Exeter Ladies’ Night Walk – Join us for a girl’s night out with a difference!

If you are 16 or over on 17th April and would like to do the walk to raise money for the Exeter Leukaemia Fund and MacMillan Cancer Support , please fill in the online application form during the next week, ticking the 8-9pm box so that we can all start together and put ‘The Maynard’ as the group name. You can do this by going to www.exeternightwalk.com

Please also email Mrs Smart francescasmart@maynard.co.uk as soon as possible to notify her you have joined so that we know who is in the Maynard team and can order special Maynard balloons to carry with us.

Female relations and friends are very welcome to join the team. Please ask them to email Mrs Smart so they can have balloons too!

We hope you can make it!

National Archives Upper 6th History group spent a day at the National Archives in Kew researching into original historical documents for their A level History coursework.

Eight Lower 6th students spent the day at County Hall Exeter on March 10th debating in the South West Regional Forum of the European Youth Parliament with teams from seven other 6th forms. The Maynard team formed the committee on Foreign Affairs and proposed a motion on greater EU intervention in Afghanistan.

19 History A level students spent four action packed days in Berlin over half term visiting historical sites in and around Berlin in the deep snow.

Congratulations to the U11 Netball team who finished joint first in their end of season Netball Tournament. This is a fantastic achievement for the girls. There were 10 schools involved so a brilliant result and very well deserved.

Congratulations to Yasmin Hodge-England who was nominated to attend the South West Regional Netball Screening on the 14th of December. During the screening she was talent spotted and invited to attend the South and South West Regional Weekend in January. After a day trialling in Bath and making it through to a weekend screening, Yasmin was asked to join the Regional Excel Academy. Yasmin is now coached by Jo Binns (former England player, current member of Team Bath and Old Maynardian!)

Yasmin is extremely dedicated to her sport, training in Exeter once a month with Jo Binns for the Excel Academy. Yasmin also trains twice a month at the Talent and Performance Centre in Plymouth with local talented coaches including Regional Development Coach Denise Ellis. In addition to this Yasmin trains for the U14 and U19 teams at Exeter Netball Club twice weekly combined with training at school on a weekly basis. She also takes part in matches for Exeter Netball Club every Saturday morning and participates in U16 regional matches on various Sundays.

We are all very proud of Yasmin and her incredible devotion to Netball. Congratulations!

Rachael Miller – PE Department

The Maynard School, Exeter “is a happy school, in which pupils are encouraged to become successful and confident independent young women” according to Independent Schools Inspectors.

The Maynard was inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) last month, under a new inspection framework, and has been judged as ‘Excellent’ in the quality of pupils’ achievements and learning, their personal development and the leadership of the school. The inspectors recognised confident, enthusiastic and highly motivated girls: “Pupils enjoy their learning and are able to work effectively both independently and with others. Girls of all ages aim high and work hard to achieve their goals. They act on advice and are keen to succeed.” Teaching was described as having some “outstanding features” with the report going on to say that “The good teaching encourages pupils to behave responsibly and enjoy their learning”.

The Sixth Form was praised, with the report acknowledging that “A very high percentage of pupils are successful in gaining places to their first choice universities, including Oxbridge”, while the school’s excellent public examination results were also recognised; “Results in GCSE examinations over the last three years have been excellent when compared with the average for girls in maintained selective schools. The pupils’ performance in A-level examinations has been high when compared with the average for girls in maintained selective schools”.

The ISI inspects schools according to a standard framework for inspection which it has laid down for the purposes of ensuring that standards are maintained and that the school complies with relevant legal requirements. The framework has been agreed with the DCSF and they have recognised the ISI as the body responsible for the regular inspection of Independent schools in England.

Headmistress Bee Hughes said ‘We are thrilled and delighted to be judged as ‘Excellent’ in so many of the findings. The new inspection framework is rigorous, burdensome and certainly challenging. In the light of The Maynard being one of only 22 schools in the country undergoing the inspection under the new framework, we are particularly pleased with the outcomes. The Maynard has outstanding staff who enable young women to meet challenges with confidence and reach their full potential. We shall continue to offer an excellent experience in every respect for all our students.’

The full report is available to download from The Maynard School website www.maynard.co.uk or from the ISI website www.isi.net.

On March 11th Upper 4 Students at the Maynard School took part in the BBC News School Report. This exciting project gave the students a chance to make their own news report broadcast for a real audience. The day started with a briefing and then the girls went off to find out the day’s breaking stories. The girls had only a short period of time to decide on what the top stories of the day were and which ones they were going to report on.

Once the editorial team, had decided on the stories to be included in the 2pm News Broadcast, the girls got to work on writing their reports and scripts for the broadcast. Once finished, the girls then set to work preparing the four presenters for their debut News broadcast. At 2pm the four presenters delivered their news report to the rest of the group. The finished broadcast and new stories produced during the day can be found at www.schoolreport.maynard.co.uk.

The BBC News School Report is an annual project involving thousands of students in hundreds of UK schools. 11 to 14-year-olds train as journalists with the help of the BBC and partners with pupils choosing the stories and broadcasting them for real each March on News Day.

Our brand new bears wearing their smart new jumpers have arrived at the Maynard and are all looking for new homes. They make perfect presents too!

Available from the school reception, the bears are priced at £8.00 each – Bearilliant!