39 newsletter december 2012

Merry Christmas

newsletter December 2012 Issue 36

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DECEMBER 2012 EDITORIAL It always astonishes me how fast time flies at Skipton Girls’ High School. Starting back in September, looking at the calendar of events, they seem to stretch far into the distance. Yet here we are breaking up for Christmas already!

One of the main reasons is the numerous amount of activities, visits, events and opportunities available at Skipton Girls’ High School to enrich the education of all our students.

This term is no different, our students and wider school community have experienced so much since September that once you have read this Newsletter you will feel you have had the same diverse range of fascinating experiences. Be it our successful French Exchange, entertaining music concerts or visits to museums and art galleries all aimed at broadening our students’ outlook on life and contextualising learning.

A few notable events that shaped 2012, and that will be remembered long after the year ends, are the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. This was a fantastic occasion for our country and marked the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne and becoming Head of the Commonwealth. After 244 years since its first publication, the Encyclopedia Britannica discontinued in its printed form on March 12th 2012. In June we saw the century's second and last solar transit of Venus occur. Further news on the space front - Shenzhou 9, a Chinese spacecraft carrying three Chinese astronauts, including the first-ever female one, docked manually with an orbiting module - Tiangong 1. Skipton Girls’ Physics students are fortunate to visit Cern each year and on the 4th of July Cern announced the discovery of a new particle with properties consistent with the Higgs boson after experiments at the Large Hadron Collider.

No doubt our girls will bring back more details once they have made their next visit to Switzerland.

Another highlight of the year was the 2012 Summer Olympic and Para-Olympic Games held in London. Some of our students were lucky enough to attend. The Olympics was absolutely thrilling from start to finish. The 3

organisation, athletes, venues in London and around the United Kingdom were fantastic and a testament to what we as a country can achieve when we put our minds to it. A special mention, and one well deserved, was the amazing job our armed forces and Olympic volunteers did in making the games safe and secure for all the world to enjoy. We are fortunate to have a number of girls who are members of the Sea, Army and Air Cadets aspiring to join our armed services.

The word amazing can be over used at times but not in the case of Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner. Felix became the first person to break the sound barrier without any machine assistance during a record space dive out of a helium-filled balloon from 24 miles (39 kilometers) up, the edge of space. Now that is what I do call amazing! This brings me to a truly unique visit our A level Engineering students undertook to Cambridge University and Marshall Aerospace in November.

Our students had unrestricted access to some of the prestigious university colleges and a flight simulator of a Hercules 130 transport aircraft.

They were able to take off and land the Hercules and fly over Cambridge. The whole Cambridge University visit experience was incredible and the article is well worth a read.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any comments or suggestions regarding the articles in this newsletter.

Wishing you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mr R Dyson Assistant Headteacher I wish all staff, students, parents and carers a restful and enjoyable Christmas break and we look forward to welcoming the girls back on Monday 7 January 2013.

With all best wishes Ms M Costello Head of School

FRENCH EXCHANGE During the week before half term (19th – 26th October) sixteen students from Year 13, 12 and 11 set off on the second half of our French exchange to the town of Douai, near Lille. It was a great experience for us all and also an opportunity to put our French skills to the test in a real life situation. We took the Eurostar to Lille, and we were all busy trying to fit in some last minute cramming! Everyone was quite nervous, but after meeting the family and seeing our French partners again, we were able to relax and start to enjoy ourselves. On the Saturday morning, we went to school with our partner. This was very interesting especially as we were able to sit in on some of their lessons, so we could compare school in England to school in France. In the afternoon we got a double decker train (a novelty in itself) to Lille, a very beautiful city with lots of shopping opportunities.

We had Sunday to spend with our French families and experience the culture. Slowly we got more used to hearing French spoken very quickly in a strong accent and we became more confident in speaking in their language. It was tiring having to concentrate all the time on translating, but it paid off

when we started picking up new words and phrases.

On Monday, we started our work at various places in Douai, such as the primary school, clothes shops, the tourist office, cafes and bookshops.

Even though I initially had thought that this would be the most nerve-wracking part, it actually turned out to be my favourite. I was in the primary school and it was so interesting to see how

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different it was, like being a fly on the wall. On the Wednesday, we were very lucky to be able to spend a day in autumnal Paris. We saw the Eiffel Tower and the Arc d’Triomphe, walked along the Champ Elysees and visited Montmartre and the Sacré Coeur (a very beautiful church). On the Thursday evening, the French school hosted a party for us with live music and food. It was a fantastic end to an amazing week, and though it was sad to say goodbye, it is an experience that we will never forget. Even though it may seem daunting, I would really recommend it to anyone who’s interested.

Rosie Sealey Year 11 Student

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I had a really great time on the French exchange this year and it was really good to put the French that we learn in class into context in the ‘real world’. I enjoyed my work experience (in the bakery) as everyone was very pleasant and would always help if I got stuck with what I wanted to say. The staff working in the bakery didn’t speak any English, so it really tested my French, but it also meant that I learnt a lot of new vocabulary and phrases.

Overall, I found it a very valuable experience, and would recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to go in the future!

Marianne Millward Year 12 Student

SGHS FAIRTRADE FASHION SHOW On the 15th November, Skipton Girls’ High School were proud to present our first ever Fairtrade Fashion Show.

The event represented the pinnacle of numerous smaller events held over the past year and was carefully planned over a busy few weeks by a group of Year 13 students in the ’Fairtrade Friends’ committee. (Who let’s face it, were very excited to merge together charity and fashion!)

With the help of Mrs. Brailsford, our geography teacher, ‘Fairtrade Friends’ was established in September 2011 and since then have been working within the school, the community and alongside local traders.

Our aim is primarily to promote the Fairtrade Charity, but also to attain a Fairtrade Schools Award. Getting the Fairtrade stamp of approval for SGHS would be a massive achievement and would acknowledge a shared whole school ethos of students and teachers to improve conditions across the globe.

The evening was charged with anticipation as the models from the school, students and staff - including three brave male teachers (!) Mr Aspey, Mr Carr and Mr Hoyle, all took to the catwalk. The hall was

Lottie McMahon (Year 13) nails her graphs!

abuzz with the Fairtrade stalls. The evening’s musical accompaniment came from the school’s rock band who performed a series of songs providing live entertainment for the audience. The products available were representative of Fairtrading countries across the world and varied from Christmas decorations to chocolates and even elephant dung paper!

Some beautiful hand crafts and quilt work gave information about the makers and their villages, which was alluring in itself.

We raised over £700 with nearly 200 guests attending, which was better than we could have imagined. We are proud to have raised the money and intend to buy a ‘gigantic good gift’ from www.goodgifts.com to further our aim in helping people in the developing world.

We passionately believe in Fairtrade and we hope to repeat this event in the future.

Marisa Chodakowski Part of the Fairtrade Friends Committee

Sarah Tindal (Year 13) scratches around for some festive cheer!

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SGHS DEBATING TEAM Debating this term has been fast and furious, kicking off with the Cambridge University Debating Union schools’ competition at the Grammar School at Leeds. Lucy Gledhill-Flynn and Charlotte Reay, and Agnes Verity and Catherine Scriven, completed two very challenging debates, arguing in favour of one motion and opposing the other. Motions including “This house would remove the veto power of the UN” and “This house would legalise file sharing” tested their ability to argue persuasively with just fifteen minutes’ preparation time.

Both teams took respectable second places in their respective debates.

The team is still enjoying training sessions run fortnightly by volunteers from Leeds Debating Union, and hope to persuade some of them to act as judges in an inter-

school competition in the new year – so watch this space! Training workshops include discussion of current affairs, political and social issues, as well as learning how to structure a winning argument.

Finally, a team of 8 went to Bradford Grammar on December 11th to take part in a training workshop run by Oxford University Debating Union.

Motions debated included “This house would legalise gay marriage” and “This house would not let the NHS treat obesity-related illnesses”. Meeting teams from other schools in a non-competitive environment was great practice, and lets us know the competition we face in the regional round in February.

Miss C Unsworth Teacher of English

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD Operation Christmas Child is a charity we have been supporting at school for many years. Set up in 1990, it aims to give Romanian orphan children Christmas toys when they normally wouldn’t have received any. From there, it has grown each year and now the number of countries that this Appeal benefits has reached 14, including Kenya and Azerbaijan.

This year, FPR Tutor Group led the fundraising campaign in school encouraging each tutor group to donate at least two shoeboxes, one for a boy and one for a girl.

We created model boxes to give everyone an idea of what to include and went round at tutor t im e

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campaigning for support. We were determined to beat last year’s number of boxes and we managed to do it! Our final tally was a massive 99 boxes. This is a big deal to children who have never been able to open presents before. The winning tutor group was BHO who managed to collect together 8 boxes. Well done to them!

Let’s hope we can beat this again next year!

Sophi Brown Class 13FPR

University of Cambridge, Marshall Aerospace and Skipton Girls’ High School

AN ENGINEERING STUDY TOUR 27th and 28th November 2012 This tour was kindly supported by the generosity of Mr John Hornibrooke FREng, a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering .

Students’ Report.

We are Jess and Lauren, two students studying A-level engineering at Skipton Girls’ High School, which specialises in engineering.

We both aspire to be engineers in the future and we chose A-level engineering because it interests us and it is a qualification which will help us to achieve our career aspirations.

When we were initially told about this trip we were very excited about the opportunities it will give us and it would afford us the opportunity to experience student life at Cambridge University.

Day 1 On day 1 we got up early and travelled down to Cambridge in a mini bus to Marshall Aerospace, situated at Cambridge Airport.

This visit gave us the opportunity to find out how large civil and military aeroplanes work and the engineering involved in the maintenance and manufacturing of these aircraft. Firstly, we were given an overview of the company by Jonathan Land, Head of Design Support by explaining the company’s different projects and their areas of expertise.

After the overview we were taken downstairs where we met Martin Payne and Mark Smith design engineer stress analysis engineers who explained how they tested the new engine for

Mr Dyson and Engineering students (foreground) Mr Jonathan Land and company Engineers (background)

the A400M aircraft on the C130 aircraft, and the problems faced when designing the engine, for example fitting it onto the wing.

This was followed by a talk on composites by David Maccubbine of Slingsby Advanced Composites, a Marshall Company, on the use of composites such as carbon fibre reinforced polymers and glass reinforced plastic for helicopter and aeroplane structures and devices such as pilot helmets.

We were then split into two groups and shown around different areas of the company. We visited some of the hangars, the air traffic control tower and the C130 Hercules flight simulator. In the hangars we were able to view the construction of military aircraft. In the air traffic control tower we were lucky enough to see a commercial plane from Dublin landing and the job the air traffic controller did behind the landing of the plane. On the ground we could see a

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specially converted Airbus aircraft, used for transporting horses from nearby Newmarket.

Some Charter companies operate from the airport in the summer.

We also got the opportunity to fly the C130 Hercules flight simulator which was used to test the prototype engine to detect problems before the plane is tested for real.

We were able to take off and land the plane

Adapted C130 Hercules Aircraft test flight with A400M Engine installed

as well as learning how to turn and control the height of the plane with the help of Chris Walton, the flight test support engineer. This was a very exciting part of the visit as it gave us an amazing opportunity to experience the controls and factors which would affect the flight of the plane.

Overall it was a great visit as we were able to meet real engineers and the role and responsibilities they had in the overall running of the company and projects. The activites and talks were very fascinating and a lot of the information will be very helpful for our Alevel exam on materials, for example, the composites used in planes helicopters and pilot equipment.

Afterwards we returned to our accommodation. At around five thirty we left our accommodation and set off to meet a

Modified C130 in hangar at Marshall Aerospace, Cambridge.

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former student Daisy Gomersall from SGHS who is in her second year studying engineering at Cambridge. We enjoyed a walking tour of the city of Cambridge and she showed us her college, Trinity, and explained what it was like to be a student there. Dr Long pointed out the magnificent Wren Library (1695) which houses many

Tour party at Trinity College with SGHS alumnite Daisy Gomersall

landmark publications: It holds Newton’s Principia Mathematica, along with a lock of his hair. Also on display is the modern manuscript of Winnie the Pooh, written by A.A Milne.

We were then taken to Magdalene College where were had tea which was followed by a presentation on materials at their conference facility in Cripps court, in front of Professor Rick Mitchell Royal Academy of Engineering Professor of Innovation, Dr Richard Roebuck Director of Studies in Engineering, Dr Hugh Shercliff, Fellow, College Lecturer in Engineering and Director of Studies in Engineering (Girton College). Dr Peter Long, Senior Design Engineer, Cambridge University Department of Engineering. Dr. Long was our principal contact for the two day study tour. We were in three groups presenting different materials: Polymers, Metals and Glass Reinforced Plastic.

Being able to present in front of directors and professors in engineering gave us an opportunity to improve our presentation skills and our confidence to perform in front of an audience. The questions asked by the audience were challenging, however we could use our knowledge on materials to answer them confidently.

Day 2 On the second day of our trip, we visited the Engineering Department of Cambridge University on Trumpington Street. We were taken for a tour around the department by Dr Long. During this tour, we were taken to an electronics lab, where we got to look at second year student’s robotics projects, and we got the opportunity to ask the students about their projects and how they solved problems and tested their projects; ready for a competition on Friday.

Whilst at Corpus Christi, we met Dr Juliet Foster, and she answered all of our questions about the application process to Cambridge, and what the college system was like. This insight surprised quite a few of us, but also made us more confident about applying to Cambridge in the future. We then had lunch with a few undergraduates from Corpus

Christi, who were able to tell us about student life, and what different courses were like.

This free access to usually restricted areas of colleges gave us a real inside view of the university.

After lunch, we were split into small groups and the students took us for a tour around Corpus Christi, showing us where the accommodations for different years were, and explaining some of the history behind the college.

We then re-joined and had a chance to ask any last questions and review the visit before taking the bus back to Skipton. It was a great end to a wonderful experience!

In summary, this trip gave us a great opportunity to see what a career in engineering involves. It also gave us the chance to meet real students, and to find out what student life is like at university, and the courses in the engineering degree. The opportunities gave us a chance to practise our presentation and interview skills, which was invaluable. It also inspired us to work hard to achieve our career aspirations to pursue a successful career in engineering.

This was a great experience for everyone in the class and has given us a lot of inspiration and excitement for the future.

Jess Shears and Lauren Meakin Year 11 Students

New Court, Corpus Christi College

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SSAT 20th NATIONAL CONFERENCE On Wednesday December 5th, Martha Smith and Emily Quirk – both in Year 10 – accompanied Ms Costello, Mrs Fisher and Mrs Black to the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust’s 20th National Conference on Innovating Learning, which was held at the Arena and Convention Centre in Liverpool. The theme of the conference was “Inquire, Inspire, Innovate, Impact”.

The title of our rondeval was Virtually Outstanding!. Martha and Emily prepared a superb PowerPoint presentation, together with laminated screenshots of online courses from a variety of subjects, to showcase theirs’ and other students’ involvement in co-constructing my.sghs.

They spoke with confidence and enthusiasm about their positive experiences of using my.sghs and its impact on personalising

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learning for all students, enabling them to set their own level of challenge and work at their own pace through courses by accessing and engaging with interactive, co-constructed resources. The delegates who listened to our presentation were clearly impressed by Martha and Emily’s passion for and commitment to their learning at SGHS and were keen to gain the girls’ perspectives on how they could further involve student digital leaders in the development of virtual learning platforms back in their own schools.

Mrs C Black Curriculum Leader: Biology

SKIPTON STUDENT JOINS MP FOR TAKEOVER DAY Julian Smith, Member of Parliament for Skipton and Ripon, has given a Skipton student the chance to see some of the work he does as part of Takeover Day 2012.

The MP was joined by Izzi Ellwood, the Chairman of Skipton Youth Council and sixth form student at Skipton Girls’ High School, for constituency visits. Izzi was recently named Young Citizen of the Year at the Craven Community Champion Awards.

Takeover Day 2012 is a national project established by the Children's Commissioner which aims to give children and young people the chance to get involved in

decision-making. Across the country, up to 50,000 are expected to have worked with hundreds of organisations, including other MPs, local councils, businesses, media and charities.

Julian Smith said: “This is an excellent project that gives young people a glimpse into the life of Members of Parliament and others who make policy and take decisions. I was pleased to be able to show Izzi some of what I do on a weekly basis in the constituency.”

Press release from the office of Julian Smith

Izzi Ellwood, the Chairman of Skipton Youth Council and Sixth Form student at Skipton Girls’ High School, with Julian Smith, Member of Parliament for Skipton and Ripon

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DECORATE YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE We are team of five Year 9 girls (Rebecca Nelson, Emily Sampey, Rachel Smith, Molly Ingham and Sacha Watson). Over the last few weeks we have been giving up our free time to raise money for Martin House, our school designated charity, by selling Christmas Decorations made out of scrap materials, including acrylic sourced from our engineering department.

We have been busy using 2D Design software to design unique Christmas decorations and manufacture them using our school’s V50 Versa Laser cutter. Every lunch time and break time, we have been selling our designs in the entrance hall. All the profits we make go towards Martin House helping to benefit children. We were inspired to start raising money when we saw the work of other girls in our school, and as it was nearing Christmas, we began to think up ideas that would time in with the season.

There are five different designs that can be purchased or ordered in a specific colour and shape. We then make the items and deliver them direct to the customer as soon as they are ready. So far, we have been very successful in selling the decorations

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and we will continue to sell them until the end of term.

If you would like to view our designs and order this unique Christmas decoration please contact us at our manufacturing base in engineering room L1.

Merry Christmas!

Rachel Smith Year 9 Student

SKIPTON GIRLS HOPE IT’S IN THE BAG Boom Boom Bags - that's the name of the school's new Young Enterprise company, which is competing in the North Yorkshire round of the UK competition to find the country’s next generation of business leaders.

The 10-strong team from Year 12 has designed its own bags, which it hopes will take it through to the next heat of the Young Enterprise competition. This year the competition is even more important because Young Enterprise celebrates its 50th anniversary.

The group’s canvas bag is produced in two designs, a Yorkshire inspired landscape and a quirky Aztec pattern. The rural scene is perfect for those who take a pride in their local area. We believe both these designs will appeal to a wide audience, along with being visually eye-catching and ultimately extremely useful. The bags can be used for a number of jobs, ranging from carrying folders to school, bringing a kit to the gym or even just the weekly shop.

JEWELLERY STAND PROJECT Over the last term, students in Year 7 and 9 have taken part in a new Engineering Project focussed on improving their metalwork skills. The girls designed and made their own jewellery stands, a number of which have been on display at Sophie’s Accessories, a local Skipton shop.

The girls have come up some beautiful designs and learnt how to make them come to life whilst improving their metalwork skills. All girls started with a small piece of aluminium which was then marked out, cut, drilled, bent, powder coated and decorated to make their unique jewellery stand.

An overall winner will be announced in January 2013 and they will be given the chance to produce more jewellery stands

The girls are going to be selling their bags, which cost £5.99, at a number of events, including the Grassington Dickensian on 15th December. These aren't the only times the team will be selling their products.

The girls hope to carry on promoting their bags throughout the New Year, and are planning on hosting events around Valentine’s Day, Mothers' Day and Easter. To keep updated on their progress they'll be launching a website in the near future.

Support the team by following their Twitter account, @boomboombags, or like their group on Facebook- Boom Boom Bags.

Any support will be greatly appreciated!

Mr M Blyth Learning Director: Engineering & ICT with the aim of setting up their own business and raising money for the school charity (Martin House).

The best designs were put on display at Sophie’s Accessories in central Skipton in November and will remain on display until the Christmas break. Sophie, the shop owner, has been very impressed with the girls’ work and will continue to offer her support to SGHS Engineering projects in future.

The Engineering department would like to congratulate the girls on their work throughout this new project and say a special thanks to Sophie Tyas for displaying the students work at her shop.

Mr S Kutnezsov Teacher of Design and Technology 14

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U14 NETBALL The Year 9 netball season has got off to a good start so far; we have done extremely well winning two matches and only losing one. The first match was played against Aireville on Tuesday 9th October. Being the first match the team wanted to make an impression and win it. Playing as hard as we could, we managed to make the final score 5-3 and won. Natalia Bate who played Goal Defence won players’ player. As she was in defence she prevented many of the Aireville goals from happening. The second match was on Thursday 18th October against Titus Salt. After a long journey there, with a squad of players, we managed to win our second match with a score of 10-

6. George Reay who played Goal Defence won players’ player. Our third and final match so far was on Thursday 13th November against Beckfoot. After playing a tough game we lost 3-6. Lauren Hodgson who played Centre for three quarters and Wing attack for 1 quarter, won players player, she worked hard at trying to get the ball up the court for our team. On Wednesday 12th December, we were supposed to be playing a home match against Bingley at Sandylands.

Unfortunately that match was cancelled; however we are hoping to rearrange this match.

Millicent Lee Year 9 Student

YEAR 9 NATIONAL MEDIA MUSEUM TRIP This November, the whole of Year 9 went on a trip to the National Media Museum in Bradford. As our classes had recently been learning about advertising in lessons, this was an opportunity for us to put our knowledge to the test. The National Media Museum is home to over 3.5 million items, all of which have some significance to the history of media. Currently, they have displays on Photography, Television and Technology through the ages.

First, we were split into two groups and were told which activities we were doing first. Our group began the day by work on adverts to encourage people to visit the museum. We discussed the different techniques with our guide and watched adverts made by previous groups to help us create ideas. Each group of five was given a camera and we had 20 minutes to get all the footage we needed, from around the museum, to create the most persuasive advert possible. We then went into the editing room and used a programme called iMovie to combine all 16

We learnt a lot about the different types of media through the displays. We found it very interesting to look at all the oldfashioned computers, TVs and cameras. It was fascinating to be able to see how much technology and media have developed over the last 100 years. There were a lot of interactive displays and we had great fun taking part in the activities.

our shots and organise the advert. We deleted the shots that were inappropriate and added text and music to the commercial. Once we had finished editing them, we took it in turns to watch each groups advert and to give feedback.

We enjoyed looking around the museum with our friends and being able to choose which displays we wanted to look at. It was very intriguing to be able to experience the process of making adverts and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rachel Smith Class 9U

and

Emily

Sampey

In the afternoon, once we had eaten lunch, we were allowed to spend two hours looking around the museum in more detail.

GIFTED AND TALENTED WRITING PROJECT We have been taking part in a gifted and talented writing project where we have been given the chance to write a short story, to be put in a published book. We have been working with students from other schools in the area and also with author, G.P Taylor. Our stories range from ghosts to cowboys! Over the past few weeks we have spent two days at Airville school writing our stories, 1 day working on illustrations with a professional designer, Jon Ingram, and finally we`ll

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have one day digital publishing, to put the whole book together and even make a kindle version! The book is called `Fourteen Fables` and we will be going to the book launch, at Waterstones in Leeds.

Our book will then be for sale in the participating schools and also for the Kindle. Our stories are `Three Things Before I Go` by Rebecca Hitchon and `Soon To Be No Longer` by Ilona Browne.

We are very excited to have our work in a published book and we have really enjoyed the whole experience.

Rebecca Hitchon and Ilona Browne

ROLLS ROYCE SPONSORED OUTWARD-BOUND LEADERSHIP ADVENTURE at Aberdovey Snowdonia National Park, Wales.

We really enjoyed this outward-bound adventure course sponsored by Rolls Royce.

It was a great experience for myself, the other four students from our school and including other students from all over the country. We made many new friends and had a really good time. We completed lots of activities and we were extremely tired by the end of the week - I think we all fell asleep on the coach on the way home.

When we first went we didn’t realise how challenging this experience would be. On arrival we were immediately split up into groups. We spent the whole week with completing the activities. The teams were made up of girls from all over the UK. Girls from Coventry, Derby, Scotland and

Sunderland to name but some. This was interesting because we learnt lots of new phrases and had numerous discussions on what different things were called in different parts of the UK. One of my favourite activities was the five mile canoe journey, it was the first main activity. When you started you began to see your new teammate’s personalities. It was hard work but provided us with a real sense of achievement and a really good feeling when we had finished.

During this, and other activities, we all started talking and it felt like we had known each other for years. I and other members of my team were lucky enough to stay in a log cabin in the woods (which was after a

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four to five mile walk). I say lucky as all the other groups had to stay in cold and sometimes wet tents with sheep and other animals roaming the woods.

Our cabin was dry and warm with a fire and shelter.

Overall the week was made up of attempting, and in most cases completing, a range of challenging problem solving and team building activities, including Jacobs ladder, jog and dip, hiking and canoeing.

We all appreciated the help and support of our instructors, Rolls Royce apprentices, and are very grateful to Rolls Royce for sponsoring and arranging the entire adventure.

We all had a great time and the memories will live with us for a long time.

Sally Plum Year 10 Engineering student

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CIRCULAR ECONOMY INSET (IN SERVICE TRAINING COURSE) Skipton Girls’ High School, which achieved Pathfinder Status for the Ellen Macarthur Foundation this year, held its first training session with teaching staff this term. The training session was led by one of the foundation’s Field Development Officers, Andrew Turney. Andrew led the staff through a number of interesting activities including raising awareness, not only of recycling, but genuine ways individuals and large multi-national organisations can change their whole approach to designing, making and using the world’s precious finite materials.

Although most countries have gone some distance in acknowledging that we need to recycle and where possible reuse materials and manufactured objects we still need to go a great deal further.

Moving to a Circular Economy it is said will secure for future generations an unpolluted

Andrew Turney, Ellen MacArthur Field Officer, leads the INSET

self-sustaining planet. The two economic systems taken from the foundation’s website illustrate the Linear Economy we operate now and the Circular Economy we need to embrace if the planet is to survive in the form of a habitable home for generations of human beings long into the future.

The second system (Circular Economy) and one all countries need to embrace will secure precious resources long into the future providing a planet which is self-sustainable and almost free from wastage, other than that which occurs naturally.

The first system (Linear Economy) and one used predominately in the world today continues to waste materials despite improved recycling methods.

For further information on the Circular Economy visit www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org 20

SIXTH FORM OPEN EVENING “Incredibly popular” was one comment a prospective parent used to describe the scene on arriving at our recent 6th Form Open Evening.

Around three hundred parents with their daughters packed into the main hall to listen to what is on offer when studying at our 6th Form.

Mrs Renou our Executive Headteacher was able to share the outstanding success achieved by our 6th Form students in Summer 2012 examinations and was immensely proud of the fact that not only did our students do so well, all achieved their first choice university with some also entering apprenticeships at blue chip companies including Rolls Royce PLC. As can be seen from the photographs there was standing room only with parents eager

Executive Headteacher Mrs Renou sharing with prospective parents and students the successes achieved by 6 th Form Students attending Skipton Girls’ High School.

to hear all about our school and the first rate education provided by our outstanding team of educational leaders and talented subject specialists.

Our new Head of School Ms Costello explained the process of applying to join our 6th Form and along with other Senior staff answered any questions parents had on the night.

Information on the application process can be accessed on our w e b s it e : www.sghs.org.uk Mr R Dyson Assistant Headteacher

Head of School Ms Costello explaining the process of joining Skipton Girls’ High School

Standing room only has over three hundred parents and prospective students listened intently to presentations from Mrs Renou, Ms Costello, Mrs Macmillan (Head of 6th Form) and two students currently attending Skipton Girls’ High School.

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SGHS CONCERT On Monday the 17th of December SGHS Orchestra and Chamber Choir performed alongside musicians from Skipton Building Society Camerata, under the baton of Ben Crick, for the first ever performance as Skipton Youth Orchestra and Chorus.

The Chamber Choir performed the popular ‘Ceremony of Carols’ by Benjamin Britten accompanied by professional harpist Ester Swift who had travelled from Edinburgh especially for the concert. The accomplished performance really set the scene for the run up to Christmas.

In the second half, the Orchestra, led by Year 8 student Isabel Wood and comprised members of SGHS with support of SGHS Instrumental Tutors and members of Skipton Camerata, performed Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor with professional

cellist Doug Badger, who has previously performed BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Manchester Camerata. This was the first time there had ever been a full concerto performed at SGHS and the audience were impressed by the quality of the performance.

The concert provided a wonderful experience for all of the students involved and as an excellent showcase for the talent of SGHS students. The opportunity to work alongside high quality professional musicians was of huge inspiration for all the aspiring young musicians and we look forward to future performances!

Mr T Carr Teacher of Music

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Year 7 Visit to Salts Mill Once again, the Art Department took the Year 7 students to see the wide range of art work by David Hockney that is on display at Salts Mill. We were very pleased with the way the students responded to the work, and they produced some lovely drawings in their sketch books. They were amazed at the range of work on display and to see the different processes that Hockney uses.

Their comments give an impression of the visit.

“It was a fascinating trip packed with a mixed variety of art work” Katie Clay CTO

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“I liked the range of different paintings and drawings and that we got to draw what we wanted to.”

Alice Garratt CTO “I liked all the work that was there. I especially liked the ‘Family and Friends ‘ pictures.

Molly Edwards CGU “I really enjoyed the trip! I thought it was amazing how he used computers and graphics tablets.” The pottery was really interesting too!”

Molly Wolstenholme JUN

“I really enjoyed the trip,I never knew that David Hockney used ipads and iphones to do pictures!”

“I learnt lots of new and interesting things and I would never have guessed some of the ways the art work was made!”

Grace Homard JTU

Bridie Hayes JFA

MUSIC AT SGHS The Expressive Arts and MFL Faculty have had a busy start to the year “with lots of ensemble rehearsals and dance troop rehearsals leading up to the Winter Concert.

We were delighted to make this event bigger than ever this year and teamed up with the whole Faculty to provide a fantastic range of performances from Street Dance to Jazz Improvisation and String Group to Concert Band. The work that all the musicians are doing with their tutors and performances in the Teatime concert series

really show off the improvement in technical abilities and this was really evident in the quality of the ensemble playing. The dancers and musicians who performed throughout the evening put on a fantastic show and the audience joined with our massed choirs and were in fine voice to help us get into the festive spirit!

Miss S Cowper Learning Director: MFL, Arts and PE

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