Dear Parents and Carers, I hope you enjoy reading this Christmas edition of our news bulletin. The pages contain information about the activities and events which have taken place at Brighouse High School during this busy term. I am particularly proud to share with you, in this edition, the excellent work in the area of Careers Education, Information and Guidance which has taken place across the school. We recognise that Careers information is important in informing choices made by pupils in the school and in inspiring them to aim for their personal goals for the future. I am particularly grateful to all of the partner companies and providers who work so effectively with our careers team to deliver sessions on Super Learning Days, provide information stands at the careers fair and, of course offer vital placements for our Year 12 students. Statistics show that the hard work of the teams pays off and most Brighouse High pupils go on to pursue successful and fulfilling careers. The news bulletin also contains important details of policies which school operates to help us maintain high standards. I would especially like to draw your attention to the uniform information at the end of the bulletin and to encourage you to ensure that your child follows the uniform policy in every detail. From January we intend to re-establish some of the rules around mobile phones. Students are permitted to bring phones to school but they must be switched off and kept in bags or lockers unless teachers specifically ask their classes to use them for learning purposes. From January any phone seen out during the school day will be confiscated and held in the office until the end of the day. A second confiscation will lead to the phone being be kept until a parent or carer is able to collect it. The policies are an important part of establishing the right environment for learning and I would like to thank you in anticipation of your support in helping us to implement them. 2016 has been another successful and eventful year for Brighouse High School. Despite the increasing squeeze on resources in education I’m sure you will agree that we have managed to maintain a broad curricular and extra-curricular offer. Students following qualification courses continue to perform well and progress successfully to the next phase of their lives. None of this would be possible without the hard work of the staff team, the leadership of the governing body and the contribution of families and the wider community. Thank-you all for the support you give. I hope you all have an enjoyable festive period and wish you well for 2017. Liz Cresswell Senior Awards Prize Winner’s List – 2015/16 Year 11: Excellence: Noah Charlesworth Amy Evans Ell Hobson Harry Scott-Baxter Matthew Demaine Max Fenton Tierney Hughes Phillip Short Steven Demaine Harriet Gibson Joshua Mauger- Amy Whittington Wright Endeavour: Lucy Barber Lusi Heppinstall Bella Oakland Molly Westhead Edward Brook Lauren Knight Aidan Quinn Hollie Wray Abbey Collins Megan Moon Saskia Uttley Kayleigh Evans Connor Murphy Maia Walker Year 13: Excellence: Thomas Annabelle Jessop Maisie Pollard Holly Smith Barraclough Rebecca Burnhill Georgina Jessop Ellie Rika Brittany Stead Amy Greenwood Jessica Jones Emily Rushton Callum Wilkie Endeavour: Freya Barber Max Field Georgia Holleran Simon Powell Sophie Blackshaw Amy Gibson Natalie Kershaw Samuel Redman Eleanor Ciesielski Katie Gillespie Cory Lock Jessica Smith Manpreet Chatha Rachel Hanks Paul Northcott Ellie Egan Emma Dean Zoe Hepworth Jordan Pickles Leo Bailey Community Service: Emily Fairburn Hannah Jones Mitchell Sutcliffe Health & Social Care Award Performing Arts Prize Lucy Barber Harley Kinnear Rotary Club of Brighouse Award Centenary Shield Maisie Pollard Philip Short Quantica Award for Business & Enterprise The George Richardson MBE Tom Barrclough Award Brittany Stead Stephen Kitson Trophy Boys Sports The Karen Stepney Award Award Joshua Mauger-wright Jordan Pickles Reeve Trophy Girls Sports Award The Rodney Archer Award Emily Rushton Alicia Broadbent Singer of the Year The George Mellor Award Brooke Whitworth Emily McMullen Musician of the Year Amy Whittington The Sue Thompson Award for Achievement in A Level Maths The Graham Soles Award Amy Greenwood Molly Westhead Maths – Stretch and Challenge at Brighouse High School As we are now one full term into the new academic year at Brighouse High School, we would like to outline the feedback on progress in the Maths department regarding the visionary set up with grouping high ability students. The decision to expand the groups at the top of the ability range was not taken lightly. We are committed to raising the attainment and progress of all students in Maths at Brighouse High and the push at the top end is no less a priority for us and the students. The decision to move to lecture style teaching with classes ranging from 40 to 46 students across Years 7 to 9 was seen as a forward thinking and innovative idea designed to encourage independent learning skills and assure the highest challenge for the highest ability students, whilst also enabling more tailored teaching to the rest of the students in those year groups. The decision was not greeted warmly by all stakeholders and many of you will have seen one dissenting view expressed in the local press. However, I am pleased to report that feedback from staff, students and many parents has been overwhelmingly positive so far and we are certain that this was a positive step forward for the students and staff in our school. The responsible attitudes of all of the students in the groups has been impressive to see, from the way that they enter and seat themselves to the immediate engagement in tasks and pace and challenge that has pervaded the sessions. Pupils have quickly adapted to the increased necessity to be attentive and to take high quality notes. The atmosphere observed in lessons has been one of learning and achievement and many students have commented that they feel challenged while still being supported and learning has been set at a brisk pace. More pupils are being exposed to higher level and extension content and the best in the group are the benchmark for everyone else to aspire to; indeed the recent assessment results were declared ‘the best yet’ by Mr Storah, Head of Maths. Independence is being promoted via guidance and encouragement to solve problems/fill gaps themselves by utilising the internet and other resources. The concerns raised over individual attention for students in a large group were valid and the Maths department have responded by allocating tutorial style sessions for students to attend in order to consolidate understanding and seek help when required. I will endeavour to update you all with progress reports from the Maths department throughout the year but I am pleased to say, at this stage, so far so good and we travel hopefully on our journey to secure the best outcomes in Maths for all students at Brighouse High School. Mr Horsfield Deputy Headteacher (Line manager for Mathematics) Our finale….“Brighouse Bake Off” We are proud of our long standing work for charity and for the last five years this has been no different. We have run “The Great Brighouse Bake off” for Children in Need since we were in year 8. We were inspired after our house coordinator did an assembly about the importance of charity work in school, from then on we were hooked and decided that the BBC show “The Great British Bake Off” was the perfect way to raise money in a fun and unique way. Each year has brought a new batch of keen and excited bakers to our tent (Brighouse’s very own food technology room) in order to showcase their talent and love of both the show and baking. In the first year, we were a little nervous and only opened it to our own year group, but received an amazing array of show stoppers from rainbow cakes to chocolate cupcakes filled with sweets. In the second year, we opened it up to the whole school and had wide interest. Bakers produced batches of twelve products with a theme of heroes to match Children in Need’s theme for the year. Last year we decided to do a Disney and Pixar theme for our Bake Off. Over the three years and three “Bake Offs” we have raised £1500. This year we brought “The Brighouse Bake Off” back for the final time and it was one of the best and most successful yet. This year bakers were challenged with a technical bake using the creaming method. The event took place after school on 16th November and 17th November and the competition began with bakers trying their hardest to make a bake worthy of the tent. They then then sold their products the following day with the aim of becoming the ‘star fund raiser’. Overall we raised £210 School council update. Last year’s school council was focused on three main topics: bullying, health and exercise and homework. Within these subjects were power points and information which was read out to the pupils of our school. We gained feedback on homework through questionnaires and they said it was given too often, too close to the end of lessons and in most cases not useful to the lessons. The students in charge of the bullying group focused on cyber bullying and found out that it was a common issue between pupils in Brighouse High. We then decided to make a ‘RESPECT box’ where pupils can go to share their problems anonymously or not, depending on how confident they feel on the subject at hand.