Science Week here in the Prep School has been an undoubted triumph. As a mathematician, and thus almost a scientist, it has been a real delight to me to see the way the week’s events and activities have captured the imagination and enthusiasm of our children. A deep and abiding interest in the world around them is something I’m keen to see all our pupils develop, and an understanding of scientific method and ideas is going to be crucial for the children as they grow up in an increasingly technological society.It’s been a particular pleasure to welcome a number of senior school scientists into prep school classrooms over the course of the week, with Dr Gate talking on numbers in nature and scuba diving, Mrs Dell introducing Years 3 and 4 to psychology, Mrs Jakubowski speaking on volcanoes to Year 5, Mr Hicks explaining the inner workings of computers, Dr Otter and Mrs Duffy running a biology quiz and Mr Pluck’s chemistry experiments with Year 4 and 5. Being able to draw on expertise like this is a great strength of the close relationship between the prep and senior schools. We were also delighted to welcome one of our governors, Mr Charles, to talk to Year 5 on sound, and sixth formers Alice and Emily to lead electricity experiments.

We went to Selborne today to look at the Gilbert White Museum. A woman called Jenny showed us around before we went on a three hour walk across the countryside to collect woodland items. We all got very dirty! We finally went down the zig-zag path. It had about twenty zig-zags! It was tiring, but we made it and got back to the Museum safely. We got back to the field studies centre and looked through a bucket of dead leaves (leaf litter) with a magnifying glass to search for insects and then put them onto a big television screen to see them close up. We really enjoyed the day and learnt a lot about the woodland ecosystem

This February, girls from the third form went on a three day tour of the First World War Battlefields in Belguim and France. While exploring the Battlefields in the Ypres and Somme region, they had the opportunity to visit the "In Flanders Fields" museum, the reserved trenches at Newfoundland Park and Sanctuary Wood and Tyne Cot cemetery.

Girls compared French, German and British cemeteries and took part in the Last Post Memorial Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres where form captains laid a poppy wreath on behalf of the school.

This February, girls from the third form went on a three day tour of the First World War Battlefields in Belguim and France. While exploring the Battlefields in the Ypres and Somme region, they had the opportunity to visit the "In Flanders Fields" museum, the reserved trenches at Newfoundland Park and Sanctuary Wood and Tyne Cot cemetery.

Girls compared French, German and British cemeteries and took part in the Last Post Memorial Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres where form captains laid a poppy wreath on behalf of the school.

Year 6 went on a retreat to St Lucy's Convent in Medstead. It was a day of prayer and reflection to find out more about ourselves and others. Mrs Wilson, Miss Swindells, Mrs Bird and Mr Berry came too. We were later joined by Father Tony Whale.

When we arrived we played some games like 'fruit salad' and a picture game. We had a short break before thinking about ourselves and what our dreams and expectations would be for both ten years time and 30 years time. It took us a while to do that, as it was harder than you think! We had lunch for an hour, which was great because we got to play in the gardens and everyone was playing together and having fun.

This February, girls from the third form went on a three day tour of the First World War Battlefields in Belguim and France. While exploring the Battlefields in the Ypres and Somme region, they had the opportunity to visit the "In Flanders Fields" museum, the reserved trenches at Newfoundland Park and Sanctuary Wood and Tyne Cot cemetery.

Girls compared French, German and British cemeteries and took part in the Last Post Memorial Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres where form captains laid a poppy wreath on behalf of the school.

Day One

After solving the problem of fitting 11 bags into the minibus, we traveled for 3½ hours to Wales. Our first stop was Rhondda Valley Heritage Park. The old colliery, which first opened in 1870, has now been converted into an industrial museum. We started, after meeting our very Welsh guide, Howard, by tracking two families lives and how the coalmine had effected them. This gave an insight to life in the coalmines and a glimpse at their history. We were then taken down, or so we thought, into the coal mining tunnels. We learnt how the coal seams were blown apart, in order to be mined out, with a life like re-enactment, and the system they used to extract coal from each seam. We then simulated a ride back up to the surface, only to find ourselves at the surface the whole time; we hadn't been below ground at all!

Alton Convent School was again delighted to play host to sixth formers from Salesian College and More House School for this year's Joint Sixth Form Conference. Our theme this year was "News Values or Real Values?", comparing and contrasting the values of the media and public life with those we ourselves hold. A distinguished panel of speakers once again led our discussions.

The day began with a brilliant session on what makes a good story in tabloid and broadsheet journalism. Our speaker, Jim Mansell, started his career in journalism as a trainee on a weekly newspaper in Southport before coming to Fleet Street more than twenty years ago. He has worked on the Daily Mirror, the Mail on Sunday, the Daily Star and is currently with the Daily Mail.

On Wednesday 27th February, the U11 netball team played a tournament at Lavant House. We started our first match against Lavant B. We set off with an amazing start and managed to beat the their team by 8-0. Team spirits were high and were maintained throughout the next matches: we passed quickly and scored goal after goal, winning 4-0 against Prebendal and 10-1 against Central. We won all three of our first round matches, thus securing a place in the knock-out. Alas, Lavant House A beat us by 3-2 to come first in the tournament. We were disappointed but held our heads high and won our next game against Prebendal 12-0, with all playing well to secure our third place overall. Girl of the match was Natasha, for one of the best goals in the tournament. We all enjoyed it and are looking forward to our next tournament.

This February, girls from the third form went on a three day tour of the First World War Battlefields in Belguim and France. While exploring the Battlefields in the Ypres and Somme region, they had the opportunity to visit the "In Flanders Fields" museum, the reserved trenches at Newfoundland Park and Sanctuary Wood and Tyne Cot cemetery.

Girls compared French, German and British cemeteries and took part in the Last Post Memorial Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres where form captains laid a poppy wreath on behalf of the school.

Day One

After solving the problem of fitting 11 bags into the minibus, we traveled for 3½ hours to Wales. Our first stop was Rhondda Valley Heritage Park. The old colliery, which first opened in 1870, has now been converted into an industrial museum. We started, after meeting our very Welsh guide, Howard, by tracking two families lives and how the coalmine had effected them. This gave an insight to life in the coalmines and a glimpse at their history. We were then taken down, or so we thought, into the coal mining tunnels. We learnt how the coal seams were blown apart, in order to be mined out, with a life like re-enactment, and the system they used to extract coal from each seam. We then simulated a ride back up to the surface, only to find ourselves at the surface the whole time; we hadn't been below ground at all!

This February, girls from the third form went on a three day tour of the First World War Battlefields in Belguim and France. While exploring the Battlefields in the Ypres and Somme region, they had the opportunity to visit the "In Flanders Fields" museum, the reserved trenches at Newfoundland Park and Sanctuary Wood and Tyne Cot cemetery.

Girls compared French, German and British cemeteries and took part in the Last Post Memorial Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres where form captains laid a poppy wreath on behalf of the school.

Day One

After solving the problem of fitting 11 bags into the minibus, we traveled for 3½ hours to Wales. Our first stop was Rhondda Valley Heritage Park. The old colliery, which first opened in 1870, has now been converted into an industrial museum. We started, after meeting our very Welsh guide, Howard, by tracking two families lives and how the coalmine had effected them. This gave an insight to life in the coalmines and a glimpse at their history. We were then taken down, or so we thought, into the coal mining tunnels. We learnt how the coal seams were blown apart, in order to be mined out, with a life like re-enactment, and the system they used to extract coal from each seam. We then simulated a ride back up to the surface, only to find ourselves at the surface the whole time; we hadn't been below ground at all!

Day One

After solving the problem of fitting 11 bags into the minibus, we traveled for 3½ hours to Wales. Our first stop was Rhondda Valley Heritage Park. The old colliery, which first opened in 1870, has now been converted into an industrial museum. We started, after meeting our very Welsh guide, Howard, by tracking two families lives and how the coalmine had effected them. This gave an insight to life in the coalmines and a glimpse at their history. We were then taken down, or so we thought, into the coal mining tunnels. We learnt how the coal seams were blown apart, in order to be mined out, with a life like re-enactment, and the system they used to extract coal from each seam. We then simulated a ride back up to the surface, only to find ourselves at the surface the whole time; we hadn't been below ground at all!

Day One

After solving the problem of fitting 11 bags into the minibus, we traveled for 3½ hours to Wales. Our first stop was Rhondda Valley Heritage Park. The old colliery, which first opened in 1870, has now been converted into an industrial museum. We started, after meeting our very Welsh guide, Howard, by tracking two families lives and how the coalmine had effected them. This gave an insight to life in the coalmines and a glimpse at their history. We were then taken down, or so we thought, into the coal mining tunnels. We learnt how the coal seams were blown apart, in order to be mined out, with a life like re-enactment, and the system they used to extract coal from each seam. We then simulated a ride back up to the surface, only to find ourselves at the surface the whole time; we hadn't been below ground at all!

Earlier in the year, Year 3 pupils entered the Inner Wheel's competition to produce bookmarks in support of the RNIB’s talking books appeal, and thus it was that we found ourselves heading off to Alton’s excellent public library on Tuesday morning, to see an exhibition of all the entries and attend the prize presentation. Arriving a little early, we had chance to explore the children’s section of the library and it was lovely to see Year 3 settling down contentedly to read and share books. Alton’s Inner Wheel President, Mrs Pam Conway, said how impressed the judges had been by the standard of all the entries, and we were delighted that our own Maisie came 2nd overall, receiving Green Dragon vouchers as her prize.

Hosted by ACS

The view from the B team:

On Tuesday 5th March there was a netball tournament held at the school. Everyone was very nervous and excited, but we all knew that we would have a great day.
First match: against the Alton Convent A team. We won the toss and got centre pass but unfortunately lost the game.
Second match: against Andrews Endowed. One of the easier wins.
Third match: against Medstead. An easier team but they played very well. We won after a hard fought game.
Fourth match: against St. Margaret’s. An extremely good team and the eventual winners of the tournament, so we did well to only lose by a small margin.
Fifth match : against the Alton Convent C team. Everyone on both teams was very tired so no-one was really playing as well as they had in the first few matches. We eventually won after a tough match.
Places: 1st : St. Margaret’s
2nd: Alton Convent A team
3rd: Alton Convent B team
4th: Andrews Endowed
5th: Medstead
6th: Alton Convent C team
Player of the tournament went to Harriet E for being a great Goal Attack and scoring 23 out of our 32 goals. Harriet N scored the other 9 goals. We all had a great day.

On 4 March the IV and V year GCSE Drama students visited The New Victoria Theatre, Woking to see Peter Shaffer’s ‘Sleuth’. The play is wonderfully crafted and we appreciated the twists and turns of the plot. The set was a really detailed depiction of the Drawing room of a Manor House, with staircases and landings it was in fact typical of the settings of a traditional murder mystery play. Sadly for us the lead actor was unwell and his substitute, while trying hard to step into the shoes, was non-the-less disappointing. Never mind; there will be more theatre visits to come!

Following the success of last year’s Year 2 boys’ activity afternoon, we extended the scope of the afternoon this year to include both boys and girls in Years 2 and 3. Prep and Senior School staff laid on a varied programme of taster sessions for some of our co-curricular clubs, with Mr Carpenter running a Karate session, touch rugby from Mr Hoffman, art inside and out from Mr Heath and Mrs Davis respectively, drama with Mrs Hillier, and some creative ICT with Mr Berry. The children certainly seem

On Wednesday 5th March, our U10 netball team went to St Margaret's School in Midhurst. After we'd warmed up, we began our first match against St Margaret's B team. It was a great match because we shot a goal straight away and won 6-0. Then we played Kingscourt. We won with 5-0 We also won against St John's with a score of 3-2. Unfortunately we lost to Ditcham Park, with 8-1 to them. We played St Margaret's A team and lost 5-2.

We came third overall out of six schools. The team played very well, but Rachel and Eleanor were players of the match. Despite having a sore finger, Eleanore shot nearly all of the goals.

On Wednesday 5th March Alton A team went to Dunhurst (Bedales) for a 7 a side tournament. The first match was against Frensham Heights. We started off well and Harry scored the opening goal, then Frensham hit back and scored a goal. Katie then broke away dwn the wing and scored. The final score was 2-1 to Alton

The we played the favourites, Dunhurst A. This was the best game we ever had played! We started well with an opener from Katie and Harry prodviding the second goal. Our final score was 2-0 to Alton. We were on a wining streak and Miss O'D was really proud!

Mr Berry's slides from 5th March 2008, together with links to other resources.

Local author Peter Ward visited Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils to present and discuss his latest novel "Dragon Horse" as a part of World Book Day celebrations. The girls were enchanted by his tale of ancient China with its range of weird and wonderful characters and vivid descriptions, brought to life by the author himself. Pupils had already read extracts from the novel and created a display of drawings of the old storyteller Shoo Lao which were much admired by Peter Ward. At the end of the talk, the girls were able to ask questions exploring his source of inspiration and the trials and delights of being a writer.

Drama Day 2008 challenged the four houses to create a 15 minute play in a morning, complete with set, costumes, props, lighting and music on the theme of ‘Reflections’. The V Form House Prefects were magnificent! They had each planned carefully the style, plot, and ‘look’ of the performance. Each member of the House was busily involved in the creation and the performances in the afternoon. All had large casts of actors, dancers, singers and instrumentalists. It was really splendid to see the I Form working alongside the V Form in a genuinely happy and creative atmosphere. Congratulations to all who took part and thank you for giving the school such varied and accomplished performances. Incidentally, St. John’s House were the winners this year!

With the weather looking grim and the prospect of getting very muddy looming, Year 4 embarked on a trip that, for some, would be their first time away from home. Excitement coupled with anticipation and nervousness was high. Since the middle of September Mrs Whicher and Mr Walker had been preparing Year 4 for this trip, explaining what would happen and what to expect and now the time had arrived.

Year 4 were accompanied by Mrs Bothwell and Miss Orbell as well as their intrepid class teachers! We were all impressed by the way in which year 4 threw themselves into it and tried their best in every activity.

Upon arrival at Bethany house we were greeted by Sophie, the manager and Myles, our group leader. Both of them were in charge of organising us, making sure we ate on time and got to the correct activity on schedule. After finding our rooms (and engaging in the annual problem of putting a sheet on a duvet, for some children!) the children were taken for the first of their 3 evening activities lead by Myles. Afterwards we began the task which haunts the dreams of every teacher on residential, bedtime!

With the weather looking grim and the prospect of getting very muddy looming, Year 4 embarked on a trip that, for some, would be their first time away from home. Excitement coupled with anticipation and nervousness was high. Since the middle of September Mrs Whicher and Mr Walker had been preparing Year 4 for this trip, explaining what would happen and what to expect and now the time had arrived.

Year 4 were accompanied by Mrs Bothwell and Miss Orbell as well as their intrepid class teachers! We were all impressed by the way in which year 4 threw themselves into it and tried their best in every activity.

Upon arrival at Bethany house we were greeted by Sophie, the manager and Myles, our group leader. Both of them were in charge of organising us, making sure we ate on time and got to the correct activity on schedule. After finding our rooms (and engaging in the annual problem of putting a sheet on a duvet, for some children!) the children were taken for the first of their 3 evening activities lead by Myles. Afterwards we began the task which haunts the dreams of every teacher on residential, bedtime!

With the weather looking grim and the prospect of getting very muddy looming, Year 4 embarked on a trip that, for some, would be their first time away from home. Excitement coupled with anticipation and nervousness was high. Since the middle of September Mrs Whicher and Mr Walker had been preparing Year 4 for this trip, explaining what would happen and what to expect and now the time had arrived.

Year 4 were accompanied by Mrs Bothwell and Miss Orbell as well as their intrepid class teachers! We were all impressed by the way in which year 4 threw themselves into it and tried their best in every activity.

Upon arrival at Bethany house we were greeted by Sophie, the manager and Myles, our group leader. Both of them were in charge of organising us, making sure we ate on time and got to the correct activity on schedule. After finding our rooms (and engaging in the annual problem of putting a sheet on a duvet, for some children!) the children were taken for the first of their 3 evening activities lead by Myles. Afterwards we began the task which haunts the dreams of every teacher on residential, bedtime!

The Spring/Summer D of E Award expedition has started. Nine year 10 girls completed their Bronze training day on 9th March. The day involved a brisk 5 mile walk over Holybourne Down, then a camping cooking demonstration followed by the girls own cooking. The day finished with tent practice and discussion of suitable walking clothes. The practice expedition for these girls is at the beginning of May, with the Silver practice over the last weekend of the Easter Holiday.