ISSUE 32 - SPRING 2016

SCIENCE CELEBRATED IN STYLE From offering healthy diet and exercise advice to ‘Samantha the Skeleton’ to making rocket fuel and launching a spacecraft, Manchester High’s Preparatory Department was certainly busy during British Science Week 2016. The week-long initiative was a grassroots celebration of all things related to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Thanks to generous sponsorship from the businesses of two Preparatory parents, Sabre Valves and Rullion Solutions, all year groups took part in ‘Hands On Science’ workshops. Each experiment was designed to develop pupils’ skills in observation, prediction and fair testing, while still bringing out the excitement of discovery that lies at the heart of science. ‘Kitten Rescue’ saw the girls learn how to make nourishing solutions from powder and water to help revive a kitten that has been found in a deep, dark forest; while ‘Massive Magnets’ enabled pupils to investigate the earth’s amazing magnetic fields and flux patterns. ‘Healthy Bodies’ let the girls get up close and personal with tooth decay and ‘Rockets’ explores what energy actually is and how it can make things fly. The STEMettes, an organisation that helps girls make contact with women working in the STEM industries, also visited the School, teaching girls in Year 6 HTML code and assisting them in creating their very own web pages. Mrs Nash, Head of the Preparatory Department, said: “Here at Manchester High we want our girls to be excited about all the opportunities that their superb education opens up for them – including science – and that excitement should be ignited at as young an age as possible. Our Science Week celebrations were a wonderful way of expanding our girls’ horizons in terms of passion, interest and even future careers within the world of science.”

Manchester High School for Girls, Grangethorpe Road, Manchester M14 6HS

Tel: 0161 224 0447 Email: [email protected] www.manchesterhigh.co.uk

COMMOTION IN THE OCEAN Year 1 girls have been using the beautifully illustrated book, Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andreae, as a starting point to inspire them to create their own sea creatures. Using pastels, the girls drew penguins, turtles, jelly fish, dolphins, an octopus, star fish, angel fish and many more. The girls are looking forward to finding out if they will be able to see some of these sea creatures at the Blue Planet Aquarium.

CYCLING STARS LAUNCH SPORT RELIEF FUNDRAISING Prep girls were very excited to welcome Helen Scott and Jon Gildea from the GB Cycling Team in January. The athletes came to launch the girls’ fundraising activities for Sport Relief. Helen is a tandem pilot who cycles with a visually impaired partner, and has won Paralympic and Commonwealth medals in the sprint events. Jon takes part in longer cycling events as a para-cyclist and won gold at the International Para-cycling Time Trial and Road Race in 2014. They inspired the girls with stories of how they got into cycling and told them about their training programmes and how they stay in shape for their sport. Helen also brought in her medals to show everyone. Everyone was excited to raise funds for Sport Relief, thanks to Helen and Jon!

SYNCHRONISED SWIMMING SUCCESS A talented swimmer, 10-year-old Evie, has been selected for the ASA regional synchronised swimming beacon programme in Leeds. The Manchester High Prep pupil is only the fourth girl from Stockport Metro swimming club to be selected for the programme in the last three years. The programme is the first rung of the ladder before the England Talent Development Squad. Evie learned to swim when she was only a few months old, and has loved it ever since. She has actively been doing synchronised swimming for the past two years. Evie said: “I got the spark to try out synchronised swimming when I saw it in the Olympics, I thought it looked like a lot of fun. I would love to compete in the Olympics myself in the future!” Evie trains seven hours a week accompanied by some of UK’s top swimmers and synchronised swimmers. She also takes ballet lessons at the Sue Morris School of Ballet in Alderley Edge. She concluded: “I am really looking forward to training with the beacon programme and improving my skills. I have a little duet competition coming up soon, and then we start to prepare for the competition season later this year. It is all very exciting!”

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FABULOUS FAIRGROUNDS The Year 5 classrooms were transformed into busy workshops during a recent Design Technology week. The girls loved studying pictures of fairground rides and recalling their own experiences of fantastic and scary rides. They were brilliant at developing creative themes for their rides. After planning their rides very carefully, the girls created their electric circuit, which included a battery pack, a switch and a motor. The motor powered a pulley system which enabled the wooden wheel to spin. The next step was to decorate the spinning structure. This is where the real fun began! Pupils chose cups, unicorns, submarines, crocodiles and several other exciting ideas.

GREEK DAY FUN Year 3 had a fantastic time learning all about the Ancient Greeks during their history week and special Greek day. The girls enjoyed finding out all about how the Ancient Greeks lived and how some of their inventions and traditions still have an impact on the world today. The workshops with Mr Warrell were really interesting and the girls loved trying on the different clothes and armour, scratching their names in the Greek alphabet onto pieces of pottery, grinding flour and weaving cloth. They tried lots of new foods during their Greek lunch and dressed up in fabulous costumes.

PREP HOCKEY TEAM GOES FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH This academic year has been triumphant for the Under-11s Prep Hockey team. In early March, they won Silver in the Under-11s North West Semi-Finals, narrowly losing 2-0 to Kirkham Grammar School. They went on to compete for the Under-11s North Hockey title at the University of Leeds which was on Tuesday 15th March. The girls took a brilliant sixth place out of 102 teams competing this year! Following their national championship success, the girls won another Silver medal at the AJIS Hockey Championships, losing 1-0 to the same rivals, Kirkham Grammar. Last but not least, the girls also triumphed in the recent Primary Quicksticks competition coming second out of 135 teams. They qualified for the Greater Manchester Finals but unfortunately could not attend due to the clash with the National Under-11s Hockey finals. These are the best results in Manchester High’s Prep Hockey history, many congratulations to the girls!

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LIGHTING UP LEGO CITY Girls in Year 4 had an amazing morning recently when they took part in an Electro City workshop. The workshop leaders brought along a van full of Lego, which the girls then used to create a city. The girls worked really well together to create different types of buildings, from skyscrapers to bungalows, to mansions with swimming pools. They then put the buildings together to make a city, along with roads, parks and a railway track. The final part of the workshop was to use a battery and wires to connect the bulbs and create an electrical circuit so that the lights in the buildings lit up. It looked fantastic to see the whole city light up. The girls had a wonderful time and the workshop helped them to gather lots of ideas ready for their Design Technology week.

PREP’S BIG SISTER SCHEME LAUNCHED A new pilot programme has been launched in the Preparatory Department which aims to give girls hands-on experience developing their community-building and leadership skills. Manchester High’s Big Sisters scheme pairs girls in Reception with a partner in Year 6. They trade books and read together once a week, and also share events like a Teddybear’s Picnic and Big Sisters’ Lunch. The programme means that girls in Reception are welcomed into a group of peers right from the start of their education. Meanwhile, the older girls are able to put the School’s ethos of support and inclusion into practice. Mrs Nash, Head of the Preparatory Department, said: “The programme has proven to be an even greater success than first anticipated. What started as a project to welcome the youngest girls to our School has blossomed into a mutually supportive programme which allows girls of all ages to benefit from our holistic, community-focused approach to education.” Indeed, the programme has proven to be very popular with students and parents alike. Girls in Reception have said they like seeing their new friends around School, and agree that their Big Sisters make them feel ‘happy, lovely and excited’. Alekhya, a Year 6 pupil, commented: “I really like reading to the younger girls and showing them around School. Even though Maeve is not my real sister, it’s starting to feel like she is a part of my family.” Mrs Anderson, teacher of Reception class, said: “The programme has been helpful for all girls, especially for those who are only children. Having an honorary big sister, and feeling part of an extended family, has been really well received by parents as well.” The resounding success of the scheme means plans are well underway to continue the programme next academic year. Year 5 students have seen the programme in action and are already looking forward to their chance to be Big Sisters, and teachers are confident this type of relationship-building will have a lasting effect on the School’s culture.

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RABIAH’S POEM CROWNED BEST IN MANCHESTER Manchester High School for Girls pupil, Rabiah from Year 6, has shown poetic brilliance by winning the Best Poem in Manchester - prize in the Young Writers’ ‘Poetry Emotions’ competition. Her poem, along with a selection of other Manchester High pupils’ creative work, has now been published as a book in the competition’s Manchester anthology.

Rabiah

Young Writers aims to encourage young people to engage in creative writing. Their Poetry Emotions is a competition for 7-11 year-olds that challenges pupils to create a character for an emotion, before planning and writing their poem.

Rabiah, who has been a pupil at Manchester High since age 4, was excited to receive the accolade and to have her poem published. She said: “I was just practising a play in the playground when my friends ran over to tell me the news. I was in shock! I still remember skipping back to the classroom and couldn’t wait to tell all my family.” She added: “I like to do a lot of writing at home and I have found that scary stories come easy to me. So I decided to write a poem about fear! I love the feeling of transporting myself into another world as I write, I guess you could say I have a wild imagination.” Creative Rabiah loves to do Design Technology, English and Speech and Drama in school, and back at home she is often found writing short stories for her parents and siblings to read. Rabiah added: “I think writing will always stay as a dear hobby to me. When I grow up I hope to become a teacher or maybe a scientist; I really love computing and astronomy and it would be fantastic to discover new worlds out there!”

PREP ART ATTACK The Preparatory Department have launched a new Creative Council to celebrate Music, Art, Dance and Drama and to encourage more girls to get involved in the Arts. The council consists of a group of girls from Years 4 to 6 who are all passionate about the Arts and want to see more Arts based activities in school. Led by Miss Bingham, the girls are going to be working on a variety of projects of their own, as well as encouraging others to take part. The girls have designed their own Council badges to show off their creative skills, and so that others can spot them around Prep. The work in the pictures has been created by members of the Year 5 and 6 Art Club who meet after school on Thursdays. They have been looking at graffiti and perspective to design their own logo or tag.

GETTING CREATIVE WITH CLAY Creative girls in Year 3 have had a brilliant time recently by getting their hands messy and making patterns in clay tiles. They have been learning about clay pottery made by ancient people in the Stone Age. The girls have studied the patterns people made in the past and the techniques they would have used. The girls then tried to replicate these in their own designs. Making clay patterns was lots of fun and the girls can’t wait to make complete pots.

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BUDDING VETS The girls in Reception class recently welcomed a special visitor, Maeve’s dad, to teach them about being a vet.

DANCE TRIUMPH FOR GRACE

The girls learned about how a vet looks after animals, and everyone was very excited to wear real vet’s masks and put bandages on their pets.

Grace from Year 6 excelled in The Wrexham Festival of Dance competition during February half term where she won an amazing six trophies.

Many animals were made better on the day, and the girls had a great time!

She was crowned ‘Modern Winner’, ‘Ballet Winner’, ‘Song and Dance Winner’ and ‘Overall Winner’ for her age category of 10 to 11, as well as winning trophies for ‘Junior Cabaret Duet’ and ‘Overall Most Promising Dancer’. Grace explained: “It was a fabulous experience and I really enjoyed the festival which took place over two weekends. I love all genres of dance and my biggest inspiration is Misty Copeland. I especially enjoyed performing in the school’s Dance Show on the third of March.” What a fantastic achievement for Grace, she is definitely one to watch in the world of dance!

PREP GYMNASTS CROWNED REGIONAL CHAMPIONS The Under-11s Prep Gymnastics team enjoyed tremendous success at the Regional Floor and Vault Team Gymnastics Championships in Preston in March. The girls won Gold and went on to achieve a respectable 12th place in the national finals in Stoke between 30th April and 1st May. Many congratulations to the girls!

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TREMENDOUS TATTON PARK by Arwa, Year 5 Our year group visited Tatton Park in Knutford recently, and it was a fantastic trip. The Anglo-Saxons settled in Tatton over a thousand years ago. I learned that the Anglo-Saxons ate a lot of venison because it doesn’t go off quickly, and it was filling. We got to feel different types of deer furs, and afterwards we got to observe some of the deer. We also found out about Anglo-Saxon warriors and we got to look at all the different helmets, clothes and accessories. A lady showed us how to make bread. I used a flail to get the flour out of the wheat. We also had a go at grinding some wheat seeds with two stones. We also tried grinding the wheat using a stone spinning machine. The Anglo-Saxons never used to waste anything. They used horns for cups, and if they heated them up, they could be moulded into cutlery and plates. To make their clothes colourful, they would dye their wools and fabrics using plants or flowers. We got to observe many artefacts such as animal skins, shells, quills, jugs made from leather, cutlery and jewellery and made our own bracelets! Tatton Park was great because it was really interactive, and I also learned some new facts whilst having fun. My favourite activity was when we visited the Old Hall because we learnt different shield formations.

SPRING CHICK WATCH You know spring is in the air when Prep girls at Manchester High get to watch real chicks hatch from eggs! Before the Easter holidays, ‘Hens for Hire’ brought eggs to school in an incubator, and the girls eagerly watched them hatch and develop into cute fluffy chicks. After a couple of days, seven of the chicks hatched successfully. It was very exciting, even for staff who were able to watch the chicks in a live broadcast. Once the chicks were dry, they were put into a large brooder. The chicks grew very quickly, and girls were able to take them into their classroom to handle and observe them. The chicks have now returned to live happily on the farm.

FREYA’S FANTASTIC BOOK DONATION The Prep Library received a fantastic boost in March when Freya from Year 6 donated a large number of books for everyone to enjoy. According to the school Librarian, Miss Hawker, Freya brought in roughly 250 books which is a superb addition to the Prep library. Freya explained: “I have decided to donate so many books to the library because we have a lot of books at home and I wanted to give a few of the over-read and ‘young’ books to the library.” She added: “I think it’s remarkable how you can read a book and invent a completely different place in your head. I love how people can talk about books for hours and how involved people can be in it, their faces animated and their eyes lit up. There is a certain beauty about the imagination behind books which you will never find on the internet.” Freya, who has been collecting books for a few years, is a real advocate of reading. She said: “I think reading is incredibly important because it stimulates the brain and lets you get lost in a world of your own. I strongly believe that reading fuels this generation, and teenagers need to put down their phones and pick up a book!”

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PREP TO GROW SEEDS FROM SPACE Pupils in the Preparatory Department are preparing to embark on a voyage of discovery and grow seeds that have been into space as part of Tim Peake’s Principia mission to the International Space Station (ISS). In September 2015, 2kg of rocket seeds were flown to the ISS where they spent several months in microgravity before returning to Earth in March. Prep pupils at Manchester High will now grow 100 of the seeds alongside ones that have not travelled into space and compare the difference over a seven week period. The experiment aims to encourage the children to think about how human life could be preserved on another planet and the difficulties surrounding growing fresh food in challenging climates. Which packet of seeds is which will not be revealed until all results have been collected. The UK Space Agency and the Royal Horticultual Society selected Manchester High School for Girls as one of just 11 in the Greater Manchester area to take part in the project. The school will feed its results back into a national database to be analysed by professional biostatisticians.

HELPING OTHERS WITH FUNDRAISING The Prep Department have been very busy this academic year with their fundraising activities. By April 2016 they had raised an amazing £1,588.41 for various local and national causes. The girls are very proud of their school’s Pankhurst connection, and they have supported the local Pankhurst Centre with cake sales and toiletry collections. These activities have helped make a big difference to the women that the centre supports. Other highlights have included singing in the Carols in the City event at the Manchester Cathedral to help raise funds for the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, and taking part in many national charity appeals such as the BBC Children in Need and Sport Relief. The girls are looking forward to the total amount getting bigger and bigger in the summer term. Good luck to them all and a big thank you to parents for their generous support with the girls’ activities.

Manchester High School for Girls, Grangethorpe Road, Manchester M14 6HS

Tel: 0161 224 0447 Email: [email protected] www.manchesterhigh.co.uk