Birchwood H igh School magaz ineyour dreams, your future, our challenge
The Good Schools Guide 2013
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Congratulations to the mathematics faculty and A level maths students. Yet again, the commitment and hard work of both students and staff at Birchwood High Schools Mathematics department has been recognised by The Good Schools Guide. To obtain a subject award, which are given to schools to celebrate teaching excellence, Birchwood has outranked all other state schools in its category. Birchwood High School has received an amazing two awards based on the 2012 GCE A level results:1. The Best Results at A level achieved by Girls taking Further Mathematics at an English Comprehensive School.
2. The Best Results at A level achieved by Boys taking Mathematics at an English Comprehensive School.This is a fantastic achievement by staff and students and we really value the fact that, our girls at Birchwood, do so well in what is sometimes considered to be a male friendly course. We achieved one award in 2009 and one again, in 2011 but to achieve two in the same year is incredible. The Maths staff at Birchwood, led by Mark McGrath, share their strategies with an increasing number of schools who are keen to learn how Birchwood has raised the profile of the Mathematics department over the last decade.
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Autumn 2014
GCSE RESULTS
Birchwood High School saw its largest ever year group of 240 students do tremendously well in the all-important GCSE milestone. Nearly half of the year group (47%) achieved 5 grades at A*- B. There were too many excellent sets of results to mention individuals. However, of the Top 10 highest achieving students, 7 of these were girls unlike last year where the boys were in the majority.
GCSE % of students
5 or more A* - C 75%
5 or more A*- C including English & Maths 69%
5 or more A*- G 99%
High Achievers for boys included: Tom Carpenter 7A* / 3A Daniel Stanley 3A* / 6A Joshua White 5A* / 5A
High achievers for girls included: Scarlett Archer 4A* / 6A Lauren Clark 2A* / 6A Megan Hanscomb 4A* / 6A Afia Khan 8A* / 3A Tasnim Khan 7A* / 4A Emily Morris 2A* / 6A Aisha Sollars 5A* / 3A Ceara Webster 2A* / 7A
Headteacher, Dr. Chris Ingate said: The GCSE headline figure of 75% 5+ A*-C (69% 5+ A*-C including English and Maths) was very much as expected and reflects the hard work put in by all the students and their teachers. This was a fantastic year group who contributed so much to the school during their time here not only academically but in all the things that makes Birchwood an excellent school. It is great to see so many returning to our Sixth Form to study A-Levels this year and we wish all students well in whatever they choose to do.
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Different languages were used with ease on a day at Cambridge Universitys Language Centre.
Students from Years 8 10 who have been taking advantage of an enrichment courses in Mandarin Chinese and Italian for the last six weeks after school, went to Cambridge to embark upon an intensive day to complement their lessons. It was a great day enjoyed by all and included Chinese calligraphy using tradi-tional materials and a tea ceremony. The enrichment sessions were won as a result of winning last years singing competition at Anglia Ruskin University.
Thanks to Mrs Davies and Mrs Dixon for organising it and to Miss Roderick and Mrs Muscroft for accompanying them.
Grazie mille and arrivederci.
Following five truly fun packed days and four nights, 25 Birchwood students recently visited Paris. Hopefully they will always remember this wonderful experience and this will be the start of a wonderful relationship with France, and the French language.Without doubt we were exceptionally lucky with the weather and on some days we even witnessed a little bit of sun! Having experienced the main sights of Paris and truly eaten like kings, we returned to Bishops Stortford tired but much more confident about our language skills than we were at the start of the week.The Montparnasse Tower and the Eiffel Tower were undoubt-edly the highlights of the trip but the boat trip along the Seine proved very popular also. Moules, escargots, crpes, pain au chocolat, croissants.are just a few of the lovely delicacies that we indulged in. Food was definitely not in short supply and it was fantastic to see our students trying and in some cases enjoying such a varied range of foods.All in all this was a fantastic opportunity for all concerned.
PARIS VISIT
CAMBRIDGE Intensive Language Day on 7 June 2013
MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES
The opportunities to speak French were readily available and students rose to this challenge. Communication and confidence is key at GCSE and this was a great opportunity to help develop these skills. Accuracy develops with time and increased confidence. I have been leading school trips for many years now and I can honestly say that this is the most chivalrous and well-mannered group that I have ever had the opportunity to lead. Their mutual respect and interaction with one another was fantastic and I was very proud of their efforts and attitude to one another. This is the last time I will be leading this trip and I can honestly say,
Non, je ne regrette rien!!
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Birchwood High School A-Level students successfully completed their school career with a 100% A-E pass rate and an average total point score of 727 per student (average point score per entry 230). In terms of the governments requirements for reporting, 56% achieved two or more A*-B grades and 25% achieved two or more A*/A grades.
High achievers included:
Chris Bond 2A* 1A Warwick University. Computer ScienceRachel Douglas 2A 1B Bristol University. BiologyNaomi Hargreaves 1A* 1A University of the Arts, London. SculptureZane Hartley 1A* 3A Nottingham University. Computer ScienceLaura Hooper 1A* 1A 1B Kings College London. English with FilmKate Lilley 1A* 2A Bath University. MathsJamal Rahman 1A* 1A 1B Birmingham University. PhysicsStewart Sommerville 1A* 2A Nottingham University. ArchitectureHenry Synowski 1A* 1A 1B Nottingham University. Maths & EconomicsJamie Wood 2A* 2A Cambridge University. Computer Science
Dr. Chris Ingate, headteacher, said
Building on last years best A-Level results, we are once again reporting a terrific set of results. These high grades mean that all students can move onto their planned next step, with record numbers of students obtaining places in some of our top universities, or taking up excellent employment opportunities. What was noticeable about this cohort was not only their academic credentials, but how much they contributed to the school and the wider community during their time at Birchwood: truly all-round individuals who will make their mark in society.
Whilst there is always a focus in the media on those with the top grades, we would like to recognise all our students in achieving these strong results. I personally know how hard every Sixth Form student has worked. They and their families should feel very proud; we certainly are.
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A Level Results
