Dear Parents,

I am sure you were aware of the excitement on Wednesday when we were able to hold our annual Sports Day. A fantastic day highlighting the wonderful community spirit that makes More House so special. The sun shone, numerous spectators cheered on, the athletes showed grit and determination and many records were broken.

Maria Perez (Sports Captain) has written an account of the sporting week.

‘This week was an exciting week for the PE department as we managed to reschedule Sports Day which took place on Wednesday at Battersea Park. We were all delighted to enjoy this important event on such a sunny day.

Everyone was eager to get onto the track, all girls showed good spirit and there were some exceptional performances. There were some close scores in the field events and some tough races throughout the day. Once more, the staff relay concluded proceedings, Canterbury triumphed and won the gold.

However overall, Iona, 100 points ahead of Walsingham were crowned winners to take the trophy for the 4^th consecutive year. Many girls beat school records which shows great improvement and outstanding talent!

These are some of the records broken…

Middies Javelin – Elena Gupta 16.29m

Senior Long Jump – Lucy Aylmer 3.95m

Junior Javelin – Yasmin Hayward 14.62m

Senior Javelin – Nancy Sarif 14.60m

Middies Shot Put – Aoife Chapman 8.49m

Middies 200m – Grace Meekin 30.22s (this record had stood since 2011!)

Junior 800m – Daphne Thorne 3:06.38

Middies 800m – Hope Healy 3.05.92

Junior 1500m – Yasmin Hayward 7:00.12

Senior 1500m – Lucy Aylmer 6:29.73

Senior Relay – Santiago 1:03.44 (this record had also stood since 2011!)

Staff Relay – Canterbury 1:01.17

We also had fantastic success in netball this week. Our U14 team kick started the netball season playing on Monday against Queens College and managed to beat them with a score of  7-4. Two girls who played exceptionally well were Hope and Elizabeth who were selected as players of the match.

Yesterday we had various matches in the RBKC league. The U12A team got to play two matches, first against Holland Park where they won 2-0, great win. The second match was close but the team narrowly lost to Kensington Aldridge Academy. The U13B team had a great win, 5-4 against Holland Park. More success with the U16 team, who won 6-5 against Holland Park as well!

Congratulations to all, especially our 3 players of the match who were Rosie for U12A, Phoebe for U13B and Juliette for U16, who were chosen by their team mates for their exceptional performances on the courts. During this busy afternoon, the Sports department managed to get 50 girls out to do clubs such as Rowing and Netball, well done to all!’

Following the sporting theme, the girls who were in the Kensington and Chelsea Netball Team competing at this summer’s London Youth Games were invited to an evening to celebrate the Borough’s success. The London Youth Games is one of the biggest youth sporting competitions in the world and is a fantastic opportunity to meet other talented athletes. Have a watch of the video that the K&C Borough have put together about the Games- you may even spot some faces you recognise!

Mrs Tunnicliffe (Steward of More’s Household) has put together a fantastic program of speakers and you all are invited to join us. You can get tickets for all future events here.

We had a very insightful talk from Leon McCarron who is an adventurer and filmmaker. He specialises in long distance, human-powered expeditions and told us stories of his journey along Iran’s longest river, the Karun, from the source to the sea.

You could see the girls were thinking that this was far from the adventures that they had had over the summer holidays!

We are very excited to welcome back an old girl as our next speaker. Jessica Costelloe left us after her A levels and went to the Julliard to study music and is now establishing herself as an opera singer. She was named as ‘1 of 5 rising stars to watch in 2016’ by the Irish Examiner and when you meet her you will see why. Reserve your tickets here.

Thank you to the Parents’ Association who sponsored our talks on Internet Safety. The girls listened intently to Jim and Bill who have worked for CEOP and the police force and hopefully what they said made them think about the risks and dangers of the internet and social media. I hope that they went away thinking how they can protect both themselves and their friends.

One of the biggest tips that I took away from the staff talk was to reset your age once you reach 13. Lots of the girls sign up for Instagram etc. before they are 13 i.e. put in a fake birthday. This means that when they are 13 they will be receiving adverts, links that are aimed at older people. Just a thought…..

This is a link to a helpful magazine:

http://www.vodafone.com/content/dam/vodafone-images/parents/assets-2016/pdf/Digital_ParentingMagazine_Issue_4.pdf

Please join us next Friday at morning drop off to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support for the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning. Any donations gratefully received.

Have a lovely weekend,

Amanda Leach

Prayers of the week are our bidding prayers from yesterday’s Mass with Upper Sixth.

Emma

This week the world witnessed another riot in the USA due to the killing of another African-American civilian by a police officer. The Polish community in Essex have also been facing persecution in the wake of the Brexit vote. Creator of all people, open our hearts to embrace difference as a good thing, rather than something to fear. Lord, in Your mercy – HEAR  OUR PRAYER.

Ines

This week the Evening Standard reported that UK supermarkets throw away 115,000 tonnes of perfectly good food each year … yet 875,000 Londoners worry about where their next meal is coming from. God who provides, make us mindful of the privilege of having enough food to eat and give us resources to feed people both physically and spiritually. Lord in Your mercy – HEAR OUR PRAYER.

Maria

Father we thank you for a successful Sports Day yesterday.

You gave us bodies— as well as minds and hearts— which we use to praise and worship you.

Our sports and exercises are a fitting use of gifts and talents you have given us.

Bless our workouts and the games we play,
and those with whom we exercise or compete.

Give us strength, endurance, courage
and agility as we train.

Keep us safe and healthy as we celebrate
our physical and mental skills in sport. Lord in your mercy