Southend High School for Girls

Termly Newsletter

Highlights Autumn 2015 Issue 14

Southchurch Boulevard

Southend-on-Sea

Essex SS2 4UZ

Phone: 01702 588852

Fax: 01702 587181

E-mail: aslater@shsg.org

www.shsg.org

Southend High School for Girls

An Academy Grammar School

Florida Science Trip 2

DNA Model

GLAM Class with Rachel Riley

SHSG Bake-Off

3

Author Visit

The Great Gatsby

St Omer Trip

4

School Birthday 5

Jack Petchey Winners

Jack Petchey Public Speaking

Outstanding Cadet

6

Spanish Exchange

Language Competition

Munster Work Experience

7

Councillors’ Question Time 8

Inside this issue:

Headteacher’s Message We were delighted with our summer results 100% A*-C at GCSE (including English and maths), 100% pass rate at A level and a rise in the top grades across all cohorts in the external examinations of between 5% and 8%. The results are a credit to the students especially who worked really hard, but also to parents for your support (and dealing with much of the stress) and to the teachers who go above and beyond to encourage students to do the best they can. We have had a very busy and eventful Autumn term with information evenings, school birthday and open events as well as the most important business of teaching and learning. Maths ventured into new territory by delivering their information evening online, whilst the school birthday saw a change in recipient for the presents. Instead of giving to the school we gave money or food to local charities and we are continuing to support local charities throughout the year. Every week in the Gazette exciting things are shared and as you will see from this edition of Highlights there is something for everyone. I am really pleased that so many students take up the opportunities offered. We try to vary our trips and activities, making sure that day time activities are generally at lunchtimes so that they are accessible to all. For the more adventurous there is World Challenge, there are curriculum trips and in school challenges such as Mole Day, girls can develop skills in music and art and can be accredited through the Arts Award for their involvement, they can save the planet by recycling, they can even crochet for charity. Thank you for all the support you give to the school either directly or indirectly. The school is about effort which leads to achievement and excellence. Without your encouragement we would be much weaker. Enjoy the holidays and I wish you all the very best for 2016.

Ms F Brierley

Media Students attend a Study Day at the BFI

On 27th November Year 12 Media students travelled to the British Film Institute on the Southbank in London to attend an OCR A level study day. We brought the SLR digital cameras with us to add to the students’ portfolio of photographs for their Foundation Production. After a photo shoot on Blackfriars Bridge they joined other A level students from around the country for an engaging and informative lecture by Rob Miller, Creative Consultant and Lecturer. He outlined the codes and conventions of genre and explored various media theories to support exam responses. There were activities and question and answer sessions. SHSG students gave creditable contributions. At lunchtime, noodles, ‘artisan’ hot dogs and falafels were grabbed at the farmers’ market behind the BFI before more fabulous photos were shot, taking full advantage of the urban landscape and views of the Thames. The afternoon session was a unique opportunity to meet the executive producer of Channel 4’s most successful drama series in 20 years ‘Humans’; Chris Fry. It attracted a 23% share of overall audience for its opening episode and exploited an innovative and boundary pushing marketing campaign that has won numerous awards. Chris explained the creation of a drama series from an industry perspective and was very generous with his time, answering questions and requests for work experience. All the students were given a work pack with a useful glossary and suggestions of further links to pursue in their A level studies. An enjoyable day out that really consolidated students’ understanding of one of their exam topics and has given them unique perspective on the television industry and how much an ‘artisan’ hotdog costs in central London (£8!). Ms Casson, Head of Media

Page 2 Highlights Florida Science Trip

The science department organised a trip to Florida in the October half term and 40 students had the opportunity to participate in many exciting activities. We spent the whole of day one at Sea World. Not only were there lots of amazing marine creatures to spot, there were also some huge rollercoasters! Our favourite part of the day was when we experienced the dolphin encounter. It allowed us to learn different signals to train the dolphins, feel their leathery skin and we had many photo opportunities.

We also visited NASA. We explored the visitor centre which included numerous simulators, interesting cinema films and had lunch with veteran Astronaut Jack Lousma. He told us about life up in space and the feeling of no gravity. There was a memorial wall for those who died in Apollo 13 and we were glad to pay our respects to those who gave their lives to science. The second day at NASA was our ATX training. At first we had a talk from another astronaut called Jon Mcbride who spoke to us about his time in space and we all learnt some new interesting facts, such as you grow an extra two inches when in space, and how his favourite part about being in space was looking out the window at Earth. After this, we all took part in various activities which showed us what it would be like to be part of a space team. We first had to climb a ladder, and then they balanced out our weight to allow us to feel weightless as though in space. This meant we could move up and down the ladder using only our hands. The next activity was the ‘Motion-Based Space Flight Simulator’ which was where two people at a time were strapped into a ball and spun around to simulate a space shuttle out of control. We got to take part in a ‘Full Scale Space Shuttle Mission Simulation’. This was where we all got allocated a role and completed a successful launch of a space shuttle.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed this once in a lifetime trip and it has to be the best trip we have been on in our 5 years of being here!

Abby White and Anna Sutton 11T

After the first day of travelling and settling into our first hotel of three, we all set off for SeaWorld. I think it is fair to say that a lot of us had reservations about visiting a theme park, surrounded by allegations of animal cruelty, but most of the animals had large enclosures and regular feeding so it is easy to see why people visit SeaWorld every day. The conservation work that they do there is also impressive; vowing to try and release many of the animals back into the wild after rehabilitation has taken place. The second day brought about the trip to NASA’s JFK Space Centre. The first day we found ourselves visiting exhibition after exhibition, dazzled by the wonders of American space travel. The time went quickly and we met an astronaut briefly, after an interesting presentation of his career and questions aimed at his experience. The second day at the space centre was an eventful one, but prior to visiting it we went to the small historic village of Cocoa around a half hour from the space station. The small village was littered with wacky shops and wonderful cafés. We then set off for our space training; training that included another meeting with an astronaut, an activity based upon delivering a shuttle out into space, one of the World’s best experiences of weightlessness, and a flight simulator; our group eventually found itself queuing up to experience a Gyroscope ride. This is a ball that rotates at varying speed (to prevent sickness), in different directions on an axis with two seats for the lucky people to “enjoy” the ride!

Our penultimate stop on our journey was the Everglades. Alligators grow up to around 15 feet in length and usually have 80 teeth. Additionally, it takes their jaws under a hundredth of a second to snap shut. Imagine yourself less than a metre away from one of these creatures. Scary? Erm… just a little, right?! Well that was me on the airboat, less than a metre away from a creature that also happens to be able to jump three feet out of the water. To our right there were a handful of baby alligators swimming around at roughly 6 or 7 inches in length – they were cute. 15 foot alligator with 80 teeth? Not cute. We also held the universally known ‘Snappy’ after an impressive alligator show, and left just as the heavens opened! The last place that we visited was Miami. Well if it could’ve been any hotter then we’d have been on the Sun… Okay; maybe not, but it was hot, ok?

After a relatively long walk, the coach picked us up and took us to the dolphin mall for shopping before the overnight flight home. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and something that I thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks again to the staff that organised it all and made the trip halfway across the World with us: Miss Jones, Mrs Aylen, Mrs Imich and Mrs Moffat.

Eddy Cooper 13SCR

DNA Model Page 3

On Tuesday 3rd November approximately 500 Science students ranging from Year 7 to Year 13 and eight Science staff took part in the biggest ever Maths and Science lesson. Students watched a video or a PowerPoint to learn how the DNA code characterises each living organism and gives a ‘database’ of all the information an organism needs to survive, grow and reproduce. Also, how DNA is used to identify one individual from another and the way DNA replicates itself. Students were then set the challenge of building a model of DNA out of pasta and straws that would beat the world record of 28m. By lunchtime it was clear that we had made over 28m and many students joined in the DNA building during lunchtime to create a final length of 54m 90cm! There was fantastic team work and effort from all students involved and everyone should be proud to have broken the world record (unofficially). The next challenge now we are expert DNA builders will be to achieve this under the strict guidelines of the Guinness World records in order to claim the official world record!

We were lucky enough to have a visit from Rachel Riley to support our GLAM maths masterclasses for year 5 girls from across the Borough. 60 students attended the two Saturday morning workshops to broaden their horizons of maths beyond the syllabus and have fun making our signature stellated icosahedra! Active learning was very much the order of the day with the students trying magic number tricks, using the iPads to create designs with graphs and exploring the patterns within Pascal's Triangle. I would like to thank Mrs Pilkington and Mr Hulson for helping prepare and deliver these sessions and the Governors and students for also giving up their time to help and be great ambassadors for the school. Mrs Imbush, Head of Maths

GLAM Session for Year 5 Students with Rachel Riley

£120 was raised for Havens Hospices at the SHSG Bake-off on Friday 16th October. The winners were as follows: Best Looking: Kathryn Mell 10M Best Technical: Erin Carney 8C & Chloe Creak 8C Best Idea: Rachel Stead 8C and Sophia Hurst 8E

SHSG Bake-Off

Highlights Page 4

St Omer Trip

Southend High School for Girls was lucky enough to be visited by the world famous writer and author of books for young people, Andy Mulligan. Andy is probably best known for having written the book ‘Trash’, now made into a Hollywood Film and directed by the world renowned Stephen Daldry. The thing which sets Andy Mulligan apart from his contemporaries is that his books are frequently based upon his own experiences of working with and teaching young people in far off places such as Vietnam, Brazil, the Philippines and India. He is also not afraid to tackle adult themes such as poverty and corruption. ‘Trash’ is the story of Raphael a dumpsite boy who spends his days wading through mountains of steaming trash in order to eke out a meagre living. Andy said that in the writing of ‘Trash’ he was heavily influenced by John Boyne’s book ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’. He also revealed that ‘Trash’ was inspired by a school trip to a dumpsite in Manilla with a group of eleven year olds to “see how the poor lived” when he was teaching in the Philippines. Probably the most amazing thing is that the book was written quickly in ten days straight in ten hour bursts.

Andy spent all day at SHSG and in addition to giving a really interesting and inspirational talk about his experiences and signing copies of his books, he worked with groups of students in order to encourage their creative tendencies. As Andy himself said, “Writing is not like brain surgery. You can start straight away and all you need is a piece of paper and a pen.” In no time at all, all of the girls had begun their own novels and who knows, one day in the not too distant future, one of them may be as famous and successful as Andy.

Mrs Hathaway, Head of English

St.Omer was a really fun and educational trip. Travelling by Eurostar was a new and exciting adventure for many of us. Some of our other favourite parts of the day were eating lunch in the beautiful scenery of the park, which was filled with hundreds of flowers and a pretty bandstand. Also, getting to shop in many different French shops was a great and different experience. Having freedom throughout the day was the best part of the trip as we learnt lots whilst getting to enjoy the French town with our friends. St.Omer has become a highlight of our SHSG time. Alice McDowell and Francesca Hicks, Year 8

‘The Great Gatsby’ Comes to Basildon

On Thursday 12th November the Year 13 English Literature students along with Mr Andrews and Mrs Bird went to see ‘The Great Gatsby’ at the Towngate Theatre in Basildon. Amateur is probably the first word that comes to mind. However it was a lovely evening, with an intimate cast, innovative staging and creative acting choices; it’s not often you get to see four grown adults sitting in a makeshift car, one holding a pretend steering wheel, swaying from side to side in perfect unison. Possibly the most surprising element of the production, however, was when Gatsby walked onstage with a clarinet and Myrtle followed swiftly with a saxophone. Every member of the cast, numbering about seven people, could play multiple instruments, so at regular intervals during the play they’d all swap around and perform a musical number together. I’m not sure F. Scott Fitzgerald had this in mind when he wrote ‘The Great Gatsby’. Similarly, (spoiler alert to those who have not read the novel) that when Gatsby is shot by the man who mistakes him for his wife’s lover (and accidental murderer), by an actor who also played a notable ‘Pirate’ Wolfsheim, he would stand up and perform a quick waltz with Daisy before really dying. Bizarre as this was it became quite enjoyable and made the evening most unforgettable. This was not least in part due to the original contributions from beloved audience member Edith who gave a running commentary upon her thoughts and feelings throughout the production. I think it’s fair to say that the performance was one of the stranger interpretations of ‘Gatsby’ that we’ve come across while doing our coursework, but nevertheless it was a fun evening and the perfect example of the joys of local theatre.

Helena Ramsay, 13JSH

Visit by Author Andy Mulligan It’s definitely not Trash, it’s Terrific!

Tradition mixed with modernity was very much the theme of the Southend High School for Girls 102nd birthday celebration, on 23rd October 2015. The traditional full school service and celebration, attended by esteemed guests, lived up to its quality pedigree with readings, hymns and live classical music that paid tribute to the thousands of students who have shared this rare and wonderful birthday celebration. The ‘modern’ this year is that the birthday celebration not only gives thanks for this wonderful school but also directly helps those in need in the local community. Earlier on in the term students were set the challenge to select a local charity or organisation that they would like to support with their school birthday gift.

They then worked feverishly to collect as many donations as possible for their

chosen charity. Charities supported this year include Safer Places, HARP, Southend and Rochford foodbanks, Havens Hospice,

Southend MIND, and Little Havens.

During the day a large number of students were fortunate enough to hand

over the ‘presents’ directly to their chosen charity, giving them a valuable

opportunity to see directly the impact that their gift will have on the people

of Southend. These gifts included, food donations, a microwave oven,

money, art supplies and toiletries.

As students left school at the end of the school birthday celebrations they

passed a stained glass window. This reminds them that life at the school is

not just about ‘becoming more thoughtful and learned’ but is also about

becoming more ‘useful to their country and to mankind’. Without a doubt,

the way the students celebrated this year’s birthday has definitely lived up to

this pledge.

Highlights Page 5 SHSG gives the community its birthday presents!

Other Events on School Birthday

School Panto Review We started writing the panto about 3 weeks before school birthday and were amazed at the scale of the task we had taken on. It

seemed strange the amount of similarities between High School Musical and SHSG when we came to think about it. A team of four

sat down to write it before appealing to year 13 for a cast. Two weeks on and we were well into rehearsals with song lyrics and dance

moves coming out of our ears. To the joy of the cast, the audience and the staff we performed three fantastic shows worthy of a

place on Broadway. Special mention should be made to the year 13 boys who managed to learn and execute perfectly a dance,

complete with basketballs, to ‘Get Your Head in the Game.’ From the four of us; Megan, Paige, Maddi and Ellie-Mae we would like

to say a massive thank you to all of the cast and the students for making the performances so

special. WHAT A TEAM- SHSG!!!!!

Maddie Cannel, Ellie-Mae Bowman, Megan Walker, Paige Hutchings, Year 13

Bin Bag Fashion Show Year 9 and year 10 worked at designing and making an entire outfit from recycled rubbish. After just one hour of design time the students had to select a 'brand name' for their creation and choose

the most appropriate music to strut up and down the SHSG catwalk to. Watched by the rest of the school the models did a fabulous job at, well, looking fabulous. As with all of the finest fashion weeks there were some outrageous creations and some much more practical creating a real challenge for the panel of judges.

Congratulations to our award winners for this term: September Winner – Noemi Thanni, Year 7 Noemi is one of our young carers. She was nominated for the positivity, strength and determination that she has shown in overcoming personal challenges following her mother’s cancer diagnosis earlier this year. Noemi organises everything at home from doing the weekly shopping to helping with her mother’s medication and ensuring that she is looked after and comfortable. Starting a new school in Year 7 can be daunting for anyone – Noemi has had to organise herself for every aspect of school life and has shown great courage and maturity. Despite the difficulties she faces Noemi is always smiling, determined to do her best and her positive attitude is an inspiration to other students.

October Winner - Rabbiah Chaudhry, Year 12 Rabbiah was recognised for her work abroad. In the October half term Rabbiah travelled to Pakistan to volunteer at a disability centre for children in Gujrat. She has worked very hard to set up her own charity. Rabbiah’s charity raises money to give to the disability centre and these funds will pay for an educational psychologist to work with the children there. Rabbiah’s actions have contributed to these children receiving the help and support they need which will undoubtedly improve their quality of life.

November Winner – Kathryn Mell, Year 10 Kathryn was nominated for the courage and determination she has shown over the

last two years whilst battling a severe illness. Last year Kathryn became too unwell to

attend school full time, but she refused to let this affect her studies. Kathryn never

missed a homework deadline, caught up with lessons missed and at the end of the year

achieved an excellent report from her subject teachers. The strength Kathryn has

shown in her desire to overcome her illness and succeed at school has made us proud.

Jack Petchey Achievement Award Autumn Term 2015

On Friday 27th November 90 Year 10 students participated in Jack Petchey Public Speaking Training. This is an annual event and students have commented on how beneficial they found the day. They developed practical tactics for delivering speeches and presentations which are crucial skills for further study and the eventual world of work. ‘It was a really rewarding experience’ commented Rebecca Twell (10L) ‘ the practical advice helped me overcome my anxieties about addressing a group’ Lily Bird (10L) admitted, ‘Initially I was a really reluctant participant. It was great however. I feel so much more confident now’. The winning participants will now perform their speeches in front of their peers in assembly. A panel of teachers and sixth formers will choose a winner who will go on to represent the School in the regional final. This event will take place in Southend High School on 5th May next year … watch out for further details.

Ms Sergeant (English Department)

Highlights Page 6

Jack Petchey Public Speaking Training

Well done to Oliva Curtis, 10L for being ‘outstanding’!

As a member of 1476 Squadron Air Training Corps Olivia Curtis went on annual camp at half term to R.A.F. Valley in Anglesey North Wales (the R.A.F. Station where Prince William served operationally as a helicopter pilot for two and a half years). At the outset of the camp the 40 cadets from four South Essex squadrons were told that the outstanding cadet in showing leadership and determination would be given a flight on a Hawk aircraft (the type of aircraft flown by the Red Arrow display team). At the end of the camp Olivia was awarded the flight. The B.A.E. Hawk Mark 2 is an aerobatic 2 seater trainer used in fast jet training and flies in excess of 600 m.p.h. The Hawk for Olivia’s flight was piloted by Flight-Lieutenant Al Spence of 4 squadron R.A.F and lasted one hour. The flight took place over Liverpool, Snowdonia and the Irish Sea. During the flight a full repertoire of loops, rolls and low level flying was undertaken. The hair-raising aerobatics are well known to many of us from Red Arrow displays. An exhilarating and wonderful experience for Olivia.

At the end of September 25 Year 9 and 10 students spent five days living with Spanish families in Valladolid. We enjoyed glorious weather – the temperature rarely dipped below 20 degrees – and trips to the beautiful towns of Salamanca, Tordesillas and Urueña. Here are some student accounts:

‘I had a really great time in Valladolid on the Spanish exchange. My family were very welcoming and hospitable. The whole trip I definitely improved my speaking and I feel more confident now. It was also really enjoyable and fun, each night we would meet up with our other exchange friends and do something. The night we arrived we went shopping at the local shopping centre, the second night we went bowling and then for pizza. On Saturday we walked around the town square then went around the town on a tourist bus. On Sunday we went for a boat ride and then shopping in the town square and on our final night we met up there once again to have a group meal of tapas. Along with the fun and interesting school trips it was a fantastic experience. Anna Woodgate, 9K

The Spanish exchange made it clear how fascinating other cultures can be. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. We visited the most amazing places and experienced a life so different to our own – for example we had “siestas,” which is sleeping in the middle of the day! Not forgetting the amazing traditional food we ate such as paella and tortillas. We visited Salamanca which was the most beautiful city. We were able to embrace the Spanish culture while seeing amazing buildings and could practise our Spanish when talking to shop keepers and buying souvenirs, including postcards of Spanish dancers. The trip has helped to improve my Spanish and I felt privileged to be a part of the trip. i Lo pasamos bomba! Anna Wardell, 9J

The Spanish Exchange Page 7

Language Perfect Championships

In November SHSG finished 23rd overall and 1st in the 50-100 students category of The Education Perfect Northern Championships competition. The girls did so well and we are incredibly proud of them. Here are quotes from our top three students: “I would totally recommend the competition. It was a lot of fun and it got really competitive” - Savani Kale, 9F “I learnt lots of new languages but Maori was definitely the hardest. It was really good for my German” - Mia Brown, 9H “I did mostly Spanish and by focussing on this I ended up first in the country and sixth in the world. My family were really impressed! - Alicia Peacock, 9H

In October half term, six of SHSG’s German students flew to Münster, Germany, to take part in a work experience exchange. Each of us had a German partner, who is visiting us in February, and a work placement in a Kindergarten or Grundschule (primary school). Although at first it was daunting, the experience turned out to be really rewarding, fun and beneficial to our studies back at school- we definitely now feel more confident when speaking German. The experience also helped us become more independent- we were trusted with travelling to our work placements, and had to sort out any issues ourselves. As well as working, we were also able to experience the town of Münster, through shopping, visiting museums and famous landmarks such as St Paulus Cathedral (in the town centre). Many of us stayed in contact with our exchange families and may visit again in the future. Overall, it was a fantastic experience and we would recommend it to anyone wanting to

improve their German speaking skills, gain independence and have fun.

By Siân Roche and Serena Rahim-Shah, Year 12

Munster Work Experience

Councillors’ Question Time

On Monday 16th November 2015 Southend High School for Girls hosted a Question Time event with local councillors and party representatives. The event has been organised after a discussion that SHSG Student Voice Coordinator, Miss D’Auria had over the garden fence early in the summer with her neighbour Malcolm Karmy, a retired Academy Director from SEEVIC, who also taught and managed departments and faculties in further education for 25 years. Miss D’Auria said “We were concerned that the younger generation are not engaged as much as they should be in local and national politics and Malcolm suggested the idea of hosting a local Question Time event. We took the idea to SHSG’s School Council and they were keen to take it forward. We hope this event will pave the way for engaging young people in schools as the programme has the scope to be rolled out in different educational institutions very easily. The programme includes prepared resources for teachers to use for introductory assemblies, diagnostics of student engagement (so teachers, students and political party representatives can measure impact of the event), assemblies and 2 tutorial sessions (each a duration of one hour) and finally a school-based Question Time Event. Since the start of term there has been one whole school assembly and one sixth form assembly encouraging young people to engage in politics. Year 10 and year 13 have also completed a tutorial session on politics. On 22nd October there was a whole-school quiz on politics and on Monday 2nd November years 10 and 13 undertook the task of writing questions to put to the panel at “Councillors’ Question Time”. SHSG welcomed the following guests:

With a simple philosophy behind the event, to try and engage young people with first hand experiences of political discussion, Malcolm Karmy and Miss D’Auria, as two enthusiastic Southend residents hope it will be a worthwhile venture that they can repeat and improve on in the future and that other schools can also use.

Panel

Party Party representative Additional guests

Green Party Dominic Ellis Jon Fuller; Malcolm Karmy

Conservative Cllr James Courtenay Cllr Nigel Folkard

Independent Cllr Martin Terry

Labour Cllr Anne Jones

Liberal Democrat Peter Gwizdala Cllr Neil Monnery

Southend Independence Cllr James Moyies