The Review: 2021 - 2022

WGHSREVIEW

Welcome

Schools never stand still. There are always new ideas to try out and new people to meet; this is what makes teaching and life in a school so exciting - one can never be bored! This year, as we have slowly moved away from bubbles and all other Covid restrictions, we have embraced school life to the full.

Wakefield Girls’ High School is now a through school with Senior and Junior Sections. Through our new House System (Clayton, Blakey, Lee and Mackie) we have been sure to spend time together creating new and long lasting traditions in addition to the sharing of resources, space and teacher expertise! Through both the House and Pastoral system, our contribution to our community, including charitable giving has been most impressive. We look outside of our school gates and make sure we are aware of what is happening in our local community and beyond; we help each other to be in the moment and to succeed (we each have our own definition of what success looks like); we look outwards and we use our voices in a positive way to make change. This has meant that we have responded to changes in society and issues raised by our students. The highlights of this year (for me) have been the launch of our Diversity and Inclusion Committee with our first Cultural Day celebrating heritage and what we each value, the danceathon and ‘Big House Day In’, Founders’ Day, Sister Act to name but a few. We shall be sure to keep evolving, learning, listening and changing in the next academic year and I am delighted that our students want to contribute to this - they have a voice and they use it in the right way. Regardless of their age!

In what feels like a world of chaos, conflict and political strife where morals and values are regularly questioned, I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of a wonderful school community surrounded by intelligent, talented, confident, funny and excited people that help make this world of ours a better place to be. This year it has been wonderful to welcome the following new staff to our school community: Mr Sam Rowley (Director of Junior Section); Mr Andy Bray (Year 5 teacher); Mrs Haigh (Attendance Officer); Mrs McKinlay (Receptionist); Ms Stevie Newton (Registrar) and Mr David Wilson (IT technician). We also celebrate with Miss Dee North on the birth of twins Alena and Francesca, Mrs Joanna Baldwin on the birth of Holly and Mrs Margereson on birth of Lilliana (Lilly). We wish them all the very best and look forward to seeing them soon.

We also say farewell to the following staff: Mr Paul Roberts (Catering Manager);Mr Paul Kay (Head Chef); Richard Slide (Joiner); Mrs Halton, Mrs Goodwin, Liz Boid (Junior Section); Mrs Oliver (Classics); Mrs Heathcote (Maths); Mrs Blignaut (Admissions Secretary) and Mrs Littledyke (Singing Teacher and Choir Director). Collectively there are many, many years of experience and time given to all at Wakefield Girls’ High School and I am incredibly grateful to everyone for all they have contributed over the years and for the lovely memories they leave us with. We very much hope to keep in touch with everyone. This summer, I hope that everyone has taken some time to sit back, to enjoy time with loved ones and reflect on this past year and be proud of what has been achieved.

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32We are grateful to all the girls and staff who have contributed to this magazine. A particular thank you must go to the students in the Creative Writing Club and Student Leaders Elizabeth Sykes, Shara Vijay Kumar, Tia Stent and Amber Ventris-Crowley for their contributions to this year’s magazine. The Editor would also like to thank the winners of the Calendar Competition for the additional photography complementing the work in the Review Magazine this year. If you have any comments or would like to submit images or text for consideration please contact The Editor, WGHS Magazine, Wakefield Girls’ High School, 1 Wentworth Street, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF1 2QS. This 2021-22 edition covers the period Summer 2021-Summer 2022. Artwork on front cover by Katie Scollick (Year 11). Artwork on rear cover by Abigail Kumar (Year 13). Once a High School Girl, always a High School Girl.

Editor, Mrs Jennie Megson Designed by Shuffle CMS Ltd

IT'S THE WAY WE GIVE STUDENTS THE SKILLS AND RESILIENCE TO SUCCEED

Exam News

A Level and GCSE Results 2022

Our students have once again achieved outstanding A-level and GCSE results. We are delighted to see the majority of our GCSE students continuing their studies in our wonderful Sixth Form and our Sixth Form ‘Class of 2022’ are going on to an array of exciting and diverse destinations and courses. This is greatly deserved after displaying consistent and remarkable determination throughout the past two academic years, adapting to changing guidelines, in moving between in-person and online teaching, and preparing for the full examinations of this year. This was their first experience of public examinations as a result of the pandemic.

I am very proud of all our students and staff. The students must be praised for their positive and proactive approach to everything they do and I thank them for the support they offered each other; it is wonderful to be in an environment where a strong sense of community is truly valued. The teachers and support staff must also be commended for their agility, creativity, dedication and perseverance in preparing and supporting students, both academically and pastorally.

The 2022 A-level cohort has achieved 81.5% A*-B, 59.5% A*/A grades with eight students gaining three or more A* grades, and an amazing 36% achieving three or more A grades or above. We also celebrated more wonderful achievements with our GCSE students - 94.2% achieved at grade 5 or higher and 67% of all grades achieved were awarded grade 9 to 7. Thirty students attained 9 GCSEs at grade 7 or higher with twelve students achieving 9 or more grade 8s or higher and three of these students attaining 9 grade 9s.

Both sets of results were celebrated but it was not just the success of their examinations and academic gradesbut everything they have done outside of the classroom: learning remotely during Covid, taking advantage of extracurricular opportunities to be courageous, resilient, to grow in confidence and experience new things. This is what matters most and is the key to success for our students, now and for the future. All of our students should be confident that they have the skills and knowledge to embark upon the next stage of their journeys for they possess the awareness, understanding and a strong sense of social responsibility. Our students are extremely well equipped and ready for their future choices and I wish them all the very best.

Founders' Day 2021

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There were some stunning musical performances from the brass band

Founders’ Day 2021 was held at the Cathedral, with Year 12 and 13 in attendance and the rest of the school watching remotely, due to Covid guidelines. There were some stunning musical performances from the brass band, Eleanor Bowen on trumpet, Cantabile, Grace Hillier on saxophone, and Luke Marsh-Muir. It was great to be able to have such a range of music in the Cathedral again. There were readings from the Head and Deputy Head Girls, who were, along with the musicians, excited to take part in one of the usual school celebrations that honours the history of WGHS.

This was a particularly special service for Year 13, who attended the first ever Founders’ Day when they were in Year 7. As every attendee knows, it is an amazing tradition for the school, and it's nice to see it still going strong despite the disruption of last year.

Class of

Our final few weeks at school were a chance for the team to look back on a very successful year in office, having the opportunity to talk about each other’s achievements

Eleanor Bowen, Head Girl and Georgina Odgers, Deputy Head Girl

2022

For the Head Girl Team, 2021-22 has been a busy year, but an incredible opportunity to engage with our school community during our final year of school. Having started our time in office by attending the WGHS In Touch event in the summer, and ending the year becoming alumnae ourselves, it has been a bit of a whirlwind, but we think it is safe to say that we have loved every second of it.

Ms Boyes has encouraged the team this year to consider the legacy that we wish to leave behind, both as individuals and as a collective, and at Founders’ Day in September, the opportunity to celebrate those involved in the founding of the school further inspired this sense of legacy. Other events, such as Open Morning and the Christmas Carol Service also gave the team the chance to don their gowns and to interact with members of the public alongside fellow students. As a team, we promoted interaction with younger year groups, including in the Pre-Prep, as well as across the foundation with our counterparts at QEGS.

Our final few weeks at school were a chance for the team to look back on a very successful year in office, having the opportunity to talk about each other’s achievements and receiving our WGHS Head Girl Team badges, with the icing on the cake being the Senior Prefect dance at May Ball, after spending many weeks perfecting our moves. We are so grateful for the support we have had from the team and the school community this year, and we wish all the best to the new WGHS Head Girl Team for 2022-23.

Eleanor Bowen, Head Girl and Gina Odgers, Deputy Head Girl 2021-22

Outgoing Head Girl Team 2021-22

Head Girl Eleanor Bowen

Deputy Head Girl Georgina Odgers

Sarah Ng Katie Browning Mollie Shone

Fay Bennett Mabel Hepplestone Holly Rusling Tara Karim Olivia Cole Emily Pridham Elizabeth Sykes

May Ball 2022

IT'S THE WAY WE EMPOWER EVERYONE TO ACHIEVE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL

The voice of the next generation

Einstein wrote, “The world as we have created it, is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” Students at WGHS offer unique perspectives on what it is like to be a student at school; involving them in decision-making can create meaningful change and better academic outcomes, as well as facilitating a sense of empowerment and inclusion.

This year the process of electing the Head Girl and Senior Prefects allowed our students from Year 6 to Year 13 to be involved in the voting process through the opportunity to listen to the Year 12 candidates at a Hustings held over two assemblies. The candidates spoke about their vision for the school and how they would drive forward change. The quality of the speeches were exceptional. As a result we have a superb new team of Year 12 students ready to take on bespoke roles to push forward and create their legacy in environment, wellbeing, diversity, mental health, Pre-prep and Junior and marketing.

As this article is about student voice, it is only right that the words come from some of those who have represented the student body over the last year.

Mrs Ladds - Assistant Head

Eleanor Bowen, Head Girl and Gina Odgers, Deputy Head Girl:

“The Head Girl Team has been a great opportunity this year for students embarking on their final year at school to engage with the whole school community. This year, for the first time the Senior Section Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl had the opportunity to meet and discuss ideas with their counterparts in both the Junior Section and the Pre-Prep. This gave us a brilliant chance to engage with younger students and to further explore the ways in which we can work together to inspire others. In addition to working with younger students, the Head Girl Team has been involved with the WGHS In Touch network, allowing us to also engage with the wider community of alumnae as well as connecting with the Head Boy Team at QEGS to further strengthen our impact on a foundation-wide level. Overall, this academic year, the Head Girl Team has enabled a range of students to develop their own voice within the school community.”

Form Sergeant, Catherine Mellor - Year 7:

“Being a Form Sergeant over the time period of Year 7 has been a really fantastic experience for me. I have enjoyed being able to help to organise the Form and help my Form Tutor when needed. I have also been in charge of different projects to lead the class, such as leading the making of the Form assembly for the end of the year. It was a tough challenge as we had to try and include everyone's ideas. Being a Form Sergeant has got me closer to my friends and I love helping others, so this is pretty much one of the best things that has happened to me over the time of being at WGHS and I definitely recommend it to someone who likes or wants to be a helper and a leader.”

School Council Representative, Katie

Harrison - Year 7:

“The School Council has worked hard this year, meeting every half term to discuss items which have been put forward by their form. A debate can vary from dealing with food waste, new co-curricular opportunities, uniform, assemblies, charities to the bell system. By discussing important issues that affect students they are an important body who contribute to making the school a better place to be for everyone. The School Council members feedback to their classes as it is important they impart what actions have been carried forward and the reasons why others were not.”

Rhiona Lahiri - Year 8:

IRIS, Katherine Jarvis - Year 12:

“IRIS, named after the Greek goddess of rainbows, is our school’s LGBTQ+ group; something which has provided a welcoming and safe space for some students who sometimes feel isolated. From talking about who they are freely and without any fear of judgement, to discussing the latest LGBTQ+ artists, films and books, there is a sense of community. Openly proud LGBTQ+ members, those who are unsure and questioning - maybe some still in hiding about being LGBTQ+, and allies who are not LGBTQ+ themselves but want to support those who are can have their voice heard in this invaluable part of our wider school community.”

The South Asian Committee, Mathusa Logeswaran - Year 12:

“The South Asian Committee has been a vessel for further appreciation and recognition of the many different backgrounds and cultures within our school. We run fortnightly meetings to discuss upcoming festivals, celebrations as well as learning the culture through food and playing kahoots on Bollywood trivia. The most recent project that the committee worked on was the assembly on Ramadan, in which we discussed what Ramadan is, why it is celebrated and gave voice to further information based on personal experiences. In addition, the committee is planning further events such as a charity fashion show, a film night and some fundraising eventsbut these are still in the planning phase. This committee has been a great way for students across the WGHS to share similar experiences, build new friendships and learn more about South Asian culture. But above all, this committee is a great way to make sure students feel safe, comfortable and valued within our school community. The culture day was also a fantastic way of allowing students and the school to collectively celebrate the diverse cultures and backgrounds of every student. I hope these events are included in the school year from now on to ensure cultural diversity and appreciation continues to be at the heart of our school community.”

“The South Asian committee is a place where everyone is welcome and it is a very supportive community.”

We run fortnightly meetings to discuss upcoming festivals, celebrations as well as learning the culture through food and playing kahoots on Bollywood trivia

Mathusa and the South Asian Committee

Hooriya and Charlotte with the Student Council Representatives

Diversity and Inclusion at WGHS

Our first Diversity and Inclusion Committee was established in 2021. Students had to submit a written application which was carefully considered and every year group is represented within the committee which meet once every half term. Firstly, we established a set of ground rules in order to create a safe environment, then our task was preparing questions for a student voice survey of all Senior Section students about how they feel about Diversity and Inclusion at WGHS. The response was very high and we gained a valuable insight as to where we should be heading and what issues were priorities to students. One of the main requests was for a Culture Day which was an amazing event, despite the grey weather. The students turned out in colourful clothes and the committee helped to run a food stall which sold food from different cultures.

We celebrated Chinese New Year in school, as well as Eid. Students from the newly established South Asian society spoke in an assembly about their experiences of Eid and Ramadan. The prayer room in Cliff has also been moved in response to student requests and is available to all students. In addition, I am continuing to diversify the book collection here so that all of our senior students can read stories which reflect their own lives, as well as Graphic novels and Dyslexia-friendly books.

I am currently in the process of establishing a ParentGovernor Diversity working-group which hopes to meet in September. We also have a staff Diversity and Inclusion group which meets every half term. We have lots planned for next year and welcome any suggestions or thoughts from the school community.

“In September, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee was formed by the librarian Ms Harries and pupils from all over the school joined! The pupils in the committee wanted to adapt the school so that everyone’s cultures and heritages were included. A successful idea of this was shown on Culture Day. This was a new idea to the school where students could dress up in their own cultural clothes and they could even cook some food from their own heritage that would be sold at break time (it was all sold out in minutes!). Overall, it was a really fun day that we hope will become an annual event.”

Ms Harries - LRC Manager and Diversity and Inclusion Champion

Rhiona Lahiri in Year 8 is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Here are her thoughts:

Students from the newly established South Asian society spoke in an assembly about their experiences of Eid and Ramadan

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LIKE THE WAY WE ENRICH THE LEARNING OF EVERY STUDENT

Hallo!

Bonjour everyone!

My name is Justine and I was the French assistant for the year 2021-22. I obtained an English licence in 2021 and studied anglophone literature and civilisation at Arras University in the north of France.

Being a language assistant at 21 years old made me realise how important it is to learn languages. It was a privilege for me to share my language and my culture with the lovely and inspiring students at WGHS and QEGS.

I could not dream better of working with these brilliant students. I also felt very lucky to be surrounded by such amazing teachers who shared with me their precious knowledge and advice, not to mention their goodwill. Thanks to this enriching experience, I have learnt new teaching skills and discovered England’s British culture.

It also helped me on a personal level to improve my English and to face my shyness. It may not be easy to move from one country to another, but as soon as I set foot in the mesmerising Yorkshire region, every tiny problem seemed to have flown away! The beauty of its landscape, the charm of its history and the kindness of its people convinced me for good to move to the UK! I would like to thank everyone, the schools, the students, the staff members and the friends that I have made this year.

À bientôt!

Justine Warot, French Assistant

As some of you know, I am Marlene Feger, the teaching assistant from Germany. I worked at the WGHS and at QEGS, so I really got to know quite a few students, which was really nice. I very much enjoyed working with them and took it as a challenge to not only teach them about my language and culture, but also to get to know them a bit, which was a truly wonderful experience. My time at the school helped me to find out more about what it means to be part of a school; what it means to be a teacher. I have the utmost respect for everyone who chose teaching as their profession and stuck with it, because while there are many days when it might feel like the best job in the world, on other days it can be a very challenging experience. And yet. Working at WGHS and QEGS has taught me so many valuable lessons; I was both teacher and student at the same time and I am very grateful for all that I could learn from both the staff and the students, you’ve all been a very important part on my way to becoming a teacher, and will be much missed!

A special thanks to Emma Lister, who was a very good mentor! As I am writing this, I am already back in Berlin, sitting in my university’s library. If you’ve never been to Berlin, you should come visit, it is truly worth experiencing. Maybe see you around soon?

Dankeschön und bis bald!

Marlene, German Assistant

Ey Up!

My name is Roberto González and I am the Spanish assistant from Chile. I have to confess these two years working at WGSF were just amazing. The girls and boys from both schools always showed a great interest in learning Spanish, and they enjoyed all of the activities and games I prepared for them. I have never met kids so well brought up and friendly at any other school I have worked in Yorkshire. They are just incredibly nice teenagers. I am going to miss them tons!

As an English teacher, I improved my second language a lot.

I struggled at the beginning - I might still do it - but there is no doubt that I fell in love with the Yorkshire accent. I had beautiful moments and experiences while teaching here. All of my colleagues were always so nice, and I made good friends with the staff. I also had the opportunity to travel around England and visit beautiful cities and places. You have a great country. I am already looking forward to coming back on holidays and keep going around Yorkshire county.¡Muchas gracias a todos!

Ta-ra!

Roberto González, Spanish Assistant

Inspirational Poetry

This is me vs What they see

They see a normal girl

A Cheerful Morning in Spring

One day something very beautiful happened, Flowers started to bloom and colours came back to the trees, The buzzing of the bees and the chirping of the birds declared the trees were like royalty.

The clouds hanging up in the sky reminded me as if I was in an art gallery, The clouds looked like different artworks, They had different shapes and different shades of colour from white to black, The bright orange star was smiling through the clouds.

I never felt as calm when I walked through the orchards in spring, The air was filled with a berries and lavender aroma, It was some joyful morning walk in spring.

The floral stands brought colour to the streets, People greeted each other with happiness and gratitude, “Come get your flowers” or “Come get your freshly picked fruit”, After a while the flowers will go, After a while the fruit will go, The cold winter will knock at our doors and will be welcomed with warm hearts, and everlasting smiles.

Rhea Lahiri (Year 8)

They see a brown girl

They see a girl from a small place

Yet,

I am someone who has ideas

I am someone who likes the sun

I am someone that is trying hard

I am someone who goes through pain

But,

I am trying and I will succeed I am an ordinary girl, if anything Yet, I am so much more Than just my face.

Adn Ashab (Year 10)

Which wild one

Today I’d choose a lion. The King of the Jungle, Who wouldn’t want to roar and cause the ground to rumble?

The top of the food chain and all creatures would bow, Down beneath their paws, from leopards to zebras or even a cow.

And to never be alone, together in a pride. And have others around you to be your guide

I’d like to be a lion, noble and proud. Everyone can recognise you by a single sound.

Mikaela Agyepong

Fire Burns

Fire burns Sparks fly

As you turn

A bright light meets your eye

A beautiful flame

The smell of wood

A heat so tame

Fire seems good

But it can soon transform

And become uncontrolled

Soon it becomes a fiery storm

A sight to behold

The great heat

And vivid light May warm your feet May brighten the night

But it can soon transform

And become uncontrolled

Soon it becomes a fiery storm

A sight to behold

It cooks your food

It can create

But wind may intrude

And it may be too late

It has transformed

It's become uncontrolled

Now nothing left but a fiery storm

A sight to behold

Amber Ventris-Crowley (Year 10)

Calendar photography competition: Arianna Pascale

Calendar photography competition: Mrs White

Calendar photography competition: Sophie Lister

Poetry Inspired by Alvi and Hockney

These poems were written in English lessons after Year 7 had visited Salt’s Mill with the Art Department.They are inspired by Moniza Alvi’s poem ‘I would like to be a dot in a painting by Miro’ and work created by David Hockney.

‘I would like to be a leaf in a painting by Hockney’

I’m here at the bottom of the pile. Doing my job, playing my part. Just like every other day, I’m nobody’s favourite bit.

The wind flies through and I stay still as a brick. Through summer, spring, autumn, winter I will always be here, Stuck and forever covered in mud.

Isabella Perry

‘I would like to be a line in a Hockney painting’

Not visible or as unique as other lines, Sadly, it’s true With my dark, curved and lonely body. I feel different.

The landscape’s vast colours of green. I’d wish I was the bright orange line Though here I am Stuck down in the shadows.

I curve and turn To get centre stage Away from the other lines. Just a bit of attention. Was that enough?

But I think for a moment, The greater trees soaring high. I may be the same But that’s the joy.

The idea I’m not alone, The fact that I’m here in this painting Is all any line could need. It really is a dream.

The colours pop. It looks so calm And though I may not be seen I feel like a part.

Kate Harrison

‘I would like to be a mountain in a painting by Hockney’

A mountain similar in shape to others, but bold and Colourful high up, nearly touching the top of the sky. Unique, as they say, with so much mountain to climb.

With roads passing through me Winding, twisting, turning, spiralling Bursts of colours here and there.

I have luscious greens and deep oranges. Plants, flowers and trees grow out of me. Nature loves me as they say And there is no way they can destroy me any day.

So climb on me, explore me as you want But I’ll always stand here, I’ll never die away So I’ll be here when you want to see me to this day.

Savannah Ramsden

‘I would like to be a branch in a Hockney painting’

Not as unique as the trees, But I hold the leaves well. They wouldn't be complete without me.

And although I am not tall, I would be placed precisely On the large green canvas.

Do I dare bend down to the paths, Meandering below us all? I don’t as I like being a branch,

And I know I still play a big part in the wondrous scene we are in. I’d stand out with my vibrant colour,

So mesmerising to the eye.

The fact I’m a bending branch Makes me more exciting in this world.

So there I’d be, As the seasons change In this Early July Tunnel.

Alana Glennan

‘I would like to be a tree in a Hockney painting’

Am I different to the other trees?

Slightly. It’s true we are all different And I’m thought out, my placement is key.

I create an illusion, I invite you to the forest, And I stay - I’m put in place to move you into the forest.

We work together and serve a purpose To follow a path, and lead you in as a team.

But I have to stay And I’m fine with that So am I aware?

Aware of my surroundings

I am not perfect

Yet people stare

They travel miles

At least that’s what I’ve heard Just to see us standing there

An explosion in the mind. It’s a lot to take in So I stay still.

Jessica Ross

Calendar photography competition: Anna Danforth-Johnstone

Winter is here once again

As the wind whistles through the trees

It's like music to my ears. Seeing the birds dash around, the snowy white ground.

Winter is here once again, Bringing with it the memories of warm fires and woolly socks, Cinnamon buns and fairy lights. But with it, it also brings bad memories, Memories of isolation and tears. Memories of extreme tiredness and sickness.

Times where we doubted it would be a normal year.

Winter is here once again, Despite the days that happened back then.

Snowmen and delicately iced fairy cakes, The nativity and holiday cheer. Waking up when it's still dark, My heartbeat in my ears. Running down the stairs and opening the door, The scent of Christmas flooding through my veins.

Winter is here once again, An occasion of joyousness and laughter.

But that's not what it was last year,

The advent calendar was still half full.

It didn’t feel like Christmas, It felt like an icy winter was biting at my toes, I'm just glad it's all over.

Forever I hope...

Rhiona Lahiri (Year 8)

Inaugural House Poetry Competition

2022 Earth

Winning entry

A seed in the soil

Not a sight of the stem seen

Years of growth to come

Halima Bello-Inua (Year 8)

THE FOLLOWING HAIKUS ACHIEVED HIGHLY COMMENDED

The earth crumbles

Just enough

To let us know

Isla Baxter (Year 8)

Winning entry

Blossom in the Horizon

Great bare branches reaching for the sun

An achromatic outline of the deepest grey Stood alone, individually the only one

A form of punishment to annually pay

Scars and dents from head to toe

With stories to tell and a life full of tales

Nearly every inch of its bark scarred by woe Natures savage manner never seeming to fail

A plethora of pinks coating its limbs

In and out gracefully the finches dived

Here spring comes, early on a whim

Tia Stent (Year 11)

One caterpillar

Soon to be a butterfly

Colourful and bright

Maya Aziz (Year 8)

Snow falls everywhere.

A flower peeks through the snow. Flowers everywhere.

Alice Simmons (Year 8)

A prick from your thorn

Our river twisted and turned

Just how many lies?

Phoebe Chen (Year 8)

I start as a seed

With good water and sunlight

Leaves begin to sprout

Saachi Singh (Year 8)

Calendar photography competition: Priyah Heppinstall

Don’t get me started on... emails

Emails. Pinging at you everywhere you look, it's just purely preposterous. You sit at your desk attempting to concentrate, when you find yourself, reading an email from someone about yet another task you have to complete. Once you’ve spent hours replying to email after email, you wait to find out that the recipients of your well thought out replies don't even bat an eye! Sometimes I think, do they even read the responses to their oh so urgently important emails.

‘Emails aren’t that bad’ I bet you're thinking. What about when you finally start to get on top of your work and someone decides to set a million more things to do. It’s never-ending! Whether I'm at school or at home, you, nor I can ever escape the emails. If you don’t reply to an email in zero point one seconds you get spammed with emails chasing responses and the oh so famous ‘Did you get my email?’ Sometimes I can’t even remember the answer to this irritating question. I can’t remember any particularly important emails out of the thousand I received just today.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind replying quickly when there is something important, but when I send the urgent email, I don’t get a reply for weeks! It’s totally okay for others once they’ve got their answer and they don't need anything else, but when you go to ping an email back to them they fail miserably to return the favour. When they are sitting, taking their plentiful time to type a one word email reply, I'm sitting waiting at my desk with nothing to do until this short email comes through.

Furthermore, on the odd occasion you do receive a quick reply and they acknowledge your carefully worded email and you get a task done speedily and efficiently, the new email comes through ‘...set a task due tomorrow’. The stress comes tumbling down like a tonne of bricks. Stressed, miffed and tired you have to start and complete one more task. Did you know that the average office worker receives over one hundred emails per day? That's just too many.

Nevertheless, emails are handy; I don’t have to go hunting people down, or wait till they're around to ask them a simple question. Not to mention you can email from wherever you like. At the supermarket, from your bed, in an office. That said, you no longer have an escape from the constant flow of emails. Ping! Ping! Ping! All day long, wherever you are, whatever you're doing.

Overall, emails are infuriating. Absolutely infuriating. I’m sure you can see that emails are utterly vexatious. Who doesn’t want a peaceful time when they have finished working? Emails should be kept strictly to work time - tell me I’m wrong. As someone who replies to too many emails a day, I can confidently say that we should stop emailing so much!

The Department Store Cat

Deep in the department store, through the dusty shelves, behind the shoe aisle lived Whiskers the ginger-furred cat and Katy the kitten with fur as white as paper and eyes as blue as sapphires. Behind the winter boots rail, snug and warm, they slept in a black metal basket.

Curiously, one dinner time before having their sardines, Katy asked her mother, "Why do we have such long whiskers?” Katy remembered seeing her whiskers in the mirror on the shoe aisle and wondering then what they were for. "Well..," replied her mum, "it's to measure if a space is too small for us to fit through."

The next day, Katy found a dark hole hidden behind the same shiny mirror. As she was a curious cat, she went through the hole and found she had fallen into the kitchen of the cafe, next door. Scared and shy she stared around the new place. Bang, crash the pans clattered, the till pinged and the knives chattered. Then Katy's nose began to twitch as she smelled her favourite - the tempting sardines on Chef Un Deux Trois Quatre's chopping board. Katy flew like a bat onto the chopping board to try and grab some for herself. However, she slipped on a lemon, and the juice squirted into the chef's eyes! "Ahhhh!" screamed the chef and sliced off Katy's whiskers with the shimmering blade of his knife.

Later that night, Katy arrived back in the dusty department store and saw her mum fast asleep in the black metal basket. Phew, she thought mum would be so mad about my whiskers - I should hide, so she found a warm fluffy boot and hid there for the night. The next day at eight o'clock, the department store opened. Katy was still asleep as Quentin Blake, the bossy manager began work. Time flew by, it was nearly 11 o'clock when she finally woke up to find she was stuck firmly inside the leg of the furry boot! Then she remembered what her mum had said about whiskers but Katy had no whiskers and because of this, she had not judged the size of the boot well.

Shortly after, Chef Un Deux Trois Quatre came into the department to buy some boots for his future skiing trip. Happily, Chef spotted the boot that Katy was stuck in. Suddenly, she felt a shake as Chef tried to put his foot in the boot. His foot smelled of cheese! (a very stinky one) His toenail was ingrowing and you could have grown cabbages between his toes. Katy pounced with a "meowaaaah!" "Ahhhhh," screamed Chef, throwing the boot and falling off his chair.

Alarmed, Whiskers lifted her head over the basket edge and saw the chaos in the store. She jumped out of the basket and galloped down the aisle to her kitten. She saw her whiskers were missing and mumbling Katy explained how she had got them chopped off. As punishment, Katy could not have her favourite sardines for a whole week.

Rhea Lahiri (Year

Sixth Form Life

I wish I could describe the end of my time at school as straightforward as Year 7 with a few goals set, some big (to become the most famous person in the world) and some small (to manage to get my planner signed every week). But unfortunately it hasn't been quite as simple as that. My goals now tend to focus on a few things that aren’t as impossible as becoming the next Jennifer Lopez but are definitely nowhere near as easy as managing to avoid detention from the blank space in my planner. To list a few: to leave a legacy at this school as my time comes to an end, to achieve a place at my dream university, to get the grades to get into my dream university, for my dream university to let me obtain my dream career and to be the best I can be in my dream career. Although they all seem like a mouthful... I know I can achieve one of those at this moment - my mark in the school magazine. After writing Chapter 1 of the Wakefield Girls’ High School story, Volume 1, for last year’s Review Magazine, I would like you to read the latest instalment.

Before Sixth Form started, my year group was presented with a list of all the possible student leadership roles for the upcoming year ranging from Biology Student Leader to Deputy Head of House in which we all had to write letters of application to our teachers and hope to be selected for a role. Each week every Student Leader is presented with a task whether it is helping the struggling students with their Chemistry homework at a weekly clinic or running a sports club. My role has involved leading sessions for the younger students in the Creative Writing Club. All the roles come with a sense of duty, responsibility and fun.

Of course all of this can be a challenge as we also mountaineer the new and ever-demanding A-level subjects. I can honestly say that nothing has ever been quite so difficult. First, getting a steady stable ground at the start as we all come to terms with the depth and difficulty of this new terrain, whether it be a completely new subject (as I have faced with A-level Politics) or the chemists finding out everything they had learnt at GCSE was relatively easy and that atomic structure is a new type of complexity. Slowly we are climbing, and getting a steady hold of the topics, becoming more and more familiar with the structures and courses whilst boulders of exam results, stress and sleepless nights come crashing our way. However as WGHS students we try our best to manoeuvre our way around or tackle these challenges. Whether it be through going that extra mile to receive extra help or using our spare time to push ourselves even further with work - we strive to be the best we can be in order to make it to the top.

Outside of school we are also tackling our own mountainsthe day we turn 17 is the day most of us can't wait to drive with some having a natural flair for it and managing to ‘find the bite’ and move smoothly on the roads without stalling whereas others (me) whose legs still somehow can't quite comprehend that they are meant to press the brakes to slow down... Alongside the new found highway code some of us are finding our code of conduct within the workplace with many of us starting work and finding jobs to make some extra money whether it be to save up for a car or a (hopefully) celebration trip post A-levels. Part-time jobs give us a sense of the workplace and the importance of time management to keep a balance between work and school.

Of course it isn't all a steep slope when it comes to Sixth Form life: the best times of the week are when we are chatting in the Common Room or going out for lunch or a quick trip to Trinity Walk - a big distraction from the stress of schoolwork, homework, exam stress and any other ongoing challenges. I could name endless benefits to Sixth Form life, whether it be the lunches courtesy of our lovely dinner ladies Kate and Diane, the smaller classes building stronger relationships with staff and work focus or the ability to personalise and make Sixth Form your own with the numerous societies and events you can be a part of. Wakefield Girls’ High School has a happy ending in its last chapter as it prepares you for the start of Volume 2The Next Step.

Calendar photography competition: Maddie Fish

IT'S THE WAY OUR GIRLS ARE SURROUNDED BY ROLE MODELS

Physics Review

It’s been another busy year for the Physics Department. Since going to press for last summer’s magazine the UK experienced a partial solar eclipse, and we guided students from several different year groups to safely view this rare celestial event: we were even lucky enough to have a brief break in the cloud cover to give a good view.

WGHS staff have shown that they have the right stuff this year, with Dr Rhodes successfully applying to take part in the European Space Agency’s astronaut selection programme, and progressing through to the very last few stages. Dr Rhodes has told us all about how she has had to apply her knowledge of Physics not only to the selection exams, but also when trying to dock the Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station during simulator training: a job made even harder as all of the instructions are in Russian!

Our Year 12 and 13 Physics students again rose to the challenge in the British Physics Olympiad Competition. This year the BPhO challenged our students with an online competition for Year 12, and a paper full of challenging problems for Year 13, pitting their problemsolving skills against about 5000 of the brightest Physics students from across the UK. Our students received Commendations along with Year 12 Silver award for Jess Morrison, and Year 13 Bronze 1 award for Amy Price.

This summer sees exams not just for our Year 11 and 13 students, but also a first GCSE exam for our Year 10 Astronomy students. These students have given up two lunchtimes a week over the past two years to study Astronomy with Dr Durell, as well as hours spent under the night sky observing the heavens for their coursework. We wish them the very best of luck, or as Astronomers say, “clear skies!”.

The Physics Department have also established Physics Hub, where each half-term we welcome teachers of Physics from local schools and share our ideas and teaching approaches in order to help everyone improve their practice.

Although we have been disappointed that our long-awaited trip to CERN has yet again been disrupted by Covid, we have several other trips in the pipeline for the next few years, including Jodrell Bank observatory.

Mr Hannard - Head of

The Science Reading Challenges 2021 and 2022

The 2021 Science Reading Challenge awards

Congratulations to all who participated.

Here are some of our ‘Book of the Month’ reviews for you to enjoy:

‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’

by Karen Joy Fowler

The book follows a girl (Rosemary) who is sent away at a young age to go live with her grandparents. The book explores family issues, in that on her return she is in grief from missing her older sister and her brother Lowell who has left to be an animal rights activist. Rosemary is left loney receiving the odd postcard from her siblings. It is later revealed that her missing sister Fern was in fact a chimpanzee, and that Rosemary and Fern’s 'twin relationship was part of an animal-human behaviour experiment which was carried out by her father who was a psychologist. The novel follows Rosemary’s struggles through her school life, with her being given the nickname ‘monkey girl’ and the unexpected friendship between her and Harlow as well as the grief of her ‘sister’ Fern.

This book explores ideas about animal rights and self deception. I loved this book and found it to be a really easy read, although it is sad at times it is a really interesting novel which I found to be entertaining and educational. If you are interested in animals or psychology I would definitely recommend reading this novel as it gives such a fascinating insight to animal behaviour.

Review written by Ella - Year 12

‘Two Weeks with the Queen’ by Morris Gleizman

This book is about a boy called Colin who finds out his brother has cancer. Colin wants to find the best doctor in the world but it proves hard as he tries to look for the right doctor whilst trying to let nobody find out. This story is full of trust, working together and staying strong. This book has inspired me to think of a way our world can use medicine to get rid of some illnesses that are not able to be cured at this moment in time. It shows us how lucky some of us are and how we should help everyone in any way that we can. It makes us aware that scientists are trying to find cures for cancer but it is proving very difficult, but like in the book Colin was believing in all the ways that his brother could be cured as some types of cancer can be.

The book sends out a strong message to the world and the people who read this saying that we should try, even if everything may not work, and to keep going. It is a moving story and shows the importance of doing anything to help the people you love.

The 2022 ReadingChallenge is now wellunderway. Some changes tothis year means the challengehas been updated to a HouseCompetition, and we alsowelcome Year 6 WGHS students to take part inthe Bronze Challenge. Miss Dollive

‘Still Alice’ by Lisa Genova

‘Still Alice’ is a book about Dr Alice Howland, who is a successful professor and world-renowned expert in linguistics at Havard. On one of her daily runs, Alice finds herself lost in Harvard Square unable to find her way home. Soon Alice realises these forgetful moments which are becoming more and more frequent, but she assumes they are symptoms as a result of menopause. However, at the age of fifty, she is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Throughout the book, the reader follows Alice’s struggle to maintain her independence and lifestyle as her dementia progressively gets worse.

Lisa Genova, the author tackles the difficult subject in a gentle and compassionate way. There is one part of the book where Alice says she wishes she could swap her disease for cancer. With cancer, you have a chance to fight it e.g. with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, with Alzheimer’s, there is no way of fighting it. The diagnosis carries a sense of hopelessness and it is saddening to see how this diagnosis has affected not just Alice but her family, colleagues and students. Overall, this book certainly has given me a lot of insight into what it is like to live with Alzheimer’s disease and greater understanding of the frustration, anger, confusion and fear that comes as part of the disease.

Review written by Hooriya - Year 12

‘The Ice Monster’ by David Walliams

This novel revolves around a girl named Elsie who was abandoned by her parents at birth. While pickpocketing, Elsie saw in the newspapers ‘NEW DISCOVERY - WOOLLY

MAMMOTH’. She really wanted to save it and soon devised a plan. After gathering a clan they set out to save the so-called ‘Ice Monster’. This book is full of excitement, team-work and dedication.

This novel has reminded me about the environmental impact on the economy and how we need to start making moves with climate change and saving wildlife. Organisations like the World Wide Fund For Nature should be given more resources to further the work they do. We are very lucky to live how we do now and shouldn’t take that for granted. If we want the best for our future generations then we should act as soon as possible. It has also made me think that we don’t need super special equipment or anything to achieve these goals and that we should think out of the box more often like they do in this story.

Participation certificates are awarded to: Hooriya Fida-Hussain and Tara Karim

The evaluation awards were presented to: Amelia Parkin, Tiffany Djagnikpo and Sarah Ng

Year 13 Field Trip to Filey Brigg

Dog whelk; disgusting creatures or fabulous little beasts?

By the time we had spent three days in Filey and Scarborough on the A-level Biology Field Trip we knew that the latter was true! In early October 2021, we set off on the minibus to Filey Brigg, with Mrs Lindley providing an absolute banger of a playlist. Arriving in Filey, we made extensive use of the playground in the car park before setting off to Filey Brigg where we would carry out our practical work for the next three days. Our first experiment was to demonstrate the mark-release-recapture technique to determine the population of dog whelks on the sheltered shore of the Brigg. Watching out for slippery seaweed and following Dr Korosi across the rocks, we were tasked with finding as many dog whelks as we could and marking each one to make them identifiable for the next stage. The tide soon began to come in and so we were forced to return to the minibus and set off to the 4 star hotel in Scarborough, where we continued some of the practical work. We then were able to have free time to use some of the hotel’s facilities such as: the saunas, jacuzzi and the ice room (Mabel’s favourite!). Following this practical work and free time, we ventured out into Scarbrough for food, enjoying a range of cuisines, including the classic fish and chips sat on the seafront.

The next day, we were up early to enjoy pancakes and a full English breakfast, before setting off to the Brigg for the second leg of our dog whelk practical. When we returned to the Brigg, we set off in our groups to get a second sample of dog whelks on the sheltered shore, noting the number of marked dog whelks within this new sample, which would allow us to estimate the population size of dog whelks on the sheltered rocky shore of Filey Brigg when returning back to the hotel. Our second task for the day was to do a practical where we would examine how seaweed species change as we moved up the sheltered rocky shore, using ranging poles, a clinometer and the elusive quadrats (a Biologist’s partner in crime). We were able to distinguish between four different types of species based on some preliminary work we did the previous day on return from the Brigg. When returning to the hotel, we used the data collected from the dog whelk experiment to calculate an estimate for the population size on the sheltered shore and evaluated our data. Using our data on the change in seaweed species up the shore, we drew a series of kite diagrams and carried out statistical tests to observe whether there was a correlation or relationship between the distance above the shore and the type of seaweed species that were present at a certain height.

After this we planned our own practical for the final day, which varied from a second seaweed species sampling practical or investigating differences of height to diameter ratio of the illustrious Common Limpets on the sheltered shore compared to the exposed shore using another set of measuring equipment: callipers. The last day, we were tasked with carrying out our planned practicals and after escaping the rising tide, we sat on the beach and enjoyed our lunch, before heading back to school.

Thank you to Dr Korosi, Mrs Lindley and Dr Barber for putting up with us, especially the bickering from Kelly and Mabel. It was a really great trip and experience, which provided us with great memories, pictures and TikToks that we will treasure forever. We hope the following years will enjoy it just as much as we did.

Mabel Hepplestone and Hannah Poulton-Haselier

British Science Week

As part of our celebration of British Science Week, 11th to 20th March, students from Years 3 to 6 in the Junior Section and Year 8 in the Senior Section took part in the annual BSW poster competition.This year’s theme was ‘Growth’, and the quality and volume of submitted entries was exceptional. From the growth of computing to the growth of terrestrial planets, from chrysalids to crystals, and more frogs than we could have imagined.

We hope students in Year 7 are looking forward to participating in the 2023 BSW competition, the theme is ‘Connections’, so you can start thinking about your entries for next year.

Mr Murtland

Congratulations to the Junior Section winners: Emie Reynard in Year 3; Valentina Le in Year 4; Azariah Heppinstall in Year 5; Olivia Woodhead in Year 6. For the Senior Section, a shortlist of entries were selected by staff followed by a whole-school vote. Well done to the three Year 8 winners, Saachi Singh, Sophie Rassouli and Kiera Macaulay. All shortlisted posters can be viewed in the corridor outside Chem2.

Sophie

Sacchi

Congratulations to Team 3 (Saba, Leah and Elizabeth from Clayton House) and Team 7 (Betty and Lucy from Mackie House, Grace from Lee House and Suvethikaa from Clayton House) who came joint first in the Year 12 Analytical Chemistry House Competition. The teams were assessed on their ability to carry out chromatography, flame tests and test-tube reactions to analyse unknown samples. They were also assessed on their teamwork skills and their responses to stretch and challenge Chemistry questions.

Dr Duerden-Brown - Head of Chemistry

Analytical Chemistry House Competition Chemistry Careers Workshop

Alumni, Rose McCarthy, delivered a Chemistry careers workshop to interested WGHS and QEGS students in Years 10-13. She gave a fascinating talk about her Chemistry degree and her work as a Carbon Capture chemist. Carbon capture is a method where chemicals combine with carbon dioxide so that it can be stored underground. This will help to offset our carbon dioxide emissions if we are going to tackle climate change. She also gave an insight into the variety of careers which can lead on from a Chemistry degree.

Year 12 student, Betty, said:

I found her talk inspiring as she made her career choices based on how best she could benefit the planet. Carbon Capture is highly relevant in the news and therefore being able to learn more was very insightful

A big thank you to Rose for taking the time to come in and share her experience with us.

Dr Duerden-Brown - Head of Chemistry

Physics Hub

It is well known that nationally there is a shortage of Physics teachers, and many students in the UK are taught Physics by non-specialists at GCSE. At WGHS we are proud that all of our students are taught by a Physics specialist from Year 8 onwards, enabling them to have access to the best guidance, experience and support as they progress through the subject.

In order to help support local teachers of Physics, be they non-specialists, Early Career Teachers or experienced Physics teachers, the Physics Department has established ‘Physics Hub’, our CPD Outreach model. This has been done in collaboration with Physics Partners, a dynamic educational charity providing hands-on training and support for non-specialist and newly qualified Physics teachers. We meet after school every half-term to discuss a particular aspect of Physics teaching, and invite colleagues from all over Yorkshire to join us. We have even welcomed colleagues from as far afield as Oxfordshire over Zoom to recent events.

So far this year we have held sessions on Circuits, Energy and Radioactivity, with Forces to come in the summer term. These sessions are planned and delivered by Mr Hannard, Mr Wilson and Dr Durell, who distill their knowledge and experience into hands-on training sessions for local teachers. Attendees have had opportunities to try out key practical activities under expert guidance, apply models to make abstract concepts more understandable, and of course have been able to ask lots and lots of questions that they might have about teaching Physics. We have found that everyone we work with adds value to our department too, by bringing new ideas and fresh perspectives to our approach to the subject. When planning and delivering these sessions, we feel energised and enthused, which transfers into our own teaching as a result.

The sessions have been very well received, with several teachers becoming regular attendees: “thank you very much for the session on Wednesday - it was great and I certainly feel a lot more confident about teaching Electricity having had the session”. Over the next few years, we aim to develop Physics Hub into the first port of call for teachers of Physics across Yorkshire.

Mr Hannard - Head of Physics

RSC Chemistry Olympiad 2022

January saw ardent A-level chemists from Years 12 and 13 take part in the 2022 Chemistry Olympiad from the Royal Society of Chemistry. Designed to challenge and inspire, the UK Chemistry Olympiad is the leading Chemistry competition for students in secondary education across the British Isles. The challenging two hour exam paper required students to apply their understanding of ideas in Chemistry to a range of complex novel applications - from vaccine storage, and the nanoscience behind lateral flow tests; to making the smallest ever knot, wrapped around nine individual atoms.

Despite the high degree of challenge, the quality of chemistry on display was once again striking; with complex and multi-step problem solving throughout the multi-step organic synthesis of cubane and some tricky calculations investigating ethanol levels in E10 petrol. With the competition open to all Sixth Form Chemistry students, we were impressed to see a number of Year 12 students challenging themselves by taking part, despite having only studied A-level Chemistry for four months at that point. Alongside this, the fantastic Year 13 entrants displayed some excellent understanding of the most complex ideas underpinning chemical processes.

Well done to all participants, with particular congratulations to Year 12 students Fope Olusola and Rucha Korde, alongside Year 13 student Ella Shaw, who all achieved a bronze award for their work; in addition to silver awards for Year 13 students Mollie Shone, Sarah Ng, Hannah Poulton-Haselier and Sophie Russell.

Mr Murtland

YOU'LL LIKE THE WAY WE VALUE SMILES AS WELL AS SUCCESS

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards

DofE is such a remarkable opportunity that our school offersit not only enables you to give back to the wider community and gain essential skills that will last you a lifetime, but it also gives you the chance to make lots of memories with both staff and friends. Although Mr Carlin was most likely fed up with all of our constant moaning about achy feet, falling in cow poo and having to carry a bag twice the size of us up a mountain, his dedication and love of the programme never failed to shine through as he kept our spirits high with the promise of a McFlurry on the way home.

Waking through the Yorkshire Dales on our Gold Expedition gave us some of the most beautiful views of stunning greens spreading as far as we could see (until we started walking through clouds) which made the 20km walk to get to the next camp even more worth it. Although DofE may seem like a pointless walk with a heavy bag, it gives you the ability to spend time with your best friends, talking about absolute nonsense whilst trying to cook pasta on a stove that isn’t actually alight. It really is an opportunity that you should grab with both hands and make the most of! Just make sure you check your equipment before you go so you aren’t sleeping seven people in a three man tent!!

Charlotte McKinlay and Anna Benton

Calendar photography competition: Pippa King

Matilda Awards 2022

This year saw the fourth annual completion of the Matilda Awards, a whole school reading challenge that encourages students to challenge themselves with what they can read over a three month period. Having read at least three books from a range of demanding reading lists, the reading challenge then culminates in them completing reflective tasks that encourage them to demonstrate how their reading has challenged their way of thinking or inspired them. Those completing the challenge, ranging from Year 6 to Year 13 this year, were as follows: Winter Bullen, Shriya Nagtode, Salina Khan, Rhea Lahiri, Rhiona Lahiri, Sarah Ng, Jessica Morrison, Ife Fasae, Tabitha Higgins, Hareem Ghouri, Amelia Parkin, Alice Simmons, Saachi Singh, Edie Lewis and Adn Ashab.

Mrs Besford - English Department

Here is Saachi Singh’s account of her experience of the Matilda Awards:

“ ”

The Matilda Awards is where you read as many books as possible leading up to World Book Day, with different reading themes for every year. These awards aim to inspire you to become a keen reader (like Roald Dahl's 'Matilda', hence the name) and to broaden your reading horizons whilst having fun. I really enjoyed completing the Matilda Awards both this year and last because they give you an amazing opportunity to read books you haven't read before which I personally find very interesting. It never fails to be exciting to immerse yourself into someone else's life and look at the world through their eyes. This year's reading list was linked by characters who dare to be different. One of my favourite books from the list is 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee. Scout the main character questions the way the world worked in the 1900s and stood out from the crowd with her bold questions and inquisitiveness. I would strongly recommend completing the Matilda Awards for anyone thinking about giving it a go.

Saachi Singh - Year 8

Matilda Award

“

Library News

It has been another busy year in the LRC, welcoming all the year groups back to relative normality and returning to our usual bustling lunchtimes. We have had 25 student librarians from Years 7 -11 working on a rota since September. They have provided lots of support and help for other students. Amelia Parkin reflects on her year as a student librarian:

The last few years have seen the world come to a standstill, but the Learning Resource Centre (more commonly referred to as the library) did its best to persevere. Although alterations have had to be made, Ms Harries and the library team have done their best to preserve the welcoming and friendly environment we have come to know. Changes such as allocated library days for each year group, and introducing eBooks that were necessary to protect everyone from Covid did not diminish the atmosphere of the LRC, which still provided an excellent place to read, study, or hide from the rain on those most dismal days.

Fortunately, as we return to what was once ‘normal’, so has the library. While some of the changes which proved successful have stayed, such as the extensive catalogue of eBooks now available, the library has returned in all its glory to a friendly place where you can study with your friends.

One of the things that made its return after the altered state of being that was Covid is the student librarian system, which provided an opportunity for students who love reading, or just want to be a part of the amazing community to learn new skills and build on others. While this allows students to learn the ways of the library in depth, it also allows them to help their peers and learn more about the brilliant world of books. As a student librarian for the last few years, I love the relationships I have gained through our mutual love of books, and the skills I have learned. The only downfall of being a librarian is the mass of book recommendations shared that you know you will never get through! Whether you’re looking for a place to work, a friendly chat, or simply a place to relax with a good book, the Learning Resource Centre is the perfect place.

”

The LRC marked Holocaust Memorial Day by hosting a talk for Year 8 students in the library where they had the privilege of hearing from a survivor, Mala Tribich, about her experiences. The author Tom Palmer also spoke about his book ‘After the War’. World Book Day was a brilliant event, with author David Scott visiting. He delivered a full-school assembly and then spent the day doing workshops with students from Year 10, thinking about their identity and producing brilliant poems. We also used it as an opportunity to explore our identities by dressing in clothes that reflected our cultures and personalities.

Two Year 8 teams took part in the National Literacy Trust Quiz which we hosted in the library here. We also had a team of Year 8 students marking the answers from teams all over Yorkshire which was no mean feat! They did very well indeed to keep up and showed great attention to detail.

Thank you to Mrs Roebuck, who has been working in After school care since December 2020 and left us in May, and to Mr Rogers who has kindly covered me whilst I have been away from school. I am very excited for all the events we already have planned for 2022-23 and to welcoming our new intake of students who I met on their transition day in June. I hope you have had a lovely, book-filled summer!

“

Information helps you to see that you're not alone. That there's somebody in Mississippi and somebody in Tokyo who have wept, who've all longed and lost, who've all been happy. So the library helps you to see, not only that you are not alone, but that you're not really any different from everyone else.

Dr Maya Angelou

Ms Harries - LRC Manager and Diversity and Inclusion Champion

Calendar photography competition: Darcie Brammah

Music 2021-22

At the start of this academic year, the Foundation had a wonderful new song ‘I Am Me’, written by our very own students with help from Jack and Tim, the father-son duo who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent in 2018. We were also able to enjoy brilliant music at our annual Founders’ Day, with the brass band playing and solos from Grace Hillier and Eleanor Bowen.

The WGSF Swing Foundation opened the Marsden Jazz Festival in October, giving them the opportunity to play to a live audience alongside saxophonists accompanied by Mr Urbanski. This was a brilliant event and a great start to the musical year. Pieces included ‘Birdland’ and ‘Man in the Mirror’ and there was an array of improvised solos from members of the band.

This year we were able to hold our annual cabaret evening in person again after an online concert last year. Cabaret evenings are always a wonderful opportunity to perform and to listen to fabulous performances that we and many others look forward to each year. This year we saw fantastic performances from all year groups with songs ranging from ‘Dancing Queen’ to ‘Burn’ from Hamilton and ending it all off was Lilli Mae Pert singing ‘Valerie’ which had everyone up on their feet and clapping along.

In November we had a wonderful art and music celebration with the Hepworth Brass Band and soloists in the Jubilee Hall surrounded by students' incredible artwork. The concert saw a range of art themed pieces such as ‘Pictures at an exhibition’ played by the string ensemble, with soloists Leina Tordoff playing ‘Danse Macabre’ on violin and Alex Lee singing ‘I’m the Greatest Star’. There were also the familiar faces of Mrs Bentham and Head Girl Eleanor Bowen in the band. Also in the concert we heard two new pieces played by the Hepworth Brass Band composed by Liz Lane. The first was ‘Rhythm of Light’, a suite inspired by the artwork of Barbara Hepworth, fittingly first performed by the brass band at the Hepworth Gallery. We also heard ‘Hear the Call’, a piece written for brass band, solo vocals and flugelhorn (played by Mrs Bentham), written to commemorate the work of the NHS staff. Alex not only sang this in the concert but also recorded this with the Brass Band earlier in the year, earning herself a band-shirt! We also had a jazz inspire day with saxophone teacher Kris Urbanski, which contained rehearsals, lectures, improvisation masterclasses and a twilight concert.

As always, the Christmas season was very busy for our musicians this year. Not only did we have our annual carol service in the Cathedral and our two nights of concerts, but we also had members of the WGSF brass band playing Christmas Carols at Pinderfields Hospital, raising money for the My Hospitals Charity. This was a brilliant opportunity for students to get playing once again and provide some well received entertainment for hospital visitors and staff. The String Ensemble were also asked to play at an Old Girl’s wedding in December, which was a very exciting opportunity for the group and the girls worked very hard to provide carols and pieces from classic wedding repertoire for the event.

Kicking off the new year we had our WGSF Scale-a-thon 2022 which raised £300 for SM4LL. A-level musicians also performed at Camphill alongside QEGS QED musicians in a varied afternoon concert with music ranging from Mozart to The Beach Boys. Mia was also able to play with a string trio in practice for her A-level recital, which was fantastic and the string quartet really added an extra level of depth to a technically challenging piece. The audience particularly enjoyed Alex’s rendition of Goldrich’s ‘Taylor the Latte Boy’, there was lots of laughter for this comedic musical theatre piece. They also loved the boys’ performance of the Beatles’ ‘Let it be’, which had many of them singing along.

Then came our annual school production, which saw three amazing nights of ‘Sister Act’. So many musicians were involved, whether in the band, the choir or on stage, everyone worked so hard and it definitely paid off. We were also joined by Junior School choristers who performed at the start of the evening and at the interval. We had lots of fun in the band rehearsing the music, and the show nights were very exciting for everyone (although we had to be careful of the numerous instruments on the floor of the ‘pit’!).

In March our GCSE Music students had a great learning opportunity with the West Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra coming to play the third movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major, one of their set works. They also played the 1st Movement from Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, composed in 1796 for the new keyed trumpet, with Eleanor Bowen playing the solo part. It was also a great opportunity for other students to play alongside professional musicians in the orchestra and exercise our sight reading skills.

The following week we took many musicians to the annual Rothwell Music Festival. The Brass Band, Senior Orchestra, String Quartet, String Ensemble and Training Orchestra all played brilliantly, winning their respective classes. Special mention must also go to Eleanor Bowen who played ‘Georgia On My Mind’ accompanied by the brass band, getting special recognition from the adjudicator, along with Davey Webster for some brilliant playing. Leina Tordoff, Hema Nair and Kaitlin Fernandez also played in solo categories, with Hema and Kaitlin also performing duets, and Leina winning the open string solo class and going on to compete for a cash prize alongside the winners of other open categories. We were very impressed with their performances, well done! Congratulations also to the string quartet who were asked to play at the Rothwell Showcase performance after their performance in their competition category. All musicians involved in this competition worked very hard and played brilliantly in their respective classes, with many trophies and certificates all round.

This year also saw our first House Music Competition, with KS4 and KS5 categories. Lucy Simmons’ cello performance of ‘Chanson villageoise’ by Trowell impressed adjudicator Amanda Spalding, winning the KS4 category. Alex Lee won the KS5 category with the second movement of Jonathan Dove’s Ariel ‘I boarded the King’s Ship’, an unaccompanied vocal piece, which captivated the audience and led her to a deserved victory.

The Summer Concerts were a lovely way to round off this busy year for the Music Department. Personally our favourite performances were by the show choir and session orchestra, but we might be a bit biassed! There was also a surprising amount of dancing in the concert from the folk band and the show choir, and even a lightsaber fight from the percussion ensemble - it was a very exciting concert all round. The end of the last concert was a great time for us to show our appreciation to the Music Department and say goodbye, although we’re not sure the tearful speeches really did justice to how truly grateful we are for everything the Music Department has done for us.

Mia Sedgwick, Alex Lee and Eleanor Bowen

Alex Lee (right), KS5 winner

Lucy Simmons, KS4 winner

Sister Act

All singing, all dancing...

On the 9th-11th of February, the WGSF 2022 production of Sister Act took place in QE Hall. With the casting process beginning in June 2021, it had been a long road, especially in the face of Covid restrictions and setbacks which meant that rehearsing the show was even more difficult than usual. However, with a lot of diligence, enthusiasm, and quick costume changes, we were able to put on an amazing production that was huge fun for the cast, crew, and (I'm told) the audience. Sister Act is a musical full of disco-dancing and upbeat numbers, which made it very exciting to rehearse and perform. The cast was made up of both QEGS and WGHS students, from a huge range of year groups.

Principal cast members ranged from Year 8 to Year 13, and the Junior Schools were also involved as a very energetic floor ensemble. Students also took part in every element of the offstage activity, from choreography to sound and light to makeup, not to mention the incredible band. Although it was a tiring week, everyone involved in the show had a fabulous time.

I was honoured to play Mother Superior, a part which has been one of my dream roles for a number of years. Thank you to all of the teachers and staff who made this possible.

The standard of acting and singing was superb and it was evident how much fun and enjoyment all the participants were having. It was a wonderful atmosphere and there was no doubt that everyone in the audience left the performance with a smile on their face

Audience comment

”

MEET THE CAST

Sascha Manomono

Deloris Van Cartier

Elizabeth Sykes

Mother Superior Charlie Grant Sister Mary Robert Charlotte Marshall Sister Mary Patrick Lucy Birkin Sister Mary Lazarus Timothy Spawforth Monsignor O'Hara Michael Dube Curtis Ayan Sinha Ernie Oliver Sharp TJ Oscar Smith Eddie Lewis Girvan Joey Oliver Grafton Pablo

Mabel Hepplestone

Sister Mary Theresa Bellla Boswell

Sister Mary Martin

Tilly Simms Michelle Aaliyah Syeda Tina Isaac Smith Bar Patron

The Nuns

Freya Johnson

Amelie Williams Mae Deakin Sophia Tolson Olivia Portman

Gabrielle Estlin Antonia Wallis Romilly Keen Aimee Smith Emily Oldroyd Maisie Cunliffe Akondu Iyoko Cop 1 Gabriel Rhodes Drag Queen Grace Homer Waitress Joshua Liwonde

Pool Player Sophia Hilton Female Criminal Annabel Simpson Female Criminal Xavier Oladimeji Homeless Person

Amelia Parkin Homeless Person Vienna Taylor Homeless Person

Emilia Smith Homeless Person Daniel Lawrence Cab Driver Lucy Harding Fantasy Dancer Lola Wooler Homeless Person

An amazing time!

Choreographing Sister Act was a truly enjoyable experience and I was so proud to watch the performances behind the wings, everyone did so amazingly. I loved the fact that despite the long rehearsal hours, we all became so close over the course of the production. I also really enjoyed working on the stage crew team, and even though we had a few mishaps along the way we were such a great team and I had such a good time getting to know so many people I’d never even met before. My proudest moment was definitely the tricky exchange of the habit to Mother Superior (Elizabeth) which I celebrated wholeheartedly every time it went smoothly! Thank you to everyone in the production who put up with me in rehearsals, we all worked so hard to make it something to remember and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Lucy Harding - Year 13

The show is obviously naturally joyous, but the atmosphere in the audience was truly fantastic

”

I just wanted to say thank you for such an excellent performance of Sister Act. You must have all worked so hard, the audience were gripped.You all looked to be enjoying all your roles as much as we did watching it. The words were so clear during the singing, the dance moves were great and the outfits just brilliant

Audience comment

IT'S THE WAY WE ENJOY TAKING PART AND COMPETING

SENIOR CROSS COUNTRY REPORT

It has been great to see the return of the Wakefield League this year, although absences due to Covid still caused some disruption. Each runner performed consistently and achieved a creditable set of positions in each race at Ackworth, Outwood and QEGS. In the senior races notable successes included Claudia Bowen in Year 10 and in Year 11 Millie Wroe finishing 1st in each of their races.

Following the success at the Wakefield League in both the junior and senior races (and special dispensation due to Covid absences) Freya Gatenby, Libby Cree, Alice McKinley-Smith, Claudia Bowen, Millie Wroe, Imogen Wolff and myself then qualified to represent Wakefield in the West Yorkshire Championships at GSAL in February. The weather conditions were not on our side and Freya, Alice and Claudia just missed out on gaining a place in the West Yorkshire squads in their respective age groups. In our respective races Libby finished 3rd, Imogen finished 5th and I finished 6th, all qualifying for the national finals that took place in Kent at the beginning of March. Unfortunately Libby and Imogen were unable to compete due to other sporting commitments. I, however, was able to travel to Kent and represent West Yorkshire against the very best Year 12 and 13 runners in the country and was able to play my part in West Yorkshire finishing second team overall.

The annual Worksop College Cross Country fixture in March was the traditional end of season fixture and enabled us to also take a squad from Year 7 and 8 and the Junior Section of school. Unfortunately, the squad was hit by Covid absences meaning that they were unable to challenge for the team trophy but all runners still had very good individual races.

Well done to all the students who have run, either as individuals or as part of a team, in all weather conditions. Hopefully next year the school will be able to have a Covid free season.

Suzie

JUNIOR CROSS COUNTRY REPORT

It has been great to see the return of the Wakefield League this year, although absences due to Covid still caused some disruption. Each runner performed consistently and achieved a creditable set of positions in each race at Ackworth, Outwood and QEGS. Notable successes included myself in Year 7 and in Year 8 Libby Cree finishing 1st in each of her races.

In October, the Junior team raced in the English Schools team competition at GSAL. Unfortunately the squad was hit by Covid absences and Annabel Massey and Ella Manson bravely stepped in at the last minute, ensuring that the squad had the minimum four runners that it needed to compete. The weather conditions were particularly cold and windy for October, but each runner put in maximum effort for the team and they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the regional finals.

Following the success at the Wakefield League myself, Libby and Alice McKinley-Smith then qualified to represent Wakefield in the West Yorkshire Championships at GSAL in February. Again, the weather conditions were not on our side and myself and Alice just missed out on gaining a place in the West Yorkshire squads in our respective age groups. In her race Libby finished 3rd qualifying for the national finals that took place in Kent at the beginning of March. Unfortunately Libby was unable to travel to the fixture and represent West Yorkshire against the very best Year 8 and Year 9 runners in the country. Hopefully next year she will be able to compete, as a top age group runner.

The annual Worksop College Cross Country fixture in March was the traditional end of season fixture and enabled us to also take a squad from Year 7 and 8 and the Junior Section of school. Yet again, the squad was hit by Covid absences meaning that we were unable to challenge for the team trophy but all runners still had very good individual races.

Well done to all the students who have run, either as individuals or as part of a team, in all weather conditions. Hopefully next year we will be able to have a Covid free season.

ATHLETICS

Throughout the Summer Term girls of all ages and abilities have been working hard in their lessons and during practices at lunchtime and after school. Many girls have been rewarded with some excellent performances in a number of events and have achieved personal goals as the summer season has progressed.

In the English Schools Track and Field Competition, both the Junior and Intermediate teams performed exceptionally well in the first round of the competition with some of the highest total scores in the North Midlands. This led to both teams successfully qualifying for the Regional A Finals in Derby. Here, some last minute changes had to be made to the Inter team, meaning that some athletes were competing in events that they had limited experience of. Despite this, they gave it their all and finished with a massive 384 points to place second overall. The Junior team also performed fantastically well, with many of the athletes still learning their events. They racked up 348 points, which meant that they also finished in second place but were just 10 points behind the winners. This was a fantastic result for both teams and we look forward to building upon this success in 2023.

In June, a number of girls were selected to represent Wakefield in the West Yorkshire Athletics Championships. In the field events Molly Robinson won the Inter Girls Javelin, Katy Sanderson won the Inter Girls Discus and Lucy Prentice won the Junior Girls Discus. Holly Biggin-Wilcox came second in the Inter Girls Shot with Jess Blake finishing Third in the same event. On the track, Annabel Massey won the Junior Girls Hurdles, Suzie Brooke finished second in the Senior Girls 1500m and Emily Dimbylow came third in the Junior Girls 100m. Finally, Libby Cree came second in the Junior Girls 800m, but by running a rapid time of 2:18, she was able to qualify for the English Schools National Finals in July where she will be representing West Yorkshire. We wish her the best of luck in this prestigious competition!

Congratulations must also go to all the girls representing their Houses on a fantastic Sports Day. It was fabulous to see the camaraderie on the day, with students cheering on their own year groups as well as those from other age groups from their house. There were some excellent individual performances on the day and Hettie Tidy was able to set a new record in the Year 7 Javelin competition. Congratulations must also go to the overall house winners Blakey for their combined efforts!

Overall there have been some fantastic performances throughout a very short but busy athletics season. Many girls have achieved personal bests and a lot of athletes have now set themselves new targets for the future.

SENIOR TEAM TENNIS REPORT

2021-22

During this season the Tennis squad has been taking part in the Senior Team School’s Competition and the National Championships. The Senior Tennis Competition took place during the winter term. The team consisting of: Amelia Wormald, Holly Beswick, Luchia Shaw and Betty Chamberlain competed in two matches against St Peters and Queen Margaret’s in this competition. After two tough matches against these teams with some tight scores, many of which finished 7-5 or 7-6, unfortunately we did not proceed to the next round. This squad of players should still be proud of the great tennis played over these two matches.

During the summer term a separate squad of players participated in the Yorkshire league section of the LTA National Championships. The squad consisting of Molly Robinson, Maddy Patel, Luchia Shaw and Betty Chamberlain first headed to Hymers, in Hull. After some brilliant tennis, we won all sets played and proceeded to the next round. The next team we faced were St Peters from York. The team fought hard and won 8 out of the 10 sets, allowing them to proceed to the semi-final of the Yorkshire round. In this round, we played South Hunsley at home. The squad did amazingly well considering the weather conditions with the scores being very tight, including two tie breaks. At the end of the match the scores were tied at 6 all meaning a doubles shootout had to take place. The pairing of Molly and Luchia played some amazing tennis but unfortunately lost the tie break meaning the team did not progress to the Yorkshire final.

This season had some wonderful performances from all players involved and everyone who took part should be immensely proud of the results achieved. As a team we are looking forward to building on the success from this year and hoping to make further progress in each of these competitions. Finally, I would like to thank Mrs Hunter and Mrs Robinson for organising and taking us to these matches. We all really appreciate your support of the tennis team.

This season had some wonderful performances from all players involved and everyone who took part should be immensely proud of the results achieved

“ ”

TENNIS REPORT SUMMER 2021-22

The summer term has been jam packed with tennis fixtures and combined with some fantastic sunshine, has made for an enjoyable and successful season. Students of all ages and abilities have taken part in both practices and fixtures, showing passion for the sport and a willingness to work hard to improve upon their skill level and tactical understanding of the game.

We have competed in both the U13 and U15 Team tennis competitions this year. The U13 team put in some strong performances to convincingly beat Woodhouse Grove, GSAL and Ackworth. They were unlucky not to make it 4 wins out of 4 after taking Bradford Grammar to a tie break, as unfortunately they were beaten 6-10. The U15 team were entered into division 1, and faced GSAL in the West Yorkshire round of the competition. They played some fantastic singles and doubles to win the match 12-0. The U15 team which consisted of Molly Robinson, Maddy Patel, Jemima Otter and Eve Patel now progress to the Regional finals which take place in September.

We have also had great success in the Aberdare Cup this year. The team made up of Molly Robinson, Amelia Wormald, Betty Chamberlain and Luchia Shaw made it through to the semi-finals of their group and were unlucky not to make it through to the finals, after taking South Hunsley School to a tie break at 6-6. Some great tennis was played during the games and the team demonstrated lots of potential moving forward to compete in the cup next season.

Maddy Patel and Jemima Otter

INDOOR HOCKEY

This season has been a very successful season for indoor hockey. We were able to enter two teams into the National Schools Competition and both the U16 and U18 squads approached the North East round of this competition in December with enthusiasm.

Here, the U16 team of Alice Morrison, Ellie Tingle, Jemima Otter, Lucia Partridge, Charlotte Darcy, Gabby Estlin, Libby Cree, Amber Barker and Molly Robinson faced strong sides from Bradford Grammar School, Yarm, Scarborough, Hymers, and RGS Newcastle. Despite being unlucky not to proceed to the next round this was a great experience for everybody involved and a fantastic introduction to indoor hockey for the younger members of the team.

The U16 girls have really used this opportunity to develop as a squad and individual players; I look forward to seeing how they progress next year.

In the first round of the National Schools Competition the U18s faced Queen Ethleburgas, Yarm and Hymers where they scored 11 goals while keeping a clean sheet. Our final (and most important) match was against RGS Newcastle and would determine who would progress through to the National Finals. It was a very close game with RGS scoring an early first goal. However, with some great saves by Hollie Bott, and goals from Leah Davis, we were able to pull back and the final score was 3-2 to WGHS meaning we were through to Nationals!

U18 indoor hockey team

We were already a small squad and with an unfortunate positive Covid test the day before our departure to Repton we were facing squads almost twice the size of ours. Nevertheless we gave each match our all, facing Framlingham, Godolphin and Latymer and The Grange in the group stages and Great Marlow school in the playoffs. Whilst we were unlucky not to win any of our games we played some high quality hockey including some aggressive forward play from Zoe Partridge, a goal from Sofija Opacic, two from Jessica Morrison with assists from Lucy Blanchard, a yellow card for a very questionable tackle and we came away with big smiles on our faces having had a great time.

On behalf of the Year 12s I would like to thank the younger girls, Lucy Holland, Lucy Crook and Henny Gibson for playing up in the U18 team. You were a fantastic addition to the squad and I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as we did. The whole team performed exceptionally well and should be incredibly proud of their achievements this indoor season. I would also like to thank Mrs Tingle, Mrs Margerson and Ben for all their support. I know I speak for the whole team when I say we couldn't have done it without you and we are really looking forward to next season.

Jessica

U12 HOCKEY

This year has been exciting as we have played in several weekend fixtures against tough opposition. We have shown that we can play well together and as a team and think about what we can do to develop and improve the score line in a tight situation.

An example of this was our match against Bradford Grammar. At half time we were down 1-4 but in the second half we played really well and scored five goals with the final score finishing as a draw at 5-5.

We are all looking forward to next season where we can hopefully build upon our success and continue to think how we can improve every aspect of our game both in attack and defence.

Harriet Anderton and Frankie Tinker - Year 7

U13 HOCKEY

This hockey season has been a very successful one for the U13 squads. Due to Covid no fixtures could be played last year in Year 7 so our first game of the season was an opportunity to play as a team and assess our strengths and areas for development. Our very first match was against Queen Margarets in the Independent Schools Hockey Cup and we had a very successful result beating them 7-1. As a result of this we gained in confidence from this game setting us up nicely for the rest of our season. Since then we have won the majority of our games beating teams such as RGS, Bradford Grammar, Silcoates and many more competitive hockey schools.

Although our run ended in the second round of the ISHC we also competed in the U13 West Yorkshire Schools Mini Hockey Competition. Here we remained unbeaten until the final match but we still qualified for the Yorkshire round which is an amazing achievement.

Throughout this season our whole team has improved and we have come incredibly far from the first game we played back in September. We are all looking forward to next season when we progress to play full pitch and hopefully we can do just as well.

U14 HOCKEY

This season the U14 hockey team has adapted well to the additional players on the pitch and we have bonded well as a team. The season started in September and we gained lots of new players who wanted to join the squad. We started the season by playing GSAL and Bradford Grammar however we lost both of these matches and took this as a learning point for the future. We started our Nationals campaign in October. At the West Yorkshire stage we won one match and lost two which unfortunately meant we were unable to progress to the next stage of the competition.

Since then we have played many Saturday morning matches and have trained hard in order to try and win them. Although our results haven’t indicated wins, our squad has gained a better relationship and understanding with each other over the past year as well as becoming one team instead of fifteen individual players. Well done to the seven girls participating in West Yorkshire and the Performance centre. It is a massive achievement and you should all be really proud of yourselves. Thank you to all the PE staff who have helped us over the season especially Mrs Margereson who took us to all our games and supported us from the sideline no matter the weather. Thanks also goes to our hockey coach, Ben who has been a massive help in improving our skills and knowledge of the game. We are all so excited to start the new season next year and we aim to come back much stronger as U15s.

Lucia Partridge - Year 9

U15 HOCKEY

We started this year successfully with great contributions and commitments by all team members. We showed determination to progress through the Independent Schools Hockey Cup, as we possibly missed out on previous years due to various setbacks such as Covid. Despite such setbacks we came back driven, and trained with high intensity and persistence. Friendly matches on Saturdays certainly helped grow confidence and team morale throughout the squad, which assisted to the countless successes through the duration of the season. We had a challenging start to the ISHC with strong opponents such as Withington Girls’ School and Queen Ethelburga’s. Despite the challenge, we still secured a win to progress further in the competition. We faced Yarm in the next round, which we knew would be a competitive and close match. Unfortunately that day we lost 1-2. Despite the loss, the team continued to work hard in training, practising and applying what we had learnt in Saturday matches.

It was a challenging yet successful season for us this year, but we should all be excited for the prospects next season holds, as some of us enter our last year at WGHS. Finally, we would like to thank all the PE staff and Ben for encouraging and supporting us throughout the season.

Lucy Holland and Henny Gibson

10

U13 hockey team

U16 HOCKEY

The two previous years have been a struggle with Covid: no school, no face to face lessons or even our precious hockey. However Covid has not got the better of us and we have kept striving for improvement for our team and our school spirit.

So after a long break our team has still developed, with every player contributing to the team. We have trained on Tuesday nights after school with the help and encouragement from the PE staff and Ben, our coach. We started to get back into a routine and improve. Also this year we’ve been lucky to have access to the pitch on a Thursday lunch so we could develop our skills further.

Throughout the season we have tried to improve on our basic skills and theory. One of the best games of the season was against Bradford Grammar, in which we all panicked knowing they were strong competition but remained calm and played some of our best hockey. Although we lost, in my opinion we worked well as a team and managed to get the most perfect goal. It was by far the best goal throughout the season, as we kept our cool and passed it around the opposition, together we worked our way up the pitch for an amazing deflection on the back post. Even though we left with a loss, we held our head high knowing we tried our hardest.

Our hard work and dedication to the hockey team leaves us in good spirits for next year, with the combination of the year above we will have another great season. I would like to thank each member of the team for coming to all the training sessions and to the staff for organising matches against other schools. We are looking forward to building on our strengths for next year.

Lucy Holland and Henny Gibson - Year 10

U18 HOCKEY

This season, the first team has had both an enjoyable and rewarding season of hockey. Our team, composed of seasoned players as well as those picking their sticks back up again for the first time in a few years, gave the perfect combination of skill and enthusiasm to enable us to progress through the season.

Our National Schools campaign saw us reach an impressive last sixteen in the country for this competition. Starting off the season with a 10-0 victory against Harrogate Grammar, we quickly realised as a team we were capable of more than we had anticipated going into the match. Carrying this momentum into our next match against a tough GSAL side we managed to hold on for a 3-2 win after being 3-0 up at one point. Once again on home turf our next match was against Giggleswick. A close game but we finished our chances coming away with a 3-1 win. A highlight of the match of course being when Giggleswick took their keeper off in the final few minutes allowing an excellent opportunity to practise some new short corner routines. Next we were to take on RGS Newcastle whom we know to be very skilled and well drilled. Although holding them to a draw in the second half, we were initially taken back to concede 5 in the first half. The final score finished 6-1 with Isabella Rust bagging her first goal for the team and getting a well deserved man of the match. It is also worth noting that RGS went on to win tier 2 National Schools Championships 5-1 in the final against Sevenoaks School.

To start our involvement in U19 Independent Schools Hockey Cup we took what could be described as a convincing tactical loss against Kings School Macclesfield which caused us to drop into the plate of the competition. Our next fixture involved a day trip out to Shrewsbury School. We soon found our rhythm in a high scoring game which finished with a 6-4 victory with a standout goal from Jess Morrison. The next round of the plate saw us meeting our opponents Bedes School in Loughborough. Following a hard fought match we lost the match with Bede being more clinical in front of goal and knocking us out of the competition.

There have been a lot of positives to take from this season as well as plenty to work on in the future as well. I hope the Year 13s leaving us this year have enjoyed their last year of school hockey with both the ups and downs. And I would like to say a big thank you to Mrs Hunter, Ben and Mrs Mac for their effort and support this year.

U18 hockey team

EQUESTRIAN NEWS 2021-22

Since January the Equestrian Team has had some very successful results and shown excellent teamwork and perseverance. Horses are difficult at the best of times and Covid has thrown a real spanner in the works with a lot of venues being closed and horses and riders losing valuable training time. It is really impressive to be able to write about so many excellent results.

The first competition, showjumping at Northallerton, had its ups and downs. Excellent resilience from all team members was shown and some fabulous results came out of it. Isobel Wood finished in 3rd place on Squire’s Whisper in the 80cm, and Florence Smith came 5th on Gilly in the 70cm.

The second competition was right in the middle of storm Dudley, but the team showed excellent bravery riding in less than perfect conditions. The first prelim test produced excellent results, with Tilly Smith and Isobel Wood coming 1st and 2nd respectively. The second prelim class was also impressive, with the team of Grace Hunt, Tilly Smith, Florence Smith and Isobel Wood coming 3rd overall.

The third show, showjumping at Bishop Burton produced some similarly fantastic results, with the team of Florence Smith, Grace Hunt and Holly Biggin-Wilcox winning their 70cm class overall! Well done also to Florence Smith and Grace Hunt, who came 2nd and 5th individually in the 80cm.

Back to dressage at Northallerton. It was a very long day with lots of entries in each class. The team of Tilly Smith, Jessica Blake and Florence Smith did incredibly well to finish 7th in the Prelim class.

Thank you so much to everyone in the team this year that has contributed to the success of the team members, including parents and friends. Thank you to Ms Dollive for being so supportive throughout the year, especially when things don’t go to plan. And thank you to the team members for your hard work and dedication. Hopefully, we can continue on the same trajectory next year and have the same successes.

Imogen Williams - Year 11

The second competition was right in the middle of storm Dudley, but the team showed excellent bravery riding in less than perfect conditions

“

Florence

INDIVIDUAL SUCCESSES

Isobel Wood British Riding Club Showjumping Championships

Congratulations to Isobel and her horse Mia who finished 2nd individually and 3rd as a team in the 80cm class out

Tilly Smith

Dressage Trailblazers qualifiers and Showjumping

Tilly has achieved numerous 1st and 2nd placings in the Trailblazers Dressage, qualifying for Prelim second rounds. She also went double clear finishing 3rd in the 80cm and 6th in the 90cm showjumping at Sykehouse Arena.

Isobel Wood

WGHS Equestrian team

Grace Hunt & FlorenceSmith

JUNIOR CRICKET

Regional Round

The U13’s travelled to Bolton to take part in the Lady Taverners Indoor Cricket competition on Wednesday 27th April.

We went through to the Semi Finals as winners of our group and faced Ovingham for a place in the final. A tougher outfit all round, the game was set to be a nail-biter. Some excellent bowling from Ovingham put pressure on our batters losing a quick wicket in the first over the group fought and ran well to score 95 runs in their innings with. Another outstanding bowling performance from the whole team saw Ovingham losing 2 wickets in the first over weakening their batting side and resulting in a score of 57.

Jubilant we moved on to the final to face Repton knowing again they would be tough opposition. With some big hitters amongst their batting team Repton scored quickly moving up to 50 runs in only 4 overs but a sterling 6th over saw them lose 3 wickets in succession and their innings finished with them scoring 91 runs.

With a cautious start to our batting innings we kept out wickets in hand but were slow to pick up the runs. Things started to move into the final overs of the game and we came away worthy winners scoring 111 in the final game. What a team effort with all players showing true grit and determination in their bowling, fielding and batting performances. Navya Gutta retired in all but 1 game demonstrating her talent and exceptional skill in batting. Addi Bruce kept a cool head in the middle innings reading the game superbly and scoring vital runs when needed. Libby Cree led the team as Captain with confidence and outstanding skill with both the bat and the ball. Bea Tootill and Blythe Stancliffe made huge improvements in the consistency of their bowling, limiting the opposition to single figure runs, especially in the Semi Finals. The change in pace that Annabel Massey brought to the bowling attack slowed down the scoring and in 1 over she bowled 6 dot balls and took a wicket! Izzy Bott, Amber Barker, Maya Aziz and Tilly Bowser showed solidarity and agility within the field, supporting our bowlers with quick decisions and a determination to stop the opposition from scoring. An outstanding team performance bringing together a range of cricket experience and skills to progress on as Regional winners to the National Finals at Lord’s.

North Round

U13 cricket team

The second round of the cricket was the Yorkshire round hosted in Headingley. After coming out undefeated in the West Yorkshire round, we gained confidence to take into this round with a better understanding of the game and the tactics that would help us be successful. We all feel as if this round helped us to become closer as a team both on and off the field. As Year 8s this Headingley round was the first thorough insight into playing with the Year 7s and understanding how they play as cricketers outside of school. We came away from the competition undefeated and ready to represent Yorkshire in the National Finals.

We all feel as if this round helped us to become closer as a team both on and off the field

“ ”

NATIONAL FINALS

On the 24th May, the U13 Indoor cricket team participated in the Indoor National Cricket Finals at the home of cricket, Lords. Here we faced winners from other regions of the UK.

After team photos and briefings, Wakefield started their tournament facing Millfield. Opting to field first, Wakefield were a little nervous in the field and took a while to settle, unfortunately costing them some valuable runs. Millfield scored 119/7, with Wakefield needing a good batting display to overturn the score. Again the nerves took hold and the opening batters struggled to make progress against the target. Amber Barker took the game to Millfield in the last over, against their best bowler, adding an impressive 29 to the total, however Wakefield finished on 96 all out.

An opportunity to regroup and go again in the next game against Stamford. Wakefield fielded first and Navya Gutta had an awesome first over, only conceding 3 runs. This gave Wakefield a much needed boost and they went on to keep Stamfords score under 100 on 96. Navya and Addi opened the batting and got some runs on the board to keep Wakefield ticking over. It was a great effort, but unfortunately Wakefield fell short by an agonising 7 runs.

After the break, Wakefield were more positive and in their next game against St Helen and St Katherine. A change of tactic saw Wakefield bat first. Some great bowling saw limited chances however the team worked well and took their chances to reach a score of 92, meaning St Helen and St Katherine needed 93 to win. Again taking a while to settle in the field, Wakefield gave up some early runs, before the bowlers got into their groove, with Libby, Annabel, Blythe, Bea and Navya all taking valuable wickets. St Helen and St Katherine surpassed our score in the last over, but it was very close, with Wakefield only losing by 10.

Our last game of the day was against West Hill Park. Wakefield chose to bat first and an excellent display from captain Libby Cree saw Wakefield set a score of 101. Again it was a tight game, with Navya taking 2 wickets in the last over, but West Hill reached 113.

Some exciting statistics for the day: Wakefield were the second highest run scorers of the day, with 373, with only overall winners Millfield finishing with more. Retirees: Addi (1), Navya (1) and Libby (2)- an excellent effort from all! Tournament players of the day, who were awarded the match balls went to Libby Cree and Addi Bruce for the stability they offered the team both batting and fielding throughout the day.

Thank you to all of the PE staff that have been involved in the Indoor cricket Journey, and a particular shout has to go to Stuart Morley for all of his commitment and words of wisdom throughout.

Amber Barker took the game to Millfield in the last over, against their best bowler, adding an impressive 29 to the total

“ ”

U15 indoor cricket team

U13 indoor cricket team at Nationals

U12 NETBALL

Netball has been such an amazing journey for Year 7 this year. We have won many matches but have also learnt from our losses. This year's netball was very enjoyable and I am sure both squads will improve as the years progress.

This year during our training sessions we have Holly to help us who is a great netball player. Holly made us get the basics right and even put some more complex things in there as well. Everybody learnt a great deal from this and we can implement these skills and tactics into our game play. We have all worked really hard in training and now have a team that works very hard and a B team that are pushing for an A team spot.

Our first fixture was against Bradford Grammar School. This game was so close but we came out and fought right to the end and won. This was a great way to start off the season. This game gave the girls so much confidence and made us all believe that we can win any game if we put our minds to it.

Towards the end of the season both squads competed in the U12 Area Netball Tournament. I really enjoyed it and it was an amazing experience. We had some tough matches with the B squad narrowly missing out on a semi-final place and the A team finishing as Area Champions. The girls put a lot of effort into it and everyone had a great time.

Hettie Tidy - Year 7

U16 NETBALL

The U16 netball squad have shown commitment, perseverance and resilience throughout the year. We started off to a rocky start having lost our matches against Bradford Grammar. However, the girls took this in their stride and it motivated us to work harder and play to our full potential. As a team, we built relationships in both attack and defence by improving our communication skills and understanding each other's abilities to ensure the ball moved down the court. We then secured a 52-3 win against Penistone Grammar. This was a great boost for the team as it proved to us that all the effort we had put in had paid off. Throughout this match, we took away some key points of what we needed to improve on, such as being ball side when receiving the ball and driving to get to the ball in the front space. We worked through these hurdles through teamwork exercises during our lunchtime practices. Our progress shone through by winning all of our subsequent matches after. It has been so lovely to see our team grow and I am excited to see what the next year will bring. I would like to thank all the girls for their hard work and commitment shown this year. I’d like to finish by also thanking the PE staff who have given us all their time and support. Thank you, we really appreciate it. .

U13 NETBALL

I am so proud of the U13 Netball team this year as we have come so far in a short space of time. We had to adjust and adapt to play as a squad by thinking how to successfully maintain possession and get the ball to our shooters.

However after all the training and matches we have had we made wonderful progress and made it all the way to the semi-finals of the plate in the national Sisters n Sport competition. I think that this is a huge achievement and I can’t wait to see us all grow as a team and improve over our time at school.

Our first ever match at the beginning of the season was against Woodhouse Grove, who are a strong team. We tried our hardest but considering this was our first game the connections just weren’t there. Nevertheless we learnt from this and looked forward to building and growing as a team during our weekend fixtures.

We recently took part in the Wakefield District Schools Tournament playing most schools in Wakefield and we came first - with no goals scored against us. A few days later, we had the SIS semi-finals against Kings School in Chester which was a tricky game considering Eleanor had a dislocated knee, Grace had just come back from having a broken wrist and Amie had damaged her finger. Despite the loss, the team spirit was definitely there and we know where we can build and strengthen our game - we have certainly improved since September!

Overall, this has been a great season for us and we have especially enjoyed the trips to the matches with our amazing coaches who we’d like to thank for supporting us. We are all really looking forward to what next season will bring.

Annabel Massey - Year 8

U13 netball team

U16 netball team

U14 NETBALL

It has been a very successful year for our team. We competed in Saturday fixtures, the Sisters N Sport (SNS) competition and the U14 National Schools Tournament. The season started with a win against Bradford Grammar. It is always good to beat an old rival!

In the SNS competition the first two rounds were well earned wins but we knew that the competition was going to get tougher. We went to Durham University to compete against Yarm; through grit and determination we beat them in a closely battled game. Unfortunately, Blue Coat School, our quarter-final match, proved to be too strong ending our SNS campaign. Blue Coat went on to win the competition.

In November, we competed in the WY round of National Schools against seven other schools including GSAL and Woodhouse Grove and came away winning every game to become WY Champions. We were all so excited to reach the Regional Finals. The day arrived and there were nerves and excitement - we knew we all wanted to reach the National School Finals. We played seven games of netball against the top two schools in each of the Yorkshire Regions and came away undefeated!! Yorkshire Champions!! We were all ecstatic!! WGHS was going to Nationals for the first time in 12 years.

U14netballteam

U15 NETBALL

This season for us has been a tricky one: we've faced quite a few challenges but also achieved some hard fought victories. Despite not winning all of our matches, I feel that as a squad we have improved massively and become more of a team rather than an assortment of high standard players.

The hard work began; we were given training plans and attended twice-weekly training sessions. The week before Nationals, we had a special training guest, Jade Clarke, captain of Leeds Rhinos Netball. We couldn’t believe it! She gave us an amazing session and we picked up so many tips from her.

We started the tournament well, with a close but frustrating loss to Bablake School. Our second match we came back fighting and beat Trent College proving our place amongst the best schools in the country. Unfortunately, our journey at Nationals stopped in the rounds. The following two games were within our capability but we lost them by one turn centre pass. The day was amazing and we grew as a squad. The best part of the weekend was seeing how we all encouraged each other and gave our all no matter what. We placed 15 out of the 184 schools that entered the tournament and each and every one of us should feel very proud. We would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs Manson, Mrs M and Mrs Robinson for all the support and for assisting us in achieving so much.

In our most recent tournament we saw some familiar teams and managed to win all our matches, with no losses and only a total of 4 goals against us while scoring upwards of 90 goals. Due to not playing much competitive Netball last year I think many of us would agree that we were out of practice and many of us felt quite reluctant to give it another go. However, we worked with our amazing teachers to find a schedule that fitted the majority of us and managed to make our team a united collective again.

Our first match of the season may not have been a success but it reminded us how we love to play together and to be a team. Our Saturday matches have involved a roller coaster of competition. Sadly for us, because of our abundance of amazing players, this has sometimes worked against us as we found it difficult to field a team due to other commitments. Nonetheless, a personal favourite of mine out of our many cold Saturday mornings has to be our 34-19 win against Prince Henrys where we played six quarters, constantly rotating players and also combining together with the amazing U14 team who we always love to play with. In addition to this we are really looking forward to playing with them again next in the national schools competition where as a squad I believe we can progress to the latter stages of the competition.

Overall our U15 team has shown great determination throughout this season and we should be very proud of what we have achieved.

U15 netball team

U18 NETBALL

Senior Netball has been very limited over the past two years. As I’m sure you’re all aware by now, the pandemic impacted sports massively, meaning netball training and matches were impossible for all of last academic year, and training only resumed early last year in September. Opportunities for matches have also tended to be restricted, with very few schools willing to play matches.

Unfortunately the U18 Area Netball Tournament did not go ahead but Mrs Manson was determined to get us a game and on one of the last weeks of the season we played against Fulneck School. This match was organised rapidly, leaving us minimal opportunities to train as a full team. Overall, we managed to fit around three hours of training together as a match team, on lunchtimes and in an EDGE block. These three hours were the only time we had played as a whole team, and for some team members, the first time they had played with other members of the team. This training evidently paid off, as we managed to win against Fulneck, with a score of 26-16.

The standard of play by all squad members in this match was excellent, with a strong defence provided by Anna and Antonia, some great centre court interceptions were made by Hollie and accurate shots were put up by Nell and myself. Kelly and Yasmin were particularly effective in putting pressure on the opposition, and Lucy and Lizzie offered passing options to other team members. I would like to congratulate the team on this victory, and can only say it was a shame that we didn’t get more opportunities to play competitive matches as a team against other schools.

I would like to thank Mrs Huddlestone for devoting her time to training us early in the year, but a special mention goes to Mrs Manson for managing to find us a match, and training us in the later part of the year to become a winning team. Thank you.

Ella Shaw - Year 13

VOLLEYBALL 2021-22

The Volleyball team at WGHS has been running for three years now, and is always continuing to grow in size. This year there has been the addition of 15 committed Year 7s, who have made fantastic progress with the help and support from both Hollie Bott and Sophie Burrell. As a result of more students taking part in the club, WGHS have been able to form both an U18 and U15 team to compete in Volleyball England Competitions.

This year WGHS played in their very first tournaments, the Grand Prix Series 3 in Cheshire and Leeds. The U15 team came 5th out of eight teams that entered. This was their first ever experience of competition so they did exceptionally well to say they were playing against club teams! After doing really well in the initial group stage of the competition they progressed to the silver pool of matches. The U18s played two teams, Frodsham and Whitley Bay and although they lost both games the team improved and gained in confidence throughout the day, closing the gap of the final score.

A local fixture was also set up with West Riding Volleyball Club and both squads played some closely fought points. Even though both the U15s and U18s lost, they showed amazing team spirit and resilience and the U15s only very narrowly lost their last set getting 22 points.

Volleyball at WGHS has made great headway this year. All players are keen to learn more tactics and gain more experience in match play against other club and school teams. The students will also have an opportunity to enter into York Volleyfest this summer, playing some outdoor volleyball for the very first time. We would like to thank Mrs Hunter for providing us with the opportunity to play as well as all her help and support this season.

Hollie Bott - Year 12

Artgallery

Here’s a selection of some of the amazing talent from our A-level and GCSE exam students

Katie Scollick

Lucy Birkin

Abigail Kumar

Lucy Smith

Saniyah Akudi

Farrah Abdalla

Poppy Vincent

Flora Whitfield

Lucy Apperley

Lily King

Khadijah Sarwar

Becca Haigh

Olivia Cole

Mariam Musa

Isabelle Whitake

Natasha Cheetham

Georgina Odgers

Alisha Hussain

Aaliyah Syeda

Artgallery

Emerson Jackson

Lucy Dimbylow

Katie Scollick

Here’s a selection of some of the amazing talent from our A-level and GCSE exam students

Fizza Afsar Jafri

Anya Allott

Schyler Edwards

Grace Kitching

Lucy Rushby

Fatima Shazad

Eve Townend

Buchi Dibia

Ann Achato

Amber Woodhead

Anna Schofield

Tilly Cullen

Artgallery

Alexandra Lee

Lizzie Royle

Eleanor Cooke

Lizzie Ramsden

Here’s a selection of some of the amazing talent from our A-level and GCSE exam students

Rose Kohi Tavya Ali

Nina Smith Thevi Karunanithy

Megan Rees

Beth Farrar

Lily Belwood

Neha Vemula

Esmé Randal

Libby Ansdell

Abigail Kumar

Ava Dunn Heather Bullers

Kate Lawrenson

Art Trip to Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Yorkshire Sculpture Park is the perfect place to spend a day. It is a location full of nature and artwork, a great place to go for an art trip! Upon arriving at YSP we could tell we were in for a good day. The sun was shining, the skies clear and we were met by a flock of sheep alongside their woolly lambs.

During our visit to YSP Robert Indiana’s work was being displayed. His work was definitely my favourite shown here particularly the colourful numbers which are the first things you see when stepping outside of the main building. Indiana was an American painter, printmaker and sculptor and most famous for his iconic image of LOVE. He was originally named Robert Earl Clark but later on in life he changed his name to Indiana to honour the place of his birth. Many of his works are references to his own sexual orientation as a gay man. Many of his pieces are also in recognition of other LGBTQIA+ artists. His works often were in response to current affairs like black and gay rights, nuclear disarmament and several

other societal problems. He produced many of these pieces during the 1960s which was a very important decade marking many civil rights movements, so the pieces he was creating were very controversial during this time. I would definitely recommend taking a look at some of his pieces.

You may not find joy in looking at pieces of art but that is what is so good about YSP. The nature there is spectacular. We saw geese, sheep, ducks, birds, rabbits and more! Beautiful flowers were sprouting up from the ground and on the bushes and there is a greenhouse there that when open is home to colourful flowers and trees. It was really great getting to spend time with my friends looking at the sculptures, sitting down playing cards, talking and eating ice cream from the shop! All in all it was a fabulous day that has produced many happy memories and I would definitely recommend spending a day here.

Calendar photography competition: Hooriya Fida Hussain

GCSE and A-level Textiles

Cara Prasad

Isabella Pye

Hollie Bott Eleanor Turner

Hope Reynolds

Ifrah Ahmed

Sanya Mirza

Aminta Utting-Simon

Art, D&T and Textiles

Trip to London

Over February half term Art, Design & Technology and Textiles students from Years 10-12 took a trip to London to extend their learning beyond the classroom.

There were a wide range of visits catering to the interests of all. Design & Technology students visited a net zero carbon commercial development site in central London, where they got to meet, and hear talks from, architects, engineers and design project managers who are all working on the project. This was a fascinating insight into the work that goes on behind the scenes in the development of multi-million pound architectural engineering projects. They also visited Tower Bridge to take a walk along its glass floored walkways and gain an insight into the history of this iconic London landmark, including its design and construction and the incredible engineering that enables the bridge to open for river traffic along the Thames. They visited the Science Museum to view displays on material and technological developments through the ages, as well as marvel at the exhibition on the history of human flight.

The Art students had a wonderful time visiting the Natural History Museum, The National Gallery, The Saatchi Gallery and the V&A. Our students produced some amazing live sketches of work that inspired them and took first hand observations from the museums ready for development back in the classroom.

The Textiles students sought inspiration for their own work from their visits to Savile Row, The Tate Modern, The V&A Museum and Oxford Street.

As well as taking in their separate sites of London, students came together to see the incredible sights from the top of the London Eye and enjoy a trip to the Adelphi Theatre to watch ‘Back to the Future the Musical’!

Mr Carlin - Head of Design & Technology

When Years 10-12 Art, Design & Technology and Textiles students paid a visit to London to experience the arts live through the creative sides of London, I asked them to tell me a little bit about what it was like...

Would you recommend this trip?

“Yes I would definitely recommend it. It was one of the best trips I have been on, if not the best trip of my entire school life because it definitely helped my A-level course while I also got to have fun especially when watching ‘Back to the Future the Musical’ which I absolutely loved. It was eye opening and an unmissable experience.”

Did you have any favourite pieces of artwork?

“I really enjoyed seeing the more famous pieces such as Van Gogh’s sunflowers and seeing a wide variety of artwork. The displays in the V&A Museum gave me lots of ideas for using old fashioned clothing styles in my designs.”

How did the trip help you in your course?

“The museums were very helpful because there was lots of inspiration that I have put into my work. It has made me a lot more passionate about textiles as a whole.”

Interviews by Shara Vijay Kumar - Year 12

First Lego League Challenge

A team of Year 8 and 9 students travelled to De Montfort University, Leicester on 26th January to compete against fifteen other schools in the First Lego League Challenge. After delivering presentations on their adherence to the scheme’s core values, their innovation project and the robot design, the students perfected their robot’s performance, sorting out issues to come up with the best solutions which would give the greatest reward – most points in the robot game.

On Wednesday 26th January, my teammates and I participated in our First Lego League Challenge. We had spent three months preparing, researching and practising to achieve our final outcome. Upon arriving, we were allocated a table and received a schedule. We rushed to the lego tables to try and get one so we could practise and perfect the performance of our robot - it was a frenzy. After about half an hour we were called into the judges’ room to present our core values, innovation project and robot design presentations. It was very nerve-racking but we powered through and by the end we were quickly racing through all the questions they were asking us. Upon finishing, we felt much more confident in ourselves. We went back to perfecting our robot performances and after a while we had worked up quite an appetite.

Shortly after lunch we weren’t allowed to practise on the boards anymore - now it was time to show our robot game and we were up first! We allocated four people who would switch in and out of the board and execute the tasks to the greatest extent possible, the rest of us stood back and cheered them on, supporting them no matter what. After we had our first game, we felt much more confident in ourselves, however there were a few issues so while waiting for the next game to commence, we sorted out our issues and came up with the best solutions which would reward us the greatest. We cheered on our opponents and wished them the best of luck. After this we had two more tries to show our robot game. In the last game, we encountered a few hiccupsour robot didn’t perform some tasks; however Eleanora used her quick-thinking skills and stepped in. She realised we had enough time left to try the new missions our robot failed to complete so she restarted the robot and this gave us a real advantage.

Finally, most of the stressful parts of the day were over, now we just had to wait for the awards ceremony to start. The awards that were up for grabs were: most points in robot game, best robot design, innovation project, core values, judges award and finally the overall winner. We sat waiting, excited to see who won and hoping we were up there. Finally the award for the most points in the robot game came around and …we won it! We were pumped with glee! We collected our lego trophy and even got medals. We were so proud of ourselves. I would totally recommend for people to do this as it was a really rewarding experience which was amazing and made even better because we got to do it with our friends and spend time together.

Arianna

RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS round-up

It has been a busy year for the RPE Department. We have continued our ‘Religion of the Month’ assemblies, which cover a wide variety of global religious, secular and philosophical traditions. This year’s programme has featured: Feminist Ideology and Intersectionality, Angels, Religious Persecution, the Sakura Cherry Tree Project and Japanese Culture, Paganism, and Baha’i and Race Unity Day. Many thanks to the students who contributed either with content or delivery, whether it was virtually or face-to-face in Jubilee Hall.

Japan played a big part in the Department this year, through a combination of initiatives. The Japanese Culture: A-Zen sessions made a very welcome return to EDGE; here a just a few of the students’ comments:

“This EDGE session was one of the best sessions I have had for a long time; so fun & there was a lot to do such as movies, music and even learning how to use chopsticks.”

Rhea L

Jasmine P

Teighan U

Eleanor W

“I really enjoyed this and would definitely recommend it; the sessions were very informative, fun and you learn so much. I particularly enjoyed learning about Geisha and the misinformation known about them, and learning how to write my name in Katakana.”

“I wanted to look into the language of Japan in more depth. Not only was this EDGE able to answer all my questions, it also introduced me to nuances and fascinating aspects of Japanese culture that I had never considered before. I learnt about events of Japanese history, the unbelievably varied landscape of Japan, and the beautiful art and traditional calligraphy. I loved this EDGE, and wish that I could do it all over again.”

“I would give it 10/5 stars if I could.”

Ruby Kay

Calendar photography competition: Lucy Hamblett

“We had Mrs Keegan-Phipps (who had studied in Japan before!) for EDGE and she made the lessons very interesting. We had some Kanji calligraphy and writing practice, Japanese listening and some educational videos about Japanese culture. At the end we obtained a gift from Mrs Keegan-PhippsChopsticks! We got to learn how to use them and that manners are very important when it comes to chopsticks. We didn’t just learn about culture and life in Japan but some very valuable life lessons that I think everyone in the EDGE sessions will remember because of Mrs Keegan-Phipps’ humour.”

Rhiona L

“The reason I signed up for this EDGE was that I was interested in learning Korean and many people said that learning either Chinese or Japanese would be useful and learning a bit of Japanese would mean that I could learn a few Chinese characters as the language consisted of words. I love how every lesson we have some quizzes, colouring or writing (that are not too hard to do) to keep us engaged. Another reason I was able to keep interested in this EDGE was because of Mrs KeeganPhipps. She would share her experience as a student in Japan and her sense of humour never failed to lighten up our day. Not only was this EDGE fun but also very educational. We learnt how Japan is very diverse in terms of how people would either live in a very modernised world or they would choose to live in an old-fashioned way like girls becoming Geishas. I hope many students choose and enjoy this EDGE.”

Anyah A

The EDGE block was reintroduced in conjunction with the planting of a cherry blossom tree in the school grounds. The Sakura Cherry Tree Project celebrates a new era of Japan-UK Friendship, by planting over 6000 trees throughout the UK in parks, schools and cities as a gift from the Japanese people, to symbolise hope and joy and the long-standing and strong cultural links between the two countries. The cherry tree sapling arrived and is planted in WGHS near the Margaret Street gate, where it will blossom and be a place of Zen and colour for generations of students to come. The certificates which came with the tree are also on display in school as a touching momento.

Along with Shinto, Buddhism is the major faith, or way of life, in Japan and we were delighted to resume our annual Year 9 trip to the Buddhist and Meditation Centre in Pocklington. The students were given a tour of the shrine and meditation rooms.

“We really enjoyed going to the Buddhist Centre because it gave an insight into Buddhism and how a Buddhist lives their life. It was very inspirational to hear from the ordained nun Lekmo that she wasn’t brought up a Buddhist but chose to convert. We had a tour around the Shrine and meditation rooms, where there was a huge display with unique images and statues. There were also Tibetan books and scriptures as well as offering bows and incense. The tweeting birds outside the centre added to the serene atmosphere. We tried meditation and let go of worries that we had. Our many questions were answered in detail and it was an insightful and educational experience.”

Abbi R and Hareem G

On a final note, we bid a fond farewell to our RPE Student Leaders, Sanya Khan (Year 13) and Hooriya Fida-Hussain, both of whom helped out with some of the aforementioned assemblies and KS3 Philosophy Club at the start of the year. Sanya is leaving WGHS to study Law and Criminology, and Hooriya is WGHS’ new Head Girl! We wish them all the best in their new ventures.

Mrs Keegan-Phipps - Head of RPE

Frankie

Soha Nahir

The Sakura Cherry Tree Project: Emerson and Elizabeth

WGHS House System

Since the introduction of the House system at the start of the year, we have made great progress and have achieved many fantastic things. One of the events that was a big success, and a particular favourite, was the House Bake-Off competition. We had an enormous amount of involvement from all year groups for this event, enabling us to raise lots of money for our House charities. We can’t wait to see what the future holds as the House system becomes a bigger part of school life!

I absolutely loved the House Finale - the experience was great. I loved the events and spending time with all the people in our House and singing our new chants

”

House leaders creating House paper chains

The Great British Bake-Off Bake Sale

House Conkers Tournament

The House Finale was a great day to finish off the journey of House events and forming the new, through school House system. It was a great opportunity to get involved in friendly competition with the other houses. It was a great day to remember and I can't wait to see the finished tile mural!

Yesterday was really fun as I got to spend time with my friends and other people in my House. It was a great day taking part in fun activities and enjoying delicious foods and treats. Watching the teacher’s tug of war was really good too!

The Great British Bake off winners

Our House leaders creating House paper chains

The Great British Bake-Off Bake Sale

Junior Section Guided Obstacle Race

IT'S THE WAY ALL OF LIFE'S POSSIBILITIES ARE SUDDENLY WITHIN REACH

UKMT Maths Challenges

For over 20 years the UKMT, based at Leeds University have been inspiring a love of problem solving in children through their competitions and enrichment activities. Preparation and entering these competitions encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using basic mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems. Particular congratulations go to Amy Price, Serena Andani and Saachi Singh who were the best in the school in their category.

There are three certificates awarded by the UKMT:

n The Gold award is achieved by the top 6-7% of the entrants.

n The Silver award is achieved by 13-14% of the entrants.

n The Bronze award is achieved by 21% of the entrants.

Well-performing candidates may also be invited to enter the European Kangaroo and the Mathematical Olympiad. In November 2021, the Senior Maths Challenge took place online, but in school for students who are aged 19 or below; here are our results:

Year 13

Amy Price Silver

Fay Bennett Silver

Sophie Russell Silver

Katie Browning Bronze

Sarah Ng Bronze

Faith Budge Bronze

Year 12

Erin Bates Silver

Robert Tingle Bronze

Rucha Korde Bronze

Mokunfoe Olusola Bronze

Maisie Heathcote Bronze

Adrianna Green Bronze

Theo Marsden Bronze

Jessica Morrison Bronze

Betty Chamberlain Bronze

Calendar photography competition: Zara Azaer

Calendar photography competition: Rucha Korde

In February 2022, the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge took place for students in Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11. Again, this was taken online, but in school. Here are our results:

Year 11

Serena Andani Gold

Bayan Yousif Silver

Katie Scollick Silver

Neha Vemula Silver

Becca Haigh Silver

Jess Thornton Silver

Juanita Bonney Silver

Eleanor Cooke Silver

Esme Randall Silver

Ruby Tolan Silver

Ann Achato Bronze

Lilly King Bronze

Zaima Farooq Bronze

Lily Belwood Bronze

Imogen Wolff Bronze

Tia Stent Bronze

Anna Reynolds Bronze

Milly Ronan Bronze

Emerson Jackson Bronze

Abigail Gatenby Bronze

Homaira Nazim Bronze

Nina Smith Bronze

Lucy Crook Bronze

Year 10

Jenny Morrell Silver

Alice Morrison Silver

Sofia Pietrantonio Silver

Rabiah Khalid Silver

Aranie Sureshkumar Silver

Tilly Smith Silver

Ellie Tingle Silver

Zahra Ali Bronze

Orla Ventris-Crowley Bronze

Perla Chan Bronze

Jae Yim Bronze

Imogen Kirk-Smith Bronze

Leina Tordoff Bronze

Amelia Parkin Bronze

Janushruti Ravichandran Bronze

Robyn Walters Bronze

Charlotte Marshall Bronze

Anja De Bruin Bronze

Claudia Bowen Bronze Molly Clark Bronze

Year 9

Charlotte D'Arcy Gold

Hareem Ghouri Silver

Eleanor Wray Silver

Ishani Kundu Silver

Ife Fasae Silver

Victoria Marchlinska Bronze

Lilly Pouliou Bronze

Amelia Collings Bronze

Lucia Partridge Bronze

Faith Mbuya Bronze

Ruby Kim Bronze

Sophia Hilton Bronze

Annabelle Apperley Bronze

Sascha Manomano Bronze

In April 2022, we were delighted to return to the ‘pen and paper’ system, indicating the end of the current COVID restrictions. The Junior Mathematical Challenge took place in the Hartley Pavilion for students in Year 7 and Year 8. Here are our results:

Year 8

Saachi Singh Gold

Amelia Martin Gold

Heidi Charles Gold

Felicity Garner Gold

Sharon Li Gold

Olivia Brown Gold

Alice Simmons Silver

Lucy Prentice Silver

Ellie Gilbert Silver

Hema Nair Silver

Mikaela Agyei-Agyepong Silver

Kaitlin Fernandez Silver Isabelle Patrick Silver

Freya Johnson Bronze

Nelly Amunugama Bronze

Freyja Brandon Bronze Sophie Duerden-Brown Bronze

Akavi Sureshkumar Bronze

Halima Bello-Inua Bronze

Addi Bruce Bronze

Grace Bentley Bronze

Kendra Kouemeni Bronze

Riya Shanthi Bronze

Eliza Austin Bronze Libby Cree Bronze

Rucha Gowda Bronze Maia Rawson Bronze

Esha Siddique Bronze

Maddie Fish Bronze Simone Garner Bronze

Zara Azaer Bronze

Eliza McEnhill Bronze

Year 7

Aarna Darbhamulla Gold

Julia Smith Gold

Alana Glennan Gold

Catherine Mellor Gold Olivia Williams Silver

Riya Bhagat Silver

Anaya Patel Silver

Harriet Anderton Silver

Anisha Barmade Silver

Annabel Grafton Silver

Sienna Smiljanic Silver

Isabella Bardsley Bronze

Navya Gutta Bronze

Ruby Kay Bronze

Francesca Cooper Bronze Miriam Dada Bronze

Lily Kitson Bronze

Yi-Jhen Chen Bronze

Safa Ahmed Bronze

Evie Wright Bronze

Yasmin Tempest Bronze

“Well done everyone”

Calendar photography competition: Eleanor Tingle

For over 20 years the UKMT, based at Leeds University have been inspiring a love of problem solving in children through their competitions and enrichment activities

“ ”

Mr Cunningham

Parallel Histories

In the autumn term we were invited to take part in a series of online debates with other schools, and asked to debate on particularly contested topics from history. The idea was not to shy away from the fixed competing narratives, indeed we were encouraged to actively seek them out; deconstruct them; lay opposing sides end to end; become immersed in both sides and then try to reach considered judgements during the course of a debate.

Debate 2

Ireland:

The aim here was to engage fully with the scholarship that we were provided with. The winners would inevitably be the team that understood both sides of the debate thoroughly. Engaging with the scholarship was really exciting as we immersed ourselves in the work of academics who took us on a journey to the worlds that they had spent years researching and effectively inhabiting. It was like entering a portal to a time and place that had passed but that still resonates today. By doing this, we could see how nuanced and finely balanced the arguments were…and how convincing both sets of arguments were, which made the debate very challenging. For example when preparing for the Irish Famine debate, the team would be won over by the likes of Coogan, then we would quickly revise our arguments on reading the likes of Foster. An added bonus for us as A-level History students was having the opportunity to engage with topics that none of us had formally studied before. It also gave us the opportunity to practise A-level skills, analysing, evaluating sources of information, reaching balanced and supported judgements. We could see that we would be entirely undone if we didn’t use the sources provided to make our arguments. So the topics had been revealed, next was which side we would be arguing for? Though by now, we felt equipped to be able to just use the scholarship and sources to make rational and responsible arguments.

The team of four had to prepare a strictly 2 minute argument each, on selected points of issue. We came to agreements about roles and who would make which points which sources would be utilised etc. After everyone had made their points there were opportunities for rebuttals, where we were given the chance to challenge any points raised by the opposing team that we disagreed with or we felt were unsubstantiated. The rebuttals and counter-rebuttals were sometimes heated, though always good fun and light hearted. There are no winning sides with these debates, though we felt we gave a very good account of ourselves. We really enjoyed the debates as they gave us a chance to expand our knowledge, learn to think on our feet and think about issues from different perspectives, but perhaps most importantly, understand why responsible argument matters. It was good to debate topics from a perspective we did not necessarily align with, and we feel that this has given us the ability to come up with more complex historical arguments in our written work. Overall, this was a great experience for all involved, we’re grateful we were able to take part and look forward to the next one.

Antonia Maddan and Toni Rogers

Debate 1 Israel-Palestine conflict: ‘Would a One State solution or a Two state solution be better for both Palestinians and Israelis?’

‘What role did the English Government play in the Irish Famine?’

Day trips 2021

On Thursday, 16th September, every year group went on a trip to help ease us back into school, encourage teamwork, and strengthen friendships. For me, this day allowed me to reconnect with both my friends and nature without having to worry about rushing to lessons. It also allowed me to have fun with people I hadn’t seen over summer because they live too far away, and it meant I could spend time relaxing and having fun with my friends.

Year 7 went to Yorkshire Wildlife Park: “It was nice to see all the animals and learn a bit about them, meeting new ones and having fun with my friends,” said Annie Earnshaw.

Year 8 visited Harewood House to look around the garden, chapel, and house. Elizabeth Kirk-Smith thought it was, “Fascinating to see the old kitchens and photos taken from when the house was used,” with Lucy Prentice adding that, it was nice to be away from work but with all her friends.

Year 9 spent the day at Tropical World and Roundhay Park. Fleur Hornsby’s favourite part was, “Walking around Roundhay Park with my friends and eating ice cream.”

Year 10 went to Sherwood Pines, where they went on a walk and went on the tree top nets. A Year 10 student enjoyed the trip, saying, “It was nice that it was structured but we also had the freedom to see other people in our year group.”

Year 11 took part in fun and team building activities such as kayaking, climbing, and archery at Peak Underbank Activity Centre, with Tia Stent saying her favourite part was the leap of faith.

Year 12and 13 went to Ripley Castle, participating in activities such as high ropes and escape rooms. Lizzie, from Year 13, particularly enjoyed axe throwing, saying: “I’d never done it before and was excited to try it.”

This day allowed us to spend time with our friends away from a work environment, letting us have some fun and get to know our peers as we settled into a new school year.

Amelia Parkin - Year 10

THE WAY WE HELP EVERY STUDENT

DISCOVER

Year 7: Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Year 8: Harewood House

Year 9: Tropical World

Year 13: Ripley Castle

Year

Ripley Castle

Year 11: Peak Underbank Activity Centre

Geography round-up

This year has been one of change as we have emerged from lockdown and have finally been able to take groups out of the classroom to study the wonders of the (relatively local) world first-hand and we are very much looking forward to going further afield as soon as we can. After all, being out in the open and experiencing new things is ‘what Geography is all about. What has struck me the most has been the enthusiasm of the students - the Geography team has loved sharing in their joy of learning this year.

The teaching team was significantly augmented by Mr Cousins who has been teaching KS3; he has been effusive with his positive impressions of the students in his classes and the number of merits he has given out certainly reflects this. He has been a real asset to the department and to the school in the short time he has been with us and has spread his own brand of engaging project work to engage, stretch and challenge the students. Mr Ryding has now joined us full-time and we are delighted to welcome him as a permanent fixture in Geography - he has hit the ground running and is a social media megastar already after the Year 10 trip to Malham.

Mrs Heptinstall has been extremely busy with her Year 7 groups. For some weeks she was struggling to get any time away from her room as it was full of hard working Year 7 students who spent, seemingly, every waking hour completing some magnificent work on sustainability. Pupils began by creating logos and decided that it would be a brilliant idea to create models of these. These were presented to the group with such enthusiasm that it was decided by the group that they would like to pool their ideas to create a whole city. This was accompanied with some question and answer sessions to allow students to talk about some of the key considerations behind their designs to create a sustainable living space for all. Some of their work can be seen in the photograph below. They completed their work by doing a case study about plastic in our oceans, researching key information and data to explain its impact in our world. A massive well done to all our fantastic Year 7 students who have brought Geography to life in the classroom this year with their sheer enthusiasm.

Apart from the field trips with Year 10 and Year 12 we had our annual visit from David Holmes, former chief examiner and current author and researcher of Geography text books and articles. As ever, he brought his knowledge and wisdom to share with the Sixth Form pupils in QEGS and WGHS as well as giving helpful advice to the teaching staff.

This year we will say our farewells to some wonderful geographers from Year 11 and 13 as they move onto the next stage in their lives. The Non Examination Assessments in A-level Geography are a real challenge but this year’s A-level students have shown true independence, resilience and application whilst completing some wonderful and insightful projects on a variety of topics. It has been a privilege working with them at school, spending time with them and watching them develop their knowledge and skill in readiness for the wider world beyond WGHS. They inspire us and will continue to do so as they make their way in life.

Geography continues to surprise us. There have been many things different about this year but perhaps the biggest surprise for one student happened in the grounds of the Malham Tarn FSC fieldwork centre. The Year 12 students were measuring trees and pouring water into measuring cylinders in the early evening as it got darker and colder when all of a sudden one of them said, “Why am I really enjoying myself doing this?”. I hope more students will ask the same question and realise that inspiration can come at any time - the secret to finding it is to be open-minded and inquisitive and to look for wonder in the world around us.

Mr Tribe - Head of Geography

IT'S THE WAY WE HELP EVERY STUDENT TO DISCOVER THE TRUE JOY OF LEARNING

Year 10 Field Trip to Clapham Beck

In early May, Year 10 were finally let out of the classroom and able to remind themselves just why they chose Geography for GCSE. The Clapham Beck field trip made a welcome return to the calendar and a day spent working in the river was enjoyed by all.

The students worked together to measure the depth, velocity and width of the river at two points and considered factors such as risk, suitability and how to present their data. The day was punctuated by smiles and laughter, usually from the overtopping of somebody's welly in the river. The day gave an excellent opportunity for the students to increase their understanding of river processes and to remember that the classroom is not just a room inside a school but wherever you do your learning.

An unexpected highlight of the trip was Mr Ryding’s cameo at the end of a field trip TikTok that went viral. He now considers himself a minor celebrity.

Year 12 Field Trip to the Yorkshire Dales

Residential fieldwork in Malham

In April, Year 12 Geography students, and teachers Mr Tribe, Mr Ryding and Mrs Rees travelled to Malham Tarn Field Centre for a three day trip. Having missed out on our GCSE Geography trip due to lockdown there was much excitement and eagerness to learn about field work for our independent investigations.

On the day of our arrival we enjoyed learning about water and carbon storage fieldwork techniques in the surrounding forest. This included learning how to calculate the height of a tree with pythagoras, how to work out how much carbon is stored in a tree and how to measure infiltration levels in the soil. On the second day we travelled to nearby Ribblesdale valley to look at drumlins and how to measure them. We then visited Kingsdale Valley, shortly after, which is one the most studied glaciated valleys in the UK to refine our field sketching skills and identify features of glaciation with our guides Sam and Dave. Our trip concluded with a visit to Leeds Dock accompanied by Ms Boyes to look at the human side of field work techniques. We explored the different ways of measuring regeneration and we got to learn more about the city which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

“I would have to say my favourite part of the trip was seeing the Kingsdale valley because it really brought to life what we'd been studying in class and made me love the topic even more!” (Jess)

“The highlight of my trip was definitely the first day where we got to explore Malham and developed many new skills and techniques that we can now use as part of our coursework. I also loved bonding with the group and having so much fun whilst still working.” (Naomi)

IT'S THE WAY WE HELP EVERY STUDENT TO DISCOVER THE TRUE JOY OF LEARNING

Junior School Section

It has been a busy year in the Junior Section with lots of activities and events taking place. With the slow lifting of Covid measures and regulations came opportunities to renew old activities and put in place fantastic new trips and learning experiences. When prospective parents and students tour the school I am often asked what a ‘normal’ school day looks like. With forest school, creative carousel lessons, sporting fixtures, concerts, residentials and so much more, the cliche of there not being a normal day at WGHS Junior Section is actually very close to the truth.

There has been so much to be excited about this year. In the following pages we have attempted to provide a taster of what has been going on, but this list is by no means exhaustive. Our aim has been to have your child leave school each day having learned a lot and with a big smile on their face. For the vast majority of days and students this has been the case and it has been a real privilege to join your children this year in such a great place to work and learn.

One of the highlights of each of my weeks this year has been the Star of the Week hot chocolate and chat. It has been a great opportunity for me to get to know the students a little better and the perfect excuse to indulge in a chocolate treat! The enthusiasm the students have for discussing their learning and the variety of activities they do both in and out of school is a real inspiration; those meetings really brighten my day.

As they look at the following pages, I hope all the students realise that they have lots of things they can be proud of and achievements they can take from this year to build on for the years to come.

Sam Rowley - Director of Junior Section

Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl Reflections...

In my role as Head Girl from September 2021 - February 2022, I really enjoyed the challenge of speaking to an audience of parents and children at our annual open morning. The Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl from the High School were really supportive and kind to me along with the girls who spoke from the various year groups.

The meetings with Ms Boyes were a real highlight as we got to visit the High School and taste some of the wonderful treats for breakfast and we were asked to give our opinion and thoughts on the new uniform. I am really looking forward to joining the Senior Section in September, particularly because I get to make new friends and introduce them to my other friends from the Junior Section, also to explore the different areas in the Senior Section and get to experience all of the opportunities that we’ve heard about with EDGE.

Claudia Smith - Head Girl

WGHS is a place of experiences and I would like to share some of my own by writing two of my own fond and funniest memories. I remember when I went to the tennis club and we were all playing with two people on our team. The ball was coming towards me so I shouted ‘I got it, I got it!’ when I really didn't. The swing of my racket was not even that hard but it was enough to make me fall over backwards and land on my back. What’s worse, I didn't even hit the ball. One of my fondest memories would definitely be seeing all of my friends' faces after not seeing them for a long time due to lockdown. The memories are limitless, but I hope you enjoyed a couple of my own.

Grace Fabiyi - Head Girl

I was very honored to be elected as Deputy Head Girl. I’ve enjoyed having meetings with the Senior and Pre-prep Head Girl and Deputy, as we got to share ideas and thoughts about the academic year. One of the events that I personally really enjoyed was at Christmas time, with the Pre-prep and Senior Head Girl and Deputy, as we were able to decorate the Christmas tree in Ms Boyes’s office. In the Senior Section, I can't wait to take part in the EDGE Program. This is where students can take part in a wide range of activities to help complement our learning. In addition, I am very excited about getting our chromebooks when we start in Year 7. The role of Deputy Head Girl has made me a more independent person in and out of school.

Laila Willey - Deputy Head Girl

I have enjoyed my role as Deputy Head Girl and am grateful to have had this opportunity. I have loved working with Grace (the Head Girl) especially on tours (in which I have met many people) throughout the term and a half that we’ve had these positions. I have been inspired by previous Head and Deputy Head Girls and wanted to continue their legacies. I’m looking forward to the Senior Section as I’m sure it will be a whole new adventure. Having only joined last year, WGHS has helped me in many different ways and I’m certain that I will enjoy the next stage of my school journey. I’m excited to take on new challenges and opportunities that come my way next year.

Tara Rehal - Deputy Head Girl

Junior Music 2021-22

This year, it has been wonderful to have all of our music activities up and running again and to be able to welcome friends and family to our concerts and performances. The year started with a Meet the Instrument fortnight with pupils being able to meet and try out all manner of instruments and their teachers at morning break. Later in the year pupils in Year 3 and 4 had the chance to explore the cello, clarinet, flute, trumpet and trombone further and à number have since started lessons.

Our first performance for the Under 11 Choir and some of our instrumental soloists was Harvest Festival - this was live streamed to parents. Christmas is always a major highlight of the calendar. The Years 3 and 4 put on a highly entertaining performance of Angel’s Up High at St Austin’s Church, the Suzuki Violins and Under 9 Choir also performed with real style.

Our Wakefield Cathedral Choristers, Amelia and Bethany

Under 9 Choir having fun at the Spring Concert

Giving pupils a chance to experience the fife in a class taster session

Inter House Young Musician of the Year Winners 2022 Valentina (violin) and Elizabeth (flute)

IT'S THE WAY WE HELP EVERY STUDENT TO DISCOVER THE TRUE JOY OF LEARNING

Year 5 and 6 returned to Wakefield Cathedral for their Christmas production. Giving a fabulous performance of Gold, Frankincense and Mirth, acted out by our Year 5s. The older Suzuki violin group also performed alongside our Under 11 Choir. The concert finished with a rousing version of Must Be Santa - a firm favourite of ours. The Under 11 Choir also performed as guest Choir at the Skelmanthorpe Male Voice Choir Concert, also in the Cathedral. This is always such a fun occasion.

The spring term marked a return to Music Festivals. The Choirs performed brilliantly with the Under 9 Choir winning their class at Harrogate and Wharfedale Music Festival and the Under 11 Choir winning at Harrogate and being placed second at Rothwell Music Festival. A truly successful year. We also held our Young Musician of the Year competition, Valentina was named the lower junior winner and Elizabeth the upper junior winner. The overall winning house was Mackie who managed to amass the most points overall.

This year also marked the very first National Music Day. The Music Leaders organised a memorable day. The highlight had to be the amazing array of homemade musical instruments the girls brought in, they were judged by Mr Renshaw and the whole school then used the instruments to provide additional backing to the Orchestra performance and the various fun songs that we sang in the playground.

Rachel White

The concert finished with a rousing version of Must Be Santa - a firm favourite of ours

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The Suzuki Group performing at the Spring Concert

Under 11 Choir performing at the year 5 and 6 Christmas Concert

Under 11 Choir 2022 Winners at the Harrogate Music FestivalGiving pupils a chance to experience a brass instrument in a class taster session

Physical Education 2021-22 CLUBS AND PRACTICES

A range of squad practices and open clubs have been offered at lunchtime and after school, with an excellent uptake from our students in all year groups. These clubs have included a variety of sports such as hockey, netball, cricket, tennis, rounders, athletics and multisports. Martial arts club, dance club and musical theatre clubs are run by external coaches.

FIXTURES AND TOURNAMENTS

It has been fantastic to be able to play fixtures against other schools again after an 18 month hiatus. Netball, hockey, swimming, tennis and athletics fixtures have taken place against a diverse range of schools across Yorkshire and the surrounding counties.

HOCKEY

The Under 11 squad competed at the regional IAPS tournament at Repton School. 20 schools from across the North and Midlands played four round-robin matches in four sections followed by knock-out semi finals and final. The Under 11 squad got through to the quarter-finals where they lost 1 - 0 to Repton.

The Under 11 hockey squad also played in two rounds of the In2 hockey competition. In the West Yorkshire round, they were runners up to GSAL which meant that they qualified for the Yorkshire round, held at Leeds University’s astroturf at Weetwood. In this tournament, they reached the semi-finals where they lost to a strong team from Hill House School.

SWIMMING

Students in Year 5 and 6 participated in swimming time trials held at Rothwell pool. This was in preparation for the IAPS swimming competition and local galas. The Under 10 and Under 11 swimming squads took part in the IAPS time trials held at RGS, Newcastle. From this event, Beth C qualified for the finals in the Under 10, 25 metre butterfly event. This is a fantastic achievement with the finals being held at the London Aquatics Centre.

CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING

As well as the House cross country event, our runners competed in two more events. The first, held on a 1.6 km course at Worksop College, saw our Under 11 squad compete against sixty runners from seven different schools. The second event was organised and held at QEGS where our Under 9, 10 and 11 squads ran between 1.5 and 2.0 km, against three other schools. Longer distance running has become an integral part of our Games lessons and we are reaping the benefits of this in these events.

DANCE

All students have choreographed group routines as part of the House Dance competition. These routines were performed for the initial judging round and three groups chosen from each year to go through to the finals. This year’s themes were line dancing for Year 3, cheerleading for Year 4, Bollywood style for Year 5 and a lyrical style for Year 6. The overall winners will perform for Parents as part of our ‘Celebration of Dance’ event.

All students in Year 5 and 6 had the opportunity to perform in a Dance Showcase for their peers. Students performed a variety of styles of dances as a solo, duo or in a group. From the showcase event, students were invited to perform in the ‘Celebration of Dance’ performance for parents.

GYM CLUB

A small number of students in Year 5 and 6 have been attending lunchtime gym club with Senior Section students from Years 7 and 8 in the gym. They have prepared and performed a short sports acrobatics routine for parents and fellow students.

TASTER LESSONS

Students have enjoyed taster lessons in a variety of sports, not normally included in the day to day PE curriculum. Activities have included rugby, football, badminton, basketball and volleyball.

HOUSE EVENTS

House events have taken place in a number of sports. Years 3 to 6 all played in the House netball tournament with Clayton crowned as overall champions. Lee won the Year 5 and 6 House hockey championships. The House cross country was run as a joint event with QEGS Junior section. Students ran distances of between 1.5 and 2.00 km with Clayton winning the overall title. The House relay races were run on Sports Day.

SPORTS DAY

Our annual Sports Day was held at QEGS track with every student in the Junior Section competing on the day. They competed in a range of athletics events, including a mixture of track, field and fun events.

SPORTS LEADERS AND STUDENT LEADERS

Students from Years 10 and 12 who have been undertaking the Sports Leaders Award have been working with small groups of Junior Section students for supervised warm ups and sports activities as part of Year 3 and 4 Games lessons. This is part of the course requirement for the Sports Leaders award and has been very well received by both sets of students alike. The standard of sessions delivered by the Sports Leaders has been very high.

We also have a number of Student Leaders from the Senior Section who assist at a range of sports clubs. This is sometimes as part of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme or merely because the student has a real interest in a particular sport and wants to develop their experience.

HIGHLIGHTS

I love coming to school and seeing my friends everyday because they make me feel cheerful with their funny jokes and songs

Pearce (3SM)

I really enjoyed our Year 3 residential to York. We spent the day living like a Viking and my favourite part was when we had to scare away the Anglo-Saxon invader!

House (3SM)

I have enjoyed our York trip the most. I liked that we got to sleep overnight with our friends. I really enjoyed going to the Viking village and using the spears

Idun Hansson (3JB)

I really enjoy being here. I have enjoyed getting to know people and being at school

Chen (3JB)

LETTER TO THE QUEEN

Madam,

Congratulations on your Platinum Jubilee, it’s amazing that you have reigned for 70 years! It is an honour to be writing to you. I really hope that you enjoy the rest of my letter.

At school we had a picnic and I ate two cheese sandwiches, some vegetables and cheddar cheese, one cookie with chocolate inside it, Pombears, an ice lolly, and I took with me some Swedish sweets. I loved the concert, it was absolutely fantastic! I also loved it when you had tea with Paddington Bear and when you showed him your marmalade sandwich, when you pulled it out of your handbag. I am now going to ask you some questions. How is it living in the Palace? Do you get a lot of mail? What do you eat?

Here is a rhyme for you - ‘If you rule your land with ease, You can stay here as long as you please.’ Now I will start You are an inspiration to me. I hope you live for 100 years. Have a marvellous time!

I have the honour to be, Madam, Your Majesty’s humble and obedient servant.

Idun Hansson

3JB

THINGS WE ENJOYED DOING IN YEAR 3

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I enjoyed creating a fact file about different countries around the world. We used lots of non fiction books and researched new and interesting facts. I learnt lots of things about the U.S.A I didn’t know before

Poppy Lockwood (3SM)

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I enjoyed taking part in the charity obstacle course race to raise money for Guide Dogs. We had to find our way round a course with a blindfold on and had a partner to help us. It was difficult but a lot of fun

Amy Wood (3SM)

We like working in Year 3. We enjoy Maths and Science and we enjoyed going to Meanwood Farm where we learned about rocks and soils. Our favourite part was collecting worms from under the ground and putting them in the bucket to make a wormery

Libby MacInnes and Orla Clark (3JB)

York Residential

The girls in Year 3 thoroughly enjoyed their first residential trip overnight in York. We have been learning about Invaders and Settlers and visited York to find out more about the Vikings. We loved our interactive journey through a Viking town at Jorvik although some of the sights and smells were rather surprising! Our experience at The Dig made some of us want to become archaeologists! Digging through the past was great! We looked at real Viking artefacts and learned about how we know so much about the Vikings.

Danelaw Viking Village was a real highlight because the hands-on experience is something very special. We made clay pots and learned how to farm the land using the right tools. We also used the millstone to grind our own flour and make flatbread. I think one of our favourite things was learning how to use a Viking spear and guarding our village - we were such a scary sight when the Anglo-Saxon invaders tried to attack. Even the teachers were scared! What a lovely experience and one we will remember for a long time.

4:

Residential to Malham

Malham was amazing! I loved going on the walks, especially to Janet’s Foss and seeing the Bee Library, which was lots of bee nests made by people to look like books! We had to climb to get onto some rocks at Gordale Scar and we were glad to have a little rest there. Last but not least, we climbed over 400 stairs at Malham Cove. It left us speechless to think that Dainel Radcliffe and Emma Watson had been standing there too when they filmed Harry Potter. The Youth Hostel where we stayed had made us a tasty dinner and in the evening we did a quiz. The team called the Pea Pods (because they are the Green House at school!) won! It was an amazing trip and we’ve got loads of fantastic memories.

Sienna Pidsley and Arya McAdam

It was amazing climbing up Malham Cove. It was so high and I could see lots of rivers

Gracie Mercer

I loved walking through the field where there was a family of cute, fluffy sheep!

Hassnain

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My favourite memory was when we got to Gordale Scar and the waterfall was so peaceful and spectacular to see

Haviisha Balakrishnan

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It was great fun chatting and laughing with my friends when we were in our rooms at the Youth Hostel Rosa Locking

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My favourite part was when we had to climb up the rocky bits at Janet’s Foss and be really careful that we didn’t fall into the water underneath!

Izzy Bate

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I enjoyed playing the games in the evening , like word searches but I think I did my best at the quiz!

Nimi Rehal

Fantastic facts

I found out on the trip

There was a Clapper Bridge where the waves from the river sounded like clapping as we walked over it!

Louisa Abbathello-Crothswaite

When I got to the top of Malham Cove there were some stones with gaps between them that were used in a Harry Potter film!

Nitya Gutta

Janet's Foss is called that because in the rock is a lady's face and the waterfall was her hair!

Patricija Joksaite

Why we love Year 4!

Best parts of Year 4

My best part of Year 4 was when I had to be a life size model in Science to show where all our internal organs are - I had all the organs stuck on me but my liver kept falling off.

Maddie Mackenzie 4VH

I loved it when we went to Forest School. It filled me with joy. All our activities were great fun and at the end we had hot chocolate.

Favourite lessons

My favourite lesson in Year 4 is PSHE as we get to chat about interesting stuff and it was so fun when we did Just Dance during Children's Mental Health week!

Zara Mortimer-Haigh 4VH

I enjoy Maths because you never get bored in any topic. There is always something that is fun in every lesson.

Emily Queen 4CG

The most exciting lesson was when we did an experiment to show how food moves through our body - I had to squeeze the crackers and orange juice through a pair of tights, that were supposed to be my intestines!

Aurelia Bullen 4VH

Hamda Azam 4CG

Funniest moments

My funniest moment was when I was drawing the different foods to go on my Seder plate and everyone thought my horseradish looked like a wiggly worm!

Daisy Mackenzie 4VH

The funniest part of Year 4 was singing together in class. If someone was sitting alone, we all sang "all by yourself". Our teacher joined in, which was fun.

Anayah Hassnain 4CG

Why Year 4 is great!

I joined WGHS in September 2021 and I think Year 4 is great because all the girls were so friendly to me (and a little bit funny and silly too!) I love how there are lots of opportunities to do things that I haven't done before.

Haviisha Balakrishnan 4VH

I loved it when we went to a choir competition in Ilkley. We were all singing songs on the coach. It was so much fun! QEGS were also in the competition. We were happy to bring back the winners cup.

Gracie Mercer 4CG

I like the clubs the best. I also love having great friends and teachers. That's why I love Year 4 loads!

Izzy Bate 4CG

Year 5

Kindness day flowers

5AB spent the Friday afternoon of Kindness day creating Kindness flowers to give to those we care about most.

Textiles

In one of our creative carousel groups, the girls have been learning a variety of textiles techniques. Here are some of the wonderful binca pieces created.

Humanities

Science

Clay modeling

During our coasts geography topic, the girls used their knowledge and understanding of headlands and created clay models to demonstrate this.

History

5SW

Adventurous Residential

Year 5

Study trips are such an important part of school life at Wakefield Girls’, complementing academic classroom learning. On 18th May, our Year 5 girls travelled to Castle Head for a three day residential to develop their team work, collaboration, problem solving and resilience.

After a safe arrival and fuelled by a hearty picnic, the girls readied themselves for the afternoon’s activities in the sun. Divided into teams, the girl had an action packed afternoon with a night line challenge followed by a pole climb and high ropes course. The following day, our students became raft builders with a challenge to collaborate effectively to create rafts that would stay afloat and keep them dry. We’re pleased to say no-one was soaked! Year 5 remained out at the coast, traversing and climbing the cliffs of Humphrey Head as well as miniature caving and searching for creatures at Bardsea Bay.

The following week, our girls reflected on their trip. Here are some of their thoughts:

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We moved on to climbing, which I found very challenging. I have a fear of heights so I was really alarmed by this imposing rock face in front of me. I surprised myself though by climbing the whole way (with a little bit of help from the instructor and my teacher, Mr Bray). I felt very proud of myself; even though I was scared, I got through it

Dabira

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The last activity my group did was raft building, it was the best part of the trip and very exciting. Once we had built our raft, we had a few practice runs out on the river and then it was competition time. We raced to one end of the river and then back again… and my team WON! It was amazing

Rebecca

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Residential to Blencathra

Year 6

On the 23rd of May Year 6 set off for Threlkeld, near Keswick in the beautiful Lake District National Park, to spend four nights at the Blencathra Field Study Centre. Whilst there, pupils took part in activities such as orienteering, mammal trapping, bushcraft and canoeing and also completed tasks and work associated with their topic of Mountains and Rivers. Their topic work included a half day river study working 'welly deep' in the great outdoors to measure the width, depth and flow of a local river at various points with an FSC tutor.

Throughout the week, the pupils were also working towards achieving their John Muir Award. This award, named after the renowned conservationist, encourages an awareness and responsibility for the natural environment through four key themes: Discover, Explore, Conserve and Share. For the conservation task our pupils each spent half a day removing invasive rhododendrons from ancient woodland.

The weather wasn't as kind as it could have been, particularly on our final day hike over Latrigg into the town of Keswick, but we had an amazing week learning together, cementing friendships and developing our independence.

Reflections Year 6

What was your favourite part of Year 6?

My favourite part of Year 6 is the independence that you get prepping you for Senior School.

Maddie Fickling 6SR

My favourite part of Year 6 is the new and different opportunities you get such as different sporting activities (like fixtures), house events and competitions, and new, exciting places you get to go and explore with friend.

Dulcie Crowther 6HH

What is your favourite lesson and why?

My favourite lesson is History because I feel history is a mirror to let us know the past. It helps you to see how the world around you has changed over time. I also enjoy History because I can find out different peoples' experiences on this earth and compare them to my own.

Grace Fabiyi 6HH

My favourite lesson is the creative carousel because you can do a lot of different activities. My favourite was food and nutrition.

Eleanor Terry 6SR

What is your funniest memory of Year 6?

My funniest moment in Year 6 was nearly falling off the canoe in Blencathra.

Inaya Asif 6SR

One of the funniest moments in Year 6 was when it was someone’s birthday and we were singing happy birthday. It was going so well until we got to the last bit and the whole class forgot the person’s name!

Tara Rehal 6HH

IT'S THE WAY WE HELP EVERY STUDENT TO DISCOVER THE TRUE JOY OF LEARNING

What is your funniest memory of Year 6?

My funniest moment in Year 6 was nearly falling off the canoe in Blencathra.

Inaya Asif 6SR

One of the funniest moments in Year 6 was when it was someone’s birthday and we were singing happy birthday. It was going so well until we got to the last bit and the whole class forgot the person’s name!

Tara Rehal 6HH

Creative Curriculum

The introduction of the WGHS JS Creative Carousel

The Creative Curriculum has been a fantastic addition to the Junior Section this year. The carousel encompaases food and nutrition, design and technology, drama, robotics and art. Some of the subjects have been taught by Senior School specialists and others by staff from the Junior Section. It has been a fantastic opportunity for the girls to express themselves in a more informal classroom setting and the feedback has been excellent. Liaising with the Senior Section has also reinforced the benefits of now being a through school and being able to draw on resources and expertise across the sections.

Art

In Art, Year 3 and 4 have studied the work of Monet and were introduced to the Pop Art Movement. Year 4 also recreated Indian art based on their humanities topic. Year 5 created their own Picasso portraits and used printing techniques inspired by the work of William Morris. Year 6 created their own portraits based on the work of Andy Warhol and enjoyed some lego photography focusing on perspective in their storytelling.

Miss Roche

Textiles

Textiles in Year 3 and 4 has been an opportunity for the girls to work with different materials, develop their sewing skills and design and make their own personalised finished product. Year 3 made their own pom pom bees, sewing on bespoke wings and adding finishing touches to make them unique! Year 4 designed and made their own keyrings creating their own template and using accessories to make it personal and useful.

In Year 5 and 6, textiles has been primarily binca work. The girls have learnt how to do a running stitch, an enhanced running stitch and a half and full cross stitch. They have practised these various stitches and then used this knowledge to create a final design that would incorporate all the various stitches into a piece that shows who they are.

Miss Morris and Mr Bray

Robotics

In Year 3 and Year 4 Robotics lessons, we have been exploring the building and programming of simple robots. In Year 3 we made creative and fun robots that moved, danced and played football, using sensors to detect what was going on around them. In Year 4 we have focused on engineering ideas such as gears and friction, designing robots that played tug-of-war or raced against each other. The girls have loved working together to make their designs, and the competitive aspect of challenging other teams.

Year 5 pupils have enjoyed building their own lego robots using the LegoWedo2 construction kits and software. Once built, they have programmed their bot to complete and compete in a number of challenges that included building the fastest vehicle and moving animals using sensors! Pupils in year 6 have been exploring the capabilities of the Lego mindstorm EV3 robots. They have programmed the bots to complete an obstacle course, choreographed a 'dance' routine to the school song and leant how to utilise the 3 sensors

- Object, Colour & Gyro.

Mr Paget and Mrs Haystead

Design and Technology

In Year 3, students explored and created a range of lever and linkage mechanisms. They generated design ideas and their own design criteria for a pop-up greetings card through discussion, focusing on the needs of the user. They used tools and equipment to manufacture a working prototype. Year 4 students explored and experimented with a Crumble microcontroller and various input and output components. They generated design ideas for a school billboard that would promote sustainability/ awareness of environmental concerns, through the inclusion of moving parts and/or light-up features. They used tools and equipment to manufacture a working prototype.

In Year 5, students explored existing products and experimented with frame structures to gain an understanding of how structures can be reinforced. They generated design ideas and their own design criteria for a wildlife hide through discussion, focusing on the needs of the user. They used tools and equipment to manufacture a scale model of their wildlife hide design. Year 6 students explored the context of 'Working from home' and considered potential design opportunities. They carried out research into user needs and existing products. They developed a specification to duie development of their ideas. Through an iterative approach, they used tools and equipment to develop a prototype workspace organisation aid.

Food and Nutrition

Year 3 and 4 have thoroughly enjoyed food and nutrition lessons. Year 3 have made a range of savoury and sweet foods including tomato and basil tartlets, banana brownies and a sunset pasta salad. Year 4 started their block making blueberry muffins and finished with chocolate chip cookies. They also made some delicious looking twice baked jacket potatoes!

In Year 5 and 6 food and nutrition the pupils have been so enthusiastic and incredibly hard-working. They have loved all the recipes we have made such as focaccia bread, smoothies, muffins etc but all pupils loved the pizza scones the most. When I have bumped into pupils after their time in food, they have all told me how they have continued making the recipes from the booklet we gave them and adapted the recipes, and continued to bake at home - it's wonderful to hear these kinds of stories.

Mrs Oldale and Mrs Phillips

Mr Carlin

They generated design ideas and their own design criteria for a pop-up greetings card through discussion, focusing on the needs of the user

“ ”

Forest Schools

This year we started an exciting new lesson in the timetable. Forest School lessons have been taking place for each class throughout the year. We have been very lucky with the weather; it seems that the sun usually shines on a Thursday afternoon, but the students have always been well prepared for getting wet and muddy and are always happy to get stuck in!

Each child has had a chance to build and start a small fire, use a BillHook knife and a bow saw to chop wood, create art with natural resources and so much more. Underpinning these activities is the idea of putting into practice a lot of the skills we are helping the students develop, for example, teamwork, resilience and communication. Having the opportunity to develop these skills and attributes whilst having fun outside really helps them stick and will then be more in evidence back in the classroom. It has been really pleasing to see how the students have taken to the sessions and are willing to work together on tasks that, for many are, outside their comfort zone and to also see the joy being successful in these sessions brings. You might notice a running theme with my activities in school, as well as learning all these new skills, the students also have a hot chocolate at the end of the session!

Sam Rowley

CHRISTMAS PRODUCTION

Story outline:

Our Christmas play was about the angels (really naughty angels!) who carried the star to Bethlehem. But on the way the angels squabbled like children and Angel Gabrial got very very angry with them! They were supposed to be carrying the star to help people such as the three Kings and shepherds find their way to Bethlehem but Angelica ( a really really naughty angel!) stomped off and took the star with her. But Gabrial caught her and led everyone to Bethlehem, where there was a greedy innkeeper and his wife - they loved money! In the end Mary and Joseph had a beautiful baby and everybody had a good sing at the end!

Daisy and Maddie Mackenzie 4VH

Funniest bit:

My funniest bit was when Herod (Sienna) started to yell at the servants and had a tantrum!

Umayyah Fiaz 4CG

Best bit:

I enjoyed being the Innkeeper's wife as I had to shout a lot at my husband (Maddie) as he was so greedy!

Zara Mortimer-Haigh 4VH

The sneaky angels were funny when they kept whispering so loudly to each other!

Megan Kirk 4VH

Saddest bit:

It was just so sad when Mary and Joseph were turned away by the first Innkeepers.

Aurelia Bullen 4VH

Favourite character:

My favourite character was the naughty angel Angelica (Izzy) because she was so funny when she snatched the star from Gabrial.

Cayla Pan 4CG

What did Year 3 like:

I liked being a part of it because I felt special and I loved singing ‘Glory to God.

Lauren Trout 3JB

I liked being a special part of it and I liked that the audience enjoyed it.

Amelia Terry 3JB

Treachery at Traitor’s Quay

Year 6 production

On Tuesday 28th June, Wakefield Girls’ High School Year 6s put on an amazing show for friends, family and the wider school community. ‘Treachery at Traitor’s Quay', a World War II espionage musical told the tale of the Dawson Children who, when evacuated to the Devonshire countryside, set about discovering who the German spy living among them really is. From the dishevelled Home Guard and air-raid wardens to the surly gamekeeper and the retired sea captain no one was beyond suspicion!

The pupils delivered the exciting script confidently and performed the seven fantastic songs with musicality beyond their years. The pupils' energy and sense of fun resulted in an amazing evening for all!

An amazing show for friends, family and the wider school community

”

WGHS Junior Section Sports Day 2022

Junior Section Sports Day took place on a bright and sunny day at WGSF track. It was a special day as we invited parents back to join us after a three year hiatus.

Field events of long jump, high jump, rounders ball and shot took place in the morning. The stand-out performance in the field events came from Dulcie in the Year 6 high jump where she jumped a new record of 1.24 metres.

In the afternoon students competed in the track events and fun events. Track events consisted of sprints, middle and long distance races and hurdles. Record breaking performances came from Rosa, in Year 4, who broke two records, in the 50 metre sprint and the 400 metres and Olohi in Year 5 who claimed a new 75 metre record.

Fun events of egg and spoon, sack, skipping and obstacle brought a light-hearted element to the day. These events were just as competitive and hard fought as all the other events. The day concluded with the House relays and a new event, a mixed year House relay.Lee triumphed overall after winning the Year 3, Year 5 and the mixed year relays.

SPEECH DAY 2022

Our annual Speech Day was held on Friday 1st July in Jubilee Hall. Our Junior students gathered to celebrate the fast approaching conclusion of a fantastic year.

The ceremony focused around prize giving with presentations of awards. Selection for the awards was difficult – each one of our students in the Junior Section has accomplished so much. We were delighted to present eighty five prizes in total and more delighted with the support shown by students for, and of, each other. Celebrations were punctuated with beautiful musical performances from our Under 9 Choir, Under 11 Choir and a roof raising School Song sung by all. Year 6 students received their much anticipated Leavers’ Book filled with photographs and memories.

Our outgoing Head Girls, Claudia and Grace, gave a vote of thanks and we welcomed our new Head Girl, Rebecca Trout and Deputy Head Girl, Anna-Maria Jayarajasingam. Congratulations to both girls on their appointment to these coveted roles.

A happy and empowering education is at the heart of our school and to mark this occasion, our own alumnae serve as the best role models. A special thanks goes to our guest speaker, Mrs Lizz Wainwright, Senior Marketing Manager for Amazon Prime Europe for joining us. An alumna of the school, Lizz embodies the qualities and characteristics that we are aiming to develop in our students and we were delighted to be joined by Lizz, a fabulous and inspiring role model.

Sam Rowley - Director of Junior Section

Year 9: What a Great Year!

Finally... A full year in school for Year 9 pupils and they have enjoyed every moment.

We have been limited still by a few restrictions but as a year group we have had many fun opportunities and the pupils have grasped them with both hands. It’s been great to see the pupils enjoying themselves with their friends as well as working hard at their studies. It’s been so enjoyable being their Head of Year and I would like to thank everyone for making my first year fun and interesting; it’s been an absolute pleasure getting to know them as individual people.

We started the year with a trip to Tropical World and Roundhay Park. Pupils were set a photography competition and the afternoon was filled with team building challenges and games. Many pupils took advantage of the activities offered during Wellbeing Week such as Just Dance and mindful reading. For International Day of Peace Year 9 pupils wrote messages of hope, prayer, poems and drawings to put outside our school to show the community that we stand together. Always keen to help our local community, each Year 9 form group took part in a reverse advent calendar in the lead up to the Christmas holidays. This meant that each pupil brought an item(s) into school that would be donated to the local food bank to help people, who are struggling to afford food, in the Wakefield Area. As a Christmas treat, we went to Rassams for the biggest sundaes I have ever seen and a Christmas themed quiz.

atRassams

Pupils continued to show how much they wanted to help others by each form creating an enterprise business idea. Each form had to brainstorm how they could raise money for a charity of their choice, or do something that gives back to the community. Each form did incredibly well and enjoyed working together: 9ELC baked goods for the Junior Section pupils - they sold them at lunchtime and this also gave the pupils in 9ELC time to play and talk to the Junior Section pupils. They also raised money for The Dogs Trust Charity. 9FEB baked goods to sell to the Senior Section pupils to raise money for British Red Cross, Ukraine Appeal. 9EJS asked pupils to guess the name of the Teddy Bear and how many mini eggs were in a jar to raise money for The British Red Cross, Ukraine appeal. 9DVN held a chocolate tombola and organised for pupils to take part in a dodgeball tournament to raise money for MND and The British Red Cross. 9SAH organised a movie lunch for Year 7 pupils as well as guess the name of the teddy and how many sweets were in the jar.

It’s been a great year for Year 9 pupils and I’m so pleased it’s been filled with positivity, fun, hard work and laughter. I wish you all the luck in your GCSE years.

Ice

IT'S THE WAY WE HELP EVERY STUDENT TO DISCOVER THE TRUE JOY OF LEARNING

Year 7 trip to The Deep

The Year 7 trip on 28th of January to The Deep was a wonderful and very educational experience. Many students loved this experience and were so glad they went. It was a good opportunity to relax and see some wonderful sea creatures along the way.

The Deep is a huge aquarium in Hull and is famous for its fascinating sea creatures. When we got there, the staff were so welcoming and gave us lots of time to look around on our full guided tour. It was amazing to see all of the large creatures in the aquarium, from gigantic stingray, vicious sharks, breathtaking tuna to the smallest of creatures, for example microscopic baby shrimp that swam around energetically. The Deep had everything. So many people loved it; one student said: “ It was magical, all of the animals were free to do what they wanted.” Another student said with enthusiasm: “It was fun and it was great to spend time with my friends.”

The Deep was not only so much fun for us, but was also very educational and fascinating, we were taught all about each creature living in the aquarium and their habitat. I was astonished to hear all of the stories of all the sea creatures living there, some of the animals were from the other side of the world, some were endangered or were deformed due to injuries, yet still alive.

Whilst at The Deep we were also educated on the plastic in the ocean, the problems caused by it and how we can prevent it from reaching the ocean. Although this is a tragic subject, we were glad to learn about it, so we can make a difference in the future. I think it is really important for people to be made aware of this issue so we have a better chance of saving our oceans and all of the creatures in it. For example we can use less plastic and more sustainable materials like paper or biodegradable plastic. One of the tour guides said we can encourage the government to help clean up the ocean. Plastic is not only harmful to the ocean and all of the animals living there and it is also harmful to us. It was amazing to see how much the tour guides knew about plastic in the ocean, it showed they were all passionate to help prevent it and really cared.

Over all, The Deep was an amazing experience I’m sure we will never forget. I hope in the future people will take more care and pride in our oceans and save the creatures that call it their home.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Following

The Results:

Francesca

Poppy

Winning Photo by Francesca Cooper

Winning Photo by Poppy Lawrence

Winning Photo by Harriet Anderton

Sunflower Summer Challenge

Over the summer of 2021 all Year 6 students to be joining WGHS in September were sent a packet of sunflower seeds. The challenge was to grow the tallest sunflower possible by their first day at WGHS.. The results were quite incredible! The tallest sunflower was grown by Navya reaching a huge 237cm! We had two other entries reaching over 200cm. These were grown by Aarna (210cm) and Hettie (203cm). There were so many other fantastic sunflowers. We look forward to seeing which of our Year 6 students will grow the tallest sunflower over summer 2022!

Miss Dollive - Assistant Head of Year 7

Navya with her winning entry

Year 7 Residential to YMCA Lakeside

The YMCA Lakeside trip was the highlight of Year 7. It was a great way to have fun, make even more friends and enjoy school in a different way.

There were so many different activities, but the favourites were zipline, rock climbing/abseiling and raft building (a wonderful way to get wet, and to work as a team).

It was an amazing trip that will never be forgotten.

Catherine Mellor (Year 7)

Looking ahead

HEAD GIRL Hooriya FidaHussain

DEPUTY HEAD GIRL Charlotte McKinlay

SENIOR PREFECTS

Esther Raw Betty Chamberlain Jessica Morrison

Antonia Maddan Leah Davis Lizzie Mackenzie Mathusa Logeswaran Molly-Ann Pritchard Naomi Pridham Sophie Burrell

Wow! Being elected as Head Girl is a huge honour and welcome surprise! Being whittled down in the shortlist of twenty... then eight for the Hustings.. then the final four for interviews was amazing enough, but to be selected as Head Girl is simply incredible. A Head Girl normally dedicates her successful election to academic achievements, contribution to school activities and enthusiasm for new opportunities. I echo this too but many younger girls say it was the mention of ‘Tom Holland’ in my Hustings speech that sealed their votes!

Studying A-levels in Religious Studies, Biology and Chemistry has kept my options open. Although I enjoy different aspects of the three subjects, I am still undecided on my future course. I do want to go to university and it is highly likely that I will study a course that leads to a career in the health or charity sector.

Running a Bingo class for a retirement home, having a giggling fit in my first Head Girl assembly and being stuck upside down in a Zorb ball are all things my 6 year old self could not have ever imagined I would do. Without a doubt, it is the twelve years of support, encouragement and opportunities at this school that have given me the confidence to do such things as work at a charity shop and gain employment as an After School Assistant. I hope to encourage this confidence in every student here at WGHS from Year 3 through to Year 13.

My main hope for the coming year (apart from not crushing the Head Boy’s feet during our May Ball dance!), is to encourage girls to be kind and look out for each other. School is a place for learning and fun, but it can be stressful and challenging. Within our school community we have the resources and people to ensure it’s an inclusive environment for everyone. I feel lucky that Charlotte, the Senior Prefects and wider Sixth Form are enthusiastic and keen to leave a great legacy for future students. By the time we move on to our next chapter, you will have enjoyed a fantastic Sixth Form Revue and will be part of some amazing memories of our time together.

Hooriya

This year, as I’m sure you know, the Head Girl process has been very different to previous years as we have had the Hustings introduced which allowed everyone in school to have a say in who they wanted the next Head Girl to be. For me, I was really nervous for the Hustings because, although I am a fairly confident public speaker, standing in front of all of you, trying to convince you as to why I would be a good Head Girl was a lot more challenging than I anticipated. However, I am really glad that I undertook this challenge as I found that it gave me new skills and helped further improve my confidence and overall, I felt all the better for it afterwards.

In the assembly to announce the new team, I was more and more nervous as the Senior Prefects were announced and my name still hadn’t been called, but

I was overwhelmed by relief and joy when Ms Boyes announced my name for the position of Deputy Head Girl. And, I promise I will do my best to help drive the best changes forward for WGHS and help our community thrive.

I am also really looking forward to the upcoming year as I have the opportunity to work alongside Hooriya and the ten amazing Senior Prefects who are all really excited not only to be working together and with Ms Boyes, but also with all of you to help create the best school environment for everyone and have an incredible year.

I am really glad that I undertook this challenge as I found that it gave me new skills and helped further improve my confidence

”

IT'S THE WAY OUR GIRLS ARE SURROUNDED BY ROLE MODELS

This year’s Farewells

We've had some amazing staff come through the WGHS gates over the year, bringing a wealth of talent and experience as well as many happy memories.

Cath Heathcote

Maths Department

Catherine joined the school in September 2008 following a chance meeting, when she was dropping her daughter off at the Junior School, with Mrs Langham, the then Head of WGHS. She has had many different roles within the department over the years including the Key Stage 3 Coordinator for many years and more recently the Pupil Progress Coordinator. One of Catherine’s big strengths as a teacher is that she is always keen to help and support the students who find Maths more challenging and over the years numerous students have benefitted from her patient approach when she has run various support sessions for different year groups. She has also worked closely with Learning Support to provide Maths specific revision sessions.

In 2018 Catherine took up running and soon was a regular at my weekly running club. I won’t lie, I was more than happy to let her run at the front with the real runners whilst I pretended that the only reason I was going slowly was for the stragglers. But running wasn’t Catherine’s only new venture in 2018. In the September she started at York University studying for a degree in Acupuncture. Even though she is part time, this was a massive undertaking and I am always in awe of any of my colleagues who study for extra qualifications alongside the day job. However, even though I am sure that Catherine planned meticulously how she would balance work here at school, studying and family life, even she didn’t factor a global pandemic into the equation. She now had to juggle remote teaching and remote studying alongside supporting her own girls with their remote learning. So to finally graduate last autumn with a 1st is a very impressive achievement.

Sadly for the school it was inevitable that she would want to put this shiny new qualification to good use and I wish her every success with her new business. I’m sure there are enough chromebook induced bad backs amongst us staff to boost the client base! Catherine will be missed greatly by all the girls for her calm and kind approach and by Year 10 in particular for her Kahoots. And to be perfectly honest, whilst I’m not so bothered about the Kahoots, I too will miss her calmness and kindness. Despite everything else she had on her plate she was an enormous help to me as I settled into the role of HOD during a pandemic.

When I knew she was leaving I asked Catherine for a summary of what she had done in her time at school, since I can barely remember what I’ve done, let alone anyone else. It was her final sentence that I felt summed up Catherine the teacher best, she wrote ‘But mostly I have loved being in the classroom with the students, teaching them the best subject in the world!!’

Good luck and best wishes in your new venture.

Mrs Rees - Head of Maths

Catherine will be missed greatly by all the girls for her calm and kind approach

“ ”

Val Littledyke

Singing Teacher and Choir Director

We wish our fabulous singing teacher and choir director Val Littledyke a long and happy retirement. Mrs Littledyke led singers in so many wonderful performances in concerts and carol services. Her expert musical direction when Cantabile sang Benjamin Britten's War Requiem with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra was an amazing highlight. Her upbeat personality and colourful style will be greatly missed around Willows by both students and staff.

Mrs Bentham - Head of Music

Elizabeth Boid Junior Section

After 18 years with the school, Liz decided to take early retirement; new adventures awaited. As we gathered in the staffroom for Liz’s goodbye, we learnt even more about some of the remarkable things that she has done. For example, whilst we had discussed her love of travelling to some off the beaten track places, I didn’t realise that she was qualified to fly some of the planes that had taken her there!

Her love for languages led her to coordinate the MFL within school and I hope that she is now getting the chance to practice a few different tongues in situ on some wonderful holidays. One language Liz did have to brush up on was her ‘rural Yorkshire’ when she volunteered to come back to school and help with the Year 4 residential to Malham. It was also in the spring term that I discovered Liz’s talent for baking as she would bring in cakes for the staff on a Friday. Both these things are kind hearted and generous gestures that the many friends she has amongst the staff would testify typifies Liz.

Mr Rowley - Director of Junior Section

Richard Slide

WGSF Joiner

Over a long period of time Richard was the consummate professional. Diligent, calm in his approach and always reliable. If you knew a job was assigned to Richard, you knew it would be a job well done.Technically and aesthetically.

Richard originally worked for the Foundation as a contractor from 1984 before joining as a full time employee in 2001. Since then his talents as a craftsman can be seen all over the Foundation either as a creator of something “new” or as a repairer of something already in place. Either way he approached every job with great care and a real attention to detail.

On leaving the Foundation and “hanging up his tools', Richard will now have more time to spend with his wife Jennifer, his two sons and five grandchildren. He will also have time to enjoy his favourite hobbies of gardening and travelling, including the possibility of doing more scuba diving and paragliding! Whatever Richard decides to do we wish him well. His longevity as a craftsman and as a person are much to be admired. Always pleasant and always with a smile on his face he was without question a credit to the Foundation.

Mr Eggleston - Deputy Head

Jo Blignaut

Admissions Secretary

Jo was incredibly proud to have been a Wakefield Girl! From life as a student (and a tremendously good one I am reliably informed) fast forward just a ‘couple' of years and she has brought all that enthusiasm, dynamism and dedication to her role as a member of staff.

As some of us have experienced, choosing a school for your child is not an easy decision to make, and prospective parents are bombarded with options and opportunities as they try to find the best fit they can. It is with high expectations and sometimes a good deal of nerves that parents make that first enquiry, or come to look around the school. It is to the School’s great benefit that throughout a great many years of dedicated service, Jo has been the initial point of contact consistently making an outstanding job of the first impression that leads to new excited faces in our classrooms. Prospective parents and their daughters have felt informed, reassured and supported on their transition journey and she absolutely made the job her own. Her calm manner, attention to detail and love of WGHS made her an exceptional member of staff.

Colleagues and students will remember Jo’s time with us with great fondness whether it was her unassuming manner and professionalism that made her such a great ambassador for the school or the polite knock at the door followed by Jo’s smiling face entering followed by a curious pair of parents and a slightly nervous looking child! I am sure we can all remember going to action stations as both teacher and class added an extra 50% vim and vigour so as to show off to the visitors! Jo seemed to have a sixth sense for when something interesting was about to happen in a classroom and quietly guided her visitors in and put them immediately at ease. Some classrooms became ‘regulars’ for Jo, as prospective students experienced as much of our wide and varied curriculum as time allowed. Some of you, students and teachers, know you were favourites because Jo always knew you would put on a good show!

But in between the tours and the first nervous arrival of a new student there is also a great deal of unseen hard work and careful and considerate communication. Jo has proven to be such a great ambassador for the school because she knew the school so well and always paid a genuine interest in the family and prospective students. This level of personalisation, and the pride Jo took in demonstrating our values to all of our prospective families, is something I am sure we will sorely miss. Jo definitely leaves some substantial boots to fill.

Reliable, fastidious and diligent, Jo had a talent for planning whole school events. She was fantastically well organised, all but guaranteeing that the event would run like clockwork. Colleagues remember the help and support she gave towards organising experience days for Year 5 pupils but the icing on the cake has to be her impeccable leadership on the Open Morning and Sixth Form Information Evening. Personalised packs, registrations, tour routes, student helpers and even plans of Hartley Pavilion as well as risk assessments and still managing a smile when parents and students started to arrive are memories of Jo that are some of my fondest. Both of us, uncharacteristically stressed, and trying to get permission from estates for the STC gates to be left open during an event is also something I am unlikely to forgetdespite trying very hard! I hope Jo can remember this and have a quiet giggle.

Students remember Jo with great enthusiasm and affection. She remembered everyone’s name and every single new WGHS student can remember Jo seeking them out to check if they were settling into life in their new school. It is this kindness and generous spirit that has made a mark on so many of our students that helped them stay on their feet and to always know there was a friendly familiar face to turn to. She is remembered by the girls as a member of staff who always has a smile on her face, was knowledgeable about everything and as someone who would willingly drop everything they were doing to help you.

Jo frequently went above and beyond, putting others first and leaving grateful colleagues and happy students in her wake. The personal expense of such dedication is not underestimated; even in her busiest times she would be the first to offer ‘well I can do that’ in meetings. I hope that Jo knows how much we all, students, parents and staff alike, recognise and appreciate her consistent efforts and hard work, and how much she will be missed.

I know this phrase has special meaning for Jo, and I hope she continues to remember it fondly as she ventures to pastures new… Once a High School Girl, always a High School Girl.

Dr Rhodes - Director of Sixth Form: Assistant Head

Carolyn Goodwin Junior Section

After 38 years of teaching, including 19 years at Wakefield Girls’, Carolyn decided to hang up her whiteboard pen and markbook at the end of the spring term this year. The positive impact that Carolyn has had on the lives of all her many pupils, as they have grown through the school and have gone on to be remarkable young adults, cannot be overestimated.

Whilst her work in the classroom and the strong relationships she has developed are an example to others, many of the pupils will remember her fondly for her energy on residentials or the passion she has demonstrated leading the school council. Her leadership with the school council has led to many developments. These have included the introduction of our wheeled PE bags, adding suggestions for school uniform changes and most recently raising money for our school house charities in a Bric-a-brac sale.

Before retiring, Carolyn mentioned Madeira, plus there is also talk of golf in Florida; there will undoubtedly be many other special trips and experiences ahead for her too. As a team of staff we hope that amongst the exotic holidays and exciting trips there will also be some time for visits back to school where she will always be welcome, for she is going to be greatly missed.

Mr Rowley - Director of Junior Section

Gaynor Halton

Junior Section

After more than two decades working in Wakefield Girls’ High School, Gaynor has decided to retire at the end of the academic year. By my rough calculations, Gaynor will have been the form teacher for about 400 girls during that time! It is not just all those girls whose lives will have been positively affected by her dedicated service to the school, but also all the others in school over the years as she has given her time and energy to school pursuits both inside and outside the classroom. She will be greatly missed by all and we wish her the very best for a long and enjoyable retirement.

Mr Rowley - Director of Junior Section

The positive impact that Carolyn has had on the lives of all her many pupils, as they have grown through the school and have gone on to be remarkable young adults, cannot be overestimated

“ ”

She has given her time and energy to school pursuits both inside and outside the classroom

“ ”

Annette Oliver

Classics Department and Assistant Head of Sixth Form

Annette Oliver has been a member of the Classics Department for eight years and in that time has brought her ‘can do’ attitude to bear in so many areas of High School life. Within the department she has enthused students with her passion for all things classical, but in particular for the great Roman epic, the Aeneid. She has often brought her students, and indeed herself, to tears when they reach any number of tragic scenes. Her love for the poem is also responsible for the greatest tension within the department: Mr Hargreaves regularly found himself trekking across school, muttering an Augustan misquote (“Oliver, give me back my Virgils!”) as he recovered multiple copies from the Assistant Head of Sixth Form Office.

Her love of Classics has also seen the department’s activities outside the classroom snowball over her time at WGHS. Annette has single-handedly taken on the running and leading of trips in Britain to Hadrian’s Wall, Chester, and to the Warwick University Ancient Drama Festival. We have been marched along a windswept Hadrian’s Wall after a rousing pep talk from Commander Oliver, and been exposed at Warwick University to eccentrically brilliant and captivating lectures. But I am also grateful to Annette for being my most tireless companion on all the memorable foreign visits we have led over the years. Among a band of brilliant Classics trip staff from across the school, Annette has been everpresent and relentless in her pursuit of Classics trip funalthough she should never be given a map and put in the lead. When this did happen in 2016 I was slightly bemused to be told over the phone that her group had called in at a buffalo farm in mozzarella country and they would be a bit late back to Sorrento! She was also the instigator of the Pompeii gladiator fight to entertain the WGHS crowd in, or indeed outside, the amphitheatre, and despite agreeing a rule that we would alternate being declared the victor/victrix, I think I was only allowed to win on that first occasion as she was settling into the department.

This friendly but determined competitive spirit has been used to drive her students and colleagues forwards. Her knowledge of her subject is excellent and she encourages passionate debate within the department involving both students and staff. It has always been a joy to be invited to join her class, or for her to appear round the door in Room 19 and to launch into a debate on the merits of Tacitus deciding not to bother using verbs, or whether Caesar was an idiot for not seeing it coming on the Ides of March. Even better is to see how this has encouraged our students to do this among themselves during Wednesday Classics Clinics.

In addition to sharing her love of Classics, many WGHS students have benefitted from Annette’s knowledge, care and organisational prowess in her roles as Head of Careers and Assistant Head of Sixth Form. The skills and experience that she brought from the business world have been invaluable in the smooth running of the Careers Convention and similar events that have broadened the school’s connections to the outside world. I know that students value her practical, nononsense approach and are empowered to surpass their own expectations, as we saw in 2019 when one of our Sixth Form students summoned the grit to climb the Acropolis and enjoy both her personal achievement and the fantastic views.

Annette is a much-loved colleague and it is always a great delight to share her company, roaming Britain’s Roman sites and classical museums and exhibitions with our WGHS friends in the holidays, extending our knowledge and always giggling, sometimes nervously as we traversed Hardknott Pass or as she seemed to walk my two young daughters out into the North Sea on Tyneside.

Sadly, Annette leaves us to take up an exciting post closer to home at her previous school with the opportunity to rebuild a Classics Department and also join SLT. Nevertheless, we are determined to maintain close links in our course planning and running of trips, so do not be surprised if you see Annette back at WGHS with her trademark plastic sword tucked into her backpack.

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Mr J Hargreaves - Head of Classics

Platinum Jubilee Celebrations