Parent Bulletin

Dear parents and carers,

We would like to thank families for their ongoing support, strong two way communication and partnership working which is really important to our school community. As families are aware we welcome and proactively seek parental feedback, both positive and in terms of areas for further development. We highly value our open dialogue with families as it helps to ensure that Archbishop Holgate’s School continues to be a happy and supportive environment for students to learn and develop as individuals.

You may be aware that we also took the opportunity during Friday afternoon form time to remind students of all the different ways and opportunities they have to provide their voice about life in school. This is something that our students do extremely well, something that it was important to remind them given the current national situation in terms of student protesting and social media. 

You may have seen reports in the national press of student protests in school that are being encouraged via TikTok. We would appreciate your support in taking time to speak to your child about this fad and how it is important to work together to ensure that school remains a place where all children can flourish. If your child or yourself have any concerns linked to school we would welcome the opportunity to discuss and address them.

As a reminder, student concerns can be raised in the following ways:

• Talking to their form tutor
• Talking to a member of the pastoral year team
• Talking to a member of the senior leadership team
• Asking for a meeting with either Mr Green-Harding or Mr Daly
• Through the student council

For parents and carers, the quickest and easiest way to contact school is to either ring (01904 411241) or email the school reception team (reception@ahs.pmat.academy ) so that they can put the most appropriate colleague to speak to you about the concern that you would like to raise. We also have the school feedback tab available should you wish to use this (Feedback – Archbishop Holgate’s School (archbishopholgates.academy).

Whilst almost all our students continue to be a credit to themselves and the school we have over recent weeks seen increased examples of graffiti and vandalism around school, this is not something that is acceptable. We take great pride in our school environment and facilities our students have to support learning and appreciate your ongoing support in this regard. The same is true of any other examples of poor behaviour which will be managed in line with our behaviour policy.

Finally I’d like to flag up that due to the continued cold weather we are extending the period of time that students are allowed to wear their school branded hoody until the Easter holidays.

Industrial Action – Tuesday 28 February

Last week, we wrote to inform you of the arrangements that we are putting in place to cover the Industrial Action on Tuesday 28 February. I thought it important to reiterate some of the key messages below:

Unfortunately, the school will only be open for Vulnerable and EHCP students, and for those students in Year 11.

Year 12 and 13 students will be at home accessing live lessons via Google Classroom.

Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 students will be at home and will have work to complete on Google Classroom.

Further detailed information for each year group is provided below:

Year 11 students
Year 11 students will follow their timetable as normal, this includes arriving promptly for morning registration in full school uniform. Lessons unaffected by the industrial action will be taught by the student’s usual teacher and where possible in their normal timetabled room. In the case that a student’s teacher is absent due to the industrial action they will take part in one or more of the following sessions which will be staffed by the Senior Leadership Team:

• English revision
• RE revision (all students will need to bring their RE revision materials)
• Independent revision (all students will need to bring revision materials)

It is important that students in Year 11 bring private revision resources with them to school.

Food and refreshments will be available to purchase in the main hall at break and lunchtimes.

Vulnerable and EHCP students on site
Vulnerable and EHCP students who are accessing education on site should arrive promptly for morning registration in full school uniform. On arrival, they will be guided into the main hall for morning registration. After students have been registered they will be taken to computer rooms to access their online learning. Students meeting this criteria will be contacted by school in advance of the industrial action.

Food and refreshments will be available to purchase in the Main Hall at break and lunchtimes.

Students in Year 12 and 13
Students in Year 12 and 13 will work from home but will follow the lesson timings for their normal timetable. At the start of each lesson they should log into their subject Google Classroom to access ‘live’ teaching from their teachers who are not taking part in the Industrial Action. If their teacher is not present then they will need to complete independent work or work that has been set in advance by their teachers.

Students in Years 7-10
Students in Years 7-10 will work from home and have access to resources through their Google Classroom. Students should first log in to their subject Google Classroom. If their teacher is not on strike there will be work posted and their teacher will be there to support them with completion. If there is no work in a student’s subject Google Classroom, they can log into their year group classroom which will contain resources students may wish to access. Students in Years 7-10 will follow the lesson timings for their usual school day.

Additional information
Please note, these arrangements are for the industrial action taking place on Tuesday 28 February only. We will contact parents and carers regarding arrangements for the other strike days nearer the time.

Children in receipt of free school meals who will not be in school on Tuesday will be able to collect a packed lunch at the end of the day on Monday. We will contact families by text message to ask if lunch is required. Please respond to this message if you would like a lunch to be made for your child.

Buses will run as normal.

Technically the school is closed for all year groups other than Y11 and therefore there will be no formal attendance on that day. We are providing work because we think it’s the right thing to do but individual families will decide how this is engaged with.

P.E. extra-curricular timetable
For details of the PE extra-curricular activities available to students please click here.

World Book Day: Thursday 2nd March

Thursday 2nd March is World Book Day. We will be celebrating this through a number of ways:

• Staff character costumes: staff members will dress as recognisable book characters and students in Key Stage 3 will have the opportunity to identify as many characters as possible and enter a competition.
• The library will be hosting a range of reading and book related games, activities and competitions throughout the week.
• All students will take part in a shared short story during PM form time on Thursday.
• Key Stage 3 English lessons will explore World Book Day and the importance of books within our lives.

AHS Big Book Drop:

• Thank you to the families who have already donated old or unused books to the school.
• On Thursday 2nd March, we are challenging students and staff to all bring in and donate at least one book. This can be a childrens, Young Adult or adult fiction or non-fiction book. These books will then be donated to either our school libraries to be enjoyed by the students or donated to local book charities. Please support us by donating at least one book!

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

This week’s strike action: the Sixth Form will receive live lessons on their Google classroom remotely from home on Tuesday.

REMINDER: BTEC External Assessment Results
These will be issued on Thursday 23rd March. Each Year 13 student will receive a 1-2-1 on results day to discuss current position, likely end point and second sitting requirements. Year 12 students will be spoken to in departments about the same information but over the following week.

REMINDER: Year 12 Parents Evening
Students will receive appointment sheets this week for the upcoming parents evening on Wednesday 8th March (amended data due to strike action). These appointments will provide opportunity to discuss Full Report data issued Monday 6th March as well as next steps to aid progress moving towards the summer assessments. The Sixth Form team are currently meeting some students with their families to implement intervention plans following their mock exam results.

REMINDER:Y13 Leavers’ Key Dates:
(amended since letter sent home Friday 10th Feb) Leavers’ Celebration Service – Thursday 11th May (6:30-7:30pm in the Main Hall)
(amended since letter sent home Friday 10th Feb) A Level Stand-down – Friday 12th May
Prom – Friday 23rd June Hilton, York

REMINDER: Year 13 March Mocks
These take place wc 6th March and will be the final chance to have exams in exam conditions before the summer exam series.

A message from the Year 11 pastoral team

I have been really impressed with the first week back for year 11. We began the week with a really important assembly from Mr Green-Harding and Miss McDermott who explained to the students of Year 11 that the next six weeks are the ‘golden period’ before their exams begin in May. They spoke at length and from experience about how over the next 6 weeks students can make significant progress toward achieving their best grades and build on the excellent work ethic they showed toward their core mock exams before half term. The students seemed to take this on board really well and I am proud of how hard they have worked this week.

I know the students are really keen to begin period 6 again, and I am delighted to share with you the new timetable for this half term. Now the additional mocks are over, the students are welcome to attend a P6 of their choice and catch up on important coursework deadlines if needed. We will be launching a rewards programme for the students who consistently attend Period 6 each week, with prizes to be earnt. I will be sharing more information about this with parents and students in due course.

A reminder that some of our students have important practical exams coming up. Students in graphics have begun their controlled assessments in lessons, and it was great to see them all working very hard on this earlier in the week. Students in Food Technology will be carrying out their practical food exam over the next few weeks and should have their meals planned and ingredients prepped. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact someone on the year team or in the subject department and we will be happy to help in any way we can.

On Tuesday 28th February there will be further industrial action by teaching unions, however school will once again remain open to Year 11. It was great to see the vast majority of Y11 students attend school last time, and have a productive day being taught by SLT and subject specialists. I’m sure this will be the same on Tuesday. Please be aware that all food technology cooking exams that are due to take place on Tuesday will be going ahead.

Finally just advanced warning of the second progress evening for Year 11 students will take place on the 29th March. This will be the last opportunity for parents and students to receive key messages before the exams begin in May.

As always please feel free to contact the Year team with any concerns or questions you may have.

A message from the Year 10 pastoral team

Year 10 have made an excellent return back to school following the half term break! We are now past the midpoint of the academic year and I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed. It has been amazing to see so much progress (both in terms of academics, extra-curricular and maturity) in our young people.

In the Act of Collective Worship this week, Miss Deacon spoke to pupils about the importance of ensuring that we all get the fundamentals of school right in order to ensure we are all successful. This includes ensuring students maintain the highest standards of attendance and punctuality, as well as working hard in lessons and ensuring homework is completed to the best of their ability. Parents can help with this by stressing the importance of high standards with their young person.

Well done to 10EWh for the highest attendance for last week
Our top 5 forms for merits for last week:
1st – 10ABt – 541
2nd – 10RDn – 422
3rd – 10KGn – 391
4th – 10MHe – 357
5th – 10Ha – 271

Our top 5 students for merits for last week:
1st – Ronnie Thompson (10KGn) – 46
1st – Harry Speak (10ABt) – 46
3rd – Poppy Hearld (10ABt) – 41
4th – Jas Lowe (10ABt) – 39
5th – Bailey Sargent (10ABt) – 38

Strike action will take place on Tuesday 28th February. I would just like to remind parents that work will be set on Google Classroom. No sanctions will be placed for students who miss any work, however any encouragement to complete work would be appreciated.

As mentioned in previous bulletins, some of our BTEC students will be starting their coursework in lesson so it is crucial they are in school and engaging, these subjects include:

• Enterprise
• Travel & Tourism (Nurture)
• Media
• Health & Social
• Digital Information Studies (IT)
• Media – already started and ongoing

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch. It really has been great to see the positive start they have made and I look forward to seeing this continue.

Further to this, the school uniform is also a key part of our Archbishop Holgate’s School community. Students must also ensure they maintain high standards with regards to footwear, jewellery, nails, appropriate trousers and skirts, and that they are wearing an Archbishop Holgate’s School tie. We very much want to work with families to make sure that students meet the uniform expectations of the school so please get in touch if you have any concerns.

The work experience deadline has now passed with the majority of pupils securing placements and updating Grofar. Well done to these students and I would like to thank any parents who have assisted here. If students have not yet secured a work placement, they must do this as soon as possible and in turn update their Grofar account. Please bear in mind that emails from Grofar often end up in the spam folders of pupils’ school email addresses.

If you have any queries regarding your young person in Year 10, then please do get in touch by emailing myself (cmcpaul@ahs.pmat.academy), Miss Deacon (mdeacon@ahs.pmat.academy) and/or Mrs Robinson (jrobinson@ahs.pmat.academy) or calling main school reception and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you – Mr McPaul

A message from the Year 9 pastoral team

We would like to congratulate Year 9 for a fantastic first week back. It has been an absolute pleasure to see such enthusiasm for being back in the classroom and some excellent behaviour all around.

We would also like to thank all our Year 9 students for getting their GCSE choices in with such punctuality. If there are any issues about the process going forward from this please don’t hesitate to get in contact.

Friday saw the York immunisation team join us to carry out an assembly about the importance of childhood immunisation in the continuing battle against preventable disease. Year 9 listened attentively and hopefully understood the important message that was given to them by the nurses.

On Friday the 3rd of March, all of Year 9 will be out of school taking part in the second round of the series of Cultural Visits. Students will be going on these trips as they are linked to the Arts Award that they have begun studying for this year. Each student will get the chance to visit the Media Museum in Bradford, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield and the Royal Armouries in Leeds.

Students will be wearing school uniform, but you can wear trainers/comfortable footwear
They need to bring a packed lunch with you – lunch will be provided for students who are Free School Meals)

Please remember a PEN as students will be expected to complete tasks throughout the day.

Remember to bring any medication/inhalers with you on the day

Students will arrive to school at the normal time, and go to AM Reg as normal

After AM Reg (8:55am), students will head to the Main Hall and sit down in a designated area depending on which trip you’re on.

Friday will see 9Cr, 9DBs, 9Ev and 9JD visit the Royal Armouries. 9Lp, 9KCe, 9NTh and 9WNo will be visiting the Media Museum, and 9Ap, 9CBe and 9ECe will be visiting the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The bus lists will be shared with students and we are expecting students to be back in school by 3pm to be able to make their normal way home.

As always if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the Year 9 team.

A message from the Year 8 pastoral team

As we welcomed back Year 8 for the fourth half term of the year, it was lovely to pause this week and review how far we have come. The leaps and bounds students have made this year in terms of their maturity, confidence in lessons and with social groups has been immense. As we pass the halfway mark of the year, we look forward to supporting this continued growth and development.

This week, I am pleased to announce a new face joining our Year 8 team – Mrs Fiona Calvert – who will be joining us in our mission to provide exemplary pastoral care for the year group. Mrs Calvert is already a familiar face in school in her role providing excellent and often specialist intervention as a Support Assistant. This will be a temporary change which is planned until Easter.

Last week, we very much focused on getting back to routines and Year 8 have engaged well with Form reminders and lessons. Our Assembly this week focused on Cyberbullying with students given an important reminder about what constitutes cyberbullying; why it can be so detrimental to our wellbeing; and how to manage different issues they may encounter. Students will also continue to focus on and discuss this in their Forms and PSHCE lessons.

This week, the swimming gala will continue and students who have started swimming for the new half term rota will have the opportunity to set themselves a target number of laps they will try to swim during the lesson. Students will be awarded a merit for every lap they manage above this. We would really value your support at home in encouraging your child’s efforts to engage in Swimming and celebrating their aspirations to achieve the personal target.

This week, we have – for the first time this year – noticed a slight drop in uniform standards amongst a small minority of Year 8 students with some jewellery, leggings and trainers sneaking in. Our school uniform policy is an important part of daily routine and sits in line with our poverty proofing plan to ensure no child feels singled out for what they are wearing. When students are dressed professionally and equipped properly for the school day, this also has a tangible positive impact on their attitude towards learning and school. We really appreciate your support in ensuring your child is wearing the appropriate uniform for school so we can continue to focus on what matters most: your child’s school experience, education and wellbeing.

Thank you for your continued support. The Year 8 team continue to be on hand throughout the school day to support students and address any concerns. We try to encourage students to seek us out before school, break, lunch or after school if they have an issue they would like to discuss.

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

This week was very exciting as we saw some students set out to complete their Bikeability session with the council. We have had a great turnout for this which is fantastic. You will be contacted by email when your child’s session is and these will take place over the next few weeks. Students can leave their bags in the year 7 office and will all need a helmet and a bike, if you need to borrow any of these please let the Bikeability staff know when they email you. Sessions will take place on a morning at the beginning of period one or later in the day at the beginning of period 3, students should meet in reception for their slot. We are delighted there has been such a great turnout and students who participated this week have represented the school brilliantly. Congratulations to everyone for earning their level 3.

We also had an assembly where we spoke about healthy friendships in school. Year 7s were reminded how important healthy friendships are and how good friends will help encourage each other. Our extra curricular timetable is on the school website which is another great way to get involved and join in with school life.

Well Done to our Students of the Week this Week:
7ASU – Archie Clennan for being an insightful News Presenter
7CMM – Aaron Gleghorn, for always following school routines and expectations to the highest standard.
7PI – Ruby Mortimer – for continued resilience each week
7HV – Kat Whitwell – For always being polite, kind and caring.
7MPE – Oscar Bell – For growing in confidence this year and for generally being a fantastic member of the form
7CST – Isaac Ashun- For being a great member of form, taking part in discussions and building great relationships with peers. Well Done!
7MLN – Kai Chapman – For your excellent, well-balanced reflections during our class discussion on masculinity!
7JHE – Jack Burkinshaw – for brilliant contributions to our form time collective worship!
7BL – Kutenda Matemera – for settling into our school very well and showing you are a kind and helpful member of the form.
7ZBL – Louie Hawksby – for meaningfully engaging with our collective worship and asking thoughtful questions
7CY – Havin Arica for excellent attendance so far this year, well done and keep it up

Well done to our head of Year Awards this week!
Josiah Bourne 7ASU – for living our school values every day! Well done!
Leona Koay 7CMM – For livin gour school values every day! Well Done!

Word of the week

The word of the week for week commencing 27 February is:

Bibliophile

Noun: A person who collects or has a great love of books.

I love sharing books with fellow bibliophiles

Collective Worship

Theme
During the weeks before Easter we will explore how we can Look IN and Look OUT this Lent. Each week will focus on a different community that pupils are part of: Family – Friends – School – Local Community – Country – World. This week our Form Tutor Collective Worship focusses on families.

Quotes
Monday 27th February – “You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Tuesday 28th February – “Parents are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.” – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American writer, poet

Wednesday 29th February – “The family is the first essential cell of human society.” – Pope John XXIII, former Head of the Catholic Church

Thursday 1st March – “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other”- Letter to the Ephesian church 4:32, The Bible

Friday 2nd March – “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” — Letter to the Roman church 12:18, The Bible