Summer round up 2025

Wolverhampton Girls’ High School S UM M ER NE WSLE TTE R 2 02 5

A round up of the Summer Term at Wolverhampton Girls' High School

A Message from our Headteacher Another fantastic school year draws to a close. Throughout the year our students have given so much to school and embraced the opportunities on offer. Thank you to our staff for facilitating these and to parents for your support.

We are so proud of our students. In recent weeks, two Sixth Form teams have been invited to London where they have been shortlisted in national competitions, iChem Young Engineers Award and Childnet competition. Yesterday it was a privilege to feel the school community come together for our much loved Sports Day. We say a fond farewell to those staff moving onto pastures new and look forward to a restful break over the summer.

Term commences on Thursday 4th September for Years 8-11 and 13; with Years 7 and 12 on site from Wednesday 3rd September.

Best wishes Mrs Young

Head Girls 2025/ 2026 We are delighted to announce our Head Girls for 2025/ 2026 will be Mya and Chloe!

‘Congratulations to Chloe and Mya for being successfully appointed as our Co-Head Girls for 2025 - 2026.

We are very much looking forward to working closely with Chloe and Mya from September.

Since being appointed recently they have been involved in the induction days we have held for Y7 and Y12. They are currently working with their team on the induction days scheduled for 3rd September. They will lead a team of Deputy and Assistant Head Girls who all have individual roles working to a common goal of continual school improvement.’ - Mrs Milovsorov and Mr Bagnall

A message from our Head Girls Hey everyone!

We’re Chloe and Mya, your Head Girls for 2025/2026. We’re truly grateful for the opportunity to represent our school and contribute to its bright future.

Our vision is to create a school environment where every student feels heard, supported, and empowered to be their best selves. We aim to fulfil our responsibilities with dedication and work to promote positive change. Throughout the year, we hope to nurture the diverse, welcoming and encouraging atmosphere that makes Girls’ High the place that we all love.

We’re here to make a difference - big or small. Never hesitate to come say hi, share your ideas, or have a chat. We’re always here for you and want to make this year enjoyable for everyone!

Thank you, Mya and Chloe

Student Fundraisers

This year we are very proud to have held a number of fundraisers to support local charities.

Events have included Non Uniform Days, Samosa Sales, Teacher Bench Ball, Year 7 Christmas Fayre, Staff Panto, WGHS Got Talent and many more. As a school we have raised over £6250 for charities such as Fareshare, Alzheimers Society, Mind, Born Free Foundation, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Make-A-Wish UK and many more!

We would also like to celebrate our students who have raised money for charities in their own time.

This term, Year 8 student Hattie raised over £1000 for The Ellie Soutter Foundation by running 100km in May. Autumn in Year 10, raised over £1300 for Scoliosis Support and Research by walking 65 miles in June. And Megan in Year 8 has raised £200 so far taking on a Geography Fact File Challenge for Breast Cancer Research Aid. Thank you to all our students, staff, parents and carers for all their support for our fundraisers this year.

Duke of Edinburgh Award This year has been exceptional for our Duke of Edinburgh Award Students. We have completed a record number of volunteer hours for our school, completed expeditions and even had a visit to Buckingham Palace.

More information about the Duke of Edinburgh Award can be found here https://www.dofe.org/do/why/ or students can speak to our D of E Coordinator Mrs Milovsorov.

IChem Young Engineers The IChemE Young Engineer Awards celebrate innovative ideas in chemical engineering, challenging students to contribute to sustainability through research, design, or new applications. The WGHS proposal centred around the creation of a light source that runs independent of electricity. At least 1.18 billion people suffer from energy poverty without access to reliable and affordable electricity, and this invention will significantly boost quality of life for very many people with a light source powered by bioluminescence, using locally sourced bioluminescent bacteria and upcycled plastic bottles.

We were delighted that our students were awarded in the top 3 school entries in the country. On the 16th June students and staff attended the YEAIS Showcase and Celebration at the Royal Society in London. This achievement highlights our students’ creativity and hard work and we look forward to seeing where this journey takes them!

Congratulations to the 5 Year 12 students who competed - Sana, Shay, Rishika, Hafsa and Shafia, an incredible achievement - we are so proud of you!

Childnet Film Competition We are very proud to announce that a team of students from WGHS has achieved 2nd place nationally in the Secondary School category of The Childnet Film Competition!

The Childnet Film Competition, attracting participants from across the UK, received entries from many talented young people who embraced the challenge of creating short films on the theme of “It’s not your fault.” How can we support each other against online scams? Judged by a prestigious panel of experts from Bafta, the BBC, BBFC, Disney, and the Motion Picture Association, the competition is a unique event, showcasing the power of youth voice in online safety education, alongside the creativity of young people.

You can view our students film using this link: Childnet Film Competition Congratulations to Sade, Vihansa, Rayya, Samantha and Gabriella - this is a wonderful achievement.

Shrek JR! - A Student Review It’s that time of year again where for two nights Girls’ High is whisked away into the land of musicals. Our destination this year? The land of Far Far Away where the weird and wonderful characters of beloved fairytales are being driven out of the kingdom of Duloc, by the scheming Lord Farquaad, and into the home of the begrudging Shrek, sending him on a quest of friendship, love and self-discovery. These creatures may be unwelcome in Shrek’s swamp, but audiences were made to feel fully immersed in this magical land. For me this was clearly shown by the sheer energy and enthusiasm given by everyone on stage, in each musical number and dance, it’s clear the whole cast cared for this production and the responsibility for bringing it to life.

As always there were those who shone in their roles and Shrek the musical Jr’s main cast were clearly chosen for a reason. Scarlet Sproson’s Shrek was truly committed to presenting a perfect blend of the grumpy yet endearing ogre, Issy Foster’s Donkey was a comedic stand-out, Megan Ormsby’s role of Fiona was a showcase of her vocal talent, Imogen Fox’s Dragon really brought a dramatic flair to the show and Martha Crump’s acting talent as Farquaad was certainly not in short supply. My personal favourites were the scene stealers hidden amongst the fairytale ensemble, notably Pinocchio, played by Eboni Perry, and Gingy, by Anesu Chiawara.

While these performances stood out on the night it would be unfair to discredit the hours of rehearsals over the past year that I could clearly see have allowed the cast to get this far, and I hope, and can tell through their performances, the process has been an enjoyable time for them.

This sense of community extends beyond what I saw on stage, as I had the pleasure of watching this year’s production from the tech balcony and was able to see first hand the thought, effort and hard-working nature of the tech team. I think Shrek the musical Jr’s success can truly be pinpointed to the work that occurs offstage as much as the content on, as the tech team,

spearheaded by year 12’s Jay Edwards, Isabelle Lem, Hannah Evanson, Sana Sajeed and Cadrian Cargill, were kind enough to show me around the balcony and backstage while simultaneously checking and adjusting microphones, sound and sorting out lighting cues.

Shrek, in my eyes, was Girls’ High attempt to start to stretch its theatrical legs, it’s ambitious use of complex costuming and dance routines was a clear expansion on what I have seen in previous years. This was a lighthearted, comedic performance perfect at ending the year on a positive note, laughter easily found throughout from Fiona and her tap-dancing rats to donkey’s travel song. It’s the cast’s commitment to each gag and pun and the way they embrace their new fully costumed selves that I think is truly commendable. How many teenagers do you know who are willing to wear a Humpty Dumpty costume or paint themselves green? Shrek is hopefully only the beginning of a new start for productions here in school, as it is proof of our students’ ability to commit to a performance, opening a new world of theatrical opportunity in years to come.

See you this time next year… I hear it’ll be spooktastic…

Millie Owens Yr12 Drama Prefect

Work Experience - Years 10 and 12 During Celebration week our Year 10 and 12 students completed their work experience placements. There were lots of different placements across multiple sectors at companies such as Capgemini, HSBC, Birmingham Dogs Home, New Cross Hospital, Jhoots Pharmacy, Natwest and Cognizant Worldwide to name a few. For Year 12 student Scarlet, her placement was at the Express & Star - here is what she got up to: During work experience at The Express and Star, I got to experience a plethora of activities and enjoyed the opportunities it brought me. From writing articles which were published in the paper, to interviewing Steve Bull, I embraced every opportunity possible, and it has developed not only my communication skills but my confidence.

Each day was different, whether I was travelling to different locations with a photographer and looking at a plant which grows once in a lifetime, or experiencing time in the office writing press releases, or suddenly going to watch a court trial, it was inspiring to work with a fantastic team of journalists and photographers, and it has solidified my dream of becoming a Journalist in the future. While the field is no doubt tough, the feeling of showcasing your work to a wide audience and talking to people is the greatest gift. My favourite moment was interviewing locals and businesses in Gnosall for the 'Love your Neighbourhood' feature, and it reiterated the importance to me of genuine human connection and the skill of being able to listen to others.

I could not recommend my work experience enough and I hope to continue to develop my skills and use what I have learnt on my placement to my A-level studies and beyond.

Gnosall Interview Steve Bull Interview

Celebration Week What a wonderful week our students had celebrating all their hard work this year with our annual Celebration Week! We had such a fantastic time with a Residential at Laches Wood and trips to: Botanical Gardens, Blists Hill, Dudley Zoo, Drayton Manor, Warwick Castle, West Midlands Safari Park and lots of activities in school too. Well done to all of KS3 for all their hard work this year - we hope you had a fantastic week!

Warwick Castle by Emily - Year 7

Archery - Laches Wood

Building shelters - Laches Wood

Axe Throwing - Laches Wood

Botanical Gardens

Year 9 Problem Solving

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle - The Falconers Quest

Laches Wood

Laches Wood

Sports Day 2025

On Thursday 17th July it was time for one of the highlights of the WGHS calendar - Sports Day! A day filled with fun, house spirit and great competition. It did not disappoint!

The morning started with our annual House Captain speeches and Flag Parade, followed by a whole school warm up.

The morning includes activities such as tennis, bench ball, rowing, water balloon toss, penalty shoot out and rounders. On the afternoon the whole school took to the main drive field for track events.

It was a fantastic day (even in the rain!) and thank you to everyone who took part and particularly our PE team who made everything run so smoothly. A huge congratulations to Ferrers House who were our overall winners!

Key Dates Autumn Term 2025 Students return to school on Wednesday, 3 September 2025 on a staggered start.

We are open for students in Year 7 and 12 only.All other years return on Thursday 4th September.

Autumn 1 - Monday 1 September 2025 to Friday 24 October 2025 Half Term: Monday 27 October 2025 to Friday 31 October 2025 Autumn 2 - Monday 3 November 2025 to Friday 19 December 2025

Spring Term 2026 Spring 1- Monday 5 January 2026 to Friday 13 February 2026 Half Term: Monday 16 February 2026 to Friday 20 February 2026 Spring 2 - Monday 23 February 2026 to Thursday 2 April 2026

Summer Term 2026 Summer 1- Monday 20 April 2026 to Friday 22 May 2026 Half Term: Monday 25 May 2026 to Friday 29 May 2026 Summer 2- Monday 1 June 2026 to Monday 20 July 2026

Provisional Non Pupil Days Monday 1 September 2025 Tuesday 2 September 2025 Friday 24 October 2025 Friday 28 November 2025 Friday 19 December 2025 Monday 16 March 2026 Monday 20 July 2026

School News Flu Vaccine - September

The flu vaccine is offered in school each year and Vaccination UK will be in school on 25th September 2025. Please see poster for parents in preparation. An online consent link and further information will be sent out to parents in due course.

Free Delivery on Uniform with Monkhouse Monkhouse Schoolwear Specialists are currently offering free delivery on orders over £50 until midnight on 20th July.

Winter Health and Vaccinations Article The flu vaccine will help to protect your child against flu. Flu can be an unpleasant illness and sometimes can cause serious complications such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Vaccinating your child will also help to protect older relatives and vulnerable family members by preventing the spread of flu.

Vaccination UK will be attending schools this Autumn and Winter to administer flu vaccinations to children from reception to year 11. If your child has a long-term health condition, they may receive their vaccination at their GP surgery. The flu vaccine is free and is given by a quick and painless nasal spray however, if your child requires a porcine-free alternative, an injectable vaccination is available which can be requested when you complete the consent form.

If you have any queries or would like to provide verbal consent, please contact Vaccination UK’s School Vaccination Team on 01902 200077 or e-mail wolverhampton@v-uk.co.uk Further information on the flu vaccine, including frequently asked questions can be found at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/child-flu-vaccine/. Additional resources about winter health and the flu vaccine can be accessed at https://bugbusterkids.co.uk/index.html