Keble College 2013

Fifteen girls from Year 10 visited the University of Oxford on Friday. The day was organised by Keble College, but we also visited St John’s and Wadham Colleges as well as the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Bodleian Library.

Look out for a more detailed report by Charlotte Cotterill in the July edition of the School Newsletter.

My thanks to all the girls for their lively interest and excellent behaviour all day. You were a credit to our school. I hope you found the day inspirational.
Mr Millman

Great Midlands Fun Run 2013

Well done and thank you to all participants in the school's Fun Run team - you did brilliantly. Remember to start collecting your sponsor money.

Mrs Shackleton

Year 9 PGL Maths Weekend

25 students and three members of staff, Mrs Burns, Miss Hart and Mrs Pockson went to PGL Winmarleigh Hall for the weekend of 26th – 28th April.

The aim was to combine Maths with Outdoor and Adventurous activities. There was the opportunity to measure angles with a clinometer and various other dimensions to work out the height of the climbing tower using Trigonometry, (about 10m). Abseiling in the wind and rain proved a great challenge which most students were able to complete. Mrs Pockson was brave enough to go on the Giant Swing and would have gone on the Quad Bikes except that the age limit was 16! How to find bearings was revised while working out the distances around an orienteering course.

Attendance figures released

Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls is delighted to have been recognised by the Department for Education as one of the top ten secondary schools in the country for high levels of attendance with an overall absence rate of just 2.5% in 2011 – 2012.

This achievement is a tribute to the high expectations of students, parents and staff, which ensures an environment in which the girls thrive. Our aim is to secure outstanding outcomes for all our students with leadership, learning and enjoyment in evidence inside and outside the classroom.

Bali Rai

On Thursday 21st March, the Library was very pleased to introduce the author Bali Rai to the school. He is the author of several well known books and was the favourite (living) choice for a visiting author when we canvassed girls in the Library.

He gave very spirited talks to everyone from Years 8 through 11 plus those from the 6th form who could get to one of the talks and was available for anyone to meet in the Library at lunchtime. Judging from the reaction of his audiences and the comments of girls since Thursday, Bali Rai was a big hit and his books have been disappearing from the library shelves as fast as they come back in so we can judge that the day was extremely successful.

Comic Relief 2013

Well done and thank you to all involved - you responded wonderfully to the challenge of 'doing something funny for money'.

Congratulations to Tudor who were the house that raised the most money: £1919.81 and win the non-uniform day on Thursday of next week. Tudor were very closely followed by Warwick in second place and the difference between the two Houses was only £23.24.

I am so proud of you all girls - well done.
Mrs Shackleton.

Attention All Parents – CyberSentinel 14 Day Free Trial

Sutton Coldfield Grammar School is urging parents, carers and guardians to look at ways in which we can monitor and track what children are doing when using electronic resources, whether at school or at home. There is a free 14 day trial available. After 14 days you may either uninstall the software or continue to use it by paying CyberSentinal £25 per year.

What is CyberSentinel?

CyberSentinel is monitoring software that has been developed for the home. Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls along with many other Birmingham Schools are already using the Policy Central offering from Forensic Software that protects children when using web sites, chat rooms, instant messaging and social networks. Most importantly it helps good parents do an even better job – by giving children the freedom to thrive online in safety.

Rather than just blocking unsuitable websites, CyberSentinel recognises and monitors keywords that signal danger, providing that extra protection for peace of mind. A weekly summary is produced for adults to see a record of all internet activity. Parents can log into their control panel from any internet enabled PC and see what their children are doing online at home.

How do I get this software?

Visit the CyberSentinel Web site at and click on the ‘Try or Buy’ link. Complete the registration and installation process.

Technical Issues

Please note that All technical issues are handled by CyberSentinel’s technical team (which includes a help desk) via the CyberSentinel Support page.

Sutton Schools Big Debate 2013

On Thursday 28th February Beth McHugh (12P) and I, Joy Dempsey (12Y) headed to Arthur Terry School for the annual Sutton Schools Big Debate, hosted by Sutton Coldfield MP Andrew Mitchell. The debates covered a range of motions and the first round, requiring us to argue against Scottish independence, went well, our prior planning ensuring a smooth delivery. The second round presented a tougher task, as we had only thirty minutes to prepare beforehand, this time arguing against raising the price of alcohol to combat binge drinking, but at the end of the night we were surprised and pleased to find ourselves declared the winners! We each took home a plaque and our school will now have the honour of hosting next year’s competition, where we will hand over the trophy to the new winners. Hopefully, Sutton Girls will be triumphant once again!

Golfing Victory for Victoria in the US

“I recently went to the USA to compete in the Florida Junior Golf Tour. I had never even set foot in the US let alone played golf there, so it was to be an exciting new experience for me. I teed up on the first hole, not knowing what to expect; in the lovely Florida sunshine I hit the ball well. On the final day I was tied for the lead. My scores of 72 and 75 proved to be good enough for a two stroke victory. An English winner in the US, they won’t want me to play again!”

Very well done Victoria, it is great to hear of your continuing golfing success.

Breaking news
Victoria has now been selected to represent England Golf to compete in the 2013 SLGA Under 16s Championship. The event will take place at Strathmore Golf Club in Perthshire and Victoria will have access to expert coaching from the National Under 18 coach, Scott Godfrey and the overseer, Christine Pascall.

by Victoria Mallett 10A

Youth Speaks Competition

Congratulations to our team of Rebecca Bowen, Laurie Hampson and Shri Rajamoorthy who beat Highclare in the opening round of the Rotary Club "Youth Speaks" Competition in Wylde Green on 5th February. Their talk, entitled 'Do we want a Brave New World?', was on the theme of genetic engineering. They considered the future of this fast-growing area of science and the ethical implications which we will need to face. Their conclusion was that we should take advantage of the many potential benefits in Medicine offered by genetic engineering, but that there is a clear ethical line which we should not cross.

The team put much thought into the content and delivery of their presentation, and their success was well-deserved. Thanks also to the parents who were able to support the team on the night.

Our school has now been invited to the next, much tougher, regional round at Arden School in Knowle on 1st March. Best wishes go to Rebecca and Shri, who will be joined next time by Serena Kullar as Laurie is unavailable.