bingley grammar school belonggrowsucceed

BINGLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOLBelongGrowSucceed

Newsletter December 2018

A Word from the HeadteacherWe have had a wonderful December full of music, drama, rewards and celebrations in school.

As a busy term full of learning and growth draws to an end, we have been lucky enough to celebrate with our 2017-18 cohort of Year 13 students who came back into school on Monday. It was a chance for them to collect their exam certificates, enjoy some festive refreshments and catch up with their old teachers and friends.It was lovely to see so many smiling faces and spend time hearing how they are all doing so well at their chosen universities or in their new careers.

I would like to wish all our students and their families, as well as our hardworking staff, a pleasant and peaceful Christmas break. We look forward to seeing you all on January 7th.

Mr Luke WestonHeadteacher

A Level Certificate & Reward Gathering

Awards given:The Alan Smailes Memorial Prize for Academic Achievement:Sebastian Shaw and Abigail WilkinsonThe Alice Townley Scott Scholarship for Academic Achievement:Michael Slater and Mark RobertsThe G S Mason Prize for Service to the School (Head Boy):Hayatt KarimThe Foundation Governors’ Prize for Service to the School (Head Girl):Isobel JacklinThe R W Ingham Memorial Prize for Service to the School:Fatimah HarisThank you to all our past-students for coming to the event and we hope you all

have a wonderful Christmas break.

Yr 10 Speak Out Challenge!On Tuesday 27th November, 23 Year 10 students completed a workshop with a

professional trainer for public speaking as part of the Speak Out Challenge.

They were trained in how to stand confidently in front of an audience and to public speak effectively. All the students planned a 2 minute speech on a topic of their choice that they felt passionate about. They then had to present their speech to the rest of the group and the judges, Miss Powell, Mrs Dean and Mrs Smithson. Many of the group did not want to even introduce themselves at the start of the day, yet by lunchtime, they were standing in front of a room full of people, passionately and confidently arguing for what they believe in. What a transformation in just a few hours and with so little time to prepare!

Abby, Jen, Umar, Maisy, Malayeka, Sam and Salim all made it to the assembly stage/next round and one of them will eventually represent the school in the Bradford regional finals later this academic year. The group did so well and were very enthusiastic - we had so many confident speakers that it was difficult to choose winners.

Mrs Dean, Mrs Smithson and Miss Powell were so proud of how hard the students worked throughout the day and were impressed with how much confidence they gained from the workshop. We were blown away with the standard of the speeches given; hopefully everyone who took part will take something from the day and are now feeling more confident giving their opinions and speaking in front of others. Miss Powell would like to thank everyone for being so enthusiastic and for their hard work!

Last year the project was hugely successful, and Aleena (now in Year 11) went on to win the regional competition! Click the link to read more:

Aleena wins the regional speak out challenge >>

Click here for more about the Speak Out Challenge >>

Name & Fame Round 6 - Year 7 7M1 Tyler Adamson 7S1 Eva Walgrove 7M2 Annya Lawrence 7S2 Archie Jeanes 7M3 Isaac Rashid 7S3 Noah Barrett 7O1 Conner Barnes 7W1 Ibrahim Khan 7O2 Abbi Hudson 7W2 Daniya Ahmed 7O3 Abigail Underwood 7W3 Darcey Sladen

Name & Fame Round 6 - Year 8 8M1 Jessica Wilkinson 8S1 Martha Donovan 8M2 Beth Cope 8S2 Dara Perrins 8M3 Poppy Eaglesham 8S3 Armaan Yaseen 8O1 Ruby Bell 8W1 Imad Rahman 8O2 Thomas Dunn-Birch 8W2 Haider Tahir 8O3 Haaris Butt 8W3 Sami Ahmed

Name & Fame Round 6 - Year 9 9M3 Ibrahim Raza 9S3 William Robinson 9O2 Katie Vanston 9W1 Mya Hodgson 9O3 Imaan Mahmood 9W2 Harry Roper 9S1 Qayum Soyed 9W3 Jake Wilkinson 9S2 Hasan Akhtar

Name & Fame Round 6 - Year 10 10M1 Grace Dickinson 10S1 Holly Townsend 10M2 Anna Frazer 10S2 Ubaidullah Mehmood 10M3 Nathan Jamili 10S3 Amber Grosvenor 10O1 Kieran Swords 10W1 Maisie Chattoe 10O2 Thomas Hudson 10W2 Poppy Sharpe (LP) 10O3 Libby Russell 10W3 Shumi Begum

Name & Fame Round 6 - Year 11 11M1 Imaan Afzal 11W1 Akbar Ali 11M3 Irfan Ali 11W2 Adam Bhatti 11O2 Aian Ramzan 11W2 Maisie Ramsden 11S2 Oraayz Ali 11W2 William Moorhouse 11S3 Hasan Ali 11W2 Freya Pearson 11W1 Nathan Britton 11W3 Ella Parkin
















Rewards - Name & Fame!Every two weeks students are nominated by their form tutor for their efforts in form time and around school. Please see below for those that have stood

out so far.

Round Six: 22nd Nov - 5th Dec






Name & Fame Round 7 - Year 7 7M1 Archie Morgan 7S1 Ihsan Miah 7M2 Oliver Brown 7S2 Zac Bamber 7M3 Freddie Gregson 7S3 Emma Bateman 7O1 Heena Karim 7W1 Ibraheem Khan 7O2 Abby Deakin 7W2 Maiya Hussain 7O3 Jessica Gill 7W3 Carter Melling

Name & Fame Round 7 - Year 8 8M1 Umaad Qasim 8S1 Elliot Smith 8M2 Hasnain Yusuf 8S2 Noor Ain 8M3 Toby Cork 8S3 Jawairia Rathor 8O2 Shaban Ramzan 8W1 Jacob Dawson Watts

Name & Fame Round 7 - Year 9 9M1 Harrison McDougall 9S3 Sahabia Ramzan 9M3 Rachel Cowen 9W1 Nate McIntyre 9O1 Zara Akram 9W2 Jack Lee 9O2 Amairah Ashif 9W3 Jake Wilkinson 9O3 Molly Cardus

Name & Fame Round 7 - Year 10 10M2 Kabillan Uthayachandran 10S2 Josh Clough 10M3 Owen Jones 10S3 Firaaz Mohammed 10O1 Ahmad Hakeem 10W1 Beth Loftus 10O3 Ishaaq Bashir 10W2 Lucy Mason 10S1 Sophie Richardson 10W3 Danny Hamilton

Name & Fame Round 7 - Year 11 11O2 Aina Ramzan 11S1 Amani Moosa 11O2 Tyler Morgan 11S3 Hasan Aftab 11O3 Luke Perigo 11W1 Isa Sajid 11S1 Aisha Basharat 11W2 Adam Bhatti
















Rewards - Name & Fame!Every two weeks students are nominated by their form tutor for their efforts in form time and around school. Please see below for those that have stood

out so far.

Round Seven: 6th Dec - 19th Dec






Road Safety Riot Act for Year 7On Monday 10th December our Year 7s were entertained by the engaging ‘Riot Act’

theatre-in-education performance group.

The theatre group visited us to bring their unique take on road safety and awareness to the 300 strong audi-

ence of students and staff. The performance was a mixture of light-hearted humour and seriousness about

the dangers of playing around or near to a road. The short play addressed other issues including the use of

phones whilst walking, not paying attention when crossing and peer pressure.

The students all enjoyed the performance and engaged well with the serious content. At the end of the play

one of the characters, Jo, was hit by a car and left severely injured and paralysed from the waist down. The

whole audience immediately fell silent, the effect immediate.

After the performance the cast started a discussion with the Year 7s about who was to blame, and why the

accident happened. The students then answered questions, enthusiastically agreeing that they all need to

act responsibly near the roads.

The play forced our students to reflect heavily on their own decisions and behaviours, whilst also investing

in compelling and engaging storytelling. All students seem to have come away from the experience having

thoroughly enjoyed the show, whilst taking to heart the serious message.

Yr 8 Maths House CompetitionOn Monday 10th Dec the Maths department held the Year 8 House Maths Competition

The year 8 House Maths Competition was a massive success, with seven teams from all four houses battling it out against the clock to solve problems and puzzles. The winners are listed below. Please congratulate those in your form as it was a really tough competition and they worked brilliantly, showing a lot of resilience and excellent communication skills.

The results were as follows:

1st place (10 house points): Wooller Team 1 (Mollie Wandsworth, Abi Strutt, Michael Cook and Kameron Chauhan)2nd place (8 house points): Milner (Saif Hussain, Danny Thompson, Esa Ahmed, Saysha Scott-Lawson and Isabel Ayden-Butler)Joint 3rd (6 house points): Sunderland Team 2 (Isaac Kitchen, Ahad Ali, Jacob Butler and Ellie Robinson)Joint 3rd (6 house points): Sunderland Team 1 (Isha Iqbal, Madihah Khatoon, Aman Ali, Ayaan Ali and Hasaan Naveed)Best teamwork (6 house points): Wooller Team 2 (Rehan Hussain, Hamza Bashir and Ahmed Karim)

Well done to everyone who took part!

Yr 7 Bake Sale for the Dogs TrustAt the beginning of December three students in Mrs Mdlongwa’s form group 7O2,

held a bake sale in aid of the Dogs Trust.

Their homemade tasty treats were delicious and raised £101.45 for a charity close to their hearts. They also earned an Organisation LORIC certificate each for their efforts.

9S2 Bake SaleMrs Wilkinson’s form held a festive bun sale at breaktime last week outside the T BLock.

They stayed behind after school the day before and made chocolate chip muffins decorated with white icing and holly. The group raised £44.00 for the Sunderland house charity.

Christmas ConcertLast Thursday night parents, carers, friends and family were treated to

an amazing show full of music and song.

The Winter Wonderland Show demonstrated the talents of our students as well as those of the Crossflatts Primary Guitar Group and the Eldwick Primary School Choir who we were very pleased to welcome and share the evening with us. We had performances from the Swing Band, Eagles Percussion Group, the Sax Trio, Vocale, Drumline, Saxophonics and the Clarinet Group as well as many soloists playing the drums, guitar and singing. Thank you to all our singers, musicians, the Crossflatts Guitar Group and the Eldwick Choir for putting on an incredible show. We have so much talent to celebrate and we hope everyone enjoyed the concert as much as we did.Thank you to Mr Sykes, Mr Lewalski and Mrs Oliver for working hard to organise and rehearse with the students. Thank you to Mrs Parker and Mrs Precious for organising and decorating the hall so beautifully. Our thanks also go to the members of the Parent Focus Group who provided refreshments for our audience at the beginning of the show.

Yr 7 Gardening ClubSince September Ms Cane’s Gardening Club have been working on their garden

designs and models which they presented at the RHS ‘Green Plan It’ Challenge at the University of Leeds last week.

The teams have been meeting each week after school to work on their project, alongside their mentors, Tim and Adam. Tim and Adam are both volunteers who work in the gardening industry as designers and gardeners and have joined us each week to help the students design the gardens and build their models. The students were very enthusiastic in the undertaking of this challenge and worked really hard to create their gardens. At the ‘Green Plan It’ Challenge last week the two teams had to present their ideas in a 10-minute presentation, along with a question and answer session with the board of judges. The students were very nervous about speaking, but overcame their fears and gave some amazing presentations.Ms Cane was extremely proud of the group and both teams won an award for their efforts, the Most Innovative Design and the Student Choice Award! Well done teams and we look forward to seeing your ideas come to life in the school grounds next year.

Mr Craven Praised by the SSAT Leadership Legacy Project

Last year Mr Craven became an SSAT Leadership Legacy Project Fellow, after completing a year of training opportunities and contributing to the wider teaching community. Mr Craven was sucessful in being one of only 150 emerging leaders selected from

across all SSAT schools.

This year a new cohort begin the course, including another Bingley Grammar School teacher (Computing and

ICT), Mr Watson. Mr Craven’s work has been selected by the leadership experts on the course as a ‘stand out

piece’ and will be shared with the new cohort as an example of a high calibre think piece from an engaged

Leadership Fellow.

Mr Craven received a letter of congratulations saying,

“As you may know we have recently launched the second cohort of the SSAT Leadership Legacy Project. The

project will again involve the fellows producing a think piece based on school research, and to help them we

would like to provide them with some examples from last year.

Angelina Idun and Tom Middlehurst have identified your think piece as a stand out piece of work so we

would like to include it as one of the examples.

Our Director of Operations, Sylvia Paddock, highlighted your work as she felt you submitted such an honest

and inspiring thinkpiece. It really does echo our hopes for what all the Leadership Fellows go on to experi-

ence and achieve throughout the project.

I believe your feedback form stated that your enthusiasm and motivation can only benefit your students and

those who work with and for you. It’s for these reasons that your work was selected, to show the current

crop of teachers involved in the project a high calibre thinkpiece from an engaged Leadership Fellow.”

We would like to congratulate Mr Craven for his hard work and dedication and our congratulations also go to

Mr Watson for successfully gaining a place on this prestigious project.

Max 7 Christmas Tree Festival TripLast week Max 7 visited All Saints Parish Church in Bingley to look at the Christmas

Trees on display including their own.

The theme this year was 500 years of local history so our Max 7 students created ‘Canal Art’ decorations for our tree which looked really effective and decorative.

The organiser of the festival, Shelagh Patrick, emailed Mrs Braime after our visit saying,“Your children’s artwork has been much admired. The gentleman who owns the Five Rise Locks Café was particularly impressed and wondered if any of the items could be available for display in the café.”Mrs Braime has contacted the owner of the 5 Rise Locks Cafe to donate some of our spare tree ornaments to him so he can now put them in his cafe on display.

Well done to all the Max 7 students who conducted themselves brilliantly whilst on the trip and created some fabulous artwork which the community has enjoyed.

LORIC Awards Assembly On Thursday 20th December a group of students in Years 7 to 10 were treated to a

talk from cyclist Katherine Liver.Mrs Cartledge and Mrs Wentling selected students from Yr 7 - Yr 10 who have fully committed to the LORIC process to listen to Katherine Liver’s story about her experiences cycling solo from Australia to England (that’s 16,000 miles through 24 countries!)

The trip took her from the hot arid desert of out-back Australia, to the treacherous, freezing conditions of the Tibetan plateau - from the urban extravaganza of Singapore, to the empty plains of Kazakhstan. This nomadic life of a touring cyclist entailed sleeping in a tent under bridges, in forests, out in the dusty sun-baked bushland, but most favourably, in the comfort of strangers’ homes where the true essence of each country came to life. The students listened intently and asked many questions at the end including,“Did you get lost?”, “Did you fall off?”, “Did your bike brake?” and “Did you regret starting the journey at any point?”We feel Katherine’s story shows LORIC’s key attributes of Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative and Communication and hope the students were inspired and motivated by it.

Miss Mawson and Mr Bellenie have been running the drama clubs since September and the standard of acting is impressive.The Year 7 group performed the first part of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory complete with three narrators, Charlie Bucket and his family and, seated in the crowd, all the other golden ticket winners. The group seemed to use the whole room as a stage and it was an extremely engaging, funny and interactive show.After a small break the Year 8 group performed an abridged version of Dr Seuss’ The Grinch. The group showed great comedic acting ability but there were also moments of real emotion. The students used festive costumes, music and props to get the audience into high spirits for the Christmas break. Well done to all our star performers and thank you to the parent and carers who were a brilliant audience and came along to support the students.We’re already looking forward to the next performance!

Yr 7 and 8 Drama ProductionOn Wednesday 19 December, our Year 7 and Year 8 Drama Clubs put on

a performance for parent/carers to showcase their talents.

9W1 Chocolate RaffleOver the last few weeks Mrs Greening’s form group 9W1 have been

working towards their Organisation LORIC award.The class decided to hold a House Charity Chocolate raffle and each student contributed in a variety of ways. Some students created posters to advertise the fundraiser, others donated chocolate and produced the mini hamper, some went around the classes selling tickets for the raffle and others counted up the money raised to donate to the Wooller House Charity.

It was a real team effort and the class raised £38.00 for Teenage Cancer Trust. Well done to Max Brown in Yr 9 who won the chocolate - we hope you shared it!

Year 11 Bake SaleOn the 14th December, Libby and friends held a Christmas bake sale to

raise money for the Airedale Hospital Children’s Ward.The group baked festive Rudolph cookies, cup cakes and melted snowmen biscuits to raise money for the Children’s Ward. The staff and students all enjoyed their tasty treats and raised lots of money for this worthy cause.

Dates to Remember:

Fri 21 Dec

School Closes for Christmas Break at 2.00pm

School closes at 2.00pm for the Christmas break.

Christmas Holiday

Fri 04 Jan

Training Day

School closed to students.

Mon 07 Jan

School Re-opens

School re-opens.

Mon 07 Jan

Yr 10 and Yr 12 External Exams begin

Students will be issued with individual timetables.

Tues 08 Jan

Yr 12 Parents’ Evening

More information to follow.

Mon 14 Jan

Early Finish – ‘CPD Monday’

School closes at 2.00pm on CPD Mondays for continued staff training.

Mon 14 Jan

Yr 13 External Exams begin

Students will be issued with individual timetables.

Mon 14 Jan

Yr 11 MFL Mock Speaking Tests


Mon 21 Jan – Fri 01 Feb

Yr 11 Full Length Assessments


*DATE CHANGE* Wed 23 Jan

Parent Focus Group

The next PFG will be on Wednesday 23rd Jan in the Quinn Block at 6.45pm. The group will be discussing the topic ‘helping your child with homework, studies and revision’. All welcome.

Mon 28 Jan



Mon 04 Feb

Yr 12 and Yr 13 Assessment Week


Mon 11 Feb



Fri 15 Feb

School Closes for half term

School closes for half term.

Half Term Break

Mon 25 Feb

School Re-opens

School re-opens.

Notes from the Teachers:Duke of Edinburgh Gold AwardHuge congratulations go to Heather in Year 13 who has become the first Bingley Grammar School student ever (to Mr Morse’s knowledge) to complete her Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. Heather will receive her certificate in London from a member of the royal family in 2019. How exciting!

Restaurant News: Increase in Standard Meal priceOur standard meal price has remained at £2.20 for the last three years, but due to pressures from staffing costs and food prices, this will be increasing from the 1st January 2019 to £2.30. This is still lower than the majority of secondary schools in Bradford and still represents good value for money. Free School Meal students will also be updated with this new amount on a daily basis.The restaurant staff provide a variety of meal deal options for this amount to suit all tastes. New meal deal options will be available (and updated on the website) for the start of the new term.

Rewards and AwardsWe have spent the last two weeks of term rewarding our hard working students with pizza and movie events for selected students in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10; a LORIC Award Assembley for those who have exceeded expectations within our LORIC program; a progress assembly for students in Year 11 who received their progress hoodies for their efforts; and a full day of award assemblies today for each year group. Well done to everyone and we hope you enjoy your well earned break.

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