February 2022 Edition 6
Ensuring exceptional outcomes for all.
Our Trust Vision Every young person, regardless of their starting point, or background receives a high quality education, including first class care, guidance and support.
Our Primary News
Children's Mental Health Week During this awareness week, the children created a new 'worry box' for their class and explored all sorts of feelings through drama and art.
A focus on early career pathways: A visit from the dentist! The children in Early Years were fascinated by all the jobs a dentist has to do when Mrs Mulla, one of our parents, told them all about her job. The aspiring young dentists learned all about how to brush their teeth, and what foods you need to avoid in order to look after your teeth well. They had a great time playing in the Field Lane Dental Surgery!
Career Pathways: The Fire Service-a possible career and a way to stay fit & healthy.
Bikeability: Keeping everyone safe
Pupils from Year 5 and 6 took part the Firefit project at Huddersfield Fire Station. They had a great time, wearing uniform and keeping fit. This week, they had the opportunity to use the hoses to practise putting out fires! A great opportunity to explore possible career pathways in the fire service as well.
This week, Year 5 learnt how to ride a bike safely. They have taken part in 2 programmes: learn to ride for pupils just beginning to learn to ride a bike and bikeability for more confident cyclists which included riding out on local roads and learning how best to ride safely. Bob the attendance bear donned his helmet and joined in!
R E
With awe-inspiring authentic objects, cutting-edge science stories and hands-on activities, our visit was amazing. We can’t wait to go again!
Our Year 3 have learnt all about the Jewish faith and culture
Year 3 had wonderful learning experiences for Religious Education and Science, as they visited the Jewish Museum and the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester
S C I E N C E
Our Secondary News
Kirklees Faiths Forum Reading Group visits the school once a term to discuss a book with the students and their teachers during lunch break. These meetings provide mutual enrichment, where the reading group members can learn from the students’ passionate ideas and for them to broaden their thinking through their years of experiences. Y11 mock interviews were held at the end of January and 181 students attended. Providers' feedback was very positive in terms of how students conducted the interviews, considering all the disruption they've had in these past two years. Staff have also commented that students came back to their lessons and spoke about how helpful the interviews were. A big thank you to the Careers team and Mrs Spiller for making this such a successful event!
As part of their Duke of Edinburgh Awards, 5 students from Years 9 and 10 have volunteered to be litter pickers around the school grounds and surrounding area to make the school community look tidier - a big thank you to them!
Talk the Talk On 30 January and 1 February, 60 Year 10 students took part in TalkTheTalk, an Oracy workshop. They discussed the importance of structure in presentations, essay writing and exam answers. Students were shown how to identify and use persuasive language techniques to portray their message and how to be well-prepared for English speaking and listening assessments. Students spent the whole day perfecting these skills and the progress made throughout the day was incredible. All students received a certificate for completing the course and we even crowned some students; ‘Champions of the Workshop!’ Our students were a credit to the school and the experience was extremely useful. We look forward to inviting TalkThe Talk again, next year!
Rugby League Sports Coaching We had a superb turn out at the first rugby session delivered on Friday 21 January with 22 students in attendance. We have been joined by coaches from the local Rugby League team Batley Boys to deliver a session to all year groups, with both boys and girls getting involved. We are looking forward to developing this partnership in the coming weeks and hopefully seeing the number of students attending continue to grow. Well done to all students for the first session!
Curriculum Enrichment: Because learning doesn't only take place between 8.30am and 3pm.
At Upper Batley High School our clubs and activities are in full swing, with learners taking part in a wide range of different curriculum activities. In addition to our highly successful sports clubs such as football, Team 16, basketball, cricket and archery, we also have a wide range of subject specific clubs. This month, our learners have enjoyed activities in science including science club and the Crest awards, plus Forest School and Barnyard. Our Creatives department offers curriculum enrichment activities in art, photography and DT, and next month a group of learners will visit London and the Design Museum. Our learners have also taken part in a survey to look at their wellbeing needs and to support Kirklees Council in their plans to develop our town and make Batley an even better place to live, study and work. Exciting times ahead for our whole community.
Our Sixth Form News
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Our student recruitment process is well underway with all the interviews now completed. Our recruitment team have done a fabulous job with close to 200 students having interviews, including young women from Batley Girls' and from other local schools. The feedback has been excellent. Here is a quote from one of our external candidates: 'The interview process has been fabulous and BG6 is now my first choice. The high quality of opportunities and the careers initiatives are excellent and I have felt really looked after by the recruitment team'. BG6 Marketing Ambassadors have been interviewed and seven have now been appointed with a kick off meeting planned for after half term. Watch this space to see how they will help our Marketing and Communications Executive, Miss Nutter deliver some great work across BGHS and BG6. We have now launched our applications for the BG6 Student Leadership Team for 2022/23 and have had some fantastic applications from our current Y12 students. There are four key roles and all the candidates will participate in a rigorous selection process. We look forward to announcing our new Student Leadership Team during the next half-term. The roles advertised are: Lead Student Lead Student for Achievement Lead Student for Respect Lead Student for Transformation
Our Curriculum Enrichment Our family of schools offers a wide range of extra curricular activities. This greatly enriches our young people's educational experience, and also supports their health & wellbeing.
Our Staff Super Heroes Thank you to all our Governors, Trustees and Members. February 22nd is National Governors’ Awareness Day and we thank all of these wonderful volunteers for their time, dedication and commitment to our schools, our staff and our young people.
Two of our schools are FareShare schools. We would like to thank the staff who take delivery of the stock every two weeks, put the food hampers together and then deliver these to the families who need them across our community. A huge thank you to these colleagues who go the extra mile in supporting our young people and their families.
Thank you to the parent/carer group at Field Lane who helped set up their new, and fantastic library area. Well done also to Liam the gardener who designed and built the magnificent bookcases. Reading is such a key part of supporting young people’s wellbeing and improving their literacy and vocabulary. What an amazing and bespoke space.
Our Community Work … really means a lot to us, and we see our Trust and our schools at the very heart of our community. Community Makes Us and it is the unity in community that matters.
Great Winter Get Together 2022 Let’s tackle loneliness one conversation at a time. This January our family of schools took part in the national Great Get Together campaign to help tackle loneliness. Schools held assemblies, and made recordings to share their top tips to help tackle loneliness across our whole community.
Careers Hub Two of our secondary schools (Batley Girls’ High School & Upper Batley High School) lead on the Kirklees Careers Hub, and offer support on careers information, advice and guidance across all Kirklees Schools. We are passionate about providing outstanding careers education for all our young people, and raising their aspirations for the future.
Our wider links Our family of schools Works closely with the BBEST Hub. Check out their website for details of local services, support and activities.
https://bbesthub.uk/About-Us/
Our schools play a key role in the Calderdale & Kirklees Teaching School Hub. This Hub offers support to over 270 schools across our region. The purpose of the hub is to provide high-quality professional development for teachers and leaders. https://www.ckteachingschoolhub.org/
Online support & advice for parents, carers and families. Childnet International has produced a very informative resource for parents to help you keep your child safe online. https://www.childnet.com/resources/online-safety-activities-you-can-do-from-home
For young people;
For families;
Other specialist services;
Childline Providing help & support for Under 18s. 0800 11 11
NSPCC Free support & advice for parents/carers worried about a young person. 0808 800 500
Get it right from a genuine site Find out which sites are legal for downloading movies, music and games. https://www.getitrightfromagenuinesite.org/
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/
Ask about games Advice and online guides about gaming and PEGI ratings. https://www.askaboutgames.com/
https://www.childline.org.uk/
The Mix Provides essential support for 13-25 year olds.
https://www.themix.org.uk/
Family Lives Free, professional, non-judgemental advice. 0808 800 2222
https://www.familylives.org.uk/
Batley Multi Academy Trust (BMAT)
Batley Multi Academy Trust C/O Batley Girls’ High School Windmill Lane WF17 0LD Telephone: 01924 350080 Website: batleymat.co.uk