Newsletter Issue 12

letter

Brighton & Hove High School GDSt

Issue 12 December 2015

Dear Parents and Girls, One of the things I’m looking forward to this Christmas is catching up with some reading. I love crime fiction and I’m a big fan of ‘tartan noir’ so I was sad this week to see that one of its originators, William McIlvanney, has died– it has made me want to read ‘Laidlaw’ again. I’ve also got the new Ian Rankin to read, and the new Denise Mina …

It is an absolute joy to be able to look forward to reading. I was reminded also what a privilege it is when I read Ann Walmsley’s inspiring account of her volunteering in a prison book club: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/ features/ann-walmsley-how-the-joy-of-reading-can-set-you-free-a6688141.html. A love of reading is a legacy that should nurture in our daughters and never take for granted as we consider the awful global statistics around young people’s literacy : one in four young people in developing countries are unable to read a sentence, according to the latest UNESCO research. Globally, almost twothirds of illiterate adults are women -a figure that has remained almost static since 1990. If current trends continue, the poorest young women in developing countries are not expected to achieve universal literacy until 2072 (http://gu.com/p/3m8vn/sbl).

It is not unusual for young people to drift away from reading around adolescence, especially as an increasingly digital world presents many other options. That is why we try very hard in school to encourage girls to keep reading for pleasure and the English Department work tirelessly to support this. At this time of year there are always lots of ideas to suit different tastes in annual round-ups such as: http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/children/best-book-guide/ or http://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/young-adult-books/best-of-2015/ Let’s all enjoy some reading this Christmas!

Have a happy and peaceful holiday and I look forward to seeing everyone in 2016.

Jennifer Smith

diary

Monday 14th Carol Service rehearsal; Senior Citizens’ Tea rehearsal; Hullabaloo Choir 6:309:45pm; Tuesday 15th Carol Service rehearsal at All Saints’; School Christmas lunch; Senior Citizens’ Tea Party, 2-4pm; Reception for last year’s Y13 (604), 4pm; Carol Service at All Saints’, The Drive Hove, 6pm; Wednesday 16th Celebration Assembly; Sixth Form Christmas Entertainment; Finish for Christmas break, 2:30pm Next term... Thursday 7th Term begins; Full School Assembly; Friday 8th Y11 English Literature GCSE mock exam; Saturday 9th Transfer Tests 2015-16 Issue 12: 1

BHHS CHRISTMAS MUSICAL 2015: SONDHEIM’S ‘SWEENEY TODD’ If you are reading this on Friday afternoon and you haven’t yet seen ‘Sweeney Todd’, move quickly, move now, grab your coat, bring your purse and get down to the school: the show starts at 7pm and you are NOT going to want to miss this. Cast, band, stage and technical crews have worked brilliantly together to produce a show of stunning power - a magical mixture of gothic horror and witty dark, dark comedy. This musical is one of the most technically challenging shows we’ve ever done and we are enormously proud of all the students have achieved. From chorus to Sweeney Todd, we are living and breathing the darkest of Londons; a London riven by a terrible and unstoppable revenge. This is a show where the body count mounts, the pies get tastier and the horror grows stronger as we move to an appropriately twisted finale.

Mrs Ashdown, Miss Waller, Mrs Schilt & Mr Lloyd

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department...

READING - THE ULTIMATE PLEASURE IS ESSENTIAL Back in September I wrote home to all the senior school parents in a state of real excitement, promoting our fabulous Book Week plans. Book Week is a great whole school occasion here at Brighton & Hove High School but behind all that fun are one or two serious messages.

The first is something which brings me enormous pride: we use Book Week to support the life-changing work of Afghan Connection and I am delighted to report that we were able to send just over £500 to the charity this term, enabling them to build, equip and promote girls’ education across this wartorn country. BHHS is a great and caring school: thank you.

I would like to revisit the second serious point I made in the Book Week letter in this week’s newsletter: reading can change your daughter’s life too. There is empirical proof - from universities across the globe, as well as the OECD - that students who read regularly do better academically.

You might think I’m just talking about their English Literature and English Language attainment but no. I’m not even just talking about the arts subjects. Reading improves focus and concentration, it challenges ideas and raises questions which benefits skills of problem-solving, just as much as those of empathy. Reading is also an acknowledged stress-buster - really worth considering when so much of the news reminds us how stressful teenagers’ lives can be.

Of course, as an English teacher, I also recognise that reading is a hugely effective tool for growing vocabulary and sentence control, as well as spelling and punctuation accuracy. Every week the media reports concerns of the damaging impact of “screen time” on our young people. We would really like to enlist your support in fighting back by sharing and encouraging reading. In the competitive futures our students face - in terms of university applications and employment opportunities - poorly spelt, punctuated or phrased writing could really cost them.

Please talk to your daughter about reading. Share your reading with her - buy her a book or two for Christmas. Encourage her to use local and school libraries, to get involved with the many ideas the English Department have for promoting reading. For example, each set text has its own reading list and your daughter will have a copy of this in her exercise book. She is meant to complete 2 or 3 challenges a term. The large reading lists are on Firefly and each end of term we send home a holiday reading list, made up of peer group and teacher recommendations. Next term our years 7-9 groups will study a whole novel and have some pre1900 text taster suggestions.

We frequently organise writers to come into school and enthuse your daughters. For example, we loved having Nikki Sheehan and Catherine Johnson in school in Book Week; this term Professor Cedric Watts has been in school to talk to the year 13 A Level English Literature group and next term Ms Dean, the librarian, has invited the hugely popular Sophie McKenzie into school http://www. sophiemckenziebooks.com/. This term Miss Bournon has started the wonderful LitSoc for years 7 and Ms Dean and Mrs Foss also run the Southern Schools Book Award this term and, in the summer term, the Carnegie Shadowing scheme.

In the ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ Harper Lee makes Atticus Finch say: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Perhaps this is the most important recommendation for reading: it grows understanding and compassion.

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If you’re interested in any of this, here are some useful starting points: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/Parent%20Factor_e-book-new%20logo_FINAL_new%20 page%2047.pdf http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/programmeforinternationalstudentassessmentpisa/33690986.pdf http://www.ioe.ac.uk/89938.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8396823/ Michael-Gove-pupils-should-read-50-books-a-year.html http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/22/gove-50-books-children-laureate Reading for pleasure puts children ahead in the classroom.

Children who read for pleasure are likely to do significantly better.

Read more... http://www.ioe.ac.uk/89938.html The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development Programme for International Student Assessment Read more... http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/programmeforinternationalstudentassessmentpisa/33690986.pdf Let’s Read Them a Story! Read more... http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/Parent%20Factor_e-book-new%20logo_FINAL_new%20 page%2047.pdf

competitions...

We have a proven track record in all forms of writing competition, so get involved and win some prizes - and sometimes even House Points...

Check out our competiton page on Firefly for these great competitions too...

THE GDST CREATIVE WRITING COMPETITION 2016 The GDST Creative Writing prize will be an opportunity for GDST students to produce a piece of creative writing on a chosen theme, which for this year is ‘happiness’.

Connell Guides Essay Prize 2015-16 Our Essay Prize is back! This year we have a new judge, the best-selling novelist Robert Harris, AND a new question: Who is your favourite character from English literature and why? Whoever it is, if you’re a sixth-form student studying English Literature (including Scottish Highers), then you now have an opportunity to make your case. The prize this year is £500, a full set of Connell Guides and your essay published! Two runners up will receive a £100 gift card to spend at Connell Guides. http://www.connellguides.com/pages/essay-prize THE READER’S DIGEST 100 WORD COMPETITION 2016 There are two categories open to schools: one for children aged 12-18 and another for children under 12. The requirements are very simple: each entrant must write a story that is exactly 100 words long (not including the title). It must be original and unpublished but, other than these stipulations, pupils can allow their imaginations to run wild when writing their tiny tale!

2014-15 Issue 12: 4

Caboodle: What’s the best location in literature?

Our favourite locations in literature - tell us yours! Fancy a trip to Neverland or The Shire? Hogwarts or Arthur’s Seat? Choosing a book is an adventure in itself ... http://caboodle.nationalbooktokens.com/Our-favourite-locations-in-literature-tell-us-yours#.

Vmg63bli_IV

bhhs departments going social…

Social media isn’t just for sharing cat videos – it’s a great way to keep up with recommendations from teachers, departments and organisations associated with subject areas. This week lots of BHHS departments began tweeting. See what they are recommending you read, watch and listen to by following them:

Computing @BHHSComputing

Photogrpahy @BHHSPhotography

Dance @bhhs_dance

Psychology @BHHSPsychology

Drama @c_schilt

RE @RSatBHHS

English @BHHSEng

Science @Bhhs_sci

Geography @bhhsgeography

Sixth Form @BHHS6th

Music @bhhsmusic_bri

Sport @BhhsSport

do you know what you are signing away?

In a slightly scary but fascinating assembly this week Mr Whiteside asked pupils if they are aware of the data they are giving away when using smartphone apps, websites and modern technology in general. Inspired by the Big Bang Data exhibition at Somerset house (see details below), the assembly helped question to what extent our privacy is being eroded by modern digital technology. See the presentation here: http://prezi.com/tgjdvk_m4eqn/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share 2014-15 Issue 12: 5

ball

vs gildridge house Last Friday the Senior School Handball Team played away with Gildridge House, Eastbourne. This was our second match of the season and it was a great opportunity to go out and play confidently as a team. During the first quarter we were finding it hard to gain possession. As the game progressed we picked up the pace and our girls started to use better tactics. We used the court space well, both passing and intercepting which resulted in some goals. Despite good defence Gildridge House broke away in the second half and managed to seal their lead, 15-11. It was a great game to watch and the Player of the Match was Isabel Standing for her great shooting. Well done, girls!

Miss Cheesman

bouldering

On Monday, Year 8 enjoyed a fantastic afternoon Bouldering as part of their Wellbeing Program. The activity included climbing to extreme heights without safety ropes, only with the help of their friends and a heavy duty crash mat. Well done to all that participated, to the Instructors at Boulder Brighton and the teachers that supported this event.

Mr Higgins

plant off

This week Year 7 were able to get down and dirty with the plant world, thanks to a generous donation of excess pansies, violas, primulas and bulbs from Southwick Nurseries. Each house was allocated a plot and given free reign to design and plant out as they saw fit. Thankfully the weather held off but I doubt that even a downpour would have dampened their enthusiasm, if that is to be judged by the level of noise accompanying their efforts! It is clear that imagination and flair are alive and well in Year 7. Thanks go again to Southwick Nurseries for their generous donation.

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religious

21st December | YULE/WINTER SOLSTICE Pagan/Druid The sun is reborn. Yule is celebrated for 12 nights and days.

24th December | Christian | CHRISTMAS EVE Evening carol services, crib services and Midnight Masses inaugurate the festival of Christmas. The legendary Santa Claus is supposed to bring presents to children to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

24th December | MUSLIM THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD’S BIRTHDAY Starts with reading from the Qur’an followed by poetry, songs, lectures and story telling.

25th December | Christian CHRISTMAS DAY Celebrates the birth of Jesus believed to be the son of God. Gifts are given as reminders of the offerings brought to the infant Jesus.

26th December | Zoroastrian ZARATOSHT NO DISO Remembers the death anniversary of Prophet Zarathushtra.

29th December | Islam THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD’S BIRTHDAY 31st December | Japanese | OMISOKA Japanese festival which prepares for the New Year by cleansing Shinto home shrines and Buddhist altars.

31st December | National | HOGMANAY Observed widely but especially Scotland. Bagpipes, haggis and first footing are widespread. Clearing one’s debts, cleaning the house, welcoming guests and strangers feature at this time.

Sunday 13th | BBC World Service, 9:30am | Heart and Soul – the God of Hip Hop Talks to artists and religious leaders to explore the complex relationship between hip hop and religion.

Sunday 13th | BBC1, 10am | Fern Britton Meets… Lord Ashdown talks about his career - from war zones to campaign trails, and, how growing up in Northern Ireland have shaped his religious beliefs.

Monday 14th | BBC4, 9pm | Inside Einstein’s Mind The story of the most elegant and powerful theory in science – Albert Einstein’s general relativity.

Monday 14th | Radio 4, 1:45pm British Liberalism Retraces the Votes for Women march, led by the non-violent Suffragist movement, to rediscover the story of its liberal leader, Millicent Fawcett.

Tuesday 15th | Radio 4, 3:30pm Shared Experience – Born in the Wrong Body When do you know you’ve been born the wrong gender?

Meets three people who have made the at times painful decision to change gender.

Recommendations from the RE & Philosophy Department Mrs Dowglass 2015-16 Issue 12: 7

Brighton & Hove High School GDST

JuniorSchool Dear Parents,

Christmas break.

Best wishes,

Particularly at Christmas time, I feel what a privilege it is to work in a school. We experience first-hand the children’s delight in the celebrating of the story through the nativities and concerts and their excitement, joy and enthusiasm is very infectious. During this week we have been able to share this with parents and come together as a community, which to me sums up what Christmas is all about. Thank you for your continued support during this busy time and from all at BHHS we hope you have a wonderful

calendar

weekly

Sian Cattaneo

No Junior events Thursday 7th or Friday 8th January.

Monday 11th Junior clubs begin 4A Parent Lunch, 12pm Tuesday 12th Transfer Test (spillover) Wednesday 13th U-11b/U-10b Hockey vs Burgess Hill (home) U-8 Hockey vs Great Walstead (away) Friday 15th PA coffee Morning

end of term

information

...

Clubs finish Friday 11th December.

Only After school care runs on Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th December – No homework club or any other clubs next week.

Last day of school Wednesday 16th December – all pupils to be collected at 2.30pm.

First day back is Thursday 7th January – dates can also be found on Firefly via https://bhhsjuniors. fireflycloud.net/parents/term-dates 2015-16 Issue 12: 8 2014-15 Issue 1: page xx 2015-16 Issue 12: 1

KS2

carol concert

It was wonderful to see the whole of key stage 2 joining together for our Carol Concert at the Church of the Good Shepherd this week. This follows a great deal of hard work by many girls to learn words, practise music and all the other jobs that a concert entails. The whole of year 3 joined the Lower School Choir this term and they represented their choir admirably at the concert, singing with enormous enthusiasm.

The Upper School Choir girls had learned three very challenging songs in parts and performed these beautifully. Faced with such a large audience, the readers and soloists managed to overcome nerves and sore throats and projected their voices confidently and the Chamber Group gave a polished and expressive performance of “In the Bleak Mid-winter”. A highlight was the premier of Isabella Pendlebury’s winning song, “Christmas Sounds”, performed by all of the girls, with Isabella singing solo. Many thanks to all of those families who were able to attend. We are very grateful for your tremendous support which means so much to the girls and spurs them on to perform so well.

national

Following her amazing success at the Mid Sussex Music Festival recently, we are delighted to announce that Riya Hamie (y6) has won a place in the National Children’s under 11 Orchestra as a cellist. Many congratulations to a very talented young girl!

We are also thrilled to announce that Sienna Greenwood (year 5), having taken cello lessons at the Royal College of Music since September, has now been offered a place in the National Children’s Orchestra for 2016. Congratulations to two exceptionally talented young musicians!

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year 1 & 2

Pictured: Early Years nativity and KS1 nativity

nativity

In Year 1 and 2 we have worked very hard on our Nativity this year. The Nativity was called “A Little Bird Told Me” and it was all about Robin’s journey to Bethlehem. We really enjoyed practising our Nativity and loved performing it to the whole school and our parents. We thought our singing was excellent and we worked really hard on our actions and our voices. We hope that you enjoyed watching our Nativity.

The Y2 Girls

christmas fair

A huge thank you to everyone that supported the Christmas Fair this year, it was a fantastic event. We raised just over £7,000 for the PA which is amazing.

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Moving, growing and Year Four girls have been studying Moving and Growing and Healthy Living for their science topics this term and this week they called upon the Early Years girls to help them demonstrate how we grow as we get older. Six confident and cheerful Nursery girls, Lucy, Isabelle, Phoebe, Arella, Heidi and Anira, visited the science room and allowed the older girls to measure their height and the length of different bones. Mrs. Hadfield’s measurements were also taken. The girls discovered that some bones, such as arms and legs, grow at a very fast rate whereas the measurement around the head had only changed very slightly. A very big thank you to the Nursery for helping us with our investigation.

Nursery News All week it has been glitter, tinsel and Whoops-a-Daisy!! The girls have been fantastic practising the words and songs (and from what we’ve heard, most of you know all the words to the songs as well!!).

It was wonderful to see so many of you there and we are so proud of all the girls.

Christmas is now definitely here!

We really appreciate you providing such gorgeous costumes, many thanks.

Merry Christmas from all of us in Early Years!

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netball U-11 vs Sion , 6-1 It was a pleasure to umpire this lovely team again. With a squad of 10, everyone was given the opportunity to play at least three-quarters. Emma B played a super first quarter as GA, turning the ball over repeatedly and with Frieda notched up 3 goals. Issy J and Olivia P worked so well with Charlie that Sion had no opportunity to shoot. In the second quarter Charlie A put the pressure on Sion as Centre. Nathalie worked tirelessly all game in midcourt and once again was generous in giving her position to another player to give them an opportunity. As it was a little one sided we took our players out of position and Issy J proved to be a great shooter as well as a defender scoring 2 goals (it might have been a third but the final whistle went just as she was about to shoot, much to the chagrin of the spectators!)

Final score was 6-1 to BHHS. Player of the match and Umpires’ player of the match Emma B.

U-9a vs Windlesham House, 3-11 In cold, blustery conditions, the girls travelled to Windlesham House for a netball match.

The opposition made a very strong start, moving and passing quickly, and dominated the early game. Atlanta, Rosie and Elsie worked hard in centre court, but we weren’t finding space and our game lacked fluidity. Our hesitation in passing combined and an occasional weaker pass allowed the Windlesham players to anticipate our moves and intercept. At half time we were 8-1 down; but we made a couple of changes to the team and were back on court with renewed energy and determination. The girls fought hard throughout the second half; they were much improved, communicating with each other, finding court space and making more determined attacking moves. Ella and Jamie in defence were relentless in their marking, and at the other end Liah, Phoebe and Atlanta created attacking chances from which Atlanta scored twice. It wasn’t enough to make up for the first half though, and the final score was 11-3 to Windlesham House. Player of the Match and Umpire’s Player of the Match: Ella, for great defensive play on her debut in the A team.

U-9b vs Windlesham House, 2-3 The U-9b team consisting of Claudette, Fleur, Alice, Ruby T, Liberty, Amalie A, Lucy and Bertie played away at Windlesham House School on Wednesday on a cold but crisp afternoon. We started the game well with some accurate passing and good movement and took the lead with a goal from Fleur, however our lead was short lived as Windlesham soon equalised giving a score of one all at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter we again passed accurately, were trying to move into space and had a greater percentage of the possession but failed to pass accurately into the circle which was dominated by the Windlesham GD who was a very capable player and made several vital interceptions, we also failed to convert the few chances we did create and Windlesham managed to score one goal out of only a few chances due to great defensive work from Amalie and Liberty. 2-1 to Windlesham at half time. The third quarter continued in much the same vein and despite trying to work the ball into the circle by coming in front of the defender we were still unable to score and Windlesham again scored one goal from only a handful of chances. In the final quarter we were still dominating possession with great work rate from Bertie, Ruby and Alice in the centre court and our change in tactics in getting the ball into our shooters worked better with a few more scoring opportunities and Fleur managed to score another goal towards the end of the game but Windlsham hung on for a 3-2 victory. Fleur was named player of the match by Windlesham and Coaches player of the match was Bertie.

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U-8a vs Windlesham House, 5-4 What a fantastic way to end the term! Our team were so positive to start and managed to score a goal quickly. Our opponents then scored and we drew the first quarter. 2 more goals scored in the second quarter and we were leading 3-1 going into the second half. Another consistent shot and the girls thought they were safe when Windlesham came back in the final quarter scoring their second, third and then fourth goal but our defence, Tilly, Olivia and Gracie in the final quarter managed to hold possession with spectacular interceptions from Tilly until the end of the game.

When Emily took a tumble Gracie picked up the centre bib, a new match position for her. Casey worked extremely hard defending her player and consistently marking her well. Our centre passes were particularly strong in this match. Bobbi was focused when receiving: the ball was taken quickly and passed directly - excellent! This set us up well to feed the ball to Isabella and Lauren to shoot.

Girl of the game, chosen by our opponents, was Isabella, scoring 4 out of the 5 goals! Coach’s girl of the game was Emily who came back strongly and made an incredible interception on centre court.

hockey

U-11 vs Windlesham House, 0-8 As is often the case, the score does not reflect the end to end nature of the game. Windlesham were particularly strong in attack and despite some phenomenal saves from Jamie in goal, they took an early lead. BHHS fought back, using the space well but found it hard to move into strong positions. A number of quick goals early in the second half by Windlesham rather affected BHHS morale but they still defended well and showed some skill and team work particularly in attack. Girl of the game/ umpires’ choice was Jamie.

U-10 Hockey vs Windlesham House, 4-1 Great team play amongst the team, with solid defence by Leah, Isabella and Ava, athletic and confident saves by Lilly in goal and 4 cracking goals set up by the midfield and forwards, Ava, Amelia, Lila, Eliza, and Amy. Amelia voted player of the match by the visitors.

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