New Website Launch

Adventures in Northern France for Year 6 Girls

17/05/2012 00:00:00

Adventures in Northern France for the Year Six Girls

from St Hilary’s School, Godalming

Stopping at Nausicaa in Boulogne, visiting a goat farm to make goats cheese and to milk the goats, a snail farm, attempting wheat plaiting and bread making, creating beeswax candles and producing individual lollipops at a sweet factory, the four days offered a diverse array of activities, as well as a more thought provoking experience at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Etaples looking for graves bearing their own surnames.

The trip was organised by Mrs Margaret Morris. Mrs Morris said: “The main purpose of the week was to practise speaking French, which the children thoroughly enjoyed doing, especially in the market at Etaples and the supermarket in Berck. Four busy days of activities and the opportunity to learn more about the culture and way of life in France has proved to be a fantastic introduction to the country. They received a warm welcome from everyone they met and returned home with wonderful memories”.

French is taught at St Hilary’s from the age of four where they enjoy learning the language in its spoken form through effective songs, games, stories and role-play. The enthusiasm and love of languages is successfully carried into Key Stage Two where children are introduced to the written word and grammatical concepts. The French trip represents an exciting opportunity to put into practice all they have learnt.

The Young Shakespeare Company

12/03/2012 00:00:00

The Young Shakespeare Company brings “Hamlet” to

St Hilary’s School, Godalming

The Young Shakespeare Company visited St Hilary's School, Godalming for the afternoon to work with Years 5 and 6 on a production of “Hamlet”, which had been specially adapted for 6 to 12 year olds.

The play was performed by a cast of young dynamic professional actors, with a passion for performing Shakespeare. They used costumes and simple props and the children took on a variety of roles. A narrator explained the plot in between the scenes and asked the children questions about the characters and events, so despite the actors using the original Shakespearean language, the girls really gained a thorough understanding of “Hamlet”.

Miss Katie Hilder, Head of English, said, “The children really enjoyed the performance and with the opportunity to be involved in it in one way or another, either as a character, a prop or a sound effect was a wonderful experience for them all. Shakespeare was certainly brought to life and the complete engagement of our Year 5 and 6 children was a total delight.”

World Music Day

06/03/2012 00:00:00

WORLD MUSIC DAY AT ST HILARY’S SCHOOL, GODALMING

Pupils from Early Years to Year Six were treated to an exciting Brazilian Samba workshop. The day formed part of St Hilary’s School International Music studies. The leader was enthusiastic, inspirational and brimming with humour and created many bouncy, energetic rhythms for St Hilary's to enjoy and gave the pupils an excuse to stamp, play, sing and chant!

Ms Michalakis, Head of Music said, “I was delighted with the response from the pupils, who claimed they wanted it to continue all week long! The Samba workshop certainly brightened up everyone’s day and the Brazilian music really captured the children’s imagination”.

Dickens Day

01/03/2012 00:00:00

ST HILARY’S SCHOOL, GODALMING WELCOMES

CHARLES DICKENS for the DAY!

St Hilary’s School was completely transformed into a Victorian school in celebration of Dickens Day. This special day began with a celebratory ‘Dickens Day’ assembly listening to extracts from Dickens and singing songs from ‘Oliver’. The staff dressed in character and lined the school hall looking rather intimidating!

For those in the Upper School, an actor, linked with the new gallery at the Museum of London, lead a number of Dickens workshops, which gave the girls an opportunity to question Dickens on his life and discuss some of his books. They were asked about Queen Victoria and described the workhouse where Oliver was born. In each session pupils were invited to act out scenes from the novels and they also learnt difficult vocabulary, such as ‘diminutive’ ‘small in circumference’, as well as translate Joe Gargery’s letter to Pip in which he speaks of the ‘great larxs which shall have’!

Dickens explained about his father’s lack of financial sense and the girls understood Mr Micawber’s philosophy. They watched Little Dorrit in the Marshalsea and saw her sister dance with the dancing master. Everyone acted out actions in the bottling factory and in threes became industrial machines. They learnt of the public’s reaction to Little Nell’s death at the time the episode was published.

Mrs Bailes, Headmistress, said, “All around the school we could hear Dickens being discussed and it was a wonderful exploration of one of our greatest writers of who we should all be proud. My thanks to actor Tim Barron for a wonderful experience and I do hope that everyone felt this was a very worthwhile day, I greatly enjoyed seeing so many pupils excited and interested in literature. Congratulations, parents, boys and girls, on your splendid costumes, they were quite magnificent”.

St Hilary's Goes Back in Time

Reception H Dress Up for Dickens Day

Young Enterprise Primary Programme 2012

28/02/2012 00:00:00

A GROUP OF ENTERPRISING PUPILS

FROM ST HILARY’S SCHOOL, GODALMING

Year 6 pupils from St Hilary’s School, Godalming, have just taken part in the Young Enterprise Primary Programme 2012. These enterprising pupils developed their newly found business skills in two half-day sessions based on the principles of ‘learning by doing’, with one of the modules being around the theme of ‘Our World.’

Lynne Skinner, SE Development Manager from Young Enterprise, the business and enterprise education charity, accompanied by Michelle Matthews from Accounting Solutions, shared this experience; while hands-on activities enabled the girls to better understand the relevance of their education to the workplace and the wider world. Games, activities and role-play helped them to develop many new skills, including working and communicating with others, through teamwork and cooperation, and problem solving.

The St Hilary girls also gained an understanding of importing and exporting, global trade and the dependence of countries on one another’s resources. An appreciation of ‘Fair Trade’ was studied and raised everyone’s awareness of the importance of helping other people in less developed areas of the world. This theme will be expanded upon when the whole school participates in Fairtrade Fortnight 2012. All the children will create a pledge, on a footprint, to show how they will be ‘Taking a Step’ to use a new Fairtrade product. The Upper School will be involved in a range of initiatives that include the schools’ Head Cook, special assemblies led by the Eco/Fairtrade reps, a survey supported by Waitrose, Godalming and the use of Fairtrade products during Open Day on Saturday, March 3^rd 2012.

Jenny Brown, Head of Geography at St Hilary’s commented, “The YE programme has been delivered in an innovative, interesting and relevant way. St Hilary’s is most grateful to the team from Young Enterprise for sharing their time, enthusiasm and expertise for a sixth successive year. The children have thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful opportunity and are delighted with their certificates.”

French Theatre Visit

02/12/2011 00:00:00

PUPILS AT ST HILARY’S SCHOOL, GODALMING FIND THEMSELVES ‘SHIPWRECKED EN FRANCE’

St Hilary’s School pupils were immersed in French, when the Onatti Theatre Company spent an afternoon performing ‘Shipwrecked En France’ to Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. The play was performed by two actors; one male (Native English) and one female (Native French) and was created to help those children at the early stages of learning the language, Key Stage 2/3. The play was an entertaining, modern theatrical piece, aimed at reinforcing simple words and phrases, offering some cultural references and most importantly, making French friendly!

The play revolved around a thirteen year old English boy called Tyler, who is on holiday in France with his mother, and is unaware that the coastal tide is about to push his little blow-up dingy so far away. Although he waves frantically at his mother she doesn’t notice that he is drifting away down the coast. Once back on land his adventure begins, as he decides to drag his dinghy back along the beach, where he encounters many native French. Two things are certain, Tyler is going to know a lot more French by the time he gets back and his Mum is going to be very angry!

Mrs Harris, Head of French said, “The Upper School thoroughly enjoyed Onatti's modern, fun production, it totally engaged all the children. The scenery, props, costumes and subject matter were spot on and superbly pitched, the whole experience has certainly boosted their interest in language learning”.

St Hilary's Jute Bags for Christmas

24/11/2011 00:00:00

St Hilary’s School Eco-Committee Launch their New Eco-Jute Bag as a Christmas Present to the Schools’ Families

Eco-Committee pupils from St Hilary’s School proudly presented their newly acquired Eco Jute bags, which they propose to hand out this Christmas to every family at the school and to members of staff. All the bags made follow a "seed-stitch-shop-sustainable communities model".

The school proudly attained Green Flag Eco School Status at the end of 2010 in recognition of its achievement in working towards a sustainable lifestyle and also holds Fair Trade school status, so the introduction of these school bags is yet another way of raising awareness around these important issues both within the school environment and wider community.

Young Explorers' Area

17/11/2011 00:00:00

ST HILARY’S UPPER SCHOOL PUPILS ARE DELIGHTED WITH THEIR BRAND NEW OUTDOOR ‘YOUNG EXPLORERS’ AREA”

St Hilary’s School PTA, staff and Governors have worked tirelessly to create a fabulous new wooden outdoor adventure area for the Upper School pupils. The “Young Explorers’ Area” compliments the Trim Trail that was recently installed for the Nursery and Lower School children.

The extensive grounds offer the ideal setting for this dedicated climbing and play area with an assortment of equipment that the PTA donated through fund raising projects. The children were lucky enough to be able to select a wooden Rope Tunnel, Monkey Bars & Step Logs, Tight Rope Crossing, Rickety Bridge and Pick Up Sticks, all crafted from sustainable timber.

Alan Brown, Governor, said “We are thrilled with our new “Young Explorers’ Area”. This very worthwhile project has certainly generated great excitement across the Upper School, with pupils making full use of the great outdoors in a fun and energetic way. We are particularly grateful to the St Hilary’s School PTA for their contribution toward this scheme and look forward to continuing to develop the area”.

Operation Christmas Child

17/11/2011 00:00:00

ST HILARY’S SCHOOL, GODALMING PACK FOR

‘OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD’

Pupils from St Hilary’s School, Godalming, have busily filled one hundred and twenty three Christmas boxes for the charity ‘Operation Christmas Child’, a project run by Samaritan’s Purse.

Operation Christmas Child is the largest children's Christmas project in the world. 2011 saw the charity celebrate 21 years of this special shoebox appeal, which has already brought joy into the lives of over 80 million children worldwide. In 2010 it sent nearly 1.21 million shoe boxes to 14 countries across the world from the UK, to children in hospitals, orphanages, Internally Displaced Persons camps, the rubble of Haiti, homeless shelters and impoverished neighbourhoods.

The St Hilary’s School boxes were delivered to The Wurth Warehouse in Godalming by the four heads of house and are to be sent to disadvantaged children between the ages of 2-14 living in poverty stricken Kurdistan. Each box was carefully checked to ensure it contained specific items such as toiletries, toys, drawing materials, hats, gloves and scarves and labeled boys or girls. The four pupils toured the distribution areas and helped at the checking points before watching a video about the living conditions in Kurdistan.

Mrs Joyce Dickenson, Charity Coordinator, said: “This is a marvellous opportunity for pupils at St Hilary’s to make a difference to the lives of some of the poorest children in the world at this special time of giving. Our four representatives certainly came back to school with a greater understanding of just how hard life is for so many children”.

Miss Hiorns' Day

18/10/2011 00:00:00

ST HILARY’S SCHOOL, GODALMING CELEBRATE MISS HIORNS’ DAY AND DISCOVER ‘WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR’

The annual Miss Hiorns’ Day took place at St Hilary’s School on Friday 30^th September, in celebration of Miss Hiorns, the schools’ founder. This year pupils and teachers spent the day immersed in themed RE activities, group art, teambuilding games, storytelling and drama and music workshops, exploring issues that involved caring for others, the nature of compassion and the building blocks that form creative communities.

The ‘Who is my Neighbour’ theme was provided by The Barnabas in Schools team, who created a flexible, enjoyable and educational experience as they unpacked stories and themes from the Bible alongside contemporary life illustrations.

The day involved pupils from Years 1 to 6 and took place in the classrooms, on the sports fields and in and around school with the children making mummies in teams, blindfolding individuals and asking them to carry out tasks, inventing raps, acting out ‘Sleeping Beauty’ with the gifts from the fairies, woodlands activities with Reception as owls and mice, along with other drama workshops and outdoor challenges.

Whilst the staff led the Lower and Upper school activities, David Pollendine from Barnabas ran the special ‘Who is my Neighbour’ workshops interacting with all the age groups in a fun light hearted approach, highlighting for example, the importance of recognising other peoples’ needs and responsibility of care towards others, with the objective of broadening the children’s horizons to enable them to understand the wider community.

The Harvest Festival appropriately followed the Miss Hiorns’ Day theme on Wednesday 5th October, with Rev’d Canon Mervyn Roberts from St Peter and St Paul, who spoke to the children and demonstrated an old device for helping farmers of the past to sow seeds. The Lower school children brought in fresh fruit and vegetables, packet and tinned food for local elderly at The Clock House in Milford and the Upper school provided much needed stationary for the link School in Africa.

"Little Women" a Yr6 Production

20/09/2011 00:00:00

“Little Women” a Year 6 Production at St Hilary’s School

Pupils from Year 6 at St. Hilary’s School, Godalming, performed an adaptation of the highly acclaimed story “Little Women” to pupils and parents at the end of the summer term and the end of their six years at the school, with two evening performances and a matinee finale on 8^th July. The novels of Louisa May Alcott were carefully adapted for the children by Mrs Susan Bailes, Headmistress of St Hilary’s, who also directed the production.

Head Teacher, Mrs Susan Bailes, who every year takes on the direction and choreography of the Yr 6 production said, “I was immensely proud of our talented, professional Year 6 who amazed us with their versatility, singing, dancing and acting. My thanks to all my colleagues, who helped with rehearsals and during the run behind the scenes, as well as to the many parents who gave up their precious time. I strongly believe, that Year 6 gain immeasurably from being involved in a Production at the end of their year. It gives them confidence and helps prepare them for the new challenges they will face at their secondary schools. There is no question of choosing easy material as the girls always rise to my high expectations. Congratulations!"

Look Where We've Been This Term

20/05/2011 00:00:00

LOOK WHERE WE’VE ALL BEEN THIS TERM...

Y5 IoW Residential Trip, 26-28 April 2011

Yr4 Juniper Hall Trip, 11-13 May 2011

Yr6 French Trip, 17 - 20 May 2011

Yr3 Sayers Croft Trip, 18-20 May 2011

Yr4 Victorian School Room Event, 25th May 2011

There are still more trips planned, Yr1 are off to Arundel Castle for the day and Yr2 will heading off to the Look Out Centre at Bracknell.

Godalming Festival 2011

17/05/2011 00:00:00

WINNING PERFORMANCES FROM ST HILARY’S SCHOOL

Godalming Festival Speech and Drama Section 2011

The annual Godalming Festival’s Speech and Drama section proved to be a resounding success for St Hilary’s School, winning sixteen 1^st places out of a possible twenty two.

Pupils from Year 2 to Year 6 took part in categories covering solo verse speaking, narrative prose reading, storytelling, acting, mime and sight reading. In all, St Hilary’s children were awarded sixteen first places, many of these with Distinction.

The school was also delighted for those pupils receiving Trophies. Georgina Hinton-Carroll won the St Hilary’s Cup for Verse Speaking; Emily Bagley the Speech Skills trophy for Sight Reading and Charlotte Howell was awarded the Maddalena trophy for Narrative Prose Reading.

The Mayor of Godalming presented Georgina and Charlotte with their awards on Saturday 26^th March at the Borough Hall Festival Concert.

Andrea Bird, Head of Speech & Drama said, “It was a very happy atmosphere at the Festival this year and the two very experienced adjudicators, Felicity Amor and Micheal Stone, were clearly impressed. Once again the standard was extremely high, with good competition from other schools. All the children should feel extremely proud of themselves and are to be congratulated on doing their very best”.

Red Cross Canadian Quilts

17/03/2011 00:00:00

PUPILS FROM ST HILARY’S SCHOOL, GODALMING

DISCOVER THE STORIES BEHIND THE TREASURED

SECOND WORLD WAR RED CROSS QUILTS

Year 6 girls from St Hilary’s School, Godalming were privileged to learn all about Red Cross Canadian Quilts and the significant part they played in the lives of many children of their age during the Second World War, when Maxine March, quilt maker and researcher, brought in a selection of her quilt collection, as part of their investigations into the World War.

Mrs March was able to explain, in detail, the background to how the quilts came into existence, having been made in hundreds of thousands by Canadian women and sent to Britain as war relief supplies for people who had lost their possessions in bombing raids. The quilts were distributed to evacuee children, hospitals and crèches, refugees and members of the Land Army and armed forces. However, little is known of the individual makers, who remained anonymous, although each quilt would originally have had a tiny label printed with ‘Gift of the Canadian Red Cross’.

In addition she produced samples to show how bright and vibrant the quilts would have once looked. Mrs March was also able to tell the girls some of the stories of people who had received the quilts, among them being an extremely brave father who was awarded the Victoria Cross in the Medical Corps and died rescuing the injured from the battlefield in Holland.

Mrs Susan Bailes, Headmistress, who organized the event as part of the cross curricular English/History war theme said, “The girls were spellbound by Mrs March’s stories and to hold the quilt connected to each particular tale brought home the realities of war. The girls were eager to find out the details of quilting, the patterns and materials used during these difficult times”. She added, “Maxine March is always interested in hearing from people who own one of these treasured items, or who were given one during the war. She can be contacted on maxinemarch@waitrose.com”.

Yr 6 girls admiring one of the Red Cross Quilts

Maxine March talking about the Red Cross Quilts during the Second World War

Fair Trade Fortnight

10/03/2011 00:00:00

ST HILARY’S SCHOOL ‘SHOW OFF’ THEIR FAIR TRADE LABELS DURING FAIR TRADE FORTNIGHT

Following the success of St Hilary’s School, Godalming achieving the Green Flag Eco School Status; completing the Young Enterprise Primary Programme 2011 and renewing their ‘Fair Trade School’ status for yet another year, pupils have now found the time to embrace Fair Trade Fortnight 2011 with a series of fun-packed awareness activities and events, involving pupils, parents and teachers.

Year 6 pupils linked up with PizzaExpress in Godalming to make their own pizzas and refreshments, using the restaurant’s Fair Trade products and locally sourced ingredients. Richard Herbert, Operations Manager for PizzaExpress allowed the girls to take on the role of pizza chefs. Wearing hats and aprons, an array of creative toppings emerged from the ovens. Mr Herbert said, “We’re really proud of our coffee, which is our own triple certified blend. This means it is Fair Trade, Organic and Rainforest Alliance, with beans from Honduras, Ethiopia and Peru. We are also looking to switch to a Fair Trade hot chocolate in the coming months and we’re hoping to introduce a new tea range which is Rainforest alliance approved”.

For St Hilary’s School, 28^th February – 13^th March 2011 has involved making their own Fair Trade bunting which will be incorporated into the world’s longest string of cotton bunting; holding a Mufti Day with everyone in school wearing black, white, blue and green and forming the letters FAIR TRADE whilst wearing their Fair Trade badges; competitions that include the use of Fair Trade ingredients within snacks and lunches and challenging pupils and staff to ‘show off’ as many Fair Trade labels during cookery club, in the dining room and staffroom and at St Hilary’s Open Day.

Jenny Brown, Head of Geography and one of the staff Eco/Fair Trade Coordinators commented; “The pupils, staff and parents have shown enormous interest and enthusiasm throughout Fair Trade Fortnight. All credit goes to our pupil representatives for their inspired activities which have certainly raised awareness of what Fair Trade is all about. We are extremely grateful to PizzaExpress for their support and Brookwood Catering who have kindly donated a ‘Kindle’ for one of our competitions.” She added, “It is also extremely encouraging to learn that Surrey are endeavouring to become the first Fair Trade County in the South East of England.”

Instruments of the Gamelan

01/03/2011 00:00:00

ST HILARY’S SCHOOL PUPILS ENJOY AN ORCHESTRAL EXPERIENCE WITH A DIFFERENCE

Pupils at St Hilary’s School, Godalming were delighted by the sound of Balinese music when they were introduced to the instruments of the Gamelan. Each year group took part in playing together on a number of metal percussion instruments under the guidance of the Gamelan musicians, who were dressed in the indigenous Balinese costume.

Gamelan is an ensemble of metal percussion instruments from Indonesia and is an excellent tool for musical education, as the simplicity of the playing technique makes the instruments almost instantly accessible by children. The gongs, metallophones and chimes are made using bronze, brass and iron and are set on hand-carved wooden frames.

“The children were immediately captivated with the sound of the instruments which provide innumerable possibilities for the creation of new music”, said Isabelle Michalakis, Director of Music. She added, “Each year group thoroughly enjoyed experimenting on these extraordinary instruments and having the opportunity to take part in such a unique music ensemble”.

Celebrations at St Hilary's

28/01/2011 00:00:00

CELEBRATIONS ALL ROUND FOR ST HILARY’S SCHOOL, GODALMING WITH AN EXCELLENT INSPECTION REPORT AND THE HOISTING OF A NEWLY AWARDED ECO GREEN FLAG

Julie Robinson, Education and Training Director for the Independent Association of Preparatory Schools (IAPS) visited St Hilary’s in January to congratulate the school on achieving both prestigious ECO Green Flag status and an outstanding school inspection report from the Independent Schools Inspectorate.

Mrs Robinson said, “I am delighted to be here in person to congratulate Mrs Bailes, the Headmistress; her staff team and the pupils who have achieved so much at St Hilary’s. IAPS represents the very best preparatory schools and St Hilary’s has proven itself to be a highly innovative and successful school.”

The Green Flag, awarded by the Charity ENCAMS, is the result of work undertaken by pupils, staff and parents over four years which has included the creation of an Eco Nature Trail; obtaining Fair Trade status; setting up recycling, energy and water saving schemes; Year 6 being involved annually in the ‘Young Enterprise’ Award programme; demonstrating commitment from pupils, staff, school caterers, parents and the local community.

St Hilary’s is also celebrating the key judgements of the Inspection report:-

The quality of the pupils’ learning and achievement is excellent.

Pupils of all abilities achieve highly in all aspects of their learning.

They are articulate, show independence of thought and have well-developed literacy skills and show high levels of creativity.

Results in national test at the age of 11 are excellent.

Provision for pupils with particular learning difficulties and / or disabilities and for able, gifted and talented pupils is excellent.

Effective teaching, the pupils’ well-developed skills and knowledge, and their thorough understanding are significant contributory factors in the high levels of attainment and progress.

The quality of pupils’ personal development is outstanding.

Pupils show excellent spiritual awareness and outstanding moral awareness and an excellent sense of social awareness.

Mrs Susan Bailes, Headmistress commented, “We have much to share and celebrate and I am delighted that the pupils and my committed, dedicated team of staff, as well as our Governors, are recognised in this report. It is especially gratifying that we were complimented on the way we responded to our last inspection as we have rigorously continued to develop and enrich the life of the school in all areas and encourage the young to be independent. The challenge for any school which receives an excellent report is to maintain the high standards and that is what we intend to do”.

To view the complete St Hilary’s School ISI Inspection report visit www.sthilarysschool.com or www.isi.net

Ends

Theatre Comes to St Hilary's

24/01/2011 00:00:00

THEATRE COMES TO ST HILARY’S

Lower School -“Laura’s Star”

On Monday 24th January, the older Nursery children joined Reception, Yr1 and 2 to watch the current production by “The Pied Piper” Theatre Company. Three actors enacted the story of ‘Laura’s Star’, based on the book by Klaus Baumgart. The company is a regular visitor to St. Hilary’s and all the staff agreed that this was the best production we have ever seen. The gentle and sympathetic retelling of a small girl’s wish for a special friend was enhanced by simple but very effective props and excellent playing of a violin to create atmosphere which held the children enthralled for almost an hour. It was a lovely way to start the week as it provided us with plenty of ideas for follow-u p work in Literacy and Drama.

Evacuation Workshop for Year 6

On Tuesday 25^th January, the girls in Year 6 thoroughly enjoyed a special ‘Evacuation Workshop’ run by the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre. It vividly brought home to the girls what it felt like for children of their age to be evacuated. They were encouraged to improvise various war time scenarios and imagine how different characters would react during the evacuation process. The girls responded thoughtfully and thoroughly enjoyed the morning ,which reinforced the work about life in the Second World War that they have been studying in their English and History lessons.

Pupils 'Charm & Impress' the LAMDA Examiner

04/01/2011 00:00:00

ST HILARY’S SCHOOL, GODALMING CHARM AND IMPRESS

LAMDA EXAMINER

Children from St Hilary’s School, Godalming, have recently taken LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) examinations in the Speaking of Verse and Prose and have once again achieved some exceptional results. Upper School pupils were entered for Preliminary, Entry Level, and Grades 1, 2, & 3.

Eleven candidates achieved marks of ninety or above, with all sixty three candidates passing with either Merit (twelve children) or Distinction (fifty one children), special praise goes to Katie Breach, Imogen Walker and Flora Hickman for achieving the highest marks.

The examiner this year was Mrs Gillian Docherty, an experienced examiner and teacher, who swiftly put the children at their ease and she, in turn, was charmed and impressed by their efforts.

Andrea Bird, Head of Speech & Drama at St Hilary's, said: "Working for the LAMDA grades increases children's confidence and ability to express themselves, skills which are important in life, not just in drama. I would like to thank the Headmistress, Mrs Bailes, for the support and encouragement she gives to Speech & Drama at St Hilary's, and congratulate the girls who have all worked very hard for these excellent results."

LAMDA Results 2010.pdf

"The World's Gone French"

25/11/2010 00:00:00

‘THE WORLD’S GONE FRENCH’

FOR PUPILS AT ST HILARY’S SCHOOL, GODALMING

St Hilary’s School pupils were immersed in French, when the Onatti Theatre Company spent an afternoon performing ‘The World’s Gone French’ to Years 4, 5 and 6. The play was performed by two actors; one male (Native English) and one female (Native French) with the aim of helping children at the early stages of learning the language, Key Stage 2/3. The play was an entertaining, modern theatrical piece, ensuring they come away with more confidence in their language ability.

The play revolved around a young boy, Nathan, who wakes up in his bedroom in North London, everything appears normal, until his mother speaks to him - in French! His sister gives him her usual childish remarks in perfect French! And when he calls his Granny, she too speaks to him in French! What's going on! Is this a joke? If it is a joke it's a pretty good one - his sister is only six years old and his mother has gone from practically no French to fluent over night! Nathan can't believe it - The world has gone French! Nathan wonders how he’ll cope, he's only just started learning French at school!

Mrs Harris, Head of French said, “The Upper School thoroughly enjoyed Onatti's modern, fun production, it totally engaged all the children. The scenery, props, costumes and subject matter was spot on and superbly pitched, the whole experience has certainly boosted their interest in language learning”.

PTA Christmas Fair

12/11/2010 00:00:00

PTA Christmas Fair

The St Hilary’s School PTA Christmas Fair was an enormous success, raising a fantastic £4,290, which will go towards the new play equipment, so a very special thank you to the PTA Christmas Fair Committee: Mrs Waller, Mrs Rufus, Mrs Nuttall and Mrs Craven.

The event spread throughout both the Hall and dining-room, which made browsing and buying much easier! Both the Juvenile Diabetic Research Fund, which is our adopted charity this year, had a stall, as did the Prayer Group, whose refreshment stall raised £401.93 for the Toybox Charity, a charity that seeks to work with children who are living on the streets in Latin America.

Thank you to the children and our visitors for making the Fair such a success.

Project Link Ethiopia

11/11/2010 11:39:54

Pupils from St Hilary’s School Raise £2500 for

The Save the Children ‘Project Link Ethiopia’

Pupils from St Hilary’s School, Godalming have spent the last year plotting and planning innovative fund raising schemes in order to raise money and awareness for ‘Project Link Ethiopia’, a charity supporting education in Ethiopia and increasing cultural awareness between young people in Ethiopia and the UK.

The pupils were delighted to present Ian Stewart from Save the Children with a cheque for £2520.79 to assist with the rehabilitation of classrooms, purchasing teaching equipment, and the training of teachers in Ethiopia.

Since November 2009, the boys and girls from St Hilary’s, aged between 4 and 11 years, have busily organised a series of events, including a Christmas hat lunch, staff Christmas cards, mufti day, Easter raffle, second hand uniform sales, a bring and buy sale, sponsored skipathon, summer raffle and a year 2 production which they performed locally.

Mrs Sophie Turner, Year 1Form Teacher and fund raising co-ordinator said, “Staff and parents are extremely proud of how seriously the children have taken on the challenge of raising money for Project Ethiopia. Raising the incredible sum of £2500 shows just how much enthusiasm, energy and commitment they have put into supporting this worth-while cause”.

Operation Christmas Child

11/11/2010 00:00:00

ST HILARY’S SCHOOL, GODALMING ARE BUSILY PACKING FOR ‘OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD’

Pupils from St Hilary’s School, Godalming, have been busily filling over one hundred Christmas boxes for the charity ‘Operation Christmas Child’, a project run by Samaritan’s Purse - www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk

Operation Christmas Child is the largest children's Christmas project in the world. 2010 sees the charity celebrate 20 years of this special shoebox appeal, which has already brought joy into the lives of over 80 million children worldwide. In 2009 it sent nearly 1.2 million shoe boxes to 13 countries across the world from the UK, to children in hospitals, orphanages, Internally Displaced Persons camps, homeless shelters and impoverished neighbourhoods.

The St Hilary’s School boxes are to be sent to disadvantaged children between the ages of 2-14 and contain useful items such as toiletries, toys, drawing materials, hats, gloves and scarves. The pupils have carefully wrapped and labeled each box ensuring there is something for boys and girls, before taking them to the designated drop off point on Tuesday 12^th November.

Harvest Festival

12/10/2010 00:00:00

THE SCHOOLS' HARVEST FESTIVAL

The Harvest Festival was celebrated with visting Rev’d Canon Mervyn Roberts from St Peter and St Paul, who spoke to the children and used a selection of excellent props: a traditional seed sowing basket, a healthy sheaf of corn and a very impressive old scythe. Everyone praised God’s creations and a harvest, not only of food, but of so many talents and other creations. The Lower school children brought in fresh fruit and vegetables, packet and tinned food for local elderly at the Clock House in Milford and the Upper school provided much needed resources for a School in Uganda.

"Miss Hiorns' Day"

01/10/2010 00:00:00

ST HILARY’S SCHOOL CELEBRATE MISS HIORNS' DAY WITH THE MURDEROUS MATHS MAN!

The annual Miss Hiorns Day took place at St Hilary’s School on Friday 1^st October in celebration of Miss Hiorns, the schools’ founder. This year pupils and teachers spent the day immersed in Mathematics and Science with themed activities, experiments and fun challenges taking place in the classrooms, on the sports fields and in and around school.

St Hilary’s also welcomed Kjartan Poskitt, author of the ‘Murderous Maths’ books to be part of the Miss Hiorns Day maths theme by running special workshops for the lower and upper school, performing a variety of features from his Murderous Maths books including flexagons, magic squares, strange number facts, knots, codes and amazing number predictions.

Gemma Mitchell, Head of Mathematics, said “The children and staff really seemed to enjoy the day. The Maths and Science theme was incorporated across the subjects with different years participating in a variety of activities from shape trails, puzzle solving, bridge challenges, lego construction, orienteering, songs and dance. The highlight of the day was the arrival of the Murderous Mathsman, the children were enthralled by his stand-up maths routine and are now all budding mathematicians!”

Hiorns Centre 'Commended' Award

08/09/2010 00:00:00

GODALMING TRUST AWARDS ST HILARY’S SCHOOL’S

NEW “HIORNS CENTRE” WITH ‘COMMENDED’

IN THE NEW BUILDINGS CATEGORY

St Hilary’s School’s new Hiorns Centre, which was officially opened in July, has been awarded ‘Commended’ by the Godalming Trust’s Awards panel in the ‘New Buildings Category’. With the schools’ silver Eco status the Architects, Scott Wilson, ensured there were are a number of Green features. These include insulation to conserve energy, solar panels on the roof for water heating, energy efficient light fittings triggered by movement sensors and water use minimised by energy efficient fittings and the recycling of rainwater.

The Godalming Trust is a voluntary organisation promoting high standards of planning, conservation and regeneration for the benefit of the local community in Godalming and Farncombe. The award was presented to members of the St Hilary’s School development team on 8^th September 2010 in the Octagon of St Peter and St Paul, Godalming.

“We are delighted that the Eco features incorporated into the design of The Hiorns Centre have been recognised and appreciated by the Trust and I feel proud to have collected this award on behalf of the school and all those that worked so hard in ensuring this exciting initiative has proved such a proactive, ecological success”, said The Headmistress, Mrs Susan Bailes.

NEW WEBSITE LAUNCH

19/08/2010 00:00:00

Our website is now live!

St Hilary's School is delighted to announce the launch of their brand new website.

There is still plenty of work in progress, but please do take a look around. We will be constantly updating the news pages and creating sections dedicated to our Fair Trade activities, Young Enterprise and the Eco School awards.

"Salad Days" Yr 6 Production

12/07/2010 00:00:00

“Salad Days” a Year 6 Production at St Hilary’s School

Pupils from Year 6 at St. Hilary’s School, Godalming, performed the much-loved musical “Salad Days” to pupils and parents at the end of the summer term and the end of their six years at the school, with two evening performances and a matinee finale on 9^th July.

Head Teacher, Mrs Susan Bailes, who each year directs and choreographs the Yr 6 production said, “I was immensely proud of the whole cast, drummers, park dancers, Egyptian dancers and, of course, the talented, professional Year 6 who amazed us with their versatility, singing, dancing and acting. My thanks to all my colleagues, who helped with rehearsals and during the run behind the scenes, as well as to many parents who gave up their precious time. I do believe as Director and Head, that Year 6 gain immeasurably from being involved in a Production at the end of their year as it makes them confident and ready for the challenges as they look forward to their secondary schools. There is no question of choosing easy material and they rise to high expectations. Congratulations!”

OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE HIORNS CENTRE

18/06/2010 00:00:00

ST HILARY’S SCHOOL BALLOON RELEASE HERALDS

THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NEW HIORNS CENTRE BUILDING AND 2010 SPORTS DAY

St Hilary’s School, Godalming officially opened their superb new facility, ‘THE HIORNS CENTRE’, on Friday 18^th June, with a magnificent balloon release. Over two hundred St Hilary’s School balloons were launched in celebration of the new building as well as heralding the start of the 2010 Upper School Sports Day.

‘THE HIORNS CENTRE’ provides space in which classes can carry out physical activity such as drama, aerobics, music practices and rehearsals, a venue for match teas and is equipped with a staff office, kitchen, store and cloakroom facilities. The building is named after the Founder of the School, Miss Marjorie Hiorns who established the school in 1927. As St Hilary’s is an ECO SCHOOL, the Architects, Scott Wilson, have also ensured that there are a number of Green features. These include insulation to conserve energy, solar panels on the roof to heat water, energy efficient light fittings triggered by movement sensors and water use will be minimised by energy efficiency fittings and recycling of rainwater.

With the athletics ground positioned alongside the Hiorns Centre, a sky full of yellow balloons in the school colours, was the perfect signal to start the Upper School Sports Day, with teams from Years 3-6 participating in long jump, high jump, 100 and 200m sprints, 400m and relay races.

Headmistress Mrs Susan Bailes said: “I am delighted that the school has this wonderful new facility as it means both the curriculum and extracurricular activities can be enriched, we all feel very proud. Combining the opening with sports day has also meant the parents have been able to celebrate the occasion with their children, the staff and Governors”.

Year 6 Trip to Northern France

24/05/2010 00:00:00

Adventures in Northern France for the Year Six Girls

from St Hilary’s School, Godalming

Year 6 pupils from St Hilary’s School, Godalming escaped school and headed off to Northern France for an action packed four days. The group were based in Berck-sur-Mer where they were completely immersed in the French language and culture. The trip also allowed the girls to travel to Le Touquet to meet the pen pals they had been writing to all year.

Stopping at Nausicaa in Boulogne, visiting a goat farm to make goats cheese and to milk the goats, attempting wheat plaiting and bread making, creating beeswax candles and producing individual lollipops at a sweet factory, the four days offered a diverse array of activities, as well as a more thought provoking experience at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Etaples looking for graves bearing their own surnames.

The trip was organised by Deputy Head, Mrs Margaret Morris. Mrs Morris said: “The main purpose of the week was to practise speaking French, which the children thoroughly enjoyed doing, especially in the market at Etaples and the supermarket in Berck. Four busy days of activities and the opportunity to learn more about the culture and way of life in France has proved to be a fantastic introduction to the country. They received a warm welcome from everyone they met and returned home with wonderful memories”.