The High Autumn Term 2015 One - Leicester High School for Girls

The HIGH
Autumn Term 2015 1st Half www.leicesterhigh.co.uk twitter@LeicesterHigh
I
am delighted to welcome so many new girls and see the energy in School
which new faces bring, as the girls make new friends and enjoy each other’s
company. I am enjoying the energy from our new staff members too. Mrs
Solly has already made a positive impact on the girls’ work ethic in the Sixth
Form, and Mrs O’Brien, Assistant Head of Teaching and Learning, has been
persuading me to invest in video equipment in order to improve further the quality of the teaching. I was thrilled to meet the legendary actress Glenda Jackson,
see below, this term. She was charming, modest and very much wanting to
share her experience with the girls. Another coup for our School! AW
ACTRESS VISITS SCHOOL AND INSPIRES GIRLS
G
lenda Jackson, double Oscar winning actress and
ex-Labour MP, visited
the School on 30 September after receiving a letter
from the Headmaster. Mr
Whelpdale, who is building a
reputation as a Head who has a
knack of inviting fascinating visitors to School, has seen many of
Glenda Jackson's plays and he
thought she would inspire the
girls. She was very insightful and
candid in a Q & A session with
the Senior School. The girls were
impressed by her knowledge of
Photo
gallery
acting and politics, and soon realon
ised that she had much of value to
e
websit
say about both.
When asked
about acting, she said that the
best Directors were the
ones who didn't think they knew it all at the start, and she said that she loved the theatre most of all
as every night was different because the audience was different. She was passionate, down-to-earth,
funny and inspiring. When asked by one of the girls if she thought women were seen as equal to
men, she swiftly said 'No', and said that every girl had to correct gender bias as it came her way. After a lunch with special guests from the community of Leicester, she gave some advice to the 30 girls
who will be performing ‘Macbeth’ as part of the Schools' Shakespeare
festival in November. After watching them perform, she said that she
thought they were very impressive, and suggested they tightened up
their diction. She was entranced by Mrs Rose's adaptation, and
thought it was very interesting and original. One of the highlights of the
day, which brought a happy smile to her face, was the rendition by the
choir of 'Bring me Sunshine', which reminded her about her comedy
performance with Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise at the height of her
acting career.
BEST EXAM RESULTS IN THE CITY
L
HS girls are to be
congratulated on
their GCSE and
A level results. The
grades were the best in
the city, again, and
much higher than the
national
average.
GCSEs
at
LHS
were
o
Phot
65% A*/A compared to
ry
galle
a national average of
on
ite
21%. At A level, LHS
webs
A*/A grades were 39%
compared to the national
average of 26%. The
School is the top third of
all independent schools
for GCSE and top half for
A level. Pallavi, above, is
now at Imperial studying
medicine, amongst 77%
of the Sixth Form at a Russell Group university. E,
left, pictured with her Mum, gained 10 A*/A’s!
Page 2 Junior

New Appointments in
Juniors

Y5 Trip to Eyam

Foundation Visit the
Greengrocer

The Fire Service Visit
Foundation
Page 3 Senior

Y6 to Fineshade

Y7 to Sheringham

Y9/10 DofE Expedition

Y10 to The Botanical
Gardens

Y11 to Yorkshire

Gallery
Page 4 Sixth

Aditi’s Column
Senior Prize Giving

Diary Dates/Events
n Thursday 17 September the School
held its annual Senior Prize Giving for
Y12, 13 and the Leavers of 2015. The
audience was treated to magical performances
by ex-student Rebecca Jeyes, who sang ‘I Believe’, Y13 Aditi Pandey, who played Chopin’s
Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 so movingly, and the first
public performance from LHS’s new String Quartet. Over 175 prizes were distributed in recognition of the academic, sporting, debating,
musical and artistic achievements of Photo y
r
the girls. Guest speaker Dr Carlene galle
on
ite
Firmin, MBE, spoke
webs
enthusiastically
about how important
it is to have key mentors to guide and support you throughout
your life. Pictured
right, Imaan and Zakira who are now at
University in Nottingham and London.

Charity Prefect News

Enrichment Round-Up

Golf Champ!
O
@LeicesterHigh
@HeadofJuniors
@danielle_solly
@NurseAbbyCox
@ScienceLHS
@LanguagesLHS
@PE_LHS
@careersLHS
Tel. 0116 270 5338
leicesterhigh.co.uk
Junior
NEW APPOINTMENTS IN JUNIORS
R
. in Y5 and V. in Y4, left, have been chosen as the new Head and Deputy Head
Girl for the Junior Department. R. joined
Leicester High when she was just 4 years old and
V. when she was 3
years old and so
both
know
the
school
extremely
well. The girls are excited about working together and undertaking their important roles: leading others and rising to the many responsibilities which go with them. The House Captains,
S., A. and M. from Y5 and S., A. and V. from Y4, pictured right, have also been chosen for the Autumn term,
to represent the houses of Beaumanor, Bradgate and
Charnwood. The girls will be expected to be role models
and encourage good behaviour and hard work in others.
YEAR 5 TRIP
TO EYAM
I
nspired by the story ‘Children of
Winter’, Y5 spent a day in Eyam,
high up in the north Derbyshire
Peaks. They walked through this
historic place and found the cottage
where the plague came to the village
in 1665. The villagers decided to
quarantine themselves to prevent
the plague spreading, despite many
families dying. The ‘Riley Graves’, where
six children of one family were buried, were very
poignant. The girls then walked to the ‘Boundary
Stone’, where the villagers exchanged food and money and the girls enjoyed a packed lunch on the
hillside, with the best view imaginable! At the Eyam
Museum everyone found out more: in particular, the
list of names and ages of the victims and the pictogram showing how each family was affected were
shocking. The day ended with a walk up the hill above
the village to see Mompesson’s Well, where food was
also exchanged. After a day of fresh air and exercise, the girls were inspired and
more able to visualise the setting for their class book. This excitement was mixed with
the shocking reality of the selflessness of the people of Eyam.
Foundation visit to the Greengrocer
T
he Foundation Unit were able to find out about their local environment when
they visited a local greengrocers in Belgrave. There was much excitement and
comments about the exotic and familiar fruit and vegetables on display, with
each girl choosing and then purchasing their own fruit to sample. Back in school a
healthy fruit salad and vegetable soup were prepared by the girls, who were then able
to take home a sample.
The Fire Service
visit to The
Foundation Unit
Senior
YEAR 6 TO FINESHADE
Photo
gallery
on
website
T
he girls started off by building their own
shelters in the woods, followed by minibeast hunting using plastic tubs and
paintbrushes to make sure that none of the
insects were damaged. A grasshopper,
ground beetle and harvestman spider were
just some of the many creatures collected!
After lunch eaten in the woods and a play on
the adventure playground, they finished off
by exploring trees blind-folded, identifying
trees and making tree art. After a quick
game of hide and seek in the woods, everyone
finished with a well-deserved ice-cream and hot chocolate!
Y6
YEAR 7 TO SHERINGHAM
I
n September, Y7 set off to the Hilltop
Outdoor Centre on the Norfolk coast,
their home for the next three nights. Girls
were split into groups and over the following
days enjoyed a programme of activities including rock climbing, team tasks, ‘Big Zipper’,
coastal erosion, climbing, abseiling and the
‘Power Fan’, longshore drift and high ropes. In
the evening everyone was together, and on
Sunday night they played a game called ‘Next
Step’, which was designed to promote team
work. On Monday evening the girls enjoyed a
dark walk and a campfire, where they toasted
marshmallows before bedtime…..
YEAR 9/10 DOFE EXPEDITION
Photo
gallery
on
website
Y11
Car
Safety
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gallery
on
website
C
ongratulations to the 24 girls in Y9-10 who
completed their Bronze Qualifier in the White
Peaks at the end of the summer term. All the
training and practice came together in a very successful two days. They were well-prepared with food
and kit and showed real progress and competence in
navigating around the area on their own. Team work
was effective and there was a lovely atmosphere in
the camp, helped by some lovely sunshine! The girls
even got their timing organised and managed to
arrive safely back 10 minutes before it began to rain!
Y7
45
Y7-13s
PreSeason
training
YEAR 10 TO THE BOTANICAL GARDENS
Y
ear 10 were invited to spend the morning
with staff and students from Leicester University to understand how biology can lead
to more than just a career in medicine or dentistry.
The girls saw falcons and owls, studied genetics and
the evolution of the stickleback, and looked in detail
at ants. The last session was delivered by two undergraduate biologists who were quizzed by the girls on
studying biology at university and the careers it led
to. Some of the girls even tried eating ants, see right!
They taste like sherbet lemons by the way!
Photo
gallery
on
website
YEAR 11 TO YORKSHIRE
O
o
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ry
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on
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webs
n the first day we enjoyed setting small
mammal traps in the woods, before a night
of guitar playing by the fire. The next day
we had caught three bank voles! We visited a trout
and a watercress farm and a small-holding of pigs,
where we studied selective breeding techniques.
On the last day we visited the beach, and, using
quadrants, measured the varying types of plant
and animal life. We looked at how serrated wrack
varies in abundance going up the beach, and
also we studied marine energetics by counting
moving animals such as dog whelks and crabs. Words by: Jasvin Kaur
Y7
3
Y7-1 0
‘Mac 3s in
beth
’
Sixth
Sixth Form
COLUMN
The termly musings of
Media Prefect, Aditi Pandey
Hi
F
CHARITY PREFECT NEWS
A
U. OUTLINES HER PLANS FOR THE YEAR
s Charity Prefect, I am involved in
organising whole school events with
the aim of raising as much money as
possible. This year I have decided to choose
Young Minds as our charity, as I feel mental
health in young people is often overlooked.
The
Prefect
Team has had
a busy start to
the year, planning Jeans 4
Genes
day,
Macmillan coffee
morning
and the Harvest
Festival. I had
to ensure these
events
ran
smoothly
and
that they were
original and fun.
In total, for these
events, we have
raised
nearly
£750. Upcoming
events include Wear it Pink, Bobble Hat Day
and the Annual Christmas Quiz. With some
hard-work and help from my fellow Prefects,
I hope to raise a lot more over the year!
irst, welcome to all
the new Y12s! The
Sixth Form had a great
time bonding during our day
out at a ‘spy’ centre, where we
spent the day being ninjas,
completing top secret missions.
For Prefects, the first hurdle of
the year was planning a stall at
very Friday afternoon the girls learn
the Knighton Fair. Luckily, the
different life skills, often from experts
weather was perfect and the
in the field...
Prefect team happily spent the
day painting nails and faces
nce
Self-defe
and selling cakes in order to
e
s
clas s
raise money for our charity
led by
Young Minds, which supports
man
young people with poor mental
ex-police
health. Following on, Jeremy
Hunt , a mental heath speaker
who wrote an Emmy Award
Natasha
winning documentary on bipoDevon
talks abo
lar disorder, came in to tell us
ut
his life story. His talk was a
body ima
ge and
fascinating insight into the
self-este
em
mind. Of course, we can’t
forget that Glenda Jackson has
also visited our School! I was
present for the question and
answer session where she
arding
Roger H
spoke eloquently about both
about
teaching
her career in acting and polil
financia
tics. She even stayed to
ent
m
e
manag
watch
our
rendition
of
‘Macbeth’ and gave the girls
some exciting pointers for improvement, such as, ‘Make
sure you really look like you Golf Champ!
can smell the blood’. So far, it Congratulations to A. in
has been an action-packed half Y13 who spent the
summer playing golf in
-term.
Ireland and won the
girls’ championship in
Bangor. She clearly
has a lot of skill as
this is a notable
achievement on the circuit!
Enrichment Round-Up
E
Aditi
Dairy Dates/Events…

Sixth Form Information Evening
6.30pm, Wednesday 10 November,
Senior Gym

Senior School Taster Day for prospective
pupils Years 6-10
Friday 13 November

Sixth Form Taster Day
Monday 16 November

Whole School Open Morning
9-11.30am, Wednesday 18 November

Shakespeare Schools Festival, Curve
LHS: Macbeth
7pm, Wednesday 18 November, Curve

Friends of LHS Pre-Xmas Extravaganza
2-4.30pm, Sunday 29 November,
Senior Gym

Carol Service
7pm, Wednesday 9 December, St. James
the Greater Church

Christmas Musical Showcase
7pm, Monday 14 December,
Senior Gym
Biology Coursework in Cranedale
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gallery
on
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T
he Year 13 biologists travelled to Cranedale Field
Centre for some biology A level coursework. We
jumped straight into the deep end, dissecting owl
pellets. Though seemingly innocent, owl pellets are, in
fact, the regurgitated remains of the unwitting voles,
mice and shrews which compromise an owl's diet. We
examined their skeletons under microscopes and identified what species they were, by their jaw bones. On Saturday, we were introduced to coniferous and broadleaf
ecosystems and how they were managed. We compared
their microclimates and measured the abiotic factors in
the different woods. The coniferous woods were introduced for commercial purposes, such as timber, as
they grow tall and straight while the broadleaf were aesthetically pleasing and green. We spent Sunday at the
coast looking at sand dune succession and learning how
adaptations of plants varied at different stages of the
succession. We really enjoyed the field work during the
trip and, just as we remembered from GCSE days, the
food at Cranedale was fantastic. Words by: Aditi Pandey.