Tuesday 17 April 2018

Principal’s Blog – March 2018


As the days get longer and - following a final sprinkling of April snow - the spring weather finally seems to be on its way, it’s good to reflect on another busy half term at Selby High School.
As always our curriculum has been enriched by a variety of activities.  Year 10 enjoyed the “Inside Out” drama performance which explored a range of issues including mental health and staying safe online.  Three members of the Fire Service came in to school to deliver some important messages to year 11s about staying safe when driving or travelling with friends in cars, in the Drivewise assembly.  The year 8s developed their enterprise and marketing skills as they explored different fashions from around the world, during their Enterprise Day.  In visits out of school, a group of year 7 and 8 students took part in the Leeds Festival of Science at Leeds University, designing DNA bracelets, and we were also represented at the “Girls and Gadgets” event at Keele University.
Students have continued to benefit from participation in the NCOP ”FutureHy” project, which encourages students to aspire towards University or higher level apprenticeships.  Activities this term including a second Project Dare with engineering firm ARUP. In addition, a group of year 9 students attended a careers conference at York University and students have been receiving additional careers support sessions on Tuesday mornings. A number of exciting opportunities are planned for the summer term. GCSE Pod continues to be used extensively by students in supporting their revision studies; we are now one of the top users in the country!
Several events this half term have highlighted the skills and determination of Selby High School Students.  The Talent Show in March was a roaring success, with all tickets sold in advance of the event.  The audience was treated to a feast of singing, music, drama and comedy.  The Sports Relief event on Friday, 23rd May, involved lots of students and staff running a mile around the school field, many being sponsored for their efforts.  A fantastic £1,826 was raised for the charity.  Numerous other fundraising events have taken place during lunchtimes, highlighting the generosity and hard work of our students.
We’ve had another very successful and enjoyable half term for sport at the school.  The Year 8 Boys’ football team are through to the North Yorkshire County Cup final after beating Bedale in the quarter finals and King James, Knaresborough in the semi-finals. The Under 13 Girls’ football team have also made it through to the North Riding Cup Final, beating Rossett School 3-2 in an exciting encounter.  The boys and girls Under 13 and Under 15 are through to the regional round of the Kinder Futsal competition having had success in earlier area rounds against Doncaster schools.
Our young equestrian team continue to go from strength to strength, competing recently at the National Schools Equestrian Association (NSEA) show jumping qualifiers on Sunday 25th February. Held at Northallerton Equestrian Centre, our 90cm team of Lucy Williams, Sarah Wheatley, Isabella Khosla and Martha Ward were placed third at their first qualifier, out of nearly twenty teams.  Riding Captain, Lucy Williams, won the class and will now represent Selby High School at the NSEA National Championships in Bedfordshire on Saturday 21st April, as Champion for North Yorkshire.  The 80cm team, where Kaytlyn Fella replaced Sarah Wheatley, finished on a very respectable eight faults, with Lucy placed third individually.
Seven budding young coaches embarked upon the North Yorkshire Sport Coaches Academy Workshop to develop their sports coaching potential.  The conference at Fulford High School, brought together the best young sports leaders from all seven districts covered by North Yorkshire to offer them specialist sports coaching sessions.  Pupils from various schools and colleges were invited to take part in this county wide conference.  The sports represented included, rugby union, football, tennis, netball, cricket and hockey.  Each young leader from Selby chose a sport in which to develop their coaching and leading abilities.  The pupils were also fortunate to listen to an inspiring speech by Paralympian Craig McCann, hearing how important future coaches are to inspiring future sporting greats.
This term, in lessons, we’ve had a significant focus on literacy in all subjects, helping our students to read a range of challenging texts and to produce high quality extended writing.  One of the strategies we have used is the Independent Zone, which gives students the opportunity to write independently for a period of time in a lesson.  More recently our focus on Tier Two Vocabulary has also started to have a powerful impact. Tier Two Vocabulary refers to the kinds of words that are used in more formal written and spoken situations, but which are not commonly used in everyday conversation.
As always we have some goodbyes to say.  Mrs Walmsley (maths), Mr Lewis (science) and Mr Birchall (science) are all moving on, and we are very pleased to be welcoming Mrs Leetham to the science team and Miss Clarke to the geography team.  I’d like to pass on my thanks to these colleagues, and to the rest of the Selby High School staff for their continued hard work on behalf of the school community.
With very best wishes,

Nick Hinchliffe
Principal

Forthcoming dates
Thursday 19th April          Year 10 trip to Leeds University
Monday 23rd April            Business trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park
Thursday 26th April          Intermediate Maths Challenge
Monday 30th April            Year 9 trip to Hull University
Wednesday 2nd May        Year 11 Leavers’ photographs
Monday 7th May               School closed for Bank Holiday
Friday 11th May                 Duke of Edinburgh practice weekend
Tuesday 15th May             Year 10 Parents’/Carers’/Guardians’ Evening
Friday 25th May                 Year 10 Mock Interview day
Friday 25th May                 School closes for holidays (3.25pm)

For full details of all forthcoming events please see the school calendar www.selbyhigh.n-yorks.sch.uk/Calendar/