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.
Mr. Woodward reports, ‘The ‘Easter Bunny’ visited BHS this week and students took part in an egg hunt…Forest School style! Teams had to construct (using knot tying skills learnt last week) a stretcher upon which to carry their egg collector. It was then a race around the playing fields, taking it in turns to carry/be carried by their teammates, searching for chocolate eggs as they went. Some of the stretchers held together well…others less so! Students also got to know their native tree species as they worked on identification using senses other than sight.’
We’ve had no assemblies this week as Year 7 have been fully engaged in their first experience of high school exams. They’ve done incredibly well, arriving with the correct equipment and very quickly becoming familiar with exam routines and rules. Year 8 have their exams straight after the Easter break starting on Monday 13th April and they too will need a calculator, pens, pencils, a ruler and a rubber.
Our final fundraising total for Comic Relief was £443.77. Thank you. Our competition winners were ‘Best nose design’ – Kacey, Year 9, Best themed bake (large red nose) – Eva Year 9. Best creative bake (clown) – Felicity Year 7. Well done to all.
Whilst we’re on the creative theme, Mrs Hunter was very impressed with Year 8’s cushions!
If you’re having a gardening clear out, you may be able to help us. The Intervention Team are keen to get our garden areas back into production. We would greatly appreciate any kind donations of gardening related items you may be able to spare. This could include seeds (flowers, vegetables, fruits or salad varieties) compost, plant pots, gardening tools or any other useful materials. We would also warmly welcome items such as bird boxes or wildlife friendly additions to also help us create a wildlife garden within our school grounds.
And so, as we reach the end of the Spring term, we wish you and your family a happy Easter break and will look forward to welcoming students back into school on Monday 13th April.