The Godolphin School

Godolphin Wins the National Schools 

Yes, you read that correctly: Godolphin has actually won the U19a National Schools Lacrosse Championship. Sarah Pokai has sent the following report:

As you may have already heard, we had a fabulous two days [Friday and Saturday] at National Schools and I am very proud to announce that the 1st Team won their tournament, making them U19A National Schools Lacrosse Champions.

They played some fantastic matches on the Friday, which made them winners of their section.  This put them through to the Championship Group, where they beat LEH, Berkhamstead, Stowe and Queen Anne’s. This in turn secured them a place in the semi-final, where they triumphed in extra time against Benenden.  In the final they were pitted against St Catherine's, who had not lost a match all tournament.  This was a truly magnificent trial of strength with Godolphin quickly going 4-1 up. St Cats fought back but not hard enough: Godolphin held their own superbly and won 4-3.  The girls were fabulous and coached superbly by Storm Trentham.

The 2nds also had a wonderful day on the Friday, wining a place in the Championship round on the Saturday.  Like the 1sts they played some excellent lacrosse, beating St Swithun’s and St Paul’s, drawing against LEH and Moreton, whilst narrowly losing 3-2 to Benenden and Guildford.  The 2nds came 7th out of the top 14 schools in the championships groups, but 7th out of the 28 schools in the tournament.

The U15Bs, coached by Lucy Norris, also enjoyed their day, coming up against some tough opposition in the form of Guildford, Cheltenham, Berkhamstead, Beneden, St George’s and Wycombe Abbey, but made good progress throughout the day, winning one and drawing another out of six.  This put them in 5th place overall.

Other Sports Results

The U12 and U13 netball played in a tournament at St Swithun's. The U12s came 1^st, scoring 50 goals and only conceding 7 in a tournament of 5 teams.

The U13s came 3rd to Swithun's and Lord Wandsworth.

The U2A & B hockey teams entered the festival.  The Bs came 5th overall, whilst the As got to the final but after full time and no score lost in extra time by 1-0 on golden goal.

The U14s played South Wilts on Wednesday night and, though they got progressively better throughout the match, lost 2-1.

Two Pro Corda Groups Get Through to Final

After the semi-finals at Bryanston last week, two Godolphin chamber music groups have won through to the final of the Pro Corda Competition. This is a fantastic achievement as it is very competitive and only the very best ensembles from around the country make it to the final. Commiserations to the Brass Sextet who played very well in the semi-final. The Finalists are:

Saxophone Quartet: Alicia King, Hannah Gilbert, Daisy Nicholls, Charlotte Lapham

Trio: Bryony Ford (piano), Rebecca Whitman (flute), Henrietta Ford (oboe)

 

Other Music Department News

The Philip Cloutts Jazz Quartet workshop took place on Thursday afternoon with a concert in the evening.

 

The timetable has come through for the Choir of the Year Competition. Vocal Ensemble will be singing at the Victoria Rooms, Bristol, on Sunday 25 April in the afternoon session, which starts at 2 p.m. Supporters are welcome! 

SYMF Winners

Congratulations to Eliza Bell and Hannah Ingle who won the Key Stage 3+ Acted Scene category in the Salisbury Youth Music Festival, with an honours for their scene from Bold Girls by Rona Munro. Alex Boeree and Laura Haas also won Honours for their entry in the same class. Rachael Perry was joint winner of the monologues class, with Libby Hollingshead and Bliss Winder also earning honours.

Dance Workshop

Over the weekend a series of dance workshops took place, with instruction given in cheerleading, belly dancing, hip hop and ballroom.
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World Book Day

World Book day was marked by assemblies from staff: girls in Years 1 - 5 were treated to readings from favourite books, including Three Men in a Boat,  The Weird Sisters, and Jane Eyre. The Sixth Form heard about books which changed the world, including The Origin of Species, the King James Bible, Principia Mathematica, The Dhammapada of Buddha, Shakespeare's First Folio, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Plato's Republic and, very importantly, Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Women, which first suggested that women should be educated (albeit so that they could be effective mothers to their children and companions to their husbands!)

In lessons, various readings took place, including Where the Wild Things Are and The Cat in the Hat. There was also a display made of favourite books chosen by staff. All girls received a voucher for £1 off any book. Some junior classes wrapped and exchanged books, whilst others read aloud from their old favourites, from A Pony for Jill to Winnie the Pooh.

Show and Tell

Friday evening saw the first performance of Show and Tell, a joint venture with boys from the Bishop Wordsworth Grammar School. It was directed by Poppy Abbott and Bethany Hart, who wrote:

We have been planning to direct a play together since the Third Year and, after reading through many plays over the summer holidays, we found the perfect one: Show and Tell by Laline Paull. The humorous and modern content meant that it fitted well with both the girls at Godolphin and the boys at Bishops, especially the kiss which could not happen with an all-girl cast. We decided to invite boys into the cast after Poppy’s many male roles in School plays (Koko in The Mikado and Prospero in The Tempest) and Bethany’s rather butch character in Accidental Death of an Anarchist). After many rehearsals, taking place over one and a half terms, we discovered for ourselves all the difficulties of being Director: organisation, contacting everyone, making sure everyone was in the same place at the same time (very difficult!), fighting with the Music Department to get the theatre and managing to actually get the whole play together. So, Mr Hallen, we take out hats off to you!

Poppy Abbott and Bethany Hart

OGA Reunion

The Old Godolphin Association held the annual drinks party for its younger members on Friday 26 February in the Sloane Club. We were hosted beautifully by our OGA President, Rosemary Earl, who is House Manager of the Club. We were joined by Jill Horsburgh, who caught up with many of her former students, including previous Head Girl, Lucy Coleman and star of stage and screen, Antonia  Bernath. The evening was lively, celebrating an engagement (Lucy Ledingham) and a very happy School reunion for all.

Next year the drinks party will be held on Friday 4 March. So why not make a date in your diary and come and join us?

Photograph L to R: Rosemary Earl, Stephanie Milsom, Lucy Coleman, Charlotte James, Jane Forrest

Sixth Form Centre News

This was a quieter week in the Sixth Form Centre. On Monday some girls attended the Breaking the Mould careers conference in London where they heard talks from a wide and diverse cross-section of different people. 

The feedback afterwards was very positive as it helped show that there doesn't always have to be one way to choose a career. A very useful and enjoyable day, then, and not just because they got to sit in a Rolls Royce! With careers in mind, many girls were pleased to receive the results of their Centigrade Report on Tuesday morning. This is a guide to help suggest ideas about possible careers based on interest and skills.

Some of those who think their future might be in the world of Art took part in an evening at Roche Court for the Articulation Prize. Although not successful that evening, this did not deter some of them attending the final in Cambridge on Saturday where they met Anthony Gormley and saw the exhibits of the winning candidates.

On Wednesday the Lower Sixth attended the Dining Club, where the guest speaker was Mr Tom Holder, who works for the Wells for India charity. He explained the effect of drought, poor irrigation systems and lack of fresh drinking water. The girls came away challenged to think about the amount of water they use every day and motivated to think of ways in which they and the School can be more responsible in its use.

On Thursday some of the musicians attended a workshop run by the Phillip Cloutts Jazz Quartet and took part in a concert in the evening.

Friday saw an early start for the sporty members of the house as two Senior Lax teams set off to compete in the National School Lacrosse Tournament. They were narrowly beaten last year ... would this year be different? On Saturday evening we heard the news that the Godolphin 1sts had WON THE TOURNAMENT and the 2nds had come a very credible 8th.
WELL DONE GIRLS!

Friday was also the day we were pleased to receive Robert Key MP as our speaker for the ongoing ' An Audience with..' series. The girls came away very impressed by a man with true oratory skills, having heard a wide-ranging and clearly constructed presentation delivered with no notes. They were also touched by the personal and often moving anecdotes that had helped form his chosen path and were his motivation for entering politics.

For and account of Show and Tell, please see separate item above.

If teenage angst and hamsters weren't your thing, then there was always the trip to the cinema to enter another strange world, this time of Lewis Carroll's imagination! A number of girls, accompanied by Ms Dougherty, went to see the latest version of Alice in Wonderland. A good time was had by all.

On Saturday evening we welcomed twenty young gentlemen from Winchester College for an informal supper. A very enjoyable time was had by all and the new skills of hand-bell ringing, juggling, and human pyramid building were well-received! And finally Sunday morning saw some eager bargain hunters attending the Firefighters' Charity Car Boot Sale...carefully timed to find the best bargains but still be back in time for brunch!

Stella Jones

Hamilton Dinner Party with Winchester

On Saturday 6th March a group of Hamilton 4th Year boarders and Sarums hosted a dinner party for some of the boys from our link House at Winchester College.  The evening started with a little 'match' making - the girls and boys selected a sticker from lists of 'pairs' (e.g. hot and cold, bacon and egg, slow and fast); they found their matching pair and introduced themselves.  Conversation soon flowed and continued throughout the dinner.  The boys were asked to move between courses so that everyone got a chance to meet everyone else.  A huge thank you to Chartwells for producing an excellent meal, and to Mrs Foster and Miss Strode for helping us with the evening.

Fifth Year Study Day 

A group Fifth Years enjoyed an excellent study skills conference to help them prepare for their GCSEs. They will be feeding back the tips and guidance to their tutor teams