As we near the end of our first full term of running as a COVID-safe school I would like to thank every single member of our wonderful community for their support, tolerance, patience and understanding.  Nobody has ever tried to run a school under such restrictions and whilst we have followed all government advice we have no prior experiences to draw upon. We have tried to make changes to our systems in a sensible and measured way, taking into account the views of as many individuals as possible and we are confident that if students, staff and visitors follow our rules then they are safe in school.

We have had very few cases in school and whilst it is not possible to be absolutely certain, we have no evidence to suggest that there has been any in-school transmission. Parents and staff have been incredibly sensible in staying away from school if they have suspected they have COVID and in doing so they have protected not only the health of their peers and colleagues but also their education.

That doesn’t mean to say that it isn’t hard in school. Staff are learning new ways of teaching which feel alien and students are having to learn to be more independent in their learning as staff can’t provide them with individual help. As a teacher it is our natural desire to go and help students but instead we have to stay at the front, socially distanced from our students. In addition we have had no extra-curricular activities running this term. Parents and students might think that this is freeing staff up which in some ways it is. However, it is the extra-curricular activities that can really energise us as school staff. I know that the weight of a hard and difficult day can melt away completely within 10 minutes of the start of a Soul Band rehearsal and many staff who run such activities normally feel the same.

There have been some high points this term and we have done things in different ways which we might keep even after COVID. The virtual Junior Presentation Evening was a real success and it was lovely for me to be able to ‘give’ the prize winners their certificates, book tokens and prizes. Many more people have watched the video than we could have got into the hall which is positive. We are now starting work on the Senior Presentation Evening and more details will be coming out soon. Also to come is our virtual Sixth Form Open Evening and again parents of students in Years 10 and 11 should look out for further details after half term. 

Our 11+ testing for the September 2021 entry went really well and we look forward to welcoming the new students into the school in September.

Speaking of which our new Year 7 have settled in well, despite the rather strange circumstances, and it has been lovely to welcome them into our school. They haven’t yet had the opportunity to experience the House System but there are many years to come where they can engage with this.

The important thing is that we have done it and we have started the process of rebuilding our school community. Lessons have happened, students have learnt new knowledge and skills and most importantly students have made progress. Our Year 11 students are receiving catch-up support where it is needed and the engagement with that is excellent; thanks to all involved. We hope to spread that support into Year 13 now that their mocks are over, after half-term. The most important thing now is to all keep following the rules to make sure that we all keep safe and in school.

The governors also successfully appointed a new Headteacher who I am sure will continue the growth and development of the school. I will write more about this next term.

So, when Term 2 starts it is a case of continuing to follow the rules both in and out of school, as we do all that we can to continue the process of re-building our school. If we work together I am sure that our new normal will become just normal and we can look forward to opening up those wider school experiences that make QEHS such a special place to work, learn and grow.

Mr D Allsop

Headteacher

Welcome to the QEHS Newsletter for 2020-21.

Current updates can be found on the website:

https://www.qehs.lincs.sch.uk

There you will find a COVID 19 section, with new Student, Parent and Risk Assessment information. For the Parent section see:

https://www.qehs.lincs.sch.uk/covid19/parent 

For quick and easy access to these pages you can download our QEHS Schoolzine App see: qehs.lincs.sch.uk/szapp-guide and use code 1620 to activate.

If you would like to share student news for the Newsletter, please see:

Schoolzine Newsletter how to guide to upload details or email: [email protected] 

Have a great term!

The Sixth Form Team would like to welcome our Year 12 students to QEHS, whether they have been at the school since Year 7, or whether they started in September. 2020 has certainly been a year that no-one will forget and we hope that you are all settling into your subjects and the College House area of the school. Now work is beginning to build-up, it is important that you discuss any problems with your subject teachers, tutors or the Sixth Form Team, where appropriate. As you know from your GCSEs, we are living in unprecedented times, and anything could happen between now and summer 2022. We therefore urge you to work hard, try your best and aim as high as you can in your studies. We hope you enjoy your half-term break, and look forward to welcoming you back again soon.

Mr N Dawson

Deputy Head of Sixth Form

 British Council International School Award

success for Queen Elizabeth’s High School

Queen Elizabeth’s High School has been awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in recognition of its work to bring the world into the classroom.

The International School Award celebrates the achievements of schools that do exceptional work in international education. Fostering an international dimension in the curriculum is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need for life work in today’s world.

QEHS’s international work includes links with schools in Tanzania, China, Spain and Germany. We run exchange trips to schools in all of these countries and students have benefitted hugely from the experience. As well as welcoming both staff and students to QEHS from exchange schools, we also regularly host teacher visits from schools as far apart as Guadeloupe and Australia.

On hearing the news that QEHS had received the award, Sir Ciarán Devane, CEO of the British Council, said: “The school’s fantastic international work has rightfully earned it this prestigious award. The International School Award is a great chance for schools to demonstrate the important work they’re doing to bring the world into their classrooms. Embedding an international dimension in children’s education ensures that they are truly global citizens and helps prepare them for successful lives and careers in an increasingly global economy.”

The award, which celebrates its 20^th Anniversary this year, is now available worldwide in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Over 6000 International School Awards have been presented to successful schools in the UK since the scheme began in 1999.

 The International School Award encourages and supports schools to develop:

• An international ethos embedded throughout the school
• A whole school approach to international work
• Collaborative curriculum-based work with a number of partner schools
• Year-round international activity
• Involvement of the wider community

     

The British Council International School Award started in 1999 to recognise the schools leading the way in instilling and developing a global dimension into the learning experience of all children and young people. It is managed by the British Council and celebrates its 20^th Anniversary in 2019.

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We work with over 100 countries in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Last year we reached over 65 million people directly and 731 million people overall including online, broadcasts and publications. We make a positive contribution to the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive 15 per cent core funding grant from the UK government.

 For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org. You can also keep in touch with the British Council through http://twitter.com/britishcouncil and http://blog.britishcouncil.org/.

Mr J Kingdom

Assistant Headteacher

Congratulations to all students who received prizes from the virtual Junior Presentation Evening 2020 Celebrations!

This year's celebration was very different, consisting of a video link, to which guests were invited to view.

Over the last few weeks Mr Allsop was able to give out prizes and trophies in person (socially distanced) to some of the prize winners from this important date in the school calendar.

   

   

The top prize is a £25 Amazon voucher, the runner up receives a £5 Amazon voucher. The theme is “Beauty in nature” and the photos will be judged by local professional photographers Jo Bird and Bob Riach of Jigsaw Photography. They’ll also share all entries on their website www.picturefocus.co.uk. The deadline for entries is 11.59pm on 31 October 2020. There’s a minimum donation of £1 per photo and the maximum number of photos per person is 3.
 
Entries are open to all (except professional photographers). To enter or to find out more, people can email me at [email protected] or [email protected]
 
Payment can be made directly with me or via https://paypal.me/pools/c/8sJGjEpbVo (money pool link). And there’s more information on my Facebook group  www.facebook.com/groups/380251442982729

I look forward to receiving your entries.

Thank you.

Joanna Brown 12D

Former North Notts Mini-Basketball England Star Emma Allen is Awarded Member of the Order of The British Empire (MBE)

The staff and governors at QEHS are incredibly proud of the achievements of Alumnus Major Emma Allen, rewarded for her actions in the Queen's Honours.

Basketball Development Officer Jimmy "Jumpshot" Smith has announced that a former Mini-Basketball England and Nottinghamshire County Basketball player, who was developed while a student at both Misterton Primary School (Bassetlaw area of Nottinghamshire) and Queen Elizabeth High School (Gainsborough, Lincolnshire) has been awarded an MBE (Member of The Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2020.

Major Emma Allen MBE, an Army Officer serving with the Royal Corps Signals in the South West of England has been made a Member of The Order of The British Empire (MBE) for her work during the COVID pandemic. She has been recognised for her initiative and exemplary contribution as a volunteer during these unprecedented times, supporting the community in a time of national crisis.

Coach Jimmy "Jumpshot" Smith who is in his 40th season as a development coach, (31 with Nottinghamshire County Council), identified Emma's talent and leadership in her early years. Smith stated, "Emma's school, Misterton Primary, was part an initiative by the County Council, to pioneer mini-basketball in rural areas around the county, especially Bassetlaw which was the most northerly borough of the council. I worked with Emma during all four of her years as a student at Misterton (1991-95) and I can tell you by School Year 6 she was playing, refereeing and when her teacher/coach, Mr. Barry Holgate needed her to, she was coaching the younger students which included younger brother, Russell - who also represented Mini-Basketball England. She was a young person that you just knew had the potential to be an outstanding leader. Her outstanding service and leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic is proof that we were absolutely right. She's the type of person that you want on your team at any level."

Emma was one of 5 girls to represent Mini-Basketball England at the 1994 European Mini-Basketball Jamboree in Helsinki, Finland. Major Allen represented Bassetlaw Dukes based in Worksop and coached by a parent from Haggonfields Primary School, Mr. Brett Roberts. She also represented the highly successful Nottinghamshire Nova Basketball squads which were supported by Nottinghamshire County Council under the direction of Coach Jimmy "Jumpshot" Smith. A native of Misterton village in Bassetlaw, she attended Queen Elizabeth High School (Gainsborough, Lincolnshire founded in 1589), from 1995-2001. Emma's husband, Major James Allen, is also a member of the Royal Artillery and part of the co-responder team (see photos).

Emma said, "I was fortunate to have fantastic role models at school and through basketball in Mr. Barry Holgate, Mr. Brett Roberts and Coach Jimmy Smith. They motivated me to get the best out of my ability and to make a positive impact by serving the nation and my local community."

  

   

It’s fair to say that it’s been a challenging year for DofE. 

 Year 10

Sadly we were unable to run any DofE expeditions for Year 10 earlier this year and at the moment, due to Covid 19 restrictions, residential camping expeditions are not permitted for school groups. We do have every intention, if at all possible, of running an assessed expedition for current Year 10 students for two days between Thursday 13 and Saturday 15 May 2021. We are able, this year, to award students their Bronze Award based on one rather than two expeditions. Parents should rest assured that we will only request a balancing payment in respect of DofE from you when we have completed the budget based on the components of the award that we have actually managed to complete with the students.

We do offer our warmest congratulations to students who have completed all of their sections; students who haven’t done so should complete the remaining sections of their award and upload their assessor’s reports to eDofE. They will receive a certificate in recognition of this achievement. DofE have made a number of dispensations this year which may prove helpful in allowing students to complete the award:

• Participants can now volunteer for family members, for example by mentoring or coaching younger siblings.
• Participants can now change section activities more than once. Time spent on previous activities will still count towards completion.
• DofE staff members may be able to act as Volunteering, Physical and Skills section Assessors, if required.

Year 9

Welcome to all of our participants in Year 9 who are starting their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award.  DofE consists of three sections that students complete in their own time and an expedition run by the school. Historically students have completed two expeditions but this has been reduced to one this year and we are planning for it to take place in the last week of the summer term, in Clumber Park.  

Activities for each DofE section should take an average of one hour per week over a set period of time, so they can be fitted in around academic study, hobbies and social lives. Development and regular progress must be shown and these are recorded in the student’s hard-copy log book by the person running the activity, which this year, may be a member of the student’s family. The Bronze timescales are:

• Volunteering section: 3 months
• Physical section: 3 months
• Skills section: 3 months
• Expedition section: 2 days/1 night practice expedition and 2 days/1 night assessed expedition.
• You also have to do 3 more months in one of the Volunteering, Physical or Skills sections.

By way of an update and reminder:

Full details of the award scheme are on the DofE website; www.dofe.org . 

Key points regarding log books and eDofE are:

• Once students have paid for a DofE place on Parentmail they should decide what activities they are going to engage in for each of their sections and ask the person who supervises that activity, to be their assessor for that section;
• complete the Bitesize Planner (attached and available from QEHS Reception and on the school website);
• email/place in the box in Reception their completed Bitesize Planner to the QEHS DofE verifier, who is Mrs Stevenson in the school Library. Her email address is: [email protected]. Mrs Stevenson will check that each of the sections chosen by the student complies with DofE criteria.
• If all sections comply, Mrs Stevenson will enter the student’s details on eDofE, the online portal for the DofE award and students will receive an automated email to the student’s school email address with details of how to log on to eDofE. A DofE logbook will then be posted to the student’s home address.
• Students must register on eDofE, using the logon details in the email and should fill in the details of their activities on eDofE. They should then upload evidence, for example photographs, of their activities to their eDofE page. There is an option to have a personal eDofE record book created for the student when they have achieved their award.
• When students finish their activity then their assessor for that activity must fill in the relevant page in the student’s hard-copy log book; the student must then upload a photo of the page to the eDofE website and submit it for DofE staff in school to approve. It is possible for assessors to upload their report directly to the student’s page on the eDofE website by following the http://www.dofe.info/assessor/ and typing in the student’s 6 figure eDofE identification number. 
• Once all sections, including the expedition, are complete on the eDofE account, QEHS DofE staff will check the record and award the Bronze certificate and badge.

Please do contact Mr Kingdom via the School Office if you have any questions or concerns over your child’s DofE award.

 Mr J Kingdom

Assistant Headteacher

Please support our school in the build up to Christmas by using our fundraising partner 'Give As You Live' to generate funds. 

Once registered your purchases automatically build funds for the school charity QEHS Foundation at no cost to you. All funds will be used to improve the resources, facilities and the experience of our students.

Already, 26 supporters have raised £412.86 for the QEHS Foundation, Gainsborough. Share with your friends and family for QEHS to receive an instant £5 donation from Give as You Live. What could be simpler?

You can sign up via the button on our website homepage and our unique Give As You Live charity profile page link is below: 

https://instore.giveasyoulive.com/charity/qehsfoundation/gifts?utm_source=charitytoolkit&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=CTInstoreJoinLink

If you would like further information please email [email protected].

We hope that you will join us in fundraising for our amazing students at QEHS.

Relaunch of the Parent Supporters Group

2020 sees the relaunch of the Parent Supporters Group at QEHS, which will replace the traditional PTA.

By dissolving the PTA, we hope to take away the need for a commitment to lengthy meetings, a Treasurer and Chairperson etc. whilst maintaining the contacts within school to coordinate events and oversee communications. There is already a strong base of volunteers who continued to provide refreshments at last year's events and it is the intention that we now build on those strong foundations to grow the group further.

If you wish to become a volunteer member of the Parent Supporter Group, please complete the form on the website:

https://queenelizabethshs.schoolzineplus.co.uk/form/20?preview=1   or email [email protected] for further information. You will then be contacted in November with details of the events calendar for the remainder of the school year.

May we take this opportunity to thank parents, staff and friends of QEHS who have expressed an interest to support the school in the past or who were active members of the PTA, your input is invaluable and we hope that you will continue to offer your support.

We now look forward to welcoming additional members, adding to the the parental database that Mrs Stevenson has kept over the years.

Mrs J McGrath

Community Relations Officer

Please check our website for all the latest school updates: https://www.qehs.lincs.sch.uk/covid19/parent 

Under the Covid 19 heading there are separate Parent and Student sections for our most up to date information.

Notices include new Gov.uk update 13 October: 2021 Exams

Gainsborough High School is 100 Years Old (1920-2020)

“On 5^th October 1920 North Sandsfield House (College House), Morton Terrace opened as a school for girls, formally establishing secondary education for girls in the town. Every year on the school’s birthday the girls left lessons 15 minutes early for a drink, and some rare relaxed conversation with the staff, (everyone brought their mug to the (Lower School) hall and the teachers walked along the line pouring tea). As a mark of the annual celebration there was no prep on that evening, and the girls went home early in high spirits! “  

Reference: A History of the Gainsborough Girls High School, (1920-1983) 

Gainsborough High School motto: ‘Courage, Gaiety and the Quiet Mind’

Traditionally the girls brought in a flower bulb from home annually on this date, to plant on the school grounds, which are still seen along the drive to College House. Ask your relatives if they can remember the planting!

This year to commemorate 100 years of education for girls, on this site, we will invite members of the school community, past and present to join us in planting bulbs representing our 1218 students, which have been generously donated by Pot Belly Garden Centre and Nursery; (whose family have attended the school over 3 generations).

On the birthday of the school, some of the staff were able to plant bulbs to mark the occasion. Mrs Celia Lord, (Cover Staff, Alumnus and previous Chair of the Old Girls' Association) joined Mrs Faye Clarke, (Head of English, who runs the QEHS Gardening Club). Head Girl Erin later joined Alumnus Mrs Rachel Haldenby (Assistant Headteacher and Head of Sixth Form) to add to the future flower display.

When the bulbs flower in the spring, they will show the school colours (red, blue and yellow) next to the Never Ending Bench - where every QEHS student's name appears during their time at the school.

  

   

This week we celebrate with the Year 7 and 8 students, who will all plant daffodil bulbs along the front of the school, making a visual display to add to the legacy of the next 100 years.

Although the pandemic has restricted the number of Alumni visitors we hoped to invite, a few special guests are invited to join Sixth Form students and staff, later in the week to mark the occasion.

      

     

 

Please find below the updated schedule for Recording, Reporting and Parents' Evenings for the new academic year.

Parent/Student Recording and Reporting Calendar 2020-21

Congratulations to:

Alex (8S) for gaining Grade 4 Pass with Distinction in his Drum Exam

Ethan (9E) who passed Grade 5 Music Theory

and Grace (10D) who gained Grade 6 Piano Pass with Distinction over the summer.

QEHS, your families and the Music Department are all very proud of your achievements! Well done to all.

Remember to share your extra curricular news by uploading to the Newsletter or email: [email protected] 

17 September saw the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's voyage to America.

To mark the occasion Reuben (8S) was interviewed by BBC Radio Lincolnshire and featured on the breakfast show (1h 48min into the show). To listen to the interview go to: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08q8q9h

To find out more about the historic links between Gainsborough and the Mayflower, you can view the documentary with Dan Snow, which includes a piece from Reuben's mum and QEHS Alumnus Dr Anna Scott see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=3DQC3S3bJc0.

Keep your eye out for other Mayflower 400 related and rescheduled events to come, celebrating the important historical port of Gainsborough.