Brentwood County High School Prospectus

Brentwood County High School Aspire. Believe. Achieve. Succeed.

Our Values This is our BCHS Values Poster. It defines all that we aim to achieve as a school. The phrases were chosen by everyone in our school community. We display them all around our school and use them to set the standards that we all aspire to achieve. We believe that following these values will enable us all to succeed in all that we do as a school community and beyond. This school prospectus uses the phrases from our values poster as its guide in setting out how we work.

Welcome

to Brentwood County High School from the Headteacher It is a privilege for any school to be given the responsibility of educating a young person. At Brentwood County High School our goal is to ensure that we enable all our young people to look back on their time at their school secure in the knowledge that everything they needed to achieve success was in place.

We achieve this by working together as a community. Everyone has their part to play in ensuring success. We are proud of the effective role that our students, parents and carers, teachers, support staff, governors, trustees and the local community play in making our school the special place that it is.

Thank you for taking the time to find out about our school. I am sure that once you have spent some time with us you will share my belief that our school is a community in which all young people will be enabled to fulfil their potential.

Stephen Drew (Headteacher since September 2012)

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Look for the

Good in Others

“ Senior leaders have the confidence of staff and parents.” Ofsted 2014 At BCHS we focus on what our young people can do in the future, not what they have done in the past. Every young person in our school has the potential to succeed and it is our responsibility to ensure they are enabled to do so. Everyone in our school community will seek out what is good in each other and use that to help them to be even better in all that they do. A profound belief in the values of care, compassion and community drives all that we do.

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Cherish

Family & Friends

Successful schools work because they are exceptional communities where we all value each other and show that through our words and actions. We only succeed because we enable others to succeed. Exam results are crucial to future life prospects, but in order to achieve these young people must be able to develop a full set of life skills. Cherishing family and friends is vital to this success.

“ The school doesn’t only care about your learning, they care about your feelings as well.” Year 9 student

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Enjoy

Every Day “ I think the school is good because when we are learning and I don’t get it, the teachers help me to improve so I get better and better each time.” Year 9 student Young people get one chance at each day in their school career and each is precious. Success is achieved much more easily when young people enjoy their time at school. We positively reinforce the things that enable success such as attendance, hard work, smart presentation and good manners. By creating positive learning experiences, the right atmosphere for learning and a wide range of opportunities our students are able to enjoy their life at school.

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Live Fully Every day is a new day at BCHS where all our students have the chance to take control of their learning and life. From the start of the day in form they can contribute to their own learning and that of others. Each young person and family develops a strong working relationship with their form tutor. Each vertical form has students from Year 7 to 11 in it. Younger students are also mentored and coached by older students in their forms.

“ Disabled students and those who have special educational needs are well supported with their learning.” Ofsted 2014

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Respect

Yourself & Others “ Students respect one another, support younger students and act responsibly around the school.” Ofsted 2014 Respect is a much used term in our society. We believe that respect has to be given to be earned in return. No one at BCHS has the right to disrespect others. Our words, as well as our actions, can be forces for great good as well as harm. To respect others is to respect yourself. This is the core of our expectations of everyone in our school community. Our young people are able to influence school policy and practice through participation in the Student Parliament.

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Speak Kindly of Others

Community is central to all that we do at BCHS. We are proud to be a Co-operative Academy from June 2014. We believe in the potential of all our young people to better both themselves and to be agents for the improvement of their communities both now and in the future.

Our annual Community Day in June, when all our students, staff and governors spend a day serving our local community, is our single biggest statement of these values.

“ The school is good at respecting students’ views and opinions.” Year 10 student

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Present

Yourself Smartly Smart school uniform is part of our success at BCHS. We are proud of our uniform and all members of our school community will present themselves smartly.

This allows a professional working environment and supports a calm and purposeful school. Smart presentation includes how students organise themselves as well as how they show respect for their teachers and other staff. We place smartness at the core of all we do as a school.

“ Students wear their uniform correctly, arrive to lessons fully equipped for learning and show respect towards staff.” Ofsted 2014

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Be Inquisitive Asking questions is a key element in the success of our young people. Finding out more than their teacher has taught them is a great thing to do.

Getting involved in clubs and activities to get new experiences is encouraged at BCHS. Success at school is not just achieved by good attendance and completing the work set by teachers. It comes from having a thirst for knowledge and a desire to continuously improve. We help our young people to do this.

“ The school effectively uses the additional funding it receives to support the achievement of students eligible for the pupil premium.” Ofsted 2014

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Be Creative “ The school provides a curriculum which is broad and balanced.” Ofsted 2014 Young people should have the widest possible range of lessons to leading them to outstanding exam results as well as a broad experience of life in the widest possible sense. Our Year 7 Creative Curriculum specifically supports the development of key skills needed to succeed both in school and beyond. These skills support students in the study of a traditional and modern subject range in our curriculum from Year 8 to 13 in order to meet all students’ aspirations.

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Be Active School life is about much more than exam results. These should be a given and we continually do everything we can to ensure all our students get the highest possible grades. We offer free transport home on school buses at 5pm on three nights a week to enable all our students to take part in extra-curricular activities in the arts, sports, technology, and science; and of course study sessions for exam students. We actively encourage all young people to take part.

“ Students of all ages participate in a wide range of after-school activities.” Ofsted 2014

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Be Compassionate Selflessly supporting others is part of our core purpose, and we will constantly seek to find ways to enable our young people to show the compassion that we know that their families are working hard to develop in them.

Good behaviour in lessons and around the school shows care for others as it enables them to be safe, to learn and to enjoy their lives in school. We are proud to be an inclusive comprehensive school, supporting all young people in their academic progression through exceptional teaching and specific programs to support our most able and those whose additional needs require greater interventions.

“ The behaviour of students around the school and in lessons is good.” Ofsted 2014

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Work Hard at Everything

“ Teachers’ expectations of what students should achieve in lessons are high.” Ofsted 2014 We expect everyone in our school to work hard all of the time.

Time is precious in education with none to waste. Fitting in all the study required for each subject alongside the wider education provided by trips, sports fixtures, concerts and talks from inspiring speakers is a challenge we all rise to. To ensure our young people get all they can from their time in school so as to be ready for future employment and lifelong learning we will all work hard at everything all of the time. It is that simple.

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Say Please

& Thank You

“ The school provides a calm learning environment and students are welcoming to visitors.” Ofsted 2014 Sometimes the simplest things in life make a massive difference and schools can make a big impact on the future lives of young people and their communities. We place great value on manners and appreciating what others do for us. We encourage our young people not to take the help of others for granted or to assume it will always just be given. Self-reliance and independence are key traits to achieving the success that BCHS offers.

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Try

New Things Secondary schools offer so many new things for young people. New subjects, new teachers, new friends, new clubs and simply being in a new building are just some of those. We encourage our students to throw themselves into the new experiences and opportunities that BCHS can offer them. Chances to join school teams, join clubs, develop new skills and learn amazing new things are given every day. Everyone is a member of one of our five houses who compete throughout the year to win the BCHS House Cup. We hope to see everyone take them up.

“ When I joined the school everyone was really kind to me and I have made lots of new friends.” Year 7 student

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See the

World Both in school and on trips the chances to experience our beautiful world abound.

Everyone learns a language for all five years at BCHS so that they are better able to take their place as 21st century global citizens. All parts of the world will be studied over five or seven years at BCHS. Trips in recent years have offered chances to go to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Poland and Ecuador.

Who knows where students will go in the next few years?

“ There is strong leadership from the headteacher and his team.” Ofsted 2014

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Accentuate

the Positives

“ This is a good school.” Ofsted 2014 BCHS is about what we can do; it is not about what we cannot do. We are a school that will always seek to find ways to help our young people be the very best they can be in all they do. We are absolutely focussed on the highest academic standards, and our rising exam results since 2012 mean we now exceed national performance figures. However we are about so much more than exams and at BCHS everyone will find their positives to accentuate.

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Eliminate

the Negatives “ The school is very helpful and my teachers sort out any issues I have very quickly.” Year 8 student Negatives get in the way of success. Problems are challenges to be solved. Since 2012 we have dramatically raised academic standards, raised attendance, improved behaviour, improved facilities and achieved the Ofsted rating of Good for the first time. We continue to challenge ourselves daily to improve further and achieve Outstanding. We are all on a shared journey in education. We solve problems and achieve success so as to be exceptional in all that we do.

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Aspire. Believe. Achieve. Succeed.

Brentwood County High School

Brentwood County High School Aspire. Believe. Achieve. Succeed.

Shenfield Common, Seven Arches Road, Brentwood, Essex CM14 4JF Tel: 01277 238900 Email: bchs@bchs.essex.sch.uk Fax: 01277 200853 www.bchs.essex.sch.uk

@bchsupdates