Bushey Meads News Issue 121 6 October 2017 ‘CENTRE STAGE AT NATIONAL AWARDS CEREMONY’ Mr Turner – Executive Principal On Wednesday afternoon it was amazing to see so many superb ambassadors from our wonderful learning community represented at the prestigious annual national awards ceremony hosted by PiXL (Partners in Excellence – the largest secondary school collaborative in the UK) in Central Hall, Westminster, London. Our school really did take ‘centre stage’ as the whole event in the iconic 2000- seater venue was hosted and compered by our very own Head Boy and Head Girl Rikesh and Amira. So many of the distinguished guests, parents and representatives from literally hundreds of schools across the country commented on how comfortable they were on stage – making everyone feel so welcome and easing the proceedings along to a superb conclusion. Another real star of the show was also Shannon in Year 13 who sang an amazing song that had the whole audience spellbound; there was literally not a dry eye in the house – her passion and raw talent was absolutely incredible. As if that wasn’t enough, the school then had no less than 4 superb prize winners nominated for outstanding achievement and progress at GCSE in 2017. Chris, Vinija, Emma and Jake are pictured here receiving their awards from guest of honour and Game of Thrones actor and Hollywood star James Cosmo. It was an incredible afternoon that showcased once again the superb talent and achievement culture that is having such an impact at our brilliant school. A big thank you to Deputy Headteacher, Mrs Ash and Head of Performing and Visual Arts Faculty, Mr Knowles for their support for all the students involved and of course to the six BMS student stars – we were incredibly proud of you all. Dates for the diary Tues 10 th October Student Group Photo Day Tues 10 th October House Countdown Competition Tues 17 th October Base Convert Weds 18 th October Year 11 Revision Techniques Evening Fri 20 th October Year 7 Trip to Kidzania Mon 23 rd – Fri 27 th October Half Term Monday 30 th October Staff Development Day
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BusheyMeadsNews Issue121 6October2017
‘CENTRESTAGEATNATIONALAWARDSCEREMONY’MrTurner–ExecutivePrincipalOn Wednesday afternoon it was amazing to see so many superbambassadorsfromourwonderfullearningcommunityrepresentedattheprestigiousannualnationalawardsceremonyhostedbyPiXL(PartnersinExcellence – the largest secondary school collaborative in the UK) inCentralHall,Westminster,London.
Ourschoolreallydidtake‘centrestage’asthewholeeventintheiconic2000-seater venue was hosted andcomperedbyourveryownHeadBoyandHeadGirlRikeshandAmira.Somanyof thedistinguished guests,parents and representatives fromliterally hundreds of schools acrossthe country commented on howcomfortable they were on stage –makingeveryonefeelsowelcomeandeasing the proceedings along to asuperbconclusion.
AnotherrealstaroftheshowwasalsoShannoninYear13whosanganamazingsongthathadthewholeaudiencespellbound;therewasliterallynotadryeyeinthehouse–herpassionandrawtalentwasabsolutelyincredible.Asifthatwasn’tenough,theschoolthenhadnolessthan4superbprizewinnersnominatedforoutstandingachievementandprogressatGCSEin 2017. Chris, Vinija, Emma and Jake arepicturedherereceivingtheirawardsfromguestof honour and Game of Thrones actor andHollywoodstarJamesCosmo.It was an incredible afternoon that showcased once again the superbtalent and achievement culture that is having such an impact at ourbrilliantschool.AbigthankyoutoDeputyHeadteacher,MrsAshandHeadofPerformingandVisualArtsFaculty,MrKnowlesfortheirsupportforallthestudentsinvolvedandofcoursetothesixBMSstudentstars–wewereincrediblyproudofyouall.
THEGREATSYCAMOREFAMILY!MrTurner–ExecutivePrincipalIt was a privilege to attend the first Sycamore HouseAssemblyoftheyearthisweekledbyournewHeadofHouse Mr Lyley. He inspired us all with some greatexamples of people working together powerfully toachievegreatthingsandmakeapositivedifferenceintheworld.BasedontheThemeofTheWeekCommunityhegaveuslots think about – hopefully the Sycamore Family willachievesomegreatthingstogetherthisyear!
At the end of the assembly students and staffshowed their appreciation and wished him alltheverybestforhisup-comingspecialevent;intwo weeks’ time he is marrying his long termgirlfriendof10yearsandwewanttowishhimand his fiancée, a very happy and specialweddingdayfromallofusatBMS.
Year 7 students got the opportunity tostudythreeareasfromarangeofsocialsciences normally reserved for olderstudents; government and politics,sociology,psychology,lawand,showninthepicture,childcaretoo.
Year 8 students piloted a programmesupportingournewmantraof'amindtobe kind', culminating in afternoonperformances of the best work in ourprofessionaltheatrespace,filmedbyoneofthestudents.
Year 9 went to the sea side - astudy trip to Brighton, recordingdatainafield-worksettingtobringto life their next half-term'sproject.
Year 10 benefited from a repeat of last year'shighly successful personalised 'OptionsImmersion Day'. Many lucky PE students wentsailing (receiving an unexpected swimminglessontoo!):afullernewssplashfollows.OtherPE students tested their fitness back at schooland, as shown in the picture, discovered MrHawkins'vulnerabilitytothelowshot.Designstudentswereamazedattheclevernessof designs on show at the Design Museum ofLondon. Computing students downloadedthemselves to a special IT exhibition at theScienceMuseum:anotherfullerreportenclosed.Ourtalenteddancestudentshadthetimeoftheirlives,never felt thiswaybefore,dancingat thefamous Pineapple Dance Studios, where theywere joined by Year 12 students desperate fortheirsecondchancetotakepart.OurartstudentsgainedinspirationfromtheirtriptoaLondonartgallerywheretheyfocusedonanexhibition entitled 'Soul of aNation; Art in theage of Black power' and sketched portraits aspartoftheirGCSEcourseworkproject.Backatschool,otherYear10studentsfollowedadayoffood,languagesormusic,dependingupontheir options subjects and several otherssupported the learning of Year 7 in their socialsciencessessions.
Year11studentsgotdowntotheseriousbusinessofstudy.The new science GCSE coming into effect nationally thisyearwillbemorechallengingthanbeforeandincorporateawider rangeof content.Wearedetermined toprovideouryoungscientistswithalltheelementsneededtoshinein those exams.We invested all day in a terrific sciencebooster,culminatinginaformalexam-practicetestintheafternoon.Hardwork,buttherewardwillcomewiththeirsummerexams.Year 12 students visited a range of cultural centres inLondon,enriching livesandhelpingtobondtogetherournewstudentgroups.Year13students,meanwhile,lookedatnextsteps,withexternalspeakersandtimeandsupportto update personal statements, mapping out theirsuccessfulfutures.Ontothesecondwhole-schoolenrichmentday:Thursday9thNovember.Lookoutforevenmorepersonalisationanddeeplearning.
TEACHINGASSISTANTSWHOGOTHATEXTRAMILEMrTurner–ExecutivePrincipalMrs Hanbury, DeputyHead of theDesign and TechnologyFaculty, was absolutely delighted when Mrs Ellicott wasassignedtoworkwithherGCSEFoodTechnologygroup.The Year 11 Food group have just started their first NEA(Non-examassessment)which isworth 15% towards theiroverall GCSE grade. The topic the students are currentlystudyingisthefoodsciencebehindbread.OvertheweekendMrsEllicottcarriedoutsomeofherownfoodinvestigationssowhenshegotbackintotheclassroomshe could confidently assist the students. Mrs Hanburystated“Ithinkthis isprettyamazing.Thisnowmeansthatshe hasmore understanding of the task and can help herstudents with confidence. Mrs Ellicott is a dedicatedTeaching Assistant who will always go that extra mile tomakesureherstudentsfullyunderstandthetaskstheyneedtocomplete.”
BMSINBRIGHTONMissSkevington–HeadofGeographyThetripallKS3studentskeenlyanticipatecreatedanotherenrichmentdaysuccessthisyear.OnFriday29thofSeptember,almostallofyear9(196students!) took four coaches and the variety bus down to the vibrantcoastal town of Brighton. Having received some build up information ingeographylessonsthestudentswereabletoprofessionallyandresponsiblycarry out their investigation into their assessment question “Is tourismgoodorbadforBrighton?”Studentexplored6diversesitesandmadetheirown observations, carried out pedestrian counts, bi-polar surveys andquestioned members of the public for information gathering purposes.They particularly enjoyed the latter of these fieldwork techniques, onestudentinMr.Knowlesgroupsaid“myfavouritepartofthedayhasbeentalkingtothepublicandlearningabouttheiropinions.”. The 16 groups have all received high praise from themembers of staffleadingthem.Onerepresentativecommentwas“Thankyouforgivingmesuchalovelygroupofstudentstoworkwith”-theyear9sdemonstratedmaturity and positive attitudes to learning; they represented the schoolbrilliantlyandwereapleasuretotakeoutforfieldwork.TheGeographyteamnowlookforwardtoanalysing,presentinganddrawingconclusionsfromthedatacollectedwhenwegetbackintotheclassroom.Welldoneyear9!
ENRICHEDWITHCULTUREKhushaliPabari–Year10StudentOn Friday, I took part in French for enrichmentday.Tobeginwith,ourdaystartedourdaywithaFrenchandSpanishbreakfast.Beforethis,wehadrole played ourselves in a restaurant and evenperformedtheminfrontofeveryoneelse.Afterthis,weputourselvesinteamsandtookpartinatreasurehunt.Theobjectivewastoreadtheclues, that were in French or Spanish, and goaround the school until you finished the hunt. IfounditreallyfunandinterestingtouseQRcodesto know the name of the place in French orSpanish.Itwasevenmorefunbecauseweallgotalittlecompetitivewitheachother.
Afterbreak,we splitoff intoour FrenchandSpanish classesandwatchedafilm.ThefilmthatIwatchedwascalledLaFamilleBélier.IfounditreallyusefulastheactorswerespeakingFrenchastheywouldinreallifeandtomysurprise,Iactuallyunderstoodsomeofit!Wealso listened toaFrenchsonganddelved further into themeaningofit.Overall,Ireallyenjoyedthedayandalsogottolearnalotfromit.
YCHERTFORDSHIREDATAPROTECTIONFAIRPROCESSINGNOTICETOALLPARENTSMrsDMcIldowie–HeadofWorkRelatedLearningandDeputyDSPFor all year groups we are required to pass on certain information to YC Hertfordshire services. YCHertfordshirearethelocalgovernment’sinformationandadviceserviceforyoungpeople.DataProtection–ifanyparentisnothappyaboutinformationbeingheldontheirson/daughterbyanyoftheYCHertfordshiresupportagencies,theyneedtolettheschoolknowinwritingassoonaspossible.ParentscanaskthatnoinformationbeyondnameandaddressbepassedtoYCHertfordshire.Pleaseinformthe schoolwithin aweekof receiving this notice if youwish toopt out of this arrangement. FormoreinformationaboutYCHertfordshirepleasecontacttheLocalAuthority.AttheinitialmeetingwiththeirPersonalAdviser,youngpeopleshouldhavetheYCHertfordshireprivacypolicyexplainedtothemandbegivenacopyoftheleafletprovidingwrittendetailsoftheYCHertfordshireprivacynoticeandcollectingtheirconsenttothesharingofinformationaboutthemselves.
YEAR10SPORTSSTUDIESTRIPTORICKMANSWORTHAQUADROMEMrCartledge–HeadofPEThe first enrichment day of the year saw the Year 10Vocational Sports Studies group travel to theRickmansworthAquadrome foraday’s sailingand raftingwiththeHertsYoungMarinersclub.ThetripispartoftheR056 unit in outdoor activities where the boys aredevelopingtheirskillsinarangeofoutdooractivities.Despitethelackofwindtheboysdemonstratedagoodlevelofskillwhensailinginthemorningandworkedreallywellasateamtoguidetheboatsaroundthelake.Afterabreaktheboysthenembarkedonsomefuntug-ofwarpaddlinggames and again the boys showed great spirit anddeterminationwhenfacedwitharangeofchallenges.Afterlunchtheboysputontheirwetsuitsandattemptedtopaddle a raft around a marker. Despite the boys effortsnearly all finished up in the water but had a great timetrying.Welldonetoallthosethattookpartinthetrip-theywereacredittotheschoolthroughout.Theboysarenowlooking forward to the next day of mountain biking andBMXing.
ICTANDCOMPUTERSCIENCEENRICHMENTDAYTRIPTOTHESCIENCEMUSEUMKaraMcMahon–Year10StudentFor the firstenrichmentdayofyear teneachstudentselectedoneoftheirGCSEoptionsandgottotakepartinanactivitythroughout the day. In ICT we got theopportunitytogotothesciencemuseumandsee theadvancementof technologybut also the opportunities that arecoming around due to technology. Westarted the day by going to thetomorrow’s world exhibition where wegottoseenewtechnologythatisusedtoprogress medicines and protectionservices.Theexhibitwasverysmallsonotto bore visitors and also had shortenedkey points on touch screen electronicscreenswhichallowedus tounderstandeach item without spending too muchtimeand thenallowingus tobeable toseeeverything.
We then visited the information age exhibit which was particularlyappealingasitallowedustoseetheprogressionsoftechnology.Inthisexhibitwegottoseethefirstmodelsofproductssuchascomputersandtelephones.Therewasalsoaroomwithinthisexhibitthatallowedus to see television from before we were born which I foundparticularlyentertainingasitissomethingIhaveneverseenbeforebutalso to see how television has progressed throughout the yearsconsideringitissopopularinthisdayandage.We did many other thingsthroughoutthedaybuttheseweremyhighlights.Ifounditinteresting to see howtechnology has developedandfoundthetripextremely
intriguing and enjoyed it because I liked the idea of seeingsomethingthatisnolongeraroundasitwaspreviouslybutisnowprogressed.IliketheideaofbeingabletoseetheprogressionofproductsthatIfindmyselfusingineverydaylifeasitisinterestingto see the differences between technology now and technologybeforeIwasborn.
YEAR12GEOGRAPHYFIELDWORK:BUSHEYMissSkevington–HeadofGeographyOn Thursday 28th three eager year 12geographers ventured out into Busheyvillage.Theiraim-tocollecttheirinitialprimarydatafortheirpilotcourseworktitled “An investigation into therelationship between representationsandperceptionsofBushey”.The students carried out a number offieldwork techniques including notingtheir own observations, documentingnumber plates for age analysis andaskingquestionnairestomembersofthepublic. Some of the group began asnaturalswhenitcametoconfidentlyandpolitely asking pedestrians to answersome questions. For others this was aconfidence building exercise whichpushedthemoutoftheircomfortzones.BythetimethestudentswereattheirthirdsiteonBusheyHighStreetallofthegeographerswerebrimmingwithconfidenceandenthusiasmwhendiscussingtheirresearchwithmembersofthepublic. ThisfieldworklaysthefoundationsforacomparisonstudyinKeswickwhenthestudentsareintheLakeDistrictlateronthismonth.Welldonetoeveryoneinvolved,youareanassettothedepartmentandtheschool.
Itwas really great to receive this email earlier thisweekandseethatourschoolhelpedtohostamajorlocal fundraising event earlier in the year. As aschool we do put a lot of emphasis on buildinggoodrelationshipswithourwidercommunityandtosupportinglocalevents,soitwasnicetoreceivesuchpositivefeedback.
Student Leaders have alwayshad a really prominent role at the school andoursuperb students contribute so much to our learning community in so manydifferentways.WhenOfstedvisitedourschooltwoyearsagotheyrecognisedthemajor contribution that so many of our students made and many positivecommentsfeaturedintheirfinalreport:
Last week Mrs Wright promoted and coordinated the appointment of our 49 FormRepresentativesincludingtheveryimportantrolesofHouseCaptainformedfromtheYear10FormRepsTeam.
Thisweekaveryimportantemailhasgoneouttoallstudentsinformingthemofahugearrayofotherleadershippositionsacrosstheschoolthatstudentscanapplyfor.Eachpositionhasajobdescriptionoutliningtheroleandagoogleformthatcanbecompletedto apply for the role,which asks for a short paragraph for students to outline theirstrengthsandaptitudesthatmakethemsuitablefortherole.Thiswillbereadcarefullyintheselectionprocesstoappointourwiderstudentsleaders.
Above all the opportunities the roles provide make for excellent personal developmentopportunitiesandachancetoreallyaddsomethingtoaCV,jobapplicationorUCASform.Sodon’tholdbackmake sure that you read theemail carefully andapply for the leadershipposition that really interests youandone that youknowyou candoandmakeapositivedifferencetoourschool.ThedeadlineisnextFridayat9.00am.
Forfulldetailsoftheclubs,fixturesandpracticesstudentsandparentsneedtocheckontheBusheyMeadsSchoolwebsiteinthePEandHealthFacultyiconwhereyouwillfindafulllistoftheextra-curricularactivities.Thisisupdatedonaweeklybasistoshowthefixturesandpracticesforeachweek.Inadditionstudentscancheckthenoticeboardsintheboysandgirlschangingrooms.ThePEandHealthFacultyalsohavetheirownTwitteraccount@BMSPEandHealthwhichincludesregularupdatesonfixtures,matchreportsanddetailsofforthcomingevents.For any parental enquiries about any aspects of PE contact the Head of PE and Health Faculty Ashley Cartledge [email protected] For any specific issues related to Girls PE and girls fixtures contact Sarah Cooper [email protected].
