And as the festive season approaches, we are reminded of this special time of year that offers a wonderful opportunity to come together as a school community and embrace the joy of giving, sharing, and creating lasting memories.
Across all areas of school, we have been preparing for our annual Christmas events, which we hope will bring warmth and cheer to everyone involved. We are looking forward to welcoming parents, governors, and friends in for our many performances; our Junior School Panto of Bah Humbug, and both the Junior and Senior Carol Services. Mr Payne spoke in this week’s assembly of the build up to Christmas and the excitement it brings. We paused to consider the traditions we all have in our homes and at school, and we encourage families to take this time to reflect on the season’s true spirit; perhaps starting new traditions that bring meaning and joy, whether it’s baking together, crafting decorations, or volunteering as a family, these moments can create cherished memories that will last a lifetime. I think we may start to see a few new traditions popping up at school over the next couple of weeks too to embrace the magic of the season.
And so the countdown begins as we enter the final two weeks of term and we wish you and your families a wonderful weekend.
Kate Millichamp, Head of Juniors and Deputy Head (whole school)
Darren Payne, Head
Key Dates
- Wednesday 4th December – Y9 Parents’ evening
- Thursday 5th December – Bah! Humbug Junior performance 2.30-3.30pm & 5-6pm
- Tuesday 10th December – Junior Pantomime Trip, Theatre Severn
- Tuesday 10th December – Junior Carol Concert, Shrewsbury Cathedral 5-6pm
- Thursday 12th December – Senior Carol Concert, St. Chads, 6-8pm
- Friday 13th December – Christmas Jumper Day
- Friday 13th December – End of Term (12.30pm)
- Friday 13th December – Alumnae Carols Round the Tree
GSA request regarding legal action
As you may be aware, the Independent Schools Council (ISC) has voted to launch legal action in response to the government’s decision to apply VAT on school fees from January 2025. The GDST is represented by a number of the membership associations on the Board, including the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA), who have been in contact with an update. In order to highlight the impact of the policy, they would like to speak to families who can illustrate the impact on students’ human rights, and their right to an education in an all-girls setting. Specifically, they are looking for examples where the increased fees will deny a child access to a girls’ school because there are no school alternatives available to them in the state sector. If you would be interested in providing evidence in court, the GSA is inviting you to contact the law firm Kingsley Napley LLP via Manvir Grewal (mgrewal@kingsleynapley.co.uk). We have been advised that the lawyers may not be able to respond individually to everyone who contacts them.
Thank you to Winston Farm Christmas Trees!
We are so grateful to Winston Farm Christmas Trees, nr. Ellesmere, for the generous donation of a Christmas tree for our New Hall.
The Christmas tree farm has thousands of freshly cut trees on offer, from 3 to 30ft. The farm is home to real reindeer which you can feed whilst enjoying a free mulled wine.
Art Competition
As part of our ‘140’ celebrations we are excited to be launching an art competition and would love you to get involved.
Pupils, parents and alumnae are invited to submit a piece of work that sums up Shrewsbury High School for you. This could be in the form of a literal depiction of the school building or even a representation of how you perceive ‘sisterhood’, in any medium – there really is unlimited potential as to what you can create.
The deadline for entries is Friday 31st January 2025 and the competition will be judged by head of creative technologies Mr. Millichamp. Please drop your entry into the Junior or Senior Front Office.
The winning submission will feature as our 140th celebration artwork and will be reproduced to feature on all of our 140 merchandise.
Good luck!
An Evening with ... Clare Balding
Junior School Carol Service
Please join us at Shrewsbury Cathedral for an afternoon of rosy cheeks and festive cheer on Tuesday 10th December, as we celebrate Christmas with our junior girls.
Mulled wine and mince pies will be on offer from 4pm in the Old Hall, Town Walls, before we move across to the cathedral for our annual celebration of Christmas with our junior pupils and their families.
Friends of SHS Burns Night
Forthcoming Events
End of Term Arrangements
A reminder that on the last day of term, Friday 13th of December, school will be finishing at 12.30pm. School minibuses will be departing St Chad’s at 12.45.
Young Textile Design Competition 2024
Congratulations to students who competed in the Young Textile Design Competition 2024, hosted by the Shrewsbury Drapers Company. At the awards evening, the judges said they were very impressed by the quality of all entrees and had a very difficult job deciding who to award the prizes to. Congratulations to the following:
Issy Evans won the KS3 Bronze prize. Maddie Wareham’s felted landscape won the second prize for the KS3 Woolman award. Amy Jones’s felted scene was highly commended and Sophie Davenport’s Daisy dress received the KS4 Gold Woolman award and the KS3 Silver award.
Thank you to everyone who took part. Their work looked brilliant in the exhibition and they should be extremely proud of themselves. See images in the grid below.
Baby News
We are delighted to announce that Mrs. Jones (Biology) and her husband have welcomed a baby boy! Shrewsbury High send the Jones family and baby Gethin their very best wishes.
English Public Speaking Competition
This week, we held the school heats of the GDST public speaking competition for Year 11 students. Nine girls showed great courage and character to deliver a five minute speech on a topic of their choice, ranging from mental health, journalism, and the glass ceiling, through to investing in technology and political correctness. The standard of the participants’ speeches was phenomenally high and demonstrated superb higher order thinking and critical analysis of contentious social ideas. Girls voted for the winner and the result was extremely close; ultimately, Millie Pigg triumphed and will now represent us in a regional heat, taking place at Northampton High School in January.
See photos in the grid below.
Year 13 Trip to Shrewsbury Prison
This week Mrs. McQueen took Year 13 Psychology students to Shrewsbury Prison. They enjoyed learning about the history of the prison and hearing about the benefits and drawbacks of using custodial sentencing as a way of dealing with offending behaviour. They also loved hearing about the ghost stories of Shrewsbury Prison! Photo below.
Careers in Dentistry – Tuesday 3rd December 2024 7.00-8.00pm
Next week, we have an online GDST CareerStart event which is open to any student across the country who might be interested in taking part.
Our panel is made up of Steph Spiby (SHS alumna) (current undergraduate at University of Leeds), Rebecca O’Sullivan (SHS alumna) (recent graduate from University of Sheffield) and Anjli Patel – Consultant and specialist orthodontist and consultant, who also serves as the Director of External Relations for the British Orthodontic Society (BOS).
To sign up: Webinar Registration – Zoom
More information on our amazing panel is available as a download below this newsfeed.
Careers in Dentistry
Newcastle GDST Hockey Weekend
What a weekend in Newcastle! It was packed with tough games, brilliant moments, and some unforgettable experiences. We came away with a mix of wins and losses, we showed so much fight and teamwork.
Our defence was absolutely solid, holding off some really strong opposition. Lizzie was amazing in goal, making unreal saves that kept us in the game time and time again. Our attack was really good, making strong passes in the D and making amazing pushes against goal.
The trip wasn’t just about the matches—we also had some amazing opportunities off the pitch. We got to have a talk with GB hockey player Sarah Jones, who gave us an inspiring talk about her journey and what it takes to play at the highest level. It was so motivating to hear from someone who’s been where we are and made it to the top.
We also attended a workshop about how the menstrual cycle impacts women in sports. It was super eye-opening and gave us loads of tips on how to manage training and performance more effectively. It’s not something you hear about often, but it was really helpful and made a big impact on us as players.
Overall, it was such a good trip. From the hard-fought matches to the amazing learning experiences, we came back stronger and closer as a team!
Luciana Macfarlane – Year 10
