Safeguarding
Information
Mr Atkinson's Friday Update 10.12.21
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I hope you felt inspired by Finn's (Yr 11) words last week, he truly is an amazing young man. Finn is also a member of the student leadership group and I know some of the Yr 7's who have heard him speak echo my sentiments. As Finn highlighted, I will be asking more students to write to you.... Minaal (Yr 10) is next, who joined us from Belle Vue Girls in September therefore she will give you an understanding of her first term with us, therefore giving you a greater sense of our school community - something that Miss Powell (English and Literacy Lead) is also doing with our school newspaper.
The student leadership group now has 104 students from Yr 7 - Yr 11 who are split between Peer Mentors, Girl Leading Girl and the Student Council. Currently they are working with Mr Riley (Head of Media) to develop a research focus which in turn will steer and generate change in our school community. The Peer Mentoring group will also be learning from students and staff from Bradford University next week with a specific focus on supporting those who may have experienced bereavement. This is a highly emotive topic, yet I know our students will be able to approach this with the sensitivity and maturity it needs.
The Student Leadership group is also integral to our support of the homeless this half term and next week they will be galvanising friends and family to donate essential items which will be donated to key charities in the local area. Also with reference to supporting others, as mentioned in my last update next Friday (17th December) will be a non-uniform day and we ask that all children and families donate what they can through Parent Pay or the buckets on the front gate. (We normally suggest a minimum of £1). Students must still wear a face covering or wear their pink exemption lanyard on this day. The charities we are collecting for are:
- Bradford Nightstop which challenges youth homelessness
And secondly
- The Candlelighters Trust - a charity that provides practical, emotional and financial support to children living with cancer in Yorkshire and their families.
- Leeds General Hospital - In particular Ward 31, children's oncology and haematology.
The latter two charities have been nominated by Maddie and it is very personal to her and we hope this contribution will help to continue supporting the great work they do. It would be great to better the £1463 we raised last time for Children in Need. In my last message I also mentioned our fundraising for the BRI, Mr Foster (AHT) has been in contact with them over this last week and plans are being put in place for our big Summer event.
Also during the last two weeks we have seen immense student leadership under the tutelage of Miss Shah. Miss Shah arranged for the Anne Frank Trust to set up an exhibition here at BGS and classes from Yr 7 - Yr 9 have been given a guided tour by the following students: Aisha, Moeez, Izzy, Eva, Isabelle, Emma, Maaz, Amy, Mabel, Kirsty, Harry, Safa, Hivin, Jaco, Sara, Safiyah, Miles, Shafaat and Isla. Thank you to them and Miss Shah for this opportunity and we are looking forward to working with the Anne Frank Trust as we are now a link school for the next three years.
Looking ahead to the New Year, a team of staff including Mr Booth/Mrs Roberts/Mr Parapia/Mr Ward and Mr Bridge (Senior) will be reviewing our approaches to Behaviour, Well Being and Peer to Peer Abuse. To support us with this we are working with the DFE Behaviour Hubs, the Anti Bullying Alliance, our local Mental Health Support Team and the Healthy Minds Chartermark. In the New Year I will also be asking for your views on this, as well as the students so I look forward to reading your responses to the survey we send out.
With regards to Mental Health we realise that sometimes it can be hard to support your child and therefore we would recommend attending sessions (like the one detailed in the flyer below) to share experiences plus get support from medical professionals. When we have set these up in school they have been invaluable and I believe that these are effective due the medical professionals that run the meetings.
Finally as ever thank you for your support in helping the school run smoothly, we have over 1800 students attending here each day and they are testament to yourselves with the majority adhering to the expectations we have, which is to Belong, Grow and of course Succeed.
Mr Atkinson
