Surrey University Admissions Tutor offers excellent UCAS advice to Yr 12

Holly Smith, an admissions tutor from Surrey University came on Monday to address the Yr12 students about the UCAS process. She explained the different types of university that exist: campus, city and split-site and painted a graphic picture of the multitude of universities there are in this country, highlighting the need for our students to think carefully about the location of the university of their choice. This complemented nicely the work we have done earlier this term looking at Course Search on the UCAS website which similarly illustrates the plethora of courses there are to choose from.
Next term Year 12 will begin the UCAS process in earnest, researching courses and universities in greater depth and beginning to think about the design of their Personal Statements.

St Catherine's Sixth Former becomes new face of Duke of Edinburgh's Awards

St Catherine's is very proud that one of its Sixth Formers, Simrin Grewall (pictured modelling a creation made in 45 minutes during our Sixth Form induction in September!), has been chosen to be the new face of the Duke of Edinburgh's Awards. Simrin is currently in Year 12, studying English, Geography, Psychology and Economics and only became involved  in the Duke of Edinburgh's Awards this term. Very rapidly she was appointed to the Gold Forum and judging by what she has written below, is clearly thriving on the challenge that D of E so uniquely provides. Here is a copy of the presentation Simrin made recently to the whole school:

The Gold Award Forum was introduced to me by Mrs. Sadler. Without her encouragement I would never have been elected. The selection process to be part of the forum consisted of a nomination, a letter explaining why you should be part of the forum and a one to one interview with the Head Director of Dof E. Amongst thousands that applied, I was fortunate enough to be chosen.

The Gold Award Forum is a group of 10 young people across London and our main role is to promote and encourage students to take part in the Dof E award. Our promotion reaches as far as the Middle East, which makes our job very challenging, but yet very rewarding!

Some activities include joining up with other Dof E participants from different countries, and find out what is similar and what is different about the scheme. Fund raising plays a major role in being part of the forum as our main objective is to gain the materials and equipment to expand the Dof E.

Being part of the forum means we work very closely with young people and I would love to promote St Catherine's as much as I can and get our name known within the award, as I know this will benefit us greatly. So any ideas about fund raising or ways of expanding the award will be strongly welcomed.

As most of you are aware I am the face of Dof E, this means that I will be in the brochures and on the website. I attended a photo shoot on Friday which was something different, getting my hair and make up done! Admittedly I felt quite cool standing in central Westminster posing and strutting my stuff along the embankment in bright clothing!

I am using the forum to contribute toward my Skill’s section, this means that I will be running the monthly meetings and being in charge of any events or speeches to other schools.

 I am also able to take some pupils to some of the events with me and the rest of the forum. These trips will include Buckingham Palace, The Bank of England, The Equality4U campaign which is a chance for young people to explore four key human rights issues and many other business conferences and I would love to take some of you with me, as it will be such a great experience.

For me, the most exciting trip of the forum is going to Egypt, the group will spend 10 days exploring and seeing the wonders of the country. The first two nights will be in Cairo, where we will meet another youth team taking part in the award and discussing any changes we feel they need to make in order to make it harder or easier. The following 3 days will be spent on the Nile deep sea diving. The last few days will be in Sharm el sheik which is our treat for all the hard work we have done over the year.

However, as you are all probably aware Egypt is currently unstable, so our second choice of destination is going to be Dubai to visit the business world which runs the United Arabs. Either one of the two residentials will be thrilling and definitely a new experience for me. 

Finally, I would like to thank St. Catherine's for giving me the opportunity and a great deal of encouragement to take part. Especially Ms. Sadler who has supported me the whole way and who has shared her knowledge and more evidently her enthusiasm for the award. 

Thank you

Simrin Grewall

Year 12

Do we need more Stillness and Silence in schools?

Along with our Head of Religious Education, Miss Mary Ryan, I attended  a discussion today in St Martins in the Fields on the relevance and importance of Silence and Stillness in schools. The event wast hosted by Just This Day, an organization which seeks to promote stillness and meditation in schools irrespective of faith or belief, if only for one day of the year (the 23rd of November being this year's chosen date). Amid the noise and bustle of Trafalgar Square, the calm and tranquility of St Martins in the Fields proved an apt venue in which to hold such a debate.
We heard from 4 speakers: Dr Helen Lees, an education researcher from Stirling University, Laura Hyde, Headmistress of St James Senior Girls School, Kim Nataraja, an ambassador for Christian Meditation for Children and her daughter, Shanida Nataraja, a neuro-scientist who explained to us what happens in the brain during meditation.
Having taught before for 4 years at St James Boys school I have already witnessed first hand the benefits that meditation can have on a child's development but I was particulatrly curious to find out today how meditation might be applied in a school with a specifically Christian ethos, such as St Catherine's.
According to Kim Nataraja the practice of Christian meditation focuses on a single Aramaic word, Maranatha. The process of focusing attention on a single word in this way provides a vivid contrast to the constantly changing and diverting life of today's children. Like every other skill we learn, this simple practice improves with repetition and dedication, with remarkable results in all walks of a child's life, including her education, relationships and spiritual life:
In learning to maintain focus for longer a child can then sustain attention, helping her to study more effectively and absorb more material whilst at school. It is also clear that meditation helps children become calmer and more balanced emotionally and to gain  greater compassion and empathy for her friends and family. In feeling a greater degree of calmness a child is then far less likely to be susceptible to the 'contagion' of stress; rather she is likely to demonstrate a more mature perspective on the world around her and articulate her thoughts with integrity and clarity.
In having helped introduce Christian Meditation to hundreds of schools around the globe, Kim Nataraja has had the opportunity to speak to countless students about their experiences and for many of them perhaps the deepest and most personal affect of meditation has been a sense of getting closer to their spiritual source or God.
I wonder if the girls at St Catherine's receive enough of these true gifts that are stillness and silence, both at school or at home.
Angus Pearson

Tales from the Bailey enthrall Siena Society audience

Before a packed audience, St Catherine's very own English teacher and Head of Law, Jane Bailey delivered a highly colourful, entertaining and informative lecture giving the history behind how and why she became a barrister as well as describing some past cases to highlight some of the unique characteristics inherent in a life at the criminal bar.
Mrs Bailey began by likening the law to teaching in that it is very much a vocation; that the rewards as such are intrinsic to the work itself (plus the odd Aston Martin...). She herself qualified as a lawyer and joined the Bar whilst the whole profession was gripped by blatant sex discrimination. As a pupil in her first chambers we heard how she was treated by the clerk with blatant disrespect, being referred to as 'Sir' in a clear attempt to belittle and demoralize her. But as we learnt later, working amid such chauvinism gave Jane Bailey a resilience which proved invaluable when doing battle in the Crown Court cross-examining various police officers.
The beginning of her career seemed to be spent dealing with a variety of pretty sordid sex offence cases before she moved to the Essex Street set of chambers. Here Mrs Bailey worked on more white-collar crime cases, including the Maxwell brothers pension fraud case as well cases involving malpractice by the medical profession.
Many of us were curious to know 'How can you represent someone you know is guilty?' and fortunately Jane Bailey had already prepared an answer to this question. 'As a barrister your job is to defend the accused however suspicious you may be; you do not 'know' the accused is guilty unless he tells you, in which case a barrister should not represent them. It is the job of the jury to decide on the guilt or innocence of an accused, not the barristers or Judge.'
Many of those present at Jane Bailey's lecture were students, from St Catherine's and other schools too; you cannot help but feel that many of them will now be considering a career at the Bar.

Sixth Form parents' evening tonight at 4.30pm in Drama Studio

Sixth Form swap desks for Pilates mats....

For one afternoon only, on November14th the Sixth Form common room was transformed into a Pilates studio. Under the expert guidance of local Pilates teacher, Nicola Howarth, the whole Sixth Form were taught the rudiments of this popular and enormously beneficial body-conditioning routine. Unlike more conventional keep-fit practices, Pilates works on your concentration, control and ability to 'centre' to enable you to gain core strength in key areas of your body.
None of the students had encountered Pilates before but each found the session interesting,helpful and leaving them eager to find out more about it.