Blog w/c 14th February 2022
Hi All,
Firstly, I must apologise for the lack of blogs in the last couple of weeks but, unfortunately, the dreaded Covid finally got me and I had to be off work. I’m feeling much better now and back at it.
Well, we have managed to get to the end of another half term relatively unscathed. The school has remained open and we have also maintained a full calendar of extra-curricular activities, which is commendable, many of which are noted below.
English department theatre trip
Willy Russell’s ‘Blood Brothers’ is one of our set texts for English Literature GCSE, so we were delighted to take a group of approximately 45 students to the Palace Theatre in Manchester to experience it live on stage. It is a fantastic musical and, when we teach it, our students always engage well with the text, which makes it great fun when we are able to source a theatre production relatively locally. For some students, it is the first time that they have ever visited a theatre, so it is always a wonderful experience. Our students’ behaviour was exemplary, as we would expect, and we look forward to our next opportunity to go on a trip of this kind.
Football Result (delayed)
The Year 8 football team successfully qualified for the quarter finals of the National Cup on Monday 24th January with an excellent 2-1 win after extra time. The boys took the lead through a volleyed finish from Taylor W, before Wrekin College pulled back an equaliser. The game went to extra time and looked destined for penalties before Denis K fired us to victory with a fantastic goal.
Squad: Aidan W, Jayden B, Stanley T, Leon W, Lucas C, Taylor W, Blake R, Lennon S, Harry B, Will B, Denis K, Jake C, Cai W, Richard U, Shay W
Holocaust Memorial Day
A group of Year 8 pupils visited Chester Cathedral for Holocaust Memorial Day workshops on Tuesday 25th January.
They watched a talk that was live-streamed from a survivor of the Holocaust, called Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines MBE. Lady Milena was born in Czechoslovakia in 1929. Her father was advised to leave Czechoslovakia the day before the Nazis invaded because he was both Jewish and a supporter of an anti-Nazi author. Milena escaped shortly after, with her younger sister, at the age of 9, on a train organised by Harold Winton. Sir Nicholas Winton, described as the 'British Schindler' for his part in saving refugee children from Czechoslovakia organised a total of seven locomotives transporting 669 Czechoslovak children of mainly Jewish heritage from Prague to safety in Great Britain just before the outbreak of the war.
Our students were captivated by the story of survival under such intense pressure, and the resilience of the people described by Lady Milena. During the afternoon, they participated in workshops to reflect upon what they had learned and how the stories had made them feel. As representatives of Blacon High School, our students, as always, were well behaved, engaged and contributed to all of the activities. Staff at the Cathedral were very impressed with their maturity and polite manner.
Well done to everyone involved and especially to Mrs Owens for organising the visit.
Outdoor Education
Yesterday during Outdoor Education, three lucky Year 8 students to Northwest Face Climbing Centre in Warrington.
We were blown away by the behaviour displayed by our students who demonstrated outstanding teamwork, resilience and perseverance throughout the whole day. Miss Staff, who accompanied them, struggled to find the words to describe how amazing our students were. The encouragement they gave to each other to attempt and master challenges was great to see and completely made the day. The centre was also open to the public and our students were exceptional ambassadors for our school.
‘ROAK’ Day
Today is National Random Act of Kindness day so, during form and also in lessons, Miss McIvor’s groups have been thanking people for the kind things they have done and pledging to do something kind in return. What a lovely idea.
What's Cooking in the Food Department?
KS3 - Food Science Theme
Year 7 are making Bread Rolls this round and are focussing on the functions of the ingredients in the making process. They are learning about yeast and how this contributes in helping the bread to rise, and looking at the specific conditions we need in order for yeast to be activated.
Year 8 have been making a classic Chinese dish - Sweet and Sour Pork. We used a range of ingredients to create this unique flavour including white wine vinegar, demerara sugar and soy sauce. We looked at how to use cornflour to thicken sauces through the process of gelatinisation. We are now covering the 'science' behind this process in our theory lessons.
Y9 and 10 - Short Crust Pastry Theme
In Year 9 and 10 we have looked at how to create a successful shortcrust pastry. We have looked at the ingredients and the techniques we should use to keep the pastry short and crisp. Students have also experimented with the addition of some ingredients to flavour the pastry dough. Students then created their own dish using the shortcrust pastry. The results have been amazing! They have shown huge levels of independence and resilience.
Y11 - Trial Dishes for Controlled Assessment Work
In Year 11, students are completing trial dishes as part of their controlled assessment. They are creating meals that meet the needs of a person with cardiovascular disease, and this involves applying relevant knowledge to ensure their choices can be fully justified. They have also been focussing on demonstrating higher level preparation and cooking skills such as making home-made pasta, roux sauces, bread doughs and a variety of meat and fish dishes.
Looks delicious guys. Well done!
Chester School Sports Partnership
‘Chester School Sport Partnership’ held a primary school netball competition at Blacon High School last week. Primary schools from all over Chester attended with children from Years 5 & 6 on Day 1 and Years 3 & 4 on Day 2. We had some fantastic netball leaders from school helping out with umpiring and teaching the children new netball skills. They were all excellent and a real credit both to Blacon high School and to themselves. Teachers from the schools who were competing in the tournament also commented on how committed our students were, and how helpful they were to the younger children in passing on their knowledge.
Huge congratulations to everyone who was involved.
Get Stuck In!
Marcus Rashford has teamed up with chef Tom Kerridge to produce 52 weekly meals that are pocket friendly with short how to videos. Please follow the links below for some great, affordable ideas for healthy meals.
https://endchildfoodpoverty.org/full-time-meals
https://m.facebook.com/FullTimeMeals
https://www.instagram.com/fulltimemeals/?hl=en
Also, please find information about how to access the fantastic ‘Blacon Community Store’ at: 148 Rhuddlan Road, Blacon by following the link below.
https://www.neighbourly.com/project/5c8a277dc7ac890b5414cf00
And finally…
We have got through another half term and, for the first time in a while, really enjoyed the normality of day to day school life.
All of our Year 11 students really should be in the revision cycle for their GCSE exams now and, although it is important that they have a break, it is also important that they spend, perhaps, an hour and a half each day working towards their exams. I know that parents and carers will help to ensure this happens.
Have a restful break and we look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Monday 28th February.
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