Life Skills Weekly Topic w/c 30th January
Life Skills Weekly Topic w/c 23rd January
Life Skills Weekly Topic w/c 16th January
Dance Workshop at Runshaw College
On Friday 20th January, 5 of our Year 11 GCSE Dance students attended a dance workshop at Runshaw College with a professional dancer from the very prestigious, Rambert Dance company. The girls participated in contemporary technique sessions and learnt choreography of the professional work ‘A Linha Curva’. ‘A Linha Curva’ is one of the professional works we study during the GCSE Dance course so it was great for the girls to be taught choreography from Craig who actually performed in A Linha Curva. The girls performed with superb technique and projection. Well Done!
Mrs Naylor
Curriculum Leader for Performance, Sports and Health
Second World War
Year 9 have spent the last few months studying the significance of the Second World War. It has been a fascinating topic where students have considered the historical significance of such events as the Blitz, Operation Barbarossa, Hiroshima and the Potsdam Conference. We have discussed the different criteria historians use to determine the significance of events whilst deepening our understanding of the events of 1939-1945. The end of unit knowledge check saw students across Year 9 displaying an impressive understanding of the era along with fantastic disciplinary knowledge.
Head’s Commendations were given to Ruby R, Hattie C, Lucy H and Eden F for the inference skills on show when analysing a Second World War poster. Well done!
Mr Bretherton,
Teacher of History
Year 7 Cross Curricular Work – English and History
As part of a cross-curricular project last term, students in year 7 studied the Anglo-Saxon myth Beowulf in both their English and history lessons. In English students learnt the story of Beowulf and how the Anglo-Saxon Old English differs from modern English. In history, students learnt how historians use myths to make inferences about their authors. For example, students learnt about the importance of Hereot, the mead hall in Anglo-Saxon society and attitudes towards warriors and heroes. The students enjoyed learning a crucial story in English history and produced some excellent work in the process.
Mr Herbert
Curriculum Leader for History
Holocaust Memorial Week
Holocaust education is an important feature of the PGHS history curriculum. Year 9 students study the causes and consequences of the Nazi persecution of Jews between 1933-1945 and the Year 11 students study the holocaust in depth as part of their GCSE studies. The theme of all year group assemblies last week was the Holocaust and all year 10 and 11 students had the privilege of attending a presentation and Q&A with Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines MBE, a holocaust survivor who was part of the Kindertransport in 1939. Lady Milena’s presentation was engaging and delivered with great dignity. The students were captivated by her personal story and how her experience fitted within the context of the Holocaust.
If you would like to find out more about Lady Grenfell-Baines’s experiences, follow the link:https://www.memoryofnations.eu/en/grenfell-baines-milena-1929
Mr Herbert
Curriculum Leader for History
Lancaster University School of Mathematics (LUSOM) Online and on Campus Revision Sessions
As part of our continuing links with LUSoM, there are a number of taster sessions and lectures, both online and on the campus that are currently, and will be, available for students in KS4.
Twilight Taster Evening
These sessions provide opportunities for Year 11 students to gain an insight into what studying at LUSoM will be like. There will be mini-taster lessons across Maths, Physics and Computer Science and a Q&A session. This is also an opportunity to find out about the content and delivery of the curriculum, the facilities available and the opportunities beyond A-level.
100% of students attending one of the tasters have agreed that the content covered supported a variety of topics supporting curriculum and agreed the session helped in deciding on whether to apply to LUSoM.
To book a session, please visit https://go.cardinalnewman.ac.uk/form/LUSoM-Twilight.
LUSoM Secure 7
Over 6 weeks, LUSoM invites Year 11 students who want to secure a Grade 7 in GCSE (which is the usual minimum requirement for A-level Mathematics) to join them and explore various GCSE-related topics. These sessions will deepen students’ understanding, support their revision for the GCSE Mathematics exams and prepare themselves for A-level Mathematics should they wish to continue with the subject. The sessions will be held on the following dates:
As each session will build on the previous weeks, it is important that students in Year 11 who wish to join, do attend all of the sessions to maximise the benefit of the course.
To register for this programme, please visit https://go.cardinalnewman.ac.uk/form/lusomsecure7 and complete the details.
We are planning on taking students on the school minibus to the sessions which are on campus, however places are limited and they will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If students have registered for the sessions and would like to take up the offer of transport via the school minibus, please ensure they let their class teacher know.
LUSoM Aim Further
Aim Further is new programme, introduced this academic year. This 6-week intense programme has been developed for Year 11 students planning to study Further Maths at A-Level. Meeting weekly both online and on campus, the sessions will focus on problem-solving questions which stretch and challenge students’ thinking skills. Using content familiar from GCSEs but in a new context, the sessions will aim to build the rigour of students’ arguments, preparing them for the requirements of A-level Further Maths.
As each session will build on the previous weeks, it is important that students in Year 11 who wish to join do attend all of the sessions to maximise the benefit of the course.
To register for the programme, please visit https://go.cardinalnewman.ac.uk/form/lusomaimfurther
To register for the programme, please visit https://go.cardinalnewman.ac.uk/form/lusomaimfurther
Miss Hasan
Maths Department
Halle Orchestra at the Bridgewater Hall
On the 16th January a group of 46 students headed out to Manchester’s stunning Bridgewater Hall to experience a unique concert experience alongside students from all around the North West and beyond. The Halle orchestra’s ‘The Orchestra Through the Ages’ concert took pupils on a guided tour of music from the Renaissance period right through to the twenty first century. The concert featured soloists from the Royal Northern College of Music which really gave the students something to aspire towards. Our students were particularly blown away by the performance of Steven Schwarz’s ‘Defying Gravity’. This was a unique opportunity to see and hear it and was not only performed by a fabulous vocal student but was accompanied by the full symphony orchestra. One of the memories that will stay with me was when the concert presenter, Tom Redmond demonstrated a musical idea using a 9 foot Alpine horn!
It was a fantastic opportunity for our year 10 and 11 GCSE students to hear pieces performed live that they are currently studying as well as hearing some of the tricky concepts broken down with the help of the full orchestra.
“I thought the concert was fantastic! It was incredibly interesting and engaging. All the music was brilliant but I particularly loved Berlioz’s ‘March to the Scaffold’ and ‘Defying Gravity’ from Wicked.” Sea B Year 10
Mrs Little
Music Department
Student Leadership Team
My name is Olivia, and I am the current student leader for charity. Over the Winter term at PGHS, we got involved in numerous charity events and raised a total of £826 for charities, including Save the Children and funded a girl’s education in Eswatini, by holding activities including a funded Christmas jumper day, the Christmas markets tombola and a Santa dash.
Over the upcoming term, we plan to take part in more charity projects and do what we can to support those in need. Currently, in our buddy groups, we have been working hard on our ‘Pennies to Pounds’ business projects, of which all our profits will go to our chosen charity. Some of the chosen charities include RSPCA, Mind, Cancer Research, Derian House, Galloways and SLEAP.
We also plan on introducing a collection for pet food to go to a pet food bank, as we would like to focus on the current issue that face struggling families who are having to choose between letting themselves, or their pets, go hungry. To attempt to combat this issue, we are asking if you can provide any dog or cat food so that less families are forced to let their pets starve, or even give them away.
Olivia, Head Girl
