Inter-school debating

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Bishop’s visit JFS for a debate workshop

We thoroughly enjoyed the parallel histories debate at JFS! It was an insightful and informative discussion surrounding whether Britain should have been criticised or praised for their handling of the mandate in Palestine; We had a lengthy debate upon Britain’s handling of the mandate, then followed an informal discussion with the year 13 students who had visited Israel on a school trip. They were very well informed and educated us upon their own heritage and their understanding of the conflict within Palestine. They also had strong interest in hearing our opinions too. We then discussed whether Winston Churchill deserved the title of the ‘greatest Briton’. It was wonderful to speak to many different people as we were in mixed groups rather than just with our own school. After researching the Churchill statement, we compiled succinct arguments and had another informative debate.

We are so grateful to have been able to partake in this emotive conversation. We have learnt a plethora of knowledge from bright and engaging students who were coherent and articulate in their arguments. It was extremely eye-opening to hear the opinions and voices of other members of our generation.

Sophia B

Science Club tests the limits of pasta!

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Science club kicked off the spring term, building bridges using only pasta and marshmallows

In Science Club, called the STEM-EAST Club, we were set a task to make a bridge. We used spaghetti and marshmallows. We made two long lines of spaghetti suspended between two tables about half a metre apart. To balance the bridge after we added more spaghetti, we tried so see if it became sturdy enough to support a tub of pens. We added more spaghetti and more pens to the pot, one at a time, until the bridge failed. We continued to build the bridge so that it was strong enough to support the pot of pens. We fixed the parts that had broken and noticed the marshmallows were sticky and held the spaghetti better. So, we made the the marshmallows sticky by kneading them. This made our hands quite sticky but the final bridge was worth it and it was a lot of fun!

Maryam A.

Year 11 biologists zone in on antimicrobial activity.

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Year 11 biologists completed their last required GCSE biology practical investigation looking at the effect of various antibiotics on bacteria.

As part of the GCSE Biology course, Year 11 Biologists investigated the effect of antibiotics on the growth bacterial cultures using aseptic techniques. GCSE Biology specification Students safely spread bacteria on an agar plate, added discs soaked in antibiotics, incubated their bacterial ‘plates’ overnight and then measured the ‘zone of inhibition’. This is the area where the antibiotics have successfully killed the bacteria, it shows up as a clear area around the antibiotic discs. They achieved superb results and this was a great way to complete their last required practical for their biology GCSE.

Kiruga J.

How to make your CV stand out!

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Our Year 12 students’ CVs are set to stand out thanks to the top tips of a CV Consultant

Your CV is a document that you take with you for all your working life. The term Curriculum Vitae is Latin for “course of one’s life”, so it is a vitally important document for all our Year 12s looking to embark on their careers. Tracey Whitmore, a local CV doctor/consultant and author, came in on Friday to run a workshop as part of our Sixth Form Careers programme. Mrs Whitmore is consultant to senior management and has worked in this industry for more than a decade, now running her own consultancy The CV Doctor. Our Year 12s were shown the good and bad of CVs and given a chance to review them – being reminded that their CVs will be reviewed on average in 7 seconds – so impact is key! Mrs Whitmore went through how to structure a CV and what to put in it. Top Tips to do with layout, content and accuracy were covered. Our Year 12s were fully engaged – making suggestions for improvements and then went off to create or enhance their CVS. As prizes, copies of Mrs Whitmore’s book, ‘The CV Doctor’, were given out. All Year 12 are encouraged to develop their CVs alongside their LinkedIn profiles and professional photographs introduced a few weeks ago. They are also expected to have their CVS ready for a Mock Interview session that will be taking place early next term in their Life Skills sessions.

Creating Unusual Creatures

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Key Stage 3 students test their craft skills to create various creatures that have unusual life styles, cycles or features.

So far this year in Crafty Creature Club, we have created many different animals and plants that have really unusual facts, e.g. hermit crabs that gang up on other crabs to get the best shell and robins that attack their own reflection. We have used many different materials to make these animals including pom-poms and lollipop sticks. We started the spring term making biodiversity bracelets to remind us how many species there are in the world.

Lottie T.

If you are in Year 7, 9 or 9,why not join Lottie at Crafty Creature Club every Thursday lunchtimes?!

Bishop’s Books takes part in St Albans Schools Book Awards

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Y8 pupils join 6 other schools in book discussions

On Friday 20 January, we visited the library at Marlborough Science Academy to take part in the St Albans Schools Book Awards. They provided some really good resources and had lots of great librarians there too! There was a discussion about the 3 books that we had read, followed by a quiz. The conversation with the students from the other schools was really riveting and they were really kind. The only bad thing about it was that we didn’t have enough time! All of us voted for which of the books we thought was the best – the winner was “GIRL (In Real Life)” by Tamsin Winter. The 2 other books we read were “When The Sky Falls” (2nd place) and “Such A Good Liar” (3rd place) but no matter the results all of the books were amazing and we recommend reading them all.

After that the winners of the bookmark competition were announced, and Gabby K from 8Au won first place. We then had a workshop led by Penny Joelson who announced the winning book, whilst the bookmarks from the competition and a signed one from Tamsin Winter were given out. The discussion we had on which books we chose was really interesting. The workshop with the author, Penny Joelson, let our imagination go wild and everyone’s ideas were amazing. She gave us all characteristics we had to write about and it was really interesting and inclusive to everyone including the staff. Jo read her story out loud and everyone was really impressed with her ideas.

Written collectively by Lorna P, Gabriella K, Mia H, Lily KP, Babara I and Jo A.

Making More of Mentoring

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Year 11 Mentoring Programme got to see businesses first hand

In conjunction with the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership and Careers and Enterprise Company, Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School are part of a mentoring programme pilot. This programme runs for three years and participants join in Year 10. The programme is focusing on helping pupils understand and access all career opportunities open to them. The programme is run by a professional mentor and regular counselling meetings are support by visits to local businesses.

This month, our mentees were invited to a tour around our key local business Computacenter as part of this mentoring pilot. The mentees were taken around by the Future Talent Manager of Computacenter and their Mentor Mr Groves, who showed them the work site and introduced them to the different roles and functions undertaken by the business. Our mentees were also very lucky to meet the CEO of Computacenter who took a few minutes out to talk with them about what they were learning! Renee Ramsay-Nicol, Future Talent Manager said, “we are always keen to get young people into see our business at Computacenter – those few minutes talk with the CEO shows how important we all see future talent to our business!”

This is one of the many opportunities our Career programme offers our pupils – and all visits out to see our local businesses are valuable to build networks and understand the skills businesses are seeking in work ready pupils. Following on from this, as part of our Careers programme, we are taking a group of Year 11s to a local Welwyn Careers Conference in the coming weeks – watch this space!