Newsletter Winter 2019

December 2019

The

Birkenhead Park School

NEWSLETTER

The latest news and activities from The Birkenhead Park School

BEST EVER GCSE RESULTS See Page 3.

Also featuring...

REMEMBRANCE SERVICE Page 4.

HARRY POTTER BOOK CLUB Page 5.

BBC NEWSROUND Page 6.

TERM DATES

Page 11.

Ambition AND EXCELLENCE FOR ALL

Headteacher’s WELCOME One of the highlights of this term was our special Remembrance service held to mark Armistice Day. We were delighted to be joined by many of the “old boys” and “old girls” from the predecessor schools.

I am always struck deeply by the way in which our students mark this occasion with such respect and this year was no different as we marked 75 years since D-Day. Our visitors were full of praise for our students and the contributions they made to a very special assembly.

Thank you for your continued support. I would like to wish you all a peaceful and happy Christmas and very best wishes for 2020.

As we approach the festive period, I feel great pride in looking back at some of our memorable moments and highlights so far this year. I hope that you enjoy reading about these in the coming pages.

Helen Johnson Headteacher

The new school year started with a real sense of celebration following our best ever GCSE results in the summer. More students than ever before went on to their first choice college or apprenticeship as a result of the success they achieved here at school. We congratulate them all and wish them every success in the future.

Special mention must also go to our new Year 7 students. They have made a wonderful start to life here at BPS and are seizing every opportunity to make the most of what is on offer. Whether it is family lunch, Harry Potter reading club or chess club, Year 7 students are certainly living out our school values of Positivity, Ambition, Resilience and Thoughtfulness!

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GCSEs

BEST EVER RESULTS

Best ever GCSE results at The Birkenhead Park School Students at The Birkenhead Park School celebrated the best GCSE results ever achieved at the school. Great success was seen in most subject areas, with standout grades in the core subjects of Maths and English.

A record number of students received a grade 5 or more in Maths and English with Maths leading the way in terms of progress, while French results continue to be higher than the national average.

Music and PE are also among the stand-out subjects.

Year 11 student Malisse said: “I am so excited that my results mean I can continue my education and study Health and Social Care alongside Maths. I feel over the moon with how well I have done and all of my hard work has finally paid off!”

Headteacher Mrs Johnson, said: “The results that have been achieved by the Class of 2019 are evidence of the hard work that all of our students have put in, not just across the two GCSE years but since joining us in Year 7. They have demonstrated our core values of positivity, ambition, resilience and thoughtfulness in all that they did, even when it was challenging; perhaps especially when it was challenging.”

Mrs Johnson continued: “We are proud of our students’ achievements and recognise that this is due to a great deal of hard work put in, not just by the students themselves but by the teachers and staff at the school, working in partnership with parents. This year’s students leave us with a very special place in our hearts.”

3

Remembrance

SERVICE 2019

The Birkenhead Park School Remembers Our annual remembrance service is vital in educating our students about the importance of reflecting upon the impact of warfare past and present. It’s also an event that we are both honoured and privileged to be able to share with members of our local community and school alumni.

Former students joined our Year 7s and 8s for a special remembrance assembly that was led by a very mature and professional team of Year 11 students. Many of our guests remarked how confidently Abigail, Joshua, Imogen, Bethany and Riley had presented the story of remembrance to such a large audience- an effort they can be immensely proud of.

Afterwards, our guests joined us for a private ceremony at the honours board in school reception to observe the minute’s silence. After which, Mr Pat Landsborough and Mr Graham Lowther read the respective names of those students from Rock Ferry and Park High School whose lives were lost during World War II. Mr George Benson then closed those proceedings with a recital of Laurence Binyon’s ‘For The Fallen’ featuring the immortal ‘They Shall Grow Not Old’ verse.

In our memorial garden, we also remembered the lives of our former students who tragically passed away more recently. Joined by their family members, Headteacher Mrs Johnson read out each name followed by Mary Elizabeth Frye’s ‘Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep’ and a wreath laid by our students placed next to each memorial plaque.

The students showed a great display of character in welcoming our guests and they observed the service with the utmost level of respect.

Mrs Johnson said; “This event is always very special and it is so important to us all that we remember those former students who gave their lives in war. We also take the time to go out to our memorial garden and acknowledge the tragic deaths of former students over the years and the service is always very moving.

I know the event means a lot, particularly to our ‘old boys’ and girls’, and is a perfect time for them to get together and talk about their friends and memories of their time at the predecessor schools.”

A big thank you to all involved. We shall remember them.

4

Harry Potter

BOOK CLUB

Harry Potter Book Club Every Thursday, our Year 7 Harry Potter book club students grab their books, wands, scarves and beanbags and head off to a quiet reading corner in school.

During their 30 minute sessions per week, the students, along with Miss Dawes, discuss challenging vocabulary used within the book and have discussion points which really help them to understand the characters and themes used.

At the moment students are reading ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ and once they complete the book they will graduate with a Harry Potter house pin of their choice.

Assistant Headteacher, Miss Dawes, said: “Students have been really eager to take part in the Harry Potter book club and arrive at each session with huge smiles on their faces. We really want to encourage children to love to read as much as we do.

The book club is part of the school’s overall Reading and Literacy strategy to close the gap between reading ages and chronological reading ages. We also run a Year 12 reading buddy group and a Year 10 reading buddy group. We want to foster a love of reading and ensure that all students are exposed to a wide variety of books, language and vocabulary to make them effective communicators in their school life and careers beyond.”

5

BBC

NEWSROUND A film crew from the BBC visited school for a documentary they are making on what it is like being a young teen in the UK. They spent the day with one of our Year 8 students Tuhama, visiting her at home and then accompanying her to lessons during the school day.

The filming was a great success with both staff and students helping to make sure the day ran smoothly and that the team were able to capture everything they needed.

Look out for the documentary on BBC Newsround in February 2020.

6

English

COPS One of the key strategies we are implementing across all subjects is COPS, which encourages students to think about their own work in greater detail. Standing for Capitalisation, Overall appearance, Punctuation and Spelling, students take ownership of their own work so that they are proud of what they submit.

Have you checked for: Capitalisation Overall Appearance Punctuation

Spelling

C O P S

Start of a sentence, name, place?

NO EXCUSES! Re-read slowly, does it make sense? Does it look neat? Can you power up your words?

Commas, apostrophes to show possession, full stops.

Is it correct? Think about what you mean - to, too, two?

COPS fits into the overall school strategy of closing the vocabulary gap in Literacy. Students are given a piece of work and asked to find any mistakes and this enables them to pick up the skills required to check all of their own work for any mistakes. They are also encouraged to use technical and ambitious language throughout.

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Social Media

NEWS ROUND-UP Not already following us?

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at:

thebirkenheadparkschool BPSWirral

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9

School Production

WE WILL ROCK YOU

The

Birkenhead Park School

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Term Dates

2019 - 2020 | For Students

Autumn Term 2019 Open: Wednesday 4th September - Friday 25th October 2019 Half Term: Monday 28th October - Friday 1 November 2019 Open: Monday 4th November - Friday 20th December 2019 Christmas Holiday: Monday 23rd December - Friday 3rd January 2020

Spring Term 2020 Open: Monday 6th January - Friday 14th February 2020 Half Term: Monday 17th February - Friday 21st February 2020 Open: Monday 24th February - Friday 3rd April 2020 Spring Break: Monday 6th April - Friday 17th April 2020

Summer Term 2020 Open: Monday 20th April - Friday 22nd May 2020 Easter Bank Holidays: Friday 10th April - Monday 13th April 2020 May Bank Holiday: Friday 8th May Half Term: Monday 25th May - Friday 29th May 2020 Open: Monday 1st June - Monday 20th July 2020

INSET Days Summer Term: Monday 29th June 2020 & Monday 20th July 2020

11

The

Birkenhead Park School

Ambition AND

EXCELLENCE FOR ALL Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a very happy holiday from everybody at The Birkenhead Park School.

School closes at 12:05pm on Friday 20th December and reopens on Monday 6th January at the usual time of 8:30am

www.

birkenheadparkschool.com thebirkenheadparkschool BPSWirral

The Birkenhead Park School Park Road South, Birkenhead Wirral, Merseyside CH43 4UY Tel: 0151 652 1574