Leadership Likes: David King
Mr King touches upon the fine line between freedom of expression, and the incitement of hatred or violence when it comes to Drill music.
Read MoreWeekly News
Mr King touches upon the fine line between freedom of expression, and the incitement of hatred or violence when it comes to Drill music.
Read MoreIt is a little unfair of me to focus the majority of this week’s blog on one lesson, but it was probably the highlight of my week so far, and I felt it needed sharing.
The Year 10 HPQ group (Higher Project Qualification) are currently sharing their findings with one another by way of presentations. Yesterday we had a double whammy on music:
Is Actively Participating in Music Better at Affecting our Mood Than Purely Listening?
And
Is Drill music to blame for violence?
The two projects didn’t overlap exactly, with the first taking a scientific approach to explore which parts of the brain are activated in passive versus active listening and drawing conclusions. The second project was a more philosophical examination of the origin and purpose of Drill music. But they certainly complemented one another.
I left the room with a far better appreciation of where in the world Drill music is listened to (popularity declining in the UK, increasing in NYC and big following in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Nigeria), and impressed by the learning and consideration of experimental design. Both pupils answered questions well indicating that they had considered bias (positive and negative) when finding their sources, or had altered plans according to progress or lack of.
The Drill music project touched upon the fine line between freedom of expression, and the incitement of hatred or violence, reminding me of previous debates in the media around whether or not speech can equate to violence. It would not be too far-fetched to combine the projects and argue that the active participation in Drill music, through recording, filming, sharing with peers (as opposed to use as background music for example) might put listeners more in the mood to agree with some of the lyrics contained within, which, I learned, sometimes go as far as naming/threatening individuals or groups specifically. I would prefer to think, however, that young people today are no more or less susceptible to coercion through music than any of the generations that have gone before them.
There is a leap to be made from feelings to action, and there have been plenty of protest songs in the past. We need to continue to permit, perhaps even encourage, expression through music rather than pre-judge, pre-empt and prevent it even existing. I hope Croydon High pupils continue to seek expression through music, and any other art form they enjoy.
Mr David King
Deputy Head (Pastoral)
This week, we venture into Rae’s profession which is life-changing for her patients.
Read MoreRae Denman-Tanner (Rachael Denman) 1991
Rae is a medical tattooist, para-medical camouflage specialist and trainer who changes lives by giving patients a solution to their visible differences. Now, she can help even more people through medical tattoo scar training.
People with visible differences may face physical, psychological, and evolving challenges through genetics, surgery, medical conditions, or trauma. Rae’s passion is to use her skills, knowledge, and techniques to improve individuals’ confidence and aesthetic appearance, using definition and colour to enhance, not just hide.
Rae runs private clinics at The London Scar Clinic, Harley Street, London, and Reigate, Surrey. She offers medical tattooing repigmentation for patients with scarring, skin grafts, hypopigmentation, vitiligo, port wine stains and hair, brow and lash loss, as well as restoration pigmentation for cleft lips post-surgery, nipple areola post-mastectomy and reconstruction, and gender reassignment realism.
Rae won the ’20 Years of Excellence’ Finishing Touches group award for life changing procedure. This award goes to the technician who has changed lives with their work by putting colour back into people’s lives.
Rae tells us she was very arts based at school and certainly did not know anything about medical tattooing. She went on to do a graphic design degree before training for a diploma in fashion and photographic make-up at the Glauca Rossi school of make-up. Some of her work included body painting for pop videos for artists such as the Spice Girls, plus catwalk shows but explains that she got to a stage where this wasn’t enough for her; she really wanted to help people. So, she went on to gain a diploma in skin camouflage, at the British Association of Skin Camouflage. After this, she received psycho-social training in burn care rehabilitation at the NHS London and South East Burns Network and micropigmentation at Finishing Touches Ltd.
Rae now offers her training, ‘The RD-MT Smart Scar Training,’ to create a larger pool of talented, motivated, skilled, and empowered professionals to deliver life-changing scar treatments.
We were keen to discover Rae’s fondest memory of Croydon High School.
“The majority of my memories are moments in time with friends. The friendship groups I had at Croydon High still feature heavily in my life today, and I am forever grateful for them. We worked hard in school, trained hard in sports and laughed hard together. I can’t seem to separate those into one memory.”
She went on to say,
“Croydon High gave me a solid foundation that hard work pays off. The amount of training we had to do in netball – to win nearly every match – was extensive, but it paid off and has instilled in me that if you want to achieve something, daily practice and consistency will help pave your way.”
We asked Rae about her aspirations for the future.
“I am currently offering Medical Tattoo Scar training to pass on all the information I have accumulated over the years so that more patients can be helped worldwide, and the message about Medical Tattooing gets out to more people, so in time, it will be a standard part of the healing process. With this in mind, I am bringing back my creative endeavours, showing through body painting how a different viewpoint can change perceptions of visible differences.”
A few years ago, Rae stirred much interest amongst Croydon High pupils as a delegate at our Careers Convention. We asked her what she would say to her 15-year-old self.
“I would tell her to slow down in order to listen to her instincts more, so she can build the confidence to live her life fully in her own way.”
Good advice: Rae is certainly living a full life in her own unique way, and it is a pleasure to put the spotlight on her this week.
Mrs Karen Roe
Alumnae Relations Manager
This year's theme was #EmbraceEquity and each academic department chose to mark this important day through a variety of activities.
Read MoreAs an unabashedly proud girls’ school, we are (perhaps unsurprisingly) full-throated supporters of International Women’s Day, which this year fell on Wednesday 8 March. The 2023 theme is #EmbraceEquity: recognising that each person has different circumstances and allocating the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.
Each academic department chose to mark this important day and support this important message in a subject-specific way. What follows picks out some of the many highlights:
Pupils of religion, ethics and philosophy spent time learning about female philosophers who often get overshadowed by their more famous male counterparts.
Drama and theatre studies spotlighted female actresses, theatre directors and other creatives.
Art and 3D ran a typography competition and asked pupils and staff to literally stand in solidarity with women throughout the world by embracing equality with the #EmbraceEquity pose.
Our Classics department gave pupils an appreciation of the poetry of Sappho and invited them to consider how women are presented in classical literature (Ariadne and Dido).
Our Academic Support department used the literary masterpiece Jane Erye as a vehicle to teach the important difference between equality and equity.
Our Spanish teachers introduced pupils to Rigoberta Menchú a prize-winning activist who is still fighting to defend women and indigenous minorities through her work as UNESCO Goodwill ambassador.
Our Geographers focused on the many fantastic books written by women.
Amongst other female role models, pupils in Maths learnt about Maryam Mirzakhani, who was an Iranian mathematician and acknowledged as one of the brightest young minds who pushed in her area, having won a Field’s Medal (the mathematical equivalent of the Noble Prize) at the age of 40.
Our A level Politics pupils discussed current events and women’s rights in Iran and Afghanistan.
Our Historians reviewed the school’s ‘Neligacy’ with a recap on the work of Dorinda Neligan, our first headmistress and suffragette.
Pupils who had Music on Wednesday learnt about famous female instrumentalists in rock music.
A level Business pupils spent time debating the following topic: ‘To Reduce Gender Bias in Hiring, Make Your Shortlist Longer’ whilst our Economists discussed how to close gender gaps and grow the global economy.
Finally, each English teacher provided a short introduction to a woman who has or is making a positive impact on women and our place in the world, pointing pupils to follow-up resources and literature.
Dr Philip Purvis
Deputy Head (Academic)
The Upper School Theatre Club take a trip to Sondheim Theatre to watch the epic musical, Les Misérables.
Read MoreAt the End of the Day, we took a journey up to the Sondheim Theatre where the ‘immensely poignant London classic’ Les Misérables, has been fighting at the barricades for over 35 years. It is safe to say every one of us were filled with excitement stepping into the theatre, especially our Masters of the House – Mrs Webb, Ms Bradley, Ms Howie, Ms James and Mr Flower – who helped make this incredible experience possible.
Highlights include the hilarious Monsieur and Madame Thénardier, Eponine’s heart wrenching ballad ‘On my Own’ and the words of the witty street urchin Gavroche. We had incredible seats in the stalls that left us completely immersed in the story. I think we can speak for all of us when we say there were tears, laughs, and gasps of shock, and whether you knew the story or not, every single aspect of it was thrilling and unexpected. We were amazed by the incredible cast, band, set, lighting and costume; we were all raving about it for the whole journey home. We hope we can inspire you to go and see this fantastic show, and can guarantee that its reign at the Sondheim Theatre will go on for not One Day More, but many to come.
Aila M-C and Talia E
Lower Sixth
The LRC ran multiple activities to highlight World Book Day.
Read MoreWe celebrated World Book Day this year with a week of brilliantly bookish activities in the LRC. We joined an online author visit with the insightful Natalie and Naomi Evans who were discussing Being an Ally: Real Talk about Showing Up, Screwing Up and Trying Again and their work as the founders of anti-racism advocacy platform Everyday Racism. Students brought in their favourite books and had their photos taken in our “selfie spot”. And we saw the return of our annual Great Big Book Quiz where 11 teams fought it out to be crowned Best Read and reap their rewards of books, badges, chocolates and sweets!
The Great Book Quiz on World Book Day was very popular! There were 11 teams and a total of 40 students. 7 teams scored full marks, 2 gained 9 and 2 scored 8/10. The questions were based on novels from various authors – e.g. Emily Brontë, Malorie Blackman and Terry Practchett. The quiz was so popular that some students who didn’t participate on Thursday asked to do it after school and lunchtime the next day.
We also had a ‘Visitors Book’ where students could comment about World Book Day and the week’s activities.
Students signed our Visitors Book. This is one of the comments: ‘I love books because it’s a way to transport yourself into a completely different world’.
I think many of us would agree and we look forward to World Book Day 2024!
Ms Angela Rolle and Ms Laura Tapsfield
Library and Innovation Hub Managers – LRC
Our School Minibus service offers an efficient and flexible option designed to help families with journeys to and from school. Minibus travel is offered to pupils in Year 3 and up.
The service is managed on our behalf by Vectare, a specialist school transport management company. All bookings for our school bus routes are made via our online booking system, which can be accessed at croydonhigh.vectare.co.uk.
The website allows you to book travel 24/7 from anywhere, meaning that if you need to leave early for work one morning or are running late and you would like one of our students to travel on a school bus as a one off, you can make a booking right up until the route is due to depart. Payment for the school bus service is made at the time of booking, so there is no need for pupils to carry cash.