We have reached that stage of the academic year which sees the juxtaposition of the past and the future. Over the last couple of weeks, for instance, we have held, with Beverley High School, successful proms for our Y11 and Y13 leavers. Both of these were thoroughly enjoyable occasions which gave the respective year groups a chance to be together for perhaps one last time. We are certainly sorry to see our students leave and wish them the very best for their futures; though we do hope to see a large number of our Y11s join the Joint 6th in September. In contrast we have, this week, welcomed our September starters through our gates as part of our transition programme: it was a pleasure to introduce myself and greet them in the school hall this morning. On Thursday and Friday we will also have our new sixth formers on site. This is just one of the many things that makes a school such a dynamic, vibrant community.
Many of our Y6 students will, of course, already have visited the school for a variety of sporting, scientific and musical events but what you may be surprised to learn is that these students come from 27 different primary schools. That every single one of them will feel welcome and valued as a member of our school community is testament
to the hard work and commitment of our pastoral and learning support teams. One of our three key aims for our boys is that they ‘act with self-awareness, empathy and tolerance’ and it is because of members of our team such as Mrs Elgey (our transition coordinator) and Mrs Brown (learning support) that boys are able to quickly integrate into our community. Our other two key aims for our boys, incidentally, are that they ‘have the ambition and confidence to achieve their dreams’ and that they ‘have the independence and resilience to overcome barriers.’
These aims were not picked out of thin air but derived from sessions with our staff and members of student voice. That is, they are owned by the school. Which brings me back to the future; in order to help realise these aims we have said that we will strive to:
- Set high expectations and standards in all areas of school life
- Provide a consistent, respectful and highly supportive environment
- Create opportunities for students to become leaders
- Value the achievements and contributions of all students
- Make students experience at BGS memorable
And we are making sure that we bear these in mind as we create our development plan for the next year.