Session 15 - Awards Ceremony

Session 15 was a lovely morning spent with the girls, their parents and other special guests. The sixth form mentors were all there along with many of the teachers that taught them during their time at SHINE.  The girls wrote their speeches last session and today they stood up and read them beautifully. The girls told their proud families and audience how they had felt when they were chosen for SHINE, what they had learnt in each session and how attending had allowed them to make new friends and grow in confidence.  Mrs Jones, Deputy Head of Merchant Taylors' Girls' School presented each girl with a certificate and Kate Maryon, the children's author and friend of SHINE signed her newest book 'A Sea of Stars' for all the girls to take away with them. 

Miss Ladbrook, Miss Burns and Mrs Coughlan have enjoyed meeting and getting to know all the girls and were a little sad to say goodbye to them at the end of the awards ceremony and we will miss you all.

Session 14 - Saturday 9th May

Session 14 saw the girls preparing for the awards ceremony on 16th May. They discussed everything they had done and all the different things they had learnt in the last 13 sessions and the sixth form helpers Avani, Shikh, Sarah, Holly and Aimee helped the girls to write speeches reflecting on their experiences at SHINE this year. 

Session 13 - Saturday 2nd May - A Religious Journey with a Difference

Mr Wilson led a Religious Studies session on pilgrimages, the girls shared information on places that are special to them, they were encouraged to think about the reasons behind their choices and how it makes them feel.  They learnt about a variety of special places that are important to people of different religions such as The Western wall in Jerusalem and The River Ganges in India. 

Mr Wilson showed them some special Jewish clothes including a prayer shawl and a Kippah and explained the symbolism of each.  They discussed pilgrimages for Muslims, Jews and Christians and looked at Muslim prayer mats and talked about pilgrimages to Mecca and visiting the Kabah.  The girls then played a game Muslim children might play as they make the journey to Mecca, called the Hajj board game and listened to the Muslim story, Hilmy the hippo becomes a hero.  

We all learnt lots about pilgrimages and even got a chocolate cookie as a gift from Mr Wilson. Thank you so much for a great morning Mr Wilson.