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Autumn 2018
MESSAGE FROM TIM O’BYRNE, CHAIR OF GOVERNORS
Dear Parents, Carers and Students,
It is with particular pleasure that I am writing to you today to
inform you of the appointment of the new Head Teacher at the
Bishop of Hereford’s Bluecoat School.
After attracting a very strong field of applicants for the vacancy
and then two days of rigorous and widely ranging interview and
assessments, the governors are pleased to announce the
appointment of Mr Martin Henton who will take on the substantive
leadership of the school with immediate effect. The governors
and staff offer him their unequivocal support as he begins the
challenging task of developing and improving our school. I am
sure you will want to join with me in offering him congratulations
on his appointment and in wishing him every good fortune as he
commences his new and exciting role.
Yours faithfully,
Tim O’Byrne
Chair of Governors
MESSAGE FROM MARTIN HENTON, HEADTEACHER
Following my success in the interview process, it was a privilege to accept the
position as the new Head Teacher at Bishop’s. I have always been proud and
passionate about the foundations of BHBS as an inclusive Church of England school
and worked hard to promote the many successes of our students in all of my
leadership roles. I would like to say thank you for the many words of encouragement
and kind wishes that I have received since my appointment. I am really looking
forward to working with everybody in our school community to provide opportunities
for our students to flourish and excel in everything that they do.
We have been exceptionally busy this half term in a variety of activities and events.
The PFSA, staff and students have raised large sums of money from the Year 7 school
disco, Autumn Fayre and Saturday morning bag packing in Marks & Spencers for our
nominated charities which was recently reported in the Hereford Times. This was
followed up by Paddy Nugent, the Community Fundraising Manager from St
Michael’s Hospice talking to students in House assemblies on the work that they do
and how important the donated money is to them. He explained that the donation
from Bishop’s was the largest single donation from a school they have received in
many years. The Year 7 disco was particularly successful in both the amount of
money raised, but also the large numbers of parents/carers that supported the event
as seen on the selfie photograph on our facebook page.
We have had an incredibly successful Open evening and Open mornings this month
with many families attending and very positive feedback about the opportunities we
offer at Bishop’s but more importantly the high standards set by our students in
activities, lessons and as tour guides. This was followed by our annual Careers evening
hosted in collaboration with St Marys High RC High School which was supported by
many businesses, colleges and professions to offer advice and guidance to students
in years 9,10 and 11.
To add to the success of our Duke of Edinburgh (DoE) Bronze award programme,
Mr Nicholas and Mrs Chapman recently students away to prepare for their DoE Silver
medal award which is not offered by many secondary schools. Last week I was very
proud to attend the inauguration of Hereford’s NMite University at Hereford
Cathedral with two students and Mrs Jinks one of our parent governors. It was an hon-
our to attend the event which will see a significant expansion to educational provi-
sion in the county and was attended by many other schools.
Have a restful and peaceful half term.
Please follow more regular news updates on;
Henton@HeadteacherBHBS (Twitter)
Bhbs Bishop’s Hereford (facebook)
(This can now be ‘liked’ to follow more easily)
Students Sofia Griffith Walker, Mia Eacock and Mr Henton presented cheques
to Susan Brace from Hereford Young Carers for £2500 and to Paddy Nugent
from St Michael's Hospice for £3,000.
Bishop's students, staff and Parents, Friends and Supporters Association (PFSA)
have worked hard to raise the money following bag packs, fayres, cake sales
and a golf day at Burghill. We commit fundraising for two different local and
national charities every year.
Mr Henton said 'It is a great privilege to support charities which improve the
opportunities and quality of life for other people. As a Church School, it shows
the commitment of everyone in our community in helping others'.
This year the school will be supporting Children with Cancer and The Little
Princess Trust
Held annually in association with St Mary’s RC High School, the careers
event has become the largest of its kind in the county.
Alongside Hereford Sixth Form, Hereford, Ludlow College and Hereford
College of Arts, the Cathedral School, also in attendance were; Malvern
St James, Hartpury, Worcester University, Corpus Christi College from
Cambridge University, Lucton, Ellesmere, Haberdashers’ Monmouth, Christ
College Brecon and Llandovery College. All enjoyed a busy evening with
a great deal of interest from students and families from both Bishop’s and
St.Mary’s.
There were a wide range of businesses, apprenticeships and careers
which presented a huge range of career paths. As usual, the services,
RAF, Army, Navy and Police attracted a lot of attention but the growth in
apprenticeship opportunities including the prospect of Degree
Apprenticeships meant that a large number of students were attracted to
Hereford Group Training, Western Power, Welsh Water, KGD, Special
Metals Wiggin, Wyevale Nurseries, Balfour Beatty, Avara Foods, Hoople,
Beech House Nursery , Nova Training and particularly Heineken who
brought a large display unit which was erected by one of our former
students. The fact that this student was female also attracted more girls to
the prospect of working in Engineering which has greatly helped widening
the vision of our students and their parents to career opportunities in this
area.
Other sectors such as Brookfield Vets, T. A. Matthews law firm, Thorne
Widgery accountancy, Wye Valley NHS Trust, Allpay and Hereford Hair
Studio also attracted huge attention.
The delegates universally praised the enthusiasm and interest of our
students and all agreed to come back again next year , when , hopefully,
we will have another crop of alumni to enthuse our current students.
Year 11 Exam Information Evening
This term sees our annual examinations information evening on
15th November at 7.00pm. With the appointment of a new
examinations officer, Mrs Bond , it is an opportunity for you to
find out about the procedures relating to examinations. The
evening will cover key dates in year 11, revision sessions and
when they are on offer, procedures relating to exams and the
upcoming mock examination in December. After the event all
the details will also be on our school website.
BHBS Autumn Concert 20 November 2018 - 7.00pm
Year 11 Presentation Evening 29 November 2018 - 7.00pm
Film Club has started on Thursday lunchtimes where students
come with their lunches to spend 30 minutes watching a film
they've selected democratically.
This term, we began with 'Shrek: The Final Chapter'. We are
currently watching 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas', chosen by
students in remembrance of those who have lost their lives in
wars and conflicts. We currently have 35-40 regular members
but we are always welcoming to new film fanatics.
Please do feel free to come along and join us from 1.20pm in
Last year we introduced a system of ‘Prom Points’ to encourage
year 11 students to make the best use of the opportunities
available in their final year. This resulted in a significant increase
in the number of students attending revision sessions and a
massive increase in the number of rewards they achieved. In
many cases this initiative benefited lots of our students and it
helped them to achieve their target grades.
Following this success we will be starting a similar system after
the half term break. We have increased the tariff for
attendance and revision and feel that everyone who follows our
school expectations will reach their target comfortably and
attend the Leavers Prom. It is our hope that all students will try
and significantly exceed the total.
The inaugural service for the New Model in Technology and
Engineering (NMiTE) included speeches, oaths of commitment,
uplifting music, prayers and blessings led by the Very Reverend
Michael Tavinor, Dean of Hereford on the 19th October 2018.
Mr Martin Henton, two students and Mrs Jinks (Governor)
attended to represent the school.
The DofE continues to be very popular at Bishops. Nearly a
quarter of our current year 11 were involved in the Bronze
award last academic year and a large number have already
completed the Award and have received their certificate. 21 of
these students have chosen to continue with the Silver Award
and we have already completed the Training expedition. The
conditions were certainly challenging, with lashing rain on
Friday night and ice on the tents during Sunday morning. We
also had lovely sunshine and outstanding views, so it was real
mix of conditions.
The students didn't complain once and just kept going. Their
stoicism, teamwork, humour and sense of adventure was a real
credit to the school. We are now looking forward to the final
expedition which will be in the Shropshire Hills, after their GCSE
exams.
Following the kind donation from the
Bluecoat Trust, work was completed on our
conservation area to improve the habitat
and biodiversity.
Three new seating benches
have also been installed next
to the conservation area
We are delighted in KS3 to have begun the year with brand new,
modern text books and online materials for our students. We are
using the Pearson Dynamo/Studio books for French, Stimmt for
German and Viva for Spanish.
All students have a login and password for pearsonactivelearn.com.
This is an online resource which enables the teachers to set
homework tasks, which are based on the work covered in class from
the text books. All students should have received their username
from their language teacher by now. If your son/daughter does not
know it, please ask them to see Mrs Greenwood. If a specific
homework task is set, the students will see the TASK at the top of their
screen. An excellent feature of this resource is that students can
easily access listening activities at home, which have previously been
more difficult to set for independent study. Four our GCSE students,
these tasks provide an opportunity to try additional exam-style
questions after they have left the classroom. The work is marked as
the student completes it, so they get instant feedback and there is a
help feature which they can access. With their login details, students
can access the resource at any time, even if a specific homework
task has not been set.
GCSE MOCK EXAMINATIONS Our year 11 students should be turning their thoughts to their mock
speaking exam, due to take place in November. They will have lists
of questions for the conversation part of this exam, for which they will
have prepared their ideal answers. All of the exam is, of course,
carried out from memory, so now is the time to devote a short while
each day to practice and learning these answers. Students may also
wish to access practise role play and photo tasks. These are
available in the L drive, year 11 in the correct language file.
Language teachers can record a student’s answers, if they would
like, as this provides them with an accurately pronounced version to
listen to.
For listening and reading practice, students can buy the Revision
Workbooks in the School Shop, use Duolingo and Get Revising.
Students can also spend 10 minutes a day on the GCSE Bitesize site.
Bishops have had a long
relationship with Oak Leaf Gates
and indeed three alumni are
currently employed there as
designers or joiners. “At Oak Leaf
Gates we are also keen to invest
in the future and we sponsor two
awards at a local school in
Design and Technology, working
with students and staff to inspire
their creativeness and instil a
passion for designing and
making in the next generation”,
said the owner and Managing
Director Richard Eccleston.
The Technology Curriculum Team
would especially like to thank
Richard and his team for their
time, all the students had a
fantastic experience and
hopefully in the not too distant
future there may be more former
BHBS students working at Oak
Leaf Gates.
Mr John Bohan, Curriculum Team
Leader: Technology
As part of the STEM (Science, Technology and Maths) activities at Bishop’s, the Technol-
ogy Curriculum Team were able to take a trip to visit a local manufacturer called Oak
Leaf Gates in October. The objective was for students gain a greater understanding of
CAD/CAM in an industrial context and to look at how technology has advanced man-
ufacturing techniques.
Over two days thirty Year 10 and Year 11 students were able to visit the factory and de-
velop their awareness of how technology in manufacturing has improved output and
quality, mixing traditional craft skills with state of the art CAD/CAM. Many thanks to Mr
Brooks and Mr Richards for taking this trip, after school.
The English Team are already offering regular lunchtime sessions for
Year 11 students keen to make a start with improving their
understanding of key texts and also their analytical technique. All
GCSE teachers are currently offering at least one lunchtime session;
students are welcome to bring their lunch and requests to work on
specific skills, or simply to join in with the teacher's chosen agenda for
the day. For those keen to get ahead of the game, there are revision
resources on the school website and student L drive in order to
prepare for next half-term's mock exams. Students can also
download and listen to some familiar voices reading our set poems
to help with learning key quotes!
Read. Write. Blog. Got a story to tell? Love reading?
We have created a forum for students to showcase their creative writ-
ing talents. They can receive comments on their work, or log on to
read other people’s writing and tell them what they think. We are now
accepting writing in the form of: short stories, flash fiction, fan fiction,
poems, and even super short stories.
If students are keen photographers or artists, we're also accepting
work to feature alongside the writing.
Contributors can send in their submissions to: blogbhbs@gmail.com, or
hand them in to Ms. Robinson.
Each month we'll set a new theme for your writing, and our first com-
petition will be accepting entries until October 31st.
The blog can be accessed via the school’s website, or by logging on
to blogbhbs.blogspot.com
Students are following our new Programmes of Study in Years 7 and 8.
They are responding in a very positive way to the challenging questions we
are exploring. In Year 7 we are exploring religious and world views on the idea
of goodness. Year 8 are unpicking the challenging topic of suffering. Students
have worked collaboratively to explore these highly complex issues. We have
been very impressed with their fabulous attitude and effort towards learning.
Year 9 have started the GCSE course. We are currently learning about
Christian beliefs and teachings. Students are responding well to the key
knowledge tests. They are quickly seeing improved results where effort is put in
to the preparation for the test. Year 10 and 11 continue to study the GCSE
Course. They have been learning about Muslim beliefs and teachings.
Revision is key to success on the Ethics GCSE course. Learning the key
knowledge will help your child to achieve great success. Please continue to
encourage your child with their revision homework. New revision guides and
workbooks to support your child with the GCSE will be available from the
school shop in November 2018. I will be in touch when they are made
available.
Thank you to all parents and carers who have followed the Ethics team on
Twitter. If you haven’t yet done this you can find us by using @EthicsBHBS.
SKILLS FOR LIFE
Students in Year 7 have done a wonderful job in completing their ‘Be Happy
Be Safe’ challenge at the start of their Skills for life course. It was a fabulous
introduction to all the important people, places and key messages that will
support your child in their time with us. Year 8 have been exploring careers in
the NHS. They have been working towards entering the national ‘Step into the
NHS’ competition. Details of which can be found at https://
www.stepintothenhs.nhs.uk/ they will continue to explore careers using the
new Kudos software. All students have been supplied with a log on for this
which enables them to access careers support at home. Please see https://
kudos.cascaid.co.uk/#/ for further details. Year 9 students have been learning
how to design a campaign to tackle a community issue.
The issue we have focussed on has been litter. It has been wonderful to see students
making their peers aware of the issues created when litter is left around our school
site. Our new Programmes of study have been designed in consultation with students
to ensure that issues they feel strongly about are included. I look forward to telling you
about these as the year goes on.
Student safety working party
A number of students from Years 10 and 11 have been meeting every Wednesday
lunchtime to explore how we as a school can improve feelings of safety and well-
being at the school. As a direct consequence of the work they have done all
students at the school have had the opportunity to attend an assembly on the issue
of sexual harassment. The assembly was led by the students and it raised awareness
of the issue. The help that is available to support students was highlighted. Students
were reminded about what is and is not acceptable. Our students did a wonderful
job of preparing and
delivering the assembly. Well
done to all those involved.
They have also produced a
poster to support this
message which is being
displayed in all form rooms
and in areas where students
can see it. The poster
contains information for
students sign posting them to
the support that is readily
available in school.
The group are currently
working on a student charter.
I look forward to sharing news
This has been a very busy term for PE with clubs and fixtures in a
wide range of sports. Our extra curricular activities list can be found
on the school website, under the beyond the classroom tab.
Students are always welcome to come and try the activities on offer
both before, during and after school.
A particular highlight for us this term has been our U15 Rugby team ,
who beat Fairfield School 31-10 to progress to the next round of the
National Nat West plate competition.
Successes in netball have included selection of a number of
students for county netball squads and the U12, 13 and 15 netball
teams currently unbeaten this year so far. A fantastic effort and
commitment from all!
Coming soon—the Bishop’s Super League Netball - Netball training
is stopping until Christmas. Girls have already entered their teams
and the order of play is to be published by Weds 7th November in
the PE department. Please come and support the girls on Monday
(year 9,10, and 11) and Wednesday evenings (year 7 and 8).
This term we had the 2faced Dance company visit and do a very
successful one day workshop for several students.
Should your son or daughter require a lift
key for medical reasons, we require a let-
ter confirming the reason why and a £10
deposit which will be refunded when the
key is returned.
It is our school policy that in order to prevent
the spread of sickness bugs, children should
remain at home until they have been clear of
ALL symptoms for 48 hours. Please help us to
stop the spread of this infection by not sending
students back too soon.
Sickness Virus
We have been asked by local resi-
dents to ensure parents/carers do
not park across driveways when
dropping off or collecting students.
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