BLUEPRINT July 2014

Due to an early finish on the last day of term (Friday 18th July),

the following buses will collect at 12.30pm

GPD Transport – 998 and 999 Rothwells – to Bury

743 to Burnley

Dear parents, This year has seen a variety of events to mark our Centenary year, the latest the whole school sponsored walk on 11th July, which gave us a great opportunity to get out into the surrounding countryside and also raise some funds. Please can you encourage your son or daughter to complete any fund raising and return any sponsor forms and money to school as soon as possible. So far over £6000 has been raised from the walk which is fantastic, thank you. As you will be aware, the school was successful in a bid for funding for a new Maths block from the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund. Work started on the building in early May, with the demolition of the temporary Maths and Science classrooms in front of the Clark Building and we expect the building to be completed in the spring term next year. Two new science labs are being created in the main building over the summer holiday to ensure that we have enough specialist facilities. Our new wireless network will be increasingly used, with portable ICT equipment available for use in lessons. As we come to the end of another very busy and successful school year, we are saying farewell to a number of staff, some of whom have only joined us relatively recently, and others who have served BRGS for many years. They have all made their own unique contribution to the school, and will leave their mark on the students who they have worked with during their time with us. We wish them all the very best for their new posts or for their retirement. We have a number of new staff joining us in September: Mrs L Cassidy – Deputy Headteacher Miss C Coulston – Psychology temporary cover Miss L Entwistle – Media Miss R Gore – Food Technology Mrs G Greenhalgh – Deputy Headteacher Mr T Heaton – Chemistry Miss C Meredith – Head of English Miss R Palmer – Geography Miss L Parkinson – PE Mrs K Porteous – Biology Mr W Seddon – Assistant Headteacher/Head of Maths Mr T Webber – Music Miss C Yasuda – Learning Mentor for Sixth Form

In preparation for the new school year in September, I would also like to draw your attention to a number of practical issues. Behaviour As with all schools, good behaviour is essential to enable the learning of all to progress. Please ask your son/daughter to review our Behaviour for Learning guide for students and parents before they return in September – available on our web-site. This will also be printed within student’s homework diaries. Attendance and Punctuality In line with moves nationally, we are continuing to work hard to ensure our attendance and punctuality figures remain healthy. Our updated Attendance Policy can be found on the school web-site. Year 7 – 11 students arriving after 8.40 am and prior to 9.20 am (without a valid reason) will be marked as late. Students arriving after 9.20 am (without a valid reason), their registration mark will be recorded using the U code for the morning session. This signifies presence, but after registers have closed. This classes as an unauthorised absence and parents should note that we are processing Fixed Penalty Notices for students that have more than 10 unauthorised absences within a term. PE – First Day For information - year 7 forms B, N and G, all of year 10 and year 11 GCSE PE students will have a PE lesson on their first day back. Please remember to bring kits. Uniform During the summer break, please check your son/daughter’s uniform and help us to remain a school where students look smart. Later in this newsletter you will find some images of school shoes – we don’t allow boots or trainer type shoes. Girl’s skirts should cover the tops of their knees to allow for growth during the year. A uniform list is included in this edition of Blueprint – please also note our requirements regarding jewellery and hair. Finally, I would like to wish you and your family all best wishes for the summer holiday period.

Mr Porteous

Headmaster

Mr Elkington joined the school in January 1990 as Director of Sixth Form. In the 25 years since then he has built up BRGS Sixth Form into the highly successful institution it is today. He has had a profound impact on the many generations of students who have passed through our Sixth Form. His calm, positive approach has been hugely influential and he is very highly regarded by both staff and students. Many of his former students still write to him to let him know how their time at BRGS Sixth Form, and his support, provided them with the foundations for a successful future. During the Autumn term of 2011, Mr Elkington also briefly served as Headmaster of BRGS following the departure of Mr Morris. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude, and wish him a long and happy retirement.

Mr Elkington writes: It has been a wonderful privilege to serve the pupils and students of BRGS for the past 25 years as Director of Sixth Form and Deputy Head and the time has come to step down. Over the past few weeks I have been inundated with messages of good wishes from colleagues and students, past and present. I write to thank you all for your expressions of support and to answer the question, “What next?” After 36 years of teaching history, and one of teaching photography, I would now like to use some of my free time to open my own photography studio with the aim of using this to raise money for a local young peoples’ charity – currently Rossendale RAYS, the swimming club which supports disabled young people at Marl Pits. Over the last few years I have undertaken a number of birthday photo-shoots, each of which has been done free of charge but with a voluntary donation to charity invited from a happy client! I am keen to develop this fundraising venture still further and am also looking for an available room (perhaps in business premises?) where I can keep my studio semi-permanently set up. If anyone would like to see some of my work with a view to arranging a family or birthday photo-shoot or can help with a suitable location to house a small studio set then please do contact me via my school email te@brgs.org.uk and I will be in touch. For now I reach the end of my time at BRGS still in love with the school and everything it represents. It has been my extended family for the past two and a half decades and many of my first sixth formers are now back with children of their own – definitely time to move on! Do keep supporting BRGS in any way that you can and help to play a part in taking it into its second century as I shall also seek to do from the safety of the Development Committee! With my sincere best wishes, Mr Elkington, Deputy Head & Director of Sixth Form

*** Mr Ventress arrived at BRGS in September 2001, to join the busy English Department. From the outset it was obvious that his forté was literature and he has enthused students throughout the school with his passion for the written word. Mr Ventress has an evocative speaking voice and sensitive delivery that makes texts come alive. He is the English Department’s expert in all matters literary: there is very little he does not know. He has the ability to connect with students, seems to know every pupil in the school and takes the time to chat. He is the kind of teacher that students will always remember, with his classy dress, hat and umbrella, entertaining conversation, kindness and honesty. Mr Ventress has achieved legendary status in BRGS and we wish him well in his new career at QEGS.

*** The English and Media Faculty bid farewell to Mr Adams who has taught English and Media at BRGS since 2002. Mr Adams set up the Media and Film Studies course at BRGS in 2003 with consistently good to outstanding results. He continued to research developments in the media industry and in the software available to ensure both teaching and learning are as relevant as possible in this fast changing area. He also took part in the enrichment programme offering film studies to AS students. In the past two years, Mr Adams has undertaken several leadership courses to develop his professional skills further. All in the faculty wish Mr Adams every success in his new job.

***

Mrs Price joined us at BRGS in 2009 as a trainee teacher and since then has made a huge impact on the Music department. She has been an incredible teacher, dazzling her students with her musical knowledge and her wicked sense of humour (usually at the expense of Mr Mercer). Highlights of Mrs Price’s time at BRGS include leading the music tours to the Rhineland and Barcelona, setting up the staff grade-one-a-thon, and taking part in the department’s busy concert schedule. We wish Mrs Price the best of luck as she departs to become Head of Music at Bolton School Girls’ Division and hope she comes back and visits us soon with one of her famous rainbow cakes!

*** Mr Searle has taught woodwind at BRGS for the last 7 years. He has led students through numerous successful exam sessions and set up the popular saxophone group. We wish him every success for his PGCE course next year.

***

Mrs McClellan has made an enormous contribution to the Geography Department at BRGS since she arrived in 2008. She is a passionate geographer who uses her enthusiasm and boundless energy to create and deliver engaging and varied lessons. She is particularly popular with our sixth form students due to the depth of her knowledge and wealth of experience – having travelled extensively across the globe (indeed as you are reading this she will be on another adventure with a team of BRGS students in Bolivia). She has been a consummate professional who has shown relentless drive and commitment both in and out of the classroom. As Second in Department Mrs McClellan has been responsible for bringing order and creativity to our curriculum. The Geography Department will miss her incredible efficiency and easy going and supportive nature. As an Assistant Head of Year within the Sixth Form Pastoral team she helped to support students in their learning and with personal issues doing so in a highly effective and personable manner. Mrs McClellan has also supported the Duke of Edinburgh Award on numerous expeditions and has inspired a generation of adventurous female students to follow in her boot prints. We are sad to be losing Mrs McClellan from the staffroom –her smile and vibrant personality will be greatly missed, but we are pleased that she is moving on to start a new and exciting chapter in her life and we wish her well as she relocates to Sheffield.

***

Mr Skitt will be leaving us in July after 3 years at BRGS. He has been invaluable to the Biology department and will be enormously missed by staff and students alike (particularly his fan club in year 10). During his time here he has been involved in several trips and activities, notably Duke of Edinburgh and Paris trips. We wish him every success and happiness as he leaves us to travel and work abroad.

***

Mr Clarke joined the school in 2010 as Assistant Head, with responsibility for Key Stage 4. Over his 4 years at BRGS, he has had a huge impact: through his passion for sport and outstanding PE teaching and also through his unfailing belief in the potential of every individual, and commitment to ensuring that they are as successful as possible. His positive approach, huge energy and dedication to our students have provided an inspiration for all of us at BRGS and we wish him every success in his new role as Deputy Head at Haslingden High School.

***

We also bid farewell to Dr Savarin who worked in the Chemistry Department several years ago known as Dr Stuart. After travelling and lecturing in America she returned to the BRGS Science Department in 2012. After 2 years teaching KS3 Science and Chemistry we say thank you and goodbye to Dr Savarin, and wish her well in her new post teaching FE Chemistry at Blackpool and Fylde College.

*** Sadly, Mrs Murphy will be leaving us at the end of the summer term. She has been a true “rock” for the Design and Technology department and an excellent teacher of D and T, applying her vision and creativity of product design to Key Stage 3 teaching. I would like to extend my appreciation for an excellent year of teaching with us and for her continued support to the department throughout the year. Mrs Murphy will be missed by pupils and staff for many good reasons, including her contributions to the staffroom cake club on Friday lunch times! Thank you Mrs Murphy.

*** Mr Halliwell joined BRGS in 2008 and has been a valuable, lively member of the Maths department since then. He has made a big contribution to the department's development and excellent results and is sure to take his enthusiasm and positive nature to his new school. Mr Halliwell has also made major contributions to the wider school community, including the Year 7 Activity Day, Year 8 Anglesey residential, Year 9 Camp and introducing a large number of students to the sport of wakeboarding. He is now moving on to a new position at Todmorden High School where, as well as teaching Maths, he will work as primary schools coordinator.

*** Mrs Wheeler (Development Assistant) has now finished her one year contract with us. We would like to thank her for all her assistance and organisational skills during our Centenary Year – we couldn’t have done it without you! Mrs Wheeler has taken up a post at Bolton Lads’ and Girls’ Club as Alumni Officer and we wish her well in her new role.

*** We also wish Mrs Walsh (Sixth Form) all the best, she is expecting a baby in the near future!

***

There will also be some weddings over the Summer. Both Miss Doodson (Head of English) and Mr

Stringer (Physics) will be ‘tying the knot’ with their respective partners. Congratulation to both

couples.

***

Finally, a special birthday celebration will be taking place during the holiday. Happy 50th Birthday Mrs Whyte in the General Office.

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS – ACADEMIC YEAR 2014-2015

All holiday dates are inclusive. INSET days are holidays for pupils, training days for staff

MONDAY 1st SEPTEMBER 2014 – INSET DAY FOR STAFF SCHOOL STARTS FOR YEAR 7 & YEAR 12 ON TUESDAY 2nd SEPTEMBER 2014 YEAR 8, 9, 10, 11 AND 13 START ON WEDNESDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER 2014 Inset Day 10th October 2014 1 day Autumn half term 27th October to 31st October 2014 5 days Christmas 19th December (last day for pupils and staff) 10 days Inset Day 5th January 2015 1 day Spring half term 16h to 20th February 2015 5 days Inset Day 6th March 2015 1 day Easter Holidays 27th March 2015 (last day for pupils and staff) 10 day Re- opens Monday 13th April 2015 May Day 4th May 2015 1 day Summer Half Term 25th May to 29th May 2015 5 days Summer 17th July 2015 (last day for pupils and staff) Inset Day 20th July 2015 1 day

SCHOOL DAY TIMES 2014-2015 Registration 8.40am – 9.00am Period 1 9.00am – 10.00am Period 2 10.05am – 11.05am Break 11.05am – 11.20am Period 3 11.20am – 12.20pm Lunchtime 12.20pm – 13.05pm Period 4 13.05pm – 14.05pm Period 5 14.10pm – 15.10pm

NEW BUS INFORMATION FOR SEPTEMBER 2014 (all available on the school website

www.brgs.org.uk):

GPD Transport - New Bus Timetable from the 2nd September 2014

Telephone number 07919 280441 for more information

999 will display "Heywood via Rochdale 999" on the return journey 0725 Heywood (Bamford Road) 0730 Winston Churchill (Bury Rochdale Road towards Rochdale) 0735 Cemetery (Facing Rochdale) 0740 Newgate (opposite Ellen Smiths) this replaces Rochdale bus Station 0745 Fieldhouse 0750 Bentley Street (bottom) 0755 Healey Corner 0800 Whitworth 0805 Shawforth Chapel 0810 Britannia 0815 Bacup (Town Centre) 0820 Stacksteads (beginning of Booth Road) 0825 BRGS Rochdale Bus Station will no longer be used from the 2nd September 2014. New Line will no longer be used from the 2nd September 2014 998 will display "Bamford via Norden 998" on the return journey from the 2nd September 2014 0730 Winston Churchill (facing Norden) 0735 Bamford Precinct 0740 Clay Lane 0745 Norden Arms 0750 Norden Terminus (Bridge Inn) 0755 Owd Betts 0800 Edenfield 0810 Rawtenstall 0820 BRGS

Rothwells Travel Rothwells Telephone number 01706 360066 for more information

0725 Art Picture House in Bury across from the interchange 0730 Hunstanton Drive/Brandlesholme Road 0730 Brandlesholme (Springside View) 0735 Greenmount (Bulls Head) 0735 Holcombe Brook (Hare & Hounds) 0740 Old Dun Horse (corner of Nuttall Lane) 0740 Ramsbottom (Market Place) 0745 Edenfield (Rostron’s Arms) 0755 Gregory Fold Bus Stop on Helmshore Road 0805 Rawtenstall Bus Station Drop off at BRGS Return journey from BRGS at 3.20pm Cost from Bury £19 per week Cost from Helmshore - £15 per week Cost per day £4

Rosso from September 2014 HASLINGDEN – HELMSHORE – RAWTENSTALL – WATERFOOT 244 WATERFOOT – RAWTENSTALL – HELMSHORE – HASLINGDEN 245 Service Number 244 Service Number 245 BLACKBURN Bus Station 0726 WATERFOOT opp. Townsend Street 1520 HASLINGDEN Manchester Rd 0757 RAWTENSTALL Bus Station 1530 HELMSHORE Broadway (Post Office) 0801 Helmshore Road/Gregory Fold 1538 RAWTENSTALL Bacup Rd 0810 HASLINGDEN Manchester Rd 1543 WATERFOOT Bus Turning Circle 0817 ACCRINGTON Bus Station 1600 For more information about buses between Accrington, Haslingden, Rawtenstall & Waterfoot, see service 464.

ROCHDALE – WHITWORTH – BACUP – WATERFOOT 464 WATERFOOT – BACUP – WHITWORTH - ROCHDALE 464 Buses operate at regular intervals throughout the day (at least every 10 minutes in the morning peak period and with additional journeys at schooltimes in the afternoon. Check rossobus.com for more details.

ACCRINGTON – HASLINGDEN – RAWTENSTALL – WATERFOOT 464 WATERFOOT – RAWTENSTALL – HASLINGDEN – ACCRINGTON 464 Buses operate at regular intervals throughout the day with additional journeys at schooltimes. Check rossobus.com for more details.

TODMORDEN – BACUP – WATERFOOT 465 WATERFOOT – BACUP – TODMORDEN 465 Service Number 465 Service Number 465 TODMORDEN Bus Station 0751 RAWTENSTALL Bus Station 1545 Cloughfoot 0800 WATERFOOT Turning Circle for BRGS 1551 Sharneyford 0804 Rook Hill Road 1555 BACUP St James Gardens 0811 Britannia 1602 Rook Hill Road 0822 Sharneyford 1611 WATERFOOT Jolly Sailor for BRGS 0825** Cloughfoot 1615 RAWTENSTALL Bus Station 0835 TODMORDEN Bus Station 1625 **approximate arrival time NB. The afternoon journey maybe subject to change – may operate earlier: check rossobus.com for details

BURNLEY – TOWNELEY – WATER – WATERFOOT 483 Service Number 483 Service Number 483 BURNLEY Bus Station 0752 BURY Interchange 1443 Towneley Golf Club 0756 WATERFOOT Turning Circle 1520 Water, Dean Lane 0810 Water, Dean Lane 1535 WATERFOOT Turning Circle for BRGS 0820 Towneley Golf Club 1544 BURY Interchange 0900 BURNLEY Bus Station 1550 Buses operate hourly for most of the daytime between Rawtenstall & Waterfoot Check rossobus.com for more details

BURY – EDENFIELD – RAWTENSTALL – WATERFOOT 483 WATERFOOT – RAWTENSTALL – EDENFIELD – BURY 482-483 Service Number 483 483 Service Number 483 482 BURY Interchange 0733 0747 BURNLEY Bus Station 1452 - WALMERSLEY Opp Post Office 0743 0757 BACUP, St James’ Gardens - 1525 EDENFIELD, Rostron Arms 0754 0808 WATERFOOT opp. Townsdend St 1520 - RAWTENSTALL, Bacup Rd 0805 0819 WATERFOOT Turning Circle - 1525 WATERFOOT Turning Circle 0812 0826 RAWTENSTALL Bus Station 1530 1545 BURNLEY Bus Station 0837 EDENFIELD, opp. Rostron Arms 1538 1553 WALMERSLEY, Post Office 1548 1603 BURY Interchange 1600 1615 Buses operate between Bury and Waterfoot every 15 minutes for most of the daytime Check rossobus.com for more details

BURNLEY – LOVECLOUGH – CRAWSHAWBOOTH – WATERFOOT 743 Service Number 743 Service Number 743 BURNLEY Croft Street 0735 WATERFOOT Turning Circle 1520 DUNNOCKSHAW, Oak Mill 0749 Ashworth Arms *** 1532 CRAWSHAWBOOTH, Black Dog 0756 CRAWSHAWBOOTH, Post Office 1536 RAWTENSTALL Market 0802 DUNNOCKSHAW, Oak Mill 1540 WATERFOOT Turning Circle 0817 BURNLEY Red Lion Street 1553 *** First drop off point is Ashworth Arms For more information about buses between Burnley & Waterfoot, see service 483

Fares on Rosso Discounts available to young people aged 11 – 19 years of age (inclusive) through our Travelclub. Check online at rossobus.com for more details.

YOUNG PERSONS TRAVELCLUB

Regular Price Under 16s Travelclub Member

16-19 yrs Travelclub Member

BUY ON BUS FROM THE DRIVER

1 Day £4.70 £4.00 weekdays £4.30

3 consecutive days £12 £10 £11

7 consecutive days £20 £15 £20

28 consecutive days £70 £55 £60

BUY ONLINE AT rossobus.com

BRGS Term Pass Not available £155 can be used at weekends too!

1 calendar month £70 £56 £62

3 calendar months £200 £160 £170

6 calendar months £385 £300 £330

1 calendar year £750 £550 £650

Uniform requirements

Boys Shoes Acceptable Style Types

Unacceptable Styles

Girls Shoes Acceptable Style Types Unacceptable Styles Girls – Appropriate Skirt Length

BACUP AND RAWTENSTALL GRAMMAR SCHOOL

UNIFORM FOR 2014-2015 One of the conditions of acceptance of a place at the school is that parents will ensure that regulations relating to uniform and general appearance are complied with. Please note that where a particular brand name, style and/or colour has been specified on the list, no other make, style or colour will suffice.

ALL ITEMS OF UNIFORM MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED WITH THE OWNER'S NAME

BOYS' UNIFORM BLAZER (Viscount) navy, with embroidered badge PULLOVER Navy V neck coolflow (optional) TROUSERS Charcoal grey in poly/viscose. TIE School crest Year 7, 8 and 9 TIE Year 10 and 11 SHIRT TRUTEX or BANNER long or short sleeved, stiff-collared shirt in white polyester. SOCKS Plain mid-grey. FOOTWEAR Plain black shoes (see attached). Boots must not be worn in school.

GIRLS' UNIFORM BLAZER (Viscount) navy, with embroidered badge SKIRT (Baird Tartan box pleat skirt (MUST BE WORN KNEE LENGTH) OR TROUSERS Navy 311 bootcut trousers TIE School crest Year 7, 8 and 9 PULLOVER Navy V neck coolflow optional SHIRT Year 7, 8 and 9 white Poly/cotton long or short sleeve SHIRT Years 10/11 white ¾ sleeve rever neck SOCKS Plain white or navy, ankle or knee length. Over-the-knee socks are not acceptable. OR TIGHTS Plain navy blue or black (no patterns) FOOTWEAR Plain, low-heeled black shoes. Boots must not be worn in school. Shoes with platform/wedge

soles are inappropriate. HAIR Navy or White FASTENERS

MUSLIM GIRLS: Normal school uniform with trousers (shalwar) under the skirt. Burka Headscarf – Plain navy blue

BOYS AND GIRLS

OUTDOOR UNIFORM AND JEWELLERY COAT Preferably navy blue, otherwise black or dark blue coat or anorak. It must be plain,

undecorated and one colour, apart from reflective safety stripes. Denim must not be worn. SCARVES/ Navy blue or the school colours, blue and gold. GLOVES TRAINERS Trainers must not be worn at any time other than for sport. JEWELLERY No jewellery or personal ornament may be worn, wristwatches excepted. Earrings – no more

than one plain stud in each ear. Other body piercing is not allowed.

CONTINUED

P.E. KIT

Gum shields and shin pads are advised for contact sports.

Boys T-SHIRT (Banner) Navy/Turquoise with Turquoise PE badge SHORTS Navy GW mesh short with Turquoise PE badge (Graham Winterbottom) HOODED TOP Navy Gilden Ultra, with Turquoise PE badge/or RAIN JACKET Navy Gamegear with Turquoise PE badge TRACKSUIT TROUSERS Navy tombo, with Turquoise PE badge SOCKS Navy football sock, poly/cotton TRAINERS predominantly black, blue, white or grey. No fashion trainers canvass/pumps/plimsolls. Girls T-SHIRT Turquoise Banner Victory with Navy PE badge SKORT Navy GW mesh short with Turquoise PE badge/or SHORTS Navy with Turquoise panel GW mesh short with Turquoise PE badge HOODED TOP Navy Gilden Ultra, with Turquoise PE badge/or RAIN JACKET Navy Gamegear with Turquoise PE badge TRACKSUIT TROUSERS Navy tombo, with Turquoise PE badge SOCKS Plain short navy blue sports sock TRAINERS predominantly black, blue, white or grey. No fashion trainers canvass/pumps/plimsolls. MUSLIM GIRLS: A change of clothing is required for P.E. lessons, TRACKSUIT TROUSERS Navy tombo, with Turquoise PE badge SKINS – Although not part of the PE kit these are permitted in inclement weather but must be plain navy blue

FOOD TECHNOLOGY Year 7 pupils – white apron for Food Technology lessons

HAIR COLOUR Hair must be of a natural colour.

HAIR STYLE Hair should be worn in a sensible style which is practical and appropriate for school.

UNIFORM SUPPLIERS Monkhouse of Drake Street, Rochdale, is the principal supplier to the school. They stock all the items of uniform listed above. They will display their goods at the Admissions Evenings on 1

st July and 3

rd July 2014. Monkhouse

accept uniform grants. Our uniform list has been sent to Amin's in Rawtenstall, Abbey Street Shopping Centre in Accrington, Ann’s Childrens’ Wear in Bacup and Murray Family Clothing in Ramsbottom and we shall be happy to give it to any other stockist who requests it.

Holocaust Educational Trust

‘Journeys’ was the theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2014. Students focused on how journeys themselves became part of genocide and how the journeys undertaken were often experiences of persecution and terror for so many people who suffered in the Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution and in the subsequent genocides. Life stories of journeys that brought survivors to the UK and journeys of return and rebuilding lives have been focused on.

Students and staff were encouraged to write their thoughts on 'journeys' on luggage tags which were displayed in the school hall. Students wrote profound thoughts and quotes including:

"It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it." Eleanor Roosevelt.

"We won't forget those that were affected by acts of genocide; we are all equal."

We were also highly privileged to welcome back Holocaust survivor Zigi Shipper, kindly arranged by the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Tree Planting As part of BRGS' continued commitment to

education against intolerance, students from

BRGS planted a special tree in the grounds. As

part of the Holocaust Educational

Trust's "Lessons from Auschwitz" project, Carys

Keeble and Lewis Wood organised the dedication

of a new tree in memory of all those who have

suffered social injustice.

Sylvia Lancaster from the Sophie Lancaster Foundation

came to help with the planting of the tree and was

joined by staff and representatives of Year 9.

Please instruct your child to remove all their belongings and their lock from their lockers before the end of term. Any property remaining will be disposed of as lockers will be reallocated in September. We will also have a lost property display before the end of term for pupils to locate any missing items. All lost property items will be removed over the summer.

BRGS goes to the JK 2014

Six members of the BRGS Orienteering club joined other PFO juniors on a six day orienteering trip to South Wales over the Easter weekend to take part in the annual Jan Kjellstrom International Festival of Orienteering (JK). The JK is Britain's premier annual multi-day competition and regularly attracts competitors from around the world. The competition comprised of a sprint race on Good Friday around Swansea University campus, two-days of individual traditional long orienteering events (this year on the Brecon Beacons) on Easter Saturday and Sunday and a three-person Relay on Easter Monday. This year we also took part in a warm up event on the Wednesday before the JK started and also did some training in the Brecon Beacons before the main event; making this the longest trip we have ever done. We stayed in self-catering accommodation at Plas Pencelli Outdoor Education Centre where another ex BRGS pupil Rebecca Willis works as an instructor.

The orienteering was particularly difficult in the Brecon Beacons due to the very difficult terrain which consisted of depressions and sink holes and not much else to navigate from. Also the running through the tussocks on the hillsides was very hard work for everyone except the very fit. So it was of no surprise to the coaches that Corinna Howorth Year 9 did so well coming top of her class in the 2 day competition (Saturday and Sunday). Her fitness (from all the running she does with the Rossendale Harriers) and her ability to read the map whilst running (a skill she has really worked on and developed over the last two years) all came together on what the rest of us found difficult terrain. Corinna ended up with an impressive lead of fifteen minutes over the second placed girl over the two days. Hannah Goldswain also did well against tough competition including a fair number of girls from Scandinavia as well as many of top the W16’s in the country coming 29th out of a class of seventy. Thanks go to Debra Hoyle a parent and coach and Kate Willis for helping look after the juniors along with organising the cooking and cleaning up.

North Lancashire Masterchef Competition The month of May saw the Lancashire Masterchef Competition held at the North Lancashire Training Group’s Vocational Centre of Excellence. Year 10, GCSE Food Technology student, Archie Mullaney, was chosen to represent BRGS in the Rossendale schools’ heat, held on the 20th May. Contestants had to make a starter containing haddock, a main course curry dish and a dessert containing coconut. Archie made Smoked Haddock Chowder, Cumin Scented Chicken Curry with Aloo Gobi and a dessert of Coconut Panna-cotta with Pineapple Chilli Sauce.

The competition was very strong but Archie was a worthy winner and progressed to the final on Friday 23rd May. For the final the chosen menu was “The 1912 Titanic Dinner Menu” and needed to include 3 Hors d’Oeuvres of their choice, a main of Salmon or Beef with seasonal vegetables and a dessert containing Choux Pastry. Archie chose to make Hors d’Oeuvres of Grilled Scallops wrapped in Proscuitto, Gazpacho shot, and Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Crisps with Radicchio, main course was Medallion of Beef with Morels and

Marsala and Crème Fraiche Sauce finished off with a dessert of Vanilla Ice-cream Profiteroles with a Chocolate Orange Sauce. The final was judged by a panel of experts and was very close. Archie was runner up and received a £20 Topman voucher, personally embroidered Chefs whites, a shield and Masterchef oven glove.

Sue Ashworth Visit April saw a visit from ex BRGS pupil and renowned Food Writer/Photographer and Home Economist, Sue Ashworth to the Food Technology Department. Sue is author of most of the Weight Watchers books and was commissioned by the Department of Health to work on the change for life project, with a view to changing the nations eating habits. She has currently created well over 100 recipes on the website. Currently living and working down South, Sue is taken all over the country with her freelancing work. It was on one of her commutes to Manchester, to demonstrate baking skills at the Manchester Cake and Bake show at Manchester Central, that Sue called into BRGS to give a talk to A-Level students on her career and the vast opportunities for graduates within the Food Industry. Sue very kindly donated new copies of her latest Weight Watchers book to each of the 40 Year 10 GCSE Food Technology students.

Here is a picture of one of the students, Archie Mullaney, receiving his copy from Sue. We would welcome Sue back to BRGS anytime.

The Art Department recently held its yearly sixth form art exhibition where a wonderful array of high quality work was exhibited by Year 12 and Year 13 art students. We were pleased to have been able to exhibit some of the excellent

GCSE work too from this year. The general, exceptionally high standard was commented on by visitors as was the very different approach, styles and concepts.

Students from this Year 13 cohort are going on to do fine art and history, art foundation (x3), TV & film set design, animation, fashion design and marketing, theatre set and costume design and creative events management - demonstrating a high percentage of students that take art forward into their future (recently past students have also included gaming, product design, architecture, graphic design, landscape design and automotive design).

A high level of commitment was evident in the exhibition and it was lovely to see family and friends relishing their loved one’s talented accomplishments over a glass of wine and a crunch of hula hoop!

Thank you to all who came.

The Art Department

Good luck to all Year 11s with their GCSE results and all Year 13s with their A-level results. Dates for results:-

A-levels 14th August GCSEs 21st August

Results will be shown on Insight from 9am the day following the above dates.

MATHS CHALLENGE

Four pupils from Years 8 & 9 represented BRGS at a Regional Final of the UKMT (United Kingdom Mathematics Trust) Team Challenge competition at Lancaster Grammar School on Wednesday 30th April. The pupils – Mark Chambers and Joseph Coong (Year 8) and Jess Sutcliffe and Katie Thompson (Year 9) were chosen by their Maths teachers after producing excellent work throughout this year. They continued this in the competition where they were up against 29 other schools from the Lancashire and Cumbria region. After four rounds of solving challenging Maths puzzles and problems covering a variety of topics, the pupils finished in fifth place out of 30 teams, which was a superb achievement. Maths teacher Mr Wilbraham, who coordinated the school’s participation in the competition, said: “I was very proud of the performance of the pupils throughout the day. They worked well together as a team, which was really impressive as the Year 8 pupils didn’t know the Year 9 pupils until we set-off from Rossendale. They found the Shuttle the toughest challenge, but performed particularly well on the other rounds, especially the Cross Number puzzle on which they scored 59/60. However, we all enjoyed the day out and will participate again next year with four different pupils from Years 8 and 9.” Pictured are pupils working on puzzles throughout the day.

HOW WOULD YOU DO?..... Materials from the day can be downloaded from www.ukmt.org.uk, but here is a small selection of the puzzles the pupils were faced with. 1. A bag contains £20.14 consisting of 50p,

20p, 10p, 5p, 2p and 1p coins only. If there are at least 14 of each of these coins in the bag, what is the least possible number of coins in the bag?

2. On a certain Monday, whilst Jo and Nicky

tweeted, Steve had his face in a book. The next day, whilst Jo and Steve tweeted, Nicky had her face in a book. A day later, whilst Nicky and Steve tweeted, Jo had her face in a book. This pattern repeated every three days until once again on a Monday, Jo and Nicky tweeted whilst Steve had his face in a book.

On how many days did Steve tweet over

this period? 3. Last year, at the TMC National Finals on

18th June 2013, I calculated that my next birthday would be in 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days.

On what date is my birthday? Answers can be found at www.ukmt.org.uk

Centenary Family Fun Day Here is a selection of photographs from our Centenary Family Fun Day. This event helped us to make a good start fundraising for a new school minibus, over £1000 was raised.

A big thank you to

everyone who contributed and attended - a great time was had by all.

Please check our website for further photographs and videos from the abseil.

National Cheerleading Competition 2014

On Sunday 22nd June it was the UKCA National Schools Championships and BRGS were placed as follows:

Transitional Street Cheer, KS4 Level 1 - BRGS Street Sapphires 2nd place

Pom Dance, KS4 Level 1 Large - BRGS Sapphires Black, 3rd place

Pom Dance, KS4 Level 2 - BRGS Sapphires Silver, 2nd place

Cheerleading, KS4 Level 2 - BRGS Sapphires Blue, 5th place

Cheerleading, KS4 Level 3 - BRGS Sapphires Silver, 1st Place

BRGS also won an award for developing the sport of Cheerleading – the Development Cup – which was awarded to former BRGS teacher Kristy Bamber and the BRGS team. Congratulations to all!

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Cashless System for school lunches… If your child has a balance left on the cashless system on the last day of term, it will be carried forward to September. If your child was in Year 11 and staying in the Sixth Form, their balance will also be carried over to the Sixth Form where their Pin will remain the same. If your child is leaving BRGS and they have a sibling in lower school their balance can be transferred to their brother’s/sister’s account. Please make sure you have credited your child’s lunch account for the start of the new school year. This will ensure we serve all the students as smoothly as possible.

Can you also make sure that your child brings a refillable water bottle with them as cups will only be available in the dining room at lunchtimes from September. Bottles can be refilled from the water fountains placed around school. We look forward to welcoming your child back in September and providing them with a healthy home cooked meal. If you have any queries regarding the catering service please do not hesitate to contact me on 01706 234503 or by email shm@brgs.org.uk. Thank you in anticipation of your co-operation. Mrs Maudsley Catering Manager

Following on from our third-year-running GOLD award in the Salters Chemistry Challenge, I am delighted to inform you that Y12 have scored particularly well in the University of Cambridge Chemistry Challenge. Almost 7000 students entered the competition and half were awarded certificates. Ben Porteous, Elliot Fosong and Rosie Morell performed very well and have been presented with gold awards. Silver awards were achieved by Hassaan Ahmed (1 mark from gold), Jessie Nutt, Jake Sutcliffe and Cerys Gregory. Copper awards were gained by Adam Bowden (1 mark from silver), Alex Holland, Cameron Barrie and Sithu Han. It makes a refreshing change to see some of our young ladies taking part and achieving well!! The questions in the competition are rather different from the ones you might expect to appear on a chemistry paper. This is how Q2 started:

Over the last twenty years, there has been a severe decline in the number of vultures living in the Indian

subcontinent, with the numbers of some species falling by over 99%. As well as putting many species

on the endangered list, this fall also meant the build up of dead animal carcases, bringing with it an

increase in disease and the number of rabid wild dogs.

In 2003, it was discovered that the anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac (that was regularly administered to

livestock) was fatal to the vultures that ate their carcases.

Copies of the question that followed can be obtained from hjb@brgs.org.uk

Miss H J Bowden MRSC Head of Chemistry

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Physics Olympiad

Two Year 13 students – Asanish Kalyanasundaram and Mohammed Kouta - qualified for the British Physics Olympiad Round 1 following their previous Gold awards in the AS and A2 Challenge papers. Both Asanish and Mohammed performed extremely well in a very challenging 3hr paper!

Asanish received a Silver award with Mohammed receiving a Commendation. Their performances place them amongst the very best Physics students nationally – an impressive achievement.

BRGS students visit CERN

This Easter, 18 Year 13 physics students visited the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, in Geneva, Switzerland. The facility is at the forefront of current Physics research and comprises a 27km long Physics laboratory situated up to 100m underground. Central to the trip was a visit to the Microcosm and Globe exhibitions and a tour of one of the cryogenic test facilities and the ATLAS detector control room.

At CERN, some of the world’s biggest and most complex machines are used to study nature’s tiniest building blocks - the fundamental particles that make up atoms. By colliding these minute fragments of matter, physicists are unravelling the basic laws of nature.

While in Geneva, there was also the opportunity to visit the History of Science Museum and Natural History Museum, as well as the old town and the shores of Lake Geneva.

Students enjoyed the trip immensely and their teachers look forward to repeating the trip next Easter.

National Astronomy Week

Earlier this year BRGS played host to the Mobile Stars Planetarium in order to help recognise National Astronomy Week 2014.

Students and staff were all slightly bemused that morning to find that a large, grey, inflatable dome had invaded the school hall. However the Physics department soon reassured them that this was not an invasion from outer space but was in fact a planetarium to teach them about outer space. Year 7 were absolutely delighted to find out that they would be visiting the planetarium throughout the day as part of their science lessons on the topic of Earth and Space.

Members of Miss Morris’s Astronomy Club were also treated to a special lunchtime show where they got to show off some of their understanding about the constellations and finding North at night without a compass.

“We were invited to join Miss Morris on a journey into the unknown. After crawling through an imposing dark tunnel we emerged into a mysterious dome, later to be filled with the wonders of our galaxy. Over a period of half an hour, teacher Garry Mayes took us on a guided tour around the sky, visiting many well-known sites such as Orion, Cassiopeia and even the closest spiral galaxy to our own, Andromeda. It was a truly fantastic experience, even if it left us feeling rather small and insignificant afterwards.” Tara and Astronomy Club

Year 11 and Year 13 Physicists also got the chance to visit the mobile planetarium after school and were treated to shows about the life cycles of stars and the constellations. All agreed that it was an ‘out of this world’ experience.

Please can we remind students who have

borrowed money from the

general office to pay it back

before the end of term.

Failure to do this will mean

school having to remove this facility in future to

those students.

Thank you.

Under 15 Lancashire Basketball Final Having lost to Clitheroe earlier in the season our opponents would start this game as favourites. A comment from Matthew Fry the day before the game summed up the pre-match feelings: "It's going to be a tough match if we're going to win this one," to which the obvious reply was "You'd better be prepared for a tough match then!" After the initial stages it was clear that this was indeed going to be as Matt suggested. Clitheroe took an early lead, BRGS pegged them back to go ahead but Clitheroe hit back with a 3 point buzzer beater to end the first

quarter 2 points ahead. However, the good news from a BRGS point of view was that Clitheroe's playmaker picked up 4 of his 5 fouls in that quarter and was benched by his coach for the entire second quarter. BRGS took an immediate advantage with George Crabtree, Matt Fry and Dominic Martin scoring freely to take a 9 point lead. Clitheroe could have folded but the team rallied and stepped up their play to trail by only 1 point at half time, 28-27 to BRGS. The third quarter started with Clitheroe back up to full strength but despite their best efforts BRGS just kept their noses in front with the lead yo-yoing between as much as 7 and as few as 1 with the quarter finishing 51-46 in BRGS's favour. What followed was just about as tense a period of basketball as there could be with the result hanging in the balance until just 10 seconds to go. After 1 minute Matt Fry fouled out. BRGS's play became a little disjointed and jittery. Points were now hard to come by. Clitheroe were obviously buoyed by this and sensed victory. However, to their growing frustration, they could not regain the lead as the BRGS defence stepped up the pressure and continually repelled their advances to maintain a 1 point lead with three minutes remaining in the match, 55-54 to BRGS. This was by far the lowest scoring quarter and you could feel the tension growing as players from both teams missed easy shots which would have swung the advantage their way. The last two minutes were unbearable. Safian Ali managed to get a shot away, scored and was fouled. He scored the free throw to give BRGS a 4 point lead. Surely we can hang on from here. Clitheroe went straight down the other end and scored reducing the gap to 2 points, 58-56. Both teams gave the ball away multiple times as they were striving too hard for victory and losing control. It really was a case of holding on to that slenderest of leads. With 10 seconds to go George Crabtree was fouled and awarded 2 free throws scoring one taking most of the tension away. With only 3 seconds remaining the victory was finally seized as George scored another free throw meaning Clitheroe ran out of time for a come-back and BRGS hung on for a very well deserved victory followed by a trip to McDonald's to celebrate with a Big Mac and a McFlurry! Well played boys!

Lancashire Schools’ Athletics Championships

Some of our athletes represented Rossendale on Saturday 14th June at the Lancashire Schools’ Athletics Championships in Blackpool. Well done to the following students:- Max Broughton 800 m Louis Holding high jump Sarah Goldswain 200m Connor Richardson 800m Corinna Howorth was 3rd in the Junior Girls’ 800 m Sarah Longshaw was County Champion in the 800m! Morgan Phillips was 2nd in the Senior Boys’ 400 m

Please congratulate our athletes when you see them.

Polite Notice

We have had a request from local residents asking if parents cannot park in

front of their driveways when picking up and dropping off their children at

school.

Thank you for your understanding.

Entrance Exam Please visit our website www.brgs.org.uk. Click on the section “About us” then “Admissions” to

register your child and for all information relating to the Entrance Exam.

No registrations will be accepted after 12 noon on Friday 19th September so please make sure you

register and receive an e-mail receipt before this time.

Entrance exam: Saturday 27th September 2014

Indication of the outcome of the test sent to parents by: Thursday 23rd October 2014

Thurs 4th Sept 2014 Year 10 induction to KS4 Wed 10th Sept Enrichment Fair Tues 16th – Wed 17th Sept Year 7, 10 & 12 individual photographs Tues 23rd Sept Year 11 Lionheart Challenge Sat 27th Sept Entrance Exam Tues 30th Sept HPV 1 vaccinations for Year 8 girls Wed 1st Oct Year 12 concert Tues 2nd Oct Year 7 Disco/National Poetry Day ‘Remember’ Tues 7th Oct Year 11 Careers Event Tues 7th – Wed 15th Oct German Exchange Students at BRGS Thurs 9th Oct Grandparents’ Day Fri 10th Oct INSET DAY Thurs 16th Oct Sixth Form Open Evening Sat 18th – Mon 20th Oct Silver D of E Tues 21st Oct Year 7 informal Parents’ Evening Thurs 23rd – Sat 25th Oct Art/Drama trip to London Mon 27th – Fri 31st Oct Half Term holiday