Category : Headteacher’s Blog

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!

Headteacher’s Blog – 23rd September 2022
As GCSE and BTEC options started in June, with the new timetable, they’re now well underway with students developing and building upon knowledge at a rapid rate.

In Food theory lessons, students have been exploring the difference between macronutrients and micronutrients whilst in practical lessons they have been developing their practical skills by making lasagne, homemade custard, cheese sauces and cheesecake. Hopefully, some of it made it home for tea!

Health and Social Care students have completed their draft of their first assignment/coursework piece entitled “How Life Affects Us” where they have chosen a person and written about their stages and developments in their lives. They’ve selected some interesting subjects such as Ozzy Osbourne, Ariana Grande and Lady Diana.

In Geography GCSE lessons students have been exploring the urban environment of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. They’ve been looking at the challenges and opportunities of living in this vibrant city and in particular how we can improve life for people living in the slums. They’ve got an exciting fieldtrip to look forward to next week but to a location closer to home!
Up in RE, students have been studying the ways in which Sikhism promotes equality and the Christian concept of God whilst in DT, students are working on Non-exam assessment content in preparation for their long assessment. They’ve looked at the theory associated with research and analysis to help with this. They are currently recapping drawing techniques.
In the Business world students have been exploring external influences on business, looking at how the economy and, in particular, interest rates and employment affect businesses. A definite topic of the time! In Computer Science, students are looking at the topic of computers from how the CPU works to types of secondary storage and software.

In French, students have been expressing their opinions on family and marriage as well as consolidating key grammatical concepts in the present and past tenses.

In GCSE Art students have been working on developing their skills in drawing & painting working with watercolours, acrylics, mixed media collages and lino printing.

In other news, the Scholastics Book Fair which has been held on Thursday and Friday has generated a great deal of interest with students buying their next good read.

We’re also thinking ahead to Year 5 and 6 Open Evening which we’ll be holding at school on Wednesday 12th October from 6 until 8.30pm. In order to prepare for the event, we’ll be closing school at 1.30pm. We’ll be looking forward to students coming back for the evening to show just what makes Boroughbridge High School a great place to be.

As part of the Open Evening, Miss Whiles is hoping with her classes to produce a local history display. Students are going to include the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Boroughbridge, the 40 year anniversary of the school and possibly some Archie White information. Student helpers will be working on the research for this as part of our Open Evening activities and you should have received the letter asking you to share your stories, memories and photos of the town and school if you attended. Please help if you can!

With best wishes for a lovely weekend!

And so there’s been another first for Boroughbridge High School this week as we’ve proved that we can cope with a heatwave! The relaxed uniform has certainly helped and everyone has worked together to keep our school community safe. Thank you for your support with this.

With the Summer holiday almost upon us, Mrs. Godsell-Wright has focused on safety in assemblies this week, following on from the information shared with students earlier in the term and during PSHCE lessons. In particular the focus was on Safety around Water. You can find out more at

https://rnli.org/safety/know-the-risks/cold-water-shock

https://rnli.org/video-player/D98BB773-9556-4A0D-8AA8D2790D512E64

Online safety was also addressed with students being given top tips about how to ensure they stay safe when using social media.

 Year 8 assembly this week also included a presentation from Mrs. Bauwens to the winners of the Geography in a Box competition. As the name implies, students had to create a model (in a box) of something geographical that interested them. Entries included volcanoes, geysers, 3D- maps, waterfalls, meanders, landslides and a water cycle to name but a few. The quality was so high that it was impossible to have an overall winner so the winning three were George, Neve and Annabelle with runners up Freya, Beth, Will and Joe. Congratulations to all!

This morning, for the first time since December 2019, we’ve had a whole school assembly, bringing together all staff and students to celebrate the achievements of the 2021-2022 academic year. The event began with live music and then, following our usual photo celebration, students were presented with certificates from Departments to recognise the good progress that they’ve made and how they have demonstrated an excellent attitude towards the subject or to extra-curricular life. Sporting awards followed and then came the moment that we’ve been waiting for since our superb Sports Day last Friday – the big reveal of the winners. Here they are, 8SF, 9LJ, 10JF and 11CL. The finale was a whole school rendition of YMCA! All in all, an excellent way to end the Summer Term.

Today we said farewell to Mr. Inglis (Science), Mrs Johnson (Maths), Mrs. Langford (Pastoral Manager and History/English teacher), Mrs. Price (Maths) and Dr. Roberts (Science). We thank them for the massive contribution that they’ve made to Boroughbridge High School and wish them well for the future.

With thanks to you for your support throughout the year, all of the Boroughbridge High School staff team wish you and your families a very happy Summer break!

There was magic in the air on Monday when we welcomed 45 Year 5 students and their teachers into school for the return of our ever popular Harry Potter Day. Mrs. Town reports that ‘The students immersed themselves in a magical Hogwarts experience where they took part in workshops that saw them making magic potions in Science, wands in DT, spells in RE, writing about their Hogwart adventures in English and fine tuning their wand skills in Drama. Everyone agreed how much they had enjoyed the day and the Year 9’s who volunteered to help were a credit to the school. We look forward to welcoming more Year 5 students next year for a range of activities.’

Tuesday and Wednesday saw the return of Geography fieldtrips. Mrs Bauwens says ‘The GCSE geographers had beautiful weather for their fieldwork this week when they visited Leeds – something we are not normally used to!  Pupils collected information at four different areas of the city in order to study inequalities in housing in an urban area.  We finished the day near the Royal Armouries Museum looking at how the waterfront area has been redeveloped.  Back in class we will use this data to complete a fieldwork project.  There was a great deal of hard work which was also recognised by members of the public.’

On Thursday 57 girls went to Dalby Forest for the inaugural Girls’ Well-being Colour Run. The event, hosted by North Yorkshire Sport, created an excellent opportunity for girls to complete well-being and physical activities with their friends. They heard inspirational talks from leading sportswomen before completing the 2km Colour Run course set within the forest, starting at Adderstone Field, with obstacles and challenges to complete. The theme throughout was enjoyment and, as you can see from the photos, there is no doubt that it was achieved!

Before

Quite obviously, after!

And today has been our long-awaited Sports Day. We’ve been very pleased to have a day where the temperatures have dipped to support an excellent day of track and field events. With all staff and students either participating or supporting we’ve seen some excellent achievements and some excellent efforts. Points have been awarded for places and for taking part and completing an event. So, whilst there may be many predictions of winners, the official announcements will not be made until our whole school assembly next Friday.

You’ll have received the message today about our approach to uniform next week with extreme temperatures forecast for Monday and Tuesday, students can either wear the modified uniform that we’ve had this week, i.e. no blazers and ties or can choose to wear their school P.E. kit. We’ll make sure that students are able to fill their water bottles throughout the day.

A reminder that school closes for the Summer break at 1.30p.m. next Friday (22^nd).

Have a lovely weekend!

We’ve had a great time this week, welcoming Year 6 students who will be our new Year 7 in September. It was fantastic to welcome new families, along with those who have older siblings in school, to the very well-attended Parents’ Evening on Monday. It’s been our final day of three transition days today and we’ve been so delighted to have Year 6 students in school, following the last two years where the majority of communication has been virtual. Students have experienced a wide range of subjects, met lots of staff, got to grips with the routines of the school and experienced lunch in the Dining Hall. We’re confident that this will have prepared them well for the start of the Autumn Term in September.

Older students have formed an important part of the three days with Sports Leaders leading PE activities and former Year 11 students accompanying groups as guides. All in all it’s been an incredibly successful week and we’re looking forward to working together in the years to come.

In other news, Mrs. Town reports that ‘Year 11 started their post-16 careers journey on Tuesday. They had an assembly on post-16 routes and options and then took part in a ‘Meet the Employer’ networking event where they interviewed local, national and international employers to find out about a range of different careers and employment sectors. Employers included Reed Boardall, NYCC, Green Tech, The Army, The RAF, Warner Leisure, ISG, Danford Brewer and Ives and Intuitions. Students said they found it very helpful and informative.  If you are an employer and would like to take part in this event or support the school in their careers programme in other ways next year please contact ptown@boroughbridgehigh.com

Also looking to the future this week have been Year 8 Scientists. Mr. Errington reports, “We need to stop using fossil fuels and use renewable energy resources such as wind and solar. This means we need better batteries to store energy so we can use it where and when we need it. Year 8 scientists are working on creating batteries that are efficient and made from materials that are easy to source.”

The Monster Kickabout has taken place at lunchtimes this week with the winners to be announced.

We’ve got much to look forward to next week too. Year 5 students will be joining us on Monday for a Harry Potter day, some students will be going to Snozone on Tuesday whilst GCSE Geographers will be carrying out fieldwork in Leeds. On Thursday, a group will be attending the Girls’ Well-being Colour Run at Dalby Forest and on Friday we will all be involved in our long awaited Sports Day! Mr. Field has taken the opportunity in Assemblies this week to explain how points can be gained, not only from taking a position in an event but, also, by taking part and completing an event. It’s going to be a great whole school event and, as it currently stands, the long range forecast is looking positive!

A reminder from Mrs. Wellock that there are only 3 days left to order from our latest Scholastic Book Club. Just go to https://schools.scholastic.co.uk/boroughbridge-yo51/digital-book-club to browse the latest books and place your order. Every £1 you spend on this month’s Book Club will earn 20p for our school in Scholastic Rewards.

Good Luck this weekend if you’re putting in an entry to The Aldborough & Boroughbridge Agricultural Show which is on Sunday 24th July at Newby Hall & Gardens. All schedules are currently available at www.boroughbridgeshow.co.uk