Word from the Head – 4 July 2025

Many of you will have corresponded with Mrs Hughes’ PA, Hanna Fathers. In the first week of the summer holiday she and her friend Amie will be doing a charity walk from Dublin to Galway in Ireland to raise money for the David Nott Foundation, in memory of Amie’s mother who passed away from peripheral vascular disease. If you would like to read Hanna & Amie’s story or donate please click on this link below. You can also purchase commemorative t-shirts for the walk with all proceeds going to the David Nott Foundation.

Hanna and Amie would be very grateful for your support.

Calling all eager photographers!

GSA’s Photography competition aims to find the best up and coming photographers in our schools today and to show the world life through their lens. For this year’s competition, generously sponsored by Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), we invite students to explore the theme of a ‘Bright and Brave future’ for all girls. The deadline for entries is 12 September so this is a perfect summer holiday project. Visit the GSA website for further information, and details on how to get involved. Happy snapping!

Experience Shakespeare like never before at this joyful, family-friendly outdoor production blending contemporary London culture with the Bard’s wit, romance, and secrets on Wednesday 23 July & Thursday 24 July, at 7.30pm at Lauderdale House. Further details can be found on the flyer below and via their website.

Please see the provisional Extra & Co-curricular Timetable for 2025 – 26:

Extra & Co-curricular Activities – Provisional Timetable 2025 – 26

On 18 June, Year 7 went to Mountfitchet Castle and Toy museum. It was a great experience for the students as they had the chance to use their creative skills and recreate some aspects of medieval and early modern life. The students all featured in today’s Word from the Head were all highly commended entrants for the competition of best picture of medieval life as well as the best write up. Picture Competition .pdf

“After we got off the coach, we got into our groups and went to explore the Toy museum and Mountfitchet Castle. The path to the Toy museum was steep. Outside the museum there were model dinosaurs from Jurassic park. Inside the museum there were toys of all different kinds: Star Wars toys, Pony toys, puppet machines, fortune tellers, matchbox cars and many others.

In the castle, there were lots of different, gruesome torture devices in the castle, such as a wheel to burn people, a stock, a place to hang people and a board to stretch people on. There was a water mill and a place to grind up wheat. There was a wall surrounding the castle as well as guard towers and moats around the castle.

We learnt about the places where peasants and barons lived and how they lived. We saw shops where people would sell pottery made out of clay and where nobles would keep all of their weapons. We got to try on chain mail and helmets and felt swords as well. They were all super heavy.

Before lunch, we got to go to the gift shop to buy souvenirs like plastic swords. We could buy animal feed to feed the animals. We saw: deers, goats, rabbits, doves, chickens and peacocks. We had a very action packed day which was a fun and educational experience.”

By Madison Y

Year 8 French Trip to Normandy 2025 Word From The Head
The Year 8 first language French pupils went to Criel-sur-Mer in Normandy during enrichment week and had a wonderful sunny time whilst being immersed in the language and culture. Here is a summary of our trip from the following contributors: Charlotte R, Rafaella C, Amelia A, Thea T, Millie P, Emilia M, Alina K, Amalia G and Madame Romero.

Jour 1

After our early wake up call to get the ferry to Calais we enjoyed a welcome break at Le Touquet where we relaxed on its beautiful beach and paddled in the sea. We then had a guided visit in French at la Chocolaterie de Beussent. When we arrived at the chocolate factory, we got to try cocoa beans. They tasted very bitter. We also tried chocolate which was 100% cocoa. That was just as bitter! We learnt about how this was made and that cocoa beans are originally white. We also went inside the factory and saw how the chocolate is made. At the end, we got to try hazelnut chocolate and the chocolate from a mould shaped like a chicken! C’était très délicieux !

Once we arrived at Château de Chantereine we met one of our animatrice, Louise to play un jeu de piste, a scavenger hunt. It got very competitive and ranged from finding an elephant to a daisy; creativity was needed!

Jour 2

C’était l’anniversaire d’Amelia ! The day started off with half the group completing challenges and the other half making bread. Jeremy, our animateur, put us in groups and we completed several challenges such as balancing books on our heads whilst walking, throwing wellies the furthest with soap on our hands and tug of war.

Anthony, our third animateur led the baking session where we all became boulangères and made bread from scratch with sel, farine et levure. We shaped our bread into creative designs and then got to eat them.

In the afternoon we visited la Chèvrerie La Petite Caulette. There were so many animals, quails, geese, chickens, chicks, cats and of course goats which we got to hold! We tried goat cheese, it was really strong and not to everyone’s taste but the goats were cute! C’était très bien ! 

The afternoon ended at le Tréport town where we ate ice creams, bought a few souvenirs and walked along the beach before going on its funicular, to enjoy the seaside view.

Jour 3

C’était l’anniversaire de Rafaella !

Le jeudi, nous avons visité le marché à Dieppe le matin. On a acheté des choses pour manger dans une baguette sur la plage. On était dans un groupe et nous avons acheté du fromage, de la salade et des tomates. Aussi, la plage était vraiment jolie. On Thursday, we visited the market in Dieppe in the morning. We bought things to eat in a baguette on the beach. We were in a group and we bought cheese, salad leaves and tomatoes. The beach was also really nice.

We visited the school Rachel Salmona which was really fun. In small groups we went on a tour with French students whilst completing puzzles to find the next room and the next clue. C’était marrant ! We then had a typical French goûter with the students and ate lots of petits pains whilst chatting to them in Franglais !

The day ended with an evening visit to the beach of Criel-sur-Mer. We paddled in the sea, watched the sun set and played volleyball with some of the boys from the French school, it was lots of fun!

Jour 4

C’était l’anniversaire de Radhika !

On our final day we went to la Boulangerie d’Escoeuilles. We went into the kitchen where the boulanger showed us how to make du pain. We each got to make our own loaves as well as learning how to put them in the huge traditional wood fired oven. After that, we went outside and ate freshly baked pain au chocolats. C’était délicieux!

Before heading to Calais to board the ferry we stopped off at l’Hypermarché Auchan where we bought final souvenirs and French treats.

Thank you/ Merci to the Year 8s for being fantastiques on the trip and to Madame Pavlopoulos, Madame Garrill et Madame Loosli for accompanying.

 

Year 8 Spanish Trip to Cádiz 2025
The Year 8 first language Spanish pupils went to El Puerto de Santa María in the province of Cádiz during enrichment week and had a fantastic four days in the sunshine, soaking up the culture and improving their Spanish. Here is a summary of our trip from the following contributors: Aavanya A, Amairah R, Roop N, Suki D, Silvia O M, Arya P, Gabby M A, Ramun N, India B, Amelia J, Ava K, Betsy L, Elli P, Iris F, Phoebe, Edie C, and Señorita Becker.

Día 1

We arrived at school at 4:15 am! We then travelled to Gatwick Airport where we checked in and had breakfast before getting the plane to Seville. When we arrived in Spain, we were greeted by our Spark chaperones, Niko and Pedro. We got the coach to our hotel, Hotel Pinomar, in El Puerto de Santa María, where we settled into our rooms and had dinner before getting an early night, ready for a busy day full of activities!

Aavanya A

Our group of 60 students was divided into two smaller groups of 30, and we then had parallel itineraries for the next two days.

Día 2/3

On Wednesday for group 2, and on Thursday for group 3, we did a walking tour of El Puerto de Santa María. First, we walked to the bullring, and on the way in, we saw that the entrance was a hall with real bull heads all along the walls. We entered the bull ring, and it was an enormous, old structure with seats all around it in a circle, and a large circular arena in the centre. We were told that there was a bull fight happening later on, although we didn’t stay to watch it. We then walked through the town’s market and learned lots of new food vocabulary.

Amairah R

Afterwards, we walked to a small restaurant in the centre of the town, where we had churros con chocolate! It was very delicious, and we also had the chance to order our own drinks in Spanish.

Roop N

Next, we went to an old castle, El Castillo San Marco, which we had a tour around. We learned a lot about Spanish history, including the different religions and cultures which have shaped Spain, such as its Arabic and Roman influences.

Suki D

In the afternoon, we played padel in small groups at a padel centre, and had to speak to the instructors in Spanish. At the end, we had an informal padel competition and even the teachers got involved!

Silvia MO

Later on that day, we had some time on the beach which was really fun! In the evening, we enjoyed pizza on the beach and after the teachers surprised us with ice cream.

Arya P

Día 2/3

On the next day, we took a ferry from El puerto de Santa María to Cádiz. When we arrived, we got to see the town hall and cathedral and learn about their history.

Gabby MA

Next, we visited the food market, which was very crowded with a large variety of food and drinks. We bought lunch there in Spanish, and it was all very tasty and fresh, cooked in front of us.

Ramun N

Then, we went up the tower to see the highest point of Cádiz and we saw different parts of Cadiz with the cámara oscura which was really cool!

Edie C

Afterwards, we went to a Roman Amphitheatre, which was very well preserved. It was a very interesting place to visit as it was incredibly old.

Amelia J

Later on, we got free time to go around the shops in Cádiz. We got the opportunity to buy souvenirs, gifts and food, and we even all got to get ice cream, which we ordered in Spanish.

Ava K

In the evening, we had tapas out at a restaurant, before we packed up, ready for our final day.

Día 4

On the last day of our trip, one of the activities we took part in was making paella for lunch. We cut up the vegetables and learnt how to say all the ingredients in Spanish, it was really fun and delicious!

Betsy L

After making Paella we had a Flamenco Class with a teacher who gave the lesson in Spanish. It was very fun and interesting to learn how to dance the flamenco.

Elli P

After our flamenco class, we took part in a quiz in the park where we split into groups and  guessed the prices of Spanish food and drinks. We also wrote postcards about our trip to different staff members at channing.

Iris F

After we finished doing the flamenco class and made postcards in the park, we ate the paella we made earlier in the day. There were options of seafood, chicken, or vegetable paella. Once we finished our lunch, we received certificates from the teachers, such as for the person who spoke the most Spanish, the person who had been 10% braver, and the person who had best demonstrated Channing’s values.

Phoebe W

We then got the coach back to Seville airport, where we got some free time before boarding the plane to go home. Afterwards, we got on the coach to go back to school, arriving back at Channing at 1:30am! We were tired, but we had a really fantastic time on our trip!

India B

Thank you/gracias to the Year 8s for being such a pleasure to take to Spain, and to Señor Waring, Señor Jackson, Señorita Sequeira, Señorita Jiménez, Señorita Zuluaga y Señorita Gomez for accompanying!

Señorita Becker

Cheerleading
On Sunday, the Channing Junior Eagles and Senior Eagles took part in the London Dance and Cheer Academy Grand Final Competition at the University of Hertfordshire. This was LDCA’s largest Grand Final to date, showcasing an electric atmosphere and an array of spectacular cheerleading routines from schools across the London region. Both of our Channing squads delivered powerful, high-energy performances filled with spirit, precision, and showmanship. Ms Nelson, who attended the event, shared how incredible it was to see students from both the junior and senior school performing with such passion and confidence on such a grand stage. A huge congratulations goes to the Channing Senior Eagles, who finished 2nd in the Grand Final competition and secured 1st place in the overall league standings!

Middlesex Athletics Championships 
On Monday 30 June, three of our students represented Haringey in the Year 7 and Year 8 Middlesex Athletics Championships. In Year 8, Erica W competed in the hurdles, Siena R placed 3rd in the 300m, and Chloe SR placed 2nd in the 200m. Their excellent performances contributed to a fantastic overall result for Haringey, with the Year 7 team finishing 2nd and the Year 8 team finishing 1st overall. Congratulations to all involved – we’re incredibly proud of your achievements!

Dance

Thrive Dance Company Workshop 
Last week, we were lucky enough to have a visitor from a teacher from the Thrive Dance Company. Thrive Youth Company is an auditioned programme for keen dancers, where you learn different skills and styles of dance, including improvisation and performance.

To begin with, we had a chance to improv across the room in different ways (dream/nightmare) and it was a great way to become a character and express their emotions. Next, we focussed on technique. We did exercises such as barrel rolls, floor work and jumps and it really helped to perfect the specific moves so that we could later incorporate them into the routine which we performed at the end of the workshop. Then, we were taught a small section of a dance that students at Thrive Dance were also learning. It was quite fast-paced, so we had to try to pick up the choreography quickly! Finally, we each made up our own duets with our friends and we were able to showcase them to the teacher at the end.

Overall, the experience was extremely fun and we both enjoyed every moment. Our favourite part was choreographing our own dance as we got to be very creative!

Millie W & Sophia S, 9EHi

Trip to see Wicked
Going to Wicked was a magical experience. From the moment we stepped into the theatre you could feel the excitement buzzing in the air and as we took our seats the imposing stage and magnificent dragon stared down at us. From start to finish the performance was incredible-the dancers, singers and actors were all incredible and inspiring. I will definitely never be able to hit those high notes! I am so grateful to all the teachers for making this possible as Wicked was amazing.

Ettie B-R, 7CWi

We are excited to share the winning entries for the Years 7 and 8 Literary Walking Tour Creative Writing Competition. Well done Esme and Charlotte!

Esme E, Year 7:

Honey

Dark wall

filled with light.

Shadows of lives who could have been,

And people who had been.

No one’s time to go.

Their angel wings grew too fast

as they flew after their last, heroic act.

Sweet honeysuckle,

dripping the air,

Coating all who walk 

and read

their last memories.

Sticks in the mind like the golden syrup.

Never fully clean,

Always sticky,

Always stained.

Envelopes sealed with reminiscing.

Smiles for comfort 

Tiles for thoughts.

Honey sweet,

Honey sour,

Honey like the dark coloured flowers.

 

Charlotte R, Year 8:

The flames leapt high. They smothered the beautiful walls. I thought the building would be safe, as it was cut off from everything else, but the fire was too strong. It hungrily devoured the lush churchyard I had so often walked in. That colourful paradise was now a garden of only orange, glowing, burning flowers. I watched people bring buckets of water and try to put out the flames, but I knew it was no use. St Paul’s Cathedral was gone forever.

I often wondered if anyone else cared so much as I did. I felt so connected to the building; I went there almost every day. I loved browsing in those stalls in the churchyard. Feeling the spines of each book. It was the place I went for inspiration. Other writers’ novels were sometimes the only things which gave me ideas for what to write next. I would walk around that garden, listen to the birds in the trees. It was one of the most peaceful places I have known. This is why I felt such despair as I watched it burn to the ground that day. That towering spire, those strong walls, all alight so suddenly. Helpless to the hungry fire. 

We had to run when the fire came. It burnt our house. It devoured all of London. But when we finally came back, St Paul’s was the first place I went. I walked through the blackened ruins. I walked to the place where the book stalls once were. I saw amongst the piles of ashes, a book, a play script in fact, blackened at the edges, but I could clearly read the title on the front: ‘Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare’. Incredibly, the book didn’t crumble to ash when I picked it up. It was a miracle the book had stayed intact. I sometimes wonder whether it was meant for me. The book has been on my shelf at home ever since, and I still haven’t found any book which I enjoyed more.

The Psychology Department is excited to announce a new lecture series starting in September next year. Our first speaker is Professor Francesca Happé CBE who has been a leading researcher in the field of Autism for over 30 years. Ticket information will be released at the beginning of September but please mark the date of Thursday 18 September at 6pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

LAMDA Examination Results
Brilliant results for the LAMDA students this year. The students have worked tirelessly this year, and their bravery and perseverance has certainly paid off. All 62 candidates passed with honours: 16 were awarded high Merits; and a record breaking 46 achieved the top level Distinction mark; with 6 of those students earning an impressive 90+ out of 100 marks. That’s 74% of Channing students achieving the highest Distinction level, which puts them in the top 10% of LAMDA entrants around the country.

Comments from the student course evaluations repeatedly highlighted the students’ enjoyment in the freedom of choosing characters and scenes to work on and the pleasure of developing new skills. Excitement that they had learned how: to go outside their comfort zone; to analyse and evaluate in detail; to read subtext. Also, how glad they are at having improved their ability to express their ideas more confidently through extending their vocal and physical skills. All while having fun and making new friends! They can all proudly celebrate their results, as well as all they learnt on the way.

What is LAMDA? LAMDA stands for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. https://www.lamda.ac.uk/ Founded in 1861, LAMDA has been offering speech and drama exams for more than 130 years.

The exams are designed to develop the learner’s reading skills, expand their vocabulary, improve their powers of self-expression and memory and enhance their conversation and debating abilities.

Overall, their confidence is boosted and they are able to engage and contribute more fully at school, in further education or at work. All the exams are rooted in encouraging participants to develop a love of literature, poetry and drama and thus improve standards of communication through the spoken word.

Communication – Children need to be good communicators – at school and in their chosen careers. The LAMDA training the pupils receive teaches them how to communicate effectively, clearly, expressively and confidently, with good diction and projection.

Confidence – pupils are taught to be confident in their abilities and develop self-belief allowing them to shine in any situation. Whether they are taking centre stage in a school production or going for a job interview, the skills learnt from LAMDA stay with them forever.

Qualifications – LAMDA exams are universally recognised as a formal qualification in public speaking that will enhance any CV. The higher medal grades offer UCAS points enhancing personal statements for university or college.

Succeeding in a LAMDA examination demonstrates not only that learners have met rigorous assessment criteria in a particular discipline, but also that they have grown as individuals through participating in a globally recognised and respected activity. Ultimately, it is this sense of achievement that empowers the individual.

 

On Founders’ Day the Mathematics Department featured two presentations:

Balloon Modelling and Georigami (named after our 2 Maths teachers who are leaving).

In one room visitors and students were given the opportunity to explore geometry through the medium of origami. Our Year 7’s have had the opportunity to make three of what are known as the Platonic Solids (tetrahedron, cube, octahedron) during the Independent Investigation sessions held throughout the year. They have also learnt to make presentation boxes too. The students have also been introduced to Modular Origami via the Sonobe Unit. This is specially folded square piece of paper that can be used to construct more sophisticated models with a near endless combination of colours and designs. Jane Talbot and Constance Haugen proved excellent teachers showing many visitors on the day how to make Sonobe Cubes.

There was also an opportunity to learn about aerodynamics by making paper aeroplanes!

Participants who made artefacts or a plane that was able to fly successfully into the recycling bin were rewarded with a “tato”, a traditional Japanese envelope, made using origami.

In the other room students were learning about Graph Theory by making balloon modelling. They model dog (or sword) could be represented by a series of arcs and modes (lines and points) which is the basis Graph Theory used in Further Maths and Decision Maths (Chinese Postman Algorithm).

We would like to thank all our wonderful Year 7 helpers (and Year 10 and beyond) who were amazing on the day:

Also, well done to Ella C in Year 10 who beat Mrs Williams in the Rubics race game. Also Serrana B who beat Mrs Wootton in the Rubics Cube. Annata and Mr Bowman also had a very long strategic game of chess!

Well done to Thea I in Year 8 who guessed the circumference of Ms Cooper’s ballooning baby bump! (and Ms Yun) – prizes in Mark Reading!

Ms Levontine, Acting Senior School Librarian, and Miss Huntley, our Temporary Library Assistant held a lunchtime party on Wed 2 Jul for our pupil librarians to thank them for all their hard work in the library this last year.

Pupil librarians help out with various tasks such as shelving, writing reviews and creating displays during their weekly shift, which can be at break, lunchtime or after school. They also get special privileges, for example in January this year the Year 7 pupil librarians were invited to attend a talk for Year 8 students by visiting author Tamsin Winter and then join her for lunch afterwards.

Our library has definitely benefited from your help this year so thank you Elika D, Julia H, Cara C, Penelope T, Sophia R, Agatha N, Ettie B-R and Feodora P.

We are so proud of all the Year 10 Silver girls who approached the physical and mental challenges of the Silver Duke of Edinburgh Expedition with enthusiasm, positivity and confidence. Their resilience was tested with the heat and some challenging terrain but they were rewarded by the beautiful landscape, strengthened friendships, satisfaction of accomplishment, and some welcome splashing in the cooling hose pipe provided for them at the last campsite.

Thank you to all the staff and families involved whose support makes trips like this possible.

The weather has been calling for some time at the beach, and with that we would like to share this fun photo entitled, ‘Sunbathing’, from a 1930s album we have in the School archive. Hopefully we all get some time by the sea this summer.