Category : Headteacher’s Blog

Headteacher’s Blog – 23rd September 2022
As GCSE and BTEC options started in June, with the new timetable, they’re now well underway with students developing and building upon knowledge at a rapid rate.

In Food theory lessons, students have been exploring the difference between macronutrients and micronutrients whilst in practical lessons they have been developing their practical skills by making lasagne, homemade custard, cheese sauces and cheesecake. Hopefully, some of it made it home for tea!

Health and Social Care students have completed their draft of their first assignment/coursework piece entitled “How Life Affects Us” where they have chosen a person and written about their stages and developments in their lives. They’ve selected some interesting subjects such as Ozzy Osbourne, Ariana Grande and Lady Diana.

In Geography GCSE lessons students have been exploring the urban environment of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. They’ve been looking at the challenges and opportunities of living in this vibrant city and in particular how we can improve life for people living in the slums. They’ve got an exciting fieldtrip to look forward to next week but to a location closer to home!
Up in RE, students have been studying the ways in which Sikhism promotes equality and the Christian concept of God whilst in DT, students are working on Non-exam assessment content in preparation for their long assessment. They’ve looked at the theory associated with research and analysis to help with this. They are currently recapping drawing techniques.
In the Business world students have been exploring external influences on business, looking at how the economy and, in particular, interest rates and employment affect businesses. A definite topic of the time! In Computer Science, students are looking at the topic of computers from how the CPU works to types of secondary storage and software.

In French, students have been expressing their opinions on family and marriage as well as consolidating key grammatical concepts in the present and past tenses.

In GCSE Art students have been working on developing their skills in drawing & painting working with watercolours, acrylics, mixed media collages and lino printing.

In other news, the Scholastics Book Fair which has been held on Thursday and Friday has generated a great deal of interest with students buying their next good read.

We’re also thinking ahead to Year 5 and 6 Open Evening which we’ll be holding at school on Wednesday 12th October from 6 until 8.30pm. In order to prepare for the event, we’ll be closing school at 1.30pm. We’ll be looking forward to students coming back for the evening to show just what makes Boroughbridge High School a great place to be.

As part of the Open Evening, Miss Whiles is hoping with her classes to produce a local history display. Students are going to include the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Boroughbridge, the 40 year anniversary of the school and possibly some Archie White information. Student helpers will be working on the research for this as part of our Open Evening activities and you should have received the letter asking you to share your stories, memories and photos of the town and school if you attended. Please help if you can!

With best wishes for a lovely weekend!

And so there’s been another first for Boroughbridge High School this week as we’ve proved that we can cope with a heatwave! The relaxed uniform has certainly helped and everyone has worked together to keep our school community safe. Thank you for your support with this.

With the Summer holiday almost upon us, Mrs. Godsell-Wright has focused on safety in assemblies this week, following on from the information shared with students earlier in the term and during PSHCE lessons. In particular the focus was on Safety around Water. You can find out more at

https://rnli.org/safety/know-the-risks/cold-water-shock

https://rnli.org/video-player/D98BB773-9556-4A0D-8AA8D2790D512E64

Online safety was also addressed with students being given top tips about how to ensure they stay safe when using social media.

 Year 8 assembly this week also included a presentation from Mrs. Bauwens to the winners of the Geography in a Box competition. As the name implies, students had to create a model (in a box) of something geographical that interested them. Entries included volcanoes, geysers, 3D- maps, waterfalls, meanders, landslides and a water cycle to name but a few. The quality was so high that it was impossible to have an overall winner so the winning three were George, Neve and Annabelle with runners up Freya, Beth, Will and Joe. Congratulations to all!

This morning, for the first time since December 2019, we’ve had a whole school assembly, bringing together all staff and students to celebrate the achievements of the 2021-2022 academic year. The event began with live music and then, following our usual photo celebration, students were presented with certificates from Departments to recognise the good progress that they’ve made and how they have demonstrated an excellent attitude towards the subject or to extra-curricular life. Sporting awards followed and then came the moment that we’ve been waiting for since our superb Sports Day last Friday – the big reveal of the winners. Here they are, 8SF, 9LJ, 10JF and 11CL. The finale was a whole school rendition of YMCA! All in all, an excellent way to end the Summer Term.

Today we said farewell to Mr. Inglis (Science), Mrs Johnson (Maths), Mrs. Langford (Pastoral Manager and History/English teacher), Mrs. Price (Maths) and Dr. Roberts (Science). We thank them for the massive contribution that they’ve made to Boroughbridge High School and wish them well for the future.

With thanks to you for your support throughout the year, all of the Boroughbridge High School staff team wish you and your families a very happy Summer break!

There was magic in the air on Monday when we welcomed 45 Year 5 students and their teachers into school for the return of our ever popular Harry Potter Day. Mrs. Town reports that ‘The students immersed themselves in a magical Hogwarts experience where they took part in workshops that saw them making magic potions in Science, wands in DT, spells in RE, writing about their Hogwart adventures in English and fine tuning their wand skills in Drama. Everyone agreed how much they had enjoyed the day and the Year 9’s who volunteered to help were a credit to the school. We look forward to welcoming more Year 5 students next year for a range of activities.’

Tuesday and Wednesday saw the return of Geography fieldtrips. Mrs Bauwens says ‘The GCSE geographers had beautiful weather for their fieldwork this week when they visited Leeds – something we are not normally used to!  Pupils collected information at four different areas of the city in order to study inequalities in housing in an urban area.  We finished the day near the Royal Armouries Museum looking at how the waterfront area has been redeveloped.  Back in class we will use this data to complete a fieldwork project.  There was a great deal of hard work which was also recognised by members of the public.’

On Thursday 57 girls went to Dalby Forest for the inaugural Girls’ Well-being Colour Run. The event, hosted by North Yorkshire Sport, created an excellent opportunity for girls to complete well-being and physical activities with their friends. They heard inspirational talks from leading sportswomen before completing the 2km Colour Run course set within the forest, starting at Adderstone Field, with obstacles and challenges to complete. The theme throughout was enjoyment and, as you can see from the photos, there is no doubt that it was achieved!

Before

Quite obviously, after!

And today has been our long-awaited Sports Day. We’ve been very pleased to have a day where the temperatures have dipped to support an excellent day of track and field events. With all staff and students either participating or supporting we’ve seen some excellent achievements and some excellent efforts. Points have been awarded for places and for taking part and completing an event. So, whilst there may be many predictions of winners, the official announcements will not be made until our whole school assembly next Friday.

You’ll have received the message today about our approach to uniform next week with extreme temperatures forecast for Monday and Tuesday, students can either wear the modified uniform that we’ve had this week, i.e. no blazers and ties or can choose to wear their school P.E. kit. We’ll make sure that students are able to fill their water bottles throughout the day.

A reminder that school closes for the Summer break at 1.30p.m. next Friday (22^nd).

Have a lovely weekend!

We’ve had a great time this week, welcoming Year 6 students who will be our new Year 7 in September. It was fantastic to welcome new families, along with those who have older siblings in school, to the very well-attended Parents’ Evening on Monday. It’s been our final day of three transition days today and we’ve been so delighted to have Year 6 students in school, following the last two years where the majority of communication has been virtual. Students have experienced a wide range of subjects, met lots of staff, got to grips with the routines of the school and experienced lunch in the Dining Hall. We’re confident that this will have prepared them well for the start of the Autumn Term in September.

Older students have formed an important part of the three days with Sports Leaders leading PE activities and former Year 11 students accompanying groups as guides. All in all it’s been an incredibly successful week and we’re looking forward to working together in the years to come.

In other news, Mrs. Town reports that ‘Year 11 started their post-16 careers journey on Tuesday. They had an assembly on post-16 routes and options and then took part in a ‘Meet the Employer’ networking event where they interviewed local, national and international employers to find out about a range of different careers and employment sectors. Employers included Reed Boardall, NYCC, Green Tech, The Army, The RAF, Warner Leisure, ISG, Danford Brewer and Ives and Intuitions. Students said they found it very helpful and informative.  If you are an employer and would like to take part in this event or support the school in their careers programme in other ways next year please contact ptown@boroughbridgehigh.com

Also looking to the future this week have been Year 8 Scientists. Mr. Errington reports, “We need to stop using fossil fuels and use renewable energy resources such as wind and solar. This means we need better batteries to store energy so we can use it where and when we need it. Year 8 scientists are working on creating batteries that are efficient and made from materials that are easy to source.”

The Monster Kickabout has taken place at lunchtimes this week with the winners to be announced.

We’ve got much to look forward to next week too. Year 5 students will be joining us on Monday for a Harry Potter day, some students will be going to Snozone on Tuesday whilst GCSE Geographers will be carrying out fieldwork in Leeds. On Thursday, a group will be attending the Girls’ Well-being Colour Run at Dalby Forest and on Friday we will all be involved in our long awaited Sports Day! Mr. Field has taken the opportunity in Assemblies this week to explain how points can be gained, not only from taking a position in an event but, also, by taking part and completing an event. It’s going to be a great whole school event and, as it currently stands, the long range forecast is looking positive!

A reminder from Mrs. Wellock that there are only 3 days left to order from our latest Scholastic Book Club. Just go to https://schools.scholastic.co.uk/boroughbridge-yo51/digital-book-club to browse the latest books and place your order. Every £1 you spend on this month’s Book Club will earn 20p for our school in Scholastic Rewards.

Good Luck this weekend if you’re putting in an entry to The Aldborough & Boroughbridge Agricultural Show which is on Sunday 24th July at Newby Hall & Gardens. All schedules are currently available at www.boroughbridgeshow.co.uk

It’s been a week of mixed emotions as Years 13 and 11 have sat their final exams and attended Boroughbridge High School for the final time. On Thursday, following the Science exam, the traditional shirt signing for Year 11 took place with students and teachers writing inspirational, kind or funny messages. Students then went to their Leavers’ Assembly where messages from staff, present and past were played, all reminding students of what they have achieved and wishing them success for the future. (Thanks to Amelia for pulling the video together.) There was then some amusement as photos from Year 7 to 11 were shown, reminding students of how much they’ve grown both physically and emotionally in the last five years. We’re looking forward to celebrating their time at Boroughbridge High School at the Prom this evening.

Year 13 have celebrated the end of their exams with a trip to Snozone this afternoon.

Above all, after the challenges of the last couple of years, Year 13 and Year 11 have shown great resilience in their preparation for the exams and the way in which they have conducted themselves throughout the exam period. We wish the class of 2022 well for the future and will look forward to hearing about their future successes.

As is the nature of school communities, as Year 11 and Year 13 leave we move to our new timetable on Monday and the new school year begins. In assemblies this week, I’ve celebrated with students all that they have achieved in this academic year before reminding them of our school expectations to secure future success. We also talked about learning and building knowledge and, in particular, about the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve which shows that without recapping and retrieving knowledge, after 1 day you will have retained only 33% of the knowledge, after 6 days only 25% and after 31 days only 21%. So, as a school we are using the strategy of retrieval grids to ensure that students retain and then build upon this knowledge. Mr. Errington reports that ‘Following the assembly on Tuesday morning about the science behind how we learn, some of my year 7s wanted to investigate further.  Now that they know how learning works, they went straight back to re-visit the learning they did back in September so that they are in top-form ready for Year 8.  Well done year 7.’

We’re also introducing Curriculum Progression maps so that students have a visual representation of what they’re learning, when and how this builds knowledge and skills over time. I’ll be writing to you soon to give you further details.

Yesterday, the next round of the Harrogate and Craven District Athletics Championships took place at Giggleswick School with 24 of our students competing. There were 8 places available in each event and when asked to summarise our performance Mr. Field exclaimed ‘absolutely brilliant’.  We had five 4^th places, eight 3^rd places, two 2^nd places and one 1^st place (James in Year 7 in discus) so, as you’ll have calculated, 11 podium finishes. An impressive performance indeed and against schools much larger than Boroughbridge High School.

Today the Rewards Trip to Flamingo Land has been a great success with students from Years 7 to 10 enjoying both the rides and the zoo. Everyone had a great time and staff were, as always, impressed by the excellent behaviour of students. This is one of the Rewards events that take place across the school year.

Staff and students have been talking today about the fantastic first night of the Grease production at Coronation Hall starring many of our students. Mrs. Macadam reports that ‘The opening show was first class and it is a must see for everyone – you certainly won’t regret it!’ It’s not late to see the production as it continues tonight and tomorrow.  Looking in lessons this week, I thought you might like to see the completed spaghetti measurers which Year 7 have been working on in DT, demonstrating how to combine creativity and technical skill.

Advance notice of The Big Book Swap: 

Mrs. Wellock reports that ‘Students and staff have been donating books over the last few weeks and we are now ready to hold our Big Book Swap. Students should come to the library at lunchtime on Friday 1st July to take part where they can purchase second-hand books with cash (prices from £1 to £3) or use book tokens (if you donated your own books to the swap). We have so many great titles including Ben Davis’ The Private Blog of Joe Cowley, RJ Palacio’s Auggie and Me, and a signed copy of Andy Seed’s The Silly Book of Side-Splitting Stuff.  You can expect to find lots of other books by some of our favourite authors: Malorie Blackman, John Green, Michael Morpurgo, Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Wilson to name a few. If you still have spare books at home that you’d be happy to donate then it’s not too late to bring them in – please drop them off at the English office to collect your tokens!’

A reminder that new Year 8 and new Year 11 need to bring their PE kit on Monday morning.

Have a lovely weekend!

I hope you had a lovely half term and Jubilee Bank Holiday. It was great to welcome students back to school this week for the last few weeks of our 2021-2022 timetable. You’ll be aware that we move to our new school year and new timetable before the Summer break, to maximise our learning time. This year it will be from 27th June.

Assemblies this week, led by Mrs. Knock, have focused on the life and talent of Alan Turing showing how he developed a number of techniques for speeding the breaking of German ciphers, including devising an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine. His code breaking work is reported to have reduced the Second World War by up to two years. Students then heard about Turing’s contributions to Artificial Intelligence and the pivotal impact of his work on our current technology.

With the athletics season underway, Wednesday saw the Harrogate & Craven District Athletics Championship return to the sporting calendar for Boroughbridge High School.  Mr. Field reports, ‘We took a strong team of 62 pupils to compete in track and field events at Queen Ethelburga’s College.  The pupils represented the school in an excellent manner both on and off the track.  Results are yet to be confirmed but initial calculations indicate that 16 of our pupils have qualified for the next rounds of the Athletic Championships to be held on 22nd June.  We hope that they use their remaining athletics lessons and the after school athletics club on a Thursday to further hone their skills and performance.  We are very proud of their achievements and hope this opens the door to future sporting success for more of our pupils.’

If you’re not already aware, we thought that you’d be interested to know that, after two years of absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Aldborough and Boroughbridge show is back for 2022. Further details can be found at https://www.boroughbridgeshow.co.uk/#OurStory 

Have a lovely weekend!