GHKC

Fri 30 November 2012

Girls’ House Kitchen Collective strikes again!

Thirteen very highly sugared members of Girls’ House enjoyed producing some festive treats on this occasion.  With the help of Miss Deady, Miss Healy and some Christmas-themed background music, the girls put together some pretty fabulous-looking caramel fudge and rocky road.  A highlight of the evening occurred at the end of the session, when we discovered that there were quite a few leftover marshmallows and some very chocolatey pots and pans... 

DESIGN A CHRISTMAS CARD COMPETITION

ANTI-BULLYING WEEK 2012 & COMPETITION!

ANTI-BULLYING WEEK 2012

GOOD NEWS!

Anti-Bullying Week 2012 has been extended for the whole month of November!

THE THEME:

 ‘We’re Better Without Bullying’

Mrs Owen hosted an interesting, informative and encouraging assembly on Monday for the whole school, to raise awareness about all the different types of bullying and to launch the Chetham’s Anti-Bullying Competition!

COMPETITION!

Following on from the Anti-Bullying Assembly on Monday 19^th November

Anti-bullying Poetry Competition

Closing date: Break time on Monday December 3^rd.

There will be four age categories:

Juniors

F1 and F2

F4 and F5

Lower and Upper Sixth

There will be a winner and a runner up in each category

Please email your entries (name and form included)  as an attachment to me.

The poems should obviously refer to bullying.  I would like to display the winning poems around school so it would be good if the poem could have a helpful, positive ending – possibly suggesting ways in which the bullying can be brought to an end.

*Happy Diwali*

Festival of Lights

Diwali is perhaps the most well-known of the Hindu festivals.

The word Diwali means 'rows of lighted lamps'. Diwali is known as the 'festival of lights' because houses, shops and public places are decorated with small earthenware oil lamps called diyas

Celebrating Diwali

For many Indians this five day festival honours Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.
People start the new business year at Diwali, and some Hindus will say prayers to the goddess for a successful year.
Lamps are lit to help Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, find her way into people's homes.
They also celebrate one of the Diwali legends, which tells of the return of Rama and Sita to Rama's kingdom after fourteen years of exile.
In Britain, as in India, the festival is a time for:

• spring-cleaning the home,
• wearing new clothes
• exchanging gifts (often sweets and dried fruits) and preparing festive meals
• decorating buildings with fancy lights.
• huge firework displays often celebrate Divali.

In India Hindus will leave the windows and doors of their houses open so that Lakshmi can come in. Rangoli are drawn on the floors - rangoli are patterns and the most popular subject is the lotus flower.

The meaning of Diwali

The festival celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance, although the actual legends that go with the festival are different in different parts of India:

• In northern India and elsewhere, Diwali celebrates Rama's return from fourteen years of exile to Ayodhya after the defeat of Ravana and his subsequent coronation as king;
• In Gujarat, the festival honours Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth;
• In Nepal Diwali commemorates the victory of Lord Krishna over the demon king Narakaasura;
• In Bengal, it is associated with the goddess Kali.

Here at Chets...

The Sodexo team cooked up curry for dinner to mark the occasion and set the tone with brightly coloured menus-very festive!

House of Horrors: Gallery of Ghouls

Below is photographic evidence of the paranormal activity and unwelcome visitors witnessed at the House of Horrors Party on Friday evening.  Do you recognise any of these creatures?

Mwah, ha ,ha, ha, ha, ha! Mwah , ha, ha, ha...

Girls' House has been more like Slytherin this week, with a terrifying array of vampires, witches, ghouls and the undead. 

On Halloween Miss Mercer was ready with her face paints to help the girls have a ghoulish time! 

GHKC: Cupcakes, glitter and icing sugar

Miss Deady and Miss Healy staged a takeover of the dining hall on Thursday evening for the latest instalment of the Girls’ House Kitchen Collective.  The girls got creative with icing sugar, edible glitter, chocolate drops, writing icing and sprinkles!

Hero

Hero Melia of the third form, has shared the first entry of her new blog for H2Open's website with us:

Read and enjoy!

http://www.h2openmagazine.com/a-hero-s-journey/getting-started.html

Ceskie

Francesca Rijks has been doing some very exciting work on her own songs in the studio outside of school.

Check out her brand new video.

Enjoy!

www.ceskie.com

Welcome back!

Welcome back to one and all!

Here’s hoping everyone is relaxed and ready for the new and exciting events due to unfold in this lead up to Christmas.

What did you get up to in the half term break?

Do you have news or experiences you would like to share on the Girls' House blog?

Email me your stories and photos: 

indiamerrett@chethams.com

Music Course, October 2012

Music Course October 2012 is well underway-congratulations to those who have already performed and good luck to those about to!

All are working very hard and the half term break is fast approaching-lots of packing going on in Girls’ House this morning.

Sometimes we are fortunate to have visitors from afar come to stay in Girls’ House and participate in school life.

This October, we have welcomed Auguste, 14, a violinist all the way from Lithuania.

Here is what Auguste has to say about her stay here at Chets:

‘There are so many reasons why I like Chets very much.

First, people always smile for you even if the don’t know you.

Second, I met new friends who help me a lot to feel like I’m at home.

Third-there are lots of activities to do in your free time. I like it very much!

I’m really excited to be here for music course in CSO for ten days!

It’s a very big experience for me as a musician and it’s very joyful because in rehearsals we have so much fun.

I’m really glad to be here and I want to come back here again J

Big thanks for everyone, I’m going to go back to Lithuania with the best memories and feelings J

Auguste’

Wishing everyone a lovely, relaxing hal term break when it arrives!

GHCC: Mexican Day of the Dead!

The GHCC with Miss Mercer got spooky on Saturday-but as a more unusual cultural alternative to the approaching Halloween theme, looked to the Mexican Day of the Dead festival for eerie inspiration...complete with bright, kaleidoscopic colours and an abundance of glitter!

At first glance, the Mexican custom of El Día de los Muertos — the Day of the Dead — may sound much like the U.S. custom of Halloween. After all, the celebration traditionally starts at midnight the night of Oct. 31, and the festivities are abundant in images related to death.
  But the customs have different origins, and their attitudes toward death are different: In the typical Halloween festivities, death is something to be feared. But in el día de los muertos, death — or at least the memories of those who have died — is something to be celebrated.   El día de los muertos, which continues until Nov. 2, has become one of the biggest holidays in Mexico, and celebrations are becoming more common in areas of the United States with a large Hispanic population. Its origins are distinctly Mexican: During the time of the Aztecs, a monthlong summer celebration was overseen by the goddess Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of the Dead. After the Aztecs were conquered by Spain and Catholicism became the dominant religion, the customs became intertwined with the Christian commemoration of All Saints' Day on Nov. 1.
Specifics of the celebration vary with region, but one of the most common customs is the making of elaborate altars to welcome departed spirits home. Vigils are held, and families often go to cemeteries to fix up the graves of their departed relatives. Festivities also frequently include traditional foods such as pan de muerto (bread of the dead), which can conceal a miniature skeleton.

By Gerald Erichsen, About.com Guide