The Batley Buzz - March 2022

March 2022 Edition 7

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

To mark the start of Field Lane’s Science Week, we had our first Super Learning Day in over two years! Mixed age groups of children took part in science investigations and art activities with the support of our parent volunteers. ● ● ● ●

Do older children run faster?

Do they have bigger feet?

Can we identify British trees by looking at their leaves?

What is DNA?

These are just some of the questions that were explored.

By the end of the day we had silk paintings showing the parts of a flower, wire DNA sculptures, British tree batiks, modroc sculptures of active humans, wigglebots and lots more showing just how much we learned.

Our Primary students celebrated World Book Day this year by holding a Big Bedtime Story Event.

The children all wore their pyjamas to school and each class had the opportunity to visit the school library which had been decorated for the occasion.

All the window blinds were closed, the lights were dimmed and the library was decorated with fairy lights which made it feel cosy and warm. Cushions and blankets were also scattered around the room to create a relaxing environment. The children made themselves comfortable whilst they enjoyed a snack and shared their ideas on what they thought would be a good way to relax before bedtime and their favourite bedtime stories.

We then all settled down for a bedtime story read by the School Librarian. KS1 enjoyed ‘Under the Silvery Moon’ by Colleen McKeown. KS2 were brave enough for a spooky ghost story (complete with torches for scary face effects!) and we shared an extract from ‘Seven Ghosts’ by Chris Priestley.

Our Big Bedtime Story event was thoroughly enjoyed by all the children (including Bob the BGS Bear!), and after visiting the library the WBD celebrations continued for the rest of the day with various book themed activities back in the classroom.

World Book Day at Healey J, I & N School We celebrated World Book Day by dressing up a potato as our favourite book character. We had some amazing entries - some of us dressed up ourselves too!

Each class became buddies with another class and read together. It was great to see Year 6 reading with our youngest children in Nursery! We also had a whole school book project, where each class produced some amazing work based on the book ‘What We’ll Build’ by Oliver Jeffers.

Our Secondary News

We were truly honoured that Zara Mohammed found the time to visit us a couple of weeks ago. She's currently Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain and is the first woman to lead the organisation in its history. A real inspiration and we hope to build on those connections made.

The Woven in Kirklees Careers Roadshow visited us last Autumn to bring textiles into the careers conversation and have now published a film to showcase this. They inspired our students with information and resources that link to many different work, education and training opportunities in textiles locally as well as across different sectors including science, engineering and design.

You can view it here: https://www.batleygirls.co.uk/careers/

During National Careers Week we introduced each of our year groups to different Alumnae who spoke about their careers journeys in assembly as relatable role models to inspire our students from Year 7 to Year 11.

The careers convention invited 30 post 16 colleges, sixth forms, universities, apprentices and training providers, as well as employers to speak to all students in secondary school and the parents of Years 9, 10 & 11.

The event was a huge success with students commenting on how useful they found it. The providers were impressed with student behaviour and the variety of questions students had prepared for beforehand.

We are thrilled to be a Democracy Friendly School.

We intend to invite even more employers next year and look forward to hosting another successful event!

Some of our students have completed Kirklees’ Democracy Friendly Programme - they will learn about and get involved in local democracy and civic life. Students will also have the opportunity to grow their skills and experience by becoming Kirklees Youth Councillors.

Some of the many benefits for our students taking part in our programme include: ● ● ● ● ● ●

Confidence building.

Life skills.

Employability skills.

Contribute to Humanitarian Values learning.

Help grow relationships with local councillors.

Learn about, and be part of, local democracy.

Upper Batley High School was transformed into Neverland for World Book Day 2022. Our young people learned about playwright and novelist J.M.Barrie, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. Over the course of the day our learners were immersed in enriching curriculum activities in every subject area, all linked to the novel. Our bistro looked amazing, complete with its very own pirate ship and specially themed lunches that day. Keep reading, it is one of the most marvellous adventures anyone can have!

Our Sixth Form News

One of our Year 12 students attended the International Women's Day event at Nexus in Leeds, as part of a panel session with inspiring women talking about creating positive futures for women and girls in West Yorkshire. She's also one of our BG6 Marketing Ambassadors and representing the school in this way is an important aspect of that role.

Seven Year 12 students have graduated from the Brilliant Club, Scholars Programme.

We're really proud of their efforts and how well they represented BG6. The feedback we received from the PHD tutor was excellent.

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 Stacey is one of the 'unsung heroes' of the school and has recently taken on the role of BG6 Administrator. She is now also undertaking her First Aid qualification.

Clearly she loves a challenge and is a woman of many skills and talents!

The Field Lane Family would like to say a huge “Thank you” to Mrs Ola, Lunchtime Supervisor and Mr Chowdhery, Learning Mentor and who are leaving us after over 20 years of service to our school and community.

We wish them all the best in their future ventures!

Stacey Lister Batley Girls’ High School

Congratulations to Cat Macdonald (Field Lane’s Chair of Governors) and her team for winning the Business of the Month Award (True HR) well done!

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.

The Big Iftar We are thrilled that the Big Iftar returns to an in person event this year, after being held on line during the pandemic.

The event is being held at Upper Batley High School on Saturday 9 April at 6.30pm in the sports hall.

We hope to see you there!

Plus, get your running (or walking) shoes ready as the Run for Jo is taking place at Oakwell Hall on Sunday 26th June.

Register online at https://racebest.com/races/RunForJo2022.

This is a great day for all the family and a chance to celebrate our super community.

There is a 6.5Km and a 2.5km run/walk so there really is something for everyone. Plus, you can just come along to watch and to meet new people.

The event is held at Oakwell Hall.

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