Well, what a week!
It’s been our transition week for Year 6 and we were delighted to welcome parents, carers and students into school on Monday evening to hear about the next part of the process; attending BHS on Wednesday to Friday for the transition days. Year 6 met their new form class and form tutor and asked lots of questions about the days ahead. Now, almost at the end of the week, we’ve been very impressed with how quickly students have settled in and become familiar with the school along with the enthusiasm that they’ve shown for all activities. We’re looking forward to welcoming many of them back for Summer School before they join Year 7 in September.
Tuesday is one of the most eagerly anticipated days of the year for Year 11; our Careers Networking event. Mrs. Mannion reports, ‘The Careers day was a big success with 25 visitors attending from 12 different businesses including Reed Boardall, Jet2, PGL, Ardent, the NHS, the RAF and the Army. Students wore business dress and looked so smart and professional. In a carousel, students enjoyed asking questions and finding out more about each business and the types of roles available. In the afternoon, students met Post-16 providers and learned about A Levels, vocational courses and apprenticeships. It was a fantastic event all round and our thanks go to all of the visitors who gave up their time to support the event.’
On Thursday evening, parents, carers and staff were treated to a thoroughly enjoyable Summer concert. It’s so lovely to see and hear how our young people get more and more confident and skilled with each performance. The Keyboard Club set off the tone for a fantastic concert with their enthusiastic performance of ‘The Final Countdown’ with vocals from Olivia. Pop Choir then followed, expertly singing a range of songs including ‘Rolling in the Deep’ and ‘Hold back the river’. We had precise piano performances from Esmae, Austin, Jack, Denys and Freddie. Solo Year 11 vocalists Larissa and Ruby came back for their final concert showing a poignancy as they performed ‘Titanium’ and ‘Tattoo’. Olivia gave us a fantastic solo vocal performance of Tightrope and also accompanied Ryan with his engaging vocal performance of ‘If it ain’t me’. James and Bodie both demonstrated their impressive guitar skills in a performance of ‘That’s what you get.’. Our technical crew made sure that it all happened and there was rapturous applause throughout. Everyone certainly went home with a spring in their step! A well done to everyone and a big thank you to Mr. Jackson.
With Sports Day on the horizon, Mr. Field has talked to Form Groups about their team selection to enable that they gain maximum points by having entries for each race. He also talked with students in Years 8 and 9 about a Bewerley Park opportunity in November.
We’ve also had our Ofsted Inspection this week. We were very proud of the way in which our students demonstrated our core values of being ambitious, respectful and resilient and thank you for your responses on Parent View. We’ll let you know when the report is published.
We’re all very much aware that an important football match will be taking place early on Monday morning. We’re expecting our students (and staff!) to be a little weary but we are expecting everyone to be in school and in their form class at the usual time of 8.50a.m.
Have a lovely weekend!
We were really proud to hear of Lola in Year 11’s recent sporting achievement. On the 16th May Lola competed at the Junior and Sub Junior British National Powerlifting Competition in Guildford. This was only Lola’s third competition having qualified for it in her very first one in September last year. Lola held her own, competing in a new weight category with girls who had been competing at a national level for much longer, achieving a new personal best in bench. An amazing experience in a fantastic venue. Well done Lola.
Just before half term, Mrs. Murphy was invited to attend the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award celebration event in Buckingham Palace Garden as recognition of the difference she has made to our young people through the leadership of the Award at BHS. It was a great occasion with Dame Kelly Holmes giving a very moving speech, talking about her 7 years of battling with injuries, before she gave it one more shot, winning her gold medals in the eighth year. Mrs. Murphy commented, ‘One thing that really resonated was telling all of the award winners to be proud of themselves. Sometimes we need to be proud of ourselves for just getting out of bed and at other times we may have big successes to be proud of but, whatever it is, be proud.‘
In Forest School this week, Mr. Woodward reports, ‘Did you know you can make string from nettles? Neither did today’s Forest School group. However, now they know not only that you can make string from nettles, they know how to make it too. Groups gathered nettles, stripped them of their leaves and stinging hairs, pummelled and split the stems, removed the pith from the middle and then used the outer fibres to weave into cordage. This was then used to make loops for their tarp-tipi shelters. A quick bit of wood work later and each group had crafted their own tent pegs and they had a shelter built to keep them out of the unseasonably damp weather. Amazing what you can do with a bit of knowhow, a sheet of plastic and a couple of tools!’
You’ll be aware that we have lots of trips and visits over the next couple of weeks. Some of our Year 9 students will be experiencing the delights of Bewerley Park next week. We have the Colour Run on Thursday and some students in Years 7 and 8 will be going to Normandy the following week. Next Friday Year 8 will be going on their Geography fieldtrip to Whitby and shortly, Year 9 will be returning from their trip today. Mrs Ennis reports, ‘Year 9 have had a great visit to Beamish Museum. Students were able to see how life has changed for people in the North of England from 1900 to 1950. Students enjoyed rides on historical transport, visits to homes and businesses. They even had a lesson as it would have been like in 1913.’ It was also lovely to hear that a member of the public had approached Mrs. Ennis to compliment our young people on their excellent behaviour.
If you’re available on Sunday, it would be lovely to see you at Boroughbridge Lions’ Summer Fete. The Friends of Boroughbridge High School will be holding a tombola to raise much appreciated funds to enhance the experience of our students. 
Last weekend was a successful one for students on the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Practice expedition. Mrs. Murphy reports, ‘We set off on the mini-bus at the end of the school day on Friday to a campsite in Settle. We all managed to pitch the tents in the daylight and everyone cooked their own tea and settled down for the night. Everyone woke up pretty early, and discovered there had been a big frost and our tents were a bit frozen! Luckily for us it was lovely and sunny and we all soon warmed up. We all cooked ourselves breakfast and packed our kit away. Then the Silver D of E participants split into their two groups and set off on their practice expedition with Mr Lough or Mr Harvey. It was a beautifully sunny day and the morale remained high throughout the day, as they enjoyed the landscape and views walking across to Malham. We were lucky enough to have another dry night, however it was even colder than Friday night and the tents were frozen on waking on Sunday morning. The weather remained dry, although a lot cooler on Sunday. The students found this a bit easier, as they were carrying their heavy rucksacks. They all had a good go at map reading and leading their group and all successfully completed the practice expedition. Bringing more food, learning how to walk down steep slopes and being a bit more organised were all lessons that they learned over the weekend and hope to remember for the qualifying expedition in May. Thanks to Mr Lough and Mr Harvey, Mr Murphy and our young leader Stan Mitchell for all their help, support and encouragement across the weekend.’ Our thanks also go to Mrs. Murphy.
their studies to life as they explored the fascinating history of medicine, from Victorian surgical practices to modern breakthroughs in healthcare. Walking through the recreated 19th-century disease street and examining a range of interactive exhibits, students gained a deeper understanding of how medical practices have developed over time. It was clear from their enthusiasm and thoughtful questions that they thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The visit not only supported their learning prior to their exam, but also sparked genuine curiosity and discussion, making it a memorable and valuable day for everyone involved.’
Another cold week with biting winds but students warmed themselves with a new addition to our Forest School kit: Kelly Kettle storm kettles; these ingenious inventions make warming water and cooking outdoors in poor weather conditions easier, especially when dry tinder and fuel are hard to come by on a damp February afternoon!’
done to Daisy D, player of the match, playing her best quarter at C, sending strong passes. Georgina was like a whippet, driving into space. Millie worked hard playing C for the first half but her best play was at GS last quarter… with more time the goals would have come. Thank you, Daisy G for playing up and providing another option on court. 15 – 6 loss in the end but how nice it was to see goals going in. 
Two more goals from QE ensured they took a 4-2 lead into the half time break, the Boroughbridge squad listened well to the feedback and showed great resilience and true Yorkshire grit as they competed well in the early exchanges of the second half. Boroughbridge conceded once more against the run of play but their tremendous mindset was undeterred. Farnworth, revelling in his more attacking role, struck again with a well taken poacher’s goal inside of the six yard box. Boroughbridge continued to apply pressure in attack and the substitutions and positional changes worked well. Farnworth was on hand to expertly dispatch a laser guided freekick into the far top corner from 25 metres out, the view from the sideline was perfect to witness the spectacle and Mr Richardson was mightily impressed with the technique used to complete his hat-trick. With Boroughbridge enjoying a good spell of possession, nerves in the QE team were jangling as the scores crept close to a draw. QE pounced on a rare error in defence to maintain the two goal lead but Boroughbridge hadn’t finished yet. Another excellent delivery from Farnworth into the box from a freekick created the perfect opportunity for Godley to attempt an audacious flick on ‘martial arts’ style which found itself outwitting the goalkeeper and nestling in the back of the net. The comeback seemed on for the Boroughbridge boys but another QE break resulted in another goal to seal the tie in favour of the home team. The level of performance from the Boroughbridge squad was fantastic, great preparation for the upcoming ESFA semi final against St Mary’s College.’ 
Christmas Dinner Day on Wednesday
On Wednesday evening, we welcomed back to Boroughbridge High School 
Our congratulations go to 
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.
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.’
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.
The week started well with our second phase of tree planting. Mr. Woodward reports,
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.
