A Year of QM STARS

Last year, entirely under her own initiative, Head Monitor Emily (Year IV) founded QM STARS - a monthly newsletter to celebrate the achievements of girls in Years I-III. Packed full of interesting news, interviews, information about girls' roles in the school, special awards, and competitions, the newsletter was an immediate hit!

As the newsletters continued to be published, Emily enlisted the help of fellow students and created the QM STARS team. The team continued to share news of the school and the successes of girls in Years I-III.

Over the course of the year, Emily released five editions of QM STARS, and there is one more to come during Enrichment Week.

Showing incredible initiative and tenacity, Emily has done a fantastic job managing the QM STARS newsletter. She has enriched the QM community by providing activities, giving the girls of Years I-III something to look forward to each month, and highlighting the achievements that may otherwise have gone under the radar.

A fantastic effort - well done Emily!

"Emily has shown incredible determination and ingenuity with QM Stars. Her work ethic is fantastic and I am so impressed that she has managed to create and manage a team, then produce a regular publication celebrating her peers; what a Star herself!

Knowing that Emily wants to be an Entrepreneur, I am so pleased that she has taken the initiative to challenge herself in this way. I can't think of anyone with better Business Acumen and I'm so excited to see what she does next! Well done for using your skills to uplift others, Emily, you will go far."

- Mrs Mary Griffin, Senior Tutor Years IV & V, Director of Drama

"Emily has worked incredibly hard on her newsletter QM Stars and the results have been outstanding! I know I can speak for all the girls in Key Stage Three when I say they have really enjoyed reading every edition.

Emily has incorporated such interesting content including news, articles, special mentions, videos, recipes, competitions and more! It is so lovely that the newsletter celebrates the success of our younger girls and Emily has gone out of her way to congratulate the QM stars.

The hard work and commitment that Emily has shown is quite remarkable, and I have no doubt that she has a very bright future ahead. Watch out Fleet Street I say!

Thank you, Emily and congratulations for producing such a fantastic newsletter."

- Amanda Debenham, Senior Tutor Years I, II and III

In Emily's words

Here's more about QM STARS from Emily.

MY EXPERIENCE

I have absolutely loved doing QM STARS this year: it was an incredible experience and has helped me so much on my entrepreneurial journey.

Everything from staying up really late to get the edition ready to launch, to designing the STAR Award boxes and welcome packs for the writers, to all the product photography, learning how to use Canva software to create the editions and the posters for each competition, and of course, for how to effectively get in touch with the girls and the teachers for news and special mentions. I am very lucky to have been able to do this and to have been allowed to just have a go, do my best, develop my ideas and have fun!

THANK YOU

None of this would have been possible without the assistance of some members of the QM community. A massive thank you to Miss Whittle for allowing me to explore this idea further, Mrs Debenham for always being there to help me book my events and to get in touch for special mentions, Mr Wilkinson for proofreading the editions, all the girls for sending in news and doing articles and write-ups, all the teachers for sending in their special mentions and STAR nominations, and the Monitors and Prefects for sending in your messages.

Finally, a gigantic thank you to the QM STARS team for all your help and creative ideas: thank you Cindy (III) for your beautiful front covers, Harriet (I) for your competition planning and poster designs, and Belle (II), Sophie (II) and LillyRose (III) for all your fantastic articles!

FINAL MESSAGE

And so, my final message to Years I, II, and III is to thank you for being a part of this newsletter. I have absolutely loved hearing all about your news and achievements.

I hope QM STARS made you feel celebrated and that you enjoyed having your very own newsletter. I feel I achieved what I set out to do back in September: to bring something fresh and fun that was tailored to your interests. QM will continue to celebrate all your victories and wins no matter how big or small they are!

But it is not over yet; there is still one final edition coming out during Enrichment Week so keep an eye out in your inboxes…