LIFE2017- 18 reviewCity

Multi-award-winningChess ChaMpionyear 13 student naomi wei celebrated multiple wins at the uK Chess Challenge (uKCC) in august.

After winning the UKCC London Extra Megafinal in late June with a 6/6 score, Naomi competed in the Southern Gigafinal, where she played very well as the 3rd seed. she drew with the 1st and 4th seed in round three and round four, and in the final round managed to beat the 2nd seed in a fierce counter attack. In the end, Naomi finished joint 1st in the u17 section with a score of 5/6 (4 wins and 2 draws), and qualified for the final stage of UKCC - Terafinal.

The UKCC Terafinal was held at Daventry Court Hotel on on 12th and 13th august. a total of 47 players (all year group winners in the southern or the northern Gigafinal) competed in six rounds for the £2,000 top prize and strat title at Terafinal.

naomi was the 14th seed in the starting rank and she once again finished strongly by beating the 3rd seed in the final round with black pieces. Her final score was 5/6 (5 wins and 1 loss), which was enough for her to win the girls’ champion, and joint 2nd place in UKCC 2017.

naomi was also awarded Michael Basman trophy (the best game prize) for her brilliant last round game. naomi was presented with her prizes by lord Mark price, Minister of state for trade policy.

new sCientist live event

in september, sixth Form chemists travelled to the excel Centre for the new scientist live event, an exciting festival of science and technology. they spent the day attending lectures and visiting stalls encompassing five different scientific fields; Astronomy, Engineering, Technology, Medicine and Biology.

senior Maths Challenge

on 7 november, over 90 of our sixth Formers sat the senior Maths Challenge in pursuit of national recognition in the form of a place on the British Maths olympiad team. the first question facing them was:

one of the following numbers is prime. which is it?

a 2017 − 2 B 2017 − 1 C 2017 D 2017 + 1 E 2017 + 2 The students managed to acquire eight Gold Certificates which were only awarded to the top 6.67% of all entrants. Three girls qualified for the British Maths Olympiad Paper 1, a three and a half hour paper with only five questions of a very rigorous standard.

seven members of the City Cross Country team woke up early one saturday in november to compete in the english schools national Cross Country Championship at sevenoaks school

a total of 589 schools participated in the entire process, with only 27 making it through regional qualifiers to compete at the national finals. The course was a very pretty but equally challenging one, with lots of painful up and downhills within the forest. however, once the race began, the team pushed through the pain and tried to overtake as many people as possible. all of the girls ran really well, and were absolutely exhausted by the end of the race. the hard work paid off, as they were later announced the national Champions.

english sChools national Cross Country ChaMpions

gCse enseMBles ConCert

year 10 and 11 ensembles gave an enjoyable performance at St. Giles’ Cripplegate Church in november, to an appreciative audience.

some of the groups were formed especially for the igCse course, and some pre-existing groups were also involved. we were treated to a variety of styles, from piazzolla to schubert, and all performers gave fluent and mature performances.

senior house deBating CoMpetition

in november, the four school houses debated the topical and controversial motion of implementing a quota system at our top academic institutions, in order to create greater equality and diversity.

this serious and sensitive issue was debated skilfully by new and more experienced debaters. the debate was won by ysabel and rachel of ward house (the closing opposition).

GUEST SPEAKEr: sally phillips

We were joined by guest speaker Sally Phillips, of Bridget Jones, Alan Partridge, Miranda and smack the pony fame. driven by the experience of raising her son olly, who has down’s syndrome, sally has made the documentary, a world without down’s syndrome?

sally spoke to sixth Form students about the documentary, and showed some clips of the film, before taking questions from the audience.

eu MoCK CounCil Final

two year 13 students visited the law society in november, to represent sweden at the eu Mock Council Final.

27 other schools participated in a series of discussions, with the aim of producing two european Commission-sanctioned resolutions that would be voted on at the end of the day. sweden was particularly concerned about how the resolution on eu citizens’ rights would be practically implemented after Brexit.

JUNIOr CHOIr SING with lesley garrett

Our Junior Choir had a very busy week in december, singing at a Carol service for the ironmongers at Charterhouse Chapel, and joining Lesley Garrett OBE for a Carols together (Bowel Cancer uK) service at st. Marylebone parish Church.

they sang brilliantly. well done to all involved and many thanks to our Junior Choir parents who supported these events.

GUEST SPEAKEr: layton williaMs

star of stage and screen, layton williams, visited us on Monday 11th december to talk to year 10 global perspectives students about his life and career.

layton, who is on tour in the musical hairspray, also treated the group to a hairspray-themed dance workshop, during which the students (and Miss Khosla) were put through their dance paces.

in March, the year 11 robotics team ventured through the blizzards to telford international Centre to participate in the uK vex robotics national Championships. the team took part in the two day competition against an array of other robots who had also won regional competitions.

despite demonstrating great teamwork and tenacity, the team were a little unlucky in their round robin matches, twice being partnered with a team that had been disqualified, and unfortunately becoming disabled twice during the autonomous section of the competition. the team narrowly failed to qualify for the quarter final alliance section of the competition. however, it was an exciting competition and a great experience for our team.

uK vex roBotiCs national ChaMpionships

year 7 trip to the greenwiCh oBservatoryon Friday 2nd February, year 7 undertook a trip through space and time to explore the universe from the royal greenwich observatory. the students had four sessions at the observatory.

a careers masterclass explored a range of careers in physics, and the qualifications needed to undertake those careers. the exoplanets workshop was exciting and students had the opportunity to learn about exoplanets in our galaxy, how they were detected, and then experimented to detect their own model exoplanet. they looked at real measurements taken by the Kepler spacecraft to measure how long a year lasted on some of the exoplanets found in our galaxy. the students discovered that it was unlikely we would be able to live on these exoplanets. the most popular part of the trip was the visit to the planetarium, when the students travelled through space and time to explore our solar system and the universe. they also had the opportunity to ask anastronomer questions and learned that we do not need to worry if our galaxy ‘collides’ with our neighbouring galaxy, the andromeda galaxy, as most of the galaxy is made up of space so it is unlikely that much will collide.

Careers standard award

we were delighted to announce that the school received the Quality in Careers standard award, through investor in Careers, after being reassessed in december. the award recognises the high quality of our careers education, information, advice and guidance provision.

prep swiMMing vs st. paul’s Cathedral sChool

On Thursday 18th January, the Prep swimming team took on st. paul’s Cathedral school. it was a great, closely contested gala with an excellent atmosphere created by lots of cheering parents.

year 3 are still learning lots about their strokes and racing and performed really well, remembering lots about the rules regarding changeovers and finishes to races. Year 6 were excellent ‘buddies’ to year 3, providing advice and help with the races. The overall result was a win by City: 139 points to 130 points.

DrAMA PrODUCTION rEvIEW: little shop oF horrors

For this year’s senior school production, the drama and Music departments performed the comedy/horror rock musical, little shop of horrors. the show was performed by a cast of 18 girls and boys from Clsg and Cls. amongst the many entertaining aspects of the play, the acting, set and technical details really stood out most. these were combined with decorative costumes and an ever-growing man-eating plant helping to make the production a huge success.

the acting was excellent, while the lighting and sound were some of the best design elements the school has ever produced. the light always spotlighted the important character, which helped the audience to see their facial and body language more clearly. the show was continuously enhanced by the little details, whether it was the strip lights throwing colour light down or strobe lighting used to show lightning. the musical accompaniment, provided by the Music department, was very effective.

little shop of horrors was truly a triumph in which everyone involved dedicated a lot of time and hard work. it is fair to say that it was a very engaging and well-performed production that many of us would be very happy to see again.

Reviewed by Alara, Year 9

dads4daughters day

year 9-13 parents attended our dads4daughters Breakfast on 15th March, when we discussed the results of this year’s d4d survey. we also heard from three guest speakers about their experiences in the workplace and what is being done to tackle gender inequality.

vex iQ ringMaster roBotiCs

in the spring term, two of our younger robotics teams headed off to henrietta Barnett school to participate in the vex iQ ringmaster Challenge Competition. it was a very competitive event with 27 teams participating in total. we faced some very experienced teams including henrietta Barnett school, Queen elizabeth school and Fortismere.

despite some tenacious driving from our teams, our robots Starburst Galaxy and JESSE scored 454 and 322 points respectively, meaning they failed to qualify for the final round of the competition, which was eventually won by Queen elizabeth’s gear squad and the independent wgC MicroBots. however, the year 8s and year 9s put magnificent effort into the building of their robots and represented the school well.

our year 6 girls travelled to normandy, France in February.

A full range of activities were experienced: storming Juno beach at Bernières-sur-Mer (their base for the week); visiting the idyllic French national stud, the haras du pin, where Monsieur pierric and his 12 miniature horses entertained with an impromptu display of synchronised equitation; a crêpes party at the P’tit Chef Academie in Caen; the Norman commissioned and British made “Bayeux Tapestry”; with much in between including the tasting of those French delicacies, les escargots and les cuisses de grenouille.

An interesting and happy time was had by all; as ever, the class acquitted themselves with flying colours and were a credit to the school.

year 6 trip to norMandy

gCse & a level spanish trip to CuBa

during February half term, a group of year 11s and 12s spend a week in Cuba with the spanish department. the students spent their mornings learning spanish at a language school and explored the old town of havana in the afternoons, where they got to know some of the locals and try traditional Cuban foods. the group also visited the town of viñales and the former house of ernest hemingway.

GUEST SPEAKEr:AUTHOr, JO COTTErILL

Oxfordshire author, Jo Cotterill, who has written numerous shortlisted and award-winning novels for young people, visited us on in March.

Jo spoke about her very popular book, library of lemons, and her fascinating career path to becoming an author. year 7 and 8 were captivated by her dramatic re-enactments and readings from her books.

JOINT CHAMBEr MUSIC ConCert

St John’s Smith Square was the venue for our annual Joint Chamber Music Concert, when 28 of our talented instrumentalists joined players from the City of london Freemen’s school for a varied and challenging programme. Players from both schools joined forces for an impressive Brass ensemble, eight-piece cello ensemble, and a rousing Finale with a stage full of string players performing part of grieg’s holberg suite.

Mandarin speaKing CoMpetition

once again, Clsg students took part in the annual hsBC/British Council Mandarin speaking Competition. with more schools taking part than ever before, hard battles were fought in the heats in december. the group section represented the school in the Final at the British Museum on 7 February, performing a short drama they had written themselves. while they didn’t win, they certainly put on an entertaining performance and came away with a finalist trophy.

YEAr 8 CHEMISTrY: ForensiC worKshop

year 8 students took part in a forensic workshop, where they learned about the different techniques and steps involved in solving a murder case.

the students explored the use of fingerprints, DNA and digital evidence to help them solve the case. using problem solving skills and footprint analysis, they successfully identified the murderer.

streetChild sponsored CyCle

in March, the school raised over £4,000 for street Child through a sponsored cycle. girls in the senior school cycled 3064 miles/4931km on exercise bikes in the school hall - the distance from london to sierra leone.

the students spent time cycling during their pe lessons. each covered approximately 10km, which is roughly how far a child in sierra leone has to walk both to and from school each day.

Fifteen girls from Clsg and three boys from City of london School took part in a field trip to Portsmouth in June. The cadets stayed on four yachts and had to plan a menu, navigate and sail the boats to a range of harbours and anchorages. the group stayed alongside hMs Bristol on the Friday evening and had a brief tour of an active warship.

on the saturday, they navigated the east and west solent, arriving at lymington with two yachts anchoring in newtown Creek on the Isle of Wight for lunch. An unscheduled firework display was enjoyed in the marina whilst the groups cooked dinner. on the sunday, the yachts stopped at Cowes for a lunch with ice cream stop, before returning back to the base and the return home.

CCF sailing trip to portsMouth

gerMan exChange to triergCse german students took part in an exchange programme in March, visiting two countries and three cities within the space of six days.

17 year 10 students and two teachers set off to trier, germany, on the 7th March. on arrival at the exchange school, they were welcomed with slices of delicious cake and met their exchange partners for the first time. After a quick induction and tour around the school, the students went home for their first night in the other families’ homes. over the next few days, the group visited Bonn, at one time the capital of west germany, luxembourg and trier. one of the most popular parts of the trip was a visit to luxembourg City, a beautiful, trilingual country where both english, French and German are all spoken with near fluency.

Year 10 student, Elizabeth, said: “We left the following tuesday, with some very sad goodbyes. overall, the german exchange was probably one of my favourite school trips ever, and i would 100% recommend it. i can honestly say my german has never been so good and the experience was so immersive and enjoyable.”

d oF e gold award

three current and former students were presented with Duke of Edinburgh gold awards in June. Monica (current year 13), Charlotte and victoria (class of 2017) all received the awards at Buckingham palace at a reception held in the gardens.

the girls spoke with hrh price edward who chatted with the group before they met tv presenter gaby roslin, who presented the certificates. The girls had to complete five sections to achieve the award, including five day expeditions that were conducted in Cairngorms and snowdonia.

City girls in the City day

In March, Year 10 spent the day on one of five careers trips, which were run simultaneously. the girls were given the choice to explore Banking, law, architecture, publishing or technology. a wide range of businesses and institutions kindly hosted us during the day, including: Lazard, Bank of england, Mishcon de reya, the old Bailey, hill dickinson, the City Centre, salters’ hall, unruly and Conde naste school of Fashion. there was also a writing workshop run by author anna pereira.

uK spaCe design CoMpetitionnine students were selected to compete in the national Finals of the uK space design Competition, held at imperial College london on 17 and 18 March. the team were tasked with designing a space settlement in earth-lunar orbit, which would house residents and be used to refine materials mined from the moon and nearby asteroids – all over one weekend.

Their company was comprised of five schools: Ardingly College, City of london Freemen’s school, Queen elizabeth’s high school, nonsuch high school for girls, and Clsg. the students successfully claimed three of the seven managerial positions, in what resulted as an all-female board. they had some amazingly creative ideas, such as the ‘Babble’ headsets which used bone conduction to translate speech on the multi-cultural settlement, and an ar assisted multi-purpose entertainment room which could be programmed to become anything from basketball courts to zero-gravity laser-tag courses.

the team presented ther settlement design to a panel of judges and an auditorium full of our competitors. After the presentation, they were hit with some difficult questions from the panel, but successfully managed to answer most of them. while they not win the competition, everyone worked fantastically and their calm composure throughout the weekend was highlighted by the judges and organisers.

a trip to China

year 10 Chinese students had the incredible opportunity to travel to China. The students visited Shanghai and Nanjing, where they learned more about Chinese culture and history, in the form of calligraphy lessons and museum visits. they tasted lots of new and interesting Chinese food and had the valuable opportunity to practice their Chinese by speaking to locals.

gloBal perspeCtives guest SPEAKEr: MADELEINE SUMPTION

in the spring term, we welcomed Madeleine sumption to the school. Madeleine works at the Migration observatory at oxford university and her visit was particularly timely in light of recent media interest in the immigration obstacles experienced by members of the windrush generation. Madeleine was able to put this issue into its wider context and to offer some suggestions about why it had come to the fore now.

students were also challenged to interrogate data about public attitudes to immigration and to offer suggestions to explain trends. Finally, in small groups, students debated and considered a variety of factors relating to the question: ‘how much immigration is too much?’

we saw the last cross country event of the season take place in april, bringing us in to the track season. the london Mini Marathon was attended by a number of City girls, running for a range of boroughs. this race was the culmination of what has been a fantastic season for the cross country squad.

Prior to Christmas, the junior squad made the regional Finals and the inter team not only made the national Finals of the english schools Cross Country Cup, they also won the competition to become the number 1 school squad in england.

due to a great result in the london schools race, three girls from City were selected to run for london at the english Schools’ Cross Country Championships. The squad finish 2nd in both age groups, making the overall london girls squad 1st.

Cross Country suCCess

naoMi wins silver at egMo

we are delighted to report that year 13 student, naomi, and the uK team performed superbly at the european Mathematical olympiad for girls (egMo), held in italy during april.

naomi scored 28/42 to achieve an individual silver medal, while the uK team finished 3rd out of 52 participating teams (2nd out of 36 official European teams and 1st out of all eu countries).

young enterprise awards

young enterprise team, assemble, showcased their decomposable drinking cup business at the east london Company of the year awards in May.

the top eight companies in east london battled to win awards and ultimately progress to the london Final. assemble performed excellently throughout the day and were awarded the prize for Best presentation.

BE INSPIrED TALKS: ArTS & Media Careers

students in the senior school attended one of four ‘Be inspired’ talks on careers in the arts and media in May. the talks were organised by Cloga, the school’s alumni association, and each speaker was a former student: Theatre Director, Lisa Blair; Film and Television Producer, Tanya Seghatchian; Children’s Author and executive Children’s tv producer, Annette Butterworth; Hannah Begbie, a Former producer and Comedy agent turned author.

st giles’ terraCeBarBiCanlondoneC2y 8BB

www.Clsg.org.uK

LIFECityedited by sam robson photography by Ben Campbell-white