The highlight of the day came with Annabelle from The Grange Opera who kindly allowed the children a tour of the theatre.  Here they saw the individual boxes, each with its own theme, including one for the Queen, also beautiful chandeliers and new windows that had been replaced with authentic glass and features.

We were taken inside the house, which although in disrepair was still impressive.  Work is on-going but the children could get an impression of life as it may have been under the ownership of the Baring family.

Following a delicious picnic lunch and more activities around the grounds the children enjoyed listening intently to a ‘Mr Hoffman’ story.

This was a hugely rewarding day and the children enthused about all they saw and learnt.

As Year 11 prepared to leave school to start their study leave there was only one thing on their minds – revenge!

Following the Staff v Year 11 Netball  challenge in March the results were even and so all depended on the staff winning the rounders game to retain their unbeatable title.

The winning ball

The staff were under pressure from the start losing the toss and having to bat first. With batting not up to its normal high standard the Year 11′s took advantage and fielded extremely well. In the return innings the tables were reversed and any scoring by  Year 11 was minimal. But the advantage was short lived as the start of the second innings saw the first three staff batters  caught or stumped out - unbelievable! The innings ended with us scoring a very poor 2 Rounders.

As Year 11 took to bat knowing they only needed 2.5 rounders they kept their cool and piled on the pressure.  With 2 minutes left on the clock a dramatic mis field occurred leaving Years 11 to get their half rounder victory -  a very shocked and saddened staff had to congratulate Year 11 on a great win.

Not only that, but for the first time in  7 years Year 11 had won the overall staff challenge, admittedly we never thought that day would come!!!

Well done Year 11!!!!

On the track Eshana Ubhayakar and Lauren Tupper both ran personal best times in the 800m and Isabel Nelson running in her first 1500m race produced a fantastic performance. In the javelin Katie Pegden threw over 18 metres, her furthest throw ever.

One of the performances of the day was on the track in the U15 200m, Olivia Haley won her heat in the morning, then took to the track for the final in the afternoon, this was to be a much closer encounter. As the gun went off the runners stormed off, nothing between them as they hit the bend, Olivia began to emerge from the leading group determined as ever not to be beaten and as they approached the line she was way ahead of the rest. This was her second gold medal.

In the relay event the U15 team won their heat with ease in the morning, knowing the winning time of the other heat they knew the final was going to be tough. Abi Matthews lead the team off and ran a good leg, unfortunately the first change over didn’t go to plan and the team lost ground, Jo Tomlinson battled hard to recover the situation and successfully passed the baton onto Francesca Thornton, she held the bend well and passed the baton onto Olivia Haley. With 20 metres to make up Olivia was once again in win mode and was not to be beaten. She made up the 20 metres and won the team the gold on the line. A quite remarkable race with an unbelievable finish.

Well done to all the athletes who competed, especially to those who were competing in their first major championships.

Choral singing was not neglected. The junior chamber choir, consisting of promising singers in Yrs 7 and 8, impressed with their fresh vocal quality and the fifth form ensemble performed together for the last time. The chamber choir’s rendition of ‘Jar of hearts’ was excellent followed by chanteurs who sang beautifully. Britten’s centenary was remembered in a combined performance of Abraham Brown by chanteurs and the chamber choir. Excitement mounted as the evening came to a close with the 80 strong senior choir joined by staff and parents – known as the ‘Festival’ choir – in a varied programme consisting of ‘Hail holy queen’, ‘O Fortuna’, ‘Imagine’ and the aptly named ‘Sing’ where the audience was invited to join in, whilst balloons in the school colours of white, blue and silver descended upon the audience marking the school’s 75^th Anniversary.

Tributes to this Anniversary were marked in the outstanding quality of prep and senior Art exhibited in this year’s Festival. The Arts Centre Foyer, Refectory and Welsford Hall corridor were filled with a variety of talent, imagination and colour.

Years 1 to 4 in the prep school focused on the 75^th Anniversary as their theme with amazing displays of work based on differing aspects of the school, ranging from our links with India through to a creative exploration of the Sisters’ House including a wonderful model of the house itself which took centre stage.

The senior school exhibition also wowed viewers with the sheer talent of students displayed in imaginative pieces of work. Parents were particularly impressed by the standard of the GCSE and A-level work and the surreal self-suspended sculptures by Year 7. The milk and cornflakes sculpture by Georgia Milne created a lasting impression. The exhibition also highlighted students’ achievements in external competitions with Georgia Knowles in Year 8, Amy McMillan and Jasmine Wells in Year 11 being awarded prizes in the Alton Art Society competition in autumn 2012. Georgia Knowles gained 1^st place in her Year 7-8 year group category.

There was something of interest for everyone and visitors commented that it was lovely to see how the level of artistic skill developed and improved from year to year across the whole school.

On Friday 10^th May Year 7 set off bright and early for a day trip to France. Thankfully the ferry crossing was surprisingly smooth considering the autumnal May weather!

First stop was a visit to the impressive new lace museum in Calais, where pupils learned about the history of the production of lace. Everyone was excited to hear that Calais lace had been used in the making of Kate Middleton’s wedding dress!

Next, pupils had a visit of the town, understanding signs and French information before setting off to the hypermarket for their final challenge. Many of the girls tried out their French, asking where to find specific food items and prices. On board the ferry home they prepared their feasts which were much admired by staff and other passengers alike! Congratulations go to the winners, Lucy , Georgina, Poppy and Iona in Form IG for purchasing and preparing the most imaginative French tea – parma ham and melon, french cheese, french bread, salad, olives and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream!

They felt relieved to be modern children once they heard of the surgical methods inflicted on people in medieval times and suddenly found Maths very exciting when they had to be pirates manoeuvring around a huge 3D treasure map to win the hidden treasure.  The Chemistry lab surprised them with a bowl of cornflour that looked liquid but reacted as a solid when punched and they enjoyed making Gluep to take home. Using puppets to talk German, cutting up paper to be budding Matisses and learning a dance sequence were all considered fun by the girls.

The afternoon ended with archery and a session on the trampolines which tired them out but they chatted happily as they left with their parents talking about the new friends they had made.

A further taster day will be in the Autumn term, for details contact Admissions.

It was a joyous event celebrating Faith in Action and was an opportunity for children from all over the Diocese to meet the new Bishop, Philip Egan. He made everyone feel very welcome as he walked through the Cathedral before Mass, talking to as many of the children as he could. He was delighted by the work that had been going on in schools, raising money for various charities during Lent, and for the response to contribute to the Portsmouth Food Bank.

At the beginning and end of Mass our pupils processed behind the Bishop, carrying the school banner high. They also took part in the presentation of Almsgiving during the service. At the end of the service we had our picnic lunch in the park, where the Bishop talked informally to us again.

We felt very privileged to have the opportunity to get to know him like this.

Year 4 led a delightful assembly celebrating the life of Mary.

They read confidently while they explained certain events in Mary’s life and led the prayers. The assembly culminated in the crowning of Mary’s statue.

Over four thousand pupils across the region have been involved,  learning to spell words in either French, German or Spanish within a given time.

Olivia Rhodes (German), Siriol Whomsley and Sophia Anderton (French) and Freya Mackenzie (Spanish) won a school-wide Spelling Bee competition and qualified for the South-West Regional Competition organised by Routes into Languages which was held last Friday at Brighton University.

All four girls did extremely well as the competition from other schools  was fierce. The atmosphere was tense and the judges were strict but we were delighted when Freya Mackenzie stormed through to the final round and was placed amongst the first four winners for Spanish.

A huge well-done to Olivia, Siriol and Sophia for trying hard and preparing so well.

Freya will represent our school at the National Spelling Bee Competition later this summer at Oxford University.

We wish her well!