Ambition, Enthusiasm and Independence


Queen Margaret’s is the place where girls aim high and exceed their expectations.


Located just south of the ancient city of York in acres of countryside, QM is a leading boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 years old.

Girls are challenged to academic success, given individual pastoral care and provided with a wealth of enrichment opportunities through clubs, societies, sports and cultural activities. Each week is full of learning experiences and each weekend provides a wealth of choices to develop the girls’ talents and reward their enthusiasm.

QM girls are encouraged to develop new skills, question assumptions, investigate with fresh eyes and take intellectual risks. They are mindful of the world around them and part of a caring community.

Personal and collective success, spiritual and social awareness, growth in confidence and independence are the hallmarks of a girl’s time at QM.

I encourage you to visit Escrick Park and meet for yourself the ambitious, courteous and talented young women we are proud to educate.

The next Open Day will be held on Saturday 24 April 2010. For further information, please contact the school: enquiries@queenmargarets.com

With best wishes

Paul Silverwood
Headmaster

With the deadline for university applications now past, I am very pleased to report on the number of excellent offers being received by the girls in the Upper Sixth. It is great for their confidence to receive the recognition for their hard work and determination. The last couple of years of academic lessons, private study, public examinations and extra-curricular involvement have paid off. We look forward to hearing about lots more successes in the weeks ahead.

For some people, thinking about the future is scary. They want security in their journey through life. Perhaps they are scared about important exams and decisions that have to be made about what courses to study and where to work

The truth is, life is incredibly precious, exciting and unpredictable. What do you want to happen this year in your life? This year, as we launch out into the known and unknown in 2010 and beyond, think about what launching out may mean for you personally. There may be some exciting and wonderful surprises in store for you. I suggest four things you might consider:

(1) Take risks and be more adventurous

Is there anything that’s worth taking a risk to achieve? This might mean working harder to get a higher grade than your teachers expect, and surprising them and your family and even yourself! Taking a risk may mean breaking a destructive which hurts others. Taking a risk may mean confronting old fears and discovering the amazing rewards on the other side of them. Loving others involves risk-taking: the risk of being vulnerable.

(2) Set yourself goals

Establish a plan to reach a goal and tell someone what you want to achieve

(3) Look in the mirror

Ask yourself what sort of person you want to be over the coming year. Are you able to respect what you are becoming?

(4) Devote your life to something greater than yourself

You may not be a ‘secret millionaire’, but you can still make a positive difference, helping people in your school and wider community.

A new year is a new beginning, a gift full of promise. How many of you made New Year’s resolutions? How many of you are still keeping them?

Paul Silverwood
Headmaster

The Spring Term has got off to a flying start at QM, despite the persistent snow showers and icy conditions.  It was great to see everyone return last week and we are all wrapping up well for the Norwegian winter conditions.

We welcome a number of members of staff: Miss Cassandra Thackray joins us from The Mount School, York, to be Assistant Housemistress in the Upper School.  Mrs Susan Sykes joins us from Gloucester College, where she was Head of Pupil Support, having previously run residential educational programmes, to be a Housemistress in the Middle School. Both Miss Thackray and Mrs Sykes have Art & Design degrees, which I am sure they will put to good use very quickly… we welcome them both.

Mrs Sue Pickering is now to be found in Red House as Housemistress to Year I, where she will be assisted by Mrs Simpson and Miss Danielle Di Carlo, who is probably wondering what she was thinking when she got on the plane in Melbourne as 2009 became 2010. Our second GAP assistant for 2010 from St Margaret’s in Melbourne is Miss Sophie Kneebone, who joins Miss Julie Hogg and Miss Sarah Di Carlo in Year II.

We are also very please to welcome the new girls to the school. We wish them every happiness and success at QM.

I am pleased to announce that, following the interviews at the end of last term, Mrs Carole Cameron has accepted the offer to become Deputy Head from September, when Mrs King retires. Mrs Cameron is currently Headmistress of Highfield School (the Prep School to Harrogate Ladies’ College), having previously been Head of Economics and Geography in the Senior School and held the post of Deputy Head at a number of other schools, in the UK and the Caribbean. We look forward to her visiting QM to meet more girls and their parents later this academic year.

Following Mrs Lawson’s move to Australia at Christmas, Miss Proctor will now assume the role of Head of Boarding in the Upper, Middle and Lower schools. So she will be around all the boarding houses over the coming months.

The Spring Term is not as long as the Autumn Term, but will be just as busy. I wish all those involved in examinations the very best of results. Alongside all the exams, lessons, rehearsals, concerts, shows, practices, matches and special events, we will be finding time to review a number of important aspects of school life. Through direct consultation and through School Council representatives, the girls will be asked for their opinions about:
 

• The timings of the school day
• Reports
• The Role of the  Form Tutor
• Our Boarding provision, particularly in Years II, III & IV
• Weekend Activities
• Academic Lessons
• Private Study Time
• Information & Digital Technology
• Sustainability

I want Queen Margaret’s to a Centre of Excellence in every field and for us to be proud of what we have to offer. I hope that all the girls enjoy the Spring Term here and want to tell their friends at other schools about everything they are missing out on!

Paul Silverwood

Headmaster

• PFA Drinks Party – Years I – IV (1 November)
• Lunchtime Concert (20 November)
  
• Sports Fixtures (various)
  
• ‘Saint Joan’ (3 – 5 December)
  
• Carols at Red House – Year I (6 December)
  
• Christmas Concert (14 December)
  
• Carol Service (16 December)