Queen Elizabeth's High School
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Morton Terrace
Gainsborough Lincolnshire DN21 2ST
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Email: [email protected]
Phone: 01427 612354
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Term 4 Newsletter 20/21

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Term 4 Newsletter 20/21

As I write this introduction we are almost at the end of the spring term and what a term it has been. As we have all been getting back into the swing of school life on site we have embarked upon and completed the mass testing of our students and staff, but more of that later.

As a society we have all had to work, learn and socialise online which has led to a number of us learning new skills and discovering more efficient ways of working and carrying out other tasks related to our professions. Nothing though, beats face to face interactions when it comes to education and although our staff upskilled and became more than proficient in online teaching it was wonderful to welcome our students and staff back on site and to have real live conversations and interactions; what a difference! I’m sure as parents you were relieved, if not a little anxious, to send your children back into school.

We are living through what will become a stand out point in history and it is right that we take stock of what we have gone through and suffered throughout this pandemic. On Tuesday 23 March we took part in a national day of reflection to mark a year of the pandemic. Students spent time with their tutors during afternoon registration discussing the impact of the pandemic followed by a 1 minute silence. A space has been created near reception to display work created by students which expresses their feelings and emotions.

Our Year 11 and Year 13 students are about to embark on a period where teachers will assess their work to ensure that they get the grades they deserve to go on to their next stage of education or employment, and we all wish them the very best of luck as they work hard to realise their ambitions and dreams.

Mass testing on site finished officially on Friday 19 March but there have been catch up sessions since this date. We have carried out three waves of mass testing and now feel our students are equipped to carry this out independently at home for the foreseeable future. Our wonderful support staff have done a remarkable job, organising and facilitating the testing across both school halls. It should be noted that they have been planning and training since December and all of this would not have been possible without our volunteers and support staff who have taken on this challenge in addition to their daily workload. Our students and staff will now continue to test at home using the kits distributed at school which means that QEHS continues to be a safe environment for everybody.

Mr Russell and I would like to thank parents and guardians for their continued support over our short tenure, and as we wait excitedly for our new Headteacher, Mr Eastham, to start on 1 April. We would like to thank you all for the messages of support and appreciation that you have sent to the teaching staff acknowledging the wonderful work they have put in this year.

Thank you all, and enjoy a safe and restful Easter break. 

Mr N Allan

Co-Headteacher

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Congratulations to Charlie R 9A for receiving this term's Head Teacher's Commendation Award.

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Charlie was a tremendous help to the English Department, his teacher and fellow classmates during lockdown lessons.
By sharing links on screen and trouble-shooting access problems with other students, he was able to support the learning of others.
Well done and thank you!
Year 9
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Thank you to all the amazing support staff and volunteers who were involved in the mass testing programme from 8– 19 March. The programme involved two weeks of testing students almost all day every day. All involved were fully trained and highly competent in their varying roles and this resulted in a very efficient testing process. This was a fantastic team effort with everyone working well together to support this really important process to ensure a safer environment within school. It has to be said that, despite any anxieties surrounding the testing process, the students were well behaved, mature and a credit to both the school and their families.

Thank you also to those staff who have provided a testing facility for all staff and students in school on a daily basis since January. The test centres have now been returned to use as school halls, but we do continue to have a testing bay available should anyone require use of it (or support with self-testing) moving forward.

Please remember students and staff should continue to test twice weekly at home on Saturdays and Wednesdays. We will replenish stocks over the coming weeks as required. The links to report your results can be found on the school website under the News & Updates/COVID-19 section.

Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 13
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It seems like such a long time ago now but you may remember that, following our successful grant application to the Wolfson Foundation in 2019, we were awarded a grant towards science lab refurbishment in January 2020. Following many delays over the past year – and a fortunate (and very gratefully received) grant extension - our science lab refurbishment is now underway. Lab 8 and Lab 64 were the two labs identified as being in the most need of refurbishment.  Both labs were taken out of action after school on 1 April and are now mid-refurbishment. Lab 64 is due to be returned to use shortly after the Easter holidays and Lab 8 by the end of April. Whilst it will be sad to see the historic and characterful lab benches go, it is absolutely essential for the science department to have facilities which provide the best possible environment for teaching and learning, meeting the requirements of modern science up to A Level.

There will be further lab refurbishment (and also wider school) projects to follow and so watch this space for the developments and how you might be able to support us.

Lab 8 Design

Lab 64 Design

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Congratulations to the 3 Year 7 winners of the Year 6 Welcome  Booklet Design!
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Isobelle and Evelyn, 7A and Meisha 7S all offered advice and support in preparation for the upcoming Year 7 students. Each of them recalled the information that would have helped them on starting QEHS in September, ranging from navigating the buses to making new friends. The booklet is updated annually with new advice from the current Year 7.
Year 7
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It is fantastic to hear what Year 12 student Arwen has been doing at the Gainsborough Salvation Army foodbank collection. She has carried out voluntary work there the whole way through lockdown. This much needed voluntary work will count towards her Duke of Edinburgh. See the Gainsborough Salvation Army website for further information. 

Arwen is pictured below with Captain Wendy Brown of the Gainsborough Salvation Army.

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Well done Arwen, QEHS and your family are extremely proud of your efforts!

Year 12
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Since 1920 Gainsborough has had a High School, originally for the education of girls, the school moved to our site in 1921. (There has been a boys' grammar school in Gainsborough since 1589, moving to the current site in 1940.)
Thanks to the Gainsborough Heritage Association we have been able to display some of the archive materials which have been donated from members of the Old Girls' Association and other ex students over the years.
Original 1921 photo of the 'First 50' girls, photo albums from 1954,1966.
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  GHS_1st_Headmistress.jpg
Technology: Make Do and Mend!
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Fantastic news for Oliver S (12S) announced as the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (CPSA) top Junior Shooter for England in his discipline Down the Line and 3rd in UK which covers England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. This is an amazing achievement congratulations Oliver!

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Here is the blurb that has been written on his CPSA shooting pages, https://www.cpsa.co.uk/

"2020 was a tough year for everyone. There is no doubt it was mentally and physically difficult. 

Throughout our sport there were restrictions that prevented competitions and training and you had to plan, change plans, re do plans and completely ignore plans for events and training.

On top of this a diagnosis of cancer with Olivier's mother, plus the mess and fiasco of GCSE’s, 2020 took a massive toll on Oliver. Competing was a good way of focussing energy and concentrating.

So today Oliver is extremely pleased to have been placed 3rd Junior in the CPSA rankings and 1st in England for Juniors at DTL 1000 targets 3 grounds in the CPSA 61st rankings.

This was the hardest year for competing. Every day we had to check if we could compete. At no time was a lockdown or restriction broken. Even the routes taken to some events were checked to make sure a lock down area wasn't crossed in the travel to and from events.

The stop start nature of the lock downs had a toll on competitors as you couldn’t keep the same form and training. Just competing at 3 grounds and 1000 targets was a logistical nightmare.

Oliver has 1 sponsor, Bowman traps. If your going to train use the best. 

Bowman are located just a few miles from Oliver so its especially nice to have the local connection. Thank you all the team at Bowman’s

 

We would like to thank a few people:

Bowmans obviously for their support

Carl and the team at Nottingham District Gun Club

Charlie Dean for his training and coaching

British Shooting

CPSA"

CPSA shooting pages, https://www.cpsa.co.uk/

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Congratulations to Arwen 12E who has been re-selected for a second year with 'Fighting Chance' - the GB Olympic Taekwondo Pathway programme.

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Well done Arwen!

Year 12
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Congratulations to Garna W (12A) for passing his grade 7 piano examination.

Year 12
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50 parents and supporters are using a great website called easyfundraising to help raise money for Queen Elizabeth's High School, Gainsborough - simply by shopping online. Thank you for raising £34.95 this month!

easyfundraising turns your everyday online shopping into FREE donations when you use them to shop with over 4,000 retailers such as eBay, John Lewis, Argos, ASOS and Booking.com. It is the retailer that then make a small donation to say ‘thank you’ and easyfundraising transfers those free funds to your good cause.

If you would like to register in support of QEHS, with a chance to WIN a £500 donation in the Easter Giveaway, please use the link below to sign up. You'll also earn TWO extra entries if you make a purchase with any of the featured retailers before 4 April.

easyfundraising.org.uk/giveaway/easte

Plus, once you’ve signed up and raised £5 in donations, easyfundraising will give us an extra £5 donation.

There’s no catch or hidden charges and we will be really grateful for your donations.

Thank you.

For more information see our Support Us webpage here

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Our virtual school counselling service will be running on Wednesday 7 and 14 April only through the Easter break. Contact Diane through email or Google Hangouts in the usual way.

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For further information see The School: Welfare on our school website.
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#Justoneswap

My name is Amy White, and this is how I started working to help save our oceans during my gap year.

I was a Year 13 student at QEHS last year and due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the exam marking situation I ended up taking an enforced gap year to get my dream place at Oxford University.

With travel completely out of the picture, and wanting to make the most of my time, I contacted a handful of ocean conservation charities in search of an opportunity to help out in an area I am passionate about.

An organisation called Just One Ocean responded and we began working together on a TikTok social media campaign. The campaign is called #Justoneswap and aims to promote small but effective changes we can make to reduce the amount of plastic we use. The driving force behind the idea was knowing that the oceans are essential for our existence on this planet, and if they are full of plastic, and not functioning as they should, we are not only hindering our survival but the survival of all marine organisms.

The process of shifting to a greener, more plastic-free lifestyle is an overwhelming adjustment and therefore my goal was to promote simple swaps, such as swapping from shampoo bottles to shampoo bars (which work just as well), to make the change progressive and gradual. I hope to encourage a ‘#justoneswap at a time approach’, as every change we make significantly reduces how much plastic enters our oceans as plastic pollution. If you would like to have a look at the campaign, and maybe implement some of these ideas into your daily life, head over to the Just One Ocean TikTok account or click the link below:

https://justoneocean.org/

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Apr
19
Mon

19 Apr 2021

Event Info
Apr
19
Mon

19 Apr 2021

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Apr
19
Mon

19 Apr 2021

Apr
19
Mon

19 Apr 2021

Event Info
Apr
19
Mon

19 Apr 2021

Event Info
Apr
19
Mon

19 Apr 2021

Year 13
Apr
22
Thu

22 Apr 2021

4:30 PM to 7:30 PM

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Apr
22
Thu

22 Apr 2021

4:30 PM to 7:30 PM

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Apr
22
Thu

22 Apr 2021

4:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Year 7
Apr
21
Wed

21 Apr 2021 - 23 Apr 2021

Event Info
Apr
21
Wed

21 Apr 2021 - 23 Apr 2021

Window 1: Wednesday 21 April–Friday 30 April

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Apr
21
Wed

21 Apr 2021 - 23 Apr 2021

Year 11
Apr
26
Mon

26 Apr 2021 - 30 Apr 2021

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Apr
26
Mon

26 Apr 2021 - 30 Apr 2021

Window 1: Wednesday 21 April–Friday 30 April

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Apr
26
Mon

26 Apr 2021 - 30 Apr 2021

Year 11
Apr
21
Wed

21 Apr 2021 - 23 Apr 2021

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Apr
21
Wed

21 Apr 2021 - 23 Apr 2021

Window 1: Wednesday 21 April–Tuesday 27 April

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Apr
21
Wed

21 Apr 2021 - 23 Apr 2021

Year 13
Apr
26
Mon

26 Apr 2021 - 27 Apr 2021

Event Info
Apr
26
Mon

26 Apr 2021 - 27 Apr 2021

Window 1: Wednesday 21 April–Tuesday 27 April

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Apr
26
Mon

26 Apr 2021 - 27 Apr 2021

Year 13
May
17
Mon

17 May 2021 - 21 May 2021

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May
17
Mon

17 May 2021 - 21 May 2021

Window 2: Monday 17 May–Wednesday 26 May.

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May
17
Mon

17 May 2021 - 21 May 2021

Year 11
May
24
Mon

24 May 2021 - 26 May 2021

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May
24
Mon

24 May 2021 - 26 May 2021

Window 2: Monday 17 May–Wednesday 26 May.

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May
24
Mon

24 May 2021 - 26 May 2021

Year 11
May
19
Wed

19 May 2021 - 21 May 2021

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May
19
Wed

19 May 2021 - 21 May 2021

Window 2: Wednesday 19 May–Tuesday 25 May.

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May
19
Wed

19 May 2021 - 21 May 2021

Year 13
May
24
Mon

24 May 2021 - 25 May 2021

Event Info
May
24
Mon

24 May 2021 - 25 May 2021

Window 2: Wednesday 19 May–Tuesday 25 May.

Event Info
May
24
Mon

24 May 2021 - 25 May 2021

Year 13
May
24
Mon

24 May 2021

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May
24
Mon

24 May 2021

Event Info
May
24
Mon

24 May 2021

Year 8
May
28
Fri

28 May 2021

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May
28
Fri

28 May 2021

Event Info
May
28
Fri

28 May 2021