20th August 2020 — In these unprecedented and unsettling times, when so many people around the world have lost loved ones and suffered due to COVID-19, our thoughts at St Mary’s are with all those who have been affected.

Our Year 11 girls have faced the unexpected challenges of the times with great resilience and flexibility and we are very proud of them. Naturally, it was disappointing for them not to be able to sit their GCSEs to show how hard they had worked and all they had learnt. The confusion over the last few weeks about how the grades were to be awarded has undoubtedly added to the anguish felt by students across the country. We congratulate the girls on how they have responded to these challenges and we are very pleased that their outstanding results reflect their talent, flair and hard work across the whole range of subjects.

Although the girls could not sit their exams, they have nonetheless been very busy. The girls participated in A Level taster sessions through our online remote learning platform, ‘Calne Connected’, and several of them have been volunteering in their local communities. Many of the girls participated in the fundraiser ‘Run 5, Donate 5, Nominate 5’ (originally ‘Run for Heroes’) which called on people in the UK and all over the world to walk or run 5km, donate £5 to the NHS and tag five friends to do likewise.

Octavia Sanger, from Winchester in Hampshire, used her initiative and decided to learn a new skill - by teaching herself how to make a film. She spent June and July filming a documentary about people's experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, interviewing 35 people, both adults and children, across the world (including the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, the USA and Nigeria) for her film, Life in Lockdown. The 75-minute film looks at seven key areas: school, work, faith, exercise, the virus, relationships and family life and deals with how the pandemic has altered people’s lives. Octavia used her mother’s camera and learnt filming and editing skills as she went along. She was delighted to be interviewed about the film by BBC South, and her documentary, Life in Lockdown, will soon be available to view on the Amazon Prime streaming platform.

Headmistress, Dr Felicia Kirk, commented: ‘I have been very impressed by the girls and how they have reacted positively to the changing circumstances which we have all faced. It has been a difficult and unprecedented time and they have navigated the situation admirably. My heartfelt thanks go to all of the teachers and pastoral staff who have supported the girls so well and who have really gone the extra mile to deliver the curriculum (and indeed extra-curriculum) through ‘Calne Connected’. The girls can now look forward to a new, exciting chapter in their lives as they commence their Sixth Form studies at St Mary’s Calne in September.’

13th August 2020 — In these unprecedented and unsettling times, when so many people around the world have lost loved ones and suffered due to COVID-19, our thoughts at St Mary’s are with all those who have been affected.

Our 2020 Leavers have experienced what no other pupils have experienced before them. We are very proud of all of the girls and how they have faced these unexpected challenges with great resilience and flexibility. Although they, like so many other pupils across the country, have not been able to sit their A Levels, they remained focused and continued working, opting into the pre-university seminars offered by St Mary’s to bridge the gap between A Level and university. The girls had worked exceptionally hard towards their A Levels, a key stage in their school life. Despite all of the uncertainties they faced, they have achieved results at the same high level as in previous years, and we are delighted that 91% of them have been successful in gaining places at their first choice of university.

In addition to their pre-university seminar studies, many of the Year 13 girls have been proactive in supporting their communities during the COVID-19 lockdown. The girls have assisted their communities in various ways, some have helped by delivering provisions to the elderly and vulnerable in their area, while others have worked in their local supermarket as key workers. Annabel Fenton (Head of Sport) has been a Dorset COVID-19 volunteer and helped the elderly in her area through this. Lucy Jefford has helped to tutor children whose parents work for the NHS, while Rose Morley put her baking skills to good use, making cupcakes for care workers. Several girls have also undertaken personal challenges during this time in order to raise money for a number of charities that they are passionate about: Yu Ying Sy is currently running 100km in 10 days for Blood Cancer UK, while Amena Boyd unicycled 60 miles to raise money for the Rainforest Alliance and also wrote letters to migrant workers who were quarantining.

The girls will be going on to study at a range of leading Russell Group universities including: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Leeds, LSE, Manchester, Newcastle, Queen Mary and UCL. They will be studying a diverse range of subjects, ranging from Anthropology, Biochemistry, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, English Literature, Geography, History, History of Art to Law, Liberal Arts & Sciences, Mathematics, Medicine and Modern Languages. Every year a few St Mary’s girls also choose to study abroad and this year Amena Boyd has been accepted to read Computer Science at Minerva University, USA. In addition, a few students each year decide to study a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design before deciding which Higher Education path to follow, and this year, Hum Hunt-Davis has also been successful gaining a place on the prestigious Fashion Management course at the London College of Fashion.

Headmistress, Dr Felicia Kirk, commented: 'I am full of admiration for our girls. They adapted brilliantly to the opportunities that were available to them through our online school ‘Calne Connected’ and many of them have also volunteered and supported those less fortunate than themselves in these challenging times. The girls have all worked hard throughout their time at St Mary’s and, while it is of course disappointing for them not to have been able to sit their exams, they can now look to the future with confidence and build on the knowledge, skills and values which have been instilled in them at St Mary’s. My sincere thanks also go to the teachers and pastoral staff who have supported the girls throughout their school journey. We are looking forward to holding a proper farewell for our 2020 Leavers as soon as we are able, and we wish them the very best as they move on to the next exciting stage of their lives.'

9th June 2020 — Many congratulations to Jane Wu (Year 13) who has had her artwork selected for exhibition at the prestigious Young Artists' Summer Show 2020 by the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The submitted artworks were judged by a panel of art experts including Royal Academicians, RA curators and RA Schools students.

Here, Jane provides some background to the exhibition and her artwork:

'This is my second year submitting an artwork to the Young Artists’ Summer Show (YASS) for the Royal Academy of Arts in London. I was thrilled last year when my 'Self Portrait' oil painting was chosen to be exhibited onsite, and that was what boosted my confidence and motivated me to participate this year. The competition was much tougher this year, with over 17,000 entries, and the artwork I submitted was a photograph titled 'Monochrome'. I used bold colours as the main idea which created contrast towards the traditional views of Monochrome.

The photograph will be exhibited live online on the Royal Academy website from 12th July 2020, and it will stay on the website indefinitely.

You can view my 'Self Portrait' oil painting from YASS 2019 here: https://youngartists.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/2019/323 '

22nd May 2020 — This week, St Mary’s Young Enterprise company, ‘Perspective’, represented the school at the ‘virtual’ Wiltshire County Final, held online for the first time.

The girls, led by Rebecca (Year 12), submitted a ten-page report telling the story of their company, a digital image of their trade stand and a four-minute video presentation.

Perspective aim to bridge the gap between parents and teens by encouraging story sharing and creating a more open environment for all perspectives. They have created a book called ‘Note To Self’, written by 28 members of the team; full of art, anecdotes and articles sharing their personal viewpoints on a range of topics close to their hearts. They have sold over 300 copies of their book and garnered effusive praise from many readers. Furthermore, they have supplemented the book with a podcast, ‘Pod To Self’, in which Susie (Year 12) interviews the authors of the articles to develop the conversation in more depth.

The judges gave glowing praise, with judge Bruce Oliver saying, 'They are the best Wiltshire team I’ve seen in 20 years with Young Enterprise' highlighting how impressed he was with their values, resourcefulness and sense of responsible empowerment. Another judge said, 'The product is both imaginative and practical, delivered to the consumer in a number of novel and creative ways. The podcasts were terrific, the video was very well delivered and the fact that they achieved downloads in every continent made this submission all the more remarkable.'

The girls won awards for Teamwork, Customer Focus, Brand Creation, Social Responsibility and the overall trophy for the Best Company in Wiltshire.

Congratulations to the girls on their achievements and their efforts throughout the year. It has been an exciting journey and they have developed a whole host of skills that will be invaluable in their careers. Having been crowned the best Young Enterprise company in Wiltshire, they are now looking forward to representing St Mary’s at the South West Regional Final to be held online on Tuesday, 2nd June.

14th February 2020 — Some of the Art students at St Mary's Calne enjoyed an Art trip to Lisbon earlier this Spring Term. Here, Annabel (Year 11) sums up the weekend. 'Our first trip was to a castle (or ‘castelo’ in Portuguese) which was a lot of fun and provided an opportunity to get our sketchbooks out, inspired by the view. On the Saturday we visited a beautiful monastery before heading on to visit The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. We had a passionate and memorable guide who encouraged us to think and ask questions about contemporary art. After this came the long-awaited evening swegway tour which absolutely lived up to our expectations! We learnt a lot about the history of Lisbon on the tour, which included sites such as the 25th April bridge (Ponte 25 de Abril), which is quite similar to the Golden Gate Bridge and built by the same people, and the Casa dos Bicos. It was a lot of fun trying to balance on the swegways and a brilliant way to end the day.

For our final day in Lisbon we were lucky enough to have a bit of time for shopping in the Time Out market, culminating in a lunch of mainly sushi and pizza which was extremely good. Finally, to finish the trip with a bang, we toured an aquarium. There, we loved seeing the penguins, otters and most of the cast of Finding Nemo! Overall, the art trip was a great balance of being both fun and informative with snippets of information being thrown our way about the interesting history and culture of Lisbon.'

26th November 2019 — Many congratulations to Year 13 Art Scholar, Jane Wu, who has been offered a place on the Royal Academy of Arts attRAct 2020 programme. Only 50 places were offered, so Jane should be very proud of this achievement.

'attRAct' is a free, one-year long programme for young people aged 16-18, run by the Royal Academy of Arts in London. It is for those who want to take part in creative workshops such as life drawing and screen printing, receiving careers advice from art professionals and temporary work placements during the summer. There will also be many lectures, university open days, graduate shows and exhibitions throughout the course, enriching Jane's experience.

Jane commented: "I heard about this programme through the Head of Youth Management at the RA when I applied for the Young Artists’ Summer Show earlier on this year. It seemed like a fantastic opportunity as I will be able to study in the buzzing city centre of London, alongside being in school. The RA offered me a group interview upon the submission of my personal statement. As there were well over 100 applicants invited for interview, we were divided into smaller groups to carry out different activities. The interview session included unseen art work critiques, making models from Play-Doh, drawing self-portraits, mark making from observation and much more. It was a good chance for me to get to meet other people who also have an interest in art. There were questions asked by the programme staff throughout, testing our ability to discuss art in a non-formal yet spontaneous way. After I take my A Levels and leave St Mary’s, this programme will run alongside my Art Foundation course. I believe this course will also push my artistic boundaries, as professionals within the field will be present throughout. The course will also enable me to develop useful connections in the creative industries which will be of great benefit to me in the future."