Lecture Series
Archaeology was a subject very new to Challoner's lecture series- however it was met with a lot of enthusiasm today from the sixth form. We were privileged to welcome in archaeologist and employee at UCL, Charlotte Frearson, to talk to us about her careers experience. Ms Frearson, through her exciting and funny stories of excavating experiences, stressed the fun to be had in archaeology and the massive amount of travelling opportunity. We learnt about the transferable skills to be gained through volunteering on a dig; being able to work as a team in a 4mx2m trench makes working within a cramped office sound much easier! Ms Frearson also talked about the many strands of archaeology and how it is much more than digging! Of particular interest to many students were the aspects of forensic archaeology and its links with anthropology. Certainly many of our ancient history and classics girls were inspired to look into this new subject, Ms Frearson has said if any one has any questions about how to get involved in excavations or volunteering at the British museum to contact her on [email protected].
Maths Challenge
On Thursday 26th November two Year 12 and two Year 13 girls went to John Colet School in Wendover to take part in the UKMT Team Maths Challenge. This involved three rounds of Maths questions including a group round, a crossnumber (the mathematical equivalent of a crossword), and a shuttle round. The girls performed very well in all rounds and enjoyed the challenges of the questions set. Overall the team came 9th out of 18 teams. Well done to Ellie Chapman, Izzy Piper, Saffy Truman and Anna Morgan.
Wildlife in the Cairngorms
This summer, Megan McCleverty, a student in 8T, prepared a video about the fantastic wildlife in the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. Megan entered her video into a national competition to become a young wildlife presenter. The competition, run by Cairngorms Nature and the RSPB, will select one lucky winner to film with BBC Springwatch’s Iolo Williams. Megan’s video has been shortlisted to a list of only 10 and the finalist will now be selected by public voting. Read more here.
Table Tennis
The U16 table tennis team competed in the county round of the English Schools Table Tennis Team Championships last Tuesday (24th November) at Cippenham Table Tennis Club in Slough. We were competing against Chalfont Community College and Beaconsfield High School to fight for the 2 places in the next round of the team competition.
The first team we played was against Chalfont where we ended up with a comfortable win and a great start to the day with the final score in matches at 7-1. We were then up against Beaconsfield High School. After some very tight matches, we unfortunately ended up losing by 6 games to 2. Considering that one of the Beaconsfield players is ranked 15th in England for U15 and another player ranked in the top 50 for U19, we put up a brilliant fight!
We managed to come 2nd in the competition overall which means that we qualify for the zone finals in Walsall in January! (Carys Evans- U16 table tennis captain.)
Hockey
the Year 7 hockey teams were in action this week against Aylesbury High and having two goal keepers has been a real asset . It was a very competitive game with the A team being narrowly defeated 0 -1 and the B team winning convincingly 12-1. Well played to all the girls.
Book Swap
On Friday 27th November we did a book swap to encourage reading outside your comfort zone. Everyone brought in a book that they have enjoyed and would recommend and they pair up with someone who has a book that they like the look of but wouldn’t normally read e.g. a romance book for someone who enjoys murder mysteries. Here are some reviews of people who have swapped books. I (Milly Bell) swapped a murder mystery book called Moraiarty for a dramatic story “Auggie and Me”, the sequel of Wonder. I have only just started but am already enjoy-ing it. The story this time isn’t of August’s time but how everyone else was affected by it like Julian, Christopher and Charlotte.
I (Sophie Webster) swapped my book for Maze Runner and even though I am only a few chapters in I can tell it is an amazing book. The main char-acter Thomas has found himself dumped in a maze in the middle of no-where and his memory has been wiped. Where is he? Who put him there? What is everyone so afraid of?
And Finally
Sometimes no words are needed…
More on the Christmas Bash next week.
