USH Newsletter 9th December 2019

Dear Parents and Carers.

Thank you for all your support this term- I said to staff
today that a term at USH sometimes feels like a year anywhere else! A visitor
remarked this term ‘USH is not a school to stand still.’ That’s true but
for the next two weeks we will be taking a genuine and well-earned rest and
school closes today.

I wish you all a restful and happy Christmas and I hope you
have the chance to share good company and reflect on this busy year.

2020 at USH will herald a focus on our value of RESPECT and
we will be working to create unity and community across our school and our
local area. This year our country has been through a lot- as has our city and
the new year gives us a great chance to think about what really matters to us.

Next term, we will be strengthening the USH ethos through
gratitude and kindness to all and will asking families to share our ambition
and hope for continued health and happiness of the USH family. Through our
expansion, we profoundly recognise the need to deepen our connectivity so we
sustain a school where everyone feels they can belong.

We will also be marking the new decade and the achievement
of our school’s top 20 Hampshire ranking with a 20/20/20 celebration….get it?

The quality of education and chances we offer children would
not be possible without my fabulous and dedicated staff so if you have cause to
give share some positive feedback to them- please do take the time to do so.

Merry Christmas Everyone and here’s to a happy and
successful new year.

Best wishes

Mr Woods 

On our last day of term, December 19th, Upper
Shirley High threw a fantastic Talent Show, which showcased a huge range of
talents from all five year groups. The audiences watched with giddy glee as the
acts sung, danced, performed a comedy routine and took part in some
audience-participation challenges – even getting teachers up on stage! Students
came in two halves – the Aviators and Engineers had the pleasure of seeing the
wonderful Finley McGill in Year 7 singing his way to victory with ‘A Million
Dreams’, while Mariners and Venturers danced with joy to Kate Tikhomirova’s
amazing routine for ‘Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)’.

A huge thanks to everyone involved – from our tremendous
and hilarious hosts, Fletcher Carr and Jacob Neil, and our wonderful judging
panel – Miss Dunne, Miss Baillie, Mrs Rendall, Mrs Mahoney and Mr J Smith – and
our behind-the-scenes superstars, Mr Harvey, Mr Hall, Mr Staples and Ben Farmer
(mastermind lighting genius!). Everyone has been raving about the talent they
have seen, and it’s fair to stay that USH really has got talent! 2020 has a lot
to live up to by these high standards!

Merry Christmas one and all, and a happy, productive and
successful new year!

Thank you all for the contributions brought in today for the Southampton City Mission.

Students were invited by tutor group to each bring their donation to the collection point at the front of school.  It was a joy to watch the stream of happy students, in their Christmassy themed jumpers walk in convey from their tutor bases to The Pavillions.

We are delighted at the volume of goods that we were able to donate to the charity and thank you for your generosity.

T’was the week before Christmas (well almost) and all
through the class, all students were working, trying to pass… the Escape Room
Christmas Special!

Last week, the Year 9 Film Studies cohort were kindly
invited to the Solent University of Southampton, by a 2^nd year TV
Production group of students to take part in their 1^st semester TV
episode assignment, Escape Room Christmas Special. All the students needed to
do was be willing participants in the challenge to try and work out the clues
in order to discover 4 codes which would enable them to open 4 padlocks and
retrieve the key to ‘escape the room’. Sounds easy, right? Erm, not quite.

Initially, despite my concerns about the students feeling nervous
about being recorded carrying out the challenge and not necessarily wanting to
be filmed, actually, simply deciding between the willing applicants for the 3
students who would take part in the filmed episode was a challenge in itself! Despite
there being a 2^nd option of taking part in a second run that was not
to be filmed, all of those who wanted to partake in the challenge wanted to be
recorded! So this resulted in the students creating a video application to go
on the show, which we sent off to the university students in charge of the
project to decide on their final line-up.

Once we arrived, we were all amazed by the studio space (all
decorated for the set of the gameshow) and the impressive university filming
and editing equipment in the ‘gallery’ where the screens and controls for the
cameras etc were being managed by the students in the group. Upon our arrival,
the 3 finalists were quickly revealed and briefed about how the gameshow was
going to run, and then set up ready to take on the challenge. Meanwhile, the
remaining students had a great opportunity to watch some of the equipment in
use, and also to go upstairs into an even larger studio where a group of
students in their 3^rd year were carrying out rehearsals for their
assignment of 6 episodes of a TV show. This was an excellent opportunity for us
to have a go at managing the cameras and being advised by the very experienced
lecturer overseeing this project, whose industry credits include some iconic TV
shows including Art Attack!

As we returned downstairs, the countdown of the final minute
for the 3 participants in the room was ticking down quickly (the students with
me were going to be taking part in a second non-filmed attempt, and so were not
able to see the first run of the game!) and panic was building between the
contestants. It was extremely unfortunate that they managed to misplace one of
the codes, and were not able to unlock the final padlock! So unfortunately,
they are still in the room now… (Just kidding of course!)

After a very mature-feeling lunch amongst university
lecturers and students in the university Starbucks cafe, we made our way back
down to the studio and set everything back up for another run, this time with
the other group of students who had not managed to take part yet. I am happy to
report that they did manage to escape, although still only just in the time!
Our conclusion, a very well-designed challenge! And a good day had by all.

Sarah O’Halloran, Head of Film.

Shirley Baptist Church held their Christmas Tree Festival last weekend and we were invited to display a tree.  Cary and Emilia visited the church on Friday 13th December and adorned the USH tree with blue and orange tinsel and baubles - what other colour would we use?!  The final decoration to be added was the hand made star (thank you Mrs Hannah).  

This week we received a certificate of participation.

Well done to Dan R in Year 10 who took part in a
photography competition to be part of the Lyndhurst 2020 Calendar. His amazing
bird photograph won. Congratulations, I am really proud.

Mrs Cadle

On 4^th
December Year 9 and 10 students took part in a full day in the London. First
stop was the Natural History Museum and the Wildlife Photographer of the Year
exhibition. This highly prestigious exhibition of the very best wildlife
photography really inspired the students. The photographs were taken all over
the world and showed some of the most beautiful and hostile environments. The
next stop was the National Portrait Gallery to see the Taylor Wessing
Photography Portrait Prize exhibition. I was very proud to see USH students
discussing the photographs with other people visiting the exhibition. The
recently unveiled portrait of Stormzy was a highlight for many of the students.
The last part of the day was out in the sunshine walking around some of the
iconic landmarks in central London; the hustle and bustle of Trafalgar Square,
the architecture of Whitehall, the distinctive shape of the London Eye and the
Thames glistening below the Houses of Parliament. We even had time to watch
some impromptu street theatre.

Mrs Cadle

The Maths-Whizz winner for this week is Hatty Taylor.  Well done.