Bronte Bulletin Autumn 2019 Issue 1

Dear Parents and Carers September 4th 2019, Bronte Girls’ Academy opened to welcome our first cohort of eager Year 7s and dedicated staff. Together we embarked on a journey to establish a beacon of excellence for our community. As the end of an extremely busy and exciting first term draws near, I would like to thank our exemplary pupils and committed staff for all their hard work and efforts in making this term such a huge success. I hope you enjoy reading about some of our activities in this first edition of the Bronte Bulletin. The first two main events were our teambuilding trip to Doe Park, enabling pupils and staff to develop strong relationships, along with our STEM day promoting science and engineering. It was an exciting day for all. Our pupils have enjoyed fundraising for Children in Need and being involved in shaping the school as part of the School Council. They have participated in a wide range of extra-curricular activities and clubs which will be reviewed next term. Next term we will also be looking to recruit teaching and non - teaching staff for year 2 of opening. Please look out for vacancies on the Feversham Education Trust and Bronte Girls’ Academy websites and promote them to prospective candidates who may be interested in joining our growing school. I feel honoured and proud to be the very first principal of this academy which is on its journey to becoming an outstanding provider. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas holiday with your loved ones.

Mrs R Shafquat Principal

STEM Day On the 11th and 18th October pupils took part in their first STEM day. All pupils were involved in learning about the careers linked to making lip balm. They prepared their own pot of lip balm and then "apprentice style" worked out the costing for their product and how much it could sell for. They designed packaging and a marketing strategy which culminated in presentations to the remainder of the school.

Doe Park—Adventure and Adrenaline Day October served to be a challenging and adventurous month for the year 7s. Pupils were faced with many fun yet stimulating activities that required team work, perseverance and encouragement from each other. They enjoyed various obstacle courses, including high ropes, abseiling and climbing. Other activities involved working together in time to row the dragon boats and race for the finishing line. This was a great opportunity for pupils and staff to get to know each other outside of the school environment.

Pupil Statement ‘Doe Park was an amazing experience for all of us. From using our might to push through the water, to using our bravery to stand tall succeeding on the high ropes. Many of us had the time of our life exploring the amazing wildlife of Doe Park. However the extreme height of high ropes snatched fear into some hearts.’

Staff statement It was fantastic to see so many smiling faces and the overcoming of fears. Mrs Rose did a spectacular impersonation of Spiderman on the high ropes.

Chox N Sox A huge thank you to all pupils and staff for their contributions to the Chox N Sox campaign. We collected 12 boxes of thermal socks and chocolates. John Tempest from the Bradford Soup Run collected our donations. Some selected students, who made a significant contribution to their GST’s group box, helped present the donations . The winning form group who made the most significant contribution was M2. They were commended along with all the other pupils in the rewards assembly on Friday 20th December.

Important Assemblies Pupils learnt about the importance of road safety through the dramatisation of a road accident by The Riot Act. Pupils were encouraged to take precautions when crossing the roads. At the end of this session, they were quizzed to highlight the key messages regarding road safety. Safeguarding Pupils have various ways of reporting any concerns they may have in school. This includes speaking directly to a member of staff or reporting issues anonymously on Toot Toot—this is a service provided by school which staff monitor and respond electronically to any concerns.

Pupil’ statement I was surprised by the specific requirement for black thermal socks. I learnt this was because black socks conceal dirt and mud well, and you can also turn them inside out so nobody would notice. The chocolate served as a treat for Christmas. Each form filled at least one box (some groups went out of their way and had as many as 6 boxes!) As a reward for doing so, there were special prizes. The best form won and we wish the homeless a merry Christmas!

Pupils at Bronte Girls’ Academy should be super proud of all their efforts with fundraising for Children in Need. They raised a phenomenal £427.85 through non-uniform contributions, netball shoot outs, guess the name of the teddy and guess the number of sweets in the jar. Pupils also had a magical mystery tour of the secret top floor to discover the research and work completed by the secret agents!! (AKA Feversham Education Trust management team).

Science and Media Museum Trip Monday 16th December saw year 7 pupils take part in a joint humanities and science trip to the National Media Museum. Pu-pils enjoyed a session in the Wonder Lab learning about light and sound waves. This was followed by a fascinating 3D film "A Beautiful Planet" where pupils learnt about what it was like to be an astronaut on the International Space Station. The images of Earth from Space were stunningly breath-taking. The pupils were also presented with the reality of climate change through the images. In the afternoon pupils worked in their GST groups and considered these problems and how to reduce them.

Upcoming Events next term:

School re-opens Monday 6th January

Pupil Progress Reports to parents

Pantomime at the Alhambra Theatre.

Year 7 Consultation Evening

Parents coffee morning

World Book Day

We, at Bronte Girls’ Academy, look forward to the next term which promises to be equally exciting and action-packed.

We wish everyone a peaceful and joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Pupil Statement The lights dimmed and the movie be-gan to play: ‘Welcome to the IMAX 3D Cinema Experience’ a voice began. A series of illusions 3D magic washed over us. The movie began to play. We were already hooked in and stared in shock as the planets jumped out of the screen. The movie was about our beautiful planet and featured a space crew on a mission. Our planet is becoming dry and glaciers are breaking off. This is all due to climate change. We learnt a lot about our planet and hopefully, together, we can help save it.

Student School Council ‘The school council will always endeavour to help and support anybody who requires it. We are also trying to fundraise more regularly for more charities and events. For example, we are now trying to create action groups for fundraising ideas and ways of supporting different charities. We care and listen because everyone’s opinions and concerns are important. Improving the school is what the school council will strive for. The student school council is filled with responsible students that were elected by their peers. In each form we have two students who are part of the council. We work cooperatively and collaboratively with each other and the students we represent. We look forward to serving our school and contributing to the development of our school and future.’ Raeel, Maryam, Hadeekah, Ayesha, Sana, Aylah, Wajihah, Zikra, Noor, Umme-Haani