This week started with some very unexpected weather! I was busy working in my office on Monday afternoon when I looked up and saw the tennis courts blanketed in snow! It was wonderful for the children in Primary to be able to go out and enjoy the snow while it lasted. Such a great experience! I hope that you all have a lovely half term, and that the children have an opportunity to have a rest and return to school on Monday 24th February fully refreshed.
Congratulations to Grace for achieving a merit in her ARSM Singling Diploma. Grace is the first Derby High Student to ever achieve the singing diploma! This is a relatively new exam through the Associate of the Royal Schools of Music (ARSM) and is a performance based exam. Well done Grace, a fantastic result!
Today we welcomed Devon Daley from BBC Radio Derby, who spoke about his career and how his passion for music provided wonderful opportunities. He told us to chase our dreams - if you are passionate enough about something, you will get there in the end; enjoying your work is the most important and rewarding thing.
Congratulations to Dr E-B and Olivia (Year 8) for a fabulous first night performance of Annie at the Brewhouse in Burton. Dr E-B is playing the role of Miss Hannigan while Olivia is Annie. In addition, senior students Natalie (Year 8) and Megan (Year 10) are also part of the production. All three of these students attended Derby High Primary before moving up to the Senior School.
The Derby High Equestrian team braved the wet weather on Sunday at the Schools Equestrian Games Arena Eventing competition hosted at Weston Lawns. Arena Eventing is a challenging course of show jumping and cross country with the competitors aiming to go clear in an optimum time- no watches allowed! Darcy entered both of her ponies with Pip, her youngster going to experience a bigger venue. Darcy’s second ride Dodger did a fabulous clear at 80cm but unfortunately a fast time kept them just out the rosettes. Isabelle and Olivia competed in the 90cm. Isabelle’s pony Jack gave her a challenging ride and decided to save themselves for another day. Olivia and Bruno completed a clear and were delighted to be placed 4th.
Mrs Courtney-Hale took seven Year 3 and 4 pupils to the City Schools gymnastics competition on Thursday 30th January, held at Trix Academy in Little Eaton. The team had been training extremely hard and all this hard work paid off as they achieved 2nd place in the team competition with Emilie gaining 3rd place in the individual competition - both marvellous achievements which the girls should be very proud of. A big thank you to all that took part and the families who came to support the team.
Mrs Ince visited Year 4 on Thursday with her Year 10 art class. They have been designing party bags and requested feedback on which lettering, colours and designs were best. Year 4 gave some very honest opinions but are super excited to see the Year 10s again in a few weeks, once they have made their final products
On Saturday 18th January, the Zonal Trampolining championships were held at the Sports Wales National Centre in Cardiff, Wales. Millie, Evie, Priya and Megan made up the Derby High School 7 - 8 Novice group. Millie was competing as an individual and scored a total of 49.400 after both flights. This meant she came 5th overall. As a team everyone did their best and we were all happy with our performances and all our hours of hard work clearly paid off as we came 3rd.
