Our annual "Celebration of Excellence" evening is an opportunity to reflect upon the achievements of our very talented students across all Key Stages.  We were fortunate to be able to welcome former student, Olivia Matthews (class of 2016), back to the school in order to present the prizes and share her experience of school and life beyond school.

In addition to celebrating the exceptional achievements of our students, long service awards were issued to staff members who have completed ten or more years of service to the school.  We were particularly pleased to give thanks to Mr Royden and Ms Beavis who have each worked at Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School for in excess of 35 years.

 

Throughout Year 10 a group of STEM students have been working on various projects and my group focused on making hydrogen from scrap metal.  Leading up to a national competition called the Big Bang, all STEM students had the opportunity to showcase their ideas during a STEM fair held in May.  This also involved an online meeting with various professional judges and those who took an interest in the same topics nationally.

In late June, three groups from our school had the opportunity to participate in the Big Bang competition in Birmingham.  It was a huge privilege for our team as it gave us the opportunity to explore our enthusiasm for science and engineering while also developing our cognitive skills.

One of our favourite activities at the fair was to go and visit professional stalls from companies and corporations ranging from the National Grid to Specsavers. It was incredible to appreciate the amount of science and technology behind all areas of the company in question, as well as getting hands-on experience.  We got the chance to also try practical activities such as badge making and even using computer technology to view modern or more futuristic architecture in virtual reality.  The activities were endless!  Quizzes had been set up and were available to try and guide you to several future careers suited to personalities, games to pique your interest and lectures giving insight into careers. 

Altogether, the day was thoroughly enjoyable, giving us many great memories and unique opportunities. 

- By Kayra in Year 10

Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School is incredibly proud of our GCSE STEM students and their participation in The Big Bang Fair.  We are delighted to share that we won the following four prestigious awards:

• An “Energy Institute Climate Change Special Award” for making hydrogen fuel from scrap metal.
• A “Practical Science Special Award” for Mr Bloor-Young’s leadership of the STEM groups.
• A runner up award for the Intermediate Science Category for making hydrogen fuel from scrap metal.
• A runner up award for the Intermediate Engineering Category for a stair climbing wheelchair for dogs project. 

 

Bertha Earth is an environmental organisation which seeks to grow a network of diverse environment leaders who will bring about positive change.  They seek to support young people to develop a range of leadership skills whilst educating them about the environment and sustainability.

As part of the 2022-23 programme, a group of Year 7 students have participated in a series of after school workshops, culminating in a residential retreat at Jamie's Farm to focus on the story of land, food, farming and fashion systems.   During the residential activity at the end of June, our students farmed their own produce and learned about animal welfare and sustainability.  A great deal of fun was had and the group are very much looking forward to continuing this important work next year.

On 20th and 21st May, a group of 60 year 10 students at Dunstable Downs Visitors Centre for what promised to be an exciting Training expedition weekend for their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. The programme is  designed for anyone aged 14-24, and it consists of physical, skills, volunteering and expedition elements (with an additional residential section at gold level) which can all be tailored to the individual, allowing them to develop as a person and also express themselves and their interests in many different ways.

The expedition was based in the Chiltern Hills, with students required to complete a 2 day expedition (including a camp out). This was across undulating, challenging terrain in groups of 7 where students put their skills to the test to complete an expedition. They developed map reading skills, compass and navigation skills as well as the ability to cook over an open fire.

The first day saw students recapping the skills learned on the Training day in March, accompanied by instructors from AtoZ Expeditions who could guide and support. AtoZ Expeditions are a dedicated Adventurous Activity Provider (AAP) who specialise in  DofE expeditions and we have worked with for many years. The instructors worked with groups of students to navigate around 12km across the Chiltern Hills to their campsite for the evening, coming across many challenges including fields full of cows and even some horses!

Upon arrival at the camp, students pitched their tents and set to work cooking their meals. There was lots of pasta, noodles and hot chocolate to go around and spirits remained high despite one group managing to burn their pasta and another who spilt theirs over the grass, meaning double cooking for them! We also enjoyed a small birthday celebration for one student with balloons and banners decorating her tent. 

An early wakeup on Sunday morning (6am) ensured students could cook themselves breakfasts of porridge and hot chocolate before their first unaccompanied, remotely supervised expedition. The first group happily left camp at 8:20am to begin their 6 hours of walking, starting up a very large hill toward Ivinghoe Beacon.

Throughout the day all students made great progress, showing their newly honed navigation skills and realised that many things they had packed were not strictly necessary and that being able to fit their tents and stoves for the weekend into their bags was much more important!

Across the weekend our students demonstrated compassion, teamwork, leadership, resilience and improved cooking skills to allow them to successfully complete their training. We are now looking forward to their qualifying expedition in three weeks time, also taking place in the Chiltern Hills.

 

On Wednesday 26th April, Sixth Form student Adriana led one of our staff and student lecture series sessions.  The focus this week was on Jane Austen and the novel before and after one of literature's most influential writers. 

Fellow Year 13 English Literature student, Saoirse, described the lecture as:

"A shrewd and acutely perceptive insight into the development of the Novel, and the context in which Jane Austen’s work was produced, Adriana examined the state of the Novel before Austen, from title length to its very narration, with an air of excitement for literature few could do justice to. Alongside relaying a side to Austen as a writer previously unknown to A-level Literature students (her wit and crafty humour), Adriana also afforded her audience a glance into what English Literature is like at a degree level, with all the nuance and complexity the subject matter deserved. A wonderful way to spend an afternoon; I’m glad we got to share it."