Maths Student of the Week

Elise 9M – For an excellent start to Year 9 Maths, for being enthusiastic, engaged and working incredibly hard. Keep up the great work.

Well done!

Last week of term saw our fantastic students take to the stage in our summer musical, “Legally Blonde”. This was a triumph, showcasing the very best acting, singing and instrumental talent our school has to offer. It was wonderful to see students from Year 7 to Year 13 performing and playing alongside one another to such a high standard. The huge cast took us all on a journey from the Delta Nu Sorority House of UCLA to Harvard Law School, pursuing Elle Woods on her journey to reclaim her “one true love”, Warner Huntington III. On her way, she finds her purpose in life as a lawyer, as well as a worthy romantic partner in Emmett Forrest. Noa’s performance of the tremendously challenging role of Elle Woods, who rarely leaves the stage, was a revelation. She wowed the audience in number after number, belting out powerful songs about determination alongside punchy comedic numbers and romantic ballads with deft vocal agility and unerring skill. She was supported by a brilliant cast of students, notably Hugo, who portrayed Emmett’s calm determination and warmth of character heartwarmingly, as well as singing beautifully. Also stunning was Felix, who proved his comedic prowess spectacularly as the self-regarding Warner. Hannah was moving and engaging as the beautician, Paulette, bringing the house down in her solo “Ireland”. Xanthe, Miya, Zoe, Emily and Lilah were also on top form as Elle Woods’ Inner Greek Tragedy Chorus, not only leading the dancing and singing onstage and setting the comedic tone, but also singing in all the complex harmonies from offstage mics. All the ensembles sang, danced and acted joyously, and the band played wonderfully.

Students backstage kept the show on the road, particularly Lena as Stage Manager, who called every one of the 155 lighting cues bang on time – no mean feat! Both nights of the show sold out; it was tremendous to see our hall bursting with proud families celebrating their students’ achievements. A huge well done to all; it has been a blast.

Ms Cohen, Ms Earnshaw-Punnett and Ms Segal

Breakfast Club

Breakfast is available every morning for free for all students (Year 7–13) from 8am – 8.30am in the Dining Hall.
This is supervised by a member of staff. A variety of breakfast is on offer, including toast, bagels & cereal.

Please do come along!

Assembly Speaker – 8 September
Stephen Mangan, actor, writer, presenter

On Monday, 8 September, we were lucky enough to have the amazing Stephen Mangan speak in our assembly. As an actor, writer, and presenter, he has a host of experience within the world of performance arts. This includes being in the BBC legal drama The Split, starring in numerous large theatre productions, writing his own collection of children’s books, and presenting (amongst others) the Sky Arts Landscape and Portrait Artist of the Year awards. As well as this, he is also a radio host, presenting Classic FM Sundays from 4-7pm.

Mangan was born in 1968 to Irish parents, who had moved to England as teens. They both left school at age 14, and although they were bright, they did not have higher qualifications and had few connections. This meant, from a young age, they encouraged him to be well-educated, but let him make his own decisions, such as applying for a scholarship to go to boarding school, a dream sparked by the many books he loved as a child.  For his A-Levels, he took English, History, Maths and Further Maths.

He was told Law would be a good match for him, so he applied for Cambridge, and managed to successfully get a place. However, he soon realised it wasn’t the right degree for him as he was more interested in human connection and emotion than the ‘calculated’, ‘clinical’ approach required for law. Despite this, he decided to finish the degree. During his time at Cambridge, he got into drama, performing in 21 plays during his 3 years there. He began to meet more people who wanted to act professionally, allowing him to see it as a real career for the first time.

Shortly after returning home, Mangan discovered his mother had fallen ill to cancer. He spent six months caring for her before she sadly passed. The death impacted him strongly, but it also gave him a realisation: his grandmother had also died quite young due to cancer, so he might only have 20 years or so left. He decided to spend the time he had doing something he was truly passionate about, and only a few weeks later he applied to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

A highly competitive acting school, RADA receives around 4000 applications yearly, of whom only 30 are taken. He was successful and went there for 3 years, perhaps also to “hide away” from the world, as Mangan put it. According to him, only 4 or 5 of his class are still acting, which highlights how hard it can be to succeed in the industry. At the end of the year, students at RADA are allotted 2 minutes of time on 2 nights to perform to an audience of agents and industry professionals. After the performance, Mangan was approached by a few agents, one of whom became the first of only two agents he has worked with throughout his career.

Wanting to become the best actor he could be, Mangan asked his agent to find theatre productions for him where he could play big, complex parts. He performed up and down the country, sometimes even internationally, for 5 years, before diversifying into film and TV. At age 30, he went for the role of Adrian Mole. He told us how the author, Sue Townsend, literally used a magnifying glass to take a detailed look at his face and compare it to her vision – a completely new experience for him. Up on the stage, gestures must be exaggerated in order for the audience to pick up on them, whereas in films, the audience can see every little detail. This also meant that the roles Mangan was playing began to shift from young athletic leads to older, more comedic characters – something Mangan attributes to his ‘intrinsically funny face’.

Around 5 years ago, he finally also found time to play into the passion for writing he had developed at a young age, co-writing a comedy for Channel 4 with his brother-in-law, and releasing the first of a collection of children’s books (for ages 9–11). Even here, he struggled with insecurity – he felt that he “had no right” to become an author, having had no education in writing beyond A-Level English, and no experience. Ultimately, he overcame this too.

Stephen Mangan’s story shows how important it is to do what you enjoy, and put all your effort into everything you do. It shows us the insecurities, the self-doubt, perhaps even the impostor syndrome many of us face – and how it is possible to overcome them all. But most of all, it shows us the reality that your path in life is never straight: there will be many curves as you try out different career opportunities, but eventually you will find your calling, and every step along the way will have given you all the skills you need to be fully prepared for it.

Paula
Sixth Form Head Girl

Casca News

 

 

Our Enormous Jumble Sale Saturday 8 November
2 - 4pm
Only 7 Weeks To Go

Dear Parents/Carers,

There are now only 7 weeks to go before our annual jumble sale. This event raises a lot of money for your school, and we would love for you to become involved in whatever way you can.

Please start to think about your winter wardrobe and start to have a clear out. We are not able to take your jumble yet, but we will let you know when you can start bringing it in.

We take clothes, shoes, vintage, bags, bric-a-brac, toys, jewellery, electronics, CDs and vinyl, household linens and smaller items of furniture.

It takes an awful lot of manpower to put this event on and we will need lots of volunteers for Friday 7th and Saturday 8th.

The jumble sale is hard work but great fun. Come and join us.

It’s not too early to sign up to help.

For more information or to sign up, please contact csgjumble@proton.me

With thanks,

Mary and Stephanie