Upper IV students rise to the enterprise challenge
NEWS
Upper IV students rise to the enterprise challenge
7 February 2020
On Tuesday, Upper IV (Year 9) swapped Abbey green for office wear for Launch Pad; a day-long enterprise challenge run by Young Enterprise. In teams, students were given a brief for a business idea, from which they had to develop their company, work out a budget, and create revenue.
The girls took away some valuable lessons from the challenges they faced. Getting their heads around loans, profits and market research proved tricky, but the girls worked together to overcome these challenges. They remarked that they learnt a lot at Launch Pad, particularly how to compromise, resolve conflict, and to “divide and conquer” their tasks.
As well as creating a business, complete with marketing strategy, financial plan and staff management, the girls then had to make an ‘elevator pitch’; a 2 minute presentation about their business. From this it was clear how hard UIV had worked; no detail was spared. The girls spoke about harnessing the power of influencers and public figures on social media, they emphasised the social and environmental impacts they wanted to have, and they didn’t skip on the boring bits – one company even had a staff code of conduct!
Judging took place at the end of the day, and was a very tough decision. The Prize for Marketing went to Pop-Up Parties for their powerful adverts. The Innovation Award went to Eco, for their emphasis on sustainability. Esprit were awarded the Teamwork Prize, and Life Cycle snapped up the prize for their engaging Elevator Pitch. Snapshot took the overall prize for their photography business.
Thank you to the incredible volunteers who supported our UIV students in developing new skills and learning more about the world of business and, importantly, themselves.
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New Head at the Abbey Junior School
Mrs Nisha Kaura has been appointed Headteacher of The Abbey Junior School. She will take up post in September 2020.
Mrs Kaura has a background in the pharmaceutical industry but since 2006 has been a teacher at The Abbey. During this time, she has studied for her post graduate teaching certificate and a Masters in Educational Leadership.
Mrs Kaura said:
“I am thrilled to be following Mrs Nicola Dick-Cleland in leading this fabulous School and, like her, to be a member of the Executive Team for the whole School. We have very exciting plans for the future and I look forward very much to see them become a reality”.
The Abbey Junior School provides a world class education for pupils from 3 to 11, and has recently opened new learning and teaching facilities enabling the girls to pursue exciting opportunities. Students then move onto The Abbey Senior School, which welcomes girls from 11 to 18, offering a broad education leading to International Baccalaureate or A-level qualifications. It is in the top ten schools globally for the IB qualification and is one of the best girls’ schools nationally for A-levels.
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Life as a Jewish child during WWII
NEWS
Life as a Jewish child during WWII
By Emily, Freya, Alyssa and Jess from LVI. 3 February 2020
On Friday 31st January, The Abbey welcomed Mr Peter Briess to come and talk to the whole of UIV and Sixth Form historians about his experiences.
Mr Briess was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia in 1931 to a Jewish family. Until he was seven he lived a very happy and comfortable life. However, when the Nazis invaded on the 15 March 1939, their lives would never be the same again. When told that the Gestapo were going to seize their newly built house as their headquarters, his father saw the opportunity to escape Czechoslovakia. He agreed to hand the house over if the commanding officer gave the family written permission to leave. Using this vital document the family was able to travel to the Netherlands and from there to England, but those who were left behind were not so lucky. Almost all of his extended family were murdered.
It was very moving to hear his story and be reminded of the human tragedy of the Holocaust. He made us understand each individual life and the potential that each of them had, which was then destroyed. Everyone in the room was touched by his contextualising of this infamous series of events and the picture he painted of an idyllic life torn to shreds. We would like to thank Mr Briess for taking the time to talk to us about a topic that is very difficult to reflect on.
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Secret Garden
Events
Secret Garden
Saturday 26 September 2020
Join us at The Abbey Junior School’s free Secret Garden activity morning for girls and boys aged 2 to 5.
Children and their families are invited to spend the morning following our challenge trail and enjoying craft, action and music activities with the help of our staff and pupils.
- Collect challenge stickers to add to your adventure map
- Create culinary delights in the mud kitchen
- Meet the minibeasts in the bug hotel
Refreshments will be provided during the morning and there will be an opportunity for parents to talk with our experienced teaching staff.
Please note: parents are expected to accompany their children throughout the morning. The activities will be both inside and out so in the event of rain there will still be lots to do.
Please request notification of when the Secret Garden event is available to book on to by emailing admissions@theabbey.co.uk
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Junior School visit days
Events
Junior School visit days
Coming soon
Prospective parents are invited to visit and see for yourself what difference an Abbey education could mean for your daughter. A visit to the School is the best way for you to get a feel for life at The Abbey.
Our visit days allow you to witness the energy and excitement of a normal Abbey school day. You will have the opportunity to observe lessons, take a tour and ask our skilled and dedicated teachers any questions you may have.
These are split into events specifically for Reception, or for entry into Year 1, 2, or 3.
Please request notification of when the next Junior School visit days are announced by emailing admissions@theabbey.co.uk
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London Drinks
Events
London Drinks
Coming soon
An evening of drinks and canapés for alumnae of all ages in an iconic London location.
Please request notification of when the next London Drinks event is announced by emailing alumnae@theabbey.co.uk
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Grand Reunion
Events
Grand Reunion
Coming soon
Alumnae of all ages and family members are invited back to school to experience Abbey life.
Please request notification of when the next Grand Reunion is announced by emailing alumnae@theabbey.co.uk
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Stay and Play
Events
Stay and Play
Monthly
Bring your busy little bee to The Abbey Nursery to join in our free fun Stay & Play sessions.
These free monthly sessions offer you and your toddler a safe and stimulating environment to make friends and enjoy learning through play.
Inspiring creative and imaginative play and encouraging your child’s natural curiosity is central to The Abbey’s learning ethos. Set in the University area of central Reading, Children can explore the Nursery garden and play with a range of toys, dressing up, science and role play equipment as well as take part in activities such as art, cooking, music and movement as they find out about the theme for the month. Refreshments will be provided for the children and parents/carers.
All sessions run from 9.30am-11.00am
Places are limited. Booking for the next academic year will open over the summer. For further information call 0118 987 2256.
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Year 14 Tea
Events
Year 14 Tea
Coming soon
A unique Abbey tradition – a reunion for all 2019 leavers and their teachers, including an alumnae vs current pupils sporting event.
Please request notification of when the next Year 14 Tea is announced by emailing alumnae@theabbey.co.uk
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Pause 4 Thought - 31 January 2020
NEWS
Pause 4 Thought
31 January 2020
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” —Albert Einstein
I plan my assemblies well in advance – but this Monday my best laid plans went seriously awry. I wanted to focus on how we can say ‘thank you’ to other people and show them our gratitude. By way of a quick warm up, I thought it would be fun to hear from the children a few languages in which they could say ‘thank you’. This proved wildly popular, with the students naming the language and coming up to the front of the Hall to demonstrate. It turned into something of a challenge for us to extract every last language that we could, and eventually (and some 15 minutes later) we had 33 girls and 5 staff standing in a long line. Between them they shared 41 languages in which they could say ‘thank you’. 41 – quite a total!
So, we heard ‘thank yous’ in Finnish and Greek, in Telagu and Japanese, in Gaelic and Rumanian – and even in British Sign Language. Between them, they demonstrated so admirably the universality of thanks – of how saying ‘thank you’ creates a sense of belonging. Of how ‘thank you’ should be the first phrase we learn when visiting a new country.
A huge ‘thank you’ to all the girls who contributed (and to those who wanted to but weren’t chosen) – maybe not a world record but a fascinating insight into the international connections we have across our community.
The rest of the material for my assembly wasn’t needed…..
Have a good weekend.
Mrs D-C
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