Headteacher Update

Dear parents and carers,

I hope families have had a safe and restful weekend after a very busy week. I would just like to reiterate again how thankful we are for all the support we received during the recent inspection, it is very much appreciated. As I explained in the Newsletter on Friday, the outcomes are currently confidential but I look forward to sharing these with families as soon as we are able.

Wellbeing at Archbishop Holgate’s School 

Over the past year we have made lots of changes to our Wellbeing offer in school such as our new 4 pronged approach to wellbeing; #AHS-care #Selfcare #Selfhelp and #Support. As part of these we have introduced our new form time mindfulness programme during the drift in complete with mindfulness booklets and daily Wellbeing slides.

We have a new Wellbeing Website and Twitter account (@AHS_wellbeing) that shares more about our offer in school and what we have been getting up to. We have weekly Wellbeing News shared in form time as well as weekly Parent Wellbeing Newsletters. Alongside this students have access to more qualified staff in school from a Wellbeing worker to the School Counsellor and have access to the Wellbeing Hub. This year we have also launched the new Wellbeing Ambassador programme which when completed will mean there will be 2 members of each form group in every year who will be qualified Wellbeing Ambassadors.

But our next venture is the most exciting yet! AHS is seeking to gain the Wellbeing Award with Award Place. This award is very a stringent process which will include a review of our current offer and look for further ways we can ensure that mental health and wellbeing sit at the heart of our school community. As part of this we will be asking parents to complete a survey next half term to help us on our journey to achieving the Wellbeing Award. So watch this space!

As ever please find attached the latest Wellbeing Newsletter (29).

Head of Year Awards
Please find the HOY Awards for this week below:

Year 7 – Miss Kincell, Miss Powell and Miss Cooper
It is very hard to believe we have reached the final week of our first half term. I can honestly say we have been utterly delighted with Year 7s start to their AHS Journey. Last week students impressed not only us but our external visitors, and they certainly did both us and themselves proud.

Monday 18 October: Virtual Bewerley Park Information. From Monday 18 at 5.30 you will be able to access an online recording with all of the information you will need for the Bewerley Park Residential. Hopefully this will provide all of the key information you need. However, you may now have received a letter with a reply slip, this evening will now be virtual instead of in person. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. We decided that on reflection, we wanted to reduce contact and wanted to prioritise Parents Evening. You should also have received a medical form, we know that you have already completed something similar but this will outline much more specific detail, including water ability. Please could this be completed and returned as soon as possible. You have also received a kit list, if you need any support regarding this please do get in touch.

Wednesday 20 October 3.45-7.15: Parents Evening. This Parent’s Evening will just be with your child’s form tutor to discuss your child’s initial settling in and the first steps on their journey. This will also be a really exciting opportunity to also see the school, you will be taken on a tour by your child and light refreshments will be served. If you would like to arrange a meeting with either the SEND team or Year 7 Team please do get in touch. Please ensure students make appointments with their form tutor during form time, there is no need to contact school unless you would like an appointment with the Year 7 Team or Miss Holmes (SENDCo).

And just a reminder of Bewerley Park Dates:
A/B Band (Forms: Hv, Gr, Mr, ASu) Wed-Fri 3-5 November
C Band (Forms: SMf, Bl, ANn ) Wed-Fri 10-12 November
D Band (Forms: Cy, MLn, Hf, MPe) Wed-Fri 17-19 November

This week we will be celebrating all achievements, and doing more awards rather than just our usual Students of the Week and Head of Year Awards, we will celebrate all those who have received zero behaviour points and they will receive an extra special reward.

Well done to our Students of the Week:
ANn: Isabelle Rooke For being a fantastic, positive member of 7ANN and for your excellent extra curricula writing.
ASu: Alex Briggs – for being an extremely helpful and reliable member of the form.
Bl: Seth Clements – Attending a club everyday
Cy: Jake Vicari Lowson for being a great buddy
Gr: Harvey Grant-Pipes – Really well organised, well done!
Hf: Ebony Hazel – For always being positive and kind.
Hv: Hollie Brierley – Always helpful, polite and a delightful member of the form
MLn: Kai Maynard for being compassionate and supportive with other members of your form.
MPe: Alex Dowle – For giving a really in depth answer during ‘restart a heart week’
Mr: Alex Lines for being a great advocate for the school values.
SMf: Macie Gray for being eternally polite, positive and involved in all form activities.

Well done to our Head of Year Awards:
Elinor Bevan – writing an excellent poem to support the transition of upcoming students
Ethan Oliver – making a great start to his AHS journey and always being polite

Library Newsletter:
Did you know that York is the most haunted city in England? Many people claim to have seen ghosts. York has had over 500 recorded sightings from the young girl in the upstairs window in the house behind York Minster, George Villiers (the inspiration for the rhyme Georgie Porgie pudding and pie) in a York pub, to a whole legion of roman soldiers complete with horses who appeared to workman Harry Martindale in the treasurers House in 1953.

This week in the library we have been looking at things that scare us, from poems, to book covers and the genre Horror and Suspense.  Leading on from this we have been drawing monsters and trying to write spooky stories about them.

If you would like to read Frankenstein (Quiz 200572. Level 12.2. Colour White) you can read the whole book by clicking on the link. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/84/84-h/84-h.htm (24 chapters) Frankenstein is currently one of the choices on the ‘Ten Minute Reads’. This is a free service, that drops a chapter a day into your inbox. This can make a tricky read seem more manageable. I have read The Great Gatsby, Portrait of Dorian Grey and The Scarlett Letter by having a ten-minute instalment emailed to me each day. You can join up to this by clicking on the link below, selecting your book choice and entering an email address. https://www.10minutereads.com/library?utm_campaign=bb4755ec-a5a1-4f06-a882-1b155ec92472&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&cid=1b0f071e-e745-414c-9b7c-b2c6129984fc Also, those of you who are lucky enough to have access to BBC Sounds, can go to the audio book section and search for Frankenstein. You can listen to all 24 chapters for free. After reading a couple of chapters of the book, this is the option I have gone with!

Competition Corner
You should now all have seen the poster in your form room about the current writing competition. Still going with the spooky theme, your quest is to write a short story, poem or draw a picture. The deadline is Thursday 21st October. We have writing grids, outlines for shape poems and long lists of terrifying words to inspire you.

The winner of the New School poetry competition is Elinor Bevan 7Bl

Start a New Year 7
The thought of a new school can be scary,
You may feel a little wary.
Though the teachers are nice, they help and give advice.
You make many friends, the fun time never ends.
The dinners are amazing! Clubs even better,
Do something good and you’ll get in the newsletter.
Sometimes somethings don’t go to plan,
You just have to believe that you can.
The journey starts here.
Just enjoy it.
Secondary school is one big adventure that starts with one small step.

Well done Elinor. The poem is now laminated and on display in the library so please call in and see the original hand-written version.

All library monitors have now been informed by letter if they have been successful in securing a role. We will have our first monitor meeting at breaktime on Tuesday. If you wish to borrow a book please be patient with the monitors who are all new to the role. There has been a sudden rush of late applicants. All those who hand me a completed application form will be held on file until we have another recruitment drive. We may have some gaps in the rota, but until we’ve had our monitor meeting where we will look at rota’s, we will not know if we need more monitors at this time. Again, thank you all for your patience in this matter.

An additional thank you to parents for all of your support over this half term, we hope you all have a lovely break when it arrives.

Year 8 – Mrs Avey, Miss Mennell and Mr Handley
We, on the year 8 pastoral team, were very proud of our cohort last week in what was a particularly demanding week. Our students did themselves proud. We were sorry that once again covid scuppered our plans and that the Brandon Hunt performance did not go ahead on Wednesday due to him contracting the virus. The year group have, however, all received CPR training last week in the Restart the Heart week and know how to place breathing casualties into the recovery position. There was excellent commitment and interest shown in these life saving skills. In particular, 8ab boys, who welcomed St John’s Ambulance and Rachel Maskell into their lesson, were excellent ambassadors for the school. Next week, as well as being the last week of the half term, it is also Inter-House X-Country for our students in one of their two PE lessons. As in Sports Day, they all take part and accumulate points for their houses, either, Eske, Derwent, Foss or Ouse. They can bring either football boots or trainers as the weather dictates.

Year 9 – Mr Arthur, Mr Deamer and Mrs Deacon
Well what a week it has been at AHS! As you will be aware, on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, the school was visited by OFSTED. Whilst the official outcome of the inspection will not be released for a few weeks, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Year 9 students for their exemplary conduct during this period of time. This visit was all about showing the team of inspectors the best of ourselves and the wonderful things that go in in AHS every single day. At AHS we are very proud of the students that attend this school, and we want them to arrive every day eager to live out the words of John 10:10 – “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Of course, students in Year 9 play a significant role in making this school what it is, and I have finished this week (as always) incredibly proud to be Head of Year 9 – Thank you.

This week’s Act of Collective Worship was centred around positivity, and was delivered by our Assistant Head of Year Miss Deacon. Miss Deacon began by talking about a travelling story of hers to Tongariro Alpine Crossing in New Zealand. This one-day trek is seen as one of the best treks in the world! However it is recommended to be done in summer and Miss Deacon was there in the winter. It looked very different to what Miss Deacon was expecting, however she had a guide and was told she’d have to wear ice crampons and it would be extremely cold! She was also told she could turn back if she wanted to, but she decided to go anyway. As she set off, the wind came in and the temperature dropped to -35⁰C. After a few hours walking she decided she’d had enough. Miss Deacon stopped with tears in her eyes, thinking she could no longer go on. However, a member of her group came up to her and spoke to her. Thomas was his name, and he told her ‘I believe in you, I know you can do this, why don’t we do this together?’ A stranger had never said anything like that to her before and it took Miss Deacon by surprise. She decided to soldier on – her and Thomas talked for the rest of the journey and when they came down the other side of the mountain, the views were breathtaking!

Miss Deacon then shared with the year group what this experience meant to her. At the time, she didn’t realise it, but this experience helped change her attitude towards life. It showed her that we can achieve if we work hard and had a positive attitude – a growth mind-set. This outlook can help us in situations where we have wanted to turn back rather than push on. It also made Miss Deacon realise that having a positive attitude and spreading positivity does have an impact on those around us! When we spread positivity, it not only helps others, but yourself as well by putting you in a good mindset and making you feel happy. It improves your inner sense of wellbeing, makes you resilient and reduces your anxiety. To try and spread some of this positivity and it’s wider impact, Miss Deacon set Year 9 a simple challenge: to offer a genuine compliment to a friend, a student they don’t normally talk to, or a member of school staff. Please encourage your child to take part, and let’s help to spread some positivity amongst the AHS school community!

Let me finally take this opportunity to congratulate the HOY Award winner from Week 6. As always, it is wonderful to get all the feedback from staff about the excellent things students in Year 9 are doing across the school, and how students are meeting our School and British Values into being every single day. The four winners from Week 6 are…

Very well done to you both – there will be a £5 Amazon gift card on its way very shortly.

Thank you for taking the time to read this parent bulletin. If you have any issues regarding your child in Year 9, then please do get in touch by emailing aarthur@ahs.pmat.academy (head of Year), mdeacon@ahs.pmat.academy (Assistant Head of Year) and/or rdeamer@ahs.pmat.academy (Pastoral Support Worker); or alternatively, you can call Main School Reception and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you.

Year 10 – Mr Avery, Miss Johnstone and Miss Montagu
It’s been another successful week for Y10 this week. They were absolutely superb during the visit from Ofsted, and a credit to our school. I can’t quite believe it’s the end of week six and half term is just around the corner, although I know there are some tired students who will welcome it when it arrives!

The students search for work experience seems to be going well, with many placement forms already beginning to return. Please do not panic if this is yet to be completed, half term is usually an ideal time for a Year 10 student to secure a work experience placement. Please remember our careers advisor Sarah Robinson is on hand to assist any student who might be worried or concerned in making the first phone call to an employer.

Our act of collective worship this week was based on the Notting Hill Carnival. As a school we recognise and celebrate black history month, and this assembly was an excellent opportunity to look at the origins of the carnival and its significance to British culture. The students learnt about how this carnival brings the music, food and clothing of the Caribbean to Britain, and how it was first created in the 1950’s as a response to some racial tensions in the community. We finished the assembly by recognising how the carnival is now visited by over 2 million people a year and was voted as a British icon in 2006. Like all Acts of Collective Worship this half term, this assembly was based on the British value of Mutual Respect and the school value of Compassion. Hopefully some of our students have been inspired to visit the carnival in the future and experience it first hand!

This week has also been ‘restart a heart week’ in school. The students have been reminded in form time and in lessons of the techniques involved in life saving resuscitation. The students have now become accustomed to this annual training, and I am very proud of the way they have approached this over the last week. Although I hope they never have to use these skills, I am proud to know they possess them.

Finally, a huge thank you to the parents of Year 10. Your continued support and willingness to work with the school pastoral team ensures consistent success from the students. Should you have any concerns or questions, please feel free to contact myself (navery@ahs.pmat.academy), our Assistant Head of Year Miss Montagu (emontagu@ahs.pmat.academy) or our PSW Mrs Johnstone (ejohnstone@ahs.pmat.academy) and we will be happy to respond.

Year 11 – Miss Turvey, Miss Reader and Miss Chambers
How fabulous has today (Friday 15th) been? Our Y11 Information Advice and Guidance day, where the Y11 students get a taster of life in AHS Sixth Form and of the courses on offer has been creative, calm, considered and simply fantastic. Y11 have, yet again, shown themselves to be capable, competent and erudite. Some will know after today which subjects and pathways they definitely want to follow and others will still be considering their next steps. I hope you caught the images on twitter of your young people being great: @Y11Ahs

I would strongly advise you all to check out the Sixth Form Open evenings which are going on in the first couple of weeks of November at Sixth Forms across the city; it is only by seeing the provision other places have to offer that your young person and you can make an informed decision about where they would like to carry out their Next Steps. The AHS Sixth Form Open Evening is on Tuesday 2nd November from 6pm. Mrs Tipping, our Exams Officer and myself (Miss Turvey) will be available during this open evening if you have any questions about Y11 Mocks or Y11 GCSE Summer Examinations ~ please do drop by and see us.

Ms Robinson regularly updates the Y11- Careers Education Google Classroom with information about Open Evenings. Apprenticeship opportunities and her latest missive is about The UK Higher Education Expo for those interested in going onto university. Please check out her Google Classroom space.

Dr Paul is offering a “steps to revision success” seminar session after school, at 3.10pm, on Tuesday 19th October in Gg3 for 40 minutes ~ biscuits provided! For all Y11 students who are considering beginning their mock examination revision over the half term holidays.

I will finish with a wish for you all to have a lovely covid free sunshine filled half term holiday. As ever please stay in touch via reception@ahs.pmat.academy.

Post 16 – Mrs DeLashley, Mrs Walton, Miss Balmer and Miss Cox
Year 13 Mocks – A Level mocks commence Monday 8th November and BTEC in-class assessments commence Monday 15th November. We have entered a period of revision and there is an expectation that Y13 are very busy at home preparing for these important assessments. Personalised intervention will be devised and communicated following these assessments.

Year 11 Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) Day – Year 11 were fantastic on Friday and we thoroughly enjoyed hosting them for the day. We understand that many students would have liked the opportunity to ‘taste’ more than five subjects but it is a busy year ahead. I urge students to attend Open Evening on Tuesday 2nd November to visit departments and speak to subject staff and current Sixth Form students to find out more about post-16 subject choices. Each student will have a 1-2-1 Pathway Meeting in November with a member of the Senior Leadership Team to discuss progression plans and suitable Post-16 plans. For those students that were isolating on Friday, they must not worry. All information they may require about potential subjects will be provided on Open Evening. Any questions, please do get in touch fde.lashley@ahs.pmat.academy

Sixth Form Open Evening Support – We ask that you support our encouragement of our current Sixth Formers in supporting the event to ensure that visitors are able to gain first-hand advice/guidance from existing students.

Year 12 Volunteering – Our Year 12 students have signed up to volunteer for at least one hour per week for the rest of the academic year. They will be commencing their new positions this week. A huge thank you in advance.

Manor Visit – Some of our ex-Manor student are supporting us in a recruitment event on Monday by visiting Manor alongside Mrs Balmer. It is so important to reach out to potential external applicants with students from their school and we anticipate their support being hugely helpful.

Sixth Form Sleep Rough – Friday 3rd December – Our annual event will be taking place soon to help us raise money for Carecent and raise awareness of homelessness. It is a very popular event. Letters are going home this week providing full details.

Year 13 UCAS Competitive Admissions

Our Competitive Admissions students have applied and will await replies. We have processed 18 in total, 7x Medicine, 1x Veterinary and 10 x Oxbridge. It has been a busy period and they are at the beginning of a ‘competitive’ process. We wish them every success and are committed to supporting them throughout the process. Regardless of outcome, they have worked incredibly hard on their applications.

Collective Worship
This week our Form Tutor Collective Worship focuses on themes related to Black History Month. We will examine the life of Mary Seacole in relation to our school values and the thoughts of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.

If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live. – Rev. Martin Luther King
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. – Martin Luther King
Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. – Martin Luther King
He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. – Martin Luther King
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?‘ – Martin Luther King

The Wellbeing Newsletter Issue 29