May 2021 - Page 2 of 4 - Penwortham Girls' High School

Festival of Performance and the Arts

Posted on May 24, 2021September 2, 2021 by admin

Following the cancellation of P&A20, we’re pleased and excited to announce our plans for this year’s festival of ‘Performance and the Arts’, a celebration of ambition, curiosity and resilience.

Mindful of the need to continue to socially distance, we have modified and revised some of our plans to ensure a fun but safe, P&A21. With a diverse programme of activities from theatre group visits and interform Chess to blue-ribbon events including our annual Passport Walks and Sports Day.

We hope P&A21 will provide your daughter with the opportunity to explore her creativity and participate in competitive sport. Most of all, we hope these three weeks of activities will provide an enjoyable end to a challenging year.

P&A21

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Unitees Competition

Posted on May 23, 2021September 15, 2021 by admin

This term, we are taking part in a competition called ‘Unitees’. This is an international competition for schools that aims to spread a message of tolerance and understanding among young people by challenging them to design a T-shirt (or ‘Unitee-shirt’!) that celebrates the theme of unity.

The competition was created by Mike Haines, who created the ‘Global Acts of Unity’ campaign after his brother was tragically killed by terrorists in Syria taking part in humanitarian work to help refugees. Mike Haines didn’t want the tragedy to lead to more anger and hatred and instead wanted to find a way to build unity within communities and spread a message of tolerance and understanding. He believes that if we open our hearts, minds and arms to all people then we can only grow closer and our resistance to intolerance grows stronger. The Unitees competition was created to “invite young people, as leaders of tomorrow, to add their powerful voices to this call.”

In their form groups, each student in Years 7 – 10 will be creating their own design for a T-shirt, thinking about what unity means to them. Their class will then come together to create their final ‘form’ design, which they will be able to make into an actual T-shirt!

The T-shirts will be displayed in school and then judged by a celebrity guest! We also plan to host a staff fashion show to model the designs.

We’ve been focusing a lot in school this year on embedding ideas about UNICEF’s ‘The Right of the Child’ and becoming a ‘Rights Respecting School’ and this celebration of unity is an important celebration of the rights that everyone has to not face discrimination, for all children’s views to be heard and respected and for every minority religion, culture and language to be celebrated and valued.

Being compassionate and socially responsible are two of our core values. This competition is an opportunity to celebrate and encourage unity not only in our school community, but across our country! We’re very excited to see the wonderful ideas and designs created by our students!

Year 10 Respect Council

Mrs Hall Deputy Headteacher

Miss Starkie Equality Lead

Year 11 Leavers 2021

Posted on May 18, 2021September 2, 2021 by admin

Dear Parent / Carer

Your daughter’s last day at PGHS is fast approaching and I wanted to provide you and your daughter with help and information regarding the transition to post-16 education, employment, or training.

Firstly, I’ve attached two documents produced by Lancashire County Council, setting out information from individual sixth forms, colleges and apprenticeship providers based in Lancashire. The information is shown by provider, to help your daughter to make informed decisions about next steps, such as how to apply for a place, where to find information on courses and how to prepare for Year 12.

These documents will support the careers education, information, advice, and guidance that has been provided in school. Whilst every student has successfully applied for a place at a sixth form, college or apprenticeship provider, a number may wish to explore all their options again. Also included in the documents are links and information regarding bridging work and transition activities that will support progression from GCSE to A Level study and from BTEC Level 1/2 to higher level study.

I’ve also attached several resources relating to writing personal statements and CVs, interview preparation and college applications that may prove helpful. These were originally used in Life Skills lessons.

Also attached is a Student Guide to Awarding Summer 2021, which should help you and your daughter understand the processes we have used to determine Centre Assessed Grades.

Of course, if your daughter requires any further support, information or advice, she should contact the school.

Moving to the final day arrangements, Year 11 will leave school at 1pm on Friday 28th May. The Science exam that was originally scheduled to take place during Period 2 on this day, will now take place during Period 1. We will then have a final assembly to formally mark your daughter’s last day in school, with the opportunity for shirt-signing and photographs with teachers and friends.

If your daughter has missed a Graded Task due to an exceptional circumstance like Eid or a medical issue, her teachers will provide her with the opportunity to complete these tasks after half term, on either Monday 7th or Tuesday 8th June. Equally important, if your daughter would like to see any of her Graded Task evidence, she should arrange to do so with her teacher, during the week beginning 7th June.

Can I also take this opportunity to remind you of a couple of important dates for the diary:

Valedictory Dinner – 13th July

Results Day – 12th August

You will receive further information about these events in due course.

Finally, thank you again for all your support during these most challenging of circumstances. I look forward to seeing you on Results Day to celebrate your daughter’s achievements.

Yours sincerely

Mr J Ramsdale

Senior Assistant Headteacher

Letter to Year 11

Download (pdf)

Student Guide to Awarding in Summer

Download (pdf)

Applying to College Sessions 4 & 5

Download (pptx)

C.V Template

Download (docx)

Key stage 4 to key stage 5 Transition Booklet

Download (pdf)

Preparing for Interview Session 6 and 7

Download (pptx)

Year 11 and 13 Apprenticeship Support

Download (pdf)

Planting in Science

Posted on May 18, 2021September 16, 2021 by admin

This week, we thought we would show you how we take cuttings in Science:

First of all, we cut off a bushy side-shoot. (It was a shame about this one as it had a couple of really nice blooms!)
Remove some of the lower leaves and any flowers.
Leave in a glass of water on a sunny place (usually 1 to 2 weeks) and eventually new roots will form. Then, hey presto, you have a new plant!
Instead of throwing away large yoghurt containers, insert holes in the bottom of them and use them as plant pots. If you give them a rub with some sand paper, you will be able to paint them. Here is a small sample of our geraniums, which we use for experiments, including testing leaves for starch.Mr Turner
Science Technician

Empathy Day 10th June 2021

Posted on May 18, 2021September 14, 2021 by admin

‘EmpathyLab’ is an organisation aiming to build children’s empathy through literacy, social activism and the use of high-quality literature. One of the driving forces behind it, is recent research demonstrating that reading builds real-life empathy skills – this is because reading is an opportunity to delve in worlds and situations that are far removed from our own. Read stories. Build empathy. Make a better world.

You can find out more about this initiative here: https://www.empathylab.uk/about Here are some of the recommendations by authors taking part in this year’s programme:

Mrs Woodhouse
Curriculum Leader for English

Morrisons Little Library

Posted on May 18, 2021September 14, 2021 by admin

The Open University’s Reading for Pleasure team have been working with Morrisons to shape a book donation initiative to encourage more children to read. Launching this week, Morrisons’ Children’s Little Library will be available nationwide in stores across England, Wales and Scotland.

Morrisons’ Children’s Little Library exchange will be available in every Morrisons store, where customers can donate unwanted books for children, teenagers and parents to pick up for free. Morrisons will also be donating 50,000 books and engaging local schools and community groups via its Morrisons Community Champions.

Teresa Cremin, Professor of Education Literacy at the OU has been leading the Reading for Pleasure team:

“Reading books helps children to start conversations, spark imagination and support emotional wellbeing. The National Literacy Trust recently reported that children who own books are six times more likely to read above the level expected for their age, but that one in 11 disadvantaged children don’t own a single book.”

“Reading benefits children and young people in so many ways and is especially vital after such a difficult and disruptive year, as it creates a safe space to escape and learn. It’s been great working with Morrisons to help make the Little Library idea a reality.”

David Potts, Morrisons CEO, commented, “The past year has been extremely difficult for everyone and we want to help as much as we can. We know that our younger customers love reading but some may not have access to books of their own. That’s why we’re launching the Morrisons Children’s Little Library – so every child has the chance to enjoy reading and brighten their future.”

This is a great opportunity to refresh or build a home library whilst supporting other young people with their reading.

Mental Health Awareness Week 2021- Connect with Nature

Posted on May 18, 2021September 2, 2021 by admin

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week – one of the biggest awareness weeks across the UK. This week is organised and hosted by the Mental Health Foundation which is a charity focused on mental health prevention and helps people to understand, protect and sustain their mental health. Each year, the Mental Health Foundation sets the theme and encourages individuals, schools, communities, and organisations to get involved. This year, the theme is ‘Connect with Nature’. Nature was chosen because millions of us turned to it during the pandemic. Many of us found that going for walks was one of the top coping strategies and being out in green spaces has improved our mental health and wellbeing. Throughout the lockdowns, we have not only just spent more time outdoors but we have also started to notice nature more / re-discover it.

There are many benefits to connecting with nature for our mental health, which include feeling happier, feeling less stressed or angry, having more and better-quality sleep and feeling less worried. It also increases self-esteem and self-confidence. This week offers an opportunity for our students to talk about all aspects of mental health and find their own way of connecting with nature.

Our students can connect with nature and improve their mental health in the following ways:

Staying active outdoors: It is important that we keep active every day to look after both our physical and mental health. Exercising in green spaces such as parks or forests for as little as five minutes can improve mood and self-esteem. You can stay active outdoors by going for a walk/run/cycle, playing outdoor games with friends (e.g. football/ rounders/ netball) or by stretching/practicing yoga outside.
Spending time with family & friends outdoors: As lockdown restrictions have eased, we have been spending more time outdoors with our friends and family. Nature often provides a great space to connect and socialise with family and friends. You can connect with nature by having a picnic, going for a group walk or visiting local heritage spots.
If going outside isn’t possible or feels difficult at the moment, you could explore ways of bringing nature indoors. For example, eating breakfast in front of the window, observing the nature outside, buying an indoor plant and taking care of it or watching a wildlife programme such as ‘Planet Earth’. Studies have shown that watching nature programmes can reduce anxiety, fear, stress and fatigue. They also increase relaxation, contentment, excitement and joy. We have decided to bring nature indoors for our students by providing each form with an indoor plant to take care of.
Many people find nature inspires them to get creative! Creative activities can reduce stress and improve mood and wellbeing. This could be things like writing some creative sentences, doing a quick sketch of a natural object, writing a poem or song lyrics about your favourite nature spot, taking photographs of landscapes and natural objects and collecting natural objects and making a handmade card for a loved one.
We would love to see how our students connect with nature throughout the rest of the month. Therefore, we are asking our students to take a selfie/ picture of what they have been up to and upload it to the ‘Mental Health Awareness’ week entry on Class Charts!
#mentalhealthawarenessweek #connectwithnature

Year 8 Food Preparation and Nutrition

Posted on May 11, 2021September 7, 2021 by admin

Students in Year 8 have been developing their technical skills in Food Preparation and Nutrition this week by demonstrating the bridge and claw technique. Unfortunately, due to COVID, students have been unable to visit the food room yet so we are taking the food room to them. Well done to everyone for demonstrating some excellent techniques!

Mrs Freer
Technology Department

Computing News – May 2021

Posted on May 11, 2021September 7, 2021 by admin

Key Stage 3 Computing

This half term sees KS3 Computing investigating and using a variety of programming codes ranging from Scratch to Python. In Year 7, the girls have been designing and creating their own game using Scratch. The game had to have a theme about educating others to be healthy. The games also had to include a variety of scripts, sprites and variables. These games will be evaluated and assessed. The games that have been planned are fantastic with a lot of imagination.

Year 8 have been looking at binary code and hexadecimal and have started to use the programming language, Python.

Year 9 are investigating a range of Python techniques including variables and ‘if and else statements.’ The girls will have to create an app to showcase their skills learnt throughout the unit.

The next KS3 work will consist of a variety of units; Year 7 will be learning about spreadsheet skills. Year 8 will be learning about website design and looking at a variety of websites and the different features of websites. They will be designing their own websites and creating them using serif web plus. Year 9 will be starting to learn about Technology and they will be looking into the History of Technology and will end with the ‘Future of Technology’, where the girls will have to design a new piece of Technology that will enhance people’s lives.

GCSE Computer Science

Year 11 are in the process of completing their graded tasks, they are showing true determination when completing these graded tasks. Well done, girls! Keep up the hard work!

Year 10 will have completed all the theory for paper 1, Principles of Computer Science by the summer holidays. This theory consists of systems architecture and software, looking at data representation including binary, hexadecimal and sound, learning about networks and how different networks are structured and how they work. This includes the internet, looking at security of network, a variety of security issues and finally learning about ethical and environmental issues surrounding Computer Science including legislation.

BTEC Creative Media Productions

Year 11 have been completing component 3, exam-based assessment to gather the evidence needed. This work has been based around sustainability and there has been some brilliant work produced by the students.

Mrs Bennett,

Curriculum Leader for the C.A.T. Faculty

Feature Artist: Sara K Bryne

Posted on May 11, 2021September 13, 2021 by admin

Portland-based photographer Sara K. Byrne has become recent inspiration for our GCSE Students. Working with the photographic technique of ‘Double Exposure’, Sara’s images capture the serenity of nature juxtaposed against abstracted human forms.

She has recently filmed a video tutorial demonstrating multiple exposure photographs using a Canon 5D Mark III camera and accompanied the article with some great examples of her own work.

You can see more of her photography from her website:

https://sarakbyrne.com/