Filter Content
- Message from the Headteacher
- Headteacher's Commendation - Term 5
- The Route to Becoming Head Girl/Head Boy
- Pre-Loved Uniform Store
- School Games Gold Mark Award 2021/22
- The Queen's Platinum Jubilee
- Empowered - Poetry Competition
- Fantastic Work Isabelle
- The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme at QEHS
- QEHS made history reaching the National finals in Handball for the first time in our history
- ABRSM and Trinity Practical Music Exams
- District Track and Field Athletics Championships
- Grease Musical
- Isabelle Botfield, 7S, Epworth Netball U12 County League Champions
- Sports Leaders Qualification (SLQ) - Your Time Event
- Girls Active - Girls Leadership and Marketing in Sport (GLAMS) Inspiration Day
- The Year 7 School Games Golf Event
- Inspiring Dance... 5,6,7,8...
- Helen Sharman, Britain's First Space Explorer, speaks to Year 11
- Fascinating Physics Facts - Laser Bursts Drive Fastest Ever Logic Gates
- Work Experience – almost there!
- Civvies Day
- Lost Property
- Safeguarding at QEHS
- Support during Half Term
- Term 6 House Events
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Term 5 has of course seen both Year 11 and Year 13 students begin study leave and start their GCSE and A Level examinations. Both Leavers' Days were truly special occasions and it was fantastic for everyone to be able to fall back in to 'traditional' celebration events, much missed from the previous two years. Each year group and every individual within them are a credit to themselves, this school, and their families. They have finished their respective programmes of study very well prepared indeed and are primed for significant success this summer. The collective appreciation and admiration shown by the students to their teaching staff and pastoral teams, and in particular Mr Watt and Mr Dawson as Heads of Year, was heartfelt and genuine. What a very special bond the students and staff at Queenies share.
This latest edition of the school newsletter picks up on these themes of pride and success. Over the following pages you will read through details of the numerous examples of academic, sporting, musical and personal triumphs QEHS students have revelled in this term.
You are sure to be struck by the obvious pride and passion communicated by Harini and Kishna as they afford us an insight into the rigors of selection for Sixth Form Senior Team and, for them, their status as new Head Girl and Head Boy. What they have been typically too modest to say is that the genuine quality across the team this year is utterly outstanding. They rightly talk about a desire to leave a legacy and if the energy levels and determination already shown to date are anything to go by, this Senior Team are set to move mountains!
You will read how our drive for global domination in the world of sport continues as the fledgling Year 8 Girls Handball Team immediately romped to success at the East Midlands Championships and will now head off for the National Finals. Well done and good luck girls! Consequently, you will not necessarily be surprised to learn that the QEHS PE Department have secured the School Games Gold Award which recognises continual commitment and dedication to physical activity, school sport and the delivery of a diverse sporting curriculum. Yes, a bigger trophy cabinet is on order!
Elsewhere, you will be touched by the compassion shown by Isabelle which transcends generations, whilst evidence of Leadership for Learning is in abundance as exemplified by the GLAMS Inspiration Day, SQL Event and through recent DofE expeditions. Meanwhile, Learning to Learn is wonderfully evidenced through some stellar ABRSM grades, fascinating Physics facts and published poetry. Talent in abundance!
What with the curtain set to lift on the whole school musical production of Grease; the real-world career check of Work Experience on the horizon for Year 10; House rounders, golf, tennis and Sports Day for all; new GCSE courses for Year 9; Transition Days for budding Year 7s from our feeder Primaries; plus House Captain elections in Year 12; there is still plenty on the QEHS calendar to look forward to and get excited about. What a vibrant and successful school we are!
Kind regards,
Mr R Eastham
Headteacher
Headteacher's Commendation - Term 5
Congratulations to Lewis K, who was awarded the Term 5 Headteacher’s Commendation Award. Lewis was nominated by Mrs Lawrence who was very impressed with him for not only passing his Grade 8 Percussion exam with Distinction, but for being very supportive towards the Music department’s events and performances by attending extra rehearsals often outside of school time, and also setting up and striking equipment without being asked.
Well done Lewis!
The Route to Becoming Head Girl/Head Boy
30 of us applied with the same dreams and aspirations; to leave a legacy. We had hopes to be the best, to overcome all the challenges set before us, and come out on top. The filtering process had been designed to test whether candidates had what it takes to be on the Senior Team. Skills like, organisation and time management, public speaking, communication, and persuasion were all assessed. You had to have the respect and support of your peers, your teachers and everyone else around you too.
Firstly, all our ideas and opinions on what we wanted to add, and the role we wanted to play if we got the position were all written down on a manifesto. This was looked at by teachers to receive a judgement on each candidate, but also to see how our ideas would work, and the scope of them. This was the first stage of filtration.
On the 8th of March, the candidates who had been ‘long listed’ for the Senior Team delivered our first assembly to the Year 8 students. It was a rather fun experience to say the least, with the feeling of excitement and nervousness rushing through us. Throughout the week, we all became more and more confident about standing in front of an audience, and our speeches became more natural to us. It was through those assemblies that fellow students would decide who they would vote for and ultimately decide the members of the Senior Team. The experience not only tested our public speaking skills and our confidence, but also helped to enhance and develop them.
After the assemblies and filtering process, we had interviews with Mr Eastham and Mrs Haldenby. This wasn’t as worrying as delivering speeches to the other year groups as we knew what to expect and had time to prepare. We each had a fifteen-minute time slot to answer questions such as what we believed our strengths and weaknesses were, and how we could implement our ideas into the school. This was just like a professional job interview, and we all learnt a lot from it. As the interviews finished, we were both relieved but also quite on edge. We weren't sure how the other interviews had gone and what went through Mr Eastham's and Mrs Haldenby’s mind during them. All we could do was hope for the best and wait.
After what felt like an eternity, the last day of term finally arrived. Our hard work and efforts had eventually come to this point, and we would find out the results as we came to the end of the journey. As we all know by now, our persistence definitely paid off. As of the 25th of April, we are now officially Head Girl and Head Boy and believe us when we say we are absolutely buzzing.
We have a wonderful senior team which will endeavour to achieve greatness for the school. For those who do have anything they would want from the school please do go and reach out to them. They are very friendly and will most definitely try their best to be accommodating and see what they can deliver. We also want to thank those who supported and voted for us. Knowing that so many students were rooting for us does truly mean a lot to us and for that we will do anything in our power to improve and make the school an even better place for everyone.
We want to leave a legacy, and a good one at that. Like Harini said in her speech, we will follow Uncle Ben’s teaching and use our power responsibly to accomplish greater things. We hope we make you proud.
Once again, thank you for everything.
Harini, 12S, and Kishna, 12D
This year, Queen Elizabeth’s High School is hoping to open a pre-loved uniform store on site where students can donate their old uniforms to then be placed into the store and made available. As it is becoming a government requirement to offer affordable uniforms to students, we would like to open up an area on site where this uniform is accessible to all. This store aims to offer a wide variety of uniforms to students such as: blazers, skirts, PE kits, etc.
We intend for the store to be open at least once a half term as well as school events for example: Open Evenings and school performances.
This will be a student run store and if anyone has any questions please email [email protected] and the team will aim to answer as soon as possible!
Evie Colbeck
Abigail Hackney
Grace Huddart
School Games Gold Mark Award 2021/22
We are delighted to announce that we have achieved the School Games Gold Mark Award for the 2021/22 academic year. The School Games Mark is a Government-led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust to reward and recognise school’s engagement (provision and uptake) in the School Games against a national benchmark and to celebrate keeping young people active. We are delighted to have been recognised for our success. We are extremely proud of our pupils for their dedication to all aspects of physical activity and school sport, including those young volunteers, leaders and officials who make our events possible. This award is testament to our fantastic extra-curricular provision and our House sporting system.
We are committed to using the School Games to try and engage those young people who have not previously been active or represented our school and to try and ensure that all our students have a positive experience and want to try out new activities beyond school too, in our community. We believe in the power of physical activity and school sport and as a school we will continue to afford young people the opportunities that they seek as a participants, leaders, officials or volunteers.
Mr J Burge
Head of PE
On Friday 27 May, we celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II with a Civvies Day by allowing students to wear red, white and blue clothing. Our Senior Team organised a fair at lunchtime which involved stalls, where students were able to sell homemade cakes and play games. The total raised from the fair was £670.78. This money will go to the charity ‘I CAN - Invalid Children's Aid Nationwide’.
Later in the afternoon our Senior Team planted a tree outside the front of the school to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. This tree is formally recognised as being part of the Queen's Green Canopy and has a special plaque to acknowledge this unique status.
Empowered - Poetry Competition
Some of our talented poets at QEHS have been chosen to have their work published in Empowered – Beyond Words.
Young Writers invited students to write a poem for Empowered and take back some control over their lives. Empowered helps students find and use their voices to express themselves through poetry. For example, stimulus promts included:
- Write a poem to your past/future self…
- Why is it important to be yourself?
- You are the spokesperson for a movement you feel strongly about…
- Write a letter to a person who inspires you…
- Empower your family or friends – What do you love about them?
- What has been your proudest moment or achievement?
- You are the prime minister for one day...
- Where do you feel most alive?
- If you could have anything, what would you want?
We had some fantastic entries across Years 7, 8 and 12. It was a pleasure to read them all!
The judges will choose five of their favourite entries from those published, so it might be that we have further success.
Well done!
Mrs K Regan
English Teacher
Isabella Mantell |
Will Hopkins |
Sofia McDaid-Smith |
Eva Bentley |
James Thomas |
Isla Wilkinson |
Gracie Regan |
Anna Jones |
Sebastian Statham |
Ancylin Beju-Punnoose |
Joleen Armanious |
Chloe Burman |
Joseph Pacheco |
Emma Dewick |
Ava Leung |
Amy Wells |
Kevin Malak |
Freya Hucke-Rice |
Kian Martland |
Georgina Ellis |
Issy Bower |
Jack Butcher |
Konrad Sadel |
Subi Kanagasabai |
Layla List |
Adam Thomas |
|
Hannah Deville |
Monty Massey |
|
Tymek Jamroz |
Addison Lightfoot |
|
Nate Chadburn |
Olivia Loates |
|
Finty Scawthon |
Zhi-Xuan Li |
|
Misha Mohsan |
Summer Dickinson |
|
Lottie Burr |
Emily Moulds |
|
When looking for voluntary work for DofE, Isabelle (9A) was given the opportunity to take on the task of tidying up a burial plot for a local nurse who passed away at the age of 21. The below addition to their local village Newsletter briefly explains the background:
This matter generated quite a bit of attention and Isabelle received lots of praise through the Parish Council Facebook entry as well as appearing in the Doncaster Gazette and Epworth Times.
Here is her progress:
As a result, the only relatives left of Kitty Jollands contacted Isabelle's mother and not only sent cards of thanks but sent her a book of stories, including Oliver Twist, that belonged to Kitty and has her name signed inside. They never imagined this small act of volunteering would generate so much attention.
Well done Isabelle, you have certainly made our school proud!
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme at QEHS
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme at QEHS is now officially back in business. Last summer we managed to see 113 Year 10 students and 47 Year 9 students through their Bronze expeditions as well as 18 Sixth Form students through their Silver expeditions. This year is similarly busy: 24 Year 12 students completed their Silver practice expedition in the Peak District and Year 9 students are preparing themselves for their practice expeditions in May.
The Award is acknowledged to be the world’s leading youth achievement award which allows participants to gain new skills and experiences whilst at the same time preparing them for the challenges of later life.
These students have completed a ‘skill’ a ‘challenge’ and a ‘volunteering’ activity. They must participate in two of the activities for 3 months and one of them for 6 months.
The students have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and have enjoyed a huge variety of opportunities including working in a food bank, working with local guides and Scouts groups, kickboxing and learning to take care of an aquarium.
The expedition phase of the award involves a walking expedition including an overnight camp; two nights for the Silver Award. The students will attend training days in schools and a mandatory practice camp in Clumber Park before embarking on their assessed expedition in July. The students have to work as a team in order to navigate, set up camp, cook and deal with the myriad of hazards, including cows, wasps, stinging nettles and rogue footpaths that face them.
We wish to say a big ‘well-done’ to the students who are excelling in meeting the challenges of the scheme and to wish them a huge amount of luck in the next stages. We also wish to say a big ‘thank you’ to the staff who willingly give up their own time to run the scheme.
Mr J Kingdom
Assistant Headteacher
QEHS made history reaching the National finals in Handball for the first time in our history
On Wednesday 11 May 2022, 11 girls and 9 boys went to Cambridge to compete in the East Regional England Handball Championships. The boys came 3rd just missing out on a qualification for the National England Handball Championships but the girls came 1st , meaning we have qualified and are going to Nationals. It was a fantastic venue, and all the staff were very supportive, encouraging everyone.
In the boys' first game they lost 2-1. They played very well but they were up against the best teams. In their second game they won 3-2. In the third they also won 5-3. However, unfortunately they drew 3-3 and in the final game they lost 6-0. The teams were all very competitive and challenging for them. It will be an experience they will never forget.
In the girls first game we lost 6-5 making a great recovery as we were losing 6-3 with 5 minutes left. We took it as a warmup and adapted our strategies leading us to win our next game 4-3. We then won 6-3 in our third game confidently. Our last game we won 6-1, putting us in first. We each got a gold medal and a trophy to add to our collection after previously winning the East Midlands round to qualify for regionals. Let's hope for the best for Nationals where we will be competing against the 7 best Under 13 girls in the whole country. We are all excited and cannot wait to take part.
Emily Buckel, 8C
ABRSM and Trinity Practical Music Exams
QEHS students have had another successful round of practical music exams, both ABRSM and Trinity:
Paige L, 8E, passed Grade 1 Piano
Tommy R, 8E, passed Grade 2 Classical Guitar
Rémy A, 9D, passed Grade 2 Piano
Jacob B, 9A, passed Grade 1 Piano with Merit
Meisha R, 8S, passed Grade 2 Piano with Merit
Carter M, 12S, passed Grade 2 Piano with Merit
Edward B, 8E, passed Grade 5 Trumpet with Merit
Rebecca M, 12A, passed Grade 6 Trumpet with Merit
Erin J, 9E, passed Grade 1 Piano with Distinction
Henry J, 10D, passed Grade 1 Trumpet with Distinction
Morgan C-D, 12C, passed Grade 1 Piano with Distinction
Alfie H, 8B, passed Grade 3 Percussion with Distinction
George B, 11A, passed Grade 5 Percussion with Distinction
Jacob W, 7B, passed Grade 7 Clarinet with Distinction
Congratulations to all!
District Track and Field Athletics Championships
On Wednesday 04 of May 2022, QEHS students from Year 7 - Year 10 went to Yarborough Athletics track along with Mrs Baldwin, Mrs Walker and a few Sixth Form students, in order to compete in both track and field events, in order to be selected to compete in the Lincolnshire County Championships to represent Lincoln and Gainsborough. Overall, the students did very well and 14 students qualified (with some qualifying for more than one event): two Year 7 students, four Year 8 students, two Year 9 students and six Year 10 students. Those students who were selected are competing for Lincoln & Gainsborough on Thursday the 09 June at the Boston Princess Royal stadium.
What happened/How was the day?
In the morning, the girls track events took place first, while the boys did their field events. Later on, this switched so the girls did their field events while the boys did their track events. Events started at 10.00 and continued throughout the day until 13.55.
Students who qualified for county trials:
Hannah D (Y7) - 800m
Chidera O (Y7) - 100m
Monty D (Y8) - 800m
Iris H (Y8) - 800m and 200m
Emily B (Y8) - Discus
Jas L (Y8) - Shot Put and Discus
Arthur R (Y9) - Pole Vault and Hurdles
Petar T (Y9) - Javelin
George W (Y10) - 100m and 200m
Tiegan G (Y10) - shot put and high jump
Jess S (Y10) - 1500m
Finley (Y10) - Javelin
Ashton PS (Y10) - Shot Put
Jess H (Y10) - 800m
Very well done and many congratulations to all involved!
By Jessica H, 10D
Exciting times are here as we prepare for our first Whole School Musical in two years, and what a way to begin. We have three local companies supporting us this year, with what promises to be our biggest and best musical yet. Staff and students could not be more excited!
This year we are working with three local companies who are supporting our musical Grease, which runs from 07-09 July in the Upper School Hall. Smiffys have kindly donated all costumes to give our musical that authentic look and take our production to the next level. As you can see in the photo, we will certainly be looking the part. Lovelle Estate Agency, another local business, have joined as a partner to the school this year and are providing sponsorship and funding, to ensure our fantastic cast of students from all year groups get the full professional experience. Finally, we have received a fantastic donation from The Riverside Clinic which we can also put to great use, ensuring our students receive a professional, quality performing experience. We cannot say how grateful we are in the Arts for the amazing support we have received from these three companies.
Students are already busy practicing their songs and dances and we look forward to welcoming you all in July for what promises to be a spectacular show. Keep an eye on the school website and @QEHSDramaDept on twitter for ticket details.
Isabelle Botfield, 7S, Epworth Netball U12 County League Champions
Isabelle Botfield, 7S, plays the position of GK for Epworth. They recently just won the county U12 league after being undefeated, scoring over 250 goals over the season giving them a goal average of 3.40.
Isabelle has written her memories of the day that reads below:
Epworth netball club have just won the U12 county league. The team consists of eight girls who have been training every Monday for months and have just finished their last game on Saturday 14 May. They have played ten matches and have amazingly won all ten. With a goal score of 262 they have done exceedingly well to be that far in front of their competition. The team are very proud of themselves and have shown great dedication.
I would personally like to congratulate Isabelle in this fantastic achievement and I know there will be more success to come.
Miss Allan
Sports Leaders Qualification (SLQ) - Your Time Event
On Tuesday 10 May, nine Year 10 girls and I ran 4 hours of sport for 85 Year 7 girls. It took a lot of planning and preparation to get to this point, however, it was an enjoyable day that everyone involved got something out of. I was chosen to do this by the PE teachers around a month prior to the event, something that made me feel recognised and proud as there was a small number of spaces. They chose us for our good attributes such as organisation, leadership and communication.
We completed online modules over the course of the month and developed new, unique ideas for what we could do to make the event special for the girls involved. After many discussions with the group and the PE teachers involved (Mrs Walker and Mrs Baldwin), we decided on doing a 2-hour bench ball tournament in the morning and then a 2-hour rounders tournament in the afternoon. We chose these sports to try and encourage more people to take part who would not normally consider it; we could adapt rounders by giving them the option to use a tennis racket and because bench ball is rarely played through school we thought it would be a fun change.
Once the day finally arrived, we completed our agreed roles and lead the girls through an introduction, rules and separation into teams. This went well and we were excited to begin the tournament. We separated into threes and umpired a pitch each to make sure the games were fair. This allowed us to recognise individuals who were excelling in different areas, giving them certificates after the day had finished, something we came up with to help promote good sportsmanship and behaviour. After finishing the tournament, we announced the teams’ positions and let them go for lunch.
Regrouping after lunch, we were even more excited to enjoy the rounders tournament after witnessing amazing skills on show in the morning. The rounders tournament went without a hitch and at the end of the day we celebrated their achievements and organised any kit we used. As a group we came away from the day buzzing with positivity, as we had such a fun day and were role models for younger girls. Not only were we being watched by many teachers in school as they walked past as they were intrigued at what we had organised, we were also being used as a research school, meaning someone came in to watch us complete the day. They asked us questions about how we felt, asking some of the girls participating what they thought and admiring our ideas, complimenting us on the day we produced. This is part of a 3 year process so it will be a fantastic opportunity for some other students to experience what we did.
Neve Baker, 10S
Girls Active - Girls Leadership and Marketing in Sport (GLAMS) Inspiration Day
At the beginning of the day, we met Jenny Wallwork. She told us about the programme we had been selected for and about herself. She worked hard to become a professional badminton player and ended up being number 5 in the world.
Throughout the day she put us through many activities and challenges in different groups, making us interact and communicate to win. These activities consisted of cone grab, a snowball fight, a tennis ball game and a card memory game. In the cone grab she shouted go and whoever grabbed the cone fastest won. In the snowball fight we wrote on a piece of paper who inspires us, what makes a good leader, why we are good leaders and why we think we have been selected for the program. We then tore them up and screwed them into balls and had a fun game of a snowball fight. In the tennis ball game, we had to see how many tennis balls we could pass round our circle of 5 people consecutively without stopping, whichever team got the most won. In the memory card game, we took it in turns turning over a card and communicating with our teammates, trying to form a clock the other end of the hall starting with ace through to king.
At the end of the day, we got a jumper, t-shirt, and notebook. The whole day was a fun and great experience. It was a fun way of expanding our teamwork and leadership skills. We are all looking forward to our next session and other things this programme offers. We are all very grateful that we have been selected for this programme. Thank you to Miss Allen and Jenny for making this day happen.
Emily B and Iris H, 8C
The Year 7 School Games Golf Event
On Tuesday 03 May 2022, some Year 7s were invited to a golf event at Torksey Golf Club. The event lasted about 3 hours in total. We really enjoyed it and are very grateful for the opportunity.
We first went to the driving range for some practice where we were taught some useful techniques from the professionals. Afterwards, we took part in the game ‘Texas Scramble’ which is designed to improve our chipping skills. That was really fun as we were all working as a team as well as competing against each other. Lastly, we practised putting and by the end our puts were much more accurate than when we first started.
Overall, we really enjoyed the event. It was great fun and we were taught some useful skills as well. Everyone at the club was so nice and helped us learn as much as we could. It was a great opportunity and I would definitely do it again. What made it so fun was the fact that we had little mini games where we could practice our skills and different techniques whilst still having fun.
Some of our favourite parts of the event were the Texas Scramble game where we had to work as a team to hit the golf ball into the hole and the driving range where we learnt how to properly use the golf club. It was also really nice to meet everyone and learn about golf and we would love to do it again.
By Evie, Sophie and Maisie, 7A
Year 7s were lucky enough to experience the amazing world of dance from BGU Dance. On Monday 25 April, our eyes were opened as we danced away. This wondrous activity brought us all together. It strengthened our skills which we can use in lots of different ways e.g. resilience, determination and teamwork. All of these things we have mentioned will help us whilst we are at school. We can use resilience to keep on trying if we don't do well in an exam, or to keep trying when times get tough, or to ask others for help when we need it.
Each House learnt a different style of dance from the Charleston to Bollywood dance to Street to Theatrical dance. All of these different types of dance are completely different. We were lucky enough to do the Charleston. We know people who took this workshop and before they took this they hated dance but now they love it. This experience broadened our view on dance and actually made us appreciate dance. We started with a warm up to stretch our muscles which was brilliant because we were all in time with the music, all having fun and working together.
After this, we started the Charleston which was great fun. We learnt the basic swivel and my favourite, the wonderful fall off the log. This is where you kick, behind, side and in front then you do it again but with your other leg. We wish we could have this experience every year. Thank you BGU for this exciting experience.
By Ruby W and Brooklynne F, 7B
Sport Leaders
Helen Sharman, Britain's First Space Explorer, speaks to Year 11
Previously, COVID restrictions had meant that Helen Sharman had been forced to speak to students in Years 9 and 12 via Zoom, when she worked with us last. We were therefore delighted to welcome her in person this time, to address students in Year 11 on Wednesday 20 April 2022.
After responding to a radio advertisement asking for applicants to be the first British space explorer, Helen Sharman was selected for the mission live on ITV, on 25 November 1989, ahead of nearly 13,000 other applicants. The programme was known as Project Juno and was a cooperative Soviet–British mission co-sponsored by a group of British companies.
Helen was selected in a process that gave weight to scientific, educational and aerospace backgrounds as well as the ability to learn a foreign language. She was the first British cosmonaut and the first Western European woman in space.
Before flying, Helen spent 18 months in intensive flight training in Star City, Moscow. The Project Juno consortium failed to raise the monies expected, and the programme was almost cancelled. With a view towards the flight's impact on international relations, the project proceeded under Soviet expense although as a cost-saving measure, less expensive experiments were substituted for those in the original plans.
The Soyuz TM-12 mission, which included Soviet cosmonauts Anatoly Artsebarsky and Segei Krikalev, launched on 18 May 1991 and lasted eight days with most of that time spent at the Mir space station. Sharman's tasks included medical and agricultural tests, photographing the British Isles, and participating in a licensed amateur radio hookup with British school children. She landed aboard Soyuz TM-11 on 26 May 1991, along with Viktor Afanasyev and Musa Manarov.
She was 27 years and 11 months old when she went into space, making her (as of 2017) the sixth youngest of the 556 individuals who have flown in space. She has not returned to space, although she was one of three British candidates in the 1992 European Space Agency astronaut selection process and was on the shortlist of 25 applicants in 1998.
Since Juno was not an European Space Agency (ESA) mission, Tim Peake became the first ESA British astronaut more than 20 years later.
For her Project Juno accomplishments, Sharman received a star on the Sheffield Walk of Fame and the OBE.
Helen spoke to students about the applicability of careers in STEM and of the opportunities of university level education. There was a chance for a student question and answer session where Helen was quizzed on life in space including, eating, drinking and the inevitable! She described weightlessness as a wonderful feeling and urged students to challenge themselves and to follow their dreams. It was a truly uplifting experience for all!
Fascinating Physics Facts - Laser Bursts Drive Fastest Ever Logic Gates
Laser pulses (red and blue lights) create a burst of real and virtual energy carriers in a tiny honeycomb-like thing (graphene that is absorbed by gold metal to create a net). Ignacio Franco, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Rochester says that we now all understand lasers.
A long-standing quest for science and technology has been to develop electronics and information processing that operate near the fastest timescales possible by the laws of nature.
A promising way to achieve this goal involves using laser light to guide the movement of electrons in matter, and then using this control to develop electronic circuit elements, a concept known as lightwave electronics.
Remarkably, lasers currently allow us to create bursts of electricity on femtosecond timescales, that is, in a millionth of a billionth of a second. Yet our ability to process information in these ultrafast timescales has remained hard to understand.
Now, researchers at the University of Rochester and the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have made an important step in this direction by recreating a logic gate, the building block of computation and information processing, that operates at femtosecond timescales (one quadrillionth of a second)! The feat, reported in the journal Nature, was accomplished by harnessing and independently controlling, for the first time, the real and virtual charge carriers that compose these ultrafast bursts of electricity.
The researchers' advances have opened the door to information processing at the petahertz limit, where one quadrillion computational operations can be processed per second. That is almost a million times faster than today's computers operating with gigahertz clock rates, where 1 petahertz is 1 million gigahertz!
Licsha, Pavithira, Mackenzie, Chloe and Keogh 8B
https://phys.org/news/2022-05-laser-fastest-ever-logic-gates.html
Work Experience – almost there!
I am pleased to see that most of the students who signed up to do work experience, have been successful in securing a work placement in these still challenging times and we are now moving towards them taking up their work experience placements in July.
Students have been asked to take home, complete and return as soon as possible, a medical/additional needs questionnaire which will be passed to the employer. This will enable employers to ensure the safety of our students and their own employees. This paperwork will be destroyed after the placement is finished.
Placement confirmation paperwork will be sent home from school with the students as and when the placements have been risk assessed and are approved to use. However, the post COVID situation is still impacting on the ability of the risk assessors to get into placement premises and this means that this paperwork will be later than we would normally expect and some may even be in the last few days before the placement starts.
We also have a lot of new employers this year, as well as existing ones whose current risk assessments have expired, which has increased the volume of Health and Safety visits needed. Please be assured that we are working with Safety Measures to get these placements finalised as soon as possible. If any particular problems arise with getting placements visited and risks assessed, especially getting in contact with the right person at the placement, I will always notify the student immediately so that the situation can be addressed in a timely manner.
Upon receipt of the placement paperwork, please check the details and if you are in any doubt about dress code, hours of work, mealtimes, etc., do contact the employer for clarification. The job description for some of the placements asks the students to “confirm their hours of work before the placement starts” and they need to act on this by getting in touch with the employer as soon as they receive the paperwork.
The student/parent agreement section of the paperwork needs signing by both parties and returning to school as soon as possible. This agreement can be scanned in and emailed to me or handed to tutors to be returned to me. For out of area placements where additional charges have been incurred, notification of when to pay these will be sent via ParentMail.
Where students are doing irregular days or hours, details of the days/hours of work MUST be given to me as soon as possible, as I will be the emergency contact for students working outside normal School Office hours.
Thank you for supporting your child as they have faced the challenge of organising work experience in the aftermath of a pandemic. As always, we look forward to hearing about the students’ experiences when they return to school. The glowing reports from employers about the students from QEHS always make the hard work worthwhile!
Mrs J Thorpe
Thank you to all parents/guardians who donated money for Civvies Day on 31 March 2022. We raised a total of £870 which has been divided equally between Asociatia Free & Sainsburys Ukrainian Crisis appeal with Comic Relief, so £435 each.
Lost property is now in a new location in a dedicated room near the Studio Café and will be open Tuesday and Thursday morning breaks at 10.35 until 10.45 and Tuesday and Thursday lunchtime at 13.00 until 13.20.
Please find here for your information the latest safeguarding update from QEHS to keep you appraised of key issues that schools and families need to be aware of in order to best support childrens' welfare and well-being. We hope you find this information helpful.
County Lines
County Lines are a network between an urban centre and county location where drugs are sold often over a mobile phone. Children and vulnerable people are used to transport drugs, cash or even weapons. It can involve intimidation, blackmail and serious violence.
Young people are at risk if they become caught in County Lines networks. To reduce the risk to themselves the dealers will use people they think others will not suspect, so any young person on the periphery of drug use or drug taking, or otherwise coming into contact, is vulnerable.
Sometimes gangs form a secure base in the home of a vulnerable person, forcing assistance through violence or exploiting a drug dependency. Leaders or dealers can enter into relationships with vulnerable young females, which can also lead to sexual exploitation or domestic violence. Young people can have drugs or money stolen and become indebted, needing to continue to supply to pay the money back.
Perpetrators use children and young people to maximise profits and distance themselves from the criminal act of physically dealing drugs. Young people do the majority of the work and take the most risk.
Dedicated mobile phone lines or “deal lines” are used to help facilitate county lines drug deals. Phones are usually cheap, disposable and old fashioned, because they are changed frequently to avoid detection by the police.
Gangs use the phones to receive orders and contact young people to instruct them where to deliver drugs. This may be to a local dealer or drug user, or a dealer or drug user in another county.
Potential signs
As with other forms of exploitation and abuse, there are things that we can look out for which might indicate that someone is involved in County Lines.
Children and young people may:
- Be frequently missing from home, placement or school and may often be found out of the home area and/or may often go missing without explanation
- Suddenly have significant amounts of money, new phones, new clothing which is out of character
- Be carrying a number of mobile phones, receive constant calls/text messages
- Be linked to groups of young people/young adults who are older or controlling
- Have unexplained injuries or starting to self-harm
- Have poor attendance/achievement at school or show an unexpected decline in their academic work
- Be isolated from their normal peer group/become secretive about their actions
- Become withdrawn or alternatively have unexplained outbursts which are out of character (e.g. increasing stressed/anxious/angry)
- Have unexplained bus or train tickets
- Start to use unusual terms:
- ‘running a line’
- ‘going OT/out there’
- ‘going country’
- ‘Going cunch’
- Not want to go to specific areas without explanation
- Have keys/hotel cards for unknown places
Responding to concerns about county lines exploitation
If you are worried that a child or young person might be or is at risk of being exploited by a County Lines gang, you must share your concerns.
Reporting
If you think a child is in immediate danger, contact the police on 999. If you're worried about a child but they are not in immediate danger, you should share your concerns.
During term time contact Mr Allan or ask for a member of the school's Safeguarding Team.
If you have concerns during a holiday or over a weekend then you will find this information useful:
- Contact the NSPCC Helplineon 0808 800 5000 or by emailing [email protected].
- Contact the local child protection services – 01522 782 111 (Lincolnshire) 0300 500 8090 (Notts) 01724 296500North Lincs
- Contact the police.
Mr N Allan
Deputy Headteacher
As we approach the end of term and a well-earned rest, I want to take the opportunity to let you know about the support you can access outside of school opening hours. We will do our best to provide up to date sign posting where either you as parents or your children can access support.
To report concerns:
Lincolnshire children’s services
01522 782 111
https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/safeguarding/report-concern
North Lincolnshire children’s services
01724 296500
https://www.northlincs.gov.uk/people-health-and-care/keeping-children-safe-in-north-lincolnshire/
Nottingham County Council multi-agency safeguarding hub
03004564546
https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/care/safeguarding/childrens-mash
Online counselling
Emotional wellbeing
Calmharm (self harm support)
ThinkNinja (Health and wellbeing)
To report a crime, call 101
In an emergency, always call 999