British Science Week – open lessons with parents

It was wonderful to have our parents join us for our science lesson during British Science Week.

Carrying on the theme of climate change from our geography, we looked at the changes of temperature and water contact have on glaciers.

Year 5 compared the impact of ice with hot or cold water and timed the difference between each investigations.

Year 6 had more variables and used salt and sugar to see if the difference in timings to melt the ice was faster or slower.

 

National Offer Day for Secondary School – 3rd March

Dear Parents/Carers, 

As national offer day is nearly upon us (3 March), the admissions team have asked us to contact our Year 6 parents to check they can access their account on the Parent Portal.  If, for whatever reason you cannot access your account or are locked out, please email school-admissions@shropshire.gov.uk or phone 0345 678 9008 as soon as possible.  A colleague in the Admissions Team will look into this and re-set/unlock accounts accordingly.

Thanks

Internet Safety in Year 5 and 6

Children in upper Key Stage 2 took part in Internet Safety activities on Tuesday. The students showed impressive understanding of how to protect personal information online, as well as spotting signs of scam. They knew the term ‘phishing’ and were able to identify safe ways to create an online profile, as well as spotting the dangerous ways to present personal information. A fun game using dice was to create a safe password by rolling, and seeing what you get. An example, if you rolled all ones, would be Happypink1dolphin£

The children demonstrated their maturity and impressed throughout.

Shrewsbury High School for Girls

Please see information below regarding application information for Shrewsbury High School if your year 6 girl would be interested in applying.

We are in the middle of our Year 7 application process for September 2025 – the deadline for applications is Friday 13th December and applications are made online by the parent at https://shrewsburyhighschoolgdst.applicaa.com/ – parents can apply for means-tested bursaries or merit based Scholarship awards – Academic, Music, Art, Drama and Sport.

Bursary applications are completely confidential and handled by our Bursary team at GDST.  We, as a school, do not see any of the information provided and are given a validated amount for each family by GDST once all bursaries have been received.   Bursaries can range from between 30% to 100% of the fees so are well worth applying for if you think you might be eligible.  If you would like to read more, please visit Bursaries – Girls’ Day School Trust.

Geography: Identifying Settlements and Land Use

This week Class 8,9 and 10 started their new Geography unit of work called Settlement and Migration. They used OS maps to identify different types of settlements. The settlements they identified were hamlets, villages, towns, cities, market towns and ports. To be able to identify them they had to understand the differences between each settlement.

 

After identifying different settlements, they explored how the land was being used in each settlement. They identified residential use, industrial use, commercial use, recreational use and transportation.

Arthog Day Four

Day Four at Arthog

Today, all the groups ventured into the beautiful hills of the Barmouth area, capturing amazing sights, challenging ourselves with a long and tiring walk, and testing our bravery as we had a go at rock climbing. It has been a mixture of peaceful, breath-taking and exhilarating. Tonight, we are going to try Nightline- this involved attempting an obstacle course in the dark with a blindfold on!

 

Arthog Day Three

Day Three at Arthog

What an exhilarating day at Arthog! We have been having tremendous fun in the water. Miss Bingham’s and Mr Matthew’s groups were very lucky, and got to use the (nearly) brand new giant paddleboards that managed to fit the instructor, teacher and ten children on at once. Several members of staff called this the most exciting activity they have known at Arthog- teamwork, skill development and brilliant games at the end. Mr Lloyd’s group visited the gorge and, in a twist, went ‘down’ it rather than the usual ‘up’ which was exciting. We begun with a slide, trod along the stones, lay down in the water and built our collaboration skills as we supported each other. As we ended at the beach, there was a swim to finish off. Some were even brave enough to try out ‘the washing machine’ which involved holding onto a rock face as the waves swept in. The groups swapped over for the afternoon, and tonight we are heading out for Night Walk.

KODAK Digital Still Camera

Day Two at Arthog

Arthog Day Two

Today, we had two fabulous activities. We spent the morning learning about the importance of looking after our environment. This involved visiting the beach at Barmouth, collecting pieces of plastic and removing them from a place where they could harm the water and its animals. There was a surprising amount collected in a short amount of time. We were proud of making this little difference.

The afternoon was magnificent. We saw wonderful views at a nearby estuary, combined two three-person canoes to make six-person rafts, practised our paddling, and headed out as a team. We had the flow of the water with us, but paddling was still a challenge. We were even allowed to stand! Teams became competitive over which boat the instructor’s dog, Woody, stayed in as he hopped from canoe to canoe! We finished with a big treat as we were allowed a swim- what a memorable day!

KODAK Digital Still Camera

Arthog Day One

Day One at Arthog

What an exciting start! The children from Class 9 and 10 have begun their Arthog adventure. After a smooth bus journey, we have taken part in team games. This involved challenges such as making a bridge sliding metal rods in wooden poles and helping each other cross as we go. We then tried steadying one another to re-arrange ourselves into height order on a narrow plank without falling off. Last of all, some real resilience was shown while helping one another climb up onto a high platform. At least three children who insisted they could not manage it overcame their fears and succeeded. Before dinner, we went to the beach to explore, and enjoyed the beautiful views in the sunny weather. Our evening activity was orienteering, which was very challenging and great fun. After a chapter of Percy Jackson, we went to bed ready for tomorrow’s canoeing and conservation activities.