Parent Bulletin

Dear parents and carers,

We finished off last week in style as we celebrated with our Year 11 students at York racecourse for the leavers Prom. The ‘Prom under the stars’ was a fantastic evening, the students had a brilliant time and the Year 11 team really pulled out all of the stops to make it a wonderful evening. A special thanks to Miss Stocks for thinking of every little detail and making the evening such a memorable one. It was also great to see so many families at the start of the evening which helped make the evening so special for everyone involved. I am delighted that the students enjoyed themselves as they have worked incredibly hard this year and they have been an absolute credit to our school over the last five years. The students have been exemplary in their time with us and we are looking forward to seeing them again on the GCSE results day.

A reminder that as a school we are making preparations for our off timetable enrichment week which commences in the final week of term. Please keep a careful watch on parent pay for details regarding the rewards trips that take place in that week. Alongside this, your child will have received an enrichment week booklet highlighting all of the fantastic activities that are available during this week and in particular on the Friday. Please look at this booklet with your child at home as there are some notes on what equipment and clothing they might need for some of the activities (e.g. coming into school in sportswear if they are doing a sporting activity on one of the days).

I do need to highlight that unfortunately there will be further Industrial Action taking place on Wednesday 5 July and Friday 7 July. Last week you will have received a letter outlining details, however I would like to take this opportunity to confirm that school will be open to Year 6 and Year 12 on Wednesday 5 July and Year 7 and Year 12 on Friday 7 July.

Also I would like to remind families that for a two week period we will be trialling our return to one break and lunch arrangements. Please see below for the timings of the school day:

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

Key Dates:

• A Level Mock Exams – wc 3rd July (will continue as normal despite possible strike action)
• Y12 Enrichment Week (off timetable) – wc 10th July
• Y12 UCAS Launch Evening – 11th July
• Y12 Work Experience (not in school) – wc 17th July: All placements should now be on Grofar platform
• Thursday 17th August
  • Yr13 A Level & BTEC Results – from 9am
  • Yr12 Results – from 11am

Year 12 End of Year Assessments Timetable

Students have their End of Year Assessments this week. We have had two weeks of excellent revision lessons and trust revision outside of lessons went well. These examinations will not be disrupted by planned strike action on the 5th and 7th July and silent study spaces are available within the sixth form building throughout the week for students who would like a quiet place to revise.

Year 12 Enrichment Week
Next week we have our Year 12 Enrichment Week where students will have the opportunity to learn about the UCAS process, apprenticeships, gap years and routes into employment. Over summer we expect all students to write a first draft of a UCAS Personal Statement and the sessions in this week give students the tools to make an excellent start. We will also launch the Extended Project Qualification and challenge students to begin thinking about potential topics should they pick up EPQ in the Summer. We also have a day of study skill sessions in preparation for Year 13 and an Ethics and Philosophy day to investigate and consider theological questions. We have a Summer Social on Tuesday afternoon on the school field with sports, games and ice-creams provided for all students. The week finishes on Friday with a Sponsored Walk into Rowntrees Park for a picnic, before heading back to school to take part in the final races of Sports Day.

Medical Appointments
We understand that it is not easy to get a doctor or dentist appointment currently. However, we do ask that whenever possible these appointments are made outside the school day to minimise the impact on your childs’ learning. Due to the increasing number of missed lessons due to medical appointments, we are now asking for formal evidence of these appointments.

A message from the Year 11 pastoral team

It was fantastic to be able to celebrate and say farewell to our Year 11 students last Friday. It was a superb evening and I hope one that our students look back on with fondness.

I look forward to catching up with parents properly at prom and on results day in August, where I am sure we will all be celebrating the success of the students. However, in the meantime if there are any questions you have or require assistance in any way, then please feel free to get in touch.

As parents may be aware, we operate a uniform shop at school and would gladly appreciate any and all donations of uniform that is no longer needed. Equally, if your child has revision guides/resources that they no longer need we would also gratefully receive any of these. Any donations families want to make can be dropped off in reception.

A message from the Year 10 pastoral team

I am unbelievably delighted to start this bulletin by saying your young person has just completed their two-week mock exams in Year 10! As a school, we are so proud of how hard they have worked and their dedication to their studies. As a year group the outstanding work that students have done in the lead up to this intense two week period was really impressive and it seems that hard work has paid off! It’s important to remember that mock exams are a great way for students to get a feel for the real exams they will take in the future and these results will be an excellent foundation to build upon. We want to praise your child for a job well done and encourage them to keep up the great work!

Year 10 have been on the later lunchtime slot to facilitate the mock exams. Exams have now ended, however the whole school will be able to have lunch at the same time as each other now. This is a really positive thing, as it will allow for more extra-curricular clubs at lunchtime. As a year group we will go back to the field area that we have been all year and black square. We will have our own area of the field and need to stay in that area. Black square will be shared between year 9 and year 10 students who don’t wish to go on the field. Remember, for those students who like calm and quiet at lunchtime, the resource centre is the place to go.

Our students of the week this week are:

Sarah Norman – 10Di – For an outstanding representation of the school during the Speak Out challenge.
Madison Lees – 10ABt – For a massive improvement around school and living the school values. Well done Madison!

Leading on from the students of the week, I would just like to give a huge shout out to Sarah Norman. You may remember that a few months ago many year 10 students were involved in the Speak Out challenge. This was where pupils were given a day off their normal timetable and engaged in a workshop which was engineered towards developing public speaking skills. As I recall, all the students engaged with it really well! At the end of the day students gave a speech and were scored, Sarah was the winner for AHS. Sarah then went on to compete against other pupils from different schools. Thursday was the final of the speak out challenge which was held in Leeds at the carriageworks. I was fortunate enough to go and I was amazed with how engaging and confident Sarah was on stage discussing the topic of strike action in the UK. Whilst she didn’t win, I was so impressed with the flow of her speech and hooked in immediately with her talk on Freddos! Well done Sarah! We are all so proud of your amazing achievement!

Strike action will take place on Wednesday 5th July and Friday 7th July. 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.

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 hope this message finds you well. It has been another excellent week for Year 9 in school this week, with students keeping up with the high standards they have set for themselves all year.

With all exams finally finished we will be reverting to a one break and lunch system, similar to the pre-COVID arrangement. This decision was explained during our collective worship session led by Mr. O’Brien, and form tutors have also discussed it with students throughout the week. We believe this adjustment will allow for smoother transitions between classes and provide an improved learning experience for all students, as well as allowing more time for students to attend extra-curricular activities.

We would also like to remind you to sign up for the reward trip to Drayton Manor via Parent Pay. It promises to be an exciting outing, and we encourage all eligible students to participate and celebrate their hard work.

Additionally, Enrichment Week is just around the corner. We kindly request that you ensure your child hands back their choices for the Friday activity day to their form tutors. This will help us finalise the arrangements and make the necessary preparations for a fulfilling and enjoyable experience.

Thank you for your ongoing support and involvement in your child’s education. We appreciate your cooperation in these matters and look forward to a successful end to the academic year.

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact the year team with any questions.

A message from the Year 8 pastoral team

The summer term is fast coming to a close and the year 8 team is focusing on rounding off the year positively and preparing our students for a strong start in year 9.

As you will be aware from previous bulletins, we have often been really proud of the way our students have conducted themselves with the equipment at breaks and lunchtimes so it is with regret that we have had to bring in an equipment ban for at least the next week. After this point, we will review behaviour at breaks and lunchtimes as a whole and decide whether the equipment can be brought back again. We ask that you support us by reinforcing the message of being sensible, kind and compassionate when using the footballs and cricket bats at break and lunchtimes.

We are seeing a number of students challenging the rules around ties and students have been reminded of the need to look presentable with their top buttons done up and ties clipped on correctly. There have been a number of occasions where students have snatched the ties off one another and this has resulted in some getting damaged or lost. Some students have also coloured in their ties using felt tip pens. If this is the case with your child, a new, clean tie will need to be purchased as soon as possible.

The school is trialling a move back to having only one break and lunchtime which is how it was pre-Covid. If successful, this will remain in place in September. As such, our year 8s will be returning to the system they were on in year 7: AM registration, periods 1 and 2, breaktime, periods 3 and 4, lunchtime then PM registration and P5. We are confident that this will be a beneficial move for our students as it means the afternoon session is much shorter and will aid better concentration in lessons. Students have been made aware of this in assembly and will be supported and reminded over the next couple of weeks.
Next week, we have our final Act of Collective Worship led by one of our form groups. This half term, it will be led by Mr Bryan’s form and they have chosen to focus around the theme of year 8 memories. We look forward to seeing this next week!

As a year team, it is always a delight when we receive positive emails about members of our year group. This week, Miss Wheater informed us that she took a group of girls out for a sports leadership event where they conducted themselves fantastically. Well done to all the girls involved with this and thank you for living out our values into being. There is more information and pictures of this event in a longer section in the all school newsletter.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do get in touch with reception who will direct you to the year team.

A message from the Year 7 pastoral team

It was great to see so many of you at our first full Parent’s Evening this year; we hope this was an informative and positive experience for families as we all seek to support your children to make the best progress and enjoy school. We’re very proud of the whole year group as they’ve made their journey through this year and embraced new challenges and opportunities. This will stand them in excellent stead as they move into Year 8 next year; onwards and upwards!

Please do contact us if you have any further queries or concerns about parent’s evening or have any other concerns.

Our Flamingoland trip is not far away now (Monday 17th July). Please fill in the consent via parent pay if you have not yet done so.

Congratulations to Edward Wilson and Henry Taylor who win our Head of Year Awards this week for living the school values and always doing the right thing.

Well Done to our Students of the Week:

7ASU – Ana-Rose Lemos – for being an excellent presenter of The News.
7CMM – Lillymae Hardcastle – For such positive feedback from your teachers in your End of Year report. Well done!
7PI – Molly I’Anson – For helping with litter picking and looking after our school. Well Done!
7HV – Seb Wilford – For a fabulous end of year report, well done!
7MPE – Charlie Dixon – For just cracking on with no fuss. You have had a great first year at AHS. Well done.
7CST – Henry Taylor – For an excellent end of year report, and for being a lovely memeber of our form. Keep up the hard work in Year 8 . Well done Henry!
7MLN – Sam Godson – For always doing your best and for being a kind and lovely member of the form.
7JHE – Leonard Reed-Platts – for being a kind friend to others
7BL – Rebecca Ulliott – for an excellent End of Year report. Keep up the hard work in Year 8 too. Well done!
7ZBL – William Roelofs – For an exceptional report and getting involved in lots of extra opportunities such as Bright Sparks challenges. Well done!
7CY – William Johnson – for a great end of year report, well done. Keep up the hard work!

Word of the week

The word of the week for week commencing 3 July is:

Validity
Noun: The quality of being logically or factually sound
You might question the validity of our data.

Collective Worship

Theme
Our form tutor collective worship this week looks at the issue of Anger, looking at what can cause it and the different forms it takes. We look at when Jesus was angry about injustice. Our quotes this week are all religious teachings on anger.

Quotes
Monday – “Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”
– The Buddha, founder of the Buddhist religion 5thC BC

Tuesday – “Fools give full vent to their anger, but the wise bring calm in the end.”
– Proverbs 29.11, The Bible

Wednesday – “If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not let the sun go down on your anger.”
– Ephesians 4:26

Thursday – “Anger begins with madness and ends with regret.”
– Imam Ali, cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad – 7thC

Friday – “Don’t give in to worry or anger; it only leads to trouble.”
– Psalm 37:8 The Bible