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| 07 December 2009 | Snippets Volume 4 Issue 12Happy Christmas! We arrive at the end of a very long, but thoroughly enjoyable autumn term. Having read through the girls’ reports in Main School, it is clear that they have all been working very hard throughout the term and much success and excellent development has been noted and commented on enthusiastically by the staff. All of the girls have maintained a high level of involvement both in and out of the classroom. As usual, they do so with a broad smile indicating the mood of the school that we all prefer to see that gives an outward demonstration of our ethos. I thank you all for your continued support of the school; it still remains a fact that 90% of our visiting parents have been referred to us by you. Please feel free to continue doing so! My thanks also to all of the boys and girls at Lodge – we thoroughly enjoyed the nativity performances, which were of a very high standard, I’m sure you’ll agree. All that remains is for me to wish you a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.  View PDF
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| 27 November 2009 | Snippets Volume 4 Issue 11Christmas Fair, Christmas Fair, Christmas Fair. An enormous amount of excitement is reverberating around the school as everyone has first sight of the Christmas tree and decorations. The dining room has also been transformed in readiness for Christmas lunches at the end of next week. Friends of Godstowe and friends of Friends of Godstowe are all busying around with their preparations for tomorrow. Father Christmas (remember, we are fortunate enough to have the one and only real Father Christmas) will be in attendance and has his booking sheet throughout the event. His grotto will be in the Recital Hall foyer. Needless to say, he is looking forward to meeting people and welcoming them to the festive season. Many of the girls will be running stalls of their own and refreshments are available throughout the day down in the dining room. The Fair will straddle various parts of the school from the Recital Hall right up to the JK Hall; be sure not to miss anything. Please do be sure to join us and support the school. View PDF |
| 20 November 2009 | Snippets Volume 4 Issue 10I am looking forward to indulging in a selection of beautifully prepared cakes, which will render me replete as I march down to the Recital Hall for the latest in our Recital Concerts. I very much enjoy hearing the considerable development that our girls make over a period of time. This is very evident when they perform so beautifully in front of parents and friends. View PDF |
| 13 November 2009 | Snippets Volume 4 Issue 9Two minutes of silence were beautifully observed by the school on Wednesday morning at 11 o’clock accompanied by Mr Bonner who kindly bugled the Last Post. It was topped and tailed by the sound of a military gun from the barracks in High Wycombe. View PDF |
| 06 November 2009 | Snippets Volume 4 Issue 8Many thanks indeed to all of the girls and staff who enjoyed the Music Tour so enormously. I have heard nothing but good reports about the girls, their performances and their ambassadorial approach to the tour – representing Godstowe every step of the way. I am both delighted and proud of their success. View PDF |
| 23 October 2009 | Snippets Volume 4 Issue 7Welcome to the end of the first half of term, which, in reality, has been lengthy but seems to have flown by extremely quickly. As usual we have managed to pack in an inordinate amount, and your children are to be congratulated on an excellent start to the new academic year. Once again, we have successfully settled over 80 new pupils and that is testament to the very warm welcome always given to everyone joining Godstowe. Many thanks to all of our parents who have also helped integrate new parents happily and quickly. View PDF |
| 16 October 2009 | Snippets Volume 4 Issue 6This will be the last Snippets you read before the tour party leaves for Prague. I’d like to wish them every success and I know that they are very excited about this wonderful opportunity to experience other cultures and to perform in concerts for members of the general public. I’m sure they will do Godstowe proud. View PDF |
| 09 October 2009 | Snippets Volume 4 Issue 5What’s happened? Another week’s gone by. We do seem to be suffering from a few girls taking to their beds, but I think we’re over the worst of it.
We have enjoyed a very busy week in and out of the classroom. We have enjoyed National Children’s Book Week this week, and particularly entertaining was the visit of Mr Leander Deeny who came to read chapters of his book Hazel’s Phantasmagoria. There have been book displays at Lodge, competitions, poetry readings a visit to the theatre last week to see Singing in the Rain, oh, and we’ve done some teaching too. View PDF |
| 02 October 2009 | Snippets Volume 4 Issue 4Here we are approaching the end of yet another week’s work. Activities Day appeared to be a roaring success, particularly and literally, as heard from the direction of the JK Hall where Henry VIII regaled members of the Lower Thirds with historical anecdotes, humorous exchanges and witty banter. Henry was obviously a big bloke and this gentleman takes his job very seriously! Many thanks to the staff for organising such an interesting range of activities for the girls to enjoy. View PDF |
| 25 September 2009 | Snippets Volume 4 Issue 3Another busy week here at Godstowe, which culminates in the first of this year’s FOG cake sales in Lodge and Main School. Why not stop by and buy something yummy for the exeat weekend? This week also saw the first Mufti Day of the new academic year, and Mrs Buckland is delighted with the total raised. You can read more about this overleaf. The boarders enjoyed a sunny trip to Portsmouth last weekend; we saw all that this historical town had to offer and even had time for an ice cream!
Lodge parents and children will be pleased to know that we are planning the installation of a brand new activity playground as soon as possible. After a rigorous health and safety check, it was not deemed prudent to repair the existing equipment. Instead we have decided to completely replace it with a brand new activity playground, partly funded by FOG. Watch that space!
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| 18 September 2009 | Snippets Volume 4 Issue 2Our reputation would appear to go before us! I was invited this week to attend the annual Tatler awards ceremony at Claridges, during which schools from their Schools Guide are nominated for a range of awards. I am delighted, on the one hand, to let you know that Godstowe was nominated as one of the top four prep schools in the UK. On the other hand, we were pipped at the post by another school in Yorkshire. Interestingly, though, we were the only girls’ school nominated, so I cheekily deduce that we were the top girls’ prep school in the UK! This is the second year running we’ve been nominated and I am determined it will be third time lucky for Godstowe in 2010. Only a small fraction of over 2,500 independent schools (both senior and prep) make it into the guide in the first place and you can only be nominated if you are listed. We are very grateful to Tatler and those people who have presumably been in touch with them to ensure our nomination. Perhaps I can persuade hundreds of parents to write in over the next 12 months and carry off the Oscar on behalf of Godstowe. It may also intrigue you to know that during the evening we were approached by several prep school heads asking how it was that Godstowe manages to ‘buck the trend’, as they put it. Our recent success seems to be raising a few envious eyebrows, particularly when measured within the girls’ prep school market. Long may this continue with your help and support. View PDF |
| 11 September 2009 | Snippets Volume 4 Issue 1Welcome back. Here we are once more embarking on what I hope will be an eventful, happy and exciting new academic year. I would like to wish a particular warm welcome to all of our new boys, girls and grown-ups. Once again, we have welcomed over 85 new pupils to Godstowe, many of whom are boarders, and they would appear to have blended in very quickly. My thanks to the staff and to the other children for being so helpful with this process. Thank you as well to all of our parents who understand the importance of making the beginning of the term start so positively. It was good to see a large turnout at the Parents’ Introductory Evening; the new format seemed to be much more successful and very popular. View PDF |