BSW Blog – 21 July 2022

Dear Parents and Carers,

Well, we made it! Through hot sunny days and many events and celebrations, summer is now truly upon us and as we stride into the summer holidays – sad on one hand to be saying final goodbyes to our year 11 students and indeed a few loved staff members we are proud of all our achievements this year. 

I would like to firstly thank all of our students for their continued hard work and dedication this year. As you will all know, nine weeks of my time spent at Worthing has only given me a flavour of what all our students are capable of achieving, the future is bright! I would like to personally thank all the fantastic team of staff here at BSW, including Mr Whitehead for all their hard work and commitment to our students and I look forward to continuing this fantastic work in September.

As always and even since our last Blog just a few weeks ago there has been such a lot of end-of-term activity. We have seen Sports Day, Eco Day Year 5 and 6 Transition and had an amazing visit and talk from our guest speaker Dorit Oliver a survivor of the Holocaust. It is incredible to think that this time last year many of us were still having to isolate ourselves, locked in houses and not seeing each other, loved ones or friends. How the world moves on, and things change in such a short space of time. 

It’s this change that is key to always looking ahead, striving for the best possible futures for our young people and ensuring that the platforms we provide both at school and beyond in our local communities are built for the future, together. 

I will be looking forward to my continued future as Headteacher of Bohunt School Worthing and welcome the opportunity to connect with you all in the coming months. 

I wish all our students and their families a safe and restful summer holiday and look forward to welcoming you all back, alongside our brand new year 7 students and families who join the Bohunt School Worthing community in September. 

Happy Summer holidays to you all.  

Best wishes

Paul Collin

Read our article in the Worthing Herald from Mr Collin here.

Enjoy

Tuesday 12th July saw the return of Sports Day, with this year’s version being the first time since 2019 that we’ve been able to run the full schedule of events. Students competed in heats during the morning, with events including 100m and 200m sprints, javelin and tug of war. In the afternoon the whole school came together to cheer students on in the finals of events before finishing with the classic tutor relay, in which teams of students competed alongside their tutor in a dash to the finish line. Despite the very warm weather students put in a tremendous effort, and Mr Weedon, who organised the event with his team of PE staff commented on the brilliant levels of participation and excellent conduct of our spectators too. In the end, Franklin House were successful in scoring the most points overall.

On Wednesday 6th July we welcomed our new Year 7 cohort for 2022 into the school for their transition day. The students, who are currently in Year 6, arrived in the morning with parents and carers before coming into school for a presentation by Mr Cordwell. The students then spent the morning with their new Year 7 tutors before partaking in some exciting lesson activities to give them a taste of what to expect next year. Despite the understandable nerves and uncertainties that they would have felt, the students really enjoyed getting to know the school, staff and each other better and we look forward to seeing them at summer school and then in September.

We have also been welcoming prospective 2023 intake pupils during our Year 5 taster mornings over the last few weeks. With the chance to take a tour of the buildings and try some sample iPad and Mandarin lessons, these mornings have provided students and parents with an idea of the brilliant things we can offer at BSW. A huge thank you to all staff and students who helped with the mornings, with particular thanks to our amazing team of Year 10 Peer Mentors who helped guide students in their lessons and provided a good insight into what it’s like to be a BSW student.

On Thursday 7th July our GCSE Music and Drama students ventured over to Southampton to enjoy a performance of Jersey Boys at the brilliant Mayflower Theatre. Students enjoyed seeing Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons come to life in the smash-hit musical!

A group of Year 10 French students had the pleasure of experiencing a bit of Gallic cinematic magic as their classroom was transformed into a French cinema. Owing to the unfortunate cancellation of the BFI trip, Mr Le Gac brought the movie to Bohunt, with a screening of Les Intouchables. In the film an unusual friendship develops when Driss, a street smart immigrant, is hired to take care of Philippe, a quadriplegic French nobleman. In true French style students enjoyed croissants with their popcorn!

We’ve had an incredible selection of clubs on offer this year with everything from Steel Drums to Nintendo Club providing opportunities for students to expand their learning and enjoyment outside of the classroom. Thursday afternoon’s in the atrium are particularly busy with some expert builders creating some brilliant models in Lego Club. Below are just two examples of the weird and wonderful brick-based creations our students come up with!

Respect

On Thursday 8th July BSW celebrated Eco Day, an opportunity to reflect on the impact we have on the environment and to raise money to help develop green space on the school site. Well done to Miss Worthington and her fabulous team of Geography Leaders who were ably supported by ex-student Ella Haughton in making the fantastic recycled whale-tale sculpture!

Throughout the week Year 7 and Year 8 classes were taught about the dangers of plastic pollution in their Geography lessons. On Eco Day itself students took on teachers in a variety of ‘Challenge the Teacher’ events and a combined effort from students and staff smashed the target distance for the virtual bike ride to Liphook and back; clocking up a whopping 106 miles!

Last week Year 10 students and parents were wowed by a talk from Dorit Oliver-Wolff, the inspirational author, recording artist, TV star and Holocaust survivor. Dorit delivered an equally moving and entertaining talk about her story of survival against the odds and escape from Nazi persecution during World War Two and her incredible life in showbusiness and human rights education since.

We often talk about the importance of respect in our Game-Changer ethos, and Lilly Dear in Year 10 recently demonstrated this admirably while out in the community. Last week, Lilly and her friends were first responders when a member of the public required urgent medical care. Without hesitation, Lilly called 999 and waited two hours for the ambulance to arrive. A member of the public got in touch with us to share.

Achieve

A huge well done to Mandela House for winning this year’s overall House Cup. Having performed strongly in many different categories, from attitude to learning scores to participation in clubs, students in Mandela took the top prize in the final House Cup assembly and were gifted with an afternoon of ice cream, inflatables, quizzes and fun! Well done to all Houses and all students and we look forward to seeing who will claim the cup next term!

Local artists Creative Waves were given a grant from Worthing Borough Council to create some art work for an exhibition on the pier. Our students worked collaboratively with students from Worthing High School to create art themed around the seaside. Students engaged in thought provoking conversations surrounding conservation and other environmental challenges. 

Wishing all of our students, staff and parents/carers a very happy and restful summer break. We look forward to seeing everyone again in September 2022! Please scroll down to the bottom to see our latest staff lipsync video!

School Office Messages

A reminder to all parents and carers to please label uniform and equipment for students coming back in September to ensure we can return lost items.

Key Dates