Newsletters

Dear Parent or Guardian

When I presented a three-year plan to trustees in January of 2020, little did I know the challenges ahead. Reflecting, it sometimes feels as if we have moved from one ‘once in a lifetime’ challenge to another. Two months after accepting the role, the pandemic broke resulting in schools being asked to do things never before entertained, then Ofsted in the middle of the pandemic, Brexit, a cost of living crisis and the first significant teacher strikes in over 40 years; all in the context of managing expansion necessitating a new build and significant teacher shortages. There is no doubt, as well, that all schools, including Borden, are feeling a ‘perfect storm’ of a reduction in external support services together with a significant increase in the level of need from students and families. This is alongside a significant shortage in teachers and support staff; it really is not unusual to have one applicant for a job and even supply teachers are now scarce. Needless to say, that my first 3 year plan has had to be adjusted numerous times over the last 3 years!

That said, most of our goals have been reached i.e. our expanding pastoral team and processes, the introduction of a variety of software including Edulink and Google to teach and communicate with parents, outreach work with primary schools, increase in numbers and the ‘Borden test’, our Borden values, the introduction of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, peer mentoring, building expansion and improvement, breakfast clubs etc. There are now more students opting for Borden as their first choice in the local authority and we already have a waiting list next year despite expanding our intake by 30 places.

So what next? There are still many areas that need further development. Some objectives will ‘write themselves’ i.e. completing the new build, redesigning the curriculum, continuing to adjust to the safeguarding and behaviour challenges resulting from the pandemic, managing the expansion of school numbers and the resulting staffing implications…and so on. That said there are areas that need further consideration i.e. recruitment and retention, our school management information system, real or virtual parent evenings etc. This is all in the context of likely expanding teacher shortages and strikes as well as the continuing government target for all schools to be part of a multi academy trust in the next 6 years. To help with this, over the next half term, I will be working with trustees and senior staff to construct the next school 3 year plan. I will be asking for ideas and feedback from staff, students and parents on a variety of issues to help with this thinking, but the first of these, on parents evenings, will be sent out at the same time as this newsletter with the link also included here.

Expansion, budgets, bids and funding…

You will, I am sure, have seen the external new build is continuing as planned having been delayed due to the pandemic. You can track it’s development here. We are currently working through how we will manage a kitchen and toilet expansion in the existing building which is proving much more complicated. We will keep you informed, but there is likely to be some internal disruption next year. Whilst budgets are not everyone’s ‘thing’, it’s important that you, as stakeholder, appreciate the challenges. Borden is in a positive financial position having built up some capital, but we do have a few big problems to fix. We necessarily replaced the S block windows last summer costing well over £100 000. However, the school boiler and heating systems are over 50 years old and are starting to fail. Quotes to replace this were a staggeringly a little short of £2 million, money we simply don’t have. We applied for a condition improvement fund, committing almost £180 000 of our own money, and have just heard that we have been successful which is great news for Borden’s future (and it’s plumbing!). However, these demands are all in the context of needing more staff, less external support and inflation busting energy increases etc.. Why am I giving you this amount of detail? Because, without wanting to take a political stance, it is important that you are aware of the challenges that any future unfunded pay increase to teachers and support staff would bring. Whilst pay increases may be needed for the occupation to recruit and retain staff, students will undoubtedly suffer in some way if these come from Borden’s existing budget. The increased funds given already broadly brings our funding in line with where it was in 2010, but this is in the face of more challenges and costs than ever before. I would therefore encourage you to write to your MP to make this point as decisions on funding schools potentially impacts on us all.

Fulbright Award

One of Borden’s ex-students, Toby Clark, has recently been selected for the Fulbright Award, enabling him to study at Columbia University, United States for two years. The Fulbright Award is one of the most well-regarded and impactful scholarship programmes in the world. Toby will develop further research in teachers’ knowledge of music education at Columbia University, which is an Ivy League college in the United States, aiming to create a smarter, healthier, more equitable world. Toby said in the press release that followed this award,

“Accepting this award to study music education is a chance to engage in innovative research and contribute to the advancement of music education globally. I will forever be grateful for the people that have paved the way for me to be able to receive this award”.

We are very proud of all of our Borden alumni, but especially those that endeavour to make the world a better place!

Good luck!

Finally, now is the time where we have said goodbye and good luck to our amazing year 11 and 13 students who are already well and truly into their exams. We wish them all the very best of luck and just ask that those leaving us for good stay in touch.

Kind regards

Ashley Tomlin
Headteacher

More photographs are available to view on our website gallery. 

Year 12 Biologists

Taking advantage of the fine weather Year 12 biologists began a survey of plant biodiversity around the school grounds.  They began on the Sales field, where using traditional sampling techniques, they discovered that aside from three varieties of grass species they also found ten different plant species.  Some common recognisable species were in abundance e.g. daisies and buttercups, while others needed to be identified using a handy plant identification app.  They will continue to survey different sites around the school grounds to see if there is a difference in plant species and the biodiversity.

On the 16th and 17th May, 53 students from year 9 and 10 took part in their practice Bronze expedition for Duke of Edinburgh. All of the students completed two days walking, cooked their own dinner and camped overnight successfully. The instructors were very impressed with all of the students, who worked very successfully in their teams. Below is a photo of Team Pink, who really took the colour coding of the teams to a new level. Well done to everyone that took part!

Miss Phillips 
Head of Year 10 

Religious Studies Department 

Another term completed in the RS department, and we would like to say well done to all our GCSE students who have now completed all their exams, a great achievement, and they have worked positively as a group for the past two years.

It is wonderful to include some Year 7 examples of 'Stained Glass Windows'.    Stained glass was used to tell people about stories in the Bible, they were sometimes nicknamed 'the poor man's Bible' as a result. Different colours represented certain ideas; green for charity, blue for heavenly love and grey for mourning.

We marked 'Mental Health Awareness Week' in the RS department with some meditation exercises in Year 9, to tie in with their Buddhism work.  

There are some examples here

https://www.mindfulnessforteens.com/dr-dzung-vo

The RS Department would like to wish everybody a restful break.  

Mr Sherwood-Farnfield 
Head of Religious Studies & ILP  

Defibrillator

We are pleased to announce that we now have four defibrillators strategically placed around the school grounds. 
We hope that we do not need to use them!

Attendance and behaviour 

For the vast majority, Borden is a place with positive behaviour and good attendance. However, students are sometimes ‘surprised’ when they are sanctioned for their uniform or behaviour to or from school. Please remind your child that they are representing the school as soon as they leave home in their school uniform and that school rules apply from that point onwards. We now have a covered area outside, but it is likely to get colder towards Christmas, so please do make sure they bring a coat; hoodies under blazers have never been allowed. Similarly, whilst we do understand that a family break is more expensive during the school holidays, the law and guidance for schools is very clear; holidays taken during term time will not be authorised. This is because attendance at school is fundamental to student success (see here for the link between outcomes and attendance expectations). You can find further information on attendance and behaviour guidance in our policies, to be found here. Borden Grammar School - Policies