June 2019 Edition

Welcome to the June edition of Highlife. I hope that you enjoy reading about what has been happening at Beverley High School this month. Sharon Japp, Headteacher

National Teaching Awards 2019 Silver Winner

Following our exceptional achievements last year we decided to thank all our teaching staff for their work through the Pearson “Thank a Teacher” scheme. Once we submitted these, we were asked to consider nominating a teacher for the award of Secondary School Teacher of the Year. There were many outstanding candidates in school but in the end we knew that we should nominate Miss Brownell (pictured, centre). Her GCSE results in 2019 were simply sensational. However, more than that, she has contributed so much to our wider work and indeed community.

She is an enthusiastic, caring and inspirational teacher. It is her infectious enthusiasm for learning and understanding every individual that has made her achieve such phenomenal results. Her biggest strength is her humanity. She is passionately committed to not only her own development but to that of her colleagues and most importantly her students. Her commitment to their pastoral care as well as their academic success is amongst the best the school has seen. She contributes to a wide range of activities in the life of the school and community including raising thousands of pounds for charity. Miss Brownell is a very special individual who the students really adore and colleagues know will always be there for them. She is an exceptional member of staff.

We have now been informed that she is a silver award winner and will attend the glittering national Teaching Awards ceremony in London in the Autumn. The school is exceptionally proud of her achievement and we look forward to her continuing to inspire our young people for many years to come. Well done Miss Brownell!

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said,

“To be shortlisted for this award from thousands of nominations across the UK is a fantastic achievement and a testament to all of the winners’ commitment to the profession. I’m delighted that we are supporting the Pearson Teaching Awards to recognise the life-changing effect inspirational teachers have on the lives of young people. I want to take the opportunity to give my personal thanks to each and every one of the 450,000 teachers up and down the country who are inspiring the next generation day in, day out.”

Blue plaque for an original Beverley High School Girl

This week Miss Brownell, Miss Butlin and I had the pleasure of attending the unveiling of a blue plaque to Beverley High School ‘old girl’ Hilda Lyon.

Hilda was one of the first students of the school, having attended between 1908 and 1915. She then went on to Newnham College Cambridge where she studied mathematical tripos. She took an MA degree in 1923 when Cambridge admitted women to titular (but not full) degrees!

She trained in aeroplane stress analysis under the Air Ministry, then worked in posts as technical assistant in aeroplane design and became an associate fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. She worked at the Royal Airship Works on the R101 airship and flew on an R101 test flight. She was the first woman to win the R38 memorial prize of the Royal Aeronautical Society and secured a travelling scholarship from Newnham College. She studied in the engineering department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA. Her research there into a blunter shape for airships became known as ‘the Lyonshape’ and was also applied to submarines. She also studied in Gottingen in Germany in the early 1930s.

She returned home to in 1933 to nurse her mother and after her death in 1937, Hilda worked at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough where in 1944 she was promoted to principal scientific officer helping to provide solutions to critical wartime problems. She was a member of the Women’s Engineering Society and served on its council.

Outside of work Hilda completed a parachute jump. She also had strong domestic learnings and according to a friend from Cambridge kept a vegetable garden and baked home-made cakes and biscuits for visitors. Sadly Hilda died aged just 50 following an operation. She is buried in Market Weighton cemetery and her blue plaque is situated on McColl’s shop, the old Lyon family grocers.

Hilda featured in the 2018 Twelve Extraordinary Women of Beverley publication and in May was entered into the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, a great mark of fame. Beverley High School is so proud of one of its very first students.

Sports Report

This Summer term has been a busy one so far. Students have enjoyed the inter-house rounders competition over the last two weeks, which we managed to complete despite the recent poor weather. The winners were: Year 7 – Wenlock; Year 8 – Bethell; Year 9 – Norwood; Year 10 – Saltmarshe.

Individual sporting success: Last weekend Year 7 pupil Gracie Wilson (pictured below) competed in the Flevoland Open International Judo Tournament, a large international judo tournament in Dronten, the Netherlands with participants from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain and Sweden. It was the first time the squad had competed there and Gracie’s first competition for her country. Gracie managed to place 5th against some of the top international judokas. An amazing achievement. Well done Gracie!

Year 9 pupil Lois Richardson (pictured right) has been selected by Humberside Athletics to compete at a national athletics competition next month. Lois started with Athletics club last summer. Since then she has competed in the 100m, 200m, 300m and shot putt along with the 4x100m relay team.

On Saturday at the youth development league meeting in Rotherham in the extreme temperatures Lois gained a Personal Best in the 200m of 27.3 seconds and a PB in the 300 of 45.1 seconds. The relay team also secured their place in the English Schools’ Championship with a time of 51.75 in the 4x100m relay, the first time they have all run together!

Lois was offered a place to represent the Humberside region in the English Schools’ Athletics Championships, the fourth largest event of its kind in the world. She will compete at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham over two days in July and hopefully qualify for the final in the 4x100m relay with her team mates. Then all athletes take part in the closing

ceremony on the Saturday afternoon, this is an amazing achievement and a great representation for Beverley High School. Well done Lois and good luck!

Super Sports Leaders On 11 June we hosted 100 primary school pupils in a multi-skills event organised and run by our fantastic Year 10 student leaders. The children seemed to really enjoy the activities and as usual the Year 10 students really stepped up to the challenge; it was lovely to see how caring and encouraging they were with the younger children.

Quad Athletics Competition On Wednesday 5 June Miss Easter took 8 students to the school sports partnership quad athletics competition. We teamed up with the Grammar School to compete in the 100m, 800m, Long jump and Vortex throw athletic events. Our Year 7/8 team came 5th and our Year 9/10 team came 2nd only a few points behind the winners. The Year 9/10 team will now go through to the quad athletics area final at Costello on Thursday 27 June.

Rounders Year 7, 8 & 9 students have been enjoying our weekly rounders clubs and competed well in a recent match against Longcroft and schools. Year 7 were fantastic at fielding and managed to gain wins against both schools, well done to Captain Ruby Wild! We look forward to the upcoming end of season tournaments where we will compete against all the other schools in the East Riding.

School Sports Partnership Annual Awards. We were really pleased for a number of students who received awards at the recent School Sports Partnership Annual Awards evening for our area. The following students all received an award on the night – huge congratulations to everyone! ‘Outstanding individual performance in Sport’ Runners-up: Molly Tulloch (Year 10); Gracie Wilson (Year 7); Lottie Snape (Year 12) ‘Outstanding School Team’: 2nd place – U16 netball team ; 3rd Place - KS3 badminton team ‘Support in a voluntary leadership role’ Runner-up Yasmin Merryweather (Year 9) ‘Sports personality of the year’ Runner-up - Marina Paunova (Year 10)

The Next Mary Berry?

Year 7 pupil Abi Marbrow Berry was recently interviewed for Channel 4’s Junior Bake Off. She completed the application all by herself as she is really passionate about cooking and baking. She made the first round and had a one hour telephone interview with Love Productions (Channel 4). Although she did really well she didn’t get to the next stage on this occasion but plans to try again next year.

Abi has loved baking and cooking since she was tiny. She is a big fan of Bake Off and is constantly researching recipes and techniques and when not doing so is in the kitchen! She cooks meals for her family and bakes all the birthday and celebration cakes in the family. Well done Abi and good luck next year!

Beverley – Wuppertal German Exchange Trip

In June we welcomed 17 students on the first exchange visit with our partner school ‘Gymnasium am Kothen’ in Wuppertal. The German pupils had an amazing week as they experienced the English way of life and visited the sights nearby including and Whitby. They enjoyed taking part in lessons, eating in the school canteen and baking scones as they learnt about our school life. It was lovely to see friendships develop, to hear discussions about cultural differences and see the improved confidence when speaking a different language. The exchange is a wonderful opportunity for young people to broaden their horizons and immerse themselves in German/English life. We are all looking forward to our return visit in September.

Year 12 Work Experience in Germany

Two of our Y12 students will travel to Gymnasium am Kothen next week to complete a week’s work experience. Again this is an enriching experience for them as they learn new vocabulary in different contexts and develop social and communication skills. They will stay with a host partner and take part in family life for the week. We wish them a successful and exciting time.

Cologne trip

On Saturday 1 June 43 students embarked on the 573-mile journey to Cologne. They had two “perfect” days in Cologne and the surrounding region, where they were immersed in German culture. Drachenfels provided beautiful scenery, fabulous castles, a train journey, a boat trip down the Rhine and wonderful ice cream. Whilst there they discussed the legend of Siegfried and how he became invulnerable after he killed the dragon Fafnir, who lived on the hillside. They also visited the cathedral, which is a highly significant landmark in Cologne. The 1944 bombing campaign flattened all the surrounding buildings in the city. Only the cathedral was left standing. The trip also included a visit to Cologne Zoo, the Lindt chocolate museum and the Odysseum Science Museum. Students were able to practise their linguistic skills by translating German signs into English or speaking German. Whilst in Cologne students were set a “fiver challenge” to encourage them to converse in German. At the end of the visit students were sad to leave but happy to be returning to family and friends so they could share their stories and chocolate - if it managed to survive the 15-hour coach journey!

GCSE Exams 2019

After five years of teaching, countless hours of revision and lots of behind the scenes planning, organising and preparation the GCSE exam season has come and gone for another year. It all started on 23 April with Art Practical exams and finished on 17 June with Further Maths. During this period 147 pupils completed a total of 3300 exam papers; including practical exams that’s a staggering 6167 examination hours. Exams normally take place in the school gym but sometimes up to 7 other rooms across the school were also used.

A team of external invigilators supervised the pupils during their exams and ensured they were run in accordance with the strict exam board rules and regulations. In addition, those pupils who had been awarded access arrangements were ably supported by the school’s teaching assistants.

The pupils behaved impeccably before, during and after each exam and are a true credit to both you as parents/carers and to the school, bringing much praise from the exams team and the invigilators.

Now that all the hard work is over we wish them all a long and restful summer, they certainly deserve it!

Results Day Reminders

GCSE Results Day is Thursday 22 August 2019 in the school hall between 9.00am and 12noon. Any pupil who cannot collect their results on this day should refer to the flier included in their leavers’ pack for details of who is and isn’t allowed to collect results on their behalf.

A Level Results Day is Thursday 15 August 2019 in the Sixth Form Common Room at Beverley Grammar School from 8.00am.

We look forward to seeing you there and joining you in your celebrations.

Year 11 Prom

Friday 21 June saw us celebrating the Year 11 Leavers’ Prom jointly with Beverley Grammar School. It was a fantastic evening at Beverley Racecourse. All the young people looked stunning as they celebrated the end of their formal GCSE examinations. Staff from both schools were in attendance and were very proud to see so many happy, smiling faces. Thank you to the Year 11 teams from both schools and Mrs Mok for the excellent planning and organisation that goes into making this special night a success. We wish all of our Year 11 students a great summer and all the best for the future.

Art Exhibition

On 12 June, our Art Department opened up its doors to the public to display the fantastic artwork created by GCSE and A level pupils. There was a large variety of work on show from fine art painting, traditional printmaking and darkroom photography to hi- tech digital film. For the first time, Art Textiles joined our exhibition and exhibited some beautiful textural pieces. Pupils were encouraged to choose their own pieces to display for the evening and many chose artwork that was symbolic of their interests, morals and their everyday lives. It was a pleasure to see an insight into the pupils’ mind through visual means.

Beverley Life reporters joined us for the evening and their article can be read on their website alongside some photos that they took with selected pupils and artwork.

The artwork will be exhibited until the end of the academic year, so if anybody missed out on the evening, it is still possible to arrange a viewing by contacting Head of Art, Ms Evans.

Rock Band in Research Project

Our senior rock band, ‘Heed The Warning’, was treated to a free online coaching session from professional touring and session musician Jim Pitchforth. The coaching session was part of a research and development project undertaken by the East Riding Music Hub and an independent music education consultant. The four students - Sophie Demirkazik (lead vocal), Lindsay Partington (lead and rhythm guitar), Holly Singleton (backing vocal and bass guitar) and Nina Evison (backing vocal and drum kit) - have been preparing for the upcoming East Riding Battle of the Bands, in which they will perform two songs – a cover and an original composition by Lindsay called ‘It’s Not Our World’ – a great song that challenges the listener to think about reasons why we need to look after our planet. Jim provided some fantastic advice and guidance that enabled the musicians to raise their performance to the next level. We wish them every success at the Spa event on Friday 5 July.

Gig Night

On Wednesday 19 June the sound of live rock and pop music performances by our students could be heard across the school. Gig Night is always an impressive and enjoyable event and this year’s was no exception. Guitarists, keyboard players, singers and drummers from Y7 – 13 joined forces to produce a concert of pop, rock and light music for 100 parents and friends. Everyone who took part performed extremely well and there were some stunning items by sixth from students that were truly worthy of record deals! Thank you to all who played and sang so wonderfully for a really great evening.

SSAT Awards

Deputy Headteacher Mr Colton (pictured) headed to the SSAT Award Ceremony in Bradford earlier this month to collect our two Educational Outcomes awards for top 10% attainment and progress.

Thank You for the Feedback

Thank you to the Year 13 students who completed the exit survey this term. Responses to the question “Thinking about yourself in Year 7 and now in Year 13 how would you describe your experiences at Beverley High School and the Beverley Joint Sixth Form” included:

“the education has been great” “I have really enjoyed school” “loved the whole time” “I always felt welcome” “I’ve had a positive experience” “They’ve definitely shaped who I am and allowed me to develop” “I couldn’t imagine going anywhere else”

Thank you also to parents of Year 7-11 pupils who attended parents’ evening over the course of the academic year and completed parent surveys. Almost 70% of parents returned the questionnaires. Overall 99% reported that their children are well looked after by the school and are taught well. We are delighted with your feedback.

Parent Governor Election

Following the resignation from the Governing Body of parent governor Kevin Wilson, we held a parent governor election and Claire Ryan was duly elected. Claire is a former Beverley High School student, with a profound interest in education. She started her career as a nurse before becoming a mum to two children. She then worked in private education, gaining a PGCE and more recently a Masters in Education whilst working full-time. She currently works for a national education provider as head of health curriculum, ensuring that curriculum meets OFSTED regulatory requirements. She relishes the opportunity to support the school’s vision and strategy in supporting the future needs of our children’s education and wellbeing and believes both her personal and professional experiences enable her to support this. The governing body is looking forward to working with Claire.

Year 11 Residential to Oxford University

A group of Year 11 students had the fantastic opportunity to visit Oxford University to experience some academic taster sessions and enjoy life as an Oxford student. Our link college (Mansfield) hosted us and kept us busy with a bespoke itinerary, including de-mystifying the application process and a Q and A with current undergraduates, along with some free time to explore other colleges. Year 11 enjoyed the experience immensely and returned home inspired. We look forward to seeing the students’ aspirations realised at Sixth Form with our Oxbridge application programme.

Year 9 and 10 Oxbridge Open Evening

The academic and admissions tutor for Mansfield College, Oxford came to speak to students, parents and carers about the Oxbridge admissions process and what students can do to really engage with their subjects beyond what they study at school through a range of super-curricular activities to promote academic engagement, for instance listening to podcasts and watching documentaries on their areas of interest.

Humberside UCAS Convention

On Tuesday 18 June 130 Year 12 students spent the morning at the University of Hull where the annual Humberside UCAS Convention took place. The event brings together universities from across the country and students had the opportunity to talk to representatives from universities as far apart as Aberdeen and Exeter, Southampton and Belfast. There was also an extensive programme of talks and lectures which many of the students attended; these included advice on student finance and on choosing a course.

Year 13 Prom

The Year 13 Prom took place at Cave Castle on Saturday 29 June. The evening began with a drinks reception and then over 100 students and 20 staff sat down to enjoy a three course meal. Dancing and socialising followed giving the students and staff a welcome opportunity to relax together and celebrate the end of the A Level exam season.

The Big Deal Enterprise Competition

On 19 June Mrs Jukes and Ms Mok took two teams of business students to York University to take part in The Big Deal enterprise competition final.

Both teams had to present a business plan and pitch to a team of regional business leaders. Team ‘1 in 4’ made it to the final four teams all vying for the first prize of a trip to New York! Sadly, they were pipped at the post but to get so close was an amazing achievement.

The teams have been working so hard on their business ideas and plans for the past four months. Holding weekly meetings, creating prototypes and carrying out market research are a few examples of the activities they have undertaken. We are so proud of them all for showing such determination and commitment.

Geography Fieldtrips

On 19 and 20 June groups of Year 10 Geographers completed their first of two field visits accompanied by Ms Hancock and Mrs Thatcher, in preparation for their paper 3 exam next year. The students spent the day at Bridlington South Sands to investigate the impact of human activity on sand dune succession. The two days were led by tutors from the Cranedale Field Study Centre. The students measured changes in gradient on a transect through the dunes and they also identified changes in species coverage, number and height of species along the transect. In addition, they carried out a survey of human activity.

The students on both visits collected lots of valuable data and wrote useful notes that we will use back in the classroom when we complete our follow up work. Special congratulations must go to the group who visited Bridlington on the 19 June as the rain began to fall from the moment we got off the coach and continued to fall until lunchtime. All the students were brilliant and carried on regardless – collecting data and making notes on their increasingly soggy paper. Some even commented that it was more fun in the rain! None of the local cafes had bothered to open as a result of the awful weather so the students even missed

out on getting an ice cream at the end of the day! By contrast on the 20 June the students completed their work in the sunshine and were able to reward themselves with an ice-cream before setting off back to school – what a difference a day makes!

Duke of Edinburgh Expedition

Early in June a number of Year 10 students assembled to carry out a trial expedition for their Silver Duke of Edinburgh award. This consisted of two nights camping and a good deal of walking in between!

The light rain that greeted them on Friday night as they pitched their tents at Raywell Scout Camp turned into persistent showers throughout Saturday. Waterproofs proved to be essential as they walked nearly 10 miles in the wet weather. Still in good spirits, the students cooked some ‘interesting’ meals on the Saturday evening to prepare themselves for the day ahead.

Sunday saw some beautiful weather to start the day and spirits were lifted with the opportunity to walk without needing waterproofs. On several occasions, the staff placed at checkpoints could hear the girls singing before they saw them!

The walking on Sunday took the group towards Welton where they were afforded some stunning views across the before coming to a halt at South Hunsley School. All of the students performed brilliantly in difficult conditions across the weekend and, with several members of the public commenting favourably on their attitude and behaviour, they were a credit to the school and to themselves.

Expeditions like this cannot take place without staff volunteering to give up their personal time to support the students. Thank you to all the staff involved.

Lakeside 2019

Today we welcomed back Year 8 pupils who spent three days in the Lake District this week - more about that in July’s edition.

Alumni in the Spotlight

Each month Beverley Highlife introduces you to an alumna of the school who will tell us about their life since leaving Beverley High School.

Name: Laura Wallis (nee Rigby)

When did you leave Beverley High School?

I left Beverley High School in 2000, after seven years at the school. I then completed a three year degree in English and History at the University of Leeds. Towards the end of my course, I decided that I wanted to train to become a primary teacher and did my PGCE at Hull University in 2003-4.

Can you tell us about your profession?

I have worked in three primary schools within the East Riding since I qualified as a teacher in 2004 and I am now the Headteacher of St Mary’s Primary School in Beverley. Every day is different and it is the variety within the role which I particularly enjoy. On any given day I will work with a whole range of people - children, staff, parents, governors, local authority advisors, visitors and members of the wider community and I feel incredibly lucky and privileged to be part of such a committed and talented team. My days are very busy and no day is the same. As a Head, my role is to bring out the best in everyone and what drives me each day is my commitment to providing a supportive and positive environment which enables everyone to develop and flourish.

As I have overall responsibility for the leadership and management of the school, my day-to-day work covers a wide range of areas which relate not only to the teaching and learning of the hundreds of children within the school but also to areas such as staffing, governance, health and safety and finance. Although my days are often unpredictable, I usually spend the first hour or so of the day catching up with staff or responding to issues or emails and I then always welcome the children into school when the gates open at 8:40. Once the school day has begun, I can go from leading assembly, to reviewing pupil progress with teachers, to meeting with our pastoral manager to discuss children’s well- being and behaviour to working with the business manager to review the budget. Some days’ plans are simply turned on their head and this goes with the territory! This is part of what makes the job so interesting and challenging. I also have some evening commitments most weeks – attending performances and other events as well as meetings with governors or Friends of the School. Away from school, I love being with my family and being Mum to my two young children and relish our weekends and holidays together, at home or away!

Being a Primary school Headteacher is rewarding, enjoyable and very fulfilling as well as being exhausting at times! It is wonderful to be in a job which is about nurturing, developing and enabling others to achieve great things and to work alongside people who share the same values and commitment to ensuring that every child feels safe and happy in school each day and receives an excellent primary education.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Always remember that good enough and done are better than perfect! I am a perfectionist by nature and used to spend far too long thinking and procrastinating before getting something finished. Now, apart from anything else, I just don’t have the time! Also, let yourself off the hook if things don’t go as well as you had hoped. There is always a next time and mistakes really do help us learn and succeed.