Filter Content
- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
- Message from the Headteacher
- Queen Elizabeth's High School is a Top 10 School
- The Royal British Legion
- Remembrance Day
- Supporting Minds
- Have a Tree-mendous Christmas
- Gainsborough Virtual Christmas Light Switch On
- Term 1 Headteacher's Commendation Award - Luke Kerrigan
- Term 2 Headteacher Commendation Award - May Coggon
- Scientist of the Year Awards
- Year 10 Enterprise Challenge
- STEM
- BBC Good Food Show
- Bedrock Vocabulary Learning Programme
- English Speaking Union Competition
- House Public Speaking
- Young Writers
- Water Polo
- National Taekwondo Championships
- Sixth Form Football Team
- Music Exams
- Lincolnshire Music Service Autumn Concert
- Mayflower 400 Event
- Sixth Form Open Evening
- Year 10 and 12 Work Experience - Time to get moving!
- Head of Year 7
- Safeguarding
- ParentMail Revision Guides
- Term 2 Grade Cards
- House Chess Results
- Term 3 House Events
- The Gainsborough Grammar School - 1940s
- Mvumi School Trust
- School Closure Updates During Severe Weather
As the festive season approaches, the QEHS community can look back on another very busy and highly productive term!
We are thrilled that the school has been listed in The Sunday Times Top 10 State Secondary Schools in the East Midlands where top A* to B grades at A Level and 9-7 grades at GCSE from the past three years of externally assessed and moderated public examinations have been used to identify the highest performing schools in the region. At a time when it may be more challenging to make substantiated claims of academic prowess based on outcomes from 2020 and 2021, the data provided by Parent Power for The Sunday Times rankings helps to provide parents with a more reliable guide to academic achievement in schools, particularly when QEHS is placed in the top 240 nationally out of over 1,700 schools.
Everyone is hopeful therefore that this summer will see the return of a ‘traditional’ exam season where QEHS students who have worked so incredibly hard over the past two academic years may be afforded a fair and level playing field to shine brightly once again on the national stage. As you will be aware, we have ensured a suite of assessment periods for Year 11 and Year 13 students are in place should there be the need to refer to Centre Assessed Grades once again this year. The advice of course is for students to keep their eyes on the prize and to strive towards excellence this summer whilst paying due care and attention to each of the preceding assessment points in order to generate a bank of impressive grades. The Year 11 mocks held this term will have been the first test of examination prowess and should be referenced to spur each student on to even bigger and better outcomes in August.
This term has seen the welcome return of specially focussed days such as the Sixth Form Advanced Study day, PSHE workshops for Year 10 and a Learning Performance day for Year 11. Together with a series of guest presentations in assemblies to open students’ eyes to the range of career routes available to them, plus the hard-hitting ‘Too Fast, Too Young’ production to alert the Sixth Form to the risks as young drivers, these unique and innovative inputs from beyond the school gates have been most welcome. Hosting guest speakers and presenters is always a pleasure as not only are students afforded a differing perspective, but guests are always quick to praise the good manners, intelligence and maturity of the groups of youngsters they work with.
It was with pride and pleasure that we welcomed parents and students to our Sixth Form Open Evening in November. There was a real buzz around College House as over 170 families came to see our post-16 facilities and to speak with staff about A Level options and our extended Sixth Form offer. It was wonderful to meet so many enthusiastic students looking to the future and supportive parents seeking the very best for their children.
A notable highlight of the Sixth Form Open Evening, and commented upon by visiting parents, was the warmth and confidence conveyed by students who were supporting staff in the subject information bases. QEHS students embody the pride, passion and success associated with the school, and as you will see in the pages of this newsletter the outcomes and achievements whether academic, sporting or through charity work, cannot fail to impress.
Thank you for your unswerving support, particularly this term, as the solidarity and commitment of the QEHS community continues to deliver. A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you all.
Mr R M Eastham
Headteacher
Queen Elizabeth's High School is a Top 10 School
Staff and students of Queen Elizabeth’s High School are thrilled to be listed in The Sunday Times Top 10 State Secondary Schools in the East Midlands where top A* to B grades at A Level and 9-7 grades at GCSE from the past three years of externally assessed and moderated public examinations have been used to identify the highest performing schools in the region. At a time when it may be more challenging to make substantiated claims of academic prowess based on outcomes from 2020 and 2021, the data provided by Parent Power for The Sunday Times rankings helps to provide parents with a more reliable guide to academic achievement in schools, particularly when QEHS is placed in the top 240 nationally out of over 1,700 schools.
Mr Eastham, Headteacher
We would like to say a huge thank you and congratulations to our staff and students for raising £182.29 for the Royal British Legion Poppy appeal by purchasing poppies in school.
We also raised £380 for the Royal British Legion from Wear it Red day on Friday 05 November!
When you go home, tell them of us and say,
for your tomorrow, we gave our today.
Highlights of our Remembrance Day:
Supporting Minds is a not for profit organisation providing a range of professionally recognised training and therapy services. In Term 5, we raised £973 for them from Civvies day. They have sent a thank you card for everyones kind donations.
Main Entrance
Decorated by the Sixth Form Marketing Team
Upper School Foyer
Decorated by students in 7B
Gainsborough Virtual Christmas Light Switch On
A few weeks ago, we had a member of a film crew and a town councillor visit our school to record our choir singing. Well done to our choir for their fantastic perfomance.
Cllr Matt Boles said:
The final full video has now been published in the Town Councils website and we are delighted with the outcome.
https://gainsborough-tc.gov.uk/christmas-video/
On behalf of Gainsborough Town Council can I wish you all and your children a very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.
Term 1 Headteacher's Commendation Award - Luke Kerrigan
Well done to Luke Kerrigan, 13B, who has won the Term 1 Headteacher's Commendation Award. Luke has constantly volunteered in PE, running different clubs and activities, assisting at festivals, tournaments/competitions and linesman in football matches. He is so much more than a Sixth Former, it is like having another member of staff! He is a wonderful House Captain for Brunel and he is so inspirational for younger students.
Term 2 Headteacher Commendation Award - May Coggon
Well done to May Coggon, 11D, who has won the Term 2 Headteacher's Commendation Award for consistent support of House and drama events, dance championships (as per newsletter) and in recognition of her House Form Captain role. This support is always offered with good humour and all of this amidst her mock revision schedule too!
5 of our students were awarded Scientist of the Year at the University of Lincoln. Well done. What a fantastic achievement!
Andriana Castellan, 11S
Evan Armanious, 13E
Lance Holdom, 13E
Sadie Austin, 13S
Suzanne Timms, 11A
Students in Year 10 have taken part in an enterprise challenge competition this term as part of their careers curriculum. The competition aims to furnish students with cultural capital and skills for life, in particular by preparing them for the challenges of workplace. The students set up teams and devise, cost and market a Christmas product. The students replicate the roles that would be found in any company and hold meetings to develop their product. They experience the highs and lows of working collegiately and the process culminates in a Christmas market which, as well as being great fun, develops confidence and inter-personal skills. This year’s market raised well over a thousand pounds for school charities.
STEM Society has been very busy this term. The profile of STEM across the school has increased as more and more students are taking part in activities. The activities are designed to deliver STEM support and challenge beyond the curriculum. Some of the things the STEM Society have been doing:
Year 7 have taken part in the Robot Challenge, working as teams to program our Robots to perform tasks.
Year 7 have visited the Space Centre. Every week our STEM Ambassadors have delivered an exciting program of activities for Year 7, culminating in producing draught excluders for our local community. These support COP26 targets and help reduce winter energy bills. All draught excluders were given to The Salvation Army.
Year 8 have been looking at sustainable communities and long term projects that support COP26 targets. The students are working in small groups on their own environmental projects.
Year 8 have also visited the Space Centre, looking at the history of space exploration and rocket design.
Year 9, 10 and 11 students have had the opportunity to take part in activities that assist them in choosing STEM careers including:
- Women’s engineering society STEM fair
- An evening with Formula One and Bloomberg
- Insight University summer schools, 2022
- Bronze Industrial Cadet Award
- Imperial College STEM potential course
In the spring term we look forward to STEM fair and the return of QEHS outreach delivered by our STEM Ambassadors.
On Thursday 25 November, a selection of the DT students took the amazing opportunity to go to the BBC Good Food trip in the NEC, Birmingham. It sure lived up to expectations! As you walked in, there was hundreds of stalls, Christmas trees and baking stages. The stalls held all kind of foods from amazing ice-cream to spicy chillies! The food stalls also gave us the opportunity to taste food from all around the world, teaching us about many different cultures.
When we arrived, we were awestruck by the festive displays and the general Christmassy atmosphere. As soon as our tickets were scanned, we were whisked into a world of edible heaven. Rows upon rows of artisan vendors were to be found within the halls. Distinguished products were sold with love and care by sellers who knew their target audience and how to please them, by handing out many free samples. A key example was the luxury popcorn stand that had jars upon jars of free samples, with flavours extending from caramel to marmite and cheese on toast to 007!
At the far end of the hall sat an enormous theatre equipped with a flashy kitchen and christmas decorations. We had the privilege of watching Tom Kerridge concoct a sumptuous 3 course meal fit for a royal. Despite the slightly peculiar camera-man, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
We also had the enjoyment of watching and meeting 2 Bake Off semi-finalists from 2021 and 2019. Overall, we had an amazing time. Thank you to Mrs Jones and other teachers/organisers for making this trip possible. Would recommend!
Charlie Southwick, 10D
Bedrock Vocabulary Learning Programme
Our Year 9 students commenced their Bedrock vocabulary learning two months ago and have already achieved outstanding results. On average, the benchmark Bedrock outline for the autumn term is 40-60% participation. Our school’s overall usage last month was over 80% - this is incredible!
Bedrock Learning Platform helps students to learn very important academic vocabulary in order to support excellent progress at school and in further education. As our students progress through the programme, they will study hundreds of words, whilst reading fiction and non-fiction texts regularly. They will also fill in an online vocabulary notebook to practise using this vocabulary.
With the support of the English Department and Year 9 Form Tutors, our students are making excellent progress. 9A tutor group are our top performing group whilst 9D have made the most progress. Congratulations to Lucy Huddart, 9C, who has scored the highest number of points in the school and to George Richardson-Lee, 9D, who has made the most progress.
Mrs N Daubney
English Speaking Union Competition
Our fantastic Year 12 students (Henry Edwards, 12S, Michelle Vinesh, 12A, Freddie Coulson, 12D and Owen Ryan, 12S) took part in the first round of a very prestigious public speaking completion MACE organised by the English Speaking Union. The first round of the competition involved six secondary schools from Lincolnshire. Our team took part in a debate against Priory LSST proposing the motion that paternal leave should be made compulsory. The involved students had spent weeks drafting and practising their speeches in order to be successful; the students’ dedication was commendable. Their hard work paid off and they secured a place in the second, regional, round.
Well done Henry, Michelle, Freddie and Owen!
At last, we was back in the Library for this year’s Public Speaking. It did seems a long time since we have been able to hold this event.
Students really showed their eloquence, confidence and sometimes very strong points of views.
Well done to everyone who was involved in this year’s event and what an amazing event it was. We started with Seniors at 14.00 with very varied topics such as “Should paternity leave be compulsory” and the winning speech was Darwin with “Is the criminal justice system in the UK fit for purpose in a modern society”. This was a thought provoking speech with a team of Year 12 and 13 students. With a short break, we then started Inters at 16.00. These speeches were just as interesting, with titles such as “how music affects someone’s mental health” but the winning speech was from Churchill with a team of Year 9 students, titled “The legalisation of capital punishment”. The Rotary Club also presented prizes for best speakers on the night. For the Seniors, Elizabeth Wilson was presented the prize and Emily Brownbridge for Inters. Well done to you both.
We would really like to thank the Gainsborough Rotary Club for their ongoing support with judges for this event and donating the prizes to the students.
I would personally like to thank all students who have been involved in all House Events over the last 2 terms and look forward to a full calendar of events after Christmas.
Ms Frecknall
Well done to Meisha Roberts, 8S, whose poem has been selected to be published in a book called Trick Or Treat, showcasing young writers' and a copy of this will remain in the National Archives of the British Library forever.
Acrostic – Halloween
H – Halloween loads of sweets
A – A time to dress up
L – Little children collecting candy
L – Loads of sweets to go round
O – October is the time when it happens
W – When all the children are going around with their little buckets
E – Evil spirits lurking round every corner
E – Evil witches flying around
N – Neighbourhoods
We competed in the U17 EU Nation Cup form the Friday the 29 to Sunday 31 of October in Brno, Czech Republic. We competed alongside Scotland, Czech Republic, South Africa, Switzerland, Slovakia, Austria, and Lithuania. We came 7th in the tournament, we lost to Slovakia, Austria, Lithuania, and Switzerland and then won our final game against Scotland 16:9. I was England's second highest goal scorer with 6 goals, scoring 1 against Lithuania, 2 against Switzerland and the 3 against Scotland. This was my first time playing for England and was a great way to start my career and I am currently looking to continue my journey with England.
Henry Jackson, 11E
National Taekwondo Championships
Well done to Leo Creasy, 11D, who came a close second in the National Taekwondo Championships on Sunday 7 November, at the Copper Box Areana in London. He fought in the Junior -68kg males category and lost in the final by 2 points after getting through the round of 16, quarter finals and semi finals.
Congratulations to our Sixth Form Football Team who have won the County North A League, winning 5 out of 5 games and are now through to the fourth round of the National Cup.
Well done to the following students on their achievement in their Music Exam:
Alex Jacobs, 9S, Grade 5 Percussion with Distinction
Lewis Kerr, 10C, Grade 8 Percussion with Distinction
George Sacker, 9A, gained a Distinction in Grade 1 Viola
Emily Skelson, 13C, gained a Merit in Grade 7 Violin
Isabelle Martin, 10C, gained a Merit in Grade 7 Flute
Lincolnshire Music Service Autumn Concert
The Lincolnshire Music Service held a very successful Autumn concert on Friday 26 November, and six QEHS students took part:
Garna Wallace, 13A (violin)
Hollie Wilson, 13D (flute)
Molly Barley, 10E (cello)
Madeleine Walton, 10S (flute, keyboards)
Edward Barley, 8E (trumpet)
Well done to all!
This November was the final spectacular Mayflower 400 event in Gainsborough, closing the 400th anniversary commemorations marking the town’s connections to Pilgrims’ heritage.
2021 marks the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving in America. This year’s Illuminate took on the Thanksgiving theme in Gainsborough’s own way, as residents, schools and groups were invited to think about what they give thanks for and commemorate a shared heritage which connects the town to communities across the region and the world.
We took part in Illuminate online on Thursday 25 November, by sharing a photo on social media. Thank you to the following students who took part by making their own lanterns:
Emily Byers, Finley Ingram, James Thomas and Tymek Jamroz.
Thank you to all the students and staff who were involved in the Sixth Form Open Evening which was a great success.
Year 10 and 12 Work Experience - Time to get moving!
To enable the work experience programme to run smoothly and on schedule, could I please remind parents/guardians and students of some key points in the process:
- The paperwork (specified in more detail below) which students will need to assist them in applying for a work placement and to book their placement once an employer has confirmed that they are accepted, is on the school website. The Work experience area is under The School - Careers - Work experience.
- A guidance booklet is available for Year 10 students who have opted to take part in the programme and this includes a template for writing an application and I would advise using this, even if applying by email, to ensure the employer receives all the information they need to make an informed decision.
- The School support letter is also available and should be sent by both Year 10 and Year 12 students along with their application so that employers are aware of the placement dates, the Health and Safety process and that QEHS does support the application.
- There are two separate links to the Year 10 and Year 12 Google Forms. Students will need to fill in all the required areas of the form before submitting it to me. Please include as much detail as possible about the activities students will be doing on placement to assist our Health and Safety partners in drawing up your job description and carrying out your risk assessment.
- Please remember that the employer confirmation of the placement MUST be emailed or brought to me in person, as it cannot be attached to the Google Form and the placement cannot be processed without this confirmation.
- Christmas is a busy time but I would encourage students to apply for placements as soon as possible. Once we are back to school in January, the time will fly by until the deadline of 22 April and as other schools are sourcing placements at the same time as QEHS, there will be competition for places. Please put work experience on the “To do” list!
- I would encourage Year 12 students to take part in block Work Experience next July, or to source an extended placement for a Wednesday afternoon, to assist with their career aspirations. Evidence of work experience can sometimes be the deciding factor when employers are looking to recruit.
- A particular reminder for any parents/guardians whose child is considering a placement outside the East Midlands area covered by our Health and Safety partners. There are a significant number of Counties in England whose schools do not offer work experience anymore and, as a result, they do not have Health and Safety agencies who can carry out risk assessments for young people. It is therefore essential that students considering this option, see Mrs Thorpe at the very start of their application process to discuss whether the placement is likely to be able to go ahead.
- Finally a reminder that we cannot support placements in Scotland, Wales, Ireland or abroad and that the deadline for submission of Google Placement Forms, followed up by an emailed employer’s confirmation, for BOTH year groups is 22 April 2022 and there will NOT be an extension to this.
Thank you for your continued support with the work experience programme.
Mrs Janet Thorpe
Ahead of the New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to inform you of a change of personnel within the Year 7 team. Mrs Holland has taken the difficult decision to step down from her role as Head of Year. Following a competitive selection process last week, I am very pleased to let you know that Mr Fearn will now take up the position and lead the year group.
I am sure you will join me in thanking Mrs Holland for the fantastic work she did in the summer term and during Term 1 to ensure students joining us from our various feeder Primary schools enjoyed a successful Transition experience and settled quickly in to life at QEHS. Mrs Holland’s calm, empathetic and professional approach to all aspects of pastoral life was very much appreciated by students starting ‘big school’.
Moving forward we all wish Mr Fearn the very best for January when he will officially pick up Year 7 and go on to work with them over the next five exciting academic years.
Many congratulations Mr Fearn!
Mr R Eastham
Headteacher
Parents/guardians, please do not forget to look at our safeguarding tips on our website, including our most recent Safeguarding policy and a link to Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021, where you will find important additions such as contextualised safeguarding and peer on peer abuse.
When ordering books on ParentMail, please note this is a two-step process:
1. Place the order on ParentMail
2. Send an email to [email protected] informing us that you have placed an order.
When your books are ready for collection, your child will be notified and asked to collect them from the Library. If you have not received them within 10 days, please contact the Library.
The end of Term 2 is an important milestone in the reporting calendar. All students will receive grade cards matching their performance against the QEHS Learner Standards, which are shown below:
Students will also receive a current performance grade, although these will be later in Term 3 for students in Years 11 and 13. Students and parents may use the QEHS flightpath, which is shown below, to plot their current progress and likely end point:
For students in Years 7 – 9, grades on the grade card will be colour matched to the flightpath in order to help students and parents to interpret them:
Parents of students in Years 7 – 9 should also note that the annual report will be a detailed summary, provided by the Form Tutor rather than subject teachers. An example is below:
Students in Years 10 – 13 will continue to receive a written report from each of their subject teachers. In addition, students in Years 9 – 11 will receive a detailed analysis of their projected grades and profile in each subject via individual chances graphs and flightpaths. Chances graphs indicate the percentage of students, of similar ability, who have achieved each grade in each subject in previous years. The student’s current performance grade is superimposed:
Individual flightpaths plot a student’s grades in individual subjects:
Juniors |
Champions = Mathew Williams (Brunel) and Aden Lin (Elgar) - 5 wins out of 5 |
1st |
Brunel |
2nd |
Elgar |
3rd |
Austen |
4th |
Darwin |
5th |
Scott |
6th |
Churchill |
Seniors |
Champion = Jai Nanthakumar (Elgar) 5 wins out of 5 |
1st |
Elgar |
2nd |
Churchill |
3rd |
Darwin |
4th |
Scott |
Joint 4th |
Brunel |
6th |
Austen |
Intermediates |
Champion = Jana Alseifi (Scott) (4 wins and one draw) |
1st |
Elgar |
2nd |
Brunel |
Joint 2nd |
Churchill |
4th |
Scott |
5th |
Darwin |
6th |
Austen |
Overall |
|
1st |
Elgar 64 |
2nd |
Brunel 58 |
3rd |
Darwin 47 |
4th |
Scott 45 |
5th |
Austen 41 |
6th |
Churchill 35 |
The Gainsborough Grammar School - 1940s
A Parent sent a photo to us of Teachers when the school was The Gainsborough Grammar School, which they beleive is from the 1940s.
We raised £352 on civvies day in Term 6 for the Mvumi School Trust. Thank you to the parents/guardians who contributed. Please see below the Mvumi School Trust Newsletter where you can see what their funds are being spent on.
School Closure Updates During Severe Weather
For information on school closures during severe weather, please visit https://www.qehs.lincs.sch.uk/severe-weather