Batley Buzz March

March 2023

Edition 7

Our children deserve the best. No child left behind - ever. Every school a great school. Creating remarkable people.

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 Infant and Primary News

Balance Bike Training

Some of our Year 1 children have had the opportunity to learn how to use balance bikes. Our young people learnt how to become great gliders, which is the fundamental step before learning how to pedal properly. Being able to use a bike safely and effectively is so important for our children, so they can make healthy choices for transport as they get older.

New Play Equipment

We have had a wonderful new trim trail built in our playground for us to develop our gross motor skills which is so important for our developing writing skills!

Manorfield Mayoral Visit

We recently had a visit from the Mayor of Kirklees, Cllr Masood Ahmed and his aides Cathy and Steve. Cllr Ahmed presented an assembly for us about growing up locally and how he became the Mayor of Kirklees. We hope that this will show our children that there are a wealth of jobs out there, and work in politics is an option that they could pursue when they get older. They particularly loved the question and answer session!

World Book Day

World Book Day was a fantastic day for our children, we celebrated our love of reading and dressed up as book characters.

Red card for racism

Our Y5 learners have been ‘showing racism the red card’ at Huddersfield Town Football Club, the highlight of which was meeting Chris Kamara, former professional footballer and sports pundit! The children were fully engaged during the Hate Crime workshop, impressing the presenters with their understanding of what bullying and discrimination are and what to do if you see it happening. One of our outstanding learners was awarded a signed shirt for his question on online bullying.

Success and sportsmanship

At the final of an inter school competition, Field Lane not only won all of their matches, they won them with style. The organisers complimented our team on both their skill and sportsmanship. They were an example to others as they cheered each other on and shouted encouragement even when things weren't going their way. In true Field Lane style, our boys achieved to the best of their ability whilst maintaining their good manners and humility. Go Field Lane!

Beliefs Day

We held our first ever Beliefs Day. Miss MacGregor, our RE Lead, invited representatives from different belief systems to talk to the children about their lives, focussing on the similarities we all share. The children explored Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Humanism and Sikhism.

Our guests were so impressed with how sensitively and respectfully the children asked questions and listened.

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit…!

Year 6 have been reading The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan.

They wrote speeches pleading with the rabbis to stop destroying our habitats and our lives. When they didn’t listen, they designed contraptions to rid our planet of the rabbits.

Mother’s Day Bouquets

Y4 EMS Class

Sensational Seamsters!

The Great Healey Sewing Bee is in force, as Y2 learn to design and create wonderful pouches, as part of their DT.

Our catering team always provide the best school dinners and have embraced promoting more vegetables in the school menu, which have been well received.

From celebrating International Women’s Day, to appreciating our own mothers ‘and others’, our children have been busy for Mothering Sunday.

We gratefully received a delivery of trees from the Woodland Trust. Our keen group of gardeners, guided by Mr. Ayres, have been busy planting them at the front of school. For World Poetry Day on 21 March, we are busy creating and editing our work to share with the whole school community. We are lucky to have Mohamed Saloo, a local poet come to visit us on 22 March. Mr. Saloo will be showcasing his work and will help our young writers be the best they can be!

Gardeners Galore!

Year 2 have been very excited to be scientists and gardeners. They have planted bulbs and look forward to observing the changes that happen over time.

Our Secondary News

Hospital Video Star!

A student in Year 8, who is currently on a part time time table due to some serious health issues has starred in an LGI Children’s Outpatient video to promote the service and care.

As well as her part-time timetable she often has to take time out of school, due to illness and hospital visits so it’s often hard for her to feel part of school life. The video was shown to her form in Reflection time and also to the wider year group in assembly. Her mum has said that for her to be recognised in school, for her courage and determination, will help her to feel more confident in herself and that she can achieve anything in her life no matter what she faces. She commented: “Aamina is very proud to have been asked to do this - I’m hoping these videos will help her and many other children that are regularly in hospital for treatment.”

The video can be viewed here, it’s the second video down: www.lchtv.com/outpatients

Starbooks, dressed up doors and much more…!

Every day is World Book Day here with our daily ‘Reading For Learning’ sessions. For one week only, students across the whole school were encouraged to put their books down and channel their creative skills to dress up their tutor group doors paying tribute to a piece of a piece of literary brilliance. So many creative tributes to different books!

Year 7 and 8 students were invited to ‘Starbooks’ in the LRC where they could sample one of 50 brand new books using our ‘sip and see’ tasting menu whilst enjoying a hot chocolate. They could buy a slice of cake, baked by our Year 7 and 8s. We raised £200 for Book Aid International.

Across the whole school, there were other activities such as; ‘Finders Keepers’ and during English lessons, the ‘Masked Reader’.

Embracing Democracy

As part of the Democracy Friendly Schools Programme - an initiative brought together in partnership with Kirklees Council, students were provided with opportunities to strengthen the local democracy.

Commencing last year, students underwent initial training, who have now trained new students into the Programme. Pupils have also been able to meet Governors and Local MPs, stay informed about the work of the Kirklees Democracy Commission and how to get involved.

This combined with the fact that BGS Student Council have recently applied for funding for the 'Litter Pickers' environmental project, makes this project a worthwhile cause.

Modeshift Stars

We have received the SilverAward from Modeshift Stars in recognition of our approach to cycling, walking and other forms of sustainable travel, and our demonstration of excellence in these areas.

In order to achieve this award we have completed a good travel plan and established a working group, which falls under the remit of our learner Eco Committee.

As well as delivering a minimum of the following:

- 20 sustainable travel initiatives e.g. cycle park at school

- 10 supporting initiatives e.g. activate week, school climate events

- 7 consultation initiatives e.g. travel surveys for learners and staff

National Reading Champs!

Last week four of our learners took part in the regional heat for the National Reading Champions Quiz. The quiz, run by the LiteracyTrust, provides a fantastic opportunity for learners to enjoy a book quiz with their peers and compete with other school in their region. Atotal of 23 teams took part and our young people performed brilliantly attainting 3rd place and winning £40 worth of book tokens for our school library.

MathsCity Trip

We recently visited MathsCity in Leeds where learners enjoyed over twenty exhibits including fascinating puzzles, climbing inside a giant bubble and a kaleidoscope - to mention a few.They also took part in creating a dome workshop using their mathematical skills and team work.

Preparations for Spring

Our horticulture learners have been busy during the winter months repairing and building new paths around the garden and repairing cloches around the vegetable growing areas in readiness for Spring planting.

Our Sixth Form News

Brilliant Club Graduation at The University

of Sheffield

For the Brilliant Club Scholars Programme involved sessions being delivered on their chosen topic. The programme is structured around 7 tutorials with a PhD tutor and 1:1 feedback following submission of assignments, working towards a challenging final assignment which is marked and moderated using university grading.

Our students successfully completed the programme and achieved fantastic results, which culminated in a graduation ceremony at The University of Sheffield, where we were able to celebrate their amazing achievements. Two of our students volunteered to be spokes-scholars at the event where they spoke with great confidence and eloquence about their journey, their experiences and the skills gained. Students also had the opportunity to speak to current undergraduates and learn about university life followed by a campus tour. The day was truly memorable for our ambitious young people and will inspire their future pathways.

Taskmaster challenge

As part of Children’s Mental Health Week, we signed up to take part in the daily taskmaster challenges with the charity Place2Be. Each form was given a daily link to complete the mindfulness task and also to solve a puzzle that would be added to the weekly puzzle sheet. The correct answers at the end of the week were entered into a draw to win one of 4 form prizes. Three of the winning forms were in Years 12 and 13 (with one in Year 9 too). They also had their names featured on the Taskmaster website Wall of Fame

At the end of the week, we also had ‘Dress to Express’ day, when students were asked to wear colourful socks and tights and donate money to the Turkey and Syria Earthquake appeal. The whole school raised £1,514 for the appeal.

Our Curriculum Enrichment

Our trust family of schools offers a wide range of curriculum enrichment activities.

This greatly enhances our young people's educational experience, and also supports their health & wellbeing.

Matt, from UBHS and a governor at Healey, has delivered super CPD for governors and trustees around evaluating teaching and learning and school visits.

Our Staff Super Heroes

Parent/Carer Engagement at Manorfield:

Paula has started a weekly sewing group, to help parents/carers who may feel a little isolated. Paula has taught a group of mums how to use a sewing machine, they are currently developing their skills and we hope that this group will be the start of something wonderful for our community.

Victoria has organised a series of coffee mornings for parents/carers. PCAN attended the most recent coffee morning to support parents/carers of children with additional needs. Moving forward Victoria is keen to continue inviting guests to offer additional support for our families.

Jane, from UBHS, is praised for all her hard work behind the scenes. She manages reprographics, supports with inclusion and staff wellbeing as well as her HR/recruitment role for the Trust.

Katie and Amy, BGHS, are recognised for all their hard work in establishing the Eco Committee at BGHS and supporting the student team with their exciting plans and actions.

Gloria is the Behaviour Support Officer at Healey and part of the pastoral and safeguarding team. She does a fantastic job working to support children socially and emotionally throughout school.

The caretaker team have been nominated by staff - for having a can-do helpful attitude to requests at BGHS.

Matt Parkin Jane Gilroy Paula Nelson-White and Victoria Shackleton Katie Powles and Amy Poole Alan Ramsden, Martin Dunne and Martin Mitchell

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.

Investing in people and our community: Higher Learning Teaching Assistant Course

The Yorkshire Rose Teaching Partnership; the Trust’s arm for teacher training offers amazing support to both new and current staff across our Trust family of schools. As a Trust, training and development is something we’re really passionate about and having this fantastic offer within our wider team is truly valuable as we strive to advocate and support continued learning for people of all ages.

Currently the Yorkshire Rose Teaching Partnership is facilitating a Higher Learning Teaching Assistant (HLTA) course, which is being delivered by Leeds Trinity University.

There are 22 trainees on the course, from the BBEST schools in the Birstall and Batley area, 12 of whom are from our Trust schools, with all six schools represented. 64% of the trainees are over 30 and over half are working mothers, which is representative of our community and demonstrates how we endeavour to support the women in our local community with the careers pathways open to them.

To find out more about this fantastic initiative visit the Trust website: https://www.batleymat.co.uk/ba tley-brilliance/

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Careers work

It was National Careers Week 6-12 March and as a Trust we had a rich variety of careers activities for our young people

National Careers Week (NCW) is a celebration of careers guidance in education across the UK. It aims to help young people to become more aware of their careers and make them excited about their futures to help them make informed career decisions throughout their lives.

Across the Trust we have careers at the heart of school life on a daily basis, and National Careers Week gave us a great platform to look in greater depth at the pathways open to all our young people such as the new T Levels and apprenticeships as well as the more traditional routes.

This spotlight on careers was led through tutor time, assemblies and within departments focusing on specific skills and opportunities specific to their individual areas.

We will continue to keep careers a consistent focus area and welcome all initiatives that shine the light on the work we do across our trust family of schools.

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/

We are proud to lead the Yorkshire Rose Teaching Partnership - providing high quality primary and secondary teacher training in West Yorkshire. This consortium includes 15 local schools, Exceed SCITT and local Higher Education Institutions.

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/

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 NSPCC Get it right from a genuine site

Providing help & support for Free support & advice for Find out which sites are legal for downloading Under 18s. parents/carers worried about movies, music and games.

0800 11 11 a young person. https://www.getitrightfromagenuinesite.org/ 0808 800 500 https://www.nspcc.org.uk/ Ask about games

https://www.childline.org.uk/

Advice and online guides about gaming and The Mix Family Lives PEGI ratings. Provides essential support for 13-25 Free, professional, non-judgemental https://www.askaboutgames.com/ year olds. advice.