Alton Convent School had a record number of ten girls qualifying for the ISA National Athletics' Championships held on 24 June at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. The girls formed part of the London West Division team who then completed against all the other divisions in England. All of the school's athletes performed excellently but in particular Alicia in Year 7 threw a personal best of 7.36 metres to take a Silver medal in the shot put.

 However the best performance went to the Year 5 girls relay team, consisting of Joanna, India, Abigail and Francesca. This was their second time of qualifying for the Nationals. Last year they were the runners up but this year they took first place on the podium having run their hearts out with some excellent changeovers helping them to maintain their speed throughout.

The children in the preparatory school enjoyed a music workshop on Wednesday morning with our new brass teacher who joins the school in September to work with Mr Andrews to expand the brass provision.

Mrs Stephenson is an experienced performer and teacher and she demonstrated the full range of brass instruments to the children. Some of the children were able to have a try on the instruments and one or two actually produced a sound! The workshop concluded with Mrs Stephenson performing some beautiful pieces from "The Titanic" to the "Jurassic Park". Should you be interested in your child learning a brass instrument please contact the school office.

Elegance and grace came to Alton Convent School on the 23 June when the senior school's Literary Day celebrated the life, works and times of Jane Austen. Activities  ranged from a Dance with Emma Woodhouse to Wickham's World with girls route marched through the library and drilled, before being treated to a Regency Punch and Judy show.

 Mrs Isabel Walker, who organised the day, felt that it had achieved its aim of presenting Hampshire's most famous author to girls in years 7, 8 and 9 in a way that was both fun and accessible. Alice in year 9 said, 'I really liked Mrs Bennet's marriage game because it challenged you to test your knowledge of Jane Austen and made you more aware of the dilemmas facing women in the Regency times and the unpredictability of marital success.'

On the 23rd June the lower sixth headed to the cities of Bath and Bristol for not only further education purposes but for some "culturally enriching" experiences including a trip to Thermae Bath Spa and the original Roman Baths. After a long journey by minibus which passsed quite quickly due to the amount of singing going on we reached Bristol and headed to what was an excellent open air theatre performance of "A midsummer's Nights Dream".

An early start on Wedesday meant we were first in the queue for the "Bansky versus Bristol Museum" exhibition, where we all saw a new perspectiveon graffiti art.

A residential school trip offers many opportunities for learning outside of the classroom. On the  Isle of Wight trip, Year 5 experiences encompassed  Art, History, Geography and Independent living skills amongst other things.

They experienced life as servants at Osborne House under the supervision of 'Mrs Pilkington' then had the opportunity to become lords and ladies at Carisbrooke Castle, (while also learning about the different arrow heads and what they were used for!). 

The girls of the sixth form took an evening at the races, taking the opportunity to dress up and study the form. Set on top of the Sussex Downs, Goodwood is not only a breathtaking backdrop for the very finest flat racing, but it also offers the girls the chance to socialise and relax after A2 and A/S examinations.

By kind permission of the event organisers the girls were allowed discounted entrance into the Richmond enclosure. During every race a new surge of energy was released, creating a buzz throughout the stands. Some of the upper sixth came home with a little less money in their purses whereas others in the group had great wins!

Year 6 enjoyed a cultural day out visiting the City Art Gallery in Southampton in the morning followed by an afternoon of music making at a school in Milford on Sea.

The children were given a conducted tour of the gallery where they viewed the Perseus series by Burne-Jones, early renaissance and romantic paintings and finally some 21^st century sculpture. In the afternoon they played the gamelan known as "The Trusty Servant." This is one large musical instrument played by many people and which has been part of Indonesian life for many hundreds of year's. Andy Channing introduced the instruments to the children and led them through several different pieces of music. Everybody took turns to play big gongs known as Suwaken, small gongs called Bonang using bronze keys such as Saron and Slentherm.

In the glorious surroundings of the Thames Valley Athletic Stadium in Eton, Alton Convent School took part in the Annual Regional Athletic ISA Championships. Alton Convent athletes produced some amazing performances, many finishing in the top three in their events and were awarded bronze, silver and gold medals.

Seven of Alton Convent's athletes performed exceptionally and as a result have qualified for the National ISA Finals in Birmingham on the 24^th June 2009. From over a 1000 competitors the following girls have achieved fantastic results with many personal bests.

On Thursday 4 June 32 girls and four staff changed into suitable attire to attend a Classical Gala Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The two-hour long programme featured world famous artists - Emma Johnson (Clarinet), Nicola Benedetti (Violin) and Evelyn Glennie (Percussion). The music included concerti by Vivaldi, Mozart and Tchaikovsky.