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Mrs Raja’s Blog

Celebrate, verb: to take part in special enjoyable activities in order to show that a particular occasion is important.

Anticipate, verb: to imagine or expect that something will happen.

We have come to the point in the year when, in the Junior School, we ‘Celebrate and Anticipate’. This annual event does exactly what it says on the tin – it gives us a chance to ‘Celebrate’ the successes of the past year and ‘Anticipate’ what is to come. On an individual basis it gives our girls the chance to share their classrooms and work with their families and to relish in the near completion of another hugely successful year.

As a school, it offers us the opportunity to reflect on the journey of the past year and of the direction in which we hope to travel over the next 12 months. We have so much to be proud of and, as I said to the parents in a packed Junior Hall yesterday morning, to list all of our girls’ many achievements would be an impossibility – there are simply too many! But here are just a few for starters:

  • We are the Croydon Primary Schools Swimming Champions!
  • All girls from Years 2 – 6 took part in the 2018 Bebras Computing Challenge. More than 55% of them managed to achieve a Distinction or Merit score. Three girls from Year 6 were among the top 10% achieving students in the UK Bebras Challenge and therefore they were invited to take part in a new challenge, which required talented computational thinkers to solve tasks with programmed solutions.
  • We were the U11 Croydon Netball League Winners.
  • Two Year 5 girls, Anjali and Beyza, won the Croydon Council ‘Clean Air’ competition and had their prizes awarded at an unveiling of their winning poster designs, which raised awareness of the need to consider the impact of driving on the environment and our health.

  • The Rainbow Race, organised by the School Council, raised over £5700 for Cancer Research.
  • We achieved 3rd place at the GDST U11 Cricket Rally – a particularly impressive statistic given that our girls only started playing cricket just over a year ago.
  • Four girls from Year 5 took part in the PA Consulting Raspberry Pi Challenge 2019 and were judged as one of the top three teams nationally.
  • A new Music venture with Elmhurst which has seen the first joint orchestra between the two schools – we are looking forward to their inaugural concert on Monday.
  • Two of our Year 6 girls, Suraya and Zariya, were awarded the overall winner and runner up prize in the Young Geographer of the Year Competition on the subject of ‘What makes the Arctic unique?

So what does next year hold? With reference to the dictionary definition listed above, what do we expect or imagine will happen? In some cases this would be a difficult question to answer, particularly when faced with a new head. However, whilst there will of course be continued development and innovation, a new year doesn’t mean a shift of ethos.

The vision of the Junior School, which has been so carefully crafted and shaped over the past few years, is our vision – the combined effort of girls, parents and staff, and one that will remain a guiding force behind everything that we do. It is our belief in a curriculum that is as innovative, engaging and forward looking as it is rigorous. It is excellent pastoral care, which is at the foundation of everything else. It relies on our talented staff who go above and beyond at every opportunity, not just because they feel they should but because they want to. It is the close partnership between home and school and of course, it is based on the huge range of opportunities offered to all our girls in all areas of school life and our commitment to every girl, every day. And I have no doubt that when I look back in a year’s time we will be sharing stories of new accolades, individual successes and no doubt many more competition winners!

Mrs Raja

Deputy Head of Junior School