Open Evening is one of our favourite events and this year was certainly no exception. The staff team and over 100 students welcomed families from across our local area. As we looked across the Hall, it was lovely to see families who already have children in our school whilst also welcoming new families and, of course, we always enjoy meeting young people who we hope will soon become part of our school community.
Visitors entered the Hall to the sound of tuneful piano, played by Austin in Year 9 which definitely set the tone for the evening. During the presentation in the Hall where we talked about our vision and values, our visitors were interested to hear about the positive experiences of Ava, Henry and Rova who joined us in Year 7 in September. They talked about what it’s like to move to High School, outlining their anticipated worries against the reality! Their confident and enthusiastic presentation secured a round of applause from each of the three audiences across the evening.
Families were then able to tour the school, visiting every department and speaking with our students, some of whom were Prefects, Student Presidents, School Council members and Sports Leaders. There were very happy to talk about life at Boroughbridge High School and the improvements that we’ve made as a whole school community whilst supporting Year 5 and 6 students with a large range of curriculum activities. In English, against a nautical scene, students produced creative writing whilst in the Drama Studio, a rehearsal for the forthcoming pantomime was going on, ‘Oh yes it was!’. 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. 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, houses 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 engaged in watercolour work could be observed and 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! Books could be bought at the Book Fair in 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 Sporting news this week, Mr. Field reports. ‘Thursday night saw the Yr10 boys compete in the York City Knights rugby festival at Archbishop Holgate School, York. The Boroughbridge boys played against four teams at the tournament from the York and district area demonstrating some scintillating rugby.
The boys’ first game against Selby was a close encounter with Boroughbridge edging a 12-8 victory. This proved to be a good basis for honing their teamwork as they rose to the challenge against York High. A domineering performance saw the boys run in six tries in a well disciplined game. The final result of 24-12 was just reward for the hard work applied by all team members. The unrelenting fixtures began to take their toll as the boys moved onto their third consecutive match against Joseph Rowntree. The game ebbed and flowed between the two teams, both demonstrating some good committed rugby. Jo-Ro edged the latter stages of the game and were leading 24-20 into the last minute. A great drive forward by T King saw the boys draw level with less than 60 seconds remaining. Two promising drives forward by Jo-Ro put pressure on the Boroughbridge defensive line but the resilience shown by the boys paid off with a handling error leading to a turnover of possession. An exquisitely executed kick from C Walsh turned Jo-Ro on their heels and with the blistering pace of I Buliruarua victory was snatched from the grasps of the York team, 28-24.
The fourth game proved a bridge too far for the team who were now battle weary from their previous games. The home team proved worthy adversaries and edged a well contested game. Teachers and coaching staff from York City Knights commended the boys on their excellent gameplay, acknowledging the David Vs Goliath comparisons of the schools involved.  The team did themselves and the school proud with their commitment and resilience, I do wish the same could be said about the singing on the minibus on the way home, there is always room for improvement though!’
Following Mrs. Godsell-Wright’s assemblies last week on our core value of being respectful, this week I’ve been exploring how we can develop our ambition and resilience. I’ve also shared the new descriptors for Attitude to Learning, Behaviour for Learning and Homework which will be used at each tracking point and are now linked to our new values. It’s also given me the opportunity to reflect with students on the positive contributions that they’ve already made in this Autumn Term.
Next Wednesday (16th) we have our Year 7 Form Tutor evening. If you haven’t yet been able to book an appointment, then there’s still time to book one. We’ll look forward to seeing you then.
Have a lovely weekend!
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.’
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.
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.