INTERNAL EXAMINATION TIMETABLES - TERM 6

Life changes; the personal characteristics that help make us good to know, well-balanced and successful people stay constant.  We aim to help our pupils to develop the characteristics that will help them to enjoy life-long success – including determination, resilience, and a willingness to work hard, both independently and with others, to achieve goals that might, at first, seem out of reach.  These things, added to an ability to see mistakes as ‘feedback’ rather than ‘failure’, are as important for later success as are the high exam grade outcomes enjoyed by the vast majority of our pupils. 

Ours is a caring community; we build confidence and self-esteem by showing our pupils how they can meet challenges and overcome difficulties themselves.  They learn that quantities of intelligence are not fixed, that success is largely down to effort over time rather than luck, and that ‘self-esteem’ is gained through achievement in the face of adversity, rather than through adult praise for mediocrity.  We teach, too, that we all ‘stand on the shoulders of others’ in life, and that co-operation is as important as competition. 

Relationships between staff and students are excellent.  Those relationships are the daily demonstration that we do not simply talk about caring for others and supporting each-other – we live these values daily, in countless ways, and this is what makes our community special.  Sample the richness and diversity of life at Boston High School via this website; better still, come and visit us.  There’s a feeling you get when you’re here that you’ll not quite find anywhere else.

Dr J G Howard

Headteacher

7th May 2013

At the end of last term many members of Y8 went on the fantastic trip to Dieppe - including Ariane Fleuriot who has provided this report.

Not all of us could come, but our laughter and chatter made up for everyone who had to stay behind. On the day of departure, we had to be at school for 7.00am, to board the big red bus entitled “LEON” which was to become our “second home” whilst we were away. We stopped a few times on the journey, until we arrived at Dover for the ferry. It was a choppy journey, but this way we didn’t miss seeing the rolling coast of Calais as we approached the harbour. The trip to the hostel only resulted in more excitement. The travelling from Calais to Dieppe took a few hours, and was very photo-worthy, and we took advantage of the chance to take pictures of some of the French landscapes.

When we arrived at our destination it was already dark. Everyone was glad to finally be there, but hungry! After we got settled into our rooms we were invited downstairs for dinner where we were greeted by the French chef and people who worked at the hostel; we were to address them in French only, which gave us experience talking in French. This was reinforced the next day in Rouen. After leaving the hostel we visited the market at Place du Vieux Marché to have an hour’s guided tour around Rouen to introduce its history, which we all learnt a lot from. It was a very French scene; a musician was playing the accordion whilst an old couple danced in the background as our tour guide spoke. Time was given for us to go and have lunch and to shop, which gave us a very individual aspect and really tested our language skills! Later on, we stopped at Ferme Val de Bures, a goats cheese farm, for a milking and tasting session and a visit to see the baby goats! The lady who owned the farm spoke to us in French whilst Mr Servonat translated, but she spoke 26th April 2013 very slowly so that we could pick out certain words and phrases for ourselves. We got back to the hostel at 6.45pm ready for our evening meal of quiche and couscous, which was shortly followed by a walk to the local bowling alley. This was a great time to spend with all of our friends, and again we used our French to order drinks and bowling shoes.

The next day we visited a marine museum where we were dropped off by a miniature train, which had previously taken us on a tour around Dieppe stopping once on a hill, which revealed the beautiful sights of the town. Every day that followed was just as good as the other. Later on, on the third day we went to Le Treport for the first time where we went on the funicular, you could see for miles from there. There were a few souvenir shops, which were visited and we patrolled the beach, admiring the cliffs nearby. This day was our last full day, so a few of us visited the games room back at the hostel in the evening where we played table tennis/football in a match against the teachers. On the last day, on our way home, we stopped at Pâtisserie Le Fournil, a bakery in Wierre Effroy, and got to try croissants, freshly baked from this typical French-styled bakery. Later we stopped at Intermarché, a French supermarket, where we raided the chocolate aisles, before heading home.

Dieppe was an amazing adventure that I will never forget. Once we got back to England, I felt homesick for France, and wished I were back there. New friendships were made, more memories created, and the trip had a real educational impact.

24th April 2013

Year 10 Health and Social Care students visited Johnson Community hospital today, to carry out research for their GCSE assessment tasks.  They received informative talks from the Outpatients’ sister and the Minor Injuries Chief Nurse Practitioner who explained issues such as quality assurance, services provided and the structure of the organisation.  The students then went on a tour of the hospital which included the Outpatient departments, the in-patient and palliative care ward and the Minor Injuries Unit.

16th April 2013

Despite fears of bad weather the group set off on Monday 11th March with considerable excitement and expectation. They were not to be disappointed as the weather proved to be dry for all but Thursday afternoon and the return drive on Friday. Our 19 Boston High students were accompanied by 6 students from Boston Grammar school and a total of 3 staff. On arrival in Keswick we visited the shores of Derwentwater to see the drumlins and climb Castle Head. Later we stopped at Ashness Bridge and the Bowder Stone before reaching our very comfortable accommodation at Borrowdale Youth Hostel.

Day 2 involved a focus on Settlement with 5 transects along major roads into Carlisle. Here we noted the variety of housing types in different areas of the city as we walked from the edge of the city to the city centre. We also examined the impact of the recent flooding in Carlisle, the new flood defences and visited the wonderful waterfall at Aira Force on the edge of Ullswater.

On the Wednesday we travelled to the Field Studies Council field study centre at Blencathra for a 6 hour field day on rivers. Here we were preparing for the typical examination questions on the fieldwork paper on carrying out safe field study on rivers in mountain areas. To be precise we were investigating changes along the Glenderaterra Beck. In the late afternoon we also took in the wonderful views of Buttermere and its amazing lake.

Day 4 involved a visit to Wordsworth country with an exploration to Grassmere. Here we examined the characteristics and changing nature of a rural settlement, in this case a tourist ‘honeypot’. We also walked to Easedale Tarn to map and study glacial features such as a hanging valley, a tarn (lake), a corrie, waterfalls and much more! The afternoon ended with a walk around the Borrowdale area to take in the many features of glacial erosion and deposition to be found there.

Each evening involved a great deal of data analysis and hard work to work out the significance of what had been seen during the day. It was a great trip, enjoyed by all and many wondered why we had not been to amazing Lake District National Park before. Thank you to all the parents for your continued support for this valuable trip.

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16th April 2013

Many of you will now be aware of the internet YouTube sensation ‘Harlem Shake’, which has taken over and now it seems that everyone around the world is creating their own versions. As a development of media production techniques, our news team, filmed, edited and added the famous DJ Baauer music to their very own ‘Harlem Shake’ video.
The workshop took place last week to improve the skills that the journalists have learnt over the past year, we were also looking at the influence internet sensations have on the media and how a short video clip or ‘viral’ can have a phenomenal impact on the media rich content we experience. First there was Gangnam Style, now there is Harlem shake…it is anyone’s guess what will be next.
We hope you enjoy our version of Harlem Shake starring the BHS Newsteam!
 

Rebecca Leatherland
BHS Newsroom Senior Editor
 

1st March 2013

Between February 12th and 15th 2013 the History Department made its annual trip to Berlin with 16 students. We took a few students who are studying power, politics, nationalism and fascism within politics and Sociology A level courses but the majority were our A2 level History students. As usual the trip was tightly linked to their coursework essays which comprise 40% of the total year’s work. This year’s task is to look at several historians’ interpretations of the Holocaust and using these with their own knowledge answer the very difficult question “assess the view that the Holocaust was mainly the result of a long term plan by Hitler to eliminate the Jews”.

The full trip report can be downloaded below!

Berlin 2013 - Trip Report

1st March 2013

The idea of the Royal College of Music was first suggested by Prince Consort but it took several years until it was fully established in 1876. The college is designed to ensure that students are equipped to succeed in the ever changing career of a musician and are ready to take the initiative in their futures, but my future was less certain as I was going to be composing and performing an original piece of music and I don’t even play an instrument!
 
Several school pupils, ageing from fifteen to eighteen, were invited to participate in the Pulse Fiction Composition Workshop at the Royal College.  The workshop provided a fantastic chance to improve both musical and composing skills as well as teamwork but the worrying part was that the newly formed group only had 5 hours until a public performance, gulp!

The workshop was led by composer Frasier Trainer and there were several RCM musicians present to support and encourage the students. At the end of the workshop, there was a 15 minute concert in which the group performed the new pieces they had created; it was inspirational to all attending and gauging by the crowds reaction all were suitably impressed.

This was followed by a formal ‘Variable Geometry Concert’, in which several well-known pieces were performed: Chamber Symphony by John Adams, Workers Union by Louis Andreissen, New Work (a world premiere no less) by Raquel G Thomas and Tehillim by Steve Reich. The conductor was Jean-Philippe Calvin and his orchestra consisted of bass, strings, percussion and voices. There were about 30 members and they performed to a fairly small audience in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall. The concert was a masterclass in minimalism and although sometimes quite niche was a pleasure to watch and listen.

Look out for my audio report on the next Boston High YJA Radio show, but if you can’t wait for the next show here is a little teaser, click below to hear our performance.
 

Download Performance!

Alisha
Boston High Newsroom
 

8th February 2013

Tuesday and Wednesday saw more than ten pairs of students from key stage three battled it out in a cook off! Mrs Thornalley and Mrs Manson judged the cook off and they tasted dishes from 5 different countries: the Caribbean, Republic of Ireland, India and Portugal.

The brief was for two students to plan and cook a 2 course meal for 2 people from the countries listed above. The 2 course meal should have consisted of a main course with either a starter or dessert and the complete meal should cost no more than £10.

The pairs had 30 minutes preparation time where they could collect equipment and weigh out all of their ingredients. In this time no food handling was permitted. Then an hour and a half was given for cooking. At the end of this time both dishes had to be plated and ready for judging.
Dishes cooked included flatbread and spicy coleslaw and a lot of different curries with variations of desserts. Well done to everyone who took part!

Kyra Balderstone
Year 8

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4th February 2013

Last Friday, five students taking part in the Boston/Hakusan City Exchange programme went to Long Eaton School in Nottinghamshire to take part in a day organised by Routes into Languages.

The day consisted of many activities centred around Japanese culture and business which will be useful to them when they travel to Japan in July.

They took part in a language class which taught them basic words and that there are three Japanese alphabets rather than one. A ‘business challenge’ taught the students how important it is to wear the right clothes and sit in the right place in the room (with the most important member furthest away from the door, and the most junior, closest to it) and what not to say and do in a business meeting. This was followed by a carousel of activities which included a food demonstration, calligraphy writing, a ‘chopstick challenge’ and even the opportunity to dress in a kimono.

There was also the opportunity to speak with international business people about studying languages at university and about how languages can help with career choices.

The students really enjoyed their day and came away knowing how culturally different Japan is to Britain and with even more excitement about their forthcoming trip. Many thanks to Mr Acheson and Mrs Trowsdale for accompanying them.

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18th December 2012

Four of our Sports Ambassadors - Luke Macleod, Chloe Wicks, Harmony Brady and Ellen Talbot - together with Sports Ambassadors from other local secondary schools, recently took part in a day of activity at Freiston Educational Centre.

By the end of the day they had:

• - challenged themselves
• - encouraged others
• - become more effective communicators
• - learnt to trust others to guide them through a difficult situation
• - conquered fears
• - dealt with the unexpected
• - relied on other people
• - taken charge
• - learnt new skills
• - shared new experiences
• - built up a bond between group members
• - had fun!

Hopefully this will all help in their sports leadership work over the year. Many thanks to the staff at Freiston for running the day for us!

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10th December 2012

Although we were not competing, Boston High School recently hosted the U19 Netball Lincolnshire Schools Finals at short notice. Thanks to all concerned, in particular:

• - our caretaking staff for sweeping our courts to rid them of loose gravel and then on the day thanks to John for sweeping the water off them, twice!
• Jane Walsh for her help on the day.
• - all staff who umpired, in particular those who stayed on voluntarily after their own matches were finished to help out with umpiring the later tournament winning matches.
• - Jenny McGarel for all her preparation of the paperwork so that the tournament ran smoothly.
• - Nic Brennan for getting the medals and for her support.

Ten teams from across Lincolnshire had qualified for this event. The school teams which had progressed to the final were:

• Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Horncastle
• Kesteven Grantham Girls School
• The Priory LSST
• Bourne Grammar School
• The John Leggott College
• Spalding High School
• Stamford High School
• Queen Elizabeth’s Gainsborough
• Monk’s Dyke Tennyson College, Louth
• Brigg 6th Form

The match was played in two randomly drawn groups of five with the winners from each group playing the runners up from the other group.

This meant that one semi final consisted of:

Stamford High School (winners) v The John Leggott College

Score: Stamford won 17 to 10

The second semi-final was:

The Priory LSST (winners) v Spalding High School.  

Score: The Priory LSST won 15 to 6

The very exciting and closely fought final between Stamford and The Priory LSST was eventually won by The Priory LSST 15 goals to 14 after extra time.

In the match for 3rd place John Leggott College won Spalding High school 10 goals to 6

Priory LSST and Stamford now represent Lincolnshire at the East Midlands tournament in January – Good luck.

Well done everyone – the standard of play was superb and the whole tournament was played in such an excellent atmosphere of supportive friendliness.

22nd November 2012

I would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has taken the time and care to create a shoe box this year, supporting Operation Christmas Child. We managed to produce a total of 120 boxes, beating last year's total! The boxes will go to a total of 15 different countries - including Haiti, Kenya and Belarus. The children of these countries will receive the shoe boxes near to Christmas time, and we hope that our efforts will mean they can also enjoy the festive spirit. Thank you again, everyone!
 

Rebecca Ryan
Charity Co-Ordinator
 

16th November 2012

Psychology students from Boston High School and Boston Grammar School attended a Psychology Conference entitled ‘Science and Pseudoscience’ at Nottingham Playhouse on Tuesday 13th November.

The conference got off to a great start with a session by Professor Phil Banyard, Reader in Psychology at Nottingham Trent University  ‘Won’t get fooled again’ in which he challenged students to be sceptical – every day we are bombarded with information but how can we tell the good stuff from the rubbish?  Is there any evidence at all that 5 portions of fruit and veg a day do us any good? Does listening to Mozart boost your brain?

Dr Peter Lovatt is a principal lecturer and Reader in Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, where he runs a Dance Psychology Lab.  He explained his current research which examines the relationship between dance and thinking, health, hormones and human perception.  Some of our students joined him on stage to show us their moves!

Gustav Kuhn not only demonstrated some of his magic to the audience but also explained how his passion for magic inspired him to study Psychology.  He is now a lecturer at Goldsmiths, London.

The finale was Andrew Newton’s talk about the development of hypnosis.  The lecture was fascinating and funny - especially as several of our students volunteered to participate in the on stage hypnosis demonstration! 

16th November 2012

On the 8th and 9th of October for another year, a group of year 10 geography students went to visit the beautiful village of Castleton. With attractions such as the remains of Peveril Castle, the adventurous watery caves as well as the green hilltops, it gave the students the perfect opportunity to think about their coursework question, ‘Why is Castleton a honeypot (a village that attracts visitors)?’ as they explored independently through the small village.

Whilst the teachers decided to have a sit down with a cup of tea, taking in the countryside on a surprisingly sunny day, the pupils where left to work their way through 6 activities that were carried out in the mornings and evening throughout the 2 weekdays; ensuring they have enough work that will benefit their Geography Controlled Assessment.

Though there was time spent researching through secondary and primary data the pupils would recommend the fantastic village to their friends and family in hope that “next time I come I wish I can be booklet free!”

Boston High Newsroom
J.G.

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16th November 2012

An Archery Taster Day was held earlier this term. It was mainly for Y8 pupils, however other students who wished to try archery also had the opportunity to participate. At lunch time it was open for staff to come and have a go too!

Each session lasted an hour and after a safety talk and demonstration students had several shots at the targets.

The day was a huge success, with sixty students signing up to express an interest in the 10 week archery continuation course, taking place on a Wednesday evening. Places for this were limited to the first sixteen applicants, however those students not lucky enough to get a place will have another opportunity later on in the school year as four members of staff are shortly to undertake a Level 1 Archery Coaching Course. Once they have qualified they intend to start a BHS Archery Club.

Many thanks to Ian Talbot for making the arrangements, and to all the other archery coaches, who gave up their time for nothing, to make this day possible for our students. I would also like to give a special mention to Barry Molsom who headed up the day for us.

S Gibson

Sports Co-Ordinator

16th November 2012

A Primary School High 5 Netball Tournament was held at BHS recently.

The participating schools were:

Quadring
Butterwick
Gosberton
Old Leake
St Mary’s
Tower Road (2 teams)

A round robin format was used. Thanks to the following BHS students for umpiring the matches:

Emily Manson, Jade Doughty, Tallan Brinkman, Laura Smith, Georgia Smith and Mei-Lin Roberts

Thanks also to Laura Hardy and Paige Taylor for keeping the score and taking the photos.

The winning Primary School was Tower Road A, and the runners up were St Mary’s.

The next Primary School event is a High 5 Development Day for Y3 and Y4 pupils on Tuesday 27th November, from 12.45 to 14.45.

26th October 2012

The last afternoon of term brought lots of fun and laughter for students at Boston High School, who were raising money for charity at the School's annual Bazaar. Full report from our Young Journalists soon!

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24th October 2012

With a long line up, Britain’s Got Talent at Boston High School started at the beginning of lunch time in the main hall and it was the main event of the day.

With eight acts backstage and very nervous the majority of the school piled into the hall for a lunchtime of loads of talent.

First up: Megan, Y7, singing Fun, What do I Stand For. Leonie commented: “She has guts to stand up and sing acapelia. She was amazing.”

Second: Samantha, Y8, singing and playing the piano. Holly said: “Samantha played really well and her singing was beautiful.” Nesta told us: “The singing was lovely; it filled the room.”

Next: Kate, Y7, playing the clarinet. “Very original, lovely tune,” Kyra said.

After Kate came a trio: Leah, Helena and Jamie, Y7, singing Adele’s Someone Like You. Holly and Leonie told us: The three were in perfect harmony - the singing was sweet and gentle.”

Rowan, Y7, was next and she played a lovely tune on her guitar. Holly and Nesta stated: “It was in tune and made a great atmosphere.”

Britney, Y7, sang What Do I Have To Do To Make You Feel Proud. Nesta said: “She was very confident and had a very strong voice.”

Another trio was Ellen, Anya and Zakia, Y8, with Jar of Hearts. Kyra told us: “Great confidence to stand up in front of all these people and sing like that, a shaky start but as they worked their way through, they got stronger and stronger.”

Alicia, Y8, had a few technical problems, but eventually it worked and her fantastic voice took over. Leonie said: “She hit the big notes really well.”

Last but not least was Ashi, Y7, an Indian dancer. Kyra and Leonie told us: “She was really good and it brought some culture to the show. Everyone was spellbound.”

The Judges: Mr Servonat, Miss Lowe and Mr Athersych. Mr Servonat told us: “I thought the talent show was great; it was a real eye opener on all the pupils’ hidden talents.”

Eventually it was time to announce the winners: First was … Ashi and second was … Samantha! Ashi told us: “It feels really good to win and it is great for my culture and country.” Mr Servonat said: “I think Ashi deserved to win because he act was different and included a different culture.”