‘Moving Mountains’ by Dr Dame Claire Bertschinger

‘You can achieve anything if you are determined enough’. This was Dr Dame Claire

Bertschinger’s message in her inspirational talk, entitled ‘Moving Mountains’, on Thursday 9th

May 2013, when we were privileged to welcome her to Heathfield. The whole school was

captivated by her account of her experiences as a field nurse working for the International Red

Cross in war-torn countries and, in particular, during the devastating famine in Ethiopia in the

1980s. She described the harrowing decisions that had to be made by aid workers in order to

save lives and how these efforts were reported by the BBC in 1984, inspiring Bob Geldof to

launch the Band Aid appeal and to organise Live Aid.

Among many prestigious awards, Claire Bertschinger has received the Florence Nightingale

Medal, The Woman of the Year Award and in 2010 was honoured as Dame Commander of the

British Empire for services to Nursing and to International Humanitarian aid. As Michael Buerk

said, she is ‘one of the true heroines of our time’. Dame Claire is currently the Director for the

Diploma in Tropical Nursing at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; she is also

a trustee and an ambassador for the African Children’s Educational Trust (A-CET), supporting

thousands of vulnerable Ethiopian youngsters to achieve their potential through education. Dr

Sammy Assefa, who accompanied her, is testimony to the wonderful work of the charity, as his

schooling was supported by A-CET, enabling him to achieve academically. Having recently

gained a DPhil in Computational Biology at Cambridge University, Dr Assefa is currently a

research fellow at LSHTM, investigating potential cures for malaria; we look forward to hearing

more about his work when he visits us again later in the year.

Both in her talk and later when speaking individually to pupils, Dr Dame Claire Bertschinger

made us all realise that we should endeavour through courage, compassion and determination

to overcome obstacles in order to succeed in our aspirations, thus enabling us to make a

difference not only in our own lives but also to the world in which we live.

Mrs Bramley, Librarian & Head of Careers

Issue Number 5, w/c 29th April 2013 & w/c 6th May 2013

Trip to Andalucia 2013

Students from Forms III, IV and V visited the

south of Spain between 2nd and 6th of May.

The objective of the trip was for the girls to

speak and listen to Spanish and they took full

advantage of this by video recording day to

day Spanish conversations. Another

objective was for the girls to experience the

Spanish culture. They visited the beautiful

Alhambra Palace in Granada, tasted Spanish

cuisine and also visited the Picasso museum

in Malaga, while also finding time to enjoy the

beach! Mrs Pullen, Mrs Diaz and Mrs Marin would like to express how happy they were with the

girls’ behaviour on the trip and the enthusiasm they all showed practising the language.

Mrs Pullen, Teacher of Spanish

Fellowship Day 2013

This year’s Fellowship Day was made particularly special by the celebration of some of our Old Girls’ 70th birthdays. The day started with a pimms reception in the Assembly Hall, amidst the stunning A Level artwork on display and piano and singing recitals. There was an air of excitement as Old Girls first recognised each other, back at school after so long, and reminisced about the good old days. It is always wonderful to be enticed down memory lane at Heathfield.

We were very lucky again this year to have a delicious lunch personally prepared and served by Antony and Jay Worrall Thompson. The Old Girls chatted and laughed as Antony and Jay served us their medley of starters, main courses and sweets. Lunch was followed by our special Heathfield birthday prayer for our birthday girls; Happy Birthday was sung and the surprise cake was cut to the delight of all.

The choir sang beautifully at Evensong in the Chapel; Sara Bennett (Heathfield 1954-1959) and Ellie Reeve (Heathfield 1996-2003) read the lessons and Father Tim took us back to how the Chapel has been and still is our ‘home’ at school. Music and Theatre performances followed in the theatre. At tea we were joined by some of our current Form III girls who could not resist meeting and touring a few Old Girls. They listened to their stories intently; what good ideas they imparted!

Mrs Meeson, Teacher in Charge of History of Art & Old Girls’ Co-ordinator

Roman Catholic Confirmation

Over the exeat bank holiday weekend three of our Roman

Catholic students were Confirmed by the Bishop of

Northampton in Eton chapel alongside boys from the school.

Tayiwo, who joined Heathfield’s Sixth Form in September, has

done a tremendous job this year as one of our Chapel prefects.

Elinor (Form IV) chose her elder sister Bea (Form LVI) to be

her sponsor and Antonia (Form IV) who lives some distance

from Eton had to spend a considerable amount of time on the

road during the weekend, being collected from school on the

Friday, attending the rehearsal on Saturday, then the

confirmation itself on Sunday and back to school on Monday.

Demonstrating, quite literally, how discipleship is a journey.

The students prepared for confirmation at Heathfield alongside

the Anglican candidates and Fr Heap the Roman Catholic

Chaplain at Eton also assisted in the preparation of the three

girls. Each of the

Heathfield candidates

were presented with a

set of rosary beads as a

gift from the school to

mark the sacrament.

Fr Tim, School Chaplain

Geography Trip to Cheddar Gorge

Form II made the long journey to Cheddar Gorge in Somerset on Thursday 2

nd May. The day was

full of exploration of different limestone scenery both above and below ground, as well as identifying the various human land use of the area. The girls experienced awe and wonder at the stalactites and stalagmites in the underground caverns, learned many interesting facts (such as Cheddar Cheese being stored in the caves as temperatures remain at 11°C all year round) and observed rhubarb and custard sweets being made in the old-fashioned way without artificial additives. Testing the results was imperative! The girls are now working in groups to make a PowerPoint presentation on their assigned section of the topic. A day to remember – especially for those who ventured into the Crystal Cave...

Mrs Mason, Head of Humanities Faculty

Issue Number 5, w/c 29th April 2013 & w/c 6th May 2013

Winners of the Cornwall Photography Competition

The winners of the Sixth Form Cornwall Photography Competition have been announced. Matilda (4) (Form LVI) and Octavia (1) (Form UVI) won joint third place, Pia (2) (Form LVI) gained second place and Charlotte (3)

(Form UVI) was awarded first place. The hotel owners where the girls stayed in Cornwall judged the competition. All the winning entries will be used on the hotel’s website and the first and second prize winners received photographic journals and third prize winners were given sweets. Congratulations to all of the entrants.

Miss White, Teacher in Charge of Photography and Deputy Head of House - Austen

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3

5

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Words of the Week

Subderisorious - Adj; Mockery as between friends

Quidnunc - Noun; a gossip

Thermoanasthesia - Noun; the inability to feel hot or

cold (or both)

Opsimath - Noun; someone who becomes a student

or learner later in life

Eclectic - Adj; selecting or choosing from various

sources; not just following one method or system e.g.

to have an eclectic music collection

1

Issue Number 5, w/c 29th April 2013 & w/c 6th May 2013

@HeathfieldAscot

Heathfield School

Seacole Weekend, 11th - 12th May 2013

Saturday was a busy day with girls opting in to a range of activities including making caramel crispies in the

cookery room, creating their own lovely pink fabric bags or learning the art of relaxation and yoga. Others

involved in choir entertained the Old Girls during Fellowship Day. Some decided to use the time to prepare for

examinations and took advantage of the revision clinics on offer throughout the school. At 4.30pm nine girls

from our new Form I joining Heathfield in September 2013 came for a sleepover and had a busy hour before

supper completing a treasure hunt with their hosts, our current Form I. Supper was a barbecue which sadly

had to be served inside but the weather brightened up enough for an invigorating game of rounders before

everyone retired to their common rooms and went to bed.

Sunday started off sunny but cold and after Chapel Forms I - III prepared to visit Quays Lake in Mytchett where

they spent a very busy day taking part in archery, kayaking, raft building, low rope climbing and wakeboarding

with only a brief break for a picnic. The girls arrived back tired and ready for a

hot supper having had a great day. Our thanks go to Mrs Ingram and the team

of staff that accompanied them. Older girls again spent a busy day preparing for

examinations with the help of their teachers.

Mrs Kemp, Head of House – Seacole

Senior House Rounders

There were some excellent batting and fielding displays during House rounders, in particular from Seacole’s Emma (UVI Form) & Emily (UVI Form); Somerville’s Alexis (LVI Form), Lara (Form V) & Bella (Form V) and Austen’s Harriette (Form V), Charlotte (UVI Form) and Octavia (UVI Form). The deciding game was between Austen and Seacole, with Austen coming out on top 4½ rounders to 4 rounders. The senior results will be added to the Intermediate and Junior Scores to see which House wins the overall competition. Ms Reynolds, Director of Sport

Royal Windsor Horse Show

The Heathfield Senior Show Jumping team comprising of Octavia

and Charlotte (Form UVI) and Isabella and Alys (Form V) were once

again competing against the top 148 riders from schools throughout

Great Britain. 37 teams entered the Interschools’ Show Jumping

Challenge at The Royal Windsor Horse Show on Saturday 11th May.

Heathfield’s team were 10th to jump and with a total score of four

faults immediately went into the lead! An exciting afternoon of

jumping continued for six hours as we eagerly watched in the icy

wind and Mrs Woolger with her amazing score calculating talents

kept us updated throughout.

The girls hung onto 8th place (the last placing for rosette

presentation) until the 36th team jumped when we were most

disappointed to slide into 9th place!

By then the weather had changed into a huge rainstorm and the

mothers and girls had to run through the deluge to make sure all

their horses were safe and ready for the long drive home.

To be placed 9th at such an amazing event is huge success and the

team should be very proud of the result.

Mrs Glimmerveen, Equestrian Co-ordinator

Issue Number 5, w/c 29th April 2013 & w/c 6th May 2013