Birchwood Update 18/3/2019
- Josie Evans
- Mar 19, 2019
- 10 min read
Birchwood Update week Commencing 18/3/2019
Important dates for your diary:
20 - 22 March – Year 7 residential trip to Menai
25 – 27 March – Year 13 mocks
28 – 31 March - Year 8 Residential trip to France
4 April – Year 7 Performance Review Evening
21 May – KS3 show – Matilda, 7pm, Performing Arts Centre
14 June – Year 11’s last day in school. See Year 11 section below for more details
4 July – Year 11 Prom at Hallmark Warrington
Important Information for parents regarding behavioural changes to our after school detention and On Track policy
Learners have been informed that starting from today, Tuesday 19 March there will be some changes to policy.
After school detentions will now be given 24 hours notice, enabling parents to plan ahead and fit with busy home schedules. The detention will take place in M13.
On Track will now start at 8.45am and finish at 4pm.
As ever, we thank you for working together with us on these changes.
BCHS does our bit for Comic Relief
Thank you to everyone who supported our Comic Relief non-uniform day. With your help we raised an amazing £823 which is to be divided between Comic Relief, Cancer Research UK and Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Learners really had a lot to be amused about as our staff went to town with a fancy dress surprise for them. The office staff provided their usual service dressed as Oompa Lumpas, and lessons were taught by cowgirls, 60s hippies and members of the Adams Family to mention but a few. Learners were also surprised to see our SLT Team, including Mrs Bryan dressed as rebellious learners!
Learners also had the opportunity, for a donation, to throw wet sponges at Mr Burnham and Mrs Jones, which proved popular with learners and staff. The pair were literally soaked to the skin.
There was also an ever popular cake sale organised by the learner officers that was a big success and raised over £100.
It was a really happy day in school and we are grateful for your support in making it such a success.
Our rowers make us proud again
Last Tuesday our Year 8 Oarsome Club rowers took part in the Cheshire School Games indoor rowing competition organised by British Rowing in conjunction with Cheshire and Warrington Sport Alliance.
Schools from Chester, Ellesmere Port, Warrington, Macclesfield, Sandbach, Crewe and Nantwich took part in the competition.
We entered learners in the Year 8 category in individual and relay categories.
In the Individual races for both boys and girls, competitors had 3 minutes to see who could row the furthest. We are proud to announce that Amy G took first place in the girl’s race with a comfortable lead out of a field of 32 competitors and in the boys race Evan W came third from 28 competitors, just missing second place by 1 point.
In the relay category, teams of four rowers competed over 2,000 meters using one machine and changing over during the race. We are happy to announce that The BCHS girls’ team took third place.
Amy and Evan also qualified to represent school and Warrington Youth Rowing in London last Friday, to compete in this year's National Junior Indoor Rowing Competition (NJIRC). After a hard day’s rowing on Tuesday, which resulted in a sore knee for Amy, the team set off for London bright and early on Friday morning.
The competition was hard with a very small representation from the north of England. Amy and Evan competed alongside teams from London, Oxford and Plymouth with long held rowing histories and no shortage of money ploughed into rowing training. But we are so proud of our rowers who did fantastically well.
Amy, against 196 other rowers, came ninth, and Evan, out of the same field, came twenty second.
Though both learners were disappointed to not bring home a medal, they had a fantastic day and really were a credit to our school, Warrington, and northern rowing.
Year 9 win the ‘Best Contribution’ prize at Chester University Climate Day event
Last Wednesday, 15 year 9 learners took part in an event to celebrate Action for Climate Week 2019, hosted at Chester University. The event was closely linked to aspects of the GCSE course and was interactive and engaging.
Learners took part in a fun filled afternoon with a wide range of activities to help understand the threats to our world and how to reduce our impact on the planet. Activity themes included water contamination, sea defences, carbon crisis and extreme weather.
We are proud to announce that Birchwood learners were awarded the ‘Best Contribution’ prize for really getting engaged in the activities and contributing some great ideas and opinions.
Well done to all the learners who took part.
Foodbank Friday
In our continued commitment to support the Warrington Foodbank, helping them provide for those in need in the Warrington Community, we are asking you to look through your cupboards or add a couple of extra items to your food shop this week and send them into school for Foodbank Friday.
All items will be gratefully received. A list of items urgently needed is below.
Keeping your child safe
This week during their Learning for Life lessons, your child will be watching a really valuable video about Railway Safety. There are too many accident throughout the year in Britain involving young people being killed or severely injured on train lines. With a major train line on our doorstop, please make sure your child does not become another statistic and put their life, literally, on the line.
A copy of the video which we ask you to watch with your child can be found on our website here
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 4/3/19
Well done to the learners below who were selected as 'Learners of the Week' by the science and languages departments
Year 7
Have a great time Year 7
On Wednesday a hundred learners from Year 7 will be setting off on their first residential trip with BCHS as they head to Menai in Anglesey for a fun packed adventure experience at the Conway Centre. Judging on feedback from previous trips there they will have a fantastic time and hopefully the weather will be fine for them.
For those who are not going on the trip, there is a packed timetable of activities and lessons. Learners will be given a timetable including a full day media day on Wednesday with Mr Hamilton. Learners will also need to make sure that they have their PE kits with them on Friday.
Year 7 Performance Review Evening Thursday 4 April 3.30pm – 7.00pm
This event gives you the opportunity to speak with your child’s subject staff to discuss progress and achievement at a vital stage in their school life.
Your child should have brought home a letter regarding booking an appointment, which you can also find here. We hope to see you all on the evening.
Year 8 - No specific information
Year 9
Holly J delivers a Street Dance masterclass
Our Year 9 Dance class had a great opportunity last week as they took part in a Street Dance workshop with talented dance teacher and DJ, Holly J.
The girls had a fantastic time following Holly’s moves and really learnt a lot from her which I’m sure the girls and Mrs Burrows will take forward for when they next perform for us.
Year 9 Vaccinations
Thank you to those of you who have returned the forms for your child to receive DTP and Meningitis ACWY vaccinations . If you still have the form for your child please return it to the school office as soon as possible. Vaccinations will take place for boys and girls on the mornings of Tuesday 2 April and Wednesday 3 April.
Year 10 - No specific information
Year 11
Year 11 Leaver’s Prom, Thursday 4 July 2019
We do hope that your child will join us for what will be a fantastic final celebration of their time at BCHS.
The Prom will be at the Hallmark Hotel (formerly the Fir Grove) on Thursday 4 July. Learners will enjoy a mocktail on arrival, a three-course meal and then a disco. Return travel by coach from school is included in the price. There will be a professional photographer present during the evening who is offering an optional prepaid value package so that you have a special memento of the evening. We are also offering the chance to purchase a BCHS keepsake printed hoodie
For full details and how to order, you can find a copy of the Prom letter, which has been given to your child here.
A date for your Diary.Year 11 last day in school, Friday 14 June 2019
For your information, the last day that your child will be in school is Friday 14 June. On that day there will be a science examination in the morning followed by our Leavers Celebration Assembly.
Please be aware however, that there are still 2 GCSE examinations after this date - German on 17 June and Polish on 19 June.
More details will be sent out nearer the time.
2019 Examinations
A full timetable of all summer examinations has been released and can be found on our website here
Results days 2019
A level/BTEC - Thursday 15 August 2019
GCSE/BTEC – Thursday 22 August 2019
More details will follow with regard to collecting your child’s results nearer the date.
Birchwood College
2019 Examinations
A full timetable of all summer examinations has been released and can be found on our website here
Results days 2019
A level/BTEC - Thursday 15 August 2019
GCSE/BTEC – Thursday 22 August 2019
More details will follow with regard to collecting your child’s results nearer the date.
Other School information:
Please support us in ensuring that our facilities are the best they can be
Please be aware of rules regarding learners being on the school site outside school hours.
Some damage has been caused to the site and a learner has been hurt trying to climb over the fencing. We would like to remind you that learners are not allowed on the school site at any time unless they are with a member of staff. The rule about this is below:
Unless there is a member of staff running a special extra-curricular activity, the school site is out of bounds for all learners on weekdays after school clubs have finished (usually after 4.30pm) and at weekends and during school holidays.
Please support us by making you child aware of this rule so that our facilities are the best they can be for us to use in school time and for the community to book and use out of school hours.
Thank you for your support in this matter
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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