The termly magazine of Queen’s Gate School
Remove Showcase
The girls display their talents
Issue 59 ¡ Spring 2020
Call of the wild
An animal themed World Book Day
Lightbulb moment Young minds are illuminated in Science Week
From the Principal’s Study
Dear Parents, It seems like only yesterday when we welcomed in the year 2020 – a new year and new decade of hope and optimism, a Government with a majority and a country keen to move on from Brexit. At School, we busied ourselves with our normal routines and activities, including examination preparation, sport, music, school play rehearsals, clubs and outreach activities. The Queen’s Gate community, or the QG family as we call it, is tremendously strong and that strength sustained us all during the term. Now in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, we will need that strength more than ever, as we find new ways to carry out our normal routines and activities. Although we will not be able to meet together (and I will miss that very much), we need to find new and creative ways of ensuring continued social engagement. In its lengthy history, Queen’s Gate has withstood many challenges, and with your support and friendship, we will navigate our way forward and will be ready to welcome back our girls and families in the near future. Our world will take time to recover, but it will – and I hope that we will all emerge stronger, wiser and better people. Easter is one of my favourite times of year. The coming of Spring and the Easter story both offer a wonderful sense of renewal and hope. In the weeks ahead, stay strong and I hope that you will all still find many moments of joy, hope and optimism. Please do keep in touch. In the meantime, I send you all my love and very best wishes.
OUR WORLD WILL TAKE TIME TO RECOVER, BUT IT WILL – AND I HOPE THAT WE ALL EMERGE STRONGER, WISER AND BETTER PEOPLE
Yours sincerely, Mrs R. M. Kamaryc Principal
SPRING 2020
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editor
Miss A. Hinds
SUMMER TERM 2020
sub-editors
Miss E. Acton-Edmiston Mr H. Capper Mrs S. Evans Mrs R. Kamaryc design & art direction
ARCH Design Studio photography
term begins Wednesday 15 April
bank holiday Friday 8 May
half-term Monday 25 — Friday 29 May term ends Friday 3 July
DFPhotography feature writers
Miss E. Acton-Edmiston Miss A. Hinds contributors
Miss E. Allan Ms L. Arthur Mrs C. Chester Miss L. Coles Mrs I. Cornwall-Jones Mr A. de Burlet Mrs P. Garty Ms C. Gover Miss C. Hurlbatt Mrs M. Kolnikaj Miss C. Lamb-Wilson Dr M. Lee Ms J. Marshall Mrs C. Mayne Dr J. Mercer Miss C. Podavitte Mrs E. Scott Mr A. Selkirk Miss N. Sitko Miss C. Spencer Mrs V. Thompson Ms M. Vasquez Mr I. Webb-Taylor Ms C. Yates
Queen’s Gate School 133 Queen’s Gate London SW7 5LE 020 7589 3587 queensgate.org.uk @queensgateschool @QueensGateSch /QueensGateSch
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QG NEWS
Contents Senior School
Junior School
12 ARTiculation competition Pupil shares her passion for the architecture of Gaudí & RAL School Science Prize
25 A Level Drama scripted examinations A Midsummer Night’s Dream & The English Speaking Union’s Churchill Public Speaking Competition
21 Music Notes A busy term of concert perfomances by our instrumentalists and singers
26 Wider World Claudia Winkleman pays us a visit for a fascinating Q&A session
28 MUN update Success at the St Paul’s School Model United Nations conference ALU M NAE
30 Wine tasting at London Cru
32 Westward go! Visiting OGs in Oxford, Wales and the West Country
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FEATU RES
SCIENCE WEEK
Fascinating facts about epigenetics, superconductors, planets and more
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IT’S SHOWTIME!
Spectacular non-stop entertainment at this year’s Remove Showcase SPRING 2020
15 Swimming Gala 16 Visits from authors Caroline Lawrence and Larissa Lockwood 18 IIA learns form and function at the Design Museum
SOCI ETY EVENTS
31 Arts networking evening at Blain Southern Gallery
14 What’s going on in Preliminary? A trip to the National Portrait Gallery, our Spring Assembly and meeting Larissa Lockwood
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CALL OF THE WILD
World Book Day assumes a distinctly animal-like character
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ESSEQUIBO FLOW
This year’s Inspiring Women series ends with adventurer Pip Stewart 5
19 Dress design workshop at the V&A for IIB 20 The RBKC Road Safety and School Travel Calendar Competition Two QG pupils have their winning artwork featured
WHOLE SCHOOL 6 Sport Report News and results for CrossCountry, Hockey and Judo 7 Spotlight on Fencing 24 Charity round-up STAFF N EWS 33 Meet our new staff & Staff birth announcement
Follow @QG_PhysicalEd for the latest from the Physical Education Department
WHOLE SCHOOL · SPORT
SPORT REPORT
Queen’s Gate Physical Education @QG_PhysicalEd · 28 Feb Congratulations to the Remove, IV & V Form Netball teams for coming first in the RBKC Netball League and to LIV for coming second #hardworkpaysoff #earlymorningtraining #thankyouMissMcLister
CROSS COUNTRY On wednesday 5 february, the Junior, Intermediate and Senior running teams competed at the London Schools’ Cross Country Championships at Wormwood Scrubs. Seasoned Cross Country athlete Lara Mannes Diaz de Cerio won the Intermediate race, which qualified her
for the English Schools’ Cross Country Championships, where she came 1st in the London team and 24th overall. In the Senior race Sabrina Mannes Diaz de Cerio came in 9th place, in the Junior B Race Izabela McDaniel gained 21st place and in the Junior A race, Zoe Weiler also gained 21st place.
HOCKEY The hockey season got off to a great start with III Form and IIA playing a home game against Eaton House. The girls played good hockey with rhythm and intensity. III Form played a further two games against a strong Knightsbridge side. Both games were tough and the girls put their best effort forward. Throughout the term each squad has shown great improvement and determination. A superb performance against Hill House was shown, with the girls playing good passes and moving the ball into space. It was a solid display of teamwork and skills from all players.
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Queen’s Gate Physical Education @QG_PhysicalEd · 28 Feb The U12s battled the storms in the Francis Holland Hockey Tournament today, putting on a great performance through the day #QGSeniors @QueensGateSch
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Queen’s Gate Physical Education @QG_PhysicalEd · 28 Feb
JUDO In a queen’s gate first, Form V pupil, Tess McGill, travelled to the British Schools’ Judo Championships, which took place at the EIS Sheffield, where she competed in the Year 10/11 Under 57 kg category. Competing in four matches, Tess’s skill won her a bronze medal, following three wins and only one loss. A great achievement in a new QG sport! 6
A fantastic performance from our #QGSeniors at the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships 2020 @CopperBoxArena today! #NJIRC20 @LYRowing @IndoorRow @BritishRowing
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5 QG NEWS
WHOLE SCHOOL · SPORT
SPOTLIGHT ON…
Our QG Fencers continue to dominate in their sport at all levels, competing both nationally and internationally, with numerous titles won over the Spring Term
Fencing
Junior School On saturday 7 march, the Junior School held their first ever in-house fencing competition. Each pupil competed in a round robin for two hours, with a high level of fencing on show throughout the day. RESU LTS
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Patrycja Krzyaniak LVI
atrycja’s career in fencing continues to flourish. Following her qualification as a registered GB Fencing coach in 2019, she went on to captain the European Fencing Cadet Team. As team captain Patrycja has competed in Grenoble, Budapest, Copenhagen, Bratislava and Krakow recently. After placing a staggering 6th
individually and 3rd as a team at the World Cup in Copenhagen, Patrycja came 10th out of 113 athletes at the European Cadet Championship in Porec, Croatia, at the end of February, and is now ranked number 1 in GB Cadets. An even more exciting achievement, as only four GB fencers competed at the Championship.
Senior School Remove’s eloise kumba kohen won the gold medal in the Under 12 Girls group of the Elite Epée Fencing Tournament, Event One at Millfield School on Sunday 5 January. Removian Sofia Santese Donati placed 3rd at the South East Competition and she qualifies for U14 Foil at the British Youth Championships. In February, Form IV’s Harriet Hillier and Vanessa Lemer won gold and silver respectively at the BYC, and classmate Claudia Crawford-Brunt won the Leon Paul Junior Series London Epée on Saturday 1 February, out of 19 fencers. SPRING 2020
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Isabella Ciampolini Manley LIV
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Sofiia Kernes IIA
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Victoria Ciampolini Manley IIA
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Isabella Donato IIB
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Cordelia Bourrette III Form
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Zoe Tabojer IIB
On sunday 8 march, a selected group of pupils attended the British Schools’ Team Epée Championships, with a bronze medal being won by the QG Team of Cordelia Bourrette, Victoria Ciampolini Manley and Sofiia Kernes.
SE N IOR SCHOOL · SCI E NCE WE E K
SCIENCE
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his year’s Science Week saw a flurry of activity across both the Junior and Senior Schools with talks, visitors, demonstrations and experiments taking place.
WEEK 2020
10 — 14 FEB
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
Squids in! BY LI LLY PASTOR & VICTORIA ALLE N FORM IV
On tuesday, we went to the Natural History Museum for a talk in the David Attenborough studio about the classification of plants and animals. The first thing we noticed entering the room was that there were several tables with taxidermy animals. We were also given 3D glasses to see some of the photos. After everyone was comfortably installed, we were shown a video of some of the museum staff ’s favourite animals. We then moved on to talking about the giant squid specimen they had at the museum, and learned the average giant squid eye is the size of a beach ball, and were lucky enough to see a life-size replica of the squid, which was 13 metres long! Kitty volunteered to guess a specimen covered in a black cloth by feeling it and was very surprised when it was revealed to be a life-size replica of the giant squid’s tentacle! We then moved on to talking about how to classify things and we practised by classifying humans in small steps and seeing how similar we are to other animals, such as orang-utans and chimpanzees. It was a fun trip and were quite sad when we had to return to school for lessons.
EXPLORER DOME
Soft cell BY DE LI LAH SCH LI E MAN N FORM V
On wednesday form v went to the Explorer Dome set up in the Hall. The show was an immersive and fascinating experience. Once you had crawled into the Dome the sound and light effects made you feel surrounded by the world of cells. We learnt about the size and structure of bacterial cells and how they evolved, and about many of the cells found in our bodies. It was a show that was educational, creative and fun! 8
QG NEWS
SE N IOR SCHOOL · SCI E NCE WE E K
DR NESSA CAREY
Epigenetics BY ALEJAN DRA AGOSTI N I UVI
On thursday we were lucky enough to have molecular biologist Nessa Carey visit school. She works in the field of epigenetics (a new and exciting area of Biology) and described examples of organisms whose features could be explained by epigenetics. This was a great opportunity to further our learning and to hear about its real-life applications. Afterwards, we were able to ask questions and find out more about how epigenetics could be linked to the recent outbreak of coronavirus, the new advances in the field and the controversy surrounding this branch of biology. Nessa also spoke to us about her career and change in direction from studying veterinary medicine to forensic science, working in the field of epigenetics and even becoming an author. This allowed us to grasp how diverse the field of science is and all the exciting opportunities that are waiting for us if we choose to pursue a scientific career. — www.nessacarey.co.uk
SPRING 2020
SUPERCONDUCTORS WITH ANDREW STEELE
Resistance is futile BY LAKSH M I M U RUGAPPAN SCIENCE PREFECT & NATASHA BUSTN ES PHYSICS AMBASSADOR
On friday, scientist, Guardian blogger and YouTube presenter, Andrew Steele, visited school to give GCSE and A Level Physics and Chemistry pupils a talk on superconductors and their potential applications. He started off with some demonstrations involving liquid nitrogen, freezing a flexible rubber tube in seconds, which when hit with a hammer shattered like glass. We were all stunned and amazed by the extremely low temperature of the liquid nitrogen (−196°C!). We then learned about superconductors and how if they are cooled to below a certain temperature, their electrical resistance suddenly vanishes. This means an electric current can flow freely through a superconductor without ever losing energy. If this temperature can be reached in an economically feasible way, we can use it for more efficient electricity transport that saves money and reduces the amount of fossil fuels burned. We were then fascinated when Andrew Steele managed to levitate a magnet over a superconductor due to the magnetic repulsion of the two poles. As we were learning about magnetic fields in Physics A Level, it was especially interesting to see the wider applications of the theory we learn in the classroom. 9
The talk ended with the most captivating demonstration of a maglev train track that used the same principle of magnetic repulsion. The magnet was cooled over the superconductor and therefore ‘memorised’ the train track and was able to speed around the track for a long time as long as its temperature was kept low. This is the principle behind the maglev train to be built in Japan in the coming years. All-in-all, it was a fascinating and inspiring talk that allowed us to think beyond the realms of the classroom and explore the possible applications of what we learn in school.
SE N IOR SCHOOL · SCI E NCE WE E K
JANE GOODALL FOUNDATION
Roots and shoots BY LARA LOCKHART FORM IV
The final activity of Science Week involved all Form IV girls attending a workshop at school about Jane Goodall and her work. Jane Goodall is an anthropologist, primatologist and conservationist. She is famous for redefining mankind, since she discovered chimpanzees using natural objects as tools. Jane Goodall established a programme called ‘Roots and Shoots’, which encourages school pupils to make the environment a better place both for people and animals. Queen’s Gate is getting involved later in the year and we discussed some fantastic ideas. We hope to raise both awareness of environmental issues and money for charity in lots of new ways.
JUNIOR SCIENCE WEEK
BY SOLE M UZZI SCIENCE PREFECT
2020 A lady from Ginny Smith Science came in to show us a different type of Science from our normal lessons. There were many ‘how did she do that?’ moments from a lot of us! We were also told ‘you have to trust your brain, not your sight’.
M ad Science Show
Ginny Smith Science
Our mad scientist, Ben, spent a morning wowing all of Key Stage 2 with his amazing experiments, and our job was to guess how they were all done! It was very engaging and some volunteers had to help as well, including Mr Denchfield! 10
QG NEWS
J U N IOR SCHOOL · SCI E NCE WE E K
Balloo n Show
Virtual Reality
The balloon lady came back to Queen’s Gate again this year, and we got to see lots more experiments to do with balloons and science! She was very funny and had lots of information to share with us and spread her passion of science and balloons with us.
Stefan transported us into the virtual world of space. IIA and III Form had visited some of the planets before. However, Stefan explained to us how the planets were named and how they are different from earth. It was very interesting and was making us view Science from another perspective.
Chelsea Physic Garden III form had a lot of fun trying to solve the murder mystery at the Chelsea Physic Garden. We were put in groups and had to decide together who we thought was the culprit. Some of us had different ideas and had an individual opinion with some reasons based on the given facts. We all had to do some experiments and wrote the answers down. SPRING 2020
b Zoola
YA BY Z O
Our dress-up day this year was very enjoyable, and our theme was inventions and inventors. Some people’s outfits were funny and famous while others were creative and crazy. We all had a lot of fun with our costumes and accessories. Everyone was interested to know what type of invention made the world better.
Dress-up D ay 11
N AG B H AT
AR IIB
Being quiet on our way to Zoolab was hardest. We were all excited, chattering about which animals we would see. Finally our class was let inside the STEAM room to meet all the exquisite animals. We all sat on the floor while Lea told us a couple of rules. The first animal was a giant African snail. ‘It’s pretty small’ I said in confusion, but Lea assured me it was still a baby! The next one was a bug which looked like a stick. I remembered holding it and feeling like it was weightless because I could not feel a thing. Following that was a big frog buried inside some mud. We could not touch it as it had poisonous skin. After that we held a boa constrictor. Its skin was soft as a baby’s skin although it was very heavy. Finally there was a tarantula. Of course we were not allowed to touch it as it is a well-known fact that this spider is venomous. Unfortunately, then it was time to go!
SE N IOR SCHOOL · ACADE M IC
RAL School Science Prize BY I N DIA M I DDLETON - ROY IV FORM
There are no straight lines in nature Pupil shares her passion for Gaudí’s architectural style at the ARTiculation public speaking competition
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BY MARGH E RITA BOSSI LVI
his year, I decided to participate in the ARTiculation competition. ARTiculation is a nationally acclaimed public speaking competition focused on allowing young people to explore their interest in the arts. I chose to speak about an incredible architect called Antoni Gaudí and, more specifically, about one of his most spectacular buildings, Casa Milà, also known as La Pedrera (the Stone Quarry). The reason I chose Casa Milà was because, during
my visit to Barcelona, I was left utterly shocked by the unconventional shape of the building, thus igniting my passion for architecture. During my enrichment sessions throughout the autumn term, I researched and prepared my presentation before delivering it to an audience during Wider World. In my ten-minute presentation, I described my initial reactions to the building, revealing my personal interpretation of it. I then proceeded to explain its functional aspects and the way it was received by the public initially. I ended my presentation by revealing Gaudí’s impact on the world overall. I won the School competition and then went through to the quarter finals in January, where I competed against students from other London schools at the Royal Academy of Arts. I am truly thankful for this incredible opportunity as, along with helping to improve my verbal communication skills, ARTiculation has allowed me to explore my interests in art in an entirely different way to any academic subject, enabling me to gain a deeper understanding of architecture as an art form. 12
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n Tuesday 17 December, Mrs Garty, Maria Koslova and I visited the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire. We were both entered as finalists in the RAL School Science Prize. The competition was to write a 500-word essay on ‘Why I Love Science’. This was very hard in the beginning, as neither of us really knew what to write about; however, we both found our ideas, and were chosen as two of fifteen finalists nationally! When we arrived, we were given a tour of the facilities. The main experiment they have there is a ‘Mini Hadron Collider’. This is where the machine spins an atom so fast, that it is separated from the protons, neutrons and electrons. They use many different sized mirrors that reflect the infrared laser onto objects. In my opinion, this was extremely interesting, and fascinating to know that people dedicate their lives to do this. After the tour, we were brought to the lecture room, where we then performed our speeches individually in front of the judges and the parents. Everyone’s presentations were outstanding and we all deserved to win. At the end of the night, we were allowed to look at some of the small science stalls they had set up, including a thermal camera and magnets. It was an amazing afternoon and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! QG NEWS
Junior School 14
PRELIMINARY REPORT Our youngest pupils have had a busy start to 2020
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GREAT LENGTHS
New records are set at this year’s tightly fought Swimming Gala
Girls meet a giant African snail · P 11
SPRING 2020
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SITTING PRETTY
IIA are introduced to chair design on their trip to the Design Museum
J U N IOR SCHOOL · PRE LI M I NARY
What’s going on in Preliminary? Our youngest pupils have had a busy start to 2020! National Portrait Gallery We had a fascinating visit to the National Portrait Gallery on Thursday 6 February. We learnt about The Capel Family portrait by Cornelius Johnson and compared the people in the family from 1640 with our families today. We were surprised to see boys in dresses! We also found some portraits of people we recognised from our preparations for the trip such as Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I, Victoria and Albert and Elizabeth II.
Our Spring Assembly Our assembly was on Tuesday 3 March with the theme ‘Spring and Growing’. We sang songs about spring and played our xylophones. Sonya was the sun, Arianna the rain and other girls were growing daffodils. We painted and cut out our costumes. Each pupil had at least two lines and they spoke clearly and confidently about what they had been learning as they grow in Preliminary. So far, this includes counting by 10 to 100, reading, painting, joined-up writing and football in the park.
Meeting Larissa Lockwood On Friday 6 March, we all enjoyed listening to Mrs Lockwood talking about her book Percival and the Hall of Mirrors in assembly, and then we able to meet the author herself afterwards! We also enjoyed dressing up for World Book Day and Science Week, and we met some creepy crawlies with Zoolab!
J U N IOR SCHOOL · SPORT
GALA CHAM PIONS IA Ginevra Reoli II B Lula Westoby IIA Caroline Hunt III FORM Zoe Petropoulos OVE RALL SWI M M I NG CHAM PIONS Caroline Hunt & Zoe Petropolos
Junior Swimming Gala
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The annual competition sees some impressive swims from girls at this year’s gala
n Tuesday 3 March, the Junior School made their way to Kensington Leisure Centre for their annual Swimming Gala. Elizabeth and Victoria Houses battled it out to win points for their house, with Elizabeth just pipping Victoria to the
winning house trophy, with 283 points. IIB’s Lula Westoby broke the 25m and Backstroke and Breaststroke records and Elizabeth House also broke the record for Freestyle relay! Congratulations to all the pupils who took part.
Record Breakers A special mention to all the pupils who set new records Lula Westoby IIB
17.1 sec
25m Breaststroke Lula Westoby IIB
23.3 sec
25m Backstroke
Freestyle Relay
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Elizabeth House IA & IIB
1:34.4 min
J U N IOR SCHOOL · VISITORS
The mirror and the writer The girls enjoy meeting Caroline Lawrence and Larissa Lockwood, two amazing children’s authors
Caroline Lawrence On wednesday 26 february, IIB, IIA and III Form were lucky to meet bestselling children’s author Caroline Lawrence. Caroline is best known for her 17-book series Roman Mysteries, which has been made into TV shows by the BBC! Caroline explained how her love of Classics began when she was a girl, and how myths and Classical Civilisation have shaped her passion for writing. She also told the girls about how her Roman Mysteries series are written in the style of Nancy Drew Goes Back in Time.
Larissa Lockwood Pupils also had the opportunity to meet QG parent and author, Larissa Lockwood, on Friday 6 March. Larissa came in to talk about her book Percival and the Hall of Mirrors. Lots of the girls purchased the books and had them signed as well! 16
QG NEWS
J U N IOR SCHOOL · LI B RARY
Animal tales O
The School goes wild for World Book Day
n Thursday 5 March we celebrated our love of books and stories by joining the World Book Day reading for pleasure movement. This year, our favourite animal characters stepped out of book pages and populated our School with their colourful costumes and sparkly personalities! Throughout the day, the Library became the setting of a number of ‘booky’ activities. During morning break, some girls had their ‘shelfie’ book recommendation photos taken, and after lunch they competed in our first ever ‘Book Scrabble’ and ‘Book Blockbusters’ game contests. This year, the official World Book Day theme was, once again, focused on the SPRING 2020
importance of sharing stories to foster a lifelong love of reading and promote children’s wellbeing. Following on in the spirit of this campaign, some IIA girls had the opportunity to share excerpts from their favourite books with our weekly Age UK lunch guests in the Senior School. This was very much a cherished experience for both the girls and visitors. We would like to thank our IIA storytellers, Age UK and the people who facilitated this initiative. Finally, a big thank you to all the girls, parents and staff for always making World Book Day a special, fun and inspiring event. @QG_Library 17
Age UK Share a Story When I walked in everyone greeted me and gave me a very warm welcome. When I began to read, I felt very comfortable because their smiles made me feel at home. I showed them my favourite pictures from Katie and the Mona Lisa by James Mayhew, and their eyes lit up. It felt really special to share a story with them and contribute to making a difference to their day.’ VICTORIA CIAMPOLINI MANLEY IIA
J U N IOR SCHOOL ¡ TRI PS
Madam Chair The girls of IIA are introduced to chair design and the skill of uniting form and function at the Design Museum BY M E LISSA ETTE DGU I IIA
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ur trip to the Design Museum was amazing and very entertaining. There were lots of interesting and intriguing objects and we had a workshop where we learned about different types of chairs. We drew our favourite type of chair, and we had to explain why we liked it. I enjoyed the activity at the end where we had to work in groups to design a chair that would meet the needs of a specific type of person. It was a challenging activity, but we learned a lot about design.
QG NEWS
J U N IOR SCHOOL ¡ TRI PS
Perfect patterns
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IIB learns about dress design at the V&A
n Tuesday 4 February, IIB visited the Victoria & Albert Museum. They worked with the inspirational designer Bethan Durie in a hands-on studio workshop. Pupils were encouraged to experiment with mark making when creating first-hand drawings from museum exhibits in the Islamic Middle East gallery. They then incorporated collage into their drawings by cutting and sticking shapes on to
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existing sketches and working on top with further layers. Armed with drawings and collage, the girls returned to the studio to work in a digital software called Kaleidomatic and created their unique digital pattern designs. They had a magnificent and productive time producing exciting outcomes. From the digital printouts the girls have created collage dresses ready for their summer term exhibition.
J U N IOR SCHOOL · EXTRA CU RRICU LAR
Malika Piplapure’s winning cover art
A place of greater safety
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Pupils get creative with road safety at the annual RBKC calendar competition
nce again QG pupils were invited to take part in the annual Kensington and Chelsea Road Safety and School Travel Calendar Competition. Pupils were asked to enter pictures on the theme of promoting road safety or active travel to school (cycling/ walking/scooting), improving air quality, the journey to school, public transport or travel in the future. The 2020 calendar received 1,200 entries from 27 schools in the borough and 46 winners were selected. Two Queen’s Gate pupils were selected for this year’s calendar – Malika Piplapure and Zoya Bhatnagar – with Malika’s picture selected for the front cover of the calendar! On Thursday 16 January, the girls attended the calendar awards evening at Chelsea Town Hall, where they had a chance to meet and talk to the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. They were presented with their certificates and
also saw their drawings as part of the winners’ exhibition. Congratulations to both girls for their achievement!
Zoya Bhatnagar’s winning entry
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QG NEWS
SE N IOR SCHOOL · M USIC
MUSIC MUSIC NOTES Our instrumentalists and singers have been pulling out all the stops for this term’s line-up of performances
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BY AN NA LONG MUSIC PREFECT
t has been a busy term, as usual, for music in both the Senior and Junior Schools. We’ve had a woodwind concert and a songwriters’ concert, both of which were very enjoyable. The audience was thoroughly impressed by the girls’ instrumental, songwriting and singing skills. As Music Prefects, María Posada and I arrange for students to perform before Monday assemblies; one of our favourites this term has been the guitar club, who performed Fall Behind Me by The Donnas. I have enjoyed volunteering with the Junior School String Orchestra on Friday mornings and seeing how they have improved their playing abilities throughout the year. We were very honoured to have Roderick Williams, a baritone and the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Singer of the Year 2016, come to speak and sing for us, alongside Mr Williams on the classical guitar. It was definitely one of my favourite Wider World sessions this term! Remove spent the term preparing for their annual Remove Showcase (see page
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22), where they performed a variety of songs from musicals, including This Is Me, I Just Can’t Wait to Be King and Revolting Children. Individual musicians performed as well to an audience of parents and headteachers from their former primary schools. @QG_MusicDept
SE N IOR SCHOOL · RE MOVE SHOWCASE
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his year’s Remove Showcase took place in the Senior School Hall on the afternoon of Friday 6 March. Parents and teachers from the girls’ former schools were invited to attend the performance and see the variety of exciting things the girls have been taking part in since starting at Queen’s Gate last September. Once everyone was settled into their seats, the girls put on an impressive musical prelude, demonstrating a wide range of high-calibre talent across the year group. Accomplished piano, flute, violin, cello and vocal pieces were all heard by the audience, and it was evident QG NEWS
SE N IOR SCHOOL · RE MOVE SHOWCASE
The greatest show on earth
Remove puts together a spectacular and varied afternoon of entertainment for their annual showcase that a lot of dedicated practice had been happening behind the scenes! The Showcase then opened with the whole of Remove singing The Lion King’s I Just Can’t Wait To Be King, setting the bar high for what was to follow! From Astronomy Club and debating to French and Latin plays, pupils put on a show to remember. Particular highlights included Tatiana Osborne’s confident performance of Rumi’s amusing Rehearsal Notes, and the punchy whole cast rendition of Revolting Children from Matilda the Musical! The girls also played a video from their trip to Devon at the start of the year, which was a lovely way to show how SPRING 2020
they had bonded from day one and been welcomed into the Queen’s Gate family. Well done to everyone for putting together a wonderful afternoon of entertainment.
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WHOLE SCHOOL · CHARITY
Junior School
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Charity round-up Senior School
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BY H E LE NA FI N DLATE R & JASM I N E PRI M E CHARITY PREFECTS
BY LE B RIZ CLAYTON CHARITY PREFECT
his term we have had a great time fundraising. On Friday 17 January we had a successful bake sale in aid of the Australian wildfires with scrumptious cakes. We raised £553.46. It was run by IIB pupil Lola Anderson, so many thanks to her! On Wednesday 29 January, we raised money for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, who focus on more research to beat cancer. We sold water bottles for £3 and badges for £1 and also had a ‘Guess the name of the bear game’ with each guess costing £1. For this charity we raised £342.90. On Friday 7 February, we had Number Day, when some pupils dressed up as their favourite numbers, and some VI Form girls came and taught us Maths, which we all enjoyed. Every Friday we still have a foodbank when pupils bring in dry food which is donated to the homeless. Thank you for your donations this term!
he charity events in the Senior School this term have been a huge success, with our weekly Foodbank Friday collections still taking place and raising money for several different charities. This term we fundraised for the Jane Goodall Institute with a jeans day and Krispy Kreme bake sale during Science Week. Jesse Porcaro also ran a jeans day and bake sale to help donate and support Red Cross Australia to help some of the most catastrophic bush fires in Australia. The annual Sport Relief Dance-Off also took place in March, with girls and staff stepping up to the plate and showing us their best moves – Form UV’s Lweji Padre and Leila Khan came away as champions for the fourth year running! Our Age UK lunches continue, and this term we have introduced outreach workshops including music, art and dancing, which everyone is enjoying! 24
QG NEWS
SE N IOR SCHOOL · ACADE M IC
Midsummer in Mykonos A Level pupils perform a rather different telling of the Shakespeare comedy
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lashing bright lights, silver chairs and colourful flowers filled the Senior School Hall on Tuesday 25 February for this year’s A Level scripted examination. Set in a nightclub in Mykonos, the dazzling comedic acting, in the style of theatre practitioner Declan Donnellan and from the forest scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was provided by Lara Brewer as Hermia, Andrea Predic as Demetrius, Bonnie Goudie as Oberon and Lysander and Amandine Bodet Lefevre as Puck and Helena. The chaotic nature of the piece was extremely well performed, and all four pupils should be extremely proud of their achievement.
This was their finest hour
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QG pupils excel in the first round of the English Speaking Union’s Churchill Public Speaking Competition
n Saturday 8 February, V Form’s Annabel Roshan, Lydia Andriopoulou and Tess McGill took part in the first round of the English Speaking Union’s Churchill Public Speaking Competition. Francis Holland Sloane Square hosted seven teams, each team comprising a chairperson, speaker and questioner. The speaker’s role is to deliver a five-minute speech on a topic of their choice from a prescribed list, which included ‘White lies help to keep life sweet’ and ‘Protecting SPRING 2020
the environment is more important than making a profit’ – the latter being the subject of the speech given by Annabel. Lydia was paired with a speaker from another team and was exemplary in her role as questioner. Tess was serene and gracious in her role as chairperson, particularly impressive in her summary of her speaker’s most salient points. The QG team were overall runnersup, with Annabel and Tess also named runners-up to winning speaker and chairperson respectively. 25
SE N IOR SCHOOL · WI DE R WORLD
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QG NEWS
SE N IOR SCHOOL · WI DE R WORLD
Take it from me
TV presenter, journalist and film critic Claudia Winkleman drops by for a Wider World Q&A session
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he New Year and Spring Term started with a bang, with a special visit from TV presenter, journalist and film critic Claudia Winkleman! Claudia joined Senior School pupils on Wednesday 8 January for a Q&A as part of their weekly Wider World talks series. Claudia’s bubbling enthusiasm for her work and family in general was infectious and it was refreshing to see the girls’ questions answered with such honesty and humour. After completing a History of Art degree at Cambridge University, which she loved, Claudia went on to work in an art gallery. However, she quickly realised (after four days!) that this was not going to be the right job for her. She modestly reiterated to us that her current career in the TV and media world has all happened by chance, but noted that smiling and always offering to help will get you a long way in life! Many thanks to Claudia for taking the time out of her busy day (unpacking boxes at her new house) to come and chat to us!
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SE N IOR SCHOOL · M U N
High-powered talks Pupils display exceptional diplomatic skills and add to their MUN award collection at St Paul’s School Model United Nations BY LU NA M I DDLETON - ROY & MARIA POSADA HEAD GIRLS
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nce again, Queen’s Gate has had another very successful term of Model United Nations. The Spring Term began with a three‑day conference at St Paul’s School, at which our 12 students played active roles in their committees, debating topics ranging from the impact of Russia’s expansionism and the future legal status of Hong Kong to the question of cultural genocide in the Amazon.
podium Representing China and Iraq, we saw many confident and valuable contributions to the General Assembly,
at which over 150 students were present, debating Iranian–US tensions in a crisis resolution. Our QG delegates took home four of the available 18 awards, and were even nominated for the Best Overall Delegation – a huge achievement. María Posada and Alexandra Cheytanova were presented with the ‘Most Accurate to Country’ award, both representing China. Diane-Sophie Capelle was awarded ‘Best Speaker’ in the Disarmament and International Security Committee and Sara Kapoor, the youngest member of our QG MUN team, secured the ‘Best Overall Delegate award’ in her beginners committee. Clara Cole and Luna Middleton-Roy were also invited to hold the prestigious positions of chairs to the Legal Committee and Security Council respectively. 28
QG NEWS
EVE NTS · I NSPI RI NG WOM E N
Pip’s expedition diary extracts t Exploration is not abou rts of exploring far-flung pa ing the the world, it’s about see eryone world with new eyes. Ev . can teach you something
Running the Essequibo This year’s Inspiring Women series ends on a high with adventurer and journalist Pip Stewart
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n Monday 20 January, our final Inspiring Women speaker of the academic year, Pip Stewart, came into school to talk about her remarkable journey as an adventurer and journalist. Guests were transfixed by Pip’s enthusiastic tales of her team’s 2018 voyage paddling down the Essequibo in Guyana, South America, fighting the continuous physical and mental obstacles they faced during the expedition. Her thorough diary keeping on the trip documented their dramatic highs and lows, the people she met and the adversities they faced, the positivity of the locals and the struggles they go through in everyday life. SPRING 2020
Pip ended her talk with the five lessons her adventure has taught her: 1. Be the author of your own story 2. Don’t let fear hold you back in life (it’s always going to be there) 3. Acceptance is a path to contentment. You will make mistakes. Try not to dwell on them – grow from them 4. Gratitude is a powerful force 5. The little things are really the big things in life @PipStewart 29
Why am I scared? I’m scared
of dying. For the first time
I’m leaving the safety of
‘community’ – and for the first time I’m truly realising the
support network that brings.
SOCI ETY · EVE NTS
Queen’s Gate Society
Let’s drink to the cru The QG Society gets all fruity at our first wine tasting evening
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first for the Queen’s Gate Society, on Friday 7 February, a group of parents gathered to sample wines produced at the capital’s first urban winery, London Cru. Led by wine expert Lona, the group learnt that, whilst not all the grapes need to be grown in the UK, thanks to the magic of refrigerated lorries, the wine itself is made in the company’s very own Fulham buildings! Lona talked through the production process and gave tips on how to avoid wines with high levels of tannins that can cause nasty hangovers for some drinkers. An enjoyable evening was had by all, and we hope to repeat events like this in the future. 30
QG NEWS
SOCI ETY · EVE NTS
New paintings, new contacts Fine Art and networking brighten a January evening
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n Tuesday 14 January, some parents and staff spent an evening networking in the sleek Blain Southern Gallery in Mayfair. During the evening, attendees were also able to enjoy the wonderful backdrop of Michael Simpson’s latest exhibition, New Paintings, whilst sampling creative canapés from Salt & Honey. A very special thank you to QG parent and gallery co-founder Mr Harry Blain for hosting us!
Details on future events can be found at: www.queensgate.org.uk/events
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ALU M NAE · EVE NTS
Westward go! A half-term trip visiting alumnae now studying in Oxford, Wales and the West Country
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uring February half-term, Mrs Kamaryc and Dr Lee visited Cardiff, Bath and Oxford as part of their annual tour of universities and connecting with QG alumnae. The trip was both exciting and inspiring, with the opportunity to gain insights into the distinctive character of each university and their admissions on to competitive courses. In each city, the School hosted an event for QG Old Girls, which provided an excellent opportunity to hear about our alumnae’s university and work placement experiences and also to reminisce on the wonderful stories about Queen’s Gate. We are extremely grateful to those alumnae who took the time to meet up. 32
QG NEWS
WHOLE SCHOOL · STAFF N EWS
NEW STAFF A very warm welcome to the teachers who joined Queen’s Gate this term
MISS WHITE
MISS MACDONNELL
Miss white joins Queen’s Gate as Junior School Music Coordinator. Following her studies at the Royal College of Music she has enjoyed a busy performing career as a violinist, giving concerts in major halls around the world and making several recordings with groups such as the Academy of Ancient Music and the Alison Balsom Ensemble. She also appeared in the West End production of Farinelli and the King. Miss White has previously taught at the Village School in Belsize Park, and is enjoying working within the Queen’s Gate community.
Miss macdonnell joins Queen’s Gate as Class Teacher for IB, covering Mrs Russell’s maternity leave. She has recently been in Bahrain, where she spent a term working at The Children’s Academy, a school for children with moderate learning difficulties. Prior to that she worked for many years at Pembridge Hall, Notting Hill Gate, first as a class teacher and later as an Assistant Head in charge of the Curriculum and Senior School Transition. She is enjoying working at Queen’s Gate, a school she has long admired.
Queen’s Gate baby Congratulations to the newest member of the Queen’s Gate community!
MS ROE
Ms roe joined Queen’s Gate as Mrs Stonehill’s maternity cover for History and Religious Studies. She has worked in both UK and international secondary schools for over 20 years, and so arrives at Queen’s Gate with a wealth of relevant teaching experience. In addition, she has worked in conflictaffected countries, including Afghanistan and several African states, setting up educational programmes for young people and women.
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Mrs Stonehill and her husband
Harry welcomed their daughter Lily Rose Stonehill on Tuesday 28 January at 5.13 pm, weighing in at 3.2 kg. They are enjoying getting to know their little one, who is a good sleeper and eater and is starting to smile!
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Queen’s Gate School 133 Queen’s Gate London SW7 5LE 020 7589 3587 queensgate.org.uk @queensgateschool @QueensGateSch /QueensGateSch