Similarly to last week, you may remember the deluge of rain that we had on Monday. Whilst most of us were indoors, Mr. Woodward and his Forest School group trudged towards the woodland area. Two hours later they emerged soaked but elated as, despite the conditions, they’d made fire!
Fieldwork was at the fore this week, as Mrs. Gomersal reports, ‘The GCSE Geographers were treated to a spot of sunshine in Hornsea this week. Students collected data for their physical geography study investigating whether Hard Engineering is effective in Hornsea. They compiled data from  ‘Groyne drop height surveys’ and drew field sketches to show evidence of slumping along the rapidly eroding Holderness coastline. All of the students continued to apply our school values by being ‘respectful’ to the general public and to each other and they were an asset to Boroughbridge High School.’
With around 6 school weeks to go to our Year 10 and 11 Progress Exams, students are getting organised with their revision. To support this, along with revision strategies that are explored in lessons, we’ll be looking at revision in Form Time too along with discussing how to construct a revision timetable. We’re also fully into our preparations, making sure that the Progress Exam timetable is constructed and our invigilators are ready. Talking of which, we’re currently recruiting for invigilators so, if you’re interested please visit www.boroughbridgehigh.com/vacancies/  for more details.
We’re also recruiting for Teaching Assistants at www.boroughbridgehigh.com/vacancies/ Our TAs not only support our students with SEND but also make a huge contribution to our whole school community. To recognise the significant impact of teaching assistants there is a National Teaching Assistants Day each year in September. You can find out more at https://www.nationalteachingassistantsday.co.uk/
There has been much sporting success within and beyond school this week. Alfie Searle and Ashton Farnworth (both in Year 8) played in the Harrogate & Craven District Football match against Accrington Stanley. It is reported that ‘they played fantastically well against the professional academy team. The end result was 6-6, a brilliant achievement as they certainly didn’t make it easy for Accrington Stanley. An exciting game and a great experience for them.’ Well done to both. Our congratulations also go to Imogen Hawkridge in Year 11 who won the Yorkshire Development Champion in Boxing. An impressive achievement indeed.
Meanwhile the Year 8 boys were in action. Mr. Fields reports that ‘The Yr8 boys played at the U13 York City Knights rugby festival hosted at Manor school. The boys displayed some great resilience in their games, learning well from early mistakes. Their final game against Milthorpe was a close encounter finishing 8-4. The boys will continue their rugby journey with the after school practices and look forward to the next tournament early in the new year.’
Following the recent formation of School Council, this morning I met with the Student Body Presidents, Ruby and Matilda who are in Year 11. They shared some excellent suggestions about how we can improve school including more clubs at lunchtime and a Year 7 and 9 extra-curricular noticeboard along with a raft of exciting ideas for fundraising for Children in Need.
A reminder that it’s our Year 5 and 6 Open Evening on Wednesday 9th October. We’ll be closing at 1.30p.m. to prepare for the event and we’re looking forward to welcoming many students back to represent our school.
Have a lovely weekend!
We continue to deepen our values; ambitious, respectful and resilient. Part of our focus on resilience is around taking on learning challenges, ‘We try our best and persevere when things are difficult.’ Examples where students have shown their resilience this week include in Computer Science with Mr. Sands where Year 9 were grappling with html code development, using their skills to develop their own webpage. In Art with Mrs. Hunter, Year 9 began their dog building. We’ll look forward to seeing the transformation.
Last week, William in Year 8 was invited to take part in a concert to raise funds for Dementia Forward. The concert was to highlight the challenges faced by Duncan who appeared on the Channel 4 programme ‘The Piano’. 
In Sporting news, Mr. Field reports that ‘Another great week for extra-curricular in the PE department. 120 pupils have attended one or more of the activities on offer this week, an improvement on last week’s total. This week also saw the start of a busy fixtures period with three games of football being played at our school. The Yr9 boys played Vale of York in the County Cup on Tuesday after school. The game did not start as planned and the boys were 3-0 behind within five minutes. Showing true resilience, the boys pulled the fixture back in the favour of Boroughbridge by leveling the game shortly after half time,making the last twenty minutes a tense encounter. Unfortunately, two late goals from a game weary York team conceded the Yr9 boys to a defeat but they were able to hold their heads high as the performance was very encouraging as they still have the District Cup to compete in.
The Yr8 boys team also played Queen Ethelburga’s in the ESFA small schools trophy Thursday night in what was a busy evening of sport at Boroughbridge High School. The boys played some very attractive passing football and dominated the game across all areas of the pitch. Two goals from B. Godley before half time gave Boroughbridge a deserved lead at the halfway point and ensured their tails were up for the second half performance. Soon after the break A. Farnworth scored from a freekick to put the fixture further out of the reach of the QE team. QE then pulled a goal back after a quick break, this reignited the Yr8 boys and it wasn’t long until W. Burrell curled a fine effort into the far corner after a splendid galivanting run down the wing. The boys were deserved winners and the opposition staff commended the boys on their commanding performance. They now progress to the next round which will present a tougher challenge, we are sure their footballing talents and ambitions of reaching the latter stages of this national competition will lead them to future successes.’
Our BTEC Travel and Tourism group were carrying out some primary research, travelling across to Blackpool on Thursday. Mr. Grierson reports, ‘The sun shone brightly on the BTEC Travel and Tourism students on their visit to Blackpool. The bulk of the day was spent at the Pleasure Beach, experiencing the thrills of the roller coasters. Mrs Bradford was brave enough to do the Pepsi Max Big One and Mrs Webb got drenched on Valhalla, the Waterslide. The students will use the experience to support them to complete their coursework unit around customer service and why tourists visit certain locations.’
The joy from more than 330 students going to the Great Yorkshire Show was carried into this week with many stories of fun times being shared on Monday. Whilst we were all looking forward to Sports Day on Tuesday, the weather dictated that Wednesday was the day for our inclusive sporting extravaganza. We’ve had field events taking place across the last couple of weeks and during the morning session. Then the whole school congregated on the field on Wednesday afternoon for the track events. Along with some serious sport, with many records being broken, there was also some serious supporting, resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.  Reflected throughout were our newly defined school values; ambitious, respectful and resilient. Patience was then required as students had to wait for the whole school assembly for winners to be announced.
We’ve been part of Operation Traffic this week as part of the Harrogate Outer Neighbourhood Policing team initiative to have a week of action focusing on safety around schools and, in particular, parking awareness and speed. As you can see our Year 8 students were keen to get involved and delivered some powerful messages to drivers.
Our GCSE Geographers set off on their first fieldtrip of the course to Leeds this week. Mrs. Gomersal reports, ‘The purpose of the trip was to investigate inequalities in housing across Leeds. Tasked with the job of collecting primary data in the form of bi-polar surveys, field sketches and car surveys, come heavy rain or glorious sunshine, all students showed huge motivation and resilience to get the job done! Well done Geographers, a fabulous start to the course. Roll on October when we visit Hornsea.’
On Tuesday evening we experienced an excellent Music concert with performances of an eclectic mix of pieces from Oasis to ELO. Along with soloists Charlotte, Rosey, James, Austin, Larissa and Ruby, the Pop Choir and Keyboard club entertained the audience of parents, carers, staff, governors and students. Technical aspects were taken care of by James and Antonio resulting in an all-round excellent evening!
Some of our students have been away on a military service children residential at Hartington Hall. Last night, Mrs. Murphy reported that ’Everyone has had a really good first day, climbing, abseiling, scrambling and squeezing themselves through gaps in rocks.’ We’ll look forward to hearing what they got up to today.
We’ve now completed one full cycle of the new timetable with students getting used to new classes, new teachers and, for some, new subjects. This, as ever, will enable us to have a productive end to the Summer Term and a smooth start to the Autumn Term. One addition to our Key Stage 3 curriculum this year is ‘The Child:ReWild project’ led by Mr. Woodward which follows Forest School principles and gives a group of our young people the opportunity to work on a skills-based curriculum for a session each fortnight, learning a range of outdoor skills, getting a practical and first hand understanding of the natural environment whilst also developing resilience. As you can see, the first few sessions are going well!
Our Year 10 students who have been working with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service on the Sustainable Futures Careers project finished their work today by presenting their projects and research to Alexis Percival, Yorkshire Ambulance Service’s Environmental & Sustainability Manager. Mrs. Town and Mrs. Morgan report that ‘The students did a fantastic job and showed great awareness of how different businesses are having to adapt their practices to consider a sustainable future. Presentations included a range of topics from how to engage teenagers with the environment to how to design a green ambulance station of the future.’ Well done to all.
Oh what a night! Celebration has been in the air as we’ve reached the end of the GCSE and BTEC exams this week. To mark the end of their time at Boroughbridge High School, in usual tradition, we had the Year 11 Prom at The Bridge Inn last night. An eclectic range of transport was used to arrive and, after recent dubious Summer weather, the sun finally started shining. It was a family event as parents and carers came to see students arrive and many group photos were taken. It was an all-round fantastic evening with everyone thoroughly enjoying spending some quality time together. Our thanks go to our Year 11 students who have made a hugely positive contribution to our school community, playing an important part in our school improvement journey and acting as positive role models to younger students. We wish them every success and will look forward to welcoming them back into school for their results in August.
Earlier in the week, Year 8 had been putting their Geography skills to the test in a field trip to Whitby. Mrs. Gomersal reports, ‘Year 8 visited sunny Whitby on Wednesday in order to carry out Geography fieldwork. The purpose of the trip was to collect primary data in order to help investigate whether Whitby should be protected against coastal erosion. Students carried out various different data collection methods including a land use map, bi-polar surveys of coastal management and a field-sketch of the striking East Cliff of Whitby. The sun shone and students enthusiastically completed their work in this beautiful coastal location. It was a first trip to Whitby for the Geography department but one that we definitely wish to continue to run, providing the glorious weather can be repeated again next year! What a treat!’
Ms. Camy reports that the last Science club of the year went out with a bang as students watched the screaming jelly baby experiment.