The Batley Buzz November 2021 Edition 3
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
One of our Y3 mathematicians came 6th in the latest TT Rockstars 'England Rocks' challenge, answering an incredible 35,775 times table questions correctly! 358,000 children took part altogether! The NKSSP Olympic Mini Gym has been a great success at Field Lane. Following an induction session, our Y5 and Y6 Sports Leaders confidently led the training for our younger children.
After such a long period of remote learning, we are now taking the children out of school on visits. Year 5 and 6 popped into the Bradford Industrial museum as part of their theme ' The Industrial Revolution'. All dressed up in period outfits, they took part in a workshop and learnt all about life and times in Victorian England. The children looked amazing - we even took a suffragette with us! Primary Phase staff have been offering a variety of opportunities to children to take part in, trying to offer something for everyone - active clubs, music clubs and reading included. Netball club are in training and looking forward to competing with teams from local schools. For the first time, we have also offered two early morning clubs thanks to the support of the secondary PE team. Pupils arrive at 8 o'clock to burn some energy playing dodgeball and rugby. The secondary science department have also offered some special sessions for budding scientists in Years 5 and 6, whisking the children off to the lab to carry out some exciting experiments. Our other clubs include; story club, yoga, dance club, drama, SATs club and recorder club.
Year 6 held their annual Dragon's Den event. Using Wallace and Gromit as an inspiration, the children all designed and built an amazing contraption. There were some incredible contraptions (some great ones to help out with the household chores) and some great presentations we have some budding inventors and sales people in our midst! All of them were very persuasive!
Healey JIN School, Author Visit, November 2021 Author, Sophie Edgar came to school on Wednesday 10th November. She delivered an assembly to children from years 1-6, where she launched a story writing competition in order to encourage all of the children to do some creative writing. Sophie talked about the inspiration for her book and her journey to becoming an author. Sophie also worked with children from EYFS delivering a storytelling session and explaining to the children the importance of bees and why we should not be afraid of them. The pupils in years 5 and 6 received a writing workshop, where Sophie discussed the whole writing process from developing initial ideas to being published. They were even lucky enough to speak to her illustrator, Loren Grosvenor, over zoom. Sophie worked with the pupils on developing their ideas for a story of their own about conquering fears. She discussed the importance of considering your audience and knowing what you want to achieve. The children were left feeling inspired after Sophie's visit and keen to write their own bestsellers. It was an honour to take part in the Remembrance Service in Batley, on 11th November. We joined many other local schools in the area. Our Head Boy and Head Girl read a poem and our Deputy Head Boy and Deputy Head Girl laid this wreath at the Cenotaph.
Our Secondary News
On 3rd November students from Year 10 and Year 11 met with and interviewed the first Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin as part of the launch event for the Enterprise Start Up Programme. Mayor Brabin was so impressed with them, she offered them a work placement after their exams in the summer.
As part of their study, Year 10 BTEC Performing Arts students were taken to see the award-winning musical Blood Brothers at The Alhambra in Bradford. The students were really well behaved and enjoyed this performance saying: "When we went to see Blood Brothers I was sooo excited! It didn't let me down, the actors, the crowd. It felt like a place where everyone fit in."
Year 8 students attended a moving Remembrance Service last Thursday and met Kim Leadbeater, Labour MP for Batley and Spen.
Tom Palmer – Visit to BGS 7 October 2021 Tom Palmer is a local author from Halifax who visited BGS to present some fun and exciting workshops to Year 7 students. Tom has written 54 books for children mainly writing about football, running and history. His titles have been translated into 9 languages and he has sold over 450,000 books. All of year 7 were gifted a copy of one of Tom’s most recent books ‘After the War’ in the Year 6 transition packs they were given prior to joining BGS. During the workshops Tom talked about his life, how he became an author, what he likes to read and where he finds his inspiration for his books. Students were well prepared for the event by completing a research booklet on Tom in advance and they came ready with lots of questions to ask him. Tom’s top tips for successful writing that he shared with students are: • Write about something you enjoy and are interested in. • Read lots of other books to help improve your writing. • Share your writing with others and ask them what bits they did and didn’t like. • Talk to people about their lives. • Try interesting new things. • Don’t be scared and don’t give up! Tom also held an informal ‘meet and greet’ session during lunchtime which enabled students to chat to him in a more relaxed setting and also gave them to opportunity to have their copies of ‘After the War’ signed by Tom. The event was a great success and was hugely enjoyed by all those who attended.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion BGS celebrated Black History Month (BHM) throughout October. Student House Leaders created research packs on influential Black British individuals. The BHM House competition asked every student to complete the research on one individual and then create a speech, a piece of art or other creative work and then present their work to other students. The work was then accumulated into an exhibition which BGS students visited.
Curriculum Enrichment- learning takes place both inside and outside of our classrooms Post pandemic school closures, and nationwide lockdowns, our curriculum enrichment offer has commenced this academic year with a wide variety of activities taking place outside of just the traditional classroom learning experiences. We held our first residential field trip to Boggle Hole (on the East coast of England), where our learners took part in field work activities and developed their leadership & problem solving skills. This is a key extension of learning as part of the geography curriculum. Whilst COP26 has been underway our learners have also been investigating how they can assist in reducing energy wastage to ensure our planet exits for future generations to enjoy. We are also incredibly proud of Miss Woods, one of our highly skilled geography teachers and Middle Leaders, who represents the education world on the Kirklees Climate Commission, and who also took part in an online COP26 briefing during the summit. Miss Woods also coordinates our award winning Eco Schools work.
Our Sixth Form News
Year 12 students attended the Business of Science conference in Birmingham and had a session with Michael Butler from William Blythe Ltd. Michael was keen to speak to our students on their thoughts of advanced materials and the girls asked questions about his career journey. They also attended a careers' session, where they listened to five speakers from; Collins Aerospace, Rolls-Royce and Inktech Ltd talk about their career journeys.
Year 13 psychologists have been rather creative this term, taking difficult psychological concepts and presenting them in different formats. They have been dragons, music artists, animators, puppeteers, YouTubers, and even fashion models. This type of activity is encouraged to aid students' learning, however it may be that they do this with the hope of winning one of the famous psychology ‘get-out-of-test’ cards!
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
Congratulations to Matt Parkin (UBHS) for successfully achieving his NPQSL qualification.
Congratulations to Sally Cooper (Field Lane), our amazing SENDCo, who works tirelessly to ensure all our children with Special Educational Needs get the support that they need.
Congratulations to Hanif Abid (UBHS) for achieving his 20 years service award.
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.
Our family of schools is supporting the ‘Reverse Advent Calendar’ local collection this winter. All donations are greatly received. Thank you for helping if you can.
Young people from across our family of schools attended a memorial event in Batley Memorial Gardens on Armistice Day to remember all those who suffered or lost loved ones during conflicts around the world. Our young people were very confident and articulate, and spoke incredibly well in front of a large crowd. Well done to everyone who contributed to this important event. Community Makes Us.
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