PARENT NEWSLETTER · origami challenge. The students were provided with different objects to construct, all at ... Using toilet rolls to create a small hurdle, the students were required

PARENT NEWSLETTER

Summer Edition.2

Head of School Headlines

Back at Bohunt What’s ‘News’ at Bohunt!

STOP DAY Game Changers

Virtual Sports Day Bohunt’s Got Talent ...And the winner is

Term Dates/INSET Days 2020/2021

enjoy | respect | achieve

It feels bizarre to be writing a final farewell when we haven’t seen most of the school since the last newsletter was issued but there it is, we are at the end of a historic school year in every respect and find ourselves wondering what next year will bring……the only certainty being it will be a different start to next year than we’ve experienced before! I hope the weekly updates have been useful, timely and certainly think-ing forwards they are a legacy of the current situation that will improve future communications home (albeit that means enduring more of my loom videos). The plans for September have now been planned and shared and details are also enclosed in this edition of the newsletter, but with a health warning that they could change slightly or even completely over the next few weeks. The key message though is we are committed to open the school as fully as possible and without compromising the curriculum and provision that makes us what we are about but in as safe a manner as possible.

HEADLINES By Head of School


Whilst we have been in this strange limbo there have still been lots of great things to celebrate…… Bohunt’s Got Talent, which saw around 50 recorded entries of a diverse range of activity, which made the event really far reaching. Well done to everyone who participated and went through the process of being on film. There were yet again some fantastic acts to chose between and yet again a real struggle for the judges to narrow down the winners but a huge congratulations to the top 3. 1st place - Dev Padhy2nd place - Emma Woolford3rd place - Carlos Gorostidi-Turner

Well done also to Huw Watkins on his 5th place success in the Ryman’s Business Enterprise Challenge. What a brilliant achievement in an national competition.

Well done to the hundreds of students who submitted entries into the University of Gamechangers competition. We look forwards to hearing the results of that in the Autumn Term – Go Bohunt Wokingham students.

Congratulations also to year 10 and 9 whose online learning check scores that again showed continued progress that compares very positively against their peers elsewhere in the Trust.

Finally as you’ve heard too much from me in recent weeks, I hope you can relax and switch off this summer and thank you to all the parents for your brilliant support and work as teachers at home….. it’s not easy is it !! .

Take care, look after yourselves and we hope to see you back on 2nd September ready for a first ever year as a full school.

Ben Godber

Sixth Form Update A very quick update on the sixth form situation. The school has written to the Borough council proposing two very low costs solutions to them which we are still waiting to hear back on. Both would enable provision for September 2021 for a short-medium term basis. Generally speaking we are still getting mixed responses from different council members ranging from complete support to complete objection but certainly the recent high profile action from parents has generated reaction and the issue is being consulted on across all schools in the Borough.

The key issue is the lack of provision for Post-16 in this area of the Borough and regardless of the school opening initially as an 11-16 school (NB a proposal put to the DfE jointly by both BET and Wokingham Borough council), the council plans had always included Post 16 for this site, highlighting an already recognised need for this prior to the school opening. The number of school aged children in the Borough has only grown since the school opened and therefore if the school was intended to have post-16 provision before it opened, then there is even more call for that now, regardless of empty spaces in other school sixth forms, which was also the case 4 years ago. Having surveyed our students only a very small number would seek a place at another school sixth form with the vast majority looking at education beyond the Borough.

One of our proposals requires the support of the developer Crest Nicholson who have indicated that if the Borough council were to also agree it might give a way forwards, so gaining greater commitment from Crest Nicholson would also be invaluable. This might be of interest if you have recently purchased one of their homes.

Independent of our work on this matter, a group of our parents have launched a petition to show the extent of local interest in the matter which we felt it was reasonable to share with you, simply for your information. https://www.change.org/p/wokingham-district-council-6th-form-provision-at-bohunt-school-arborfield.

Catering in September


Additional Notices By Ben Godber

Aspens will be serving again in September and menus will be shared once confirmed. It is likely to be a slightly reduced range of offer in the short term. There will still be a cashless fingerprinting system in place but it will be cleaned between each customer. You may prefer to send your child in with a packed lunch in the shorter term.

Additional Notices By Ben Godber


Safety Measures for September 2020 - We advise students to bring in their own face mask (this may become compulsory if government guidance changes) - Self isolation and household isolation measures continue to apply and in the instance of a suspected case students should not come to school until after they have been tested and a negative result confirmed. The school must be notified about any possible or confirmed cases to allow track and trace measures - There will be increased sanitiser and hand cleaning provision at entry to the school, by toilets and in classrooms and food areas - To reduce changing, students having PE on their timetable that day can come to school in PE kit. Non contact sports only initially. - Students will have limited scope to borrow items at school, so they must supply their own standard equipment. Any shared equipment will be cleaned between use - Students can wear disposable gloves if they wish but these are not a substitute for hand washing - Health and safety compliance by students will be paramount and where students cannot follow procedures individual education reviews will be undertaken - Water fountains will be out of action - Staggered lunches and breaks to reduce pupil congregations - Increased signage to remind of physical distancing - Year group entry points with temperature checking at the start of the day - Parent attendance at school site by appointment only - Reduced scope of practical activity in Music, Science, and STEM until further notice

Back at Bohunt!


I think that it is so lovely to be back once a week at Bohunt. It is great to experience a little bit of normality and familiarity during the school week. I felt the first day back a bit daunting, but as soon as I got to school I knew that it would be absolutely fine, the staff were so welcoming and I was happy to be back. I am very grateful that I get the opportunity to have one English, Maths and Science lesson each week at school with teachers, so that I can ask questions and get help with tasks if I need to. The experience has been really enjoyable and helpful, and it has been so nice seeing some of my friends and teachers that I haven’t seen in a while! Written by Isabelle Snaith 10N

Mrs Anderson was thrilled to welcome her LAMDA student back with face to face sessions since Lockdown! Congratulations to all our LAMDA students for their hard work and commitment!

Although things are very different from before lockdown, it was good to see all my friends again and have some normality back. With the smaller learning groups, I feel that I can get more specific guidance from the teachers with regards to topics that I have been studying. Being able to have face to face support compliments the work that I do at home and ensures that I feel more confident about the challenges that lie ahead in Year 11. Written by Kayla Weir 10T

I have enjoyed returning to school after working from home. I really appreciated the face-to-face time with my teachers which has helped to accelerate my learning. I also enjoyed returning to a structured learning environment which has also helped to improve my learning experience. Overall, I think that the return to school has been great! Written by John Jones 10E

What’s ‘News’ at Bohunt!

Brand new medical room! During lockdown a team have been working very hard to build us a brand new medical room for September 2020! This new space consists of a separate shower room, with a bed, a new toilet and a sitting area for students to sit quietly and take some time out whilst feeling under the weather. A trained first aid member of the admin team will be on call to assist with any medical needs. We look forward to this more comfortable environment should your child be feeling unwell.

Brand new outdoor classroom! Welcome to our new Outdoor Classroom, we have been busy building during lockdown preparing for all the students to return. We are looking forward to teaching them lots of new bushcraft skills and also bring lessons that are normally inside, outside of the classroom. During this very strange time we opened the classroom for students to begin a reconnection programme here at the school and it has been a great success, the students that have joined us have learnt lots of new skills from building fires and whittling food sticks to building log stores and foraging in the woods. They have also enjoyed toasting marshmallows and baking bread on the open fire and even cooking jacket potatoes and cinnamon apples - not forgetting making hot chocolate. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in September and opening officially the space to all students in the school.Enjoy the outdoors, stay safe, see you in September. Mrs Billingham

ST P Day Tuesday 23rd June

As part of home learning, the students recently took part in their second STOP day, with the focus being on the Tokyo Olympics.... that never happened!

Throughout the day the students had a variety of activities to complete, in line with the ‘Game Changer’ ethos of the school.

The day started out with the students completing fact files on game changers that have or are currently taking part in the Olympics.

This included athletes such as Usain Bolt, Jessica Ennis-Hill and two more of the students' choice.

The next session they took part in was a cooking challenge, as this went down very well with the students in the first STOP Day. Their challenge was to create 1 of the 5 dishes

that were provided, with each dish being a specialist dish from where previous Olympics have been held. Refuelled from their morning of cooking, the next challenge

was to create and take part in an 'At Home Heptathlon'.

This allowed an opportunity for the students to get their creativethinking caps on, in order to think of new ways to complete events such as javelin in their

home environment. Students recorded themselves doing this and we have seen some excellent inventions.

Task 4 of the day was a live Quizizz based solely on The Olympics.

This went live at 2pm and we had over 200 students taking part and learning new facts as they went along. The final creative task of the day was an

origami challenge. The students were provided with different objects to construct, all at differing difficulties. They could then get creative with their designs and link them to a

country of their choice from the Olympic Games.

Overall, it was a very successful day with some fantastic work being submitted - well done to everyone who took part and became a Bohunt Olympic Athlete!

Written by Miss Surtees

A glimpse at our game changers


Milanna, Georgie and Phoebe were finally presented with their U13 Netball trophy plates on their first socially distanced

session - Well done girls! Well deserved!

Miss Gibson was very impressed with our Year 8 GCSE options class and their first project on disorted portraits. This has proved to be a great way to get our students to trial subjects they think they would like to choose next year!

Our students enjoyed using our BET DoFe app to get out and about and learn about the beautiful world we live in! www.betdofe.com

One of our Year 9 students showed off their STEM skills by designing a scale model of a stationary holder on tinkercad then built it using recycled materials - Miss Grant was very impressed! - Well done!

Virtual Sports Day


On Monday 13th July, students took part in Bohunt’s first ever ‘Virtual Sports Day’. Throughout the day, and on every hour, tutorials were released by members of the PE department. These tutorials explained and demonstrated the event that students could take part in from their own homes. The virtual sports day started with a 3km run/walk; students were challenged to complete a 3km run as quickly as possible, submitting evidence of their time and distance using various running apps. Following on from this, students completed a wall toss event. A test of co-ordination and concentration, students were challenged to determine how many times they could throw and catch a ball against a wall for one minute. At 11am, student levels of explosiveness were tested by completing a standing long jump challenge. Jumping two footed from a start point, holding a small object in their hand, students placed the small object where they landed and then measured their distance. As students reached the halfway point of the virtual sports day, Mr Meek challenged students to compete a 1-minute press up test. A test of upper-body strength, students attempted to complete as many press ups as they could in one minute. COVID-19 measures were not going to stop students from completing a throwing event, and the newly adapted ‘sock-put’ in replace of the shot-put event, proved to be a popular activity. The final event of the day was the speed bounce test. Using toilet rolls to create a small hurdle, the students were required to see how many times they could jump two footed over either side of the hurdle, in one minute. Students were able to submit evidence of 3 activities throughout the day which meant they could be put forward to compete against other schools in the trust. Watch this space for the results! Students at Bohunt relished the opportunity to be challenged and take part in Bohunt’s first ever virtual sports day. The added incentive of house points being awarded for each completed activity meant that participation levels were tremendously high. The PE team would like to thank all those students and staff who took part in what was a hugely successful day with some fantastic work being submitted. Written by Mr Craig Tedridge


Bohunt’s Got Talent!

‘Bohunt’s Got Talent 2020’ has been an incredible success, despite the virtual nature that had to occur this year. We had over 40 acts send in videos for the event, that included dog handling, football skills, gymnastics, dance, music and drama performances. It has been fantastic to see such a variety of acts be sent in this year and this is testament to the incredible ethos and creativity of our students. Each act showed such commitment to the rehearsal and performing process and I was very proud of each and every student for having the courage to send in a video. It is far more nerve-wracking than having to do it in person! Congratulations to the top 3 contestants! 1st Place - Dev Padhy 2nd Place - Emma Woolford 3rd Place - Carlos Gorostidi-Turner The Creative Arts Team had a difficult weekend trying to narrow it down to the final 12, as there were so many deserving entries, but unfortunately the final ‘show’ would have been about 3 hours long if we had included everyone! I hope that you enjoyed watching the show as much as I did whilst putting it together. Thank you to everyone who sent in a video and to all of you who took the time to vote. I look forward to seeing many more students on stage (fingers crossed) performing in ‘Bohunt’s Got Talent 2021’ .

Have a lovely summer break

Mrs Bedford

....And the winner is

It has been a clean sweep for Turing house...Congratulations for winning our Virtual Sports Day and also the House Cup! ... Mr Campbell’s smile says it all!

Well done Turing Tigers!



Term Dates 2020/2021

School INSET days - The school will not be open to pupils on the following INSET days: - Tuesday 1st September 2020 - Friday 13th November 2020 - Monday 30th November 2020 - Monday 11 January 2021 - Friday 12th February 2021 The school will also be closed on the following Trust dates: - Friday 25th September 2020 - Tuesday 8th December 2020 - Wednesday 30th June 2021

Autumn Term Commences- Tuesday 1st September 2020 (INSET DAY) Half Term - 23rd October 2020 - 2nd November 2020 Half Term 2 Commences - Tuesday 3rd November 2020End of Term - Friday 18th December 2020 - 1:00pm Finish Christmas Holiday - 19th December 2020 - 3rd January 2021 Spring Term Commences - Monday 4th January 2021 Half Term - 15th - 22nd February 2021 Half Term 4 Commences - Tuesday 23rd February 2021 End of Term - Thursday 1st April 2021 - 3:30pm Finish Easter Holiday - 2nd April 2021 - 18th April 2021 Summer Term Commences - Monday 19th April Half Term - 31st May - 6th June 2021 Half Term 6 Commences - 7th June 2021 End of Term - Friday 23rd July 2021 - 1:00pm Finish

Documents

PARENT NEWSLETTER · origami challenge. The students were provided with different objects to construct, all at ... Using toilet rolls to create a small hurdle, the students were required