Category : Headteacher’s Blog

We’ve had a fantastic fundraising week for Children in Need. Activities suggested by the Student Council and supported by all have so far have raised a record breaking amount with counting still taking place. On Tuesday and Thursday we had a Hide and Seek game with students hiding all around the school and teachers seeking! After many minutes of fun the eventual winners were discovered with the overall winner, of course, being Children in Need! There was a craft fayre in the Dining Hall and after school with staff and students having made headbands, necklaces, bracelets and much more. Then today to round off the week, as you’ll be well aware, we had our non-uniform day. Thank you for your generous donations. We’ll let you know of the final total next week.

As part of Anti-Bullying week, Mrs. Godsell-Wright has focused on the 2024 theme of ‘Choose respect’. It’s been a great opportunity to revisit and reinforce one of our three core values; being respectful. Assemblies have then concluded with a celebration of students with the most positive points secured during the first half term by year groups, form classes and individual students. We’re very proud of the excellence that our young people are achieving.

On Thursday we had our Year 7 and 11 year group photos. It’s always lovely to see the whole year group together marking the beginning and end of their time at Boroughbridge High School. We’ll look forward to the photos arriving and being able to compare the Year 11 photo with the one taken four years ago!

You may remember that we mentioned the Careers Parent/Carer Information Evening. It’s relevant to all parents and carers and will cover the different post-16 pathways available to students after Year 11, the support available to students through school, the careers advisor and other organisations. The session will also help you support your child with the decision-making process, where to find out information, deadlines and useful contacts. It’s on Thursday 21^st November at 6p.m. Please e-mail schooladmin@boroughbridgehigh.com if you would like to attend.

We’re in the third term of our work with the DfE Behaviour Hub and are continuing to visit schools across the area to evaluate our current systems and make further tweaks. This week we’ve visited Sedgefield Community School and Dixons Trinity in Bradford and next week we’ll be visiting Allerton High School in Leeds. We’re really pleased with how we’ve been able to use their support to create our positive behaviour culture, underpinned by our core value of respect, and that we’re now able to focus energy on our core values of being ambitious and resilient.

In Sporting news Mr. Field reports,

‘Another busy week for the pupils and the PE department, 161 pupils have engaged in the extra curricular activities this week – a new record for the department (and over 1/3) of the school cohort). 

 Two fixtures this week saw the Yr10 boys take on Sherburn High School in the County Cup competition.  The boys played some good football in phases and were able to score three goals in the away fixture which is an impressive haul when not on home turf.  The fixture escaped the grasp of the Boroughbridge boys and they lost the game 6-3, valuable lessons were taken from the defeat and will be rectified in their District Cup game against Ermysted’s later this term.

 The annual small sided tournaments have now started, the Yr9 boys were first up and traveled to St John Fisher School to play.  The team needed to be bolstered by the Yr8 boys who performed outstandingly against older, more experienced opposition.  They narrowly lost against the host school and Rossett but held the eventual winner, St Aidans, to a well deserved 1-1 thriller.  This gave the Yr8 boys a bit more challenge and provided a great learning experience that they can take forward into their match next week against Hurworth in the ESFA Small Schools Trophy.’

 

 

 A reminder that we have a Professional Development Day on Wednesday 27^th November when students do not attend school.

 

 

 

Finally, Alyssa and Libbie were excellent representatives of Boroughbridge High School last Sunday when they attended the Remembrance Service at St. James’ before laying the wreath at the War Memorial.

Have a lovely weekend!

With Remembrance Day on Sunday, Mrs. Ennis has led assemblies this week looking at the importance of Remembrance Day by focusing on the Royal British Legion theme for 2024 to remember D-day and the people who keep us safe along with discovering how service still protects us today. In each assembly we’ve observed a two minute silence. On Wednesday afternoon 27 of our Service students attended the North Yorkshire Service Children – Festival of Remembrance’ at Ripon Cathedral. Mrs Murphy reports,’ The students had a lovely time today at Ripon Cathedral. This year’s theme was ‘All together Now’ and we were lucky to have been invited to attend the Green Howard’s Museum in Richmond to learn about a soldier who gave their life in World War 2 prior to the event.  The soldier we were given to remember was Captain Verity Hedley, who was originally from Leeds and a professional cricketer before he enlisted in the Army.  He unfortunately was wounded in battle in Italy and later died of his wounds, at the age of 38, before he arrived at a Prisoner of War camp.  Chloe, Gethin, Daniel and Libbie got to go on the visit and gave a presentation to the other forces children prior to the service.  During the service Gethin and Libbie presented the photo, a poppy and a Boroughbridge High School sign to the alter in the cathedral.  We got to sing some songs, alongside other schools and choirs and listen to some readings.  Charlie Milson and Paa Kofi Akomea-Barnie read a reading from the bible.  We listened to some really emotive letters written from serving personnel to their children and also the replies of the children and we got to celebrate ‘ all together now’.  Thanks to Mrs Webb and Mrs Mannion who accompanied me on the trip.’ 

On Sunday, I’ll be accompanied by Alyssa and Libbie at the Remembrance service at St. James’ in Boroughbridge before they lay the wreath at the war memorial on behalf of Boroughbridge High School. It’s a privilege to participate in such an important event in our community.

It was great to meet so many of you at the Year 10 Parent/Carer Evening on Wednesday. With progress exams rapidly approaching, this is well timed to support our students in understanding their strengths and areas to work on along with honing their revision techniques.

Thinking of ambitious futures, open to parents and carers of students in all year groups, is the upcoming Parent/Carer information evening on Thursday 21^st November 2024 at 6p.m. on careers followed by an opportunity for you to ask questions about any aspect of school life. To book a place, please e-mail schooladmin@boroughbridgehigh.com

We were pleased to welcome Martin Powell, Police Schools’ Liaison Officer back into school on Tuesday. Following his assemblies to all year groups earlier in the year about sexting and the possible impacts of both possessing and sharing images, this week the focus was on Hate Crime. Students watched a compelling video showing how we all have a responsibility to ensure that our communities are free of homophobic language and the possible legal consequences when a hate crime is committed. This supports our strong safeguarding culture and our key value of respect.

Year 7 Geographers have been out on location in Boroughbridge carrying out primary fieldwork to investigate the hypothesis ‘The function of Boroughbridge is a resort town’. Collecting evidence through field sketches, traffic counts, pedestrian counts and a land use survey, students began to form their own conclusions which they will follow up back in class. Their approach and focus was excellent throughout. Well done Year 7!

A message from the Friends of Boroughbridge High School  Thanks to those parents and carers who have bought tickets for the Bingo and Burger Night on Friday 15th November at 7pm (with first chocolate bingo game at 7.30pm.) Tickets are £10 and include burger and chips and your first game of bingo. All other games £1 to play. All the family are welcome.
There will be a cash or card bar, raffle, tuck shop and sweet tombola. We are looking for raffle prizes so if you have anything you are able to donate please drop them into school reception. We also need chocolate prizes for the bingo –
all shapes and sizes please!

Please buy your tickets at https://tinyurl.com/FoBHSBingo before the end of the weekend as we need to sell a further 30 tickets for the event to go ahead.

If you’re a fan of the great outdoors, you may like to try out the Forest School activity that students carried out on Monday, details are below. Both Mr. Woodward and our students can assure you that the results are delicious!

Have a lovely weekend!

Open Evening is one of our favourite events and this year was certainly no exception. The staff team and over 100 students welcomed families from across our local area. As we looked across the Hall, it was lovely to see families who already have children in our school whilst also welcoming new families and, of course, we always enjoy meeting young people who we hope will soon become part of our school community.

Visitors entered the Hall to the sound of tuneful piano, played by Austin in Year 9 which definitely set the tone for the evening. During the presentation in the Hall where we talked about our vision and values, our visitors were interested to hear about the positive experiences of Ava, Henry and Rova who joined us in Year 7 in September. They talked about what it’s like to move to High School, outlining their anticipated worries against the reality! Their confident and enthusiastic presentation secured a round of applause from each of the three audiences across the evening.

Families were then able to tour the school, visiting every department and speaking with our students, some of whom were Prefects, Student Presidents, School Council members and Sports Leaders. There were very happy to talk about life at Boroughbridge High School and the improvements that we’ve made as a whole school community whilst supporting Year 5 and 6 students with a large range of curriculum activities. In English, against a nautical scene, students produced creative writing whilst in the Drama Studio, a rehearsal for the forthcoming pantomime was going on, ‘Oh yes it was!’. In Computing, students could discover what was inside a computer and in Chemistry and Physics bubbles were being ignited whilst in Biology, hearts were being dissected. The Sports Hall was packed with physical challenges with students on hand to help whilst, nearby, Students demonstrated how the Intervention Room and its resources are supporting them with their learning and in enjoying being in school. Following a food theme, Halloween breads were being made and sampled in Food Technology whilst the modern languages French café was very popular, as long as the request was made en francais! In RE philosophical questions were being asked, houses were located in Geography whilst bugs were sampled in the Bug Cafe and, in History, there were costumes galore and the opportunity to sample historical recipes. Artists engaged in watercolour work could be observed and spinning tops were made in DT. We’re all aware that students enjoy our school dinners so everyone was pleased to have the opportunity to sample them! Books could be bought at the Book Fair in the Library and close by the Pastoral Team and Wellbeing in Mind Team were sharing how they look after our students to make sure that they are safe, happy and successful. Visitors also enjoyed hearing our musicians in session and were able to find out more about the Duke of Edinburgh Award. And throughout, students were engaged in a challenging Maths trail. All in all, it was a fantastic evening and we all thoroughly enjoyed sharing our school with our visitors.  We’ll look forward to welcoming Year 6 back into school for our three Induction Days in July!

In Sporting news this week, Mr. Field reports. ‘Thursday night saw the Yr10 boys compete in the York City Knights rugby festival at Archbishop Holgate School, York.  The Boroughbridge boys played against four teams at the tournament from the York and district area demonstrating some scintillating rugby.

The boys’ first game against Selby was a close encounter with Boroughbridge edging a 12-8 victory.  This proved to be a good basis for honing their teamwork as they rose to the challenge against York High.  A domineering performance saw the boys run in six tries in a well disciplined game.  The final result of 24-12 was just reward for the hard work applied by all team members.  The unrelenting fixtures began to take their toll as the boys moved onto their third consecutive match against Joseph Rowntree.  The game ebbed and flowed between the two teams, both demonstrating some good committed rugby.  Jo-Ro edged the latter stages of the game and were leading 24-20 into the last minute.  A great drive forward by T King saw the boys draw level with less than 60 seconds remaining.  Two promising drives forward by Jo-Ro put pressure on the Boroughbridge defensive line but the resilience shown by the boys paid off with a handling error leading to a turnover of possession.  An exquisitely executed kick from C Walsh turned Jo-Ro on their heels and with the blistering pace of I Buliruarua victory was snatched from the grasps of the York team, 28-24.

The fourth game proved a bridge too far for the team who were now battle weary from their previous games.  The home team proved worthy adversaries and edged a well contested game.  Teachers and coaching staff from York City Knights commended the boys on their excellent gameplay, acknowledging the David Vs Goliath comparisons of the schools involved.   The team did themselves and the school proud with their commitment and resilience, I do wish the same could be said about the singing on the minibus on the way home, there is always room for improvement though!’

Following Mrs. Godsell-Wright’s assemblies last week on our core value of being respectful, this week I’ve been exploring how we can develop our ambition and resilience. I’ve also shared the new descriptors for Attitude to Learning, Behaviour for Learning and Homework which will be used at each tracking point and are now linked to our new values. It’s also given me the opportunity to reflect with students on the positive contributions that they’ve already made in this Autumn Term.

Next Wednesday (16^th) we have our Year 7 Form Tutor evening. If you haven’t yet been able to book an appointment, then there’s still time to book one. We’ll look forward to seeing you then.

Have a lovely weekend!

 

 

Similarly to last week, you may remember the deluge of rain that we had on Monday. Whilst most of us were indoors, Mr. Woodward and his Forest School group trudged towards the woodland area. Two hours later they emerged soaked but elated as, despite the conditions, they’d made fire!

 

 

 

 

Fieldwork was at the fore this week, as Mrs. Gomersal reports, ‘The GCSE Geographers were treated to a spot of sunshine in Hornsea this week. Students collected data for their physical geography study investigating whether Hard Engineering is effective in Hornsea. They compiled data from  ‘Groyne drop height surveys’ and drew field sketches to show evidence of slumping along the rapidly eroding Holderness coastline. All of the students continued to apply our school values by being ‘respectful’ to the general public and to each other and they were an asset to Boroughbridge High School.’

With around 6 school weeks to go to our Year 10 and 11 Progress Exams, students are getting organised with their revision. To support this, along with revision strategies that are explored in lessons, we’ll be looking at revision in Form Time too along with discussing how to construct a revision timetable. We’re also fully into our preparations, making sure that the Progress Exam timetable is constructed and our invigilators are ready. Talking of which, we’re currently recruiting for invigilators so, if you’re interested please visit www.boroughbridgehigh.com/vacancies/  for more details.

We’re also recruiting for Teaching Assistants at www.boroughbridgehigh.com/vacancies/ Our TAs not only support our students with SEND but also make a huge contribution to our whole school community. To recognise the significant impact of teaching assistants there is a National Teaching Assistants Day each year in September. You can find out more at https://www.nationalteachingassistantsday.co.uk/

There has been much sporting success within and beyond school this week. Alfie Searle and Ashton Farnworth (both in Year 8) played in the Harrogate & Craven District Football match against Accrington Stanley. It is reported that ‘they played fantastically well against the professional academy team. The end result was 6-6, a brilliant achievement as they certainly didn’t make it easy for Accrington Stanley. An exciting game and a great experience for them.’ Well done to both. Our congratulations also go to Imogen Hawkridge in Year 11 who won the Yorkshire Development Champion in Boxing. An impressive achievement indeed.

Meanwhile the Year 8 boys were in action. Mr. Fields reports that ‘The Yr8 boys played at the U13 York City Knights rugby festival hosted at Manor school.  The boys displayed some great resilience in their games, learning well from early mistakes.  Their final game against Milthorpe was a close encounter finishing 8-4.  The boys will continue their rugby journey with the after school practices and look forward to the next tournament early in the new year.’

Following the recent formation of School Council, this morning I met with the Student Body Presidents, Ruby and Matilda who are in Year 11. They shared some excellent suggestions about how we can improve school including more clubs at lunchtime and a Year 7 and 9 extra-curricular noticeboard along with a raft of exciting ideas for fundraising for Children in Need.

A reminder that it’s our Year 5 and 6 Open Evening on Wednesday 9th October. We’ll be closing at 1.30p.m. to prepare for the event and we’re looking forward to welcoming many students back to represent our school.

Have a lovely weekend!

We continue to deepen our values; ambitious, respectful and resilient. Part of our focus on resilience is around taking on learning challenges, ‘We try our best and persevere when things are difficult.’ Examples where students have shown their resilience this week include in Computer Science with Mr. Sands where Year 9 were grappling with html code development, using their skills to develop their own webpage. In Art with Mrs. Hunter, Year 9 began their dog building. We’ll look forward to seeing the transformation.

In English with Miss Kelly Year 7 had to come up with a different way to communicate with each other and problem solve without using language (spoken or written). This is a part of the novel being studied, Girl.Boy.Sea in which a Berber Girl and an English Boy find themselves alone at sea together and have to find a way to overcome their language barriers.

Then, imagine the scene on Monday morning when, with torrential rain, everything in the woodland was soaked as students in Years 8 and 9 started their Forest School session. Mr. Woodward reports, ‘Despite this after lots of failed attempts but always one more try all groups managed to light (using flint and steel) and sustain (using fuel from the woodland floor) a campfire to heat water to make a warm drink.’

You’ll be hearing more about our values in the coming weeks.

Last week, William in Year 8 was invited to take part in a concert to raise funds for Dementia Forward. The concert was to highlight the challenges faced by Duncan who appeared on the Channel 4 programme ‘The Piano’. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tv/article-13366373/amp/Channel-4s-Piano-star-Duncan-gushes-wife-Fran-moving-viewers-tears-heartbreaking-struggle-dementia-emotional-performance-pair-softies.html

The Military Wives also sang and it was an all round wonderful concert. William’s performance was particularly impressive as he played with no music to read as he was playing his own interpretation of Cornfields (Hans Zimmer) from the movie Interstellar. Willaim received a huge applause with many positive comments of how controlled and soft his playing was.

The School Council is now up and running and Miss. Kelly is already impressed with the commitment of the team and the quality of the ideas being discussed. We’re looking forward to using this team’s feedback to make improvements.

Following our successful recruitment for the Duke of Edinburgh Award our young people have shown great initiative in coming up with the idea to have a Bake Sale to fundraise to support the Award. The theme was hiking, camping or nature and, as you can see there was much creativity shown and £152 raised. The Gold Award for the most humorous cake affectionately named ‘Roadkill’ went to Jacob (Year 11) with Ava (Year 7) taking the Gold award for the most realistic wildlife cake, Nina (Year 7) taking the Gold award for the best campsite and Darcy (Year 8) taking the Gold Award for the most realistic environment. Rosey (Year 11) took the Gold Award for the best decorated buns (superb highland cows) but unfortunately we didn’t get a photo! Mrs. Macadam and Mrs. Murphy also wanted to congratulate and thank Rosey and Freya (Year 9) for their help with the organisation and sales on both days.

 

It’s been European Day of Languages so, in Form Time, students have been getting involved in a mutli-lingual celebratory quiz.

The Wellbeing in Mind team have been leading assemblies this week. It’s been great for our students to explore what we mean by our mental health and how we can look after it. If you’d like to know more, then one of the videos used can be found at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxIDKZHW3-E

It was also helpful for students to think about how looking after our mental health can help us to be more resilient.

Our extra-curricular programme is continuing to increase and, next week, Mrs.Macadam’s Year 7 Film Club is starting on Monday with the first film being Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’.

In Sporting news, Mr. Field reports that ‘Another great week for extra-curricular in the PE department. 120 pupils have attended one or more of the activities on offer this week, an improvement on last week’s total.  This week also saw the start of a busy fixtures period with three games of football being played at our school.  The Yr9 boys played Vale of York in the County Cup on Tuesday after school. The game did not start as planned and the boys were 3-0 behind within five minutes.  Showing true resilience, the boys pulled the fixture back in the favour of Boroughbridge by leveling the game shortly after half time,making the last twenty minutes a tense encounter.  Unfortunately, two late goals from a game weary York team conceded the Yr9 boys to a defeat but they were able to hold their heads high as the performance was very encouraging as they still have the District Cup to compete in.

The Yr10 girls played their first game of the season Thursday against Ripon Grammar School in the ESFA Girls small schools 9v9 Cup.  The girls showed great resilience in unpleasant weather conditions and played some great football but were beaten by RGS in a well contested game.  They too have more matches coming in the near future.

The Yr8 boys team also played Queen Ethelburga’s in the ESFA small schools trophy Thursday night in what was a busy evening of sport at Boroughbridge High School.  The boys played some very attractive passing football and dominated the game across all areas of the pitch.  Two goals from B. Godley before half time gave Boroughbridge a deserved lead at the halfway point and ensured their tails were up for the second half performance.  Soon after the break A. Farnworth scored from a freekick to put the fixture further out of the reach of the QE team.  QE then pulled a goal back after a quick break, this reignited the Yr8 boys and it wasn’t long until W. Burrell curled a fine effort into the far corner after a splendid galivanting run down the wing.  The boys were deserved winners and the opposition staff commended the boys on their commanding performance.  They now progress to the next round which will present a tougher challenge, we are sure their footballing talents and ambitions of reaching the latter stages of this national competition will lead them to future successes.’

A reminder that it’s our Year 5 and 6 Open Evening on Wednesday 9^th October. We’ll be closing at 1.30p.m. to prepare for the event and we’re looking forward to welcoming many students back to represent our school.

Have a lovely weekend!

We’ve now fully settled into the Autumn Term with routines firmly in place. Our ‘Never used, seen or heard’ policy for mobile phones is having a really positive impact with students using social times more effectively to speak with their friends, attend clubs or play games. Thank you for your support with this. Following feedback from staff, students and parents, we’ve made one change which is that students may use mobile phones after the end of the school day outside of the school building. This will enable students to communicate with parents and carers before they make their journey home, track buses and get digital bus passes ready.

We’ve welcomed PCSO Martin Powell, Police Schools’ Liaison Officer this week to carry out assemblies with all year groups. His focus has been on sexting and the possible impacts of both possessing and sharing images. This complements the work that we do in school in PSHCE and will support our students in making good choices.

 

 

It was great to welcome so many students and their parents and carers to the Duke of Edinburgh Award information evening on Monday. We were delighted with the success of our students last year and are looking forward to seeing what this year’s cohort can achieve. On Monday, we’ll be having a Bake Sale to raise some funds to support the award.

 

 

 

Our BTEC Travel and Tourism group were carrying out some primary research, travelling across to Blackpool on Thursday. Mr. Grierson reports, ‘The sun shone brightly on the BTEC Travel and Tourism students on their visit to Blackpool. The bulk of the day was spent at the Pleasure Beach, experiencing the thrills of the roller coasters. Mrs Bradford was brave enough to do the Pepsi Max Big One and Mrs Webb got drenched on Valhalla, the Waterslide. The students will use the experience to support them to complete their coursework unit around customer service and why tourists visit certain locations.’

 

 

 

We thought that you may like to see the work that Year 9 have been doing in Art, ready for display. It’s impressive.

Following nominations last week, Student Council elections have been underway with Form classes voting for their representatives, with the first meetings scheduled for next week.

With extra-curricular clubs back up and running, Mr. Field reports ‘Extra- curricular PE this week has been up to its usual amazing standard. 106 students have participated in the 12 activities that have been on offer.’

A message from the admin team is that the deadline for ordering school photographs for free delivery back to school is now 4th October 2024.

The Friends of Boroughbridge High School met on Wednesday. There will be lots of opportunities for you to get involved in fundraising activities in the coming months.

Have a lovely weekend!

Thank you to the parents and carers who’ve been able to attend our Expectations Evenings this week. It’s been great to have the opportunity to meet and talk through our vision and values, along with sharing the systems and routines that we have in place to ensure that everyone is safe, happy and successful. We’ve appreciated the questions that have been asked and the points raised. Your feedback will continue to shape our future plans. We’ll send out a copy of the information at the beginning of next week.

Our congratulations go to April, Matthew, Emily, Antonio, Oliver, Olivia and Alice in Year 9 who won 2^nd place in the IGD Employability competition with the prize of an invitation to a Winners Event to be held at Arla Foods. As Team Bamberries they pitched an idea of using bamboo packaging with hydro-pods as an alternative to plastic. Feedback to the group from the judges was ‘ Brilliantly pitched. You told a compelling story, used lots of great vocabulary, and it was engaging to listen to.’  Well done to all.

Preparations for Open Evening are underway. This year it’s on Wednesday 9^th October. As usual, we’ll be closing at 1.30p.m. to prepare and we will look forward to welcoming back many students to talk to Year 5 and 6 students and their parents and carers about their experience of Boroughbridge High School.

Mrs. Murphy has been talking to Years 9, 10 and 11 about the opportunity to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award. We had great success last year with students taking part in both the Bronze and Silver Award. Parents and carers have the opportunity to find out more at the meeting at 5.30p.m. on Monday 16^th September.

A reminder that the NHS Wellbeing in Mind Team are running a webinar ‘Supporting Your Child to Return to School’ which will provide you with practical ideas and strategies. It’s on Monday 23^rd September, 6-7p.m. The link has been sent to you on Parent Mail.

Have a lovely weekend.

I hope that you and your families had a lovely Summer and thank you for your support in preparing your children for their return to school. We’ve had an excellent start to the Autumn Term. Students have returned in immaculate uniform, prepared for learning and have very quickly got back into our established routines.

I always enjoy welcoming students back into school and meeting the whole school through our year group Expectations Assemblies, and Tuesday was no exception. It also gave me the opportunity to talk to our students about our school values; that we are ambitious, respectful and resilient, outlining how these influence our everyday life. We’ve also enjoyed welcoming our new Year 7 students who are settling in really well and have already started to make a valuable contribution to our school community.

In assemblies this week, students have found out about an exciting leadership opportunity. We’ll be electing form reps for our student council for 2024-2025 over the next few weeks. This forms an important part of our student feedback to influence our decision making. Students were told how they can stand for the role and how the voting will take place during the week beginning 16^th September. Mr. Grierson also took the opportunity to speak about the importance of attendance in assemblies showing interesting statistics proving that students with high attendance achieve higher educational outcomes and, on average, go on to earn higher salaries. We’ll be continuing to work with students on attendance across the year.

The Friends of Boroughbridge High School had their first meeting of the year this week, welcoming new members. If you’re interested in getting involved then you are warmly invited to their next meeting at 6p.m. on Wednesday 18th September, at school, where you can bring along your ideas for future events, find out how you can help the school and see if there are any small tasks you might like to help with. In the meantime, easyfundraising and the School Lottery are part of the fundraising strategy and you can find out more at

http://efraising.org/HJSbYYIwkv and https://www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/boroughbridge-high-school

You will have received information about the sporting extra-curricular activities which will be taking place over the coming half term. We’ll also be looking to add further activities and clubs that students can get involved in at lunchtime.

It’s our Expectations Evenings next week where we outline key information about areas including curriculum, phases of learning, behaviour for learning, attendance and using My Child at School. You will also have the opportunity to give feedback or ask questions about any aspect of school life. These will be held at 6p.m. on Monday 9th September for Year 7, Wednesday 11th September for Years 8 and 9 and Thursday 12^th September for Years 10 and 11. If you have children in more than one year group, then please choose the time which is most convenient for you. If you wish to attend, please e-mail schooladmin@boroughbridgehigh.com stating which evening you would like to attend.

Have a lovely weekend.

The joy from more than 330 students going to the Great Yorkshire Show was carried into this week with many stories of fun times being shared on Monday. Whilst we were all looking forward to Sports Day on Tuesday, the weather dictated that Wednesday was the day for our inclusive sporting extravaganza. We’ve had field events taking place across the last couple of weeks and during the morning session. Then the whole school congregated on the field on Wednesday afternoon for the track events. Along with some serious sport, with many records being broken, there was also some serious supporting, resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.  Reflected throughout were our newly defined school values; ambitious, respectful and resilient. Patience was then required as students had to wait for the whole school assembly for winners to be announced.

 

 

Earlier in the day, some of our Year 9 students showed some great initiative by having a bake sale to raise money for some new netball bibs. Well done to Maddie, Georgina, Millie and Bella for raising £39.10  – a great effort.

We’ve been part of Operation Traffic this week as part of the Harrogate Outer Neighbourhood Policing team initiative to have a week of action focusing on safety around schools and, in particular, parking awareness and speed. As you can see our Year 8 students were keen to get involved and delivered some powerful messages to drivers.

I’ve taken the opportunity in assemblies this week to celebrate with students their achievements across this academic year whilst also introducing our tools, which alongside the phases of learning, will enable us to continue to drive upwards standards of behaviour and learning. These are our core values; ambitious, respectful and resilient and also the characteristics which make an excellent BHS student. We’ll be talking about these more in the Autumn Term. Assemblies were also an important way for me gain feedback on the changes to our mobile phone policy with the vast majority of students agreeing that the ‘Never used, seen or heard’ is the best approach.

And so, to mark the end of what has been an excellent year for Boroughbridge High School, we all made our way to the Sports Hall this morning for our whole school celebration assembly. A photo power point of more than 100 images captured our year followed by the photos of impressive Sports Day performances. There was much applause to recognise achievements. Subject awards were next with students being given certificates to acknowledge their excellent work and high standards achieved. Sporting awards followed and then came the moment that we’d all been waiting for – the reveal of the Sports Day winners. And here they are; 8CL, 9AC, 10SF and 11SW. It was a great celebration of all that we value in our school community.

With the Summer break now upon us, on behalf of the staff team, I would like to thank you for your ongoing support and wish you and your family a great Summer break. Students return to school on Tuesday 3^rd September.

Our GCSE Geographers set off on their first fieldtrip of the course to Leeds this week. Mrs. Gomersal reports, ‘The purpose of the trip was to investigate inequalities in housing across Leeds. Tasked with the job of collecting primary data in the form of bi-polar surveys, field sketches and car surveys, come heavy rain or glorious sunshine, all students showed huge motivation and resilience to get the job done! Well done Geographers, a fabulous start to the course. Roll on October when we visit Hornsea.’

With the Summer break only a week away, assemblies this week have focused on Summer safety with Mrs. Godsell-Wright talking with students about how to look after themselves over the Summer break and the importance of keeping active and connected with friends and family. She also focused on how to remain safe online and reminded students of how they can stay safe around water.

On Tuesday evening we experienced an excellent Music concert with performances of an eclectic mix of pieces from Oasis to ELO. Along with soloists Charlotte, Rosey, James, Austin, Larissa and Ruby, the Pop Choir and Keyboard club entertained the audience of parents, carers, staff, governors and students. Technical aspects were taken care of by James and Antonio resulting in an all-round excellent evening!

Some of our students have been away on a military service children residential at Hartington Hall. Last night, Mrs. Murphy reported that ’Everyone has had a really good first day, climbing, abseiling, scrambling and squeezing themselves through gaps in rocks.’ We’ll look forward to hearing what they got up to today.

Staff and students have enjoyed the Great Yorkshire Show today as a reward for their hard work throughout the year. The smiles and conversation as students got off the coaches clearly demonstrated that the trip has been a successful one!

Next week we have Sports Day to look forward to on Tuesday and a reminder that we finish for the Summer break at 1.30p.m. on Friday 19^th July.

Have a lovely weekend!