On Friday 14th February, 111 girls and 13 teachers left school to head to Leysin in Switzerland. The journey was fine and passed quickly, watching films, chatting and sleeping. We arrived in very good time to sort out our ski fit and chill for the remainder of the day. The weather was a mixture of sun, rain, snow and cloud and but the gorgeous warm conditions on the last day made for an amazing end to the ski trip. We all had such fun – the instructors were all so experienced and knowledgeable and everyone made great progress. We enjoyed all our evening activities too, especially the tobogganing and spa/swimming night. We were all proud of the progress everyone made and for showing great resilience on some very challenging slopes – especially the beginners!!

Mrs Dann and Mrs Share

“I loved the trip and had a fantastic time. Thank you so much to all the teachers who looked after me. I had a wonderful time with my friends.” Student

“I just wanted to say a huge thank you to the staff for taking my daughters on the ski trip! They had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed themselves!” Parent

“Thank you for taking such good care of her and we are also very grateful for the effort the staff made, especially the lunch at the top of the Gondola on the last day, she really enjoyed that!” Parent

On Tuesday 28th January, the Year 10 Graphics Design and Technology groups visited the Design Museum in London. The students visited the Beazley Design of the Year exhibition, now in its newer home on Holland Park, and the architecture of the inside.

The Beazley Design of the Year exhibition was fantastic, where the girls explored an array of different designs that had been nominated for the competition. Some of the ideas were very thought provoking, however many of the girls mentioned that the designs, though simple, would change people’s lives. For example, a virtual postcode for homeless people so that they can apply for things such as jobs, passports, bank cards etc., and upcycled fashion to bring different cultures to the forefront of design. The ‘Designer, User, Maker’ exhibition was also something the girls really enjoyed. For example, the computers and mobile phones through the ages is always a talking point for them, and the huge 3D printer!

After lunch, the girls had a treasure hunt to do around the museum where they had to look for specific items. 14 students in total got all of the questions correct, and were rewarded with chocolate, which went down well!

It was a fantastic day, and one which we hope will widen the students’ thought process about design and their questioning skills about material choices and ethics from a designer point of view, ready for their NEA coursework which will begin in June 2020.

‘The architecture videos were great, showing the environment of each of the structures.’ Jessica & Isobel

‘The AI face design, which is a website called www.thispersondoesnotexist.com was really interesting, but quite scary to think these people do not actually exist-very clever! Rebecca

‘I really liked the puppet fashion pieces and the other outfits and costumes.’ Elizabeth

‘The pregnancy chairs and the blue mood lighting to encourage home births was fascinating and caused a big discussion amongst us.’ Izzy, Ria, Kirstin