We have a number of new staff who have joined us this term and I hope that they will enjoy their time with us.

Our first event of the term is our prizegiving ceremony. Always an enjoyable occasion to celebrate the achievements of our GCSE and A Level students. This year our guest speaker was Squash Falconer, a record breaking adventurer and mountaineer.

As well as climbing mountains, Squash is a keen skier and snowboarder, paraglider and motorbike rider. In an effort to combine three of the four, in 2009 she rode a motorbike down to the south of France, climbed Mont Blanc and flew from the summit, becoming the first British woman to paraglide from the peak. Squash literally reached the top of the world last year when she summited Mount Everest, her paraglider by her side! The weather meant there was no flying from the summit but the intention had been there.

NOTTINGHAM GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL INSIGHT

October 2012 Issue 25Dear Parents, Girls and Friends of NGHS

I hope that your daughters have settled into school life and are making new friends and adapting to their new environment.

Traditionally a busy term, this has been no exception! However, before I reflect on the many events and activities that have taken place over the past few weeks I would like to congratulate our GCSE and A Level students on their outstanding results. What an achievement!

time since leaving. It was also lovely to welcome some former staff to join in the celebrations.

During the holidays we were delighted to hear that we have been granted planning permission for our new Performing Arts Centre. We are now putting together a fundraising programme and will be informing you of the many ways in which we hope you will want to be involved in this exciting project.

I would also like to congratulate Miss Lynn, our D of E Coordinator who, after returning from leading the first ever gold expedition to Iceland, embarked on an epic charity bike ride from Lands End to John O’Groats. Riding over 990 miles, averaging between 75 - 112 miles each day, in 12.5 days, she raised over £2,200 for WaterAid. An amazing achievement and one to be applauded.

There were two groups celebrating anniversaries, our leavers of 1962 and 2002. A drinks reception was followed by lunch and then tours of the school, including our archive exhibition, charting the schools’ history. Afternoon tea was served in the hall and our alumnae were entertained by our talented musicians. It was a most enjoyable occasion and plans are already in the making for the next event!

I hope you all have a restful half-term and come back ready for the run up to Christmas.

With best wishes Susan M Gorham, Head

YEAR 7 ACTIVITY DAYSIn order for the new Year 7s to get to know each other and settle in to Senior School life as quickly as possible, a range of team building activities - away from the classroom were organised. The girls thoroughly enjoyed learning different skills and the climbing wall was particularly successful!

Girls, parents, staff and guests thoroughly enjoyed her inspirational talk.

On the Saturday before we broke up for half term we welcomed over 170 alumnae to a ‘party in a party - reunion across the decades’. Alumnae attended from all around the country, some coming back to school for the very first

PTA ICEBREAKER EVENTThe new Year 7s, parents and friends had great fun during the PTA Icebreaker event; an ideal opportunity to get to know others new to the school. Shoot the hoop, guess the brand and find the hidden names were just some of the challenges that lay ahead. All agreed it was a fun evening and the ‘ice’ had definitely been broken!

They listened to speeches about leadership from GDST CEO Helen Fraser, Camila Batmanghelidjh of Kids Company and Ann Daniels, the first woman in history to reach the North and South Poles as part of all women teams. They were then put into teams of 10 to 12 and tasked with creating a fundraising event for four charities: Whizz Kidz, Clic Sargent, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Camfed.

Our girls did extremely well and were a credit to the school, taking three top places. Anna Giddins’ (Deputy Head Girl) team was the overall winner and won best video for the charity Whizz Kids and was awarded the gold medal.

Saachi Oza (Head Girl) was in the team which won best presentation and was the winner for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Ellie Belton (Deputy Head Girl) was in the team which was the winner for CLIC Sargent. Well done to all of them!

YEAR 12 BIOLOGY FIELD TRIPOnce again the Year 12 Biologists embarked on their field trip to Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire. This year the weather was unusually kind and the tide was in - a first! The girls practised various sampling techniques whilst out on the sand dunes and also estimated the population size of sandhoppers by catching, marking and then releasing them; easier said than done!

HOUSE PERFORMING ARTSThis year’s Performing Arts Festival was based on Myths and Legends. Despite having a short time to devise, script, audition and rehearse, all four Houses worked well together to produce wonderful performances. There was Robin Hood, dragons, spectres, King Arthur and even Justin Bieber. Judges were most impressed by the fusion of the different performance elements - particularly their own imaginative interpretations of the challenge. Girls of all year groups worked brilliantly together, on and off stage.

GDST BAKE OFFWe were delighted to host the first semi-final of the GDST Bake Off. Girls from Norwich, Northampton, Central Newcastle, Birkenhead, Shrewsbury, Sheffield, Oxford and of course, NGHS put their baking skills to the test when they made their version of a Lemon Victoria Sandwich cake, following the recipe of GDST alumna Mary Berry.

The Judges said that the standard had been incredibly high and the girls should be very proud of their achievements. However, only three cakes could go through to the final and after much deliberation the winners were announced. Jessica Oakhill, Izzy Carr and Rebecca Pringle (from NGHS) will now go to the final being held at Ipswich School where they will compete against the other finalists and bake their individually designed cupcakes.

GDST YOUNG LEADERS’ CONFERENCE Our Head Girl team attended the Young Leaders’ Conference at the Royal High School, Bath, for an intensive ‘Apprentice style’ weekend.

YEAR 6 LANGUAGE ENRICHMENT DAYThirty eight girls from local junior schools joined the Language Faculty as part of the celebrations for the European Day of Language. The girls had the opportunity to sample new languages as well as finding out about the culture of some of the countries. Workshops were held in French, German, Russian and Spanish and the girls had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

JUNIOR SCHOOLIt has been a pleasure so far this term to have experienced so much fine weather which has certainly ensured that the many trips have been thoroughly enjoyed, as well as allowing everyone to really enjoy social time with their friends outside. We have certainly packed in the enrichment activities and continued to expand the experiences for the girls during clubs and activities after school.

I would like to extend a very warm welcome to the Reception girls who have settled in extremely quickly and look so confident and happy around school. In true explorer fashion, they have already visited Attenborough Nature Reserve looking for clues of Autumn and animals on a fantastic sunny day.

Mrs Faith Potter Head of Junior School

Year 2 visit Conisbrough Castle Year 2 enjoyed a wonderful trip to Conisbrough Castle. Built in medieval times, it boasts an impressive 12th century cylindrical keep. The trip was an exciting start to this term’s work about castles and the knights. During the day the girls became detectives looking for clues to tell them about what may have

Macmillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning The Year 4s had been busy baking cakes for the Macmillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning! The theme this year was Italy so the girls dressed in red, white and green and decorated cakes using Italian inspired designs. They even had a Coliseum made from chocolate mini rolls!

The morning was a great success, with family members and the Year 3s joining them for a cup of coffee (or juice) and a slice or two of cake. Over £485 was raised, so a big thank you goes to everyone who made a donation. We were also selling Rose’s Razzle Dazzle wristbands, which has helped raise money for the E38 ward at the QMC, so thank you for supporting a cause close to our hearts.

Year 6 trip to Beaumanor Hall Year 6 travelled back in time to 1940 to visit Beaumanor Hall as evacuees. They had to cope with the difficulties of life on the Home Front including shopping with a ration book for such delicacies as rabbit pie, Spam sandwiches and kidneys in mustard sauce! As Beaumanor was a listening

however, once the ‘all clear’ sounded and spirits were raised with a wartime sing-a-long.

U11 Hockey tournament at The Elms On Friday 21 September a group of enthusiastic Year 5 and 6 girls set out in the rain to take part in a hockey tournament at The Elms School. The girls played three games winning one, drawing another and losing the third. They showed spectacular sportsmanship and worked excellently as a team; a real asset to NGHS. They came fourth overall, just missing out on an opportunity for first or second place on penalties!

happened in the castle during medieval times. Each girl also found a very important parchment scroll addressed to them and written by Earl Warrene Hamelin Plantagenet which invited them to become a page and serve his lordship at Conisbrough Castle. Despite the rain everyone enjoyed themselves and learnt a great deal!

The girls met an England bronze medallist from the U21 Hockey team. A fantastic time was had by all, and the girls are keen to become involved in future matches.

Year 5 trip to Haddon Hall The Year 5 girls spent the day at Haddon Hall which gave them a super start to their ‘Tudor Treasures’ topic. The girls had the opportunity to explore a Tudor house and its grounds under the leadership of the Hall’s guides and they also spent time in the costume room, learning about what life was like in a Tudor mansion. In addition to learning more about a rich Tudor House, Haddon Hall provided the girls with a backdrop for the fiction book they are studying this term, ‘Rogues’ Gold’ which is set in a similar Elizabethan Manor.

post during the War, they had a go at receiving and decoding important radio messages. During the visit, the air raid sirens sounded, meaning that they had to pile into the communal shelters in the cellar. Sitting in the dark, gas masks at the ready, with the sound of bombs landing overhead certainly gave them a feel of what life would have been like for children in 1940. Things got better,

DATES FOR YOUR DIARYSaturday 17 November Open Morning 9.30am - 12.30pm

Wednesday 21 November Music at Michaelmas concert St Peter’s Church 7.30pm - 9.30pm

Thursday 29 November Winter Lights Junior Concert Junior Hall 7.00pm - 8.30pm

Tuesday 4 DecemberReception Nativity Junior Hall 2.30pm - 3.30pm

Wednesday 5 December Year 1 and 2 Nativity Junior Hall 2.30pm - 3.30pmMistletoe and Wine concert Dining Hall 7.00pm - 9.00pm

Wednesday 12 December Year 3 Victorian Music Hall Junior Hall 7.00pm - 8.30pm

Monday 17 December Junior School Carol Service All Saints’ Church 2.15pm - 3.15pm PTA Christmas Fair, Dining Hall 3.30pm - 5.30pm

Wednesday 19 December Senior School Carol Service All Saints’ Church 11.00am End of Autumn Term 12.30pm

Uniform shopOpening times

Mondays, term time only 1.30pm - 4.30pm

Saturday 17 November 10.00am - 12.00 noon

SPORTS ROUNDUPSUMMER SPORTING SUCCESSESCongratulations to two of our Year 10 girls who competed in National and International sporting events during the summer holiday.

Rosie Rudin became the overall age group winner for the third consecutive year at the 2012 British Gas National Age Group Swimming Championships held in Sheffield at the end of July.

The Girls’ Day School Trust is a Limited Company. Registered in England No.6400. Registered Charity No.306983.Registered Office 100 Rochester Row London SW1P 1JP www.gdst.net

Nottingham Girls’ High School 9 Arboretum Street, Nottingham NG1 4JB

t: 0115 941 7663 f: 0115 924 0757 enquiries@not.gdst.net

www.nottinghamgirlshigh.gdst.net

Mollie Summerland (who is only 15 years old), and her horse Paddy, were invited to compete in their first overseas international event as part of a small squad of riders taken out by the U18 GB selectors to Haras Du Pin in France; a tough open competition with 144 riders of all ages including riders from this year’s Olympics. Mollie made it into the placings, finishing 21st, and won best young rider.

NORTHERN TRUST RALLYCongratulations to all the girls who took part and were a credit to the school, with a special mention to the volleyball team who won their event overall.

We have had many sporting successes this term: U18 county netball champions, U16 county hockey champions and we are through to the U15 regional tennis finals to be held later this month.

In addition, the Senior swimming team became the East Midlands champions in both freestyle and medley.

D OF E ROUND UPTen girls travelled to Iceland for their Gold D of E expedition where they completed the famous Landmannalauger to Porsmork route, and eighteen others completed their award in the Lake District.

All That Jazz

at Nottingham Casino

Saturday 17 November 2012from 8.00pm ‘til late

Jazz music from the Kit Mason Trio Includes cocktail on arrival, 3 course dinner courtesy of the Marco Pierre White kitchenand free lucky bet in the casino

Tickets £40

CRICKETRiya Desai, Year 9, has been invited to attend a ‘talent detection day’ by the England Cricket Board.

Four girls were the first to complete their Silver D of E award on horseback in the Peak District. A total of 145 girls have taken part in the award scheme this year, with 172 signed up for next year.