Category : Headteacher’s Blog

Headteacher’s Blog – 16^th December 2022

It was a lovely frosty morning on Wednesday when Year 7 and their teachers set off to St. James’ Church in Boroughbridge for our carol service. We were warmly welcomed by the Revd Karen Gardiner and together we enjoyed singing carols and listening to musical performances and readings. Year 7 were superb throughout.

Staying with Year 7, Mr. Cockerill reports that ‘Year Sevens have taken part in a creative writing competition organised by the English Department in response to reading a selection of short stories from the Iridescent Adolescent anthology, published by the English and Media Centre. The quality of work submitted was of a very high standard. Winning students received a certificate, a writing journal and some chocolate. Some students submitted book cover designs too, for which there was a separate prize. Because of its success and popularity, we’re planning to run another competition again next term on the theme of a ‘journey’.’

Here are some of the competition winners receiving their certificates,

The Readathon has also been completed with students taking the opportunity to read whilst raising £75 for charity.

Wondering whether it was colder inside or outside the group of students visiting Xscape on Wednesday evening had a great time having skiing lessons on the slopes as you can see.

We were delighted to be able to welcome last year’s Year 11 and Year 13, along with dignitaries from the local community to Awards Evening last night. Along with students receiving rewards and their exam certificates, it was a fantastic opportunity to find out how our students are getting on and they also enjoyed meeting up with each other and sharing their experiences of post-16 life.

We’ve carried on with the celebrations today with Christmas jumper non-uniform day where we’ve been raising money for Save the Children. We also had for the first time in three years, our whole school Christmas assembly. Students celebrated their year at Boroughbridge High School, were presented with rewards certificates, awards and prizes and discovered that the winners of the Christmas Door competition were 10BW.  We then finished with a very enthusiastic version of ‘All I want for Christmas is you’.

We say farewell to Miss Whiles, Mr. Cooper and Mrs. Rumbold today and thank them for the massive contribution that they’ve made to the Boroughbridge High School community. We wish them well for the future.

So with the festive season firmly upon us, I’d like to thank you for your support throughout 2022. I hope that you and your family have a peaceful and restful Christmas break and we’ll look forward to welcoming students back to school on Tuesday 3^rd January.  

Headteacher’s Blog – 9^th December 2022

We’ve had a very tuneful week with not one, not two, but three musical experiences beginning with an Opera North workshop for Year 7 on Monday morning. This is the second time that Opera North have visited Boroughbridge High School and worked with our students. This time students were invited to identify the different groups of instruments within a performance before exploring how to tell a story through music. Tristan was then chosen to conduct aspects of Grieg’s ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ before we listened to the finale which was a full performance followed by spontaneous applause. It was a great experience for all and we were also pleased to be able to welcome students from Cundall Manor to share the experience with us.

On Tuesday we had our Christmas Live Lounge. It was lovely to have so many performers and their families in school and we had a great evening listening to solos, ensembles and the choir covering an eclectic mix of music from ‘Walking in the Air’ to Nirvana. To complement there was the usual festive quiz with the evening finishing with a rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas. Thanks for your support at this event.

Boroughbridge was at its festive best on Wednesday for the late night Christmas shopping event and it was a great privilege for our Year 7 choir to sing festive songs, around the Christmas tree, for the audience and passing families to hear.

The Dining Hall was filled with the sound of Christmas songs and the pulling of crackers on Thursday lunchtime as Christmas Dinner was served. Our thanks go to the Catering Team who served up hundreds of dinners appreciated by all. The party hats were also a great hit with an occasional one making it through to the end of the school day!

Year 11 have been considering their wellbeing this afternoon as they’ve engaged in a wide range of activities from Bush Crafts with Mr. Woodward, to reading with Mrs. Wellock, Wellbeing strategies with Mr. Lough, Christmas Wreath making with Mrs. Flowers and Boxing with an external coach. It was an excellent afternoon and will have given students both a positive experience and longer term strategies to sustain them in the months ahead.

Thank you for the responses that we’ve received so far to the Parent/Carer Feedback Survey. Your feedback is much appreciated and will help us to both capture the progress that we’ve made and inform future actions. The survey will close at midday on Thursday 15^th December 2022.

A reminder that we finish at 1.30p.m. next Friday for the Christmas break. It’s also Christmas Jumper (non-uniform) day. We return on Tuesday 3^rd January. Key Stage 3 timetables will have some changes when we return. Your child will receive their new timetable next week.

If football is your thing, then enjoy the match on Saturday and if the England team do as well as our Year10/11 team against Rossett on Monday then they’ll have a 4-1 victory!

Have a lovely weekend!

Headteacher’s Blog – 2^nd December 2022

Students in Years 10 and 11 breathed a sigh of relief today as they neared the end of their Progress exams with the final ones on Monday. They’ve had an incredibly focused week and demonstrated a secure understanding of exam protocols. Teachers are now in a flurry of marking with the aim of using these exams to identify next steps for teaching to support students both in terms of building upon knowledge and exam technique. Students will be reflecting on the effectiveness of their revision and gaps in knowledge so that they can continue to improve as we move towards the Summer exams.

Around the rest of the school, our Key Stage 3 students have been continuing with enthusiasm across the curriculum. Year 7 Historians have begun learning about Castles in preparation for their Christmas project. Miss Whiles requests, ‘as Christmas deliveries ramp up this month, please save your children any cardboard boxes or interesting packaging they could use in their models’.  In English they’ve been continuing with their short stories and in Science they’ve been doing a variety of things with some groups looking at elements, mixtures and compounds including how to separate them whilst other groups have been using the microscopes to look at cells from all around the body and plants. In Food Tech, Christmas cakes are being decorated, in DT students are finishing their Alessi and Blockheads projects whilst, in Maths, they’ve been solving linear equations.

Year 8 Historians have been comparing soldiers and weapons in the English Civil War ready for executing the King. In IT they’ve been looking at types of computer malware and the damage they can do from botnets to trojan horses before looking at firewalls and other ways to protect devices. Christmas shortbread has been the focus in FT and child safety bands, ‘flashy bangles’ in DT. Mrs. Bauwens reports that ‘Year 8 Geographers have just finished the earth shattering topic ‘Rocks & Volcanoes’ and have completed an assessment to demonstrate what they have learnt this term.  As part of the unit pupils were asked to produce their own active volcano. The photograph shows just a few examples of the amazing work done.’ In RE, students have been deliberating whether citizens have a human right to dress as they please which will lead onto discussions about whether there should be limitations on wearing certain items of religious clothing in British society and, in English, they’ve been learning how to write compelling non-fiction stories about survival in the great wilderness.

Year 9 Mathematicians have been studying bearings, scales and constructions with a particular focus on how these can be applied in a real-life context. In English, they’ve been writing essays and creative pieces on Susan Hill’s The Woman In Black. In History students have been comparing interpretations of the Christmas Truce of 1914 discussing some of the issues of historical accuracy when an event is popularised for advertising. In FT Year 9 have been developing a Christmas challenge centre piece whilst in DT the focus has been MDF boxes and graphic design.

Feedback was the focus of my assemblies this week. It’s almost a year since our Ofsted visit and, as a school community, we’ve been working hard to make measurable progress on our priorities so, as part of our evaluation, students are being asked to complete a questionnaire on all aspects of school life. Your feedback is also critical to our evaluation so you’ll receive a letter next week with details of how you can fill in a similar parent/carer survey.

Events ahead include a Big Book Swap on Wednesday 7th December at break and lunchtime in the dining hall. Students will be able to purchase second-hand books for a small cost (£1-£3 per book). Alternatively, students can bring old books from home to donate and, if they do so, they will receive a token that they can exchange for any book(s) of their choice. If you would be happy to donate any books from home suitable for secondary school age students or younger then please drop them off at reception. The Readathon, where students have been setting their own reading challenge, is also running until the end of this term. All sponsor money needs to be collected and handed in by Friday 16^th December.

And there’s Christmas in the air, with the Christmas Live Lounge next Tuesday 6th at 6.30 p.m. with festive songs from the pop choir, solo spots and a rock band performance. We’ll have the usual Christmas Quiz, mince pies, tea and coffee. As Mrs. Skilbeck says, ‘If you’ve never been before, it’s a lovely relaxed show!’. Entry is £3 or £2 for concessions. It would be lovely to see you there.

Students also have Christmas dinner on Thursday 8^th December to look forward to.

Have a lovely weekend!

Headteacher’s Blog – 25^th November 2022

Assemblies this week, led by Mr. Grierson, have started with the statement ‘Scotland won the World Cup in 1966.’ with students being asked if they thought this statement was true or false. With some variance of opinion, Mr. Grierson revealed that it was indeed fake news and discussed with students about how to check out if the things that they are reading on social media are true following four points;

1. Check the source
2. Watch out for fake photos
3. Check the story is in other places and
4. Look for other signs such as lots of ads popping up when you press the link.

If you’d like to find out more, go to https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/b1-reading/how-to-spot-fake-news

Key Stage 4 students had an assembly on knife crime which has been delivered across schools in North Yorkshire by Martin Powell (Police mentor). It was very powerful message as he shared a case, captured on CCTV, in Scarborough where all five young people involved were jailed for a single fatal stabbing.

As the weather is now decidedly autumnal, a reminder that there are a number of clubs that students can attend at lunchtime. An outline can be found at

Timetable

A Key Stage 3 History Club has been added this week and will take place every Thursday in B5 at 12.40p.m. Students will have the opportunity to make their own coat of arms.

Progress (mock) exams for students in Years 10 and 11 got underway this morning with the Food Exam followed by Biology this afternoon. They’ll continue next week. The timing of these is critical as it enables teachers and students to identify their strengths and areas that they need to work on and the outcomes will support teachers with their planning in the coming weeks.

In Sporting news this week on Monday we had 39 students participating in a Harrogate and Craven Cross-County event hosted by Ripon Grammar School whilst, yesterday afternoon, Year 10 boys took part in a football tournament hosted by Rossett School. We also took the opportunity on Monday for a school community viewing of the England match.

Year 7 and 8 students are currently in the middle of their Readathon. Watch out for the letter from Mrs. Wellock giving more information about our strategies to support students in developing a love of reading.

Thank you to the parents who attended the Curriculum Information Evening last night. We discussed curriculum but also so much more and it was incredibly helpful to gain feedback on many aspects of school life.

With the festive season almost upon us, this morning Mrs. Skilbeck took some Year 7 students to perform at the Ripon Cathedral Christmas Fair.

Have a lovely weekend!

Headteacher’s Blog – 18^th November 2022

Well, what a week for weather! However, showing great resilience were the Year 8 girls’ football team who, on the wettest of wet days, went to Rossett School to take part in a football tournament. Playing against much larger schools than BHS, they finished joint 3^rd out of 6 teams with 5 goals scored by Millie, Neve (3) and Phoebe. Well done team!

Building resilience in our school community was one of the themes of our Professional Development Day with sessions led by the Wellbeing in Mind Team who have a base at Boroughbridge High School. We had a reminder of the NHS five steps to mental wellbeing which are strategies relevant for all.

In the afternoon, we reflected on our progress as a school against our whole school objectives since our Ofsted Inspection focusing specifically on Curriculum, Retrieval Practice and Reading. As you’re aware, we now have our Curriculum Maps online (https://www.boroughbridgehigh.com/curriculum/subjects/) and retrieval practice to check what students have learned and remembered is part of our every day learning and lesson planning across the curriculum.

We’ve also continued to develop our curriculum and, if you’re interested in finding out more about our curriculum, we have a Parent Information Evening next Thursday at 6p.m. Please e-mail schooladmin@boroughbridgehigh.com to book a place.

Our focus on reading has been further developed through strategies such as the Readathon and BookBuzz for Years 7 and 8 whilst, across the school, all form classes spend time reading. Departments have developed strategies to promote reading within their areas and we’re currently integrating strategies into our lesson planning.

And we’ve had a great Children in Need day today with our non-uniform day and a break and lunch Bake Sale raising £438.63 which will be used by Children in Need to fund thousands of charities and projects in every corner of the UK, that support children and young people to feel and be safer, have improved mental health and wellbeing, form better, more positive relationships and be given more equal opportunities to flourish.

Have a lovely weekend!

Headteacher’s Blog – 11th November 2022

With Remembrance Day on Sunday, assemblies this week have focused on the
importance of Remembrance Day whilst also sharing the symbolism of the poppy
and reminding us of the sacrifices which have and continue to be made. We’ve
also been selling poppies, raising funds for the Royal British Legion who provide
a lifeline for serving personnel, veterans and their families. Today at 11a.m. we
observed the two minutes silence. On Sunday I’ll be accompanied by Atlanta,
Becky, Emily and Savannah at the service at St. James’ before they lay the
wreath at the war memorial. It’s a privilege to participate in such an important
event in our community.

We were delighted to welcome Years 9 and 10 parents, carers and students to
the Duke of Edinburgh Award meeting on Wednesday. Students have the
opportunity to get involved in the Bronze Award in the coming weeks. It will be
led by Mrs. Murphy with Mr. Field and Mr. Lough supporting. Thinking ahead to
the expedition, if you have any walking or camping kit that is in good condition
that we could have to loan to students, it would be greatly appreciated. Please
e-mail schooladmin@boroughbridgehigh.com

Next week, on Friday, we’ll be fundraising for Children-in Need with a non-
uniform day. You can make a donation on Parent Mail. The School Council are
currently finalising the other fundraising events and students will hear about
them shortly.

A reminder that it’s a Professional Development Day on Wednesday 16 th
November when students do not attend school. On that day, staff will be
working with the NHS Wellbeing in Mind team on building resilience across our
school community before evaluating progress made against the school priorities
and identifying next steps for development.
Have a lovely weekend!

Headteacher’s Blog – 4^th November 2022

So, we’ve had a busy week following our half term break. Assemblies this week have been a great opportunity to celebrate the positive contributions that students made during the first half term with the top 20 reward point winning students being announced. You’ll have received a congratulations letter if your child is one of them. Students can continue to collect points which will lead to bigger rewards later in the year.

Winning forms were 7MG, 8SF, 9DR, 10BW and 11JW so, as you can imagine, the competition is now on for the top spot by Christmas.

Our excitement on Wednesday was a trip for 47 students and 4 staff to the LNER Community Stadium in York not only to watch two International Rugby League matches as part of the Rugby League World Cup but also, as you can see, to act as flag bearers whilst the national anthems were played. It was a great privilege to do this and students and staff also had a fabulous time watching the two matches; New Zealand Women v France Women and Australia Women v Cook Islands Women.

We’re ready to restart the Duke of Edinburgh Award at BHS. Mrs. Murphy spoke to students in Years 9 and 10 about the opportunities that this can bring and how they can get involved. There will be an Information Evening for interested parents and carers at school on Wednesday 9^th November at 6p.m.

We had Year 10 online Parents’ Evening on Thursday and next Thursday, it’s the turn of Year 11. Both of these year groups received information this week about their Progress Exams which start in a few weeks’ time.

As you’re aware, we’ve been working with the Wellbeing in Mind Team for over a year now. Overleaf you’ll find out more information about how we’re working together to support our young people.

Have a lovely weekend!

Headteacher’s Blog – 21st October 2022

We started the week with our Year 7 Tutor Evening where form tutors, parents, carers and students discussed the first few weeks at Boroughbridge High School. It was great to see how well Year 7 have settled in. There was further excitement for them on Wednesday, and on Friday for Year 8, when the Readathon was launched along with Book Buzz.

The Readathon is organised by Read for Good whose mission is to improve the outcomes for all children in the UK by encouraging    and enabling children to develop a love of reading. By taking part, students also raise money to help seriously ill children whilst also earning free book vouchers for their school at the same time! You can find out more here https://readforgood.org/ You’ll no doubt be asked for sponsorship in the coming days and weeks.

A few weeks ago, students had selected their book of choice as part of the Book Buzz scheme launched by the Book Trust. You can see the whole range here. https://www.booktrust.org.uk/what-we-do/programmes-and-campaigns/bookbuzz/students/bookbuzz-books/

Luckily the Book Buzz books had arrived so students were presented with their new book of choice which, for many, was the first of the Readathon. Choices were wide and varied!

Following on from that, on Wednesday afternoon, Year 7, as part of their English curriculum had a movie afternoon.

In assemblies this week, we’ve been celebrating all that we’ve achieved during this half term before revisiting our standards to ensure that everyone in our community is safe, happy and successful.

With tracking data being published for Years 10 and 11 this week, a reminder that there is an online Year 10 Parents and Carers Evening on Thursday 3^rd November with Year 11 on Thursday 10^th November.

So, as we reach the half term break, I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Headteacher’s Blog – 14^th October 2022

Wednesday evening was one of the highlights of the school year as we welcomed Year 5 and 6 students and their parents and carers to our Open Evening. During the presentation in the Hall, Year 7 students, Eva, Michael, Olivia and Tristan confidently spoke to the large audience about their positive experiences of joining Boroughbridge High School. Having heard the vision of the school, and the underpinning values, visitors were then able to see for themselves how this translates into reality by touring each department. They also met over 100 student volunteers, who were leading activities across the subject areas and answering questions about our school. Activities included a Maths Trail around school, joining the English Team at ‘Darkwood Manor’ for some creative writing inspiration, watching a rehearsal by the Key Stage 3 Drama Club and seeing our Musicians in session. 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. Sports Leaders led challenges in the Sports Hall. Following a food theme, Halloween breads were being made and sampled in Food Technology whilst French delicacies could be requested at Le Café de Boroughbridge with Modern Foreign Languages. There was also the opportunity to sample some of the school menu! In RE philosophical questions were being asked, map skills developed in Geography and an in-depth exploration of sources used in History. Artists at work could be observed and colourful plastic creations made in DT. All in all, it was an incredibly energetic evening and it was great to be able to welcome new families along with those who have or have had older children in the school. We’ll look forward to welcoming Year 6 back into school for our three Induction Days in July!

Earlier in the week our Year 7 Geographers had an excellent time visiting Boroughbridge to investigate the hypothesis, ‘Boroughbridge is a resort’. With clipboards at the ready, students completed traffic counts, pedestrian counts, a land use map and field sketches. They’re now presenting and analysing their data in lessons before they draw their conclusions.

We’re really impressed with the way in which Year 7 have settled into the Boroughbridge High School community and parents and carers will have the opportunity to meet with their child’s Form Tutor on Monday to discuss how they’re getting on. If you haven’t yet signed up for an appointment then please check Parent Mail for your log-in instructions.

Assemblies this week have focused on our first Progress Review Point where students and parents and carers will receive data about progress, attitude to learning, behaviour for learning and homework. Mrs. Bloomfield talked about how important it is to work hard every day in order to secure success.

We welcomed PCSO Phil Wright into school on Thursday to talk to students in Years 8 to 11 about exploitation risks in our locality including cyber bullying and vaping with a focus on ensuring that our students know how to keep themselves and others safe. It’s great for our students to hear from someone who is working so closely within our community and the areas identified are followed up in our PSHCE curriculum.

With the fact that over 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest out of hospital in the UK every year, today, all of Years 8 and 9 have been involved in Restart a Heart day where they’ve learnt CPR, a simple life saving technique given to someone in cardiac arrest. It aims to take over the job of the heart and lungs by keeping blood and oxygen flowing through the body. The aim is to teach CPR to 30,000 students and it’s great to know that 175 of these are Boroughbridge High School students. We were delighted to welcome our local MP, Andrew Jones, to see the team and our students in action.

Have a lovely weekend!

Headteacher’s Blog – 7^th October 2022

One of our missions this year is to ensure that our curriculum is fully enriched now that we no longer have any restrictions and, in the first five weeks, we’ve certainly done that!

GCSE Geographers have been to the Holderness Coast, students across the year groups have been to the Urban Bike Park in Leeds, Year 8 have been on their Humanities trip to Helmsley Castle and Rievaulx Abbey. Yesterday BTEC Travel and Tourism students went to explore Alton Towers as a tourist attraction and, next week, Year 7 Geographers will be going into Boroughbridge to explore the hypothesis ‘The function of Boroughbridge is a resort town.’ They’ll be carrying out land use surveys, environmental quality surveys and traffic counts to draw their conclusions. Highlights later in the academic year include a Year 9 trip to Bewerley Park and a Year 7 visit to Normandy.

Sports fixtures have begun in earnest with Year 8 boys football at Malton School and Year 7 and 8 girls football against Rossett School at Boroughbridge. The Netball teams have also made an impressive start with two wins for our Year 7 and Year 10 team.

Black History Month has been the focus of assemblies this week with History lessons in the coming weeks exploring this important area further.

This week saw the appointment of our new Key Stage 4 Prefects who proudly accepted their badges, marking their new role. This is such an important student leadership role in our school community and we look forward to working with them during the year and watching them develop their leadership skills. They will begin by helping our younger students welcome Year 5 and 6 children and their parents for our Open Evening. And so, a reminder that next Wednesday (12^th) is our Year 5 and 6 Open Evening. In order to prepare for the event, we’ll be closing school at 1.30p.m. and will look forward to welcoming our students back into school to take part in Open Evening.

Have a lovely weekend!