increases from 2018 and compared to the national averages of 4.5% and 11.2% respectively. 80.8% of all results were graded 7/A and above, compared to 20.8% nationally. Half of the students achieved seven or more grades 9/8/A*, with 12 pupils gaining grades 9/8/A* in all their subjects, three of whom achieved straight grade 9s.

At least 40% of results were at grade 9 in eight subjects, including biology, design and technology, drama, geography, German, Greek, history and music. In these and a further two subjects, food preparation and nutrition and French, more than 90% of results were grade 7/A or higher.

Pupils at St Swithun’s follow a challenging curriculum at GCSE level. Research has shown that the overwhelming majority of applicants to the most competitive universities take both a modern language and a humanities subject to GCSE level, and this year 97% of girls at St Swithun’s completed a GCSE in both a modern language and one of the humanities (Classical civilisation, geography, history and religious studies). In fact 40% of pupils earned qualifications in two or more humanities and 40% similarly in two or more modern languages. Impressively, in modern languages 71.9% of all grades were at 9/8/A* and 89.8% at 7/A and above, and in the humanities 67.1% of grades were at 9/8/A* and 84.6% at 7/A and higher.

Headmistress Jane Gandee said “I am delighted with the achievements of the girls across the challenging I/GCSE curriculum. This is a cohesive and friendly year group which has excelled in all areas of school life in a typically understated way. As well as hardworking and committed students, their numbers include award-winning musicians and composers, international sportswomen and talented actors. They thoroughly deserve their success and we look forward to welcoming them into the sixth form in September, where I am sure they will continue to make a broad-ranging and energetic contribution to school life.”

of a decline in top grades to the lowest level since 2007. 44% of girls achieved AAA or higher and 59% AAB or better.

100% of A level results were graded A* to B in the nine individual subjects of Classical civilisation, economics, French, further mathematics, German, Greek, Latin, history and Spanish, and all seven girls taking Cambridge Pre-U in art history gained Distinction grades, equivalent to A* and A, two of whom gained grade D1, which is above A* at A level.

In addition, all the pupils who undertook the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) gained A* to B grades, with 86% at A* and A. The EPQ is equivalent to half an A level and is held in high esteem by universities for the skills of self-directed, independent study that it cultivates.

Impressively, when data from baseline testing is taken into account girls from St Swithun’s achieve a half a grade higher at A level than predicted, with 48% of all U6 results at least one grade higher.

This year’s leavers have earned places at a wide range of top universities, including Oxford, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Durham, Exeter, Edinburgh, King’s College London, Liverpool, LSE, Nottingham, Queen Mary London, St Andrews, Southampton, UCL, Warwick and York to study a remarkably diverse set of degree courses, including architecture, ancient history, art history, biochemistry, biomedical sciences, economics and management, education with psychology, engineering design, English literature, English and modern languages, French and Russian, geography, German, history, international relations, law, marine biology, management, medicine, music, natural sciences, physics and philosophy, psychology, social policy and politics, sociology, Spanish, sustainable development and veterinary science.

The headmistress, Jane Gandee, commented, “This year’s leavers are a multi-talented group who have achieved academically and, importantly, contributed so much more to St Swithun’s and the wider community. They have led by example not just in the classroom but in all parts of school life, including dramatic, musical and sporting pursuits. They have also  spearheaded fundraising and volunteering efforts which this year has seen the school community raise over £14,000 for charity and dedicate over 1,700 hours to volunteering through the Duke of Edinburgh programme alone. We are proud of all their accomplishments, supported by our dedicated team of expert teachers, and wish them well in all the fantastic opportunities that are now open to them.”

 Photo: St Swithun’s students celebrated strong A-level results.

the best young mathematicians in the country.

16 year old Michelle Ng sat the Mathematical Olympiad for girls: an examination open to school-aged female students. Despite competing against mathematicians up to three years older than her, Michelle was placed in the top 100 in the country.

Both Katie Zhang, 15, and Magdalena Beil Harvey, 13, sat the Olympiad papers for boys and girls from their respective year groups and they were both placed in the top 50 nationally.

Head of mathematics at St Swithun’s, Stephen Power, said “These examinations contain fiendishly difficult mathematical questions where finding the answer is only the beginning. Students also need to give mathematically rigorous explanations as to how they arrive at their answers. It never ceases to amaze me how talented and enthusiastic our students are. I hope their success inspires others to aim high in this wonderful subject.”

Photo: St Swithun’s students Magdalena, Katie and Michelle celebrate their success.

the final, meeting the target 39 runs in just five overs.

Progressing to the national finals at Lord’s cricket ground, the 10-strong team of girls competed against the winners of the other four regional tournaments and came in as runners-up, placing them second in the country.

PE teacher Sara Heffernan said “Cricket at St Swithun’s has become increasingly popular. Batting nets have been installed as a permanent fixture in the school sports hall to encourage year-round practice, and there are now three after school cricket clubs and one lunchtime training session every week. It is wonderful to see the results of this trend in the passion of the girls for the game and such a strong performance at a national level”.

Photo: St Swithun’s U15 cricket team

as an MYP, Ishal will work with Members of Parliament and service providers in order to champion youth issues and to present the views of constituents. She will meet regularly with other MYP’s to hold debates and plan campaigns on both a local and national level, including the annual debate within the Chamber of the House of Commons every November.

Ishal, who is a year 8 pupil at St Swithun’s, said ‘I am so honoured to be elected as the voice of local young people, and I want to use my role to bring about the actual changes and improvements that they want to see. More personally, I am most looking forward to the annual debate in the House of Commons, which I am hoping will be an inspirational experience’.

The UK Youth Parliament’s (UKYP) campaign for 2019 is Action Against Knife Crime. The UKYP believes that this issue needs to be addressed following the increase in knife crime incidents over the last few years. In the 2018 Make Your Mark ballot, over 196,000 young people aged 11-18 voted for increased measures to be put in place to end knife crime.

St Swithun’s headmistress Jane Gandee said ‘The school is very proud of Ishal. She put a lot of effort into her campaign, including visiting local schools to speak to their students and answer their questions. We are sure she will be a great ambassador both for the school and for Hampshire‘.

Photo caption: Ishal enjoying the recently re-developed garden at St Swithun’s school

Athletics Academy in Sporting Excellence programme.

The programme is a key part of the British Athletics Performance Pathway for young athletes aged between 16 and 18. The pathway programme gives athletes the opportunity to learn and develop the necessary knowledge and skills to progress on to become a senior international athlete, and is designed to support club training.

Maddie has traditionally competed in the 300m hurdles. She trains with coach John Miller for Winchester and District Athletics Club, and earlier this year set a personal best time of 45.04 seconds. Maddie is now starting to compete in the 400m hurdles as part of her Athletics Academy progression.

Maddie was invited to apply for the course after placing 13^th in the country for her event in British Athletic’s Power of 10 rankings. The Academy will grant her access to a nutritionist, psychologist and mentor, as well as providing important workshops on topics such as Clean Athletics education and career planning. At the end of the two years, Maddie will have earned a Sporting Excellence Diploma.

Talking about the opportunity, Maddie said ‘I cannot wait for my first regional camp in March. I am really excited to begin the workshops and look forward to seeing how much I can improve over the next two years.’

Photo caption: Maddie (left) at this summer’s English Schools’ National Championships

The television programme offers Lego enthusiasts the chance to demonstrate their creativity and building skills in a bid to become the Lego Masters Champion.

Izzy wrote a letter to the show’s producers after watching season one, and was invited to an audition with her father and build-partner Stuart. After impressing the judges with a series of constructions, they were selected to become one of the eight teams competing in the new season.

A Lego enthusiast since the age of seven, Izzy says that ‘building with Lego is my way of relaxing, and is also my main creative outlet. I like to tell stories with my builds, and I can let my imagination run wild. Even when my father and I are competing against the clock and the other teams on the show, I still find it all so much fun’.

Each episode of the show presents teams with a set challenge where they have time to plan their build, followed by an unplanned task that is a complete surprise. The losing pair are eliminated from the competition.

Izzy and Stuart performed well in the first three episodes, and her boarding house at St Swithun’s is hosting viewing parties with Lego man-shaped cakes and jelly for each episode. Headmistress Jane Gandee said ‘It’s really great to see the boarding community come together to support Izzy during Lego Masters, and we are all very proud of her achievements. We are looking forward to seeing how far she can go in the competition’.

Photo caption: Izzy and Stuart in the famous Lego Masters build room

successfully nominated the RNLI appeal as one of the school’s three charitable causes for the year and has helped to organise activities to fund the boat, which will be named after her mother.

Eleanor, who is in year 8, has been campaigning and fundraising for the RNLI since her mother died from cancer in 2015. When the family decided to create something tangible to commemorate her mother’s life, a lifeboat was the obvious choice. Her grandfather volunteered for the RNLI for 40 years.

‘The project has been a very positive experience for me,’ said Eleanor. ‘I have learned some good fundraising skills and managed to confront my fears when I spoke in front of 500 people at school and 100 at the charity ball we organised. I have also realised the power of the supportive, kind and energetic community at St Swithun’s.’

Eleanor’s initiative has raised £156,000 so far, with more activities planned. The donations will provide a new B class Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat which will be stationed in Lough Ree, Ireland and is to be named the Tara Scougall, in honour of Eleanor’s mother. The boat will be built at the RNLI factory in East Cowes next year and is expected to be on service at the Irish lifeboat station at the end of 2019.

Headmistress Jane Gandee said ‘our lifeboat initiative embodies service, duty and working together to achieve something ambitious; values that are embedded in our ethos at St Swithun’s. We are very proud to support the appeal and Eleanor.’

the run up to the FIL U19 World Lacrosse Championships in Canada next summer. Between them the girls will join the Scotland, Wales and Ireland sessions, taking them one step closer to selection for their national squads.

St Swithun’s sports captain, 17 year old Amelia Brown already has four caps for the U19 Scotland team. She has been called up again for training along with her sister Jemima, 15, who has four caps for the Scotland B team. Tallulah Jeffes, who is 16, has also been selected for the Scotland team.

In Canada, the Ireland team will be playing at world cup level for the first time, competing against more than 20 other nations. Sisters Izzy and Eleanor Melhuish, aged 15 and 17 respectively have been selected to join the Ireland U19 training camp.

Meanwhile, 16 year old Siobhan Tainton is flying the flag for her home nation of Wales, having joined their training team over the summer holidays.

Head of lacrosse at St Swithun’s, Kate Nelson-Lee coached the U19 Scotland team before becoming assistant coach with England earlier this year. She said “I am really excited at the prospect of St Swithun’s girls playing in Peterborough, Canada. It would be a great privilege to watch St Swithun’s lacrosse players do our school proud on the international stage. I look forward to supporting them in their bids to be selected for the final squads.”

Photo: St Swithun’s students Amelia, Eleanor, Izzy, Jemima, Siobhan and Tallulah who are representing their national teams, photographed before lacrosse practice at school.

of Netball London Live 2018.

The St Swithun’s team qualified to take part in the tournament via the Road to the Copperbox competition, hosted by netball super league team Surrey Storm.

After a tight victory in the opening game, and two comfortable wins in their remaining group matches, the team advanced to a semi-final against Hoe Bridge School, the National IAPS champions. Holding their nerve, the St Swithun’s team scored the winning goal with 15 seconds of play remaining. They played the final of the competition on the Copperbox show court during half time of the London Live Superleague match between Surrey Storm and Loughborough Lightning.

Team coach and head of games at St Swithun’s Roger Marshall said: ‘The final of the Copperbox tournament was the culmination of four years of school netball and their last match as a team. To overcome the national champions and play on the show court at the Copperbox in front of the huge crowd at London Live was a fitting end to their time together.’

Photo: St Swithun’s U11 captain taking a shot during a match

compared to the national average of 4.3%. Half of the students achieved five or more A*/9 grades in a year where they took a mixture of the new courses graded numerically (9 to 1) and those with the legacy A* to G classification. Three girls achieved straight grades A* and 9.

In the new I/GCSEs more than 40% of entries achieved the top grade in geography, Latin, music and religious studies. In mathematics, 87% of students achieved grade 7 or above with 36% at the top grade 9.

Of the legacy I/GCSEs 57.5% of results were at A* with girls achieving particularly highly in biology, chemistry, physics and history with 77%, 61%, 63% and 74% A*s respectively. 95% of all entries were graded A* to B and all students taking the further mathematics IGCSE achieved the highest grade, A* with distinction.

Headmistress Jane Gandee said “These are our first set of results for 11 subjects that follow the new 9-to-1 specifications, blended with some that continue to follow the alphabetical grading system and I am delighted with the achievements of the girls. They have been a mutually-supportive year group and have demonstrated considerable good humour. They have excelled academically whilst still enjoying notable successes outside the classroom and playing an active role in the local Winchester community where students have helped to launch the UNIT 12 community centre, baked for the night shelter and worked with children from local junior schools. We are looking forward to welcoming them into the sixth form.”   

Photo: Top I/GCSE grades at St Swithun’s School in 2018

read engineering science at Trinity College, Oxford with a prestigious Jardine Scholarship.

Hongzhou achieved the A* grade in biology, chemistry, maths, further maths, physics, Chinese and the extended project qualification (EPQ). Hongzhou, who is 18 years of age and comes from Heilongjiang Province in China, became eligible for the Jardine award when she applied to Trinity College earlier this year. She was selected on the basis of a panel interview with seven experts.

A* grades were up for the second successive year at St Swithun’s with half the year group achieving at least one, and a quarter of the girls earning two or more.  The percentage of grades at A* and A was also higher than last year at 64%. In ten subjects, 100% of the results were A* to B and more than three quarters of the EPQ grades were A* or A. The EPQ is equivalent to half an A level and is held in high esteem by universities for the skills of self-directed, independent study that it cultivates. Hongzhou’s EPQ was on the use of anaesthetics in neo-natal care.

Along with Hongzhou, upper sixth leavers have earned places at a number of universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KCL, Leeds, LSE, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, UCL and Warwick to study a diverse range of degree subjects, including accounting and finance, archaeology, biology, biomedical sciences, chemical engineering, Classics, economics, engineering, English literature, geography, history, history of art, international relations, law, management, mathematics, medicine, modern languages, pharmacy, philosophy and theology, physics, product design, psychology, theology and religion and urban planning.

Hongzhou’s career aspiration is to become a bio-medical engineer in order to design new medical products and improve existing ones. In addition to her studies at St Swithun’s she also found time to participate in various co-curricular activities including archery, coding and ballroom dancing. She was a lively and active member of her boarding house.

The Jardine Foundation which confers the prestigious Jardine Scholarship award aims to assist students who have the potential to become outstanding citizens and have a high commitment to the community. The award is open to all students from countries in which the Jardine Matheson Group has significant business interests and who are applying to study at one of the group’s preferred colleges at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge. The scholarship covers tuition and college fees as well as an annual stipend to cover board and lodging, and all other incidental expenses.

Learning of her A level results whilst on top of a mountain in her native China, Hongzhou said “the whole experience of applying for Oxford and interviewing for the Jardine Scholarship was amazing. To have done my best in my exams is a really satisfying end to the process and I am so proud of that.

I started off doing five A levels and then picked up another two at the end of L6. I considered not continuing with all of them, but then I thought I might as well push myself and see how far I could go. My teachers supported me and I have ended up completing them all. I am delighted with my grades. Over the past two years at St Swithun’s I have learned some new skills and gained a lot of confidence for the future. I am looking forward to the next stage of my academic journey.”

The headmistress, Jane Gandee, commented, “We are delighted for all of this year’s leavers and proud of their achievements. The fact that they have performed so highly in this, the first year of the new linear A-level courses in seven subjects, is testament to their resilience and determination, as well as to the hard work of our dedicated and inspiring teachers. We wish our leavers every success as they move into the next stages of their lives and look forward to hearing of their continued progress.”

Photo: St Swithun’s student Hongzhou Luan celebrates achieving seven A* grades at A level.

at least one A*, with a quarter of the girls earning two or more A* grades, both of which were increases on previous years. The percentage of grades at A*and A was also higher than last year, and 46% of girls achieved AAA or higher and 62% AAB or better. One student obtained an extraordinary seven A* grades.

100% of A level results were graded A* to B in the ten individual subjects of Classical civilisation, English literature, food technology, French, German, Greek, history, history of art, Latin and religious studies.

In addition, half of the pupils who undertook the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) gained an A* grade and 78% earned an A* or A. The EPQ is equivalent to half an A level and is held in high esteem by universities for the skills of self-directed, independent study that it cultivates.

Impressively, when data from baseline testing is taken into account girls from St Swithun’s achieve a half a grade higher at A level than predicted, with 47% of all results at least one grade higher.

This year’s leavers have earned places at a wide range of universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KCL, Leeds, LSE, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, UCL and Warwick to study a diverse range of degree subjects, including accounting and finance, archaeology, biology, biomedical sciences, chemical engineering, Classics, economics, engineering, English literature, geography, history, history of art, international relations, law, management, mathematics, medicine, modern languages, pharmacy, philosophy and theology, physics, product design, psychology, theology and religion and urban planning.

The headmistress, Jane Gandee, commented, “We are delighted for this year’s leavers and proud of their achievements. The fact that they have performed so highly in this, the first year of the new linear A-level courses in seven subjects is testament to their resilience and determination, as well as to the hard work of our dedicated and inspiring teachers. We wish our leavers every success as they move into the next stages of their lives and look forward to hearing of their continued progress.”

Photo: St Swithun’s students celebrated strong A-level results.

in Winnall offering activities and services for local residents. This marked St Swithun’s inaugural community service week for Year 11 girls who have just finished their GCSE’s and was part of a three-day social action project organised by Community First Volunteer Service to promote UNIT 12, a recently established facility to provide activities for 7-18 year olds and semi-retired and retired residents of Winchester. The building on Winnall Valley Road has been completely transformed in the last year with a café, activity rooms, dance studios, a meeting room, and a spacious garden with BBQ facility.

Louise Todino, Director at UNIT 12, said “I have thoroughly enjoyed working in partnership with Community First and St Swithun’s to open our doors to the public to see what we do here. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all 25 girls from St Swithun’s who have given up their precious time to help out with the activities for the launch. They have been absolutely amazing, have shown great initiative and their enthusiasm was infectious; they are a real credit to St Swithun’s School. I would like to thank Community First for their help facilitating this event and Tesco and Homebase for their support”.

Activities over the three days included pamper sessions, first aid training, walking football, gardening, yoga, table tennis, social media training and music workshops all taking place around a community café. Amongst the highlights over the three days were visits from Winnall Primary school children where three different year groups took part in a music and dance workshop. Robin Williams, local resident and parent of Daisy from Year 3 said “I’ve enjoyed spending time with my daughter, Daisy, at UNIT 12 today. It’s great that they are trying to bring together different sections of the community to find out what’s going on at the Centre”.

Phoebe Shannon, St Swithun’s student, says “Over the three days I have really enjoyed the inter-generational dance workshop with pupils and parents from Winnall Primary School and transforming the garden into a more usable space with its own vegetable patch. Having just finished my GCSE’s it has been really great to use this time to give something back to the

community and would recommend any young people to volunteer”. Simon Mayes, Head of Outreach and Partnerships at St Swithun’s added “St Swithun’s has always had strong links with the local community and we hope that our involvement with UNIT 12 will be a long-term commitment to support an important local facility in addition to giving our pupils the opportunity to develop valuable skills such as leadership, commitment and resilience.”

The launch event culminated with a barbeque attended by The Mayor of Winchester and other dignitaries. UNIT 12 are excited about the activities programme that they are running for young people over the summer holidays and the new classes available for the over 60’s. For more information and to volunteer contact admin@unit-12.com. For a list of volunteering opportunities at UNIT 12 and the surrounding areas go to www.volunteerwessex.org

Photo: Mayor of Winchester with St Swithun’s pupils at UNIT 12

Nunney International event last weekend.

A fiercely contested second place finish in the final Junior Trial was enough to secure Georgia’s selection into the strong squad of five. This is a particularly noteworthy achievement because Georgia is in the middle of her A level courses – psychology, geography and religious education, and is studying hard at the same time as practising for the event.

Speaking about her selection and clearly feeling elated, Georgia said: “this has been a goal of mine for a very long time, and I am so excited to compete at the European Championships”. With six training sessions a week it has often required very strict time management to ensure that Georgia keeps pace with both her academic studies and her eventing. Highlighting her busy schedule and the importance of balancing her workload, Georgia has said that “there is an awful lot of travelling to and from events and training sessions, so I do a lot of my homework and studying in the horse lorry on the way”.

Eventing requires riders to demonstrate a range of different skills through the disciplines of dressage, show jumping and cross country. The scores from all three elements are then combined. Prior to the European Championships, Georgia will have additional training sessions in Cirencester and Bury St Edmunds.

Georgia will be riding her own 12 year old gelding Spano de Nazca at the Junior European Championships, which take place in Fontainebleau from 11-15 July.