Category : Headteacher’s Blog

Our core values could have been resilience, resilience, resilience on Wednesday evening when our Year 9 football team took on Barlby High School. Mr. Field reports,

‘Wednesday saw the Year 9 boys take on Barlby High School in the 3rd round of the English Schools FA Small Schools Cup.  The away fixture was thankfully quite local for this national competition and the boys were eager to test themselves against a fellow North Yorkshire team.  The game proved to be an eye opener for the Boroughbridge boys as they found the opposition quite physical in their gameplay, this knocked the boys off their stride and after a defensive mix up we found ourselves a goal behind.  As the first half progressed the boys started to find their feet and began to meet the challenge head on, a handful of attempts on goal boosted the confidence as they headed towards the half time break.  A refocus of efforts and reassurance of abilities paid off as Boroughbridge took the game to Barlby and played some attractive passing football to clearly demonstrate their superiority within their footballing gameplay.  The pressure mounted as the second half progressed with numerous efforts on the Barlby goal without reply.  The physical tactic worked against Barlby as good refereeing penalised them as they presented promising opportunities from the resulting freekicks.  Farnworth delivered another one of his expertly dispatched freekicks into the roof of the net to set the Boroughbridge boys level in the scoreline, but importantly, ahead in their belief of winning the tie.  As the second half and the winter sun ebbed away Barlby dug in deep to stop the torrent of Boroughbridge attacks, the full whistle blew, penalties beckoned.  Nerves were jingling like Christmas sleigh bells at the prospect but the boys held their nerve and secured victory with a 7-6 scoreline.  This means that they now progress to the 4th round, one round further than last year and with a greater belief that they can overcome tough obstacles to achieve their ambitions.’

Mrs. Wellock reports, ‘There has been a ‘buzz’ in the air today about reading! This week our Year 7 and Year 8 students received their BookBuzz books. These books have been chosen by the students from a choice of 16 great titles. We hope the students enjoy reading them over the next few weeks and can’t wait to hear all about the stories!’

 

 

If you are thinking of buying any books for your children for Christmas then you might like to have a look at the Bookfinder tool on the Book Trust website to help pick some great new titles!

 

 

 

In Forest School this week, Mr. Woodward reports, ‘Today in Forest School students learned to use a timber hitch knot to create slacklines. We then discussed the importance of safe siting of a campfire and made sure fires were fully extinguished to leave no trace as to limit our impact on nature when we were done. We also looked at the three elements of the “fire triangle” (oxygen, fuel, heat) and used this knowledge to reignite failing fires. After much resilience in far from favourable conditions, we had a 100% success rate with our aim of each group heating enough water for a hot drink. All this was rounded off by an intense tug-of-war battle.’

 

 

On Wednesday morning, our Sports Leaders were in action again as we welcomed local primary schools for their sporting competitions. Today we welcomed Year 5 and 6 students from Dishforth Church of England Primary School to carry out a Maths challenge with Happy Numbers with Mrs. Valentine who was very impressed with their committed and enthusiastic approach towards the activities.

With the full festive season drawing ever near, in assemblies this week, Mrs. Godsell-Wright has been talking about the messages surrounding advent whilst also launching our reverse advent where we think of others and how we can support them. In particular, we’re hoping to help others in the locality who are experiencing hunger, loneliness or homelessness. We’d be delighted if you could help and would appreciate donations of food products including tins, packets or boxed. All food donations will be taken to our local food banks. We’re also holding a cake, sweet and chocolate sale on Friday 12^th December. Items will be priced at 50p. Money raised from this will be given to the Harrogate Homeless Project. At this time of year, we also like to send Christmas cards to residents in our local care homes. If you have any unused Christmas cards then please send them our way! Thank you in advance for your support.

We had a great time as the Christmas lights were switched on in Boroughbridge on Wednesday evening. Our Pop Choir got the celebrations off to a great start with an impressive range of superbly sung festive favourites. If you’d like to hear for yourselves then please come along to our Christmas Concert next Wednesday which promises to be an excellent evening.

 

If you’re passing St. James’ Church this weekend then please pop in and see our Christmas tree at the Christmas tree festival. As you can see, we’ve gone all out with our school values.

Have a lovely weekend!

 

 

Our Year 10 and 11 students have breathed a sigh of relief today as their Progress exams have finished. They’ve approached them well and, as they receive their results in the coming weeks, will be able to see the progress that they’ve made and the actions that they need to take to make further improvements.

 

In Forest School this week, Mr. Woodward reports, ‘It may not be December yet but there was a definite wintery chill in the wind as a new Forest School group took to the school’s woodland. Siting of shelters to keep ourselves warm was a priority so students worked out the best way to construct ridgepole tarp tents to block the prevailing wind and rain. Students also worked together to keep the campfire going so we had a source of heat and we worked on getting to know each other and build communication skills through a series of team building challenges.’

Our Local Authority Senior Education Adviser visited us on Tuesday. He carried out lesson visits, visited Breakfast Club, walked around the school at social times and spoke with staff and students. It was lovely to be able to share our values in action, seeing focused, engaged students participating in high quality learning and staff and students talking positively about the progress that we’ve made. We also took the opportunity this week in assemblies with Years 7 and 8 to look at our value of being respectful, reminding ourselves of the ways in which we can demonstrate this in our everyday lives.

 

Attendance is a key part of our value of being ambitious as we know the impact that high attendance has on outcomes for our young people. With this in mind, Mr. Grierson, Deputy Head, is launching the December Attendance Improvement Challenge. He says, ‘We’re proud of the excellent progress that we’ve made over the last 3 years improving students’ attendance and enhancing their life chances and this was recognised by Ofsted in our Pilot Inspection in September. We know that in general terms, the higher the student’s attendance, the better they do at school, in terms of progress, general well-being and personal development and we are determined to continue to improve to get it back to the high levels that we had prior to the Covid pandemic.

 

We are launching a 3-week attendance and punctuality challenge throughout the month of December to ensure that not a minute of learning time is wasted.

⭐ Weekly Focus Themes

Week 1 (1–5th December): Start Strong

Week 2 (8–12th December): Keep Going

Week 3 (15–19th December): Finish on a High

Students with a 100% attendance at the end of each week will get an entry into a prize draw held on Friday 19^th December with some amazing prizes on offer. If you have 100% for each of the last 3 weeks, you will get 3 entries in the draw.

There will also be a prize draw for students with zero late marks for each week. If you have zero lates for each of the last 3 weeks, you will get 3 entries in the draw.

Thank you for your continued support in ensuring that your child has high levels of attendance.

Today we’ve said farewell to Mrs. Donnelly, our Pastoral Manager for Years 7 and 9. Mrs. Donnelly has made such a significant contribution to our school community, not only to staff and students, but also to our families. We thank her for everything that she’s done and wish her well for the future.

Next week on Thursday 4^th December at 6p.m., we’re holding our next Parent Information Evening with a focus on ‘How to Maximise your Child’s Success’. This is relevant for parents and carers of students in all year groups.

A festive date for your diary! You are warmly invited to our Music concert on Wednesday December 10^th at 6p.m. It’s always a great evening with Christmas joy in abundance and we look forward to seeing you there.

Have a lovely weekend!

 

We’ve had a blast of wintery weather this week but, thankfully, no disruption to learning at Boroughbridge High School in what has been a significant week for students in Years 10 and 11, who have started their Progress Exams (mocks)! They’ve made a positive start and have been well prepared with our Revision programme starting some time ago including in form time, during lessons and at home with their own revision timetable. We wish them well as they move into the second week.

In assemblies this week, Mr. Grierson has looked at our core value of resilience.  Year 10 and 11 focused on how they can stay resilient during their Progress Exams.   With Key Stage 3, Mr Grierson celebrated the resilience of the Scotland football team who qualified for their first world cup after 28 years!

It was great to welcome parents, carers and students to the Careers Information on Thursday. It was lovely to see that so much careful thought is going into possible futures. Mrs. Mannion, our Careers Adviser, supported this process by outlining very clearly the possible post-16 choices whilst Mrs. Town talked more generally about the Careers support that our young people receive.

Our final Children in Need fundraising total was £472.02. Thank you for your generous donations.

 

 

We have a couple of events coming up next week. On Wednesday 26^th November, we have our Professional Development Day when students do not attend school. Then, on Thursday 27^th November, you are warmly invited to the Wellbeing Fair at our federated partner, King James’s School in Knaresborough.

Have a lovely weekend!

Last weekend, we were very proud to join our community for Remembrance Day. Following the service at St. James’, we moved to Hall Square where Year 10 students Alyssa and Dan superbly represented BHS, laying a wreath at the War Memorial. It was also lovely to see how many of our young people are involved in making a positive difference in our community groups. It is always a great privilege to participate in such an important event.

Meanwhile, over in Knaresborough, Matty, in Year 9, who is a Royal Air Force Air Cadet, made his own important contribution to Remembrance Day, taking part in the parade and reading the epitaph clearly and confidently at the War Memorial. A very proud moment – well done Matty.

This followed the special events on Friday. Mrs. Murphy reports, ‘ I was fortunate enough to be able to take 41 students to the Festival of Remembrance at Ripon Cathedral on Friday 7th November.  This year we had the school pop choir perform ‘pray for peace on stage’ as well as performing a joint piece; ‘Put a little love in your heart’ with Mowbray School, Richmond School Orchestra and the Service Children’s Community Choir.  They did a fantastic job and loved the opportunity of singing in the amazing space that the Cathedral is.  Lots of our students also drew or decorated paper poppies to go on a lovely display in the cathedral during the festival.  This year the service focussed on celebrating how great our service children are in terms of their resilience, confidence and flexibility but also highlighting the challenges that they also have to deal with by having a parent or carer often away, having to move schools and communities regularly and having to make new friends.  All the students acted with respect and represented the school in a very positive way.  Thank you to Mr Jackson for his support and work with the pop choir.’ 

As this week is Anti-Bullying Week, the theme of Power for Good has been explored in Mrs. Godsell-Wright’s assemblies with an understanding of how our young people can use their Power for Good to safely speak up and raise awareness if they see any form of bullying. It was also a good opportunity to reinforce our commitment at Boroughbridge High School to ensure that our actions ensure that all can be safe, happy and successful.

If you thought that the torrential rain on Monday would have dampened the spirits of the Year 9 football team, then you’d be very much mistaken. Mr Field reports ‘Monday afternoon saw the highly anticipated 2nd round match of the English Schools’ FA Small Schools Cup for the Yr9 boys against St Patrick’s from Middlesbrough.  The local cup competitions proved to be the testing ground for the team as they fine tuned their performance for this national competition.  The game started positively for Boroughbridge with a finely taken goal by Godley which was swiftly followed by Kaczmarczyk pouncing on a defensive error by the visiting team.  Boroughbridge enjoyed swathes of possession throughout the first half and took their 2-0 lead into the half time break.  St Patrick’s came into the second half desperate to make amends for the score line and applied lots of pressure to our midfield and defensive players.  Through a resilient work rate and good communication, the Boroughbridge team contested well and  Kaczmarczyk was released to slot home his second of the game against the run of play.  Boroughbridge, now with tails up, took advantage of their dominance and added two more goals in quick succession through Ward and Layton.  St Patrick’s rallied and scored to raise some hope of clawing the tie back in contention but the tie was put beyond doubt with Kaczmarczyk securing his first school hat-trick with a sublime finish.  In the dying moments St Patrick’s scored their second but to make the final score 6-2 to the Boroughbridge boys.  Notable performances from Wajs, Burrell, Ward, Kaczmarczyk, Layton, Chapman and Farnworth drove the team forward in achieving this great result. Their next fixture will be against Barlby High School in the upcoming weeks, the standard of performance and confidence gained puts the team in a strong position moving into the fixture.’

On Thursday, the Year 11 boys were in action, Mr. Field reports, ‘The Yr11 boys took on Richmond High School in their County Cup fixture on Thursday.  The boys’ performance was an improvement on the last fixture and saw the team perform well against the tricky opposition.  The communication and teamwork between the boys was much improved and saw them match the opposition for much of the first half, a defensive error and a fine finish provided Richmond with a 0-2 lead by the half time whistle.  A focused team talk ensured that the positional sense of the team was much better and the Boroughbridge boys fought their way back into the game in the early stages of the second half.  Two goals in a matter of minutes quelled much of the hope of securing the home tie but the boys showed great resilience and competed to the best of their ability against the opposition.  A late goal from Thompson, driven into the near side top corner, provided a worthy consolation for the effort applied by the home team.  This was to be the last cup fixture for the year group although the enthusiasm for game time may result in friendlies / 7 a side tournaments being attended.  Performances from Nunns, Fagg, Robinson, Wilson and Domleo were notable in their technical and tactical abilities.’

Well done to Olivia in Year 9 who, following a successful audition, has secured the role of Eurydice, wife of Orpheus in the play of the same name. She’ll be working hard in the coming months building up for a week’s run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August! A fantastic achievement.

Our congratulations go to Hannah Barrett and Will Hairsine who have been appointed as Parent Governors to the Boroughbridge High School and King James’s School Federation. We are looking forward to working with them and benefiting from their expertise.

We’ve had a week of fundraising for Children in Need with activities including a Bake Sale led by the Student Council and Prefects. As you can see, Darcey in Year 8 won the ‘Name the Bear’ competition – he’s called Peter! Students have been purchasing pens and wrist bands and then today we’ve had a non-uniform day. Thank you for your generous contributions. Our total so far is over £450. We’ll give you the final total next week.

Next week we have our Parent Information on Thursday 20^th November at 6p.m. with a focus on Careers and a reminder that we have a Professional Development Day on Wednesday 26^th November when students do not attend school.

Have a lovely weekend!

At such an important time of year for our school community with Remembrance Day on Sunday, Mrs. Murphy has led assemblies this week looking at the people who keep us safe, along with discovering how service still protects us today. In each assembly we’ve observed a thoughtful silence.

Today, we’ve been honoured to take part in the ‘The Festival of Remembrance’ for Service children at Ripon Cathedral. This annual event involves up to 500 local Service children coming together from many different primary and secondary schools and, this year, along with our Military Service Students, our Pop Choir sang ‘The Path to Peace’ during the service. They also joined all of the other choirs to sing the other service songs including ‘I vow to thee my country’. Our thanks go to our students for representing our school and community so impressively. Our thanks also go to Mrs. Murphy and Mr. Jackson who, I am sure, will be giving us further feedback for the Blog next week.

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

Mr. Field reports, ‘A busy week for fixtures in the PE department, lots of opportunities for the pupils to represent the school in competitive sport.  The Year 9 boys were first in action on Tuesday in the County Cup competition at Malton.  What followed was a very competitive football match with both sides showing great phases of possession and defensive prowess.  A closely contested first half saw Malton take a narrow 1-0 lead into the half time break, Boroughbridge rallied early in the second half and took control of the match equalising and posing lots of problems for the opposition defence.  The game hung in the balance until the dying moments when travelling players hearts were broken with goal against the run of play, shortly followed by another to finish the tie 3-1 to the home team.  The level of performance was improved from the previous outing and sets up the Boroughbridge boys for their English Schools FA Small School Trophy match on Monday.

The Year 8 boys had their first outing of the season at the 7 a side football tournament organised by St John Fisher school in Harrogate.  The boys were eager and proud to pull on the black and amber jersey again to represent the school and put in some spirited performances against the Harrogate schools.  The matches provided a valuable lesson which will help them in upcoming cup matches.  Good performances from Taylor in defence and Kemp in goal helped the team keep in contention throughout the games and an audacious strike by Rawstrone rattled the frame of the goal and nearly provided the goal of the tournament.  A resilient display from the boys in all three matches has created more hunger for their upcoming fixtures.’

On Thursday evening before half term, we welcomed Ripon Grammar School to our netball training session to play our Year 10/9 and Year 8 teams. Miss Robson reports, ‘Pupils exemplified our school values of respect, resilience and ambition. For many Year 8s this was their first netball fixture at the school and nerves were high. Although we did not secure the win this was a really good opportunity for the team to play together under pressure. Congratulations to Rova for being named player of the match and Daisy D in our Year 10/9 match. The Year 10/9 team were up against a formidable C and GS on the opposing team. We managed to get regular turn-overs and now we need to work on our decision making under pressure to take the ball safely to goal. Thank you to the Year 10/9s that stayed after their game to watch the Year 8s. I look forward to you leading the first training session back after half term based on your observations!’

 

 

 

In their next match this week on Tuesday, Tadcaster Grammar School brought two teams to play our Year 8/9/10 combined team. Miss Robson reports, ’Both games were drawn at half time and lost by a single goal overall. The team played exceptionally well and have made improvements from their latest game. Well done to Rova, player of the match for both games (and she’s only Year 8!) What Rova does really well is she watches the ball and times her interceptions perfectly. A good game all round and I look forward to us playing Outwood Academy Ripon on Wednesday.’

 

 

 

Also this week, Miss Robson reported, ‘Everyone’s favourite girls’ benchball tournament returned to Thirsk High School this Thursday. I took a group of Year 8s who I thought would really benefit from a positive sporting experience and a chance to play against other local schools. Ambition was our top trait with high expectations from our students to win. We won three and lost the final game, meaning we finished a strong 2nd. Well done to Emilie for gaining an additional medal for being the Schools Games leader’s ‘bestie’. Evie your passion and resilience did not go unnoticed with your valuable communication on the court. I encourage all who had fun to come along to Thursday after school netball club and play with other students across the school!

 

 

Over in Birmingham last week, Jack in Year 11 completed his first HYROX which combines both running and functional workout stations, where participants run 1km, followed by 1 functional workout station, repeated eight times. It was completed within an impressive 1hr and 15 mins with Jack showing great ambition, determination and resilience, pushing through and giving it 100%. Our congratulations go to him.

It was great to welcome so many parents, carers and students to our Year 10 Parent/Carer evening on Wednesday. As we march towards our November Progress exams, this will have formed an important part in students’ journey of progress.

It’s Children in Need next Friday (14^th November) when we’ll be having a non-uniform day to raise money. Further information will follow next week.

Also a reminder that we have a Professional Development Day on Wednesday 26^th November when students do not attend school.

Have a lovely weekend!

 

Wednesday marked one of our favourite events in our school calendar – Open Evening! Our Year 5 and 6 visitors, along with their parents and carers started in the Hall hearing about our school, our vision and values, our learning and extra-curricular activities and what makes Boroughbridge High School a great place to learn and work. Year 7 students Anya, Ellie, Polly and Ruby talked enthusiastically and confidently about their move to High School, outlining their anticipated worries against the positive reality! Not surprisingly their speeches ended with a round of spontaneous applause. Families were then able to tour the school, visiting every department and speaking with our students, some of whom were our newly appointed Prefects, School Council Members and Sports leaders. Along with demonstrating and sharing many exciting activities, they were very happy to talk about daily life at Boroughbridge High School and our lived values which create our positive school culture.

In English, Autumn leaves were used to stimulate poetic thought whilst in Drama students were deep into rehearsal. 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, homes 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 demonstrated their skill whilst 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! There were visits to 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 assemblies this week, we’ve been reinforcing our values and in Forest School, Mr. Woodward reports, ‘This week in Forest School the group took part in the process of writing a risk assessment for tool use in the woodland environment, successfully identifying risks and suitable mitigations to keep us all safe. They then put their risk assessment into practice, using sheath knives to create feather sticks to help get a communal campfire going (a useful technique for lighting a fire with sticks after rain). Students also removed bark from sticks to be used as a spit for cooking freshly prepared cheesy bread over the embers.’

We’ll look forward to welcoming Year 7 parents and carers next Wednesday for the Form Tutor evening where we can discuss how they’ve settled in and the progress that they’re making. We’ve carried out our usual Settling in Survey and had lots of responses to the question, ‘What’s the best thing about BHS?’ including ‘The staff I have met and the older pupils/students.’, ‘The lessons are fun and the teachers respect me and look after me’, ‘School lunch is perfect including the lunch time games in the Sports Hall.’ and ‘You have your own responsibilities to get to different lessons with different teachers every time. It’s just the feeling of having more responsibilities which is really fun.’

Have a lovely weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As promised, we’ve more to share regarding the successful GCSE Geography trips which took place last week. Mrs. Gomersal reports, ‘Our GCSE Geography students had a fantastic day out in Hornsea investigating the effectiveness of hard engineering along the coastline at

Hornsea. Armed with clipboards and enthusiasm, they measured groyne heights, drew detailed field sketches, and collected data to test their hypotheses.

The students worked incredibly hard throughout the day – a real credit to themselves and the school. We were lucky with the weather too, which made exploring the coast even more enjoyable. And of course, no trip to the seaside would be complete without a well-earned portion of sausage and chips from the local chippy!

A huge well done to everyone involved – a great day of learning outside the classroom! ”

Forest School this week also sounded like an amazing learning experience. Mr. Woodward reports, ‘Imagine a school day where you had to place complete trust in others to safely guide you around a woodland wearing a blindfold, where you sharpened your senses by identifying where you’d been without using your eyes, where you learnt to identify native species of tree both by sight and by touch, where you worked together as a team to out-strategise others, where you sprinted at full speed to avoid capture and to help your teammates, where you learnt safe use of tools to create useful items from natural materials, where you practised the most fundamental skill that our ancestors relied on for survival and where, after your efforts, you enjoyed a warm drink around the fire you built and sustained. That’s what school was like for the Forest School group on Monday as they engaged in team building and communication activities before making a pot stand to heat water for their end-of-session hot chocolate over a fire they lit without matches and sustained using only what the natural environment had to offer.’

European Day of Languages has been celebrated in assemblies with discussions around the rich cultural history of languages in Europe and around the World. Consideration was given to how developing your language skills can improve your career prospects and enhance your experience of travelling abroad.

You’ll be aware that we currently have a vacancy for two parent governors and are seeking nominations for two enthusiastic and committed parents or carers to join our governing board. Across the Boroughbridge High School and King James’s School Federation we value positive and purposeful partnerships with parents, understanding the benefit that this brings to our students. One of the most significant ways in which parents and carers can contribute to the strategic direction of the school is to volunteer to be a parent governor. Parent governors are valued members of the team and play a vital role in contributing towards the strategic direction of the Federation. You can find out more at

Parent Governor Elections | Boroughbridge High School

 

I was delighted to appoint 16 Year 10 and 11 students to the role of Prefect on Thursday. Their applications were incredibly impressive, showing that they live by our school values of being ambitious, respectful and resilient. They also had clear ideas about the positive contribution that they want to make to our school community in their new role. Well done to all!

 

 

There were celebrations in the PE Department when Mr. Field won a £750 voucher in the Sports Directory Back to School competition. We’ll look forward to seeing our students benefit from the win!

We were delighted to welcome children from our Partner Primary Schools this week. We hosted a Sports Event on Wednesday with our students acting as Student Leaders and then on Wednesday afternoon we welcomed Year 6 from Boroughbridge Primary School to take part in a Geography Workshop carrying out primary fieldwork to decide on the best location for a playground on the school site.

It’s our Open Evening next Wednesday (8^th) when school will close at 1.30p.m. so that we can prepare before welcoming back many of our students to talk to Year 5 and 6 students and their parents and carers, whilst also demonstrating activities in lessons across the school. We’re looking forward to a great evening.

Have a lovely weekend!

It’s been another busy and focused week for the Boroughbridge High School community. As you’re aware this week, having volunteered to do so, we’ve taken part in an Ofsted pilot inspection and were delighted to welcome five Senior HMIs and the National Director to look at all aspects of our school. Throughout the two days, Inspectors enjoyed visiting lessons, observing social time and speaking with our young people. As it was a pilot, we did not receive a judgement, formal feedback or a report, however the progress that we have made around behaviour, attendance and teaching and learning were certainly recognised. In conversations with Inspectors our young people said that they are known, felt valued and enjoyed coming to school, with genuine kind and caring interactions between staff and students being observed.

Mrs. Murphy held her Duke of Edinburgh Award parent/carer evening on Monday. The success of the award at BHS continues to increase and we’re delighted to have an even higher take up of students this year.

In Forest School this week, Mr. Woodward reports,

‘Autumn is now well and truly with us, so what better way to celebrate that with conkers and toffee apples (harvested from our own apple trees at BHS)?! Students worked together to use a traditional “bit and brace” drill to drill out the conker before the championship commenced, with James in Y9 being the overall champion of champions. We then moved onto siting and lighting campfires without matches (no mean feat after a weekend of heavy rain) before toasting our sugar-coated apples over the flames for a sweet autumnal snack!’

 

In sporting news, Mr. Field reports,

‘The York City Knights RLFC 9’s tournament took place at Fulford High School this week for the Yr11 boys.  The squad was bolstered by some willing Yr10’s to help ensure that the team had the necessary strength in depth needed for this physically challenging event.  The boys were in buoyant spirits after previous achievements in last year’s tournaments and were looking forward to getting involved in the games.  Their first game saw them pitted against our Federated partners, King James’s School.  A cagey start soon blossomed into a fantastic display of rugby as the Boroughbridge boys completed a 20-4 rout of the local rivals.  Tries from King, Domleo, Bowes and Ramsden rounded off the superb display.  The second group game followed straight after so the full squad was utilised to ensure fresh legs and sharp minds were present against Joseph Rowntree.  The game shared moments of brilliance from both teams with scores being exchanged throughout the game and no team carving out a convincing advantage.  The game finished as a 12-12 draw but the result meant that the Boroughbridge boys had won their group and were to face Archbishop Holgate’s School in the first place playoff game.  The games had taken their physical toll on the squad and the remaining players put in a resounding display in their third consecutive game.  The game was contested in good sporting spirit but unfortunately Archbishop’s edged the final in a 12-4 victory.  The Boroughbridge team were the epitome of our school values throughout the tournament receiving positive comments from York City Knights’ staff and staff from opposing schools.  Both myself and Mr Richardson, were exceptionally proud of their physical performance and their tactical awareness in the games. We look forward to the spring edition of this tournament and their last chance of playing at the tournaments organised by York City Knights.’

As part of our staff team, it’s not good enough just to support our school values but we also try to live by them. Mr. Field has demonstrated his resilience in, along with his friend, becoming the number one ranked male Swimrun team in Britain. The event was a 47km Swimrun from Coniston to Grasmere in the lake district.  This incorporates alternating 9 runs (totalling 36km) & 9 swims (totalling 9km). The event is an adventure endurance race and you swim in your running kit and run in your swim kit, no changing – how you start is how you finish! Mr. Field says that this is without doubt his greatest sporting achievement and his advice is, ‘We always talk about the challenges faced during the event but none are as big as actually getting to the start line.  Health, injuries and life logistics can often get in the way so if we make it to the start line we are assured our hard work in preparation will pay off and we’ll have a great day challenging ourselves.’  We can maybe see some parallels to a school day.

 

GCSE Geographers have been on location in Hornsea yesterday and today. The weather has been perfect for data collection! We’ll find out more about their fieldwork next week.

A reminder that it’s our Open Evening on Wednesday 8^th October. As usual, we’ll be closing at 1.30p.m. to prepare and 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.

Have a lovely weekend!

Leadership opportunities have been at the fore in assemblies this week as students across the year groups have been invited to put themselves forward as Form Representatives to make up our Student Council. It’s a democratic process with students voting for the people who will best share their views. Alongside that students in Years 10 and 11 have been invited to apply to be a Prefect. Our Prefects get involved in many aspects of school life and will play an important role in our Open Evening on 8^th October.

Forest School has got off to a great start this term. In the first week, it was sunshine all round with Mr. Woodward reporting ‘Glorious weather graced us in the BHS woodland as students got to grips with some Forest School Fundamentals: Species identification, knot tying and shelter construction, alongside developing communication and problem solving skills..’ Last week, they weren’t so fortunate,  ‘With the rain beating down on Monday afternoon we needed shelter in Forest School. 1 tarp, 4 pegs and a length of cord was all each group needed to keep dry once they’d learnt a few important knots…’ It’s certainly an opportunity for our students to demonstrate their resilience.

Yesterday the GCSE Business Students were out on location at Alton Towers carrying out primary research by looking at many aspects of the theme park as a tourist attraction whilst also, of course, trying out the rides and facilities themselves. They had a great day and learnt a great deal.  Mr. Grierson reports, ‘The GCSE Business Studies students had a wonderful time taking the classroom to  Alton Towers to experience first-hand how a successful business operates.  They had prepared for the trip by researching business ownership, objectives and how Alton Towers is impacted by external factors such as legislation, technology, the economy and environment. 

Whilst at the park they evaluated customer experience, value for money and how the trip could be improved.   The students were respectful and polite on the trip and managed to get on lots of the attractions with Smiler, Nemesis and Wicker Man proving really popular.’

Thank you for your contributions to the Bake Sale today which raised more than £100 to support the Duke of Edinburgh Award which gains in popularity year on year. Speaking of which it’s the Duke of Edinburgh information evening for Parents and Carers of students in Years 9, 10 and 11 on Monday 22^nd September at 5.30p.m.

Have a lovely weekend.

Now, at the end of the first cycle of the timetable, we’re all fully back into routine and making good progress. It’s hard to believe that Year 7 have only been with us for a couple of weeks as they confidently approach their new learning. In English, with Miss Bargewell, they’ve been exploring what the sea symbolises in literature – and Moana! Over in MFL with Madame Reed and Madame Cave, the focus was on greetings, introductions, asking questions and cultural context (France/French culture) e.g. How many baguettes are produced a day/per year? Would you believe it? 10 billion per annum!

On the Humanities corridor, in RE with Mr. Woodward, students were exploring Nietzsche’s claim that “God is dead” and debating whether an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God would allow natural disasters to occur. In History with Mrs. Ennis, students were exploring historical skills including chronology and looking at their first topic, a local history study of the Vikings. In my Geography class, students were classifying human and physical features and using their confident atlas skills to locate them on a map.

Number operations, multiplying and dividing integers and decimals and order of operations were the focus in Maths with Mrs. Murphy whilst in Music with Mr. Jackson, students were exploring ‘what is music?’ using echo games, how sounds are represented on paper and learning a song in order to compose new words to fit.

In Science with Mrs. Salter, one class learnt about the different forces and balanced and unbalanced forces whist the second class carried out their first practical on microscopes, making their own onion skin slide.

Finally, 7B familiarised themselves with our library as they took part in a ‘scavenger hunt’. They had to find characters with unusual names and books with interesting titles.

In assemblies this week, Mrs. Murphy has been speaking to students in Years 9, 10 and 11 about how they can get involved in the Duke of Edinburgh award. Students in Year 9 will be able to complete the Bronze award and Years 10 and 11, Silver.  We’ve been delighted at the number of student who’ve participated in previous years and I’m confident that we’ll have a great take up this year. If your child in interested then you are warmly invited to find out more at an information evening at 5.30p.m. on Monday 22^nd September. We try to keep the cost as low as possible and, with that in mind, we’ve got a Duke of Edinburgh fundraiser cake sale on 19th September.

Thank you to those who’ve been able to attend Expectations Evenings this week. It’s been great to share what we’ve got in place in school to ensure student success and to hear feedback from parents and carers. We’ll send out summaries of the evenings to all at the beginning of next week.

Next week, GCSE Business students will be going on their study trip on Thursday. Looking forward, preparations for Open Evening are underway. This year it’s on Wednesday 8^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.

Have a lovely weekend!