Birchwood Update 4/3/2019
- Josie Evans
- Mar 4, 2019
- 9 min read
Birchwood Update week Commencing 4/3/2019
Important dates for your diary:
6 March – BCHS Careers Fair for all year groups
11 March – 14 March - Year 11 Core Mock Exams
15 March – Comic Relief Non Uniform Day
18 March, 6-7pm in M1 – Year 8 meeting for parents of those attending the upcoming French trip
20 - 22 March – Year 7 residential trip to Menai
The UKMT Challenge results are in!
At the beginning of February, our most able mathematicians from Years 9 and 10 took part in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge. This is a countrywide challenge open to promising mathematicians from across the UK. We are delighted to announce that we have had great success in the competition.
In Year 9, congratulations go to Eliza Piskor, who achieved a gold certificate. Silver was achieved by both Molly Jones and Jacob Dunn and bronze by Harrison Boyle, Keerthi Mahesh, Phoebe Shovelton, Joshua Carroll, Bessie Fitzpatrick, Charlie Wolstencroft, Frank Waywell and Sinead Sutton.
Eliza has also qualified to complete the more challenging Grey Kangaroo heat in a few weeks’ time.
In Year 10, Jacob Binks achieved gold and Isabelle Messenger, Erika Strong and Scarlett Dennen took bronze.
Well done to the certificate winners and to everyone who took part in the challenge and good luck to Eliza for her next challenge.
Keeping your child safe
Fears about the online Momo Challenge – advice for parents
Over the last few weeks in our Safeguarding for Parents section, we have been covering the subjects of self-harm and suicidal thoughts amongst young people. The latest new phenomena which has hit the headlines is the Momo Challenge.
This is a social media craze amongst young people, which has also been linked to a number of suicides and is similar to the Blue Whale challenge.
Children are encouraged to send a message to an unknown number on WhatsApp. The owner of this number then sends back the image of Momo, with a warning, if the following tasks and requests are not complied with, then Momo will come after the receiver of the challenge, or they will have the curse of Momo put on them. The tasks and requests involve watching violently graphic content and instructions, which may commence with an act of self-harm, but ultimately led on to a threatened visit from Momo, unless the person takes their own life.
Please speak to your children about this craze and reassure them that Momo is not real. If they are contacted please report and block the site. For full detail on the Momo craze and advice for parents see here.
3G Pitch Update
On the subject of football, we are delighted to announce that our brand new 3G pitch is now up and running. We plan to make the most of this state of the art facility for our whole community. We will be using it for PE lessons and the pitch will be open at lunchtime for learner’s use, so if your children have moulded stud boots encourage them to bring them in, to really get the best out of this fantastic resource.
The pitch will is also available to the local community to rent in the evenings and at weekends. Please contact School Lettings Solutions on birchwoodhigh@schoollettings.org or telephone 01925 541 441 for more details.
Fair trade fortnight is back
The ever-popular fair trade tuck shop is back! It will be outside the college entrance at break time until Friday 8 March!
There will be ethically produced treats such as chocolate, cereal bars, juice and other fair trade items available.
A date for your diary - Comic Relief Day, 15 March
On Friday 15 March we will be fundraising with the nation as we join in with Comic Relief Day. Learners will be invited to wear their own clothes for a donation of £1. The money collected with be divided between the Comic Relief charity and Cancer Research UK.
Our Learner Officers will also be organising a cake sale to take place on the day, so if you are a keen baker and would like to support us by sending in some cakes, they will be gratefully received.
Planning for your future and setting goals. It’s never too early.
At Birchwood, we firmly believe that success comes through careful thought and planning and to support this on Wednesday 6 March we will be holding a Careers Fair in school for years 7 to 13.
The aim is to raise awareness of education and training opportunities and the vast range of jobs and careers available to our learners.
As well as our own College, with our last set of results being our best ever and our applied qualifications attaining significantly above the national average, we have invited other local colleges, universities and companies who offer apprenticeships to come along and have a stand.
We are looking forward to welcoming representatives from: Chester University, Edge Hill University, Manchester Metropolitan University, UA92, Gleeds, Balfour Beatty, NHS, the Army, Navy and RAF, White Rose Beauty College, Warrington Vale Royal College, UTC, Myerscough College, Reaseheath College, Ask Apprenticeships, Warrington Youth Club, Sellafield, Wood Plc, Park Royal Hotels, Bam Nuttall, Everton Football College, Simian Risk, Jacobs, Bridgewater Health Care and Morrisons supermarkets plc.
Please encourage your child to make the best of this opportunity by talking to as many exhibitors as possible because it is never too early to think about a possible career path and putting yourself ahead of the competition.
If you are a parent or carer and work for an organisation which would like to be represented then please get in touch with our Careers Adviser Mrs R Morris at rmorris@birchwoodhigh.org
Warrington Apprenticeship and Jobs Fair for Years 11, 12 and 13
Learners and students from years 11, 12 and 13 are invited to come along to the Warrington Apprenticeships and Jobs Fair. The fair will take place on:
Date: Thursday 7th March 2019 Time: 6pm – 9pm Venue: The Centre, Birchwood Park, WA3 6YN
Over 30 top North West employers will be looking to meet you to discuss their current vacancies. Exhibitors with career opportunities in a variety of sectors such as:
Accountancy
Business Administration
Construction
Customer Services
Design
Engineering
Health & Social Care
Hospitality & Catering
HR
IT & Communications
Logistics
Marketing
Don’t miss out. Register for your place at this event here
A great new service for learners who are also young carers
Are you a young carer or do you know someone who is?
Do you or a young person that you know look after someone with a disability, mental health condition, illness or addiction?
If so, there is someone to talk to and offer help and guidance.
Come along to our monthly drop in at the Willows meeting room. For dates, see the poster and any more information speak to Mr Crompton.
Extra-curricular timetable
Please take a look at our extracurricular timetable to see what great activities are available for your child to take part in both after school and at lunchtime .
Learners of the Week - wc 25/2/19
Well done to the learners below who were selected as 'Learners of the Week' by the English and languages departments
Year 7
Year 7 Residential Trip to Conwy Centre, Wednesday 20 to Friday 22 March 2019
Before we know it, Year 7 will be setting off on their first residential visit with BCHS. To make things easier for parents and answer all those questions that you may have, we have prepared a booklet outlining everything that you need to know to prepare for the trip. A copy has been sent home with your child and a copy can be found here.
Year 8
Year 8 French Language Cultural Tour, Normandy, Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 March 2019
As the year 8 France residential approaches, we invite parents and carers to a short meeting which will take place on Monday 18 March from 6-7pm in the M1.
This meeting will give you the opportunity to meet with some of the members of staff that will be accompanying learners on the trip as well as discussing the following points;
Preparing your child for a trip abroad
Behaviour expectations
Itinerary
Accommodation
This meeting will also give you the opportunity to ask any questions that you may have about the trip.
For a copy of the letter inviting you to this event see here
Year 9 - No specific information
Year 10 - No specific information
Year 11
Year 11 Core Mock Exams, Monday 11 March – Thursday 14 March
Year 11 learners are rapidly approaching their GCSE exams, and to support their preparation further we have arranged mock exams in the core subjects, English, Maths and Science. These exams will be completed under exam conditions; are a good test to measure how much progress learners have made, and will support them with their revision planning during the build up to the final GCSE exams. The timetable for these exams is here. Prior to these exams however, learners will receive individual timetables which detail the rooms they have been allocated for each exam and their seat numbers.
Next steps for Year 11 -Why not visit the Warrington Apprenticeship and jobs fair ?
Date: Thursday 7th March 2019 Time: 6pm – 9pm Venue: The Centre, Birchwood Park, WA3 6YN
Over 30 top North West employers will be looking to meet you to discuss their current vacancies.
Don’t miss out. Register for your place at this event here
If your son/daughter requires a careers interview to discuss post 16 plans please contact our Careers Adviser, Mrs R Morris rmorris@birchwoodhigh.org
Birchwood College
Looking to the Future and next steps for Years 12 and 13, why not visit the Warrington Apprenticeship and jobs fair?
Date: Thursday 7th March 2019 Time: 6pm – 9pm Venue: The Centre, Birchwood Park, WA3 6YN
Over 30 top North West employers will be looking to meet you to discuss their current vacancies.
Don’t miss out. Register for your place at this event here
If your son/daughter requires a careers interview to discuss post 16 plans please contact our Careers Adviser, Mrs R Morris rmorris@birchwoodhigh.org
Other School information:
Keeping in touch gets even easier with the introduction of the Xpressions website
We are pleased to announce that Groupcall Xpressions is now available to access on your computer via a website. The login page can be found here.
This gives you a further way, as well as accessing the APP on your mobile phone and tablet, to view information about your child
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
Xpressions is completely free of charge to you and supports Apple iOS, Android devices and now Windows operating system.
In order to use the Xpressions, 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 will need to make sure you keep these details up to date in future to maintain access to the service.
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
Mobile Phones, Earphones and Speakers in school.
Phones and headphones may be brought in to school but must be kept in bags or zipped in blazer pockets out of view at all times. Learners must not use phones at any time on the site between the bells at 8.50 and 3.00pm unless they are asked to do so by a teacher in a lesson for a reason that is related to learning. In this case, the teacher will issue instructions on the use of phones or headphones, which must then be followed. If a phone is out during the school day, even to check the time, this will be confiscated. There is a staged system of sanctions and mobile phones, earphones and speakers are counted as identical items. If you think a learner is using a smart watch in the same way as a mobile phone, please speak to their Year Team Leader or Year Team Officer.
If a learner is concerned about an issue at home and feels they need to speak to a parent, they need to go to the Year Team Office and discuss this with Year Team Officer. Staff should confiscate mobile technology items that are visible and in use during the times specified. They should be taken to the school office. The system of sanctions are:
Stage 1 - First offence
The item is confiscated and locked in the school safe
The item is collected by the learner at the end of the day
One behaviour point is issued by the Office
Stage 2 - Second offence
The item is confiscated and locked in the school safe
The item is collected by the learner at the end of the day
One behaviour points issued by the Office
Stage 3 - Third Offence
The item is confiscated and locked in the school safe
Parents/carers are informed and asked to collect the phone at the end of the school day
One behaviour points is issued by the Office.
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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