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It’s been reading all the way this week to mark World Book Day. A book inspired Bake-Off enabled students to use the medium of cake to show remarkable creativity with winner Zander (Y8) representing ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ by Roald Dahl, and runners up Freya (Y8) representing Ghostbusters by John Sazaklis and Freya (Y9) representing ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ by Holly Jackson. They were then put to a very good cause with students buying a delicious slice with funds raised going to the Read for Good charity.

Embracing the celebration, teachers across the school led two ‘drop everything and read’ sessions where they shared with students an extract from a favourite book, article or poems which was relevant to their lesson before having a discussion about why it is important to them. As you can imagine, there was great variety and the possibility of young readers being inspired to read more.

In History, Mrs. Ennis shared ‘First They Came’ by Pastor Martin Niemöller, ‘Never Shall I Forget’ by Elie Wiesel and ‘Completion’ by Vera Schaufeld as Year 9 are studying The Holocaust and these poems powerfully explore the feeling of survivors and the importance of challenging discrimination.

In Geography, Mrs. Gomersal and Year 8 and 9 read part of ‘The Explorer’ by Katherine Rundell which is a best selling children’s book about four children that crash-land into the Amazon Rainforest. Mrs. Gomersal says, ‘Although Geography related, I like the message of the book. The four children learn that although utterly alone, in order to survive they must work together and trust each other.’

Working with a similar theme, Madame Joly in French with Years 7 and 8 explored ‘Le Petit Prince’ which is a book which talks about the importance of taking care of the people important to you. Years 7 and 9 looked at ‘Voyage au Centre de la Terre’ by Jules Verne with Madame Llaurado who said ‘Jules Verne in general, and this book in particular, is good in nurturing critical thinking and stimulating understanding of other cultures.’

In the Intervention Room, Mrs. Mannion and Year 7 and 8 looked at Chapter 1 and 2 of ‘Dread Wood’ by Jennifer Killick. This had been chosen by students and is one of the books from the Book Buzz scheme that we’re part of. It’s an engaging story to encourage reading. There is also a lovely World Book Day display in the Intervention Room showing 30 students’ favourite books.

The Bible was the focus for Mr. Woodward and Year 9 in RE and, in particular, The Story of Job. Students explored the messages of ancient texts as a basis for helping people deal with suffering and tragedy in today’s world.

In Maths Year 7 read about Mr. Pent the Maths Teacher in ‘The World’s Worst Teachers’ by David Walliams, selected by Mrs. Murphy because of the love of books and the fact that we are never too old to laugh.

 

In DT, Year 7 and 8 looked at an extract from ‘The Wizard of Earthsea’ by Ursula Le Guin. Mr. Groves said, ‘My Primary school teacher Mr Castledine read this to me when I was 10 years old and it is still my favourite book. It is a fantasy book in the years before GOT and was written with such brilliant imagination, descriptive and emotive language that it gripped me from the first page to the last. It tells the tale of a young wizard called GED who fights and becomes possessed by an evil spirit but he eventually prevails, wounded and wiser. It encourages thoughts about resilience, perseverance and generosity of deed.’

 

Mrs. Broadhurst used ‘It is ok to be different: a storybook celebrating, Diversity and Acceptance’ with some Year 8 students to support them in understanding what language and verbal communication is acceptable and why.

 

Miss Kelly chose to share ‘Witch Child’ by Celia Rees with Year 9 which almost immediately predates the setting for ‘The Crucible’. Miss Kelly describes it as ‘Good quality young adult fiction.’ Meanwhile, with her Year 10 class she looked at an extract from ‘Shakespeare (The Man Who Pays the Rent)’ by Judi Dench which looked at her performance of Lady Macbeth and her interpretation of the character.

Miss Camy took the opportunity in Science, with Year 11, to look at the poem, ‘A birthday’ by Christina Rossetti chosen because ‘As it will soon be my birthday I was looking for a poem about birthdays. This is a poem about how it is important to have love for yourself.’

 

We’ve also been thinking about Futures this week with our Year 9 Options Taster sessions which then lead on to the full Options Evening next Wednesday. Assemblies have also focused on careers with Year 7 looking at STEM and Year 9 looking at, not only their GCSE and BTEC opportunities, but also the possibilities beyond including A levels and apprenticeships.

Year 11 have started on their second set of Progress Exams (mocks) today. We’re looking forward to seeing the Progress that they’ve made since their first set before Christmas. They’ll continue with these next week. Thanks to those parents and carers who came to the Information Evening on Thursday which focused on Wellbeing and supporting students with exams. It was, as ever, also useful to hear feedback on other aspects of school life.

Year 8 will be starting their revision preparation for their exams which begin on Monday 18^th March. We have these formal exams for each year group so that they are used to the rules and routines by the time they take their GCSE exams.

Upcoming events include our Professional Development Day on Thursday 14^th March when students do not attend school. We then have the Musical Showcase to look forward to during the following week.

You also, this week, have received the letter regarding the Boroughbridge Sports Village Public consultation.

We’re looking forward to the BHS Big Quiz tonight, the first event organised by the newly formed Friends of BHS. We thank them and you for your support with this and look forward to future events.

Have a lovely weekend!

The week started well with our second phase of tree planting. Mr. Woodward reports,

240 more saplings have been planted this spring to add to the hundreds that students put in the ground last November. Elder, Downy Birch, Rowan, Blackthorn, Holly, Dog Rose, Hawthorn, Hazel and Crab Apple have been added to the Boroughbridge High School Woodland, an area already teeming with flora and fauna. Thanks to Kowenna, Larissa, Ruby, Freya, Oliver, Tyler, Millie, Summer and Alice for their hard work in making our little patch of Yorkshire even more biodiverse and naturally beautiful!

There was a buzz around Options Evening on Wednesday.  Looking forward to personalising their curriculum further, Year 9 students and their parents and carers  heard about our broad, aspirational curriculum before getting an update from core subjects on their progress and talking to subject teachers about the option subjects to inform their choices. The Google Form is now open and the deadline for returns in Tuesday 19^th March.

We’ve had a range of assemblies this week from raising aspirations and revision to reinforcing expectations with Year 7 having daily assemblies so that we’ve been able to revisit a different aspect of our expectations every day.

Progress exams have continued this week for Years 10 and 11 with Year 8 Exam week next week and Year 7 the week after the Easter break.

 

This year, with Year 9 girls, we’re participating in the Barclays Game On – GO Lead programme which empowers girls with the tools and training to become girls’ football activators to design, create, and deliver football activities to their peers to engage a wider group of girls. There was great excitement this week when their kit arrived!

 

 

We had an excellent day on Thursday for our Professional Development Day, hosted by our Federation partner, King James’s School in Knaresborough. In the morning we focused on ‘Engagement in the classroom’ which links with our Learning Phases and then, in the afternoon, we focused on Behaviour for Learning, looking at our next steps following our most recent Behaviour Hub input.

BHS Big Quiz Night organised by the Friends of Boroughbridge High School was a great success last week, raising a total of £578.50. Thank you to those who attended, ate curry, bought raffle tickets and enjoyed the eclectic mix of quiz questions.

A reminder that it’s the Musical Showcase next week.

We’ve raised £258 today for Comic Relief from your kind donations for our non-uniform day. Thank you for your support.

This weekend, it’s our Duke of Edinburgh Silver Practice expedition so we’re hoping for fine weather and send our best wishes to our students, their teachers and our volunteers. I hope that you have a lovely weekend too!

Representing Boroughbridge High School, a group of 9 of our service students went to North Yorkshire County Hall with Mrs. Murphy to take part in ‘The Big Conversation’ on Wednesday. The aim was to come up with North Yorkshire’s own armed forces promises directly from the students who took part in rap, art and discussion workshops.  They also had the opportunity to voice their opinion on community, education and wellbeing, as well as give suggestions of areas that could be improved. This is the first time that this particular event has taken place so it was great for us to be able to participate.

Catching up with sporting news, Mr. Field reports that ‘Last Monday saw some Year 7 and Year 8 athletes represent Boroughbridge High School in our first ever venture into Sports Hall Athletics.  Richmond High School hosted the indoor athletics event which saw our athletes compete in various relay races using equipment such as; reversa-boards, high steppers, hurdles and speed bounce, along with field events such as; indoor shot, standing long jump, vertical jump, speed bounce and standing triple jump.  Both Year 7 and Year 8 had already had a taster for Sporthall Athletics so we were able to select those pupils who had shown interest and ability across this wide spectrum of athletic events.  Both year groups performed exceptionally well against the opposition schools and gave absolutely everything in the pursuit of sporting glory.  Both the boys and girls teams from Year 8 finished in a respectable 4th place whilst the Year 7 teams encountered a little more success.  The Year 7 girls team finished in 3rd place, receiving bronze medals for their efforts and the Year 7 boys team finished in 2nd place taking home silver medals.  All the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon competing and the Year 7 teams are already looking forward to improving on their results in next year’s competition.’ Well done to all.

As part of our Reading for Pleasure strategy, Year 7 and Year 8 students were presented with their book of choice as part of the BookTrust Bookbuzz scheme. Students were also encouraged to set a target of the number of books they can read as part of a Readathon which they’ll be participating in.

In assemblies this week, Mrs. Godsell-Wright has been encouraging students to think of others at this time with a view to supporting people within our local community. Opportunities over the next couple of weeks will include Christmas card writing to send to local care homes, bringing in donations of tinned or food in packets to send to our local foodbanks, or baking cakes to bring in for a Bake Sale next Friday (15^th December). Any donations you can make will be gratefully received.

If our choir singing at the late night shopping event on Wednesday has whetted your appetite for all things Christmas, then you’ll pleased to hear that preparations are going well for our Christmas Concert which is at 6p.m. on Tuesday 12^th December. Along with musical performances, there’ll be a Drama element as Mr. Jackson and Mr. West have joined forces to create a special evening. We’ll look forward to seeing you there. Christmas attire is optional!

We’re also having a pre-loved uniform swap and sale in the Reception area on Tuesday evening which you can visit when you’re at the Christmas concert so if you’ve any uniform that no longer fits then please bring it along. Alternatively, you can drop off uniform donations at Reception at any time or contact schooladmin@boroughbridgehigh.com if you would like to know what we currently have in stock.

Next week, students can look forward to their Christmas dinner on Wednesday lunchtime and I’ve no doubt that a few party hats will make it into afternoon lessons.

A reminder that we finish for the Christmas break at 1.30p.m. on Friday 22^nd December.

Have a lovely weekend!

Headteacher’s Blog – 30^th September 2022

Making the most of the great outdoors were the GCSE Geographers who took on the Holderness Coast on Monday visiting Hornsea. Mrs. Bauwens reports ‘The GCSE geographers visited the east coast on Monday in order to study how coastal erosion is being managed. The day started clear and there were amazing views of the soft cliffs slumping into the bay to the south of Hornsea. Despite challenging weather later in the day, the group persevered and collected data (albeit on soggy paper!) to help them answer the question ‘Is hard engineering controlling longshore drift at Hornsea?’ in lessons.’

Leeds was the destination for students across the year groups on Tuesday. Mr. Field reports, ‘Pupils enjoyed their mountain bike adventure at Leeds Urban Bike Park this week after the extreme heat postponement.  The pupils received coaching from Liam who is a professional BMX rider pushing to represent Ireland at the future Olympics, they were taken through some basic bike handling skills before taking on some of the challenging terrain at the park.  Within a short space of time the pupils’ confidence and ability had grown and they took on the park features with aplomb.  The session culminated in the pupils tackling the BMX track section of the bike park, this proved to be an exhilarating end to the session with each pupil challenging themselves by taking on various sections of the track.  The trip ended with lots of smiles and lots of desire to head back to the bike park in the very near future.’

Coming up for students in Years 8 and 9 on Friday 14^th October is a ‘Restart a Heart’ session led by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service. We’ll let you know how they get on.

Today the School Council have been fundraising by having a Macmillan Coffee morning raising an amazing total of £250.56.

In assemblies this week, we’ve been celebrating European Day of Languages with amazing facts such as ‘More than half of Europe is Bilingual’ and ‘French was the official language of England for over 300 years (between the Norman victory at the Battle of Hastings (1066) and the end of the 14th century).’ You can find out more at https://edl.ecml.at/

So, with that in mind……Bon week-end!

Headteacher’s Blog – 16^th September 2022

On Tuesday when it was a sunny morning with an autumnal nip in the air, Year 8 embarked upon their Humanities visit to Helmsley. Playing an integral part of their studies of England in medieval times they visited Helmsley Castle and Rievaulx Abbey whilst also carrying out Geography fieldwork in the centre of Helmsley enabling students to put their knowledge and skills into practice. As you can see, they had an excellent day and Miss Whiles commented, ‘The students were an absolute pleasure to be with. All listened to and followed staff instructions, were respectful to members of the public and engaged really well with the activities at each site. I am really proud of each and every one of them, they were a real credit to Boroughbridge High School.’

Fun and fundraising was at the fore for three of our Year 10 students, Nathan, Madison and Joe who took part in the York Pretty Mudder 5K last weekend, raising over £300 for charity. Very well done to them all.

 

We’ve had Expectations Evenings this week. Thank you to those Parents and Carers who were able to attend. It was great to be able to meet Face to Face, to share more about what we’re doing and developing at school and to hear your feedback and suggestions. Summaries will be sent out next week.

We will be holding a Scholastics Book Fair on Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd September in the school library. The book fair will be open 1-1.30pm and 3.45-4.15pm for students to browse and purchase any books that they would like. Parents and carers are welcome to call in to the after-school session too.

Following the very sad news last week of the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II, bells rang out across the country at noon on Friday. Alice, in Year 7, had the great honour of being part of the team who rang the bells at Ripon Cathedral. Alice practises weekly and was immensely proud to be part of such a special and important event. As a school we have recognised the remarkable dedication that HM Queen Elizabeth II has shown in her role for more than 70 years by talking with students about her legacy and celebrating her extraordinary life. School will be closed for the Bank Holiday for her State Funeral on Monday 19^th September.

Take care.

                   

Whilst I was finishing the Blog yesterday evening, the very sad news that Queen Elizabeth II had died was announced. Our thoughts are with the Royal Family as we begin this period of national mourning. To pay our respects, flowers were laid at Balmoral this morning on behalf of the Boroughbridge High School community.

We’ve had an excellent start to the Autumn Term with all students returning to school on Tuesday. We welcomed our new Year 7 students who are settling in really quickly and getting fully engaged in the demands of life at secondary school. So, let’s see what they’ve been doing.

In RE Year 7 students have jumped in at the deep end with a study of Nietzsche’s idea that “God is Dead” which will form the basis of a unit on philosophical arguments for and against God’s existence.

The History department has been very impressed with the start they’ve made by diving straight into creating timelines of early settlers to Britain, defining raiders and traders and decided which groups fit these definitions and why there were differing needs for different approaches to conquering new lands. Miss Whiles says that ‘Students have approached this with maturity and worked well in pairs to draw some sophisticated conclusions.’

In Geography students have been studying the difference between human and physical geographical features of the UK. Mrs. Bauwens says ‘They have been very enthusiastic in learning how to use an Atlas to find places on a map – some of them are very quick’.

In Science, they have been learning about the properties of solids, liquid and gases and in Art, students have been learning about Colour Theory and creating, as you can see, interesting 3-D colour wheels, working together in small groups.

In English, Mr. Cockerill says, ‘I’ve seen some brilliant creative writing inspired by Philip Pullman’s book Clockwork. A brilliant start!’

Form Tutors have also had a good week getting to know their new form class. Mrs. Knock says ‘7PK have started to get to know each other through some form-time activities and they have already been asked to consider ideas for the Christmas door competition. Only half the class got lost on the first day which I think is good going!’

Mrs. Hunter says, ‘7CH have impressed me with how well they seem to be getting along with each other and looking out for one another’ and Mr. Cockerill says, ‘It has been great to welcome the students and to see how enthusiastic and well prepared they have been this week.’

Mrs. MacAdam and Mrs. Gomersal are impressed with their form (7MG) and have enjoyed reading the feedback which students have given then about their first week. You won’t be surprised to hear that new lessons and lunchtimes feature as being favourite aspects of Boroughbridge High School!

Mr Scott says that 7AS are settling in well and quickly getting used to all of the new information and new routines.

In assemblies this week, I’ve been welcoming students back to the new term and sharing the successes of the exam results in the Summer before focusing on school standards to ensure that everyone in our school community is safe, happy and successful.

We’ve also welcomed new staff to the school. Mrs. Hirst has joined the pastoral team as Pastoral Manager for Year 8. Mrs. Clark has joined the Admin Team, Mr. Cook has joined the Learning Support Team and Mr. Roche and Mrs. Murphy have joined the Maths Team.

I’m looking forward to seeing you at the Expectations Evenings for Parents and Carers of students in Years 8 to 11 next week. If you haven’t yet had time to confirm your attendance then please e-mail schooladmin@boroughbridgehigh.com

Take care.

So, it’s been ‘Happy New School Year’ at Boroughbridge High School this week with students beginning their new timetables, new classes and new subjects for some. This is already ensuring a high level of focus as we move towards the end of the Summer Term.

Students taking on their new GCSE/BTEC subjects are laying the foundations for a productive year ahead. In History, students have begun with medicine over time, looking first at how beliefs and treatments of disease changed over time before assessing in detail the credibility of the Theory of the Four Humours and Theory of Opposites by Hippocrates and Galen. Students concluded that there is still some merit to these Ancient theories as it is indeed true that something cold is needed to bring down a high temperature.

In DT, students have chosen their Non-Examined Assessment task themes and analysed existing products and in FT, chopping skills have been refined along with tasting protein alternatives. In GCSE Business students have started the course by looking at why businesses are started and the character traits of entrepreneurs whilst in Computer Science, students began their programming journey in Python looking at variables, inputs and data types. Taking a learning risk in Religious Studies, students have jumped in at the deep end, learning Punjabi terminology to describe the Sikh God, Waheguru, before then analysing and evaluating the logical consistency of the claims Sikhs make about this difficult to comprehend being.

In BTEC Travel and Tourism, students were shown to their seats with a Boarding Pass before exploring travel organisations and tour operators. In GCSE French, Mrs. Bailie, says that ‘students have made an enthusiastic start to the course, practising speaking, listening and reading skills as well as reviewing some key grammar points, all in the context of the first topic ‘Family and Relationships’. Over in Health and Social Care, students started to look at the growth and development over the Life Stages. Drawing skills were being developed in Art with Mrs. Hunter commenting on the ‘great, can do attitudes of the class.’

In assemblies this week, new Year 11 heard from Mrs. Morgan, our careers adviser, who updated them on their choices ahead as well as telling them about their Careers Morning next week when they’ll be meeting employers. Other year groups heard about healthy lifestyles and the positive impact that a good diet can have on performance.

Today we’ve had a non-uniform day raising money for in school projects and, at lunchtime, the ‘Big Book Swap’ event took place with students and staff purchasing second hand books either with cash or tokens if they were able to donate books of their own!

Things to look forward to next week include the ‘Monster Kick About’ where students will be able to take part in football activities during lunchtime. The challenges will be as follows,

Wednesday – ‘Tekkers’ Challenge – a timed football freestyle showcase where students will be trying to impress the judges with their skills.

Thursday – Crossbar Challenge – Can students hit the crossbar from set distances?  and

Friday – Penalty ‘Top Bins’ Challenge – How accurate are students with their penalties?  Can they get the ball into the ‘top bins’ / top corner target?

There will be a small entry fee for students to take part in the challenges, £1 per event or £2 for all three challenges.  Money will be equally divided between a charity chosen by Boroughbridge High School Sports leaders and school sports equipment for students to use during lunchtimes.  There will also be prizes for the best boy and girl in each year group that takes part in the challenges.

We’re also really excited to be welcoming our new Year 7 students and their families with a Parent Information Evening on Monday before Induction Days from Wednesday 6^th to Friday 8^th July.

Have a lovely weekend!

So, the long-awaited Summer weather is here at last! We’re hoping that it continues as we have a number of exciting events on the horizon next week. Following the success at the semi-finals, on Thursday students will be going to the Craven Athletics Championships at Giggleswick to represent BHS. Meanwhile, Year 11 will be sitting their final exam on Thursday and looking forward to their Leavers’ Assembly and Prom. Year 13 will finish their exams on Friday and are celebrating with a trip to Snozone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights in lessons this week include Year 7 and 8 Geographers who have been getting crafty. Year 7 have been making models of river basins and Year 8, flip books to show how coastal landforms change over time. In Year 7 Science, students were carrying out reactions with metal carbonates and acid, collecting carbon dioxide and testing this too. An impressive piece of practical work! As you can see, Year 8 have been transforming their human figure drawings into superheroes.

As you receive this Blog, Year 12 are at the Leeds Beckett UCAS Fair following their introduction to post-18 options over at King James’s School today.

In assemblies this week Mr. Grierson, in anticipation of the new timetable, has talked about new beginnings and that the best time to make a change is now.

In RE, Mr Woodward reports that Year 9 have begun their non-examined “Core” RE course with a focus on social justice for their first unit of work. This classwork will lead to them earning certification as part of the AQA accredited Unit Award Scheme. As they move into Year 10 students will work on a number of different units which explore various moral and social issues from a religious and secular perspective. This helps us fulfil our statutory obligation to ensure that all pupils across all key stages are taught high quality Religious Studies whilst also ensuring that students receive certification for their efforts. The course is non-examined and will, when the new time table begins, consist of one hour per fortnightly cycle. All work is completed in class before being moderated and sent off to AQA for accreditation. If parents/carers have any further questions about this part of the curriculum, please contact me via email: swoodward@boroughbridgehigh.com

You’ll have received the Parent/Carer letter today with information about the new timetable, Parents’ Evening and Uniform. Feedback is very welcome.

Have a lovely weekend.