Inspiring GCSE Science Live

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An inspirational day of Science for GCSE pupils with three renowned scientists

On Friday we went to the Apollo Theatre in London to attend GCSE Science Live. We heard from three world renowned scientists, including physicist Prof Jim Al Khalili. They spoke about climate change and how physics is trying to overcome some of our energy issues as well as the reality (or lack of it) of time travel!. Professor Lord Robert Winston talked about reproduction and we saw how an egg travels through the fallopian tubes to get to the uterus; so interesting! Finally we listened to Professor Andreas Sella who demonstrated how amazing water is and how its chemical properties make it so unique. We also gained top tips from a chief examiner and were given a programme of events that had past questions on it with these examiners tips. It was a very inspirational day!

Beth Robinson, 10Fr

Whitehall Trip for Politics Students

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Year 12 and 13 Politics visit the UK’s Cabinet Office and No 10 Downing Street

At the start of 2020, Year 12 and 13 Government and Politics students went on a trip to the Whitehall’s Admiralty House to take part in the UK Cabinet Office’s “Minister for a Day – Spending Challenge”.

Over the course of the afternoon students negotiated with one another, as Ministers do, to agree a budget for their department. Having weighed up different spending pressures and opportunities to reform public spending, they then pitched their budget needs to the “Chancellors” (Marta Fernandez-Pino and Kirsty Hawkes) who had to agree or not agree, and in some instances even imposing further cuts! You will be pleased to know that by the end of the afternoon, they had agreed on a budget with education as it’s main priority!

After the fun afternoon at Authority House, the students also got to visit the famous black door on Number 10 Downing Street for the ultimate photo opportunity. It was a wonderful trip and the students were excellent.

England Indoor Athletics Championships Results for BHGS

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Ena Olivier and Serena Thomas excel in their Athletics endeavours again!

On 24th Feb Ena Olivier (9Pa) & Serena Thomas (11Pa) competed at the England Indoor Championships in the U15 girls HJ & U17 60m respectively.

Serena ran an impressive time of 8.12 seconds to finish 4th in her heat and narrowly miss out on the final by two hundredths of a second. A great result especially considering Serena is a year younger than most of the competitors in that age group as she is only in Year 11.

Ena finished 4th in the U15 HJ equalling her recent PB performance of 1.55m – the same height that saw her win 2nd place in the East of England Indoor Championships earlier on in the month.

A fantastic opportunity for both girls and a testament to their hard work and dedication to training and competitions outside school.

Well done girls!

A Level History Trip to Berlin, Germany

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A Level students enriching their study of Weimar and Nazi Germany

The History department took 31 A Level students to Berlin for 3 days to support their study of the history of Weimar and Nazi Germany. The students were able to visit many sites of historical significance, including Sachsenhausen concentration camp, the Olympic Stadium and the Reichstag. As one student Leah said, ‘seeing the actual places and learning about the individual stories of the people living under the Nazi regime has really helped me consolidate my understanding’. After all the academic study and walking around Berlin, the students and teachers thoroughly enjoyed a game of bowling to relax! It was certainly a thought provoking and enriching trip.

Valentine’s Fun in the Library

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The Library ran Blind Date with a Book and Literary Pairs

The Library ran their now annual Blind Date with a Book and Literary Pairs quiz during the week before half term to coincide with Valentine’s Day.

Blind Date with a Book encourages students to choose a book based solely on keywords/themes, with no judging of the book by its cover beforehand! This was a huge success last year and was repeated this year with the girls eagerly awaiting the display and dipping straight into it – the stock had to be replenished part way through the week!

Literary Pairs saw staff members wearing a sticker with a literary character on it, with the girls having a sheet to complete during the day as they tried to find as many ‘other halves’ as they could. This is always good fun with the girls really getting stuck in to tracking down teachers during break and lunch!

Youth Speaks Success

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Both Intermediate and Senior BHGS teams through to the District Final of Youth Speaks public speaking competition

On Tuesday 11th February, Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School entered the Mid-Herts Rotary Youth Speaks District Semi Final competition. This competition aims to offer young people experience in speaking on a public platform as a member of a team. In a team of three, Katie H, Nelly C and Gwen C wrote speeches on single sex education. The girls performed brilliantly and were praised by audience members and the Rotarians for their excellent oratorical skills and the thought-provoking topic they chose to discuss. “I was very nervous to start with’, said Nelly, ‘but doing this together made me feel more confident”.

They not only are through to the next round, but also won the whole semi-final! Katie H conceded that “It was a tough competition as the other schools had very talented speakers who ranged from year 10 to year 12”. The competition was altogether a very good experience for our pupils. Gwen noted: “It was also inspiring to hear all about the charity work the Rotary Club gets involved in”.

Only last week our Intermediate Rotary Youth Speaks team qualified through to the District Final. Aliyeen, Daniella and Jessica chose the topic of Animal Testing to demonstrate their outstanding public speaking abilities.

This means that both our Intermediate and Senior teams are now through to the District Final in Leighton Buzzard after Half Term. Well done girls – brilliant effort!

Hertfordshire County Rugby Squads

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3 Bishop’s girls make the Hertfordshire County Rugby Squads

A huge congratulations to the following girls – Georgia-Leigh Childs -Cartwright (11Se), Cayla Du Plessis (10Pa) and Livi – Grace Hunt on their selection for the Hertfordshire County Rugby Squads.

Georgia has been playing rugby for a number of years at Welwyn RFC and Hertfordshire age groups (previously U15 and below) and was part of the Welwyn team that made the National Cup Final played at Sixways, Worcester last April. Georgia has been selected as part of the Development squad that will play alongside the Hertfordshire U18 County squad, a fantastic achievement considering she is only in Year 11 and has recently returned from a dislocated shoulder!

Both Cayla and Livi Grace play for Welwyn RFC and have also been selected for the U15 Hertfordshire rugby squad. again Livi Grace a year younger as a Year 9 and Cayla who only started playing rugby in September 2019.

A fantastic achievement from all girls and good luck for your training and games!

Author Penny Joelson Visits Bishop’s

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YA Author Penny Joelson visited Bishop’s on Monday 11 February

On 11th February we were thrilled to welcome local author Penny Joelson to the school. Penny is the author of two young adult mystery/thriller novels, the award-winning I Have No Secrets and Girl in the Window. Penny gave a fascinating talk to Years 7 and 8 on what inspired her to become an author, how she was locked in her local library as a young girl and where she draws her inspiration for her novels. She also gave a fascinating oversight of how lucky she was to see her first book (I Have No Secrets) being printed and showed the girls how books look in their ‘raw’ state when they are hot off the press.I Have No Secrets is the story of fourteen-year-old Jemma who has severe cerebral palsy. Unable to speak or move, she relies on her family and carer for everything. Gemma unearths a terrible secret but is powerless to tell anyone, and a killer is on the loose. In Girl in the Window Kasia is crippled by chronic ME, but witnesses an abduction from her bedroom window and is sure a girl in the opposite window did too, but when she searches for her she’s told there is no girl. As a teenager Penny worked with disabled children with communication difficulties which helped inspire Gemma’s character and Kasia’s character was drawn from Penny’s own experience of suffering from ME for a decade.The girls thoroughly engaged with her talk and asked some impressive and thought-provoking questions at the end. Their feedback has consistently stated how much they enjoyed the opportunity to not only meet a ‘real’ author, but to learn what inspires them. Penny’s reading of an extract from Girl in the Window really grabbed the audience’s attention and had them on the edge of their seats wondering what would happen next – needless to say Penny’s books have been quickly borrowed from the library following her visit. We can’t wait for her new book, What the Eye Can’t See, which will be released in July and were sorry that she ran out of time, following all the fantastic questions, to read us an exclusive advance extract!Penny also held a creative writing workshop in which students had the opportunity to create their own mystery story, based on books in which you can choose your own ending. This involved the girls deciding on a character (14 year old Caroline), where she lived (a small village) and thinking about two things that she was doing at that moment (looking/reading at old family album/diary and wanting to find out more). The girls then worked in pairs to think of three ideas of what could happen next which resulted in some lively discussion, they continued choosing through various options for the next section of their story before writing a paragraph. The level of work was fantastic, some of the stories gave us goosebumps and we were keen to find out what would happen next. Overall the girls thoroughly enjoyed the workshop.

Amazing Eco-friendly Eco-Bricks

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Turning single use plastic into eco-friendly eco-bricks!

Over the past 2 weeks, the girls who come along to Save the World Club every Monday have been making some fantastic eco-friendly eco-bricks. We are reusing single use plastic such as crisp and biscuit wrappers. This is packaging that would normally go to landfill. Instead our eco-bricks will be used to build a flower bed in the school grounds. It is time consuming as the rubbish has to be cleaned and dried carefully and then cut up into small pieces and then packed tightly into clean and dry water bottles. However, we are happy to do our bit to reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill and create a useful product to help ‘save the world’!

UNiQ promotes sustainable jewellery

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Promoting sustainable jewellery in Watford

The Young Enterprise team UNiQ attended a trade fair at the InTu Shopping Centre in Watford on Saturday 8th February. The team sold a large selection of beautiful donated jewellery. The UNiQ stall attracted a lot of attention, especially as the girls provided a jewellery making activity for children. The children loved making their own bead bracelets for only 50p. All profits go charity to to support victims of fast fashion. The busy Watford shopping centre was a fantastic location to promote the message of sustainability and raise awareness of the conditions that many workers are forced to work in. UNiQ will be attending the next Young Enterprise event at the Howard Centre, Welwyn Garden City, on Saturday 29th February. Please come along and support the girls and help make a difference!