Weekly Newsletter
th Friday 8 March 2019
Important Dates:
Tenner Challenge
21st March Year 9 Futures Evening
8th – 22nd April Easter Holidays
23rd April School re-opens
25th April & 1 May YR 4/5 OPEN DAYS (by appointment)
PGHS are taking part in “The Tenner Challenge” again this year. The challenge is SMSC based on the theme of sustainability. Question of the week:
KS3 Question and KS4
Question: Some students in Year 8 are running an event to create doggy bag dispensers around the Penwortham area. This will involve using 2 litre bottles filled with bags
“Those who cannot (suitable for dog walkers and their doggy waste), attached to lampposts. This remember the past are project has been approved by Lancashire County Council. condemned to repeat it.”
Do you agree that this is the We are asking local companies for donations towards this activity and in return most important reason for we will display their company logo, to demonstrate their support. studying History?
If you are involved with a company and are interested in making a donation,
please email your interest to [email protected].
Donations will be collected after the event. The charity the tenner challenge is
supporting is St. Catherine’s Hospice.
There will be many other events taking place over this challenge period. Watch
this space.
Mrs Honeyman
Head of Science
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Weekly Newsletter
Friday 8th March 2019
Operating Theatre Live
Did you know that in the NHS there are: 106,500 doctors, 286,000 nurses, 21,500 midwives, 20,000 paramedics, 135,000 biosciences staff and almost 20,000 support and managers! The NHS is a huge employer and future posts in the healthcare sector will be filled by people like you. So, if you are in Year 10 or 11 and want to be a Doctor, or perhaps a Dentist, Nurse, Midwife, Physiotherapist, Pharmacist, Paramedic, Radiographer or Occupational Therapist then the award winning Operating Theatre Live offers the rare opportunity for you to gown up and step into a fully functioning operating theatre. You will follow the journey from patient care through anaesthetics to incisions and the dissection of all main organ systems including attempting real surgical procedures. Every event is built to directly match the GCSE AQA specification meaning all content has direct impact on student attainment. 100% of attendees rated the experience as exceptional, many of whom go on to successfully apply for places at medical schools throughout the UK.
Students have the opportunity to see ‘Operation Theatre Live’, if you would like to find out more then please visit http://www.operatingtheatrelive.co.uk and see Mrs Cahill to register your interest.
Mrs Cahill Science Department
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Weekly Newsletter
Friday 8th March 2019
Year 8 STEM Day at Runshaw College
Last week, 14 Year 8 girls were fortunate enough to be invited to the new STEM centre at Euxton Lane in Chorley. They spent the morning in a classroom looking into the importance of STEM in engineering. The morning consisted of a lecture on the uses and importance of “Energy”. The afternoon was spent creating a solar powered car using their engineering skills.
The girls then raced their products and the winner was Zahra. Well done! They even got to take the car home! Before we returned to school they made an LED torch and even got to personalise it with an engraving tool! #Engineering.
Mrs Honeyman Head of Science
Medical Marvels This week, a group of Year 10 students visited Runshaw College for a Medical Marvels course. The course is aimed at those students considering a career in medicine or a related field. It gives students the opportunity to experience science in a higher education setting.
The day included diagnosing patients based on their symptoms, a crash course in using a stethoscope to listen to a patient’s breathing and heart, learning about the skeletal structure of the chest, being taught how to correctly bandage a patient and practicing suturing using both an orange and fake skin. Our students found the day interesting and at times challenging (particularly suturing the orange).
These extra-curricular activities enable students to make an informed choice about what they decide to do after their time at Penwortham Girls’.
Mr Coogan Science Department
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Weekly Newsletter
Friday 8th March 2019
Chemical Cookery
In February, a group of Year 6 students visited from Ashbridge Independent School. They came to understand the Science behind cooking, and to try out some molecular gastronomy techniques. With my background as a chef, I was able to design a meal that the students got to make and eat. They were tasked with creating a meal of spaghetti and meatballs, with parmesan cheese (but not
as they know it)and using chemicals such as sodium alginate, calcium lactate and agar agar. The students had to create their dish of “white chocolate spaghetti, raspberry meatballs and lemon glass parmesan.”
The students needed to understand concepts about the 3 states of matter and they melted, boiled and condensed their respective states. Students used different apparatus, such as syringes and hollow tubing, to create the spaghetti. Silicon moulds and chemical baths were used to solidify the different aspects of
the substances.
The students had a great time and created some really good examples of the dish! Excellent work, Ashbridge! Mr Dean, Science Department Krypton Factor
A few weeks ago, a small number of Year 10 students were invited to Runshaw College, to participate in the ‘Krypton Factor Challenge’. The students had to complete 3 different challenges against other schools. The first challenge was a Physics challenge. They had to decode messages, using the periodic table and a series of questions.
The second challenge was a biological challenge. Students had to work out the time of death of a body that had been found in the college, using maggots to determine this. They measured the lengths of different maggots, worked out an average length, and cross referenced this with a list of data. Based on the age of the maggots, students determined that the body had died 36 hours previously. For a bit of fun, students raced the maggots on a specially designed track. They used different techniques to attract the maggots towards the finish line!
The final challenge was a Chemistry/Geology one. Students had to use a variety of information to become forensic palaeontologists. They had to figure out which dinosaur was responsible for the murder of another dinosaur. They analysed different rock samples, looked at different fossil samples and track marks. There were 6 suspects and each analysis eliminated a suspect, until only one remained.
Each different task was worth a varying amount of points. These were added up and collated to form an overall winner. Sadly, our students narrowly missed out on the top spot. However, they finished with 260 points and came 2nd overall. Well done, girls!
Mr Dean, Science Department
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Weekly Newsletter
Friday 8th March 2019
Our STEM club recently entered the Talent 2030 competition (a national engineering competition for girls). Students were tasked with solving one of the great engineering challenges of the 21st century. All of the girls in STEM club entered this competition as part of a group and carried out one of the following research projects:
• cleaning the oceans from plastic. Students investigated technologies used/designed to tackle the increasing level of litter accumulating in the world’s oceans. • upcycling clothes to stop pollution from manufacturing. Students designed a business scheme that upcycles clothes to try and reduce the amount of waste clothes that are being thrown away and decreasing the demand on the clothes industry. • designing mobile apps to educate people on medical/mental health to raise awareness and to assist in potential medical emergencies (for example, helping people with diabetes if they need to work out how much insulin they need) • discussing various causes of deforestation and the impact that this has on wildlife. They also looked at what is being done to help rebuild the forests and how long this takes. • debating the disadvantages of processes like fracking and how this might impact on us. They are also looking at why the government is allowing this and what the alternatives are.
Although none of our students were selected for the competition, they all received a certificate. Next term in STEM club, we will be focussing on building rockets for the ‘Race for the Line’ competition. Students will compete against schools around the country to design, build, test and race their rockets.
Students from STEM club are in the process of finding a local company to sponsor the development of their rockets.
Ready, set, go!
Miss Forrest Science Department
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Weekly Newsletter
Friday 8th March 2019
Surprising Science Trip to Runshaw College
A team of 4 Year 9 students will take part in a ‘Surprising Science’ event at Runshaw College on 13th March. Competing against students from other local schools, students will be able to display their developing scientific skills whilst experiencing a variety of practical activities in a Further Education setting. The experience will hopefully inspire students to consider sciences as a career pathway. Mr D Knee Science Department
Forensic Psychology
5 Year 10 AGT students attended a workshop at Runshaw College on Forensic Head’s Breakfast Psychology Offender Profiling. Students spent the morning learning about the Hannah M (Year 10) - UK/US approaches to profiling and about psychopaths. Massive improvement in Book work and revision In the US, they developed their profiling method by interviewing 36 convicted Llori O (Year 11) - Excellent serial killers; including Ted Bundy and Charles Manson. They categorise effort in Physics offenders into two types: ‘organised’ and ‘disorganised’ because the crimes Marcy C (Year 11) - committed were either: premeditated and carefully planned, or sudden and Excellent effort in Physics impulsive. In the US, profiling is completed by experienced detectives and is Ammara P (Year 10) - based on intuition and past experiences. The conclusion they reach about the Improved effort in Science offender is unlikely to change. Hannah H (Year 10) -
Consistent effort in all Sciences In the UK, psychologists that are not part of the police force are used. They make use of statistical analysis of previous crimes, and focus on the information gained from the crime scene. The conclusion they reach about the offender is Head’s changeable. This approach also uses geographic profiling; this suggests the Commendations location of the crime and provides clues about where the offender lived. Jessica B (Year 9) - Great start to GCSE course Finally, students considered what a ‘psychopath’ is. There are three key areas Elyse F (Year 7)- Excellent that make a psychopath: no brain activity in certain areas of the brain, possessing performance on Forces the warrior gene and having a split personality, and often showing a lack of and taking on challenges empathy. Interestingly, a person may have all of these factors but may not Violett F (Year 7) - actually be a psychopath. If an individual has had the benefit of a good childhood Excellent performance on they will not necessarily present any of these factors. Forces and taking on The students found it very interesting, and it allowed them to gain a useful challenges insight into Psychology A-Level. Safurah H (Year 8) -
Excellent HW Mrs Goodwill Lucy E (Year 9) - Excellent Science Department end of year exam
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Weekly Newsletter
Friday 8th March 2019
Feedback from Parents
Last Thursday at Year 10 Parents’ Evening, our team of surveyors were out and about collecting your views and opinions about school. Many thanks to the 87 parents who took the time to complete the questionnaire. Parents were asked to agree or disagree with a range of statements relating to their experience of PGHS. The questions used are based on those asked by Ofsted when a school is inspected. Your feedback is then number crunched through a spreadsheet to produce a weighted score. The system used reflects the Kirkland Survey, a national Parental survey completed by 100s of schools each year. We then use the grade boundaries applied in the Kirkland survey to rate your experience as either outstanding (gold), Good (green), Room for Improvement (black), or Attention Required (red).
I’m pleased to report that the survey produced an encouraging set of results with 8 out of the 10 questions exceeding the gold threshold. As you can see below the ‘website’ and ‘views acted upon’ fell just below the 3.2 target. As a school we know how valuable a destination our webpage has become for many parents. The school holiday calendar and examination timetables are two of our most visited pages. Currently, with options in full flow for Year 9, our curriculum pages are attracting a lot of interest. We aim to have a website which is easy to navigate and for it contain all the information parents and pupils need. If there is information you feel our website would benefit from displaying, please email me ([email protected]) with your suggestions.
Mr Ward, Senior Assistant Headteacher Senior Assistant Headteacher
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Weekly Newsletter
Friday 8th March 2019
Root Word of the Week
KINESIS Meaning: Movement
Can you think of any ORIGIN: other words that use Ancient this root? Greek
Dear Parent/Carer, We are constantly trying to improve the education that we offer the pupils of our school and are now at a stage in the school year where we need you to tell us how well you think we are doing and how we can improve the things that are important to you. Please spare 10 minutes to complete a questionnaire
Our PGHS U13 Cricket team played in the Lancashire by going to Cricket Competition at the South Ribble Tennis https://survey.gl-assessment.co.uk/s/HFACU/ Centre, on Monday 4th March. and logging on using the password provided below. Your password is: PGHS428716 They won the first round against King David’s 69-68. Please note, the password is case sensitive. In the 2nd game, PGHS lost to Ormskirk 68-72. In the semi- final, we played St Michael’s and won 76-72. By completing the questionnaire, you will be telling us We played against St Peter’s in the final round and how you think we should be spending our time and lost 69-68. Overall, PGHS came 4th. Well done, girls! resources, to make our school the best that it can be for your child. Players’ player: Immy B Coach’s player: Freya A Each completed questionnaire is vital in finding out what parents think. Your answers will be treated in the Miss Shahi strictest confidence and will make a difference to how PE Department we run the school and plan for the future.
With thanks in anticipation of your help,
Mrs Pomeroy Headteacher
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Weekly Newsletter
Friday 8th March 2019
South Ribble Gymnastics Competition
Congratulations to our PGHS Gymnasts in Year 7 and 8. They competed in the South Ribble Schools’ Gymnastics Competition on Weds 6th March at Worden Academy, Leyland.
The girls all performed 2 impressive routines on the floor and vault. They were super organised and their performances looked impressive! They won 6 brilliant district medals! Well done, girls!
The results: In Year 7: Megan S. 1st place with a gold medal on floor work. Evie M. 2nd place with a silver medal on floor work.
In Year 8: Morgan W. 1st place with a gold medal on vault. Esme M. and Donalia M. 2nd place with a silver medal on vault. Keira J. 3rd Place with a bronze medal on floor work.
Miss Shahi, PE Department
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Weekly Newsletter
th Friday 8 March 2019
Lost Property
We currently have a collection of items in lost property. (Coats, jewellery, pencil cases, hats, scarves etc). If your daughter has misplaced items, please ask her to come to reception to check lost property.
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Weekly Newsletter
th Friday 8 March 2019
Attendance Update
If you are not here, you cannot learn. School Target = 96%+
Year Group
1March
1February
18 January 18 January 25
–
8February February 15
11 January 11
–
– –
– –
–
25 25
4 4
7 7
28 28
14 14 21
11 11 Attendance to date to Attendance
7 98.02 98.15 98.28 97.64 96.56 94.97 97.01 98.40
8 95.03 97.22 97.72 97.63 98.36 97.35 97.09 98.48
9 96.36 96.54 95.95 94.38 96.27 95.16 96.18 97.04
10 95.10 93.31 94.13 93.86 93.40 93.86 92.89 95.70
11 97.73 97.61 97.36 96.67 96.48 95.72 96.86 98.49
Whole School 96.99 96.66 96.82 95.99 95.96 95.63 95.62 97.39
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Weekly Newsletter
Friday 8th March 2019
School Lunches Week commencing 11th March 2019
Freshly made sandwiches from £1.00 Hot Sandwich selection from £1.85 Cold drinks from 45p Homemade cookies and cakes from 40p
All menus are planned to meet the food based standards for food in schools and are checked using a
recognised programme to analyse nutrition.
Whilst every effort is made to produce the published menu, please note that they may vary occasionally subject to availability.
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Weekly Newsletter
Friday 8th March 2019
After School Activities w/c 11th March
The Library is open Monday – Thursday until 4.15pm
MONDAY
3.20 – 4.30pm Netball (All Years) Courts Mrs Naylor, Miss Shahi
3.20 – 4.30pm Art Club (Year 10 and 11) Room 53 Mrs Gerrard 3.30 – 4.30pm Drama Club (All Years) Drama Studio Miss Garlick
SMSC TUESDAY KS3 (Y7–Y9) Question of the week: No after school clubs due to staff training Do I make other people feel respected and valued? WEDNESDAY KS4 (Y10-Y11) Question of the week: No Handball this week – due to Athletics competition Do I make other people 3.20 – 4.30pm Cheerleading Dance Studio Miss Wignall feel respected and valued? 3.20 – 4.30pm Art Club (Year 10 & 11) Room 53 Miss Jennings
THURSDAY
3.20 – 4.30pm Hockey (All Years) Courts Mrs Worthington 3.20 – 4.30pm Dance (Year 7 & 8) Dance Studio Mrs Naylor 3.20 – 4.30pm S.T.E.M. Club Room 34 Mr Farringdon, Mr Dean, Mr Rhodes
FRIDAY
3.20 – 4.30pm Football (All Years) Gym/Field Mr Farringdon 3.20 – 4.30pm Art Club (KS4) Room 53 Mrs Morris
3.20 – 4.15pm GCSE Dance Intervention Dance Studio Mrs Naylor
3.30 – 4.00pm Grade 9 Maths Maths Dept Mrs Bennett, Mr Rhodes
Please note: PE practices may alter due to changing circumstances. Pupils must check the PE noticeboard for up to date information. A copy of our lunchtime activities are available to view on our website under the parents section.
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