In Year 7 we recently celebrated ‘World Religion Day’ by taking part in a national competition to design a logo to represent the day and its key message of “Respect for All”. Here is a showcase of some of the amazing entries we had from our students.
Despite the challenging circumstances, PGHS students and staff have continued to offer their support and generosity to the invaluable work of many local and national charities.
We have recently been informed of the final totals for two important causes that were supported in the Autumn term. Our school community raised an amazing £220.09 for the British Legion’s Poppy Appeal and a remarkable £439.19 for Derian House Children’s Hospice.
Both of these charities are incredibly grateful for our significant contribution and it once again proves the generosity and thoughtfulness of our school community, especially in such difficult circumstances. Many thanks to all those who donated to both causes.
Mr Herbert
Associate Assistant Headteacher
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-55647340
Headline: Covid-19: Lockdown rules divide opinion at places of worship.
Summary: Under the government legislation, places of worship are able to remain open for services during England’s current lockdown. However, if places of worship choose to open their doors, they will have to make certain changes to abide by the new rules such as:
No communal singing;
A 6ft distance must be kept between anybody not in the same household;
Any holy books, prayer mats, idols touched must be in quarantine for 48 hours.
Different places of worship have taken a different approach. For example, in the following places in Norwich:
Norwich’s Roman Catholic cathedral, St John the Baptist remains open for 17 masses a week. They would normally welcome 1,200 people across all of five of Sunday masses; they are currently limited to 170 per service which is “like a postage stamp in this building”. The priest says communal worship is needed for “comfort and solace” in a time like this.
Norwich Cathedral, closed its physical doors to the public but have replaced them with virtual ones which is new to 21st century worship. The Sunday Eucharist will be live-streamed every week on the cathedral’s YouTube channel and full details of how people can participate in daily worship at home are available on the cathedral’s website. https://www.cathedral.org.uk/
Norwich Central Mosque remains open for private prayer online. People from the same household can visit the mosque to pray by booking a timed slot. The imam believes prayer is important during the time of the pandemic but we should play our part to not allow a big gathering and not spread the virus.
Discussion questions and activities – email your RE teacher for a chance to win some merits!
Terminology Titan: Write a definition for the words in the above article written in bold.
Subject Serious Reader: Write a review of the article.
Oracy Orator: Engage in a debate with your peers or family on the article.
Miss Brooks
In your live lessons and particularly in Maths, teachers have been using Microsoft Teams to deliver their lessons. I would like to give you a few tips on how to get the most out of this and to use the features to communicate with your teachers.
First of all, have you ever not been able to see the chat for your lesson? This can be a problem if you want to ask a question or if your teacher is sharing a link which you need as part of the lesson. It helps if you download the Teams app to your computer. You can use this link to take you to the download: https://teams.microsoft.com/uswe-01/downloads
This will mean that you will now have an icon on your desktop which takes you straight to all your Teams calls:
When you open the Teams app, on the left, there is a list of choices. You can use these to switch between different ‘teams’ which your teachers will have set up for each of your classes:
If you select the ‘calendar’ option, you can get an overview of your upcoming calls so you can organise when you need to be online. You can also use the calendar to take you straight to a call. After a meeting has finished, you can use the app to go back and see the chat. This might be helpful to see a document or use a link which has been uploaded.
To communicate during a Teams call, your teacher might ask you to ‘raise your hand’ when you have finished completing a task. To do this, click on the hand on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen:
This will raise a virtual hand so that your teacher will know when to move on.
You can use the chat feature to communicate with other students in your class using the reactions. You can show your appreciation for a question, or a really good answer, or acknowledge that you have seen a message sent from someone else:
Next time you’re in a live lesson, why not try giving some of these
features a go?
Mrs Sweeney, Curriculum Leader for Maths
As the lockdown continues and more learning is accessed online, as a school we wanted to take the opportunity to repeat some key information relating to online safety. Research has shown an increase in offenders trying to make contact with children via social media since the outbreak of COVID and it is more important than ever to be aware of how to keep children safe online. Children are facing many online risks including online abuse, cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, sexting, grooming, and radicalisation (NSPCC).
Parent Controls
Recently, several parents and carers have contacted the school to ask for further details about parental controls. Parental controls help you to block or filter upsetting or inappropriate content and control purchases within apps. You can install parental control software on your child’s and family’s phones or tablets, games consoles, laptops, and your home internet. Below is a link to Internet Matters where you will find further information about how to alter these settings to ensure your daughter cannot access inappropriate materials.
Online teen speak
Many teenagers will also use internet acronyms to hide what they are trying to say from their parents. How many of these do you recognise?
420 – Marijuana
ASL – Age, Sex, Location
CD9 – Parents are around
FTFY – Fixed That For You
IRL – In Real Life
For more information follow the link below:
https://parentinfo.org/article/online-teen-speak-updated
There are many websites and apps designed to inform parents about how to protect their children from risks online. You can find further information and regular updates by visiting the school website.
http://www.penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk/online-safety/6953775.html
If you would like further information and support about online safety please drop an email to the address below:
s.hall@penworthamgirls.lancs.sch.uk
Mrs S Hall
Deputy Headteacher
Here is the PGHS Virtual Photography Exhibition 2020-2021. We called on all visual storytellers to capture the untold consequences of COVID-19 on people’s lives and livelihoods. Well done to all who entered and congratulations to this year’s winners. To see all the entrants, click on our Virtual Exhibition:
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Virtual Exhibition
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Miss Morris
Lead Teacher for Art & Photography
As part of the Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations, all Year 9, 10 and 11 students were given access to a live webcast of survivor, Eve Kugler BEM, organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust. Students watched live as Mrs Kugler shared details of her incredible life, from her upbringing in Nazi Germany, to persecution in France and her eventual escape to America.
Year 10 student, Charley Lygo has written a very thoughtful review of this memorable experience:
At 10 o’clock this morning, our school and 800 others, were invited to watch the Holocaust survivor webcast. Eve Kugler answered questions from a broadcaster, such as “When did you first lose your parents?” She answered clearly and honestly, “I was ten years old when my father first was taken to the concentration camps, and my mother to work camps.” These questions were interesting and provoked deep emotion for all viewers. I cannot imagine going through what she endured in the 1940s. The call lasted an hour, each minute filled with heart-breaking and emotional stories of how they survived. We were told of the story of when Eve and her parents reunited. It was not emotional, but numb. They were all too traumatised to feel any excitement. Eve also told stories of Kristallnacht and how she was sheltered from the distress of all the destruction by guards, who shoved her and her sisters back into their house. The camps she spoke of froze, starved and overworked her and her family, so much so, that we can only imagine the pain they went through all those years ago. This may be one of the last times a survivor is broadcasted, so I recommend anybody who is able to, to find the stream and watch it through.
Despite experiencing such trauma as a young girl, Mrs Kugler showed incredible resilience to go on to earn a degree from the University of Pennsylvania, before becoming a well-respected journalist. I am confident that all students and staff in attendance found Mrs Kugler’s live testimony informative and inspiring.
Mr Herbert, Curriculum Leader for History
