A whole school Open Morning takes place at 10.30am on Saturday 17th May. This also coincides with the first day of our Junior Inter Schools' One Day Event. You are welcome to tour the school and have lunch with the Headmistress and school staff. For your personal invitation please contact Karen Ibbott on 01225 701741 or email: admissions@stonarschool.com

Two former Stonar pupils and top event riders, Lucy Wiegersma and Georgie Spence, both enjoyed great success at the 2008 Badminton Horse Trials.
 
Lucy and her horse Shaabrak finished in 2nd place with just 1.4 points separating her from winner Nicolas Touzaint of France. Both had a clear round with a handful of time faults cross-country on the second day and it was only in the show jumping on the last day that the final placings were decided.
 
The youngest competitor at this year’s Badminton was 19-year-old Georgie Spence. She and her ride Running Brook finished in a very creditable 30th position, having gone clear cross country with just 10 time penalties.
 
Georgie and Running Brook, who also goes by the stable name of George, are based near Chippenham. It was the first time at Badminton for both of them. Whilst at Stonar, Georgie’s first love was show jumping but she was eventually persuaded by Jill Storey, Stonar’s Director of Riding to take up eventing.
 
“While at Stonar, the school asked me to do the Inter Schools One Day Event and I only had my show jumping pony, Darraks Tonto, (who is now ridden by Lottie Kennedy). She took to eventing like a duck to water and within 12 months I was selected as non-travelling reserve for the 2004 European Pony Team. I suppose I was just bitten by the eventing bug,” said Georgie, who won a team gold medal at the Young Rider European Championships in 2007.
 

Stonar has entered competition to design, build and fly a girl-powered aeroplane.
 
Forty one girls aged from 11 – 17 will be putting together a novel design of their own, with a target date for the first flight of July 2008, as part of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) Kremer Competition.
 
The competition is intended to encourage young people in the UK to build simple Human Powered Aircraft and to fly these as an educational tool to foster interest in aeronautical engineering and energy efficient vehicles. The prize of £1,000 and a trophy will be awarded annually to the team whose aircraft flies for the longest duration.
 
Expert help has been enlisted, including aeronautical wing designers and a test pilot or two, to give the project the best chance of success in this unknown area – no girl-powered aircraft has ever been built before. The girls themselves are the leaders and managers of the project’s various teams. The plane is likely to be a carbon fibre and foam biplane, with the maximum 18 metre wingspan. Pedal power from the pilot(s) – there may be multiple crew – will drive a 3 metre propeller. The first flight is likely to be of around a minute’s duration, at a speed of around 15 miles per hour and a height of 2 metres.
 
With 2008 being the 100th anniversary of powered flight in the UK, this will be a fitting year for achieving another British aviation first. At Stonar School we look forward to celebrating Those Magnificent Women in their Flying Machine.

"Stonar offers each individual child excellent academic provision", a diverse extra-curricular programme and an excellent quality of pastoral care throughout the school, according to Independent School Inspectors in their recently published report.
 
The report goes on to praise the wide curriculum and diversity of experience provided by the school; the strength of pupils’ moral and social development across all ages; the excellent partnership developed with the school’s parents and local community, and the very important contribution made by the quality of boarding to the girls’ progress and personal development.
 
The high quality of leadership and management throughout the school is credited with promoting a very strong and clear sense of purpose and educational direction, whilst helping Stonar to adapt to a period of rapid and significant change.
 
“The Inspectors were very pleased with all that they saw and it is clear from the report that our staff are doing a wonderful job by providing children with an excellent all-round education”, said Headmistress Mrs Shirley Shayler, who was delighted with the findings.
 
The report emphasised the strength of learning support at Stonar and the fact that those receiving it achieve good standards in relation to their ability. It also recognises that more able pupils are frequently provided with opportunities and challenges to extend their learning.
 
“As with any inspection, there are issues for the school to attend to and I am pleased to say that these are already being addressed“, said Mrs Shayler “but it was wonderful to see highlighted what fantastic pupils we have here at Stonar” referring to the report’s conclusion that “Pupils mature into thoughtful, courteous individuals who are a credit to themselves and to the school”.