Birchwood High School

Festive Fun at Birchwood The festive season is just around the corner, and we've got some exciting events lined up! Music Concert – 7pm, Thursday 28 November An evening of fantastic performances to kick off the season! Tickets available now on Parent Pay. Christmas Clay Workshop – Thursday, 12th & 21st December (you need to attend both). Get creative and make your own festive decorations! Sign up outside C23. Christmas Lunch – Tickets for our annual Birchwood Christmas Lunch are now available on Parent Pay. Enjoy a delicious festive feast with your friends. Christmas Card Competition – Design the 2024 Birchwood Christmas Card! Get your creative juices flowing and submit your designs for a chance to have your artwork featured. Deadline: Monday, 25th November. Sign up soon and get into the Christmas spirit!

From Birchwood to Bangladesh Mr. Barratt is supporting an incredible team of cyclists riding from Cambridge all the way to Bangladesh! This amazing journey is raising funds for The Dolly Foundation, a charity dedicated to helping those less fortunate. As part of their challenge, they're collecting donations of sportswear to distribute to villagers along their route and to support school PE kits and equipment. How You Can Help: Donate any (washed) sportswear items by dropping them in the house boxes at Student Reception. Not only will your contributions make a real difference, but your house will also earn points for every donation.

Sports Round-Up! Last Wednesday, our Year 8 and 9 rugby boys faced off against St Mary's in an exciting set of rugby fixtures. The Year 9s claimed an impressive 24-12 victory! Our Year 11 boys' football team delivered a thrilling performance last Tuesday against Simon Balle, winning 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in full time. They've secured a spot in the 3rd round of the County Cup. Well done, team!

Year 11s join us at Sixth Form Open Evening tonight, 5:30-8:00pm We are excited to invite you to Birchwood's Sixth Form Open Evening – a chance to explore the wide range of A Level and Level 3 BTEC qualifications we offer, and discover why Birchwood Sixth Form is so special. What to Expect: Presentations in the Main Hall at 6:00pm and 7:00pm Faculty Fair in the Sports Hall: Meet subject specialists and current students to learn about life at Birchwood and pathways to university or employment. Faculty Deepdives: Chat with teachers and explore classrooms for a closer look at course content. Birchwood Year 11 Students: Don't forget to bring your invitation cards with you!

Our Birchwood Spelling Bee Champions 1st: Sophie Billett 2nd: George Cooper 3rd: Aimee Robson and Edward McCarthy Thank you to all our Year 7 students who took part and congratulations to our winners.

On Thursday, November 7th, our Year 8 and 9 girls' rugby team took part in their first rugby festival of the year in Watford. It was an incredible afternoon as the girls competed against both local and London-based teams. Over four games, they showed resilience, determination, and what it truly means to play as a team. They fought hard for one another and left the field with high spirits, bringing home a win, two draws, and one defeat. We couldn't be prouder of their efforts and sportsmanship! Excited to see how this talented group continues to grow in upcoming matches and festivals.

Today, the Birchwood High School community came together to commemorate Remembrance Day. Students and staff gathered on the Piazza for a two-minute silence, honouring the memory of those who sacrificed so much. The poignant notes of the Last Post were played beautifully by Matthew Reader, and our Principal Student, Dillon Browne, recited the Exhortation: "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them."

Big Week for Birchwood Rugby! Congratulations to our Year 11 Boys Team for winning the District competition! Our Year 8s also played brilliantly and made it to the semi-finals.

Today, we had the pleasure of welcoming three inspiring leaders from the Financial Times to share their career journeys and offer valuable advice to our students. Huge thanks to: Jon Slade, Chief Commercial Officer Jennifer Shepherd, Senior Engineer, Editorial Technology Fiona Spooner, Managing Director, Consumer Revenue Our students gained unique insights into the world of media, technology, and business.

Today, Mrs Hinksi hosted a lunchtime pizza party for Year 8s, celebrating the top 21 students with the most house points, zero behaviour points and excellent attendance. Well Done!

Today, we continued our Chemistry Week celebrations with an exciting visit from GSK staff, who ran a hands-on workshop for students. The workshop focused on how scientists determine which coatings to use on tablets to control how quickly different medications dissolve in the stomach. By choosing different coating substances, they can adjust the rate at which a tablet dissolves. To explore this concept, students used lemonade to replicate the acidic environment of the stomach and coated Smarties with various substances, including jam, honey, mayonnaise, deodorant, and hairspray. They then dropped the coated Smarties into lemonade and timed how long it took for each coating to dissolve, giving them a fascinating insight into the science of tablet design. At lunchtime, students also had the chance to make their own lava lamps using oil, water, food colouring, and effervescent tabletsa fun and colourful way to learn about chemical reactions!

Christmas Concert - Tickets now available via Parentpay.

Birchwood News | October Edition is out now. Follow this link to read more: https://www.birchwoodhighschool.co.uk/_site/data/files/birchwood-news/4A8FFCFAE0D106F8588191062C0D1594.pdf

Happy Halloween Today we hosted our Halloween Charity Day with sweet cones and a Halloween maze. Thank you to our House Team for all their hard work.

Congratulations to our October Students Of The Month Each month, our faculties select a winner who has shown exceptional effort, academic achievement or a positive attitude in their lessons.