Francis Holland School

Year 10 Enron Workshop & Trip

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:36:18 PST

Year 10 and Sixth Form drama students were fortunate enough to see 'Enron' and have the associate director of 'Enron' deliver a special Workshop here at FHS, all in the same week. The Workshop showed the girls how the cast had learnt how to re-create the atmosphere of the frenetic trading floor including learning how to hand signal!

Here are some comments from the girls about the production:

‘visual masterpiece'

‘savage comedy'

‘a serious topic made comic by the witty script'

‘conveyed complex ideas in an entertaining and accessible manner'

‘about a very disturbing real event I would never have known about'

‘highlighted the frightening consequences of greed'

‘a production which portrayed a real event as experimental fantasy'

‘it opened my eyes to the enormity of the results of individual action'

‘it demonstated the true value of money and the way in which money can blind us'

Followed by a description of the workshop:

'In the same week we were very fortunate in having the associate director of ‘Enron' deliver a workshop at our school. We had been so impressed with the way the actors had reproduced a stock market trading floor and she taught us how to do this. We learnt how to signal with our hands in the same way we had seen the actors on stage communicate. We created a short scene set on the trading floor in much the same way as it had been created in the rehearsals for the real production. It was a interesting to experience how the play was built and be able to do the same exercises the cast had done. The workshop impressed upon us the amount of work and commitment involved in putting on a play as well as the way a play expands and broadens as it develops.'

Latest hockey wins and draws

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:36:45 PST

Latest hockey results played at Battersea Park on Tuesday 2nd March.

Year 7

FHS won 3-0 against Queen's Gate

FHS won 3-0 against Broomwood Hall

Year 8

FHS won 1-0 against Queen's Gate

FHS drew 2-2 against Broomwood Hall

Well done to all who played.

Years 7-9 Riding Club

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:49:58 PST

The Riding Club has just had its first riding and stable management session at Hyde Park Stables.

A couple of girls enjoyed a hack around Hyde Park while the six others had a lesson in the school. Apart from an incident with an overexcited pony called Toby at the beginning, the lesson went smoothly and there were clear signs of improvement by the end of the hour.

Afterwards the group did some practical stable management with a pony called Dell - they can all tie a quick release knot now - before retreating into the warmth of the shop for a session on colours and markings and points of the horse. The girls will be taking BHS Progressive tests covering both their riding and knowledge.

The group is looking forward to their second session next Thursday.

School's 129th Birthday

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:59:31 PST

The school celebrated its 129th Birthday on Monday 1st March. The day began with the traditional Birthday service, which, this year, was conducted by the Reverend Jules Cave Bergquist, a Governor of the school. The address was given by Clare Ford-Willie, an old girl, who spoke affectionately of her time at the school and especially of the impact that some of her former teachers made on her life.

After form parties, the Senior School listened to a talk by Jake Meyer, a mountaineer, who focused on his conquest of Everest. Jake was an excellent speaker, who held the girls spellbound for over an hour. He encouraged the girls to take the same step by step approach to their education as he takes to climbing peaks. Interestingly, Jake confessed that he had been beaten in his bid to become the youngest climber to conquer the 'seven peaks' and the youngest to climb Everest - both times by a woman!

The Junior School watched a spectacular demonstration by birds of prey including a caracara, a white-headed vulture, a bald eagle (called Barry!), an even larger vulture and a barn owl.

In the evening, 'old girls' were invited to a party with staff. It was lovely to see some recent leavers among our guests and also to see some former members of staff including Jennifer Anderson, Prudence Scrivener, Susannah Chapman, Leonie Lazarus and Caroline Clarke.

The next school Birthday will be celebrated with an 'Old Girls' Lunch' on Saturday 5th March 2011.

Morison Verse Speaking Competition

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:36:47 PST

The Morison verse competition took place on Thursday 11th February. This year, there were prizes for the best creative poems, and group performances of poems, as well as a prize for the best recitation. Amongst the highlights were Year 7's lines to accompany masks depicting emotional states, and Year 8's entertaining ballads.

The winners were:
Best poem: Honor Firth, 'The Old Woman', Nicole Parviz, 'Caesar Salad Ballad'
Best recitation: Anna Swinton
Best group: 'Mountain Lion': Cordelia Barnes, Grace White, Hebe Macken and Yara Edrees

Hamlet Workshop

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:18:43 PST

Years 4, 5 and 6 enjoyed a fantastic performance of Hamlet brought to them by a Young Shakespearean Workshop company, who specialise in making Shakespeare relevant to their age group. It was a huge success especially as girls were able to participate in certain parts (they particularly seemed to enjoy the death scenes!)

Wear a hat for Haiti appeal

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:02:29 PST

The school has been collecting to support the DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal over last few weeks. We have collected over £4,500 so far thanks to all the fund raising events which have been organised by girls and staff.

It's not too late so if you wish to contribute, please remember to bring your donation into school as soon as possible.

Many thanks to the Lower VI for a very successful cake sale on Thursday 4th February. They raised nearly £500 - a record!

Wear a Hat for Haiti on Friday 12th February 2010 raised over £700! The girls and staff put in a tremendous effort, as ever, and looked fantastic. See photos below.

Fantastic RAD Ballet Results

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:05:22 PST

Congratulations to all of the following girls in the Royal Academy of Dance Examinations taken on December 11^th 2009.

Grade One

Costanza Giovene Distinction

Emily Treacher Distinction

Florence Harting Distinction

Kimya Tehranchian Distinction

Kitty Griffin-Pain Distinction

Mina Polo Distinction

Oona Lowther Distinction

Sophie Barker Distinction

Alexandra Sossidis Merit

Grade Two

Celeste Blakey Distinction

Iona Biggart Distinction

Tara Vivian-Neal Merit

Grade Three

Agnes Jacques Distinction

Fiammetta Lori Distinction

Grade Six

Clara Hollants Van Loocke Distinction

Pre-Primary Certificates were awarded to:

Tatiana de Suarez D'Aulan, Amy Jordan, Sophia Constantinou-Hickman, Ariana Amiri, Alice Pernthaller, Anna Haestrup, Delphine Greco, Araminta Rowland-Payne, Fleur Halstead, Aoife Reid.

Wonderful results everyone – well done.

I would especially like to congratulate Costanza, Mina and Oona who received a mark of 98% and to Clara who received 97% for her Grade Six.

Congratulations also to Fiammetta who took just one term to prepare for her Grade Three and received 89% and to the Pre-Primary children who likewise prepared their work in just one term.

VKH

Our own England rugby star!

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:05:33 PST

The England Women took part in a unique double header against New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday 21st November, with their match kicking off after the men's teams finished the final game of their Investec Challenge Series.

We were very proud to have Miss Barras playing (one of our PE staff) and even prouder that she was part of a historic victory for the women's team as they beat New Zealand 10-3.

For more information about Miss Barras' England career so far please check the following links RFU website and a 60 second interview

Well done, Miss Barras!

'Alice' - Drama Production

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:11:52 PST

Years 7-10 explored the stories of Lewis Carroll to create their interpretation of 'Alice', which was performed over three consecutive nights in December.

With an opening film directed by Mr Edes and Anya Reiss, we saw the journey of Alice through Victorian Wonderland through to the First World War. The production asked 'Who is Alice?' and celebrated the transition from childhood to becoming a young woman in the world. The stunning adaptation, directed by Miss Leaf, was performed with a gothic but contemporary twist.

Congratulations to all girls and staff who supported the production.

Friends' AGM

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:13:33 PST

The Friends' AGM was held on Monday 23^rd November 2009. The Headmistress presented her "wish list for 2009-2010" including various items for the library and equipment around the school, as well as an invitation to sponsor music practice rooms in Carmel Hall for £10k each. The meeting was followed by an interesting talk by Sarah Mahaffy, Chairman of the Old Girls' Society, on the history of the school and the accessibility of the school's archives.

Careers trip to the BBC

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:22:36 PST

The visit to the BBC studios on Thursday 19th November (see photos below) was extremely exciting and interesting. We were shown around the building to begin with and noticed the contrast between the newly built entrance and the one still remaining from the 1960s which is still used to admit celebrities on special occasions. The building is designed in the shape of a question mark because when the architect first saw the plot of land he was clueless as to how to fill the space. However, he then realised that a question mark would fit perfectly well, which it did!

We then were taken to the different studios where some of the most popular TV-shows take place such as the "Harry Hill Show" and "Strictly Come Dancing", for which we saw them setting up. The studios are, in fact, much smaller than they appear on television.

Finally, we were taken "behind the scenes" to the cloakrooms where some of the top celebrities get ready before appearing on television. Some of us also had an attempt at reporting the weather and the news in front of blue screens.

I thought it was really inspiring and it showed me that there is a lot of work put into it all, and it looks so much easier from the viewer's perspective.

Sophia Kazmi

Autumn Concert

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:18:13 PST

The Autumn Concert was held on Wednesday 25th November in St Mary's Church. The concert included performances from the Senior, Chamber, Middle School and Year 7 Choirs as well as solo and group items.

The varied programme ranged from the Jazz group's performance of Bill Withers' 'Ain't No Sunshine' to the Chamber Choir singing Howard Goodall's arrangement of 'The Lord is my Shepherd'. Rebecca Stokes and Lara Titherington in Year 9 and Diva-Sachy Jeffrey in Year 11 performed their own compositions.

Thank you to Miss Kollek, Mr Davies and other members of the Music Department for arranging a highly enjoyable evening.

VI Form visit to Bethlam Royal Hospital

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:53:46 PST

On Tuesday 17^th November, the Upper and Lower Sixth Psychology classes went to Bethlam Royal Hospital. Firstly, we were given a talk about the history of the hospital; where it had been previously located, as well as examples of patients there in the 19^th century. After this, we went to look at the art exhibitions of people who had previously attended the hospital and some more contemporary art by a recent patient. As part of the older art collection, there were two statues that had stood outside the hospital in the past; melancholy and raving madness. We were also given the opportunity to look through some of the archives. Looking at these details of old patients was one of the most interesting parts of the day. It was a useful insight into the illnesses and treatments in those times, as well as being able to see if the patients left cured or uncured.

The best part of the day was the lecture given by the Head of Anxiety Disorders on CBT and OCD. It was interesting to hear about his past experiences and stories about OCD. We then participated in an activity to see what it would feel like to have OCD, and had group discussion about what OCD really means. The trip was very informative about the history of the Hospital, as well as being exciting in helping us to learn about present conditions.

By Harriet Bunker-Smith and Simran Vaswani

Old Girls' Lecture by Mark Shand

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:32:12 PST

Mark Shand, author and traveller, gave a fascinating talk to the Old Girls' Society on November 17th. He spoke of his visits to India over many years, and showed a film about remote and mountainous Arunachal Pradesh, made for the RGS. Mark is working to save the habitat of wild and captive elephants in India, whose environment is threatened.
To find out more about his work, visit: http://www.elephantfamily.org/

Trip to Paris 6-8th November 2009

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:40:24 PST

We arrived in Paris mid afternoon on Friday after a pleasant journey on the Eurostar.
After dropping off the luggage and a short break, we walked to the Pompidou Centre for a wonderful twilight where the students had the opportunity to view a wonderful exhibition of art, from early Picasso portraits to Matisse figure paintings to Chagall portraits.
In the evening, we had a wonderful dinner in a restaurant near the Sorbonne.

The following morning, after a relaxing breakfast, we walked to the Orsay Museum for another wonderful exhibtion. After lunch, we had some shopping time and then an evening meal in a local restaurant in the Saint Germain district.

Sunday morning comprised of a visit to the Cluny Museum for a very different exhibition of work, looking at medieval tapestries and gothic sculptures.
We all returned to London tired but full of creativity and renewed inspiration.

Rainbow Mufti Day 16th October

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:43:18 PST

Rainbow Mufti Day on the last day of the half-term was a huge success. Thank you to the girls for really taking the theme on board - you all looked amazing and so did the staff!

Best of all we raised over £1,000 in just one day to go towards the Facing the World charity programme.

See a selection of amazing outfits below.

Trip to Berlin

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:51:30 PST

On Thursday 15th October, twenty-seven girls in Year 11 and the Sixth Form left for a two-day visit to Berlin. The visit was designed to support their studies in both GCSE History and GCSE and A Level German.

The 'plane touched down at Berlin Schoenefeld Airport at 10.00 a.m. and half an hour later, the girls had started a walking tour of the major historical sites: the Reichstag building, the Soviet War Memorial, the Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden and the site of the Fuhrerbunker. The group also visited Peter Eisenman's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, 2711 concrete slabs of varying heights laid out on an undulating floor. The tour concluded with a few moments at Bebelplatz, which is the site of Goebbel's burning of books on 10th May 1933. The highly effective memorial to this event is a glass panel set into the square which looks down into a room of empty book shelves.

The afternoon saw a visit to the Olympiastadion, built for the 1936 Olympics. Although the stadium underwent major refurbishment in preparation for the 2006 World Cup, much of the original architecture remains, along with the outdoor heated pool used for the swimming events at the games and the huge bell that was the symbol of the Olympics in 1936.

The day ended with a return visit to the Reichstag building with the intention of climbing the double-helix ramp in the Sir Norman Foster designed glass dome. Sadly, the dome was closed for cleaning, but the girls were still able to enjoy fine views across Berlin at sunset from the roof of the Reichstag.

On the second day, the group had a moving visit to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, a Nazi labour camp to the north of Berlin. This was followed by an excellent guided tour of the Jewish Museum in Berlin; the girls were invited to make their own interpretations of the new Daniel Libeskind designed building, including the Garden of Exile and the Holocaust Tower. They were shown a school timetable of a fourteen year old Jewish girl and were asked to discuss the symbolism in her drawings around it - Shakespeare probably stood for Julius Caesar which in turn stood for the fight against dictatorship.

The trip ended with a brief visit to one of the sites of the remains of the Berlin Wall.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the trip despite the cold and rain. The girls showed remarkable stamina in keeping up with the packed programme and good humour in coping with the delays on the journey home.

Big Sister/Little Sister breakfast

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:34:55 PST

On the morning of Friday, 2^nd October, eighty very hungry girls from Year Seven and the Lower Sixth, converged upon room 1B for a breakfast with their ‘sisters'. Lots of breakfast foods were laid out, such as croissants and pain-au-chocolat and after each taking a plate, the girls formed circles with other girls and their ‘sisters' playing getting-to-know-you games such as ‘Two truths and one lie'. By the end of the breakfast, the room had an extremely relaxed atmosphere and was filled with girly chatter. Both years left the room having got to know their ‘sisters' even better, and all were very excited about the next event after half term, the Halloween party!

Yr 7 Natural History Museum Art trip

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:06:20 PST

On Tuesday 6th October Year 7 enjoyed a fantastic Art trip to the Natural History Museum, where they took part in an Investigate Workshop in support of their 3D study project which they are currently doing on 'Masks' inspired by animals. They examined bones, fossils, mammals and insects, just as scientists might do. They then went up to the main museum to observe the specimens as artists, making detailed drawing studies from the three dimensional animals on display.

Pupils have been asked in class to interpret the animals in minimal three-dimensional geometric shapes to aid their construction of the basic mask shapes. They have to consider how an animal face might be built out from a human face, so compare and contrast naturally takes place with their chosen animal while the design is thought out.

This research, outside the classroom, will feed into mask work with Mrs Fyfe in 3D Art and painting work with Mr Edes in Art.

An exciting day for all!