SGHS Newsletter - Issue 48 (July 2014)

NewsletterIssue 48July 2014

/ Skipton Girls’ High School Newsletter / Issue 48

Skipton Girls’ High School Newsletter / Issue 48 /

July 2014 EditorialWhat an amazing sight to see over 180 brightly coloured bike riders tearing through masses of people lining Skipton High street this weekend. Yes you guessed correctly, it was Stage one, the Yorkshire stage of the Tour de France. Running from Saturday July 5th to Sunday July 27th 2014, the Tour de France is made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,664 kilometres. These stages have the following profiles: 9 flat stages, 5 hill stages, 6 mountain stages with 5 altitude finishes, 1 individual time-trial stage and thank goodness for the riders 2 rest days somewhere in between. Full article and incredible pictures inside. Speaking of incredible I was filled with pride at how hard our students from our Young Enterprise Team worked this year. They won the regional event and went on to a two day gruelling final in London. Standing tall and taking it all in their stride our girls were awarded best team work and business awards with their ‘We are Yorkshire’ merchandising brand which fits well with all the current interest in Yorkshire through the Tour de France. Well done girls. Many other successes have been achieved by students from all years including our Year 8 Go4Set teams with their incredible eco-friendly inventions. Well worth a read.

As an outstanding all girls engineering academy we were extremely impressed with our girls working with staff co constructing and delivering an engineering convention which showcased fourteen of the multitude of engineering projects and programmes our girls have been involved with this, and previous years. Robotics, systems engineering, materials science, engineering and entrepreneurial skill based projects being completed by our girls working with our industrial and higher educational partners were demonstrated to visitors. This stunning engineering event shows just how far we have travelled since

becoming the first all-girls engineering specialist school in the country, successfully challenging gender stereo typing and showing the world that girls given the opportunity can succeed in all fields of endeavour including Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Exponents in these areas are in incredibly short supply yet fundamental to the economic growth, wellbeing and ability of the United Kingdom to compete on the world stage. Intrinsically involved and leading our school’s drive to raise the number of able young women entering the fields of science and engineering for over a decade is our Executive Head Mrs Jan Renou. It is with a mixture of sadness and pride that we say farewell to Mrs Renou after 12 years of inspirational leadership. Leading the school to outstanding in all OFSTED categories in 2008 and having this judgement upheld in our last inspection, I am well aware that a school is but a reflection of the headteacher and this reflection has been quite rightly recognised by Government as something very special and needing to be shared across the country. We will miss Mrs Renou’s wisdom, drive and enthusiasm for girls education in Skipton but know she will succeed in her new role of Regional Schools Commissioner for the North.

We wish Mrs Plews every success in her new role as headteacher of SGHS and look forward to continued success as an outstanding engineering academy providing a first rate education to our students. As usual the newsletter is full of inspirational, interesting and personable articles for you to enjoy over the Summer and please feel free to contact me at the school if further information is required on any of the articles in the newsletter.

Mr DysonSenior Assistant Headteacher


It has been an exceptional half term with many memorable moments. It was absolutely fantastic to meet the new Year 7s and their parents and families a few weeks ago- an action packed day of new learning opportunities was experienced by all. I am very much looking forward to welcoming the next generation of SGHS girls’ to our wonderful school.

Our first Engineering Convention was a personal highlight involving students, staff and invited businesses, organisations and external stakeholders who joined us to celebrate the achievements of our girls. We also recognised the generous support and help from all our company and university supporters who work with us to offer an extensive programme of STEM competitions, endeavours and activities throughout the academic year. Just last Tuesday six of our Year 10 students won the prestigious ‘North West Engineers of the Year Award’ and a £2,500 prize to take part in the All China International Practical Science Festival in Guangzhou, China. This also gets them through to UK Big Bang final in Birmingham in 2015– a stunning achievement.

Highlights also included the A level Art and Design Summer Exhibition which can only be described as a creative feast of visual imagery and artefacts. One of the most impressive displays of student’s Art work I have ever witnessed and on a par to degree standard artwork.

Throughout the last 12 months I have been struck by the enthusiasm, motivation and curiosity of our whole school community.

From the resilience and perseverance of students facing personal difficulties to the teams and individual students challenging themselves further in regional, national and international competitions- students at SGHS are truly passionate about achieving their personal best through their resounding effort and determination.

A love of learning is a gift for life and at SGHS we aim to provide a school experience that promotes happiness and an enjoyment in coming to school each day. To achieve this aim, we invest a considerable amount of time and resources towards supporting and guiding every student within the school. Whether you are moving from primary school or transferring from another secondary school, or have been at the school for several years, you can be assured that you will receive a warm welcome and will feel safe, nurtured and cared for at all times.

I personally would like to offer my thanks to Mrs Renou, our Governing Body and all staff and students for the immeasurable support they have given me during my first year as Head of Academy.

I feel very proud of our school, our strong values and high academic standards which

support the very highest expectations we have of our girls and eagerly look

forward to leading the school into the future years ahead.

Wishing all students and staff a happy, fun and relaxing Summer holiday.

Mrs PlewsHead of Academy

July Update from the Head of Academy


A Fond FarewellIt has been a great privilege to lead Skipton Girls’ High School for these last 12 years. Leaving this special place will be one of the hardest parts of my Headship.

There have been inspirational highs: the many students I have got to know personally; work we have undertaken in championing engineering, personalising learning, new technologies - and support for other schools; the wide eyed exuberance of new girls exploring their school for the first time.

And some desperate lows that have tested us to our limits. I remember, in grief, the girls who lost their lives over these years: seven in all. The family that is SGHS helped bind our wounds and keeps alive the memory of those lovely young girls.

It has always surprised me just how many different activities our girls are involved in outside their school life – their curiosity about the world and their zealous support for the vulnerable and needy, their fundraising and Young Enterprise activities.

And I shall miss the drama productions, the art exhibitions, the sporting triumphs, the fantastic musical life of the school. I shall miss the squeals of delight when girls meet up with one another again after long holidays – or even just a weekend apart.

I have always believed our all-girl environment is very special for the great freedoms it allows the girls; space to grow at their pace, be their own person and enjoy themselves without the pressures of society-imposed gender issues.

Our chances to work beyond the confines of the school have brought great rewards and a unique offer for the girls - raising our profile nationally not just academically but challenging stereotypes and promoting Engineering and the sciences.

There’s inevitable sadness in moving on. Equally, I’m sure that I won’t fully appreciate everything I will miss about Skipton Girls’ High School until I actually leave: I only ever envisaged leaving SGHS on my retirement.

But being chosen by the Department for Education to move into a new role as the Regional School Commissioner for the North is both an honour for myself and

recognition of the school’s national impact - and a new challenge for the remaining years of my career.

Central to this role is supervising the Academies programme for the North of England - and in that respect there will still be some engagement with SGHS.

They have been exhilarating years - and I am indebted for the huge efforts made by governors, staff, students and parents in supporting

and delivering such outstanding outcomes. I would like to take this opportunity to thank students and parents for all their support over the years: it has been much appreciated.

My very best wishes remain with Mrs Plews, the staff and Governors who will enjoy the privilege of leading this amazing school and its wonderful girls.

Jan RenouExecutive Headteacher


Skipton Girls' High School Post 16 Taster DayOn Monday 30th June, Year 11 students took part in our Sixth Form Taster Day. The day was designed to provide pupils with a clearer insight into why Skipton Girls’ High School Sixth Form is special and should be their natural choice.

Throughout the day, students were able to ‘sample’ their potential A Level subjects. The taster sessions provided an excellent opportunity to meet subject staff and ask questions about the curriculum, study methods and assessment. Students also took part in an interactive team quiz delivered by the Head Girl team. At lunch time there was a barbeque in the grounds of West Bank, where all the students had the opportunity to mix and get to know each other better.

The taster day enabled the students to get a real flavour of what we offer at SGHS in terms of curricula and extra curricula activities, and showcase the importance we place on student leadership in the sixth form.

Mr Blythe said of the event: “It was a fantastic day meeting all the prospective students and to show them our outstanding facilities and give them a real taste of life here in the Sixth Form. Deciding what to study for A-Levels is an extremely important and at times difficult decision and through taster days like this we’re able to give students a greater understanding of the options available after GCSE’s. All of us at Skipton Girls' look forward to welcoming back the year 11s in September 2014!”

Mr BlytheHead of Sixth Form

(Below) Students and members of staff enjoy a barbeque outside West Bank.


Yorkshire Grand DépartTour de France fever gripped our town Skipton at the weekend with the iconic bike race involving nearly 200 riders dashing up the high street to the roars of spectators gathered ten deep along the route. Leaving the town centre the race headed up through what we believe to be `God’s own country’ some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. Up and down dale the riders jostled for prime position. It is estimated two million Yorkshire folk came out to cheer on the race and riders also turning fences and hedge rows yellow with yellow painted bikes outside every village pub and major buildings including our own Skipton Girls’ High School. The Tour de France (French pronunciation: tʊə də ˈfrɑːns) is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1903 to increase paper sales for the magazine L'Auto; it is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except for when it was stopped for the two World Wars. As the Tour gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe. Participation expanded from a primarily French field, as riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI ProTeams, with the exception of the teams that the organizers invite. The Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España make up cycling's prestigious, three-week-long Grand Tours; the Tour is the oldest and generally considered the most prestigious of the three. Traditionally, the race is held primarily in the month of July. While the route changes each year, the format of the race stays the same with

the appearance of at least two time trials, the passage through the mountain chains of the Pyrenees and the Alps, and the finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 day-long segments (stages) over a 23-day period and cover around 3,500 kilometres (2,200 miles). The race alternates between clockwise and anticlockwise circuits of France. The number of teams usually varies between 20 and 22, with nine riders in each.

All of the stages are timed to the finish; after finishing the riders' times are compounded with their previous stage times. The rider with the lowest aggregate time is the leader of the race and gets to don the coveted yellow jersey. While the general classification gains the most attention there are other contests held within the Tour: the points classification for the sprinters, the mountains classification for the climbers with general classification hopes, young rider classification for the riders under the age of 26, and the team classification for the fastest teams.

Mr DysonSenior Assistant Headteacher


(Above) Crowds line the streets of Skipton. Photo courtesy of Mrs Busfield.

(Below) Riders in the Yorkshire Dales.

(Left) Yellow bikes were commonplace in towns and villages along the route throughout the buildup to the race itself.

(Next Page) Cyclists in the Dales, as well as merchandise from the event. Photos courtesy of Mrs Jackson.


Some Key Facts and Figures About the World's Largest Annual Sporting Event

• The Tour de France is the world's largest annual sporting event

• It starts at the end of June/beginning of July and lasts 3 weeks

• The entire race covers approximately 3,500 kms

• The Grand Départ is the opening of the race of the Tour de France

• The Grand Départ is regularly held outside of France - in 2012 it was hosted by Belgium

• A worldwide television audience of 3.5billion people watch the Tour de France annually

• Over 188 countries around the world broadcast the Tour de France

• 121 different television channels across the world show the race every year

• There are 4,700 hours of TV coverage annually

• The last hour of every stage is broadcast live across western Europe

• 2,000 journalists representing dozens of nationalities attend the Tour every year

• 1,200 hotel rooms are reserved each night for the teams, staff, press and tour personnel

• The Tour de France attracts 12 million spectators along the route in a typical year's race

• On average spectators travel 130km to see a stage of Le Tour

• They spend on average six hours at a time at the roadside

• 30% of those spectators are women• The last time the Tour visited England

was in 2007 when it raced from London to Kent

• 2 million people turned out over two days

• It's estimated it brought £88m to the south-east economy

• It generated £35m worth of media coverage for the area

• Yorkshire's Brian Robinson was the first Brit to win stage of Tour de France in 1958

• Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the Tour de France in 2012, this was followed up by a second British winner, Chris Froome, in 2013

• On Monday 7 July, Stage 3 will take riders from Cambridge to Essex with a finish on The Mall in London.


Tour de France Fever Hits SGHS

Just before Easter, the Tour de Yorkshire committee sent Antirrhinum seeds into school, to grow in time for the Tour de France. These were planted in tubs, along with some dwarf sunflowers, and now, can be seen flowering around school. This inspired Miss Belfield and myself, to think of how else we could celebrate the exciting event that was the Tour de France!

Each Y7 student planted a sunflower seed in a pot in their Biology lesson and then took it back to their tutor group to nurture. Unfortunately not all the seeds germinated, or indeed survived, to make the move outside, but those that did have been carefully measured and house points awarded for the tallest sunflower overall and

the tallest in each house. No flowers yet, but plants will be coming home for the holidays, to flower in your garden! A poster of a cyclist inspired us to put up a display to showcase the involvement of subjects across the curriculum in different aspects of the Tour, culminating with a Ms Belfield special display along the top corridor.

Finally, on the Friday before the arrival of the Tour, students were invited to wear something yellow

Mrs KatterfieldTeacher of Biology


Year 12 Geography Fieldtrip to Manchester/SalfordIn late July the Year 12 geographers visited Salford in Greater Manchester to study what the city has done to regenerate some of the more run-down areas of the city. There are some really interesting collaborations between councils, architects and developers to bring about some really innovative schemes in parts of the city. First stop on the trail was Langworthy in Salford. Ten years ago the area was full of boarded up houses that no-one really wanted to live in and the area’s shops and services were in steep decline.

Working with the council a private company called Urban Splash designed a really innovative scheme they dubbed Chimney Pot Park to help turn the area around. The terraced houses were knocked down apart from their frontages to maintain the areas heritage and reconstructed. However the insides have been turned upside down with 2 bedrooms on the groundfloor, a lounge on the second and a kitchen in what used to be the loft, lit by a skylight which has replaced the chimney stack. At the back the alleyway has had secure car parking built over the back of it and on top of the secure car port roof gardens has been created for each property.

This novel scheme received national interest and the homes all sold within just a few hours renewing the housing market in the area, creating enough wealth for local shops to re-open and a sense of community being restored. The students found the opportunity to see and experience the scheme at first hand insightful and alongside a visit to Salford Quays which has had massive investment from the BBC amongst others it really showed them how derelict areas of our cities can be renewed if there is enough investment and political will. The really interesting concept for them to think about was the question of whether or not the money which has been spent will lead to sustainable development or not. This is an issue we will investigate in the classroom.

“The really interesting concept for them to think about was the question of whether or not the money which has been spent will lead to sustainable development or not. This is an issue we will investigate in the classroom.”


On the 21st and 22nd of February 2014 the Year 8s of Skipton Girls High School visited the beautiful village of Malham. Three geography teachers came with half of year 8 on the 21st and the other half on the 22nd.

We visited Malham to help us recognise rock formations and how rivers and waterfalls formed. We received a booklet to fill in, so we could look back on it when we did the Malham project.

We started by visiting the famous Janet’s Foss, and then carried on walking to see the amazing Goredale Scar. We then turned back and walked up and down Malham Cove.

The whole of year 8 agreed on how good Malham was and it really expanded our

geographical knowledge on Malham and how they all were formed.

It has really helped everyone realise how geological history has a massive impact on geography when talking about rock formations and how the world was formed. An understanding of Malham’s limestone surroundings have helped us achieve a good quality piece of work on Malham.

We would all like to thank the organisers of this trip for the effort they all put in to achieve a fantastic trip for all the year 8s to go on.

Lucy Ellison 8BHO

Geography Trip to Malham


Year 8 Water Week

Over the course of three days Year 8 were involved in a series of activities to inform them about the issues many people have in the world with the seemingly simple task of collecting enough clean water for daily use. The three days were run jointly with JN Bentley’s who led many of the activities with their staff. This allowed us to not only learn about the issues surrounding water in Asia and Africa in particular but also how engineering can solve some of those issues.

Monday saw us engaged in a number of engineering problem solving tasks such as building a tower out of paper and lolly sticks, a water assault course to see who could collect the most water in 10 minutes and learning about the different roles that contribute towards effective teams. We also started to design our presentations for Wednesday where we had to propose what we would do with £5000 to improve sanitation, education and water supply in a village in west Africa.

On Tuesday we went on a sponsored walk to Embsay Resevoir. It was quite a hot day so it made you realise how hard it would be to walk such a distance carrying a heavy load of water as well. Thankfully we did not have to do this and we got to have a picnic and play some games before we had to walk back. All the money we raise from the

walk is going to go to Water Aid to help them to continue with their work, improving water supply in various parts of the world.On Wednesday we were joined by Bentleys once again who judged our Powerpoint presentations and Water Aid adverts. We also did some of it in French to help us with our language skills. It was a good few days and it was really good to do something a bit different at the end of the year. It really made us think about how lucky we are to have easy access to water.

Hannah Eaton and Jasmine AldousYear 8


This term, 8F was given the mission to write a story suitable for French nursery school children. The theme was ‘holidays’ and they were to write about a character called ‘Jojo’. Their remit was to make the story line and illustrations appealing to very young children and also try and reach their KS3 target level in writing! It was therefore a challenging task but the girls rose to the occasion and here is some pictures of their work and some of their comments.

Creative writing… in French!

“We think this story writing project has been fantastic! We have picked up lots of new skills and writing tips as well as having a lot of fun. It has boosted our knowledge and taught us lots about the French language and style of writing.”

“We enjoyed writing our French stories as it was a fun project that extended our vocabulary. Everyone in our group participated well and we all learnt a lot from it.”

“We found the story writing project challenging but fun. It was interesting to learn new vocabulary and grammar structures, but challenging to write accurately and put together the story. We also learnt how to work well as a team, be time efficient and use technology to make our book look professional.”


8C is a talented class. Not only can they perform a fantastic role-play with props, stage direction and costumes but they managed to do it all… in French. Groups of 3 organised themselves and choose a garçon (waiter) for two clients (customers).

They wrote a complex role play script including everything they had studied so far on the Food topic during lessons: different type of meals, adjectives to describe food, complex opinions as well as restaurant phrases.

The result was outstanding performances which gave us a taste of a typical French lunch on the terrace of a Parisian café.

This is what the girls thought about the whole experience:

Bon appétit!

“I enjoyed this lesson because we got to use our French speaking skills and it was also fun to do role play. I thought it helped me study the topic of food because when you get to hear other people speaking, I find that I remember it better!” - Megan Davis

“I think it helped studying the food in context because you can learn how to pronounce it and make it fluent. We also learnt new phrases which would be helpful if we ever went to France” - Emily Arkwright


Rounders Scores

Wednesday 4th June

U/12 vs Upper Wharfedale School 10 16.5 L

U/13 vs Upper Wharfedale School 18.5 11.5 W

Wednesday 18th June

U/14 vs Upper Wharfedale School 18.5 15 W

U/15 vs Upper Wharfedale School 18.5 15 W

Wednesday 11th June - Rounders Youth Games

U/12

vs Aireville2 1 1.5 L

vs UWS2 2 5 L

vs Settle2 2 5.5 L

vs SGHS U/13 2 7 L

U/13

vs Aireville2 1 2 L

vs UWS2 5 2 W

vs Settle2 2.5 5.5 L

vs SGHS U/12 7 2 W

U/14

vs Aireville1 1.5 1 W

vs UWS1 5 3.5 W

vs Settle1 2 2.5 L

The U/14 came second by half a rounder in the upper league and the U/13 were joint second in the lower league.

Miss CousinsCurriculum Leader (PE)


TetrathlonI recently got selected to represent Northern England in Junior Regional Tetrathlon. Over three days I competed in four disciplines; running, swimming, shooting and Cross Country riding. Competing against athletes from all over the British Isles made it a very tough competition, but one that I enjoyed very much. I swam and ran a personal best, which helped the teams overall score and the region came 2nd behind Ireland. This was my last year competing as a junior, so I hope to go on and make the open team in future years.

Katy MousdaleYear 10

Mrs Plews’ final Year 7 PSHE Lesson of the year

Combining teamwork with innovation and creativity Year 7 were given the challenge of designing and constructing the tallest tower from only marshmallows and spaghetti.

And just to make the challenge extra hard they had to balance a raw egg on the top of the tower. Developing skills of communication, ingenuity and perseverance, the girls had a fun final lesson albeit for the sticky marshmallow fingers!


Young Enterprise Attend National Finals for Company of the YearCongratulations to We-Are-Yorkshire who recently attended the National “Young Company of the Year” awards in London, following their success at the Regional finals in Scunthorpe. The Young Enterprise competition began with nearly 2000 teams and over 28000 students from around the UK taking part and the team worked extremely hard to be given a place in the final 13 at the National competition, which is a fantastic achievement.

The competition was fierce at the National finals with other teams promoting products from iPhone holders to growable greetings and storybooks for children to Highland themed dolls houses.

However We-Are-Yorkshire made a fantastic impression and scooped the ‘Retail Excellence Award’, awarded by Asda, for their brand and range of merchandise. To secure this award, the team underwent an interview process with a panel of judges representing Walt Disney, Jack Wills and HSBC to name but a few. The team handled the interview with confidence and left the judges astounded with their confidence and passion behind their brand. The team

also had to present their business plan to the judging panel as well as their fellow competitors in which the Yorkshire sense of humour and dialect shone through.

Andrew Holmes, the Senior Director of Retail Operations for Asda was so impressed with the team’s brand, products and business plan that not only did he award them the Retail Excellence Award but he is also hoping to have further discussions with them in the future regarding their brand.

The team should be extremely proud of what they have achieved and hopefully will continue to develop the already successful brand that is; We-Are-Yorkshire.

Mr BlytheHead of Sixth Form

“We-Are-Yorkshire made a fantastic impression and scooped the ‘Retail Excellence Award’”


Spanish Trip to MadridWell, where do we start? The Spanish trip was a great experience for us all, we all had an incredible time and would re-live the week we had with our partners any day. We visited many different places around Madrid including the Palacio Real, the Museo del Prado, and even the famous Retiro Park. We even had the chance to eat at a typical Spanish tapas restaurant which was amazing and the food was delicious!

The Spanish trip was a great opportunity to meet new people and see how the Spanish culture is different to ours. The Spanish people are so kind and welcoming and were happy to host us. Whilst on the trip we had a day in the Spanish school ‘Alameda de Osuna’, we were all very nervous about this day however everyone came out happy and smiling. The students in the school were all very open-armed and made us feel very special to be there. The weather was hot and sunny for us however we had a little rain one day. We also had the chance to take part in a flamenco lesson which was out of this world! We loved it, especially using the castanets.

At the weekend we stayed with our families, which we were also scared about but it was a great weekend and we learnt many new things. Seeing the city was incredible, it was just beautiful and had many great attractions. During the weekend we all did different activities within our families including going to a First Communion and party, Visiting Theme Parks, meeting the rest of the family and trips away from the central city. As the trip came to an end we all became very emotional as we had grown to know our families and spent every night with them. Many of us are staying in touch with our Spanish families and even inviting them back this summer.

From this trip we have learnt lots of new vocabulary, and we feel it has really helped our understanding and pronunciation of the Spanish language. We would highly recommend anyone with an opportunity to take part in this educational visit to go for it. You won’t regret it!!

“I really enjoyed the trip to Madrid. It was great to experience the Spanish culture. I was worried about meeting the family the most but they were friendly and very helpful. I have made many good friendships.”

“I had a great time! There were always lots of different types of food and the city was beautiful! My family were so nice and I will always remember them and my trip to Spain. I loved it!”

“I really enjoyed learning about the culture and lifestyle and how different it was to the English lifestyle, and the activities and events that they valued.”


“It was a really good experience to be immersed the Spanish culture as it is a bit different to the English culture. I was pushed out of my comfort zone a little bit but it was worth it! I made some great new friends and I will remember this trip for the rest of my life.”

“Madrid is such a beautiful city. The Spanish culture was so different and exciting! I have made new friends who will never be forgotten. The Spanish are so welcoming and friendly, I would definitely go again! It was such a fab experience.”

(Above) Pupils take part in a Flamenco lesson as part of the Spanish trip to Madrid.


Year 12 Higher Education Preparation WeekThe first week back from exams saw Year 12 plunged into a whirl of activities to prepare them for Higher Education. Invited into school were outside speakers from Newcastle, Northumbria, Durham and Leeds Universities who spoke to our students about student life, choosing the right course at the right university, writing a personal statement and student financing and budgeting. There was also a presentation from Project Trust about Gap Year Volunteering and Craven College came to talk about Higher Apprenticeships.

Individual subjects in Law, Pharmacy, Clinical Science, Medicine, Art, Teaching and Nursing were covered in morning sessions by university lecturers, admissions tutors and current undergraduates.

A visit to West and North Yorkshire UCAS Higher Education Convention held at Leeds Metropolitan University gave our students chance to speak to dozens of universities and attend seminars in specific subjects. As ever, this was a fantastic day where our students had the opportunity to begin to discover all that university has to offer.

Meanwhile a small group had an overnight visit to Murray Edwards College Cambridge where they were made incredibly welcome and offered an inspirational insight into life as a Cambridge undergraduate.

Year 13 now beckons and I hope that our students feel well prepared for the exciting future that lies ahead of them.

Mrs CrowtherCareers Co-ordinator

(Left & above) A trip to Cambridge was just one of the activities on offer as part of Year 12 Higher Education Preparation Week.


Victorian Dragons’ DenStudents in 7c put on their Victorian shoes and were given an invention to promote in a class ‘Dragons’ den’. The inventions that were given were: Concrete, Anaesthetics, Flushing toilet, Telephone, X-ray, Rubber Tyres and Pasteurisation. Each group had to produce a presentation to convince the rest of the class that their invention was the best. These were presented in different formats. Examples of these formats are: a music video, a demonstration of how the product was made and power points. The project also linked to other subjects such as science, because we learned how things were made and how pasteurisation works.

Each group was given an imaginary £1,000 to invest in whichever groups they thought was best. They could split the money between the groups or give one group all of the money. They couldn’t, however, invest it in their own product. The invention that had the most money invested in was concrete. They had even done a demonstration of how to make concrete, using the real materials.

We learned lots about the different inventions, like who invented them, how they work and when they were invented.

One of the things that we enjoyed best was that we learned loads, while taking part in a fun, competitive challenge, which got us to question why our invention was the best. Also, it was interesting watching the other performances and working in a team to research and prepare the presentations.

Asha Howard-Birt and Jessica LongdenYear 7

To find out more about the project, visit the girls’ Wordpress site: http://victorianinventions1900.wordpress.com/

(Above) The cement group giving an amazing demonstration of how to make cement

(Below) The flushing toilet group demonstrating how their invention works


On Sunday 13th July FPR and other students and staff ran or walked the Race for Life in Ilkley; the distance was 5K. All the money we raised is going to Cancer Research UK. We were all running in memory of Mrs Blackwell who used to be FPR’s form tutor. She sadly died just before Christmas last year after battling Cancer. FPR have done the race for life before when Mrs Blackwell was undergoing treatment; this was 2 years ago.

On the day the weather was kind. We all finished the 5k even though some of us walked parts of it! We all had a really good time and we hope that we have raised lots of money for cancer research. The most difficult part of the race was just after the first kilometre as we had to run up a field that was on a hill. The track was on a mixture of fields and roads most of us thought that the road parts were the most difficult. The whole morning had a really good atmosphere and we all cheered each other on as we passed each other. The first person to finish the race from our school (and in

fact first over the finish line out of every one) was Ruby Schofield in year 7 with a time of around 19 minutes.

Cara Dunlop7FPR

Please consider making a donation via our JustGiving page, which can be found at: https://www.justgiving.com/skipton-girls-high/

Race for Life


Gifted and Talented STEM Summer SchoolThe 18th June this year saw the start of our 3 day Gifted and Talented STEM Summer School. Out of 56 applicants, 30 year 6 students from local primary schools were chosen to attend.

Day 1 was an engineering day which was run by staff from Edinburgh University, along with Mr Anderson and Mr Leete, our technology technicians. There were two activities that day: electronics and circuit making to make ‘Stop, Thief’, ‘Bagpipes’ or ‘Decision maker’ gadgets, and designing and building water rockets that were launched in the hollow. The year 6 students particularly enjoyed these activities because they were able to do get involved with things that they hadn’t had chance to do before, such as soldering. There were some very impressive rockets made which soared high and then floated back down due to their parachute system. Some, however, didn’t make it back down to earth quite as gracefully, or in one piece!

Day 2 was the maths challenge day, run by the maths department from Skipton Girls’. There were three activities during the day; team challenges including relay and logic rounds, puzzle orienteering and a paper aeroplane challenge. Initially I think the year 6 students were more than a little apprehensive at spending an entire day doing maths, but their fears proved to be unfounded. When I popped in to the first activity session I was taken by surprise. Never had I seen 30 year 6 students so

enthusiastically involved in maths! Judging by their feedback the day was a huge success and enjoyed by all.

The third and final day was the forensics day, which was run by David Hobbs, a CSI from Lancashire Constabulary, and myself. The students were split into 6 groups who all had a crime scene to investigate by collecting and processing the evidence left behind, and then deciding who the guilty person was. Each team member was given a role within the team, as closely associated

with a real CSI team as possible. The students were able to carry out processes such as lifting fingerprints, fingerprint analysis, footwear mark analysis, physical fit, testing for the presence of ‘blood’, and microscope analysis of hair and fibres. The students all got involved and successfully identified the guilty person. A very enjoyable day was had by all.

Many thanks to all the staff involved in coordingating and running the events over

the 3 days, and an especially big thank you to the group of our year 8 students who acted as mentors for the entire 3 days of the summer school. They behaved responsibly, helped to look after the year 6 students during breaktimes and lunchtimes, and helped them to complete their tasks and challenges. They worked so hard and were a credit to our school!

Mrs MoynsSenior Technician


On the 26th June we were delighted to welcome over 100 Year 6 students into the school for a taster day of life at SGHS. The girls will be joining us as new Year 7 students in September and after the many nervous faces we saw at the start of the day, it was wonderful to see so many happy, smiling faces at the end.

The girls were all eager to tell their parents about their day, which included a tour of the school, the opportunity to meet their tutor group and Student progress team, an English lesson and the chance to learn about aerodynamics and make items in the technology workshops.

At lunchtime, many of the girls were keen to try out some of the tasty dishes on offer in the dining hall and some of the less adventurous opted to bring their own packed lunch! Afterwards, a group of our Year 10 Junior Sports Leaders organised a variety of outdoor team games in the hollow

and thanks to the beautiful weather, the girls had lots of fun and made some new friends.

A drama production about life in a new school was presented by our current Year 7s.

The day ended with a presentation about everyone feeling included and valued, followed by a question and answer session, collecting PE kits and queries resolved by the Student Progress team.

One girl was overheard saying to her friend “well I would rather not be having a holiday and just coming straight on to this school”.

We look forward to welcoming all the girls back on 3rd September for their first dayas Skipton Girls’ High students.

Student Progress

Transition Day


NLTSA Beyond Levels Conference Success

Our NLTSA Beyond Levels development team presented our new NLTSA Assessment Model to the North of England Beyond Levels conference held at Bilton Grange Harrogate on July 11th. Ours was just one of 11 different models designed to replace National Curriculum Levels removed by Government from September 2014. I was amazed at the variation each teaching school alliance model and was fascinated by the different approaches to capture the same information i.e. tracking pupil progress, reporting to parents and ensuring each child is stretched, challenged and supported to achieve their best.

The NLTSA was the most comprehensive of all the models put forward and is set to be trialled in our alliance partnership schools from September. After analysing its success and areas needed for development further work should lead to roll out across all alliance schools in September 2015.

The NLTSA model is designed to: • build motivation and confidence of

students, teachers and parents• build self-reliance and provide

challenge to students• demonstrate to a student what they

can do• identify the next steps in their learning

journey• be able to be differentiated by ability;

by subject; by phase; • measure progress over time • support appropriate and timely

interventions

As project leader I believe we have produced an excellent

assessment model that recognises and assesses not

just simple NC levels but a young person’s wider achievements in terms of growing confidence and wider competencies.

Mr DysonSenior Assistant Head and

SLE (Specialist Leader of Education)


School Direct….One Year OnOur first cohort of secondary trainees is now nearing the end of their course. The final school placement has been completed and they are preparing for the transition to employment phase of the programme.

During the latter part of their final placement, trainees spent a further two days in primary schools. During these visits they looked at the issues of transition from primary to secondary school, behaviour for learning and assessment at KS2. We are extremely grateful to all the primary schools who agreed to host Northern Lights trainees for these short primary placements.

As part of the Accelerate to Employment programme, all trainees attended a “mock interview” day in one of our Alliance schools. During this day they experienced a range of activities including teaching a lesson, being questioned by a student

panel, completing subject specific tasks and having a formal interview. At the end of the day each trainee was given specific feedback by their Learning Coach. This feedback covered not only the events of the day, but also the quality of their application letter.

Trainees have reported that was that this experience was extremely valuable and we were delighted to learn that the Learning Coaches enjoyed it too!

At time of going to press, 75% of our cohort has already secured employment, 25% within the Alliance. Bespoke support will continue to be provided to those who have not yet secured posts.

Julia Greenwood & Mary HillProgramme DirectorsNorthern Lights Teaching School Alliance

Celebration GatheringsAt the end of the summer term, we look forward to celebrating the achievements of the girls at Skipton Girls High School, and we do this by handing out certificates and awards at a series of Celebration Gatherings.

Sport has been widely recognised this year, with accolades for Netball, Rounders, Swimming and more. Of special note, our young Cross Country runners have had a stunning season, and really done themselves and the school proud.

There have been some wonderful results from Engineering and Business Studies competitions, including a group of Y10 students winning a STEM event. Their prize

includes a trip to China in October! The Young Enterprise Team made it through to the National Final in London, and won an award from Asda, for the best Marketing plan for their products

Certificates were presented to the students who grew the tallest sunflower in their Houses. From tiny seeds, rows of sun-seeking giants can be seen behind M3. A great fun experiment organised by Mrs Katterfield.

Certificates were presented to a number of students who have excelled in Drama and Music: the school musical this year was Bugsy Malone, and some of our students made superb debut performances, while others continue to show that they may well

end up becoming very famous! The Music faculty have held a number of Tea Time Concerts that have proved very popular, and some of our talented musicians have had their performance skills recognised.

Managing to attend school every single day of the academic year is quite an achievement, and Student Progress are delighted to recognise all the girls who managed to achieve 100% attendance.

The Headteachers Award for outstanding effort over the whole year has been presented for the first time and has been introduced to recognise students from year groups who have proved themselves. This year’s recipients deserve this Award, for consistently trying their hardest to get the absolute best from all that Skipton Girls’ High School has to offer.

Well done to all our students for completing another busy, hard-working, super creative year.

Student Progress


A Level Art Exhibition 2014The A Level exhibition was a great success, displaying a vast range of artwork from year 12 and year 13 students. The staff and students at SGHS as well as parents and the general public enjoyed exploring the space.

This year we had an exciting new development, collaborating with the engineering department in the use of tablets and the ‘aurasma’ app. This augmented reality allowed visitors to link a piece of artwork with a video by the artist explaining their work in greater detail. Thank you to all students and staff that were involved in making the exhibition such a success!

Miss CassidyTeacher of Art

Reproduced here are a selection of comments from the visitors’ book…

“We could have advertised this as degree show work - well done to all!”

“Another most impressive exhibition. I marvel at the talents of these young ladies. Well done to all concerned.”

“Great work - it was fabulous.”


“ M A T U R E . CHALLEnGInG . InSP IR InG.”


Year 10 Engineering Celebration Day and Charity Rally Project

On Wednesday 16th July, the Y10 technology students at SGHS came together to celebrate their successes over the last two years. They have also been working on a charity project over the last term to raise money for Shelterbox, a school charity.

Mr K is setting off on a charity rally this summer, driving from London to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in a 1976 Austin Allegro. He will be using most of his summer holidays this year to complete the charity event, raising money for a variety of good causes through sponsorship including Shelterbox.

Mr K set the Y10 Technology students the challenge of producing either a useful product for the car and trip as a whole or to design and make something that could be

sold for charity.

The Food Technology students prepared and made foods to sell at lunch time and managed to raise a massive £318 in just 45 minutes! They also looked into high energy foods and made energy bars for Mr K's trip.The Engineers made a variety of interesting

products including t-shirts, camera poles, vinyl stickers, solar powered lights and travel tables. Mr K and his team were all very

“Mr K and his team were all very impressed with all the products created and will be making good use of them on the rally.”

impressed with all the products created and will be making good use of them on the rally.

Once the total fundraising was in, the Y10 Technology students managed to raise enough to buy a SGHS Shelterbox (£590) which will be deployed to a disater zone somewhere in the world.

Successful winners and runners up of the presentation day won official rally t shirts and were treated to a buffet made entirely by the food technology groups.

We would greatly like to thank everyone who contributed to the Schools charity efforts this year and supported our Y10 Projects, also a thank you to our judges on the day: Mrs Plews, Mr Macintyre, Mr Dyson and Mr Barker and of course to Mr Garland, the shelterbox representatve who kindly lent us a real Shelterbox for the day.

Mr KTeacher of Technology

(Opposite Page) Mr K with members of the winning team (from left to right: Holly Allen, Katherine Francis and Grace Hanlon)

(Above) The winning team giving a presentation about their ingenious folding table.

(Below) Mr K and friends with the 38 year old Austin Allegro Super 1500 Estate that they plan to use for the rally.


Skipton Girls’ High School STEM ConventionAn idea conceived in London at the Royal Academy of Engineering became an amazing reality at our school last June when we held our first stunning engineering convention showcasing 15 of an amazing assortment of engineering related projects our girls are working on or have completed recently. In October 2013 whilst working on developing the UK’s new A Level Engineering I was highlighting our success in meeting our school’s mission, part of which is to challenge gender stereotypes and contribute to the pool of able young women entering the professions of science and engineering. Delegates were exceptionally impressed and were eager to attend a STEM convention which at that stage was just an idea. With context based, real life learning on show delegates confirmed their admiration for the different ventures undertaken by our students bringing learning to life and providing our girls with a real sense of achievement and enjoyment.

As well as our girls presenting their project and competition successes we were fortunate enough to have some very distinguished speakers including Dr Hugh and Tessa Shercliff from Cambridge University and St Mary’s school Cambridge, the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA) public speaker Rafaela Zanatta, and Andrew Barker who leads the James Dyson Foundation’s secondary schools

engagement programme, working with its partner schools to inspire a new generation of designers and engineers into the profession. Over the past two years, this work has engaged over 1000 young people in realistic and relevant projects in schools.

To give a flavour of the range of activities the girls are involved in showcased were our raspberry pi programming venture with 02 Telefonica, Year 9 enterprise programme ‘Solutions for the Planet’, joint work on a

sustainability project with Grootmoor Gymnasium Hamburg, Year 10 Engineering the Future Project with Rolls Royce, Year 8 Go4Set Challenge with the EDT(Engineering Development Trust), Engineering Summer School, and Primary Engineering Days

and our Water Engineering Programme supported our industrial partners JN Bentley.

All of these and many more exciting projects were eloquently showcased by our students on our STEM Festival Day. Along with a great day had by the students it was a genuine opportunity for us to thank many of our partners for their valued and ongoing support, without which many of these activities would not be able to take place.

Mr Dyson Senior Assistant HeadDirector of STEM Education


1. Jenny Willott, Minister for Women and Equalities, gave a short speech via videolink to open the convention

2. Cambridge / SGS A Level Engineering visit: A Level Engineering students produced a research booklet and Powerpoint presentation. Presentations are delivered by students at Cambridge University. Students visit and work with Cambridge personnel, attend a lecture and tour a large engineering company based in Cambridge.

3. Andrew Barker who leads the James Dyson Foundation’s secondary schools engagement programme, gave a speech about design and the importance of encouraging more girls into the fields of design and engineering.

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4. Dr Hugh Shercliff, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Engineering, was one of our guest speakers, and gave a very interesting on materials technology and the need to encourage more females into the areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

5. Girls Engineering the Future: SGHS was selected as one of only 16 schools nationwide to take part in a new two year education project to engage Year 10 female students into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects.

6. Sweeter Chariot: SGHS Engineering students built an electric race car in partnership with Rolls Royce Engineers to take part in the nationally recognised Greenpower Electric Car Race Competition.

7. Solutions 4 the Planet Engineering and Business challenge: Current teams were tasked with developing a solution to a real life challenge. Our team advanced through to the London finals, to take place at the Houses of Parliament, Westminster in July 2014.

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SGHS Success at Go4SET CompetitionY8 girls swept up 1st prize at the Go4SET competition this term by impressing the judges from O2 Telefonica with their innovative projects.

SGHS were represented by 3 teams of Y8 students: The Turbo Lights, The Reel Recyclers and Team Unumo at this year’s Go4SET competition, run in conjunction with O2 Telefonica.

The teams worked closely with industrial mentors from O2 in Leeds on projects based on "the business of recycling". These were detailed research projects on how we can make use of new technology to generate or save electricity or to reduce, reuse and recycle otherwise waste materials.

The girls had some fantastic ideas, such as a toilet which used rainwater to flush, a plumbing attachment that would generate power and a machine to recycle waste plastic used in DT and Engineering to be put back into the 3D printers.

All the teams presented their projects incredibly well and were praised by some of the senior executives from O2 on their confidence and presentation skills. The Turbo Lights team, consisting of Eleanor Fortune, Lucy Metcalfe, Elizabeth Francis, Francesca Gates and Eve Woodward (with the help of their O2 Mentor, Paul Hulmes) won the top prize and bagged theselves some free theme park tickets.

SGHS will be part of the Go4SET competition next year too, hopefully building on our current success!

Mr KTeacher of Technology

“All the teams presented their projects incredibly well and were praised by some of the senior executives from O2 on their confidence and presentation skills.”


Engineering Work Experience Week at ArupOn the week of the 7th of July I participated in an Engineering Awareness Week at Arup in Leeds. The week involved going to the offices and taking part in a week long project with my team members, who I met from other schools in the Leeds area. Our project was to plan, design and present our ideas for the Olympics that were coming to Leeds in 2024.

Throughout the week members of the Arup team from various departments came to talk to us about their work and give us activities to do to prepare for the final presentation, these included bridge building, transport, geo-technics, ecology, fire engineering and structural

and architectural design. We were then given Friday morning to bring together our presentation, which we then presented to a panel of judges and the rest of the Leeds office!

After questioning from the judges, my team was crowned the winners as we had considered not only the design, but also sustainability and the cost of the project, as well as ensuring the game would leave a lasting legacy in Leeds. I had a fantastic week and would recommend it to anyone!

Jessica WilsonYear 12

Primary Engineering DaysOver 5th & 6th June this year over 160 year 5 students from local primary schools came to Skipton Girls’ for a primary engineering day. There were 3 activities during the day: making jitterbugs in technology, an enterprise activity involving the production of dice, and paper tower building with the science department. Students worked both individually and in teams during the day, facing new challenges and experiences along the way. A group of year 10 engineering students were mentors for

the year 5s during the two days. They looked after the year 5s during breaks and lunchtimes, and took them from one activity to another, supporting them and helping them to complete their tasks. There were many compliments from the primary school staff about them, and I would like to say a

huge thank you to them for their help! Thank you also to the staff whom organised and ran the activities.

Mrs MoynsSenior Technician

Skipton Girls’ High School, Gargrave Road, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 1QL Tel: 01756 707600 Fax: 01756 701068 Email: [email protected]

SGHS Newsletter - Issue 48 (July 2014)

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Transcript of SGHS Newsletter - Issue 48 (July 2014)