BSW Blog 16th Dec 2022

Dear Parents and Carers,

Well, we have made it. With only 10 days left while I write this until Christmas, the school has seen all sorts of exciting and eventful things take place over the last six weeks, which celebrate our community and demonstrate how fantastic all our students are.

The most recent of which was our whole school, ‘House’ group Christmas dinners this week. As you will see from some of the images below it was a real community event, with all of our students sharing such polite and thankful appreciation for all the hard work that both staff and the ‘Accent’ catering team offered.  

As we move towards the New Year, lots of people start to consider those traditional, New Year resolutions. Although these can be very supportive for many people for a few weeks, they can be hard to sustain. It is for this reason I like to think of the New Year in terms of ‘constants.’ What are we doing that we can, ‘keep going’, and what would we like to do that we could, ‘be better at’? Of course, the holiday season for many has lots of mixed approaches. For some people, it will be a time of celebration and a time to rejoice. For some, it will be a time of rest and relaxation, and for others simply a break. As discussed with our students in my end-of-term assembly, in whatever way it is that we recognise this time of year, the one constant within in it is people, family and loved ones.

Our school is a place where students are part of our community, which extends to all family and friends that share with them their learning experiences here at BSW. We would like to warmly wish all our families, community, friends and students a very happy holiday season and a peaceful Christmas break.

I look forward to welcoming you all back on Wednesday 4 January.  

Best wishes

Paul Collin

Enjoy

With less than a fortnight to go until the big day itself, on Wednesday 14th December BSW students brought in the Christmas cheer with the annual Christmas Dinner and Christmas Jumper Day. Students could wear a festive jumper in exchange for £1 donation towards our Turning Tides charity collection. At lunchtime, pupils gathered in the hall to sit down for a full Christmas dinner with accompanying delicious desserts and crackers to pull. The festive atmosphere was palpable as staff and students alike anticipated the final few days before a well-earned break!

The main hall has undergone a festive transformation this year with not one but FOUR beautifully decorated Christmas trees. As well as the main tree glowing in the corner, three smaller trees have been decorated by ALL of our students. On 28th November students created a range of small decorations during tutor times, with themes linked to the main houses, based around the achievements of Nelson Mandela, Alan Turing and Rosalind Franklin. The on the 1st December, House Leaders decorated the trees, putting the finishing touches on by adorning each tree with a star featuring their house icon. The results are magnificent!

With Panto season officially underway our Year 7 and 8 students went on a festive-flavoured Drama trip to the Worthing Pavillion Theatre to see a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk on the 6th and 7th December. Students braved the cold as they walked down to the seafront for a matinee showing of this year’s resident pantomime performance. With songs, gags and silliness abound it was a brilliant start to the festive season as well as a great chance to experience some live theatre!

Well done to the very talented BSW students who performed and supported The Rotary Club Christmas Event on Saturday 26th November. They showcased their musical talents and technical ability!

Respect

We are really proud of the efforts our students go to to support Turning Tides, a charity that we support at various times in the year. We know that Christmas is a particularly tough time for homeless people and
Turning Tides needs support more than ever. This year students in each of our three houses donated gifts, putting these in the three collection boxes in the atrium. These generous donations will be wrapped up and then given to those in need this Christmas.

Ms Begley-Rees and her army of bakers were busy baking hundreds of gingerbread men this week. The completed bakes will be sent to Turning Tides to provide a treat for some of the many homeless people they support this Christmas.

Care4Calais are a charity supporting over 200 refugees in our local area who are living with very little. Bohunt School Worthing’s combined collection with Cottesmore St Mary’s school in Hove managed to supply an abundance of warm winter clothing to help those who have fled danger and conflict. Thank you so much to everyone for all their support.

As part of their focus on the events of the Holocaust in their RE lessons, our Y9 students went to the Dome Cinema in Worthing on Tuesday 22^nd November for a special screening of Where is Anne Frank? The vibrant animated film shows a contrasting story of persecution during WW2 and the oppression of minority groups in today’s world.

This term we have welcomed a rather furry new member of the team. Bucky is our new BSW Therapy Dog and will be working with students pastorally to support resilience and positivity in the school. Bucky is based in the BSW office and has quickly settled in, having made friends with students and staff alike!

Achieve

We’re delighted to announce the new House Leaders for Franklin, Mandela and Turing. Two students from each year group will be representing their house and helping to run events, fundraisers and inter-house competitions as well as being the figureheads for their respective houses. After a formal interview process the successful candidates have been chosen and we’re sure they will do a fantastic jobs throughout the rest of the academic year. Please see below for a full list of the students.

Technology is a really important part of teaching and learning within our school and we’re very pleased to be able to offer students a wide range of opportunities to use tech to support their learning both in and out of lessons. Our team of Digital Leaders does an amazing job supporting technology in our school and their expertise and hard work means that our students are able to get the most out of their iPads and other IT resources.

The French department have had a competition running for students to create a foreign-language themed Christmas card. There have been an amazing selection of impressive entries but the overall winner is Archie J in Y10 who will receive an Amazon voucher reward!

Elsewhere in Languages, a huge well done to Olly W-P (Y8) and Archie J (Y10, again!) for receiving the certificate as Duolingo Champions for achieving an impressive 365 day streak!

Miss Large and the Art department would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas by sharing some of the incredible pieces of work put together by students this term. Below is just a small sample of some of the brilliant artwork produced at BSW in recent weeks.

Students in Year 9 Business studies are in the process of pitching their entrepreneurial ideas in the hopes of winning a chance to enter the National Tycoon competition and receive an investment of up to £1,000 to launch their own enterprise. The competition is supported by the Peter Jones foundation which aims to inspire students around the country to take the risks involved in launching their own business. If the winning team is successful, they will get to keep their profits and attend a prestigious awards ceremony in London. We wish our Bohunt Tycoons all the best of luck!

We know that many of our students have a range of interests and hobbies outside of school and we’re always pleased to hear about achievements in those activities. A big congratulations then to Callum H in Year 9 who was presented with his award in recognition of his progression from local club sailor to attending RYA Youth Squad Training Camps, sailing at sites around the RYA London and South East region.

Monday 12th December saw a thrilling game of Basketball between our Year 11 boys team and the John Fisher School in the National Schools Cup. After being behind for most of the game, BSW came back from 10 points down, staying patient and getting over the line with a 50-48 win. Congratulations to MVP Julian B and a huge well done to the whole team, as well as brilliant opponents JFS.

We have some more great sporting results to report on. While we will always celebrate the big wins we also acknowledge the effort and passion from our students that goes into all games. We know that every game helps develop our student teams, whether winning, losing or drawing.

Tuesday 29th November
Y9 Boys Basketball vs Angmering (Won 44-39)
U14 Girls Basketball vs Angmering (Won 40-18)
Y8 Jr NBA vs Seaford and St. Richard’s (Won both)

Thursday 1st December
Y11 Girls Netball vs Durrington (Postponed)

Friday 2nd December
Y8 Jr NBA vs BACA and SRWA (Won both 31-29 and 22-18)

Sunday 4th December
Regional Trampolining Competition

Toby L-F (Y10 Boys Elite) – 2nd Place

Lottie P (Y11 Girls Elite) – 3rd Place

Sammy H-F (Y7-9 Boys Intermediate) – 1st Place

All students through to next regional rounds in Gillingham on 15th Jan

Tuesday 6th December
Y9 Boys Basketball vs Steyning (Won – Game conceded)
U12 Girls Basketball vs WHS and SRWA (Lost)

Wednesday 7th December
Y10 Inter-House Netball Tournament (Mandela 1st, Franklin 2nd, Turing 3rd)

Thursday 8th December
Y7 Inter-House Netball Tournament (Franklin 1st, Turing 2nd, Mandela 3rd)

School Office Messages

Uniform donations requested: We are busy preparing our second hand uniform stock and would appreciate donations of any good quality uniform you may have that your child no longer needs. These can be dropped to the school office from 8.00 to 4.30pm. Thank you very much.

Lost property: The office team are keen to reunite these items with their owners. The students have been shown these photos during tutor time but if you recognise anything please do feel free to come and collect it .

Key Dates