This week is our Work Experience week, providing students with valuable opportunities to explore the world of work and develop their understanding of future career pathways.
Alongside students who secured a week-long work placement, our Careers Advisor organised a fantastic Workplace Safari programme for those who were unable to obtain a placement. This initiative gives students the opportunity to take part in a range of workplace visits across Lancashire, followed by project-based activities linked to their experiences.
The Workplace Safari enables students to discover different sectors, meet employers and explore career opportunities they may not previously have considered. Most importantly, it ensures that every student has access to a meaningful and inclusive workplace encounter that helps inspire their future aspirations.
We are proud to support our students in broadening their horizons and helping them make informed decisions about their future careers.
On Wednesday, 29 April, Miss Avery took 11 Year 8 students to Runshaw College to participate in some STEM MEGA Hub activities.
First, we were introduced to Hana, the leader of the MEGA activities. She explained to us how in life, technology is used in practically every job now so she did four exciting activities which were tech-related that would help us in the future.
The first game we played was a Discord AI battle. We were split into 4 teams, and we had to create a prompt to try and create the exact picture that Hana created on Discord AI. There were 3 rounds and PGHS won all 3!
The second activity was creating and programming our very own Penwortham Girls’ Lego Robotic Car. We worked as a team to create the perfect Lego robotic. We then used an app on the laptop, which helped us code and program our Lego robotic car to move.
The third activity we did was GeoGuessr. Each school was split in 2 teams and we all went head-to-head against the other schools to pinpoint where the exact location of the image was. There were 16 rounds and we came second!
Our fourth and final activity was a competition. It was a mixture of a variety of technology, history and other fun things. The first challenge was called “Caesar”. For this, we used a cipher wheel to crack the codes to find the different famous people who created great things. We then used morse code which is used for transmitting messages over long distances. The third challenge was called “E-Sports data” where we had a list of 100 players and we had to figure out who had the best endurance. Helped by Discord AI, we calculated the correct answers. Our last challenge of the quiz was a crossword puzzle, where we researched and figured out what all the answers were to all the different questions. We gathered all the highlighted letters and unscrambled them to find the hidden word.
We had a fantastic experience with the crew at MEGA at Runshaw College. We all had a wonderful time learning brand new things that we didn’t know before and we feel very lucky that we were able to experience this!
💚 ‘Wear Green Day’ Shows Support for Mental Health Awareness 💚
As part of Mental Health Week, students and staff came together on Thursday to take part in our ‘Wear Green to School’ day. It was wonderful to see so many students showing their support for positive mental health by wearing green accessories, including socks, ribbons, headbands and hair accessories.
The day helped raise awareness of the importance of mental wellbeing and reminded everyone that looking after our mental health is just as important as looking after our physical health.
Thank you to all students and staff who joined in and helped make the day such a positive and supportive event. 💚
Year 10 GCSE Photography students have been working incredibly hard on their portrait project inspired by the artist, Loui Jover. As part of the project, students planned and carried out photo shoots with their friends, carefully considering composition, lighting and expression to create striking portrait images.
After capturing their photographs, students developed their editing skills in Photoshop, experimenting with contrast, tone and creative effects to enhance their final images. To add even more individuality and creativity, they then used acrylic pens to draw over the prints, bringing each portrait to life with bold colours, patterns, and personal touches.
The results have been absolutely fantastic. Every student has shown great creativity, patience and determination throughout the project. It has been wonderful to see their confidence and artistic styles grow. Their hard work and enthusiasm have produced a collection of unique and expressive portraits that they should all be very proud of.
This term, Year 8 computer scientists are starting their journey into the world of Python programming. Python is one of the most popular programming languages because it’s clear, powerful and great for beginners. Lots of professionals use it every day so students are learning real‑world skills right from the start.
What will students be programming?
Lessons will be hands‑on so students won’t just be reading about code, they’ll be writing their own programs, including:
A dice game using random numbers
A pet‑to‑human age calculator
A quiz and friendship calculator that reacts to user answers
As one famous programmer, Reshma Saujani (founder of Girls Who Code) says:
“You don’t have to be perfect to be amazing.”
That’s exactly the message behind these lessons – have a go, make mistakes and learn as you go.
Students will learn the three key building blocks used in almost every program:
Sequence – instructions run in order (using things like print() and input())
Selection – making choices with if, elif and else
Iteration – repeating instructions with loops like for and while
They’ll also learn how to use variables, data types, and maths and comparison operators.
This way of thinking helps students break problems down and solve them step by step – a skill that’s useful far beyond computing lessons.
Python is used in lots of real-world applications:
Instagram uses Python to help manage huge amounts of data and recommend content
Games developers use Python to test and prototype ideas
Streaming platforms use Python to suggest shows based on what you watch
Computer science pioneer, Grace Hopper once said:
“The most dangerous phrase in the language is ‘We’ve always done it this way.’”
Learning to code teaches students to think differently and to imagine better solutions.
Programming skills can lead to exciting careers, such as:
Software or app developer
Data scientist
AI or robotics engineer
Game, web or media designer
Python lessons aren’t just about computers. They build confidence, creativity and problem‑solving skills, showing students that technology isn’t something that just happens to them, it’s something they can create themselves.
On Thursday 23rd April, our U16s football team travelled to Leyland St Mary’s High School to compete in the South Ribble 7-a-side tournament. Blessed with glorious sunshine, the team delivered an outstanding performance from start to finish, showcasing impressive skill, determination and excellent teamwork throughout the afternoon.
The girls were in superb form, scoring freely while maintaining a strong defensive record, conceding just one goal across the entire tournament. Their results were equally impressive, with four wins, one draw and only one narrow loss securing them the title of overall tournament champions.
A huge congratulations to the team on this fantastic achievement! We are incredibly proud of your effort, commitment and success. What a brilliant performance! Teachers’ player of the tournament goes to Sophia W for fantastic attacking skills and goal scoring. Well done to the whole team – Phoebe B, Daisy L, Amelia M, Jess C, Isabelle M, Georgia B and Jessica L.
We are delighted to share that our Year 9 Design and Technology Club students have been invited to attend the finals and celebration event of a prestigious competition they entered earlier this year.
The competition, Engineering Design Challenge Project in School, is part of the BAE #Inspiring Lancashire Programme—a unique 3D printing STEM initiative that has involved over 3,000 students across 52 schools in Lancashire.
As part of the challenge, students were tasked with planning, designing, making and presenting a product aimed at contributing to a more sustainable society and addressing climate change. Images of the students’ innovative creations can be seen below.
We are especially proud to announce that the group has received an award recognising a specific aspect of their project, with full details to be revealed at the final event. The celebration, hosted by BAE, will bring together finalists from a number of schools and will also include a tour of the BAE Systems facility.
We warmly congratulate our students on their determination, curiosity and resilience throughout the competition and wish them every success at the final event.
