issue 13 january 2013
DESCRIPTION
Brighton and Hove High School NewsletterTRANSCRIPT
Issue 13 January 2013 1
Issue 13 January 2013
Our traditional Mary Schofield
House Short Story competition
runs this term. This year the
stimulus for the Mary Schofield
Short Story Competition is:
NOT ALL THOSE WHO
WANDER ARE LOST
There is a word limit of 1,000
words and the entries will be
split into two categories – years
7-9 and years 10-13.
The deadline is Thursday 28
February in the week after half
term. Each entry gets a House
Point and the winners get lots,
lots more! The winners will be
announced on World Book Day
– Thursday March 7 March 2013
– and we are delighted that this
year’s judge will be Ros Barber.
Ros is the author of the critically
acclaimed verse novel The
Marlowe Papers and three
collections of poetry; two with
Anvil, the most recent (Material,
2008) a Poetry Book Society
Recommendation.
For more info about our Judge
please click here...
The second of the creative
opportunities offered is one of
the competitions organised by
the GDST as part of their 140th
anniversary celebrations. For
more details go on the Portal or
click here…
The third opportunity is also a
GDST competition: a film
competition. This is a fantastic
chance to explore different
ways of telling stories. It is a
demanding but exciting
opportunity: groups of students
need to create a 3½ minute
film – including titles and
credits. There is complete
freedom about what type of
film is made (eg animation or
traditional acting) but the
topics are as follows:
JUNIOR SCHOOL: ‘Friendship’;
‘Happiness’
YEARS 7-9: ‘Success’;
‘Confidence’
YEARS 10-11: ‘Resilience’;
‘Courage’
SIXTH FORM: ‘Ambition’;
‘Leadership’
Only one entry per school in
each age category will be
accepted – so there will be a
BHHS competition first, then a
Trust competition. The deadline
for the BHHS competition is:
Monday 11 February 2013.
Should your daughter wish to
take part in the GDST film
competition, we are offering
the following sessions to support
her work and develop her
creativity and skills:
•Wednesday 23 January 4-5pm
•Tuesday 29 January 4-5pm: 2
workshops with playwright John
Burrows on everything you
need to know about plot,
character and storyboard.
These will be packed and
inspiring sessions!
•Saturday 2 February 9-4pm:
opportunity to learn and put
into practice technical skills –
from filming with digital
cameras, to using a green
screen or software like comiclife
or serif movie plus.
•Saturday 9 February – 8.30-12:
BHHS open morning – your
daughter is welcome to use this
opportunity to continue her
filming and editing.
All of these sessions will be
located on the main landing of
the Temple building at the
senior school.
{We are extremely grateful to
John Burrows for agreeing to
run our after-school workshops.}
Full details of all these
competitions can be found
HERE
If you would like your daughter
to get involved with the film
competition sessions run at
school, please complete the
reply slip attached to the letter
sent via school comms.
And don’t forget to visit our B-
RIGHT-ON portal page. This has
weekly brainticklers and
fortnightly larger challenges.
House points available.....
Mrs K. Ashdown, Head of
English
HEADITORIAL A very Happy New Year to everyone Dear Parents and Students,
School work has re-started with a vengeance this week as the Sixth Formers sit their A Level modules and Year 11 girls have their mocks
and their Science GCSE modules.
It has also been a week in which there has been substantial press coverage of a new book by the Australian parenting guru, Steve
Biddulph, called Raising Girls. He argues that never before has girlhood been under such a sustained assault. Young girls have become
a soft target for big business; messages propagated through television and advertising tend to accentuate female sexualised imagery
and their bodies rather than their brains. Consequently, says Biddulph, everywhere a young girl goes “she sees messages that make her
feel that she is not good enough.” He points out that girls are now expected to be all things – attractive, thin, good, successful, happy,
kind, loving, self-sufficient; perfect, in other words, within an imperfect world that still does not give women the equal status they
deserve. He has some very interesting things to say about societal pressures on girls but curiously there is not much about girls’
education. I therefore very much endorsed our Trust CEO’s letter to The Telegraph on Thursday:
SIR – While I agree with Steve Biddulph that positive female role models for girls are important (Comment, January 8), he does not
mention the role schools play in loco parentis. Schools must be safe environments where teachers and peers celebrate individuality
and support the range of talents girls have to offer; where being liked is not about having the latest gadgets or designer gear, but is
more about contributing to school and wider society. As a mother of four girls, I know that they tend to be hard-wired to please. Girls
can feel the weight of self-expectation, and they can put themselves under immense pressure. Their social skills are advanced when
they are small, but that makes them daunted if they get things wrong. The right school can build their confidence and the Girls’ Day
School Trust does this by focusing on increasing girls’ resilience, and encouraging them to take risks... Girls need time, security, and
clear but supportive boundaries as they grow up. They need the space away from societal and media pressures to find their own sense
of self and to develop confidence. The importance of the school environment is often underestimated.
Helen Fraser, Chief Executive, Girls’ Day School Trust - London SW1
Have a good weekend.
Jennifer Smith
Issue 13 January 2013 2
Senior Citizen’s Tea Party
The annual Christmas tea party
took place on Monday
December 17th and once again
over 100 senior citizens from the
Brighton and Hove District
enjoyed a wonderful afternoon.
Many of our visitors came from
the St. John’s day Centre, one
of the St. John’s visitor was 101
and he hopes to come this
year. Other guests came from
sheltered accommodation as
well as St. Dunstans. The girls
were able to sing happy
birthday to Murial who
celebrated her 99th birthday.
Murial comes each year and
on leaving said she hopes to
celebrate her 100th birthday
with pupils of Brighton and
Hove High.
The tea party began with a
shortened version of the
school’s carol service, this was
followed by excellent
entertainment and a wonderful
tea. There were many different
cakes for our visitors to choose
from. After the tea a special
visitor in the form of Father
Christmas made an
appearance to deliver a
present to each of the guests.
Miss Davies would like thank all
of the pupils who took part in
the afternoon’s event, as well
as the whole school who
contributed with money for the
tea and the presents which
were brought in for our special
visitors. Miss M. Davies
Training Orchestra provided a
great accompaniment to the
Youth Choir’s Carol Singing and
many of the students gave
outstanding performances
during the entertainment.
These ranged from singing,
dancing, playing musical
instruments and even a magic
show. It is wonderful that the
girls are always willing show off
their talents and give up their
time to support this event.
Ms A. Parsons
Charlotte Redstone, 13M,
recently did a project called
"Investigating Soot Morphology
in Automotive Engineering". I
am delighted to say it was
entered in the National Science
and Engineering Competition,
and was selected as one of the
best in the UK. It has
subsequently been entered into
the very final stage of the
competition and will be
exhibited to over 60,000 people
at the Big Bang Fair in London
in March. It is also eligible to
compete for a number of
prizes, including "Young
Scientist of the Year."
Congratulations to Charlotte on
an excellent achievement.
MUSIC NEWS
Many congratulations to all the
girls who were involved in our
carol service at the end of last
term which took place at All
Saints’ Church in Hove. As
always, all the choirs sang
beautifully. It was wonderfully
directed by Mr Lloyd. Thank
you to everyone who has come
to enjoy the events, and also
for your donations.
At the beginning of the school
year one of our
peripatetic
teachers, Erika
Schilsky, had a
nasty riding
accident and
was in a coma
for 5 weeks. She is still
recovering in hospital but, as a
self employed teacher she is
obviously not earning at the
moment.
To help provide her with a little
support at this difficult time
many of her friends have
organised a concert which will
take place in the school hall at
19:00 next Friday 18th January.
Cantabile will be singing and
BHHS is providing a couple of
soloists. There will be a varied
programme and your support
will be most welcome. Tickets
priced £10 and £8 are available
from the music department.
The BHHS Community Choir will
be performing again this term. I
am currently putting together
the rehearsal schedule but I
hope the first rehearsal will be
at 19:00 on Thursday 24th
January. The concert is on
Thursday 7th March where we
will be performing the Rutter
Requiem with orchestra as well
as a few other items. This is a
great opportunity to make
music together so please get
involved and bring along your
family and friends – we have
plenty of space.
All music extracurricular
activities will start next week.
Mr Lloyd, Director of Music
CareerStart
On Wednesday, the Sixth Form
were given top tips on how to
make outstanding
presentations during a
Careerstart session taken by
Karen Kimura from Trust. Topics
explored included the content
and delivery of good
presentations. All girls were
given opportunity to put the
tips into practice with short
presentations to their peers. We
are looking forward to hearing
some excellent presentations as
part of the Extended Project
Qualification as well as during
the Head Girl hustings which will
be coming up later this term.
Miss Fox
Calling all vets!
Please would any vet be willing
to offer ANY work experience
for one of our wonderful Year
12 girls. She is committed,
reliable and can be flexible
with dates and hours.
Please contact Mrs Doughty or
Miss Cronier at the school.
Thank you!
Welcome
A warm welcome to our new
pupils who are joining us:
Cassidy Robinson, Phoebe
Mercer, Madelaine Williamson
and Alice Gornall.
Well done all!
“I’m delighted to be able
to tell you that Guinness
World Records have
confirmed that we did
indeed set the record for
the world’s biggest multi-
venue practical science
lesson!”
Helen Fraser, CEO
Calendar Mon 14: 2:30pm Netball v Guildford High Tues 15: P5 U14 Football; 6:30pm Y12 Higher Education Wed 16: Spillover transfer tests Thurs 17: 7pm PA committee meeting Fri18: Student Voice Y13
Evening fundraising concert for Erika Schilsky Sat 19: Ski trip to dry slope in Hemel Hempstead
Issue 13 January 2013 3
JUNIOR EDITORIAL
Dear Parents,
Happy New Year and
welcome to the new
term.
I hope that all BHHS
families had a lovely
restful break and I know
the staff would like me to
pass our thanks to all the
good wishes and
generous gifts, it is much
appreciated.
As I mentioned last term
with the electronic
registration girls not
present by 8.40 am will
be marked late and so
we ask that parents and
pupils report their arrival
to the front desk please.
Girls can be dropped off
from 8 am and we ask
that they are here by
8.30 am.
We are delighted to
welcome a number of
new girls in Nursery this
week and due to
expansion I am delighted
to introduce Miss
Mepham (photo) who
has been working with us
since October but she
will now be working in
the Nursery.
We also welcome new
pupils into Year 5 and
Year 1.
Best wishes
Sian Cattaneo
BHHS NEW YEAR
RESOLUTIONS
As it is a New Year and new
term we are having a number
of resolutions! Firstly, we are
tightening up on the uniform;
particularly earrings, hair slides
etc. and we would really
appreciate your support on the
wearing of correct uniform. Yet
again we have too many items
going missing and un-named
items in ‘lost property’. Whilst I
appreciate that girls enjoy
wearing nail polish on the
weekends can I ask that it is
removed during the week.
NEW DINING ROOM
FURNITURE
You may have noticed that we
have replaced the dining room
furniture over the break and this
has been well received by the
girls. It also offers us more
flexibility as the seating can be
folded and easily stored to
create a large space.
YEAR 6 CAROL SERVICE
Year 6 girls made a fantastic
contribution to the senior
school carol service in the last
week of term. They coped well
with some of the rather
challenging pieces and a solo
by Fenella Lawn and readings
by Polly Adamson and Iona
Scott were much enjoyed.
OPEN AFTERNOON
You should have received a
letter regarding our next Open
Afternoon on Saturday 19th
January, would you please
ensure you return the reply slip
at your earliest convenience to
enable us to arrange the
activities for that afternoon.
We are very proud of our girls
who act as our ambassadors
and always get very positive
feedback from our visitors.
You can download the letter
via the Portal. Click here…
ILLNESS
We are all aware that the
January term is notoriously a
breeding ground for bugs.
While I am not keen on girls
missing school if it is clear that
your daughter is unwell please
could you keep them at home,
otherwise they end up
spreading the germs around
and then going home anyway!
WEEK AT A GLANCE Saturday 12th January Year 6 Transfer Test at the Senior School
Monday 14th January
Year 5 & Year 6 Open session 8.30 – 9.15 am
Year 4 Momentum rehearsal 4 pm
Tuesday 15th January
U11 swimming Gala – Lancing College
Wednesday 16th January
U11 A & B Hockey V Farlington ‘away’
U8 Netball V Copthorne ‘home’
U10 A & B Netball v HPPC ‘away’