6th July 2020 — Portsmouth High School were delighted to welcome back the Year 11 girls before they make their transition into Sixth Form in September.

The girls returned for a ‘socially distanced’ assembly given by the Headmistress, Mrs Jane Prescott, before enjoying ice cream treats with their friends.

‘It is so wonderful to see you all,’ said Mrs Prescott. ‘Although circumstances are very strange we have spent the last months busy with guided home learning for you all, introducing you to Sixth Form teaching and submitting your grades which we will be excited to share with you on Results Day in August.’

Mrs Prescott ended her talk with the words to Bridge Over Troubled Water;

‘Sail on silver girl

Sail on by

Your time has come to shine

All your dreams are on their way

See how they shine

Oh, if you need a friend

I'm sailing right behind’

Thalia Burke, 16, was excited to be back in school even for a short time:

‘It was a big build up to GCSEs and we had already started lots of the revision so there was an element of disappointment, particularly not being able to do my final piece of art work. However, there is now no exam stress and I am really excited about returning to Sixth Form. We have been doing lots of pre-A Level lessons and I am taking music, geography and psychology with a plan to read psychology at university.’

Madeleine Oliver, 16, added:

‘It was at first a little disappointing not to be sitting our GCSEs but I am now happy that we will all get the grades we deserve and have spent the time really usefully doing pre-A level lessons in geography, biology and economics. I am also really looking forward to Sixth Form, Sixth Form House and taking the subjects that I really enjoy.’

Nabila Choudhury also 16, said:

‘It was frustrating not to be able to sit our exams as I was really hoping to improve my mock results. Now I am fine and excited to be focussing on mathematics, chemistry and physics at A Level. I have really missed the classroom so will eagerly look forward to coming back in September.’

6th July 2020 — Portsmouth High School were delighted that Amelie Van Gelder, a Year 8 pupil, was announced the secondary school winner of the Stem Clubs Week 2020 competition organised by Stem Learning.

Stem Learning is the largest provider of education and careers support in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). They work with schools, colleges and others working with young people across the UK.

The theme this year for Stem Clubs Week was sustainability. It was an ideal opportunity in science lessons to encourage girls to enter the competition as an extension to their outstanding Year 8 enrichment day projects they have completed on ‘Can we stop climate change?’

‘For the challenge we had to design a sustainable city which is one of the things that you must do as a surveyor, which is my dream job,’ said Amelie, 13. ‘I dreamt up VanAm; a flourishing city that is filled with rooftop farms and a canal that runs through. When I found out that I had won, I was over the moon. It was my Birthday so that was the icing on the cake. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and am excited to enter next year’s competition.’

Ms Jemima Gibson from Design Club, who announced Amelie as the winner, commended Amelie for her outstanding achievement.

‘She has put tremendous effort into her sustainable city using creativity, ingenuity, sustainability & following the brief to include clean air, clean water, sewage, energy and transport.’

Mrs Stockton-Chalk, physics teacher, added:

‘I couldn’t be more proud of Amelie. She has put tremendous effort into her sustainable city and we are delighted for her that she won this award.’

26th May 2020 — Portsmouth High School’s Head Girl team were delighted to announce that they are supporting a Portsmouth based national charity as their Sixth Form charity for the next academic year.

The Elizabeth Foundation was founded in 1981 by Shirley and David Metherell, whose daughter, Elizabeth, was diagnosed as profoundly deaf at 22 months. In response to a lack of local services, Shirley and David set up The Elizabeth Foundation to support other parents of young children with hearing loss. The charity they established has gone from strength to strength over the ensuing years.

‘We chose The Elizabeth Foundation because the work they do is so important to give disadvantaged children, with hearing loss, a more level playing field in life,’ said Head Girl, Charlotte Kellagher, 17. ‘We wanted to help contribute to this amazing cause.’

Karen Vaughan, Deputy CEO of the Foundation said:

‘The Elizabeth Foundation is so proud and grateful to have been chosen as Portsmouth High School’s Sixth Form charity. We know the school shares our inclusive values and commitment to providing the highest standard of education. We know too that the whole school will be committed to raising awareness of how we teach young deaf children to learn to listen and talk, helping them and their families to set their expectations high and to learn and make strong friendships. In fundraising for us, pupils will be directly supporting our young deaf children at one of the most critical times in their life and helping us to continue our outstanding charitable services in very challenging financial times. We look forward to sharing our impact with the pupils, knowing that they will be motivated and inspired to make a difference.’

The Head Girl team will spearhead fundraising activities throughout the coming year to generate money and raise awareness of the charity.

Portsmouth High School’s Charity Week will take place in November. It has been running for over 25 years and is always organised entirely by the Sixth Form. The week is made up of talent shows, live music events, an annual netball match versus boys from Portsmouth Grammar School and other events. It culminates in a two night Fashion Show where the Sixth Form use business acumen and entrepreneurial skills to negotiate with local shops and liaise with local businesses to put on the show.

Deputy Head Girl, Yradne Botha, 16, added:

‘A friend of ours undertook work experience at the Elizabeth Foundation and we were struck by her enthusiasm for how inspiring and life changing she found the whole experience. This is why we believe The Elizabeth Foundation is the perfect charity for our Head Girl Team to fundraise for.’

Head of Sixth Form, Mr Rob Smith, added;

‘At Portsmouth High School we encourage social responsibility as much as academic achievements and the girls give to the community in many other ways too, offering their time and creativity to a huge range of projects. It is always encouraging to see young people engaged with the wider community.’

29th April 2020 — In an assembly delivered online this week to the whole senior school, the Head Girl team were able to deliver the wonderful news that the school, spearheaded by the Head Girl team and Sixth Form, had raised £9718.25 for their chosen charity, The Society of St James, a homeless charity based in Chichester.

‘We were so pleased to raise this amount as The Society of St James is such an amazing charity in our local area,’ said Head Girl Chloe Wildsmith, 18. ‘As a year group we all worked so hard to put on a set of successful events throughout the year and our motivation was always to raise as much money as we could for a worthy cause as well as engaging the whole school in activities together.’

Charity Week mainly took place in November 2019 with lunchtime events, a netball match versus the First XV rugby team from the Portsmouth Grammar School and culminated in a two night fashion show. Two of the Head Girl team, plus their mums also took part in the Portsmouth Sleepover which boosted the fund raising efforts.

‘The Society of St James work with people to identify their individual needs and to find ways that we can support them to make the changes they want to see in their own lives,’ said Trevor Pickup, SSJ Chief Executive, ‘The support of Portsmouth High School will be invaluable to us and we are so grateful to the girls for choosing us as their Sixth Form Charity.’

Head of Sixth Form, Mr Rob Smith, added,

‘At Portsmouth High School we encourage social responsibility as much as academic achievements and the girls give to the community in many other ways too, offering their time and creativity to a huge range of projects. It is always encouraging to see young people engaged with the wider community.’

12th March 2020 — Portsmouth High School is delighted to announce that from April 2020 the new Head Girl team at the school will comprise of: Head Girl, Charlotte Kellagher and Deputy Head Girls, Ruby Dale, Yradne Botha and Georgie Howell.

The girls will be assisted by House Captains and Senior Prefects. The wider team will take on roles in pupil voice, marketing, charities and encouraging younger pupils to get involved in the life of the school as well as a large fundraising ‘Charity Week’ initiative in November.

Head Girl Charlotte Kellagher, (second in from right), 16, said:

‘I’m so excited and honoured to have this opportunity. The Sixth Form are a close group and I hope that we will do the school proud as a Head Girl and Senior Prefect Team. I am looking forward to a wonderful year ahead and I hope I do my sister, Rachel, proud who was Head Girl in 2018-2019.’

Every year, the Sixth Formers lead the school in raising thousands of pounds for their chosen local charity and they give to the community in many other ways too, offering their time and creativity to a huge range of projects whilst juggling their academic studies and university applications.

Sixth Form at Portsmouth High School is an exciting and vibrant place to study. A dedicated Head of Careers and an experienced team of Head of Sixth Form and tutors offer outstanding support at all stages of the Sixth Form experience.

Head of Portsmouth High School Sixth Form, Mr Smith, said: ‘I am certain that these girls will be excellent role models. They will be great ambassadors for the school and the wider GDST and continue to promote the core values of Portsmouth High School and inspire the younger generation. They will be instrumental in the school’s charity week where, in previous years, they have raised an average of £10,000 for various good causes.’

10th March 2020 — This week, Portsmouth High School hosted local primary and junior schools for their annual Mathematics Challenge Day.

The schools taking part were: Arundel Court Primary, Fernhurst Juniors, Highbury Primary, Hook with Warsash Primary, Newbridge Primary, Westbourne House School and Portsmouth High Prep School.

The visiting girls from Years 5 and 6 were faced with some stretching mathematics challenges covering numeracy, shape and space activities including group rounds where they had to collaboratively answer questions and relay rounds where basic algebra, amongst other skills, was required. The questions were provided by the UK Mathematics Trust.

‘The day is about having fun doing mathematics,’ said Mr Paul Goldbrum, Head of Mathematics at Portsmouth High School. ‘It is a chance for girls in teams to come together to solve mathematical problems in a supportive and enthusiastic way and dispels the notion that mathematics can’t be fun. With the guidance of Portsmouth High School Year 10 girls, they have been encouraged to think beyond their comfort zones.’

Portsmouth High School’s Year 10 pupils were each allocated a school to mentor.

Mrs Nice, from Hook with Warsash Primary School, said:

‘The girls have enjoyed a good variety of activities. The Year 10 Portsmouth High School girls have helped them with the challenges and are fabulous role models for the younger girls.’

Mrs Barker, from Westbourne House School, added:

‘The girls have all enjoyed working together as a team taking part in the different challenges.’

Somaya, from Fernhurst Junior School, said:

‘I have really enjoyed the day. It has been fun but really challenging.’ Tabitha from Westbourne House added: ‘It has been a different way of learning maths and so much fun.’

Emily, from Portsmouth High School Year 10, said:

‘It was fun to get to know the girls and work with them. They have been so excited when they have got the answers right but challenged to keep going if they didn’t get it right the first time.’

Jessica, from Year 10, added;

‘It has been fun to encourage a love of maths for the younger girls.’

The day finished with a mathematics relay with a selection of puzzles involving shape, space and logic questions, where speed was essential, and the ability to stay on your feet.

The winning team was Hook with Warsash and Westbourne House coming in a close second.

‘We got top marks in the logic round and we have had so much fun,’ chorused the girls from Hook with Warsash, ably assisted by Daisy from Portsmouth High’s Year 10.