BHHS Issue 3 Newsletter 2015

Newsletter Brighton & Hove High School GDSt

Issue 3 September 2015

Dear Parents and Girls,

We are delighted to be involved once again this year in the Brighton Digital Festival. We are hosting three of the Royal Institution Computer Science Masterclasses over the next few weekends in which many of our girls are taking part. We are also hosting a Festival workshop which will involve video projection in live performance, sound interactivity and the ways in which this can enhance student choreography and develop digital and dance skills. Our own Dance students will be taking part.

It is important that we encourage girls to get involved in coding and computer technology from an early stage. Not only is there a significant technical skills shortage in the UK, but it is an industry dominated by men.

There’s an article by Hannah Jones on the employment website Monster where she gives a number of reasons why the coding world needs girls (http://www.monster.co.uk/blog/b/why-learn-to-code?WT. mc_n=olm_sk_uk_b2c_girlsincoding_site): • Jobs: With demand for tech employees already exceeding supply, the growth of digital jobs over the next six years is expected to be higher than all other occupations combined.

• Money: With a shortage of talent, many businesses are increasing salaries and providing additional benefits to attract candidates. Also, the digital industry has the smallest gender pay gap; with the pay gap between men and women only 4% in digital industries compared to 19% across the UK. • Flexibility: working from a computer can allow you to work from anywhere, at any time. Having a flexible schedule can help you manage family responsibilities and have a better work/life balance.

• Entrepreneurship: As technology continues to develop, an increasing number of job opportunities will be through entrepreneurship and developing new, innovative products and services using technology.

• Being code literate: it is the language of the future and will soon be a required skill for many jobs. Also, as Steve Jobs argued, “everybody … should learn how to program a computer because it teaches you how to think.”

• Creativity: almost every industry now has a digital element from fashion and the media to marketing or sales.

But, in my view, the most important reason for girls to be involved in coding is summed up by writer Caitlin Moran : “If 90% of coders are men, developing and owning the language of the future, women won’t be part of the conversation” (cited by Sinead Bunting http://www.monster.co.uk/blog/b/women-in-technology?WT. mc_n=olm_sk_uk_b2c_girlsincoding_site) If you want to know more about the Brighton digital Festival, go to this website: http://brightondigitalfestival.co.uk/ Girls and parents might also be interested in the BBC’s Make it Digital season (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ mediacentre/mediapacks/makeitdigitalseason). This week is Intelligent Machines Week.

Have a good weekend.

Jennifer Smith

21st 11A Guild Week; Will Wareing in school (GDST Deputy dates Monday Director of Education); Tuesday 22 Extra assembly (Sports Hall); nd

Y10 Business day (p1-3); 4:30 – 7pm Y13 Parents’ Evening Wednesday 23rd Extra full school assembly (Book week launch), GDST Heads’ Conference, Young Enterprise Area launch event, 4:45 – 6:30pm; Thursday 24th GDST Heads’ Conference, Y10 meningitis booster vaccine, Y9 Diversity Role Models workshop (p1 9G, p2 9B, p3 9S), Y8+ trip to Roedean to see author Patrick Ness, 7pm, Y9 to Crush at Theatre Royal (p4-5); Friday 25th GDST Heads’ Conference, MacMillan coffee morning (tbc), Y11 Art visit Tate Modern, Friday 25th-Sunday 27th Y12 Geography field trip; Saturday 26th Italian for Beginners, Digital Festival

leader’s conference On Tuesday we house captains had the opportunity to go to a Leader’s Conference at Forest School in London.

One particular highlight of the day was listening to global explorer Pen Hadow. From being a house captain to leader of expeditions to the North and South Poles, one thing has always been clear for him: a good leader must be able to delegate, be resilient and be courageous.

Throughout the day we were thrown into challenges and situations where we had to think fast. For instance we both had to pick three interesting things about ourselves and then present to a group within two minutes of being told our task. Although it sounds incredibly daunting, this task actually helped us realise how necessary it is for a leader to be able to react calmly and appropriately under high pressure environments.

We learnt lots of interesting things about each other and had a really good time socialising and working as a team.

As Hadow said, his ‘lone trek’ to the North Pole wasn’t just by himself, he had a team of about 70 people helping him to plan and train for it.

He left us with this message: a good leader will lead by force, a great leader will lead by delegation.

Farhannah Badruzaman & Moniba Asgari

sweeney todd...secret cast member “

I was absolutely overjoyed when I found out what part I got – Johanna! I was equally as overjoyed to be sitting in the first rehearsal, buzzing with excitement to begin working on this incredible show. This is going to be amazing!

”

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festivals

recommendations from the RE & Philosophy Department Mrs Dowglass

20 - 26th September | HIGAN | Japanese Marks the autumn equinox. As at the spring equinox, harmony and balance are the themes; sutras are recited and the graves of relatives are visited.

22 - 26th September | HAJJ / PILGRIMAGE TO MAKKAH (8th to 12th Dhul-Hijjah) | Muslim All Muslims who can afford to do so are required to make this pilgrimage once in their lifetime (although they can make the pilgrimage more than once). A series of ritual acts are performed during the first two days of Hajj, prior to the three day festival of Eid-al-Adha which is celebrated in Makkah by the pilgrims.

23rd September | YOM KIPPUR (Day of Atonement) | Jewish The final day of the ten days of repentance and the holiest day of the Jewish year. The Bible calls it the ‘Sabbath of Sabbaths’, and is marked by ‘afflicting the soul’ – expressed through a fast lasting 25 hours. Jews spend the evening and most of the day in prayer, asking for forgiveness for past wrongs and resolving to improve in the future. The Book of Jonah is read. A common greeting is ‘G’mar Chatimah Tovah’ (‘May you finally be sealed for good’).

23rd September | AUTUMN EQUINOX (MABON) | Wiccan Pagan Day and night stand hand in hand as equals. As the shadows lengthen, Pagans see the darker faces of the God and Goddess. For many Pagans, this rite honours old age and the approach of winter.

September | YAUM-ARAFAH / THE DAY OF ARAFAT (9th Dhul-Hijjah) | Muslim This day marks the culminating event of the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah. Muslims who are on Hajj spend the day in prayer on Mount Arafat to commemorate the end of the revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet. Those not on Hajj are also expected to pray and fast.

24th September | EID-UL-ADHA/THE FESTIVAL OF SACRIFICE (10th Dhul-Hijjah) | Muslim This major festival (al-Eid al-Kabir) marks the end of the Hajj on the tenth day of the twelfth month of Dhul-Hijja. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. Pilgrims sacrifice animals at the village of Mina on their way back to Makkah from Mount Arafat (where they have spent the first day of the festival) in commemoration of Ibrahim’s (Abraham’s) willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail. Muslims all over the world sacrifice an animal if they can afford it. Much of the meat is distributed to the poor, and some is shared with relatives and friends.

tv & radio Saturday 19th | Radio 4, 8pm | From Self to Selfie Lauren Laverne looks at the current obsession with selfies, including their origins and effects, and asks whether they are creative expressions of identity or dangerous narcissism.

Saturday 19th | Channel 5, 6:55pm | Left Behind This biblical disaster movie presents a bizarre, apocalyptic phenomenon to the passengers of a commercial airplane. Without warning, a number of them vanish into thin air, leaving nothing behind but their clothing and personal effects. As the remaining passengers try to make sense of this, the captain (Nicolas Cage) learns that the same thing has happened to millions of people around the world. To make matters worse, he then realises that there might not be enough fuel to make it to the nearest runway…

Sunday 20th | BBC1, 10am | The Big Questions Current Affairs Discussion Programme Wednesday 23rd |BBC2, 1:15am & 9pm | The Ascent of Woman Dr Amanda Foreman profiles women who made and changed human history (a series of 4 programmes).

Wednesday 23rd | Radio 4, 8:45pm | Four Thought - The Unequal Past Jim Smallman claims society treats men and women differently when it comes to assessing their past misdeeds, citing his own wife’s history as a pornographic actress as an example.

Thursday 24th | BBC4, 8pm | Ian Hislop’s Age of the Do-Gooders

crime - fact & fiction...

Juliet Smith, High Sheriff of East Sussex, invites you to join her for an entertaining and informative evening: Crime – Fact & Fiction! - Thursday 29th October Starts 7pm at BHHS, Montpelier Road Drinks & Canapés to be served With crime writer Peter James and former Chief Constable of Sussex Martin Richards QPM Chaired by retired Judge, His Honour Richard Brown DL & Fundraising Auction with TV’s Tim Wonnacott.

Great items such as: • Two Directors Box Tickets for a West Ham Utd home match as guests of Chairman David Gold, with lounge passes and drinks • Have your name/company included in a future Peter James book • Dinner for 8, including wine, at Hotel du Vin, Brighton • Spend a day with Sussex Police and many more fab items!

Space is limited so apply for tickets antonia.shepherd@martlets.org.uk or phone 01273 718782 Minimum donation £10 per ticket please. Event held in support of Martlets Hospice and Brighton & Hove District Samaritans.

newsletter note...

Welcome to the start of a new academic year. I do hope that your daughters are settling in to their new year group. I wanted to remind all the parents of girls on the SEN register that I have bookable slots to meet up and discuss your daughters’ progress and support on Wednesdays after school. To book an appointment please contact Kate Connolly on k.connolly@bhhs.gdst.net In the meantime here are a few ideas of easy ways that you can support your daughter at home.

supporting your dyslexic child with homework...

You are an expert on your own daughter and your support, encouragement and interest can make a spectacular difference to your daughter’s motivation and ability to cope with the academic and organisational demands of secondary school.

Dyslexic girls are often creative thinkers but they can be disorganised.

Here are a few tips on how you can help.

• Make sure your daughter has a bag that will be able to carry her books without causing back pain but make sure she likes it or it won’t get used.

• Discuss with your daughter a reliable system for getting homework written down for each subject.

• Check and sign her planner regularly to see that she has a working system.

• Get a copy of the homework timetable for yourself.

• Make sure you daughter has email or phone numbers of reliable classmates (you will need this!)

• Negotiate a fixed time for homework, work together on this so you are both invested.

• Make sure there is a quiet area to work (this is often easier said than done but the ideal is near to the family but somewhere quiet).

• Make sure your home is stocked with glue, scissors, rulers, pencils, highlighters, coloured felt tip pens, a hole punch, lined paper and that your daughter has access to a printer (with ink) and try to be forgiving when these items get lost.

• Encourage you daughter to utilise her gift of flexible and creative thinking to help her with homework e.g. Mind maps and creating visualisations of facts to be remembered can help. So can allowing your daughter to explain something to you.

• Encourage your daughter to read. This can be via a ‘kindle- type device’ with the font enlarged or by using audio books.

off timetable enrichment day year 7 blacklands farm

year 8 st ann’s well gardens

Year 8 had a great day at St Anne’s Well Gardens which involved a variety of events. Have a look at the photos and pupil reviews to see what we got up to.

Mindfulness - Mrs Hart started the morning with a session on ‘Gratitude’.

Guide Dogs talk by Graham and Bassey - Next was a talk on the challenges that Graham has to overcome since losing his sight and how his life has changed for the better since having Bassey.

Helping the Gardening Team - Chantelle and her fellow rangers split the girls into 6 groups where we helped tiding, gardening and cleaning areas of the park.

Street Art and Afternoon Tea - In the afternoon we worked on Street Art inspired by Banksy and other artists.

Graffiti Artists... is there a new artist in the making?

year 9 visit bletchley park On Friday 11th of September, Year 9 went on an educational trip to Bletchley Park. On the coach journey up, we all watched The Imitation Game, which got us all in the mood for doing some codebreaking, as well as helping us to understand a bit more how the site was used during WW2.

When we first arrived, we split into groups and had a chance to wander around the mansion and grounds on our own. Inside the mansion there was a great exhibition of The Imitation Game, and we got to go into some of the rooms that they filmed scenes from the movie in! We then got a tour of the grounds, which gave us much more detail about the uses of the sight. We learnt how the Polish actually broke the enigma code before the British, but kept it a secret. We also found out that Alan Turing buried all of his valuables underground to keep them safe during the war, and protected the spots he had buried them at with a code. However, when the war was over, he had forgotten how to decode this particular code, and therefore never found his money!

Finally, we had a codes and cyphers workshop, where we learnt about common codes used during the war, as well as how to decode them. We also had a chance to use a real enigma machine, which would have been used during the war. We managed to write Jessica’s name in code, and decode it again using the machine.

We had a wonderful day where we learnt lots of new fun and interesting facts, and it was well worth waking up at 6am for! Florence Haggis, 9S

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year 10 military!

On Friday 11th September, Year 10 along with Ms Baldwin, Mr King, Miss Cooper, Mrs Honeycomb and myself, headed for Dorking to take part in The Military Assault Course in Dorking. We had been warned by the current Year 11s not to wear anything that we actually liked and to be prepared to throw our clothing away! Well, that was no exaggeration as we all had an amazing time getting muddy and wet. I was overcome with pride for the whole group as they were quick to help each other up the ropes, down the ropes, along the ropes, up the tubes, down the tubes, along the tubes...and repeat. I heard laughter and giggles and singing all day long. Many of the girls had said before they started “There’s no way I can do that!” and yet they are faced their fears. They were a credit to the school and to their parents. Well done Y10!

Mrs Pianet

house of illustration talk by zoe tucker In preparation for a visit to the House of Illustration last Friday the Sixth Form were fortunate to have a visit from guest speaker Zoe Tucker. Zoe studied Graphic Design and over the course of her career has worked her way up through the post of Junior Illustrator at Random House, a few years Penguin and all the way to where she is now, working as the Art Director at Scholastic. She delivered a highly interesting talk on the making of a children’s picture book and worked on titles 2014-15 Issue 1: page xx

such as The Disgusting Sandwich and How to Hide a Lion from Grandma. Yet her most prominent clients are Axel Scheffler and Julia Donaldson, perhaps “the most successful author/illustrator partnership in picture book publishing,”* and masterminds behind The Gruffalo.

The girls learnt that there are many wide and varying factors to consider when commissioning a picture book, but perhaps the most important is character development. The character in a picture book has to do everything in order to allow the reader to believe in the story and having had trade secrets shared with them; the character has to look the same throughout but differing eyebrows and mouth shapes are the key to transforming expressions, the girls were eager to create their own characters.

Thank you to Zoe, who gave a very interesting and informative talk, giving all who attended a rare and honest insight into the world of illustration.

With these pointers in mind the girls set off for the House of Illustration in London for an Illustration Masterclass… *http://www.gruffalo.com/world-of/the-story/

sixth form marketing...

Last Friday, the Sixth Form had the opportunity to go to the House of Illustration in London as part of their enrichment day. For those of you haven’t heard of this establishment, the House of Illustration is the UK’s only public gallery dedicated solely to illustration. Sir Quentin Blake, the illustrator best known for his work on the Roald Dahl books, founded and opened the House of Illustration in July 2014. As well as displaying illustration in all of its forms, from advertisements to animation, picture books to political cartoons and scientific drawings to fashion design, the House of Illustration also promotes new illustration talent. On Friday, the Sixth Form took part in a character design workshop, led by illustrator Merlin Evans, who specialises in Medical Art. We were also lucky enough to visit the exhibition of over 120 original illustrations from Ladybird Books. It’s safe to say that we had a lovely day, which really brought back some childhood memories for both pupils and teachers.

Character Design by Farhannah Badruzaman

Brighton & Hove High School GDSt

JuniorSchool Dear Parents,

I spoke to the girls today about our upcoming open day on October 3rd and I hope that they understand why it is beneficial to everyone, themselves included, that they come along and show support. Thank you to those of you who have already let us know whether your daughter will be there or not. For those of you who have yet to reply, I do hope that you will allow us to borrow your daughter for an hour and a half on that day as the girls are our greatest assets and school is merely a shell without them. Of course current parents are very welcome to join us or alternately drop off your daughter and enjoy a short window of peace and quiet!

As you will hopefully be aware this week individual photos were taken of the girls by Brighton School Photography. With over 5000 images taken to get at least 3 good shots of each girl and siblings it will take a while for them to be sorted ready for purchase. We anticipate that this will be in about 3 weeks’ time. Having seen a selection of these I am sure parents will be keen to buy some of these lovely portraits.

Best wishes,

Sian Cattaneo

calendar

Wednesday 23rd U-11A,B & U-10B Netball v Farlighton (Away) U-9 Hockey v Farlington (Away), U-9B,C Netball v Copthorne (Away) Thursday 24th 6.1 Parent Lunch, 12 noon Year 1 Cake Sale Friday 25th KS2 Swimming Squad Trials

clubs and dates for your diary...

All clubs are running as normal next week.

UPDATE – Reception Parent Lunch will be Thursday 19th May and NOT 9th June.

Year 1 parents reading meeting at 3pm on Thursday 30th September.

Reminders: Year 6 Bikeability - Monday 28th & Tuesday 29th September.

Harvest Festival assembly - Wednesday 30th September .

sports club...

Year 5 Multi-Sports Club from 3:30-4:45pm every Tuesday this half term at the seniors. Year 6 will have the opportunity to participate in this every Tuesday after half term. Parents need to email me directly if they wish to reserve their daughter a place (s.james@bhhs.gdst.net)

year 4 visit blackland farm

On Thursday 10th September, Year 4 travelled to Blackland Farm with their bags packed, ready to take part in their first school residential trip! After a picnic lunch in the glorious sunshine, the girls spent the afternoon taking part in lots of exciting activities. They played some games involving team building techniques; relying on listening and communication skills to solve problems and work out puzzles.

Next was the crate challenge, where the girls had to build towers out of crates to climb higher and higher with a partner. If the tower toppled, they were left dangling from their harness in mid-air! The girls survived the teachers’ cooking in the evening, then headed off to the indoor climbing wall for more challenges and excitement.

Friday dawned bright and sunny again, and after breakfast we headed to the abseiling tower and the low ropes course. Some of the girls did brilliantly well to overcome their initial hesitation at the sheer height of the tower! Lots of fun was had by all, and everybody worked up a hearty appetite for lunch!

It was then time to pack and clean up our rooms, ready to return to school after a busy, tiring and fun-packed couple of days. None of us can wait for our next trip away!

cellos at assembly!

The girls had a real treat on Tuesday when Kate Mumford, our peripatetic cello teacher, came in to perform at morning assembly with the help of her talented assistant, Elsie B (Year 4).

Elsie and Kate played a beautiful duet version of “Scarborough Fair” and also “The Pink Panther”. Ms Mumford finished with the very exciting “Tarantella”.

If you think your child would enjoy learning the cello with Ms Mumford, please email Mrs Roberts m.roberts@bhhs.gdst.net

reception... “all about me” Well it’s been a busy few weeks in Reception! The girls have been spending some time getting to know each other better through their “All About Me” topic and learning the ropes of their new class! They’ve made some new friends, gotten to know their school better and have already amazed Mr Keefe with how wonderfully well behaved they are!

Mr Keefe has been so happy with how they have all settled in and is looking forward to all the exciting adventures ahead!”

match reports U-11C v Windlesham Look at those smiling faces! In torrential rain the U-11C’s played two short games against the U-11’s at Windlesham School. The girls conceded a goal within the first minute and looked a little nervous, however a second more confident centre pass and the ball was moved down court towards both Frieda and Isobel who made quick work of scoring. This was closely followed up with another goal fed in by Jemima and a third assisted by Nathalie. The defence then had an opportunity to shine with some confident marking by both Charlie and Ruby. The final score was 4-2 to BHHS. Windlesham voted both Jemima and Ruby as Players of the Match. Well done to all the girls who worked so incredibly hard in inclement weather.

U-11B v Towers It was fantastic weather... for ducks... as the U-11B team took to the court for their first match of the season. It was evident that both teams were slightly rusty as footwork and passing were not up to standard in the first quarter. It did get progressively harder to catch the ball as it was so slippery.

BHHS took the game to Towers with a number of opportunities in the first 2 quarters. Hannah D consistently intercepted and there was great work in the centre of the court between Alice, Hannah and Matilda. After half time, with Jamie playing GS and Liberty GA we finally managed to break through and score. The final quarter produced some really fluid netball and great goals, despite both girls being towered over by their defenders. Sienna and Sydney worked so hard in defence that Towers barely got a shot on goal. Player of the Match: Sienna. Umpire’s player of the Match: Hannah D. Final score 6-0 BHHS win.

U-11A v Towers The Year 6A team started their winter 2015/2016 season with a home fixture against The Towers on Wednesday. It was a very wet day but we decided to brave the elements and proceed with the match nonetheless. In spite of the conditions the girls played some brilliant netball in the first quarter with some strong defending by Rachel WD, Mary GK and India GD not allowing The Towers to put any sort of attack together. Some effective attacking play by Marianna C, Jaia WA, Elodie GA and Ellie GS resulted in a lead of 6-0 at the end of the quarter. We brought Delphi into defence for the second quarter and the game continued in a similar vein to the first with some good play, lots of interceptions, strong defending, fluent attacking play with some good dodging into space (what we worked on in training this week) and lovely driving into the circle giving us a 13-0 lead at half time. We made some changes at half time to try out some variations in positions and had extended our lead to 17-1 at the end of the third quarter. Further changes followed in the final quarter and all of the girls adapted really well to playing in different positions. The final score was a 23-3 win. Well done to every one of the players in some difficult conditions and a great start to our season. Hopefully we can use this as a springboard for our next fixtures which will undoubtedly be challenging matches. Elodie was named The Towers Player of the Match and Jaia WA Coaches Player of the Match.

nursery Welcome to all of the Nursery girls.

Look at the pictures and you can see we have had a great start to the new school year. It has been fun discovering all the activities, visiting the school garden and even meeting our resident scarecrows!!

Please remember to keep checking the mail pockets in the Nursery cloakroom for any letters.

Everyone should have received their letter with your personal code to the Interactive Learning Diary. Please don’t hesitate to talk to me if you have any problems.

Wine Tasting Evening Please bring your forms in asap as numbers are limited October 2nd at 7.15pm BHHS Junior School

ÂŁ15 per ticket including Red and White Wine tasting