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SWPS News 19 May 2017

Head’s News What does research on the brain size of London Taxi drivers and educational theory

have in common? It sounds like one of those poor riddles you might receive on opening a cracker at Christmas, and yet there is a link. Allow me to explain. First things first – the hippocampus in the brain is the part which deals with spatial

memory. In 2000 a piece of research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which was entitled: “Navigational structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers”. What they found was hugely surprising.

London Black Cab taxi drivers have a significantly larger hippocampi than other people. Why? Remember that the

hippocampus is the space in the brain which helps us understand spaces or in more scientific language – spatial coding. The Knowledge Test requires cabbies to have in their heads a vast spatial map. So what does this have to do with education? The first conclusion we can draw from this fact is that the substance

of our brains is not fixed. External pressures can cause the brain to develop, even to enlarge. In the case of London Black Cab drivers, their continual driving in the maze like warren of London streets causes the brain to increase. These people were not born with an oversized hippocampus, but the application of their brain over a long period of time to a

particular problem resulted in that part of the brain being

expanded. Now this is good and exciting news for everyone in education. How often has it been said that one is born intelligent—that the brain power is fixed? Increasingly evidence from neuropsychology is suggesting otherwise. Our

brains can grow and develop according to use and application. Indeed, our brains can change and, in some ways, be rewired – to think more creatively, more positively and more productively.

C Muller Head

Rotary Young Chef Competition School Heat There were delicious smells in

the HE room on Thursday after school during the Inter-House competition to find two contestants to represent the school in the final of the competition.

Contestants were asked to cook a two course meal which should be healthy and nutritious for two people on a budget of only £6!

Montagu was represented by Anushka

Behl (9LT) who cooked a starter of Tandoori salmon tikka wraps followed by Punjabi chicken curry. Lonsdale had two

competitors. Firstly, Eve Pauffley (7L) who made pasta with chicken and broccoli and designed her dessert by hand crafting a chocolate cup served with frozen yoghurt and berries.

Secondly, Scarlett Khaskar (7L) who cooked ‘Amazing’ Mexican Tomato Soup with sweet potato chips and Tortilla cones followed by Toasted oats with mango, blueberries and yoghurt. Pankhurst was represented by Alam Thomsen (7P) Lentil

and sweet potato curry with homemade flat breads and her

dessert was Eton Mess with a healthy twist. All the dishes were attractively served and Miss Ahmed and Mrs Hay had a hard job judging as the food all tasted delicious. In the end, it resulted in the amount of skills

used in the dishes and how well they were executed.

The overall winner was Monatgu (Anushka Behl); 2nd was Lonsdale (Scarlett Khaksar), 3rd Lonsdale (Eve Pauffley) and 4th Pankhurst (Alma

Thomsen). Anushka and Scarlett will

represent the school in the final in June.

S Hay

UKMT Junior Maths Challenge On the 27 April, Year 7, along with the top mathematics set from Year 8, sat

the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge, an annual nationwide challenge designed to stretch pupils and stimulate interest in mathematics. This year SWPS students collectively claimed 23 bronze,

11 silver and 11 gold certificates, and 6 high-performing students have moved on to the next round, the Junior

Kangaroo. We would like to congratulate all our students who took part, with particular congratulations to Bethan Williams and Natalie Clarke, the top scorers in Year 7 and Year 8 respectively. Bethan achieved the best score of any SWPS student this year, and as a result is one of approximately 1,200 students nationwide invited to

participate in the Junior Mathematical Olympiad. C Alexander

Former Staff Peruvian Trek

There will be many families who remember Mr Pete Davies, our former

Head of Design & Technology, who is embarking on an expedition to the highest trek that will include a visit to Machu Picchu but will go as high as the Palomani pass (17,065ft!) Mr Davies is undertaking this adventure to celebrate 60

years of life with Type 1 diabetes and to fundraise for both JDRF and Diabetes UK, two charities who he has worked with regularly in the past. Although fundraising is important, Mr Davies’ greatest wish is to send a positive message to fellow Type 1s, their

families and those who have been recently diagnosed. This is somebody truly making the most of their retirement, and we wish him tremendous luck and support on this latest adventure! To donate towards this fantastic cause, follow this link.

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Creative Writing Club This week creative writing club spent some time outside on the sports field writing Haikus. Here is a small selection…

The wind is whirling The fresh grass is comforting I am coming home

White and yellow flowers See the beauty of things around you

Like the turquoise pond Big luscious fields Tall, imposing, unique trees It is very peaceful.

A normal school field In the awesome grounds of SWPS

Can satisfy all!

Central School of Ballet Congratulations to Sienna Pledge (Y11) on her recent success in achieving her place at the

Central School of Ballet from September. Her years of dedicated hard work have led her here,

and we’re sure that she will continue to make us proud

during her transition into an alumnae, as a Perkonian.

Sport News Tennis Congratulations to our U13 Surrey League team

who beat Manor house on 8 May. The team was Captained by Eleanor Raven and consisted of

Tilly O’Dea, Thea Morton, Merle Mowbray, Olivia Ansell and

Abigail Adrian. Also congratulations to the U15 Aegon tennis team who beat Howard of Effingham in record time of 1 hour, playing

singles and doubles. Not only this, but also went on to be victorious against Fullbrook, winning 6-0 in all of their matches. The team consisted of Claudia Heron, Millie Turner, Izzy Hartley and Melina Eleftheriadis.

E Searle Badminton

More congratulations to Alexandra Oprisan (Y10) who won the U16 England Nationals Shires League team event, with the rest of the Surrey team, last weekend.

Athletics

Congratulations to Eva West (Y9) who qualified for the Surrey Athletics 300m finals for U15 girls, with a PB of 44:80. The final was a hard race but she came a creditable 7th, at 45:49! Fantastic effort seeing as Eva has an operation a few days before the race! Well done Eva.

L Timpson

Regional ‘Step into the NHS’ Competition Congratulations again to

four of our students in Year 8 - Ria Konkumalla, Saskia Frayling, Merle Mowbray and Sophie Bishop. Their video encouraging people to be an A&E Doctor won the Regional NHS Careers Competition amongst over one

thousand entries. This week they were presented with £50 Amazon vouchers by the NHS event organisers and a local A&E Doctor, who gave a brief talk to the students in

assembly about why he chose that Career path. L Haley

Model United Nations at Reigate Grammar School. Twelve intrepid Year 9s set out

early for Reigate Grammar last Saturday morning for their first M o d e l U n i t e d N a t i o n s conference. They represented

three countries, Sweden (Anushka Behl, Anna Cefai, Ryan James and Liberty Donovan), China (Sophia Scholey, Sophia

Hawken, Amrit Bath and Miranda Penn Jones) and Ethiopia (Layla Wajih, Mythili Chawan, Amy Robertson and Emilia Fitton). During the day they participated

in public speaking workshops and experienced an

introduction to United Nations procedures. Then they were able to put these skills into practice with debates on issues such as Clean Water and the issues within Syria

including co-submitting and

speaking in favour of the resolution chosen for debate in General Assembly at the culmination of the day. All of the students performed impressively in this challenging environment. Later this summer on 3 July we will be holding our own internal conference, giving all of Year 9 a chance to give this activity a go. More news to follow soon!

R Willis & C Alexander

Perkonian News We’ve heard exciting news about a former Deputy

Head Girl, Charlotte Harris (Co1992) who is preparing

to unveil her entry on behalf of Royal Bank of Canada at RHS Chelsea Garden Show this year.

Click here to read the article from the Telegraph for more information. Senior C.U.—York Road Project Visit

On 12 May, Senior Christian Union had the

eye-opening experience of visiting the York Road Project, a homeless shelter in Woking. Last term we collected winter coats and scarves to

support the homeless

clients of this amazing charity throughout the winter months. The York Road Project provides both emergency and long term accommodation for those experiencing homelessness.

They work with clients aged 18 years and older, aiming to improve their overall living situation. Every morning at 7:30 they welcome those living on the streets and aim to take care of their basic needs, providing them with food, clothes and advice. This is followed throughout the morning and afternoon by workshops to help

develop skills such as cooking, basic ICT techniques and

sports, to name a few. This trip sparked ideas throughout the Christian Union on how to raise money for this incredible charity who predominantly rely on donations to support their clients. We all thoroughly enjoyed the trip and already have fundraising

plans in the works. Emma Brown & Nicola Raj (L6)

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eSafety Notice—Some apps for parents to be aware/cautious of…

Monkey—users are asked to engage in a 10 second

video chat with people they don’t know Yellow—a dating site for teens 13-17 but has no age

verification so adults could reply.

Also, THIS LINK outlines how to spot advertising and sponsored posts on Instagram.

F Blyther

Artwork of the Month Here’s one of our four Artworks of the Month,

for May, selected by the Art & Design Dept staff.

This one is by Cerys Beddoe (Y11). Take a look at more

student artwork on the Firefly Art pages.

DofE News There was a flurry of activity to sign off and complete DofE awards last term. Thank you for the

effort put in by so many people - to the participants for uploading their evidence, to the Assessors for

writing reports, and to the wonderful parents providing support and encouragement. The Regional office monitor our completion rates each financial year and I am delighted to announce that SWPS

achieved 113 Awards during the period 1st April 2016 to 31st March 2017, which represented a 60% completion rate. This is an outstanding result as we exceeded their target of 55%.

Thank you to everyone involved in the DofE awards who contributed to making this possible.

The following students successfully completed their DofE Awards during the Spring term 2017. The Silver and Gold participants were presented with their certificates and badges during the end of term assembly in March. However there were so many Bronze certificates and badges to hand out, that these will form part of the whole school assembly on 6 June 2017.

A huge congratulations to everyone for their hard work and endeavours in achieving their DofE Awards – Well Done. It would be wonderful to build on our success and for those currently registered for their Bronze, Silver or Gold DofE Awards to finish what they started and complete their Awards.

L Raven

Bronze

Jennifer Simpson

Cristiana Iacob

Isobel Eriksen

Anna Reynolds Alexandra Hawkes

Mae Brennan

Lauren Christian

Gillian Ahm

Sophie Repton

Emma Graham

Thea David

Caitlin Pittol-Neville

Charlotte Kyle

Victoria Berry

Sophie Bartrop

Katy Brewster

Nicola Payne

Phoebe Schofield Holly Trinder

Anabel Lee-Wragg

Sasha Glasson

Charlotte Handley

Rebekah Smith

Verity Hastings

Zoe Lewis

Zoe Munford

Sylvie Evans

Rebecca Sproston

Lily Galpin

Denise Martin

Ana Pilar Ravanne

Cerys Warwick Claudia Heron

Eve Linney

Ria Mistry

Clara Baird

Alexandra Grant

Margaret Talibart

Amrita Kullar

Grace Bradshaw

Gold Silver

Juliette Moussarie

Elisabeth Reid

Malaika Jalali

Nicola Raj Kirstin Rooney

Catie Williamson

Katie Ingram

Holly Aldridge

Alexandra Cooke Alice Sutton

Annabell Hill

Poppy Hodge

Lucy Gates

Sarah Phillips Danielle Rawle