Wakefield Girls' High School - The Review 2021

WGHS REVIEW The official magazine of Wakefield Girls’ High School 2020-21

CLASS OF 2021 WELLBEING THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARDS A YEAR IN MUSIC SPORTS UPDATE

Artwork by Hannah Sutton

Welcome

This has certainly been an academic year like no other and after the experience of 2020, I can’t believe that I am writing such a sentence!

This last year has been a rollercoaster journey for us all, but amidst the uncertainty there is one thing I can be sure of - the unstoppable thirst for learning and love of teaching that continues to be demonstrated at Wakefield Girls’ High School. As educators, it is our responsibility to inspire and equip our students to be ready for the increasingly complex world we live in and this is before even factoring in a global pandemic!

The skills and knowledge required go way beyond those necessary to pass exams and gain academic qualifications and Wakefield Girls’ students are empowered to use their voice, be proactive and not only self-advocate, but support others in their school and wider community. Despite the challenges we may have faced, our students have been selfless as they have continued to support others through their fundraising, donations and raising awareness. As a school community our daily practice reflects these key values and we strive to ensure that all our students are empowered, aware and work together.

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In fact, in many respects, I feel we are all better equipped to be more agile and future proof. Our level of expertise in the use of technology has enabled us to continue to celebrate the school traditions and stream them to our eager audience: Founders’ Day, the Sixth Form Revue (amazing!), the Carol Service and welcoming and saying farewell to our wonderful Senior Prefect Teams. It is events such as these that help us to feel part of something really special as well as part of a community.

Thinking about our community, this year it has been wonderful to welcome the following new staff to our school community: Louise Ladds (Assistant Head: Director of Pastoral Care and Wellbeing), Joe Ryding (Temporary Geography Teacher), Hettie Barker (Temporary Teacher of PE maternity cover), Steven Sullivan (ICT Support Officer) and Vicky Gardiner as Head of Learning Support for the Foundation, so not a new arrival as such but more a change of responsibility. We also celebrate with Kelly Hunter on the birth of Harry, Martin Wilson on the birth of Jacob and Grace Morgan on the birth of Freddie. We wish them all the very best.

This summer, I hope that everyone has taken some time to sit back, to enjoy time with loved ones and reflect on this past year and be proud of what has been achieved.

I am certainly hopeful for some normalcy for the academic year ahead!

08 We are grateful to all the girls and staff who have contributed to this magazine. A particular thank you must go to the girls in the Creative Writing Club and Student Leaders Sarah Shah, Elizabeth Sykes, Amelie Dissanayaka, Shara Vijay Kumar and Tia Stent for their contributions to this year’s magazine. The Editor would also like to thank the winners of the Calendar Competition for the additional photography complementing the work in the Review Magazine this year. If you have any comments or would like to submit images or text for consideration please contact The Editor, WGHS Magazine, Wakefield Girls’ High School, 1 Wentworth Street, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF1 2QS. This 2020-21 edition covers the period Summer 2020 - Summer 2021. Artwork on front cover by Hanah Sutton (Year 11). Artwork on rear cover by Lucy Hamblett (Year 11).

Once a High School Girl, always a High School Girl.

Ms Heidi-Jayne Boyes - Head Editor, Mrs Jennie Megson

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Contents 04 EXAM NEWS 05 MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES 06 CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2021 10 WELLBEING 12 POETRY & SHORT STORY 16 WHERE GIRLS HAVE EACH OTHER 18 SCIENCE 24 THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARDS 26 WHERE GIRLS LOVE READING 28 ART GALLERY 34 MUSIC 36 DRAMA 38 PHYSICAL EDUCATION 46 DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY 48 RELIGIOUS STUDIES 50 WHERE GIRLS VOLUNTEER 52 JUNIOR SCHOOL NEWS 54 MATHS 56 FAREWELLS 58 THE 2021-22 HEAD GIRL TEAM The Wakefield Girls’ High School Review is published by Wakefield Grammar School Foundation. A Registered Charity and a Company Limited by Guarantee. Company No: 4258359 Reg Charity No: 1088415.

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GIRLS HAVE EACH OTHER

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WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS HAVE NO LIMITS

Exam News A Level and GCSE Results 2021 We announced another fantastic set of A Level results this year, with 29% of students earning A* grades, 63% of students celebrating straight A* and A grades awarded in three or more subjects and 85% of students achieving grades A* to B. This follows an unprecedented 18 months’ period of blended learning.

Great joy was also experienced two days later when our GCSE students received a set of exceptional results. In total, over three-quarters of all GCSE entries were awarded 9 - 7 grades with one-third being awarded the highly sought after grade 9. Over forty students have been offered academic scholarships for Wakefield Girls’ Sixth Form as a result of their stellar results and performance over the last 18 months.

The Teacher-Assessment process enabled all teachers to observe student performance over a much longer period and in a rather more complex way, taking into account lots of different pieces of work and arriving at a holistic judgement.

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Headteacher Heidi-Jayne Boyes praised students saying:

We are delighted for our students. This cohort of A Level and GCSE students have demonstrated grit and determination; they have earned these results and deserve them. We congratulate them and add enormous thanks to our teachers and support staff who have worked tirelessly to ensure our students have been supported throughout this last year of disruption and difficulty.

At Wakefield Girls’ we tailor our teaching and learning and, as a result, the outcomes are excellent. These results reflect the tenacious, committed and ambitious young people we have the privilege to inspire and work with. We now look forward to seeing what all our students will go on to achieve next and we are excited for them

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A big WGHS thank you to our Modern Foreign Language Assistants

Modern Foreign Languages

Daniel

Célia Hi, my name is Célia Labussière and I’ve been the French Assistant since November. I come from a village in the Champagne region.

I studied English at Reims University before moving here.

I wanted to come to Yorkshire because I had never been to this region and I was interested in discovering it. I feel very lucky to have been able to move to the UK to become an assistant and to have been chosen by WGHS. I feel even more lucky to have been able to make all of this happen in the middle of a pandemic. It’s been lovely working with the staff at both schools. They were always available if I had any questions.

I have really enjoyed exchanging with them as well as working with the students. It’s been great to see their evolution throughout the year and to have been able to help them learn more about the language as well as the culture.

I’ve wanted to be a language assistant since I first had an English one when I was in secondary school. This experience has taught me a lot and it has been everything I hoped it would be.

Griaß eich! I was the German Language Assistant this academic year. My name is Daniel and I am originally from a little village/town called Garching next to the river Alz in Bavaria in the south of Germany. I found my way into the schools in Wakefield through a recommendation from Nicky Bray, a volunteer of the Foreign Language Assistants Committee. At the moment, I am working as a self-employed Foreign Language Assistant not only in Wakefield but also in Otley at Prince Henry’s Grammar School. Besides, I am tutoring private students and finally something I am very proud of, I am HARIBO’s in-house tutor for German.

Roberto

I started in February as there were quite a few disruptions the schools had to face last autumn and winter. Also, I only conducted lessons online which is why I have unfortunately never met the students in person.

Teaching only online can be a bit hard at times, but it is nonetheless less enjoyable.

At Prince Henry’s I never taught any students from Year 8 or Year 9, but at Wakefield I had the chance to do so. I was pleased and had a lot of fun teaching the girls and boys of the Wakefield Grammar School Foundation about my language and to convey every now and then some German culture.

I had a great time with all the students!

Hello everyone! My name is Roberto González and I came from Chile to work as a Spanish Assistant for WGHS and QEGS during the period 2020-21.

I have to confess it was pretty difficult for me in the beginning, since I am an English teacher in my country but never heard the Yorkshire accent before. I’m still struggling to understand people sometimes, but it is a beautiful accent. But my experience at WGHS and QEGS has been more than satisfactory. The girls and boys are so nice and clever, and they are always willing to learn new things.

I really love to teach them Spanish and show them a little bit of Chilean culture. Personally, my job and experience here helped me develop my teacher skills. I am a recently graduated teacher and there is no doubt that my dear students made me feel I chose the right profession.

Moreover, their unique personalities and capacities are the heart of these schools, and encourage all of the staff to work together on their behalf. The staff are so nice to me! From the first day at school they all treated me as one more of the team; always with a nice greeting or smiley face.

They make me feel at home.

I am really thankful for this very valuable opportunity. I gained a lot of experience and had great support from all the teachers providing me with everything I needed. Their organisation of all the material and lesson plans was brilliant and everything worked just fine.

Finally, I just have compliments for the professional team that work together to educate, guide and inspire our students. I will be eternally grateful for the great opportunity of belonging to this amazing WGHS family, of which we are “each for all and all for God”.

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CELEBRATING THE

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Class

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Sarah Shah, Head Girl

I am so incredibly grateful to have been able to grow alongside such an outstanding year group, and now to have been able to represent them as their Head Girl

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2021

Anna Chew, Deputy Head Girl

I am extremely proud to have been able to represent Wakefield Girls’ High School as the Head Girl for 2020-21 and extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve the school and the people who have served me so well over so many years. It goes without saying that time has flown by, however that does not mean our final year has been uneventful! The Head Girl Team and I feel that the circumstances of this year gave us the opportunity to leave our legacies in our own unique ways as we had to think outside the box and quickly adapt to changes.

Despite restrictions, we were still able to attend many important events in our roles and although some of these might have been new territory for us (such as virtual assemblies or social media), these experiences have been incredibly fulfilling. Most notably, was on Founders’ Day thanks to Ms Boyes’ and SLT’s efforts to provide us with a traditional handover to accompany the virtual assignment. Not only because we were able to live our childhood dreams of running around in the gowns like a rendition of Harry Potter, but also due to how moving the service itself always is. It truly did feel magical to sit in the Cathedral. To run our eyes across the elegant curves of the archways again, glance through the glossy stained-glass windows... And once the wonderful musicians and speakers began, it was difficult to hold back tears. The whole day was simply reinvigorating. I feel that was a key point for the team, as it highlighted optimism for the year ahead. From that point on, we were even more determined to do everything that we could to ensure everyone in school would be able to share in similar experiences and make good memories together.

Therefore, we turned our focus onto the school’s first ever virtual Christmas Revue.

Year 13 worked together to incorporate every single one of our diverse interests and ideas into a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ story following a time machine, allowing us to keep the interactive charm of the event. Seeing everyone’s efforts come together to produce this was another magical moment: all the teams from across the year and all the teachers were able to work in close proximity, while maintaining social distance. Like all Head Girls, I still cannot believe we managed to complete it! The Revue was a welcome celebration for the Christmas holidays, but also served as a reflection of the resilience and camaraderie I have always admired in the people around me.

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I do not think I could have asked for a better group of people than the Class of 2021 to have spent such a year with. From all the work everyone has put into developing large communal projects, such as the Revue (including keeping a list of ideas since they were in lower school!), to the work they have put into developing themselves and their own unique interests, everyone in the year has had busy and fulfilling WGHS careers. I am so incredibly grateful to have been able to grow alongside such an outstanding year group, and now to have been able to represent them as their Head Girl. I hope to have been able to reflect even a fraction of their values and qualities in my role: their resilience, creativity and kindness knows no limits and I aim to channel everything I have learnt from them into all my endeavours. Every single one of my peers in Year 13 has the skills and ambition necessary to chase happiness and success, however they are all such incredibly inspirational young women and such extraordinary individuals in their own right that I am excited to see the different and diverse paths they will take to achieve this. While it is impossible for me to fully convey everything in writing, I would like to especially thank the members of the Senior Prefect Team and the Deputy Head Girl for everything they have done for me personally, as well as for their commitment to our school and community.

Abigail Neilson and I have shared many mornings up at the SALT desk, trying not to break microphones, and it is because of this that I have first-hand knowledge of her exceptional eye for detail and ability to quickly solve problems on her feet, regardless of how much pressure she is under. She is truly the personification of ‘Yorkshire Grit’! I can say with confidence that her plans to study Physics at Lancaster University and aspiration of becoming an intelligence officer in the RAF are extremely well-suited to her personality and work-ethic; I know she has the drive to accomplish whatever she sets her mind to.

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I do not think I could have asked for a better group of people than the Class of 2021

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Aminta Utting-Simon is hoping to study Religion, Philosophy and Ethics at King’s College London next year. Considering that I have never met anyone as passionate about theology and R.P.E. in my life before, nor have I ever met anyone as organised (exemplified by the preparation she put into pitching and creating her own Philosophy EDGE independently), I have no doubt that she will excel in this. I have many fond memories with Aminta since Year 7, which I will spare her the embarrassment of sharing right now, however I cannot thank her enough for commanding our fleet of Revue posters and memes this year!

Anastasia Kelly has always been referred to as one of the techy members of the Senior Prefect team due to all her help editing the Revue, therefore it is no surprise that she will be going on to study Software Engineering. Anyone new to the school would be shocked to hear that she only joined in Year 12, having come all the way from Australia, as she fit in seamlessly and has firmly established herself as a member of the school community. With her musical expertise and interest in film, I am looking forward to any projects she may potentially pick up either onstage or in media in the future.

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Huda Chowdhery may have followed in her sister’s footsteps by becoming a Senior Prefect, however she was definitely able to make the role her own. From her proficiency in languages, interest in global cultures and avid media literacy, she definitely has the awareness and intellectual curiosity to flourish in her Politics, Philosophy and Economics degree at Sheffield University next year.

I am also looking forward to seeing how her creativity and eye for aesthetics influences her future work and the form it may be presented in.

Kyne Bordon (also known by many, many fond nicknames) is probably one of the biggest bookworms I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. It is no surprise therefore, that she will be studying a Classics degree next year. Alongside her academic pursuits, Kyne’s personable, light-hearted nature and bright smile lets her light up any room that she enters; wherever she goes she will always be able to attract and establish a strong group of friends with her charm, charisma and humour.

Lucy McKinlay will be fondly remembered as the tea connoisseur of the Senior Prefect Team, as she would always be happy to provide cuppas for anyone who asked during meetings. She has been at the heart of the WGHS Music Department for many years and the dexterity required for this talent will surely translate into a successful career as a Dentist. She has always been more than happy to contribute to the school community and I’m sure that Newcastle University will be very lucky to have her.

Ruth Gardiner is a woman of many skills and talents, as evident in her achievements as a musician, as a sportswoman, as a Revue actor and as an academic.

Having seen her ability to apply both her analytical and interpersonal skills at once, I already know that she will shine in the human rights career she hopes to pursue following her Law degree at Newcastle University. Her drive and enthusiasm are limitless, as shown in her organisation of the Leavers’ Hoodies as a Senior Prefect, but also in how she always lifts the spirits of everyone around her.

GIRLS HAVE FOCUS

Class of 2021

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Thank you to all my friends across every year group. You have all made this experience so special, and I will always hold these memories very dearly

Sasha Hildyard has always been almost a pillar to lean on, and her social consciousness enables her to join and participate in almost any group discussion seemingly effortlessly. Her level-headed and sensible nature always provided a sense of clarity in meetings and will certainly continue to be an asset during her Politics and International Relations degree at Durham. Due to her charitable and empathetic nature, I can’t even imagine just how much of a positive impact she will surely have on the world!

Sienna Sekhon cannot simply just be described as a ‘hard worker’ as this does not fully emphasise her sheer diligence and reliability. This is reflected in her achievement of being offered a place to study Medicine at the University of Leeds next year, which she will definitely do well in, as well as in how she always makes sure to give everything her all. I’ll never forget dancing to Hamilton alongside her for the Revue – after all, it’s not everyday I get to dance with a talented actor from musical theatre!

Zaina Khan’s plan to pursue a career in Psychology is very fitting as everyone always comments upon how deeply she asks questions and understands others.

She has always been the person to get as involved as possible with supporting the WGHS community while still having a laugh with those around her, most notably during filming for the Revue. Whether it’s as a Senior Prefect, when baking, sending yearbook messages or making videos, Zaina is dedicated to sharing her happiness.

Anna Chew has been the best Deputy Head Girl I could have ever possibly asked for, and I cannot thank her enough for everything throughout the year. I am almost convinced that she has a sixth sense, as she would always know right when to offer support or to bring up something I had forgotten. Honestly speaking, I’m not sure what I would’ve done without her! She has consistently been an active member of the school community and is simultaneously respected and loved by her peers, as she leads and inspires those around her while being extremely good company (on account of her humour and pleasant nature). It has been a privilege to work alongside her and I hope that she is proud of all the work she has put in for her school and her friends not only this year, but ever since she joined. Although she would probably deny it, she is so incredibly caring, committed and intelligent. I wish her all the best in her pursuit of a career in Civil Engineering; she truly deserves the world, and I know she will be able to attain it.

Thank you so much to the Head Girl Team once again, as well as to all the staff and students of Wakefield Girls’ High School over the years. Thank you to Dr Rhodes and to all my A Level teachers for their support, and thank you to Ms Boyes for maintaining the environment for our school community to flourish. Thank you to all my friends across every year group. You have all made this experience so special, and I will always hold these memories very dearly. I look forward to seeing what Eleanor and the new Head Girl Team achieves, and what the future of the school holds.

Sarah Shah - Head Girl 2020-21

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WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS HAVE FUN

WELLBEING: IT'S A BALANCING ACT

It's been a year like no other and never before has wellbeing been such an important feature in schools. To celebrate the importance of wellbeing, Wakefield Girls’ continued its tradition of hosting a Wellbeing Week jam-packed with opportunities to reinforce the themes of wellbeing which are threaded through a student’s daily life. It really was difficult to squeeze all the activities in!

Connecting with other people and celebrating community Our relationships with others are fundamental to our wellbeing. They help us build a sense of belonging and self-worth; they give us an opportunity to share positive experiences and create new ones; they provide emotional and practical support and give us the opportunity to provide this in return. The Year 8 girls enjoyed the return of the Happy Cafe, an opportunity to share a hot chocolate and good conversation and Year 11 students enjoyed playing Beetle Drive and making the tallest towers from cardboard. Throughout the year, girls have taken part in various activities such as Year 9 taking part in a treasure hunt around the school campus during the 'Easter Challenge' organised by Mr Shaw. They were out and about completing various challenges on the quad competing in forms against each other and doing a range of activities and challenges including a hunt for Easter items (and Action Men). Year 7 got to know each other through space for nature team activities and various Easter challenges set by Mrs Lindley. Some of their egg designs and creations were fantastic.

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Learning new skills Research shows that learning new skills can improve your mental wellbeing by boosting self-confidence and selfesteem, building a sense of purpose, and helping us to connect with others. The circus was a fantastic event, made possible by a generous donation from the PTA, where students learnt to juggle, walk a tightrope and balance feathers. Christmas tree decoration, making Eid decorations and bracelet making were also very popular events.

Giving to others Acts of giving and kindness can help improve mental wellbeing by creating positive feelings and a sense of reward. By paying it forward, it gives a feeling of purpose and self-worth, and helps to connect with other people.

It was wonderful to read the Year 10 kind thoughts paper chains, Year 9 compli-messages and the eye-catching compliment cloaks made by Year 7.

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Activities

The circus was a fantastic event, made possible by a generous donation from the PTA, where students learnt to juggle, walk a tightrope and balance feathers

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Being present Paying more attention to the present moment can improve your mental wellbeing. Being in the moment means paying attention and focusing on your thoughts and feelings, your body and the world around you.

Chocolate meditation which for those who might not know is paying attention to all the sensations and mindfulness colouring in was really enjoyed by all years.

Supporting others It was super to celebrate a wonderfully busy wellbeing week and setting the trend for the year to come where we have continued to come together as a community to support each other. The opportunity to work together to help others hasn't stopped; charity work has continued through our Everest Challenge competition where £1000 was raised by students and staff from both the Junior and Senior School through the sponsoring of flights of steps climbed and we completed over 150,000 metres, the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest seventeen times: a fantastic effort, particularly during Lockdown!

A youtube video produced by Dr Rhodes of the final totals can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW07kvQajbA

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GIRLS HAVE BIG FUTURES

We were delighted that Dr Sah, the founder of the Craniofacial centre in Nepal came to talk to us and answer the Charity committee’s questions and we learned how the money raised was spent to improve research and the lives of many school children in Nepal.

Despite Covid restrictions, WGHS have ensured that the golden thread of wellbeing has continued throughout the year.

Mrs Ladds

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WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS ARE CREATIVE

Sienna Sekhon

Poetry: A spark of creativity!

Many congratulations to Amelia Parkin in Year 9 who came runner-up in a North Yorkshire writing competition with her poem ‘Spark of Change’

Spark of change Everything starts with a thought, A single idea passes through your head, A problem to be fixed or a change to be made, And suddenly a thought becomes a thread.

A thought flutters through your mind, The smallest and dullest spark, It may seem like a dream out in the distance, But it can still be seen bright in the dark.

The idea is then passed to others, And you realise your problem is shared.

Searching for people who fight the same fight, You find the people you never knew cared.

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When people resist your ideas, It’s because it is unusual and strange, Not because your problem isn’t important, Most people just don’t like change.

Change is a pain-staking process, That requires years of revolution, It can take a lifetime for an adjustment to be made, But it will be worth it for a solution.

Once a difference is made in society, The battle is all but won.

One problem solved is an amazing achievement, But that doesn’t mean the war is done.

Just think of the future generations, Who won’t have to face your pain, Or live in fear of a century old problem, Because you reached your aim.

Amelia Parkin in Year 9

GIRLS ARE CREATIVE

Creative

Mixed signals

Zara Akhtar

QEGS Year 12 Literature students are invited to compose an ode to mark Founders' Day. Mrs Fitzsimons commented most favourably on ‘The Ode 2020’ written by Elizabeth Sykes.

Her writing showed great skill and sensitivity and QEGS staff were delighted that she gave permission for her poem to be used as part of their Founders’ Day celebrations.

The Ode 2020 She was the city Born to the music of Thames and chopping block The palest rose of the bloodiest house Fed on gold that, with father's steps, Locked her up from the inside.

She was the city Carved in every hull, of every ship The selfsame ships that ended Spain.

In every word, in every line Written in the ale houses Read aloud on stage.

She was the city, And yet, Her jewelled hands spread across hills and valleys.

And miles away, They etched her name in stone And built up, Until towers kissed clouds And roofs could shelter the heads that held The minds of generations.

The ships rotted away, And the ale houses and stages pulled their doors closed, But the towers, and roofs, and columns stayed.

So we thank you, flame-haired queen Who once was the city, And now is here, where her name Can be burned into all of us.

Elizabeth Sykes - Year 12

I’m crossing a road. there are two lights: green and red. the lights are broken. they keep flashing quickly from one to the other. the road is busy. so when I think I’m safe, and it’s on green, suddenly it changes to red. and the cars come so fast, they hit me, but not hard enough for me to be dead. so they turn back green and I barely pick myself up, before this happens again. the lights are your mixed signals, the cars are every time you hurt me.

Zara Mahmood - Year 11

A smile painted on A smile painted on A tear wiped away Eyes no longer bright Time continues on Nothing seems to change Once a simple emotion Now so far away Endless days at home Time continues on Nothing seems to change Tia Stent - Year 10

My Grandmother’s hands My Grandmother’s hands have a story to tell, From waving farewell, To holding a seashell.

They may not be like my mother’s strong and beautiful, But they are my grandmother’s, Her hands may now be blue with soft skin that Droops, but within them, in their veins runs the blood of a woman, with love, with pride.

But to me they were something to hold when I was small, They were something that gave me the strength to carry on, A comforting touch on the shoulder, A playful swing.

Rhiona Lahiri - Year 7

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Short story: THE TRAIN JOURNEY Now that I had a seat next to the window, a nap was essential. I cursed myself for the meagre one hundred and fifty-six minutes of sleep I had squeezed into the early hours after last night’s shenanigans. I would normally refrain from anything on my person, let alone my Fenty covered skin, coming into contact with the filthy window panes on this commute. Today was going to be an exception. I just had to raise this scarf up my face enough to not look like I was going to hold the passengers hostage and form a barrier to the plethora of organisms multiplying successfully on this train. I didn’t need Mrs Lindley’s agar plate from Year 7 to prove what grew here. Nope. The heating (paid for in part from my extortionate fare), the condensation from hundreds of morning breaths and a surface that had never seen an anti-microbial agent since its conception, made the perfect home.

Thud!

“So sorry – dint mean to startle ya.”

No eye contact, just a perfunctory practiced statement and now this one-hundred-and-twenty-kilogram mass of flesh and squashed bones was sitting snug against me. The stench of sweat, a greasy bacon bap combined with Lynx Africa stimulated my nasal cells. But it was only going to get worse. He was a talker. You know the type: Mr Know-ItAll who knows everything about anything and anything about everything.

“Did ya see it this mornin’? They wer talkin abaart wa’er level bein so ‘igh on Breakfast.”

I hated being rude. But must I engage in small talk every time I travel by public transport? It seemed he did not need a response.

“I reckon one o’ these days they’ll av to stop this route. I mean I know it’s aar weather like... but jeez did you see rain last night? Just wunt stop.. an’ Carol said there’s e’en more tonight.”

I offered a pathetic smile and exaggerated my head tilt on to the window. Catching an ‘-itis’ was now more appealing than engaging in conversation with Bacon Buddy here.

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Hareem Ghouri

I’m not sure how many minutes I had managed to doze before I woke to a symphony of water hitting the panes of glass along the carriage, like a talented musician letting his elegant fingers loose on a piano. The hammering rattled both the carriage and my ear drums. I became aware that the train was moving slower than expected. I tried to focus through the window but all I could see was an angry blur of foam and water.

The screeching could have been the wheels along the track or the anguish of the passengers but before I could make sense of the sounds, a panicked voice from the tannoy joined in. The train was about to make an emergency stop. Bacon Buddy’s jaw was wide open. As the train came to stand still, my eyes looked beyond him.

The windows on that side of the carriage were clear, letting me focus on sage, then red, cream, orange and blue. The neat row of tall tourist townhouses sat proudly on the embankment. Separating them from the track was a freshly painted black rail.

Creative

a roar, the waves returned “ With against my window. This time with more ferocity and purpose.

The tumultuous wind tossed the seagulls like shredded paper

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Mollie Jones

With a roar, the waves returned against my window. This time with more ferocity and purpose. The tumultuous wind tossed the seagulls like shredded paper. Flashes of white hit the sides of the train as nature’s fan worked on full power.

Mother Nature did not like this engineered steel getting in her way. With another big crash of waves, the train creaked and then tilted. I felt my body jam into my fellow passenger.

The driver was trying to tell us something, but a chorus of screams, cries and shouting drowned out anything of use.

Bacon Buddy’s fat fingers were tapping violently on his mobile, 999. I felt the desire to let work know I would be late, but how late? The train was tilted by about twenty degrees.

If everyone just shut up and stayed still, we would be out of this mess very soon.

It took a few minutes and a couple of leader-types to control the chaos. Our carriage and a couple of others had derailed.

We all needed to stay still and calm. The emergency services were working to get us out. Bright red fire engines had popped up on the embankment and the teeth on their tools were cutting through the beautiful black railing to enable access.

Competing with them was the relentless rain beating everything in sight. I wondered how much more rain it would take to tip the carriage onto its side. I needed to stop thinking like this. Think positive! I thought about last night, that clear wine swirling in my glass, then another and another. Oh crumbs, I needed the loo. The rain was teasing me too just like when you were potty-training and your mum turned on the tap to encourage you to pee. My bladder did not need any further encouragement.

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GIRLS ARE CREATIVE

Alex Lee

I thought about all the other trains queuing up like dominoes further down the track. I thought of the hundreds of people late for work, not making it to their interview on time, or not seeing their partners. There was a chain of events all halted by this one train on this track.

It was November and the wet weather season had only just begun. Bacon Buddy was probably right. This route was far too dangerous. The flood defences that were put off each year by the squabbling council needed putting in place before anyone was harmed or hurt.

Hooriya Fida Hussain - Year 11

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WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS HAVE EACH OTHER

SHINE

WHERE FUTURES ARE MADE AND THE STORY BEGINS Chapter 1 As a student who has just finished Year 11 at WGHS, I believe there are three different parts of your school experience that make it up. Just like when planning your GCSE English Language creative writing piece (as we have had the procedure drilled into us for the past two years I seem to know it pretty well!) you need to plan your start, middle and end to create a good story. Therefore to have the best experience possible at WGHS you need to set yourself goals throughout the years starting from Year 7.

I remember when I was in Year 7, Year 11 seemed miles away yet I had a rough outline of what I wanted to achieve, what subjects I would choose for my GCSEs and what extra-curricular activities I wanted to pursue. Whenever I make a big decision I often do think of what my 11yr old self would think if she saw me now. Would she be proud of my appearance? My choice of subjects, sports and clubs?

Would she be surprised that I haven't grown since I was her age? (Well, I think she’d be rather disappointed by that one.)

But overall, I think she would be proud of all I have achieved even though it wasn’t necessarily what she had planned for me. Although to be fair to her, it would be quite difficult to see a pandemic that far ahead!

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When I asked about how the current Year 7 see the older students, Halima Bello-Inua responded: “The Head Girl each year always inspires me. This is because in the future I really want to become the Head Girl.” In addition, Saachi Singh replied: “I think the senior girls are role models for me as I would one day love to be on the Senior Prefect Team.”

From these comments it appears to be instinctive to want to plan your perfect WGHS story from the outset and by setting goals right from the start we can work hard to pursue them.

The Year 7 experience sets the foundation for your overall school experience hence why it is such an important year: it is where your first friendships are formed, the teachers make their first impressions of you and where you have all the embarrassing pictures taken of you that you’ll be reminded of at your Year 11 leavers’ day! Exciting... And it all starts on your first day in September, where everyone often feels a mixture of emotions. “I was nervous because it was a new school but I was also excited to learn and make new friends. I was sad because I was leaving my old friends.”

These are the words of Rhea Lahiri inYear 7 as she described her initial experiences. She went on to say that she has loved every minute of school and that she loves going into the classroom and seeing her friends. Year 7 is the start of the school which is almost certain to be an enjoyable part of the journey.

GIRLS HAVE EACH OTHER

Experiences

older students are definitely role models “ The to me because they have been through the

transition into Year 7 and they are now very settled into the school

”

Thankfully, just like most stories there’s more than one character involved in your WGHS experience. There are of course your teachers and classmates but also the girls in the years above who are always there to help, guide and inspire. I remember looking up to the sports captains, the Head Girl and the peer mentors hoping that one day I’d be like them. Similarly, the current set of Year 7 seem to be in agreement as Rhiona Lahiri (Rhea’s twin) told me: “The older students are definitely role models to me because they have been through the transition into Year 7 and they are now very settled into the school.” What can also come in handy during the school years is having a sibling along the way to help you manoeuvre your way through. When I was in Year 7, I had an older brother in Year 13 and other than the occasional ‘accidental eye contact and pretend you don’t know each other’ moment on the rare occasion we passed each other in the halls, he wasn’t much help at the time. However, later on in my school years his past experience and knowledge of his GCSE content helped me a lot. Yet for some students they needn’t wait for their later school years for their family connections to come in handy: Eleonora Green and Halima Bello-Inua both have older sisters in Year 11. “I feel like attending the same school is easier because she knows what I had learnt in the year because she had done the same sort of things herself, ” said Eleonora. Halima had a similar experience and said, “I like having my sister there.

Whenever I want to talk to her, I don't have to wait until the end of the day.”

Rhea and Rhiona Lahiri are twin sisters in Year 7, which is a family connection that very few of us are familiar with but they definitely reap the benefits. Rhea shared her experience with me and said: “Having a sister in the same school makes me feel like I have someone and that I am not alone. Her sense of humour makes even the difficult situations funny. The benefit is if one of us forgets a textbook/earphones we can always count on each other. The other benefit is that they will always push you to be the best.” Her twin Rhiona echoed this and said: “My sister inspires me everyday because she never makes me feel that I am ever alone. Her love and warmth make me feel so secure and safe. It was her who helped me get used to Year 7. My sister’s experience has been very similar to mine because we have some very supportive friends and teachers helping us improve and get better at this school.”

Therefore we can see that no one is ever a lone character in their WGHS story: some of us have family members to guide us, but there are older girls and teachers like fairy Godmothers to ensure you have the best start and finish to your school life and through setting yourself goals and working hard at them throughout you can ensure this. Although I have not finished my Wakefield Girls’ story, I know that it’s going to be a fantastic ending and the start of a new chapter as I start at WGHS Sixth Form. I can’t contain my excitement and just like a new Year 7 - I can’t wait.

Favourite memories of Year 7... n

“My favourite memory of Year 7 is when we had

the circus come over and we got to learn how to use the diablo and much more.”

Eleonora Green

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“I loved the pain au chocolat we had with hot chocolate in Peppers. It was delicious.”

Saachi Singh

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“My favourite memory is my first day at school.

Me and my friend got lost on the way to Art, but eventually found our way with some people's help.

It was fun to get to know each other.”

Halima Bello-Inua

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“My favourite memory was the Christmas party

where we did the huge secret santa. I got to receive a present and I got a bond over what type of style the person had. I remember the atmosphere while it was coming up to the time where everyone had to guess who gave them the present.”

Rhea Lahiri

Alex Lee

Shara Vijay Kumar - Year 11

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WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS HAVE BIG FUTURES RSC’s Schools’ Analytical Chemistry Competition 2021

Each year the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Analytical Division holds the Schools’ Analyst Competition. The North East regional heats are usually held at Huddersfield University in May, however due to Covid restrictions this was not possible. Instead, after applying, WGHS was selected to host this competition for our Year 12 students.

Our A Level chemists (three per team) put their analytical skills to the test and were required to undertake various practical techniques to solve problems relevant to industrial and social needs. They were also required to carry out some background research followed by a three hour lab session in which they carried out their analyses.

The students carried out thin layer chromatography, flame tests and test tube reactions to identify the contents of three damaged chemical barrels found washed up beside a river in the rural town of Allvale. They also answered a series of challenging analytical chemistry questions.

Congratulations to team 3 composed of Mabel Hepplestone, Sophie Russell and Mollie Shone who were the WGHS winners. This was a fantastic opportunity for the students to put into practice their analysing skills and an enjoyable afternoon was had by all.

Dr Duerden-Brown

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UK Chemistry Olympiad

Designed to challenge and inspire, the UK Chemistry Olympiad is the leading chemistry competition for students in secondary education across the British Isles. Each year the Royal Society of Chemistry offers a two hour exam paper asking students to apply their subject knowledge and understanding to a range of complex novel applications; and once again students from WGHS were keen to push themselves further to show how they can excel in the chemistry field.

Open to Sixth Form students, and covering concepts from across the curriculum and beyond, we were impressed to see a number of students challenging themselves by taking part. With a range of topical applications, from questions covering social distancing (in molecules), and the potential for life on Venus, to the infamy of hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 relief.

Science

Despite the high degree of challenge, particularly for Year 12 students, the quality of chemistry on display was striking. There were fantastic approaches to each of the complex problems from all of the participants, including some extraordinarily confident diagrams of molecules formed by the larger Noble Gases.

Congratulations to Year 12 students Emily Pridham, Hannah Poulton-Haselier, Lucy Harding and Sarah Ng for their excellent participatory efforts; alongside Ella Shaw, Faith Budge, Mollie Shone and Sophie Russell who all achieved a bronze award for their work.

Mr Murtland

DNA models

During lockdown Miss Dollive’s Year 11 students enjoyed the challenge of making their own DNA model from whatever they could find at home. Students then voted for their favourite model.

1st: Charlotte McKinlay Joint 2nd: Erin Bates and Esther Raw Joint 3rd: Lucy Blanchard, Manya Dhingra and Ananya Ganjam Charlotte McKinlay

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GIRLS HAVE BIG FUTURES

Erin Bates

Esther Raw

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Physics 2020-21

GCSE Astronomy

It’s been a busy year for the Physics Department, despite all the disruption.

Our students and staff alike have shown great resilience and flexibility during our Remote Learning, getting to grips with online technologies and demonstrations from the spare bedroom. We’ve made sure that we haven't missed out on practical work this year, even when working from home: our students have taken part in many “Do Try This At Home” practical activities, such as measuring the melting rate of ice cubes, making their own spectroscopes out of old CDs (remember them?) and even measuring the strength of Earth’s gravitational field!

Our A Level students have been pitting themselves against the very best Physicists in the UK by taking part in the British Physics Olympiad, gaining a selection of Bronze Awards and Commendations for their efforts.

Students from Years 8, 9 and 10 have been reaching for the skies, having taken up the opportunity to build and launch their own rockets during EDGE this year. We started with simple paper rockets before progressing to solid-fuel powered rockets, launched from the Games Field. We now have a team of students hoping to take part in next year’s UKROC National Rocketry competition.

In early June, Year 8 and 12 students had a rare opportunity to observe a partial solar eclipse: although the day was mostly cloudy, we did manage to get a few glimpses of this stunning celestial event.

Mr Hannard

In September 2020, the Physics Department started offering Astronomy as an extra GCSE and a number of Year 9 students have been studying the subject over two lunchtimes per week since the start of the academic year. At the time of writing, the students are approximately half way through the course.

So far, we have studied how the Earth, Moon and Sun interact with each other and how this leads to phenomena such as the phases of the Moon and the lengthening and shortening of daylight over the course of a year. The students have also learned how to navigate the night sky, recognising some prominent constellations and how groups of stars can be used as pointers to other night sky objects. We have seen how different cultures have been influenced by the night sky, how they have interpreted it differently and also the subtle changes which have occurred over the centuries. Most recently, we have looked at how our ideas of the Solar System have developed over the years and some of the scientists responsible for this.

So far the focus has been on so-called “naked eye” Astronomy and next year students will be learning how telescopes and space missions have expanded our knowledge of the Universe. By the end of the course the students will understand how different types of telescope work and how they can be used to observe astronomical objects in a safe manner as well as constructing simple ones of their own. They will also learn about distant galaxies and what these tell us about the origins of the Universe.

As well as the theory, the students have engaged in practical work. They have learnt how to determine their location using the Sun and how the appearance of the Moon changes over time. When weather conditions have permitted it, some have been able to observe some of the constellations and deep sky objects they have learned about in lessons. Even a small telescope will allow you to see Saturn’s rings and Mars’ ice caps. If you don’t have a telescope, a pair of binoculars will enable you to spot Jupiter’s moons, the Coathanger cluster and craters and mountains on the Moon. Even your eyes, away from city lights and with a little time allowing for dark adjustment will enable you to spot the Pleiades, the Orion nebula and for a real challenge, the Andromeda Galaxy.

Sitting in a comfortable deck chair, you can also just enjoy the sight of the Milky Way arcing over your head.

It is hoped that with the easing of restrictions, we will be able to broaden what we can offer to both students and parents and that maybe WGHS may be responsible for producing the next Caroline Herschel, Maggie Aderin-Pocock or Jocylen Bell-Burnell.

Dr Durell

Spec troscope

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GIRLS HAVE INSPIRATION

Science

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The Make Space for Nature Challenges have been aimed at Year 6 and 7 to allow them to learn more about the environment around us and contribute to wildlife in a number of ways

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Year 12 Biology Student Leaders Year 9 study group Founding our Biology study group has been an enjoyable experience for us and we hope that it has helped Year 9 at the beginning of their GCSE studies!

After meeting fortnightly over this past academic year, we have revised many topics with Year 9. We have really enjoyed working with them as they are all very enthusiastic and love taking part in our quizzes.

We were able to make useful resources for the girls to use when revising as well as hosting google meets for the girls to attend if they needed more individual help.

We received some good responses to the tasks that were set and hope that the feedback given will help them improve their understanding of the topic.

We are currently working on a new presentation on ‘Adaptations’ for the girls to use and are planning to host some more google meets as it comes nearer to exam season. We hope this club has helped them feel more confident in their studies. This role has helped us develop skills that will help us in the future and we as students continue to enjoy Biology at A Level.

Year 10 Kahoot and Make Space for Nature Challenges Over the school Christmas period, I made a Biology and Christmas themed Kahoot - quite the mashup! Various year groups across the school enjoyed taking part as a nice conclusion to the year in time for the holidays.

The Make Space for Nature Challenges have been aimed at Year 6 and 7 to allow them to learn more about the environment around us and contribute to wildlife in a number of ways. Miss Dollive and I collaborated to provide information to students on how to feed birds in the winter, and plant their own sunflowers in the summer. This has hopefully allowed the younger students to become more aware of nature and given them a fascination for Biology out of the classroom. I would always love to be able to inspire younger students in the future as I myself enjoy Biology A Level.

Lucy Harding - Year 12

Emily Pridham, Sarah Ng, Mollie Shone - Year 12

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Science Reading Challenge 2021

“ “

Key Stage 3 Evaluation award winner: Alice Simmons - Year 7 I decided to take part in the Science Reading Challenge because I have loved to read ever since I learnt to. I also really enjoy Science, so if you put the two things together, it was a perfect result for me.

I loved all the books that I decided to read, but my absolute favourite one had to be ‘Northern Lights’.

I had really enjoyed the TV series during lockdown, and when I saw that the book was on the list, I had to read it. I really enjoyed it, yet my favourite part was that your soul took the shape of an animal. I just thought that that was amazing! I really enjoyed the Science Reading Challenge, as it gave me the opportunity to read more books, which is an opportunity that personally I shall always grab at, and it gave me ideas about different worlds that work in a similar yet different way to ours, which is really interesting. If anybody was wondering whether to do the Science Reading Challenge, I would certainly recommend it to them.

”

Key Stage 5 Evaluations award winner: Sarah Ng - Year 12 I chose to take part in the Science Reading Challenge as, like many others, I rediscovered my love of reading during lockdown. I was eager to learn more about the subjects that I am studying at A Level and the SRC seemed like a perfect combination of my interests! Every one of the books that I have read during the challenge was educational and entertaining. They each introduced concepts that had never occurred to me before and I have enjoyed every single one. However, I would have to say that my favourite book that I have read is ‘A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived’ by Adam Rutherford a book about genetics that is full of facts, humour and engaging stories. I have really benefited from the SRC as I have learnt so much about the scientific world from my further reading. I can use my newfound knowledge in my studies, personal statement and future interviews. I would definitely recommend taking part in the Science Reading Challenge!

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“

Key Stage 4 Evaluations award winner: Ifra Fathima - Year 11 The Science Reading Challenge was a good opportunity for me to expand my knowledge in my areas of interest, which for me is physics (particularly astrophysics and quantum physics) hence I chose the gold physics section. Most of the books I read were five star reads; I really enjoyed ‘The Martian’ as a science fiction which padded out its intriguing story line with explanations of real scientific principles, for example radioactive isotopes and processes of making water from the resources available. I also liked Bill Bryson’s ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ which sparked my interest in the natural sciences, especially paleontology, genetics, and geology through the scientists the author interviewed.

But I would have to say my favourite was ‘The Universe in Your Hand’ by Christophe Galfard, which explained concepts I hadn't previously understood which encouraged my love for science even more through its immersive narrative style. The SRC as a whole had a huge impact on me - I am now considering natural sciences or physics at University and plan to participate in the biology reading challenge this summer.

”

British Science Week As part of the Year 8 Chemistry lessons during British Science week, the students were asked to create a poster with the theme of ‘Innovating for the future’.

Their inspiration could come from anywhere – innovation in technology or health care, or even innovation that is used in STEM careers. The posters were judged by the Chemistry Department and then the top seventeen posters from the year group were presented on G slides.

The whole school was given the opportunity to vote for their favourite poster via a G form. The top five posters were then entered into the national competition.

Science

Congratulations... the winners were Anna Umoh, Holly Coughlan, Annabelle Apperley, Ishani Kundu and Suha Rashid, with the overall school winner being Annabelle Apperley.

Mrs Baldwin

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GIRLS HAVE SPARK

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WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS ARE ADVENTUROUS The Duke of Edinburgh Awards Elizabeth Sykes, Year 12, reflects on her recent Gold DofE experience and the WGHS approach to this year’s Duke of Edinburgh Awards This year has been different in many ways, and this includes how we have gone about completing our Duke of Edinburgh awards. Many of the activities that we would usually attend to make up the Skills, Physical, and Volunteering sections were cancelled, so we had to be enterprising and come up with alternatives that were still interesting and fun, but could be done at home. Expeditions were massively altered to make concessions for changing Covid measures. For a start, we couldn't camp like we would in normal years, and also due to the problems transport posed, all of our routes had to begin and end at school. Despite all of these issues and restrictions, many girls embraced the challenges of working towards Bronze, Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh this year.

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all of these issues “ Despite and restrictions, many girls embraced the challenges of working towards Bronze, Silver and Gold

”

GIRLS ARE ADVENTUROUS

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards

For me, the most challenging thing about completing my Gold DofE this year was the uncertainty surrounding expeditions, but by working together our group was able to stay on top of everything. And, more importantly, our food was really great.

It's difficult to be a gourmet chef when all you have is two trangias, and yet our pesto pasta with courgette and onion, and our halloumi, veg, and rice in pita breads were the envy of all the other groups - even if we did take an hour longer than everyone else. And it would have been a lot easier for us to just make a Pot Noodle and have done with it.

“The best parts of doing Gold DofE this year were the team spirit of the group and teamwork that took place, being able to improve my map reading skills to be able to successfully navigate without getting lost and, of course, making nutritious food on the trangias. Most challenging was planning varied routes despite having the same start and end points, which meant we needed to be clever and plan very carefully.

Also, Covid rules limiting what we could do - for example not being able to camp - was disappointing.”

"I really enjoyed doing Bronze DofE this year because it was a chance to go out and explore the local area whilst having fun with my friends, especially after the challenges of this year. Navigating as a group was something that I found difficult at first but we all worked together to overcome this."

Claudia Bowen - Year 9 (Bronze DofE) Another part of the Gold expedition I really enjoyed was reminiscing about our past expeditions, like that time in Bronze Practice when four out of six members dropped out for various reasons, and that time in Silver Practice when our tent fell down in the middle of the night, during torrential rain. This increased the sense of camaraderie in our group, and reminded us that we could keep going no matter what the expeditions threw our way. Although, it did fill me with a terrible sense of foreboding when our Gold Practice went swimmingly. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.

Lucy Harding - Year 12 (Gold DofE)

Anna Chew

Sienna Sekhon

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WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS LOVE READING

Matilda Bronze Award Winners

News from the Learning Resources Centre 2020-21

by Rose Harries - LRC Manager

Amelia Parkin, Matilda Gold Award Winner

It has been an unusual year here in the LRC just as it has all over school.

September began with some uncertainty about how things would work in here, a communal space filled with resources that were being handled by lots of people, the LRC represented a unique challenge in terms of keeping operating as much as was safe.

Mr Carlin kindly made me a very snazzy screen for my desk, soft furnishings were put aside and tables spread out. Following CILIP guidance, books have been cleaned and quarantined on return and students have been cleaning their hands before entering the library. We have needed to operate a rota in order to

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maintain year-group bubbles, but I think the students adapted to all of these new rules quickly and have understood the need for them.

Over the second lockdown which started in January, the LRC became the school base for key worker students and we all fell into a nice pattern of working here together, as well as some time for games, colouring and audiobooks. It was really nice to feel the school still operating face-to-face, albeit on a reduced level, whilst the outside world felt so uncertain and it was an opportunity to be appreciative of what a comfortable, relaxed and open space we are fortunate enough to have here in the form of the LRC.

Library and Reading

Black history month n

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October marked Black History Month and I had a massive drive to promote Black writers here in the library.

A Reading List was compiled and students were shown a selection of fiction to try. I also created a display outside the Headteacher’s office to mark BHM. I have made a renewed ongoing commitment to stock a diverse collection of books, especially fiction, that reflects our school community and our society.

Matilda Bronze Award Winners

Mulberry House through to Senior School. We had some really great entries and our overall winner Hareem Ghouri, had hers made into a real mask. I also asked staff to submit a photo of their bookshelves for a staff ‘shelfie’ competition which the girls could join in via Kahoot. n

In November I did a Hepworth Lecture for Year 12 entitled ‘The woman in the attic’ which explored literary representations of women’s mental health against the context of the society in which they lived.

December saw Mrs Besford from the English Department launch our third annual Matilda Awards, a reading challenge spread out over three months. Students read as many books as they can from a challenging reading list and complete reflective tasks based on their reading. This year the theme for our reading list was books that reflect diverse cultures and traditions, both in terms of the stories they tell and the authors who wrote them. We wanted students to experience the power of books to transport you to different places and to show the lives of people whose experiences differ greatly from our own. Despite the limitations of the lockdown, a good number of students took part in the awards scheme, with Bronze awards being issued to Alice Simmons, Saachi Singh, Hareem Ghouri, Edie Lewis, Rhea Lahiri, Rhiona Lahiri, Sascha Manomano and Lilly Pouliou. Silver awards were issued to Tiffany Djagiyikpo and Hareem Ghouri and a Gold award was given to Amelia Parkin.

In January I did a whole-school assembly for Holocaust Memorial Day where I spoke about four books by, and about, victims of Shoah.

In March, for World Book Day, I did a whole-school assembly about literature at times of pandemic/crisis and we ran a competition to design face-masks for every year group from

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In May, two teams of Year 9 girls were entered by Mr Shaw into the Yorkshire heat of the National Reading Champions Quiz, run by the Literacy Trust. The quiz was online this year and took place in the WGHS Lecture Theatre. Out of twenty eight teams in the Yorkshire heat, our teams came 3rd and 11th with only 3 points between the top three teams so they did absolutely amazingly!

The students that took part shared their experience with us: “Twenty eight schools from all over Yorkshire took part via microsoft teams, and we sent our answers through email. The ten rounds ranged from solving puzzles and anagrams to answering questions about ancient mythology, and we definitely enjoyed some more than others! Our team, which was made up of four girls (Alice Morrison, Amelia Parkin, Shriya Nagtode and Leina Tordoff), placed 3rd, with 64 Points.

We were only 2 points away from the winning team, who went through to the next round. The other team (Robyn Walters, Annabel Simpson, Tabitha Higgins and Sophie Lister) came in at an impressive 11th! We all had great fun in the sweltering Lecture Theatre.

We highly recommend this fun event for readers of all abilities. You don’t need to have read lots of books, just know opening and closing sentences, be good at solving anagrams, and be able to interpret a book title from a video.”

At the time of writing, we are celebrating Pride month in the LRC, as well as promoting LGBTQ+ authors, I have asked staff to nominate their Pride heroes.

Further information about all of these events, including recommended reading, is available on the LRC and English Department Firefly pages.

GIRLS LOVE READING

Reading Quiz

Tiffany Matilda Silver Award Winner

Hareem mask

OTHER NEWS: Over the second lockdown we introduced an Ebook platform in order to provide a continuous source of free-reading for students who were at home. The highlight of my lockdown was an email from a Year 8 student who was homeworking: ‘I hope that this email finds you well.

I was writing to email you to say thank you so much for the e-book library, it is definitely going to make a MASSIVE difference, especially for me (as I'm a bookworm) and I have read all of my books at home at least three times each. I can't wait to start browsing and reading!’

The importance of reading at times like this can’t be exaggerated. To comfort and nurture ourselves through choosing and reading books is a skill that students will carry with them throughout the ups and downs of life.

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Art gallery Here’s a selection of some of the amazing talent from our A Level exam students

Sienna Sekhon

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GIRLS ARE CREATIVE

Felicity Milner

Cara Prasad Daisy Inglesfield

Niamh Morris

Poppy Layden Fritz

Kyne Borden

Katie Wynne

Inaya Hussain

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Mardiah Mandarwis

Art gallery Ifra Fathima

Amelia Mo

Here’s a selection of some of the amazing talent from our GCSE exam students

Libby Hartshorne

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Lucy Keith

Catherine Miller

Hannah Sutton

Lily Swales

Lilli Mae Pert

Eden Perez Nijjar Evie Firth

Evie Howley

Evie Stokoe

Renee Shetty

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GIRLS ARE CREATIVE

Chantel D Costa

Holly Bingham

Molly Dainty

Luba Makoni

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Luchia Shaw

Lucy Hamblett

Lucinda Smith

Art gallery Here’s a selection of some of the amazing talent from our GCSE exam students

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Nell Poppleton

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GIRLS ARE CREATIVE

Komal Kaur

Freya Reid

Hooriya Fida Hussain

Amelia Hudson

Maja Banas

Faron Buckley Anderson

Davina Dugboyele

Mathusa Logeswaran

Wuyou Xia

Molly Ann Pritchard

Maisie Heathcote

Imogen Barnwell

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WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS ARE MUSICAL

Music 2020-21 Key Stage 3’s Got Talent

The pandemic has meant that our usual musical events have been taking place online a little differently for the last year.

Our online coverage started with Key Stage 3’s Got Talent, which was judged remotely and expertly by Dr Gareth Green and was released on youtube rather than being in the Jubilee Hall.

Wonderful musicians performed and prizes were awarded for Dr Green’s favourite performers on the night, with Isobel McAndrew winning in the voice category and being the overall favourite performance for 2021.

Year 7 band September saw us back in school with our usual large ensembles on hold, but new groups have been running in year groups.

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Music

Founders’ Day Founders’ Day took place at Wakefield Cathedral in September and featured musical solos from Alex Lee, Lucy McKinlay, Wuyou Xia and Charisa Bechani.

Cabaret Evening On Friday 6th November we released our online Cabaret Evening in aid of the Darjeeling trust. Talented singers contributed their time and effort to create videos which went into a two-part medley. We raised £190 for the new girls’ wing in the schoolin Darjeeling.

The final Christmas assembly featured music from Amelie Brayshaw and Eden Perez Niijar on tuned percussion, the Year 9 Vocal Ensemble and our own guitaristsongster Charisa Bechani. The Electric Ensemble created a wonderful video of ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’, which premiered at the end of the assembly and was an instant social media hit!

Our Christmas Concert was released on Christmas Eve as a joint venture with QEGS and featured all of our brilliant year group ensembles. A little different to our normal Christmas Concerts in the QE Hall, but still wonderful.

Carol service The launch of our wghsmusic instagram account has meant we have been posting regular videoed performances and pictures of what’s going on in Willows.

Christmas was a busy time, where we managed to release a seasonal performance every day of December on our instagram page.

The Carol Service was live streamed to classrooms this year from the Jubilee Hall. The ‘Once in Royal’ opening verse was sung beautifully by Eleonora Green and we also enjoyed performances from the Year 7 Choir, Year 8 Band, Year 11 flutes, Eleanor Bowen on trumpet, Alex Lee singing ‘O Holy Night’ and Cantabile split into Year 11 and 12 choirs. The string quartets from Year 9 and 11 and a brass and bass quartet from Year 13 students also provided wonderful music. Mr Bowstead accompanied with his enviable flare.

Practice-a-thon January started our WGHS Practice-a-thon in aid of Pinderfields My Hospital Charity. Pupils from the Junior and Senior schools worked really hard up to February half term, recording their practice, adding up the minutes and collecting sponsorship from their friends and family. Our final total raised was £1474.70 and we couldn’t be prouder. I think we’ll make this an annual fixture on the musical calendar, as it's a great way to kick start good practice habits in the new year.

Outdoor and remote rehearsals We were home-schooling for January and February, but we still enjoyed some remote rehearsals with the brass, vocalists and string players after school hours and we’ve been enjoying outdoor rehearsals now that the weather is improving.

We look forward to our Music Celebration with our adjudicator Dr Rachel Mathieson, on 23rd June and also to getting back into Wakefield Cathedral for a lunchtime concert on 29th June with some of our Year 12 soloists.

Hopefully, we can look forward to some larger scale and in-person events next academic year.

Mrs Bentham

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GIRLS ARE MUSICAL

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Presenting... ‘A VIRTUAL

CHRISTMAS CAROL’

Amelie Williams, Year 7, reflects on her experience of being part of WGSF ‘A Virtual Christmas Carol’ I had an absolutely magical time performing in the play, ‘A Christmas Carol’. I had the opportunity to play Mrs Cratchitt and I loved it. When I showed my family the recording they were amazed that Mr Besford had somehow managed to work out how to do a whole hour production on google meet.

The rehearsals were a joy to attend, light-hearted, productive and fun. I am so glad that even though Covid forced some new restrictions we were still able to do the annual school play. I am looking forward to doing the spring production next year, Sister Act. I hope that it will be just as amazing as the experience I have had with this play.

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”

The rehearsals were a joy to attend, light-hearted, productive and fun WHERE

GIRLS HAVE CHARACTER

Drama

MEET THE CAST Timothy Spawforth Scrooge Ellie Burrows Marley Mollie Jones Bob Cratchitt Amelie Williams Mrs Cratchitt Tim Perrott Peter Cratchitt Fleur Hornsby Martha Cratchitt Saachi Singh Boy Cratchitt Nelly Amunugama Girl Cratchitt Abigail Lane Tiny Tim Ayan Sinha Christmas Past Oliver Grafton Christmas Present Toby Ludewig Christmas Future Oliver Sharp Fred Isabel Ward Fred's Wife Gabrielle Estlin Young Scrooge Alexandra Lee Fan Elias Vasey-Saunders Young Ebenezer Jack Norvelle Gentleman Visitor Miral Ruagh Benjamin Anabel Ehimuan Jack Dexter Bevan Fezziwig Lucy Simmons Dick Sophia Tolson Belle Oscar Smith Joe Annabel Simpson Charwoman Hema Nair Boy Nathaniel Illingworth Oreoluwa Ayannuga Hareem Ghouri Tilly Simms Freya Johnson Maisie Cunliffe Mae Deakin Arber Krasniqer Amelia Parkin Eleonora Green Sophia Hilton Isabel Hale Matilda Ryder

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Athletics Hockey

Netball

Equestrian Tennis Volleyball Cricket

Getting Active...

WGHS PE & SPORT

Although the structure and outlook of our curriculum has looked slightly different this year, all year groups have participated with enthusiasm and demonstrated resilience and perseverance during this time of change.

The ever changing British weather has not deterred our students from participating in a multitude of sports and they have been introduced to a number of new activities ranging from Pop Lacrosse to Ultimate Frisbee within their year group bubbles.

As future circumstances have begun to change our individual athletes and competitors have been able to resume their individual training schedules and some students have been in the lucky position to compete in their specific sports with encouraging results despite having a respite from training and competition. Team sports are slowly beginning to take shape again and we look forward to hopefully competing in local, regional and national competitions and tournaments in the forthcoming academic year.

Mrs Robinson

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Dance

Football

Table Tennis

Badminton

Physical Education

“

The highlight for me this season was competing in my first U18 International Tour up in Scotland where I won my first match in singles

TENNIS

”

I was really happy to receive a sponsorship deal from HEAD again to start off the new season. The tournament schedule started off with a national matchplay event featuring the top twelve girls from the North of England and the Midlands. It was great to get back on the court, winning three matches and setting myself up for the weeks ahead. I then went on to win the U14 County Cup with Yorkshire and won the Team Tennis National playoffs with my tennis academy Cultivat8. The highlight for me this season was competing in my first U18 International Tour up in Scotland where I won my first match in singles and also playing in another U14 Tennis Europe event winning three matches in row. To add to this season, I have won an U18 Grade 3 singles and doubles, come runner up in another U18 Grade 3 doubles and also won an U16 and U14 Grade 3 doubles. I’m looking forward to the summer ahead playing a few more Tennis Europe’s and nationals where I hope to progress in the rankings table to top ten from 12th in Great Britain.

Molly Robinson - Year 9

ENGLAND HOCKEY TRIALS

During the October half term I was invited to attend one of three venues that were holding trials for the U18 National Age Group Squad for hockey. In order to be invited any eligible player could be nominated by either their school, club or England Hockey Performance Centre.

My trials were at Lilleshall Hall, in Newport which is a National Sports Centre. I had to trial alongside sixty other girls who were all competing for a place in the squad.

Initially I was very nervous about going to the trials as I was trialing for the age group above me. On the first day, the group of sixty was divided across two pitches and then again into three separate groups. After doing a guided warm-up, we then had to complete the standard fitness test of ten pitch lengths. The rest of the day then consisted of small pitch and unit play before playing a full pitch match at the end of the session.

On the second day the groups were mixed up and each group worked with different coaches. The day's focus was on 1vs1 attacking and defending skills before gradually increasing numbers through 2vs2 and 3vs3. Again, the day finished with some full pitch game play.

On the third and final day the focus was on game play and it was my last chance to impress the coaches. Following the trials, the three groups of sixty from across the country as well as those girls already in the U18 and U16 teams from the previous year would be cut down to approximately sixty. Unfortunately, following the trials I was not selected to go to the next stage however I hope to be presented with a similar opportunity this year.

Leah Davis - Year 11

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GIRLS ENJOY TAKING PART AND COMPETING

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ATHLETICS

This track season has been a very successful one.

My 800m is the race that I have been training for the most and at the moment I am 5th in the UK however I have recently raced an 800m time which will approximately be 2.20 which would put me in 3rd. That would be my PB by 2 seconds. I also do multi-events and have a Long Jump PB 4.38m which was set very recently and I have begun training for hurdles and I am getting more experienced with them. I have done two 1200m races and have set Wakefield records for both races, breaking my own record once. I have many upcoming races which are very important such as the Northern Championships in Hull a race I am looking forward to a lot.

FOOTBALL FOCUS

Libby Cree - Year 7

Our Head of Year 7, Mrs Lindley, interviewed WGHS and Leeds United footballer Betty Kenyon-Smith (Year 7) For how long have you been playing football for and what inspired you to get involved?

“I have been playing football since I was 6 and I am now 12. The reason I started playing football is because my Dad took me to a football match and I just instantly loved it. My Dad got me involved in a grass roots team so I played there for a bit until I went to numerous trials to get into a professional team. I was about 9 when I had trials at Leeds United and Sheffield United and I got in both. It was a very hard decision but I went with Sheffield United because they offered me a better contract for two years. After my first year at Sheffield I tried at Manchester United just to see if I was good enough to get in and I did.

My Dad and I were overwhelmed, we decided to take this offer and then I played for Manchester. The next year I had a trial for Leeds United and I got in, this is now my 3rd year of playing for them.”

Tell us about the team that you play for?

What is it like to play for such a well- known team?

“It’s nice playing for a professional team because there are very high standards and it makes you a better player.”

What does your training schedule involve?

“On Mondays and Wednesdays I train for 2 hours and then on Saturday we play a match against a boys team for 1 hour and 20 minutes. But next year I will train 4 times a week.”

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Have you or your family had to make any sacrifices for you to play so much football?

“My Dad is a big part of my football. He sacrifices a lot to take me to football every week because he has to sit in the car for 4 hours each week. I am thankful for everything that he does for me.”

What would you like to achieve in football in the next 12 month? Or in the next 5 or 10 years?

“I would like to play for England when I am old enough to play for them. I would also like to be the best defender I can possibly be. I would also like to be in Leeds United until I am 16.”

Do you have a footballing role model that you look up to and why?

“Lucy Bronze is my role model because she plays the position that I play and she plays for England.”

GIRLS HAVE SUCCESS

WGHS NETBALL ACHIEVEMENTS

Physical Education

Past, present and future Lillie and I were fortunate enough to get selected for the U15 Leeds Rhinos Netball Academy. This has been an amazing experience and opportunity for the both of us allowing us to progress with our netball even further. This not only provides us with excellent coaching from the current super league players and coaches but also gives us the chance to play other U15 academies across the country. Big thanks to all the sports teachers who helped and supported us from day 1 - we can’t wait for the future ahead of us!

Maddison Ducker and Lillie Wightman - Year 9

Since being introduced to netball in junior school I knew that it was a game that I enjoyed playing very much.

As well as being in the school netball team, I joined an outside netball club, Wakefield Wildcats, and this enabled me to improve my skills and compete most weekends in matches. I progressed to West Yorkshire County netball for two seasons and recently was successful in a trial for Leeds Rhinos. Leeds Rhinos netball is a newly established franchise and joined the netball superleague this year.

Watching these incredible players on TV has inspired me hugely, and my aim is to work hard to progress along the performance pathway to achieve the superleague level.

CRICKET Frances Lonsdale (Year 11) has been selected to play for Yorkshire Women’s U18 Cricket Team. Frances is thrilled to be selected to represent her County at a sport she loves. She has been fortunate to play County Age Group Cricket since the age of 9 and feels it is a real privilege to continue to have this opportunity. Also this winter, Frances was invited to attend trials for the Northern Diamonds Academy. Although she didn’t get in this year, it is definitely a future goal for her.

Frances has been the backbone of school cricket from her arrival in Year 7. Since then she has helped to inspire her peers and younger students to become involved with the game and we now have over fifty pupils attending clubs regularly. Frances captained our U13 Indoor Cricket team who became Lady Taverners National

Ruby Shone - Year 10

Finalists in 2018 where they finished 3rd, no mean feat and a target the younger years are adamant to beat.

The passion and commitment Frances has shown to school cricket as a player, captain and senior captain is commendable; cricket has enabled her to develop the leadership skills and confidence that really epitomises a High School Girl. We all wish her the best in her future cricketing career.

D North

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ENGLAND VOLLEYBALL TRIALS I was put forward for the U19 volleyball England trials for the first time in October 2020. The trials were held in Kettering and due to covid it was all done in one day instead of the usual weekend. I was really nervous beforehand but my coaches talked me through the process and put me at ease. When I arrived I met two friends from my club and we stayed together as seeing all the other players was very daunting. Once registered we were split into groups and were given warm up exercises to do, soon after we did some conditioning and ball exercises. By this time we had all gelled together and I started to really enjoy the experience. The rest of the day was a mixture of drills, many I had never done before, and game play, where they constantly mixed up the teams and positions to see what worked best. I received an email a week after to say I unfortunately had not been successful in making the squad but I met a lot of new friends and learned what I needed to improve on in order to get in the following year.

Hollie Bott - Year 11

DANCE REVIEW

2020 was a tough year for the dance world, doing all classes online at home and through a screen. Even though it has been hard, I have really benefited from dance over Zoom as I have been able to take many more classes and workshops that I usually wouldn’t be able to go to because they would possibly be held in a venue too far away.

I have had many opportunities through online dance that I might not have had if life would have stayed the same and one of these is the audition I did for Phoenix Dance Theatre which is a contemporary dance company based in Leeds.

I had previously heard about their Youth Academy dance training programme from others but never taken the opportunity to audition. The auditions were held by video so this helped me feel more confident. I had to learn several exercises from a video they had sent to me, film myself performing them as well as a self choreographed solo performance. Before even knowing if I had been accepted I found it a great experience, preparing me for if I ever had to do another audition online in the future. After being accepted onto their programme, I was so excited to start training with them twice a week. It has been amazing to train in contemporary dance and I feel I am becoming a lot stronger in this style.

I have also had the amazing news of being moved to the advanced group at York Dance Scholars where I also train in contemporary, ballet and jazz dance. It has been such a good experience, being able to dance with and learn from older dancers and it really pushes and challenges me as a dancer.

Dance for me this year has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs but it is so amazing to be back in the studio again, dancing with my friends and just enjoying the feeling of being there in person. I can’t wait to be able to do live performances in the theatres again.

Charlie Grant - Year 10

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Physical Education

EQUESTRIAN NEWS 2020-21 WGHS Equestrian Team Captain Alanis Milner-Moore has had many impressive achievements in eventing this season stepping up to compete at 2* level with her horse Maybel and most notably her qualification for competing at Corbury Horse Trials in September where they finished 15th out of 30 of the country’s best U21 riders and got some great comments from the selectors of the youth performance team.

Miss Dollive

“

Many impressive achievements in eventing this season stepping up to compete at 2* level with her horse Maybel

WHERE

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During April I went to Epworth Equestrian Centre for my first One Day Event, and I rode one of my horses called Charlie.

We got a 35.5 in our dressage coming second in dressage and I went double clear in showjumping in the quickest time of the competition, then we went clear in the cross-country just inside of the time that was allowed. I came second place overall!

Jessica Blake - Year 8

GIRLS ENJOY TAKING PART AND COMPETING

2020-21 43

TABLE TENNIS

Tilly Simms reached the last 16 at the Table Tennis U13 National Championships. This is a fantastic achievement and her scores reflect that her hard work in training has paid off and she is looking forward to building on her success next year. Congratulations again on reaching such a high level of performance.

“

BADMINTON

Her scores reflect that her hard work in training has paid off and she is looking forward to building on her success next year

During lockdown Lucy Keith (Year 11) continued to work hard on maintaining her technique and skills set.

Her hard work has paid off and she has now been selected for the Yorkshire U18 Squad. We wish her well with her matches for the future.

”

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GIRLS HAVE SUCCESS

THE WGHS SPORTS DAY...

Physical Education

2020-21 45

WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS ARE INNOVATIVE THE 2021

ROTARY TECHNOLOGY TOURNAMENT Our team’s experience When I was given the opportunity to enter the Rotary Technology Tournament I grasped the chance. I thought this tournament would be a fun chance to express my creativity and develop my skills in teamwork! The Rotary Technology Tournament is a tournament in which students can apply their practical, logical, and teamwork skills to build their solution for the problem they are given. The challenge we were given was to design and create a coin sorter for a charity of our choice.

At first, we were not sure at all about how to solve this problem. However, after sharing each other’s thoughts and expressing our solutions through designs, we managed to come up with our ‘plan of action’ and a backup solution. During this competition, my teammates and I learned about each other and collaborated together to create our solution.

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Ishani and the winning team

Design & Technology

“

The Rotary Technology Tournament is a tournament in which students can apply their practical, logical, and teamwork skills to build their solution for the problem they are given

”

We had to choose a charity to support which the coin sorter would be useful for. Finally, as a team, we decided on ‘Cancer Research’. We chose this organization because many lose their lives and their loved ones from this deadly disease as they cannot afford this life-changing, but also expensive treatment to survive. Cancer Research is saving lives by raising money to help needy cancer patients. This charity inspired us to be kind to one another and help others who really need it. We thought ‘Cancer Research’ needed more recognition for all the lives they are saving.

We experienced many challenges and setbacks which made us alter our original plan. Edits were always being made to our product and design. One of the challenges we faced was angling cutting the holes in the ramp of our cardboard. When the slots were cut in the cardboard, parts of it were rough and needed to be smoothed for the coins to slide down so we had to fill

WHERE

GIRLS ARE INNOVATIVE

the surface with glue and place paper on top. Also, it took time for us to get the ramp at a perfect angle in which all the coins could slide down without pausing.

When it was time for testing our coin sorters, everyone in our team was shaking in excitement but also fear.

The first time only four coins were sorted into the correct compartment. After the first test, we were allowed to make quick adjustments to our sorters.

After we re-positioned some of the boxes for the coins, during the second test, eight coins fell in the correct place. Finally, the time had come when Mr Carlin announced the winners of the Tournament. To our surprise, we had taken the lead! I enjoyed this tournament because it stretched my practical, teamwork, and logical skills as well as being a fun competition. I would definitely recommend taking part in this!

Ishani Kundu - Year 8

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WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS ARE THOUGHTFUL

Charlotte Marshall

RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS round-up GCSE YEAR 10 HET WEBCAST JANUARY 2021

In January, Year 10 were fortunate enough to attend a Holocaust Educational Trust webcast delivered by Eve Kugler BEM, a Holocaust survivor and speaker, who regularly addresses students across the UK. It was a special event to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2021, highlighting the theme ‘Be the Light in the Darkness’.

This theme invited us to reflect on Jewish resistance during the Holocaust; rescue; justice; the legacy of Holocaust survivors. Our students joined virtually as it was during Lockdown, and a number of WGHS History students were also able to hear Eve’s talk, conducted by the presenter Natasha Kaplinsky. Eve began her talk by giving an outline of her upbringing and her family’s experiences during the war, and also how she managed to escape Nazi persecution. At the end of the talk students were given

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the opportunity to ask Eve about her experiences in more detail, and all the listeners came away with the message that we pay tribute to these opportunities which highlight ‘Light in the Darkness’. We also remember that for most, the story of the Holocaust was not just successful resistance, rescue, or survival, but that justice was also not served; education is the best way of reminding us of the context, actions and aftermath of the Holocaust, and to carry these messages forward for future generations.

“

Our students joined virtually as it was during Lockdown, and a number of WGHS History students were also able to hear Eve’s talk

”

GIRLS ARE THOUGHTFUL

Religious Studies

A LEVEL ANIMAL AID SPEAKER APRIL 2021

Advent Wreath Year 7

Lilly Pouliou

In the summer term the RPE Department was delighted to welcome Dominika from Animal Aid, who gave a virtual talk to our Year 12 class about a range of animal rights, veganism and ethical issues. As well as a presentation there was also an enlightening question and answer session which the Year 12s had prepared for, and they were not shy about asking thought-provoking questions and eagerly discussing some of the ideas after the talk had finished. Hopefully in the next academic year we may be able to welcome a speaker into school, circumstances permitting. On a similar note, we were unfortunately unable to take our annual Year 9 trip to the Buddhist and Meditation Centre in Pocklington, but we are planning to resume this in Spring 2022.

KEY STAGE 3

Amelie Cresswell

As part of our Christianity topic in Year 7, we have looked at how Jesus resisted temptation. The students enjoyed this area of the topic and acted out scenarios where they would be tempted to do something wrong. They then performed to their peers who suggested ways to avoid the temptations! This was a great way of interactively learning about the topic (and maybe something to remember for the future?!…). Whilst in Lockdown, Year 8 enjoyed participating in debates about Dharma and Karma. One question posed was “How does Dharma and Karma affect decisions made by Hindus?”. This led to a fascinating Google Meet where both sides went head to head as to why their position was the most powerful.

It was a fascinating exchange, supported by their knowledge and understanding from previous lessons.

RELIGION OF THE MONTH ASSEMBLIES Poppy Kingston

Hooriya Fida-Hussain

Beginning in January 2020, the RPE Department has been delivering regular ‘Religion of the Month’ assemblies to the whole school. In the academic year of 2020-21, RPE staff and student volunteers have enjoyed presenting on a range of faiths; these have included Hinduism, Christianity, Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Islam, and the non-religious philosophy of Humanism. The students have been of great support by contributing a range of research, voiceovers and recorded film clips (including inventive use of props!). Many thanks to all who took part, and we look forward to investigating more faiths in the next academic year.

Mrs Keegan-Phipps, Mrs Heptinstall and Ms Margereson

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WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS VOLUNTEER Charities News 2020-21 Although some of WGHS annual charity fundraising events, such as the Christmas Fayre and the Teachers’ Eating Competition, have been limited by the pandemic due to not being able to come together physically for whole school events, it hasn’t restricted our ability to help many wonderful charities in year group bubbles. Year 7 held bun sales and participated in a Zumba workout to raise money for Lepra. Year 8 fundraised for Guide Dogs by taking part in a sponsored fancy dress fun run. Year 9 got involved in the organisation aspect of charity by curating their own events such as Kahoot! Quizzes and raffles in aid of the Darjeeling Children’s Trust.

As a whole school community, we joined forces to collect food for St Catherine’s food bank twice during this academic year. St Catherine’s is a charity that has seen an influx of impoverished Wakefield residents becoming more reliant upon the food bank due to the pandemic’s impact on jobs. We also did a Christmas present collection to help local families experience the magic of Christmas by giving them the ability to treat their children to presents, despite not being able to afford them. Overall, Wakefield Girls’ High School has raised money for a range of different charities such as Candlelighters, Wakefield Hospice, Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, MY Hospitals Charity and Wakefield Trinity Community Trust alongside those already mentioned.

It is not just WGHS students who have participated in events and volunteered for the benefit of others, but also members of staff. Mrs Maher organised The Big Knit in aid of refugees, the homeless, the elderly and

50 WGHS REVIEW

other people in need and our school Matron has also volunteered at weekends in vaccinating against Covid and she has delivered approximately 1,100 vaccines so far!

Our most recent charity venture took place on the penultimate day of school before breaking up for summer.

WGHS held its annual Summer Charity Fayre for Years 3-10, which involved music, food stalls and tombola.

The Year 12 Charity Student Leaders played a huge part in making the Summer Fayre a success, through their organisation of the event and running the stalls. The lower school student charity representatives have also had a significant impact thanks to their creativity in coming up with Covid restriction-friendly ways of supporting different charities.

At the time of writing, the running total for monies raised this year is an amazing £8,674. 90. Mrs Phillips, WGHS Charities Coordinator, would like to express her gratitude to everyone who has organised and supported the Charities Committee this year for their generosity.

Amelie Dissanayaka - Year 12

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Charities

They distribute knitted items regularly to over two hundred outlets, including hospitals, womens’ refuges, refugee drop in centres, prisons, community groups and hospices

”

Raising money for Lepra and Cancer Research Imagine if you could not use one of your arms, or could not see. The world would be a very different place. Leprosy affects approximately 200,000 people a year and causes devastating consequences such as blindness and loss of the ability to use your arms and legs. This is why when Year 7 started to raise money for Lepra, a charity dedicated to raising awareness and helping those with leprosy, I decided to try and reach at least £100. You may ask, how? I worked in the fields like many in India, well the back and front garden clearing dead leaves and weeds. Next, I worked and did all my usual things with only one hand and that was my left hand - brushing my teeth was interesting and feeding myself. Having experienced this, I really understood what it meant to have a significant disability. I also completed the 10,000 steps a day challenge for Cancer Research in March and continued throughout April to remind me how far some people have to walk to get simple supplies such as water and medicine. Finally, I played my piano and accordion and learnt a number of new songs and made my grandparents really proud and instead of wasting the money on sweets, I asked that it be donated to Lepra in my name.

Eleonora Green - Year 7

The WGHS big knit The 3rd national lockdown was very difficult for many of us, and for many different reasons. Staying motivated, keeping busy and not allowing the hours to pass completely uneventfully was a challenge for everyone, and whilst school work kept us busy during the day, and even all evening for some, there were times when finding something to do other than school work was really important for our wellbeing. It was important to remember to allow time to do something creative, something to improve our skills and something for others.

The WGHS Big Knit was launched to all students, staff and families to encourage the support of a charity called Knit For Peace. Based in London, the charity Knit for Peace UK is an initiative of the Charities Advisory Trust. They distribute knitted items regularly to over two hundred outlets, including hospitals, womens’ refuges, refugee drop in centres, prisons, community groups and hospices, as well as to developing countries and refugee camps, or those living in the rubble in Syria.

On our return to school on March 8th, I was delighted to find many knitted items on my desk; cute bootees in beautiful pastel shades, many of which were knitted by our Exams Officer Jayne Hitch, amazing soft toys knitted by Donna from Peppers and hats knitted by Miss Gunn. In addition to these there were dozens of squares knitted by many of you for joining into blankets. Thank you so much for getting behind this event, supporting the charity and upskilling. Some of you were knitting for the first time!

Mrs Maher

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Junior School news

Let’s have a little peep at what our younger students in Years 3-6 have been doing this year at WGHS. As you can see, they have been incredibly busy and these pictures show only a fraction of what they have been up to in school. We can’t wait to welcome them into Seniors!

Year 5 House hockey Winners

Year 6 Solar Eclipse ob

vid a biography of Sir Da Phoebe Howell wrote and n tio rva work on conse Attenborough and his s wa he d an py co a t him climate change. She sen rk! wo r d he so impressed he signe

servers

Sports Day

House Music Year 6 Inter Winners Competition

Year 5 Salsa dancing du

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ring Brazil Week

WAKEFIELD WHERE FUTURES BEGIN

Junior School news

Year 3 making Eas ter cards

Year 3 making salt doug h Chris tmas decorat ions

ior Head Girls WG HS Senior and Jun rls Gi and Deputy Head

Year 4 Mathletics

Winners

Year 4 Mathl

etics Winne

rs

Year 4 Animal visit

WE CAN’T WAIT TO WELCOME THEM INTO SENIOR S!

Year 3 makin

g Viking Oat

cakes

ud of their daffodils, The Eco Club were pro l brighten up the schoo wh ich are helping to

2020-21 53

Maths matters Maths Puzzle Page It has been a tradition that Maths Student Leaders help out in Maths Clinic and mentor the younger students throughout the academic year. This year due to Covid and the need to stay in bubbles we have had to be more inventive. Amy Price, Katie Browning and Sophie Russell have since September produced a weekly Maths Puzzle Page for Year 7 and Year 8 students, providing solutions the next week. They have marked all submissions and communicated the outcome with the students.

At the end of each week they have provided a list of those students who deserved a merit.

The Student Leaders have been a real asset to the Maths Department. The weekly Puzzle Page has attracted a regular following of students who, as well as enjoying the challenge, have improved their Maths skills by taking part.The Puzzle Page ran for twenty six weeks and more than thirty students took part. Regular contributors to the quiz included Eliza Austin, Sascha Manomano, Saachi Singh, Lily Pouliou and Victoria Marchlinska, who each participated for at least twenty separate weeks.

The comments opposite give an indication what the Puzzle Page meant to some of the regular contributors and the Student Leaders:

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“

We have been sharing our interest for Maths and problem solving with the Year 7 and Year 8 students by producing a weekly Puzzle Page and solutions. We communicated with the students in Year 7 and Year 8 and awarded merits for effort and enthusiasm.

It was rewarding to see the same students keep having a go each week and see their dedication and improvement in Maths Amy Price, Katie Browning and Sophie Russell Year 12 Student Leaders

All of the Puzzle Pages have increased my confidence in my problem solving skills and have given me the opportunity to apply this skill onto daily lessons

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Victoria Marchlinska - Year 8

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Lily Pouliou - Year 8

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Eliza Austin - Year 7

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I have really enjoyed working through the weekly Puzzle Pages which have improved my Maths skills and made me think outside the box

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I enjoy doing the Maths Puzzle Page each week and it has really helped me to be more confident when tackling hard Maths problems in class

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I have thoroughly enjoyed solving the varied variety of Puzzle Pages. These test our brain to think in different ways and are especially fun when family and friends get involved too!

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Saachi Singh - Year 7 Mrs Lonsdale

Amelie Cresswell

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Hannah Sutton

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Hooriya Fida-Hussain

Maths

UKMT Maths Challenges For over 20 years the UKMT, based at Leeds University have been inspiring a love of problem solving in children throughtheir competitions and enrich ment activities. Preparation and entering these competitions encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using basic mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems.

Until I visited South Korea, I had not realised how internationally prestigious these Maths Challenge competitions were. My daughter was a Head Teacher at NLCS on the stunningly, beautiful volcanic island of Jeju set in the ocean between China and Japan. During our frequent visits, I often walked around the Global Education City, which caters for over 9,000 students, and saw many adverts offering private tutoring to prepare students for these UK based maths competitions.

There are three certificates awarded by the UKMT: The Gold award is achieved by the top 6-7% of the entrants.

The Silver award is achieved by 13-14% of the entrants.

The Bronze award is achieved by 21% of the entrants.

Well performing candidates may also be invited to enter the European Kangaroo and the Mathematical Olympiad.

This year Covid restrictions affected the way WGHS students took part in these competitions, however it did not dampen their enthusiasm. All entries were completed on-line under the supervision of parents, in particular calculators were not allowed.

Well done to all our students.

Mr Cunningham

WAKEFIELD

In November 2020, the Senior Maths Challenge took place for students who are aged 19 or below; here are our results: Fay Bennett Nandi Ncube Poppy Thun Tara Jayawardena Jennifer Lin Katie Browning Hannah Gilliard Sarah Ng Georgia Parkin Amy Price Sophie Russell

Y12 Y13 Y12 Y13 Y13 Y12 Y12 Y12 Y12 Y12 Y12

Silver Best in School Silver Best in Year 13 Silver Best in Year 12 Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze

In February 2021, the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge took place for students in Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11. Here are our results: Frances Lonsdale Anna Reynolds Chantel D'Costa Ifra Fathima Serena Andani Olga Deumeni Torres Jess Thornton Erin Bates Manya Dhingra Adrianna Green Fope Olusola Isabel Ward Tilly Smith Leina Tordoff Jae Yim Ann Achato Mia Crecraft Abigail Gatenby Mariam Musa Homaira Nazim Esme Randall Jahaan Raza Tia Stent Ruby Tolan Neha Vemula Yasmin Kumar Mardiah Mandarwis Suvethikaa Subaskaran

Y 11 Y 10 Y 11 Y 11 Y 10 Y 10 Y 10 Y 11 Y 11 Y 11 Y 11 Y 11 Y9 Y9 Y9 Y 10 Y 10 Y 10 Y 10 Y 10 Y 10 Y 10 Y 10 Y 10 Y 10 Y 11 Y 11 Y 11

Gold Best in School, qualified for the Kangaroo Round Gold Best in Year 10, qualified for the Kangaroo Round Gold qualified for the Kangaroo Round Gold qualified for the Kangaroo Round Silver Silver Silver Silver Silver Silver Silver Silver Bronze Best in Year 9 Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze

In April 2021, the Junior Mathematical Challenge took place for students in Year 7 and Year 8. Here are our results: Rhiona Lahiri Ife Fasae Rhea Lahiri Amelia Martin Alice Simmons Saachi Singh Lilly Pouliou Keira Turner Hareem Ghouri Ishani Kundu

Y7 Y8 Y7 Y7 Y7 Y7 Y8 Y7 Y8 Y8

GIRLS WHERE MATHS MATTERS

Silver Best in School Silver Best in Year 8 Silver Silver Silver Silver Silver Bronze Bronze Bronze

2020-21 55

This year’s

Farewells We've had some amazing staff come through the WGHS gates over the year, bringing a wealth of talent and experience as well as many happy memories.

Jen Yeomans Biology

Music Dept VIMS

“

The Music Department would like to take this opportunity to offer our thanks to our VIM staff, who have continued to deliver their lessons online and then back in Willows. This year Mr and Mrs Bacon are leaving us after 33 years of dedicated music making, teaching brass and flute in school. Mr and Mrs Bacon shared their thoughts on their time at WGHS and QEGS and said: Wow! Where has 33 years gone? As we work across the Foundation we have had the privilege of teaching boys and girls from the age of 7 through to 18. Some have gone on a long musical journey achieving Grade 8 and others have gone on a shorter one. The highlights for us have been achieving a place in the National Festival for Youth and Music, performing in London and Birmingham and playing for the Queen but the most rewarding thing throughout our time here has been watching so many groups perform in the school concerts and thinking we teach all those children.

M rs B ac o n

M r B a co n

”

And we are so very grateful that they did!

Our talented singing teacher, Miss Johnson, is moving on to undertake primary school teacher training.

Mrs Catherine Baker has also left us.

Her work with the double reed instruments (oboe and bassoon) in her renowned Double Reed Club and Wind in the Willows ensembles was amazing and gained attention both around the country and abroad. Her work will always be remembered fondly in Willows.

Miss Johnson

Dr Korosi

ICT

Mrs Bentham and Mr Meredith Mrs Baker

WAKEFIELD

Jen has always put her students at the centre of everything she does, leaving no stone unturned to help them reach their potential. Her gentle demeanour and sense of fun as a Year 7 Form Tutor has made the transition to senior school a much less daunting prospect for countless individuals who hold her in the highest regard. Accompanying Duke of Edinburgh and Biology residential field trips, Jen’s contribution to the wider school community is greatly appreciated. Her potential to successfully turn her hand to new ventures was rightly recognised by her new school where I am confident she will prove to be just as much of an asset as she has done here. We wish her every success in her new ventures, enjoying more precious family time.

Terrie Leo

We wish Mr and Mrs Bacon, Miss Johnson and Mrs Baker all the best for the future.

56 WGHS REVIEW

Jen joined the Biology Department in September 2008 and rapidly established herself as an outstanding Biology teacher.

Blessed with immense scientific acumen and a rare depth of subject knowledge Jen was quickly producing a vast array of inspirational resources loved by students and staff alike. A true perfectionist, it was no surprise that Jen revolutionised the departmental schemes of work when appointed as the Key Stage Coordinator, from which all of our students have benefitted.

After 4 years of service within the ICT Department, Mrs Leo left the Foundation at the end of April 2021. We wish her well in her future endeavours and would like to thank her for all she has done for Wakefield Girls'.

GIRLS WHERE GREAT MEMORIES ARE MADE

Farewells

Easing down into semi-retirement Dr Jonathan Korosi Head of Biology To say that Dr Jonathan Korosi has been a passionate and dedicated teacher and Head of Biology is an understatement.

His time at Wakefield Girls’ High School began in 2003 but his connections with Wakefield Grammar School Foundation go much further back, having been a former QEGS student himself and his father, George Korosi, being Head of Biology at QEGS. When Jonathan left QEGS he studied Medicine and Biochemistry in London.

He then decided to have a career change and moved into teaching. After spells as a teacher in York and Head of Biology in Norwich, the pull of Wakey was too much to resist and he moved back home to our beautiful city.

Never one to be shy about getting involved in extracurricular activities, especially ones that involved physical activity, meant that he has been involved in, and led many trips.

Ones of particular note included: the ‘Coast to Coast’ bike rides and 24 hour “gymathons” (which between them raised hundreds of pounds for charity); the watersports holiday to Embrun (where Dr DuerdenBrown was accidentally catapulted from her canoe due to Jonathan’s competitiveness); the Year 8 French Trips and a Sixth Form Science conference trip to Disneyland, Paris (which included rollercoasters and Peter Pan outfit, complete with tights).

Jonathan must have also clocked up hundreds of miles riding his dependable old bicycle around the Peak District, whilst on Duke of Edinburgh Trips, with his first Inspiring and nurturing the aid kit at the ready to treat a curiosity of many students plethora of walking induced that have gone on to study injuries including the inevitable Biology related degrees or blisters that result from pupils’ to enter the medical, brand new walking boots. The From left to right: Dr Jonathan Korosi, Mr Collett and Mrs Lindley dental and veterinary Biology field trips to Dale Fort, professions, his own Blencathra, Malham and then elation was never more apparent than when covering topics later Filey and Scarborough became the stuff of legend with that involved classes being ‘hooked up’ to ECGs, spirometers, so many students benefiting from his extensive knowledge of sphygmometers and peak flow meters; a stark contrast to the various shoreline species such as Patella vulgata and Fucus classical Biology experiments before his arrival. Although spiralis and enjoying the comfortable surroundings, gym and Jonathan’s passion for all things physiology could scarcely pool of the Crown Spa Hotel. be hidden, he was equally at home across all fields of experimental Biology and had a knack of turning even the You could not omit the gym from an article celebrating dullest of experiments into lively enjoyable lessons! (The Jonathan's time as Head of Biology at Wakefield Girls’ High secret seemed to be the addition of cake, or replacing the School. In fact his delight for all things ‘gym’ related often organism being studied with sweets). Since his arrival, the spilled over into the classroom where he could be found experimental provision of the Biology equipment continued pacing the laboratory, dumbbell in hand whilst dictating notes progressing under his stead to become the superbly to his classes. Even after the most demanding of days, when resourced department befitting of WGHS. Although most people would be fantasising of their sofa and an early embracing technology and change (with a nudge!), it took night, Jonathan yearned for nothing more than a solid workout no more than a scalpel, rat, frog, heart or eyeball to expose in the school gym.

Jonathan’s animated teaching style. Adorned with his tie dyed technicolor lab coat and a copy of 1953 Dissection Guide by STC will really miss having him around full time. He is the H.G.Q. Rowett, no part of said specimen was left unexplored! most supportive colleague we could ever wish for, and Jonathan will be taking time handing over the Biology The countless dedicated hours spent pondering every topic Department reins whilst enjoying all the benefits of semito squeeze as much enthusiasm and entertainment as retirement. He hopes to be back for EDGE Anatomy sessions possible from even the most benign subject matter is no on Thursdays and he ultimately plans to spend a well better illustrated than in his worksheets; embellished with deserved retirement travelling with his wife, drinking plenty his own style of cartoon-like illustrations and referencing of Belgian beer and putting in more hours at the gym. countless 80’s rock bands (Unfortunately many of these Mrs Lindley and Mr Lindley have now been rejigged due to resulting in a resounding “eh, who?!!?” from pupils, at the allusion to these archaic bands).

A big thank you from everyone at WGHS 2020-21 57

Looking ahead MANY CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEW SENIOR OFFICIALS FOR 2021-22 Let’s introduce you to our Head Girl, Eleanor Bowen, Deputy Head Girl, Georgina Odgers and the team of Senior Prefects.

Eleanor Head Girl A Levels: Classical Civilisation, Latin, Religious Studies and Spanish

HEAD GIRL

Eleanor Bowen DEPUTY HEAD GIRL

Georgina Odgers SENIOR PREFECTS

Sarah Ng Olivia Cole Elizabeth Sykes Holly Rusling Fay Bennett Emily Pridham Katie Browning Mollie Shone Mabel Hepplestone Tara Karim

58 WGHS REVIEW

I am so grateful to have been elected Head Girl of WGHS and I am really looking forward to the year ahead, hoping to inspire students throughout the school to have confidence in their abilities, and giving something back to the school environment that has shaped me during my time at WGHS. I am really enjoying studying Classical Civilisation, Latin, Religious Studies and Spanish at A Level and although this might sound quite intense I can’t wait to spend time planning events such as the Christmas Revue alongside Gina and the wonderful Senior Prefect Team. As we approach the end of our time at Wakefield Girls’ High School, I would like for us to have the opportunity to empower the future generation of High School Girls as the school approaches a new era with the introduction of the house system. We as a team hope to ensure that every individual within the WGHS community is valued and given the opportunity and encouragement to fulfil their potential, creating in our wake a powerful community of creative and successful women for the future.

Georgina Deputy Head Girl A Levels: Physics, Art and Design, Psychology My name is Gina and I am hoping to go on and study Childhood Studies at University. I applied to be a part of the Senior Prefect Team and Head Girl Team because I want to leave a legacy at Wakefield Girls’. I knew since Year 7 that I wanted to become a part of the team and be a role model for younger students when it was my chance to apply. I think I am most looking forward to doing the Christmas Revue as it is one of the events which all the school talks about and gets excited for. I am also excited to work with a variety of people both within and outside the school community.

Looking ahead

Emily Pridham A Levels: Biology, Chemistry, Latin I study Biology, Chemistry and Latin at A Level and enjoy all my subjects very much. I have always looked up to the Head Girl Team and am very excited to now be a part of it.

I am also looking forward to being a part of the Christmas Revue later this year.

Katie Browning A Levels: Maths, Physics and Business Studies

Sarah Ng A Levels: Biology, Chemistry, Maths, French I applied for the position of Senior Prefect because I wanted to contribute to the school community; I feel really honoured to be a member of the Head Girl Team and can’t wait for all the exciting opportunities we will get to participate in during our final year at WGHS, such as the Sixth Form Revue. I plan to study Medicine at university and outside of school I enjoy reading, baking, and playing piano and bassoon.

Olivia Cole A Levels: History, English Language, Art and Design I have been at WGHS for 15 years now and I’m thinking of doing a degree-apprenticeship post Sixth Form. I’m really looking forward to this new role as Senior Prefect and all the opportunities that come with it. I applied for this role as the Head Girl Team act as role models for younger year groups and I would like to show them that being a High School Girl isn’t a one size fits all; everyone is accepted no matter your interests, strengths and passions.

Elizabeth Sykes A Levels: English Language, English Literature, History, Religious Studies I applied to be a senior prefect because I feel as though it is important to play an active role in the school community, whether that is through school council, music groups, or the Head Girl Team. I am excited to help make this year the best it can be!

Holly Rusling

As a younger student I always looked up to the Head Girl Team and saw it as a great way to become closer with my peers as well as take on more exciting responsibilities.

Being part of the team gives you opportunities to develop various skills and create lots of great experiences.

Mollie Shone A Levels: Biology, Chemistry, Economics I decided to apply to become a Senior Prefect as I wanted to help out more in school and take on a role with more responsibility. I also saw this as an opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. I am excited to have the opportunity to work with the Head Girl Team and I am looking forward to organising the Christmas Revue with them.

Mabel Hepplestone A Levels: Biology, Chemistry, Maths I applied to be a Senior Prefect as I was excited to seize the opportunity to be able to work with my peers and help the school. I am looking forward to representing the school at events and making memories that will last forever.

Tara Karim A Levels: Biology, Chemistry, PE I applied for the Head Girl Team because I want to help my year group make a positive impact on the school, whether it be big or small. Being ambitious and dedicated, I am looking forward to working with the team and for the year to come.

A Levels: Classical Civilisation, History, Latin For me there was no question when thinking about applying for the role on the Head Girl Team. I am delighted to be an ambassador for the school and be able to support the school in the way which WGHS has supported me since nursery. I am looking forward to the Christmas Revue, one of the major highlights of the year.

Fay Bennett A Levels: Maths, Further Maths, Computer Science, Psychology I am very grateful and excited for the opportunity to be a Senior Prefect! I applied as I felt so welcomed after joining the school in Year 12 and I would love the chance to give back to the school.

WHERE

GIRLS PROGRESS

2020-21 59

Artwork by Lucy Hamblett

WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS HAVE INSPIRATION wgsf.org.uk E wsoffice@wgsf.net T 01924 372490 @WGHSYorkshire Wakefield Girls’ High School, Wentworth Street, Wakefield WF1 2QS