FOR LIFE, NOT SCHOOL, WE LEARN Prospectus Years 7 -11 Plymouth High School for Girls
Plymouth High School for Girls Prospectus Years 7 -11 Thank you for your interest in Plymouth High School for Girls. We are a selective girls’ Grammar School, with boys accepted into the Sixth Form. Our long, proud history of academic achievement and our commitment to providing a modern, engaging curriculum ensures that our learners enjoy a rich and fulfilling experience at Plymouth High. Choose us to ensure that your child will be stretched academically, offered a wide range of exciting opportunities, and to have the space to develop and grow into whomever they wish to be. We pride ourselves in offering a firstclass academic education with a good balance between challenge and support. We develop the natural enthusiasm and motivation that our students possess to enable them to become resilient and independent learners. Our students want to achieve the very best results, and we share this ambition. At Plymouth High, we pursue academic rigour and excellence within a kind and supportive environment. A Plymouth High School student is expected to work hard and to do their best, and in return, they can be sure of a friendly and encouraging learning environment where each person is treated as an individual. We offer a wonderfully diverse range of opportunities at Plymouth High, both inside and outside of the classroom. We have something for everyone and encourage our students to expand their horizons and to get involved in school life. Whilst we celebrate individual achievements, we also foster collaboration and teamwork, pulling together and enjoying successes as a group. Many things have changed since our opening in 1874, but our school motto, Non scholae vitae discimus (For life, not school, we learn), is as important to us today as it was in the 19th century. Simon Underdown, Headteacher WELCOME from the Headteacher FOR LIFE, NOT SCHOOL, WE LEARN
FOR LIFE, NOT SCHOOL, WE LEARN Plymouth High School for Girls Prospectus Years 7 -11 We are committed to providing the very best environment to support our students through their school journey and to give them the opportunity to achieve their full potential. We consistently strive to enable our young people to grow; to find out about themselves whilst equipping them with the tools to deal with the challenges of academic study. Whichever subjects capture the imagination of our young people or the interests they develop along the way, we are ambitious for their futures. We want our students to be ready for the demands they will face after leaving Plymouth High and for them to be able to chase and achieve their dreams. An important part of school life at PHSG is celebrating the successes of our students, whether that be for academic performance or for achievements outside of the classroom. We want the learning journey for all our students to be rich and fulfilling, and for school to be a happy place where lasting friendships are made. AMBITION
Plymouth High School for Girls Prospectus Years 7 -11 At Plymouth High, we encourage excellence from all and help all students fulfil their potential. We want to help our young people develop into the leaders of tomorrow, and with this in mind, we have a strong development, leadership, and extra-curricular programme. Our House structure is instrumental in ensuring there is leadership at all levels, with our House Leaders leading on our incredibly successful festivals and other events throughout the year. Each year, we appoint Head Students from Year 12 and Student Leaders from Year 10 to work directly with the Headteacher and act as ambassadors for the school. The School Council, known as Student Voice, is an important part of our daily life and plays a leading role in promoting our students’ rights to have a say in the way the school is run. There is no end to the leadership opportunities available at Plymouth High, from our festivals to Sports Leaders to Subject Ambassadors and everything inbetween. We encourage all of our students to be ‘Leaders of the Future’. LEADERSHIP FOR LIFE, NOT SCHOOL, WE LEARN
FOR LIFE, NOT SCHOOL, WE LEARN Plymouth High School for Girls Prospectus Years 7 -11 All our students have the potential to be the leaders of tomorrow. Plymouth High provides the perfect environment in which to learn how to assume responsibility, take risks, rise to challenges and inspire and lead others. By developing their resilience, confidence, and independence, we equip our young people with the attributes they need to become active members of society who can make a positive difference. At Plymouth High, students enjoy participating in a wide range of educational and cultural opportunities; these include the arts, humanities, sports, science, expeditions, volunteering, career preparation and many other extracurricular activities. We open the eyes of our young people to possibilities and help them take the practical and imaginative steps necessary to develop into confident adults and achieve their ambitions. Whatever they want to be – an engineer, musician, doctor, lawyer, accountant, nurse or fashion designer – it is our aim to support and guide them. CONFIDENCE
Our ambition is to give every student an education that is ambitious, develops resilience and ensures that our students aspire to achieve the very best. The curriculum at PHSG is highly academic, with all students studying the traditional core subjects as well as being given the opportunity to develop their talents in sport, music, art and drama. At each key stage, students are able to develop existing skills and discover new ones. Students follow a two-week timetable, which allows for a broad and enriching curriculum. Learning is assessed informally in lessons through questioning and more formally in regular assessments either termly or half-termly, which provides detailed feedback on what went well and where students need to improve. Opportunities to stretch and challenge students are planned into the curriculum of all subjects and into the style of teaching and learning in the classroom. Teachers devise tasks to enable students to take intellectual risks and aim higher than they thought possible. LEARNING FOR LIFE, NOT SCHOOL, WE LEARN Plymouth High School for Girls Prospectus Years 7 -11
FOR LIFE, NOT SCHOOL, WE LEARN Plymouth High School for Girls Prospectus Years 7 -11 We believe that lessons should challenge students to increase their knowledge and understanding, to become confident at tackling difficult problems, and to learn that they have to make mistakes along the way if they are to succeed with the most difficult challenges. Students are encouraged to aim high in their aspirations and are supported in their ambitions. Applications to Oxford, Cambridge and other prestigious and competitive courses or apprenticeships are made successfully each year. Challenge is also at the heart of the wide range of opportunities that are organised outside of lesson time to enrich the students’ experience and to make learning exciting. From standing in the Old Bailey defending a “criminal”, to representing Zambia in the Climate Change committee of the Model United Nations, our students have developed their understanding of the law, the world around them, and improved their public speaking skills. Competitions and challenges such as these are a regular and very successful part of life at Plymouth High. Exchange trips to France and Germany challenge students to be independent in a foreign language and not rely on their teacher if the right word doesn’t come to mind. Treks in Morocco and Ethiopia have challenged students both physically and culturally and have made the students involved more ambitious and more resilient. CHALLENGE
Plymouth High School for Girls Prospectus Years 7 -11 SPORT There is an extensive range of exciting and challenging sporting activities to cater for all tastes and abilities. These clubs utilise both on-site facilities as well as a wide range of outstanding local centres of sporting provision, such as The University of Plymouth, Pure Gym, The Life Centre, Brickfields and Hill Lane Tennis Club. The clubs are run by PE staff as well as a range of outstanding specialist coaches and instructors. ENRICHMENT BEYOND THE CLASSROOM FOR LIFE, NOT SCHOOL, WE LEARN
FOR LIFE, NOT SCHOOL, WE LEARN Plymouth High School for Girls Prospectus Years 7 -11 Our motto ‘For Life Not School We Learn’ is encompassed via our wide range of enriching extra-curricular opportunities. Just some of the opportunities include: • House Festivals • Sports leadership • Duke of Edinburgh • Hummingbird / STEM • National Bar Mock • Work experience • Mock interview day • Young Enterprise • Enrichment Week • Ghana link • German Exchange • Field work: Art/Geography/History • Theatre visits • Astronomy • Music • STEM • Knitting • Film • Astronomy • Christian Union
Plymouth High School for Girls Prospectus Years 7 -11 The Thinking Schools Academy Trust, ranked the best multi-academy trust (MAT) in the country for the performance of its secondary schools by the Department for Education, is a family of schools that work together to “transform the life chances” of all our children and young people. We share a common mission to nurture successful young people who are confident and can think and act independently. As part of the Thinking Schools Academy Trust, Plymouth High School for Girls takes pride in the unique approach we take to education: we provide our students with the skills and tools they need to think in a variety of ways and become lifelong learners. We believe that the best way to transform the life chances of our young people and help them achieve their aspirations is by shaping their minds, attitudes, and habits through a framework of cognitive education that enables them to become the masters of their own destiny. Our students are equipped with a bank of Thinking Tools designed to prepare them for a range of scenarios, dilemmas and circumstances that they may face in life as part of modern society. The use of these tools in our curriculum is supported by scientific and metacognitive research, and students are encouraged to apply their tools independently and use them to unlock new ideas. Our Thinking Tools include: Thinking Maps, De Bono’s Thinking Hats and Art Costa’s Habits of Mind. These tools are used consistently across all areas of our curriculum and support our students tremendously in their learning and personal growth. The concept of ‘Being your Best Self’ is also at the heart of our approach to learning at Plymouth High School for Girls as part of our Thinking School ethos. Students are encouraged to strive to be and achieve their best, and are given multiple opportunities to reflect on their learning and work on their personal development. In order to support our students in achieving their aspirations, we believe in developing their ability to think and learn effectively. THINKING SCHOOLS FOR LIFE, NOT SCHOOL, WE LEARN
FOR LIFE, NOT SCHOOL, WE LEARN Plymouth High School for Girls St Lawrence Road, North Hill, Plymouth, PL4 6HT 0333 360 2230 www.phsg.org
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