A MESSAgE FrOM THE HEAdTEACHEr

Hitchin Girls’ School
A Specialist Science College
Spring Term 2014
Term ends at 12.30pm on Friday 4th April and students
return at 8.40am on Wednesday 23rd April 2014
We would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter
A message from the headteacher
Although the Spring term is historically somewhat shorter than the
Autumn term, it is the time during which both students and staff seem
to manage to cram in even more than usual. For those students
taking public examinations in May and June, coursework and
controlled assessments have been a priority, inevitably bringing a
huge assessment workload to staff. It is also the term in which most
year groups have their parent consultation evenings, with Years 7, 9,
10 and 11 parents all turning out in high numbers to attend. Year 9
parents also took part in the Options’ Evening for GCSE choices for
next year and the process for sorting and timetabling this is underway.
I would like to thank you all for the very high attendance at these and
other evening meetings and events that we run. The percentage of
parents attending is very high and is a direct factor in engaging our
young women so successfully in their education.
Other highlights this term have included the performances of Oliver!,
the Art Show, the Sports Relief run on the pitch and a second Food
Drive at the end of this term. We also took part in a very successful
Transition Conference for Year 6 students in conjunction with Hitchin
Boys’ School and The Priory School. A group of Year 7 students from
our secondary schools presented their view of life in school and then
answered a range of questions from a panel of children representing
primary schools in our area. This is just part of our programme to
ensure that the move from primary to secondary education is as
seamless as possible.
Our staff have been in training this term as usual taking part in
a variety of sessions to support the learning of our students. In
February we hosted an exciting session by Andy Brumby on
stretching our more able students. We worked with colleagues
from Knights Templar School and Barnwell School and came
away with many ideas for offering stretch and challenge,
both to this target group, but also for students of all abilities in
our classrooms.
Following my plea in the previous newsletter regarding coats, I am
pleased to say that standards improved considerably and I would
like to thank you for supporting us in this. It is clear that when we all
work together it is relatively straightforward to rectify issues as they
arise. I would still like remind you to ensure that skirt lengths are in
line with our uniform policy. This always becomes more of an issue in
the upper part of the school and again I would welcome a combined
approach to ensure that we maintain our uniform standards as we
would all like.
Next term sees the start of the examination season for most of our
students and I would like to wish all those taking public examinations
the very best of luck for them. The Easter break, whilst a holiday
from school, needs to be a time of careful planning and revision for
these exams to ensure that stress levels nearer to the actual exams are
minimised.
I wish you all a pleasant, and hopefully sunny, Easter break.
Frances Manning, Headteacher
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Hitchin Girls’ School
SPECIALISM
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AWARD
Oliver cast and crew trip to Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory
The Musical
Following the huge success of our production of Oliver!
the cast and crew were lucky enough to see Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory at The Theatre Royal in Drury Lane,
London. As the show started, we were all sitting on the edge
of our seats waiting to see what happened next! During the
interval everybody was saying how much they loved it. At
the end of the show, Charlie and Willy Wonka go up in the
great glass elevator and they sing ‘Pure Imagination’ which
is in the original film. It was amazing! I want to thank the
teachers for giving us the opportunity and I can’t wait for the
next school production!
By Samantha Rawlings 10C
Learning Leaders
This year to celebrate IWD on 8 March our Learning Leaders,
Mrs. Cooper, Miss Scott and Miss Meechan went to Wembley
for the phenomenal inaugural WE Day UK.
On Friday 7 March, a group of HGS Learning Leaders were
lucky enough to go to the very first WE Day UK. This exciting
event focused on youth empowerment, featured some
amazing speakers and kick started a year of local and global
actions to make the world a better place. 12,000 young
people attended WE Day UK, with similar numbers attending
numerous WE Day events in the USA and Canada; that’s
a lot of actions which hopefully will have a huge, positive
impact.
When we arrived at Wembley Arena, the atmosphere
was buzzing – people were already dancing and waving
banners. A huge cheer went up as the first speaker took to
the stage. We saw ex US Vice President Al Gore, who gave
an eye-opening speech about global warming, Paralympian
Martine Wright, who lost both her legs in the London 7/7
bombings and the amazing Malala Yousafzai, along with
many, many others. Malala’s speech was particularly
inspirational because she is so close to us in age and displays
such bravery and determination. She is definitely a role model
for all of us. We were given lots of inspirational advice, but
(oddly) the bit we remember most is that we should all be like
coffee beans because coffee beans change the water around
them without changing themselves! Malala taught us that we
can change the world, and actress Evanna Lynch taught us
the value of being true to ourselves, so we will all try to be
coffee beans!
We earned our WE Day tickets through all the community
work and projects we do at HGS. Inspired by the event, we
are currently planning the local and global actions we will be
working on in the coming year, and we will need your help!
To mark the centenary of World War One, on 18 March
the HGS Learning Leaders planted hundreds of poppy seeds
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along the edge of the school field. Rather than just wearing
poppies in this important year, we shall have a row of beautiful
real-life remembrance poppies, which will be in bloom by
August. There will
be more events
later in the year
to commemorate
World War One
which we will
tell you all about
in the summer
newsletter.
Having been awarded the full International
Schools Award, we continue to develop the
way that we bring international dimensions
into learning in school.
Thank you to everyone for making our
Christmas Food Drive such a success! We
asked for your help again for the Easter Food Drive on Friday
28 March and you did not let us down!
In December the Food Distribution Centre was able to donate
3,015 meals, with help from our huge HGS donations.
Unfortunately, the Food Banks are still in high demand and
used on a regular basis by Hitchin and Letchworth families.
This was our last Food Drive before we head off for exams
and then university but we know that we leave the Food Drive
in the very capable hands of the Learning Leaders and House
Prefects.
By Britt Sprawson, Alice Baird, Daniella Osime – SGLI
Team 2013
Meanwhile, Year 12 have been
busy going through this year’s
selection process for SGLI
2014. The rigorous process
is open to all of Year 12 and
involves a written application, a group interview followed by
an ‘on the spot’ team work task and presentation. We are
proud to announce that this year HGS will be represented
by Carrie Shipley 12T, Laura Mitchell 12B and Hannah
Kingsland 12C. They will be accompanied by Mrs. Richards
and Miss Meechan. This summer’s theme is The City. We look
forward to preparing for the two week summer programme
which again will be held at Punahou School, Hawaii. HGS
remains the only UK school to be invited to participate in this
highly prestigious event and we are proud to present our
school and our country.
Hitchin Girls’ School
50 HGS portraits for children in Nepal
Yet again our amazing students have used their artistic talents
to produce stunning portraits for The Memory Project and
as ever there is no holding HGS back with a fantastic 50
portraits having been created this term.
The Nepalese portraits have now safely arrived with The
Memory Project Founder, Ben Schumaker in Massachusetts
and we were thrilled to receive this email:
They’re here, and they are excellent!
Thank you SO much. It was so
much fun for me to go through all of them
and appreciate each and
every one. Really wonderful work from your
students. A number of
them nearly knocked me off my feet!
But that is not it for this year. While we wait for the photos
and film of the children receiving their portraits in Nepal,
our girls are busy creating an additional set of portraits for
children in the Philippines whose orphanage was destroyed
in the Typhoon back in December. Over 20 portraits are
being made for these children in order that they can have a
visual record of them at their current age in the absence of
family or personal photographs.
So, for now here are Lottie and Lola in Year 12 with the
amazing Nepalese portraits and the rather funky flag we
have received from The British Council in recognition for the
work we are doing.
Our superb Year 12 Ambassadors continue to
make a huge difference to the learning and
well being of others in our community. We
have just introduced our Year 11 students to
this important aspect of Sixth Form life at Hitchin Girls’ and
look forward to receiving their applications and seeing what
they would like their role to involve. This new cohort will
add to the excellent reputation of our Ambassadors here at
Hitchin Girls’, in one of our family of primary schools or in the
wider community. Other schools both locally and throughout
the county are looking to follow our lead.
Thank you to all of the girls for their time, energy and
enthusiasm. Please check out the fantastic Ambassador blog
on Moodle to see what they are doing.
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Science Fair 2014
Our annual Science Week started with a real
bang with one of the highlights of our school
calendar, the HGS Science Fair. Monday 10
March saw the hall buzzing with 17 excited
teams from HGS and Whitehill, St. Andrews,
Mary Exton and Samuel Lucas junior schools
all ready to show off their research and experiments on this
year’s theme of Great Scientific Discoveries.
They were judged by this year’s expert panel which included
STEM Ambassadors and past HGS Science teachers. Their
job was made very difficult by the superb work that all of the
teams prepared and presented.
After much deliberation the winning teams were:
Hitchin Girls’: ‘The Explorers’ – Imogen, Chloe, Anna
and Freya.
Primary School: ‘The Antisceptics’ from Mary Exton –
Emma, Nicole, Maya and Daria.
For their prize both winning teams went to experience indoor
skydiving at Airkix in Milton Keynes on 2 April. We look
forward to sharing photos with you in the summer term.
Well done to everyone who
took part and thank you to
the staff, Ambassadors and
families who came to support
the students.
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Hitchin Girls’ School
MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT
YEAR 7 MATHS CHALLENGE
In February, two teams of four students represented
Hitchin Girls’ School in the regional Year 7 Mathematics
Challenge heat.
Well done to Team A: Anna Tomlin, Alexandra Porter,
Rebecca Turner and Lily Brewster who performed very
well!
Our Team B performed extremely well, securing a
place in the Final. Congratulations go to Isabel Adams,
Malithi Herath, Lily Coleman and Gemma Malyon.
Though they did not win the Final at The Hertfordshire
Development Centre, their excellent performance
culminated in a respectable final position. Well done girls.
Most importantly, a fun and enjoyable time was had
by all.
Many thanks to parents Mrs. Tomlin and Mrs. Herath for
helping to transport the girls to the venues.
YEAR 8 MATHS CHALLENGE
Hitchin Girls’ School hosted a preliminary round of this
year’s Year 8 Maths Challenge which is a Hertfordshire
Inter–Schools Mathematics Challenge.
Nine teams competed on 12 March with the winning
team coming from Hitchin Boys’ School. The two teams
from HGS were placed 4th and 6th; congratulations go to
Amy Nichol, Megan Kemp, Tami Olusanya, Rhian AxfordGarner, Shivani Panchal, Jemima Hawkins, Tegan Blakey
and Becky Lund.
INTERMEDIATE MATHS CHALLENGE
Earlier this term the Intermediate Maths Challenge took
place. It is a national competition where students in Years
9, 10 & 11 can really show off their problem solving skills.
We are delighted to have gained 54 awards overall in this
very challenging competition.
Gold Awards go to Chloe Atkinson (Year 11), Amelia
Hawkins (Year 10) and Isolde Pryle (Year 10). Silver
Awards go to 18 students in Year 11, 7 students in Year
10 and 4 students in Year 9. Bronze Awards go to 22
students across the year groups.
‘Best in Year 11’ went to Chloe Atkinson, ‘Best in Year 10’
went to Amelia Hawkins, who also gained ‘Best in School’.
‘Best in Year 9’ went to Lucinda Smith who has also been
invited to compete in the Intermediate Mathematical
Olympiad.
Very well done to all those students who took part, and
especially well done to those achieving awards.
YEAR 12 MATHS AMBASSADORS
A few of our Maths Ambassadors have been running some
Masterclasses in Further Maths for some pupils in local
primary schools. The Year 6 pupils have been learning
about matrices and how to add, subtract and multiply
them. They even tackled a Further Maths exam question
and succeeded. Well done to all involved, particularly our
Maths Ambassadors, Zoe Bridge, Kirstie Gregory, Demi
Ho, Eleanor Robinson and Celine Esuruoso who have been
excellent teachers!
PI DAY
Friday 14 March was Pi Day and we celebrated this event
by running a ‘Pi Day Dingbats’ competition during tutor
time. Some tutor groups worked as a team and 8C, 11T,
12C and 13T were the winners in that category with the
individual winners being Rosie Marsh, Isabel Adams,
Esha Mehar, Louise Crawford and Evelyn Finch in 7T,
Abigail Priestley in 9B and Victoria Turner, Kaycie Minnis
and Francesca Stocker in 10J. Well done to everyone who
took part -prizes are on their way to all the winners!
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Hitchin Girls’ School
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
YOUNG WRITERS
’TRANSLATIONS’ THEATRE TRIP
The English Department are very pleased and proud to
announce our impressive list of talented Year 7 writers,
all of whom have recently had their successful creative
writing competition entries published in various regional
anthologies by Young Writers.
On 13 March, the English department took the Year 13
Literature students to see ‘Translations’ by Brian Friel at
The Cambridge Arts Theatre:
‘Translations’ is a thought provoking drama based
on the colonisation of Ireland and the importance of
language and culture. After studying the play in lessons,
it was exciting to be able to see the production to fully
experience the stagecraft and see the characters off the
page. The play presents a doomed romance between
Marie and the English soldier Yolland, divided by the
ever-present language barrier and fundamental conflict
of interests. It highlights the significance of language to
identity, however also shows how love has no bounds and
does not alter with logic. The Cambridge Arts Theatre
adaptation wonderfully translated (mind the pun) Friel’s
poetic tragedy onto the stage; delicately interchanging
the tone between heart breaking romance and political
comedy. It was brilliantly performed and sensational to
watch; all in all, a great production.
By Hina Awan, Year 13
Congratulations to the following girls for their successful
entries in the A Twist in the Tale mini saga competition:
Olivia Hardwick Dirosa, Jasmine Ellis-Rance, Lizzie
Jenkins, Kristin Knight, Chloe Hook, Charlotte Langrish,
Ella Flavell-McNelliey, Elise Jeffrey, Grace Jackson,
Mariebah Channer, Amel Malik, Ellen Hills, Shaan Rehsi,
Milly Brooks, Amelie Mellor, Tiana Anderson, Aaliyah
Stagg, Martha Reilly, Lily Simpkiss, Lily Coleman, Hannah
Olley, Emilee Kowalczyk, Ellie Hanmore, Diya Patel, Thea
Holcombe (all 7F) and Madeleine Hurley (7T)… and for
her wonderful poem Midnight Watch, a big additional
congratulations to Lily Coleman of 7F. Lily’s entry was
successful in The Power of
Poetry competition and will be
published in the Poems from
South Central anthology, a
copy of which will be kept at
The British Library and further
libraries across the UK and
Ireland, providing a lasting
record of her achievement.
Our creative writing club,
Spilt Ink, runs every Friday
lunchtime in L70 with Miss
Fleming and Mrs. Batchelor.
GEOGRAPHY
YEAR 8 GEOGRAPHY TRIP TO THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
The trip to The Natural History Museum started quite early in the morning and everybody was still half asleep, (well I certainly
was)! We made our way onto the coaches for a two hour journey which was not as bad as it sounds because we spent the
whole time eating sweets! Finally we arrived at the museum.
The trip to the museum was very interesting and fun. We spent most of our time at the earthquakes and volcanoes section as
this is the topic that we are learning about in class. This part of the museum taught us lots of new things about the areas that
we had covered in class and showed us many other things too. There was an earthquake simulator and lots of interactive
displays with quizzes and games.
Then we searched the museum for patterns in the architecture of the building to draw in our art sketchbooks. We also spent
some time looking around other parts of the museum such as the moving dinosaur and the mammals, including the big whale!
Overall the day at The Natural History Museum was very exciting and we all had a great time!
By Amy Nichol, Year 8
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Hitchin Girls’ School
MUSIC DEPARTMENT
The Spring term has, as always, been busy in the Music
Department. The A Level students had their A2 recital
on 1 April, and the GCSE students have been recording
performances and compositions throughout the term. The
Spring Concert on 20 March saw performances from a
wide range of ensembles. Well done everyone on another
fantastic evening showcasing HGS musical talent.
MUSIC TWITTERS!
Revolutionary news for students involved in clubs as the
Music department joins Twitter! Don’t forget to follow
us at “@hgs_music”!
‘OLIVER!’
3 nights, a matinee, 2 weekends’ worth of rehearsals
plus countless after school and lunchtime practice sessions
resulted in Hitchin Girls’ performance of ‘Oliver!’. Both casts
performed to an exceptional standard, prompting both tears
and laughter from the audience. Flying cats, the addition of
impromptu comic elements to scenes plus extra evil cackles:
we had it all! Thanks also go to the band (we certainly
didn’t have an easy time with those parts!) and the lighting/
sound crew who all worked really hard. The praise from
parents and teachers has been glowing. All the girls from
Years 7 to 13 played their parts brilliantly, and the show
wouldn’t have been the same without anyone! As ever, we
have many teachers to thank: Mr. Balfe for drama direction,
Mr. Chambers and Miss Scott for musical direction; Mrs.
Maydom for choreography, Mrs. Cornell (and the Art/
Textiles departments) for props, costumes and scenery and
Mrs. Chambers and the make-up team. We all appreciate
the work that was put into making the show a success, and
hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did! Some of the cast
saw ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ as a treat for their
hard work - hope you enjoyed it girls!
Finally as the summer term approaches and we look towards
Founders’ Day and the Summer Soiree it would be nice to
see new members come and join the already well attended
groups. This year we will be saying goodbye to a number
of students and we then build for 2014/15. If you want to
join an ensemble please just come along.
REMINDER: The timetable for all instrumental lessons is
available on Moodle – under the Music Area / Extra
Curricular.
By Isla McLachlan Year 13
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Hitchin Girls’ School
PHILOSOPHY & ETHICS
HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR VISIT STEVEN FRANK
barbaric regime of his capturers who made
him carry the ashes of his fellow Jews. This
chapter tells the message of how in a situation
that is unimaginable to most people, you have
to make something out of nothing; whether
that be using buttons as footballs, recharging
batteries with your body heat or sneaking around in attics
until you find secret resources.
Going to war museums and reading the
memories of survivors behind locked glass is
very different to having Steven Frank in front
of you, recounting what he had endured. As Steven took
us on his four chapter journey of a tragic short part of
his life, there was not a single person in Year 9 on 27
February who wasn’t engrossed in every story he told.
One day, his mother was able to translate a message that
was transmitted on a secret radio hidden by a Russian
couple; it was a broadcast saying the war was over.
Steven’s family were then relieved by the Russians and
taken to England where they had to make new lives for
themselves.
The journey started in Holland where we found out about
his prestigious family. His family were Secular Jews,
meaning they were not strict on Jewish religious rules, they
weren’t kosher and didn’t attend synagogue. This being
said, when the Germans invaded Holland, the Nuremberg
laws meant that this didn’t matter. We soon heard a
massive contrast from his happy childhood to the ways his
freedom was being taken from him. You could ask why
they didn’t try and leave to avoid all the cruelty. Steven’s
father refused to leave because he wanted to stay behind
to defend the mentally and physically disabled who did
not fit the Nazi ideals. Steven’s father was in the Dutch
resistance and was captured one day on his way to work.
At the end of his speech Steven showed us a recent
photo of his family today. Seeing at least 20 new faces
symbolised to me that the Frank family were still making
good out of a life threatening citation. When Steven was
asked if he felt any hatred for the Germans now, he replied
“no because there is no point holding on and still being
filled with bitterness.” Steven’s speech was inspirational
as it promoted a message of peace and showed that
discrimination of any kind can cause mass consequences.
Bravely, Steven’s mother couldn’t stay away and swapped
uniforms with a male cleaner just so she could see him. His
father was later murdered, even after his prominent friends
petitioned for his life. Due to this petition at least, when
Steven’s family were taken, they were put on a special list
which meant they were put in a monitored castle instead of
camp at first. This list consisted of Jewish actors and artists
who were seen as too precious to German culture to get
rid of at first.
By Sienna Emanuel, Year 9
THE LESSONS FROM AUSCHWITZ (LFA) PROJECT
We are delighted to be sending two students, Hannah
Malyon and Sophie Farrington our Holocaust Ambassadors
to participate in the Lessons from Auschwitz (LFA) Project.
This project is run by the Holocaust Educational Trust and
involves a one-day visit to the former Nazi concentration
and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau which is situated in
Poland on 30th April. We look forward to hearing about
their experiences.
However the safe castle didn’t last long and Steven was
transferred from camp to camp where he suffered in
cramp, unhygienic and brutal conditions. We heard how
he survived getting mauled by a dog, running through a
rain of bullets sent by English planes, starvation and the
DRAMA
A busy term as usual for the Drama department dominated by
Oliver! which involved many Drama students. A casualty was
the Junior Drama Club which will be returning at the end of
the term under new management! We were visited by Watford
Palace Theatre with their touring production of Chaucer’s The
Canterbury Tales which was seen by all Drama exam students
and also English Literature A Level students. The Year 13 A
Level students visited The Cambridge Arts Theatre twice, first
to see Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus and then Shaw’s Pygmalion.
Both were excellent preparation for their Unit Four exam. Their
devised exam piece for Unit Three took place (hopefully at
the time of writing) on 2 April. Mr. Balfe will be attending
The National Student Drama Festival in Scarborough over
the holidays in preparation for possibly taking a Sixth Form
group in 2015. Finally, although it’s some time since they left,
the department was excited to hear of the ongoing success of
Carlyss Peer, who has become a regular on Holby City and
Shvorne Marks, who is going to star in a forthcoming episode
of Endeavour.
Mr. K. Balfe, Head of Drama
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Hitchin Girls’ School
SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
SCIENCE FAIR!
This year’s Science Fair was attended by a record
number of teams and supporters. The standard of
the projects that the students had prepared was
exceptionally good and choosing the winning
team was not easy. In the judge’s view, the best
presentation was from team ‘The Explorers’; Anna
Tomlin, Chloe Garrier, Imogen Cranko-Mills and
Freya Slaney-Parker with their work on ‘evolution’
and they now go forward to represent the school
along with the second and third placed teams at The
Big Bang Science Fair in July at Duxford. They also
win a trip to Airkix in Milton Keynes where they will
experience the art of indoor sky diving.
BIOLOGY SOCIETY
Furthermore we helped to organise ‘Jeans for Genes’ day
and we made the big copper pair of jeans on the school
hockey pitch in September.
Every Friday our Biology Society is run by Year 12 students.
Many Year 7 girls come along to find out about brilliant
Biology and carry out amazing, sometimes gruesome,
experiments. So far this year there has been…
So if you’re a keen biologist or would just like to join in come
along to S41 during Friday lunchtimes to the HGS Biology
Society.
Heart dissections, eyeball dissections, we’ve taken cheek
cells and looked at them under the microscope, we’ve seen
whether energy drinks have an effect on your working and
resting heart rate, we’ve looked at endangered animals,
our bones, we’ve burnt food to find out how much energy
it contains and discovered different types of fungi plus so
much more!
See you there
Olivia Dixon , Vilomi Bhatia, Charis Sijuwade, Amna
Shahid, Gabriella Boxall, Grace Turner,
Sarah Nichol and Yasamin Mahmoudzadeh, Year 12
Students
GSK VISIT
On Friday 7 February we were invited to an evening at Glaxo
Smith Kline in Stevenage, after being told that the posters we
had entered for the Frank Ellis Poster Competition had reached
the final 12. During the evening we were shown the labs
where scientists work to create new drugs on a daily basis
and were fascinated by how small the test tubes in the labs
were - some only held a few nanolitres! We learnt about how
time-consuming the process of getting a drug on the market
was and just how many tests were carried out each day on the
site. Our tour guide told us that they hold millions of chemical
samples on the site and some machines even have to be left
on overnight in order to complete all the tests. After the tour,
the results of the competition were announced and we had
a chance to look at other student’s posters. Anneka Goater’s
poster showed the effects that deforestation was having on
Borneo’s biodiversity and in particular the orang-utans. It
outlined how the increase in activities, such as producing palm
oil, lead to a growth in the illegal pet trade and a decrease in
the fauna and flora found in Borneo’s rainforest. Louise Moore’s
poster was on the sanitation crisis in developing countries
(it is believed that more people have a mobile phone than
a toilet!) This poster
focused specifically
on the diseases that
can be caused by
poor sanitation and
the vaccines that have
been created to prevent
disease. Overall, we
had a really enjoyable
evening
looking
around Glaxo Smith
Kline and sharing our
work with pupils from
different schools.
Louise Moore’s poster was the winner of the competition and
she was given a trophy for herself plus £100. The school have
a trophy too which can be viewed in the cabinet in the front
entrance. Well done Louise!
Mrs. M. Dixon, Head of Biology
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Hitchin Girls’ School
PHYSICS
CERN
On 17 February a group of 13 A Level Physics students
accompanied Mr. Jackson and Mrs. Reed to the Large
Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva. The tour included
a control room linking to NASA and monitoring radiation
experiments at The International Space Station. There
were talks and question and answer sessions with
research Physicists along with guided tours of the Atlas
Detector underground. This is one of the experiments
that contributed to the discovery of the Higgs Boson a
couple of years ago. It was very unusual to be allowed
underground to view the detectors as currently the collider
is switched off for repairs. During normal operation no-one
is allowed underground due to the radiation levels so this
was a unique experience for everyone. The research at
CERN links directly to the part of the A2 Physics syllabus
on Particle Physics and the Standard Model.
Cambridge High Energy Masterclass
On 19 March Mrs. Reed and 5 Physics A Level students
visited the Cavendish Laboratories in Cambridge for a day
of activities and lectures on the latest theories of Particle
Physics and origins of the Universe. For the two Year 13
students who attended it
provided a unique insight
into University Physics (their
intended course) and for
the three Year 12 students a
flavour of things to come in
Year 13 A2 Physics.
BUSINESS, ICT & COMPUTING
Mrs. Schoeman joined the school in January as a
permanent member of the Business, ICT & Computing
department. As an extremely experienced teacher
with a wide range of knowledge in both subject areas,
she is a very welcome addition to our team, and
has settled very quickly into her new surroundings.
student feedback from the exam seems positive. We would
like to extend enormous congratulations to all the students
in Year 9 for preparing so well and we wish them the best
of luck when the results are published in about six weeks’
time. We will of course share these results with parents and
the students as soon as is possible.
TEACHING & LEARNING
Our GCSE and AS/A2 students continue to work
extremely hard in preparation for their upcoming
exams and additional arrangements have been
made to run a Business and ICT catch up session
over two individual dates in the Easter holidays.
As the Easter holidays arrive, our students will undoubtedly
enjoy a well earned break from their learning. Since
Christmas, the girls have been extremely busy in their
Business and ICT & Computing lessons. Our Year 7 and
8 students have been learning what makes an effective
website, reviewing existing websites, while beginning to
build their own for the first time. The Year 7 girls have
been concentrating on Web Design, looking into how
important effective house styles, target audiences and the
consideration of the purpose of each website is, in creating
their own they have begun using a multimedia piece of
software called Mediator. Year 8 have taken one step
further, and begun Web Authoring, which is the process
of creating a website using industry professional software
such as Dreamweaver and HTML, the language websites
are written in. While this has proven quite complex for
some in their first foray into this field, all the girls seem to
have really enjoyed it.
In Year 9, the students have just completed their Functional
Skills ICT exam. This examination is the first external
assessment most of the girls have taken and while
some have found it a challenge being in such a formal
environment for the first time, they responded well and the
BUSINESS TYCOON
You may remember from the Christmas newsletter that we
were awaiting the results from the Peter Jones Tycoon in
Schools competition for our Year 12 Business group. Team
‘Aspire’ performed admirably in the competition against
200+ other schools nationwide and while unfortunately
they did not win the overall competition, we were confident
they were certainly very close; at the penultimate league
tables we were in the top 10!
From just £15 in total costs, the students ended the
competition with a net profit of £480 from just a month’s
trading in November, something that far exceeded our
expectations. The members of ‘Aspire’ have now enjoyed
a well earned break from their enterprise and we hope they
will be back to mentor Hitchin Girls’ School’s competitors
for the 2014 competition later this year.
Mr. A. Jones, Head of Business, ICT & Computing
-9-
-10-
Hitchin Girls’ School
LIBRARY NEWS
World Book Day was very special this year. We held
a cake sale to raise money for Book Aid International.
We publicised the sale in assemblies before the day with
help from members of our reading group. We showed
a very moving video about a library in a slum in Kenya
which was a treasured haven from the outside world. The
girls then baked cakes to sell and we raised an impressive
£204.36, which will buy 102 books for libraries in Africa.
As part of the assemblies the girls and staff spoke about
a book which changed their lives. We created a display
of the books chosen as inspirational and girls added to
it during World Book Week, which stimulated discussion
and interest.
Highfield School, Letchworth. Students
from 9 local schools discussed 6 books
chosen by the North Herts. Librarians and
voted for their favourites. The 2 winners were
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine and The Fault in
our Stars by John Green. A highlight of the morning was
hearing author Chris Priestley talk about the craft of writing
and his particular passion for quirky horror stories.
Our adult reading group has enjoyed discussing Dominion
by C J Sansom and Life after Life by Kate Atkinson this
term. New members are always welcome.
Lynne Cheetham & Mary Goose
David’s Book Shop in Letchworth provided a huge selection
of books for our book fair, they were impressed with the
adventurous choice of girls’ purchases.
Just a week later the Librarians took twelve members of
the reading group to our North Herts. book event at The
TECHNOLOGY
CADBURY WORLD
On Friday 7 March the GCSE and A Level Food Technology
students descended upon Cadbury World in Birmingham.
The 51 students were accompanied by Mrs. Richards, Mrs.
Hart and Mrs. Burnett, our new Technician.
On arrival we visited the Cadbury Museum where the
social, economic and ethical history of the company was
explained from the Aztecs, to the Quaker roots in Bourneville
right through to the present day and the take over by Kraft.
The students then entered Bull Street and continued through
an interactive exhibit where the Cadbury story unfolded
further. We saw and experienced how chocolate is made,
manufactured and packaged as we walked through the pilot
plant. The students sampled many Cadbury delights and ate
their own creations along the way. We saw Easter eggs
being handmade and decorated and other bespoke items
being created by highly skilled Chocolatiers. Mrs. Hart was
particularly impressed by the explanations of Advertising and
Marketing which are part of the A Level curriculum. We also
experienced a thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening hour
long talk by the Education Co-ordinator, Yvette Taylor. Yvette
presented a detailed explanation of the worldwide Kraft
brand, new product development and how the taste of the
British consumer differs from others around the world. We
now understand why marvellous creations are such a success
here in the UK but a complete flop in New Zealand.
Mrs. R. Richards, Head of Technology
-11-
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-12-
Hitchin Girls’ School
sports’ report
SPRING 2014
Despite the rain this term, there have been numerous
activities taking place at all levels, with many students
taking part and committing to school sport. The last few
weeks have been particularly demanding as students
have been working hard towards their final examination
practical assessments in P.E and also the preparation for
the Dance final assessment, which will take place on the
first day back after Easter.
Our Trampolinists have competed at Zonal level after
becoming regional champions before Christmas. They
travelled to Loughborough University in January where the
Under 19 Elite team (Sam Hodges, Anya Dzimitrowicz
and Lauren Gull) finished in 4th place overall. At District
level, our teams finished with both the Step 2 and Step
3 teams becoming District winners and Lauren Gull
becoming the individual Elite Champion.
This meant that these students qualified
for the Herts. School Games where they
finished as County Champions in the
Step 2 and 5th in the Step 3 competition
and with Lauren also winning the individual
county title!
For the first time in living memory the County Cross Country
Championships had to be cancelled due to waterlogged
conditions, but Molly McKenzie was selected on the basis
of her times and went on to compete at the National
School’s final where she performed to a high standard.
Caroline Willis was also selected as a reserve for the
Hertfordshire team. We also entered teams into the District
Sports Hall Athletics competition, where at District level our
Year 7 team finished in 1st place overall and qualified
for the Herts. School Games, where they finished in 3rd
place overall.
The Lower School Gymnastics competition is due to take
place in the last two weeks of term. It is the centenary for
the Gym Competition this year and the winning sequences
will receive special commemorative trophies and medals to
mark the occasion. We also entered a pairs sequence into
East Region Acrobatic Gymnastics Competition, where Lily
Holloway-Davies and Heather Maccines finished in 5th
place overall, out of 25 regional pairs. Heather has also
been selected for the Cambridgeshire County Gymnastics
squad and finished in 1st place in a County competition.
She goes on to compete at regional level in April. She
also competed in Acrobatic Gymnastics, where she
won the regional round and has qualified to compete at
the National Finals in May. Alice Tomlinson has also
finished in 1st place in the Regional Club Acrobatic
Gymnastics Tumbling competition, and has qualified for
the next round.
Our Cricket team performed well in the Lady Taverner’s
Trophy and finished in 1st place in the District. At County
level, they really stepped up to the mark and played in a
very professional manner in order to take the County title.
They now go on to the regional competition which takes
place on the last day of term. They are to be commended
on their commitment to training with our resident coach.
As a result of our links to cricket coaching and schools
cricket, this has given rise to a new satellite club to be
established at school during the summer term.
In swimming, our teams put in commendable performances
at District level with the Senior team finishing in 2nd place
overall, the Intermediate team in 3rd place and the Junior
team in 3rd place. Many congratulations to Mrs. Cornell
and her Sixth Form Sports’ Leaders who magnificently
organised the whole District Gala Event. Congratulations
also to Charlotte Reid, who left school last year and who
recently won a Gold medal in the British Universities
Championships; the first Swimming gold medal for
Birmingham University. Bailey Wilkes, Cerian Sissons
and Hannah Martin have all been selected for the District
Swimming squad.
In the District Netball Tournaments, our Year 10 team
won the Championship title very convincingly, scoring
84 goals in total and only conceding 4 throughout the
tournament. Our Year 8 team narrowly lost by just 1
-13-
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-14-
Hitchin Girls’ School
goal in the semi-finals of their tournament at District level,
with the Year 9 team playing extremely well to become the
Plate Champions.
The District League games continue to be played every week
but final places are yet to be confirmed. We also spent a
very enjoyable evening supporting our local Super League
Netball team Mavericks, when they competed against Celtic
Dragons at the Herts. Sports Village. We have been fortunate
to have Miss Huckle (a Mavericks player) as a trainee teacher
in the department this term, where she kindly held a really
informative and fun presentation for all the Gifted and
Talented in P.E. students, during a lunch time. We learned a
lot about diet, training and much more!
Our Hockey players have been committed to a number of
competitions and leagues. The District League at all levels
continues to be played on a regular basis. Our Year 7 team
are gradually beginning to adapt their skills to playing on
astroturf and played well in the District Outdoor Tournament.
In the indoor tournaments, the Year 8 team finished 3rd, the
Year 10 A team were 2nd and the Year 10 B team were 3rd,
with the Year 9 team becoming District Indoor Champions.
In the Outdoor District Tournaments, the Year 8 team finished
in 3rd place, the Year 9 team were 2nd and the Year 10
team were overall winners. The Year 10 team also qualified
for the semi-finals of the County Cup, where they played
well against some tough opposition. The Senior team in
the indoor tournament finished with the B team in 3rd place
and the A team in 1st place and in the outdoor tournament
finished in overall 1st place. In the Under 19 County Cup,
they finished 3rd in their league. This is the last hockey that
we will see from a dedicated Year 13 team, who have been
excellent Ambassadors for school sport.
Our Football teams have been playing in their District
competitions with the Year 7 team, Under 16, Under 14
and Senior teams playing commendably against some tough
opposition.
Special congratulations to Bryony Pomfret in Year 13 who
has been selected for the Herts. Under 18s squad and who
won the South East Division Championships.
The Inter House League this term has been very busy with the
Year 7 and Year 9 Netball competitions and the Year 8 and
Year 7 Hockey leagues being contested on a weekly basis.
The results of these will be announced in final assembly
at the end of term. Our range of clubs and the leagues
would not be possible without our Student Leaders who
are presently undertaking their Level 1, 2 and 3 Leadership
awards in school and at our local primary schools and at
their primary competitions. Good luck to our dancers who
are undertaking their Level 1 Dance Leaders’ award during
the Easter holidays.
Congratulations to Emily Ahern who successfully auditioned
with many others to be only one of eighteen dancers who
were selected in a nationwide search to find talented young
contemporary dancers. This is a remarkable achievement
and Emily is now training hard as part of this development
programme.
In the final weeks of term we supported the Sport Relief
campaign by holding an Inter House running challenge on
the top pitch, raising £352.92 and also holding the annual
staff vs Sixth Form Netball challenge match.
As we finish this term, our Year 7 athletes have already
started a programme of initial coaching every Monday
evening, run by Stevenage Athletics Club, in preparation for
the summer term.
I wish you all the best for any competitions that are taking
place over Easter and also the chance to gain a good rest
before we return for a summer term of athletics, rounders,
tennis and of course, the annual Gym and Dance display.
Good luck to our A level and GCSE P.E students and our
GCSE Dance students as they prepare for their examinations.
Happy Easter
Mrs. D. Maydom, Head of Physical Education
NEW SIXTH FORM CENTRE
Work is progressing well on our new Sixth Form Centre, despite the
very wet weather at the start of the year. The roof is now on, windows
and doors installed, under-floor heating in place and work has started
on the internal fixings. Some of our current Year 11 and 12 students
have also been helping to choose colour schemes for the interior.
Completion is due this summer, ready for the start of the new academic
year in September.
-15-
‘THE AGAMEMNON’
We are incredibly fortunate in Hitchin to have a local school
with an entire department devoted to the study of classical
culture, especially one which allows its neighbouring schools
to share the expertise and goodwill of its staff. Something of
a tradition has appeared over the last few years of a Classics
play which draws upon the talents, and seemingly boundless
enthusiasm, of Hitchin’s young classical scholars.
I was genuinely amazed at how quickly it all came together,
no doubt due to the astute directorship of Imogen Richardson
and Miss Hay. The miracles created by such a dynamic
duumvirate were seemingly endless and even a chariot was
fashioned, Blue Peter style, from a pile of old plywood and
broom handles upon which my character Agamemnon would
arrive triumphantly and with all the due pomp, back home
after a long absence .
This year it was decided to perform The Agamemnon by
Aeschylus; a tale of murder, loss and revenge. In the play
King Agamemnon departs for war at Troy, murdering his own
daughter in the process and his world crumbles upon his return
from the ten year long conflict. Unfortunately Aeschylus is a
man after my own heart, rarely writing succinctly and even
then using a cryptic maze of metaphors and references which
presented quite a challenge for both its performers and the
audience!
By Peter Saville Year 12
After what seemed an incredibly fast six months of practise
we arrived at a half term’s worth of rehearsals which slowly
drew all the loose ends and seemingly impossibly connected
scenes together into something vaguely play shaped. It is at
this point that I have to admit my natural pessimism. I could
not see how the busy cast, comprised mainly of Sixth Formers
and Year 11 students (all undoubtedly very busy with work),
could pull it off. There were too many lines to learn, too many
props to make, too much technology to organise. However,
after considering a blood sacrifice to Zeus I decided to learn
my lines instead, after all the RSPCA probably would not take
kindly to the flaying of a white heifer in tribute to a 2500 year
old god.
Certainly for someone jumping into the Classics from a
background before September completely devoid of prophets,
plywood chariots and Greek drama in general the commitment
and excitement of the department on top of the quality of the
acting and efforts laid out from everyone involved seem almost
incredulous. After all it is not very often that you get the chance
to ride around the Girls’ School in a chariot with a spear and
actually get applauded for it!
Congratulations to all the cast and crew who put
together such a fantastic series of performances over the
evenings of the 6 and 7 March. Much of the credit must go to
Imogen Richardson for her dedication and relentless energy
which inspired both awe and terror in the rest of the team!
Mention must also be made of the phenomenal effort of Billie
Mace (Clytemnestra), Millie Savage (Cassandra), Peter Saville
(Agamemnon) and Molly Barron and Choong-Ling Liew-Cain
(Chorus Leaders). The students also raised £500 which has
been sent to the Senior Classics’ Society’s adopted charity,
Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Miss. L Hay, Classics Department
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CLASSICS