Welcome from the Head
Dear Parents
Welcome to this week’s newsletter – our final newsletter of 2023 and one which comes full of the festive cheer of the end of term!
As ever, it’s a delight to review all the activities that have kept us so entertained for the past fortnight, with the Christmas Winter Wonderland, Christmas jumpers, gingerbread houses, Christmas lunch and the (Oscar-worthy…) staff pantomime to name but a few.
Huge thanks go to the Music and Drama departments at this exceptionally busy time of year. I mentioned the sensational senior production of Whispers from the Wardrobe in the last newsletter, and it was a pleasure to go over to Dulwich College to see our senior students also taking part in a very energetic and vibrant production of Wonderland. Our Southwark Cathedral Advent Concert showcased the breadth and depth of musical talent across the school, made all the more special by the spectacular surroundings. Well done to all involved, both on stage and behind the scenes.
Please do see my separate End of Term letter which contains further updates on news and developments from across the school.
It just remains for me to wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and we very much look forward to seeing all our students back in school on Wednesday 10 January 2024.
With best wishes,
Mrs Alex Hutchinson
Head
Dates for your Diary
- Wednesday 10 January – Spring Term begins
Reporting Absences
A reminder to all parents to use this form to report absence in the Senior School due to illness or to request absence for appointments. This form can also be found on our Contact page.
Additionally, when informing a teacher of any health issues your daughter may be facing, please remember to cc or School Nurse team on Nurse@jags.org.uk.
Key Stage 3 Update
It’s been a super final fortnight of term, and well done to all KS3 students for their energy and enthusiasm throughout the Christmas festivities.
It was also very special to see all our students so engaged in their progress and wellbeing discussions with their tutors this week. Congratulations to each individual for all they have achieved; your contributions to the life of the school make JAGS the very special community it is.
It has been a busy and packed schedule this term, and we wish all our students a happy and refreshing Christmas break.
Myfanwy Bournon, Head of Key Stage 3
Key Stage 4 Update
We have had a wonderful end of term and I am so proud of all of our KS4 students.
In our final section assembly of term, I reminded the students about how important it is to be themselves, that we all have a voice, and the right to be heard. The Southwark Cathedral Advent Concert was magnificent and it was fantastic to see so many students from our section take part.
It has been a particularly busy term, and I wish all our students a well-deserved rest during the Christmas break.
Anna Jones, Head of Key Stage 4
Sixth Form Update
“Welcome to my Christmas song, I’d like to thank you for the year….”
I would like to agree with Elton and thank the Sixth Form community for the 2023-24 academic year thus far. I am sure that all students will look back on the last term and reflect on their many successes; personal, co-curricular and academic, independent and collaborative.
As recognised on many occasions, success is so much more than simply achieving good results in tests. I would measure it in terms of the degree to which the students have demonstrated the key Sixth Form themes, all of which embody our school vision, of developing a Passion for Life and Learning. Students are frequently reminded of the need to: take responsibility, show kindness and have fun in the regular Weeksy’s Weekly messages and section assemblies.
Mat Weeks, Head of Sixth Form
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Wednesday 6 December
Wednesday 6 December encapsulates this success:
Year 13 geographers delivered incredible superpower speeches – funny, persuasive, packed full of detail and explanation.
At lunch we were treated to Angelina’s adapted and abridged version of Twelfth Night; she managed to persuade a number of younger students and teachers to participate. Very well done!
In the afternoon, our netballers took on the might of a Hampshire team, with some first-rate individual performances and huge enthusiasm from all.
While the evening saw a number of JAGS students involved in the tubthumping version of Wonderland at Dulwich College. Success – in its various forms – all round, I would say.
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Sixth Form Christmas Challenge
Another recent highlight was the annual Sixth Form Christmas challenge, convened by Dr Parrish and Ms Barnes (prior to her maternity leave departure – bye bye and all the best!). A wonderful contest between the mashed-up delights of the Year 13s fancy dress act versus the collaboration and teamwork of the Year 12’s effort.
Year 13s were victorious but all participants deserve much credit for their own individual successes.
Let’s see who Father Christmas judges to be the prestigious Most Fancy Yet Sustainably Decorated Common Room in the Sixth Form common room challenge; decision to be made on Friday.
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Tim Marshall visit
Finally, JAGS Sixth Form and the JAGS Geography Society are proud to announce that the bestselling author, journalist and broadcaster Tim Marshall, will be visiting on Wednesday 10 January to talk about Geopolitics and the future and historical politics of space activity.
A very happy Head of Sixth Form, for one, can’t wait!
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Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas
We wish everyone a wonderful break and to enjoy the chance to put their feet up after the busiest and most successful of terms, for which the Sixth Form team would certainly like to thank the students in the Sixth Form Community.
Happy Christmas, everyone!
Wednesday 6 December encapsulates this success:
Year 13 geographers delivered incredible superpower speeches – funny, persuasive, packed full of detail and explanation.
At lunch we were treated to Angelina’s adapted and abridged version of Twelfth Night; she managed to persuade a number of younger students and teachers to participate. Very well done!
In the afternoon, our netballers took on the might of a Hampshire team, with some first-rate individual performances and huge enthusiasm from all.
While the evening saw a number of JAGS students involved in the tubthumping version of Wonderland at Dulwich College. Success – in its various forms – all round, I would say.
Another recent highlight was the annual Sixth Form Christmas challenge, convened by Dr Parrish and Ms Barnes (prior to her maternity leave departure – bye bye and all the best!). A wonderful contest between the mashed-up delights of the Year 13s fancy dress act versus the collaboration and teamwork of the Year 12’s effort.
Year 13s were victorious but all participants deserve much credit for their own individual successes.
Let’s see who Father Christmas judges to be the prestigious Most Fancy Yet Sustainably Decorated Common Room in the Sixth Form common room challenge; decision to be made on Friday.
Finally, JAGS Sixth Form and the JAGS Geography Society are proud to announce that the bestselling author, journalist and broadcaster Tim Marshall, will be visiting on Wednesday 10 January to talk about Geopolitics and the future and historical politics of space activity.
A very happy Head of Sixth Form, for one, can’t wait!
We wish everyone a wonderful break and to enjoy the chance to put their feet up after the busiest and most successful of terms, for which the Sixth Form team would certainly like to thank the students in the Sixth Form Community.
Happy Christmas, everyone!
Introducing
Charlotte Horton,
Teacher of Drama
I am really excited to join the fantastic Drama Department here at JAGS.
While studying Drama and English Literature at the University of Manchester I developed a passion for theatre; I loved being involved in musicals such as Titanic and Company and enjoyed both challenging myself in acting and directing roles.
After graduating, I spent a year travelling and working for an event management company but I knew that teaching was something that I wanted to pursue. I completed my PGCE at UCL before going on to work as at Bridge Academy in Hackney for three years.
Since joining JAGS, I have been completely blown away by the passion, desire and joy the students have for creating theatre. It has been fantastic to see students explore spooky Darkwood Manor, become Enola Holmes, and get involved in our film course. The co-curricular opportunities at JAGS in Drama are fantastic and I am very much looking forward to supporting and showcasing the students work in the Performing Arts Festival, as well as in the Year 7 and 8 Junior production next year.
Southwark Cathedral Advent Concert
A huge thank you to our incredible Music Department for creating another utterly captivating evening of music at Southwark Cathedral for our annual Advent Concert.
Charity
This festive season our Charity Club were as busy as ever working to raise money for Little Village – a London charity supporting families with young children who are living in poverty.
At the annual Gingerbread House Competition there was a record attendence as students got well and truly in the Christmas spirit.
Following this Holst Hall was once again transformed into a Winter Wonderland complete with Christmas jumpers, roaring fires, face painting and festive snacks and games.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of our community these events raised a combined £1,977!
MFL
German Christmas Markets Trip
Bright and early on the morning of Friday 1 December, 43 JAGS students boarded a coach and departed to Germany.
Mainly made up of Year 8 students, with a handful of Year 9 and Year 11s thrown in, the group were looking forward to expanding their understanding of the German language and culture. Our first destination was the Christmas market in historical Aachen – nestled between the spectacular Cathedral and Town Hall it offered Christmas food and gifts galore, clearly setting the mood for a magical weekend ahead.
That evening, we stayed in our trusted youth hostel in the countryside of the picturesque Eifel region. To everyone’s delight the surrounding woods and meadows were all covered in a substantial layer of snow!
Arvind Arora, Head of German
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Continued . . .
After breakfast on Saturday we explored Bonn and its market and shopping facilities, including the big flagship store of Haribo. As the sun set we made our way to the atmospheric Monschau Christmas market where we enjoyed the beautiful decorations and more typical Christmas treats.
After a great quiz and disco night organised by our excellent Year 11 team we got up early on Sunday and left our Winter Wonderland to arrive in the afternoon back at JAGS.
After breakfast on Saturday we explored Bonn and its market and shopping facilities, including the big flagship store of Haribo. As the sun set we made our way to the atmospheric Monschau Christmas market where we enjoyed the beautiful decorations and more typical Christmas treats.
After a great quiz and disco night organised by our excellent Year 11 team we got up early on Sunday and left our Winter Wonderland to arrive in the afternoon back at JAGS.
Russian
The festive fun continued for Year 8s studying Russian as they enjoyed decorating snowmen biscuits earlier this week.
Sustainability
Eco Champions’ Top Tips:
Stapleless Staplers
Each newlsetter our Student Eco Champions will suggest small adjustments we can make in our everyday life to become more sustainable. This week, we have Stapleless Staplers:
The two main types of stapleless staplers are those which cut tiny flaps, bend them and weave them through a notch to bind pages together or those which bind pages together through a number of small indentations.
These are usually priced around the £10 mark but can be economically beneficial through saving money on staples. However, some of the main downsides with these is that they aren’t ideal for large packs of paper and paper over time can be dislodged if pages are turned frequently.
Dance
Congratulations to Luna (Y10) who travelled to Verona, Italy, to compete in an international ballet competition earlier this term.
Luna has been working hard to juggle her ballet training schedule with school work and her tenacity paid off as she ranked within the top 30 (out of 250 dancers), despite being the youngest competitor.
JAGS Alumnae
Easyfundraising
A reminder about using Easyfundraising when shopping online to support our Bursary Fund.
All you need to do is:
1. Click HERE and join for free.
2. Every time you shop online, go first to EasyFundraising to find the site you want and start shopping.
3. After you’ve checked out, the brand will donate to the JAGS Bursary Fund at no extra cost to you whatsoever.
With thanks again to our JPA for helping to establish this initiative.
20 & 30 Year Class Reunion
We are delighted to announce the 20 & 30 Year Class Reunion taking place on Friday 7 June 2024 when we look forward to welcoming back alumnae from the Classes of 2003, 2004, 1993 & 1994 for their respective 20 and 30 Year Class Reunion. It will be a wonderful evening for the alumnae to catch up with friends over drinks and nibbles. For more information visit: alumnae.jags.org.uk
Careers
The last fortnight has seen students take part in a number of valuable careers initiatives.
Follow the tabs below to learn more:
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Curriculum Plus – Step into the Future
During the course, Year 9 students prepared for their employer encounter by researching the roles, thinking about the skills, personality and qualifications required to be successful in the sector. They brainstormed questions to ask and practised using Teams ahead of the interview.
Mrs Allan’s group were delighted to be joined (virtually) by JAGS Alumna, Camila Neyra, Principal Nuclear Medicine Physicist/Therapy Lead at Barts NHS Foundation Trust. After a short introduction, students took it in turns to ask Camila questions about her career journey and how this has been influenced by her interests and personality.
“I thought it was very interesting and learnt a lot about this job.” Imogen
“It was great and I learned a lot about Higher Education.” Ruth
“It was very interesting I enjoyed it.” Amba.
Ms Brookes’ group also hosted a virtual careers meeting with Jill Parsons, Senior Media Relations Manager at St. James’s Place. During the question time, students were interested to hear of her career journey and the transition from journalist to media relations, which involved opportunities to travel and meet interesting people along the way.
Following the interview, students worked in teams to create a PowerPoint presentation to share with others in their year group to highlight the key facts about their employer’s career.
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Sidonie Wilson lecture
As part of our timetabled lecture programme, we were delighted to be joined by JAGS Alumane Sidonie Wilson, The Times Weekend Editorial Assistant.
“I absolutely loved the talk, it was really perfect for me personally subjects and career wise, while also being incredibly useful for others as an insight into career changes too!” Thalia (Y12)
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UCL Prize Lecture 2023
Using AI to Accelerate Scientific Discovery
We received a special invitation from UCL for two students accompanied by a member of staff to attend the UCL Prize Lecture in Life and Medical Sciences with Demis Hassabis, Co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind.
“I asked to go to the UCL Prize Lecture on AI’s Involvement in Accelerating Scientific Discovery because it is heavily related to my EPQ title and I thought could be helpful. I left feeling that it was not only helpful but genuinely fascinating to hear from a leading academic and businessman in the industry and his thoughts on why AI should play a huge role in being at the forefront of human innovation. Overall, the event was really amazing, though I was particularly interested in the references he gave to the revolutionary applications that his software can have in medical care, as Demis Hassabis, the speaker, reinforced the idea of AI being used solely for the good of society.” Olivia
“The UCL Prize Lecture was a great insight to the wide uses and benefits of AI, particularly from the CEO of Google DeepMind, Demis Hassabis. He explained the complex thought processes behind building AI programs as well as showing us examples of it in the real world, such as using AI to solve the problem of protein folding and how AI can make music making more accessible to content creators.” Ellie
During the course, Year 9 students prepared for their employer encounter by researching the roles, thinking about the skills, personality and qualifications required to be successful in the sector. They brainstormed questions to ask and practised using Teams ahead of the interview.
Mrs Allan’s group were delighted to be joined (virtually) by JAGS Alumna, Camila Neyra, Principal Nuclear Medicine Physicist/Therapy Lead at Barts NHS Foundation Trust. After a short introduction, students took it in turns to ask Camila questions about her career journey and how this has been influenced by her interests and personality.
“I thought it was very interesting and learnt a lot about this job.” Imogen
“It was great and I learned a lot about Higher Education.” Ruth
“It was very interesting I enjoyed it.” Amba.
Ms Brookes’ group also hosted a virtual careers meeting with Jill Parsons, Senior Media Relations Manager at St. James’s Place. During the question time, students were interested to hear of her career journey and the transition from journalist to media relations, which involved opportunities to travel and meet interesting people along the way.
Following the interview, students worked in teams to create a PowerPoint presentation to share with others in their year group to highlight the key facts about their employer’s career.
As part of our timetabled lecture programme, we were delighted to be joined by JAGS Alumane Sidonie Wilson, The Times Weekend Editorial Assistant.
“I absolutely loved the talk, it was really perfect for me personally subjects and career wise, while also being incredibly useful for others as an insight into career changes too!” Thalia (Y12)
Using AI to Accelerate Scientific Discovery
We received a special invitation from UCL for two students accompanied by a member of staff to attend the UCL Prize Lecture in Life and Medical Sciences with Demis Hassabis, Co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind.
“I asked to go to the UCL Prize Lecture on AI’s Involvement in Accelerating Scientific Discovery because it is heavily related to my EPQ title and I thought could be helpful. I left feeling that it was not only helpful but genuinely fascinating to hear from a leading academic and businessman in the industry and his thoughts on why AI should play a huge role in being at the forefront of human innovation. Overall, the event was really amazing, though I was particularly interested in the references he gave to the revolutionary applications that his software can have in medical care, as Demis Hassabis, the speaker, reinforced the idea of AI being used solely for the good of society.” Olivia
“The UCL Prize Lecture was a great insight to the wide uses and benefits of AI, particularly from the CEO of Google DeepMind, Demis Hassabis. He explained the complex thought processes behind building AI programs as well as showing us examples of it in the real world, such as using AI to solve the problem of protein folding and how AI can make music making more accessible to content creators.” Ellie
Sport
What a term it has been as pupils continued to impress the whole department with their commitment and enthusiasm to sports clubs and fixtures.
We have currently participated in over 150 fixtures across 10 different sports and ran six Interhouse Sport competitions on top of these.
We sadly say goodbye to Miss Smith and Mrs Tappenden, we wish them well in their future endeavors and thank them both for their work at JAGS in their time here. We are incredibly proud of the programme we run in school, but also of the pupils’ hard work and effort that they put into their clubs and teams outside of school. Please do continue to send over your success stories, we love reading about them.
Michael Golding, Director of Sport
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Cross Country
The biggest of congratulations to both our Junior (Years 7 and 8) and Intermediate (Years 9 and 10) Cross Country teams, who raced at a bitterly cold Woodbridge School, Suffolk, on Saturday 2 December. The Junior team raced incredibly well and finished in a very respectable 9th place in the country, which they should be very proud of.
The Intermediate team, went into the race with high hopes of a top five finish but performed even better and I am delighted to confirm that they are now the second-best School Cross Country team in the country.
Well done to all those pupils involved on Finals Day, as well as the pupils who raced in the earlier rounds to enable the team to get this far.
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Cricket
For the first time, we entered our U13 and U15 cricketeers into the Lady Taverner Schools Cup and faced local schools Alleyn’s and Charter North. The pupils played incredibly well and finished with enough points to qualify for the shield competition which will take place in January.
Please keep an eye out for information on Teams over the Christmas break for our winter cricket training sessions.
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Water Polo
Our Year 7 team played their first ever fixture on Friday 8 December against St Dunstan’s and came away with a very impressive 14 – 7 victory. Congratulations to Lale who was named player of the match, but also to Year 6 pupil Millie, who joined the team – we look forward to seeing her progress and involvement with this team going forwards.
Congratulations are also in order for Bella (Y9) who earned a Silver medal while representing London at the recent U14 Inter Regional Water Polo Competition. A fantastic achievement!
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Tennis
Another first for JAGS as we entered the LTA Year 11-13 Winter competition and won our first group match against Colfe’s School.
Played on a wet and cold afternoon, the tennis on show was of a good standard and we took the victory 4- 2. Well done to the team; Hana, Elise, Molly and Shaan.
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Table Tennis
Mr Fuller took a small team of pupils over to Dulwich College for a table tennis fixture to reward the pupils for the commitment and progression shown in the table tennis club so far this year.
The team consisted of; Sienna, Alice, Annabel and Carolina. We look forward to more fixtures over the course of the next term.
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Football
Football has been slightly impacted by the recent wet weather, however, the programme continues to rapidly accelerate under the stewardship of Miss Huggett.
We are still in multiple cup competitions and have numerous friendlies lined up for January and February. Miss Huggett has even started discussing the possibility of running a football / water polo tour next year… Watch this space!!
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Netball & Hockey
Netball and Hockey continue to go from strength to strength with Netball enjoying superb National Cup runs so far and we are hopeful that they continue into the New Year. Hockey have had a mixed year in terms of their results, but performances have been encouraging and the number of pupils attending sessions continues to grow, particularly in KS3.
The final week of term have very much been Christmas party week for both the hockey and netball teams.
A chance to relax, unwind and dress up in Christmas fancy dress. What’s not to like?
Well done to all the teams for your work this term, Miss Fisken and Miss Whyte are very much looking forward to working with all the teams again in January as we look to kick on from a very productive first part of the season.
The biggest of congratulations to both our Junior (Years 7 and 8) and Intermediate (Years 9 and 10) Cross Country teams, who raced at a bitterly cold Woodbridge School, Suffolk, on Saturday 2 December. The Junior team raced incredibly well and finished in a very respectable 9th place in the country, which they should be very proud of.
The Intermediate team, went into the race with high hopes of a top five finish but performed even better and I am delighted to confirm that they are now the second-best School Cross Country team in the country.
Well done to all those pupils involved on Finals Day, as well as the pupils who raced in the earlier rounds to enable the team to get this far.
For the first time, we entered our U13 and U15 cricketeers into the Lady Taverner Schools Cup and faced local schools Alleyn’s and Charter North. The pupils played incredibly well and finished with enough points to qualify for the shield competition which will take place in January.
Please keep an eye out for information on Teams over the Christmas break for our winter cricket training sessions.
Our Year 7 team played their first ever fixture on Friday 8 December against St Dunstan’s and came away with a very impressive 14 – 7 victory. Congratulations to Lale who was named player of the match, but also to Year 6 pupil Millie, who joined the team – we look forward to seeing her progress and involvement with this team going forwards.
Congratulations are also in order for Bella (Y9) who earned a Silver medal while representing London at the recent U14 Inter Regional Water Polo Competition. A fantastic achievement!
Another first for JAGS as we entered the LTA Year 11-13 Winter competition and won our first group match against Colfe’s School.
Played on a wet and cold afternoon, the tennis on show was of a good standard and we took the victory 4- 2. Well done to the team; Hana, Elise, Molly and Shaan.
Mr Fuller took a small team of pupils over to Dulwich College for a table tennis fixture to reward the pupils for the commitment and progression shown in the table tennis club so far this year.
The team consisted of; Sienna, Alice, Annabel and Carolina. We look forward to more fixtures over the course of the next term.
Football has been slightly impacted by the recent wet weather, however, the programme continues to rapidly accelerate under the stewardship of Miss Huggett.
We are still in multiple cup competitions and have numerous friendlies lined up for January and February. Miss Huggett has even started discussing the possibility of running a football / water polo tour next year… Watch this space!!
Netball and Hockey continue to go from strength to strength with Netball enjoying superb National Cup runs so far and we are hopeful that they continue into the New Year. Hockey have had a mixed year in terms of their results, but performances have been encouraging and the number of pupils attending sessions continues to grow, particularly in KS3.
The final week of term have very much been Christmas party week for both the hockey and netball teams.
A chance to relax, unwind and dress up in Christmas fancy dress. What’s not to like?
Well done to all the teams for your work this term, Miss Fisken and Miss Whyte are very much looking forward to working with all the teams again in January as we look to kick on from a very productive first part of the season.