Newsletter 20/9/2024

It has been great to see our year 7 this week in morning meeting and in lessons – some great learning going on. Year 10 have been impressive this week as they begin their GSCE courses. Also great to see the uptake in our extra-curricular clubs. Last night was our Open Evening and we welcomed prospective families to the event to find out about us and to meet staff and students as they toured the school. Our students who represented the school last night were exceptional and so proud of their school. Special thanks to Charlie W (Y11), Ozzie D (Y7) and Skye R (Y7) who spoke to families in the main hall presentations.

We love to hear about our students’ successes beyond the school day so if you have any good news stories, successes (and of course any pictures!) that you want to share with us about your children’s amazing talents please do not hesitate to contact us.

We continue to be impressed with the positive start made by Year 7s. At this stage students are becoming more confident in finding their way around the building independently and so many of the students that I meet around school are polite and enthusiastic. Yesterday was our Open Evening for prospective students and it was fantastic to see two Year 7 students speaking to all the parents and students about their time so far at Beckfoot Oakbank School!

Well done to the Beckfoot Oakbank year 8 football team who beat Co-Op Academy 13-0. The boys somehow managed to remain humble in the face of such a one sided victory. On the academic front, we have been inflating sheep’ lungs as part of a science unit on the body. Students have also been introduced to the longest serving member of the science department – a model skeleton and know their femur from their tibia. In English students have been getting to grips with Sherlock Holmes and A Scandal in Bohemia. It’s been another good week for golden tickets and learning habit threes. We’ve also been impressed with the hard work going on in morning meetings. Keep up the good work year 8 – it’s a pleasure working with you.

Year 9 have been working hard this week in morning meeting completing a wide selection of activities linked to Maths and English. We have completed some retrieval practice using the knowledge organisers and this will be excellent practice when completing work in class. Golden tickets have been positive this week and its clear year 9 are working hard in their lesson to be rewarded by their subject teachers. We will continue to develop our learning habits next week. I wish year 9 a positive and restful weekend.

We are thrilled that Year 10 have earned the most Golden Tickets this week. Your hard work, dedication, and positive attitude have really shone through, and it’s great to see so many of you being recognised for your efforts! Each Golden Ticket is a testament to your commitment to our learning habits, whether it’s showing kindness, working hard, or going above and beyond in your studies. Keep up the fantastic work – you’re setting a great example for the rest of the school!

Well done for another fantastic week year 11. So far this term year 11 have earnt 564 golden tickets across the school this year and I am incredibly impressed with the tenacity with which the students are approaching this year. In maths they are learning about expanding and factorising, English they are about to start studying Romeo and Juliet, and in science they are learning about controlling reactions. The year 11 parent hour is fast approaching where we will share how best to support students through this crucial year, and our intervention programme for raising attainment will be launching in the very near future.

We have made some good progress this week to develop students’ attendance. Positive attendance rewards this week:

• We have launched our Remarkable Attendance Challenge which is a three-week program linked to raising a targeted group of student’s attendance.
• The students this week with 100% attendance from the start of term will be receiving a congratulations postcard and enter a free prize draw (this week is Crunchy Friday). The cards will go out during Friday 5 which takes place every Friday period 5.

Thank you to every family for trying hard to ensure our students attend every day.

This week the Textiles students have been developing their mark making skills. We have created some very strange portraits looking at Edo Morales. Next week we will be developing our embroidery skills working onto famous people’s faces.

In Science we are launching a new online homework platform for years 10 and 11 called Educake where students can answer online quizzes set by their science teachers. Educake is also a fantastic tool for revision as students can log on and test themselves on their science knowledge. All students should have received their login details in class as a sticker in their planners but if they have any problems logging on they should speak to their science teacher or Mr Hazelgreen. Log on at http://www.educake.co.uk or download the app.

We have raised over 200 pounds towards Save The Children this Friday by asking students to donate 50p if they wanted to wear a Christmas jumper. This is the first of many charity events planned in 2025 which will show how positive and giving our students are.

We had a Christmas window competition which was judged by Mr Ray this week and the winning windows are below. We had some very creative designs using a lot of skill and ingenuity. The windows were judged on originality, Christmas spirit and artistic flair. Well, done and thank you for taking part! We had a second competition with the staff for the best Christmas doors and the winners were Year 10, Year 8 and the Science technicians.

Our Parent Forum grew last year and we hope that this will continue this year. Members of the parent forum have supported school events such as Open Evening, Meet the Tutor, Transition and Prize giving evenings. It was great to see some new faces at the first meeting of the year.

This is an informal meeting where parents can discuss a range of topics linked to school improvement – our discussions last year covered attendance, our reading strategy, prize giving evening, the antibullying and behaviour protocols, personal development and trips and visits. All parents are welcome to attend any of the evenings. We benefit greatly from your feedback.

Please find below the dates for this year and outline agenda items.