All the latest news & events from BGGS April 2014

the LEADER

This term has been incredibly busy for the whole school community witha packed programme of visits and extra-curricular and enrichment activities that have both enhanced and complemented academic achievement and personal development.

Performance and Public Speaking have always been particular strengths of our pupils and this is apparent once again with a stunning production of Annie,and the individual achievements at the Robertshaw Festival.

Sport continues to have a high profile particularly amongst our young swimmers and senior netball players, with individual success and growing interest in table tennis.

Pupils are taking more of an interest in shaping our community with primary pupils becoming more proactive in decisions affecting their future and environment and senior girls playing their part in collaborative projects for the Bradford Community.

Once again pupils have enthusiastically taken on various fundraising challenges, raising over £3,500 for The Teenage Cancer Trust, ShelterBox and Sport Relief, with a particular focus on charities supporting projects in Malawi and Syria.

May I thank all staff and pupils who have obviously worked tremendously hard this term particularly in providing interesting and challenging activities and visits for all our pupils.

Broadening Horizons and Developing Skills

‘ANNIE’ - A MUSICAL SUCCESSThis term’s drama production of ‘Annie’ proved another resounding success as the cast delivered a lively, vibrant and often hilarious show which thrilled audiences and impressed the visiting judges from the Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts.

With so many exceptional performances including the authoritative Oliver Warbucks, played by Mariam Hussain, the maternal Grace Farrell played by Abigail Buckle and Harriet Whitaker-Myers’ excellent portrayalof the plucky orphan Annie, it was impossible to single out a leading character. Certainly the cabinet scenes with Franklin Roosevelt, played by Jasmine Sharp, were some of the funniest and the visiting four-legged cast member ‘Button’ made an impact in the role of Sandy.

The musical score included the optimistic anthem ‘Tomorrow’, plus other favourites including ‘Maybe’, and ‘It's the Hard Knock Life’. ‘Easy Street’ was delivered with perfect comic timing by the unscrupulous Rooster, played by Iqraa Sajjad and ditsy Lilly St Regis played by Shaan Bashir; whilst the chilling signature number of ‘Little Girls’ was delivered with complete disdain by the

bawdy drunk Miss Hannigan, magnificently portrayed by Emily Addison.

Costumes were stunning; sets were well designed, musical arrangements impressive; and were all appropriate to the piece. It was evident that a lot of hard work had gone into the whole production and that the enthusiasm, commitment and dedication certainly paid off. Congratulations to all the pupils and staff involved, it was certainly a show to remember.

1Bradford Girls' Grammar School, Squire Lane, Bradford BD9 6RB Tel: 01274 545 395 Web: www.bggs.com

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On the 12 February 2014, Year 12 pupils Maddiya Basharat and Sophie Whitcombe visited the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp as part of the national ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ project run by the Holocaust Educational Trust. Following the visit the girls were tasked with becoming ‘ambassadors’ of the Trust to help educate others about the Holocaust.

Reflecting on her visit Maddiya said: ‘Beingin that environment sickened me at the thought that so many people had had their lives ended. Seeing the children’s clothes and people’s teeth brought home the realisation that the Holocaust did occur only 69 years ago. I feel privileged to live where I do and come home knowing that I am safe in my environment and my life’.

Sophie added: ‘I entered the camp knowing that nothing bad would happen to me but nevertheless I felt afraid as I realised that many had passed through to their deaths.

On my return people asked me ‘did you cry?’ and I did. It wasn’t the hair, or even the children’s toys that affected me but a group of visitors that were visiting wearing the Israeli flag and singing about liberation’.

As their follow-up ‘Next Steps’ project the History students put together a presentation to their sixth form peers, delivering a powerful message about the importance of challenging prejudice, promoting tolerance and never again allowing hatred to gain a foothold in society.

Although set in the stunning grounds of Boughton House Estate near Kettering, the Whole Hog Mud Run was far from a scenic jog in the park, as sixth form student Jasmine Sharp discovered on a freezing, wet Saturday afternoon in March.

As part of her fundraising efforts for this year’s ‘World Challenge’, determined Jasmine Sharp joined 150 other racers to take up the challenge to ‘Go the whole hog, if you dare!’ and tackle the gruelling 4k obstacle race. Scrambling through tunnels, crawling under cargo nets, scaling steep banks and walls and wading through a freezing river Jasmine was soon covered in thick stinking mud. ‘It was completely draining but the adrenaline soon kicked in and I had great time. It was only when I stopped that I realised just how absolutely filthy, drenched and chilled right through I actually was’

Jasmine needs to raise £3,700 for her trip in July but with sponsorship from various companies, friends and family, the £600 raised on the day means she is on trackto meet her target.

Lessons from Auschwitz

A Whole Lot of Mud!

The Sweet Smell of Success A team of five creative Year 12 students are causing quite a stir with their luxurious hand-made soaps. Offeringa delightful range including rose petal-topped bars, foaming strawberry cupcakes and fresh lavender bars and with gorgeous scents such as bubble gum burst and cinnamon spice; the soaps are proving to be hugely popular.

Set up at the beginning of the year, the Soap Club meets every Tuesday lunchtime in the Food Technology Suite. With stock selling out almost as soon as they are on sale all the proceeds are being used to buy raw materials to allow the girls to experiment with different designs and scents and to continue running the club. At the end of the year any profits will be donated to a local charity.

POETRY LIVEYear 11 pupils, accompanied by staff from the English department, attended the annual Poetry Live event at Leeds Town Hall on 5 February. The event provided an excellent opportunity to see and hear live performances from a selection of the poets currently being studied for GCSE including Simon Armitage, John Agard, Jackie Kay and Imtiaz Dharke.

One particular highlight was a rare chance to see both the Poet Laureate and the National Poet for Wales on stage together with a joint reading from Carol Ann Duffy and Gillian Clarke.

In addition to reading their own work, all the poets provided an insight into the whole process of writing and reading poetry. Lectures from the chief GCSE examiner covering the analytical techniques for the English Literature paper, brought a very interesting day to a close.

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Festival Awards for Public SpeakingCongratulations and well done to all pupils who entered the Robertshaw Festival of Music, Speech and Drama held at Beckfoot School in Bingley on the weekend of 8 March. A highlight of Bingley’s arts calendar since 1933, the festival’s goal is to introduce young people to the world of competitive arts and regularly attracts entrants from across the county. This year saw over 250 entries in the speech and drama class alone.

Whilst for the majority of pupils this was the first time they had entered any public

speaking competition, most walked away with a certificate of Distinction.

Special mention is due to Alycia Booth inYear 8 who took first place in both the Bible Reading and Duologue classes. In the Poetry section she was awarded joint third place with classmate Aneesa Chowdury.

Year 6 pupils also performed well; Iman Ellahi was awarded joint second place with Malaika Amini in the Prepared Reading and Ayesha Habib came third with her Poetry Reading.

CHARITY FOCUS

Senior girls raised over £800 through various fundraising activities includinga ’one item of red and one item of blue’ non-uniform day on February 14 for The Teenage Cancer Trust Charity.

ShelterBoxSenior girls also raised £960for ShelterBox, the internationalcharity that supportscommunities overwhelmedby disaster.

Sport ReliefOn 21 March the whole school took part in the Sport Relief ‘Make Every Mile Count’ challenge. From the youngest boys and girls in Reception to the sixth form students and teaching staff, all donned their trainers and walked one mile each, playing their part in this national fundraising initiative. With an estimated 750 miles covered, walking the equivalent of Inverness to Cornwall, Lady Royd raised £317 and senior school £355 – a grand total of £672. Well done to everyone taking part.

Order in Court! … On February 10, Year 12 Psychology students enjoyed a fascinating day at the Leeds District Magistrates’ Court as part of their A level Forensic Science unit which examines our judicial system and the effects of imprisonment. The group were thrilled to be given a tour of the internal chambers by a serving magistrate, usually unavailable to the general public, and were also offered a rare opportunity to sit in the judge’s seat.

After standing in the dock themselves and watching a demonstration of the video system linked to Leeds prison, often used in court hearings, students were finally allowed to sit through a real life court session.

BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR YEAR 10Year 10 Business and Communication students have set up an Enterprise Clubto provide a range of opportunities to hone their practical business skills. Inspired by the TV programme ‘The Apprentice’, the girls have formed three ‘companies’ with each concentrating on a different product to take to market. ‘Candalized’ offers personalised candles with intricate Mendi designs, ‘Charm’ produces their own line in jewellery, including their very popular charm bracelets and ‘Diversion’ provides personalised key rings and bookmarks.

‘The girls came up with the idea of the club by themselves’ said Mrs Mirza. ’The only stipulation I made was that they had to produce something that was unique to them. I wanted them to be creative rather than just buy and sell goods’.

As with any new business the first step involved raising the initial capital to buy their materials and each group embarked on a number of fundraising activities

including, sweet and bun sales, and even a chocolate fountain to pull in the customers and cover their set-up costs.

Members of the Enterprise Club regularly advertise around the school and sell their goods during Friday lunchtimes in the Atrium. With all the products proving to be very popular, the groups are on track to raise a commendable amount for their chosen cause - the Bradford Royal Infirmary Children’s Charity.

TeenageCancerTrust

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Over the February half term holiday a group of twenty-six pupils and four members of staff enjoyed a thrilling nine day skiing trip to the popular Austrian destination of Wargrain. Nestled in the beautiful valley of the Ski Amadé resorts it offered over 200km of pistes, with a range to suit all levels so even the inexperienced were well catered for.

With snow up to a depth of three metres at the top of the mountains, the school party enjoyed breath taking views of the Austrian Alps and excellent conditions for skiing.

‘We enjoyed six great days of skiing with all the girls making excellent progress’ said

Ms Jackson, ‘even our most inexperienced skiiers were confidently navigating their way down the mountain by the end of the week’.

The party enjoyed delicious food and hospitality staying at The Jugendaicher Hotel, a family run hotel with excellent facilities including a large sports hall and movie room. The evenings’ entertainment included ice skating, a fire torch lit walk followed by a camp fire, a quiz and a talent show and even a late night swim in an outdoor heated pool. Everyone had a great time and all returnedin one piece!

Skiing in the Austrian Alps

Believe in BradfordOn 27 March, eight Year 7 pupils attended the ‘Believe in Bradford’ Religious Education Conference held at The Oasis Lister Park Academy. Here the senior girls worked with pupils from other Bradford schools to explore their beliefs and commitments through a variety of games and activities. ‘The girls thoroughly enjoyed meeting and working with so many new people’ said Mrs Plunkett.

The conference culminated in students working collaboratively to produce a piece of artwork representing the religions and beliefs of Bradford. The finished work is now on display in the Bradford Education Offices at Future House.

TALENTED PLAYER MOVESUP THE RANKINGSTalented player Sakeena Hanif is steadily moving up the junior ranks this season following a comfortable win in the first round of the Butterfly Table Tennis Championship which regularly attracts over 300 players from schools all over the country.

The mid-season win takes Sakeena through to the finals being held at the Doncaster Dome on 26 April where she can expect to meet tough competition from schools across the whole of England.

Sakeena currently plays for Pudsey Table Tennis Club in both national and regional competitions and started the season ranked 19th by the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA). With runner-up positions secured in the U15 girls’ categories at both YTTA competitions held in Leeds and Halifax, followed by a silver medal at the U13’s Northfield Two Star Competition, Sakeena moved further up the rankings.

At Burton Uxbridge Table Tennis Club in December, the talented Year 7 pupil finally stepped on the winners’ rostrum after a hard-fought final against a top five ranked opponent and now goes into the Doncaster final with an impressive 8th placed ranking.

Keen to take advantage of any further opportunities for training and professional coaching, Sakeena has recently joined the new Bradford Hawks Community Table Tennis Club.

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At the beginning of February Bradford Girls’ Grammar School teamed up with West Yorkshire Sport and The English Table Tennis Association to form a new Community Table Tennis Club; The Bradford Hawks.

The club meets every Saturday in the main sports hall, from 1pm to 3pm and offers professional coaching for boys and girls from aged 8 upwards. Including complete beginners up to club players and with an age range from 8 to 17 years, the club is already growing in numbers.

Anyone interested in joining should contact coach John Ainley on 07766 262957 or simply turn

up on the day.

Netball SuccessCongratulation to the U15 team who played exceptionally well and took second place in the Bradford Schools’ Netball Tournament held in March. Seniors, U14 and U13 teams also played well with each securing third place in their age group. Although putting in a commendable performance and easily winning four out of their five games, the U12 squad narrowly missed a place in the finals.

THE BRADFORD HAWKS

Binoculars were at the ready for Year 4 pupils as they patiently waited for wildlife visitors to their school garden. Taking part in the Big Garden Bird Watch, the biggest school wildlife survey in the world; pupils in Ms Leary’s class were tasked with identifying and recording all the visiting birds to their school garden.

Eliza Rashid particularly enjoyed the project. ‘We had a chart in the classroom with all the different birds on it’, she said, ‘and I really enjoyed using the binoculars and identifying each one’.

The annual survey typically runs over a four week period from mid-January and encourages schoolchildren and their teachers to assign a day to discover which birds they

share their school grounds with and report their finding back to the RSPB. The results then help the RSPB to build a picture of birds visiting school grounds and any population changes.

‘With our binoculars we spotted three blackbirds and two doves on the birdfeeders’ reported Aliza Nazir, supporting national findings identifying the blackbird as the most commonly seen bird in school grounds.

‘The boys and girls in 4L found this a fascinating project‘ said Ms. Leary, ‘and for one school morning this winter, it was perfectly acceptable for my Year 4 pupils to gaze out of the classroom window!’

NEWS FROM LADY ROYD

The Great British Birdwatch Captain Grammaticus Sorts Out SpellingOn Monday 10 February Key Stage 1 and 2 children enjoyed a visit from Captain Grammaticus and his friends from the Quantum Theatre.

Leading the fight against missing punctuation, sloppy grammar and poor spelling, Captain Grammaticus thrilled pupils as he tackled a series of literary-based clues left by his arch nemesis The Scribbler. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed the hilarious, action packed show looking at grammar, spelling and punctuation which was full of adventure and spectacular adjectives.

Have fun and be part of a great club!

This month saw Year 5 pupil, Leesha Ahir proudly receiving the club’s first award for the most improved player.

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NEWS FROM LADY ROYD

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This term saw Year 3 pupils researchingone of Bradford’s most iconic buildingsthe Bradford Odeon as part of their project entitled ‘The Generation Game’ which involves considering issues through the eyes of different generations.

Bradford Council bought the Odeon for £1 in 2013 and are currently considering how to develop the building. Bradford Live have suggested the building should be turned into one of Yorkshire’s largest concert venues, Bradford One have proposed a 2,000-capacity music venue and a consortium of businesses have proposed turning the building into a leisure centre.

Pupils were tasked with deciding which of the proposals would be best for Bradford by considering what the City already had and what it needed the most.

After talking to parents, grandparents and friends, pupils presented their findings and concluded they would be supporting the Bradford One idea. Pupils then put their suggestion in a letter and sent it to the Council.

‘This has been an ideal cross-curriculum project to find out the most popular proposal’ said Miss Thomson. ‘It has also taught pupils about compromise, and how people have to consider what is important to different groups of people before they make such big decisions’’.

Shaping the Future of Bradford The Toy MuseumYear 2 pupils enjoyed a fascinating trip to The Ilkley Toy Museum on 12 February. On arrival they were each given a quiz sheet to complete as they explored the three main areas of the museum with its fascinating collection of toys and wooden dolls. Dating from 350BC to the present day, the exhibits included a 1940's English working model fairground and a clockwork train which both proved extremely popular among its young visitors. Other exhibits included toys which dated from the 1950's and 1960's, popular television characters, "proper cars with rubber tyres", Cowboys and Indians and miniature toy soldiers.

Pupils were thrilled to be able to handle the old Victorian toys and were particularly fascinated by the wind-up toy selection. The visit concluded with a visit to the Manor House for further activity sessions working through the ‘Toys through Time’ projects.

Well done to the Lady Royd Swimming Team who took part in the first semi-final of the Annual ASC Primary Schools’ Swimming Gala at Shipley Pool on Saturday 18 January.

Although pitted against stiff competition, with many opponents experienced club swimmers, the Lady Royd Team held their own and proved to be particularly strong in the breaststroke with Samir Karroum and Laiba Hussain each taking first place in their individual heats.

Iman Ellah also swam well, comfortably leading right from the startto take first place in her heat and clocking up the best time across the whole competition. In the backstroke Aisha Matib finished firstin her heat while team mate Ayesha Habib put in an impressive swim, taking second.

‘Although narrowly missing out on a place in the final, each member of the team swam exceptionally well’ said Mrs Grant. ‘They can all be very proud of their performances, particularly those entering the competition for the first time’.

A special thank you goes to Charlotte Nunn (Yr8) who accompanied the young swimmers and provided much appreciated encouragement and support.

SWIMMING TEAM SUCCESS

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NEWS FROM LADY ROYD

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Water Aid WorkshopOn 30 and 31 January, Water Aid volunteers delivered a number of workshops to Key Stage 2 children as part of their PSCHE topic ‘Star Fish Malawi’. Children watched slide shows and videos as well as taking part in discussions and demonstrations to understand the valuable international work undertaken by the charity.

The workshop commenced with a comparison between the daily access to water children in this country have and the situation in various parts of Africa and India. Pupils looked at the impact of being able to obtain safe, clean water compared to the life-threatening problems caused by contaminated waterand unhygienic conditions.

Pupils were shocked to learn that many children their age had to travel several miles each day before school to fetch an average of 10 litres of water from the nearest water pumps. Maryam Hussain, Jahanzaib Khan and Zaynah Abbas all found it difficult to carry 10 litres of water just around the classroom.

World Book Day provided the perfect opportunity for pupils and staff to dress up as their favourite literary characters, from Harry Potter to Dorothy, witches, fairies and super hero’s all graced the classrooms of Lady Royd on Thursday March 6.

Earlier in the week, children welcomed a visitor from the Travelling Book Company; Jo Richards who brought along a selection of over 200 new titles. She gave a mesmerising talk about the value and enjoyment of books, and the lifelong impact they can have on a persons’ life especially from a very early age.

Jo introduced her personal favourites and read a poem by Julia Donaldson, who

wrote the children’s classic ‘The Gruffalo’: ‘I opened a book and stepped inside… …Now nobody can find me’; which talks about what it was like to open a book, step inside and lose yourself in a really good story. She talked about how books can stay with us for the rest of our lives.

Presenting a selection from the new collection, Jo then gave an overview of some of her new favourites with a brief synopsis of their story. At the end of the talk children were given time to browse through some of the new titles and ask questions about any book that particularly caught their eye. It seemed Jo had read every one of them!

Shoesday TuesdayOn Tuesday 18 March, boys and girls came to school in their wackiest, wildest, weirdest shoes and wellingtons and raised over £250 for ‘Starfish Malawi’. This charity aims to ensure every child has a new pair of shoes to go to school in and provides valuable classroom equipment and resources.

CHARITY ROUND-UPThis term Year 3 held two bun sales. The first raised £150 for The Bradford Royal Infirmary Neonatal Unit and the second, £110 which they have split equally between the Starfish Malawi Charity and the Syria Appeal.

Year 4 boys also held a bun sale and raised £122 for The Ummah Welfare Trust, an international relief and development charity which supports communities in Syria. Well done to Huda Mahmood, also in Year 4, who raised £413.40 with a sweet sale. These funds will be split between two charities to help in Syria and Malawi.

Year 5 made their contribution with a bun sale on Friday 31 January which raised £112 for Water Aid and the Syria Appeal.

World Book Day

NEWS FROM LADY ROYD

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On 7 February, as part of the IPC topic ‘Paintings, Pictures and Photographs’ and the English unit ‘Stories from different cultures’, Year 4 pupils visited Bradford’s National Media Museum.

Pupils watched ‘Born to be wild’ at the IMAX cinema and were transported into the lush rainforests of Borneo and the rugged Kenyan savannah as they followed a journey of orphaned orang-utans and elephants and met the people who rescue, raise and return those incredible animals to the wild.

Following this, pupils visited the Kodak Gallery to learn about the birth of photography and the development of the camera and discovered how the Victorians played a key role in making photography so accessible today.

Pupils from 4L were delighted to have their picture taken which was then ‘retouched’ to look like a photograph taken in Victorian times. The trip concluded with a visit to the Magic Factory to investigate over thirty interactive activities exploring light, optics and image-making.

On 28 February pupils were thrilled to welcome Bradford City striker James Hanson today to talk about his successful move from Co-op shop worker to professional footballer and playing in a Wembley final.

The towering 26 year old centre forward spoke about the motivation and determination needed to succeed in life and about his accomplishments in football. James talked about his love of the game from a very young age and playing for the Huddersfield Town Academy, a team that is still his favourite today. He started his senior career playing semi-professional non-league football, balancing his football career with a job in his local supermarket before he caught the eye of Bradford boss Stuart McCall who signed him for Bradford City.

Born and raised in Bradford, he admitted that being a professional footballer is his absolute dream job and put his goal-scoring success down to sheer hard work and the right attitude. He encouraged pupilsto think that whatever they chose to do in their own careers, these were certainly the best qualities to adopt.

As might be expected, he was asked about that winning goal against Aston Villa that secured Bradford City’s historic place in the League Cup final at Wembley. “I had not scored for a while so I was particularly pleased with that goal” he said. “It was the best feeling in the world when it went in the back of the net.”

A VISIT FROM JAMES HANSON

DESIGNINGFOR A MAYORCongratulations to Year 3 pupil Imaan Shah who was presented with a new Nintendo DS and Animal Crossing game for winning third place in a national competition to design a party outfit fit for a mayor.

The competition was linked to Years 3 and 4 PSHCE lessons on ‘being a good citizen’ where pupils were asked to think about the design of a new ‘Happy Town’. Acting as mayor of this new town, pupils had to make decisions about where to spend public money; did they need a swimming pool, a new library or more schools? They had to consider how they would run the town, including what laws they would need to introduce.

Children were then encouraged to enter the national competition in their own time by thinking about the parties the Mayor was likely to attend and designing the most suitable outfit.

The National Media Museum