Birchwood Update Monday 25 September 2017
- Week 2
- Sep 26, 2017
- 8 min read
Birchwood Community High School Open Evening – Thursday 21 September
Last Thursday gave us the opportunity to really celebrate our ethos of ‘Pride in our School’ as we held our Open Evening for prospective learners and their parents and carers. Our staff worked hard to provide exciting and stimulating activities and demonstrations for our visitors to take part in.
Mrs Latham astounded our visitors by setting fire to bubbles in his hands, the Performing Arts Department allowed us to sit in on a live rehearsal of this year’s show, ‘The Little Shop of Horrors’ and trampolining and basketball were available in the Sports Hall.
Learner guides were on hand to show our guests round and share their views about life as a Birchwood Learner. As usual we were proud of the feedback that we received about our guides and the professional way that they assisted during the evening. Learners also assisted in each department as ambassadors for Learning, helping our young visitors with activities provided. Thank you to everyone involved for sharing your time and pride in our school.
A huge thank you also goes to our talented and dedicated staff who put so much time and effort into making the evening into such a success.
Finally, thanks go to all our visitors; we are so pleased that you enjoyed the evening and look forward to welcoming your child into our Birchwood High School Community next September
To see more photos from open evening click here
An update on George, our Man of Steel
In June we reported about a learner whose strength, stamina and hard work was seeing him really beginning to succeed in his sport.
Most of us have heard of Obstacle Course Racing, with events such as Spartan, Born Survivor, Tough Mudder and Total Warrior, but we didn’t realise that a modest member of our school community, George in 10JJ, has been excelling in such events since February last year.
George has developed his fitness and skills and has had strong finishing positions, winning a number of junior competitions and moving on to completing a 15k adult competition, coming first in the under 18s category.
We are very proud to announce that George will be travelling to Canada on 4th October to compete in the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships, representing the UK in the 13- 17 category. He will take part in the Sprint (3k), Super (15k) and Make a Wish (8k).
Extra-curricular Timetable
The Extra-Curricular Timetable for the winter term is available here. There is a whole range of clubs and activities on offer for learners, so please encourage your child to get involved.
School Show Rehearsal Schedule – Week Beginning 25th September
Monday 25th September
LUNCH REHEARSAL: Three Degrees and Audrey in PA2 with HS
Three Degrees and Audrey in PA2 with HS – 3.00-4.15
Seymour and Orin in PA10 with KM – 3.00-4.15
Tuesday 26h September - No Rehearsal
Wednesday 27th September
Lunch rehearsal: 3 degrees + Seymour- HS
Seymour, Mushnik and Audrey in PA10 with KM – 3.00-4.30
Three Degrees, Orin and Rosie Wray, Martha Podmore, Keyiah Ainsworth, Katie Henderson, Chloe Knight, Chloe Johnson, Victoria Mudra, Emily Fox in PA2 with HS – 3.00-4.15
Thursday 28th September
Lunch rehearsal: 3 degrees + Seymour- HS
Seymour, and Mushnik in PA10 with KM – 3.00-4.30
Three Degrees, Orin and Rosie Wray, Martha Podmore, Keyiah Ainsworth, Katie Henderson, Chloe Knight, Chloe Johnson, Victoria Mudra, Emily Fox in PA2 with HS – 3.00-4.15
Friday 29th September
Seymour, Audrey and Mushnik in PA2 with HS– 3.00-4.00
Bernstein, Mrs Luce, and Skip Snip PA10 with KM – 3.00-4.00
(Three Degree’s Speak to KM to negotiate this time)
Well done to Woolston Rovers and our boys
Well done to Christian in 9EF and Brad in 9KH in Year 9 who, as part of their rugby team, Woolston Rovers, have become the Under 13s NWC Shield Champions for 2017. It’s great to see our learners doing so well in community activities.
GEOGRAPHY TRIP - ICELAND 2017 – FINAL PARENTS’ BRIEFING Thursday 28 September, 6pm, Birchwood College
As the trip approaches, Mr Bate would like to invite you to a short briefing on Thursday 28 September, starting at 6pm to go through the final arrangements and share the essential information about the trip. This will include the suggested kit list. The meeting will be in Birchwood College and should last no longer than an hour.
If you have any questions regarding this meeting, or the trip in general, then please do not hesitate to contact Mr Bate on rbate@birchwoodhigh.org.
The Macmillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
For a great coffee and cake, come along to Birchwood Library on Friday 29 September between 10am and 12.30pm as they hold their coffee morning in support of Macmillan Cancer Support. For more information, contact the library on 01925 827491.
Year 7
Year 7 Parents’ opportunity to meet with form tutors – Thursday 19 October, 3.30 – 6.30pm
Your child has now been at Birchwood Community High School for almost half a term and we would like to invite you into school to give you a clearer picture of how they have settled in. This will give you the opportunity to meet your child’s form tutor again and to receive up to date information on your child’s progress.
Your child will bring home a letter with regard to making an appointment for this event. The letter can also be accessed here
Please return all reply slips to the school office no later than Monday 17 October so that appointments can be allocated. Thank you.
Mystickers, The reward APP
Has your child downloaded the APP yet on their mobile phone to log their rewards? Learners now have their Mysticker log in, so encourage them to get collecting and logging. For more information see www.Mystickers.co.uk
Year 7 Residential Trip to Conwy Centre, Wednesday 18 to Friday 20 April 2018
We are happy to inform you that we are organising a trip to the Conway Centre for all of Year 7. This will be an ideal opportunity for learners to experience new and different activities and to encourage them to start Year 8 with a focus on making good progress throughout the curriculum. The centre offers a very valuable learning experience, setting learners a challenging programme of activities which go far beyond the scope of the normal school day. Learners who have previously attended a similar residential course in Year 7 have enjoyed the experience so much that it is often mentioned as one of the highlights of their time at Birchwood!
The centre runs a full programme of activities from 9am to 9pm. There is a wide range for us to choose from, including raft building, problem solving, zip wire, craft activities and archery
The cost of the trip is £210 per learner. This includes transport to and from the centre, board, lodgings and the cost of all the activities and can be paid in installments. Your child will bring home a letter with further details of payment and how to book. A copy of which can be found here
Year 8 – No specific Information
Year 9
Year 9 – Getting Ready for KS4 Residential Trip to Lockerbie Manor, 11 -13 July 2018.
We are excited to be able to inform you, that we are organising our Getting Ready for KS4 Residential Trip to Lockerbie Manor in Scotland, for all of Year 9.
This is a fantastic opportunity for Year 9 learners to consolidate skills developed during the foundation year and to develop new skills to ensure they are fully equipped for the challenges of key stage 4. It will also be an ideal opportunity for learners in Year 9, to experience new and different activities and challenges, encouraging them to start KS4 with a focus on making good progress throughout their KS4 curriculum.
Lockerbie Manor offers a very valuable learning experience, setting learners a challenging programme of activities which go far beyond what learners experience during a normal school day. The activities available for learners on the trip will have real focus on team building, resilience and challenging yourself. All of which are vital skills as we embark on GCSE and BTEC courses. Activities are yet to be finalised, however some of the activities that may be on offer include abseiling, dragon boating, high ropes and obstacle courses, orienteering and survival skills.
The cost of the trip is £230. This includes transport to and from Lockerbie, all activities planned and full-board accommodation at Lockerbie Manor.
Your child will bring home a letter with further details of payment and how to book. A copy of which can be found here
Year 10
Year 10 – KS4 Residential Lockerbie Manor, 25 – 27 June 2018
This year we will be running our first KS4 Residential Trip to Lockerbie Manor in Scotland, for all of Year 10.
This is a fantastic opportunity for Year 10 learners to reflect upon how their first year of GCSE has gone and to build and develop skills they will need moving forward into year 11. It will also be an ideal opportunity for learners in Year 10, to experience new and different activities and challenges, encouraging them to continue their KS4 study with a focus on making good progress.
Lockerbie Manor offers a very valuable learning experience, setting learners a challenging programme of activities which go far beyond what learners experience during a normal school day. The activities available for learners on the trip will have real focus on team building, resilience and challenging yourself, all of which are vital skills as we embark on GCSE and BTEC courses. Activities are yet to be finalised, however some of the activities that may be on offer include abseiling, dragon boating, high ropes and obstacle courses, orienteering and survival skills.
The cost of the trip is £215. This includes transport to and from Lockerbie, all activities planned and full-board accommodation at Lockerbie Manor.
Your child will bring home a letter with further details of payment and how to book. A copy of which can be found here.
Year 11- No specific information
Make sure that you come along to our College Open Evening on Thursday 5 October between 6pm and 8.00pm to visit what has become the college of choice for East Warrington.
At Birchwood College we have a wide range of courses to choose from, all of which are tailored to suit individual students needs and requirements. We work hard to create a really positive working environment for learning and our caring staff are aware of the importance of an excellent relationship between teacher and student.
Recently identified by OFSTED as a ‘good college with high quality provision which is both inclusive and aspirational’ and with results for 2016 of 83% of students meeting or exceeding their target grades in both A level and BTEC level 3 course and a 98% pass rate at A Level. Going forward 95% of our students were accepted by their first choice University.
Come along to visit us. Meet our staff and students, look at our facilities and find out why we really are the College ‘where you matter’.
Other School information
View your child’s information on your mobile phone or tablet, a great new way to keep in touch.
We are pleased to announce the launch of a new service to make communications between school and home quicker, easier and more effective.
You will be able to view information about your child or children securely on your mobile phone or tablet using the Groupcall Xpressions app.
Once you are set up you will be able to see information such as:
Free messages sent by the school delivered to the app
Attendance and absence information
Attitude to learning (“ATL”) scores for each lesson.
Daily/Weekly timetable information
The app is completely free of charge to you and supports Apple iOS and Android devices (with Windows mobile to follow).
In order to use the app school must have your correct mobile number and email address on our school system. Forms are available from the school office to check and update your details or you can simply email them to the school. You’ll need to make sure you keep these details up to date in future to maintain access to the service.
You can download the app by searching for “Xpressions” in the App Store or on Google Play. Once the app is downloaded, simply follow the on screen instructions.
We hope that you take advantage of this new service, which has replaced our ParentsLive system. If you have any issues or need to know more please contact Mr O’Reilly here at school on aoreilly@birchwoodhigh.org or click here
Children on site out of school hours
As a Community School, we welcome clubs and booked activities to use our facilities and school grounds outside the school day. We have become aware though that there are groups of both learners and ex learners on site in the evenings. Please make your child aware that learners are only allowed on site after the school day, if they are part of an organised and booked group. Thank you for your co-operation.
School Nurse: Please note that the school nurse comes into school every Wednesday from 12.15- 1.30pm and is available in the BSR Mentoring Room if any learners or students have any health related issues they would like to discuss.
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