8th
June 2009
Alder
Hey Hospital Visit
On 2nd April
2009 we spent the afternoon at Alder Hey Hospital
giving out Easter eggs that had been so kindly donated by Bridgewater staff and pupils, to children who
have been diagnosed with leukaemia.
Mrs Mason, mother of son
and ex-Bridgewater pupil Michael who sadly died of leukaemia aged only 17,
wants to get students like ourselves to bring a smile to the faces of the young
children, helping them hopefully, to cope with their treatment.
This was a very touching
experience. It was nothing like we had
expected, we thought everyone would be upset and dismal, but no, everyone in
the leukaemia section was happy, nurses included. There were children of all ages, from 2 to 17
years old. Some patients were not
leukaemia sufferers themselves but were donating marrow or blood to their ill
siblings.
When we were giving out
the eggs not only were the children delighted but also their families. We talked to them about ourselves and Bridgewater High School.
We would like our link
with the hospital to continue. We
noticed on our tour that the walls of the unit are very bare. Mrs Mason has asked the hospital if as we are
a specialist arts college, we could decorate some of the walls with our artwork
to make the place seem bright and cheerful.
We are hoping this project will start soon. We want to try and make the ward seem homely
whilst the children receive their sometimes very difficult treatment.
This was a trip to
hospital to remember for all the right reasons.
Becky Murphy
11TP, Charlotte Smith 11TE
1st
June 2009
A very successful two weeks for our Year 10 students,in their work placements. Employer reports are beginning to arrive in
school and some lovely remarks are made by them. Students have found a great variety of
opportunities this year and as usual a party went on the “Look at
Life” residential course with the Army.
Eight students took part in the “Jump on Board” programme,
based in Warrington,
undertaking activities such as: first
aid, D.J’ing, looking at job roles in Ikea, team building with the army
and mock interviews.
Year 10 students have also taken part in the
Lionheart Enterprise Challenge, where they worked in groups on the theme of
ROAD SAFETY.
An overall winning team will be competing in the
North West Regional Finals in Liverpool on
Monday 6th July 2009. We wish
them all the best.
Year 9 students will be spending two days at Upper School
on the 17th/18th June.
On the Thursday, they will have an induction into work experience. Students will be given all necessary
paperwork, including a self placement form, to enable them to find and secure a
placement during the summer break.
S Statham
Careers/Enterprise
May 2009
Congratulations
to all of our year 9 pupils for their excellent
results in the first module of their Mathematics GCSE. 100% of pupils passed the exam and 84% of
pupils achieved A* to C. The maths
department has been impressed by the ambition and determination of more than
100 pupils who have decided to resit the module in order to achieve a better
mark.
Thanks is also due to all year 9 maths teachers and
to Mrs Kandola, Mr Sillifant, Mrs Jervis, Miss Beswick and Mrs Archer for their
extra revision sessions after school.
Mrs Heald KS3 Maths Co-ordinator
8th
May 2009 History Department Trip to the World War One Battlefields 3rd-6th
April 2009
On a cold April morning The History Department
and 44 Year 9 pupils set off from school on our way to Belgium and France. The whole party was eager to reach our
destination and see the battlefields for ourselves. The journey went smoothly and we reached Belgium in good
time. In trying to find our hotel we
encountered our first obstacle which was to prove a challenge for the duration
of the staff’s tour of duty – a driver with no sense of direction
or an ability to read a map. Thank
goodness for Mr Aleksic’s map reading skills and fluent French!
Our second day dawned cold and misty and this
definitely added to the sombre mood as we visited two huge cemeteries, one
British and one German, in the Flander’s battlefields. The respectful and thoughtful response of the
students was very moving. Our spirits
lifted as we toured our first excavated trench structure and the pupils had a
genuine picture of how the trenches would have looked and felt. Lunch and copious amounts of chocolate in Ypres also helped to restore a buoyant mood! A fascinating afternoon was spent exploring
restored British and German trenches.
That evening we travelled back to Ypres to experience the Last Post at Menin Gate. The Gate commemorates 55,000 men who fought
in the Ypres area but who have no known
grave. This act of remembrance occurs
every evening and has done since the end of World war One (with a short break
during the second war). There were hundreds
of visitors there but the respectful silence was immaculately observed and
again this was an extremely moving experience.
On day three we travelled to the Somme which contained one fascinating site after
another. The most poignant stop was at
the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing which remembered 75,000 men who died
fighting in the Somme. The phenomenal size and extent of the
monument was astonishing. The majority
of the party probably enjoyed the Newfoundland Park best as the battlefield had
been preserved and we could really imagine being in No Man’s Land and could see the remnants of the trenches,
shell holes and mine craters.
The last day was spent touring around Vimy
Ridge where the Allies finally started to make significant advances in 1917
which eventually led to the end of the war.
Although by this stage we had seen many cemeteries and memorials, our
breath was still taken away by the massive scale of the German cemetery at
Neuville St Vaast. There were crosses as
far as the eye could see, so many that they were blurred into the horizon. Our last stop was the Vimy Memorial to the
Canadian dead and then we made our way back home.
Everyone on the trip had a fantastic time and
we have gained many lasting memories.
The staff and pupils are very grateful to Mrs Mottershead for organising
such an unforgettable experience.
2nd April 2009 Headslines
For many of our students, this half term started
with a series of assemblies about our trip to Soweto
in South Africa,
which had taken place during February half term. I was privileged to visit Forte High School
along with two colleagues and four students as part of our cultural and
educational exchange programme which is supported by the British Council. For all of us, it would be fair to say that
the trip was a life changing experience and seeing how two schools, in such
radically different environments, can actually have so much in common was for
me one of the most interesting parts of the experience. Whilst we were there, the students identified
an exciting way to develop our links further.
Forte High School run their own eco garden programme in order to produce
food that can support their learners and we too have developed the
“quad” area at the Upper School as an eco garden which we plan to
use as an educational resource. The
intention is to run these two garden projects in parallel and last Saturday
over twenty students helped to dig and drain the quad area at Upper School
in preparation for growing food, conducting eco experiments and developing
curriculum enrichment activities. If any
parent with a background in gardening feels that they could support us in any
way in developing this link, please do not hesitate to contact me.
This term is traditionally when Y11 begin
their final preparation for GCSEs, whilst Y9 start the process of choosing the
GCSE programme they wish to embark on and both activities are progressing
well. As you may recall, a focus area
for me is to move the outstanding progress Ofsted judge us to be making at KS3
and KS4 and move this into the sixth form and I was delighted that the recent
AS units taken by students this January indicate very strong progress. We are also working on plans to refurbish the
whole sixth form area to create a learning environment fit for the type of outstanding
outcomes and experience we want our students to have. A group of sixth formers, as well as a design company, are working closely on this
project and more details will be available next term.
Bridgewater students can always be relied upon to show their
generosity with regards to all sorts of charitable activities and this term was
no exception. We had a very successful
Comic Relief day and students have also raised money for other good causes
including collecting Easter eggs for Alder Hey hospital. This commitment to the wider educational
experience can also be seen in the range of extra curricular activities and
enrichment events that have taken place, including Enterprise Days for Y8,
theatre trips and visits to a local nursing home where our students sang and
performed for residents. Also, as part
of our role as a leading Arts College for the North West, we recently hosted
the Arts College North West conference which brought lead professionals
together from across the region to allow for the sharing of good practice.
Like many schools, Bridgwater is now entering
that period of the year when recruitment becomes a key activity and earlier
this term the Governing Body appointed Mrs Hatton as the new Deputy Headteacher
at Lower following a rigorous interview process and I wish her all the best in
this role.
Finally as Easter is well upon us, may I take
this opportunity to wish everyone a relaxing and enjoyable break.
Tim Long – Headteacher
30/03/09
GCSE Geography students survey Stockton
Heath
Last week our GCSE Geography classes were
surveying Stockton Heath as part of their Coursework. They could be seen classifying landuse around
the village, questioning people using the shops and residential areas, and
undertaking a number of individual projects to assess how land values, pedestrian
foot traffic and differing resources that are put into various parts of
Stockton Heath.
24/03/09 
After school trip to the Cornerhouse
Cinema in Manchester to see the Award Winning French Film ‘The
Class’, Friday 27th February 2009. What a challenging film it was1 Not your usual Friday evening entertainment
but a thought provoking and philosophical documentary style piece which showed
the day reality-with its sudden flashes of both tension and humour-of inner
city life. As always, Bridgewater students were a real pleasure to
take out. For anyone interested,
don’t forget that in the upper school library there are lots of subtitled
foreign films to borrow-Romance to Adventure and everything in between.
A Orde
As the winner of the Palm d’Or, at the
Cannes Film Festival, ‘The Class’ is an intriguing drama that
recounts the tale of a teacher and his students in a Parisian high school. It is based on the semi-autobiographical
novel by the same name (but originally ‘Entre les Murs’ in French),
by Francois Begaudeau, who also takes the lead role in the film.
‘The Class’ offers a tantalising
insight into the lives of the teachers, showing their struggle to cope with the
outspoken, street wise city kids that enter their classroom each morning. Each defeat and victory of the students is
typical of the real life drama that occurs each day in virtually every school,
and by the end of the film, the viewer is left with a much deeper appreciation
of what any teacher must go through to help them.
Emma Walker Y10
17/03/09 UKMT MATHEMATICS CHALLENGE
Some Bridgewater
pupils from years 9 and 10 took part in this years UKMT Mathematics Challenge
in February. The event is organised by Leeds University
and is a national competition. Special
congratulations go to John Corbridge in year 10 who was successful in reaching
the second round of the competition. The
mathematics department are now waiting to hear from Leeds University
to see if John has progressed to round 3.
Good luck John.
Mr Gledhill
Mathematics Department
06/03/09
ECOSCHOOLS
There will be a meeting
held at upper site for any staff or students who would like to help with the
creation of the Eco garden. The meeting
will be held from 3.30-4.00 on Thursday 13/03/09 in the TLC. Bring
your green minds. Mr Bennett
06/03/09
CONGRATULATIONS to the year 8
girls’ hockey team who beat the Heath 1-0. The match was brilliant and the girls
deserved their win. Mrs Pennington
13/02/09
HEADSLINES
We are fast approaching half term and I hope that it
will provide an opportunity for pupils, parents and staff to relax and enjoy
themselves.
We have
a ski party heading off to Austria
while I have the privilege of being part of a small group of pupils and staff
visiting Forte High
School in Soweto,
South Africa. You may
be aware that we have a long standing cultural and educational exchange
programme with this school. A number of
their students and staff visited us last July and I am very much looking
forward to seeing their educational system at first hand and exploring ways in
which we can further develop our links.
As you
will be well aware, Bridgewater
High School benefits
significantly from its Specialist status, something that is always reviewed
after an Ofsted Inspection. There is a
fixed six week timeline for a school to seek “redesignation” and we
were delighted to have our status reconfirmed just after Christmas. This will, therefore, continue to provide us
with the opportunities and resources to enhance, not just the Arts subjects,
but also support all our subjects in raising achievement and broadening the enrichment
opportunities available.
As ever
we have continued to run a wide range of extra curricular activities and I
would like to thank all the pupils who have taken part, the staff who have led
them and the parents who have supported their children in attending these
activities. Despite the weather, a range
of sports fixtures have still gone ahead.
In addition to the team sports, the PE department are also working very
hard as part of a broader Warrington
based project to develop healthy lifestyles among all pupils. We were delighted to host, for example, a
Virtual Multi-Skills event for Y2 pupils which was successfully run by our Year
10 Sports leaders. With regards to healthy
eating, I would also like to congratulate Chartwells, our catering contractor,
(formerly Scolarest) for achieving the “Healthy Food Award” with
distinction. Also whilst I write, we are
entering the final week of term when our school play “10 Days of
Peace” is performed and I am sure it will, as ever, prove to be hugely
enjoyable and entertaining experience.
As a
school we also had the privilege again of inviting Rudi Oppenheimer, a
holocaust survivor, to address some of our students. His thought-provoking and moving account of
his experiences certainly made an impact.
This time of year is also an important one for our students to reflect
upon the opportunities they face, particularly if they are in Y9 and Y11. For example, on the Tuesday after half term
all Y11 students will take part in our “GCSE and Beyond” day. This day is designed to give students a sense
of the A level opportunities we provide by allowing students to take part in a
variety of “mini” A level lessons.
We also talk to students again about the wide course offer we have, the
enrichment opportunities and above all the support and monitoring we now have
in place to ensure that the outstanding progress they are currently achieving
rolls forward into the sixth form.
Similarly Y9 pupils are currently receiving extensive advice about the
options available to them when they move to the Upper site as part of their KS4
curriculum. This culminates in the
Option Evening held at the Upper Site on Thursday 5th March and a
letter will be sent out about this shortly.
Finally
in the week after half term we will be interviewing for a new Deputy
Headteacher at Lower Site to take over the role created by my appointment as
headteacher. This post received
substantial national interest and our final short list is drawn from people across
England
and I am confident we will be able to make an outstanding appointment. In the meantime I hope you all have a good
half term break.
Tim Long
Headteacher
13/02/09 Good luck to all Y9 students sets 2-6 who will be taking their 1st
GCSE Maths module after half term on Tuesday 3rd March. This module is 18% of their GCSE.
Miss C Beswick
Head of Mathematics
10/02/09 Homework Support Club
We are
pleased to inform you that, commencing after half term, all pupils in Years 7
and 8 will have the opportunity to attend homework club every Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday. This will take
place in the lower school library between 3.15 and 4.15pm. The first session will take place on
Tuesday 24th February.
The sessions
will be fully supervised by teaching staff.
Although they may not necessarily be your child’s teachers, they
will be available to offer support or advice.
Students are welcome to attend on a voluntary, drop in basis and it is
their responsibility to bring work with them.
Depending on numbers, we may extend this facility to Year 9 at a later
date. Mr B McCahey
03/02/09 CHILDREN IN NEED
We are proud to say that here at Bridgewater High School, pupils have been doing
everything they can to raise money for ‘Children in Need.’ The
fundraising events include car boot sales, cake stalls, guess how many sweets
in the jar, sponsored silences and guess the name of the bear. We are delighted to announce that all in all
we have together raised an amazing £150.00.
Many thanks to Charlotte Carter-Shepherd, Freya Rush, Helen Young, Kate
Fomina, myself (Natalie Williams), Ffion Williams, Ruth Samlofski-Jones, Abi
Harries and Katie Moore and friends. We
couldn’t have done it without you and every penny will go to a good
cause.
Natalie Williams
14/01/09 CATERING ASSISTANT VACANCY
2x10 hour posts
2 hours per day
12.30-2.30pm
£6.10 per hour
(spread over year)
All kitchen duties, including washing up, food preparation and
serving. All training to be given,
experience not essential. Uniform
provided.
For more information please contact Paul on: 10925 216044
08/01/09 Maths – NSPCC Childline Sponsored Charity Event
Just before Christmas Year 7 took part in a
sponsored charity event. Each pupil
completed a ‘Mathionaire’ quiz during their maths lessons and
collected sponsorship according to the number of questions they got
correct. The maths department have been
absolutely overwhelmed by the response.
Year 7 collected an amazing £996.17!!!
We really appreciate the efforts of all the pupils and parents in Year 7
and we are sure that Childline will be equally grateful.
Mrs
Kandola-Maths Department
06/01/09 Careers News
Friday 28th November 2008 – Yr 10 Careers Day
All Year 10 students
followed a day of career based workshops:
·
Interview
technique
·
Financial
budgeting via an interactive “Holiday Planner” produced by RBS
·
Health
and Safety preparation for Work Experience
·
Careers
Fair, supported by Universities, Sixth Form Colleges, Training Providers,
Apprenticeships, the Uniformed and Public Services.
·
“Hands
on” activities, some examples being:
DJ, floristry, hair and beauty, painting, fitness, RAF, Marines and
Computer Games Design.
Feedback from the
students has been very positive and they responded very well to all activities. The day was supported by school staff and
many outside companies and agencies who gave freely of their time. I am sure the students benefited from the day
and took away some useful information to help them make some decisions about
their future.
“Make your Mark” – Enterprise Event, Warrington Collegiate
Eight Year 10
students represented Bridgewater: Elizabeth Heaven, Natalie Lyons, Daniel Tidd,
James Bennett, John Corbridge, Chris Owen, Chris Wooolley, Mark Williams
They had to come up
with a business idea on the key values of the Olympics. Their Business Plan created a charity to
raise funds, in the support of disabled children, to enable participation in a
variety of sporting activities.
Unfortunately they did not go through to the next round, but competed
well against the College students. Staff
were extremely impressed with their work and conduct.
Congrats Theatre Company
All Year 10 students
watched a live performance outlining all learning routes available post 16:-
work based learning, college and sixth form, Way a head and information on EMA,
including services offered by Connexions.
Work Experience
All self placement
forms should now have been handed in to Mrs Barlow, and students, following an interview
with the Army, now know if they have been accepted.
