Assemblies
Moving Assembly on Shark Finning
Tuesday 20th March 2012
On Tuesday 13th March Maddie Ryan, Year 10, gave a fantastic presentation in assembly on shark finning which was both thoroughly moving and informative.
"I first heard about shark finning in a geography lesson. We were simply learning about human impact on the marine environment. However, the sheer brutality and number of sharks murdered for their fins astounded me. It stuck in the back of my mind and I decided I must do something to save these beautiful creatures who mean so much to me, and who are so vital in the complex ecosystem of the ocean. Shark finning must stop! I have raised funds, started a website and put up a petition for people to sign that we can present to the government. My goal is to ban shark finning in the UK and do my best to raise awareness of the plight of the sharks. My website is http://www.DORSALonline.org"
Valentine's Poem read by School Poet Laureate
Tuesday 14th February 2012
Monika Radojevic, our School Poet Laureate, read her poem written for Valentine's Day at a special asssembly just before half term.
There is a type of humble paradise,
You discover when you find love.
A world where the corners
Stop meeting, and
The leaves have their own path as they skitter down to earth.
Where you can find the most perfect secret:
That life, as you know it,
Stops.
Takes a breath.
And starts again, afresh.
Like a child on the first day of school, her anxious fingers stretching, always stretching to touch the mirrors that light up her way.
And you are given a gift:
A simple thought.
You know it to be true.
That if your beloved were to fall,
You would not catch them.
No.
You would fall with them.
La Bohème at St James Senior Girls’ School
Thursday 19th January 2012
On Wednesday 18th January pupils and staff experienced an operatic treat as a group of opera singers came to the school. The performers: Susan Jiwey, Louise Lloyd (Sopranos), Philip Lee (Tenor) and Laurence Meikle (Baritone) were accompanied on the piano by Andrew Charity. All the young singers have embarked on highly promising careers as opera singers.
The group performed an hour's worth of excerpts from La Bohème in a special assembly; the performance was a very emotional one which brought laughter and tears at the very end. Afterwards pupils had the opportunity to ask the group questions about their training, their work and how they ‘look after' their beautiful voices.
For many of the girls it was their first experience of opera. After the performance our Head of Music, Mr Holloway, gave the Year 6 girls the opportunity to explain how the opera had made them feel. We are sure that this beautiful introduction will encourage a love of opera in many of the girls.
St Catherine win House Debate in an exciting filmed Final!
Friday 2nd December 2011
This year St Catherine took on St Margaret in the House Debate Final. As we are fast approaching the end of term, the subject to be debated was rather timely: ‘This House believes that Christmas is the happiest day of the year'.
Treasure and Lauren represented St Margaret and Violet and Nicole were speaking on behalf of St Catherine. All the girls, who are pupils in Year 12, gave convincing arguments to support their view but the judges chose St Catherine as the winning team.
The debate also gave us the opportunity to use our new video camera for the very first time which has been purchased using funds raised by the Friends.
To view the debate, please click here
Sixth Formers share their Medical Work Experience
Tuesday 29th November 2011
On 22nd November, three of our sixth formers told the girls about the work placements they had been able to secure last summer.
Claudette Hewitt, Year 12, who wishes to study Medicine at university, worked in the Haematology department at St George's Hospital. She shadowed a consultant who looked at the treatment of bleeding disorders and haematological malignancies and found the experience very beneficial.
Isobel Leach, Year 13, worked at UCL in the Engineering Front Building which is the centre for medical image computing. She worked testing different programmes to see how well they segmented images of MRI scans of pectoral and prostrate tissue. Isobel told the girls that this is important work as this process is a non-invasive method of cancer diagnosis rather than using biopsies which are invasive and doctors question their accuracy.
Mahima Chandrasekhar, Year 12, worked in a clinic in Chennai during her summer holiday in India. She observed testing in two departments. During her week in the Haematology department, she observed testing for malaria, dengue fever and HIV as well as more standard testing to ascertain blood groups. She was given permission to do one of the blood group tests and was pleased that she was correct in her analysis! Her second week was spent in the urine testing department. Mahima told the girls that she had learnt a lot during the two weeks and that the experience had strengthened her aim to study biochemistry at university.