Happy New Year - 2024
Welcome back to Beckfoot and I hope you all enjoyed a happy, peaceful and restful holiday. I also hope that 2024 will be a positive year for you all. Our students have made a very strong start to 2024 and I hope they have the most amazing and successful year full of highs and moments that will live with them for years to come.
Around New Year, lots of us think about the past year and what lies ahead. Many of us think about what will be different and for me that is about reading. For much of 2023 I didn’t read enough and I have vowed to make a change and put it right. I guess I was spurred on a little by the not so subtle number of sports autobiographies and fiction books I was lucky to receive and I began last Monday with Jordan Henderson’s autobiography. For those of you who don’t know, he was a Liverpool player and captain for many years. Almost predictable I know. I have almost finished it and will move on to Siya Kolisi’s autobiography, a man who captained the South African Rugby Union team to back to back World Cup wins in 2019 and 2023. After that who knows!
Rugby continues to thrive and our students are doing some amazing things. Charlie in Year 11, who I have mentioned in previous blogs, had the most amazing news over the holidays. Over the past year Charlie has been mentored by George Furbank of Northampton Saints and England. Through the Mintridge Foundation, he has thrown himself fully into the mentoring programme and has spent a lot of time with George. As a result Charlie was selected to receive the Anna Horrell Award which is presented to an individual, or group of individuals, that have demonstrated to their elite athlete ambassador a proactive nature and infectious enthusiasm throughout the programme whilst also showing great potential in their chosen sport. The foundation praised Charlie for the journey that he went on with his mentor and noted that it was very special to witness. Charlie travelled to Northampton Saints with his family and was presented with this year's awards following a Northampton Saints victory over Sale Sharks Victory and a Captain Fantastic Man of the Match Performance from George himself! It was an incredibly memorable day for Charlie, his family and everyone associated with the foundation. We are very proud of him.
Also in Rugby, Will in Year 10 has been doing some amazing things too. In Union, Will gained a place on the Yorkshire DPP - the player development pathway for the county. He was put forward to attend a few sessions last season and then from that selected to attend the trials in Sept/Oct - 3 sessions where lads were selected to represent the County. He now attends County training regularly which means that he is constantly upskilling and in turn enjoying his rugby even more. In Rugby League Will was seen by Bradford Bulls scouts whilst playing towards the end of last season. In November he was given a 6 week trial which was hugely demanding. His attitude won through resulting in him being offered a scholarship and is now a Bulls player for at least the next two years. Again, we are very proud of him and, as with Charlie, we will be keeping a keen eye on his development in the years ahead.
In other sporting news Josh in Year 8 has recently featured heavily on the CP Sport website. CP Sport is the national disability sports organisation supporting people with cerebral palsy to be able to access and enjoy being physically active throughout their lives. In it he talks about his involvement with Bronte Tykes, Bingley Harriers, Keighley RUFC, School rugby team and School athletics. He talked about his involvement in sport throughout 2023 in Rugby, Running, Athletics, Cycling – MTB, Road and Cyclocross. He highlighted some special moments such as participating at CP Sport National Athletics Championships and winning coaches’ player of the year at rugby. What I loved most though was his view of the importance of sport and physical activity in his life and how the range of sports he’s involved with helps work his muscles in different ways as well as being good for his mental health. In 2024 Josh aims to keep getting better and has an ambition to go through classification for cycling and athletics and take part in more disability sports competitions. Somehow, I think he will do those things with ease. Well done Josh.
Moving on to music, James in Year 10 who has recently secured a place with the National Youth Orchestra, was featured in the T&A over the holidays. It is a fantastic read and 2024 promised to be a wonderful year for him. We wish him well.
Finally, yesterday a group of Year 10 students were involved in the Speak Out Challenge. They spent the day developing their Public Speaking skills and finished by each practicing their public speaking through delivering their own speeches on something that mattered to them. The feedback from the external providers was superb. They thought our students were incredible and really enjoyed their day with us. Three of our students have now been selected to go through to the next round, which involves speaking out in assembly. From here one student will then be chosen to represent us to become regional champions with a potential cash price of £5000.
The students who were successful in getting to the next round are Ava, Alice and Emilee. Two other students, Natalie and Leah, were also given prizes for their great participation and honest speeches.
Take care.
Simon Wade, Headteacher
