Parent Bulletin

Dear parents and carers,

It was great to see so many Year 11 families at our Sixth Form Open Evening last week. We hope that students and parents found the evening informative, however should there be any questions then please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Year 11 pastoral team. Linked to this, the individual meetings between senior colleagues and Year 11 students continue this week. It has been great to spend time with our students as we look to support them in their next steps after Year 11. 

Our second group of Year 7 students enjoyed their visit to Bewerley Park last week and our final group of students will take part in their trip towards the end of this week (Wednesday to Friday). In terms of the rest of this week, we have the Year 12 form tutor evening taking place on Wednesday and our Year 10 and 12 families are invited to the work experience launch on Thursday. Year 11 students will be busy preparing for their mock examinations in lessons this week. Whilst students who study vocational qualifications in KS4 and KS5 will have mock examinations in these subjects this week.

I would also like to take this opportunity to flag up our Christmas Fayre that takes place afterschool on Friday the 2nd of December. Currently, we delighted to be making plans for our Carol Service in York Minster on Wednesday 7 December when the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, will be preaching during the service. We look forward to inviting friends and families to this special annual event.

Extra-curricular timetable – Autumn term 2

I’m delighted to now be able to share the wider extra-curricular activities timetable for half term two.

The extra-curricular timetables below highlight the wealth of different activities for students to choose from and we strongly encourage students to participate as much as possible. Not only are there merits on offer for attending, but going to extra-curricular clubs is a great way to live the words of John 10:10: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” The timetable is updated live on the school website by clicking on the ‘AHS Journey’ button on the top banner, then ‘Curriculum Opportunities’ and scrolling down to the bottom of the webpage.

School Meal Payments

We really hope that your child enjoys the variety of meals and snacks on offer each day. As parents will be aware we use ParentPay as our online payment system which provides flexibility to parents to top up their child’s account when it is convenient for them. 

In order to meet the needs of all students, children’s accounts are limited to a maximum daily amount of £5.00 – However it is really important that you talk to your children about how much you expect them to spend each day. Remember that every child can access a break item, main meal and desert for £2.70!

In order to support families with the balance of their ParentPay account from December 5th when a child goes £20 overdrawn or more we will limit their lunch options to sandwiches only. 

We do understand that the current financial context is challenging and we do not want to prevent any child from accessing school food – If you would like to talk to someone about payment options please email financialsupport@ahs.pmat.academy or phone 01904 411 341.

Wellbeing
Health and wellbeing is an important part of life at Archbishop Holgate’s School, in order to read the wellbeing newsletter for this week – please click here.

Head of Year Awards

Year team messages to parents and carers

Each week, the pastoral year teams will communicate any key messages, successes and upcoming dates to be aware of in this section of the parent bulletin.

A message from the Sixth Form pastoral team

Sixth Form Open Evening:
If you were unable to attend our Sixth Form Open Evening please do get in touch if you have any questions. Your son/daughter will receive a copy of the prospectus and application form during their IAG meeting, these continue this week and next.

Year 12 & 13 BTEC mocks this week:
BTEC results will be shared by class teachers as they are marked to support intervention for the external January exams.

REMINDER: Year 12 Form Tutor Evening
We will be hosting an evening on Weds 16th November for families of Year 12 to meet their son/daughter’s form tutor by appointment. Interim data will be shared alongside behaviour and attendance. We hope this will be an informative evening in advance of the January A Level mock exams and formal external BTEC assessments. Interim data will be sent home Monday 14th November.

REMINDER: Upcoming Key Dates

• Y12 Form Tutor Evening Weds 16th November
• Y13 A Level mock results Mon 12th December
• Y13 Parents Evening Weds 14th December

A message from the Year 11 pastoral team
Another excellent week for year 11 students who have made a strong start to their revision lessons. I was really pleased going around the classrooms to see students dedicating themselves to doing well in their upcoming mock examinations. This was further evidenced by the excellent attendance at Period 6, with over 150 students attending on Monday alone. Thank you for your support in getting students to attend these extra revision hours, in order to support their revision, help manage their time effectively and ultimately benefit their outcomes at GCSE.

This week we have launched the form time revision packages, aimed at giving students the skills to revise independently. The revision programme students will be competing with form tutors will run for three weeks in the build up to their mock examinations. The students will be covering the following:

• How to build a revision timetable and plan their time effectively.
• How to make notes from large amounts of information.
• How to create flashcards and mindmaps.
• How to look after their wellbeing and ‘switch off’ when having rest breaks.

Please ask your child about this and any help you can offer in revising with your child at home would be greatly appreciated.

I was delighted to see so many of our students at the sixth form open evening this week, and hopefully they all left with a little more clarity on what the A-level courses are about and the topics they will cover. I know this can seem like a daunting decision for many young people, but please be aware that support will be on hand every step of the way in choosing their A-level options. Should you have any further questions about A-Level options please do not hesitate to contact a member of the sixth form team who will be happy to help.

Finally just a reminder about the importance of attendance. Last week the year group was at 93% which was a pleasing increase from the last week of term. However, with so much important work going on in lessons toward mock exams, I would really like to see this go up to 95% by the end of this week. Once again thank you for all your support in getting your child into school regularly, this is the most important step in ensuring success at GCSE.

As always, should you have any further concerns or questions, please feel free to contact a member of the Y11 team.

A message from the Year 10 pastoral team

I am delighted to start the bulletin with a positive message that Year 10 has had another amazing week! I have been in several lessons this week and have seen some fantastic progress being made across all subjects. From studying a Christmas Carol in English, to investigating particle theory of matter in Science and celebrating some amazing assessment results in maths, we as a school community can be really proud of what our inspirational year group are currently achieving.

This week Year Ten had an assembly on ‘Fake News’ and how it can appear in various forms. We addressed how fake news can look on the internet and particularly on social media. In an age where almost anyone from across the world can have access to a platform, it is really important that our young people are educated in how to assess the sources of social media content. As a year team we hope that a collective worship may serve as a reminder for our lovely young people and we politely ask that parents hold honest conversations where necessary about any ‘fake News’ they may come across.

In the summer term Year Ten students will have some time off timetable for work experience, which is a fantastic opportunity to get a taste for the world of work. The work experience launch date is on 17th November with more details to follow on how pupils are to secure work experience placements. For now I would recommend that conversations are held at home about how Year 10 pupils can make the most of this unique opportunity. It is also beneficial for pupils to get their work experience placements confirmed as early as possible as many of the popular places of work are filled up very quickly. Please look out for more information very soon!

Another exciting opportunity has taken place in Archie’s this week, with Year 1o students being involved in the Speak Out Challenge. The first of two groups participated in the workshop where students practised public speaking, a skill that is difficult for many people and can require lots of courage. The program was enjoyed by those who took part in it and the second session will take place this Friday and there are still places up for grabs for those still interested. If you would like your child to be considered for a place, please ask them to speak to Mr Arthur.

With the festive period just around the corner, our unity fund team have been making plans for our Christmas Fayre. This is a lovely evening and couldn’t happen with the kindness and generosity of people in our community making donations. We kindly ask that students drop chocolate and sweets off at reception over the next few weeks. This money goes to people in our community who really need it and can make all the difference when students get to wear a prom dress or get vital pieces of equipment. Any donations go a really long what to making a significant impact.

Finally I am sad to inform you that our amazing Assistant Head of Year Miss Clark will be leaving AHS and moving on to pastures new this week. Miss Clark and the year group built up great relationships and I’m sure she will be missed. I know I speak for all the Year Ten students when I wish her the best and thank her for her kindness, good humour and professionalism.

As always please contact me via phone or email (cmcpaul@ahs.pmat.academy) with any queries or issues relating to your child. Alternatively Miss Deacon is available via email (mdeacon@ahs.pmat.academy).

A message from the Year 9 pastoral team
We are pleased to be able to say year 9 have had an overwhelmingly positive start to the new half term, continuing the high standards that they set themselves as a year group from the beginning of the school year. It has been a pleasure to drop into lessons and form time and see such high standards of behaviour, excellent uniform, and a great attitude to learning.

Attendance continues to be a big focus, students over the past fortnight will have received their attendance breakdown so they can see how well they have been doing with it this year so far. This will be reviewed with them in form time every half term to see how they are improving, how well they have done, or to see if they can spot patterns in their own attendance to school. The Year group had a good start this year, but we would like to see this increase through the year. We were regularly the highest attending Year group last year and we would like to retain that crown moving forward. The attendance for this week was 91% for the year group which definitely needs to be improved moving forward. Well done to 9Lp and 9NTh who both had fantastic attendance this week.

There was a fantastic effort from the whole year group and the results from the interhouse cross country are in. For the girls, Derwent were the winning house, with an average of 1832m of running between them, Lydia Scott came in first overall with an amazing 3050m. In the boys competition Foss were in first place, with an average of 2221m, Loic Clegg being the standout with 3350m. Well done Lydia and Loic.

Sunday night saw a selection of AHS students be present, including representatives from Year 9, at the LNER stadium for the women’s Rugby League World Cup matches. Miss Wheater has said “The girls embraced the opportunity to walk on the pitch with the World Cup flag and be a part of the pre-match presentation, they represented their school fantastically, very proud of them!”

This week saw the new extra curricular timetable being released, this can be found both in form rooms and online, please remember to check for details about any clubs that students may be interested in attending. Homework club is also running Monday to Thursday with Mr Stabler in BS2.

As always, if you require any assistance about anything, please get in contact with us and we will resolve any problems that you may have.

A message from the Year 8 pastoral team
As we delve deeper into the Autumn term, we are reaching the point where we are beginning to see the majority of students become nicely settled into their lessons and growing more confident with their routines. Last week, our Year 8 Newsletter recapped many of the positive experiences and opportunities students have enjoyed so far which is well worth a read if you have missed it.

We have some important upcoming events in our calendar this month and would like to politely remind you to keep your evening free on Wednesday 30th November for Year 8 Parents Evening which will take place from 3:45pm-7:15pm. Students will soon begin making appointments with their teachers in school and there are some very important and valuable conversations to be held at this event.

We will also be taking the opportunity to undertake some important fundraising during the Christmas Period. The rewards opportunities we offer in AHS are valuable to all students and important for their wellbeing and social skills, which is why we wish to introduce an additional Year 8 reward experience in the Easter term. To fund this, we are hoping to raise money through a number of charitable endeavours between now and the Easter term, with the money going towards the experience – particularly for some of our disadvantaged students whose families may not be able to afford to make a contribution. This endeavour will also allow students to engage in charity and fundraising in-keeping with our Christian values.

We have two fundraising events in our calendar for Year 8 in the next few weeks:

Firstly, our Year 8 students have designed and created a Christmas quiz for parents to complete at Parents’ Evening whilst you wait for your appointments. We would really appreciate it if you are able to take part by bringing in £1 on the evening, with a prize of a family Christmas hamper for the lucky winner!

Secondly, there will be a Year 8 games stall at the Y8 Christmas Fayre, with the proceeds being used to cover the costs of rewards experiences this year for disadvantaged students. We are always very proud of our AHS Christmas Fayre which is a wonderful school community event, but this year in particular Year 8 students would very much value seeing you there: our students have designed and created some of the games from scratch during Form times, and members of the Y8 student council will also be running the stall alongside the Y8 team on the evening of December 2nd. We hope to see you there.

Thank you for your continued support. If you have any queries or concerns about your child in Year 8, please contact school reception to speak to someone in the Year 8 team, or you can email reception@ahs.pmat.academy.

A message from the Year 7 pastoral team
We have had another fantastic week in school. Our C band went to Bewerley Park and it was great to see them all joining in and getting involved in all the activities. The year 7’s have certainly entered their stretch zone whilst reaching new heights at high ropes, climbing and scrambling at Brimham Rocks, and enjoying the slides in the gorge walk. Our final trip for forms 7JHE, 7CY, 7BL, 7ZBL will take place next week on Wednesday, please remember to meet in the hall at 8:30am with all of your bags. Any medication needs to be labelled and handed in.

In school, our students enjoyed our new games equipment at lunchtime and it was brilliant to see them all playing together and keeping active.

Next week is Anti-bullying week in school and our students will be discussing what bullying is and how we can all play a part in combating it. To celebrate Anti-bullying week students are invited to wear odd socks on Monday and it would be great to see as many year 7’s joining in with this as possible!

As always, if you need any support please do not hesitate to contact The Year 7 Team.

Well done to our HOY awards this week:
Morgan Smith 7JHE – For taking initiative and running an extra curricular club and helping others in year 7 to “join in”. You are an asset to year 7 and AHS. Well Done!
Erin Holton 7MPE – For being a fantastic ambassador of our school at the Rugby League World Cup last Sunday. Well Done!

Well done to our Students of the Week:
7ASu – Skyler Sullivan – for always putting her hand up and contributing to discussions. Well done Skyler!
7CMm – Thomas Allen- for his excellent attitude to school work, every day. Has had an excellent start to the year.
7Pi – Grace Rennison – for being so positive and smiley all the time
7Hv – Evie Sullivan – Young – Showing resilience by coming to school even when feeling under the weather
7CSt – Jackson Pratt – for being super helpful and encouraging at Bewerley park and for being brave and pushing himself out of his comfort zone. Well done Jackson!
7MPE – Nilesh Ghimire for being the last one standing doing the hoovering in the dorm at Bewerley park! Well done!
7MLn – Liam Barker – for outstanding teamwork and not being afraid to get his hands dirty at Bewerley Park! Well done, great joining in!
7JHe – Nathaniel Wade – for remembering the little things really add up to success
7Bl – Tom Sullivan – for a positive change in attitude and effort in all areas of the curriculum. Great to see Tom engaging in form time discussions.
7ZBl – Oliver Eaton – for asking really thoughtful questions and wanting to know more about what is going on in the world around him.
7Cy – Reagan Walker for helping in form time.

Word of the week
The word of the week for week commencing 14 November is: debate

Noun: a formal discussion on a particular matter in a public meeting, in which opposing arguments are put forward and which usually ends with a vote

The students were keen to debate the issues in class.

Collective Worship
Theme
The topic for our form tutor collective worship this week is Parliament Week. Our daily quotes are inspired by this year’s theme of “Let’s make a difference together”.

Quotes
Monday – “Do your little bit of good where you are; it is those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican bishop & human rights and anti-apartheid activist
Tuesday – “Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.”
Mother Teresa, nun and missionary in India.
Wednesday – “There is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it.”
Amanda Gorman – an activist and the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate in America.
Thursday – “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States & co-founder of the Women’s Rights Project at the ACLU.
Friday – “I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.”
Maya Angelou – Maya Angelou was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist.