Issue 15 BHHS Newsletter January 2015

Newsletter Brighton & Hove High School GDSt

Issue 15 January 2015

Dear Parents and Girls, So, after forty-four years, The Sun newspaper is finally considering stopping printing photographs of topless women on its page 3 (the women, it appears, will be wearing bikinis instead). Hoorah!

I will not be putting up the bunting just yet, though, for the exploitative use of images of girls and women (c.f. The Daily Mail’s ‘sidebar of shame’) and gender-stereotyping (Meccano robot at London Toy Fair marketed at ‘boys 8+’) continue apace in popular culture. Nevertheless these are at least challenges that are open and visible and we can work with our daughters to counter them (e.g. via the Let Toys Be Toys campaign).

Much more worrying is the ever-present - and sometimes very dark – online world that girls and young women have to negotiate daily and it’s a world in which we as teachers and parents rarely accompany them. Social media sites and apps make anonymous messaging a way of life for young people. E-safety needs to be an integral part of every school curriculum. Cyber-bullying, toxic ‘instructional’ websites, phishing and online pornography present some of the greatest threats to young women in the 21st century. We need to guard against them and, above all, keep talking about them.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be writing to parents reminding them what we do at BHHS around education for online safety and suggesting sources of help and advice for parents too. Equally, we are always interested in hearing suggestions from parents and girls as to how we might improve and develop e-safety education and I’m grateful to one of our Y9 parents who works for the NSPCC for sending me the link to a new parent tool talking about social media that is really positive, friendly and easy to use. It’s aimed at parents of children aged 8-11 but I think it will be of interest to parents and teachers of all girls (the Net Aware section, I thought, was particularly helpful). It lists about 48 social media sites and the NSPCC worked with Mumsnet to create the guide to these sites from a parent and child point of view.

Here’s the link: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/shareaware Look out for more information soon – we’re all in this together.

Have a good weekend.

Jennifer Smith

We would like to welcome new girls into BHHS this term... Jessica le Duc – returning into Year 12 to BHHS from Bhasvic & Jasmine Liu – into Year 9 from Hong Kong

dates...

Saturday 24th Y11 English controlled assessment catch up (Second Chance Saturday), 9am-12pm; Sunday 25th Hockey trip (Wembley, 9am-8pm) Monday 26th Y9 GCSE interviews with SMT; 10G Guild Week; Sixth Form Scholarship exams/interviews; Berlin trip meeting for parents of students, 5-5:30pm; Hullabaloo Community Choir, 6:30-9:45pm; Wednesday 28th Sixth Form Academic Scholarship Interviews; Y7 Sports Scholarships and interviews; Y8 Parents’ Eve, 4:30pm; Thursday 29th Y11 GCSE Drama rehearsal (p4-5) and performance, 7pm; Friday 30th Y9 SMT interviews continue; Y12 & Y13 Drama trip to Othello, London Upcoming... Sunday 1st February YE at Holmbush Shopping Centre; Tuesday 3: 1pm Informal lunchtime concert; Royal Society of Chemistry visit, p4 -5 (tbc); Y12 Higher Education Evening for Y12 and parents, 7pm; Wednesday 4th School Council Meeting, 12:35pm; DofE Presentation at AMEX Stadium; Thursday 5th Intermediate Maths Challenge (Y10&11); Y7 Parents’ Evening + On Line Safety, 4:30pm; Friday 6th Y7 Anti-Bullying Workshop; Student Voice Interviews (Y11); House Song competition, p5; Windlesham School – Young Leaders’ Conference; Saturday 7th Master Classes/Open Morning at Senior School, 9am-noon; Sunday 8th Sixth Form Play Rehearsal A message from Luna, a Young Enterprise company... We will be in Churchill Square all day on Sunday 25th selling our handmade jewellery. With a variety of beads and charms, there is something for everyone. Please come along and take a look. Thank you for your support.

2014-15 Issue 15: 1

gdst creative writing competition 2015 Congratulations to all who entered! The GDST theme of ‘Role Models’ produced some sparkling and diverse writing. We had to select ONE essay to represent BHHS in the next stage of the competition and it was very difficult to decide.

Natasha O’Flynn, Clemmie Copeland, Grace White and Theodora Dowglass all produced some fabulous writing and were marvellous runners-up.

Celia Westwood-Dunkley won second prize with a piece which used different narrative voices most creatively. First prize and representing BHHS will be Rani Martin whose sci-fi twist was both modern and witty, while packing a powerful satirical punch.

Mrs K Ashdown

bhhs girls treading the boards...

Congratulations and good luck to Sadie Mitchener (8S) and Eden Burgess Hayes (9P) who will both perform in a production of ‘Loserville’ this month at The Old Market theatre in Brighton. It’s a new musical, set in 1971 and written by Elliot Davies and James Bourne. Performances run from 27th – 31st January and tickets are available from http://theoldmarket.com/shows/loserville/

the mary schofield house short story competition

2015 This year the stimulus for the competition is: THE ROYAL PAVILION | Word limit – 1,000 words

1. Deadline – to your House Master/Mistress by Wednesday 25th February in the week after half term. Hand it in earlier if you wish!

2. Make sure it is clearly labelled with your name and form and House – the entries will be split into two categories – Years 7-8 and Years 9-13 3. Each entry gets a House Point and the winners get lots, lots more!

4. The winners will be announced on World Book Day – Thursday March 5th March 2015 The idea for the 2015 House Short Story Competition is both local and exotic! The Royal Pavilion is a beautiful, striking building but our appreciation of it can be dulled by familiarity.

It is wonderfully mad! And just the sort of place where wonderfully mad things might happen.

How you are inspired by the building is completely up to you. Maybe you are on a school visit and run away and hide; maybe a restorer discovers something as they work on this Royal Palace; maybe the Prince Regent will feast again in the great banqueting chamber or the other historical figures from the past will spring to life again… or the dragons… or ghosts…

Mrs K Ashdown 2014-15 Issue 15: 2

The World Book Day Award (WoBoD) is offering us the chance to transform our school library. The winning school will receive £10,000, with a second prize of £5,000, and three runnersup will each receive £3,000 worth of books. They will also get the expert advice of a local bookseller to help make their selection.

We need to respond to the statement ‘Why we can’t live without books’. Entries can be submitted in a range of creative formats, including in writing, art, film and photography, and by a single child or by a group. The in-house deadline for entries is Wednesday 28th January, so that we can select our entry in time for the national deadline of Friday 30th January. The winners will be announced on World Book Day 2015, Thursday 5th March.

Brighton & Hove High School swept the board in the GDST film competition in 2013 – here’s another opportunity to show off our talents AND win some impressive prizes.

Please see Mrs Ashdown if interested

• What would you invent and why?

• Make a 30 second video explain your invention • Start your video with words “I would invent…”

to the

• Be creative, inventive, imaginative and …

– Win prizes – Join the ‘FORMULA 100 club’ • Could your invention be the next… post-it, wheel, mobile phone, hoverboard???

• Deadline for entries is 15th February • http://yourlife.org.uk/formula100/ 2014-15 Issue 15: 3

religious festivals

this week’s recommendations from the RE & Philosophy Department Mrs Dowglass

24th January | Hindu - SARASWATI PUJA This festival marks the beginning of Spring, Hindus worship Saraswati, the goddess of learning and the arts

25th January | Buddhist - HONEN MEMORIAL DAY 27th January | HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY [National] This is a remembrance day for all the different groups of people who suffered at the hands of the Nazis during the second World War. It aims to keep fresh in the mind the memory of all those who suffered and died at that period, and to help ensure that no such atrocity happens again. The date was chosen as the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau

30th January | Iranian - JASHN-E SADEH Zoroastrian A mid-winter festival, celebrated 50 days and nights before the advent of the spring

tv & radio Sunday 25th | BBC 4, 7:00pm | Shoah Tribute to the Holocaust Victims monday 26th | BBC 1, 8:30pm | Panorama: Forced Marriage tuesday 27th | BBC 4, 8:00pm | Children of the Holocaust tuesday 27th | BBC 2, 9:00pm | Touched by Auschwitz 2014-15 Issue 15: 4

Brighton & Hove High School GDSt

JuniorSchool Dear Parents,

I am constantly delighted to see the great parental support we have for our events and this week has been quite exceptional. Not only does it have such a positive impact on the girls but it gives the staff great feedback for their efforts. I know that for some parents it can be quite challenging to make it possible but I wanted to express our thanks and appreciation.

I am thrilled to announce that our upper school choir has been selected as one of the 8 finalists (from an entry of 24 schools) to take part in the GDST Young Choir of the Year to be held on March 25th. As you can imagine we are incredibly proud and preparations have already begun to make sure that we give ourselves the best possible opportunity.

I will be sending more details soon but please be aware that as a result of this the Year 5 production will move forward and will now take place on the afternoon of March 17th.

I hope this gives parents plenty of notice.

Best wishes,

Sian Cattaneo

good news!

We are delighted to announce that the Junior School has been selected as a finalist in the GDST Young Choir of the Year competition. All GDST Schools entered the competition, with 8 finalists chosen. Sheila Wilson, composer of children’s music and adjudicator for this competition commented “I was particularly impressed with both of Brighton & Hove’s songs. You achieved an excellent standard throughout.”

Well done girls!

Mrs Roberts

calendar monday 26th Scholarship Exams

wednesday 28th 4.1 Class Assembly U-9A&B Netball v St Christopher’s (Home), 2:40pm U-10/11 (Combined A,B,C,D) Netball v Portsmouth and Oxford (Portsmouth), time TBC U-10C Netball v Windlesham (Away), 2:30pm

thursday 29th Year 1 PA Cake Sale

clubs&reminders Clubs all running as normal next week (starting Monday 26th January) 2014-15 Issue 15: 5

creative writing news...

Well done to all of the girls that entered our recent creative writing competitions. The winner of our school poetry competition was Honor James in Year 4, with her brilliantly funny poem, entitled ‘Out of this World’. Coincidentally, the winning entry for the GDST writing competition was also a poem, written by Scarlett Baldwin in Year 5. Scarlett’s entry is a very thoughtful and insightful piece about her role model, Malala Yousafzai. Her writing will be judged alongside winning entries from all of the other GDST Schools. Good luck, Scarlett!

Malala by Scarlett Baldwin, Year 5 Malala fought for girls’ rights, So we could have education, And nothing could stop her, Not a bullet in her head, not the Taliban.

Her father is different, From other men in his village, He encouraged Malala, And started up a school for girls.

Suddenly Malala’s voice was heard, All over the globe, The Taliban wanted her dead, But God wanted her alive.

When she woke up from a coma, When the bombs struck, When the Taliban threatened her father, She didn’t cry, she held it in bravely.

match Wednesday 14th January (Apologies for exclusion from last week’s newsletter) U-9 BHHS v Farlington It was apparent from the outset that we were the stronger more experienced team. Some brilliant fluid attacking play from Ava, Amy, Eliza, and Amelia brought the score line to 14-0 at half time. Try as they might Farlington could barely get a centre pass past Liah and Elinor. Amy made countless interceptions. At 3/4 time the BHHS girls all played out of position which slowed the goal flurry down, but still produced a goal from Amelia. Superb effort girls! Player of the Match was Eliza and Umpire’s Choice: Amy. Final score, 21-0 to BHHS.

U-8A BHHS v Great Walstead The game was approached with real enthusiasm

I grow up to be brave like her. and determination, putting the opposition under pressure from the start. In the first half BHHS dominated play and defended well, their hard work was rewarded with Rosie scoring the first goal. During the second half our opposition countered but the girls kept their composure, tackling strongly and clearing the ball on several occasions. A slip in defence allowed Great Walstead to equalise resulting in the final score of 1-1. Molly and Eva, representing BHHS for their first time, rose to the occasion and must be congratulated on their excellent hockey. A steep learning curve for all - next steps are to make better use of space and improve their communication with each other, but nonetheless it was very impressive and we should be proud of them all - well done girls !

Malala is my role model and I hope that one day

2014-15 Issue 15: 6

Out of This World by Honor James, Year 4 If I had lots of wishes to make my dreams come true, to change my world, this is what I would do: Breathe underwater and be able to fly, Turn invisible when I want to be a spy.

match

Have my own living gingerbread man, And sing at a concert in front of my fans.

Meet Henry VIII and not lose my head!

Sleep on the Princess and the Pea’s high bed.

Have a car that would take me where I want to go, Talk to animals and appear in a Pharell Williams’ video.

Have hair that doesn’t tangle; teeth that don’t need brushing; Laces that tie themselves and shirts that don’t need tucking!

Take part in ‘Strictly’ on a Saturday night, Be a judge on’ Bake Off’ and have a big bite.

Visit strange creatures in the deep, dark sea, Go to other planets and visit people like me.

Eat chocolate and sweets but never feel sick, Never run out of ice-cream, especially mint-choc-chip!

These things are out of this world for me, So…what would your wish list be?

Saturday 17th January U-11 Netball Tournament On Saturday 17th our U-11 team took part in the annual Windlesham House School Netball Tournament and despite some hesitation regarding the weather (torrential rain in the lead up and frozen courts on the actual morning) the tournament went ahead.

In our first game we played Windlesham’s B team and although we had a greater part of the play we struggled to score. We were losing for 3/4 of the game but managed to

claw ahead and ended as winners, 4-3.

We then played Holmwood House - always strong opposition - but again, missed quite a lot of scoring opportunities. Our play lacked focus and our passing was inaccurate and the final score was a 2-4 loss. Next, Belmont, an unknown quantity, but we really stepped up our game and played some controlled netball to win 8-0. We had an end to end game against Farlington but we were down by the odd goal all the way. We had a scoring opportunity at 3-4 down but sadly missed and ended up losing the game, 5-6.

Our last game of the league section was against Sion - a fairly even game which we won 2-0.

This meant we finished 3rd in our group and had to play the winner of the other group, Windlesham House A team. Their netball was a little more fluent and combined with their more accurate passing and scoring opportunities meant we lost 2-6 despite putting up a good fight. Well done to all our girls and despite such a cold day accredited themselves well. Player of the Tournament, Daisy.

Tuesday 20th January Swimming Gala On Tuesday evening we had our first Swimming Gala against Windlesham who have their own pool and are clearly a strong swimming school. Our girls put in some superb performances and I know the experience of a gala contributes enormously to future events but Windlesham dominated nearly all the events. I was pleased to see some slick change overs on the relays and this event will certainly be great training for our next two galas. The final result was 59-32 to Windlesham.

Wednesday 21st January U-11A Netball v Hurstpierpoint The team had a slow start to the game, but nevertheless it was end to end Netball for the first two quarters. The opposition remained two goals clear at the end of both quarters, 9-7 at half time. In the third quarter our game really came to life demonstrating some excellent passing, quick movement up court, fantastic defending and some outstanding shooting.

This took the score forward to an 18-14 BHHS lead. The final quarter was a little up and down but 2014-15 Issue 15: 7

BHHS finished with a very strong final five minutes and with a 26-18 victory. Players’ Player was awarded to Holly and Coaches’ Player was to Bonnie.

match

U-11B v Hurstpierpoint The team demonstrated some excellent footwork, passing and use of space throughout the game. In particular their defensive positions were very strong and this repeatedly forces the opposition’s errors and loss of possession. This was very much an end to end game with BHHS having much of the possession. Unfortunately the girls struggled to feed the ball to the shooters effectively and this meant that we found it difficult to score. The final score was an 8-2 loss, but this did not reflect the standard that the girls played. Both Players’ and Coaches’ Player was awarded to Scout.

U-10A v Hurstpierpoint U-10 As started their match well on a very cold afternoon and played some fluent netball. First 1/4 was a fairly even their game with Hurst taking more of their chances, score 2-4 to Hurst. Second 1/4 our passing was a little more inaccurate and the tall Hurst defence seemed to pick off quite a few of our passes into circle. Score 3-8 to Hurst. In third 1/4 we made a couple of positional changes and concentrated on the quality of the pass into circle allowing more goal scoring opportunities score 5-12. Final 1/4 was our best netball with some great passing going forward and some timely interceptions from our defence resulting in us outscoring Hurst 2 to 1. Player of the Match voted by Hurst was India and Coaches’ Player of Match on her first opportunity in A team this season was Rachel. Final score 7-13 to Hurst.

U-10B Netball v Hurstpierpoint U-10Bs started their match slowly and the first half was plagued by inaccurate passing with little or no movement into space resulting in Hurst leading 10-1. In third 1/4 we started to pass and move better and the game flowed from end to end with some nice netball played by both teams, however neither team scored. We continued to play well in final 1/4 having made a couple of changes to team lineup. Liberty as GA and Jamie as WA (for first time) combined well with some slick passing in attack and Sienna and Sydney in defence made some fantastic interceptions resulting in the quarter being drawn 3-3. A great finish to the game by all of the girls but we need to take the final level of play forward into next fixture. Players of the Match were Jamie and Sienna. Coaches’ Player of the Match was Liberty. Final score 4-13 to Hurst.

U-8A BHHS v Hurstpierpoint A brilliant start from BHHS led to an early goal from Ella and BHHS appeared the stronger team. Some position changes from Hurst in the second quarter gave them more confidence and 2 goals, although it would have been more without Ruby’s strong goalkeeping. The last half was end-to-end but Hurst again pulled ahead. The U-8s put out their best performance yet with Liah, Rosie and Atlanta working well in the centre third. Final score 4-1 to Hurst. Player of the Match, Ruby A and Umpire’s Player of the Match, Ella.

U-9A Netball v Hurstpierpoint The U-9A team made a strong start, immediately intercepting weaker passes from Hurst, and capitalising to open the scoring. The first quarter ended with a 3-0 lead. The girls continued to play with determination; putting the pressure on their opponents and dominated in all areas of the court. The attackers moved the ball around well, freeing up space to create shooting opportunities. Our defence worked well together and managed to stop almost every Hurst attacking move. They continued to extend their early lead and allowed Hurst to score just 2 goals, meaning the final score was 12-2 to BHHS. The whole team should be commended on their attitude and sportsmanship throughout the game. Amelia was nominated Player of the Match by Hurst for her energy and domination of the centre court. Eliza was Coach’s Player of the Match for showing great tactical awareness and her thoughtful team play.

U-8B Netball v Hurstpierpoint The U-8B team started their match with a few nerves but with a positive team talk they picked up and showed great courage to start their match against 2014-15 Issue 15: page 8

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Hurstpeirpoint College. They set off well in the first quarter with some great defending and kept the opposition’s score low. With a few changes we then went into the second quarter showing strong footwork and ball control

by Phoebe. Lucy kept up the strong defending and worked well with Ruby to get the ball into our attacking third. We had some good opportunities at shooting and the shooters never gave up. The girls showed excellent team work and even though they were behind heading into the last quarter they continued to keep persevering. The final score was 0-6, however the girls came out with their heads held high. The opposition chose Ruby as the Players’ Player and the Coaches’ Player was awarded to Lucy.

U-8C Netball v Hurstpierpoint A big well done to the team for their match against Hurst this Wednesday. All of the girls showed some very promising footwork skills, and worked exceptionally well as a team. Our Player of the Match went to Kitty who demonstrated some brilliant interception skills and showed a real improvement throughout the match. We had a wonderful afternoon, unfortunately we didn’t win this time, but I know the girls will come back strong, ready for their next match! A 9-2 loss but a great experience for everybody. We look forward to seeing you all play again soon. Well done, U-8C! U-10D Netball v Windlesham This was our first fixture against the U-10 team at a Windelsham and it was a fast moving game. BHHS worked well as a team and there was some particularly strong communication between Isobel and Jemima in the circle resulting in some good scoring opportunities. Kitty, playing centre, created space and was the lynchpin in our attack. BHHS footwork was good and all the girls worked hard to support each other. The final score was 6-1 to BHHS. Man of the Match and Umpire’s Choice was Kitty for her good use of space on the court.

Year 1 Frozen Cake Sale &

Bake Off

Do you want to buy a Snowman?

Get out your baking trays.

Open up the oven door Flour on the floor

Its only 50p to pay

Lots of biscuits, cakes and muffins Sweet icing too

Which one are you going to choose?

Do you want to buy a snowman? (good luck star baker) Ok…..buy!

Thursday 29th January Junior School Dining Hall 10:00am 2014-15 Issue 15: 9

Brighton & Hove High School a gdst school

Early Years & Junior School Open Day Saturday 28th February at 1pm

Fun Activities & Science Sessions for girls aged 3-10 rsvp 01273 280200 | juniorenquiries@bhhs.gdst.net Radinden Manor Road, Hove BN3 6NH

www.bhhs.gdst.net Reg charity no 306983