Filter Content
- Message from the Headteacher
- A Man for All Seasons
- Headteacher's Commendation
- Annual Senior Presentation Evening
- Geographical Association Worldwise Quiz
- Year 10 Enterprise Challenge goes with a Bang!
- New Active School Award
- Year 7 STEM
- Music Exams
- Kids eat free!
- Platinum Extra Curricular Reward
- Meet the Peer Listeners
- Photography Competition
- Explaining Chances Graphs
- Nothing’s imp ossible!
- Time for Road Safety
- Are you able to support us?
- Student Designer
- Disposable Face Mask Donation
- Speakers for Schools Lecture
- Students' Farewell
- Merry Christmas to all of the QEHS Community!
- Start of Term 3
- Cancelled: Music Recital
- Cancelled: Samaritan's Workshop
- Cancelled: Senior Music Recital
- Cancelled: Apprenticeship Speaker
- Cancelled: Junior Music Recital
- End of Term 3
As this is my last newsletter item as Headteacher and we are approaching the festive season I thought I would approach it differently. I have tried to reflect on my time as Head using the Twelve Days of Christmas. It doesn’t scan I am afraid and I couldn’t possibly sing it but it has been an interesting task to reflect on my Headship through numbers.
I would simply like to thank governors, parents, students, and staff, past and present, for all of the support you have given me over my time as Head of this amazing school. I was once asked by an interview panel, before I got this post, what I thought to the statement ‘L’ecole est moi’ or 'the school is me'. At the time I didn’t fully understand the true meaning of that sentence. However, after 11½ years I now know exactly what it means. As Headteacher you care so passionately about the school (and by school I mean the people as well as the buildings) that it becomes a part of you and you become a part of it. When people say bad things about the school you feel them absolutely personally; when the school is praised you feel it too; if the school is damaged you feel the pain and when the school is improved you feel the delight. You really do become the school and so it is a wrench to let go; it feels like handing over a child who you have loved and nurtured for so many years. However, the school is constant and Headteachers are simply the current custodians who should hand over the school to the next custodian with a light heart knowing it will be in safe hands. I am sure this is the case here and I know that Mr Eastham will have the support of the whole community as he takes the reins and steers the school onwards and upwards through its next phase.
I would like to wish you all the very best, wish the students the best of luck in whatever they do and thank you all again for a wonderful 12 years.
The 12 Days of Headship
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12 Starts to New Academic Years
September is always a positive and exciting time in the academic year. We welcome new students to the school in both Years 7 and 12 and everybody is fully refreshed after the long summer break. Nobody is behind with their work and everybody comes with New 'Academic' Year Resolutions. I find each term brings its own excitements, anxieties and expectations but the start of the academic year is without doubt the best.
11 Summer Holiday Exam Results Days
When we break up for the summer holiday we are already thinking about exam results days which are only 3 weeks into the summer break. Whilst we know that the true value of our students lies in the fact that they have a set of skills and experiences which will set them up for life, the pieces of paper they carry around with them are incredibly important and the better the grades on those pieces of paper the more opportunities and options they will have.
10 Years of Doing Primary Visits
For those that remember her, Mrs Pearson used to do all of the primary visits in the summer term. However, after a couple of years I joined her and have done just under half of them ever since. Now Mrs Watson does the rest of them. It is a real pleasure going out to visit Year 6 students in their own primary schools. It allows us to better understand the worries and concerns that the students have and it is always a delight to hear how excited they are at coming to QEHS. Any time in the company of young people is always time well spent but these visits in particular are a delight. It is also an opportunity to try to address concerns before they grow bigger and I think that the efforts Mrs Watson and I make in visiting often over 50 primary schools, means our transition process is, on the whole, extremely smooth.
9 Heads of Faculty
When I arrived in 2009 I was used to working as a Deputy Headteacher with over 20 Heads of Department so it was a pleasant surprise to find a faculty structure in place. Being a fan of fantasy fiction and in particular Tolkein, I often thought of them in similar terms as ‘The Nine’!
8 Years of the Soul Band
In my first post in the London Borough of Sutton back in 1990 I had always been involved with school music. At that school I performed with a school guitar group and I have been involved with school music every year since. When I first arrived at QEHS I didn’t think I would have the time as Headteacher but after 3 years I missed it to such an extent that I had to start a band. Having run a soul band before in school we started it back up again. Since then we have played in numerous village halls, on the backs of lorries and of course in our partner school in China; an experience neither I, nor the lucky members of the band that year, will ever forget.
7 Year Groups
Ever since schools changed to calling the first year of secondary school ‘Year 7’ in the early 1990’s, schools with Post 16 education have had an anomaly. In my first year of teaching 30 years ago I had a Fifth Form O Level group but that was one of the last. However, despite just about everybody now using Year 7, Year 8 etc. for the Year Groups we still tend to refer to Post 16 students as being in the 'Sixth Form’. When the year before was the Fifth Form this made sense but now it is anachronistic. However, I still find it difficult to remember to refer to them as Years 12 and 13!
6 Heads of House
The House System is the jewel in the crown of QEHS and is what allows us to satisfy its aim of educating the whole child. It is the beating heart of the school and students compete with passion for their House and the House Competition is a close run thing every year. The Heads of House have an incredibly difficult job in keeping their House together in every competition as well as supporting students with behaviour.
5 Snow Closure Days
Taking the decision to close the school is one that weighs heavily on any Headteacher. We had 2 in The Great Snow of 2010 when snowflakes were falling like dinner plates as we desperately tried to get the students home on the buses. The snow was quite literally rising around our feet as we ushered the children onto buses from the bus park. We had 3 more during the ‘Beast from the East’ event in 2018 when drifting snow was blocking roads as fast as the snow ploughs were clearing them. Now that we are so expert at home learning, snow closure days will be much less disruptive in the future.
4 Personal Assistants
No Head can operate effectively without an outstanding PA behind them keeping them on the straight and narrow. When I arrived the Office Manager, Jackie Salmon, was also the Head’s PA but it soon transpired after a few years that I needed a dedicated person and Elaine Glew joined the school. Elaine was my PA for many years but when she retired Lynn Whelan took up the reins. Lynn quickly gained promotion in the school and Sarah Brandon now has the difficult job of keeping me in order. A Head has so many plates spinning at once and so many people wanting their time and attention that it is almost an impossible job. I know that all of my PA’s have saved smashing plates many times and I am eternally grateful for all of their work and support whether it is keeping me hydrated, welcoming visitors or organising my transport to our link schools in Tanzania, China and Germany.
3 Chairs of Governors
The relationship between the Headteacher and Chair of Governors is crucial and I have been so fortunate to have worked with three Chairs of Governors who have all been outstanding in their roles. Barbara Adlington was Chair when I arrived and was part of the committee who were kind enough to appoint me to the post. David Holmes came next and as you know the current Chair is Julian White. The Chair is a crucial role as they have to support and challenge the Head in equal measure and all three incumbents have carried off this role perfectly. I would like to thank them all for their unstinting support of me during the good and bad times over the last 12 years.
2 Ofsted Inspections
A maths subject inspection in 2014 and a Section 8 monitoring visit in 2016. Both found the school continued to provide outstanding educational provision for our students which was a relief if not unexpected. However, every school has areas that they do fantastically well and other areas where improvement could be made whether they are rated outstanding or inadequate by Ofsted and we are blessed here with an outstanding team of staff who are all focused on one thing; the welfare and education of the young people in our charge.
1 Amazing Career!
I have had such an amazing career in teaching over the past 30 years. Being offered the Headship of this school had so much poignancy for me as it brought my life around full circle. My first experience of the school was in the Summer Term of 1979 when the then Headteacher, Mr Fred Pape, welcomed the students from my primary school (Parish) to the school. It was a difficult time politically for the country and there had just been a bomb scare so all of the boys were out on the field and I was surprised to see my Dad walking down the corridor as he had been called over from the police station to sort it out. Mr Pape suggested we looked around the school anyway as it would be nice and quiet given all of the students were outside on the field! Nobody could have guessed that exactly 30 years later in 2009 I would walk into the school again as Headteacher. I wonder whether any of the 2,200 Year 7 students who I have welcomed into the school will go on to become Headteacher here. Gainsborough and its schools have given me so much for which I am eternally grateful!
Mr D Allsop
Headteacher
Having read David’s Newsletter article, you will be in no doubt of the commitment, care and love he has for this school and its wider community. My first interaction with David was as a parent governor back in 2010. However, I only really started to get an insight into the challenges of the Headteacher’s role when I became Chair of Governors and witnessed up close how the difficult stuff needs to be dealt with. That is the reason I have ‘plagiarised’ the title above - for in my dealings with David discussing and resolving the difficult stuff, he has shown himself to be a man of conscience and principle.
You will know yourselves the many strengths of his leadership and he has never failed to impress me with his dedication, energy and enthusiasm. A key part of his philosophy has been to empower staff. Going forward, we will reap the benefit of that with his legacy of strong middle and senior leaders with a commitment to providing our young people with an outstanding teaching and learning environment.
One of David’s many achievements was the mobilisation of parents/guardians, local business leaders and the County Council to attract the funding to renovate College House – now the very vibrant heart of the School’s Sixth Form. Since 1920, College House had been part of the Girls’ High School in Gainsborough but had stood empty and boarded up since the late 1990s. David’s vision was to re-invigorate this Victorian example of philanthropy for the benefit of not only the school, but for the young people of Gainsborough and the surrounding area.
Placing QEHS firmly as part of the fabric of Gainsborough has been important to David and has become a key pillar of our mission to be seen as a local Grammar School for Gainsborough, providing an outstanding educational experience for those children of the town and its locality who are academically able, irrespective of their background.
David has also overseen a step change in the international work of the school and is rightly proud of the perspective this provides our students and staff. QEHS has run exchange trips to schools in Tanzania, China, Spain and Germany and David has been proactive in welcoming teacher visits from schools as far apart as Guadeloupe and Australia. QEHS is now recognised for our exceptional work in international education through the International School Award.
I will close with some reflections from a fellow governor who has known David since his arrival as Headteacher. It encapsulates the messages I have had from a number of governor colleagues. From the beginning, he was a truly honourable man who worked with his staff and his students to improve all aspects of the school. The words caring, considerate, kind, professional and always being approachable spring to mind. I have so enjoyed working with him and will miss his warm enthusiasm and his kindness enormously.
So, a huge thank you David. You refer to Headteachers as simply being the current custodians of their school. Well, this may be true, but in my experience, there is nothing simple in being a Headteacher and we have been extremely fortunate to have benefitted from your time and your leadership in that crucial role. We wish you all the very best for the future.
Julian White
Chair of Governors
This term's Headteacher's Commendation goes to the fantastic Sixth Form Senior Student Team, for their hard work delivering a virtual Sixth Form Open Evening to be proud of in November. It is unusual for this award not to go to individual students, but Mr Allsop found it impossible to choose between them. Your teachers have learnt a lot from the work that you did, which will be used to attract future Sixth Formers in the years to come. Thank you.
Congratulations all!!
Head Boy: Ben J and Head Girl: Erin G;
Deputy Head Boys: Aryan B, Anas S, Josh C
and Deputy Head Girls: Davawn K, Jaya G, Sarah P;
Senior Team: Ellie B, Georgina C, Neve C, Lauren M, Finnley S, Arthana T.
Annual Senior Presentation Evening
Virtual Event - Wednesday 16 December 2020 at 19.00
As with so many events this year, we have had to adopt a new way of doing things. However, the show must go on and awards were able to be presented to many of the students in advance of the calendared date for the Senior Presentation Evening. Below is the Programme of Events and the virtual event will be available to view on the QEHS YouTube Channel from 19.00 today.
* * *
Programme of Events
Welcome from Dr Julian White, Chair of Governors
Headteacher’s Address
Guest Speaker – Alumnus Rebecca Brierley
Presentation of Prizes to Year 11
Musical Interlude
Presentation of Prizes to Years 12 and 13
Musical Interlude
Presentation of Subject Prizes
Presentation of All-round Achievement Prizes
Vote of Thanks from Head Boy and Girl, Ben and Erin
Geographical Association Worldwise Quiz
Congratulations to Kishna H, 11D and Hansith R, 11A who formed our GCSE Geography Quiz Team and were runners up in the local Geographical Association Worldwise Quiz. When the results were combined with the Southern Round, our team finished 7th in Lincolnshire.
"As a team of two they were very impressive. Well done to them both!" commented Mrs J Bargh, Deputy Head of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Horncastle, (Lincoln Geographical Association Committee Member).
Year 10 Enterprise Challenge goes with a Bang!
Congratulations PE from us all at QEHS!
Mr J Burge
Head of PE and Sport Department
Active School Award 2020, Sport Department of the Year 2019 (Sec/HE/FE) 2019 Active Lincolnshire Physical Activity and Sport Awards
National School Games Gold Award 2018/2019
Follow us on twitter and instagram @QEHSPE
It was great to see so many students take part in our STEM competition, designing banners for Google Classroom.
The winning designs have been used on Google Classroom and Twitter @QEHSScience.
Thank you to all those who took part and congratulations to the winners, who each received a Science Encyclopaedia:
Well done Charlotte P, Jonah R, Oliver P.
Mr D Hearnshaw
STEM Coordinator
Congratulations to Isabelle M 9C achieving Grade 5 Music Theory and Alice D 10E for gaining Grade 3 Music Theory with Distinction!
Remember that students and parents can keep sharing good news stories with the school, just click Submit Content at the top of this page, or email [email protected] .
Kids can eat free at some Lincolnshire supermarkets throughout December, as reported by Lincolnshire Live below:
https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/lincoln-news/kids-can-eat-free-lincolnshire-4777672
The 'Fight Hunger Create Change' programme will offer Under 16s free meals (take away in Tier 3) until 31 December 2020, excluding Christmas Day. There is no minimum spend requirement nor restrictions on the number of children in a family or group that can take advantage of this offer.
If customers wish to support their local community, you may wish to buy an extra item and donate it to the food bank collections in many stores.
Mrs E Watson
Assistant Headteacher
Platinum Extra Curricular Reward
Congratulations to our first student to reach the Platinum Extra Curricular Reward!
Fabulous Tiegan, 9D is our first student to be placed on the PE Extra Curricular Wall of Honour for Outstanding Achievement. This is in recognition of her phenomenal commitment to physical activity - displayed before, during and after the restrictions we have all experienced recently.
Yet again Tiegan proves to be an excellent role model for us all to get moving: ‘Maximising Participation and Developing Excellence’, which is at the heart of our PE and Sport Department.
Mr J Burge
Head of PE and Sport Department
Active School Award 2020, Sport Department of the Year 2019 (Sec/HE/FE) 2019 Active Lincolnshire Physical Activity and Sport Awards
National School Games Gold Award 2018/2019
Follow us on twitter and instagram @QEHSPE
The Peer Listening Service is a valuable resource, run every year by our School Counsellor Diane Hall, a registered member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists.
This year's Terrific 10 are Garna 12A, Arwen 12E, Max 12C, Mohsen 12E, Hanley 12E, Georgina 13C, Nat 13E, Finn 13E, Emily 13D and Georgia 13A.
and the Fab 4! Alfie 11S, Lydia 11S, Alfie 10E and (in training) Barry 9A.
The team have been busy finding ways to connect with the student body, despite not being able to meet other students outside of their Year Group bubbles. Please see the presentation below to help students navigate the school website and find the support the need.
There was an amazing number of responses, 128 entries in total raising £205. The judges, Jo Bird and Bob Riach said:
"There were some really super images and it was difficult to choose".
"I'm really thrilled to say the judges selected this photo taken by Matthew in 8S as the winner! As the competition was open to the public, I think that's a massive achievement! The judges liked the beautiful atmosphere of Matthew's photo with the colours captured extremely well. They said the figures provide great subjects for focus, and the light rays pouring over the landscape give calm and serenity."
Thank you to everyone who took part.
Joanna B 12D
Students in Years 9–11 will have received their chances graphs this term, shortly after they received their grade card. Chances graphs are a powerful way of communicating a student’s current performance grade and the range of grades which are projected for that student at GCSE.
A typical chances graph is shown below. The graph is bespoke to each student and for each subject. It is a bar graph that shows the final GCSE grades of students who were of similar ability. The student’s current grade is shown with a coloured bar. Chances graphs show the grade that the majority of the students of similar ability achieved, but they also show that higher grades (and lower!) are very much within every student’s reach.
Please remember, all grades are possible and the final GCSE grade is very much down to the individual student to achieve. The chances graphs simply show the grades that students of similar ability have achieved in the past. We hope that chances graphs are helpful. If you would like to discuss them further then please contact Mr Kingdom via the School Office.
Typical chances graphs for a student in Year 9:
There have been strange sightings around school lately. A bright white Lincoln Imp has been spotted, sitting and laughing as students go about their daily business!
2021 sees the launch of the Imp Trail in Lincoln, a follow-on to the hugely successful Knights’ Trail in 2018 and QEHS is taking part.
The 2018 Knights’ Trail
The mystery Imp
The Art Department are leading the Imp Project within school and set students the task of designing a pattern to decorate him earlier this term:
So please stay tuned and watch out for the QEHS Imp!
Mrs Walsh
Head of Art
Download the pdf below to view this term's message from the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership:
Versions can also be found on the Covid 19 Student and Parent webpages. Click here to view the student poster, the film clip is definitely worth a watch for any road user.
OUR FUNDRAISING PAGE IS HERE!
You have probably already heard of ‘easyfundraising’ and ‘Give as you Live’. Both sites donate to our school charity ‘QEHS Foundation, Gainsborough’. We are using these great websites to help raise much needed funds for QEHS - simply by shopping online, through retailers making a small donation to say ‘thank you’ for using their services.
There are many worthy causes out there, but if you haven’t signed up to any, why not support us? It’s easy and completely FREE. These donations really help QEHS, so it would be great if you could take a moment to get started!
EASYFUNDRAISING
easyfundraising has over 4,200 shops including all the big names like eBay, Argos, ASOS and even Just Eat! To register with easyfundraising use this unique link and just click sign up to support Queen Elizabeth’s High School, Gainsborough:
Once you’ve signed up and raised £5 in donations, easyfundraising will give us an extra £5 donation. Plus, if you’re planning to switch your car and home insurance or energy provider, you can save money and raise upto £45 as well. Uswitch, GoCompare, Confused.com and many more will all donate for FREE.
AMAZON SMILE
As an Amazon shopper you can use Amazon Smile which is a slightly different sign up, but if you wish to add QEHS Foundation, Gainsborough as your preferred charity, Amazon will make regular donations when you shop online:
GIVE AS YOU LIVE
To help us raise even more funds for FREE you may find other retailers for your online shopping via Give as you Live! Over 4,000 top stores including John Lewis & Partners, Expedia and Marks & Spencer turn a percentage of your spend into free funds for QEHS Foundation, Gainsborough!
Just sign up, search for the retailer and start shopping. It's that simple! To get started today please click on the button below and fundraise when you shop online:
Share with your friends and family for QEHS Foundation Gainsborough to receive an additional automatic £5 donation from Give as You Live.
If you would like to support the school financially with no catch or hidden charges, please register with easyfundraising, Amazon Smile and/or Give As You Live in the run up to Christmas.
QEHS Foundation and in turn the students at Queen Elizabeth’s High School, Gainsborough will be really grateful for your donations. For future updates please see: www.qehs.lincs.sch.uk/support-us. Merry Christmas!
THANK YOU!
Miss Spencer was delighted to hear that Oli in 8D had her logo design chosen for the new company logo of Magna Accident Services.
Managing Director, Jodi Daubney commented "This re-brand is really exciting! Magna is a family run company so it is extra special that my daughter has designed our new logo. I posted on Linkedin and have received some really positive comments."
Congratulations Oli!
Do you keep up to date with all the latest school news and events on Twitter? You may have already seen this news @ALevelProduct
https://twitter.com/QueenElizHigh / https://twitter.com/ALevelProduct and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/qehsdt/
A company called Full Support Group based in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire that make disposable masks have decided to give back to the educational community in these trying times by donating to school a quantity of masks. These masks have now arrived and we are very grateful for them.
Every member of staff has received one box of 50 masks and Form Tutors of Year 7 to 11 will also be receiving one box for students use if and when they need them.
Masks (for 50p) will continue to be available at Reception for main school and Year 12 and 13 students will continue to access masks if needed, from College House reception.
If staff or students would like to make a contribution to the 'NHS Working Together Charity' as a thank you, they can now do so through Parentmail using the item ‘Disposable Face Mask’.
Thank you so much to Full Support Group!
We are fortunate in that we are able to offer Speakers For Schools' lectures to our students, which have seen a great uptake over the past 2 terms.
This term we are delighted receive a lecture, (for QEHS students only, Years 11-13), via Google Meet. The lecturer is Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Chair of Cancer Research UK and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
He will speak for about 20 minutes and then invite our students to ask questions. Some of his extensive professional experiences are listed below:
Sir Leszek Borysiewicz
A Chair of Cancer Research UK and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was Chief Executive of the UK’s Medical Research Council from 2007, and from 2001 to 2007.
At Imperial College London, he served as Principal of the Faculty of Medicine and later as Deputy Rector. As Deputy Rector of Imperial College, Sir Leszek was responsible for the overall academic and scientific direction of the institution, particularly the development of inter-disciplinary research between engineering, physical sciences and biomedicine.
Concurrently with his position at Imperial College, Sir Leszek was also Governor of the Wellcome Trust (2006-2007), Chairman of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration’s Integrated Academic Training Awards Panel (2005-2007), and Chair of the HEFCE RAE Main Panel A Assessment Panel.
Professor Borysiewicz was knighted in the 2001 New Year’s Honours List for his contribution to medical education and research into developing vaccines, including work towards a vaccine to combat cervical cancer.
Please talk to your child about Speakers For Schools and encourage them to view the library of lectures that it offers.
Mr J Kingdom
Assistant Headteacher
The Senior Student Team presented Mr Allsop with an oak tree on behalf of all of the students at QEHS, in recognition of the hard work and dedication he has put into our school over this past decade.
The tree, grown in Lincolnshire, is approximately the same age as our current Sixth Form Students. Ironically it started life in a Boston garden before coming to put down its roots with us in Gainsborough; drawing a parallel with Mr Allsop, who started his own grammar school education here at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, then moved to Boston Grammar School, before returning to QEHS as Headteacher!
We hope that in the years to come "from the tiny acorn, the mighty oak" will grow, lasting longer than all of our times here - just as the love of education that Mr Allsop fostered here will last long after we say goodbye.
Merry Christmas to all of the QEHS Community!
12
Tue
12 Jan 2021
12
Tue
12 Jan 2021
GCSE Recital Rehearsal
GCSE Recital 18.30
12
Tue
12 Jan 2021
Cancelled: Senior Music Recital
19
Tue
19 Jan 2021
19
Tue
19 Jan 2021
Senior Recital Rehearsal
Senior Music Recital 18.30
19
Tue
19 Jan 2021
Cancelled: Junior Music Recital
26
Tue
26 Jan 2021
26
Tue
26 Jan 2021
Recital Rehearsal
Junior Music Recital 16.30-20.00
26
Tue
26 Jan 2021