Mrs Carroll began working at the High School in 1999 as Finance Officer.  Before this post, Mrs Carroll worked for the GCC. Her main duties have mainly centred on financial matters and she has worked hard to develop efficient processes not only in the Finance Office but also in Student Services.  For the role of Finance Officer Mrs Carroll has had to be methodical, highly organised and flexible as the role has changed over time.  Mrs Carroll in recent years has also been in charge of Student Services, never an easy task as the school works hard to try and keep students in lessons or organises for them to go home if they are really ill.  Being a first aider, Mrs Carroll has also been called upon when emergencies arise.  Her calm nature has benefited many students over the years.  Mrs Carroll will be missed at the High School for her dry sense of humour and I will miss asking her all sorts of questions over the finance.  I wish to thank Mrs Carroll for all her hard work at the school and particularly for her support when the school did not have a Business Manager over the last year.  I hope Mrs Carroll has a long and well earned retirement.   I am sure that she will now find time to travel, especially outside of term times.

 

 

Mr Colls started teaching at the school in January 1983 as Assistant Teacher of Music, but in January 2003 moved to teaching French.  The students enjoyed his lessons and especially his precision over grammar.  I am not sure whether students are aware but he has an excellent singing voice and sings in the Cathedral choir.  I am sure we will see him at various important events in the Cathedral.  Mr Colls is retiring from teaching after 29 years at the High School.  We wish him a relaxing and well deserved retirement.

 

 

Miss Young began teaching at the High School in September 1987 as a teacher of History.  She came to the school from Colwell School for Girls in Gloucester and previous to this, she taught in Redbridge and Gravesend.  In 1993, Miss Young was appointed as the Careers Co-ordinator for the school and in 1999 became the Work Experience Co-ordinator, whilst in September 2002 she took up the post of Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Co-ordinator.  She has worked at the High School for 25 years. It is true to say that Miss Young has inspired hundreds or maybe thousands of historians during her time at the High School.  She has superb knowledge of various periods of History and she has enthused students to study the subject at university.  Students speak very fondly about her lessons and whenever her name is mentioned, students always react very positively.  Miss Young has an excellent manner in the classroom and always ensures that all students have a voice. Her work as Duke of Edinburgh Co-ordinator has been highly valued by the school as this award has enabled thousands of young people to experience a variety of physical activities and skills.  All the students have thoroughly enjoyed the expeditions and can without doubt relate a story or two about some of the funnier moments.  We are one of very few schools that offers the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award and this has been highly valued by students and parents/carers alike.  My personal thanks go to Miss Young for enabling the award to be offered at Bronze, Silver and Gold Level.   Miss Young has accompanied hundreds of expeditions, frequently giving up weekends and holidays to do so. Miss Young, we all wish you a very happy and well deserved retirement.  We hope you find time for your hobbies and continue to inspire people in whatever you choose to do in your retirement.  Thank you for all you have done for the girls and boys at the High School.

 

Mrs Cave came to the High School on a year’s contract to teach Science and in particular Chemistry.  Mrs Cave completed her NQT year at the school, after she joined the teaching profession a couple of years ago.  Previously she has worked as a chemical engineer.  The students have thoroughly enjoyed Mrs Cave’s lessons and she certainly has made Science fun. We wish Mrs Cave every success in her future career.

 

 

What can be said about Mrs Connor?  Since she started at the High School in September 2009 she has been like a mother to all the Sixth Formers.  Every time I have gone up to the Sixth Form area I have found students sitting in her office area discussing things with her and asking for her advice.  Mrs Connor has been an absolute gem when it has come to supporting Mrs Thornton with Sixth Form administration and whole school reporting and monitoring. I wonder what Mrs Thornton will do now without her?  I just hope that Mrs Connor’s replacement will be half as good as her.  We have yet to appoint this person.  Mrs Connor is going onto pastures new: she has accepted a job as receptionist/administrative assistant at Charlton King’s Junior School.  I hope she enjoys working with younger children as much as I know she has with the Sixth Form.  It certainly will not be the same.  We will all miss you and wish you every success in your new job.

 

 

Miss Dowler joined the school in September 2011 as a Cover Supervisor.  I know that she has enjoyed the job and that it has prepared her well for her PGCE course in Physical Education.  We are delighted that Miss Dowler has decided to join the teaching profession. She starts her course in September 2012.  We wish Miss Dowler all the very best.

 

 

Mr Kennedy arrived at the High School in September 2006 just before I took up the Headship in 2007.  He has been a truly outstanding teacher who has inspired students to have a love of Politics.  It is a real testament to a member of staff if students then choose to go on to study the subject.  I am sure we will have a few of our students in parliament as a result of his teaching or maybe even a Prime Minister.  Who knows?  I can certainly think of a few candidates. Mr Kennedy has a great sense of humour which he has frequently used in his lessons.  The students enjoy dressing up and doing role plays, even if the subject is a bit dry – like the constitution. During his time here Mr Kennedy has organised several trips and visits to New York and Belgium for which the students have been most grateful.  I am certain that students will always remember the debating competitions he has organised and also the Schools’ Question Time.  I hope next time we will also become the South West champions.  Mr Kennedy, you have set a high benchmark. I have personally valued Mr Kennedy’s calm approach to any issues that he has raised as union representative for the staff and I am aware that staff have found his support invaluable. You will be missed, Mr Kennedy.  We wish you every success in your new job as Head of History at St George’s International School in Luxembourg.

 

 

Mrs Kent’s journey at the High School began in September 2004 when she was appointed to the part-time post of Modern Foreign Languages teacher.  Mrs Kent is a talented linguist and the students have found her lessons exciting and enjoyable.  She has, without doubt, enabled the development of language teaching in the school, as we still have a strong languages department despite national trends.  We wish Mrs Kent every success in the future.

 

 

Mrs Thomson was appointed to the post of part-time Teacher of Modern Foreign Languages in September 2004.  As a native German speaker, Mrs Thomson has not only excellent language skills but also an in depth knowledge of the German culture which has been of great benefit to the students.  Since the school became a Language College in 2006, Mrs Thomson has also worked as a primary outreach worker, working in a number of the local primary schools teaching German. The students at the High School speak very highly about Mrs Thomson, especially commenting on her creative approach to lessons.  Similarly, I have had excellent feedback from the primary schools about Mrs Thomson’s work.  She is able to engage students of all ages in the learning of languages. This is a rare gift. I wish Mrs Thomson every success in her new job at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys in Birmingham from September.  I am certain she will thoroughly enjoy her time at the school, as I did in the sister school.  Our loss is Camp Hill’s gain.

 

I am delighted to announce the following new appointments who will be joining the High School in September:

 

Subject Leader for Geography  ...................... Mr Martin Husbands (maternity cover)

Subject Leader for French .................................. Mrs Melanie Sartore-Wallace

Teacher of Geography ........................................ Mr Will Alder (maternity cover)

Key teacher of Politics ......................................... Mr Richard Hood

Teacher of Chemistry .......................................... Miss Helen Spragg

Teacher of Science ................................................ Ms K Skone (maternity cover)

Teacher of History .................................................. Miss Harriet Bowman

Teacher of German .............................................. Mr John Campbell

Cover Supervisor ................................................... Miss Gemma Collier

Finance Officer ........................................................ Mrs Caroline Timmins

ADaPT Faculty Technician .............................. Mr David Hart

 

I am also pleased to announce that Miss Sheila Bloodworth started work at the High School on the 19 June, as Business Manager.  This has been a long awaited appointment.

As the year comes to a close we also have to say goodbye to a number of staff.  One person is retiring while others are going onto pastures new.  New staff have been appointed and I am also delighted that we have been able to promote staff internally.  Staff changes are indicated below:

 

Mrs Eroglu-Prenter started her long career in teaching in 1975 when she became a Teacher of English in Trier, Germany and a year later, took up a similar role in Ankara, Turkey.  

 

One of Mrs Eroglu-Prenter’s passions has been exchanges and she has worked hard to ensure that these occur in all three languages.  In fact, due to Mrs ErogluPrenter’s determination, the Göttingen exchange with Sir Thomas Rich’s has been in existence for over 30 years.  These exchanges have not only been a wonderful opportunity for students to experience a different culture, but have also improved students’ language skills and in many cases “friendships have developed for life”.  This will be a lasting legacy that Mrs Eroglu-Prenter spearheaded. Mrs Eroglu-Prenter was also an important leader when the school made a bid for Language college status in 2003 and every year the school had to meet the inspirational targets set in order to retain its status.  Language college status enabled the school to support language teaching in 8 local primary schools and also at Barnwood Park.  The school paid out of Language College money for outreach teachers to teach Spanish, French and German in the above schools.  This was a wonderful opportunity for primary schools to have highly qualified staff teaching languages. Mrs Eroglu-Prenter has been a wonderful professional who has worked tirelessly for the students of the school.  She is also a very caring person who has always been very supportive of her colleagues. We wish her all the best in her retirement.  She will be missed!

 

Mr Bush was appointed to the role of Curriculum Director for the Mathematics, Business and Psychology Faculty in 2008 from Cleeve School.  He has been proactive in introducing changes within the 3 curriculum areas he has had overall responsibility for.  In particular, Mr Bush has devised, with Dr Young, an online approach to monitoring students’ attendance at lessons, their rate of completion of work, test results etc.  This has made a huge impact on students’ learning.  Mr Bush has also been instrumental with the development of reporting and whole school monitoring systems which have enabled computerised reports to develop.  He has also over the last three years written the school timetable which has been no mean feat, especially as we do not have options blocks for Sixth Form choices.  Mr Bush has been appointed as an Assistant Head: Strategic Lead of Assessment and Director of Mathematics at Chosen Hill School from September 2013.  We wish him every success in his new role and I am sure we will hear how he is getting on.

 

 

Mr Haynes has a long association with the High School for Girls.  He first started teaching at the school in September 1995 when he became the Head of Music.  He then left in August 2000 to become a freelance piano teacher, pianist and examiner, but was re-employed in June 2005 as Head of Music to cover maternity leave.  This became a permanent job share in September 2006.  Mr Haynes is not only a very able musician who enjoys performing himself but he also  enables the young people in his care to rise to the challenge of performing solos and in groups.  He is a talented teacher who inspires an interest in music.  Several past student have gone to study at Music Colleges and the Birmingham Conservatoire because Mr Haynes has inspired and encouraged them.  Mr Hayes has also been pivotal in introducing the AS Level in Performing Arts which has been a welcome introduction into the complementary curriculum in the Sixth Form. 

 

In 2010 Mr Haynes became the Team Leader for the DEAL.  This bespoke High School for Girls Year 7 curriculum has further developed under Mr Haynes’ leadership.  He has been a very effective team leader who has not only reviewed and developed the DEAL curriculum but has also been responsible for setting up the learning passport for the skills taught through the DEAL.  Recently, Mr Haynes has been co-leading the resilience research group. Mr Haynes has also been at the forefront of all the celebrations in the Cathedral and also in the bi-annual school musical productions at the Picturedrome Theatre in Gloucester.  The quality of music for these events and productions has been truly outstanding.  The school certainly owes Mr Hayes a debt of gratitude for all the wonderful concerts and productions that have taken place. We wish to congratulate Mr Haynes on his promotion as Head of Academic Music at Kingswood School in Bath.  Our loss will be Kingwood’s gain in September.

 

Mr Campbell first joined the High School for Girls in 2002 as Assistant Head of Languages.  He came from St Olave’s School in Orpington, Kent.  In August 2005, Mr Campbell left the High School to look after his daughters whilst his wife returned to full-time work.  Since September 2006, Mr Campbell has taught either on a part-time/full-time basis within the Languages Faculty teaching both French and German.  He has also taught Japanese for a time which has become an increasingly popular language for the Fast Track students.  Mr Campbell is a highly competent linguist whose passion for Languages is clear in everything that he does.  This year, Mr Campbell has also helped with the preparation of the Oxbridge candidates.  The school is very grateful for Mr Campbell’s flexibility over timetabling over the years and we wish him well in his new post of languages teacher at Wycliffe College.

 

 

Mrs Ratinaud came to the High School in September 2009 from Severn Vale School as Subject Leader for French.  She has worked tirelessly as the Subject Leader to develop French teaching within the faculty.  She has brought in many new ideas which have created a sense of fun in lessons.  Due to personal reasons, Mrs Ratinaud resigned from the post in August 2012 so that she could stay at home.  The school was delighted that we could offer Mrs Ratinaud a part-time post for the last academic year.  Unfortunately, it has not been possible to do the same for the forthcoming year.  We wish Mrs Ratinaud the very best for the future.

 

 

Mrs Groom joined the High School for Girls in September 2008 as a Foreign Language Assistant in the French department.  She has worked very hard on producing resources for the Languages Faculty as well as helping students with their pronunciation in French.  The work Mrs Groom has carried out has certainly improved the students’ spoken French both at GCSE and A Level.  Mrs Groom has decided to leave her position in order to pursue her work as a translator.  We wish Mrs Groom all the very best in her future career.

 

 

Miss Collier joined the school in September 2012 as a Cover supervisor.  During the last year Miss Collier has developed a number of skills within lessons that have enabled her now to apply for a PGCE in Mathematics starting in September 2013.  We wish Miss Collier all the very best as she embarks on her teacher training. We are also very grateful for all her hard work in the Physical Education department this last year.

 
Miss Natasha Lloyd

 

Miss Lloyd joined the school in September 2009, as a Science Technician, with the view of going on the following year to do her PGCE in the Sciences.  She enjoyed life at the High School so much that she has stayed until now.  Miss Lloyd has decided that this is the right time for her to do her PGCE and she has obtained a place at Gloucestershire University. We wish Miss Lloyd every success in her training and also wish her all the best for her marriage this summer.  We hope the weather remains bright and sunny.

I am delighted to announce the following new appointments who will be join the High School in September.

 

Curriculum Director for Maths, Business & Psychology .... Mrs Jane Steele

Subject Leader for German .................................................. Mr Carlo Dunn

Teacher of German and Spanish ..................................... Ms Yana Georgieva

Teacher of Geography ............................................................. Miss Emma Hodnett

Teacher of History (maternity cover) ............................ Dr Huw Clayton

Teacher of Music .......................................................................... Mr Anthony McNaught

Cover Supervisor .......................................................................... Miss Sophie Hibberd

Science Technician .................................................................... Miss Natalie Austin

Finance Officer .............................................................................. Mrs Linda Boone

Data Manager ............................................................................... Mrs Patricia Lloyd

 

I also wish to announce the following internal appointments.  Congratulations go to these staff:

 

Curriculum Director for Languages - Mr Vince Groom

Year 8 Co-ordinator (September 2013) - Mr Richard Hood

Year 9 Co-ordinator (September 2013) - Ms Vicki Clasper

Year 10 Co-ordinator (September 2013) - Mrs Rachel Kittle

Team Leader for the DEAL - Ms Lucy Wilkes

Finance Administrator - Mrs Helen Di Tomaso

Reprographics Technician - Mrs Karen Sysum

 

Take a look at the 2012-2013 newsletters here.

 

27th of July 2012 : London 2012 Opening Ceremony
17th of July 2013 : Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act Gains Royal Assent