BSW Blog – end of term special 17 12 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

Darwin said: ‘It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the one that is able to adapt to and to adjust best to the changing environment in which it finds itself.’

As an educator I would argue that intellect, certainly wisdom, is fundamental to making the right decisions but as we enter 2021 there is no doubt that we are living in a time of change and uncertainty. Adaption is necessary. The COVID related challenges are undeniable, but they are not what characterises this term for me.

Being able to adapt confidently in these circumstances is not just valuable for us as leaders and teachers, but also for our students. We need to not just survive but thrive and enable our young people to have confidence and security amidst the uncertainty. As a school, we align ourselves closely to our culture and ethos to guide our decision-making in the face of change. This brings authenticity and consistency.  The contents of this blog gives some highlights of how we have delivered this through this term.

In times like this it is important to control the things we can. We have the greatest control over ourselves: our reactions, our perspective and our outlook. How we respond, the opportunities we take up and how we react as individuals will influence our ability to succeed and remain healthy and happy.  Equally there will be opportunities in these new circumstances and we are well placed to be early adopters of developments that will make staff, student and parent experiences better. We will explore these further in the New Year.

I am very grateful for the community support we have seen over the last term; the messages and generous gifts that we have received have been humbling and at times overwhelming. Your support makes our inspiring education mission achievable and with such a cohesive commitment to our principles and values I believe we can have many reasons to be hopeful about 2021.

For now though, we all need a rest!

I wish you all a very happy and healthy Christmas.

Best wishes

Adam Whitehead

Enjoy

Our Christmas Card

This year we decided to put our hi-tech skills to good use and come up with a creative way to deliver our Christmas card and spread some joy, whilst maintaining appropriate Covid guidelines. In replacement of the school’s annual Christmas Concert, we are very excited to share with you the release of our first music video ‘Rule The World’. The single is performed by members of The Bohunt School Worthing Choir, groups seen in the video were from our existing school bubbles, performing in a COVID safe way. To see this wonderful Christmas gift please scroll to the bottom of the Blog!

While we’ve not been able to put on a live theatrical show this year, our Performing Arts department and students in Year 7 have recorded an amazing production of Treasure Island. The recording will be screened to all students on the last day of term and will be available to view via our website. With brilliant set design, great performances and superb costumes, we look forward to sharing this fantastic production!

Earlier this year, BET outdoor education social media undertook a transformation and the Trust now has a strong fleet of channels – run by an even stronger fleet of outdoor education co-ordinators! From Duke of Edinburgh to Big Expeditions, to outdoor classrooms and bushcraft – with BET involved in research looking at the types of interventions that work best for different students. Don’t forget to follow @BohuntOutdoors.

Mr Cochlin delivered an inspiring assembly on the importance of Outdoor Education and the brilliant provision we have at BSW for outdoor learning.
Highlighting the excellent work our Duke of Edinburgh Award students are completing and the Bushcraft area that is being developed on the school
site, the assembly also gave us a preview of the John Muir Award that we will encourage students to complete. More news to follow soon!

Ms Latham runs our new Illustration Club for Year 8 students and this term they have created some excellent work that ties in with wider themes that we explore as a school. To support our ongoing work to promote positive mental wellbeing in our school community, students from the club collaborated on a superb poster. Full of kind words and wisdom, the poster will appear around the school soon!

Respect

Our students have been donating chocolate selection boxes for this year’s Turning Tides collection. Each Christmas we support the amazing Turning Tides in their mission to bring some joy to homeless people in our community. Whilst this year was always going to be a little different, pupils from each of the 3 houses nonetheless donated hundreds of tasty selection boxes and on Wednesday 16th December Mr Pearson and Luc de Jager (9TFU) loaded them up ready to be sent over to Turning Tides. A huge thank you to all those who helped support this year’s collection.

We are delighted to announce that our non-uniform day on Tuesday 1st December raised an incredible £669 for Redeemer Worthing Foodbank. A
big thank you to all of our students who took part. This money will make a real difference to families this Christmas and beyond.

At the end of this term students have been encouraged to send a message of thanks and goodwill to a member of staff. The cards were designed by Jess Johnson in Year 11 and feature a beautiful festive image. Staff have been delighted to receive these messages.

Achieve

This term we have been recognising those students who go above and beyond our expectations and frequently demonstrated excellence in a number of areas. Mr Goldberg has kickstarted the Game Changer awards for students in all year groups who are recognised by staff members as having proven themselves in one or more of the following areas:

1) Going above and beyond
2) Being selfless (altruistic)
3) Identifying new, creative and improved solutions to problems
4) Taking every opportunity
5) Being brave, resilient and making a difference
6) Being a leader and leading by example

Our Game Changers are chosen every fortnight by staff and can achieve the award not just for academic excellence but in their character and personality.

There’s no doubt that this term has been a long and challenging one for all out students and staff. For our Year 11 pupils however, with the added pressure of mock exams and post-16 education applications it is safe to say it’s been especially tough! We’re really proud of how they have handled these last few weeks and to give them a boost of support, teaching staff have sent some special messages of encouragement on postcards illustrated with the amazing rainbow we witnessed one gloomy morning. A perfect metaphor for optimism and hope during this unusual year!

We’re always proud to announce the excellent efforts that students make outside of school so we’re pleased to say that Callum Harris in Year 7 has attained the Royal Yachting Association’s Young Sailor’s Scheme Level 2. Despite the restrictions this year, Callum was able to complete the award under safe, socially distanced conditions.

This December our GCSE PE students have been working hard to improve their non-exam assessment (NEA). Both groups have had the opportunity
to visit Blackland Farm in East Grinstead to work with specialist rock climbing coaches from E3Adventures. Over the two days, students developed their skills in rope work, climbing and belaying. Students will receive their final assessment marks in the New Year which will contribute to their overall GCSE they will be awarded with in August.

Our Modern Foreign Languages department are always coming up with engaging and exciting ways to get out pupils excelling in their French and Mandarin studies. This term Mr Le Gac ran a competition to illustrate the brilliant French poem ‘l’homme de couleur’ with our KS3 students. The poem examines prejudice and questions the idea of what it means to be a ‘man of colour’. There were some incredible entries which put an imaginative spin on themes of identity, race and culture. A big well done to all those pupils who took part.

We are excited to announce a new teaching and learning project launching in January. This is being led by Mercedes Willard after a successful interview and appointment. She will be looking at our outstanding lesson delivery and working to develop a CPD program to target areas where we can continue to support staff to develop their practice further. This program will be aimed to enhance our teaching and learning in the classroom to utilise our time in lessons all the more and continue to combine the amazing technology, tools, pedagogical knowledge, and curriculums we have to facilitate learning. This will run for 12 months and offer staff the opportunity to share, showcase, and support members in their department and faculty. 

We are also pleased to announce that we are launching new provision for our Academically More Able (AMA) students. Stephen Withington will lead this initiative which will see an updated register of those students identified as AMA as well as staff development to help stretch and challenge these students in class. Alongside this there will be increased opportunities for AMA students to gain insight and experience via visits to higher education centres and visits from external speakers. We look forward to a full launch in the New Year.

Support over the Christmas period

The mental wellbeing of our students is always important. While our site may be closed over the Christmas break we want to ensure that out students and their families can access advice and support information if they need it. Click here to view the information sent to parents earlier this week with support information for students available whilst they are not in school, including the School Nurse Service, the Mix, Allsorts Youth Project, Childline and more.

Key Dates

Have a wonderful Christmas break and see you in 2021 – on Monday 4th January!