Newsletter Friday 03 July

I seem to start this newsletter in much the same way each week, but the last two weeks have definitely been exceptionally busy at Oakbank. As you will read in more detail below, there has been a huge amount taking place across the school. From welcoming our new Year 7 students and their families, to celebrating the achievements of our Year 13 and year 11 leavers, there has been a real sense of energy and excitement around the school. Alongside this, students have been involved in a wide range of trips, visits and enrichment activities, making the end of the academic year as busy and rewarding as ever.

Year 11 have enjoyed a number of significant milestones over the past few weeks. As you will read later in this newsletter, they came together for their Leavers’ Assembly before celebrating at the highlight of the year – the Year 11 Prom. The prom is always a fantastic occasion, providing a fitting opportunity to recognise and celebrate the end of five years of hard work, commitment and achievement. Thank you to staff for organising and supporting the event. It has been a pleasure to work with this year group, and we wish all of our Year 11 students a wonderful summer and every success as they embark on the next stage of their journey.

We have also had the opportunity to celebrate our Year 13 students. They have been a fantastic year group, and it has been wonderful to reflect on everything they have achieved over the past two years. Their graduation and celebration events provided a fitting recognition of their hard work, commitment and accomplishments.

This week, we welcomed our new Year 7 students following last week’s parent event. It was a pleasure to see so many young people engaging enthusiastically in a wide range of activities, making new connections and enjoying their first experiences of Oakbank. The smiles, energy and enthusiasm on display were fantastic to see, and we look forward to welcoming them officially in September.

As always, there has been a great deal happening beyond the classroom. Students have enjoyed several educational visits and trips, including geography fieldwork, the Paris trip and Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, alongside several other opportunities. These experiences play an important role in enriching students’ education and creating lasting memories.

I hope you enjoy reading about the many successes and activities featured in this week’s newsletter.

It has been a great couple of weeks for our year group. We have regularly been in the high 90’s for attendance and the year group are showing how amazing they are with all their hard work in lessons. We had the new Year 7’s in this past week and our current Year 7’s set the standard for the students with their attitude around the school.

We have the Flamingo Land trip coming up for some of our students and it will be great if we can keep pushing that attendance into the high 90’s for the rest of the year before a well-earned holiday.

A busy few weeks, with your children beginning to receive feedback on their end of year assessments.  Report cards will be issued shortly and offer an opportunity to celebrate the academic progress of your child.  There are educational trips planned for next week with an exciting visit to Bronte Parsonage offered via class charts / parent pay and the end of year trip to Flamingo Land also in the diary.  Sports day has been rescheduled for Friday the 10^th July and we would ask that children attend every day to receive important messages to ensure they do not miss out on any opportunities in these final weeks.

Our learners are looking towards their year 9 experience, changes will be announced on Class Charts.  Year 9 will be returning on Monday the 7^th of September and their focus will be on gaining the skills and knowledge needed as they approach their GCSE’s,

Year 9s have been working hard in lessons / completing work to close gaps in knowledge identified from their recent assessments. We are delighted that over 90 pupils have been working hard on their DoE award and will be undertaking the camping aspect of this over the next 2 weeks.  Additionally, there are lot of the Year group with attendance these past weeks which has enabled then to attend the Flamingo Land reward trip before the end of term which is great.

Pupils have quickly adapted to the new rule regarding mobile phones, and it has been lovely to see pupils communicating with each other in a morning and having fun.

We have had assemblies on Mental Health and Well Being and Healthy Lifestyles. 

A small number of pupils took part in a Go Higher West Yorkshire event where they concentrated on debating and communications skills.  This culminated in pupils designing and presenting an Earthquake Proof Building to judges at Bradford University.  Lots of things to be proud of this past 2 weeks and lots still to look forward to this term: Sports Day, Careers Fair and Feedback from assessments to ensure pupils have a strong start to their GCSEs in Year 10.   

It would be great to see pupils every day until the end of term on 18^th July – keeping attendance high whatever the weather or how England perform in the World Cup!  Which we hope is a win on 19^th July.

Year 10 have recently completed a full round of mock exams, showing resilience and maturity with the expectation and a true exam environment. We want to say well done to all pupils. Following this, pupils have had the opportunity to engage in many wider enrichment activities. This has included a careers fair in which all year 10 pupil were given a chance to speak with industry professionals and take part in mock interviews. External visitors complimented Year 10 pupils on asking mature and insightful questions. This week Geography students have also been taking part in field research as part of the GCSE course around the Bronte Waterfall area.

It has been a busy and exciting few weeks for both our Year 12 and Year 13 students.

Our Year 12 students recently participated in a Personal Statement workshop delivered by the University of Bradford. This provided valuable guidance as they begin preparing their UCAS applications and planning their next steps beyond sixth form.

Year 12 students also took part in a mock interview event with local and national employers, including HM Revenue and Customs and Jet2. This gave students valuable experience of professional interview settings, helping them to develop confidence, communication skills and employability skills in preparation for future applications and career pathways. Feedback from employers was extremely positive, with many praising students for their professionalism, enthusiasm and excellent preparation.

This was followed by a range of trips to local universities for students studying Science, Criminology, Psychology and Sociology. These visits gave students the opportunity to take part in subject-specific activities and gain deeper insight into their chosen areas of study.

Several of our students also took part in SPRUCE, a three-day event hosted by HH Judge Jonathan Rose at Bradford City Hall, where they engaged in a law-focused programme designed to develop their understanding of legal studies and higher education opportunities.

In addition, 21 students from our Year 12 cohort successfully completed their Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition. This challenging experience required them to demonstrate resilience, teamwork and determination, while developing valuable life skills and building confidence.

Homework

Educake can be accessed online: https://www.educake.co.uk/ 

select student login from the top right of the screen

log in using ‘sign in with Microsoft’ 

Your child’s username is their login to their school account with @beckfootoakbank.org added to the end of it and their password remains the same as their school account.

Local Market Information (LMI)

Useful websites which were talked about in assemblies this week.

Help for making decision on learning, training and work   Careers advice – job profiles, information and resources | National Careers Service

Search for Job Profiles  , www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles

Skills meter and Careerometer , Widgets – LMI For All

Future Goals – Local LMI information  ,West Yorkshire Skills, Courses and Job Support

Skills to Succeed  , Skills to Succeed Academy (s2sacademy.org)