2014-2017
2014
- £1.8 million received from the EFA for an English and Music Centre. Build delayed because of several archaeological digs.
- Capital Fundraising committee established.
- Refurbishment of Art studio and creation of bespoke Sixth Form Art Studio.
The site before demolition began for the new block
The Dining Room before its new extension and the building of the new Performing Arts block
The Science Department
(Back left: Phil Scott, Amanda Davies, Paul Hards, Lee Colvin, Alice Latham (Hetherington), Charlotte Daniel. Front left: Amanda Hoare, Julie Griffiths, Chris Sissons, Debbie Stuart and Helen Spragg).
It is always a sad time of the year when we say goodbye to staff who are either retiring or are leaving to embark on new challenges. This year, in particular, we have three members of staff who are retiring who between them have given 66 years of service to the High School for Girls.
Retirements
Mrs Ruth Dallow
Mrs Dallow has worked at the High School for Girls since September 1986. She has completed 28 years of service to the school and as she indicated in her speech she has taught 4200 students in Gloucester City, 3360 girls of these have been at the High School for Girls. During her time at the school Mrs Dallow has been Head of Home Economics, Co-ordinator of Technology, Head of Year 7, Senior Teacher and since 2000 Assistant Head. I am sure that there are many students and parents who owe Mrs Dallow a great debt of gratitude. Mrs Dallow brought fresh, creative ideas to the table.
Without a doubt, Mrs Dallow was excellent in her pastoral role and I very much valued her sound judgements and honest opinions. Mrs Dallow was not afraid to make difficult decisions and she was a highly supportive colleague. Mrs Dallow was also an excellent Food Technologist and inspired young people in the classroom to not only learn about food but also to produce fabulous dishes. The smells from the Food Technology room certainly made one’s mouth water. On behalf of everyone, I wish to thank Mrs Dallow for her commitment and dedication to the High School and in particular to the staff, students and parents. We wish Mrs Dallow a well-deserved and happy retirement.
Mrs Jane Elvidge
Mrs Elvidge arrived at the High School as a trainee teacher in 1996 and obviously loved it so much that she decided to stay until her retirement. Mrs Elvidge was appointed as Assistant Teacher of Mathematics in September 1997 and in September 2003 was promoted to Core Curriculum Leader for Mathematics. Mrs Elvidge is an excellent mathematician who has worked hard to inspire students in the study of Mathematics and Further Mathematics. She has also tutored students for STEP papers for university entrance. She has been at the forefront of developments in Maths, such as organising the Maths Around the World for Year 8 students, visits to Techniquest and Maths Club. Mrs Elvidge has also accompanied many trips and visits whilst at school, for example the Geography trips to Iceland and Italy and the annual ski trip. I know that Mrs Elvidge has many plans for the next few years and we wish her a long and happy retirement.
Mrs Chris Sissons
Mrs Sissons came to the High School for Girls in 1998 as a part-time Teacher of Science having previously taught at Bournside School. In 1999 Mrs Sissons took on the responsibilities as Careers Co-ordinator. Mrs Sissons is a highly dedicated teacher who has always put the students first in everything that she has done. She has worked tirelessly to ensure that students were very well prepared for exams as she always prepared her lessons meticulously. The students always achieved excellent results in her classes. Mrs Sissons has been passionate about ensuring that the best Careers advice has been offered to the students through her work throughout the school. Students have always been full of praise for the interviews that she has organised, the work done in Careers Corner and the Real Game. Students have also enjoyed having work experience in Year 10 and more recently in Year 12. Mrs Sissons has always ensured that all students have been visited on work experience. No mean feat! She has spent 16 years at the High School and has without a doubt had a huge impact on many students’ lives. She leaves to take a very well-earned retirement.
Pastures New
Mr Lee Colvin
Mr Colvin arrived at the High School as a newly qualified teacher in 2008. Since then he has made Science lessons exciting and fun. He has a real passion for teaching, especially Biology and he certainly knows how to deliver lessons in a creative and interesting way. Mr Colvin will, I am certain, inspire students to take his subject further. During his time at the school Mr Colvin also took on the role of SENCO in 2010 which he carried out with great dedication to the students who needed extra support with their learning. He spent many hours of his own time offering guidance and advice. We must not forget the fact that for many years Mr Colvin took part in soak the teacher at the PTA fun day, even when the weather was cold. I am certain some students enjoyed soaking Mr Colvin!
Mr Colvin is getting married in the summer and is also moving to a new job as Teacher of Science at Lakers School in Coleford, which will be a much shorter travelling distance from his home. We wish Mr Colvin and his wife to be every success in their new life together and hope that Mr Colvin will enjoy his new job. I am certain he will continue to make lessons exciting for the students in his care.
Miss Charlotte Daniell
Miss Daniell joined the High School in September 2001 as Teacher of Science, was promoted in 2002 to the position of Assistant Year Head of Years 8 and 9 and became a Year Co-ordinator in 2009. Miss Daniell is a committed and dedicated teacher who is highly organised. I am aware that students of Science and Physics have really enjoyed her lessons. Miss Daniell’s excellent knowledge of Physics has certainly inspired people to take Physics at a higher level. Miss Daniell was an excellent Year Co-ordinator who knew her year group extremely well and it was a pity that she decided to give up this role after the birth of her son. We wish Miss Daniell the very best in her new role as Teacher of Science at Blessed Edward Olcorne Catholic College in Worcester.
Mr Richard Hood
Although Mr Hood has only been at the school for two years he has certainly made a difference. He arrived in September 2012 to be the key teacher of Politics. In this position he has certainly developed the Politics department and last year achieved the best results ever in this area. Mr Hood is a highly driven individual and has very high expectations of his students. Certainly Politics is an expanding area of interest for the students at the school. Last year Mr Hood took on the role of Year Co-ordinator for Year 8 and he has done an excellent job. He got to know the year group extremely well and dealt with issues very efficiently. He has certainly engendered the spirit of working together within the year group. We wish Mr Hood well in his new post of Subject Leader for History at Strode College. Mr Hood is moving to Somerset to be nearer family.
Mrs Jane Thornton
Mrs Thornton was promoted to the post of Assistant Head/Director of Post 16 at the High School for Girls in September 2007 from the position of Year Head at Katherine Lady Berkeley’s School. Mrs Thornton arrived at the school when the Sixth Form needed reforming and she has certainly engendered a completely new feel and spirit in the Sixth Form area. She has worked particularly hard on ensuring that leadership positions were developed and that the UCAS system worked efficiently. I am sure that the Sixth Formers are very grateful for everything she has done for them, including getting the two common rooms refurbished. Furthermore, Mrs Thornton was in charge of data and reporting. She has certainly moved the school forward dramatically from being a data poor school to a data rich school. Mrs Thornton is highly organised and very efficient. She worked particularly hard to ensure that reporting deadlines were kept. She has also been a very supportive colleague on SLT. We wish Mrs Thornton success in her new job as Assistant Head at Stroud High School.
Mr Alex Yip
Mr Yip began his teaching at the High School for Girls in 2010 as a newly qualified teacher. In his time at the school Mr Yip has been teaching GCSE, AS and A Level Mathematics and Further Mathematics. Mr Yip has very good subject knowledge and he plans challenging lessons to promote and encourage achievement. He has also been proactive in setting up a Chess Club. Under his leadership several students won the Regional Megafinals and then went on to play in the Northern Gigafinals. Mr Yip also took part in the World Challenge to Thailand. We wish Mr Yip all the very best in his new job as Teacher of Mathematics at The Cheltenham Ladies’ College.
New Staff
Once again it has been an extremely busy time for the High School and I am delighted to announce the following new appointments for September 2014.
Deputy Head ................................................................Miss C Giblin
Assistant Head: Director of Post 16 ..............Mr J Leathem-Pugh
Assistant Head: Student Support ..................Mrs L Lloyd-Owen
Assistant Head: ICT Strategy, Data and Reporting ............... Mr T Mannion
Core Curriculum Leader for Mathematics ....... Miss A Pandor
Core Curriculum Leader for Science .....................Mr P Scott
Subject Leader for Politics ........................................... Mr I Ahmed
Teachers of Mathematics ............................................Miss G Heeks
.........................................................................................................Mr L De Roemer
Teachers of Science ........................................................Dr K Ford
......................................................................................................... Miss A Creed
......................................................................................................... Miss A Creed
SENCO .......................................................................................Mrs C McClunne
Pastoral Team Changes
Year 8 Co-ordinator - Mr C Dunn
Year 9 Co-ordinator - Dr K Ford
Year 10 Co-ordinator - Mrs C Dunnett
Mr David Hart
We would like to wish Mr Hart a lovely day on his forthcoming marriage. We hope you enjoy many blissful years of married life.
Mrs Tara Priest
We wish to congratulate Mrs Priest on the birth of her second daughter Emily. Mother and daughter are doing well.
2015
- Former Heads, Parents, Governors and Staff have pledged £430,000 for extension to dining room and new Drama studio over 5 years.
- The new Performing Arts Block was completed in October and officially opened on Friday, 20th November 2015.
Redesign of new Art Textiles facilities.
New Psychology, Government and Politics and Sociology rooms, predominantly for Sixth Form teaching.
In October 2015 the Headteacher's Blog was started (now Our School Our Week). These can be found here.
2016
- The first Year 10 Community Tea Party was held at the High School for Girls for residents of local care homes in March 2016.
- 80 primary students from Kingsholm Primary School were also entertained by Year 10 students at a community afternoon in July.
- The Music Department achieved a ISM Gold Certificate for Music in 2016.
- The new Dining Hall extension was finished just before Christmas 2016. Staff, parents and students came into school on a Saturday in November for the “Dig In” for planting around the new dining hall.
House Photos
Barwell
Bearland
Hartland
Kyneburga
Mynd
2017
- In January 2017 trousers become an option for the school uniform at the High School.
- Funding was received from the Education Funding Agency for safeguarding the site. New security locks will be fitted on all external doors and new gates will also have security features. All staff and students will receive a security badge to access the site.
- At Easter Mrs Sawicka announced that she would be retiring at the end of December 2017.
- In May former student, Kate Davies completed a book documenting the School’s history, from 1980 to 2007. Named after the School’s motto ‘In Honour Preferring One Another,’ Kate’s book covers a period of significant uncertainty for the school, including a number of attempts to close it.
- In July Miss Claire Giblin, Deputy Headteacher was announced by the Governors as the new Headteacher from January 2018.
- In July Mr Paul Hards retired from his post of the head of the Science faculty. Mr Hards had been at the High School since 1992.
- In September the whole school photograph was taken.
On Wednesday 29 November Professor Robert Winston visited the school and gave two interesting talks to students, staff and parents.
Mrs Sawicka said a tearful goodbye to students, staff, parents and governors at the annual Christmas concert at Gloucester Cathedral. This was followed by the staff Christmas pantomime, Alladin, where Mrs Sawicka played the Genie.
What's happening in history?
9th of September 2015 : Elizabeth II becomes longest serving Monarch
10 January 2016: David Bowie dies at 69
23rd of June 2016 : Britain Votes Leave
July 1: The centenary of the first Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest and most notorious battles of the First World War, in which more than one million men were wounded or killed.
September 2: 350-year Anniversary of the Great Fire of London
October 14: 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings.
2017
January 20 – Donald Trump, a Republican New York City businessman, is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Trump is the first person to be elected President of the United States who was neither a political office holder or a military general.[2]
March 29 – The United Kingdom triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, starting the Brexit negotiations, the talks for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.
June 8 – In the midst of Brexit, a snap general election is held in the UK, three years before the next one was due, resulting in a hung parliament, with the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Theresa May, losing their majority in Parliament. The Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, makes gains for the first time since 1997. Days later, the Conservative Party, now lacking a majority, enters a confidence-and-supply deal with the Northern Irish DUP.
September
December 5 – Russia is banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang by the International Olympic Committee