Birchwood Update 8/1/2018
- Josie Evans
- Jan 8, 2018
- 9 min read
Birchwood Update week Commencing 8/1/18
Mrs Bryan and all at Birchwood Community High School would like to wish you all a very happy and successful New Year.
We hope that you had a restful Christmas break returning feeling invigorated and ready to work hard in 2018.
At Birchwood, we have high aspirations for all our learners and with your help let’s work together to make 2018 a year where each and every one of us will be successful in our own way.
An important date for your diary
This Thursday 11 January, school will close early to learners at 2pm for staff training as part of our School Improvement Plan. The school office will also close at 2pm on this day. College students may wish to stay in the college to work independently on their studies.
Your child should have brought home a letter before the holidays with regard to this closure, which may also be found here
Three of our Music student will go on to study at the best !
we are really proud to announce that 3 of our Year 13s have secured places to study at the highly prestigious Royal Northern College of Music which is a fantastic achievement .
A very well done to goes Hayden Astley, James Harper and Nathan Peers who have all gained a coveted place to study B Mus (Hons) in Popular Music. The course is four years with the final year being on placement with music professionals from all over the world. Each student has their own specialist area of study. Hayden will study guitar, James bass and Nathan drums.
Carol Walsh, Head of Performing Arts said of the boys success " This is a stunning achievement given the fierce competition that the boys faced during the application and process. To get one student in the Royal Northern College of Music would have been fantastic but to have all three students successfully gain a place is absolutely phenomenal. In the whole of my career I can't remember being so proud. all three students have worked incredibly hard and thoroughly deserve their success."
All three boys, when asked how they felt about their success said that they were incredibly excited to start on their course but would be so sorry to leave Birchwood College as without the college and the help and support of both Ms Walsh and Mr McCabe none of this would have been possible. They are so grateful to the college for launching them on this wonderful road to success.
Don't miss the opportunity to visit the best college in east Warrington
On the evening of 18 January, we will be holding our second college Open Evening. If you haven’t visited Birchwood College yet or you have more questions, please join us between 6-8pm. Mr Burrows, Head of college will give a short presentation at 6pm.
Staff and students will be available to discuss courses and any other queries so come along and see why our student are so happy and successful.
Christmas Theme Day, Friday 22 Dec
On Friday 22 December, our last day of term, we supported supporting St Rocco’s Hospice by holding a Christmas Theme Day. Learners were invited to wear one piece of clothing that had a Christmas theme. The school was awash with reindeers, elves and Christmas pudding jumpers!
We raised almost £200. Thank you to all those who supported this worthy cause.
Whole school reward trip, Ice skating and bowling
All those who joined in with the whole reward trip, prior to Christmas had a brilliant time. Both venues commented on the good behaviour of our learners and as always we were proud to take them out and they were proud to represent us
Please see our gallery tab for a more photos
Year 13 Musical showcase.
Thanks to everyone who attended our Year 13 Musical Showcase on Wednesday 20 December it was a fantastic evening. The talent on show was brilliant with our young stars performing from The Eagles, The Darkness, Duran Duran and Oasis.
The house was packed and they were dancing in the aisles. At one stage, we had a rogue performer as Mr Burnham thought he could add to the occasion, but we soon got him off!
Our next performance to look forward to will be the Year 12 showcase on Valentine’s Day. More details to follow nearer the date.
A colourful fundraiser for the Media trip to New York
At the start of November, we reported that one of our College students, Faye in 13DS, who will be going on the trip, made a permanent pledge to raise money by collecting sponsorship to dye her hair in rainbow colours in readiness for the visit. Well Faye was true to her word and as you can see from the photograph, she really went for it. Faye, thankfully loves her new hair and has managed to raise a cool £ 160 towards extras for those going on the trip in February. Faye also has outstanding pledges so if you have not paid your sponsorship please see her in college or hand into college reception for her attention.
In total, so far, Mr Hamilton and helpers are on target to hit the £1000 raised before they go.
Mock Results
Year 11 will receive their mock results in one go on Tuesday 16 January 2018. This will mimic GCSE Results Day, in effect giving learners a taste of what will happen in August when they receive their actual set of results.
The Youth Health Champions receive an award for their hard work
In light of their recent work on a guidance campaign regarding sexual health for young people, our Youth Health Champions attended Connect at the Gateway centre in Warrington (formerly known as the Youth Advice Shop). Here they were able to go on a tour of the recently refurbished clinic and also recorded a video to show young people what they could expect if they were to attend. This, hopefully, will allay the fears of anyone needing help from Connect and enable them to more confidently ask for help.
The Youth Health champions have been working on lots of campaigns including anti-bullying and support networks in and outside schools.
As a culmination to all their activities, they attended Appleton College at Bridgewater High School where they were presented with an award, which is the equivalent to a GCSE, for all their hard work and commitment in taking part in the initiative.
Be Active at BCHS
In a bid to offer learners some meaningful pastimes during lunchtimes in these cold months, staff have offered their lunchtime to provide a varied timetable of lunchtime clubs from music and relaxation to dodgeball. We hope that there will be something for everyone to take part in and that learners will benefit from having the opportunity to do something meaningful or learn something new during the school day.
For a full timetable of clubs see here
Year 7
Year 7 Residential Trip to Conwy Centre, Wednesday 18 to Friday 20 April 2018
Payment installments are due on the following dates:
7 November 2017
6 February 2018
6 March 2018
3 April 2018
Year 8 - No specific information
Year 9
For Your information : Year 9 reports were posted home on Friday 22 December
Year 9 Introduction to GCSE Ethics Philosophy and Religion Day, 11 January 2018
On Thursday, we are excited to be holding our first Ethics, Philosophy and Religion day for our Year 9 learners. This will be a unique day to explore world views of three religions and get a glimpse in what it means to be a member of these three communities.
On the day, learners will have workshops delivered by a Humanist speaker, a Christian youth group and a Sikh educational charity. We have also been invited to visit our local Sikh Gurdwara in Latchford.
This will be a wonderful opportunity for learners embarking on their GCSE in this subject.
Getting Ready for KS4 Residential Trip to Lockerbie Manor 11 -13 July 2018.
Payment instalments are due on the following dates:
6 February 2018
6 March 2018
3 April 2018
Year 10
A message from our English Department
York notes revision guides will be available to purchase through the school shop on the school’s website, here, from Monday 4th December. All guides are priced at £2.40 each and learners will be able to collect the revision guides from their English teachers.
For Year 10 classes the guides required are:
A Christmas Carol
Blood Brothers
Macbeth
Getting Ready for KS4 Residential Trip to Lockerbie Manor 11 -13 July 2018.
Payment instalments are due on the following dates:
6 February 2018
6 March 2018
3 April 2018
Year 11
Mock Results
Year 11 will receive their mock results in one go on Tuesday 16 January 2018. This will mimic GCSE Results Day, in effect giving learners a taste of what will happen in August when they receive their actual set of results.
A message from our English Department
York notes revision guides will be available to purchase through the school shop on the school’s website, here, from Monday 4th December. All guides are priced at £2.40 each and learners will be able to collect the revision guides from their English teachers.
For Year 10 classes the guides required are:
A Christmas Carol
Blood Brothers
Romeo and Juliet
Birchwood College -
Other School information:
We would like to hear your views about our school so we can share these with OFSTED
We are asking for your support so that we are aware of your views about our school. It will also help us to prepare for our next OFSTED visit which is due this academic year. Thank you t
o all parents and carers who have already filled the online form in. We have had 18 responses so far and all parents have said that their children feel safe and happy at school. We would love more views though! Please read and fill in the online form below.
Parent View is an online facility launched by Ofsted in October 2011 that allows parents and carers to give their views about their child’s school at any time of the school year. The questionnaire is also the main mechanism for parents to give their views to inspectors about their child’s school at the time of a school inspection. If you are a registered parent or carer of a pupil at the school, you can tell us your views about the school by completing Ofsted’s online survey here
Admissions Consultation
We are consulting on our admissions arrangements for academic year 2019-20. Our proposal is to maintain the existing arrangements with the exception of a change to the Published Admission Number (PAN). The PAN is currently 210 across Year 7 to Year 11 at the school and our intention is to reduce this to 170 for Year 7 for academic year 2019/2020 and for all subsequent years.
The consultation runs from Friday 10 November 2017 to Friday 22 December 2017.
If you would like to send a response or make a comment please either email or write to the addresses below:
Write to: Admissions Consultation
Birchwood Community High School
Brock Road, Birchwood
Warrington, Cheshire, WA3 7PT.
Visit here where you will find our draft admissions policy. Alternatively, you can contact the school office who can supply a paper copy of the draft policy.
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
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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