We are nearly at the end of another academic year, thank you for everything.
This is my final blog of the year and, prior to writing it, I have been reflecting on the last twelve months. I have spent time this week and last watching our young people go about their daily lives at Beckfoot and talking to lots of them about their school, their dreams and hopes for the future. As if I needed reminding, we truly have a remarkable community at Beckfoot. Not perfect but special and I am so proud our school, proud of the staff and students, grateful to our families for their support and incredibly hopeful for the future.
Over the past couple of weeks things have not eased up one bit. In this blog I will highlight the new Year 11 Further Education Day, our Model UN days, the excitement around transition from primary school, the Summer Serenade concert, the influence of recent politics in school, our Buzz digital magazine, Enrichment Week and a special mention for a pretty amazing Year 9 student.
We began last week with an evening for our new Year 6 students and their families. They got to spend time with their new tutor, listen to students about their Year 7 experiences as well as a few words from me. It was a lovely evening and an absolute delight to meet so many new faces. That was quickly followed up on Wednesday when those new students came to spend a day with us at Beckfoot. They had tutor time, engaged in a number of lessons, experienced break and lunchtime as well as a couple of assemblies throughout the day. They were superbly looked after by our Sixth Form buddies and staff and I was thrilled by the manner in which each young person presented to us on the day. They were brilliant and we are really looking forward to their arrival as Beckfooters in September.
At the other end of the spectrum we took every new Year 11 student to visit either a university or college last week. As part of our outstanding careers provision, we try to ensure all our young people are aware of the options available to them both locally and regionally at Post 16 and 18. Supporting them to aim high is an embedded part of our culture and these days help hugely to help our students to gain the knowledge and understanding they need to make informed choices about where they go next and into the future. We had groups visit universities in York, Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield as well as Craven College. Each group were superb in their approach and interactions on the day. So many came back to school excited about what will be possible for them in the future. Some felt that university life was something they could achieve or dream about and came back last week feeling they had every right to do so if that is what they wanted. They were so grateful for the experience and the opportunity to really consider what might be right for them into the future. At Craven College most returned having experienced something completely different and a few even tried their hand at plastering, brick laying, hair and beauty and so much more. The key message is that there are so many opportunities in this are to consider (including our Sixth Form) and that with hard work those opportunities are limitless.
During last week and this week we, for the second year running, held our Model UN event. We took a slight risk this year in that we ran the event last Thursday for our new Year 11 students looking specifically at Refugees & the UN Migration with a focus on Myanmar & Rohingya. The students worked solidly from 9am to 3pm seeking resolutions to issues in a diplomatic and political manner. They took their individual roles seriously and worked in a determined but respectful manner as they sought to agree to the solutions that would make a difference to the people and countries involved. Yesterday we ran a similar session with Year 13. This time we asked them to work on the refugee crises because of the Israel and Palestine conflict. We knew it would be a difficult and emotive topic, but we also knew that our students would be able to cope and they did so brilliantly.
Continuing the political theme we held our own General election last week across school. We taught the students a little about each political party mainly through their manifestos which culminated in each tutor group voting, as individuals, for their party of choice. This also happened in several other trust schools in order that we could report results as individual schools and as a Trust. At Beckfoot, Labour triumphed but across our Trust it was the Green Party who came out on top. It is so important to try to engage our students in these types of experiences. They support our work on such things as British Values and gives our young people a real sense of the importance in using their voice for stability or change when needed and I am grateful to Mrs Ratahi for making this happen. The political agenda then continued into this week when, yesterday, we took four Year 13 students down to the houses of parliament to meet up with our newly elected MP, Anna Dixon as part of the Celebration of Democracy event. Anna spent a long time talking to our students and even did a mini interview with Milla for her vlog, picking up on some of the issues our students talked about when she came into school a few weeks ago. The group then headed to the Science Museum to see a model of the first ever calculator (it is over 6 foot tall) – this was all beamed back into school via a video call to Ms McLean’s Y13 Maths class. What an experience it was for Mila, Amy, Felix and Harrison.
Changing the focus to music I attended our annual Summer Serenade concert last night. It is our final concert of the year and the last of over ten concerts that the music team put on throughout the year. It was an incredible evening because you are witnessing something really special with each act. We had the usual Samba Band, Groovetubes, Rock Band, Brass and so much more. We had students perform pieces they had written themselves and new bands play in public for the first time. I am always excited about this event because it is often our first introduction to the vast array of new talent at Beckfoot who are the new kids on the block following the departure of our Year 11 and 13 students. Given what I saw last night I could not be more excited for the future of music and the creative arts at Beckfoot. We are in good hands because we have so many special people doing a special job to ensure that and I am incredibly grateful that they work here.
A few weeks ago I shared with you the news that we had received a grant from the Alfred Sharp Fund (a local charity doing wonderful work in education in the area) to support our drive to level up reading at Beckfoot School. Thanks to their donation, we have been able to purchase a staggering 2000 books. This means every student in the school will read, from cover to cover, 15 works of quality literature in their time with us. Literacy opens eyes, minds and doors for students, and we can’t wait to get deep into reading in the new academic year. It is so exciting and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to fast track our plans as a result. The difference this will make to our students for years to come cannot be underestimated both in terms of their love of literature and reading but also their ability to access their education, perform well in exams and be more prepared than ever to do amazing things in their lives beyond our gates.
I guess everything I try to include in this Blog and in my reflection is summed up best through our Buzz magazine. We sent it out last week and it is a remarkable production created by our students about their school. I hope you have had a chance to read it.
Finally, I want to share news of the achievements of a special young man, Josh, who has just moved into Year 9. Last weekend Josh took part in the national Junior Para Championships in Warwick. He won 3 gold medals for long jump, 1500m and 800m and achieved personal bests for both running races. The icing on the cake, though, had to be his time in the 800m which saw him break a long established national record for that event. We are so proud of him, of all his achievements but mainly because of the young man he is. Well done Josh!
Next week we have our Enrichment Week and over 1200 staff and students involved in a whole manner of trips, visits and activities. It is a mammoth task to co-ordinate but we do it because it is part of the DNA of our school and a part of our annual calendar for over thirty years. I hope all those involved have a wonderful, exciting, education filled week and we look forward to hearing all about it next Friday when they return to normal lessons. I also wish our Year 11 students the best as they venture far and wide for their work experience week. I have the pleasure of getting to visit a few of them next week and I can’t wait.
To our entire school community, thank you for everything this year. It has been the most incredible few months. Please take care and be safe over the summer and good luck to all those that we will see in August for the GCSE and A Level results.
Simon Wade, Headteacher
