ISSUE 983rd May 2019

What an amazing Easter break it was for BBG Equestrian Team Member Zara Monks who, you will remember,qualified for the National NSEA Championships in Buckinghamshire earlier this year.

Zara, Buddy Marvellous and her amazing support team, namely Mum Louisa, packed up and headed out for thealmost week long competition on the first Wednesday in the Easter break. After a long hot drive they bookedBuddy into what we like to think of as the Horse Hotel and booked themselves into their hotel ready for theexciting days ahead. Zara had qualified for both dressage and show jumping so lots to mentally prepare for.

Show jumping was the first event and the warm up was on the Wednesday. Zara, not showing the nerves at alland Buddy clearly not affected by the long travel, jumped a clear round in the warm up class – things werelooking very good for the actual event on Thursday. Another evening in the hotel and up bright and early toprepare for the championship. In the first round of the showjumping Zara got four faults from knocking just onepole and again four faults in the second round – which placed Zara 18th nationally. What an amazingachievement to become 18th nationally at only 13 years old; little did we know that this could get even better!

Whilst Friday was a day off there is no such thing as a day off in Equestrianism. Buddy was prepped andpreened and worked really hard to ensure he was at his best in the dressage on Friday. Dressage has alwaysbeen Zara’s favoured event and she was keen to show her skill to the judges. For those of you that are notfamiliar with dressage it is a highly skilled form of riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an"art" sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. It has it’s origins in movements required incombat. Judges give marks based on how well you perform set manoeuvres. Zara competed in two classes;both Prelim and Intro, performing well in both. The wait for the results was a nail biting one. Zara and Buddywere crowned National Champions in the Intro Dressage class. What an amazing achievement; we are so proudof Zara and the effort she has put in to achievement such an incredible standard at such a young age. A bigthanks to Mum, Louisa, who has been the most incredible support for the entire Team BBG Equestrian team.Zara and her Mum have promised to bring Buddy (and his winners rug) in to BBG for a visit soon.

Equestrian is one of those sports that requires a great deal of time and a financial commitment. We are verygrateful to our sponsors Atkins LGV Training and Burnhills.

Progress continued at pace over the holidays with large differencesvisible on our return to school. The main impact of this work has beenon the flooring on both the ground and first floors. A concrete pump tookplace with 150 cubic metres of concrete pumped over 3 days. This wasto complete the floor downstairs with around 150mm of concrete laidover layers of hardcore which were compacted in advance of the pour.The concrete is then left to cure, giving out head during the exothermicreaction. During this process the concrete is polished to give a goodquality finish to the top layer. 75mm of concrete, around 50 cubic metres,was used on the upper floor as this is already laid with precast concreteslabs, making the overall thickness the same.

Now that the flooring is completeboth upstairs and downstairs,the shape of the spaces createdare clearly visible. This space,seen from above, will be thedouble height extension to theback of the hall/ canteen. Thismuch needed space will allowextra seating during breaks andlunch times as well as anadditional serving point fordrinks and pick up items.

Our site visit this week included the first views of upstairs. On completion,the top floor will consist of six classrooms, male and female changingfacilities and much needed office space. Mrs Binns is included for scale!

The mathematical Mr Men were created by the ‘Solve My Maths’ developer Ed Southall. Ed is a teacher trainerat Huddersfield University; he has a PHD and the author of "Yes But Why? Teaching for Understanding inMathematics" and 'Geometry Snacks'. Ed has taught mathematics for 14 years in secondary schools both in theUK and the Middle East. He has developed a large following online as @solvemymaths on Twitter where heregularly posts mathematical puzzles. Watch this space for more of his work.

Twenty of our BBG dancers took part in a contemporary dance workshop before the Easter holidays with a tutor from the

Northern School of Contemporary Dance. A record number of them were,

as a result, invited to audition for the school’s Centre for Advanced Training.

Zoe Cole (Year 9), Olivia Clark, Neve Brier, Alex Porter and Aimee Hirst (all

Year 8) were amongst the students who accepted the invitation, and all had a fantastic afternoon taking part in the

audition process. Alex, Zoe and Olivia, as a result, have been called back for a second audition in the next few weeks. Of course, we wish them lots and lots of

luck!

We’ve had more great news about ourstudents this week, as Evie Irwin in Year8 has successfully passed Grade 3Piano.

Well done Evie! Your name is alreadydown for a solo in the next concert!

Dance Success!

subject newsSCIENCE

©BBC Bitesize https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1280xn/p06jq97j.jpg

Year 9 have been comparing different types of cells. They havelooked at the different structures (organelles) contained inside acell.

Which cells do you think are shown in the picture?

What organelles can you spot?

Photo credit to Becca Wood – very steady hands needed to take a photo through a microscope lens!

The students prepared slides from onions and their own cheek cells to see how animal cells are different to plantcells.The cells below have been stained with a blue dye to make them easier to see under the microscope.

MATHSOn Tuesday 30 April, 61 Year 8 students took part in the UKMT Junior Mathematical Challenge. This involvedcompleting a one hour challenge of 25 mathematical puzzles. To solve the questions, students needed to usesome advanced number and algebra skills as well as logical thinking and common sense. The students alsohad to ensure their answers were accurate as a wrong answer can results in a negative score.

Well done to the students who took part in the challenge and we look forward to receiving your results in a fewweek’s time and seeing if anyone has scored high enough to get through to the next round.

!

subject news

MFL - FRENCH

MFL - FRENCH

Do you know the meaning? It isn’t an obvious one -Email Mrs Santry on judith.santry@bbgacademy.com

“Mon-grand-père a la main verte!”We have a very similar idiom in English.

An idiom is a group of words that have a particular meaning that is different from when

you take each word on its own.

The MFL deparment at BBG Academy were lucky to besuccessful in their application to the Norman BarnettLanguages Trust to receive funding to buy asubscription to the linguscope website for a year fromApril 2019 to April 2020.Linguascope is a fantastic resource for KS3 and KS4 students to work idependently both in school and at hometo practise a variety of vocabulary and new concepts using games and a variety of online activities.

Mrs Santry will also be using the website in the primary schools she visits teaching Y5 and Y6 students to deliverlessons to support students in their transition to secondary school.

Students need to log onto the website www.linguascope.com using the username and password;

After logging in, you will be directed to the Student Area page where you can search for activities at differentlevels.

You need to click onto the French flag icon to find the activities:

Please only access the games and activities suggested by your class teacher.

We are very grateful to the trustees of the Norman Barnett languages Trust and Sephie Collins at Diskin and Co in Dewsbury for their support and allowing us to provide this resource for our students. Watch this space for more exciting opportunities for students thanks to this wonderful community trust fund!

Mrs Binns, Mrs Bettney and Mrs Morland have all been appointed to the role of Apprenticeship Champions. MrBuck, who is studying towards a Level 4 Network Engineer qualification through the apprenticeship programme,is also an Apprenticeship Champion in school. It is their role to promote Apprenticeships within school,explaining their value and the opportunities locally. If you have any questions about how to access anApprenticeship for you or your child then our Apprenticeship Champions are your first port of call. OurCalderdale and Kirklees Careers advisor, Rachel Morgan, is also a great source of information on theapprenticeship route.

Careers

Mrs Binns Mrs MorlandMrs MorganMrs Bettney

Introducing our new Champions

Mr Buck

I first started looking for apprenticeships after my fourth year in college. I enjoyedlearning various aspects of IT, from database design to networking, but I wanted anew challenge. I did a Google search into apprenticeships where I found loads ofinformation on how to apply and what apprenticeships can offer you in terms oftraining and career prospects. As I learn while I am on the job, I get paid and havethe advantage of gaining real world experiences in an education environment. Iam currently studying towards a Level 4 Network Engineer qualification with EstioTraining which teaches me the fundamentals of networking. As I attend training, Iam taught by professionals in the IT industry who are Microsoft and CompTIACertified. There are many different career paths you can take withapprenticeships and more workplaces locally are offering them. I would highlyrecommend an apprenticeship if you are looking to get into a workplace and trainat the same time. It gives you the chance to build effective communication skills,meet new people and build connections within your chosen industry.

Local apprenticeship vacancies are advertised nationally on the gov.uk website https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

What dates were you at Birkenshaw Middle School/BBG Academy?I went to Birkenshaw when it first opened. Mr Parkin was the headmaster then. I was transferred from SouthParade as I lived on Bradford Road near the Bradford Boundary.

Where did you go to study after Birkenshaw/BBG?I left at 15 and went to Batley Boys School before starting an apprenticeship with Crofts engineers where Istayed until 1982 after taking redundancy.

When did you finish school and what career did you go onto?I then worked in transport driving everything from vans to articulated vehicles here and abroad. I retired age 61and went to live in Spain where I lived for eight years. I am now back in the UK for three years and live in WhiteLee.

The only other teachers I can remember are Mr Taylor (music), Miss Beckwith (Geography), Mr Dowell (PE),Miss Swift (Secretary). Mr Parkin played hymns at assembly on his violin and if you were really naughty hewould cane you in front of the school with his violin bow.

I have been married for 47 years and have a son and a daughter and I’m 73 years old. I had a lovely time atBirkenshaw and didn’t want to leave (I still have the Bible all leavers were given at the time).

Ian Draper – Class of 1964

During form time, Key Stage 3 students in Years 7, 8 and 9 study and discuss ‘Thought for the Week’. This is amotivational idea which is used to reinforce the Academy’s Growth Mindset philosophy. Students are being encouraged towork as hard as they can, and are advised that with effort, huge progress can be made. Aside from the thought, studentslearn about key events that have happened during that week. In addition, students choose from three or four mottos thatthey are going to try and adhere to during that week.

THIS WEEK’S EVENTSTHIS WEEK’S THOUGHT

DISCUSSION POINTS

29 April - International Dance Day The aim of the day is to increase the awareness of dance amongst the general public

30 April - International Jazz DayThis event celebrates the virtue of jazz as an educational tool and a force for peace, unity, dialogue.

30 April-6 May - Children’s book week

1 May – May Day is a spring festival.

4 May – Star Wars DayFans celebrate Star Wars culture and honour the film.

What does this saying mean? Who is Sir WalterScott? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBP-GK-JSK0 In your mind what constitutes something ofworth? How do we control our education? How canwe shape our careers?

ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

YOUR LIFE WILLCHANGE WHEN YOU

DOINVEST IN YOURSELF

AttendanceM TTERS

Articles produced by Miss Binns (HoY) If you have any Year 7 news you would like to share email tanya.binns@bbgacademy.com

Form Group Attendance

7.1 98.7.%

7.2 98.4%

7.3 97.4%

7.4 97.2%

7.5 97.1%

7.6 97.8%

7.7 97.5%

Year 7 attendance is currently the best in theschool at 97.7%. Well done to 7.1 (Mr Andre)who continue to be the top attending form with98.7%

Elissia BullFor being extremely responsible

and for caring about all members of the school

community in a very difficult situation.

Emel RileyFor a great end to last term.

Keep up the great work Emel.

Ali ShahContributing to thought for the week in a mature

manner.

Dylan OldfiedDylan has made a really

positive start to the first week back after half

term and has a determined attitude to keep it up. He has

been a positive influence in form and has contributed to group

discussions well with some mature answers.

Megan WilliamsFor being polite and

conscientious.

Qabid AladeFor his excellent input in form

time conversations and always striving to do his best

AttendanceM TTERS

Year 8 in Action It’s been a busy week for our Year 8 superstars.Here are just a few examples of their hard work.

Harrison BlissHarrison is a very polite and

conscientious student. He is a resilient young man and a delight

to have both in lessons and around the Academy.

Seb StuartSeb is a dedicated student who

works hard both in lessons and at sport. He has shown great resilience during a recent injury but we’re glad to see him back on the rugby pitch,

where he belongs this week.

Year 9 attendance:Well done 9.1 who have the best attendance since September (middle column). Well done to 9.6for having the best attendance this half term (right hand column).

Subject Success!

Safiya Khan has shown a muchimproved attitude in her mathslessons recently and hasdemonstrated a continued highstandard.

Ben Ryan has been put forwardfor demonstrating goodknowledge and understanding inBusiness.

Well done to both of you.

Harvey Walker has been recognised forhis resilience in Maths. He has beenworking hard to improve his understandingand it has been really paying off.Well done Harvey!

Good luck to Oscar Craven who is doing hisBronze Duke of Edinburgh award thisweekend. The Duke of Edinburgh scheme is ahighly regarded award and hopefully Oscar willcome away with his Bronze award and greatmemories!

Ella Makin has made a huge improvement inbusiness and has grown in confidence, shecontributes positively in class discussion and isdemonstrating very good business knowledge

Well done to you both!

Student

Star StudentsJames Kettlewell & Harriet Mackrill

James KettlewellJames is a very conscientious student who has worked considerably hard in Year 10. He currently has 100%attendance and was one of the winners in our recent Easter egg attendance draw. James always displays apositive attitude and good sense of humour. Well done James - keep up these efforts .

Harriet MackrillHarriet currently has 100% attendance and she has consistently worked hard in all her subjects. This has beenrecognised by Mr Mcaulay who has said in a recent Praise assembly; “100% is not a maximum it’s a minimumfor Harriet! ” Harriet has also been recognised for her hard work and commitment in Geography. She is also avery talented netball player. Harriet does give a lot of time and effort to her academic and extra curricularactivities. Well done keep up the good work.

Mrs SullivanHead of Year 10

Congratulations to Matthew DawsonMatthew has been selected for the U19 Great

Britain underwater Hockey squad.

Well done!

Formal examinations start – Monday 13 May

GRADUATION31 May 2019

PROM27 June 2019

parent newsManaging a busy life when you are studying can be challenging, but there are many areas which you can controlto help you perform better when it comes to exam time. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will go overdifferent areas that you can focus on, plan for, and work towards overall preparedness for the GCSEs. Makingtime for each area can have a huge impact on your energy levels and both your physical and your mentalwellbeing.

Be sure to tag us on Twitter @bbgacademy when you’ve made your delicious meals!

parent newsSome of the most straightforward supports for students as they prepare for exams are also the mostfundamental – sleep, food, relaxation. We can help you with FOOD – in our series showing you the Pixl ‘Powerto Perform’ recipes that are brain boosting AND delicious!

Attendance in one school year

Number of lessons missed per year

Number of weeks missed per year

Number of years missed over 5 years

100% 0 0 095% 50 lessons 2 weeks ¼ Year90% 100 lessons 4 weeks ½ Year85% 150 lessons 6 weeks ¾ Year80% 200 lessons 8 weeks 1 Year70% 300 lessons 12 weeks 1½ Years60% 400 lessons 16 weeks 2 Years50% 500 lessons 20 weeks 2½ Years

Attend & AchieveResearch suggests that missing 17 school days a year results in 1 GCSE grade drop.

This weeks attendance leaders.

96.1%

Year Form Attendance

7 7.1 98.8%

8 8.1 98.3%

9 9.6 96.6%

10 10.4 98.6%

11 11.5 98.7%

@BBGAcademy

Attendance Fact: Schools are expected to have an overallattendance of 95% or above. It is the legal responsibility of theparent/carers of children of a legal school age to make sure theyreceive a full-time education. They must ensure their childattends school regularly and stays there all day. Law Section444 of the Education Act 1996 is the law under which aparent/carer can be prosecuted as a consequence of non-attendance. The maximum penalty is a fine of up to £2,500 perparent per child (for you and your partner) and/or up to 3month’s imprisonment.

AttendanceM TTERS

Uniform Recycling

We now have a uniform Swap Shopfrom 8.00-8.45 every morning.Parents can bring an item of uniformthat is too small and swap for apreloved larger size.

A full list of items and sizes areavailable on request.

Please do continue to donate olditems if you are able to.

AttendanceM TTERS

parent news

Leeds and District Secondary Schools Swimming Championships

This week BBG competed in the Leeds and District Secondary Schools Swimming Championships alongsideIlkley Grammar School, Ripon Grammar school, Prince Henry’s Grammar School and Horsforth School.

The event took place on Tuesday 30 April at GSAL and featured 16 students, representative from Years 7-11.The team was made up of students who compete competitively outside of school, as well as students that enjoyswimming and wanted a new challenge.

In order for us to represent all age categories we saw a number of students compete in not only their own agegroup but also swimming up. Some students even competed against competitors that were five year groupsabove them.

All students that competed in the individual medley demonstrated great skill in all four disciplines withexceptional performances delivered by Jessica Widdowson, Louis Cass, Daniel Jackson and Hannah Clegg,who all came 1st. We saw a phenomenal performance from Louis Cass and Daniel Jackson who swam in everyboy’s race - what stamina!

The students were a credit to the school, but more importantly a credit to themselves. They showed real teamsprit supporting each other throughout the event.

Overall we finished 3rd, improving on last years 4th place finish.

1st Ikley Grammar – 170pnts 2nd Rippon Grammar – 145pnts 3rd BBG – 139pnts 4th Prince Henry’s Grammar –108pnts. 5th Horsforth – 67pnts

Individual team results were as follows:

Team Breaststroke Races (4x25m)Year 7 Girls: 2nd Year 7 Boys:1st Year 8 Girls: 3rd. Year 8Boys: 1st Year 9 Girls 3rd Year 9 Boys: 2nd Year 10 Girls:2nd Year 10 Boys: 3rd Year 11/12 Girls: 1st Year 11/12Boy: 2nd

Team Frontcrawl Races (4x25m)Year 7 Girls: 3rd Year 7 Boys: 1st Year 8 Girls: 5th Year 8Boys: 1st Year 9 Girls 3rd Year 9 Boys: 3rd Year 10 Girls: 3rd

Year 10 Boys: 4th Year 11/12 Girls: 1st Year 11/12 Boy: 4th

Team Backstroke Races (4x25m)Year 7 Girls: 3rd Year 7 Boys: 1st Year 8 Girls: 2nd Year 8 Boys: 1st Year 9 Girls 3rd Year 9 Boys: 1st Year 10 Girls: 2nd Year 10 Boys: 3rd. Year 11/12 Girls: 1st Year 11/12 Boy: 4th

Team Individual Medley Races Year 7 Girl: 1st Year 7 Boy: 1st Year 8 Girl: 1st Year 8 Boy: 1st Year 9 Girl: 2nd. Year 9 Boy: 1st Year 10 Girl: 2nd Year 10 Boys: 2nd Year 11/12 Girl: 2nd Year 11/12 Boy: 4th

Cannons 10x25m – one girl and one boy swimmer per age group.Breaststroke: 2nd Frontcrawl: 2nd

It has been a very busy and successful few weeks of Underwater Hockey.On 11 April, Matthew Dawson and his family travelled to Holland to play in atournament held annually in Dordrecht called the Pancake Tournament. Teamsfrom all over Holland, the UK, France and Spain come together to play againsteach other in the U16 U19 categories. Matthew (Year 11) played as part of theU19 team representing the North of England. All of the games were played at 3metres deep which is invaluable practise for the teams from the UK as most ofour pools are shallower that. The final of the U19 age group was between twoteams from the UK – Team South West and the North of England which provesthat our sport is thriving in the UK. After a fantastic battle, the North of Englandcame away with the GOLD!!

The Junior Nationals, which is a tournament attended by all of the team fromaround the country in age groups of U12, U14, U16 and U1, was held at PondsForge in Sheffield on 27 April. Alex Horsman (Y9) and Matthew both play for theBatley Barracudas, based at Howden Clough Sports and Tennis Centre.Matthew captained the U16 team and Alex captained the U14 team. The gameswere very exciting and all of the players had a fantastic day. The U16’s werenarrowly beaten 5-4 in the final and came away with SILVER. The U14’s alsohad a very successful day and came away with BRONZE.

Matthew has been part of the GB development squad for the last 18 months andhas been training hard to hopefully become a member of the GB team. He hasattended pool training sessions around the country and followed a gruellingfitness programme devised by the conditioning coaches. Over 100 U19 boysstarted the process which culminated in the squad for the World Age GroupChampionships being selected last weekend. Matthew has been successful andwill represent GB as part of a 12 man squad against teams from New Zealand,France, Spain, USA, Canada, Columbia, South Africa, Turkey and Argentina inAugust this year. The games are being held at Ponds Forge in Sheffield over 10days. All of the games will be streamed live on You Tube so you should be ableto catch a game if you want to watch him in action.