Welcome from Jo Duncan | Thursday 3 February 2022
Happy New Year to those parents who are celebrating the new lunar year. This year is the Year of the Tiger which is said to bring confidence, strength and bravery. These are three traits I often see in our pupils and as we see the start of exam season approaching, it is these qualities that will see them through the next few weeks.
As ever, we have much to look forward to over the coming weeks and I hope that you are able to join us as we continue to celebrate our 125th anniversary year.
You can find the full events’ programme here
On Thursday 10 February, we are holding a celebratory concert at St Mary’s Church, Marylebone featuring the world premiere of our newly commissioned School anthem, O Be Joyful, composed by Becky McGlade and performed by the Chapel Choir. We will also see pieces performed by the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, Sinfonia and a group of Clarence pupils performing solo concerto movements. It promises to be an excellent evening of celebrating the wonderful musical talent we have at Wycombe Abbey and I am very much looking forward to hearing all the pieces that the girls have been working so hard on. When we return from Long Leave, we will be holding the next event in our 125 Speaker Series on Friday 25 February. Baroness Helena Morrissey will be joining us to discuss her extensive career and ideas from her recent book, A Good Time to be a Girl. Baroness Helena is the former CEO of Newton Investment Management and a mother to nine children. She has been listed by Fortune magazine as one of the world’s 50 greatest leaders. Parents are welcome to attend the talk which will begin at 18:45, please click below to book tickets.
Book tickets for the 125 Speaker Series with Baroness Helena Morrissey
As many of you will be aware, we are now roughly at the mid-point of the higher education application cycle for 2021-2022. I am pleased to report that there has already been much success, with offers from a range of world-class institutions. In addition to 27 Oxbridge offers, our girls have received offers from Durham University, the University of Edinburgh, King’s College London, the London School of Economics, University College London, and the University of Warwick. Medicine has been a particularly popular course this year and many girls have been diligently preparing for and undertaking interviews in recent weeks. We are optimistic for positive outcomes in due course. Those who applied to the US in the Early Cycle have also received very strong offers including from the California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, New York University, Princeton University, Tufts University, and Vassar College. Read more from our Director of Sixth Form here. The Sixth Form Team have worked tirelessly to support the girls with their applications and will continue to support them, alongside other staff, in their remaining months at School.
In November 2021, we asked parents to complete a survey about our Health and Wellbeing Centre and our medical provision. Thank you to those who participated; it has been hugely helpful as we conduct a review of our current services. The review is ongoing and I will inform pupils and parents once it is complete.
It may seem a while away, but plans are already in hand for our 125 Dove Day which will take place on Saturday 25 June 2022. Please save the date in your diaries as I am confident it will be a wonderful combination of old traditions and new surprises as the final event of the School’s 125th anniversary year. After two years of disruption, it will be wonderful to have pupils, parents and staff gathering in the usual way.
Best wishes,
Jo Duncan MA (St Andrews), PGCE (Cantab)
Headmistress