June 2021 - Penwortham Girls' High School

PGHS Superhero Run 2021

Posted on June 28, 2021September 2, 2021 by admin

Mrs Davda

PGHS Superheroes rose to the challenge again on Friday 28th May and completed a 1 mile run through Hurst Grange Park, raising an incredible amount of money for Rock FM’s charity Cash for Kids.

The students, aka ‘superheroes’ were amazing, flying through the park at record speed and the teachers, aka ‘superheroes’ were amazing too, leading their team and keeping them motivated towards the back. Many students and staff dressed up to support the event, lighting up the streets of Penwortham and Hurst Grange Park.

We have already exceeded previous years’ totals and have raised well over a £1000 so far! Thank you to all those who donated.

A special thank you has to go out to one of our Year 7 students, Claudia, who raised a staggering £335 all by herself! A huge THANK YOU to Claudia and all her family and friends who supported her.

Each year we do the Superhero Run, my fundraising goal is to beat last year’s total. The bar has definitely been set high this year!

Well done, Year 7 and 8!

Computing News June 2021

Posted on June 28, 2021September 7, 2021 by admin

Key Stage 3 Computing

The final half term sees KS3 Computing being a little creative when learning some basics within Information Technology. In Year 7, the girls have been learning all about spreadsheets and are in the process of creating a spreadsheet for a specific scenario that needs to include a range of formulas and charts. The girls are doing this independently and are using the skills taught in the previous lessons to do this.

Year 8 are in the process of designing their own music festival and have planned a website to promote it. The girls will be incorporating a variety of features into their websites, including scrolling text, videos and slideshows. We will be investigating the programming language, HTML, that sits behind the websites and will be challenging the girls to write some HTML codes to help produce their websites.

Year 9 have spent part of this half term looking into technology. This unit has involved the history of computing and technology and the future of technology. We have looked at exciting futuristic products/household devices that will be available on the market in the next few years. The assessment that the girls will have to complete will be to design and develop a new piece of technology/product that will make people’s lives easier. The girls will be extremely creative with their ideas around this design assessment. Here’s hoping we might have a future Anita Roddick (Founder of The Body Shop) here at PGHS!

GCSE Computer Science

This half term has seen the Year 11 cohort complete their GCSE Computer Science CAGs. They have been an absolute pleasure to teach and have worked exceptionally hard and made me extremely proud! Good luck, girls, in your future career paths.

Year 10 have completed all the theory for paper 1, ‘Principles of Computer Science.’ This theory consists of systems architecture and software, looking at data representation including binary, hexadecimal and sound. They have also been learning about how different networks are structured and work. This includes the internet, looking at security of networks and a variety of security issues. Finally, they have also learnt about ethical and environmental issues surrounding Computer Science, including legislation. You have all worked extremely hard this year and I look forward to next year when we will focus on paper 2 and the practical elements of the course.

Mrs Bennett
Curriculum Leader for the C.A.T. Faculty

Design & Technology: Year 8 Faraday Challenge Day

Posted on June 28, 2021September 13, 2021 by admin

On Tuesday 22nd June, all of Year 8 took part in the Faraday Challenge. The competition was organised by The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) and is a national competition held across the country. Students worked in teams to design and develop a product which meet the needs of a brief set by Network Rail. They wanted students to create a prototype of an idea which would help to manage the increase in passengers in their stations, platforms or on their trains.

All students worked extremely hard throughout the day and came up with some very original and innovative ideas. The final 6 teams will now be judged by a member of the IET and a winner will be announced in the next few weeks. They will then go forward onto a national league table on the Faraday challenge website.

Mrs Freer

Design & Technology / STEM

GCSE Art Exhibition 2021

Posted on June 28, 2021September 8, 2021 by admin

On Monday 28th June, parents, staff, students and friends have the chance to see the talented work of our GCSE Art & Design students during the Private View Event (3.30om-6.00pm). The GCSE Art Exhibition is set to showcase a range of stunning sketchbooks as part of their Art & Design coursework.

During the Festival of Performance and Arts 2021, Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 students will also be invited to visit the exhibition all week during their lessons and gain inspiration for their studies.

May I take this opportunity to thank all the Year 11 Art & Design students for their hard work, dedication and commitment this year.

Miss Morris
Lead Teacher for Art

Feature Artist: J. Vincent Scarpace

Posted on June 28, 2021September 13, 2021 by admin

Some of our Year 7 students have been studying the work of J. Vincent Scarpace as part of their Coral Reef project. Scarpace is known for his highly abstracted, colourful fish forms which focus on the creative process of ‘making’ art. Students have worked with a variety of media to emulate this artist’s style and to get a better understanding of the visual elements of art.

Visit his website at: https://j-vincent-scarpace.pixels.com/

Miss Morris
Lead Teacher for Art

Mural Painting

Posted on June 28, 2021September 13, 2021 by admin

Over the past few weeks, the Art Department has been working on large scale mural installations with the help of some of our talented young artists. This major phase aims to rejuvenate sections of our School, such as the Year 8 garden and later this term, the quad area.

The response from teachers and students has been amazing and it is all thanks to the hard work of our volunteers. A special thanks to all those participating.

Below are videos showing the Year 8 garden mural development:

DAY 1: https://youtu.be/SM7-jWl1QwQ

DAY 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru8B-g5ZBQ4

DAY 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcD2cv2MVok

DAY 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK9Tr9N-_qU

DAY 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Leia3s7j7Yc

Miss Morris
Lead Teacher for Art

Educake Leaderboard

Posted on June 21, 2021September 16, 2021 by admin

Year 10 Space

Posted on June 21, 2021September 9, 2021 by admin

Nasa states, “Stars are the most widely recognised astronomical objects and represent the most fundamental building blocks of galaxies. The age, distribution and composition of the stars in a galaxy trace the history, dynamics and evolution of that galaxy. Moreover, stars are responsible for the manufacture and distribution of heavy elements such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. Consequently, the study of the birth, life and death of stars is central to the field of astronomy.”

As part of their GCSE course, Year 10 Separate Science students, have been looking into the life cycle of stars. They have made some excellent visual flow diagrams that show the life cycle of a star being the same size as our sun, as well as showing the life cycle of a star much more massive than the sun.

How many of these stages have you heard of? Ever wondered what a black hole or a supernova is? Check out NASA’s website below for more information.

https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve

Mrs Honeyman

Science Department

Should we save the Northern White Rhino?

Posted on June 21, 2021September 16, 2021 by admin

Sudan (right) was the last male Northern White Rhino. He died in 2018 and this effectively made the species extinct.

“His death is a cruel symbol of human disregard for nature and it saddened everyone who knew him,”

said Jan Stejskal, an official at Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic, where Sudan had lived until 2009. He now leaves behind the last 2 white rhinos, his daughter and granddaughter.

As there are no male white rhinos left, it is impossible for any more rhinos to be born. Or is it?

Sperm cells were harvested before Sudan died, as well as egg cells from the remaining females. With advances in modern technologies, IVF scientists have the ability to create some embryos and effectively save the species but should be do it? Using modern Science to save the white rhino, raises moral and ethical issues that have been hotly anticipated for the last 3 years since Sudan’s death. It also raises the possibilities of inbreeding as we would be fusing cells of a granddaughter and grandfather.

All of Year 7 were tasked with reading some articles about Sudan and the plans that could be put in place to produce some new embryos. They then had to use some reading and evaluative techniques to decide if they thought we should use IVF to save the Northern White Rhino. This led to some great debates with students on either side. To finish, they had to complete an extended answer question, “Evaluate the use of IVF to save the Northern White Rhino.” They all rose to the challenge and produced some excellent work that they should all be proud of!

Mr Dean, Science Department

Mission to Mars Competition

Posted on June 21, 2021September 16, 2021 by admin

A huge congratulations to Hattie C in 7H who has been selected as a prize winner for her submission to the Mission to Mars competition as part of the Literacy Trust

The entry from Hattie C was so creative they have made a special ‘honourable mention’ prize for her. The judges have said the following,

“An honourable mention to Hattie C, Penwortham Girls’ High School. This entry went above and beyond by creating a physical model of the Mars base – which no other student did. I was really impressed with the labelling, making it easy to identify the areas of the base and I also loved the use of action figures!”

I am sure that you will agree that this is an exceptional piece of work. We received so many entries of such a high standard. Hattie’s work is going to be announced in a news story article published on the National Literacy Trust website and the funder’s website, Turner and Townsend next week. Hattie will also receive a book token prize for her work.

A huge well done to Hattie and all the entries received by Year 7 and 8.

Mrs R Cahill

Science Department