Life in Form IV

Form IV is a year of growth. This is the final year of school life in the Lower School and this symbolic transition is matched by physical and emotional development as girls enter their teenage years. It is a year in which girls start to glimpse the people they might become. By the end of year, they will have chosen their GCSE subjects - the first important, autonomous decision they will make in their academic careers. As can be read in this booklet, Queen’s Gate offers many other opportunities for those who are eager to explore what life has to offer: as well as a range of lunchtime clubs, girls can represent the school on the sports’ field or learn to make music collaboratively by joining a choir. The school is a microcosm that prepares girls for life in the outside world where, perhaps most importantly, girls start to learn about how to function as a member of a community.

We want to help the girls in Form IV to discover interests, hobbies and passions, and to forge friendships and values that will give them pleasure far into the future as a foundation for their adult lives. Form IV is a year for girls to harness their growing energy and amaze themselves with what they can achieve. To do this, they need help, support and clear boundaries. At school, we aim to do this by engaging with the girls as they strive to explore their interests, rewarding effort and attainment generously, and giving clear parameters to keep within as they work towards their goals. At home, they need support in their studies and other areas of endeavour, but also a safe environment to develop the friendships that are so important to young people. Every age has its challenges for parents. Vigilance, as well as an open and honest dialogue with children, will help to safeguard them from the pressures and distractions they are subjected to as teenagers.

I invite girls entering Form IV to relish the challenge of this exciting year. They should always seek out opportunities to help one another and guide those in the years below them, develop and treasure knowledge in their subjects, nurture their gifts and embrace the possibilities that life offers. It has been said that the sculptor finds the statue in a block of stone. Each child is both marble and artist, and, with the help of the adults in their lives, will uncover their masterpiece.

Miss Davies Head of Form IV