Executive Principal’s Blog – 4.9.20: BMS – A School on an Exciting Journey!
As we embark on our continued journey it has been a real privilege to welcome all our hardworking and dedicated staff and a gradually increasing number of students to the school at the start of another exciting academic year.
To prepare for this ‘new normal’ all parents and carers received the key documents related to our September Reopening plan back in July – well in advance of most schools in the local area. Throughout the summer period key leaders did continue to meet to make the final preparations for our safe opening in September, but the documents in essence did not change and were always available via the link provided on the school website: Covid-19 Risk Assessment and School Reopening Plan
It has been really encouraging to receive such positive messages from parents thanking us for our communication well in advance of the new term and for the well thought out plans that have been made; one such example is below:
Dear Mr Turner,
I just wanted to express my gratitude to all involved in this extensive planning, I can only imagine the sheer work that has gone into this level of planning. As a parent I therefore just wanted to formally recognise this.
Best regards,
Parent of Year 12 Student
On Thursday of this week our new Year 7 students gathered excitedly in the quadrangle area of the school before listening attentively in their first formal Main School Assembly led by Senior Assistant headteacher Mr Searle and Pastoral Manager Miss Smart.
They had a really happy first day at BMS, sharing their superb Me-Capsules, enjoying tours of the school, sorting out their fingerprints and photos and getting to know new friends throughout the day.
Also on Thursday, nearly 50 new external applicants to our outstanding Sixth Form made a brilliant first impression; full of expectation, in the right school to achieve their goals and dreams at Post 16! It was joy to meet many of them in the Sixth Form Study Centre and we wish them all the very best for their learning here over the next two years.
Our new cohort of Year 11 students start their most important academic year to date and it was great to see so many of them attending their crucial ‘Kick Start’ meetings as they prepare for the year ahead; focussing on setting really smart targets to maximise achievement in their next round of Pre-Public Examinations (PPE’s) at the end of this term and their GCSEs next summer.
Our outstanding outcomes at A level and GCSE level indicate that BMS is a school that is helping GCSE and A level students continue to achieve their true potential and as a school we are continuing to focus on ‘Embedding Greatness’. Our two INSET days earlier in the week started to build further on that collective momentum or ‘synergy’ that exists across our learning community.
Staff were joined by some of our Student Leaders and Governors on Wednesday and are pictured here contributing to our new School Improvement Plan or SIP which will support our ongoing journey of improvement for the next three years.
As parents and carers you also all play a really key part in enabling your children to make a very positive start to the new academic year and ensuring that all of them achieve their true potential. Do make sure you ask your children about our ‘Keys to Success’ displayed in every BMS classroom over the next few weeks and reinforce our high expectations both in and out of school.
I would like to wish all students and staff every success for 2020.21 and look forward to reading this year’s publications of our weekly BMS News – the first edition of the academic year will be out next Friday.
Do have a lovely weekend.
Jeremy Turner
Executive Principal
