2011-12

Students at Oxford High School are celebrating excellent GCSE results again this year. “Over 92% of the grades are A* or A”, said Judith Carlisle, Head at OHS. “Oxford High School girls show tremendous interest in their studies across the full range of subjects and it is their enthusiasm, in partnership with inspirational teaching, that

Oxford High School students are once again celebrating exceptional A Level results “Across all 26 A Level subjects, the girls have achieved super results” said Judith Carlisle, Head of Oxford High School GDST.  “Their love of learning and sheer hard work, when combined with top quality teaching and individual care, add up to well-deserved success. 

It has been another fantastic year for our residential Year 8 trip to Hadrian’s Wall. Even the torrential downpours did nothing to dampen our spirits! Here are some pictures of our experiences.  

It has been another busy year for Mandarin Chinese Department. Many students across the whole year groups took part in various UKAPCE national competitions. Again, our girls have done very well competing against 400 more students from 23 schools around the country. Many congratulations to all girls participating in all competitions, particularly to 1) National Mandarin Chinese Reading Competition

  The Dragon Boat Festival is a significant festival celebrated in China, and the one with the longest history. The Mandarin Chinese students have celebrated it with various activities this year. The most popular one was to make ‘ZONG ZI’, rice dumpling filled with chocolate (a new invention!) and red bean paste wrapped with bamboo

After a morning of ISCO tests which will (we hope)  lead to a helpful way to help reflect on A level choices once the profiles arrive in September, Year 10 and their tutors decided to shake off those end of year, post-exam cobwebs and walk down to the Natural History Museum in Parks Road to

  The Religious Studies department has managed to avoid the worst of the weather on our two trips this term; Year 10 GCSE Religious Studies went to places of worship in Leicester on Thursday 14th June, and Year 7 went to Dorchester Abbey on Friday 29th July. The GCSE trip began at the Shree Sanatan

On May 3rd 2012, we welcomed Dr Michael Pilling to Oxford High School to give a talk about illusory perceptions and the brain. Girls of all age groups in the Senior School were invited, and he certainly “wowed” them with a whirlwind of illusions (not just visual ones, but auditory and cross-modal ones).  There was

Our third Sixth Form Conference, a record number of schools applying for places, and a really informative day of cutting-edge research! The undergraduate presentations covered the topics of eating attitudes and personality traits in 16-18-year-old girls and the experience of cultural transition among Hellenic immigrants in Oxford.  Workshops and activities run by current lecturers and researchers included “Who

Wire birds made by Year 9 students experimenting with different media.

Year 9 spent their day creating a Pressure Group and then, helped by Year 12 Young Enterprise students, they made a pitch to the EU for £15,000 to fund a year-long project.  The presentations in the afternoon were of a very high standard, showing invention and real practical skills.  The Best Idea for a Pressure

Year 8 students came dressed the part for their Careers Day 2012.  Having used the website icould and taken the Buzz test to find out their personality type, they watched some career interviews and chose a job they would like to try out.  In groups (in which we mixed up personality types) the students played

At the South East Young Enterprise finals in Horsham, Quad won the award for the Best Marketing and Sales.  This was out of a total of 365 companies across the South East of England.  Sales of their leather briefcases, handbags and batik bags have been strong and they are pursuing exciting developments for the sale

Faster, higher, stronger! The Olympic and Paralympic values were certainly explored on Thursday 21st June in the whole school Olympic morning. The school boasts huge sporting talent and the pinnacle of the morning came with Tilly Vaughan Fowler (12H) telling us about her time at the School Olympics. Tilly was part of the GB rugby

Year 12 students take part in an Enrichment day during the second half of the Summer Term. This day had multiple aims: 1. to elicit new ideas, questions and connections about and beyond what and how our students learn and study; 2. to broaden the students’ understanding and knowledge of the world around them and

Four of our Year 8s participated in the ‘Salters’ Chemistry Challenge at Oxford University. They did extremely well competing against 15 other schools and came second in the ‘University Challenge’ competition; they then attended an exciting Chemistry lecture.     

On Thursday 5 July, the Design Technology department held an exhibition of current GCSE and A-Level work. The work on display showcased the final projects from the GCSE and A-Level courses examined in 2012.  The exhibition was extremely successful and the evening was very busy, with a broad mix of proud parents, excited girls and amazed visitors. Most of our guests were astounded at the

In celebration of the upcoming Jubilee festivities, we held our very own lunch party! The Dining Hall was transformed into a vision of red, white and blue and we were treated to good old English favourites.

   One Friday afternoon in March 2012, just before the International Women’s Day, fourteen Oxford High School sixth formers ventured to Eton College to show off their Russian poetry skills to the boys studying Russian, and to wow them with their ‘unbeatable start in life’. On arriving to Eton College, we were taken on a

It was good to welcome Bryony Malins back to OHS for a Life Lunch.  Bryony is rarely in Europe, let alone Britain, these days so it was great to catch her on one of her rare journeys home.  Once she left OHS she studied Archaeology and Ancient languages at University College London.  After dabbling in various

In March, we hosted a visit from local author MG Harris and were delighted that students from Cherwell and New College School could join us for the event. MG gave a very entertaining talk on ‘Apocalypse Moon’, the latest book in her ‘Joshua Files’ series. There was great interaction with the audience and she answered

On the day before the Easter holidays, a group of eight students and two teachers set off to snowy Moscow. When we arrived, we were met by two Russian teachers who took us on a luxury bus to the school. At the school we waited in the ‘crush hall’ complete with leather sofas and a

On Monday March, 26th and Wednesday March, 28th the Italian writer Paola Mastrocola came to OHS and our Y12 and Y13 students had two special Italian lessons:  Mrs Mastrocola read with us an extract from one her novels (Più lontana della luna) and the students could ask  questions and rise points for discussion. Mrs Mastrocola,

The Junior School enjoyed an Assembly by a Young Enterprise Group ‘OPUS’ from Oxford High Senior School. They joined in with a range of singing, chanting and simple movement which gave us all a lovely ‘warm up’ to our day.

Year 8 recently enjoyed a trip to the Science Museum in Birmingham (‘Think-tank’). The students watched an exciting 3D IMAX presentation and enjoyed the palaentology . They were also able to take their own fingerprints and do a forensic science workshop to investigate a theft.

The Year 8s welcome March in with a social! Most of the year group reappeared in school in the evening dressed in their PJs for an party of games, popcorn and a film. The evening’s theme was “Weddings” with a few of the girls dressing up suitably (one even made her own dress!) and the film was

On the 31st of January, 2012, Year 9 Mandarin Chinese students went on a trip to visit the British Museum and Chinatown. After witnessing a dairy factory on fire and the consequent traffic delay of two hours, the group finally arrived at the British Museum. There, they had a really interesting talk on ‘Mandarin makes

I am speaking to you from S3 in the maths block. This morning Mr Nicholl handed Year 8 the final note stating that unless he heard from them by registration this morning, that they were prepared at once to join him in his code breaking quest, a state of war would exist between the houses.

This year OHS hosted GDST Hockey and Netball Rallies, on site and at BRN.  It was a very successful event with all teams enjoying the day. Our U18 Netball team played very well and reached the quarter final.  Our U15 Hockey team were outstanding, losing only in the final to a very strong team (1-0).

Oxford High School Year 8 student, Honor Shelton, has been longlisted for Amnesty International’s Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year. Over 3,000 people from across the country took part in this prestigious competition and Honor’s entry made the top 10 in the Lower Secondary category. The competition formed part of the year’s work in

27th February 2012 Mrs Carlisle thanked the outgoing Head Girl, Deputy Head Girl, Chair of School Council and Prefect Team, and welcomed the incoming Prefect Team for 2012 – 2013.

The Year 8s have been looking at life in Pompeii throughout this year. Sadly, a day trip to Pompeii is unrealistic; instead, we took them to the Roman town of Corinium (a.k.a. Cirencester). The girls were able to learn about what the Romans ate, wore and were interested in by exploring the museum and attending

On the first day back after half term the Classics Department took nearly fifty Year 10s for a day of discovering what ancient artefacts the British Museum had to offer. Their brief: to be set-designers finishing the film set for the scenario they had been assigned. By means of drawings, descriptions, photos they had to establish the

 RS students from Years 12 and 13 joined hundreds of other 6th Formers at a Philosophy of Religion conference on February 3rd. Oxford Town Hall was filled to capacity to hear the eminent  Dr Peter Vardy and Professor Alister McGrath talk on key subjects such as the God of the Philosophers, miracles, death and eternal

On Tuesday 31st of February, after school, French students ranging from Year 10 to Year 13 had the pleasure to attend Mrs Greenwood`s lecture about the famous French luxury goods business conglomerate Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (MHLV) whose chairman, Mr Bernard Arnault is the richest man in Europe and the 4th in the world, just

Emma Bridgewater returned to OHS, her old school, to talk to our students about doing and creating, drawing on her own experience of setting up her company when she was still a young English Literature graduate with only £400 in the bank. She found it tough to enter the male-dominated world of manufacturing but succeeded

It is not often you meet a man who speaks over a dozen languages fluently, and for any student with a passion for learning languages, this was a truly inspirational lecture. Even before the talk began, we witnessed Adrian Bullock explain his coffee preferences to Dr Liu in Mandarin, greet Mrs Solovyova in Russian and engage

Author Matt Dickinson visited Oxford High School on Thursday 2nd February to talk about his new book, Mortal Chaos, and his adventures as a filmmaker for National Geographic Channel.  The students were gripped by his tales of daring on icy surfaces.  The book was actually published (by OUP) that same day, so girls were able

The Y13 Spanish group have clearly been so inspired by the play they are studying (Federico García Lorca’s Bodas de Sangre) that two of them felt compelled to make a cake that depicted the main themes of the play: the yellow and white flowers (edible!) represent death and purity, Muerte (Death) is cheerfully spelt out

Nineteen Year 11 to Year 13 students went on an Economics and Politics students week long trip to Brussels and Frankfurt.  They explored how small and large businesses operated from a chocolate factory in Brussels to a brewery in Leuven.  The students particularly enjoyed the chance to make chocolates at the Chocolaterie Duval.  They also

Nineteen Year 11 to Year 13 students went on a Politics and Economics trip to Brussels and Frankfurt for a week after the end of the autumn term.  Students enjoyed the chance to visit the key EU institutions of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers in Brussels as well as

Five Year 13 students spent the term preparing a presentation which four of them then gave at Unipart in Cowley to a representative of the Bank of England, mirroring the Bank of England’s decision in setting interest rates.  This involved a 15 minute presentation followed by questions from a panel of judges.  Well done to

The AS Politics students had an exciting Politics conference in London.  They heard from Sir George Young MP, The Speaker Bercow, Simon Hughes MP, Alan Duncan MP, Nigel Farage MEP, Tony Benn and Jonathan Edwards MP.  All of them gave interesting and different speeches with particular favourites being Tony Benn (now aged 86) and Simon

During half-term Miss Derrick, Miss Stewart and Mr & Mrs Bennett accompanied thirty girls on a wonderful tour of the Greek sites of Sicily. Our days were very busy – our courier Mario could not believe how much we planned to do, and did! Our itinerary, from Friday to Thursday, was: Catania and Acireale (very

The Year 12 and 13 Economics students heard a variety of eminent economists speak in London near the end of term.  Highlights included talks from Alistair Darling MP, Tim Harford, author of “The Undercover Economist”, Larry Elliott of the Guardian, Carl Emmerson, of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, Douglas Carswell MP, George Buckley of Deutsche

On the 2nd of December the U15 Hockey Squad set off to our home ground, Banbury Road North, for our Oxfordshire Hockey Tournament.  Our first match was against Headington, so we knew we would have to start strong, which we did. Jenny Dingwall (10G) scored to take us into the lead, which we maintained for

We are pleased to announce that, following an extensive external assessment, Oxford High School has been awarded the prestigious ICT Mark. The award recognises the school’s success in developing the strategic use of ICT in both administration and across the curriculum. It is also evidence that we have undergone an extensive and thorough review of

The theme for the French Day this year was impressionism (23rd November 2011). Following on from their lecture at the Courtauld Institute, our Year 13 French students started the festivities with an assembly about the representation of women by impressionist painters like Degas and Manet. Other activities about impressionism were organised in all the French

The U16 hockey team, captained by Caitlin Bailey-Williams (11S) went to the regional hockey heats on Thursday 17th November and, despite a horrifically early start, stepped up to the challenge. Our first game was against St Claire’s and we went out very strong, with Hannah Spiro (11S) scoring quickly.  Two more goals made the final

Sixth Form Philosophy students attended a conference at St Edward’s School this November. The conference was organised by the A-level Philosophy Departments of Oxford High School, St Edward’s School and Magdalen College School. We organised the conference specifically for sixth formers following the AQA Philosophy specification. Students heard lectures given by Professor Adrian Moore (Oxford University), Dr Anita

Congratulations to Nisha Hare (Year 10) who was selected as Oxford High School ‘Y9 Scientist of the Year (2011)’. Nisha represented the school at an award ceremony at the beginning of November. Another girl in Year 13 attended a similar ceremony becoming Oxford High School’s ‘Chemist of the Year’; she is currently applying for Natural Sciences at

Mission Earth, the environmental board game from last year’s Young Enterprise company, Cosmic, is now on sale in the shops. They sold 50 games in the run up to and during Open Evening. It is available on Amazon and in leading toy shops in Oxford but check first in case it has again sold out.

Directed by Mr Hypher and Mrs Redston Mr Hypher (Head of Physics) and Mrs Redston (Teacher of English) skilfully directed this beautifully staged piece of ‘Macbeth’ with a cast of Year 8s and Year 9s. The reduced half hour play was part of a festival and OHS joined with three other schools to celebrate Shakespeare.

Over 50 students and staff were engaged in a lively and interesting discussion with Andrew Smith (Labour MP for Oxford East). He spoke about the role of an MP, the current political situation and the relationship between government and parliament. Many of the students then asked a wide range of questions covering how easy it

On the 30th September 2011 Dr Natalia Tronenko visited Oxford High School to deliver a talk on Peter the Great, the founder of St. Petersburg. Both history and Russian students alike felt they could use the content of the lively, interesting yet informative presentation in their AS course. As well as the fascinating historical discussion,

This year was another high-turnout election on Open Evening and one which involved 5 recounts for second place! The result was as follows: Carola Binney Conservative 83 votes Georgia Cahill Green 168 votes Rachel Carter Labour 82 votes Claudia Forsyth UK Independence Party 29 votes Flora Shaw Liberal Democrat 50 votes Georgia Cahill was, therefore,

Mrs Nikki Newhouse spoke to The Year 12 and 13 Psychology students about how she has combined her previous career in publishing with her more recent research in Psychology, to become Editor of “Psych-Talk” (A British Psychological Society publication for Psychology students). She discussed how to write an engaging Psychology article, relevant to a wide

On Wednesday, October 19th, the A2 French classes, accompanied by Mme. Liebrecht and Mme. Harskin, travelled to London to study French paintings, in French. At the Courtauld Institute, our excellent lecturer gave an introduction to the Impressionist movement and a detailed interpretation of several works in the collection, including Manet’s ‘Déjeuner sur l’herbe’. The girls

Welcome to Pompeii! Girls in Year 8 have been rehearsing plays from the Cambridge Latin Course. We have had an angry barber, a talented painter and a dishonest Greek merchant – all speaking with beautiful Latin accents. Sheets added the final ‘authentic’ touch as they performed in the beautiful new drama studio.

Following their success coming 2nd last year, the OHS Senior Squad managed to do one better and win in the GDST Swimming Rally this year held at Northampton High School. The gala began with the individual events, with Achieng Ajulu-Bushell (13H) winning not only the 100 Individual Medley, but also the 50 Breaststroke, setting a new GDST

Congratulations to the 1st XI Hockey Squad captained by Beth Warne (13G) who won the GDST Hockey Rally held at Milton Keynes Hockey Club on Thursday 13th October. The side lost their first group game against Central Newcastle 0-1 but were then undefeated for the rest of the tournament and played some very impressive hockey. The squad

Year 8 On Friday the 7th October the Junior Cross Country Team ran 2500 metres at Cokethorpe School. The runners were Sally Berry (8O), Elise Pollock (8S), Scarlett Morgan (8O), Eleanor McNally (8O), Leah Tillman-Morris (8S) and Hannah Compton (8H). Overall, our team did very well. Out of 36 runners Eleanor Mcnally came 3rd, Scarlett

As part of the “Perspectives Françaises” French lectures, the department would like to thank Dr Maxime Goergen (currently lecturer in 19th Century French literature at Boulder University, Colorado) for his inspiring lecture on the evolution of French society and literature from the 18th until the 21st century which took place after school on Wednesday 5th

We were delighted to be able to help organise this event again.  This was a highlight of the year, as it was an opportunity for around 150 students and teachers from local schools (Bartholomew, Headington, Lord Williams, Cheney, Cherwell, Abingdon-Witney College, Oxford High School) to meet with psychologists and find out about the latest developments

On Wednesday 28th September all of Year 8 enjoyed a trip to the Pitt Rivers museum and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. This was part of a ‘connected curriculum’ day where Art, English, and Religious Studies came together. The girls walked down to the museums through the parks in glorious sunshine and began

On Thursday 15th September, Year 10 had an enrichment day for “One Day Film School.” This was a joint pastoral/ English initiative, paid for by the Annual Fund. The Year 10 students thoroughly enjoyed the day, from learning to fight each other in the morning (it didn’t hurt- honest!) via the history of film, to

Sixteen Year 11s and 12s descended on rural Shropshire in the first week of the summer holidays for a residential writing course run by the Arvon Foundation. Under the guidance of poets Vicki Feaver and Matthew Sweeney, we developed and flexed our poetic muscles; learned to eschew the lure of the abstract noun; and cooked

This year we chose a new venue for our annual Y13 study weekend – the Medway district of Kent, famed for its connections with Dickens, and its proximity to Chaucer’s Pilgrims’ Way. On a sunny Friday afternoon, we wondered at the romance of Rochester’s Restoration House (Satis House in Great Expectations), and shared our thoughts

In September 2011, Professor Ulrike Tillman led a fascinating introductory workshop for Years 11, 12 and 13, taking us from the roots of early topology in Euler’s Bridges of Konigsberg problem (see on Wikipedia), to a more modern way of looking at this kind of problem and how topology can be used in everyday situations.

‘a remarkably unpressurised environment in which to excel’ New Head Judith Carlisle has certainly landed on her feet at first-class Oxford High. No major changes are planned and she tells us that she’s spent most of her time so far ‘listening a great deal’ and deciding how to move forward with what is already a

Today’s Sutton Trust report on progression to top selecting universities over the last three years places Oxford High School third in a list of 100 elite schools with high success rates at the most selective universities in the UK. Nearly 40% of current Year 13 students have offers from Oxford and Cambridge and 97% are

The Year 9s are studying Roman Britain this term in Latin and so we travelled down to the south coast to visit the palace of our very own King Cogidubnus. Fishbourne palace is a valuable site as many mosaics remain and part of the garden has been replanted in the way that archaeologists thought it

This year the Year 12 Greek students are studying Xenophon’s Anabasis, an account of the Ten Thousand Greek mercenary soldiers and their travels and battles into and then out of Persia. Westerners invading Iraq? How could a classical text be more relevant! In Oxford we are lucky enough to have one of the authorities on

Record-breaking GCSE Results Girls at Oxford High School are again celebrating record-breaking results as they receive their GCSE grades. 71.41% of all grades are A*, 92.88% are A/A* and more than half of the students have achieved 10 or more A*/ A grades. My congratulations go to each of these super students. I am so