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Issue 13 • Summer 2017 Artwork by Raya Streets Ahead A highlight for us this term was a visit from Her Majesty’s Ofsted Inspectors. I am delighted to tell you that they have judged BCHS to be a good school. I was very proud to show the two inspectors around our amazing school, they observed lessons, spoke to students, staff and governors, and looked through lots of the students’ work. Their report was overwhelmingly positive, and they praised our ethos and values: “The school feels like a family and the pupils are happy. Leaders are approachable, yet have very high standards for both staff and pupils.” “The school is continuing to grow in size and popularity due to the strong links and trust you have developed with the local communities you serve. You have worked tirelessly to create a safe environment for pupils, where they enjoy their learning and are developing into confident young people, well equipped for life in modern Britain.” In fact we have grown so much since we opened in 2012 that we are now almost 100% full. We have a reserve list of students waiting for places at BCHS, and just a few places available in Year 9. BCHS continues to thrive in our community, our choir sang for patients, staff and visitors at Royal Blackburn Hospital; we hosted a delightful Desi Dinner, which was a colourful event of exotic fragrances and tastes. As part of their careers exploration our Year 8 students spent a few hours “speed dating” with directors from a number of local businesses. This July we will be hosting a Summer Bazaar, and welcoming future Year 7 students with our Summer School. “The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils at Blackburn Central High school is particularly strong. Pupils are tolerant and have respect for each other, regardless of background, nationality, race or religion. The community and family ethos of the pupils and staff at the school is tangible.” We are proud of our diversity and inclusivity, and proud of our students who told inspectors “that they feel like they ‘all get along like one family, with one voice’. Pupils are particularly proud of the charity work they do and display genuine care and compassion to those less fortunate than themselves.” Whilst the attendance rate of our students is in line with the national average, we still want to improve it, and I urge parents and carers to help us. Too many families are taking extended holidays during term time, if these are not authorised parents could risk losing their child’s school place or face a fine from the education authority. We wish all of our Year 11 students every success with their examinations. Students in Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 will be sitting their end of year exams this June. Please see our website www.bchs.co.uk for more information. Muslim members of our community began observing Ramadan in June, can I please ask parents to ensure your children fast in a healthy manner; We’ve provided some advice on healthy fasting on our website. Finally all at Blackburn Central High School send love and prayers to everyone affected by the Manchester and London tragedies. We have provided a book of condolences for our community to sign in reception. Mrs Atkinson Headteacher 2 London Remembrance As Blackburn fell silent to remember those who lost their lives in the recent terrorist attacks in London, four Year 7 students from BCHS with Crosshill represented our school by taking part in the memorial event. They joined representatives from all sections of the Borough, including the Mayor, Councillor Colin Rigby OBE, and leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council – Councillor Mohammed Khan, as well as Town Hall staff, members of the public and community leaders. The students also met the Mayor, who was impressed by the maturity and the compassion shown by some of the youngest students in our school. They were later interviewed by television program, ‘That’s Lancashire’. Diane Atkinson, Headteacher of BCHS said “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and the victims of the recent attacks in Manchester and London. We are proud of, but not surprised by, the empathy and compassion shown by all of our students during this terrible time. As a school, we will stand united against these mindless acts of violence.” Overcome Any Challenge Charity Quiz Night Taking part in the Team Challenge is a very big Our twice-yearly charity quiz night took place responsibility and a good way to increase your at Kebabish, who have always accommodated confidence and perseverance in lessons. It is also us for our quizzes. Staff competed against each an amazing team building experience that helps other, and the police, in a general knowledge quiz improve your mind-set. - expertly put together and hosted by our very own quiz master and compere, English teacher, During the Team Challenge, I had to hand in a report Mr Caddle. every week which was very helpful as I am usually a forgetful person. Although it was extra work to get Spirits were high as we all cheered and booed each my Challenge card signed, it made me realise that I other, but in the end our prestigious trophy was can achieve my targets if I put my mind to it. won by the Police team - by just one point! Staff at BCHS have vowed to bring the winner’s trophy The Challenge helped me to achieve my targets in back to its rightful home at our second quiz night lessons, plus it created a sense of good competition of the year in October. between the different progress groups; If your progress group wins you all get a special breakfast Our quiz nights support the Al-Imdaad UK charity, and congratulations from the teachers. based in Audley. They have a wonderful programme called Food for Thought, which helps low-income or Congratulations to the following students who unwaged families, by selling won the Team Challenge last term: restaurant-quality meals Year 7: Adam, Haris, Kenzie, Saniya for just £1. Al-Imdaad offer Year 8: Christopher, Harooj. Alisha, Danyal, Ronan support to anyone who is Year 9: Harrison, Joshua, Ewan, Kane, Craig, Jack in need of help, regardless The students with the highest points in each year of race, gender or religion. were Eliza, Connor, and Umair. Thank you to everyone who supported the quiz night, - Megan 9F and Katie 8D we raised £212. 3 A Taste of the Exotic Blackburn Central High School organised an Indian Afternoon Tea. On the menu were samosas, various Asian light-bites, with sweets, such as gulab jamun - a heavy, syrup based desert, and all washed down with traditional cardamon chai. The afternoon proved very popular and raised a total of £275 towards our enrichment fund. We followed the popular Asian food theme by hosting our Desi Dinner - “Desi” means “home-cooked” and is very different to the food we would expect to have from our local takeaway. The food was freshly prepared in school and consisted of poppadoms, chutneys and dips, pakoras and samosas, followed by a chicken and a dahl curry. For desert there was a selection of Indian sweets - followed by traditional chai. The evening was very popular with staff, parents and visitors, including staff from Intack and Audley primary schools who came along to support the event. The Desi Dinner raised another £958 towards the BCHS enrichment fund, bringing the total from the two events to £1233. We are very grateful to Mrs Tasleem Hussain, PK Foods, KQF foods, Lomas Office Supplies, Morrison’s Colne and Great Harwood, Kebabish restaurant, Fig and Olive restaurant, Mina Bakery, Marhaba, and Khanjra Cash and Carry for their ongoing support and generosity towards our charity drives. The donations of goods and time really make a difference to our charity efforts. We hold many fund-raising events throughout the year for our student enrichment fund. This fund has benefited our students, allowing them all to access experiences that many take for granted, but are out of reach for some families. This could be a trip to the theatre, clothing, shoes, extra support in activities and the chess club, as well as many other opportunities. STEM Challenge Day A group of BCHS Year 10 students visited Westholme School for an inspirational STEM challenge day. They were warmly welcomed by Westholme and introduced to the day’s itinerary. The activities consisted of five challenges: A chemistry challenge where the students carried out chemical tests to identify organic compounds and used molecular models to work out the structure of unknown compounds. A technology challenge where the teams had to build an “Archimedes’ Screw” which was used to transport the most Rice Krispies possible up an incline within two minutes. The third challenge involved physics, and students had to, through trial and error, test the theory of balancing objects on the centre of their mass and build a bridge using wooden blocks. Challenge four was biology related, where the students had to identify seven different solutions, which could be a single or mix of elements, using only food tests. The final challenge was math based and completed throughout the day. Our students came third in the technology challenge building a brilliant “Archimedes’ Screw”. All the students who took part in the event found it “very interesting and intriguing”. 4 Another Successful Ofsted Early Birds Out in Force Blackburn Central High School continues to The Early Bird reading teams have been enjoying be ‘good’, the education watchdog said after links with Audley Junior and Audley Infant School our recent inspection.

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