Mr Atkinson's Friday Update 08.07.22

Since I last updated you, it has been an extremely busy two weeks with 3 days of transition with our future Year 7 students, Year 11 Prom, work with the DfE Behaviour Hub and a Safeguarding review with Safeguarding Support based in Bingley. There have also been Brilliant Club trips, Arek and Jean Hersh meeting with Year 8 students, Geography field trips and Year 10 MFL speaking tests.  The list could go on further. All these events have gone brilliantly and I would like to say thank you to all the staff that have organised and supported everything.

Year 11 Prom

A particular highlight was the Year 11 Prom, the students arrived and were dancing within the first 10 minutes and they never stopped, with Miss Howard giving them a run for their money! All the staff I spoke to commented on this and how it was so good to see the students being children/young adults after such a difficult couple of years for them.  The hotel has also given us feedback that this was one of the politest and well behaved Year 11 groups that they have hosted.

Communication

As ever thank you for your valuable feedback - as you may have seen we are making yourselves more aware of what is happening each half term with Mrs Spicer (Assistant Headteacher) sending out an overview for each year group of what is being covered in lessons. As highlighted two weeks ago Mr Ward (Associate Assistant Headteacher) is also developing this for our students’ personal development for the year 2022/2023 and this will be released in September. We hope that allows everyone to engage further with their child's education and support their personal development as well as their academic studies.

Anti Bullying Working Document

Also you may remember that we have been working with the Anti Bullying Alliance and attached is a working document for September 2022 which is going to governors for ratification. Thank you to those parents and students that supported this development. We will continue to work with the Anti Bullying Alliance as we move forward in 2022/2023 as we realise that peer to peer abuse does exist here at BGS, as it does in all walks of life and it is about having a clear structure to deal with this when it occurs. Also important to this is the work in PSHCE and assemblies which raises awareness of this and in particular the protected characteristics which can be targeted by people. Central to this though is that students and/or parents and carers report issues and do not let something 'slide' as in our experience this leads to greater problems when it is eventually reported and it can be far harder to deal with. It is also important not to respond with unkind sentiments as this leads to counter claims making it far harder to deal with.  

Click here to view the Peer to Peer Abuse Working Document >>

Uniform

As we plan for next year I want to reinforce what the year teams sent you W/C 20th June regarding uniform, especially to parents of the current Year 9 and Year 10. Please ensure that you check this over the Summer and do not fall for the old line 'that's what everyone else wears'. Also in September with the reintroduction of form teachers there will be a daily check with sanctions in place for that week if uniform and equipment are not correct. These are the basics of being in school and we ask that these are correct. Please can we ask that you let school know if there is an issue with uniform or equipment. Finally with regards to uniform, I am aware that some students have requested the re-introduction of skirts. This is something we will be working with the student leadership team on and in turn governors in 2022/2023.  

'Lateness to school/lessons report' trial

Also with regards the trial of the 'lateness to school/lessons report' this is going well, only one student has had to stay for 2 minutes so far, therefore this is something we will be rolling out to the whole school in 2022/2023 and I hope you will support in school in ensuring your son/daughter is on time for school.  The Department for Education is also supporting this and you may have seen in the news the increased rigour they are placing on schools for attendance and punctuality which I will share more with you in September.

Timeout/toilet passes/leave lesson early passes

With regards to timeout/toilet passes/leave lesson early passes we are currently reviewing those that have been allocated (as we usually would do) and we will be contacting parents/carers for an update and requesting the following information to help make sure that the appropriate support arrangements are in place for students, they will only be given with:  

1. Medical letter provided
2. Supporting letter from the GP
3. Advice from SEN or Behaviour specialist

House System

Regarding student requests, the student leadership team recently polled students regarding the changing of the school house names, the results of this poll are now in and the House Names will be staying as they are. Thank you to all those that contributed to this process, especially the mature response to the result of those who initially put forward the idea.

Snapchat risk

We have been made aware of a new, high-risk feature Snapchat has added to their app. The feature, called 'Meet Up' involves the ability to integrate Google Maps & Apple Maps into the Snapchat maps feature (Snap Map) to get precise directions to a friend’s location without any warning or notification. We recommend talking to your child/ children about this new feature. Please see the link below for more information:

https://ineqe.com/2022/07/01/snapchat-meet-up/?utm_campaign=Slender%20Man&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=218353603&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_fhG3moKtUDmLChP8aZPi-T70YuDT9B6BS0IvlBGyhH-Nbs_I-IjlT3gfiuXuyN7R4aMDDSXf7R4QayNSXvBOFqfCyqg&utm_content=218353603&utm_source=hs_email 

Wellbeing Support

Finally, I would like to address Well Being support, as previously highlighted the provision is increasing in school next year with a total of seven days of external support happening in school. This is a partnership with home and the pastoral teams will be talking this through with parents when contact is made with them with key questions such as:  

- Have you used the Kooth app or spoken to someone using Samaritans?
- Have you written down your worries and set aside time to focus on your worries?
- Have you researched what constitutes a healthy diet and implemented this?
- Do you have good bedtime habits, (early night, reduction in screen time etc)?
- Do you limit the use of social media (snap chat, tiktok etc)?
- Do you exercise regularly?
- Have you tried any breathing exercises?
- Have you tried any alternative therapies, yoga, meditation, massage etc?

And on this note I thank you as ever for reading and importantly we wish Eid Mubarak to those celebrating this over the coming days.

Matthew Atkinson - Deputy Headteacher/Designated Safeguarding Lead