Issue 17 February 2013 1

Issue 17 February 2013

HEADITORIAL

Dear Parents and

Students,

We very much

welcomed Michael

Gove’s decision

yesterday to halt the

dash towards a very

narrow curriculum. The

proposed EBC

qualifications were

clearly going to be too

much focussed on

knowledge and too little

on skills.

At BHHS we want our girls

to develop both skills and

knowledge. We want

girls to be creative

thinkers and

independent learners;

girls who take risks, are

curious and ask awkward

questions! We don’t

believe it is true that

rigour and challenge for

young women is only to

be found within a narrow

range of knowledge-

based subjects.

So we are glad Mr Gove

has decided to go back

to the drawing board

and now look forward,

hopefully, to a proper

consultation that not only

engages with the whole

education community –

including parents and

students - but also with

business leaders,

particularly those in the

creative industries –

many of which are, of

course, to be found here

in Brighton and Hove and

Fashion Show

We are delighted to announce

that Brighton and Hove High

School’s seventh annual fashion

show is being held on March

12th this year, in conjunction

with Brighton Fashion Week.

BHHS’ fashion show is one of the

most exciting events in the

school year: it combines

students from every year of the

senior school, and even

sometimes teachers, in order to

raise money for really

worthwhile charities.

As I’m sure you’re aware, we

usually raise around £1,500 for

our chosen causes and we’re

really looking to beat that

target this year. We always aim

to choose charities that are

close to the hearts of our

students, and this year we are

raising money for two charities:

firstly, Rockinghorse, which

provides vital support for sick

children, and secondly the

Niemann-Pick Disease Group,

which provides care,

information and research for

those suffering from Niemann-

Pick disease, a rare genetic

degenerative condition.

Last year was a great success,

and everyone involved had so

much fun! We have already

held auditions for students from

across the school and there are

so many girls involved that it

promises to be just as incredible

this year. We are in the process

of confirming which shops will

be lending clothes for the show,

but as we have already made

arrangements with Gap, Coast,

Miss Selfridge and Fair amongst

other local shops it promises to

be quite the spectacle. Also

showing off clothes will be the

Year 12 Young Enterprise group

Generation XII and GCSE

textiles students.

Another event which is sure to

make the evening special is the

charity auction; those of you

who attended last year will

remember the great items that

were on offer, including beauty

treatments and free meals at

some of Brighton’s best

restaurants. This is where we

need your help: anyone who

has any items or experiences

that they would be willing to

offer to be sold for the benefit

of our charities, please contact

the fashion show team at

bhhsfashionshow@gmail.com.

We’re really looking to raise as

much money as possible, as our

charities really need the

support! We look forward to

seeing friends, relatives and

anyone else at the event, and

make sure to buy your tickets as

soon as they go on sale at the

beginning of the latter half of

the spring term. Last year tickets

sold out very fast, so order yours

on Parent Pay as soon as

possible! Ellie Thompson Yr 13

Design technology

Year 9 Design Technology

students were proud to exhibit

their work this week. They have

been designing and making a

range of products which could

be sold in a Brighton gift shop.

Students, staff and parents

were impressed with the quality

and variety of the pieces on

display. If you did get chance

to see the exhibition, I think you

will agree that we have a

number of budding designers in

our midst! Mrs C. Guy

Schoop Schoop

On Monday 4th February the 15

beginner skiers headed to

Hemel Hempstead for their

lesson on real snow in

preparation for the ski trip. Mrs

Mostran and Mrs Thomas were

really impressed with their

progress and slightly concerned

that they might see these girls

whizzing past them on the

slopes in Austria in 2 weeks

time! Mrs Mostran

Issue 17 February 2013 2

in which many of our girls

will be involved at some

stage of their careers.

Finally, congratulations to

everyone who took part

in, and supported, ‘Peter

Pan’ last term. The final

total raised for Great

Ormond Street Hospital

was £1873. Well done!

Have a good weekend.

Jennifer Smith

To watch Jennifer Smith,

speaking about GCSE reforms

on ITV Meridian News last night,

Please click here

Netball

BIG BIG Congratulations to the

Under 14 Netball team who

beat Bishop Luffa in the quarter

finals of the Sussex Cup today,

12 -10.

We now have 2 teams (U13s

and U14's) both through to the

quarters in this cup which is an

amazing achievement. This

competition involves all the

schools in Sussex and I am really

pleased with the results and

hard work of our teams. Their

efforts have been justly

rewarded.

Well done, guys.

Ms E. Osborne, Head of PE

Football

Congratulations to the senior

Football Team who played

away against Peacehaven

Community College on

Tuesday 5th February and

achieved a convincing 7-0

victory. Goal scorers included

Molly Miller, Eve Hull, Isabel

Bollingbroke, Reianna Agnihotri

and Moniba Asgari. Man of the

Match was awarded to Molly

Miller. Mrs N. Mostran

German Teachers Visit

On Tuesday morning we

welcomed 14 teachers visiting

the UK from the city of

Magdeburg and surrounding

region, which is about 100km

from Berlin in the eastern part of

Germany. They were here on

a cultural visit and spent the

time visiting lessons as well as

talking to students and staff.

It was also a great opportunity

for our own GCSE students to

practise their German

conversational skills. The

teachers were most impressed

with everything they saw, our

buildings, our facilities and,

most importantly, the learning

and behaviour of all our

students, and several of them

told me that they were thinking

of jacking in their jobs in

Germany to come and work in

UK schools! (I said they’d better

get in quick before the

referendum……..)

Mrs S. Mashford

Y11 & 12 French Language trip

On Wednesday the year 11 and 12 French groups were invited to the English Language Centre in Hove to speak to a group of visiting

Swiss students in order to practise our spoken French. When we arrived we were each paired up with a Swiss student, before listening to a

presentation from two of the students on Delemont, the town where they came from. We then spent 45 minutes asking our partners

questions - in an interesting mixture of French and English - on all sorts of topics, from their musical tastes to their opinion of English food

which was, almost without exception, quite low. After a short break in which we explained English snacks to the Swiss students, we

switched partners and, this time with slightly more confidence, repeated our questions. Although it was intimidating at first, we learnt a lot

about the differences between Swiss and English culture, and hopefully our French has improved from the experience. Beth Arscott, Yr 12

This is what’s happening at BHHS over the Easter Holidays. We have various activities running over the Easter break at both the Senior School and Junior School. Why not have a look at the links below and see if there is something that suits your children’s interest. Senior School – Activate Sports (8 - 12 years) 3 day course 3-5 April: activatesports.co.uk

Arts Unlimited (6 – 18 years) 3 day course 8 -10 April: netmums.com Junior School – Super Camps (4-14 years) 2-5 and 8-12 April: supercamps.co.uk

Issue 17 February 2013 3

JUNIOR EDITORIAL

Dear Parents,

It has been an exciting

week with the arrival of

our baby grand piano.

This has been bought

with a significant

contribution from the PA.

We are extremely

grateful and I am sure it

will be a great addition

to the music department.

We pride ourselves on

being responsive to

parents and being

available to discuss

issues. With parents’

evening soon after half

term could I ask that

parents take the

opportunity to use that

time if appropriate. Staff

response to emails/calls

etc. has to be balanced

with their commitment to

teaching/duties/clubs.

and obviously this is their

focus.

In years 3-6 may I remind

parents that the form

tutor “oversees” a child’s

progress and most

importantly their pastoral

care but is not

necessarily the “go-

between” to other

teachers. If you would

like to discuss a specific

subject please contact

those staff directly as

they will be more able to

deal with your query.

Best wishes

Sian Cattaneo

GRANDPARENTS

AFTERNOON

Communication was sent out

by Comms this week regarding

the eagerly anticipated

grandparents afternoon. We

are looking forward to hosting

this popular event again this

year, and look forward to

receiving your responses by the

1st March.

HOUSE T-SHIRTS

School comms letters have

been emailed to all parents

from Reception to Year 6

regarding the House T-Shirts

used for sporting events. If you

do require a T-shirt, please

ensure you have your order

form in to the office by the 14th

February. Payment by

ParentPay please.

Click here for link

NEIGHBOUR BUILDING

WORKS

We have kindly been advised

by our neighbours over the

road opposite

Cottesmore/BHHS netball courts

that they will be having building

development work on their

home in the next couple of

weeks. I would like to make all

parents aware that they

anticipate heavy goods and

work vehicles accessing their

home and I ask that parents

are vigilant during this time,

ensuring the girls take extra

care when crossing the road to

and from the school.

YEAR 3 AND 4 SWIMMING

Just a reminder to all parents of

years 3 and 4 that the last Year

4 swimming is on 8th February

and that Year 3 will start on 15th

February.

PRIMARY

MATHS

CHALLENGE

Berniya Hamie, Ernestine Bradly

and Florence Haggis did very

well to reach the final of the

Primary Maths Challenge. Over

70,000 pupils from 1875 schools

entered the challenge and we

have absolute confidence that

the girls did the school proud. If

parents would like to try the

maths paper, go to www.m-

a.org.uk and do it live on line.

PARENT PORTAL

For those of you who are

experiencing issues where your

password has expired, please

email the following address:

portal@bhhs.gdst.net and your

request to update your

password will be received and

dealt with.

MATCH REPORTS

U9A – Farlington A’s

The team narrowly lost 8-7. Special mention to Olivia who demonstrated huge improvements in her

game. Player of the game was awarded to Daisy Lampard-Sawyer for her use of space in the game.

U9b – Farlington B’s

The team had a convincing 10-0 win. Special mention to Grace Tripp for excellent wide feeds across the

court. Player of the game was awarded to Hannah Pellm for brilliant shooting.

U10a’s – Farlington A’s

U10A's were winning at half time Jessica B was outstanding and Rae played really well.

U10b’s – Farlington B’s

U10B team game they were 6-7 down and won 11-8. Bahar and Georgia played really well.

U10c’s – Windlesham A’s

The team improved throughout the game and successfully secured a 2-2 draw. They developed fluid play

and their confidence grew as the match went on. Player of

the game was awarded to Hannah Briscoe.

U11b’s – Lewes Old Grammar A’s

The team really worked hard on their movement off

the ball in this game. It was very much a neck-and-neck

game, but Brighton just had the edge and game home

victorious with a 3-2 win. Player of the came, nominated

by the opposition was Isabel Stoner.

Calendar Wednesday 13th February - Year 2.A Parents Assembly

- U8 Netball V Copthorne (Away 2.30) - U10 A+B Hockey V Farlington (Away 2.15) - U11 Netball V Sion (Home 2.30) - U9 A+B Netball V Ardingly (Home 2.30)

Thursday 14th February Year 3 Trip to Brighton Museum

Friday 15th February Year 3 Swimming Starts / Gym Competition (Home 3.30)

Issue 17 February 2013 4

As part of Fairtrade fortnight this year we

are going to be holding a screening of

‘Town of Runners’ on Tuesday 26th

February at 6pm at the Senior School.

Tickets are on sale and are priced at £5

each. These can be purchased through

ParentPay or alternatively on the BHHS

website www.bhhs.gdst.net by scrolling to

the bottom of the page and selecting

“online payments”. All profits from the

screening of the film will go towards

funding for Coaches and supporting the

outreach in Bekoji.

The background behind Town of Runners:

Town Of Runners

(www.townofrunners.com) is a feature

documentary about young people from

the Ethiopian rural town of Bekoji, whose

runners have won 8 Olympic Gold

medals, 32 World Championships and

broken 10 world records in the last 20

years. The film follows two girls as they

strive to emulate their local heroes,

making the journey from school track to

national competition and from childhood

to adulthood. Their mentor is a former PE

teacher who has discovered and trained

many of the world’s leading long

distance runners including Tirunesh and

Genzebe Dibaba, Kenenisa Bekele and

Deratu Tulu.

Film outreach:

Working with non-profit organisation

Running Across Borders, the filmmakers

plan to use the film to benefit Bekoji,

enabling the town to build on its key

strength (its international fame in running)

through its contacts with the rest of the

world. We aim to bring Coach

Sentayehu to the UK to build partnerships

between running clubs here and in

Bekoji. The Coach will lead training

sessions and give talks to young people

about his work and there will be a

chance to meet the runners in the film.

The Film will also be touring UK Schools

and universities. In Bekoji, Running Across

Borders Are developing a 'Visit And Train'

programme, enabling international

runners - both amateur and professional –

to train at altitude and experience the

town's running culture. Profits from this

programme will be used to create to

create greater sporting, educational and

economic opportunities for young

people in Ethiopia.