Issue 19 February 2013

Issue 19 February 2013 1

Issue 19 February 2013

HEADITORIAL Dear Parents and Students, We had a visit yesterday from the Chief Executive of the Girls’ Day School Trust, Helen Fraser. We took a quick tour of the Senior School, intending to look at buildings (we have some exciting new projects to plan which are to be funded by the Trust – more of which later) but as we walked around we saw BHHS girls at their brilliant best: the Lower Sixth Dance girls working on their AS Level coursework pieces, committed and entirely passionate about their work; the photograph in reception of the Year 8 Team Maths girls (and Mrs Hart) who, on Wednesday, beat 21 other schools in the region to get to the national finals, all of them, quite rightly, bursting with pride; a music lesson where the girls were auditioning for the forthcoming Year 7 musical and where Lily Mae Wilkins treated us to a wonderful rendition of ‘Beautiful’ without a hint of nerves; the letter in my in-tray from one of the coaches on the Ski Trip at Half Term telling me what a pleasure it was to work with our resilient, well-behaved girls. I was only disappointed Helen couldn’t stay to watch last night’s performances by the Year 10 Drama group which were utterly compelling – all the staff and parents watching were engrossed and thoroughly entertained by the girls’ work. A great week to be the proud, privileged Head of this school. Have a good weekend.

Jennifer Smith

Music News The school Choral Concert takes place on Thursday 7th March at 7:30pm. The concert will feature performances from all the school - vocal ensembles as well as our Community Choir who will be performing the Requiem by John Rutter with the school orchestra. Tickets (£8 and £5) will be available on the door. Acompanied children enjoy the concert for free. The girls have been working very hard in preparation for their performances and it would be great to have a full house. Come and enjoy the fantastic singing that takes place in the school; I can certainly guarantee a very enjoyable evening.

Mr P. Lloyd SPELLING BEE GRAND FINALE Good luck to Gemma Bovill, Lucy Ritchie and Katja Ward who will be representing BHHS in French in the Spelling Bee Grand Finale next week. The whole school is behind you! A big thank you to Year 9 who have been very supportive (and a great audience to practise with). It has been a very positive experience and really good fun to learn new vocabulary. BON VOYAGE ET BONNE CHANCE!

Mrs G. Burnet-Smith

Fashion Show Tickets for the BHHS Charity Fashion Show are already selling fast, so if you want to come and watch then make sure to get your order in via ParentPay as soon as possible! We have now confirmed which girls will be taking part, and whether they will be modelling for Miss Selfridge, Gap, Fair, Chic Boutique, Dirty Harry, Lavender Rooms, Walk in Wardrobe, Young Enterprise, or Coast. There may be a couple of appearances from the teachers, too! With choreography for the catwalk beginning this week, the fashion show is really coming together and we look forward

to seeing as many of you as possible there! Finally, just another call for donations: anyone who has vouchers they would be willing to donate for our goody bags, or anyone with items or experiences that they'd be happy to include in the charity auction, please contact [email protected].

Thank you!

GDST Film Competition 2013 Thank you to all the students who threw themselves into the GDST’s film competition this year – part of the exciting GDST centenary celebrations. We enjoyed working with all the girls on our ‘Film Saturday’ and in the weeks running up to the Trust deadline. We are also enormously grateful to John Burrows – a wonderful playwright: catch his next play in the Festival this May! The results of the first, BHHS round of this competition are as follows: Junior: highly commended: Clemmie Copeland, Nancy Keegan, Lily Bowen and Rosie Jones for ‘Survivors’; through to the next round: Isobel Parr and Iona Scott with ‘Love of Pie’. Senior, years 7-9: highly commended: Ruby Tennant for ‘Everyone is Good at Something: Confidence’; Hazal Alagoz, Eloise Amos and Maddie Turck for ‘Goodbye’; Ruby Moss and Eden May for ‘Out There’; through to the next round: Holly Booker, Jessye Clarke, Clara Browne-Amorim, Madsie Pavitt, Rosanna Lloyd with ‘A Normal Day on the Bus’. Senior, years 10-11: highly commended: Zoe Hodge and Izzy Bolingbroke for ‘Slinky’; through to the next round: Alice Warner, Celeste Gration, Matilda Macari, Louise Warner, Phoebe Benjamin with ‘The Doorbell’. Congratulations to all involved for some brilliant films.

Mr J. Whiteside and Mrs K. Ashdown


Brighton & Hove High School in National Maths Final! Eleanor Thomas, Eloise Ockenden, Lisa She-Yin and Monica Kelada represented Brighton and Hove High School at the Regional Final of the Maths Team Challenge held in Lancing College on Wednesday 27th February. The team finished in first place out of twenty-two schools taking part. They will now go on to compete in the National Final at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London on Monday 17th June 2013. This is a fantastic achievement. Over 1500 schools enter the competition and only 80 qualify to take part in the final. Very well done to the girls!

Mrs C. Hart

Intermediate Maths Challenge Results Girls from Years 10 and 11 recently sat the Intermediate Maths Challenge paper. Congratulations to Helena Ratcliff in Year 11 and Rose Belton in Year 10 who achieved Gold certificates. Helena achieved best in school, and Rose best in Year 10. In addition to the Gold certificates there were 6 Silver awards and 17 Bronze.

Well done to all the girls who took part in the Challenge.

Mrs C. Hart

PE News Congratulations to the Under 18 Netball team who competed in the Senior Trust Netball yesterday and got through to the final of the Plate competition beating Wimbledon Portsmouth and Sheffield. Well done!

Ms E. Osborne, Head of PE

CAREERS The Careers Convention on the Thursday before half-tem was attended by a variety of colleges and professionals. We opened promptly at lunchtime for the sixth form to investigate any hitherto unknown opportunities, for example the variety of professions within the Army! Soon afterwards lots of Year 7s bustled in and enjoyed asking questions and beginning to think about their futures. 7Z had helped to write thank you cards and wrap up small gifts so they were delighted to present them in person. During the afternoon Years 10 and 11 came and the pace picked up as small groups focused on “speed dating(!)” 10 colleges / professions! All girls made discoveries and increased their wider knowledge about the range of opportunities available. Overall the atmosphere was relaxed and purposeful and all had an enjoyable day. Special mention must be made of our own Mr and Mrs Buck who represented Osteopathy so ably and whose amazing “skeleton and bone” biscuits quite made the day. A huge thank you to all exhibitors and to all the staff here for their time and hard work.

Year 10 Careers Day, Monday 25th February This was the first of two and focused on “Widening Horizons”. The day began with our Maths Department running an inter-active workshop on student finance where swathes of ignorance about the cost of day to day living were revealed! The RAF came in and showed all the girls the extensive range and variety of careers available; questions were lively and thoughtful and many were surprised at the quality and range of sport and social life available! Issues such as equal opportunities and childcare facilities were also discussed. The afternoon was taken up with “Masterclasses” where girls had the choice of two from Creative, Media and Science. This part of the day was organised by Young Enterprise with business volunteers running the workshops. We are very grateful to Wylie (publishing), Sunshine Video Productions, Sussex Cricket Club and the new Spire Hospital. It was especially delightful to see Erica Bone with Wylie since she is an “old girl”! I know all the girls appreciated the opportunity to meet real professionals and the day had a very positive, vibrant feel. Thank you too to all the staff here who helped, I very much appreciated it.

EPQ Qualification Congratulations to all our Sixth Form students who completed their Extended Project Qualifications final presentations on Wednesday afternoon. Hannah Laurence (the use of cutting edge sports injury tape), Eleanor Thompson (same sex marriage in England and France), Nabilah Butt (treatments of testicular cancer) and Harriet Freestone (public confidence and weather forecasts) all produced and delivered highly detailed, articulate and professional presentations that were the culmination of some ninety hours’ independent work. This was the first year students from our school have completed EPQs and the bar has been set at an impressively high level. Well done to you all!

Mr P. Edmunds


This year ski trip was all about fun. It was an amazing and adventurous week. We had a good team of instructors, teachers and girls. Our instructors said that we provided them with the most enjoyable week’s teaching due to the fun nature and charisma of the girls. The standard of skiing has been the most improved of all of our ski trips due to the high quality of instruction. We saw backwards skiing, jumps, helicopter turns, and deep powder control!... We are also proud to announce a victory of the dance off variety - against Horsforth School at our disco... Miss James would be proud! I really enjoyed the ski trip! I recall that as soon as the letter came out saying that there was going to be a ski trip for Year 9 and above, I practically jumped at the opportunity to enrol myself on it and I’m so glad I did, as we all had so much fun together. I think it was particularly good for bonding as us students got to see the teachers in a different environment and we also got to show our independence by adapting to a new routine and new surroundings! The older students got to socialise with the younger ones, the teachers and staff got to find out more about us and us about them and I really feel that the whole trip oozed with the school’s ‘family’ ethos, which was brilliant. On the whole, I recommend it to all of the students and their parents and I hope to go next year too, as it’s an experience I will always treasure and remember!

Yasmin-K Robertson, 9P


JUNIOR EDITORIAL Dear Parents, With such a short half term it has been a week of full on activities and great preparation for future events. My thanks to those who were able to join us on Tuesday for the Town of Runners screening. It is a very inspiring film and I hope to give other girls the opportunity to see the film in the future. It has been a great sporting week too, and with our first U9 netball tournament held at BHHS on Saturday and the inter-house cross country event on Monday at Hove Recreational Ground, it looks like some exciting times ahead. Best wishes,

Sian Cattaneo

DATES FOR DIARY: Sat 2nd U-9 Netball Tournament at

BHHS, 9:00am

Mon 4th Inter-House Cross Country

Hove Rec, 1:30-3:30pm

Wed 6th Y3.1 Parent Assembly

GDST U-11 Netball & Gym Rally

& Cross Country Croydon

U-11B Netball v BMS

(Home, 2:30)

U-10 A&B Netball v St.

Christopher’s (Home, 2:30)

U-9 A&B Netball v Burgess Hill

(Home, 3:30)

Thurs 7th WORLD BOOK DAY – Girls to

dress up as a book character

U-11 Netball IAPS Tournament -

Roedean - All Day

Fri 8th Y4 Egyptian Day – Junior School

Sat 9th U-10 Netball Tournament at

Burgess Hill , 9am-12:30pm

WORLD BOOK DAY Thursday 7th March is ‘World Book Day’. As usual we are asking the girls to come in dressed as a character from a book, ready for a character parade in assembly! We will also be joined by Jo Rees and Sasha Dugdale, both writers and parents of girls at BHHS, who will run workshops for some year groups. This year WBD takes place within ‘Women’s Week’ so we thought it would be an ideal opportunity to celebrate the work of inspirational female authors and poets. Each year group will have a different focus author, such as Grace Nicholls, Julia Donaldson or Christina Rossetti; they will learn about their achievements and explore some of their writing. We are looking forward to a fun-filled day and will update you in next week’s newsletter! VALENTINES DAY Love was in the air in Nursery on February 14th! The children had great fun making pastry jam tarts in the shape of hearts. There was much excitement rolling out the pastry and some found tasting the jam just too tempting!! Well you have to make sure you have the right sort of jam for such delightful pastries!

WITHOUT THE BUTTERFLY THERE WOULD BE NO CHANGE Next week is a very busy week for BHHS. We are celebrating the 140th anniversary of the GDST with a fun-packed week entitled ‘Women’s Week’. Women’s Week at BHHS is being run by the History Department to coincide with International Women’s Day on Friday 8th March and Women’s History Month. All year groups will be learning about the history of women, including the importance of local women such as Martha Gunn! Years 5 and 6 will be playing homage to their ‘suffragette sisters’ by learning about the women’s movement and its links with the GDST. On Wednesday, Years 5 and 6 will be marching through the school in full regalia! All year groups will be taking part in a competition, that will run throughout the week, where pupils must locate historically important women hidden throughout the grounds. All this is in addition to a butterfly-themed International Women’s Day. The girls will be creating a 3D art installation to celebrate IWD and will receive a butterfly gift in recognition of a donation to local womens’ charities. We are all very excited about the week’s activities and are sure the girls will enjoy all that is planned. REMINDERS - There will be NO Netball Club next Thursday (7th March) as we have the U-11 IAPS Tournament at Roedean all day. There will be NO Running Club after school on Monday due to the inter-house cross country event at Hove Rec.

PEOPLE WHO HELP US Reception class have started their ‘People Who Help Us’ topic this half term. Our focus this week was learning about the fire-fighters. We were lucky enough to have Hove Fire and Rescue Service visit us on Wednesday, with 4 of their fire-fighters. The girls had a fantastic time climbing on the fire engine, squirting the fire hose, and learning lots of helpful information about fire safety! We look forward to our next visitor very soon!

TRUST SWIMMING GALA Well done to the 5 Year 6's who travelled to Oxford High school to represent us in the Trust Swimming Rally. They swam well in a very high standard event. REMINDERS - Grandparents’ Afternoon, 22nd March at 1:30pm May we please remind parents to return the ‘Grandparent Afternoon’ slips by Wednesday, 6th March. We are only able to accommodate 2 guests per pupil. Should you require any special assistance, please contact the school office. Inter-House Cross Country at Hove Recreation A reminder that girls in Years 3-6 will need their house t-shirts on Monday 4th March for the Inter-house cross country event. Parents are welcome to support and cheer the girls on. Please could I also ask that if anyone is able to assist as a marshal at the cross country event on Monday to contact the office to put your name forward to help out – Thank you! Look out for the FIRST ISSUE of

our Nursey’s very own NEWSLETTER next week


F A I R T R A D E F O R T N I G H T The Fairtrade Foundation was set up at the beginning of the 1990s by agencies including Christian Aid, Oxfam, and the World Development Movement. It was set up to help people who suffered because of unfair world trade prices. Fairtrade is about people, who don’t get enough pay, after working their hardest day after day. Their profits are so small they can’t keep going. They need our help so they can keep on growing. By supporting Fairtrade you get quality goods, for example, a scrumptious bar of chocolate that tastes as good as it should. These people are the same as you and me, but they need our help to hold their heads high. So next time you are choosing a chocolate bar, remember Fairtrade is best by far! TOWN OF RUNNERS SCREENING A huge thank you to everyone who supported this event and to the Co-operative for sponsoring it! We were very lucky to have the opportunity of a Q&A session from the producer of the film, Dan Demissie. It was a very real film about the struggles Kenyan runners encounter trying to better their lives and fulfil their dreams, while facing bureaucratic financial inadequacies and lack of organisation. The country has such running talent, and the film highlighted the grit, determination and sacrifice the runners go through, which was truly inspiring. Not to be missed. FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT EXHIBITION IN THE JUBILEE LIBRARY If you visit Brighton town centre over the next two weeks don’t forget to visit the Jubilee Library, where the Junior School has an exhibition of art. All the work is on the subject of Fairtrade and the response has already been extremely positive. Some of the words and thoughts the girls incorporated into the artwork have been quoted on the Facebook page of BPEC (the Brighton Peace and Environment Centre) who have also requested a set of the girls’ lovely ‘fruit face’ posters to put up in their offices. There will be events going on all over Brighton over Fairtarde Fortnight. One – a talk by a Fairtrade producer from Malawi – is also in the Jubilee Library on Saturday March 2nd.

MATCH REPORTS U9 Netball v St Christopher’s Congratulations to the U9a and b teams who played against St. Christopher's on Wednesday. The A's played very well together as a team and worked hard on creating space on the court. The final score was a convincing 12-3 victory. The B's also played a fantastic game and their confidence grew as the game progressed. They too came home victorious with an 8-2 win. Special mention to Hannah Pelham for brilliant shooting throughout the game. U10 Netball v Sion The U10A Netball team beat Sion 2-0 on Wednesday. We were 1 - 0 up at end of the first quarter and the same at half time. We played well and had quite a few shots but could not convert our chances. Sion had few chances and we played well without getting the goals. Jessica and Ella who played GK and GD alternating each quarter were outstanding and Sion voted for Ella as player of the match. U11 Netball v Windlesham The U11b Netball team played against Windlesham A’s on Wednesday. They put up a very strong fight. Nina made some fantastic interceptions and both shooters worked well to draw the game to a 3-3 draw. Ruby was nominated ‘player of the match’ by the opposing team.

BHHS TAKES UP THE RICE CHALLENGE – EAT SOMEONE OUT OF POVERTY!

This year as part of Fair Trade Fortnight we are taking part in the 90kg Rice Challenge. The scheme is organised by Just Trading Scotland, who work with farmers in Malawi to obtain markets for their rice at a fair price through fair trade. To send one child in Malawi to secondary school for a year they need to sell enough to make 90kg of milled rice. The rice produced in Malawi is tested, cleaned and bagged in the UK to conform to all EU standards. This Kilombero rice is an aromatic long grain rice which cooks up well and is ideal for risottos and paellas, or as an accompaniment to stews and curries. The intention is to gain brand recognition as the African Arborio rice. Our aim is to sell 90kg of this rice, and so if you would like to order 1kg for £3, please fill in the order form below. Bags of pre-ordered rice can be collected from Mrs Mashford at the end of the day or can be bought in the library during lunch time from 25th February – 8th March. Thank you very much for your support.

BRIGHTON & HOVE HIGH SCHOOL GDST

Name: ………………………………………………………………… Form: …………………..…

I would like to buy 1kg Malawi Kitchen rice and enclose £3

Signed ………………………………………….…....... Date: ………….…………..

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Issue 19 February 2013