The 2024/25 academic year ends later today and I have been reflecting on everything that has happened at school over the past 12 months. Whilst I will never forget the trials and tribulations of the snow in January it has been a truly remarkable year for us all. There have been more trips and visits this year than ever before with more of our students being recognised and rewarded for being incredible young people than I can remember. We have successfully navigated our way through an incredibly rigorous Ofsted inspection, we have been ranked 12^th best sixth form provider across West Yorkshire, our attendance continues to rise, our Enrichment Week was a huge success, we have heard from the King twice and the culture of the school goes from strength to strength. Of course there are the individual successes of staff and students but as a collective community I could not be prouder.

This final blog is packed with news and success stories. I hope you enjoy.

Student sporting success

Natasha in Y8 has recently competed in the British Championship in Birmingham and achieved bronze. She represented TSX Martial Arts Bingley and will be grading in November for her 2nd Dan grade. Her achievements deserve recognition because she is a shining example of getting the balance right in her first year at Beckfoot and she has a very bright future ahead.

Year 13 futures week

A couple of weeks ago we held our now well established post 16 Futures Day. I think it was a hugely successful day mainly because of the quality of providers and the incredible attitudes of our students. Their brilliance was evident from the first workshop and just got stronger throughout. The feedback from our visitors was stunning, with each one of them commenting on how engaging, interesting, confident, bright, friendly, articulate, driven and passionate our students were. A few also mentioned the school as a whole, commenting on how beautiful and calm it was... even at lunch time! They have all signed up to come back to work with us again in Futures Month in November, so that is already promising to be even bigger than ever.

A particular highlight for me is that we were joined by two Beckfoot alumni, Nathan Baguley and Lucy Duckworth, who are also eager to return and work with our students. Nathan in particular has already agreed to come in to run some small group workshops with those who are applying to Medicine, to guide them through the application and interview process. I am so excited about building our alumni involvement and hopefully more on that will follow next year. A huge thank you to Mrs. Bannon and the sixth form team for all they are doing to.

Enrichment Week and Work experience

Last week was our annual eagerly awaited Enrichment Week. For years 8-10 and Work Experience for Year 11. This year our offer was 17 different activities with 5 of those being residential and three taking students to France, Germany, Belgium and Holland. Other trips have involved such things as snow and ice, water sports, exotic animals, guide dogs, a multitude of sports, music, chateaus, river cruises, museums, history, cooking, baking, Lego, warheads, stem speedsters, rockets, farming, arts and crafts, computer science and so much more. It was truly a magical week and one that really delivers on our mission to ensure every child has a 'moment' at Beckfoot that they will always remember.

We also had close to 250 Year 11 students on work experience last week and they were utterly wonderful throughout. The feedback has been stunning and lots of students have been offered weekend and holiday jobs as a result. 

This year has also seen us receive the most incredible feedback from the public who have experienced being in the company of our students. They have commented on their manners, consideration for others and their ability to know how to manage themselves in differing contexts and situations. I love to hear these things as you know.

None of this would be possible without the masses of commitment from our staff. Enrichment Week has been associated with our school for over 30 years now and I very much hope that continues well into the future.

Model UN

Model UN is now in its fourth year at Beckfoot under the leadership of Mrs. Ashraf and Mr. Ullah. The simulations engage hundreds of thousands of students each year across the globe, helping them to learn more about the principles of the UN and how it functions. Many of today’s leaders in law, government, business and the arts – including at the UN itself – participated in Model UN as students. The United Nations supports Model UN simulations by building and maintaining strong links between the UN and Model UN participants. It does this by sharing first-hand knowledge about the work of the UN; providing guidance with organisers to create accurate and authentic simulations; and encouraging Model UN clubs to be established in schools.

This terms Model Un focus for Year 13 was focussed on the Israel – Palestine conflict. The theme centred around supporting civilians to access aid. Students were tasked to debate and agree a resolution and solutions to support aid into Gaza. They were incredible and the day was a resounding success. Despite many of our students’ own personal views each of them put those to one side to ensure that they played their roles as ambassadors for the different countries and UN roles to the best of their abilities and they were stunning. Next year the plan will be to further involve both KS3 and KS4 students which is exciting.

Buzz magazine

The Summer edition of the Buzz is ready to view, showcasing the absolute best of our school and packed with student comments, reports, photos, interviews and reviews. Our new tagline for the Buzz is 'It's all about our students'. It is always a joy for me to read about what has been happening in our school over recent months and just in case you missed it here is the link.

Research Mark plus

I am thrilled to be ending the year with yet more incredible news for our school. Just last night it was confirmed that we have achieved the Research Mark plus award from the Chartered College of Teaching. The Chartered College is focused on empowering a knowledgeable teaching profession, so that teachers and leaders can make the best choices for their young people. Being evidence-informed is key as teachers, leaders and mentors critically engage with research and evidence, considering how the findings might apply within their context, and utilising their professional knowledge and judgement. This is a powerful way of leveraging research and evidence to ultimately improve outcomes for young people and very much aligns with or values and ethos here at Beckfoot.

The award is about celebrating research engagement at a broader whole school level and to recognise the excellent work being carried out in this area and supporting decisions at all levels of our school including aspects of culture, leadership, CPD and classroom teaching.

Our feedback was stunning and highlighted that at Beckfoot there are sustainable systems in place for research engagement - it is part and parcel of what is done and thus is the ethos and culture of the school. It stated that entitlement and protected time give gravity and commitment to research-informed CPD and the value of professional growth and it praised the many research champions that share generously outwards help to support a wider community of new learners and spread the passion, building the ‘Beckfoot Buzz.’

I could not be more delighted to be one of the first schools nationally to receive this recognition and am so grateful to Ms. Sullivan for leading this initiative from start to finish.

Saying goodbye.

Finally, today we say goodbye to a number of staff who are leaving Beckfoot for a variety of reasons both personal and professional. Mr. Mohammed leaves humanities after one year to continue his journey at another school in Bradford, Ms. Williams departs for Lancashire, Ms. Bano leaves the science team and has been such a support for us in recent months, Ms. Lowde (History) and Ms. Mallinson-Powell (Head of Year) both go on maternity leave, Ms Scherksova (TA) leaves to begin her training to become a teacher, Mrs. Cooper (HR) retires after 15 years and Mr. Barnes leaves after 20 years the majority of that time spent changing lives as our SENDCO. I am so grateful to each of them for their time and contributions with us. They have made a remarkable difference to our school and will always be welcome here.

I want to thank you all once again for your support for our school and young people. Education is key to enabling our students to have the good lives they are entitled to beyond our gates. It has the potential to transform futures and shape success. For those reasons I am incredibly grateful for all you do to support us in the most important of quests that we share together.

Have a wonderful, safe and happy summer. We wish our exam students all the success in the world for their results in August.

Simon Wade, Headteacher

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