The Maynard School Play 2010, a hilarious and highly entertaining performance of Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy ‘My Very Own Story’ has been enjoyed by audiences of hundreds of people over the last few nights with evening performances taking place on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and a Matinee on Wednesday afternoon. Directed by Ian Crew, over 30 performers took us on a spectacularly performed journey through the centuries, hopping merrily between space and time.

The production was a chance for a number of senior school students to showcase their talent: the three narrators, Percy played by Olivia Rowe, Peter played by Polly Thompson and Paul played by Sarah Chakmakchi all gave hilarious performances, with their stories acted out by a multi-talented, tirelessly energetic cast. Upper Sixth-former Zoe Wiles took on the position of Assistant Director, supported by Philly Reynolds, Jo Gannon and Sophie Whitehall who worked on the set, sound and lighting, and all the music was composed by A-Level Music student Florence Browne.

After watching the premier of ‘Fever Chart’ by award winning theatre company Pilot Theatre on Tuesday 9th February at Exeter’s Northcott Theatre, GCSE and A Level Drama Students here at the Maynard got the chance to work with the Artistic Director Marcus Romer the following morning in a dynamic workshop focussing on the techniques used to create the show. A superb experience for all involved and an opportunity for our students forge links and work with another professional theatre company!

The Maynard Junior School stepped back in time for the day to study the Ancient Egyptians with the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) on 9 February with an exciting ‘Mummification Day’.

Year 6 girls from the school took part in role play and drama, handling artefacts from Egyptian times, and learning about the practices and beliefs of the people of Ancient Egypt, and why tombs were built. At the end of the day, Hope Hamilton (U3P) was ‘mummified’, in a re-enaction of the mummification process!

Steve Smerdon, Head of the Maynard Junior School said, ‘We are delighted to welcome the RAMM to the Junior School, and learn more about the fascinating times of Ancient Egypt from the experts. This wonderful learning opportunity will enrich students’ knowledge and appreciation of other cultures and civilisations.’

The Maynard School officially launched their fantastic new cookbook ‘Mmm…Maynard’, on Thursday 4 February, at Darts Farm, Topsham. Parents, students and staff were invited to the book launch, and enjoyed cookery demonstrations by the Maynard students as well as having the opportunity to sample a selection of the delicious food and drinks from the book.

The cookbook, which is on sale now, is packed full of delicious and nutritious recipes chosen by students and staff, all of which have been enthusiastically tried and tested by the girls in their Food and Nutrition lessons! And the end result is enough to rival some of the other more well known cookbooks on the shelves, with recipes that are simple and easy to follow, yet varied and with very impressive results.

The book has enjoyed sponsorship from a number of local businesses including Jackson-Stops & Staff, Darts Farm, Chandos Deli, Pipers Farm, Gibsons Plaice, E.M. Hills & Sons, Bon Gout Deli, Posh Nosh, Crafty Cakes Ltd, Foot Anstey, Harry’s Grill Bar and Harry’s Restaurant. This has given the local ‘gastronomic’ community an opportunity to be apart of this exciting project.

Sian Fanous, Head of Food and Nutrition, who produced the cookbook, said ‘We are delighted to have created this book as a celebration of the Maynard’s love for food and cooking. We had enormous fun choosing and making the recipes, and I hope that the book will inspire people to get excited about cooking and try out new ideas. The recipes appeal to all ages; I enjoy cooking them as much as my nine year old son!’

As part of the ongoing appeal to raise money for the victims of Haiti, two students had the chance to bid for the job of Headmistress for the day. This fantastic opportunity was won by Emma Watkinson (U3P) and Ciara Hubble (U3N) who produced a very imaginative bid. Their report from the day is detailed below….

As headmistresses for the day we were given plenty of authority. We had to act sensibly and maturely to deal with this: something we were not too keen to do. We soon changed our minds, as we walked the down the corridors in our high heeled shoes. We even managed to confiscate items of non regulation uniform and jewellery. We observed some lessons. Our classmates doing netball was entertaining as everyone including the PE teachers had to respect us. We introduced assembly but even with our planning we exploded into a fit of giggles at the end. We inspected the school, met with the bursar and looked over some accounts, we also had to view and approve some new adverts for the school with the Marketing Department. We had lunch on china plates and had a very efficient PA (Ms Hughes). Fortunately, on our visit to the staff room the teachers were all very well behaved. We realised that at 4.00pm we were very tired and that the job of a headmistress is a tough one.

GCSE Dance Students from St Luke’s Science and Sports College in Exeter visited the Maynard in January to give girls in the Junior School some cheerleading lessons! The juniors had a go at various cheerleading jumps, stunts and routines and even tried the ‘human pyramid’ lift – which is not as easy as it looks!