14th December 2020 — This academic year, St Mary's Calne has chosen to support The Harbour Project charity, an amazing project aiming to ‘be a family for every individual who seeks asylum or is granted refugee status in Swindon, and to help them to rebuild their lives’.

The pupils were extremely keen to support the charity, and to do something in addition to the fundraising during the school's Charity Week and Mufti-day events. Some of the Year 13 girls decided to create pairs of tracksuit bottoms, with all the profits going to The Harbour Project. 'We were mindful that the trackies needed to be practical, whilst also functioning as a powerful tool, reminding everyone about the importance of supporting those less fortunate than ourselves, particularly during these unprecedented times' said Nell.

The trackies are selling like hot cakes in the School Shop - well done girls!

14th December 2020 — Congratulations to 2013 Leaver, Zoe Spicer, who commissioned as a 2nd Lt into 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards on 11th December at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS).

Zoe has competed on an equal basis with the boys in all aspects of military life and has been awarded The Bahrain Communication and Applied Behavioural Science Prize and The Commandant’s Commendation. She was also in the top 5 students in her intake and will be the first girl to join The Queen's Dragoon Guards, where she will be based in Norfolk.

Zoe's parents wished to thank 'the wonderful staff who taught and supported her through St Mary’s' for their 'belief in her abilities and huge encouragement which helped to get Zoe where she is today!'

9th November 2020 — Although school riding competitions have been very rare this term, the St Mary's Calne girls made the most of the competitions that were on offer over Half Term.

Rectory Farm held two days of Arena Eventing over the last few days of Half Term and, although the weather was far from perfect, the girls had a fantastic time with some great results. We were well represented over the two days, with entries in all the classes. On the first day, Honor (Year 9) finished in 8th place in the 80cm class. Fifi (Year 10) rode a fantastic round to finish in 2nd place in a large and competitive 90cm class, qualifying for the Eventers Challenge Championships at Hickstead with the 90cm team of Eva (Year 9), Fifi (Year 10), Isla (Year 9) and Philippa (Year 8) finishing in 6th place. Fifi also had another great result on the second day, finishing in 8th place in the 1m class.

It was great to see the school so well represented and well done to Carlotta (Year 7), Honor (Year 9), Philippa (Year 8), Eva (Year 9), Isla (Year 9), Niamh (Year 7), Amelia (Year 8), Poppy (Year 10) and Annabel (Year 11) who all competed over the two days.

Alice and Sadie (both in Year 11), competed at Bicton International Horse Trials, in the BE100Open 3DE class - a long format event in the 'old fashioned format'. It was a fantastic opportunity for the girls to really get an insight into what three-day eventing is all about.

On day one, Alice led the competitive field after the dressage on a score of 25.5, with Sadie hot on her heels on 28.6. On XC day, both girls jumped clear through all phases, just adding some time penalties around the XC course in very wet and muddy conditions.

After passing the trot up on the Sunday morning, both girls again jumped clear, with Alice finishing in 6th place and the highest placed pony, and Sadie in 11th. Lara (Year 11) also competed at Bicton in Ou18 100, finishing in 6th place. Bicton was a successful venue for the St Mary's Calne girls!

Sisters, Clemmie (Year 9 ) and Isla (Year 10), had a very busy Half Term, with Isla winning the 90 and 100cm Show Jumping at Chard. Clemmie, on her old pony Sunny, won the 70cm Regional NSEA Championships, and both girls also competed for St Mary's in the Eventers Challenge at Pontispool.

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 '