House Debating

This lunchtime saw the launching of the House Debating Competition. The 6th Form house captains have done a great job of organising this competition, which will culminate in a grand final at the end of the year.

Still Lots Going On

The Sixth Form have been involved in a huge range of events already this week. On Monday there was a trip to see Othello, on Tuesday a fashion evening in aid of the Sick Children's Trust, on Wednesday the GSA Girls' Leadership Conference followed by an evening event about writing as a profession, and today ... Today we're all drawing breath.

Remembrance Day

In today's Remembrance Day assembly we focused on the contribution of the Chinese to World War I and, in particular, on this man, 陸征祥, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, who was the only man to refuse to sign the Treaty of Versailles. As leader of the Chinese delegation he took the courageous step of refusing to accept the loss of Shandong province. To learn more click here or here.

The truly remarkable thing about Lou was that he went from being Prime Minister of China to becoming a Catholic priest and monk in Belgium, where he suffered under the Nazis during World War II. The pictures above, in other words, are of the same man. His story may have been unique but he can help remind us of all those many non-combatants whose lives, deaths and work are sometimes forgotten when we recall past conflicts.

Girls' Leadership Development Conference

Tomorrow is going to be a big day. St Mary's has organised a large-scale Girls' Leadership Development Conference at West Road Concert Hall, University of Cambridge. Over twenty schools and 450 students will be taking part in the panel discussions, interactive debates and workshops.

Speakers will include Dr. Mary Archer, Chairman of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Professor Dame Julia Higgins, formerly Principal of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College, London; and Suzanne Doyle-Morris, who will be launching her new book, ‘Beyond the Boys’ Club: Strategies for Achieving Career Success as a Woman Working in a Male Dominated Field’. The day will end with a closing speech from Girls' Schools Association President Jill Berry.

The theme of the event will be ‘transition’, inspiring and supporting girls as they progress from GCSEs to A-Levels and into the sixth-form world, a time when making life-changing decisions such as choosing universities, degrees and careers becomes top of the agenda. It should be pretty impressive.

Book of the Month: November

What more could we ask for in life than to find happiness? The 6th Form Book of the Month helps us along the way.

This isn't your usual self-help book though: the author, Abbot Christopher Jamison, offers Monastic Steps for a Fulfilling Life. We might not naturally turns to monks for ideas about happiness but, on the evidence of this book, perhaps we should. It's in the library: give it a try.

Has Science Replaced God?

'Has Science replaced God' was the title of the talk given last week to the school's scholars by Fr Stephen Dingley. Fr Stephen has a PhD in Radio Astronomy from Cambridge University and a degree in Fundamental Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University so he's pretty well qualified to answer the question.

If you are interested in finding out more, you can download some pamphlets he has written here.

There's a lot going on

There is a lot going on at the moment. We'll try to keep up. The first event this week was a concert in Queens' College Chapel last night with the school's chamber choir joining the Fairhaven Singers. A fantastic way to start the week in a fantastic setting.