Maths Student of the Week

Tess 9R – Great work in lessons and very helpful too. Well done!

Mary Page Marlowe

A few weeks ago, a group of year 10s and I had the privilege of watching the play, Mary Page Marlowe at the Old Vic Theatre, as part of the Old Vic’s Schools Club.

Before we went on this trip, we took part in a workshop on directing, learning about things like different theatre types and how each one can provide its own obstacle. The Old Vic Theatre, for example, is set in the round (the audience surrounds the stage), so we had to find a way to ensure that every audience member saw something at all times. To do this, we received scenes from the play Mary Page Marlowe and got the chance to work in small groups, taking turns directing and figuring out how we would set our scene. Then, we got paired with a different group, and we had the challenge of fitting together our separate scenes – set at different times in Mary Page’s life. At the end of the workshop, we did a showing, where everyone sat in a circle (to create the round) and we each performed our scenes. The workshop provided us all much insight on the complexities of how much directors have to think about when bringing a piece of theatre to life, and ways around every difficulty they may face.

The week after our workshop, we travelled to the Old Vic Theatre to watch the show we had practised directing parts of, Mary Page Marlowe. The play followed a woman in America, named Mary Page Marlowe, throughout her life – although it wasn’t in chronological order, and opened with her midlife. Because the play was constantly jumping forwards and backwards in time, five different actresses played Mary Page (interestingly, many of them were part of a Matilda at some point). In all, Mary Page Marlowe was very good, every actor was so talented, and it left us asking questions as we left the theatre, in the middle of a torrential downpour – with most of us not having coats.

Thank you to the Old Vic Theatre and Ms E-P for organising this trip and workshop (and the few more to come).

Delphia 10C

Innovate UK Women Purple Plaque Award – Sabrina Del Prete  

On the 16 September, the sixth form held a ceremony to present the founder and CEO of the fintech company Kore Labs, Sabrina Del Prete, with the prestigious Innovate UK Women Purple Plaque to recognise and celebrate her outstanding contributions to the STEM industry.

Innovate UK introduced the Purple Plaques campaign in 2019, to inspire more girls to follow in the footsteps of the Innovate UK Women in Innovation. The award was presented by Veronique Rapetti (Innovation & Growth Specialist for the

Innovate UK Business Growth Team) and this was followed by a Q&A session with Sabrina hosted by Shelley Doorey-Williams who is the Chief Executive of The London Foundation for Banking and Finance.

Award winners, like Sabrina, are inspiring more girls into STEM careers by working collaboratively with schools. Sabrina herself spoke in a sixth form assembly about her long career in the world of Finance, underlining her own personal commitment to facilitating more women into the hitherto primarily male Stem professions.

Sabrina Del Prete is the founder and CEO of Kore Labs, bringing over 30 years of financial markets experience to transform how banks manage their products. After holding global leadership positions at JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, and Coutts, Sabrina took an unconventional path to entrepreneurship, starting Kore Labs at age 50 with a vision to reconnect financial services with its social purpose. Her achievements also include inclusion in the Women in FinTech Powerlist for four consecutive years, winning the 2023 EISA Entrepreneur of the Year award, and securing four Innovate UK grants.

Sabrina’s acceptance speech:

I am deeply honoured to receive this Purple Plaque, and especially proud to see it placed here at Camden School for Girls. CSG was founded in 1871 by Frances Mary Buss, a pioneer in women’s education. Since then, it has built a tradition of championing academic excellence and equality of opportunity.

For over 150 years, it has nurtured generations of young women – and more recently, young men – encouraging them to think critically, act with integrity, and pursue their ambitions without limits.

My own children studied here, so I have seen first-hand the values this school instils – not just achievement, but curiosity, compassion and courage.

For those of you who may not know me, I came to this country when I was a little older than the students in this room. I spent over 25 years as an international banker before founding my own financial technology company. My career has taken many turns, and it still surprises me where it has led.

It means a great deal to be part of the Camden School community and to have this recognition displayed here, in a place that continues to shape the future by forming the next generation of scientists, innovators and leaders.

Before I close, a few words just for the students.

One of the most important learnings I hope you take from this school is a sense that you are entering a stage of life where your choices start to carry real weight. What you study next, who you trust, how you treat yourself – these decisions will shape not only your future, but also that of your community and of your generation as a whole. That will feel overwhelming at times. So, I want to share two hard-earned lessons.

First, do not let anyone tell you what is or isn’t possible. If you are told to choose between what you love and what is sensible – challenge it. You might have to compromise, adjust your plans, or take the long route – but it is always worth it. I am proof of that: I became an entrepreneur at 50, and it has been the most rewarding chapter of my career.

Second, it is OK to make mistakes. At your age, I often felt that every choice was a test I could fail. Over time, I learnt that decisions are less about getting everything right and more about what you do when you get it wrong. I call it damage limitation: it’s my secret sauce. Recognising when things go wrong, putting them right where you can, and moving forward with humility.

I hope you leave this room today not just with greater pride in your school, but with a little more confidence in yourselves. You do not need to have it all figured out – but you do need to pay attention to your choices, take responsibility, and be ready to exercise damage limitation.

Thank you to the students, the staff, the parents, and to Innovate UK for this honour.

 

Sabrina also very kindly offered (and is happy to continue to do so) work experience to two of our own students, Leanna and Louise:

During our four-day work experience at Kore Labs, we were introduced to the world of financial technology and the company’s innovative approach to managing digital products through their own platform: KorePRM. Working as part of a small cohort of seven students from different schools, we attended a series of insightful presentations from staff across different departments, which gave us a deeper understanding of how fintech is transforming the world of finance and how KoreLabs operates within the industry. One of the highlights was meeting Sabrina Del Prete, Kore’s multi-award-winning CEO and founder, who shared her inspiring journey as a female leader in finance. To conclude the experience, we collaborated on a mock company pitch, presenting the company’s own digital product to the team, an exciting challenge that helped us apply what we had learnt and develop our confidence and teamwork skills.

It was a memorable evening attended by staff, parents and students and Sabrina’s Purple Plaque now sits proudly in the Sixth Form foyer.

Get Britain Reading – Join the National Reading Pledge

The Times and Sunday Times have launched a national Get Britain Reading campaign to inspire families to rediscover the joy of reading — and we’d love our school community to take part.

The campaign invites everyone to pledge to read for just 10 minutes a day for six weeks. It’s a simple goal, but research shows that even a few minutes of daily reading can make a big difference: improving concentration, empathy, vocabulary, and wellbeing.

Famous authors — including Michael Morpurgo, Malorie Blackman, and Jacqueline Wilson — have shared the books that first made them fall in love with reading, and they’re encouraging families to help young people do the same.

Reading for pleasure is one of the strongest indicators of future academic success, and it doesn’t matter what you read — a novel, a comic, or even an article together at bedtime. What matters is making reading a regular part of everyday life.

We’re encouraging our community to join the national pledge and make reading together part of your daily routine.
Sign the pledge and find out more here.

Let’s help make Britain — and our school — a community of readers!