On Friday 8th December, a group of A-Level Geographers had the privilege of attending a Model UN conference at Reading Town Hall, representing the USA and Brazil.

The conference kicked off with an inspiring talk from the Mayor of Reading, who spoke about the importance of stopping climate change and protecting the world for future generations to come. This was followed up by a keynote speaker who then set the ground rules for diplomacy and officially called for the conference to begin.

On the 4th November, I competed in the 50th Wado Kai European Karate Championships in Strasbourg, along with 450 other competitors from all over Europe and emerged with a Silver medal in the individual category and a Bronze from the team category, despite only having two days to practise with my team members. In preparation, I attended extra weekly training sessions with my sensei and even politely requested some assistance from an ever so slightly-unwilling older brother.

On 12th December, students studying GCSE German had the opportunity to go to Reading University for a 'German on-campus day' to discuss migration and identity in Germany. 

We started the day by discussing how we would define identity and what many people may feel when they have mixed ethnic backgrounds. We then learnt about the ‘Wirtschaftswunder’, also known as the economic miracle, where, shortly after the Second World War, Germany invited many people from Turkey to join their workforce to help revive their economy. These Turkish workers were known as ‘Gastarbeiter’ (guest workers).  We watched a film, Almanya (2011) which followed the life story of a ‘Gastarbeiter’. The film illustrated his struggles to get used to German customs and how his successive generations tried to find their individual identities. 

Neha in Year 7, recently entered the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) School Science Prize competition, for which she had to write a short essay about ‘Why I love Science’.  Neha’s piece was so good that she was shortlisted for the final, which took place on Friday 8^th December and for which she had to prepare an additional two-minute presentation.

We are very proud to announce that two students, Gabby (a former student) and Noemi (a current student), have received prestigious awards for their poems, which were selected to be in the top 100 2023 Foyle’s Young Poets of The Year Award, which is the most prestigious poetry award for young people. You can read copies of their poems attached below. They attended an exclusive event in London, at Shakespeare's Globe. 

Gabby shares her heartfelt and passionate reflections with us in the following article:

Over the last year, Mudra in Year 8 has achieved some outstanding success at the National Level Badminton competitions.   

At the U13 English National Championships held on 18th and 19th November at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes, she won a Gold medal in the Girls Doubles, a Silver medal in the Girls Singles and a Bronze medal in the Mixed Doubles.

On 2nd and 3rd December, at the Yonex West of Scotland U13 and U17 Junior Championships held at Sir Craig Reedie Badminton Centre, Glasgow, Mudra won a Gold medal in the Girls Doubles in the U13 category, a Gold medal in the Mixed Doubles in the U13 category and reached the quarter-finals in the Girls Singles U17 category.