NEWSLETTER
End of Spring Term 2025
|
|
|
HEADTEACHER'S WELCOME
Welcome to our Spring term newsletter. Our students have been incredibly busy both in and out of school, and we think you'll enjoy reading about their achievements and activities. Here's a sneak peek at what you'll find in this edition:
Our scientists have been particularly active, achieving success in the national Olympiads for both Chemistry and Biology. These competitions are challenging, with the most talented students from across the country participating. Plymouth High students excelled and had a great time, making us very proud. Science Week was another highlight, featuring engaging group competitions that encouraged students to use their creative thinking to solve science-based problems. The House element added extra motivation for our already enthusiastic scientists.
World Book Day was a hit, with lots of fantastic costumes and competitions, allowing our students to showcase their love of reading. We were thrilled to welcome local author Sarah Lamerton, who spoke to students about her journey to becoming an author and what writing means to her.
It's not just our students getting involved at Plymouth High. We were delighted to welcome children from Compton CofE Primary School to participate in experiments and real scientific thinking in our labs. The children had a great time, and we hope it sparked a keen interest in science learning. I hope you enjoy reading about all the wonderful things happening at Plymouth High this term.
Very best wishes
Mr Underdown
|
|
|
|
 |
19 Mar 2025
A huge congratulations to Livia (10L) for her incredible achievement in the world of basketball! Recently, Livia had the honour of presenting medals to the Women’s Basketball Team at the SBL (Schools Basketball League)—a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the success of top athletes in t...
|
 |
04 Mar 2025
Our very own Harriet, 10K, made the school proud last weekend as she took on the Eventers Challenge at Bicton—and absolutely smashed it! Competing in the 70-75cm class, Harri and her horse soared over the jumps with skill and determination, securing first place!
|
|
|
|
|
|
18 Mar 2025
This term, Year 9 students took on an exciting challenge in their Wearable Art unit, combining creativity, technical skills, and problem-solving to design and create unique pieces of wearable art.
|
|
|
|
A polite reminder that the second instalment of £5 is due by the end of April for those students attending the Matilda theatre trip in Jan 2026.
|
|
|
 |
03 Apr 2025
In 2024, the PHSG Earth Alliance Group has been actively raising awareness about our changing environment. One of the highlights of this year was our collaboration with Derriford Hospital on a unique art project that connects health and sustainability. This long but rewarding journey has led to the...
|
|
|
|
 |
19 Mar 2025
Students from all year groups put their geography knowledge to the test on Tuesday lunchtime in an exciting library quiz, competing in a series of challenging rounds to match capitals with countries, solve location-based clues, and pinpoint cities on a world map.
|
|
|
|
|
31 Mar 2025
A round up of the events that have taken place in the library in the Spring Term 2025.
It’s been a busy term in the library, with a variety of fun events!
|
|
14 Mar 2025
Yesterday, our school was transformed into a literary wonderland as students of all ages dressed up as their favourite book characters to celebrate World Book Day! From classic heroes to unexpected surprises, the corridors were filled with wizards, villains, and even a giant walking revision guide...
|
|
14 Mar 2025
Today was a special day for Year 7 as we had the privilege of welcoming local author Sara Lamerton to our school! She came to talk about her brand-new book, The Curse of Drake’s Island, a thrilling adventure that had us all on the edge of our seats.
|
|
|
|
GCSE Maths Easter revision
Students should be working on the predicted (non-calc) paper 1 that their teachers have given out. We recommend completing the paper in examination conditions (90 minutes) and then using the QR code to watch the walkthrough video to check, annotate and correct.
Students in year 11 have also been challenged to complete the 12 days of lent ‘likely topics’ sparx revision poster. They should complete the sparx topics indicated on the poster and colour the Easter eggs on the poster as they complete each section. Students who have completed all 12 tasks can exchange their completed colouring for an Easter egg in the Maths office any time between the 22nd and 25th April. (A printable copy can also be found on TEAMS).
|
|
|
|
|
19 Mar 2025
The Year 13 A-Level PE class recently surprised their teachers with a heartfelt tribute, unveiling their new PE hoodies dedicated to the memory of Ms Luscombe, their original A-Level teacher, who sadly passed away earlier this term.
|
|
|
|
18 Mar 2025
Last week, our school was buzzing with innovation and creativity as students took on exciting challenges to mark British Science Week 2025. This year’s theme, "Change and Adapt," inspired students to explore how materials can be modified to solve real-world problems—and they ce...
|
07 Mar 2025
Today, Plymouth High School for Girls (PHSG) hosted an exciting Science Week celebration, welcoming enthusiastic Year 5 students from Compton Primary School. The event was a fantastic opportunity for the young visitors to experience the wonders of secondary school science through engaging works...
|
|
|
07 Mar 2025
We are thrilled to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our students in the prestigious RSC Chemistry Olympiad challenge. This highly competitive competition is primarily designed for Year 13 students, making our students’ accomplishments even more impressive, as those who entered were fr...
|
26 Feb 2025
We are thrilled to share the outstanding achievements of our Sixth Form biologists in the prestigious British Biology Olympiad. This highly challenging national competition, designed to test students' knowledge beyond the A level curriculum, saw 16 of our talented Year 12 and 13 students ta...
|
|
|
|
|
|
13 Mar 2025
Plymouth High School for Girls are delighted to share that the hard work of students and staff at Plymouth High has been recognised again by the school guide.
|
|
07 Mar 2025
Throughout March, PHSG is celebrating Women’s History Month and on March 8th is International Women’s Day, which has been celebrated for over 100 years. It’s a chance to raise awareness of gender inequalities and advocate for women’s rights.
|
|
|
|
Student & Class of the Week
|
|
 |
27 Mar 2025
Student of the week: Charlotte L, 11T. ''Having an excellent work ethic during the Art Exam Project, going above and beyond with the number of artworks and experiments in the given time. Charlotte is putting her all in for this final project. Well done!'' Nominated by Miss Walsh. Awa...
|
 |
19 Mar 2025
Student of the week: Florence, 9A. ''For your hard work and engagement in Geography and excellent achievement in the end of topic assessment.'' Nominated by Mrs Richards. Awarded 10 House Points.
Class of the week: Y12 Student Leaders, Tegan, Emily, Megan, Reema, Rafaela, Evelyn...
|
 |
12 Mar 2025
Student of the week: Charlotte, 8T. ''Charlotte is always insanely helpful, but yesterday she took the badminton equipment down to the university for a club which she was asked to do, but without prompting she also took them back to school, which was not on her way home. This sums Charlotte...
|
 |
24 Feb 2025
Student of the week: Simran, 12MAL. ''She was brilliant and engaging while supporting another younger student with Maths work. She is a natural teacher.'' Nominated by Mrs Simister.
Class of the week: Cast of Frozen Junior. ''For their dedication to excellence, their...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Parent and student surveys on school attendance.
Following our previous communications about the Plymouth School Attendance research project, please find links and QR codes below to the parent and child surveys.
You can opt out of the survey by ignoring the links and QR codes. Should you and/or your child complete the survey and wish to withdraw your data, please contact Elpida Achtaridou, the principal investigator, at eachtaridou@marjon.ac.uk by 1st May 2025. Plymouth Marjon University will be unable to withdraw any data after that date. For any further information, questions, or concerns, please contact Elpida Achtaridou.
|
|
|
PARKING
Please can we ask Parents for consideration when parking near the school, there have been some instances where it has been difficult for our students to walk safely due to the volume of cars.
There have been occasions where students have been late leaving for a sports fixture because parents had parked blocking the minibuses. Students can exit the site via Alton Road, and parents may consider this a convenient pickup point or one of the other streets surrounding the school.
Be reminded that there is NO PARKING allowed on the double yellow lines outside the school main gates.
|
|
STUDENT ABSENCE
|
|
|
HOME SCHOOL COMMUNICATION
Students may contact staff if they have queries, firstly by visiting them in their department area, and only contacting them using school email system if they really can’t see them in person.
Parents may wish to contact staff. The following outlines what the Headteacher regards as important considerations regarding home/school communication, particularly by email:
¨ All communication must respect the dignity of the recipient.
¨ Within 48 hours: receipt of an email will be acknowledged by school either by the person contacted, or the most appropriate person able to deal with the issue (term time only, not after 5pm nor over a weekend).
¨ Within 5 working days: school will provide a response to the email by telephone or in writing, or e-mail. This may include informing the sender that more time is required to provide a full response. If this is the case, staff should indicate a time frame for a response.
¨ Staff will not be expected to monitor or respond to emails outside their normal working hours (nor at weekends and published school holidays).
Whilst this is extremely rare, if a member of staff receives an e-mail or call which is of an aggressive tone, sets unreasonable demands or could otherwise be interpreted as harassing, they will refer this to a senior line manager in the school, who will decide if consideration needs to be given to dealing with further communication under our Complaints Policy.
|
|
PARKING
Out of respect for our neighbours and for health and safety reasons there is NO PARKING on the school site or for collecting/dropping off students on the double yellow lines outside our school gates.
|
|
STUDENTS LEAVING SCHOOL DURING THE SCHOOL DAY
For safety reasons if your daughter has to leave school during the school day, and you are unable to collect her, she must have a note in her planner with clear instructions that you give permission for her to leave unaccompanied. Without your express instructions to this effect we will not allow any students to leave school unless they are collected by an adult from reception.
|
NUT ALLERGY
Please be aware that we have students who are severely allergic to nuts and we would, therefore, appreciate where possible that you try to avoid putting nuts into packed lunches.
Although we are not going completely nut free, we have stopped selling packets of nuts as snacks in the canteen to try to reduce the risk to them and appreciate your support.
|
|
SOCIAL MEDIA & ONLINE SAFETY
Our Children are spending more and more time on their mobile phones. Making them aware of the dangers of social media, and protecting them from these dangers can be very challenging. These are some of the better known sites that pose risks to children—are they on your child’s phone home screen?
To help safeguard your child please regularly take the time to talk to them about the way they use their social media apps:
Do they always know who they are engaging with?
Do they share their passwords?
Do they feel comfortable with what they are seeing and doing?
Do they feel pressure from “friends” to do/say things they don’t want to?
For more information please regarding online safety, please visit our website: www.phsg.org/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Calendar Term Dates 2024-2025
Term
|
Starts
|
Ends
|
|
One
|
4th September (Year 7 & 12 only)
5th September (All Year Groups)
|
17th October
|
| Autumn Half Term |
21st October |
1st November |
|
Two
|
5th November
|
20th December
|
| Christmas Holidays |
23rd December |
3rd January |
|
Three
|
6th January
|
14th February
|
| Spring Half term |
17th February |
21st February |
|
Four
|
24th February
|
4th April
|
| Easter Holidays |
7th April |
21st April |
|
Five
|
22nd April
|
23rd May
|
| Summer Half term |
26th May |
30th May |
|
Six
|
2nd June
|
23rd July
|
| Summer Holidays |
24th July |
2nd September |
Curriculum Enrichment Week
7th July - 11th July
Non Pupil Days
3rd September
18th October
4th November
5th May 2025 (Bank Holiday).
24th July 2025
25th July 2025
|
|
|
