Birchwood Update 1/4/2019
- Josie Evans
- Apr 1, 2019
- 9 min read
Birchwood Update week Commencing 1/4/2019
Important dates for your diary:
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
An invitation to our assembly
On Friday we will finish for the holidays at our normal time as we celebrate Easter in our assembly which will take place during period 5.
Parents and carers are welcome to join us in the sports centre at 2pm for the assembly which will be a celebration of Easter and a very busy half term.
Mrs Bryan, staff, and governors would like to wish learners and their families a happy and restful break and look forward to seeing learners rested and invigorated when we start back on Tuesday 23 April at 8.45am
The sun shone on a fabulous occasion to mark the opening of our new 3G pitch.
After a misty start to Friday the sun finally broke through the clouds to create the perfect day for our official opening ceremony for our new 3G pitch.
The day stared with a gathering for coffee for our visitors, who included representatives from the FA, governors and staff and our visitors of honour the Mayor of Warrington, Tony Smith, Senior Development Officer with Liverpool County FA and our very own James Chester, an ex-learners at BCHS who plays professional football for Aston Villa and Wales.
The Mayor spoke to the group and commented on the enthusiasm of our learners who were at the ready to demonstrate their football skills. We were also addressed by Mrs Bryan and Tony Smith on behalf of the FA.
The ceremonial ribbon cutting was performed by James Chester and then after a few photos it was time to see both our talented young footballers and their new pitch in action.
The learners gave a demonstration of their skills whilst trying not to be too in awe at being watched by James Chester, who was really supportive of the efforts.
The party then moved on to a lovely light buffet prepared by Mrs Gorton and her team plus some really hearty sausage butties for our hungry learners!
Thanks must really go at this point to James who really took the time to both chat to our learners and also sign each and every learners’ shirt. Afterwards the learners had enormous praise for James as they pronounced him a ‘top bloke’.
Thank you to everyone involved in the organisation of this event which was the perfect opportunity to see why our mottos is ‘Pride in our school’ and Team BIRCHwood are so true.
Celebrate the end of term with the Wolves
To celebrate the Easter holidays, the Warrington Wolves are offering child tickets for £1 and adult tickets for £5 for their game against London Broncos this Friday 5 April. To take advantage of this fantastic offer, all you need to do is print the form here and bring it into the club shop before 4pm on Thursday, 4 April.
What a fantastic start to the holidays.
Keeping your child safe
The number of learners cycling to school has increased now that the weather is good and of course during the coming holiday learners will have more time to play out on their bikes. This is fantastic for learners’ fitness but it is important that they are following the correct rules for cycle safety.
Sustrans provide some great safety advice to encourage young people to enjoy the freedom of cycling whilst staying safe. The site can be found here
A long awaited football tour is ready to depart.
On Thursday, yet another international residential trip sets off as 45 football mad learners from years 8, 9 and 10 take the football tour of a lifetime to Real Madrid. The learners who you may remember recently took part in a sponsored ‘Road to Madrid’ event to raise money for kit are all kitted up now and raring to go.
The tour will give learners the opportunity to play football in a European setting as they take part in three training sessions at Real Madrid’s first team training complex and play two fixtures against Spanish opposition. They will also have a day trip to Parque Warner Theme Park and a tour round the famous Bernabeu stadium.
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 25/3/19
Well done to the learners below who were selected as 'Learners of the Week' by the science and English departments
Year 7
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
A fantastic time in France
This year’s French trip for our year 8 learners was a huge success, with learners and staff having a great time across the channel.
They set off early last Friday morning for their channel tunnel crossing to France, arriving safely at their chateau in Normandy in time for a traditional French cooked dinner.
On day two, learners explored the cultural aspects of rural France with a visit to a French bakery, and a goat farm. Learners took the opportunity to feed and pet the goats and sample some delicious French cheeses. They also had the chance to use their French language skills when they stopped off to do a little shopping at a hypermarket. After dinner at the chateaux that evening, learners rolled their own French crêpes and took part in karaoke.
Then came the day that everyone was looking forward to, the trip to Disneyland. The day was perfect and Learners had a full day to explore the park and try out the rides.
Thanks to Mrs Kellard, and all the staff who supported her, for arranging a great trip. Above all, thanks to our learners, who as usual, made us proud.
Year 9
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 have the opportunity to consider their state of mind
In their assembly last week, Year 11 had a mental fitness workshop with the charity ‘State of Mind’ which was founded in 2011 after the tragic suicide of the rugby player Terry Newton after a period of severe depression.
Ian and Will, who presented the workshop, stressed to learners that mental health is as important as physical health, but much more difficult to express and diagnose. And that good mental health will automatically lead to your own level of peak performance.
Learners looked at wellbeing, heathy mind and body, and helping a mate, obviously with a slant toward upcoming examination stress.
Top tips for coping with exam stress were:
Do something you enjoy.
Get active
Talk about how you feel. Don’t bottle it up.
Ask for help.
Keep in touch with friends.
Take a break when the pressure is on.
Pick a positive moment from each day
And above all accept who YOU are and try to be the best version of yourself.
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.
留言