On Tuesday 17th November, Peter Marshall and the film crew from BBC News North West came to PGHS for a follow-up interview with Mrs Pomeroy, Headteacher to find out how the school is managing with remote working and the changes that have taken place in school due to the COVID19 pandemic.
As we enter our second lockdown, it is vital that we ensure our mental health is our priority. Miss Wignall has created a 28-day challenge for our students to participate in to improve their mental wellbeing and add some positivity to their day.
#28-daychallenge #Mentalheathmatters #Makeyourmentalhealthapriority.
A new half term brings new units of study in the lower school – Year 7 are looking at ‘Wild Weather’, Year 8 are on ‘Buried Treasure’ and Year 9 are studying ‘Energy Resources’.
There is a wealth of background reading and documentaries on all three of these subject areas and as always, I would urge students to do their own reading and watching around the subjects to better their own understanding.
Some recent highlights in the work completed so far this term are shown below. All of these have received Head’s Commendations.
Mr Bowles
Curriculum Leader for Geography
Over half-term, students in Key Stage 3 were given two challenges to complete – a Halloween-themed baking task and a STEM challenge. This required students to use their knowledge, skills and understanding of all the STEM subjects, along with their creative thinking to design a prototype product for a specific client.
Food Preparation & Nutrition
For the Halloween inspired baking challenge, students in years 7 and 8 were asked to design and create a range of Halloween biscuits. Students created some fantastic products, which demonstrated how creative they are with both ingredients and decorations.
Year 9
In Year 9, students were asked to develop a Halloween inspired bread product. Through Classcharts, we received some fantastic pictures of the products that the students created. Well done!
STEM
In Year 7, students were asked to design and create a haunted house marble run. Students used their creative thinking to design and create a range of different spooky marble runs.
Year 8
In Year 8, students were asked to design and make a Halloween inspired pop-up card, reflecting on motions and mechanisms covered last year. We had some amazing designs submitted to Classcharts. Well done, girls!
Year 9
For the STEM challenge in Year 9, students had the option to either use 2D design CAD software to design and prototype an ergonomic hands-free door opener, or to model their idea through card. Students submitted a range of responses which all met the needs of the brief. Well done, everyone!
Mrs Freer
Teacher of Technology
The students have recently been working hard completing their first assignment for component one of the course. This has involved studying a variety of media products from the past and present and writing a report analysing their purpose and intended audience.
They are now beginning on their next assignment, which will include creating their own examples of media products. Our first task will be to film, edit and create the music for a horror film trailer. I look forward to seeing their finished work.
Mrs Gornall
Teacher of Technology
This week through a live Zoom meeting our Year 10 students played ‘virtual hosts’ to the internationally renowned American Photorealist, John Whalley.
John Whalley delivered a workshop showcasing his talents with graphite. Students had the rare opportunity to put their own questions directly to the artist.
The calibre of John Whalley’s work is truly exceptional. Examples of his work can be found below and online through his website, http://johnwhalley.com/ . We are greatly anticipating this event!
Please watch the You Tube video about the workshop
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YouTube video about the workshop
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Miss Morris
Curriculum Leader for Art and Photography
As it has been ‘Tomorrow’s Engineers’ week’ from the 2nd-6th November, all KS3 students and those studying GCSE D&T have been able to enter a competition to win £1000 worth of STEM vouchers for school. All students have been asked to complete a quiz using the link on class charts.
https://www.tomorrowsengineers.org.uk/tomorrows-engineers-week-2020/big-quiz
During Science, Technology and Maths lessons there has also been the opportunity for students to learn more about engineering careers. We explored case studies from a variety of areas ranging from chemical, mechanical, and nuclear to sustainability, inclusive design, and systems engineering.
Finally, on Wednesday this week, students were also able to take part in an online Q+A session with two engineers focusing on solving the current health crisis, as well as sustainability and engineering in sport. This was organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Here are a group of Year 9s watching a live Q+ A session with two engineers. The girls were able to ask questions that would be answered live via the Zoom link. The professionals then gave informative responses explaining how they started in engineering and what their careers involve.
Mrs Gornall
Teacher of Technology
Year 11 students are well under way with the final assessment piece; to re-image either an existing magazine front cover and double page spread or an existing homepage for a website. They have to adapt it to make sure it is suitable for a teenage audience. We will then be preparing for their final practical exam.
Mrs Bennett
Curriculum Leader for C.A.T. Faculty
Year 11 have been learning about operating systems and the importance of these within devices. They have also started to learn about different network topologies. This will continue this half term by studying protocols and the differences between them to understand how they all work. They have completed their progress checks and have all established areas of ongoing revision.
Year 10 have had a fantastic first half term and have been learning the theory behind computers, how they work and how all the components all work together. The girls have completed their asessments and there have been some incredible results. Keep up the hard work!
Mrs Bennett
Curriculum Leader for C.A.T. Faculty
Year 7 students have spent the first half term learning about different aspects of online safety including cyber-bullying, social networking and how to stay safe using this media. They will be preparing a presentation as part of their assessment and delivering these to the rest of the class during their lesson time over the coming few weeks.
Year 8 students have been learning about internet searching techniques. They have been looking into both primary and secondary research with the girls conducting their own primary research around the topic of aliens. The girls have started to produce some amazing information leaflets, including persuasive vocabulary to inform audiences about the argument of whether aliens exist.
Year 9 students have been learning about website design. They have looked at a variety of websites and have analysed their designs by looking at a range of their various features. They have developed a detailed plan for their own website, created a logo and created a variety of assets. This half term will see the websites being created using ‘serif webplus’ and I am looking forward to watching the websites develop over the next few weeks.
Mrs Bennett
Curriculum Leader for C.A.T. Faculty
