Well, what an excellent finish to the Autumn Term! During this week, students have demonstrated everything that is important to the Boroughbridge High School community to ensure we are safe, happy and successful.

Taking on the challenge of Snozone after school on Monday, Mr. Field reports ‘Monday proved to be an early white Christmas for 47 pupils as they developed their skiing skills at Snozone, Xscape. The lucky pupils wrapped up in their snow gear and some donned skis and ski boots for the very first time. There were a few slips and spills and they came to grasp the prospect of sliding down a snowy slope on skis but all revelled in the pure enjoyment of learning and playing on the snow. It is hoped that future trips will provide pupils with more experience to develop their snow sports prowess and hopefully provide more Boroughbridge High School pupils with this great experience.’

Tuesday saw Boroughbridge High School’s first ever Tug of War competition. It’s quite hard to capture in words how fantastic the event was in terms of teamwork, inclusivity, competition and sheer joy. Each year group took their turn and form classes were cheered on and victors applauded whilst cheering tunes were played by our student technical team. Our thanks go to Mr. Field for organising the event and, as you can see, set the festive tone for the day!

On Thursday lunchtime, whilst Mr. Grierson was leading a very successful karaoke session with superb student participation in the Dining Hall, Miss Camy was presenting Science Club with their challenge to make the tallest tower. She reports, ‘Most pupils concentrated on height, not giving enough thought to stability and their towers crumbled under the pressure! Mati and James however concentrated on giving their tower a strong base and were the winners!’

There has been lots of football focus over the last couple of weeks. Year 7 played, as you can see, on the night of the torrential storm. Mr. Field reports, ‘Despite the biblical rain the boys played some fantastic football, losing only one game, whilst winning and drawing two games. The storm did not dampen the boys’ spirit and they showed great determination in their first outing in representing the school. It is hoped that the Year 7 team will have more opportunities to demonstrate their football abilities as the year progresses and hopefully encounter success along the way.’
Meanwhile, the Year 9 football team have also been in action. Here they are after playing against King James’s School in the District Cup. Mr Field commented, ‘It was great to have lots of boys volunteer to be part of the team and we were able to take a full squad of 16 for the game. The boys lost 5-1 but showed great resilience in their gameplay.’
On Thursday evening, we were delighted to welcome back the class of 2023 for Awards Evening. It was great to be able to celebrate all that is great about Boroughbridge High School before acknowledging all that was achieved by the class of 2023.
Thinking of others in our community, with your support, last week we raised £91 from the cake and sweet sale. This has funded a Crisis at Christmas place, a Salvation Army Christmas donation and the remaining was donated to Harrogate Homeless Project. Alongside this, students across the school have written Christmas cards for our local care home and we’ve also collected a boot full of donations for the local food bank.
And so to our whole school assembly this morning. As you’re aware, this has become a Boroughbridge High School tradition where we gather to celebrate our achievements, sharing many photos, awarding many certificate and enjoying performances and communal singing. We also announced the winners of the annual Christmas Door competition which has grown to new competitive heights particularly this year between Mr. Woodward’s form (10SW – right photo) and Dr. Lefley’s (7CL – left photo) who made it to the final two. Applause was used to determine the winner, with the final decision that it was a draw!

An excellent end to a successful term!
I hope that you and your family have a very happy Christmas and best wishes for 2024.
As advent calendars mark the countdown to Christmas, Tuesday evening saw a festive delight of music and drama with the annual Christmas concert. Parents, carers and students gathered to enjoy the performances of students from Years 7 to 11 including singing, piano, violin, keyboard, guitar, including a couple of performances of the Pop Choir. The drama group performed the hilarious Pantomania where there was an eclectic mix of pantomime characters…..oh
With our commitment to ensure that our students develop the skills and confidence to make an active contribution to the communities to which they belong, we’re always interested to hear of our students’ achievements outside of school. This week, our congratulations go to Amy in Year 11 and her family who were awarded with the Thirsk Auction Christmas Cattle Primestock Show Overall Champion. An amazing achievement!
Representing Boroughbridge High School, a group of 9 of our service students went to North Yorkshire County Hall with Mrs. Murphy to take part in ‘The Big Conversation’ on Wednesday. The aim was to come up with North Yorkshire’s own armed forces promises directly from the students who took part in rap, art and discussion workshops. They also had the opportunity to voice their opinion on community, education and wellbeing, as well as give suggestions of areas that could be improved. This is the first time that this particular event has taken place so it was great for us to be able to participate.
If you passed Boroughbridge High School on Monday, you may have wondered what was happening, well let us reveal all. Mr. Woodward reports,
If you’re visiting the
After weeks of preparation, Progress Exams for Years 10 and 11 started on Thursday. Our students have made an excellent start, very quickly getting into the routines and protocols of the exam hall. The timing of these exams enables both students and teachers to measure progress and is used by teachers to develop their planning to ensure that students’ knowledge gaps are filled and skills developed.
In sporting news, Mr. Field reports ‘The Year 9/10 boys football team made it to the final of the Harrogate & Craven Yr10 7- a -side football tournament yesterday evening. They progressed through the group stages with a draw against Queen Ethelburga’s, a 2-0 victory of the hosts St. John Fisher, a draw against Nidderdale and rounded the group matches off with a hard fought 1-0 win against Rossett. The final, against St Aidan’s proved a closely matched game with both sides having chances in front of goal. As the prospect of a penalty shootout loomed, St Aidan’s scored in the last minute of play to take the spoils. This proved to be the only goal the team conceded in the whole tournament which is testament to their resilience and efforts in attack.’ Congratulations to the team!
Year 8 students were using their powers of deduction last week when, in ICT, they were visited by PC Dan Fawkes who ran escape room activities. Mrs. Knock reports, ‘The students had to find clues to work out passwords and complete challenges. Through these activities they were learning the importance of strong passwords. They’ve loved it and asked if we can do this every lesson!’
If you’ve got time for a half term read then you may be interested in the next two books that will be discussed at our Book Club after half term which is shadowing the Yoto Carnegie Medal Shortlist 2023. For students in Year 7, the recommendation is ‘Waiting for Murder’ by Fleur Hitchcock with the Book Club discussion taking place on Monday 20th November at 1p.m. in the Library. For students in Years 8 and above the recommendation is ‘I Must Betray You’ by Ruta Sepetys with the Book Club taking place at 1p.m. in the Library on Monday 6th of November.
