IN FOCUS 2021
Student Leadership We believe it’s essential for all of our students to develop their leadership skills, to be better prepared for their working lives and to give them the resolve, commitment and resilience that sets apart a good leader from a great one. Motivation is a key factor in leadership and we believe that all students should be encouraged to develop their passions, skills and talents in all areas, so that they can go on to inspire others. In order to do this, we encourage our students to take on roles in a number of different areas that not only promote leadership qualities but also their confidence, ability and knowledge. Thank you to everyone who took on leadership roles during 2020/21.
Head Student & Prefect Team 2020/21
Reflections From Our Head Students mind, our form set to task. After several intense ‘planning’ meetings, our tree was assembled. Art was never my strong point, but even I contributed to the task, buying a rubber Christmas toy and impaling it on top of the tree as a de facto Christmas star. By some miscarriage of justice, another form was elected to have won; writing this in May, I’m still not over it… A couple of weeks later, on the final day of term, the trees – along with their lavish decorations – were delivered to less fortunate families across the local area of Birkenhead. This was an excellent initiative run by the school, which was both fun to take part in, but also a great way of having a positive impact on the local community. For me, it is certainly one of the highlights of the year.
Archie Parker-Goff, Head Student Over the last nine months, Birkenhead School, whilst overcoming the many Covid challenges, has produced an academic year full of highlights and memories. Immediately, whilst returning to school in September, it was evident that this was not going to be a normal collection of terms. The School was filled with hand sanitising stations and ‘one way’ signs were everywhere. Lesson locations were changed to reduce ‘year group bubble’ mixing and black and yellow tape ensured students followed the government guidance. However, despite all these measures, it was great to be back. Towards the end of the Michaelmas Term, there was the Christmas Tree initiative. The School Chaplain, Father Mark, challenged all forms across Seniors to decorate their own form Christmas tree and compete to win tree of the year group. With this in
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As Christmas passed and the new year beckoned, it was announced to the UK that there would be another Lockdown and that schools would not be returning in early January. In all honesty, this was a crushing blow as, armed with a laptop, many mugs of tea and even more digestives, we embarked on a second load of Remote Learning! Although the dayto-day life of Lockdown Learning was a little monotonous, the School’s Remote Learning Provision was excellent and ensured we did not fall behind in our studies. Truth be told: staring at a desk in your bedroom all day is no substitute for in person school, and this was laid bare for all to see as the euphoria of the returning students in early March was palpable. The first lunch time back provided the Sixth Form with the return of its competitive lunch time football. With passion akin to the Merseyside Derby and drama like that of the Champions League Final, the two teams battled hard. I’m delighted to report there were no (serious) injuries sustained by any of the players, though there were certainly some questionable displays of ‘talent’ on show for us all.
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