Session 14: SHINE Awards Ceremony

In our final SHINE session of the year, we held the Awards Ceremony at MTGS to celebrate all of the girls' achievements. Their parents, family members, and staff from our partnership Primary Schools and Merchant Taylors' staff were in attendance. We also welcomed back Children' author, Kate Maryon, who attended the Launch Ceremony in November and who is our SHINE Patron.

The girls were so confident in delivering their speeches which reviewed each of the sessions from this year. They spoke of what they had learnt in each session and the skills that they had acquired. Kate Maryon then presented the girls and Sixth Form Mentors with their certificates of achievement.

We then hosted a buffet in the Dining Room whereby staff and families were able to chat and reflect on the past year. We displayed photographs of all of the sessions which the girls could take home with them as a memento as well as their folders of work. As a surprise, Kate Maryon read a chapter from her novel, 'A Million Angels', and then signed a copy for each of the girls to take home.

Overall, it was a most wonderful and very humbling morning. We have had, yet again, another very successful SHINE year. We look forward to continue working with our Primary Schools in 2019 - 2020.

Miss Ladbrook and Mrs Blunt would like to congratulate all of the girls and to give thanks to the Sixth Form Mentors, teaching staff and support staff for their contribution to the SHINE programme this year.

Session 13: Preparation for the Awards Ceremony

In this morning's session, the girls worked very hard indeed with the Sixth Form Mentors and Miss Ladbrook and Mrs Blunt in preparing for their Awards Ceremony next Saturday. They began the session by completing an evaluation form where they were able to reflect on the SHINE programme, their experiences and what they had gained from this experience.

The girls them worked together writing their speeches for the Awards Ceremony. They reflected upon each session in respect of what they had learnt and the skills they had acquired. Some lovely speeches were written and, as they had worked so efficiently, there was time towards the end of the session for a complete run-through!

We look forward to seeing you all and your families on Saturday 18th May at the Awards Ceremony. Please can all of the girls be here by 9:45am.

Session 11: Marvellous Mandarin

In this morning's session, Miss Blagborough introduced the girls to the Chinese culture. In teams, the girls had great fun playing 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' game where they learnt some very interesting facts about China. For example, China is 9.6 billion km 2; Chinese children start School at the age of 6; the official language in China is Mandarin; the Terracota Army is located in Beijing and many more facts. 

After a well-deserved break, the girls demonstrated their creativity be making Chinese lanterns. Some wonderful creations were made and beautifully decorated. After learning the names and meanings of some of the Chinese colours such as black, red, green, white, yellow and blue, the girls then created their own Peking masks. Again, some fabulous designs were created and the girls enjoyed seeing what each of them had made.

Thank you, Miss Blagborough, for an engaging and fun session this morning.

Our next SHINE session is on Saturday 4th May.

Session 10: Creative Computing

For the session this morning, the girls joined Mrs Coughlan in the IT suite. As Mother's Day is approaching on 31st March, the girls made beautiful cards using Wordart.com that we laminated for the girls to take home and give to their mothers on their special day. Some of the girls showed their creative skills in also creating Word Art designs for their fathers, grandparents and siblings!

After break, the girls used the Purple Mash software in designing an Easter-themed computer game. The girls chose their own Easter Bunny character and then decided which 'good eggs' and 'bad eggs' they would use to gain and lose points. They wrote their instructions for the game and then had tremendous fun playing their own and each other's games. For the final part of the session, the girls wrote an evaluation of the tasks that they had completed this morning and the new skills that they had gained.

Thank you, Mrs Coughlan, for a creative and wonderful morning.

Our next SHINE session is on Saturday 27th April. 

Miss Ladbrook and Mrs Blunt wish all of the girls and their families a very Happy Easter.

Session 9: Cultural Celebrations from around the World

In this morning's session, Miss Jack introduced to the girls a variety of cultural celebrations from around the world. The girls were placed into groups and worked together to prepare a presentation on their chosen cultural celebration e.g. La Tomatina which is celebrated in Spain. Using their information packs, the girls were able to learn when the celebrations take place, the history of the festivals, what happens during the celebrations amongst many other facts. The girls had tremendous fun putting together their presentation.

After break, each group presented their Cultural Celebration. The girls were very confident in their presentations and we all learnt some interesting facts about each festival. The girls finished their morning by answering questions on their favourite cultural celebration.

Thank you, Miss Jack, for a fun and interactive session.

Our next SHINE session is on Saturday 23rd March.

Session 8: Cool Chemistry

In this morning's session, the girls joined Miss Ladbrook and Mrs Blunt in the Chemistry Department. They thoroughly enjoyed becoming scientists this morning when pitting on their white laboratory coats and safety goggles! Mrs Blunt explained the origins of fireworks and the girls watched a video clip of their history including how Queen Elizabeth I was very fond of their display. Miss Ladbrook then explained the components of the Bunsen burner and the difference between a safety flame and a blue cone flame. After demonstrating how to light a Bunsen burner safely, the girls worked in pairs to demonstrate that they could do the same which resulted in all of the girls achieving a Bunsen burner Safety Certificate. Mrs Blunt then demonstrated how to test different metal salts e.g. Calcium, Lithium etc. The girls were very excited to learn what colours the metal salts would produce when heated in a blue cone flame.

After break, the girls theN applied their knowledge of their flame test experiment to design their own firework. They used the colours of the different metal salts and labelled their firework accordingly.

Miss Ladbrook and Mrs Blunt were very impressed with how all of the girls worked in the laboratory this morning.

Our next SHINE session is on Saturday 9th March.

Session 7: Pi Day

This morning the girls joined Miss Hampson in the Mathematics Department to celebrate Pi Day. The session began with the girls learning about the parts of a circle e.g. Radius, diameter and circumference. They then had tremendous fun measuring the circumference of different circular objects with string in order to establish how many diameter lengths could be cut. Each object resulted in a measure of three and a bit diameter lengths. This then led to a discussion of Pi and the girls learnt that Pi is infinite. Miss Hampson then presented some very interesting facts about Pi: We have been studying Pi for over 4,000 years; Pi has no repeating patterns; Pi has been calculated to more than a trillion digits and amazingly, the Guiness World Record for reciting the digits of Pi is held by Lu Chao of China who, in 2005, recited 67,890!

The girls learnt all about the history of Pi - it is believed that the Ancient Egyptians used Pi when they built the Great Pyramid of Giza between 3550 and 2500 BC. The first time Pi was written down was around 1900 BC. Sources show the Babylonians used an approximation of 3 to work out the circumference of a circle from its diameter. In 1550 BC an Egyptian scribe named Ahmes wrote the Rhind Papyrus which included an approximation of Pi of 3.16. The Greek mathematician Archimedes found a method for approximating Pi between 287-212 BC. Once computers were invented, people were asked to estimate Pi far more accurately. As of 2016, the most digits found was, 22,459,157,718,361!

After break, the girls watched a wonderful video entitled 'Sir Circumference and the Dragon of Pi : A Maths Adventure'. They then completed a Pi word search and then had tremendous fun devising sentences using different letter words to symbolise 3.14159. Their final activity was to create a Pi chain with various coloured paper.

Thank you, Miss Hampson, for such an interesting and engaging morning!

Our next SHINE session is after half term on Saturday 2nd March. As we will be in the Chemistry Department, it is vital that girls wear sensible clothes and shoes and to ensure that long hair is tied back.

Session 6: Celebrating Chinese Dragons

The girls joined Miss McWatt in the Art Department this morning in order to learn about the traditions and history of the Chinese New Year celebrations. They learnt that the Chinese New Year is symbolic of letting go of the past and welcoming new beginnings. Each year of the Chinese New Year is named after an animal. Chinese people believe that the Chinese zodiac animal energises, characterises and flavours the year in which it was featured. The girls were very excited to look at the zodiac chart and establish what animal they were and the characteristics associated with it.

The girls then prepared to make their own Chinese New Year dragon puppet through the manipulation of different materials. The dragon is present in many Chinese cultural celebrations as the Chinese people often think of themselves as descendants of the mythical creature. The girls chose their colours and materials to make their own dragon. Tremendous fun and creativity was had and some outstanding dragons were created!

Thank you, Miss McWatt, for a wonderful and creative session this morning.

Our next SHINE session is on Saturday 9th February.

Test Post

Test post.   words and pictures

Session 5: Let's Party

In this morning's session, the girls joined Mr Wilson in the Religious Studies Department to learn about different religious festivals and celebrations. They began their morning by creating a spider diagram of as many different events that people celebrate e.g. birthdays. The girls then created a calendar of the celebrations that take place in their home between January and December. After careful consideration, the girls chose their favourite celebration and explained their reason why - some lovely accounts were given.

The focus for the main part of the session was to learn about the Hindu festival, Diwali, which is the Festival of Lights. The girls watched a video of how people prepare for and celebrate this festival and then Mr Wilson showed the girls artefacts from the Hindu faith. Part of the preparations for Diwali is when the play 'Ramyana' is read. This play is taken from the Holy Book. Each girl had a part and they narrated the play and learnt about Hanuman and Sita.

After break, the girls chose either the mask of Hanuman or Sita to colour and decorate - some wonderful and colourful designs were produced. To conclude the session this morning, Mr Wilson also explained about the Jewish festival of Passover and showed the girls an exemplar of the Torah.

Thank you Mr Wilson for such a fun and engaging session.

Our next SHINE session is on Saturday 26th January.