HOWZATT!

Celebrating former PE teacher and Surrey and England cricketer receiving her Cap, 63 years after her debut!

Sheila Plant was a much-loved and much-respected Head of Croydon High School’s PE Department for almost 30 years, between 1963 and 1992. An outstanding leader who was passionate about teaching and sport, Sheila’s first love, however, was always cricket.

^{Sheila Plant preparing for England Cricket Test Match against New Zealand (1966)}

Sheila represented her country as wicket keeper, appearing in 8 Test matches for England between 1960 and 1968 and also played domestic cricket for Surrey. In late 1968/early 1969, Sheila was given permission by the then Head of Croydon High, Miss Cameron, to be part of the England team on their tour of Australia and New Zealand. It was a significant leave of absence, as it was an extended tour, but clearly, the school was – and still is – very proud of Sheila.

There was no tradition in those days to award female athletes a ‘cap’ when they represented their country, and this situation remained the same in women’s cricket right up until 1998 (when the administration of the men’s and women’s game combined to benefit from Lottery Funding that would go on to transform opportunities in the women’s game).

Sometime later, Sheila was invited to receive her Cap but was unable to attend the ceremony. She assumed the cap would simply be sent to her, but this didn’t happen. Then, more recently, at a school event, Sheila was asked about her international career, and the story of the Cap—or lack of it—came out.

Enter three formidable women: Croydon High alumna Anne Welham, who had worked with the MCC for many years, school archive volunteer and former parent Mary Pat Larman, and stalwart of our PE department, Mrs Beck. Together, and supported by ally and celebrated English Test and Surrey cricketer Mark Butcher—himself a parent of Croydon High girls—they bombarded the ECB (the England and Wales Cricket Board) with requests to right this wrong!

And so, on Monday 20 May, some 63 years after she made her England cricket debut, Croydon High hosted a very special reception to award Sheila her England Cap, numbered 54, recognising her as the 54th woman to receive this honour.

^{Mark Butcher presenting Sheila Plant with her England Cap}

Ms Davies welcomed a group of specially invited guests, including former pupils and current Surrey Women’s Cricket Captain, Amy Gordon, and members of Croydon High’s current cricket teams.

^{Sheila Plant with some of her pupils from when she taught at Croydon High}

^{Surrey Women’s Cricket Captain Amy Gordon, Mark Butcher and Sheila Plant with current Croydon High pupils who are part of the Cricket Team}

Ms Davies remarked, referring to the group of former pupils who had gathered to mark the event and who clearly have so much love and respect for their former teacher. “This is the joy of teaching: seeing the incredible impact people such as Sheila have on young lives and how that impact continues to enrich their lives many, many years later.”

Mark Butcher then presented Sheila with her Cap saying what an honour it was to meet her, one of a very small number of people who have represented their country at Cricket. He talked about Sheila as a trailblazer and an inspiration for young women such as Amy Gordon, who are now able to play their sports at the highest levels as professionals because of those who came before them.

Sheila herself then responded by saying how much it meant to her to receive her cap at the school she loved, amongst friends and the pupils she taught.

“The main reason I wanted to receive my England Cap was that I felt the school should have it,” she said. “I spent 29 summers coaching cricket here at this school and it was absolutely fantastic. I felt it was the best job in the world, and it was.”

Sheila then went on to present her Surrey Cap to Annabel Davies and promised that the England Cap would follow, to be displayed at the school. Sheila concluded, “ I am a proud former member of Croydon High staff – it’s wonderful”.

And it was a wonderful celebration of a remarkable woman who will always be a legend at Croydon High.

Mrs Fran Cook
Director of  External Relations and Philanthropy 

Surrey Satellites Technology Ltd introduced the design, build, test and operation of small satellites and has been a world leader in the field for over 40 years. They devise complete mission solutions for Earth observation, science, communications, navigation, in-orbit debris removal, as well as servicing and exploration beyond Earth infrastructure.

On Wednesday, Astrogazers had an incredible experience at SSTL, where we were able to attend a detailed and inspiring tour (hosted by Ashvi Ilot) around the site! We began in the Kepler building, where we met Ed, who gave us an informative talk on the requirements, design planning and goal-setting aspects of launching our very own CubeSat! Firstly, we covered the topics of subsystems, functions within modules, space laws and regulations and exactly why ground control is absolutely necessary to communicate with our satellite (so we shouldn’t neglect it!) We then went on to discuss electrical power, environmental testing and onboard autonomy before ending with a question and answer session, including a few tips and tricks for the hardware and software engineers amongst us.

As the tour went on, we visited the clean room, where all of the satellites were specially hand built, and the optical centre of competence, where specialised lenses were crafted, as well as the operations centre, where the satellites are tracked and the data is collected from them. Ashvi talked to us about lots of different satellites, including the NovaSAR, RemoveDEBRIS and the RapidEye Constellation of five Earth observation satellites. She explained to us that this constellation of satellites was focused on agricultural monitoring using a near-infrared band to measure the atmospheric nitric levels, as this affects how different crops can taste.

To end the day, we had the incredible opportunity to view some real examples of satellite imaging, from Heathrow Airport to Dubai to the far coasts of Australia, and it is safe to say that we all went away feeling very inspired. Thank you so much to Ashvi for hosting and organising this amazing event!

Here are some of the things we all took away from this fantastic experience:

“It was such a fantastic opportunity! From the incredible feats of engineering shown with each build phase, to the images received from each mission, to the awe-inspiring programmes they ran for developing space companies across the world, it was an incredible experience and it was so exciting to see what we are aiming to achieve!”
Isla M (Lower Sixth)

“It was really helpful to hear some of the problems that they had faced in their own space missions so that we can learn what they did and help prevent it from happening in our own mission.”
Éloane R (Lower Sixth)

“The SSTL trip was a fun and intriguing experience where we were able to not only see images retrieved from multiple satellites, but also smaller built models and even parts that had actually been to space!”
Aashka P (Lower Sixth)

“I loved learning how different programming languages can all connect together in order to communicate with different databases!”
Alisha A (Year 9)

“We had an eye-opening talk on software engineering and the importance of following protocol. We saw all of the important rooms for a successful launch. Visiting the control room and clean room was an awesome experience!”
Emily F (Year 9)

“I really enjoyed learning about all of the different satellites and all of the processes and issues that the engineers went through. I also found the plan of building a satellite extremely interesting as I would have never expected it to have taken so long. My favourite part was the satellite cake!”
Riya S (Year 9)

“I really liked the trip to SSTL because I was taught so much and learnt so many new things and it really opened my eyes to the difficulties but joys and wonders of working within the space industry.”
Elena W (Year 8)

Anaiya S
Year 9
Astrogazers – Hardware Engineer

The day started off with a meeting with Dr Robert Watson from University of Bath and with many trouble shooting calls during the day. Later on, Matthew White delivered an insightful talk on Project management.

The Hardware Engineering team started to gain experience in Soldering – the art of melting metals to join electrical components together, requiring intricate precision and a very steady hand. Once the initial understanding was formed, the practice began. By the end of the day, progress had been made in mastering the skill.

The Software Engineering team began testing our Spectroscopy sensor – a sensor which detects different intensities and wavelengths of light. We built a mock dark-room out of a cardboard box to block out all external light. We then cut a hole in the top for our torch which we placed various filters over to collect a variety of data.

In the following Saturdays to come, we can begin the analysis of our data, continue to practise soldering, and of course recording our progress along the way.

Follow us on Instagram and YouTube to get all the updates on our missions!

Isla M
Lower Sixth
Astrogazers – Flight Director

On Wednesday 15 May, we were very fortunate to have Marie Rose, a survivor of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, come in to speak to us about her experiences as a teenage woman living in Rwanda at the time.

The genocide in Rwanda happened when the Hutus murdered the Tutsis. These two ethnic groups in Rwanda saw tension under Belgian colonialism as the Tutsis occupied a higher social status than the Hutus. Originally, people could move between ethnic groups, for example a Hutu with high social status would be regarded as a Tutsi and a poorer Tutsi would be regarded as a Hutu. This movement between groups was then stopped.

By 1962, when Rwanda gained independence, The Hutus took control of the government and enacted their revenge on the Tutsi. 120,000 people, primarily Tutsis, had taken refuge in neighbouring states to escape the violence which had accompanied the gradual coming into power of the Hutu community. Propaganda spread by the government through media, such as radio stations calling Hutus to eliminate the ‘Tutsi cockroaches’ contributed to the genocide; as well as this, the ‘case studies’ on Tutsi children at school is something Ms. Rose said escalated discrimination against the Tutsis. She spoke about how teachers would pick her out as an example of how Tutsis walked, talked and looked.

When the genocide started, Marie Rose explained to us how she managed to survive from the help of good Hutu’s. She explained how her experiences (including lying in a baby cot for weeks at a time to avoid being caught by patrolling Hutus) shaped her today and how her hope drove her on; her will to live was what helped her survive, and I think all of us thought that was an incredibly beautiful message.

It was very moving to hear her talk about her first-hand experience of a genocide we had only learnt about in lessons from other sources and we all appreciated how even if it is painful for her to speak about her past, she hopes to educate young people like us.

Arwa K
Year 9

Early Years opened their doors for the summer term ‘Stay and Play’ session. These sessions provide a great opportunity to invite our families into the classroom so our pupils can share their morning routine and explore their interests with their adult.

It is wonderful to see so many parents, grandparents and relatives attending to support the girls. It is always an extremely proud moment as a teacher to step back and watch the girls take charge of their adult and show them around their classroom so enthusiastically. We enjoyed reminiscing and looking back at the achievements and work completed this year in the girls’ workbooks and on their ‘Proud Pegs’. We saw the children engaging in art activities, reading, writing and observing the butterflies in class.

Thank you to all the families that were able to attend.

Mrs Amanda-Jane D’Aranjo
Reception Class Teacher
Early Years Leader

On Monday 6 May, Year 6 travelled by coach and ferry to our home for the week, the beautiful Chateau d’Ebblinghem near St. Omer. This was the start of their adventures in France and a chance to experience the country’s history, culture and language.

On arrival, everyone unpacked quickly and settled into their rooms. They then enjoyed a meal followed by a silent disco! The next few days were very busy and included a visit to a traditional boulangerie to see how bread is baked using traditional methods and to the World War 2 museum at La Coupole. A particular highlight for all of Year 6 was sand yachting in Boulogne-sur-Mer. Everyone joined in with great enthusiasm and managed to master the difficult art of steering and handling the sail at the same time. During the trip to Le Touquet, pupils climbed the 274 steps of the ‘Phare Le Touquet’ and were rewarded with breathtaking views of the town. This was followed by some playtime on the main beach and a delicious ice cream in the town centre.  Activities back at Chateau d’Ebblinghem included cheese and snail tasting, crêpe-making and archery tag!

It was an excellent trip and everyone participated in all activities with enthusiasm. There were fantastic moments of collaboration, teamwork and perseverance from everyone.

Mrs J. Monaghan and Ms E. Nathanael
Year 6 Teachers

With less than one month to go until Arts Week 2024, we are incredibly pleased to share the breadth of workshops and activities that pupils can involved in:

• African Drumming and Dance.
• Women in Engineering Day Challenge.
• KS3 Production: Animal Farm.
• Lights, Camera, Science: Exploring the world of nature through the use of photography, microscopes and Photoshop.
• PTA Croychella.
• The One Day Film School.
• General Election.
• Play the Steel Pans.
• Teaching Art from Reception to Year 6 at Greenvale Primary School.
• Plus much, much more…

From Year 7 to Upper Sixth, there is something for everyone!

Mrs Elizabeth Smith
Head of Art & 3D Design
Director of Teaching & Learning

We are delighted to announce that Croydon High School will be holding its next Senior School Open Event on the evening of Wednesday 26 June 2024.

Programme of events

5.30pm – Enjoy drinks and canapés in the Drama Courtyard with an opportunity to speak to pupils and staff

6.00pm – Welcome Speech in the Senior Hall

6.30pm – Guided tour around the Senior School and Sixth Form

Book your place today

More details to follow…

But for now, add the 30 June 2024 to your diary!

Book your place today