celebrations of achievement

Today there have been not one but three celebrations of the achievements of our students as we approach the end of a truly brilliant first half term of 2026/7 at UGS. In our lead picture are the participants and winners of our Black History Month writing competition and of our National Poetry Day contest and, in some cases, of BOTH, demonstrating fantastic levels of participation! They were invited to a special celebration in the Main Hall where Mr Regan and Ms Longden shared their pride in them all for their great work and efforts and awarded certificates and prizes to the winners.

For Black History Month, students were invited to write either about a figure who has inspired them or about their own heritage and culture. The standard of entries was incredibly high, making it a tough call to select winners, but huge congratulations to: Eva 7R, Gideon 7R, Kara 9S, Ayla 9R and Fatma 7T. Well done! It was lovely to hear and read about who has inspired our students and shaped their lives and journeys.

For the National Poetry Day competition, students were asked to write a poem inspired by its theme for 2026: wonder, and again we were really impressed by the number and quality of the beautifully written entries. It was again very difficult to judge and to select winners, but huge congratulations to: Gabriel 7M, Kornelia 7M, Aniela 7M, Farjam 7T and Hasan 7U. Really well done to everyone who participated. We're very proud of you all!

House Reading Champions

We're also proud today to celebrate this Half Term's House Reading Champions! Huge congratulations to: Surabhi 7S, Hadassah 8M, Isaac 7R, Naomi 7R, VV 9S, and also to Sabrina 7R who couldn't make the photo!

Well done for having read so many library books this half-term and on a fantastic start to your reading journey for 2026/7. Keep up the great work!

Year 9 Celebration of Achievement

Head of Year Miss Devenney-Lees organised a lovely celebration during the break today for a group of our Year 9 students to congratulate them on their achievements, on their Year 8 tracking, and on having been awarded the highest number of house points. Really well done, keep up the great work. We're incredibly proud of you all!

Students v Staff Dodgeball

Finally, today, in a great school community event to round off half-term, our 6th form Perspectives magazine editorial team organised a students versus teachers dodgeball tournament to fund-raise towards the publication of their next edition.

There was a great atmosphere in the Sports Hall with lots of friendly competition, team spirit and fantastic play on display.

Ultimately, the students won, but a big shout-out to our staff for putting up an epic fight and for taking part for a great cause!

And for more photographs of this event and all that takes place in school, please see our socials!