Fleur de Lys

Housemistress: Sarah Hyman

Sarah Hyman was appointed Fleur de Lys Housemistress from September 2011. She writes: "After leaving school I spent a year in France before completing a four year honours degree in French and Italian. One of the really nice aspects of taking this degree was, of course, that I had to spend time in both countries ... I then spent a wonderful season in Switzerland as a ski company representative before I moved to London to work in the marketing division of Club Med. I took my 'gap year' in my mid twenties, travelling through south-east Asia and Australia. I married in Australia and had two children there whilst my third child was born after we had returned to the UK. My daughter left Hurst this summer and is off to study Modern Languages at university and my two sons are at Hurst, and loving it!

"I joined Hurst in 2005 as a teacher of French and Housemistress in the Prep School, so we have already enjoyed six years at Hurst.  I was privileged to be the first Housemistress of Pelican House, a girls' day house, in 2009.  With Pelican now moving to boarding, I am really looking forward to my new role as Housemistress of Fleur de Lys from this September.  I'm afraid that I will not be able to prevent myself from sharing my love of French with the girls and I'll certainly be encouraging them to develop their language skills, and to take on the challenge and excitement of exchange trips." 

Fleur de Lys became the first-ever girls’ Day House in 2003. It occupies newly created accommodation (2010) on two floors on the southern aspect of the main flint school buildings and is now a full and vibrant Day House.

Shell and Remove girls have their own large study room; each has their own desk and space. Shell, Remove and Fifth Form share a kitchen with microwave and toaster. The Fifth Form have individual or shared studies and the Lower Sixth all have individual studies, along with their own kitchen area.

The Fleur de Lys House Report 2009 - 10

Introduction by Annick Lieutaud (Housemistress until summer 2011)

As you will see from the following reports, Fleur has had a busy year and a very good year. We do have a lot of very talented girls in the house. It is always a pleasure to see them on stage, hear them in concerts, in the choir, seeing their art work, their DT creations and watching them perform on the sports field. I really would like to thank all the girls for their contributions to House life and competitions throughout the year.

I would also like to thank a year group who has shown its loyalty to the house throughout this year, and the years they were in Fleur. When the LVI go to St John’s it is not always easy for them to keep the link with their ‘old house’, not least because of their many new commitments, but I really feel very lucky and also very proud that the former Fleur girls in this year's UVI have always taken an part in all that we have done. They have been the perfect example of dedication, enthusiasm and loyalty and I would like to thank them as they are about to leave the school. So, thank you Sam, Ellie, Amelie, Naomi, Alex, Caroline, Amy, Jo, Louise, India, Larissa, Abi, Kirby and Chloe.  Best of luck to all of you. You don’t need luck, for you have real talent but a little luck, too, won’t do you any harm!

Fleur House Report by Trixie Waggott and Anna Turzynski

Fleur has gone from strength to strength in recent years and this year we have continued to make progress not least by moving into a brand new purpose-built House in the west wing of the outer quad. Academically Fleur has triumphed through the new ‘house point’ system, which rewards both academic endeavour and effort, enabling us to emerge victorious in the Girls’ Day House ‘House-Point’ Cup competition.  Congratulations must go to Elysia Hannaford for winning the most points within the House, an astonishing 31!  Mention must also be made of those who gained over 20 points - Zoe Hayward, Suzi Glew, GeorginaTuerier-Duerden and Annabel Broome. The House also competed in the Inter-House Top House competition. Many thanks to those who were involved, even though we weren’t the ‘Top House’ it was very close. Finally, of course, our thanks to Mme L and to all our House staff. We cannot thank you enough for your support, patience and enthusiasm not just in the good times but also when the going gets tough; that’s when it really counts.

Artistic Fleur by Zoe Hayward

Fleur are an incredibly strong House in terms of Art, with girls from each year constantly producing unique and inspiring pieces.

The work of Shell Art scholar, Roshni Vadgama, has achieved well-deserved acclaim throughout the school; those who have viewed her stunning and realistic land- and city-scapes, including exotic locations such as Tahiti and Singapore,never fail to be amazed by the beauty andsheer artistry of her creations. There are also a number of gifted artists in Remove; the works in portraiture and organic sculpture produced this year by Evie Candler, Flossie Leak, Olivia Dickie and Ella Robinson are widely acknowledged to be excellent and perfectly reflect their different personalities.

Fifth form girls made a considerable contribution to the decorations for the Fleur Ball this year - a fantastic Alice in Wonderland-themed 'Mad Hatter's Tea Party'. They worked long hours in their own time to produce a variety of brilliant rabbits, cards and other amazing props that added enormously to the atmosphere and helped to make a great night for everyone.

Our Sixth form artists have demonstrated awe-inspiring ability and their dedication will no doubt be rewarded on A-level results day. Lower Sixth student Millie Bowles has produced some beautiful fine-art portraiture and abstract paintings this year, and we will miss Louise Mulgrew who leaves us this summer to continue her brilliant career as an artist. Her undeniable talent and famous graffiti wall will ensure that she remains in our memories for many years to come ...

Dramatic and Performing Fleur by Trixie Waggott and Anna Turzynski
This year, one third of our girls have been involved in productions ranging from the Shell’s Shakespearian production to the hilarious French farce ‘Boeing Boeing’.

For this year’s House Drama Competition we were asked to create a modern day response to famous classical myths and legends. Fleur’s entry was based on the Odyssey and it was an impressive piece of theatre (written by former Fleur girl, Alex Heaton) with  Jenna Johnson, Anne Rawlins, Emma Dugard, Alice Kerrigan, Elsa Noad and Elysia Hannaford all acting superbly well.

In addition to our extra- curricular Drama, and the consequence of having some serious theatrical talent within the House, many of our girls have also been assessed on performances for GCSE and A Level productions.

Some students have also been taking LAMDA  lessons this year; the standard in Fleur  ranged from Grade 5  to Grade 7 and our talent was to the fore in the LAMDA Evening in which Elsa Noad, Emma Dugard, Abigail Biggs, Amelia Hammond, Lydia Webb and Trixie Waggott all performed one of their exam pieces. It was an excellent evening of good theatre.

Abigail Biggs, Jordan Jones, Emma Dugard, Amelia Hammond, Alice Kerrigan and Trixie Waggott have also been working on their Dance this year and performed superbly in this year’s Dance Showcase, ‘May I Take Your Order?’

We have developed into a very talented and creative House, a tradition of which we are very proud.

Musical Fleur by Jenna Johnson
‘Talented and creative’ sums up Musical Fleur too. Many of our girls passed their Music Exams with flying colours this year, all the while taking part in concerts and performing within the House. Indeed we came joint 1st (with Shield) in the ‘Solo’s’ stage of the House Music Competition although our “House Shout”, certainly enthusiastic was just as certainly not a winner!

Fleur musicians include violinists, oboists, pianists and singers. Many have taken part in competitions recently and done very well. Corey Wickens won first place in the Advanced Violin category of the Strings Competition and many other members of our Fifth form performed superbly in their classes. Our musical star of the Sixth form, Martha Green, won the Advanced Piano category and the Intermediate Harp category! Other girls’ musical talents have been showcased in the school orchestra and jazz bands, including Sophie Thackray on the saxophone and Jess Black on violin.

Sporting Fleur by Zoe Hayward
This year has been jam packed with sporting activity;  Fleur has a superb selection of talented sportswomen; from horse riding to climbing, Fleur girls can do it all!

First competition of the year is the dreaded House Water Polo, in which Fleur came 3rd out of 4 Girls’ Houses; we fought gallantly but clearly need to spend more time in the pool! House Cross-Country was an event to remember as the entire school braved the cold and ran, walked or skipped the course. Congratulations to Fifth former Genevieve Pounds for being the first senior girl to cross the finish line, closely followed by Remove student Olivia Dickie.

Fleur’s senior and junior House Hockey were very strong teams but playing the larger boarding Houses proved a step too far for us and – despite great enthusiasm and reinforcing our House identity throughout the competition by sporting blue face paint and hair clips – we only managed to come 3rd in the Juniors and 2nd in the Seniors.

Our senior team in the House Netball, however, triumphed! It was particularly impressive that so many volunteered that we were able to put forward both an A and a B team! The last major House event was the House Rounders competition, which as you can imagine is taken very seriously! Fleur seniors triumphed once again although, sadly, the juniors – all of whom, particularly Emma Dugard, had great fun – came 4th. With all of this talent and determination Sports Day is going to be a close call.

As is obvious from the foregoing, Fleur has a fine selection of netballers. Jenna Johnson from the Lower Sixth, plays for U19 Mid Sussex Netball; Suzanne and Katherine Woodlock also play for a Mid Sussex netball team and were joined by Deanna Greenhalgh to compete in the County Qualifiers for the National Netball tournament, in which they came a close 3rd. A new generation of netballers is also making their way to the top, as 3 of our new Shell are members of the Brighton Netball Club. Well done to Amelia Hammond, Emma Dugard and Abigail Biggs.

Fleur has also got a selection of horse riders in every year: Elysia Hannaford in Shell, Ellie Brown in Remove ,Rebecca Bowtell in Fifth form and Zoë  Hayward and Anne Rawlins in the Lower Sixth. Anne has recently started to ride for Ireland on a National Level competing in International competitions around Europe throughout the year, the most recent being Holland. The whole House will be supporting her Olympic dream.

Olivia Dickie in Remove is a dedicated swimmer and competes most weekends. She has recently competed in a regional competition and is now the proud holder of the title County Champion in Back Stroke.

Finally, one member of Fleur’s Fifth Form has been involved in so much sport it is a wonder she is still standing! Genevieve Pounds is a keen climber, participated in every House event, enjoys Athletics and has recently become a member of the Hurst Triathlon team. Undoubtedly Fleur’s Sportswoman of the Year!