Penwortham Post

December 2013 Penwortham Girls’ High School

Education Rocks Awards 2013 Welcome to thought I would let you all know of my memorable evening spent at The Education Rocks Teacher Awards at Blackburn College on Wednesday the end of term I27th November, accompanied by Shaun Lewis, Vice-Chair, Karen Pomeroy, Head teacher, Angela McDonald, retired Assistant Head teacher, newsletter. and John Ramsdale, Assistant Head teacher. As always, there have been a wide I am very proud to tell you that Penwortham Girls’ High School were nominated and shortlisted for two awards range of exciting activities taking and were runners-up in both of these categories. Only those shortlisted were eligible to attend the ceremony and place both within and outside the the awards covered all schools in the north-west Rock FM region; Rock FM’s Hywel and Jamie presented the classroom. Next term promises to event. be even more eventful as we’ll be Angela McDonald, Assistant Head teacher, who retired last December, was runner-up in the Lifetime organising a range of events and Achievement Award for Dedication to Education. Angela worked at Penwortham Girls’ High School for 33 years activities to celebrate the school’s and worked tirelessly for the well-being of all the girls as Assistant Head teacher. It was under her leadership of the pastoral team that the school gained an outstanding grade from Ofsted for Behaviour & Safety. It was a Diamond Jubilee. Look out for more delight to see her again and to hear of her busy life in retirement! We wish her well and are proud that she was details in our weekly newsletters. present to be awarded with this recognition of her dedication to the school. Karen Pomeroy, Head teacher, was runner-up in the Head teacher of the Year award. It is a daunting task Next year will also see the completion for anyone in her first headship, to take over the reins of an already good school from a long-standing and of our Humanities classrooms and well-respected Head teacher and to move the school forward in the way that Karen has done. She has gained outdoor learning area. Good progress enormous recognition from the local authority and from Ofsted for is being made and we are hoping that the way in which she has led academic improvement on an upward it will be completed by March. trend; perhaps even more importantly, she has steered Penwortham Girls’ High School towards an even more successful future. Karen has transformed many aspects of the school to move it to the next level In the meantime, on behalf of all the in its successful history, whilst maintaining all of its past successes. staff and governors at PGHS, I would I am sure you will be as proud as we are that she has received this like to wish you recognition of her unending energy and drive! all an enjoyable I am sure that both Karen and Angela would recognise that these and restful awards are only possible in a school where all the staff and pupils holiday and all create the right environment for success to be possible; both awards the very best for are a reflection of the outstanding staff and girls at Penwortham Girls’ High School and we should ALL take enormous pride in them. the New Year. Lorimer Russell-Hayes, Chair of the Governing Body

www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk 1 Art Department News

Year 11 visit to the London National Gallery

r11 visited the London National Gallery in September, we had guided tours of the National and Portrait Galleries, Ytea at Planet Hollywood and a walk over the Thames. What a fun packed day!

2 www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk Art Department Primary School Visit

he Art Department recently invited twelve budding artists from Penwortham TCommunity Primary School to recreate a landscape painting by the celebrated British contemporary artist, David Hockney.

The year 5 pupils used acrylic paint on 12 separate A3 canvases which eventually came together to form a large group painting. The painting will be displayed in the school hall for a short time and then given to Penwortham Community Primary School.

The workshop encouraged the pupils to use expressive brushstrokes as well as learning how to mix colours effectively. Texture, tone and colour were the main elements we looked at. The painting took a full day to complete; this enabled the pupils to fully immerse themselves in Art, without any interruptions! The results are amazing and we hope that the pupils gained a real insight into the processes of producing a large scale group painting using new techniques.

www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk 3 English Department News

Just before the mock exams, 60 girls visited ‘All About Me’ Hutton Grammar School to watch a live Poetry Competition performance of ‘Of Mice and Men’. This his deserves a special Congratulations to the following was a brilliant chance to revise as the girls mention as the girls spend girls for just tipping the balance and he winner in a recent poetry watched key scenes from the book brought considerable amounts of being judged winners – I am glad the competition during anti- to life by some very talented actors. The T decision lay with the tutors and not character of Lennie showed his simplicity time, effort, creative energy and, I Tbullying week me. and vulnerability with flashes of real anger suspect, parents’ money to produce and aggression. The hotseating activity at the inventive projects they do. This 7P: Ami Clement and Katie Howarth Bullying the end of the show was particularly useful year’s batch were no less difficult to 7G: Amy Mawdsley and Georgina for the girls in helping them get ‘inside’ the minds of the key characters. Hutton staff judge than previous years and we Hardman Sorrow, commented on how attentive and mature are thrilled by the results and how 7H: Jessica Hamer and Harriet Booth Words that hurt, our pupils were at the event. it helped the girls share information 7S: Emily Flynn and Lily Rowlinson They treat me like worthless dirt. The annual about themselves in Form Time. Well done to all and have a restful They really don’t care, English PLEASE hold onto the projects till Christmas. Do they not understand that it’s Department next year so we can use them to Mrs Millward-Hopkins not fair? London Trip inspire another group of eager Y6s. took place on Do they not understand that 13th and 14th these words cut like knives? December. A group of I’m stressed, depressed, messed. 45 pupils from I’m worn inside year 11 and 5 staff travelled to the capital to watch a stunning performance of I’m torn outside. ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ in the I feel like a bird that’s lost flight West End. An overnight stay in a nearby Glued to the floor hotel gave the girls much needed rest for a day sightseeing on the London Eye and Numb and stranded. Christmas shopping in London before I could sail to success and be returning home safely on the Saturday night. Photos of the trip will be posted on the shining star school website in the English department But these words are keeping me area shortly. depressed and happiness is afar. Runshaw Performing Arts students visited By Khadija Patel Yr 8 the school on Tuesday 10th December to present their modern version of the Taming of the Shrew to year 10 pupils. This was a brilliant opportunity for our Khan will be looking at future young chef competition budding actors in the Drama department Year 7 News winners. On top of this, some girls did superb jobs in to experience live theatre up close. It is representing the school by speaking at their primary great to see Shakespeare still relevant in the ear 7 have had a very successful first term at schools to talk to pupils. Quite a start! 21st Century and thank you to the talented PGHS: well done! bunch who performed this for us. Away from lessons and responsibilities, the Rock N’ Y Roll Panto places were quickly snapped up and 49 The English Department, under the They came with amazing projects and hard work done girls are looking forward to that on Wednesday 18th enthusiastic eye of Miss Thackeray, have in their ‘Keep Your Brain Alive’ booklets. They settled December. Many are involved in our own amazing been involved in a range of reading activities quickly and were soon involved in Form activities, this term. A big thank you to all our Year 9 panto, ‘Cinderella’, Sophie Wilson, 7H, being so lessons and clubs. Form reps presented their first helpers who work with Year 7 on the paired impressive she was given a speaking role! public speeches to parents at an enjoyable Information reading scheme. We have also seen our year Evening on Thursday 28th November. Not only that, Here’s hoping this promise continues to be fulfilled as 8 girls making super progress with their some of the cakes showed a real talent and I expect Mrs these lovely girls progress through the school. reading at Kindle Club every Wednesday. If your child would like to be involved in any of these activities next term, let us know.

4 www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk Maths Department News

The Mayfield High School Data Project

et 10A in Mathematics have spent this half term taking part in the Mayfield High School Data Project. A number of mathematicians Sfrom various year groups as well as our very own Mr Cheal, went into an unknown school and conducted one of the largest data collection surveys held in a school in Great Britain.

Over a thousand school pupils were questioned about everything from their eye colour, height, favourite hobbies and much, much more. This was collated together into a document which covered over one hundred and fifty pages.

10A have now spent the last four weeks using a wide number of Mathematical techniques to collate, represent and analyse the data. This ranged from stratified sampling, which reduced the amount of data down to more manageable manner, to comparative bar charts and pie charts to allow us to look at how the data is spread out. We also calculated averages of the data to extend the pupils to A* and A grade using Cumulative frequency, boxplots and histograms which give higher level graphs and allow for more advanced analysis and detailed comparisons between two or more sets of data.

The work produced so far has been of an exceptional standard, and the pupils have put a great deal of effort into drawing their graphs as precisely as possible and their calculations have been correct. The final part of the project was to complete a detailed presentation document from each group and these now take pride of place on the walls of room 31. They will hopefully serve as an important reminder to everyone else of the importance of statistics and data handling in schools, governments and countries around the world.

At the end of the project, the pupils peer assessed each other’s projects using the actual GCSE specifications and guidelines. We are pleased to report that all groups achieved at least GCSE A grade standard and a small number of groups achieved A* grades. The high quality of Mathematics produced at this early stage in the GCSE course is extremely promising and expectations are high for our next investigative project.

Mr Cheal

www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk 5 Food Technology Department News Food Technology news

his term has seen the Food Technology department take part in two exciting regional competitions – the Rotary Chef and Future Chef. The school heats were held and our TFuture Chef winner was Sadia Butt year 10, and the Rotary Chef winner was Olivia Cable year 9. Runners up were Hajra Casooji and Omama Lanjiri, all competitors received certificates for exceptional making skills and talent. Congratulations! We also invited local primary schools Primary schools to take part in a chef’s cooking challenge. They planned and prepared wraps from around the world using authentic ingredients and had a fantastic day! Mrs K Khan, Head of Technology Future Chef Competition

The Winner! Cooking does not get better than this!

Girls Taking part in the Future Chef Omama Lanjiri runner up Competition for future chef competition

Aatika Bux Hannah Collinson

6 www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk RE Department News

RE News

n their RE lessons this term, some KS3 students Ihave been learning more about Jesus. They have studied the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah and the Christian belief that Jesus fulfils those prophecies. Students have also been enquiring into Advent and Christmas traditions and as part of this work they made Christingles.

Claire Elliott Lancashire Secondary Lead Teacher of RE / Head of Religious Education Penwortham Girls’ High School

‘Merry Christmas’ to all who celebrate this festival from the RE Department.

www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk 7 MFL Department News

Primary Visits to the MFL Department

his year we had seven local primary schools visiting us for European Day of Languages on T26th September. 200 primary pupils visited the MFL department throughout the day. Well done to all the Year 9 girls who ran the activities which included a café role-play, interactive language games on the Smartboard, using a language website on the laptops, a group shopping card game and various language apps on the I-pads. BETH GORNALL EXPLAINING THE ROLE-PLAY. The schools involved were Cop Lane, Ashbridge, St.Matthew’s, Howick, Middleforth, Longton and New Longton.

The activities were done on a carousel basis and the children had a passport stamped after each task. All the staff who came from the primaries commented on how confident our girls were at running the activities and how much their pupils enjoyed the event.

Many thanks to the following girls for making the day MIDDLEFORTH ON THE LAPTOPS. such a success; Scarlet Mayer-Payne, Lily Whitmarsh, Holly Mcilwain, Caitlin Pearce, Gabby McSorley, Niamh Carroll, Hannah Collinson, Molly Singleton, Rose Malekzahdeh, Caitlin Philimore-Price, Nell Wray, Abi Taylor, Jessica Evans, Olivia Caley, Rebecca Clayton, Imogen Turner, Jamie-Lee Holmes, Anna Wood, Beth Gornall, Kira Lines, Hafsah Patel, Mediha Patel, Effie Roberts and Becky Bracegirdle. EFFIE ROBERTS RUNNING THE SHOPPING GAME.

HAFSAH AND MEDIHA RUNNING IWB ACTIVITY.

JAMIE-LEE HOLMES RUNNING SHOPPING GAME. NIAMH RUNNING THE BECKY EXPLAINING THE I-PAD APPS. IWB ACTIVITY.

8 www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk Music Department News We’re singing in the rain!

ast Wednesday Mrs Cattanach, Miss Elliott, Mr Gornall and Mrs Smethurst accompanied 47 pupils to Manchester Opera House to watch L‘Singing in the rain’. The show was fantastic with superb special effects, singing and dancing. It rained not once but twice on stage! The Opera House had the red carpet out for not only our attendance but a number of stars from the soaps. Little Simon from Coronation Street, Karl King from Emmerdale and Freddie Roscoe from Hollyoaks were spotted by our pupils. An enjoyable evening for all involved.

Here are some comments Young Voices from pupils: ormer pupil Louisa ‘Singing in the rain was Stirland has appeared phenomenal. It was an Fon ‘Songs of Praise’ on amazing show and I would BBC 1 at 4:55pm Sunday gladly go again.’ Holly 15th December 2013, singing the carols ‘The First Noel’ and ‘The Little Road to ‘Singing in the rain was Bethlehem’. The programme amazing! It’s a show I will was recorded at St Edmund never forget! I hope one Arrowsmith RC Church in day I’ll be on the stage like Wigan. them! Thanks for taking us.’ Melisa

Preston Arts Festival Congratulations

ongratulations to all the pupils who Congratulations to the following pupils performed at the Preston Arts Festival and for their recent ABRSM examination Cthank you to all those parents who came to achievements: support us. SOPHIE ALMOND GRADE 2 PGHS pupils joined forces with the Preston Poets’ SAXOPHONE - PASS Society to provide an evening of Poetry and MELISSA GORE GRADE 4 GUITAR Melody at Preston Central Methodist Church. - PASS All our pupils gave superb performances with one member of the audience describing them as MEGAN RIGBY GRADE 1 PIANO ‘sensational’! Erin Gorrell said “I loved the Preston - PASS WITH MERIT Arts Festival! It felt so good to see so much talent in one place! I have three words - Preston. Culture. Well done to all of you! Bravo!” We hope to work with the Preston Arts Association in the future.

www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk 9 Music Department News

Cinderella

n the back of beyond, on the edge of Fairy Tale Land, poor old Baron Hardup is struggling to Ipay the bills. So when Prince Charming decides to hold a magical snowball to find a wife, Baron Hardup thinks this may be the way to solve his money troubles. Unfortunately, the wicked witch Ophelia has other plans! She is determined to marry the Prince herself and gain power and control of Fairy Tale World. Fortunately, the Fairy Godmother comes to the rescue and Cinderella has the happy ending she deserves – just like every panto should!

With lots of bad jokes, fantastic singing, incredible dancing and brilliant acting the PGHS panto “Cinderella” was a magical success! Our cast worked incredibly hard in just six weeks to put together an amazing performance. For the first time, we hired costumes from the Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester and booked professional musicians to perform alongside the cast. This undoubtedly gave our production star quality to match the performances of everyone involved.

“Cinderella” performed to over 230 Primary students (plus many of their parents) for a matinee, and then went one further for a sell-out evening performance. Not only did the Primary schools watch; but 60 Year 5s from St Andrew’s Primary School took part in Cinderella “Could it be Magic”! It certainly was! n Wednesday 11th December pupils from Each time they performed our cast got better and PGHS took part in better and dazzled everyone with their talents, O enthusiasm and energy. It would be impossible to the first pantomime for many single out any one – it was genuinely a team effort years written by our very own with students involved from all years. Mrs Cattanach, talented Mrs Woodhouse. Mrs Murphy and Mrs Woodhouse would like to thank everyone for their commitment and motivation – Pupils from Year 7-11 took without the incredible level of effort that our students part and worked together demonstrated it wouldn’t have been such a success. fantastically well to give a superb performance to a packed Finally, we’d like to thank all the many staff and audience. With an eclectic mix students who gave their time, help and support so of music to accompany the generously to help backstage and front of house; script the audience had plenty during rehearsal and on the night of the performance. of songs old and new to sing along too. A fabulous time was Merry Christmas everyone! had by all actresses, dancers, singers, staff and audience alike!

10 www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk Music Department News

www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk 11 PE Department News

Netball Cross Country Congratulations to the U14 and U16 Well done to all the pupils in netball teams who comfortably won the Year 7 – 9 who competed in Lancashire Round of the National School the inter form cross country Competition in October. Both teams will competition in November. now play in the North West Round in Conditions were muddy but that February. This is the first time both age did not put off the girls, who groups have qualified, well done to both seemed to enjoy it! teams! Congratulations to Pia Murray The South Ribble Central Venue Netball Leagues have started. So far the U14 A (Year 7), Freya Darbyshire (Year and B and U16 A teams have won all their matches 8), Molly Singleton (Year 9) and Georgina Newcombe (Year Congratulations to Abi Taylor in Year 9 who has been selected for the U15 10) who have all been selected North West Netball Squad. This will involve weekly fitness sessions before to represent South Ribble in school on Friday and fortnightly training sessions at Manchester. This is a the Lancashire Schools Cross fantastic achievement, especially as Abi is a year younger for the age group! Country Championships in February. They were selected after fantastic performances in Indoor Athletics the South Ribble Cross Country Charlotte Daley in Year 8 participated in The English Sportshall Athletics Championships. In the Year 7 Competition where she achieved a new record for the Standing Triple Jump. race the team finished 5th overall Well done a fantastic achievement! and the Year 8 and 9 team came 4th. Well done to all those who competed. Leadership Some of the current Year 10 GCSE PE pupils helped run the Penwortham Area Table Tennis Primary Schools’ Sportshall Athletics Championships at Penwortham Priory Academy in November. The girls were an absolute credit to school and proved There has been themselves to be exceptional leaders and officials considerable success for the table tennis teams this term with the U16 Lancashire Dance Festival teams winning the South Ribble Tournament and We were invited to take part in the Lancashire School’s Dance Festival 10th then finishing as runners Year Anniversary. The theme was ‘The Seasons’. We choreographed a dance up in the Lancashire based on the seasons of life. 26 pupils took part from PGHS alongside other Open Competition. primary schools, secondary schools and colleges. It was a fantastic performance and they really made PGHS proud. A special thank you to Amy Sansom, Alisha The U13 team also Jiwa and Erin Gorrell for designing the tops for the show and helping with the became South Ribble face and body art. Champions…..well done!! Badminton Basketball Both the U14 and U16 teams played very well in the South Ribble Tournaments. The U14 team were runners up and the U16s came 3rd. We have entered an U14 and an U16 team into the Lancashire League and both have played their first matches. The U14’s beat St. Wilfred’s 46-8 and the U16’s lost to Clitheroe.

12 www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk New Humanities Building

Construction of the new humanities block

he construction of the new humanities block started on Friday 13th September. T There will be three new classrooms, one office / storeroom and an external learning area with access from 30’s corridor. The first job was to create additional parking by removing 100 tonnes of soil from the green area next to the main entrance. The building team arrived on site on Monday 16th September and began preparing the area for the foundations and steel work. Because we are celebrating the schools 60th anniversary in 2014 a time capsule with lots of school photos and information has been buried within the corridor foundations.

With everything ready for the main construction the builders are now working to complete the walls and roof and as you can see the building is starting to take shape.

Everything is on target with the new humanities block due to be ready in March 2014, which will also see the demolition of Annexe A.

Diamond Jubilee PGHS Diamond Jubilee Celebrations

014 marks the 60th anniversary of the opening of Penwortham Girls’ Grammar School in 1954 and behind 2the scenes exciting plans are well underway to make our school’s Diamond Jubilee a year to remember.

There will be a packed calendar of exciting events from January to Christmas, and we intend to invite the whole school community to take part in our celebrations, alongside former pupils and members of the local community too. Taking If you are a former pupil of PGHS or you inspiration from the London Olympics we want to ensure that there is a legacy and that all our pupils, parents and staff have a chance to actively shape the future of Penwortham Girls’ High School for years know someone who is, please direct them to to come. To this end we will be encouraging our pupils to take on new challenges and get involved. the Diamond Jubilee section of the school website. From here former pupils can get in Amongst other events, we will be burying a time capsule under the new Humanities ‘Jubilee’ Wing touch with us and let us know what they’ve and there will be a Summer Jubilee Concert to look forward to. Some of our pupils are also going to been up to since leaving the school and can spend time during the year meeting and interviewing former pupils of PGHS, to find out how the school share their memories of Penwortham Girls’ has changed down the years (or not!). The memories of our alumnae are an irreplaceable source of in days gone by. information about our school in the past and we want to make sure that they are not lost.

www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk 13 NASBM National Awards for School Meet the Teacher Support Staff 2013 ello. I am Miss ongratulations go to our Premises Manager, Mr O’Neill, who won Premises Mudie. I teach History Support Worker of the Year Award 2013. C Hand am also 8G’s Form Tutor. Mr O’Neill attended a Gala I am very excited to be part of the History Dinner in London department at PGHS and have started the in October and year off with a brand new Y7 unit of work was presented with on my favourite topic: the Romans. his award. The NASBM Awards provide As I studied Classics and Ancient History at schools with the the University of Manchester for both my BA opportunity to and MA, I have a special interest in the topic recognise the and hope that comes through in my lessons. contributions When I am not teaching about World Wars, that support staff, revolutions and Romans, I enjoy reading, individuals and going to the cinema and travelling. The teams make to latter is something which I have done for the success and achievements of most of my life as I grew up in America and the overall school often came over to England to see family. environment. My latest trip was to New York and Support staff, are in many cases the unsung heroes of a school. They work behind the hopefully the next will be somewhere scenes to ensure the smooth running of activities so that there is no disruption to the equally exciting! It is great to be teaching at teaching and learning and provide a safe and enjoyable environment for pupils. Penwortham Girls’ and I am looking forward to what the next term has to offer. Mr O’Neill has worked tirelessly to improve our facilities since his appointment in November 2010, and we are delighted and extremely proud of this fantastic achievement.

Cop Lane Penwortham Preston PR1 0SR

Penwortham Girls’ Telephone: 01772 743399 Fax: 01772 752475 High School Email: [email protected]

Website: www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk

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