NEWSLETTER
Autumn Half Term 2023
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HEADTEACHER'S WELCOME
I hope this finds you well and that you enjoy the latest edition of our termly newsletter.
There’s lots packed into this issue, showcasing what our students have been up to.
Black History month has been a success with students getting involved in the Trust ‘We are one’ event and taking part in the art competition. ‘We are one’ events are when students from across all Trust schools take part in the same activities which are then celebrated across all our schools. Our Trust continues to grow with schools from Essex to Plymouth with Kent, Portsmouth and Torbay along the way. Plymouth High and Plympton Academy are the two Thinking Schools in Plymouth, and we now have four Grammar schools in our Trust. Our growing Trust gives our students the chance to get involved on a national footing and, as part of that, Plymouth High leads on student voice across all our schools, with student council, Earth Alliance and debating being three of the areas that have been particularly successful. Well done to our student leaders for making these activities so successful.
Our talented magazine editor has just published the latest edition of our student written and produced Hear Me Out magazine. Please do have a read, it is inspiring and so professionally crafted. The latest edition has highlights from one of the other Grammars in our Trust and our ambition is to involve more and more schools in contributing to our magazine or creating their own. This is a potentially significant area of student collaboration.
Thank you to everyone for their generosity over the Ukraine Christmas box appeal. Do have a read to see how well our community have done to help people in need.
This term we say goodbye to Mr Payne. Mr Payne has decided that he would like to pursue other interests and will be leaving us this week. Mr Payne has done a superb job with growing the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, and we thank him for his skill and determination to involve as many young people as possible. There are some students currently enroled on the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, and we will write to these students and their parents after half-term to set out how they will plan to move forward. In the meantime, we wish Mr Payne the best of luck in his new ventures.
Wishing you all a happy and restful half-term holiday.
Best wishes,
Mr Underdown
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29 Sep 2023
Suzie, 8T, competed in her final Intotri Triathlon of the season last weekend, which took place in Falmouth. She came second in this race, which meant that she was then also positioned second overall for the entire season. Well Done Suzie!!
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12 Sep 2023
Well done to Freya, Year 12, who took part in the Cardiff adult open Volleyball tournament over the weekend.
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05 Oct 2023
The theme of this year's National Poetry Day is 'refuge' and, in our National Poetry Day assembly, Year 7 were invited to create their own little refuges with the aid of blankets and cushions, before then being asked to consider how their refuge might impact upon the refuges o...
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19 Oct 2023
The Library hosted our ever popular annual Harry Potter themed book quiz on 12th October.
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10 Oct 2023
As part of her role as student librarian, Cordelia, 9A created this display for October’s Black History Month. Pop into the library and check out her top picks.
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07 Sep 2023
Our wonderful library team have selected some books from the school library that cover topics of transition, friendship groups, adjusting to change and dealing with big emotions associated with settling into a new school.
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2 sentence scary story writing contest-
We’ve already received some great entries to our scary story writing contest. The closing date is the first day back after half term, so you’ve still got plenty of time to get your entries in. We will display all the entries and the winner will receive a £5 Waterstones voucher.
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Black History Month.
Black History Month Reading List
As part of her role as student librarian, Cordelia 9A created this display for BHM. The theme this year is ‘Saluting our Sisters.’ It highlights the crucial role black women have played in shaping history, inspiring change and building communities. Cordelia chose some great books from our library so check them out.
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Bake for books
Thank you so much to everyone who brought in cakes for our ‘Bake for Books’ fundraiser. It was really popular, and we sold out in minutes.
We raised a fantastic £112.50 and were able to buy some fantastic new books for our library.
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Children’s Book Award – we need book testers!
Does your child love to read lots? If you answered yes, please show them/ tell them about this…
The library are looking for a group of students from any year group to test read some brand new books (published in 2023) and provide an honest review of each when they have finished reading them. The students who volunteer to take part must be able to read fast (about 1 book a week), be willing to read a wide range of book genres even if it isn’t what they’d normally choose to read and be reliable.
The Children’s Book Award is the only national book prize in the UK that is decided solely by children from start to finish, so we are hoping that we can get as many volunteers as possible. Plymouth High have taken part in the Children’s Book Award for many years now and the students who have taken part in the past have enjoyed the privilege of being able to read brand new books, sometimes before they’re available to buy in the shops.
If they’re interested in taking part, please ask them to go and see Miss Harris in the library who can get them started on the new selection of books we have.
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Teen Breathe magazine
We have bought some copies of ‘Teen Breathe’ magazine to trial in the library. Before we commit to buying a regular subscription, we need students to come and have a look at them and let us know if this is something they’d be interested in reading more regularly?
Teen Breathe magazine is a bi-monthly magazine for ages 8-14 covering topics such as mindfulness, wellbeing, creativity and health. Scan the QR code below to find out more
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We’re on Instagram
Don’t forget, the library has its very own Instagram page that we try to update as much as possible! Scan the QR code below to keep up to date with all the exciting things we’re getting up to in the library
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05 Oct 2023
We are delighted to share that our PHSG students have been ranked in the top three in the world for their SPARX engagement in Maths homework! Amazing achievement from our students.
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19 Oct 2023
PHSG have celebrated their student success in their academic achievements awards, of the last year.
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10 Oct 2023
The MFL department are running a trip to Strasbourg and Freiburg during CEW in July 2024! This trip is open to Y8 and Y9, and we will be visiting Strasbourg and Freiburg. The trip will include visiting a German school, exploring the local areas, visiting Europapark theme park, visiting the European...
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05 Oct 2023
The Summer 2023 edition of the student magazine 'Hear Me Out' has been published today.
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21 Sep 2023
For Black History Month 2023, we will see the return of our Trust-wide Black History Month Art competition. This year’s theme is “Saluting Our Sisters” and will focus on the crucial role black women have played in shaping history, inspiring change, and building communities.
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18 Sep 2023
PHSG will be supporting the Christmas Box appeal for Ukraine again this year. We have been asked to have the boxes ready for the end of October as some boxes arrived to Ukraine after the big day last year.
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PTFA Christmas raffle.
The newly formed PTFA are looking at hosting a Christmas raffle and are looking to our PHSG community to donate a raffle prize. I you have / or know someone who would like to donate a prize, please email the PTFA with details and contacts.
Email: pta@plymouthhighschoolforgirls.org.uk
The PTFA will showcase their prize sponsors on their Facebook page once confirmed.
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Student & Class of the Week
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19 Oct 2023
Student of the week: Fay, Year 12. 'For achieving 100% in her first A level Mathematics midterm test with some outstanding problem solving and excellent quality of reasoning throughout.'' Nominated by Mrs Freeman-Alford. Awarded 10 House Points
Class of the week: 11H1 Maths Class '...
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10 Oct 2023
Class of the Week: 9A Music class with Mrs Marcer-Griffiths. 'For the most outstanding independent group work in Music. They collect equipment without fuss and settle to work straight away, maintain a highly collaborative and creative atmosphere at all times. Their ‘4chords’ project...
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29 Sep 2023
Student of the week: Isabelle, 9A. ''For fantastic homework about her family in WW1.'' Nominated by Miss Taylor. Awarded 10 House points.
Class of the week: Digital Leaders. 'For their efforts in creating and delivering an assembly for years 8/9/10 and 11.' Nomi...
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Naming Uniform.
We have seen an unprecedented amount of uniform being handed into lost property and students reporting lost uniform items this term.
Please can we ask parents to ensure that your child's name is in ALL of their clothes and / or belongings, so we can assist in reuniting lost items with their correct owners.
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Student sickness- Diarrhoea and Vomiting.
Please can parents note that if your child has either vomiting or diarrhoea then they should return to school after a full 24 hour clear period after their last episode.
If you have any queries or are unsure of time periods between episodes, please do not hesitate to contact the AIC, Mrs Karen Wells.
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Reporting Absence
If a student is absent, then parents should contact the school each day of absence before 9am.
Tel number: 033 33 602230 (Option 1 then Option 1 for 6th Form, Option 1 then Option 2 for all other year groups).
Email: absence@plymouthhighschoolforgirls.org.uk
Parents must notify the school on the first day of an unplanned absence – for example, if their child is unable to attend due to ill health – by 8.30am or as soon as practically possible.
Parents should ring the main school phone number and report their child’s absence to the Attendance Officer together with the reason.
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PARKING
Please can we ask Parents for consideration when parking near the school, there have been some instances where it has been difficult for our students to walk safely due to the volume of cars.
There have been occasions where students have been late leaving for a sports fixture because parents had parked blocking the minibuses. Students can exit the site via Alton Road, and parents may consider this a convenient pickup point or one of the other streets surrounding the school.
Be reminded that there is NO PARKING allowed on the double yellow lines outside the school main gates.
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My name is Lissa, and I am a member of the PLCIBC Committee.
During half term, PCBIBC are holding a Family Fun Day on 29th October 2023, with one-hour sessions running from 10.00 - 16.30 at the Life Centre.
We are inviting people from 6+ to come along and have a go at Indoor Bowls – for free.
Full details can be found by clicking here.
If you require any further information, please contact Gilly Ainslie on coaching-lifecentrebowls@outlook.com
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Devon & Cornwall Police have a youth website
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We would like to inform you that Devon & Cornwall Police have a youth website of advice and support, the website is aimed towards young people aged between 10-19 and gives advice and support on a variety of subjects, please see the website here https://youth.devon-cornwall.police.uk/
Please consider passing this information on to others and displaying in noticeboards etc.
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Message Sent By
Linzi Berryman
(Police, Alert Officer, Devon & Cornwall)
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HOME SCHOOL COMMUNICATION
Students may contact staff if they have queries, firstly by visiting them in their department area, and only contacting them using school email system if they really can’t see them in person.
Parents may wish to contact staff. The following outlines what the Headteacher regards as important considerations regarding home/school communication, particularly by email:
¨ All communication must respect the dignity of the recipient.
¨ Within 48 hours: receipt of an email will be acknowledged by school either by the person contacted, or the most appropriate person able to deal with the issue (term time only, not after 5pm nor over a weekend).
¨ Within 5 working days: school will provide a response to the email by telephone or in writing, or e-mail. This may include informing the sender that more time is required to provide a full response. If this is the case, staff should indicate a time frame for a response.
¨ Staff will not be expected to monitor or respond to emails outside their normal working hours (nor at weekends and published school holidays).
Whilst this is extremely rare, if a member of staff receives an e-mail or call which is of an aggressive tone, sets unreasonable demands or could otherwise be interpreted as harassing, they will refer this to a senior line manager in the school, who will decide if consideration needs to be given to dealing with further communication under our Complaints Policy.
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PARKING
Out of respect for our neighbours and for health and safety reasons there is NO PARKING on the school site or for collecting/dropping off students on the double yellow lines outside our school gates.
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SCHOOL NURSE DROP IN
Don’t forget for our students, the School Nurse visits school to provide a “drop in” clinic on Friday Week A at lunchtime. Just pop along to the Counselling Room.
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STUDENTS LEAVING SCHOOL DURING THE SCHOOL DAY
For safety reasons if your daughter has to leave school during the school day, and you are unable to collect her, she must have a note in her planner with clear instructions that you give permission for her to leave unaccompanied. Without your express instructions to this effect we will not allow any students to leave school unless they are collected by an adult from reception.
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NUT ALLERGY
Please be aware that we have students who are severely allergic to nuts and we would, therefore, appreciate where possible that you try to avoid putting nuts into packed lunches.
Although we are not going completely nut free, we have stopped selling packets of nuts as snacks in the canteen to try to reduce the risk to them and appreciate your support.
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SOCIAL MEDIA & ONLINE SAFETY
Our Children are spending more and more time on their mobile phones. Making them aware of the dangers of social media, and protecting them from these dangers can be very challenging. These are some of the better known sites that pose risks to children—are they on your child’s phone home screen?
To help safeguard your child please regularly take the time to talk to them about the way they use their social media apps:
Do they always know who they are engaging with?
Do they share their passwords?
Do they feel comfortable with what they are seeing and doing?
Do they feel pressure from “friends” to do/say things they don’t want to?
For more information please regarding online safety, please visit our website: www.phsg.org/
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Calendar Term Dates 2023-2024
Term
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Starts
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Ends
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One
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4th September 2023(Year 7 & 12 only)
5th September 2023 (All Year Groups)
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20th October 2023
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| Autumn Half Term |
23rd October 2023 |
27th October 2023 |
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Two
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30th October 2023
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15th December 2023
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| Christmas Holidays |
18th December 2023 |
1st January 2024 |
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Three
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2nd January 2024
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9th February 2024
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| Spring Half term |
12th February 2024 |
16th February 2024 |
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Four
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19th February 2024
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28th March 2024
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| Easter Holidays |
29th March 2024 |
12th April 2024 |
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Five
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15th April 2024
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24th May 2024
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| Summer Half term |
27th May 2024 |
31st May 2024 |
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Six
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3rd June 2024
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19th July 2024
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| Summer Holidays |
22nd July 2024 |
September TBC |
Curriculum Enrichment Week
Monday 8th July—12th July 2024
Non Pupil Days
1st September 2023
9th October 2023
20th October 2023
6th May 2024 (Bank Holiday).
22nd July 2024
23rd July 2024
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