17th March 2021 — This week in Forest School, the Early Years girls revised the months of the year and what month we are in now, what season we are in, and what happens during spring time. Mrs Burton showed the girls some pictures of things we may see in spring ( daffodils, bumblebees, different types of birds ) then placed the pictures all around Cedar lawn. The girls had to listen carefully as Mrs Burton described each picture, then they had to find and stand by the one they thought was being described. The girls were really engaged and thoroughly enjoyed this game!

10th March 2021 — Huge congratulations to Amelia G, Year 9, who achieved third place in the KS3 section of the ISA's Musical Theatre Competition! There were over 200 entrants from around the country with an exceptionally high standard of entries. Amelia sang a beautiful rendition of The Audition Song from La La Land. Well done, Amelia!

23rd February 2021 — This year's focus is on “an internet we trust”. In Senior House Mrs Kingston presented an assembly that focused on the unbelievable internet - i.e. lots of information, quick access and how we can find out almost anything we want to in seconds, but can we believe what we read? How do we check out the source of information and evaluate its accuracy and reliability? Mrs Kingston also reminded the girls of key safety messages to keep themselves safe online. The girls then completed a quiz in tutor time, and there was a parents evening on Thursday relating to this, where they were joined by Alison Watts who is Bucks Prevent Education Officer.

Prep also got involved in Safer Internet Day on Tuesday. In Year 1 Miss Connell and the girls went through the story of Smartie the Penguin who got a new tablet for his birthday! The story focused on some internet scenarios and the girls learnt that they had to always ask an adult for help if they weren’t sure of something! In KS2, the girls joined a virtual assembly focusing on how we can decide what to trust online and supporting them in questioning, challenging and changing the online world for the better. This led to some good discussions in Form time and some of the key takeaway messages for the girls were (1) We should all be Internet Detectives, checking the information we are given and questioning when unsure (2) If you feel sad, worried, confused or upset by information or activities that you see on line, always tell a trusted adult. In Computing lessons with Dr Gimenes, the girls have also been studying several aspects of e-safety in lessons in the last few weeks.

23rd February 2021 — Some Year 10 students have taken part in two maths enrichment activities during lockdown, delivered by webinar by the FMSP - Further Maths Support Programme, to promote the study of Mathematics beyond GCSE. These enrichment events were designed to engage Year 10 students while developing an area of GCSE mathematics beyond the curriculum. They also informed students about their options for studying mathematics after GCSE and how it can benefit many chosen career pathways.

The first webinar 'How much is too much?' drew on the students' knowledge of probability, along with their reasoning, problem solving and communication skills, to work out the best strategies for this game. The session developed and deepened their understanding of these skills, which are vital for success at GCSE. It also provided a context for their classwork.

They played the game of 'Pig' (described below), to experience the mathematical branch of 'Game Theory', and to develop algebraic formulae.

Each turn, a player repeatedly rolls a die until either a 1 is rolled or the player decides to "hold":

If the player rolls a 1, they score nothing and it becomes the next player's turn.

If the player rolls any other number, it is added to their turn total and the player's turn continues.

If a player chooses to "hold", their turn total is added to their score, and it becomes the next player's turn.

Stella and Aoife did St Mary's School proud by working out the algebraic formula for winning this game and differing variations of it, outstanding, well done girls!

The Second Webinar

'Race to the Target!' looked at spotting and developing number patterns as well as developing students' skills in reasoning, problem solving and communication - all vital for their success at GCSE.

They played a variation of the ancient game of 'Nim'.

Rules:

The game board consists of rows of objects.

The players take turns removing any number of objects from a single row.

You must select at least one object.

The last player to move wins the game.

They played using different scenarios by changing the number of stacks and coins and learnt how it relates to binary. The key to the theory of Nim is the binary digital sum of the heap sizes. They did not have time to play enough scenarios to work out the theory, but they had plenty of fun playing the games and formulating some introductory ideas.

20th August 2020 — The sun shone on our St Mary’s School, Gerrards Cross, Year 11 girls as they arrived in school to collect their GCSE results this morning. In a year in which they did not have the opportunity to sit the GCSE examinations, the girls received the higher of the Centre Assessed Grades or the Ofqual moderated grade. We were delighted that after so much waiting, government u-turns and media speculation that the girls have a fabulous set of GCSE grades. The headline figures are: 15% were at Grade 9, the very highest A*grade, 35% at Grade 9 and 8, 62% at Grades 9-7, 84 % at Grades 9-6 and 99.77% at Grades 9-4.

My thanks go to all the staff, parents, governors and friends of the school who have supported the St Mary’s community in this most challenging of years. Congratulations to Year 11 class of 2020, we are so very proud of you!

Mrs Patricia Adams, Headmistress

13th August 2020 — It was a very happy morning at St Mary's School, Gerrards Cross this morning as the Year 13 leavers received their A level results.

In an examination year full of uncertainty, the Year 13 leavers have been delighted that the majority have achieved their desired place at university. Their resilience, determination and positivity has been evident throughout their Sixth Form course and during lockdown, and in a situation that could not have been imagined, they now have what they need to pursue the next exciting chapter in their careers.

Mrs Adams , Headmistress said, "I am incredibly proud of the girls, staff and everyone who has supported the Year 13 Leavers throughout their Sixth Form course and during their whole time at St Mary's. Some of our girls have been with us from Reception and are now leaving to take their place in the world, full of confidence. Their achievements are so well deserved and I could not be happier for the Year 13s and their families today."