BATLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL Grammar School is currently trialling a home learning project system at Key...
Transcript of BATLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL Grammar School is currently trialling a home learning project system at Key...
BATLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL & PRIESTLEY HOUSE
Spring 2017 Newsletter
Gym and Dance Show
Wednesday 5 April saw the fifth
annual Gym and Dance show
take place. This year we were
proud to represent gymnastics
and dance routines from
Priestley House, Secondary
Phase and our special guests
this year Panache. Panache are
an externa l gymnast ics
company who use our sports
facilities to run their gymnastics
club on a weekly basis. All
gymnast wowed the audience
with their amazing gymnastic
skills in the first half of the
show. The dance section of the
show represented many dance
s t y l e s t h i s y ea r f r om
contemporary to street dance, Bollywood to Irish dancing. The night was very much a pupil lead
occasion as all dances and gymnastics routines where choreographed by the students themselves, which
demonstrates their enthusiasm to be part of extracurricular activities at the school. The night was also
enhanced by pupils from Year 11 comparing the show and being responsible for the lighting and music.
On behalf of the PE department many thanks to all pupils who participated, Panache for being special
guests and above all the parents for their support on the night.
NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2017 PAGE 2
Home Learning Showcase Batley Grammar School is currently trialling a home learning project system at Key Stage 3, where each subject
across the school replaces all of their usual homeworks for a half term with a single home learning project. These
substantial projects are crafted to boost particular areas of student skill, knowledge and understanding, and to
engage closely with our whole-school concerns, such as careers and growth mindset. They challenge students to
work to the very best of their capability, deepen their understanding, consolidate their classwork, and prepare
them for learning to come.
The first subjects to trial home learning projects in the autumn term were English (research journal), Food
Technology (‘Fabulous Feasting’), Geography (volcanoes), ICT (emerging and future technologies) and Religious
Studies (identity collage).
On the penultimate afternoon before the Christmas holidays, a joint home learning project showcase and staff
bake-off was held, where students and staff alike celebrated the excellent work produced by students in their
home learning projects so far. Departmental staff and students were available to talk about their experiences of
the home learning project system in order for staff delivering projects in the spring term to learn more about how
to get the very best out of this way of working. Cake was enjoyed by all as we learned!
Many thanks from Dr
Banham, coordinator of
the home learning
project strategy, to all of
the students who kindly
gave up their time to
help this event be so
e n j o y a b l e a n d
informative, and to the
members of staff who
contributed to making
the event such a positive
note upon which to end
the year!
World Book Day with a Difference World Book Day with a difference – bedtime
stories and Batley Grammar Primary Phase!
Pupils and staff in the primary phase of Batley
Grammar School did not come to school today
dressed as their favourite book character as
many might have expected. Instead they came
to school in their pyjamas! Batman pyjamas,
giraffe onesies, stripy pyjamas, spotty
pyjamas. What else would you wear for your
bed time story! They curled up under quilts,
blankets and in sleeping bags, in the dark,
with torches turned on and listened to their
favourite stories.
NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2017 PAGE 3
Year 6 Science Heart Dissection
On Tuesday 31 January, Year 6 were invited by
Mr Hughes to come and see a heart dissection.
It was very interesting and everyone
thoroughly enjoyed it.
Mr Hughes showed us a couple of the valves
and even let a few people touch it! At first,
everyone thought it was a bit gruesome but in
the end it turned out to not be as bad as they
thought it would be.
We learned what a heartbeat sounded like (lub
-dub) and even used stethoscopes to test it.
When we got back to class, our teacher asked
us to write an explanation text about how the
heart works and everybody worked very hard
on it. Everyone’s explanation texts were very
detailed and their labelled diagrams looked
incredible.
The whole of Year 6 would like to say thank
you to Mr Hughes and that we all loved this
once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was brilliant!
Engineering Day In March, to celebrate Science Week and Careers Week, Year 8 spent the day exploring the career opportunities
offered by Civil Engineering. Students took part in a number of activities where they played the part of different
roles in a civil engineering company. This day was set within the context of needing build a temporary bridge to
help a local community after serious flooding.
The students had to design, cost and build the bridge. This was tested to its limits, and considering that the
bridges were made with only paper and a simple fastener, the winning bridge was able to hold 7 Kg on a span of
0.75m
NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2017 PAGE 4
Solving a Real Life Murder Mystery On Monday 6 February, 12 Batley Grammar School students attended a
History and careers based workshop organised by the York University
Excellence Hub. The Universities of York, Leeds and Sheffield host a range of
courses throughout the academic year, facilitated by educators and
supported by students at each university. These events combine various
subject skills with careers experience and a look at university life.
Students were given a range of sources and tasked with prosecuting either
Richard III or Henry VII for the murder of the boys back in the late 1400s.
They had to collect evidence, discuss findings with their group and form an
argument to give to a court room hearing later in the day. Students from
Sheffield University supported them and the work they did was really superb.
The second part of the day focused on careers and skills. One session gave
students an insight into a career as a lawyer and they role-played some
court room etiquette…they would need this later in the trial they staged. The
second session was run very ably by some second year medical students
who gave students some extra information on the dating of bones, fatal/non
-fatal injuries to skeletons and DNA profiling. All of these pieces of
information would be vital in helping the teams unpick the mystery of the
Princes in the Tower.
After lunch the groups had a final twenty minutes to prepare their cases and decide who would present them
before the trial began. Two groups sat in the courtroom and presented their prosecution against Richard III and
Henry VII while the other two groups went for a tour of the university to find out about student life at Sheffield.
Mr Linkins was fortunate enough to act as a judge for the hearing during the final part of the day. All 4 groups
presented their cases most ably, drawing on what they had learnt in the law presentation. BGS students formed the
core of several teams and even teamed up with other students to present their case which showed great team
work and curiosity. Overall Henry VII was condemned and the group led by our very own Jak Spencer and Emanuel
Soimaru were considered to have presented the best case.
Very well done to all involved!
NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2017 PAGE 5
Careers in Sport Fifteen Year 11 GCSE PE students
were involved in a fantastic day at
Leeds Beckett University for the
Careers in Sport Live Roadshow.
Students had the opportunity to
listen to inspiring keynote
speeches from the likes of
Heather Fell (Olympic silver
medallist in Modern Pentathlon)
and Phil Wright (Primal Academy –
Succeeding in the Fitness
Industry). There were also a
number of presentations by
members of the different sporting
industries such as Bobby Madley
(Premier League referee) as well
as a talk from Harvey Grout (CIS) about the different options career options in the sports industry.
Whilst at the University, students participated in a Sports Science tour of the campus. This included the
opportunity to see, first hand, the number of different laboratories that the University has to offer as well as
listening to talks and being involved in practical sessions in Physiology, Biochemistry, Nutrition, Biomechanics,
Environmental chamber, Cardio-respiratory, Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanner and the AlterG anti-
gravity treadmill.
A number of the students also took up the opportunity to be involved in coaching sessions from a range of elite
level coaches from Bradford Bulls and Leeds Force Basketball as well as experiencing new initiatives likely to hit
the sporting world such as Powerhoop and Boogie Bounce.
Maths Feast On 15 March a team of four students
represented Batley Grammar School in
the 2017, Year 10, Maths Feast Quiz,
run by the Further Maths Support
Programme. 16 teams took part, from
schools across the Bradford and
Kirklees areas. Emma Mosley, Lorcan
Nicholls, Emanuel Soimaru and Jak
Spencer represented the school with
zest and determination. The
competition consisted of five rounds
involv ing; Logical Reasoning,
Countdown, Comprehension, Problem
Solving and a Relay Round. Against
stern opposition, our students came
first in the Logical Reasoning round.
This is a real achievement, of which
the team should be really proud.
NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2017 PAGE 6
Young Sports Leaders
The Year 9 Young Sports Leaders have
been assisting (on 3 separate occasions)
in the running of the Primary and
Disability Sports Hall Athletics over the
last 5 weeks.
Firstly they were chosen, on the basis of
their commitment and enthusiasm in PE
lessons, to represent Batley Grammar
School. They had also been identified and
requested by Mick Troop (School Sports
Games Organiser) to help run the Sport
Hall Athletics due to our previous
excellent reputation of Young Leaders at
the school.
From the onset they showed excellent maturity and leadership skills in dealing with both adults and children. They
were highly praised by Mick Troop for their effort and commitment over the last few weeks and without their help
the Sports Hall Athletics would not have taken place. The girls have gained so many different skills and
experiences from leading these games and these will serve them well for future college/sixth form applications.
We were very impressed with their efforts and could not thank them enough for representing our school to a very
high standard. Well done again!
Balanceability On Thursday 19 January, we had great fun
in Year 1 and Year 2 classes learning how
to ride a balance bike with the
Balanceability programme.
Balanceability utilises balance bikes in
order to teach children the fundamentals
of balance, core stability, gross and fine
motor skills and the essential confidence
to ride a bicycle. The children rode around
the Sports Hall, improving their balance!
Great fun was had by all!
Festival of Science
As part of British Science Week the BGS Science
department ran a trip to the Festival of Science, University
of Leeds, on Monday March 27th. 30 year 10 students
participated in a Biological Sciences day. Students had the
opportunity to experience life on the University campus
for a day of practical Biological Sciences, getting hands-
on with sophisticated DNA technology, and learning
about dimorphism in flowers. More information can be
found at www.leeds.ac.uk/festivalofscience.
NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2017 PAGE 7
Year 10 Religious Studies Candle Conference On 21 March thirteen members of the
two Year 10 GCSE Religious Studies
groups a t tended a s tudent
conference, ‘Christianity and
Conflict’, at St George’s Church in
central Leeds.
Hosted by renowned philosopher and
theologian Dr Peter Vardy, the aim of
the conference was to equip higher
ability students to reach the upper
levels of performance on the new 9-1
GCSE specifications, and to prepare
them for A-level study.
Exploring issues such as ‘Who Was
Jesus?’, ‘The Sanctity of Life’ and ‘A
Just War?’, within the conference was
embedded intensive expert preparation for answering the new-format GCSE exam questions.
All of the students in attendance really benefitted from the day, enriching their knowledge and gaining key advice
about how to apply it to maximum effect in an exam context.
Learning Together Workshop The Reception class took part in a family workshop,
trying out different ways to practise their writing.
19 of our parents/carers came along to join in
painting, gluing, writing and drawing with their
children. We hope they enjoyed themselves as much
as the children clearly did!
BGS retains its Careers Quality Standard Award Following a recent inspection of the Careers provision in school, the assessor was full of
praise commenting: “In the light of all the evidence presented, I have no hesitation in
recommending that Batley Grammar School is awarded the C&K Careers Quality Standard
(Nationally validated by the Quality in Careers Standard)….. Excellent practice continues
to exist in terms of CEIAG provision at Batley Grammar School and the school has
demonstrated that it is committed to continuous improvement…. I wish to commend the
group of students I met who were a credit to the school”.
NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2017 PAGE 8
Hi5 Netball Success
On Tuesday 28 March, children from the
Primary Phase, went to represent the
school at Newsome High School, Kirklees
Hi5 Final.
We were victorious in the Batley Schools
and St John Fishers’ rounds; winning
both tournaments.
In the Kirklees Final, we won five games
and lost two, which were to the schools
who gained 1st and 2nd places.
We earned a trophy and gold medals by
winning the St John Fishers’ Tournament
and bronze medals from the Kirklees
Final. We worked well as a team in all the
matches and enjoyed the tournaments.
Hi5 Netball Team
Fundraising
Batley Big Sing On Wednesday 15 March, pupils from Year2 to
6 took part in the Batley Big Sing held in the
Graves Hall. We sang several songs with over
100 children from local schools and also
performed ‘Over the Rainbow’ on the
boomwhackers. Well done to all the children
who took part.
£778.77 £178.16
NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2017 PAGE 9
Year 2 Football Skills Event
On Wednesday afternoon, the Year 2
class and pupils from 8 local schools
took part in a skills session on the
back field. The activities were led by
coaches from Premier Coaching. The
pupils all had a fantastic time and
learnt some new footballing skills.
They practised passing the ball,
dribbling, goal-keeping and even
played some 5-a-side matches.
Primary Phase Bake Off On Monday 3 April, the primary phase took
part in their own Easter-themed Bake Off
organised by Head Girl, Jenna Husain. There
was a fantastic array of large and small cakes
which were admired, tasted and judged by
Mrs Tullie, Mr Hartley, Jenna, William (head
Boy) and Hannah (school councillor). They
had some really difficult decisions to make!
Well done to all our winners and thank you
for taking part. We raised an amazing
£159.45 selling the cakes afterwards which
will be shared equally between a charity and
developing projects in school. Thank you for
your support. Well done to our winners:
Aadam Mulla; Sam Hunter; Hannah Baporia.
NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2017 PAGE 10
Year 11 Cathedrals Visit In April, Year 11 full course Religious
Studies students visited Liverpool’s
Anglican and Roman Catholic Cathedrals.
The visit was arranged to benefit
students’ work in the second of their two
GCSE RS units, Religious Expression in
Society, where students consider religious
architecture, art, literature, media and
music. The students, the largest group
ever taken on this annual trip, spent an
hour at each of the venues, each
remarkable and unique in their design.
Winmarleigh Hall
The STEM faculty took 28 Year 8 and 9
students on an educational visit to
Winmarleigh Hall on the weekend of Friday
31 March to Monday 3 April. The visit was
designed to allow students to see
Mathematics and Science being applied
outside the classroom as well as including
activities to improve their team building
skills. The trip was a huge success with
lots of complicated STEM activities and
skills being undertaken by everyone.
Students managed to improve their ability
to problem solve as well as use data
collected from the Giant Swing to produce
graphs in a computer based lesson.
Whilst abseiling, they discovered how to
work out the height of the tower they had
just absei led down by using
measurements taken on site and applying
Trigonometry; another new skill.
Evening activities included building team
robots where students enjoyed a ‘Robot
Wars’ style battle at the end resulting in a
lot of mess and the hard built robots
suffering a soggy death! Although cold
and tired by the end of the weekend, all
students were fully engaged in the
activities and learnt a lot about
themselves; particularly in terms of their
tolerance for heights. Winmarleigh Hall
staff were impressed with the behaviour of
Batley Grammar School students and have
invited us to return again next year.
NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2017 PAGE 11
BGS congratulated by Minister of State for School Standards
Batley Grammar School congratulated by Minister of State for School Standards as being amongst the top state-
funded schools in England for a very high standard of entry in the English Baccalaureate in 2016.
BGS retains Highest Rating for Food Hygiene
We are delighted to announce, in partnership with our catering
providers ABsolutely Catering, that we have once again retained our
Food Hygiene Rating of 5 (very good), this is the highest rating
possible.
Visit the Catering page on the school website,
www.batleygrammar.co.uk, for details of the menu options currently
available in the Dining Room.
NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2017 PAGE 12
BATLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL & PRIESTLEY HOUSE
Carlinghow Hill, Batley, WF17 0AD - (01924) 474980
www.batleygrammar.co.uk - [email protected]
Executive Principal: Mrs B P Tullie MA
Head of School: Mr G C Kibble BA - Chair of Governors: Mr A Hartley BSc
Dates to Remember
Monday 24 April
First day of Summer Term
Wednesday 26 April
Year 6 Robinwood Trip
Departs
Thursday 27 April
Junior Maths Challenge
Monday 1 May
School closed - May Day
Bank Holiday
Monday 8 May
Year 6 SATs begin
Monday 15 May
GCSE Exams begin
Friday 26 May
School closed - INSET day
Monday 28 May - Friday 2
June
Spring Bank Half Term
Monday 5 June
First day of Summer Term 2
Thursday 8 June
Year 7 and 8 trip to
Manchester