Birchwood Update 8/7/2019
- Josie Evans
- Jul 8, 2019
- 10 min read
Birchwood Update week Commencing 8/7/2019
Important dates for your diary:
9 July – Year 7 Celebration Evening, 6.30 – 7.30pm
11 July - Year 8 Celebration Evening, 6.30 – 7.30pm
16 July - Year 9 Celebration Evening, 6.30 – 7.30pm
17 July – KS3 show – Matilda, 7pm, Performing Arts Centre.
18 July - Year 10 Celebration Evening, 6.30 – 7.30pm
15 August – College Results Day, see message in relevant section below.
22 August – School Results Day, see message in relevant section below.
Come and join us to Celebrate this academic year
We invite parents and carers to share in your child's success at our end of year celebration evenings. An evening of entertainment and awards.
The evenings will be held on:
YEAR 7 -TUESDAY 9 JULY, 6.30PM YEAR 8 - THURSDAY 11 JULY, 6.30PM YEAR 9 - TUESDAY 16 JULY, 6.30PM YEAR 10 - THURSDAY 18 JULY, 6.30PM
ALL EVENTS TAKE PLACE IN THE PERFORMING ARTS BLOCK
We would love to see you all there.
Year 8 BCHS Oarsome rowers are a credit to themselves and our school
It is with great pride that we can announce that our Year 8 Oarsome rowers shone at the final Oarsome regatta last Tuesday against 8 other local Warrington schools.
The whole team were awarded The Roger Chicken Memorial Trophy for “The best performance across all areas throughout the year”, with BCHS as standout winners from all judges.
Evan and Amy were also standout winners as they both took Gold medals for their doubles rowing.
Richard Sinnott, coach and Head of Youth Rowing for Warrington Rowing Club said of Amy “Amy was by far the best young lady rower across all schools. Her enthusiasm and dedication was a delight to see. Please pass on my thoughts to her. I do hope we can keep her rowing next year after this fabulous experience.”
Congratulations to all the BCHS Oarsome team on your success and also well done to those involved in making it possible for our learners to take up this fantastic extra-curricular opportunity, especially Mrs Swift and Mr Johnson who have worked so hard taking and coaching the children each week.
What a wonderful end to Year 11s time at Birchwood!
Last Thursday was our Year 11 Prom and what a terrific evening it was. The sun shone but thankfully, there was a gentle breeze as we celebrated the evening at the Hallmark Hotel Warrington. Our young people looked wonderful and a fantastic time was had by all who attended.
Mocktails were served on arrival, and then attendees enjoyed a delicious meal. After dinner, learners and staff danced the night away before returning to school by coach at midnight.
As usual, our learners were a credit to us with many other visitors at the hotel commenting on how polite and pleasant they were.
A mention must go to Poppy Lawson who unfortunately missed prom as she was selected for England Ladies Football U16s to compete in the Nordic tournament in Sweden. Good Luck Poppy.
Thank you to all the parents who turned up both at school and at the venue to support the occasion.
Official Prom Photography
For those who purchased Photographs from our Official Prom Photographer Ben Unwin please see details from him below to access your Free digital downloads
Link for FREE digital downloads, and/or to purchase prints, password is: 6783
https://www.benunwinphotography.co.uk/2019-Photography-Clients/Birchwood-Prom-2019
Whilst viewing individual photos, students and parents can either download them as high quality images for free by selecting the download icon found bottom right of image, and/or they can purchase prints by selecting the ‘BUY’ button, they can multiple to their shopping cart if they wish.
TJ rated fourth in the world at Karate!
TJ in 8DC, had something to celebrate recently when he was rated fourth in the world at his chosen sport, karate.
TJ attends a karate club in Irlam and has been practicing karate for just over a year. He recently competed in competition to get the World Cup finals
TJ was up against contenders from Canada, USA, Australia and UK and though he didn’t medal this time, he got through to the final 6 and came fourth in the world in his age group, 12/13 years.
TJ’s mum told us “I am so very proud of TJ. He has come so far in such a short time.”
We are very proud of you too TJ, not only are you a lovely boy, your dedication and hard work is commendable, and we look forward to you achieving your World Cup final dream next time.
Singing to success
Well done to three or our learners who recently sat externally graded singing exams at Cheetham’s School of Music in Manchester. We are proud to announce that they did extremely well
Charlotte in Year 13 achieved a Merit in her Grade 8 in Popular Music Vocals. Reece ,Year 12 achieved a Distinction in his Grade 5 and Cory in Year 11 achieved a Distinction in his Grade 5 again both in Popular music Vocals.
Mrs Hajigeorgiou, their singing teacher, said “This is a great achievement and I’m so proud of them.”
A great few days getting to know us
On Monday and Tuesday of last week, we welcomed our future Year 7 learners. It was great to see them enjoying being a part of school life here at Birchwood. They had a fun time following a taster timetable, meeting their form tutors and sampling what is on offer in the school canteen. Everyone enjoyed the experience and met new friends from other schools. We look forward to seeing you all again in September.
Our Sports Day celebrates both achievement and diversity
This year we had no worries about rain on Sports Day, in fact the weather was perfect. The day went really well and our learners put in some fantastic performances
There were also some fantastic banners in support of Pride made by members of each form group. It was great to see the Pride colours so beautifully displayed at a large school event.
Help for anyone unsure of their plans after Year 11, 12 or 13
Anyone still unsure of their plans for after Year 11, 12 or 13 is reminded to get in touch with our Careers Adviser Mrs Morris who will arrange an appointment (rmorris@birchwoodhigh.org) and provide guidance in taking the next step forward.
There are now lots of apprenticeships being advertised for those looking for a more hands-on approach to learning and who feel they are ready to enter the workplace. Most can be found here
Raising the Participation Age means that young people have to be in education or training until the age of 18. This could be a college course, an apprenticeship, traineeship or volunteering/working for at least 20 hours a week alongside further education or training. See here for guidance.
With exams out of the way, throughout July BCHS will celebrate Pride
Every year, during the month of June, the LGBT community celebrates in a number of different ways. Across the globe, various events are held during this special month as a way of recognising the influence LGBT people have had around the world. BCHS this year will make July our Pride Month!
Pride celebrates sexual diversity. For lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people it is a way of protesting about discrimination and violence. It promotes their dignity, equal rights, self-affirmation and is a way of increasing society’s awareness of the issues they face.
At BCHS we celebrate the values of liberty, diversity and respect, so throughout July we will be supporting Pride Month by offering a series of activities and events including a poster competition film night, bake sale and a key stage 3 Pride party.
Fantastic after school football opportunity for Year 8
On Thursday, 11 July Birchwood College BTEC Sport students are organising a Year 8 Football Tournament which will take place after school on our new 3G astro pitch.
This is part of their Unit 23 assessment, where they are tasked to organise a sports event
The tournament will be open to both boys and girls and may give some learners the chance to play football for the first time.
If your child is interested in participating, there will be an assembly in the coming weeks about how to get involved in this fun event.
I would be fantastic for our students’ portfolios if as many year 8s as possible took part in the event
Birchwood’s Matilda, Wednesday 17 July, 7pm
We have a few tickets remaining for the Key Stage 3 performance of BCHS’s take on Roald Dahl’s Matilda. The show will be in our performing arts studio at 7pm on Wednesday 17 July. Tickets are £5 for adults and £3 for concessions available from the office.
Our uniform Suppliers
As many of you may now be considering purchasing uniform for the next academic year, please find a reminder of our local suppliers
Touchline UK
Unit 2 Kerfoot Street
Warrington
WA2 8NU
Warrington Schoolwear
50-54 Buttermarket St
Warrington
WA1 2NN
Keeping your child safe
June is officially Pride month, though due to exam stresses we are celebrating Pride and diversity at our school throughout July.
It seems appropriate therefore over the coming weeks to look at some issues that may be worrying your child regarding their sexual and gender identity
Coming Out
‘Coming out’ means telling someone about your sexuality or gender identity. It can take time to feel ready to tell people about this part of yourself.
If you think your child or a young person you know is struggling with coming out, see advice here from ChildLine that may support them.
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
Well done to the learners below who were selected Learners of the week for week commencing 1 July by our English and languages department.
Year 7 - No specific information
Year 8 - No specific information
Year 9 - No specific information
Year 10
Looking to the future. Dates for your diary
As part of our careers programme and preparing learners for the future the following event is planned:
Tues 9 July - Warrington and Vale Royal College Taster Day (those interested in a vocational route - letters have gone out)
Tues 16 July -Careers and Mock Interview Day in Birchwood College. Year 10 will be off timetable for the day and will take part in a carousel of activities including: a mock interview, CV session, Apprenticeship Workshop, University Talk and interactive activity to help build employability skills. They should come to school dressed smartly for a mock interview. Further information can be found in the letter which has gone out with learners. A copy is available here.
Year 11
Results days 2019
GCSE/BTEC – Thursday 22 August 2019, 9am - 11am
Please find a copy of a letter regarding the arrangements for collecting results on this day here
Birchwood College
Results days 2019
A level/BTEC - Thursday 15 August 2019. Year 13 from 9am. Year 12 from 10am
Please find a copy of a letter regarding the arrangements for collecting results on this day here
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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