Bedlington Academy 2017/18 Prospectus

Bedlington Academy 2017/18 Prospectus

Introduction Thank you for taking an interest in our school; I hope that this prospectus provides a flavour of the work that we do. We are a caring, friendly and inclusive school. Our success is founded on our wonderful staff team, a clear focus on learning and a desire to develop high aspirations in our students. Our students are treated as individuals, supported by a strong pastoral system and given access to a wide range of extra-curricular activities. We want our students to leave school with excellent qualifications, high standards of literacy and ambitious plans for the future; above all we want them to have enjoyed school, grown in confidence and to have developed a love of learning. We aim to match the achievements of the best schools in the country and we are determined to do so without losing the friendly, supportive and inclusive ethos that makes this school so special. We want our students to be happy, stay safe and achieve extremely well. The school is committed to developing both our specialisms of Maths and ICT, helping young people master the key skills they need in preparation for adult life. We are always delighted to welcome visitors, please contact us if you would like to arrange a visit or would like further information about any aspect of our work. Stephen Griffiths Headteacher

About Us Bedlington Academy is a brand new building with state of the art facilities. We have specialist facilities in science, ICT and technology, professional dance and drama studios and theatre. Our sports facilities include a new sports hall, gym and 3G football pitch. Student Representatives Developing skills of active and democratic participation is an important part of citizenship education. The student representatives provide an ideal forum for students to discuss and debate issues of importance to them, both in the day-to-day running of the school and in the wider sense. It is made up of students from each house, led by a staff facilitator. Meetings are held at regular fortnightly intervals with an agenda which is set jointly by staff and students. Teaching and Learning Lessons and learning should be at the heart of all schools. It is important that students leave school with both positive learning experiences and with the best possible qualifications that they can achieve. Teaching and students learning is at the heart of everything that we do at Bedlington Academy. We want, and expect, our students to both achieve well but also to enjoy their learning. Just as we expect our student body to strive to be the best that they can possibly be we also expect our teaching staff to be the best possible teachers that they can be. Always striving to be and do better. With this in mind we devote a lot of time to training and developing our teachers. There is dedicated time spent each week on sharing and adopting good classroom practice both between staff in school and by bringing in other ideas from outside of the school. The Importance of Literacy Every teacher is a teacher of English. Literacy has a major impact on young people s lifechances and it is every teacher s responsibility to help build their communication, reading and writing skills. We have invested, and continue to do so, a lot into our library. We have introduced the Accelerated Reading programme to promote rapid progress in our students reading ages. These are tracked and further intervention is provided for those who need it. Our more able students are encouraged and stretched.

Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural (SMSC) Students are keen to take up their responsibilities as student representatives and to discuss and debate issues that are importance to them OFSTED 2016 We have SMSC provision that is delivered across the curriculum that helps students to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the wider world.this includes extensive charity work and developing our already strong relationships with local parish councils and youth groups. We deliver Christmas parties for the elderly, summer schools, family fun days and a Christmas market.

Stretching the Most Able We believe that all students should aspire to achieve the best they can and reach their potential. We provide students with a challenging curriculum that allows them to stretch themselves and develop to the next level. Our regular assessment weeks allow students to see their current progress and their aspirational grades which we hope inspire students to achieve the best. Good provision for students spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is firmly embedded. OFSTED 2016 Opportunities are available throughout the year groups for students to attend University days and seminars specifically aimed at highly able students in order to nurture their learning and raise aspirations for their futures. Furthermore, our collaborative Summer schools have proved worthwhile and rewarding for students. In addition, higher education events and nonuniversity days are held in school in order for students to gain knowledge and information of the opportunities available to them. Transition Our commitment to you and your child begins at primary school. We visit every feeder school, meet the children, parents and teachers and begin to build a picture of the members of our new intake. We also visit our feeder schools to discuss with parents, Heads of House and special needs coordinators the additional support that students may require. Children and parents are invited to an Open Evening, which provides the opportunity for parents to ask the Headteacher, staff and students about the school, its curriculum, facilities and other points of interest. They are also invited to tour the school with the Headteacher on a typical working day. Most students arrive with us already knowing the school and, because of this, they settle very quickly into their new school. Sport Sport plays a huge role in the lives of so many of our students and teaches them valuable skills that can be successfully transferred and used in everyday life. Key skills include; selfconfidence, loyalty, fair play and leadership. PE lessons focus on traditional sports such as; football, rugby, netball, gymnastics and dance with the addition of more contemporary activities such as trampolining and yoga. Students are encouraged to participate at every level with effort being the key to involvement. Students have the opportunity to participate in leadership courses where they can coach and umpire their peers. This leads to them gaining nationally recognised qualifications which can be taken forward and advance further. Extra-curricular sport allows our students to develop their skills from lessons to a higher level and we have had students represent the County at athletics, swimming, golf, football and martial arts. Beyond that one student has recently been offered a scholarship to play for a Premiership football team and represents his Country at U17 level. British Values British values plays an important role in out curriculum-democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. These principles run through the school day often beginning during tutor time or assemblies and featuring in lessons and extra curricular activities. Pastoral Support Children feel very safe and are happy in our school; this is very important to us as we believe that if a child is going to learn, they should be comfortable at school. Pastoral care is at the heart of what we do and we have a well-established team of teachers and support staff who ensure that all children are cared for and supported. Students join us in Year 7 and Year 9 and through our excellent transition links, come to us with a good understanding of what life is like in secondary school. Students join a mixed form class and are led by their form tutor, whose job is to support and help students during their time in school. We operate a House system, Armstrong (Red) Stephenson (Green) and Swan (Blue) with ties for each House to create identity and promote a real sense of belonging to a community. The Pastoral team are very much a family, supported by Learning Mentors, an Attendance Officer, Student Services Officer and other support staff. We have a strong behaviour and reward system which see s students recognised for excellent attendance, attitude, effort and achievement.

Learning Beyond the Classroom School is about so much more than classroom learning; students at Bedlington Academy learn through a vast range of extra-curricular activities. Some trips directly support the curriculum, such as the GCSE Geography field trip or an Art trip to London. Other trips are aimed at developing our students knowledge of the world and their place in it, such as our Romania trip in 2013 and our expedition to South Africa in 2011 and in 2014. We have an extremely busy and active PE department who not only get students involved in the after school sports clubs and fixtures, but also develop student leadership through the Sports Leaders programme. Students in Year 10 also have the chance to join the Duke of Edinburgh s Award scheme. Drama and Music play an important part in school life and allow are students to express themselves in front of their peers and the wider community. Music tuition doesn t stop at 3.30pm; students perform in a wide range of bands and our very successful choir and steel pans band often perform in the wider community. We offer a school production, which in 2016 was Hairspray and a trip to France.

Bedlington Academy Headteacher: Stephen Griffiths Palace Road, Bedlington, Northumberland, NE22 7DS Tel: 01670 822625 Fax: 01670 829378 Email: info@bchs.uk.net www.bchs.uk.net FB-OfficialBCHS Twitter-@BCHSOfficial