Remembering those that have gone before.
There is so much to share this week, but I will begin with Remembrance Sunday and our incredibly special Remembrance Day in school.
On Sunday, Ms. Sullivan was accompanied by several of our students to be part of this year’s Bingley Remembrance Sunday event. It is always a special morning where the community comes together to remember those that have given so much for what we have today. It is so important for our young people to never forget the sacrifices made by so many, lots of whom were so young themselves. Our students laid a poppy at the cenotaph and were wonderful as ambassadors throughout the morning for our school. I am so grateful that we are invited to join each year and to those who put in so much time to make the event work so well. I am hugely grateful also to those students who were so willing to give up part of their weekend to represent our school with such dignity and respect.
On Tuesday 11 November 2025 we came together as a school to pay our respects in our own Beckfoot way. Almost 1800 staff and students gathered in the atrium and around the balconies in silence to hear a poem read by Ellis in Year 10, to hear the playing of The Last Post and The Reveille by Marisca in Year 11 and to observe 2 minutes of pin drop silence in memory of all those have served and are currently serving across the world. Each year I am left stunned by our young people and the community that is Beckfoot. I felt incredibly proud of our school and everyone who is a part of what we do here every day.
Sixth Form Open Evening
Last week we held our annual Sixth Form Open Evening. It is an opportunity for us to showcase our faculties, staff, and students and what an evening it was. We were thrilled to welcome so many of our students and families alongside huge numbers from other schools all of whom are considering our Sixth Form as a potential destination post GCSEs. The past few years have been hugely satisfying for us in terms of what has been happening post 16 in our school. We have worked extremely hard to create something special here and the results have been our best ever for the past two years. Indeed, earlier this year we were ranked 12th in West Yorkshire from the hundreds of providers for what we are doing both in terms of provision and outcomes.
Choosing next steps is important and we are offering so much more than high quality teaching. Our Sixth Form is Outstanding as judged by Ofsted in the Spring. Our Personal Development offer is second to none as are the levels or support and guidance provided to each student over their two years with us. We offer bespoke pathways towards Oxbridge through our links with Cambridge who were present last week. We offer the Lucy Cavendish programme to further support entry into Oxbridge and those high tariff Russel Group universities. We offer specialised support into the medical sciences including Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary study. Our careers team support those that want alternatives such as apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships and we expect all students to get involved in work experience as well as a range of volunteering opportunities to support their applications to university and employers. In short, we want our students to stand out from the crowd because they made the decision to study with us. Alongside all that, our students receive high quality teaching from subject specialists which makes us a destination to really think about. But, for me, it is the people, staff, and students, that make it such a wonderful part of our school and an offer that we are proud to be able to provide to all.
Music continues to shine brightly at Beckfoot!
Prior to the summer we were approached to work with a Bradford based production company to be part of a collaborative composition project for Bradford 25. It was such an amazing opportunity that of course we said yes. The challenge was to involve students from our vocal group and drumline group in composing and performing on a track with other students and musicians in Bradford. As part of that challenge the production company came into school over several weeks to run workshops in SPA time and really prepare our students to do something special for themselves and the city.
Last week our students were in the studio to complete their mission, and their approach was lauded by the studio who commented on how enthusiastic and well behaved our students were and the quality of the recordings which was down to their commitment, perseverance and, of course, talent. They are now in the process of mixing everything and putting all the recordings together. Once complete the plan is to host a launch event for the finished track which is so exciting.
As a school we are planning to develop our own links with the studio to get more of our students in to experience a professional recording studio and have the confidence to both perform and create. I am so grateful to the music staff and their team of peripatetic teachers who do such incredible work each week with our students but who are also determined to give our students the absolute best opportunities possible.
Look what our students are doing in Sport.
Natasha in Year 8 has recently been promoted to her 2nd Dan black belt in Taekwondo with TSX Bingley. She has been working extremely hard and training 3 times a week plus helping with teaching younger students in her club. It is an incredible achievement for someone so young, and we are so enormously proud of her.
Josh, in Year 10, who has featured in this blog so often over the years was invited to join the GB para triathlon team for a training camp last weekend in Loughborough. He continues to work so hard to improve each discipline within triathlon and this success and recognition is no more than he deserves, and we are so pleased for him.
Prior to half term I shared news about Charlie in Year 12 who travelled to India to captain the England U17 Indoor cricket team. What I did not know at the time was that fellow Year 12 student, Eddie was also selected to travel and play as part of the team. They both headed to India over half term and returned as tournament winners beating the likes of India, UAE, and South Africa. Charlie was awarded Player of the Tournament and Eddie took home the player of the final award showing both their class and leadership when it matters most. To have two of our students represent England is special but the fact that they are such great lads and role models is the thing of which we are most proud.
On Wednesday Ms. Holmes arranged for 44 students and staff to travel over to Old Trafford to watch Manchester United take on Paris St. Germain in the Women’s Champions League. They took their seats in the Sir Alex Fergusson stand and watched a wonderful game from start to finish with the highlight being ex England Goalkeeper, Mary Earps, stopping to acknowledge the group and wave to them in the stand. The stewards commented on how utterly brilliant our group was and thanked the staff for bringing them across the Pennines to be a part of such a special evening.
Parents Evenings
I want to say a huge thank you to all our families for the continuous and unwavering support you provided to our school. Last night attendance at Year 9 parents evening was just over 98% and I am so grateful for your support for your children and how they are doing in school.
Last year, across all 7 parents’ evenings, our average attendance was 96% which is surely one of the highest anywhere in the country. Continuing with our online provision is working and the feedback is that it is so much better to have uninterrupted meetings and to be able to do so from the comfort of home, work, or wherever else best suits.
I am so conscious that it removes the face-to-face opportunities and the chance to come into school and so I am always happy to review that position if the consensus ever changes. The key thing is to always feel you can let me know.
Take Care
Simon Wade – Headteacher
