a video of astronauts eating in space, which was hilarious!
And he told us that when a liquid is released in space it formed a perfect sphere.
When Chris turned on the projector my eyes went as round as saucers. On the walls of the
Stardome were hundreds of pictures of the star signs and when he spun it, we felt like we were
spinning too….”
Junior School girls are enjoying the Fencing Club where agility, self-discipline and quick footwork
are the name of the game.
Each week 26 girls don their protective clothes; lunge and recover, attack and riposte. All the girls
have gained their Grade I awards and are looking forward to working on Grade II.
Isabella Barber writes: “When David Horner visited the Junior School on May 8th, he told each
of the classes a story. In Lower II he recounted the tale of a little boy called Jack who also
starred in Jack and the Beanstalk. Little Jack had to go to market by himself and finds out that
he doesn’t know very much about money. Just to make sure we didn’t forget the story, we
wrote a cartoon strip about it.
Mr Horner told Form 1 about Mr Fox; Transition about Marliang and the Magic Paintbrush and
Upper II about the Changing Stone Cutter.
Because the stories were so good we performed each one in Assembly.”
Francis Coggon writes: “Thank you to Drapers’ Field Centre for such an action-packed, exciting
weekend. The views and scenery were stunning, the activities fun and the centre was a great
‘base’. My favourite part was all of it!
I really enjoyed the rock climbing; the gorge walking was really exciting and we all loved
planning the route and helping other people over the slippery parts.
At the hill farm we learned about how they cope with the mountain landscape and what sort
of livestock they raise.”
TRANSITION and Form 1 pupils paid a fascinating visit to Chetham’s Library and nearby
Manchester Cathedral on the first day of the Summer Term as part of their studies of old books
and printing presses.
In the mediaeval library the girls saw chained books, a venerable Bible, works such as a shorthand
book and another with a picture of Manchester hidden under a gold leaf, a printing press and the
old room packed with memories as well as books. The party also enjoyed a visit to Manchester
Cathedral hosted by Canon Paul Denby and the new Education Officer, Ms P Elliott. They greatly
admired the fire window in the Regiment Chapel and were thrilled with their ‘Misericord Hunt.’
Strawberry Serenade
The Junior School Musical Evening – a Strawberry Serenade – opened
with a series of four sketches written by Mrs Monica Hastings based
on the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to mark the composer’s
250th anniversary.
Between the sketches Junior girls gave musical performances as soloists
and in ensembles and the first half finale featured Mozartissimo in which
the entire Junior School took part in singing the life story of Mozart.
The second half of the evening in the Arts Centre saw a switch of
mood to famous West End shows. With each of the Junior forms
contributing their own favourite number. Transition performed
Getting to Know You from The King and I; Form 1 did Chim
Chiminee from Mary Poppins; Lower II chose I’d Do
Anything from Oliver and Upper II performed
Hound Dog from Grease.
The finale featured both Junior and Senior
choirs singing from The Lion King before
the girls paid tribute to Mrs Hastings
with songs from some of her
previous shows including
George and the Dragon and
Far Have I Seen
and Known.
NATO talks
NEIL Thornley, an analyst from the
Defence Academy, visited the School in
June to talk to Lower Sixth girls about
the role of NATO.
The girls split into groups to discuss
various hypothetical scenarios as part of
their General Studies course.
Afterwards Mr Thornley praised the girls
for their “well thought out responses
and demeanour.”
He said: “They were very pleasant to
work with.”
Therapy in Action
Dr Paul Wallis visited the school in May
to talk to the A-level Psychology pupils
about his work as a Clinical Psychologist.
Dr Wallis works in Manchester with
children and young people who are
experiencing behavioural problems or
mental health issues and kindly agreed
to share some of his experiences to give
pupils some idea about what it is like to
be a working psychologist.
Many of our Lower and Upper Sixth girls
are hoping to study Psychology at
University and have ambitions to train
as professional psychologists in the
future. Dr Wallis gave an interesting
insight into the type of cases he deals
with and the sort of therapies
he practices.
The girls found it extremely valuable to
hear about therapy in action, rather than
in theory, and to learn about the realities
of working as a Clinical Psychologist
within the NHS.
A Chance to SHINE
THE School is to open its state-of-theart science laboratories to up to 26
gifted and talented children from local
state primary schools.
In partnership with the government
initiative Excellence in Cities, the school
has successfully applied to the
educational charity SHINE for a grant of
£37,808 to fund Saturday morning
sessions for 20 weeks for each of
three years.
7/7 Memorial
A sculpture in stainless steel, designed and built
by Rachel Pratt, one of the School’s Art
Technicians, forms the centrepiece of the
memorial to victims of the 7/7 terrorist bomb
attack at London’s Edgware Road tube station.
Rachel’s creation, 8ft wide by 3ft high
representing the leaves of a climbing plant, was
being installed as part of a memorial garden,
which includes planters and a floral display,
beneath the atrium on July 1st, in time for the
first anniversary of the attack in which six
people and the suicide bomber
were killed.
Rachel said: “It’s a great honour to have done
something of such importance with what is
really my first piece of public art.”
The idea for the memorial originated from the
station stall and Rachel was asked to make the
sculpture by the celebrity television gardener,
Matt James.
Rachel said: “I met him at an Urban Garden
Show at Olympia in 2004. He bought some of
my work there and contacted me later about the
Edgware Road project.”
Hallo aus Berlin!
The first Withington/William Hulme joint
trip took place to Berlin during Easter .
Chemists of Distinction
The Lower Sixth proved themselves to be
chemists of distinction in this year’s
analytical project run by the Nuffield
Curriculum Centre and open to hundreds
of schools nationwide.
The girls were set the task of working in
teams of four analysing unknown
substances and sending in their results
for marking.
Sporting Upper II
UPPER II’s ten-member rounders squad achieved
a worthy runners-up spot in the Association of
Junior Independent Schools (AJIS) tournament
staged at the Grange School, Hartford in June.
All the Withington squad received medals for
their performance in the competition in which
20 schools took part.
Earlier in the month, Rachel Gough and Suzy
Rodgers of Upper II were competitors in the AJIS
Tennis Tournament at The King’s School, Chester.
Both girls played well and Rachel reached the
semi-finals before bowing out to a rival from
the Wirral.
Not only did Withington finish joint
runners-up. but all the girls - more than
40 of them – received a certificate of
distinction or merit.
Mrs Jillyan Farrell, Head of Chemistry
and Director of Studies, said: “It’s a
major feather in all their caps and
reward for their efforts.”
Oxford Prize
FORMER pupil Sally Hughes, now in her
second year at St Hilda’s College, Oxford,
has been awarded the Allen Scholarship
and College Prize in Economics and
Management by the Tutorial Committee
in recognition of her excellent work in
the subject.
Sally has also won a scholarship from
the investment bankers Lehman Brothers
and has been awarded an internship
with the company, based in Canary
Wharf, London, this summer.
An accomplished 400m hurdler and
athletics and ‘half blue’ at Oxford, Sally
hopes eventually to work for the
organising committee of the London
2012 Olympic Games.
Looking to
the future...
The biennial Careers Convention took place on 27th April. All Fifth and Sixth Form girls,
with their parents, were invited to the event. 50 different professions were represented and
over 80 delegates who were experts in their own field provided individual guidance.The
Careers Department is extremely grateful for the support of the many organisations,
including parents, who took part which was enormously beneficial for the girls.
Fond Farewells...
THE School bids fond farewell and gives heartfelt thanks to several
members of staff who retire or move on at the end of the summer term.
Mrs Monica Ha
stings
Longest serving is Mrs Monica Hastings who retires after teaching at
Withington for 28 years. A former Junior who joined Form 1 in 1954, Mrs
Hastings became Head Girl ten years later since when she has served a
virtually unbroken 40-year-stint on the Senior Club committee.
She will always be remembered for her musicals and ‘mad plays’ as she
describes them. Many were scored by Miss Sasha Johnson Manning, a
peripatetic teacher at WGS for many years and now a composer who has
found great success, particularly in the USA.
Mrs Cherry Ja
ckson
Mrs Hastings taught for several years in the English department,
returning after she had her daughters to teach English and Italian to the
Sixth Form. She was still teaching English and Italian at A-level when
invited to become Transition teacher in 1985.
Mrs Cherry Jackson started at Withington as Head of Design Technology
– a subject that had been running just one term – in 1990, and has also
taught Art to both Senior and Junior School pupils. She has been a Form
Tutor to the Third Form for more than 13 years.
Mrs Rowena O
wen
Together with Mrs Ositelu, Mrs Jackson has been joint link teacher for
Young Enterprise for eight years, has administered the fund-raising for
the School’s official charity, Barnardo’s and for the last two years been
overall Charity Fundraising Co-ordinator.
Mrs Jackson has also designed and created many sets of scenery and
props for Senior and Junior School productions and for several years
organised holidays to Lakeside on Windermere.
Biology teacher Mrs Rowena Owen, who also taught Junior Science,
joined the staff in 1991 is taking early retirement but will be back at the
School in October to manage the Serious Fun on Saturday funded by
SHINE and Excellence in Cities (see separate article)
Mrs Gillian W
inter
Head of Third Form Mrs Gillian Winter arrived at Withington in 1998 to
teach two lessons of Japanese a week to a group of eight Lower Sixth
pupils (one, Helen Miller later went on to study the language at
Cambridge).
Mrs Winter became full time in 2001 teaching Religious Studies, General
Studies to the Sixth Form and Drama and English to the Junior School.
She is leaving to take up her appointment as an Assistant Head (Pastoral
Care) at Altrincham Girls’ Grammar School.
Mrs Josiane Pa
ckham
Mrs Josiane Packham is looking forward to retirement and a new home
in Somerset after 21 years as a part-time teacher of French to the Junior
School and French Conversation to the Fifth and the Sixth Forms.
French-born Mrs Packham also taught at Cheadle Adult Education Centre
until ten years ago.
Mrs Natalie Eaton joined the History Department in 2001 teaching all
year groups, and briefly acting as Head of Lower Fourth to cover a
maternity leave. Always involved in extra-curricular activities, she
accompanied trips to Helmshore, the Lake District and La Plagne and has
also been involved in facilitating Junior School Discos, the Fashion Show
and the Dance Competition. She took a 6-week sabbatical in 2004 to
travel extensively in South America and is looking forward to being a
full-time mum to Anna, born in 2005 and to a second baby due
in December.
Part time Art Technician Miss Katherine Dolman is leaving Withington
after four years. A practising artist, she has taught in after-school art
clubs and helped organise three holiday art workshops for Withington
and Whalley Range High School under the DfES ‘Building Bridges’
initiative. She leaves to take a teacher training course.
Mrs Natalie Ea
ton
Miss Katherine
Dolman
Hijack!
FIFTH formers found themselves at the
centre of an unfolding hijack drama
during which special forces stormed a
plane that had landed on the M6
motorway south of Manchester.
The crisis made huge headlines...
their own.
For the exercise was a simulated
scenario in which 24 members of the
Lower Fifth played roles as government
ministers, spin doctors and journalists
reacting to a story that was developing
by the minute.
The exercise, played out while other
members of the year group were
engaged in a DoE expedition in the Peak
District, brought together elements of
citizenship, current affairs and English in
theory and practice.
Going the Distance
More than 120 Withington pupils, staff and parents took part in the 5k Race for Life in aid of Cancer
Research UK at Heaton Park, Manchester, on Sunday, June 4.
The WGS contingent stood out among more than 8,000 all-female competitors in their specially printed
pink T-shirts emblazoned Wonderful Withington Women Race for Life.
Their efforts are expected to raise thousands of pounds in sponsorship for the charity.
The Withington runners were led to the finish line by Ms Jane Maher, Head of History, who finished in
third place overall with a time of just 21 minutes and 34 seconds.
“Not bad,” was the modest reaction of Ms Maher who has completed ten marathons, though none in the
last three or four years. She had, however, finished “quite high” in a 10k event in Liverpool two weeks
before the Heaton Park race.
An injured Achilles tendon had prevented Ms Maher taking part in the 10k BUPA Great Manchester Run
on May 21, but among the thousands of entrants Withington was represented by the Head, Mrs Janet
Pickering, who also ran the Race for Life, and the Bursar Mrs Sharon Senn.
After a series of simulated press
conferences and news releases from the
wire services, four groups of journalists
produced their on-screen front pages
based on the hijack drama while
weighing the importance of other stories
on the day’s news agenda.
There was All That Jazz…..and then some!
Withington’s West End showgirls covered every aspect of
popular musical theatre in their sparkling revue before a
full house in the Arts Centre.
The presentation engaged 150 girls from across the
school performing colourfully costumed, slickly
choreographed routines from a range of hit shows from
Fame to Chicago and a thoroughly enjoyable programme
featured both solo and big ensemble performances.
Lower Fifth girls formed their own rock band with
dancers and a Wind band featured melodies from
Phantom of the Opera. The Senior Choir sang favourite
selections from Les Miserables in enchanting three-part
harmony, while their Lower School counterparts chose
numbers from Bugsy Malone.
Sixth Formers strutted their stuff after choreographing
their own version of Singing in the Rain – complete with
umbrellas but without the puddles.
Business Day
IN a venture new to Withington and
aimed at giving girls an opportunity to
gain an early experience of the business
world, Young Enterprise staged a special
project business day in June.
During the day girls from each class in
Lower V were spilt into five groups, each
becoming a business for the day
engaged in a range of activities like
making and selling bracelets; buying and
selling shares and writing job
advertisements.
The winners, having made the most
profit from the price of their shares
were Georgia Layton LVX, Harriet Bonner
LVW, Celia Forster LVW and Pearl von
Herder LVY. The prize is the opportunity
to spend a day at HSBC, one of the key
supporters of the project.
Good Sports
A bumper collection of 8,558 Sainsbury’s
Active Kids Vouchers has enabled the
School to order a wide variety of sports
equipment including badminton racquets,
table tennis bats and nets, large-size kit
bags for netballs or goalkeeping kit, low
compression tennis balls, a unihoc set
and non-sting volleyballs.
Head of PE, Mrs Mhairi Ferrol, said: “The
equipment will arrive in September and
we are very grateful to everyone who
helped us to reach such a fantastic total.
And thanks to the girls and staff who
helped to count them!”
The Annual Art Exhibition for GCSE, AS and A2 work took place during the summer term and some of the girls' work is featured below.
The Upper Sixth had a fabulous time at The Lowry for their annual Leavers' Ball
Lords &
Ladies
A second reunion for former Withington pupils is to be
staged in London after a fantastic gathering of old girls
at the House of Lords in May. Next spring there will be
an opportunity to have a special tour of St Paul’s
Cathedral and attend Evensong followed by a reception
at the Choir School. Priority will be given to Senior Club
members who were unable to attend the oversubscribed
House of Lords event.
At the House of Lords, more than 60 former pupils were
greeted by Lady Jennifer Freeman, Director of the
Historic Chapels’ Trust and an old girl herself. Her
husband, Lord Freeman, led conducted tours round the
Palace of Westminster including a visit to observe a
debate in the Chamber
The guests’ leaving dates spanned an incredible 68 years
– from 1937 to 2005. Mrs Janet Pickering, current
Headmistress, said: “It was wonderful to see how former
pupils from across the generations got on so well.
All those present were excellent ambassadors for
the school.”
Mrs Pickering’s two predecessors, Miss Marjorie Hulme
and Mrs Margaret Kenyon, were also at
the gathering.
Freeman
Lord and Lady
wn 1998
98, Amy McKeo
Laura Greene 19
ajorie Hulme,
e) 1989, Mrs M
m
so
ew
N
ée
(n
l
Helen O'Donnel
y) 1956
(née Winstanle
Val Hempstock
,
son) 1964,
ée Hart) 1963
man (nee Wat
ee
Fr
r
ife
nn
Je
ana Harrison (n
Di
Lady
,
63
19
)
er
(née Lard
Margaret Holt
1964
(née Quilliam)
s
m
ia
ill
Mary W
Kenyon,
Mrs Margaret
Crème) 1987,
ée
1988
(n
e)
aw
èm
Sh
Melinda
vy (née Cr
1988, Juliet Le
n
so
w
La
ah
nn
Susa
ing,
rs Janet Picker
rlton) 1937, M
Ca
ée
(n
r
lo
el
Joy M
38
(née Evans) 19
Beryl Thornton
Australian Rules
Australian coach Steve Riley and his
team are hosting not one but two Tennis
Camps for boys and girls aged from six
upwards at Withington this summer.
The camps will include tennis training
incorporating fun games, match play,
round-robin tournaments and stroke
production sessions focusing on agility
balance, co-ordination and general
fitness. In addition there will be the
opportunity to play other sports like
football, netball and basketball.
The first camp runs Monday-Friday July
24th - 28th and the second MondayFriday August 7th – 11 th.
The camps are open to all and
membership is £95 for a full week or
£20 per day with discounts for multiple
family member bookings. A limited
number of means-tested Bursary places
are available.
Application forms are available
at School.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
AUTUMN TERM 2006
SEPTEMBER
5th
6th
20th
Tuesday
Wednesday
Wednesday
Staff In Service Day
Term Starts
Third Forms : Parents’ Introductory Evening 7.00pm
Wednesday
Monday
Thursday
Inclusive
PTA AGM + NAGTY Information Session 7.30pm
Founders’ Day
Charity Fashion Show 7.00pm
Half Term
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Tuesday
Thursday
Sixth Form Open Evening
Open Evening
Staff In Service Day
Open Morning
Parents’ Evening: Lower V Forms 6.00 – 8.00pm
Parent Information Session: STIs 7.00pm
Thursday
Monday
Thursday
Friday
Monday
Wednesday
Parents’ Evening: Third Forms 6.00 – 8.00 pm
St. Ann’s Carol Service 7.00pm
Junior School Carol Service 6.30pm
The Gambia Group departs
Senior School Carol Service 7.00pm
Term Ends
OCTOBER
11th
16th
19th
20th - 27th
NOVEMBER
8th
23rd
24th
25th
28th
30th
DECEMBER
7th
11th
14th
15th
18th
20th
SPRING TERM 2007
JANUARY
8th
9th
15th
20th
Monday
Tuesday
Monday
Saturday
Staff In Service Day
Term Starts
Senior School Entrance Examinations (No pupils in School) am
Junior School Entrance Examinations am
Inclusive
Half Term
Friday
Term Ends
FEBRUARY
16th - 23rd
MARCH
30th
SUMMER TERM 2007
APRIL
16th
Monday
Term Starts
Monday
Inclusive
May Bank Holiday
Half Term
July
Term Ends
MAY
7th
28th May - 1st June
JULY
DO CALL US
[BEFORE WE CALL YOU!]
Pupil absence:
Please would all parents use
the following number to inform
the school of pupil absence before
8.30am on each day of absence.
Absence line:
6th
AUTUMN TERM 2007
SEPTEMBER
3rd
4th
Monday
Tuesday
Staff In Service Day (provisional)
Term Starts (provisional)
A more detailed School Calendar for the academic year 2006/07 will be posted out
during the summer holidays.
0161 249 3476
Senior Late Room:
0161 249 3492
[in the library]
Junior Late Room:
0161 224 1077
Withington Girls’ School, Wellington Road, Fallowfield, Manchester M14 6BL.
Tel : 0161 224 1077 Fax : 0161 248 5377
Email: [email protected] Web: www.withington.manchester.sch.uk
Registered Charity No. 526632