Southend High School for Girls Termly Newsletter Highlights Summer 2016 Issue 16 Southchurch Boulevard Southend-on-Sea Essex SS2 4UZ Phone: 01702 588852 Fax: 01702 587181 E-mail: [email protected]www.shsg.org Southend High School for Girls An Academy Grammar School Primary Outreach 2 National Athletics Champions! History Trip to Berlin Emoji Competition Linguists visit Cambridge 3 AS & A2 Art Private View GCSE in One Year Year 9 Silver Arts Award 4 Year 7 Flexible Friday Science Faraday Challenge Day 5 Junior UKMT Maths Challenge Bournes Green Primary Visit Cambridge Choral Experience Drama Curriculum Day 6 Student Investor Challenge Black Forest Trip Well done Olivia 7 Head Teacher’s Message 8 Inside this issue: Reading is the Best Form of Magic! In the English Department at SHSG we have always known that reading is the way into another world of magic and adventure and now it’s official! On June 24 th the whole of Year 7 and some Year 5 visitors and their teachers from Hamstel, Greenways and Temple Sutton Primary Schools proved it by taking part in an attempt at the World’s Largest Reading Lesson in celebration of National Book Day. The current record was set in 2015 and stands at 3,509. This year we are hoping to smash this record as over 75 schools participated nationally with a minimum of 100 students in each. At SHSG over 200 students in total participated and the World Record attempt was officially witnessed and verified for The Guinness Book of World Records by some lovely visitors from The Evening Echo and our local Waterstone’s book store. The book which was chosen for the reading was Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, a firm favourite with children and adults alike. Older students, many from our own Harry Potter Society, helped the event to go smoothly and some students (and teachers!) dressed the part as wizards and even Harry Potter himself. The reading was delivered exceptionally well by Mr Andrews and a small team of current Year 8 students, Marian, Iliana and Alice. Many students and teachers brought their own copies of the book into school and read along while others just listened, truly enchanted by the story and beautiful way in which it was being read. With the help of Mrs Wakeman, a keen Harry Potter fan, we even had the stage decked out as Hogwarts, Harry’s school and the students entered the Hall to the theme music from the films. It really was a sight to behold with so many young people in one place engrossed in a book at the same time. Everyone had an amazing experience and it was incredible to be part of something so wonderful. And in the words of some of the students themselves: “The readers were very, very good.” Scarlett “I liked the fact that everyone was in character.” Tess “I loved the decorations and music and it made me feel like I was part of the actual book.” Anneliese It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to break a world record and at SHSG we have been really lucky to do so! Mrs Hathaway, Director of Faculty, Communications Most Successful Girls’ School in the National Athletics Final EVER! A very proud day for the PE department at SHSG. Southend Girls now hold 18 national track and field cup titles making them the most successful girls’ school in this competition and they are now equal with SHSB who also hold 18 titles. Read more on page 3. Southend High School for Girls Intermediate Athlecs Team
Reading is the Best Form of Magic! In the English Department at SHSG we have always known that reading is the way into another world of magic and adventure and now it’s official! On June 24th the whole of Year 7 and some Year 5 visitors and their teachers from Hamstel, Greenways and Temple Sutton Primary Schools proved it by taking part in an attempt at the World’s Largest Reading Lesson in celebration of National Book Day. The current record was set in 2015 and stands at 3,509. This year we are hoping to smash this record as over 75 schools participated nationally with a minimum of 100 students in each. At SHSG over 200 students in total participated and the World Record attempt was officially witnessed and verified for The Guinness Book of World Records by some lovely visitors from The Evening Echo and our local Waterstone’s book store. The book which was chosen for the reading was Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, a firm favourite with children and adults alike. Older students, many from our own Harry Potter Society, helped the event to go smoothly and some students (and teachers!) dressed the part as wizards and even Harry Potter himself. The reading was delivered exceptionally well by Mr Andrews and a small team of current Year 8 students, Marian, Iliana and Alice. Many students and teachers brought their own copies of the book into school and read along while others just listened, truly enchanted by the story and beautiful way in which it was being read. With the help of Mrs Wakeman, a keen Harry Potter fan, we even had the stage decked out as Hogwarts, Harry’s school and the students entered the Hall to the theme music from the films. It really was a sight to behold with so many young people in one place engrossed in a book at the same time. Everyone had an amazing experience and it was incredible to be part of something so wonderful. And in the words of some of the students themselves: “The readers were very, very good.” Scarlett “I liked the fact that everyone was in character.” Tess “I loved the decorations and music and it made me feel like I was part of the actual book.” Anneliese It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to break a world record and at SHSG we have been really lucky to do so! Mrs Hathaway, Director of Faculty, Communications
Most Successful Girls’ School in the National Athletics Final EVER!
A very proud day for the PE department at SHSG. Southend Girls now hold 18 national track and field cup titles making them the most successful girls’ school in this competition and they are now equal with SHSB who also hold 18 titles. Read more on page 3.
Southend High School for Girls Intermediate Athletics Team
Page 2 Highlights
Our September 2016 intake will see a significant increase in pupils joining us from our priority area. We continue to open our doors to local Primary school pupils to give them an insight into the school and to encourage their ambitions. Our events this year have been particularly well-attended. We started the year with our popular Africa Day in January which was attended by approximately 150 local pupils. They enjoyed a fantastic day of Art, English, History and Geography, all centred on the theme of Africa. From creating African masks to learning about the history of colonialism, the day was enriching and enjoyable. Some took so much delight in it that they didn’t want to leave, exclaiming, “When can we come back?”.
Creating African masks with Mr Cannon Sorting historical cards with Mr Boney
Following the success of Africa day, we set to work organising Science day. The day was to coincide with Tim Peake’s homecoming, so a Space themed event seemed particularly fitting. The girls had a series of tasks to complete, including analysing space rock, finding water bears and creating their own rockets. Upon completion of each stage, the girls were presented with a sticker which they eventually exchanged for a certificate. Mission complete! Using a Bunsen burner to test space rock Finding water bears under the microscope
In preparation for the 11+ examination in September, we have also run – and extended – our 11+ familiarisation sessions this year. They have been exceptionally well-attended; we have been able to accommodate 120 Year 5 pupils to four sessions, split between English and Maths. We took the opportunity to meet with parents too to explain a little more about the 11+ examination and day itself. The information we provided can be found under the 11+ Familiarisation tab on our website. As well as events in school, we’ve attended a couple of High School Showcase evenings at Primary schools. These events provide a chance for parents of Year 4 and 5 children to speak to school representatives and ex-pupils of the Primary school. It’s also great for the girls to catch up with their old teachers, as Madeleine and Alex did with their previous Headteacher at Earls Hall Primary. Many of our outreach days are held on Saturdays and both staff and students give up a tremendous amount of their own time to help, for which we are very grateful. We now set to work on next year’s programme and look forward to working with our local Primary schools more. Mrs Osborn Learning Manager, Year 7 Madeleine and Alex (both 7C)
Primary Outreach at SHSG
Page 3
At the beginning of July junior and intermediate girls’ athletics teams competed in the national final of the Schools’ Athletics Cup. The final was held at the Bedford International Stadium and for once this season the weather was actually dry! The intermediate girls scored a massive 508 points. This is the highest points score ever to be recorded in the 37 years of the event. This meant that the team beat Millfield School by just 3 points to be crowned intermediate girls’ national champions. It was an incredibly tight competition between both schools all day and it came down to the final event of the day, the relay, to decide who finally took the honours. SHSG did enough and edged into the lead by those 3 crucial points. The junior girls had awesome performances on the track far exceeding their expected targets and this gave them a 29 point lead going into the field competition. The field events as usual saw a few of the athletes feel the pressure of the whole event and some of them lost their form. However, at the end of the day the juniors took the title scoring 444 points with Bedford Girls in second place with 435 points. The girls in the green vests were truly fantastic. They worked together as a team, supporting each other throughout the whole day, They gave everything that they had and achieved the results that they were fully deserving of. A very proud day for the PE department at SHSG. Southend Girls now hold 18 national track and field cup titles making them the most successful girls’ school in this competition and they are now equal with SHSB who also hold 18 titles. An incredible achievement by Southend Girls and Boys in a National competition. Mrs Simpson, Head of PE
As part of our commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the English Department ran an ‘Emoji Shakespeare’ competition for which students were challenged to translate a line of Shakespeare’s verse into emoji. We were overwhelmed by the imagination and ingenuity with which students undertook this challenge, and it was a real challenge for us to choose the two best from the huge number of entries we received. However, we think we chose two worthy winners, who will receive a small selection of Shakespeare’s plays as a prize. Samantha, Year 11
“The lady doth protest too much.”
Kayleigh, Year 8
“If music be the food of love, play on.”
Emoji Shakespeare Competition
National Athletics Champions
On the 11th to the 13th June 2016 fifty students travelled to Berlin to deepen their understanding of the city’s Nazi and Cold War past. They were able to connect the events they have learned about during their GCSE studies with the actual places where they happened, such as the Reichstag building, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Olympic Stadium. With the help of two fantastic guides, they were also able to experience other important sights of Nazi oppression, such as Sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial site and the Bendler Block, where the Operation Valkyrie plot against Hitler was organised (made famous in the recent film starring Tom Cruise). There was also some time for sightseeing and some shopping at Potsdamer Platz and Alexanderplatz, which included trying out Berlin’s most popular fast food – sausage with ketchup and curry powder! Mr Scivyer, History Teacher
Year 10 History Trip to Berlin
Linguists visit Cambridge
Ten Year 10 talented linguists were invited to attend a conference at Cambridge to encourage them to consider studying languages for A-Level and then to degree level. The girls attended three university style lectures, one in a language they are studying at GCSE and two new languages, ranging from Arabic to Russian and Portuguese.
SHSG’s Junior Athletics Team
Students successfully completed the new AS qualification and the resulting artwork was displayed and admired at the annual Private View in June. A2 students also exhibited their work at the Private View.
Highlights Page 4 AS and A2 Art Private View
Year 10 students completed a new GCSE – Critical & Contextual Studies in Art – in just one year. This was extra-curricular, and they worked during the Summer Break of 2015 and throughout this school year with very good results. This GCSE aims to improve artistic skills, expand creativity, imagination and independence by evaluating art, craft or design in the context of its time and audience.
Year 10 students complete GCSE in one year
Students have been involved with the Rivers of the World Project and a banner featuring their artwork will be displayed on the South Bank in London later in the year. Rivers of the World is the flagship art and education project of The Thames Festival Trust delivered in partnership with the British Council. If offers participating schools a range of opportunities and resources to learn about rivers and local and global issues. This year, students from the UK have been partnered with students from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, The Philippines and Taiwan (www.riversoftheworld.org).
Year 9 Silver Arts Award
AS Artwork displayed at exhibition By Faye, Year 12
With science being one of my favourite subjects, I had been looking forward to this day for a while and couldn’t wait to get stuck in with investigating crime scenes. On the day of the Flexible Friday, my form participated in ‘The remarkable physics of a speeding bullet’, in which we fired nerf guns to determine the velocity and speed of the bullet using mathematical calculations. Then we studied forensic toxicology. This has to have been my favourite of the sessions as we looked at how to identify poisons, alcohol and drugs, as well as how criminals disguise these substances. We also got to look at some real case files and determine whether it was suicide, homicide, accidental or a natural death. In period 3 we got to venture into a crime scene where we performed grid searches for relevant evidence and put it in tamper proof evidence bags. During the ‘CSI’ session we covered different forensic techniques such as: pathology, anthropology and fingerprinting. After lunch we looked at forensic anthropology. In the hour, we pieced together a human skeleton (plastic) and held real Roman skulls, teeth and jaws. I was a bit creeped out holding a real skull and a tooth that someone once chewed on but I braved my fear and held them… I’m so glad I did! It’s not every day you get to hold a real skull! Finally we did fingerprinting. We learnt how to identify hooks, scars whorls and more patterns within the fingerprints. We then got the ink out and had a go ourselves on actual FBI documents. All in all it was a great day with really good hands on experience… I loved it! Thank you to the science staff who organised it… it couldn’t have gone better. Chiana The day was absolutely brilliant, I learnt so much and had fun with my friends at the same time. The activities were amazing as we were involved with everything, I even held a real Roman skull. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm so glad I took it. The visitors had an answer to every question I asked and now I can take all my knowledge home and investigate my own house. I am really glad I was given the chance to experience this and can't wait to make my own mini crime scene.
Elyce
Highlights Page 5 Year 7 Flexible Friday Science
Six outstanding Science and IT students from Year 7 competed in the 2015-16 season of Faraday Challenge Day and came back winners of the regional event scoring 93 points out of 100. The team worked exceptionally well and used the BBC microbit to create a night light for small children that means they would know when it is time to get up or if they should go back to sleep! This idea and their excellent pitch placed them 9th nationally out of 129 Challenge events also beating Westcliff High School for Boys! The winning team from each event takes home a trophy, £10 Amazon voucher for each team member and an exclusive IET Faraday/BBC micro:bit sports watch, as well as a certificate.
The team was a credit to the school and they have proven to be very promising engineers!
Faraday Challenge Day
Emma, Talia and Isabel took part in a day for prospective Choral Scholars at Cambridge University. They were treated to a performance by four of 'The Kings Men' to give them a taste of what they would be aiming to achieve in just one day. Next they were split into their voice part sections to start practising their pieces followed by a full group rehearsal. After a lovely buffet lunch, more rehearsals, some sample singing lessons and a walk through Cambridge to visit Kings College chapel before they headed to Trinity College Chapel to prepare for the afternoon performance for parents. The students sang three beautiful pieces (Jubilate Deo, For the Beauty of the Earth and Blessed Be the God and Father) and filled the Chapel with glorious harmonies. They were conducted by Stephen Cleobury, Director of Music at Kings College. It was a fantastic performance and the girls should be very proud of their achievements. This day has given them a flavour of what life could be like at Cambridge and a real enthusiasm to work even harder to get there. Miss Ryan, Head of Music
Highlights Page 6
Cambridge Choral Experience
Junior UKMT Mathematical Challenge April 2016
Recently all of year 8, and 20 students selected from year 7, took part in the Junior UKMT Mathematics challenge. This required them to undertake a challenging hour long maths paper. Many of the students from across the two years did extremely well achieving either a Gold, Silver or Bronze award which places them in the top 40% of pupils who sat the paper nationally.
Our highest scoring pupils were Urbi and Isabella (year 7) and Huaifa (year 8). They progressed to the next stage, the prestigious Junior Kangaroo. This event took place in school on Tuesday 14th June and we are eagerly awaiting the results. We wish them every success. Well done girls.
Mrs Owens
The year 8 Drama students spent the day working on physical theatre and the character mask. The workshops were directed by Mrs Wimsett and actor Dale Superville of Trestle Theatre Company. At the start, the students considered the rise of the ‘movement director’ over the past half century. After this, they worked on physical activities focused on discovering new and exciting ways to devise drama. All of the tasks were highly physical and collaborative and required each student to work effectively as a member of an ensemble. Throughout the day they all worked with great commitment and enthusiasm to produce work that was innovative and exciting – they should all feel very proud of what they achieved. Year 8 musicians visited a local recording studio where they were
able to experience performing in a studio and live stage environment. Eight groups had prepared their own arrangement of existing songs and pieces and they were able to learn about the recording process from a professional technician. The performances that had been prepared were of an excellent standard and the studio staff were really impressed with the level of musicality and professionalism that they saw from our students – it was clear that they enjoyed such a unique experience; they will be given a copy of their work before the end of term. Ms Wimsett, Drama
Bournes Green Primary School
The Mathematics Faculty organised a visit from Bournes Green Primary School as part of their Maths week in May. They were super stretched by working with our Year 10 students on GCSE level circle theorems. Our Year 10 students were brilliant role models showing huge enthusiasm for our Kahoots quiz game. Our students found the whole experience inspiring as the Year 5 students grasped the new concepts quickly and really kept them on their toes! Mrs Imbush, Head of Maths
Drama Curriculum Day
Student Investor Challenge is an extra-curricular activity offered by the Economics and Business department in order to enhance students’ understanding of the Stock Exchange. It involves students competing in teams of 4. Each team is given £100,000 of fantasy cash to invest on the stock market. Each team must invest their money on the stock market, buying and selling various shares. This was a record year for student participation in the Challenge, with 14 teams of four members. The opportunity was provided for students to meet with a year 12 Lead Team-‘Synergies’, including Rebecca, Emily, Sophie and Megan every Tuesday lunchtime to do some online investing and to outline their investment decisions. Outside of this guided time students could invest every weekday from 9:00 until 16:00 in real shares on this virtual mirror stock market. The overall team winners within school were ‘Wildcats 100’. This year we also had an award for Active Investors and the prize went to ‘One Penny Short’ who had been overall winners for the last two years. Well done, to all participants.
Mrs L Servis, Head of Economics and Business
Student Investor Challenge Page 7
Black Forest Trip
The Black Forest Trip was, in my opinion, the most exciting and eye-opening trip I have ever been on. The Black Forest was by far the most beautiful sight I have ever seen, and to top it off the amazing Hotel Sonnenmatte was situated right in the heart of it. On the trip we tried a variety of new and exciting activities, such as tobogganing on the Hasenhorn Coaster, visiting the world’s largest cuckoo clock and of course going to Europe’s largest theme park, Europapark. My favourite part was going on the chairlifts and going to the viewing tower where I conquered my fear of heights and looked at the beautiful views Germany had to offer. I would recommend this trip as there will always be something for everyone. Hannah Germany was such an incredible experience. Although leaving at 3:30am was not the best, it also helped to build the exciting atmosphere! From school to Hotel Sonnenmatte, the journey took around 15 hours by coach. We finally arrived at the hotel which was surrounded by incredible views of hills and forest. The next morning we awoke to the excitement of going to Triberg to see the largest waterfall in Germany and the largest cuckoo clock in the world. We strolled around the town in groups and bought lunch and souvenirs for us and our families. Upon getting back to the hotel we had some time to relax and headed down for dinner and then
another walk, this time through the trees, glimpsing forest wildlife. For many, Europa Park was the day which was looked forward to most! Being the largest theme park in Europe there was a mixture of many rides, ranging from water rides to roller coasters and many more for both the most and least daring. The silver star was a big hit for those who enjoy faster and higher rides! Just before the park closed, we travelled back to Hotel Sonnenmatte. We ate and this time went for a walk around Titisee, the town close by. Here we filled in some more of our work booklets, which included talking to local citizens and asking questions. Everybody was then told that we could have an ice cream, so long as we could ask for it in German. Lucy
On the evening of Monday 4th July, Olivia performed to over 900 people at the Jack Petchey ‘Speak Out’ Challenge Grand Final. Following her performance of Sam Smith’s ‘The Writing’s on the Wall’ at the regional final which was held at SHSG in the Spring term, organisers at the Jack Petchey Foundation asked if she would be willing to sing at the final, held at the Piccadilly Theatre in London. Olivia was one of only two musical performances during the evening and she performed with maturity and wonderful stage presence. We are very proud of her hard work and achievements so far and hope this is only the beginning for her future on the stage!
Well done Olivia
Student Investors 2016 receiving certificates of participation
What a busy year this has been and how it has flown by. The school has flourished this year with new initiatives, particularly in science, and development of our favourite activities such as Flexible Friday. Our new website was months in planning but has been well worth the wait and is fantastic. Not only are the graphics and content impressive but also key was the fact that it was a piece of collaboration with staff, students and parents all involved in its production. It has links to social media and has an app; have you got the app yet? Thank you to all involved. We are national champions in both junior and intermediate athletics and national finalists in tennis. Our sports teams are outstanding and special mention should go to the netball teams who have been tremendous this year. We have many outstanding sports girls and women. Therefore, this year sees the inaugural Sports Awards Presentation to celebrate the achievements of the dedicated individuals and teams. The music department also goes from strength to strength and was the driving force behind our superb musical, Hairspray, this year. The production was a joy to see and also to observe the students involved working together as a unified group. This term we also have had a summer concert, a chamber choir concert and our big band and barbeque night. On a dark and dank night in December music students plus a range of staff and friends were to be found carol singing outside Thorpe Bay station. There was a super atmosphere and wonderful singing; quite a touching evening which we hope to repeat. Poetry by Heart was another successful evening and the Languages Have Your Say competitions also allowed our girls to show their prowess in their presentation and verbal skills. Our links with primary schools are developing and we have increased the Saturday sessions put on for year 5 and 6 by adding a science morning to the maths and Africa day. We have also seen primary school pupils come in for a production in French and for a Guinness world record attempt for a reading lesson, plus netball and other sporting activities. The first Councillors’ Question Time took place in school this year with the hall packed full of students asking questions of six Southend Councillors. It was a fascinating afternoon which enabled students to see Councillors in action and to engage in the political process. Coincidently one of our ex students (left 2011) was elected as a local councillor in May. The trip list and opportunities for students outside the class room is phenomenal from theatre visits, (Chitty,Chitty, Bang,Bang, Comedy of Errors, War Horse, Curious Incident of the Dog, to name a few) to field trips, foreign exchanges and cultural visits (Scotland, France, Spain, Germany, London art galleries, Kew Gardens, V &A, again just a taste of the many). This year there was a trip to Russia and there is one planned to New York for next year. The PE department went on a netball tour of Malta and at the very end of last year the music department went on a music tour in Seville. Additionally musicians went on a weekend residential to Ingestre Hall in Staffordshire which resulted in a lovely tea time concert for family and friends. As usual Flexible Fridays and curriculum days provided opportunities to work on a larger project either in or out of school. On our plasma screen at the moment are the artistic results of a geography/art day when students walked along the pier (the girls showed their fortitude and resilience coping with pouring rain!). The programme for the most able has moved along nicely with a group of girls undertaking the HPQ (higher project qualification, the precursor of the extended project, which universities love). There have also been a number of visits to Oxbridge by groups of students of various disciplines plus a concerted effort to have extension or more advanced work available within the curriculum. Behind the scenes staff have been tracking all students and there have been numerous intervention activities taking place throughout the year but especially in the run up to examinations. At the beginning of the year we decided to give all our charitable collections to local charities or organisations. Mainly through the efforts of the House Captains fundraising has been fun and constant through the year. I am grateful to the staff and students who give their time to arrange fundraising events and competitions. This year we had the maths departments pi day, an inter-house bake off competition and the newly established inter-house music competition. We have raised over £6,000 this year. The students have worked very hard this year; there has been a real ethos of hard work and industriousness in the school. The vast majority of girls not on external examinations did themselves proud in their internal examinations and we are hopeful of some equally fantastic results at GCSE, AS and A level. These activities are just the tip of the iceberg, as you can see SHSG is a very busy school and everyone is ready for the summer break. Have a restful and enjoyable summer. F Brierley
