At 12:45, as the Upper Prep assembled on the field for this year’s Sports Day, the heavens opened, just like last year. A hasty conference of PE staff and management took the decision to wait things out, and after a quarter of an hour, the rain stopped and patches of blue became visible overhead! With this slightly delayed start, sports day got under way with the grand class relays. Field events proceeded throughout the afternoon, with some particularly impressive long jumps being recorded. Track events kept house supporters and parents on the edge of their seats, with some outstanding performances across a range of distances, up to and including 600m.

The Isle of Wight has been the best residential trip we have ever had with the school! We stayed at the Rooftree Hotel, owned by Ann and Futoshi. Here are a few of the many highlights of our trip. The boat tour around the Needles was one of the best highlights, we got great pictures and fabulous views. Glory Art Glass was great as well, especially when they blew the glass bubble and popped it, which made everyone jump! We also had a fabulous dance class with Ann, the hotel owner, and a disco.
We brought sweets, money and our teddy bears for the competition, where you had to make a scene with your teddy bears: some examples were, a hot air balloon ride and a barbecue on the beach. We also had the tidiest room competition, and the boys never won!
Friday came too soon and before long we were heading back to Portsmouth and then back to school.

The Isle of Wight has been the best residential trip we have ever had with the school! We stayed at the Rooftree Hotel, owned by Ann and Futoshi. Here are a few of the many highlights of our trip. The boat tour around the Needles was one of the best highlights, we got great pictures and fabulous views. Glory Art Glass was great as well, especially when they blew the glass bubble and popped it, which made everyone jump! We also had a fabulous dance class with Ann, the hotel owner, and a disco.
We brought sweets, money and our teddy bears for the competition, where you had to make a scene with your teddy bears: some examples were, a hot air balloon ride and a barbecue on the beach. We also had the tidiest room competition, and the boys never won!
Friday came too soon and before long we were heading back to Portsmouth and then back to school.

The Isle of Wight has been the best residential trip we have ever had with the school! We stayed at the Rooftree Hotel, owned by Ann and Futoshi. Here are a few of the many highlights of our trip. The boat tour around the Needles was one of the best highlights, we got great pictures and fabulous views. Glory Art Glass was great as well, especially when they blew the glass bubble and popped it, which made everyone jump! We also had a fabulous dance class with Ann, the hotel owner, and a disco.
We brought sweets, money and our teddy bears for the competition, where you had to make a scene with your teddy bears: some examples were, a hot air balloon ride and a barbecue on the beach. We also had the tidiest room competition, and the boys never won!
Friday came too soon and before long we were heading back to Portsmouth and then back to school.

On the 18th of June 2008, Sienna, India, Abigail and Francesca  went to the ISA championships in Birmingham. It took us three hours to get there, so we stopped for lunch on the way, which was generously provided by Sienna's Mum. When we arrived in Birmingham the weather was nice, but throughout the day it got worse. We were allowed to practice the relay and we also played around in the long jump pit.

We were running for London West, we wore light blue vests, and special shoes with spikes on to make us go even faster. The relay was the last event of the day, so we were waiting about for ages. The race was 4x75 meters, we were set off from the sixth lane by a real gun! We were scared. Sienna ran the first leg, and was in second place when she passed the baton on to India. India stayed in second place in the second leg, and then she gave the baton to Francesca. Francesca also managed to stay in second place, before handing the baton for the last time to Abby. Abby then sprinted down the final straight and came second overall.

The Isle of Wight has been the best residential trip we have ever had with the school! We stayed at the Rooftree Hotel, owned by Ann and Futoshi. Here are a few of the many highlights of our trip. The boat tour around the Needles was one of the best highlights, we got great pictures and fabulous views. Glory Art Glass was great as well, especially when they blew the glass bubble and popped it, which made everyone jump! We also had a fabulous dance class with Ann, the hotel owner, and a disco.
We brought sweets, money and our teddy bears for the competition, where you had to make a scene with your teddy bears: some examples were, a hot air balloon ride and a barbecue on the beach. We also had the tidiest room competition, and the boys never won!
Friday came too soon and before long we were heading back to Portsmouth and then back to school.

The Isle of Wight has been the best residential trip we have ever had with the school! We stayed at the Rooftree Hotel, owned by Ann and Futoshi. Here are a few of the many highlights of our trip. The boat tour around the Needles was one of the best highlights, we got great pictures and fabulous views. Glory Art Glass was great as well, especially when they blew the glass bubble and popped it, which made everyone jump! We also had a fabulous dance class with Ann, the hotel owner, and a disco.
We brought sweets, money and our teddy bears for the competition, where you had to make a scene with your teddy bears: some examples were, a hot air balloon ride and a barbecue on the beach. We also had the tidiest room competition, and the boys never won!
Friday came too soon and before long we were heading back to Portsmouth and then back to school.

2nd June 2008

Dear Parents and Friends

The date for this year's Summer Fete has been set as Saturday, June 21st and the PTFA is hoping that the event will, once again, be blessed with good weather and provide an entertaining and enjoyable occasion for all the family.

Last year's Fete raised a magnificent sum in excess of £6000 which, when added to the proceeds from other activities throughout the year, enabled the school to purchase a much needed new mini bus. As you may be aware, this year the PTFA's aim is to raise the funds necessary to improve the school's sports facilities by resurfacing the netball and tennis courts.

This year’s Prep School Presentation Afternoon was a more informal occasion, in which the achievements of all those in the Upper Prep were celebrated by their families, friends and teachers. In place of the traditional review of the year by the Headmistress, the pupils themselves presented their own report on the highlights and lasting memories of the year, accompanied by a selection of wonderful photos recalling many of the years’ special events. Our guest of honour was Mrs Laura Tong, a former pupil of the school who went on to win a place in the Guinness Book of Records for her and her husband’s tandem journey from London to Sydney.

From 'Orpheus and Eurydice' to 'Jinxed' and 'The power of Three'

The last Drama performances of this academic year took place on Wednesday 25 June when IV GCSE Drama presented their original work. The two groups were given the Myth of 'Orpheus and Eurydice' as a stimulus for their creativity and the two productions which were created were both rather dark and foreboding. The moods created by the groups and the skills demonstrated were a great tribute to their imaginations and focused work.

At the end of the academic year the number of different Drama performances farm September 2007 to June 2008 has been a staggering 20!

A fantastic day was had by all Nursery & Pre Prep children at their recent Pet Day. Numerous dogs came to visit including a Rough Collie, a Golden Retriever, a Springer Spaniel, two beautiful cats, Rabbits, hamsters, chicks & even Ozzie, Charlotte Schryver's pony came to see us. Ozzie was amazing & stood perfectly whilst practically every child groomed him! The children were delighted with all the visiting animals & behaved impeccably throughout the day. A very big thank you to all the parents who brought in pets and helped to make this such a memorable occasion.

We were greeted by smiley staff in bright red T-shirts. We knew this was going to be a great day. We went in through barns of horses, chicks, pigs and a herd of alpacas to name a few and then saw the huge selection of activities in the grounds.
There were set show times that we didn’t want to miss and lots of supervised activities for the very adventurous or those requiring a more gentle experience.
Tovi and Thomas went on the stage to feed the sheep and Daisy the cow ate lots of oranges… and wouldn’t leave the stage without being given yet another orange!
Bug ride zoomed around the park and you really had to hold on to your hats, well actually the steering wheel, we were soaked by pirates shooting water at us!
Crazy golf was a challenge with the hidden bumps and curves and a variety of styles were observed to get a hole in one, from gentle swings of the club to a little helping hand or foot to secure success!
Bumper boats caused a splash and an excuse to bump in to a friend.
‘Land ahoy’ as Reception climbed aboard the big ship which was standing room only!
Lunch in our very own covered picnic area was a real treat and lots of birds followed us.
Spider towers, tractor rides and a great wooden adventure area left the children just wanting more.
We ended the afternoon with ice-lollies and we thanked the staff at the farm for their kind attention. They told us it had been a pleasure to have Alton Convent School visit for the day as all the children were very polite and well behaved. What a great day!

The much anticipated Sixth Form Ball, held jointly between Alton Convent School and Salesian College, took place at Frensham Pond Hotel. Pupils and teachers arrived to a Bucks Fizz reception overlooking Frensham Pond, before enjoying a three course meal and dancing to “Firebird”.

Throughout the evening, guests had the opportunity to have their photographs taken by Zixi Still a local company owned by Alton Convent School parents. Pupils from both schools have participated in many joint sixth form activities from Leadership courses in Wales to helping handicapped children in Lourdes. The event was a fitting end to all these students’ school careers and all the hard work leading up to their public exams. The schools look forward to welcoming them back mid August for their A-level results.

Students from Alton Convent School returned from an exciting nine day trip to Eastern Europe recently. Sixty pupils from years 8 to 11 descended on Berlin just as the German Football team fresh, from their European Championship Final defeat paraded around their city causing much amusement to the girls. Despite the festivities the girls visited the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie before departing to Dresden. In Dresden they visited the Royal Palace and shopped to their hearts content in the Altmarket and Prager Strasse.

Students from Alton Convent School returned from an exciting nine day trip to Eastern Europe recently. Sixty pupils from years 8 to 11 descended on Berlin just as the German Football team fresh, from their European Championship Final defeat paraded around their city causing much amusement to the girls. Despite the festivities the girls visited the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie before departing to Dresden. In Dresden they visited the Royal Palace and shopped to their hearts content in the Altmarket and Prager Strasse.

Students from Alton Convent School returned from an exciting nine day trip to Eastern Europe recently. Sixty pupils from years 8 to 11 descended on Berlin just as the German Football team fresh, from their European Championship Final defeat paraded around their city causing much amusement to the girls. Despite the festivities the girls visited the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie before departing to Dresden. In Dresden they visited the Royal Palace and shopped to their hearts content in the Altmarket and Prager Strasse.

A beautiful day and lots of babies (monkeys, giraffes and a leopard) made this annual trip with the First Years particularly relaxing and memorable! Marwell Zoo is committed to conservation and has an extensive breeding program, so this gave us an opportunity to think about the role of zoos as well as looking at adaptations to particular habitats. The hot, steamy conditions of ‘Tropical World’ house the menacing leaf cutter ants as well as the popular and deadly jewel coloured poison arrow frogs. Outside, many of the animals were sunbathing and highly visible which made a change from previous years! We also spent some time looking at the Madagascan lemurs and the extraordinary Fossa who preys on them.

Thirty-eight girls from Form II went to Calshot residential centre for five days on 30th June. The week, blessed with lovely weather, was full of fun and adventure. Everyone was encouraged to try something new and had a great time challenging themselves. The accommodation was very comfortable and the staff fantastic. Some of the activities included sailing, windsurfing, orienteering, skiing, rock climbing and even cycling in the velodrome. I enjoyed sailing and skiing, although there were many falls. I especially enjoyed the high ropes because we made Mrs Brooks run along the cat walk (pole suspended in the air) which was very funny to watch. Although very tiring, it was immensely satisfying and a great time was had by all.

Students from Alton Convent School returned from an exciting nine day trip to Eastern Europe recently. Sixty pupils from years 8 to 11 descended on Berlin just as the German Football team fresh, from their European Championship Final defeat paraded around their city causing much amusement to the girls. Despite the festivities the girls visited the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie before departing to Dresden. In Dresden they visited the Royal Palace and shopped to their hearts content in the Altmarket and Prager Strasse.

Thirty-eight girls from Form II went to Calshot residential centre for five days on 30th June. The week, blessed with lovely weather, was full of fun and adventure. Everyone was encouraged to try something new and had a great time challenging themselves. The accommodation was very comfortable and the staff fantastic. Some of the activities included sailing, windsurfing, orienteering, skiing, rock climbing and even cycling in the velodrome. I enjoyed sailing and skiing, although there were many falls. I especially enjoyed the high ropes because we made Mrs Brooks run along the cat walk (pole suspended in the air) which was very funny to watch. Although very tiring, it was immensely satisfying and a great time was had by all.

A marvelous afternoon was spent last Tuesday at our Early Years Fun Day when around 40 Nursery and Pre-Prep children delighted parents and siblings by showing off their sporting ability. The afternoon was a great success with everyone having fun. A circuit of five different activities took place for approximately six minutes per activity, culminating in group races. Afterwards around sixty parents and siblings joined the children and staff for tea and cakes outside. Thank you to everyone for attending and making the afternoon such a great success.

It was lovely for preparatory school parents and children to start July by gathering and enjoying together a delightful concert given in the Marian Hall on Tuesday afternoon by our young instrumentalists. The sun was shining and mums, dads, grandparents and siblings chatted informally over a cup of tea with some of Mrs Kennedy’s excellent home made cakes before the performance began. The audience were then entertained by an impressive group of young musicians playing a variety of piano, flute, harp, violin, and guitar pieces. There were many enchanting and memorable performances. The afternoon’s concert concluded with two delightful ensemble pieces from our clarinet band under the direction of Mrs Banks. All the performers are to be congratulated for their hard work and we look forward to another enjoyable concert next term.

Students from Alton Convent School returned from an exciting nine day trip to Eastern Europe recently. Sixty pupils from years 8 to 11 descended on Berlin just as the German Football team fresh, from their European Championship Final defeat paraded around their city causing much amusement to the girls. Despite the festivities the girls visited the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie before departing to Dresden. In Dresden they visited the Royal Palace and shopped to their hearts content in the Altmarket and Prager Strasse.

Thirty-eight girls from Form II went to Calshot residential centre for five days on 30th June. The week, blessed with lovely weather, was full of fun and adventure. Everyone was encouraged to try something new and had a great time challenging themselves. The accommodation was very comfortable and the staff fantastic. Some of the activities included sailing, windsurfing, orienteering, skiing, rock climbing and even cycling in the velodrome. I enjoyed sailing and skiing, although there were many falls. I especially enjoyed the high ropes because we made Mrs Brooks run along the cat walk (pole suspended in the air) which was very funny to watch. Although very tiring, it was immensely satisfying and a great time was had by all.

Pupils from Forms I-III once again enthralled parents and friends with their contributions to the annual tea-time concert. The appreciative audience was impressed with the great variety of styles and instruments represented from classical to folk ballads and contemporary pop.

Two third form girls, Jessica and Sarah, performed their own compositions. Particularly pleasing was the number of trumpet items and very promising young vocalists. It takes tremendous courage to stand up and perform in front of an audience. Well done girls!

Students from Alton Convent School returned from an exciting nine day trip to Eastern Europe recently. Sixty pupils from years 8 to 11 descended on Berlin just as the German Football team fresh, from their European Championship Final defeat paraded around their city causing much amusement to the girls. Despite the festivities the girls visited the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie before departing to Dresden. In Dresden they visited the Royal Palace and shopped to their hearts content in the Altmarket and Prager Strasse.

Thirty-eight girls from Form II went to Calshot residential centre for five days on 30th June. The week, blessed with lovely weather, was full of fun and adventure. Everyone was encouraged to try something new and had a great time challenging themselves. The accommodation was very comfortable and the staff fantastic. Some of the activities included sailing, windsurfing, orienteering, skiing, rock climbing and even cycling in the velodrome. I enjoyed sailing and skiing, although there were many falls. I especially enjoyed the high ropes because we made Mrs Brooks run along the cat walk (pole suspended in the air) which was very funny to watch. Although very tiring, it was immensely satisfying and a great time was had by all.

Students from Alton Convent School returned from an exciting nine day trip to Eastern Europe recently. Sixty pupils from years 8 to 11 descended on Berlin just as the German Football team fresh, from their European Championship Final defeat paraded around their city causing much amusement to the girls. Despite the festivities the girls visited the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie before departing to Dresden. In Dresden they visited the Royal Palace and shopped to their hearts content in the Altmarket and Prager Strasse.

Thirty-eight girls from Form II went to Calshot residential centre for five days on 30th June. The week, blessed with lovely weather, was full of fun and adventure. Everyone was encouraged to try something new and had a great time challenging themselves. The accommodation was very comfortable and the staff fantastic. Some of the activities included sailing, windsurfing, orienteering, skiing, rock climbing and even cycling in the velodrome. I enjoyed sailing and skiing, although there were many falls. I especially enjoyed the high ropes because we made Mrs Brooks run along the cat walk (pole suspended in the air) which was very funny to watch. Although very tiring, it was immensely satisfying and a great time was had by all.

On the 4th July Year 3 had a sleepover at school. When we arrived at 6.30 we unpacked our things and put out our beds in the Welsford Hall, some of them were really cool. We waited for our parents to go and when they had gone we went to the tennis court to play Miss McCallum’s new sport, called non-stop cricket. We were all rather hot and tired so we went for a barbeque and a drink. Lots of us had seconds of burgers or hot dogs and there were choc ices for dessert. After that we felt refreshed and we played Zulus on our way to the campfire. At the campfire we sang songs and toasted marshmallows. After that we got ready for bed and had hot chocolate. We had a story and went to bed at 11 o’clock! When we woke up we went to have breakfast in the Marian Hall and we watched a DVD until everybody was up. Mrs Bothwell taught us a great new game called Splat and then we went to the tennis courts to fly the kites that 3B had made. Before we went home we finished the game of non-stop cricket. It was a draw.

Students from Alton Convent School returned from an exciting nine day trip to Eastern Europe recently. Sixty pupils from years 8 to 11 descended on Berlin just as the German Football team fresh, from their European Championship Final defeat paraded around their city causing much amusement to the girls. Despite the festivities the girls visited the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie before departing to Dresden. In Dresden they visited the Royal Palace and shopped to their hearts content in the Altmarket and Prager Strasse.

On the 4th July Year 3 had a sleepover at school. When we arrived at 6.30 we unpacked our things and put out our beds in the Welsford Hall, some of them were really cool. We waited for our parents to go and when they had gone we went to the tennis court to play Miss McCallum’s new sport, called non-stop cricket. We were all rather hot and tired so we went for a barbeque and a drink. Lots of us had seconds of burgers or hot dogs and there were choc ices for dessert. After that we felt refreshed and we played Zulus on our way to the campfire. At the campfire we sang songs and toasted marshmallows. After that we got ready for bed and had hot chocolate. We had a story and went to bed at 11 o’clock! When we woke up we went to have breakfast in the Marian Hall and we watched a DVD until everybody was up. Mrs Bothwell taught us a great new game called Splat and then we went to the tennis courts to fly the kites that 3B had made. Before we went home we finished the game of non-stop cricket. It was a draw.

On the 7th of July 2008 the IV year Law group were taken to the Winchester Crown Court to witness some court cases. The four girls, Harriet, Caitlin, Alice and I, Jessica, were accompanied by Mr. Carpenter and Mrs. Charles. We left Alton Convent school promptly at 9 'o'clock and after stopping for a quick drink and a briefing about the background of the cases, we hurried into the public viewing area and took our seats. Not long after sitting down, we had to rise again for the judge who now entered the court.

Just as most girls were starting to really enjoy the Summer Holidays, 13 girls from year 11 embarked on their Silver expedition. The weather promised to be 'improving' over the weekend and the severity of the showers did decrease. The girls navigation and camp skills were found to be excellent, the only criticism was their late start on day two. True to Convent form the girls rose to this challenge and day three started early - one left camp at 8am and the other by 8.30. It should be noted that it takes at least 2 hours for girls to from being in a sleeping bag in a warm tent to being ready all packed (after cooked breakfast) to leave camp. The expedition completed with a brisk walk down Butser Hill to Queen Elizabeth Country Park and the very welcome sight of the their parents cars. Of course they did have to climb the hill prior to the dissent. Congratulation to all girls and thanks goes to Brockland Farm and Stock Farm for allowing us to camp and to Sister Helen and Helen Wallace for volunteering their time to assess the expedition and to Jill Kerr.