DCHS had a very successful morning at Kingsmead on Saturday competing in the Under 12 District Net-ball tournament. The A team won the District Cup, beating Beaconsfield High School in the final. Our B team won the District Plate and completed our first double in this competition.
I spent some time with both teams yesterday to congratulate the girls and was particularly struck by their camaraderie and team spirit. When I asked the A team girls about the tournament, Anand Kaur said, “We cheered each other on a lot and had good strategies.” Abbie Deadman added, “We were really supportive and en-couraged each other even if mistakes were made.” In so many areas of our school’s life there is such a strong sense of com-munity and for me it is one of the most striking and important aspects of Challoner’s.
The same supportive spirit was very evident between our Sixth Form Con Brio singers and their conductor, Miss Korzinek. Performing at the Wycombe Swan yesterday evening, the 12 girls sang with wonderful control, cohesion and beauty as part of the Energize event. As the girls headed off stage at the end of their performance the lady next to me described the perfor-mance as exquisite and she was right. When I met the girls afterwards, I had exactly the same sense as with the Year 7 net-ballers – the girls are a close unit, with a strong sense of commitment and support. Thank you and well done to Susie Cook, Alissa Parmenter, Ellen Gamble, Harriet Powell, Abbie Eymery, Georgie Proctor, Johanna Madslien, Elizabeth Godfrey-Gush, Suzie Murray, Harriet Mepham, Orla Fawcett, Emma Sutcliffe and Miss Korzinek.
Our staff and students have given their all again this term and there is a certain amount of tiredness as we near Easter. De-spite this, we have just completed an incredibly action-packed week which has included: an enormously successful French Exchange; a breath-taking range of sport and music; 3rd place out of 26 in the Maths Team Challenge in Oxford; a PGL netball trip that left today; a Year 9 trip to the Big Bang Science Fair; and the Year 13 Philosophy and Ethics Conference.
Thank you to our very committed and hard-working staff and thank you to our wonderful girls for continuing to build such a supportive, caring and purposeful community.
Best wishes for a really good and restful weekend
Alan Roe
