Issue 4 October 2012 1
Issue 4 October 2012
HEADITORIAL Dear Parents and Students, As our Book Week draws to a
close, I have to say a huge
thank you to Mrs Ashdown and
the English Department for their
hard work and commitment
and for organising such a fun-
packed, engaging series of
events. This culminated in
today’s ‘dressing up as a
literary character’ parade
(breathtakingly outrageous!)
but the events all week have
been testament to the fact that
reading is alive and well at
BHHS. Anyone who claims that
teenagers don’t read anymore
ought to have seen the girls in
action on Tuesday at Book Quiz
where, with Mr Sherwood as
quizmaster, the House teams
battled it out demonstrating
their impressive literary
knowledge.
On Wednesday I visited the
Junior School and really
enjoyed having lunch with the
Y5 parents. We had a very
interesting post-lunch discussion
about the merits of girls-only
education and I was pleased
to hear how positive parents
are about their daughters’
experiences at the school
We were also visited at the
Senior School this week by the
GDST’s new Deputy Director of
Education, Libby Nicholas. She
saw lots of lessons and was very
impressed by the girls and staff.
She spoke enthusiastically
about the innovative
approaches to teaching that
she’d seen in lessons and
commented particularly on
Early in the morning of Friday 21st September, the head girl team all woke up excited and ready for a weekend in Bath for the annual Young Leaders’ Conference. Every student leader from across the GDST Sixth Form Colleges is invited to attend the event which took place from Friday to Sunday. As a team we were all incredibly nervous: we didn’t really know what to expect apart from that we would both have our leadership skills tested and be encouraged to get to know our peers from all over the country. We were completely thrown in at the deep end, with Friday lunch starting with awe-inspiring On Wednesday 26th we were delighted to host the Young Enterprise Launch for the Brighton and Hove Area. Board member and business advisors (all volunteers) met in the library to prepare themselves to welcome a new generation of young people. All were wondering what exciting ideas the enterprising entrepreneurs of the future were going to want to build a company around.
speeches on leadership from the founder and director of Kids Company Camila Batmanghelidjh and record-breaking polar explorer Ann Daniels. Immediately after that, with only a short pause to stock up on flapjacks and coffee, we were all taken to hear about the task we would be working on over the next three days. After discovering that we had to design a fundraising event for a charity, we were allocated our separate groups and instructed to get to work! I have to admit, the whole weekend was completely exhausting. We worked until 10pm both nights and breakfast DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES Christmas Fair on Saturday 1st December – Come and support our three companies and enjoy the fair. January We will be in Churchill Square and the Holmbush
was at 7:30 each morning; on Sunday,we had to be up and ready to pitch our ideas to the other teams and judges at 9! However, I know we were all very glad we attended. Firstly, we came away from the experience with an increased awareness of how to work in a large team, how to present professionally and how to express creative ideas. But perhaps just as important is the fact that we all learned a lot about our counterparts in other schools and even made friends that we will remain in contact with long after we have left the GDST.
Ellie Thompson, Year 13 Centre in Shoreham. Tuesday 30th April Area Final Our companies will be competing for the chance to progress to the Sussex Final in May. More details to follow nearer the time.
Issue 4 October 2012 2
how proud the girls seemed to
be of BHHS.
This pride has been borne out
by the large numbers of girls
who are willing to give up their
time this Saturday morning to
be ambassadors for the school
at our Open Day. My sincere
thanks in advance to all the
girls for their help and of course
to all the parents who will be
getting them out of bed!
Have a good weekend.
Jennifer Smith
Sixth Form Art Trip On Wednesday despite the adverse weather conditions the Yr12 and Yr13 AS and A2 art students visited Goodwood Sculpture Park. Nestled in woodland near to Goodwood House there is an amazing collection of contemporary sculpture, in fact a display of over 80 large-scale pieces placed amongst the trees. The object of the day was to draw and photograph the sculptures to give the students a better understanding of this particular art form and to give them ideas for their own art practice. The girls produced excellent work and found the sculpture (some of which are huge and cost over a million pounds each) very inspiring. All of the sculptures are for sale with the proceeds shared between the artists and new commissions. The sculpture park was founded by Wilfred and Jeanette Cass. It was a really interesting and useful day and definitely a place to recommend.
Mrs Croydon, Head of Art
ENGLISH CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT - YEAR 10 ADVANCED WARNING All of year 10 will be off-timetable on Tuesday 16 October from 8.50-10.20 and again on Tuesday 27 November for English Language controlled assessment. This is a module of their GCSE examination and we ask for parents’ support in ensuring full attendance and punctuality.
Mrs K. Ashdown
CULTURE VULTURES Our second meeting of the term takes place on Tuesday 9 October at 4pm in Library 2. We are delighted that Professor Cedric Watts will be in school talking about Graham Greene and ‘Brighton Rock’. It will be a real privilege to hear such a prestigious speaker talk passionately about one of the most important writers of the twentieth century.
PE NEWS Congratulations to the Under 13 Netball team who beat the Towers last night 25 – 0. Congratulations to the Under 12’s who had a 20 – 20 Draw both teams played exceptionally well. Well played! Congratulations to the Year 8 Netball team. In the Brighton Schools Netball league our Year 8 A team played Cardinal Newman’s Year 9’s And B’s. We had a 6-6 Draw with their A team and we beat their B team 12 – 2 Congratulations to the Under 13 Netball team who beat Brighton College 20 -14.
Ms Osborne English Schools Cross Country Cup On Wednesday the Junior and Intermediate Cross Country teams competed for the first time in the English Schools Cross Country Cup. The county round was held at Bishop Luffa School at Chichester and involved 17 schools from Sussex and Hampshire. Almi Nerurkar (Yr 7) ran an outstanding race to win the Junior girl’s event by 100 yards from the next runner. The whole team scored well and we missed out on an automatic place in the regional round by 1 point! Although there is still a chance we might go through. In the Intermediate race our first runner home was Ella Witt, who ran a very steady race to finish 13th, and all this team ran creditable races to finish as a team in 7th place. Teams as follows: - Junior – Almi Nerurkar, Josie Grumitt, Abi Roach-Penn, Carmen Adjare, Eve Hull and Faye Hannaford. Inters:- Ella Witt, Abi Broome, Farhanna Badruzaman, Molly Miller, Tallulah Maidment, Ray Adams Farr-Row Well done to all the team1
Mrs Thomas
Upcoming events: Tuesday 9th October: Y9 trip to Fishbourne Palace 4pm Culture Vultures Wednesday 10th October: Y11 PSHE day Y11 Futurewise interviews GDST Hockey and Swimming rally (moved from 18 Oct) Thursday 11th October: Open Doors (9:30 – 11:30am) Friday 12th October: Y7 & Y8 House netball (p4&5) Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th October: Y11 Duke of Edinburgh Assessment (Group 2)
Book Week The English Department’s competitions were an outlet for extraordinary talent and imagination. The winners of the year 7 postcard competition were Nafisa Miah of Grey, Mia Heasman of Lyttelton and Phoebe Munro of Grey. Our year 8 lost consonant competition – reinforcing the importance of accurate spelling in a humorous way – was won by Alicia Phillips of Grey, Charlotte Woods of Stanley and Mia Roach Penn of Stanley. The year 9 semantic field competition was won by Josie Lee of Lyttelton, Katie Higgins of Grey and Maisie Jackson of Gurney. Our challenging, whole school villanelle competition was won impressively by Tia Pavlides of Stanley – Mrs Foss (of Grey) was runner up!
Issue 4 October 2012 3
JUNIOR EDITORIAL
Dear Parents,
I am very grateful to
pupils and parents for
taking time out of their
weekends to help us out
with Open Afternoon on
Saturday. I hope that
everyone will have fun
and for us it is invaluable
in helping to promote the
school.
On a more practical
note, we are having a
real ‘crackdown’ on
table manners,
particularly using cutlery
properly, eating with
mouths open etc., and
as always we would
appreciate your support
at home.
Best Wishes
Sian Cattaneo
Year 1
All the girls in year 1 were very
excited on Tuesday when they
discovered an old trunk in our
willow tunnel. Mrs James was
given a very strange message
about something interesting in
the school grounds so year 1
put on their coats and went off
to explore....... After quite a lot
of searching, Florence spotted
the trunk through the trees.
Now we are trying to find out
more about the trunk and the
objects inside and find out
more about who it belongs to.
Year 2
Year 2 had a very exciting
Wednesday morning as they
were visited by the fire-fighters
of Hove Watch. They were
able to go inside the fire engine
and look at the equipment that
it holds. They were talked
through the uniform of a fire-
fighter and were able to ask
many of their burning questions!
The highlight of the session was
when Leanne and Jamie
allowed the girls to all have a
go at using the fire hose, which
they were all absolutely thrilled
with. The fire-fighters were
amazed by the incredibly
thoughtful questions and
fantastic behaviour of the girls.
Well done Year 2!
Sports Results
Hockey v Hurstpierpont U11’s
Won 2 - 1, Under 10s Lost 7 - 1
Netball v Farlington U10 ‘A’s
Drew: 3 – 3 ‘B’s Lost 13 – 2 U 9s
Won 9 – 4
Well done to Bonnie White and
Ella Littlewood who received a
special mention from the
Umpire for their excellent play.
UGANDA UNIFORM
The response has been
amazing and the date for last
collection has been extended
to 12th October. The next
shipment of uniform will be At
Christmas, with the remainder
going in March. Can we
politely remind parents that the
uniform should be clean. It is
unfortunate that coats,
mackintoshes, duffle coats and
schoolbags will not be
acceptable.
Any given so far
will be taken to
the British Heart
Foundation
Charity Shop.
NATIONAL POETRY DAY
The girls were informed of a
poetry challenge in last
Wednesday’s assembly. In
recognition of National Poetry
Day they can enter a
competition by writing a poem
on the theme of ‘STARS’. All
entries will receive a house
point and winning entries from
three age categories will win a
prize. The poems will be judged
by Sixth Form English Officers –
Niamh Jones and Amy
Eddisford-Kidd. We have
already had many entries from
budding poets but there is still
time to enter! The closing date
is Monday 8th October.
NOTES FOR PARENTS
A DATE FOR YOUR DIARIES: The ‘Travelling Book Fair’ will be in
school on the 12th, 13th and 14th November 2012- a great
opportunity to buy some early Christmas presents! Details and
location to follow.
BLOCKED DRIVEWAYS: We have had complaints from local
Residents about parents parking and blocking driveways at
school pick-up times. Could we ask you to be ever vigilant in
this respect please.
HAIR AND UNIFORM: Please ensure your daughter’s hair is
completely tied back, that trainer socks are not to be worn to
school, earring studs are the correct uniform (and not fashion
earrings), and last but not least, please ENSURE all uniform is
CLEARLY LABELLED.
RECEPETION DOOR: Can we ask parents not to encourage your
daughters to PRESS the FRONT RECEPTION RELEASE BUTTON just
inside Reception. The girls are constantly reminded they should
not be touching this button and conflicting instructions from
parents is causing some confusion.
Junior School week at a glance Sat 6
th Oct.: Open Afternoon. 1.00 – 3.00
Mon 8st
Oct: Open Sessions, Year 5 & 6 8.30-9.15 Individual School Photographs Year 4 Trip to Booth Museum
Tues 9th
Oct: Yr 3 Visit to All Saints Church Wed 10
th Oct: U11 ‘A’ & ‘B’ Netball Away, Farlington 2.15 U10 ‘B’ Hockey Home v HPPC 2.30
Year 6 Parents, Normandy Presentation 3.30 School Hall Thurs 11
th Oct: Open Day for Prospective Parents Special Blackland farm page 4
Blacklands Farm is a popular activity centre near East Grinstead and last week Year 4 enjoyed a fantastic overnight stay. We settled into our accommodation, Weaver’s Lodge, and quietly but excitedly set off for the Archery and the Crate challenge. After a lovely supper (cooked by the staff!) the girls tackled a number of indoor climbing walls. It was wonderful to see their fearlessness and confidence. Next day the group took part in the abseiling activity which for many was really challenging. We were so very proud of them, encouraging each other and in a number of cases, overcoming real fear. It was a brilliant trip and one I hope the girls will remember for many years to come.
Issue 4 October 2012 5
This year Louise Rennison opened Book Week in dramatic and energetic fashion, with Irish dancing, disco for the classroom and story after story which had the audience giggling uncontrollably. Well done to our three interviewers – Theodora Vamvas, Mina-Mae Alexander and Megan-Rose Phillips – who facilitated such a fun-packed hour.
We are proudest, though, of the magnificent fundraising which the girls threw themselves into with gusto this year. In only 30 minutes we raised over £155 at Wednesday’s Book Auction and, as this newsletter goes to press, the dressing up day money is still being counted. All this money will go to support the important work of Afghan Connection and our twinned school in Afghanistan.
The Book Quiz was hotly contested but won by a Stanley team in impressive form. Congratulations to Niamh Jones, Layla Mostaghimi, Anna Rubenstein and Amber Tregoning.
Thank you to everyone involved in our fantastic Book Week for 2012! Every year it seems to get bigger and better!
Creative writing talent was also much in evidence this week with year 11 and sixth formers enjoying a workshop run by Rachel Cusk on Wednesday and our year 9 celebrating National Poetry Day in style with workshops run by Catherine Smith, Sasha Dugdale and Mark Peterson.