The Duke of Edinburgh expedition was an exhausting but most definitely rewarding experienee. It involved walking sixteen miles over two days and camping overnight in a field surrounded by gorgeous views of countryside hills, and although this conjures up an image of bliss, the walking was certainly a challenge! But at the end of the weekend when we collapsed onto a road in the middle of Alresford, we all felt a remarkable sense of achievement, and we are all looking forward to the real expedition.

The 16-mile walk was performed in groups of seven and was separated into 'checkpoints'. Between each checkpoint, where we would rest briefly and have a small snack, the groups would walk for varying times: sometimes half an hour, sometimes almost two hours, but with each section of the walk completed, the sense of achievement was an incentive to keep going. The walk took us through wide fields, often muddy but beautiful forest paths and along roads and footpaths, and some of the views we had the chance to appreciate were stunning, especially with the wonderful sunny weather we were so lucky to enjoy. When we arrived at camp that afternoon and set up our tents before eating some quite interesting foodstuffs (for me and my friends, a selection of unusually flavoured but strangely delicious noodles), there was some time to relax before the night. The moon was beautiful: bright orange and unusually large, we were fortunate enough to come across a harvest moon night.

On a glorious sunny Friday pupils in the second form visited the Horniman museum in London for a day of art and music activities. Girls observed the large collection of diverse music instruments from all over the world in the music gallery and sketched ideas for their art project. The hands-on lecture demonstration of world music instruments proved very popular, particularly when the girls could try out all the instruments. Some staff felt they needed earplugs! Lunch was enjoyed outside in the beautiful gardens followed by a visit to the Indian gallery for an exhibition of Indian instruments.

Alton Convent School year 11 students gathered excitedly to receive their GCSE results. More than a quarter of all girls gained their ten passes at straight A* and A grades. Overall the percentage of  A* and A grades was 58.7% and 81.4% grades were at A*- B.

Some exceptional results were achieved by Jennifer, Kate, Rebecca, Chloe, Tara and Hannah who all gained at least 9 A* grades  individually.

Further 100% passes were gained by the Year 10 students who have taken two GCSE subjects a year early and have achieved results which will boost their confidence to take on the challenges of year 11.