Category : Front Page News

Our fifth annual Open Hands Christmas Charity appeal took place this month, where all tutor groups in the Academy were given the opportunity to collect as many food and toiletries hampers for the city’s most vulnerable people.

Despite this being our fifth appeal, it was the first time we have launched it in collaboration with our colleagues at The Winstanley School. To gain a greater insight in to how the Charity operates, five year 10 students from Bosworth and five year 7 students from The Winstanley School went to the Open Hands Compassion Centre to find out more. They then delivered an assembly to their respective student bodies and informed them of what items students could bring in to support the cause. Compassion for those less fortunate and a desire to improve the world around us are core to our values across the LiFE Multi-Academy Trust, and the teamship and comradery demonstrated throughout the collection was awe-inspiring. At Bosworth we managed to raise a total of 1,425 items which is a fantastic effort and clearly shows, once again, that compassion for those less fortunate is something we are passionate about. A massive thank you to all who contributed. The people at Open Hands are incredibly grateful and those items will go a long way in ensuring that more people have a Merry Christmas this festive season.

After much anticipation, I am delighted to inform you of the outcome of our recent Ofsted inspection that took place on 3-4 October 2017. The inspection team judged Bosworth Academy to be an ‘Outstanding’ school. We have been judged as outstanding in every area of the Ofsted framework.

Our school has continued to make excellent progress since it was judged to be ‘Good’ in February 2014. This is a result of the dedication, loyalty, and driving passion from our highly professional team. As the latest report states the teaching and support staff ‘want to excel’ going ‘the extra mile to improve pupils’ life chances’, under the guidance of ‘highly effective leaders’. Governance was judged to be ‘highly effective, and is working tirelessly to improve the quality of pupils’ education.’

I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all those who have contributed to this successful outcome and for making our school so unique and such a special place for our students on a daily basis. Thank you to parents who took the time to send positive messages of support and complete the parent view survey. The inspectors were very complimentary about the support the school receives from parents as partners.

Special praise must go to our students who continued to be magnificent, as always, during the inspection.

Simon Brown, Head of School

You can download the full Ofsted report below. We recommend that you take some time to read this report in full:

Bosworth Academy Ofsted Reports [link]
Letter to parents from Head of School [pdf]
Bosworth Academy Ofsted Report October 2017 [pdf]

At the beginning of the summer, a group of 11 students and 2 teachers went on a once in a lifetime trip.  Ask anyone who went on the World Challenge trip to Iceland, and they will agree that it was an incredible experience. For some of us, the trip was like nothing we had ever seen before: a brand new country with a whole host of exciting activities and memories to be made. With a diverse group ranging from Year 8 to Year 13, it was a completely inclusive week, testing our comfort zones and social skills as well as our fitness and outdoor skills. One thing is for sure, without the specific group of people who signed up to the trip, Iceland wouldn’t have been seen in the same light.

Right from the start, people in our group were experiencing new situations, as some people had never been on a plane. It seems that there was something particularly exciting about being in an airport with two excellent members of staff and a group of fellow students. Everyone was filled with anticipation of what was to come. What would the food be like? Would we cope with the strenuous walks? Luckily, every aspect of the trip fitted together to create a memorable week for all thirteen of us.

One detail that made the trip seem risky and exciting was camping. For most nights, we slept in our two or three man tents, a little cold and often exhausted. On the penultimate night we encountered a harsh storm that nearly blew our tents away. As a precaution we found huge stones to hold down the pegs. This ensured our tents stayed in place throughout the night.

In Iceland we had to cook our own meals every day but the first and last. On our second day we got up bright and early so we could go to the supermarket and buy our food supplies that would last us the whole week. We made sure that we had a balance of food, catering to everyone’s preferences with a variety of meals. When we went out for our hikes we made our own sandwiches and at night different people attempted cooking which was rewarding for everyone as people learnt valuable skills and everyone got to eat a nice meal (except for the first night when Joe put too much garlic in his pasta!).

For our rest and relaxation day most of us chose to go to the blue lagoon, there were a few complications with this involving finance and transport, but we came together as a group to resolve those issues. Going to the blue lagoon was one of the best experiences we did, it was a perfect way to end what had already been such a good week. Going into the geothermal pool and warming ourselves up after spending a week camping was especially good. Throughout the week the bonds between us kept growing (Mostly thanks to Mr Palmer’s legendary werewolf card game!), we had all become so close and were so sad to leave each other at the end of the week.

Written by Tess Grewcock, Izzy Cornish and Logan Lidbetter-Smith.

On the evening of September 7th, students, parents and staff gathered at the King Power stadium to celebrate outstanding performances in the summer examinations. On arrival students and parents alike were unaware of the subject in which they were to be awarded adding to the excitement and intrigue of the evening. Awards on the evening rewarded the very top performers of each subject at both GCSE and A Level. Each of the awards were presented by the Heads of Faculty from each of the subject areas, supporting the announcements with beautifully written pen portraits. The evening was supported by four outstanding performances which ranged from Indian Drums to a Solo Pianist. In addition to this, Deputy Head of School, Ben White, invited ex-student Katherine Smith to answer questions about her experiences at Bosworth Academy and then Cambridge University. This part of the evening was really well received by students and parents, with one parent commenting on how Katherine really resonated with the students.

Well done to all of our talented students who took part in the much anticipated performance of Bugsy Malone which took place on Thursday, 22nd June. Our students worked very hard alongside staff, having to remember complicated lines and learning a variety of songs. We also had some excellent musical performances from Oliver Lewis, Chris Salmon, Shalom Mizha and Molli Ledger who provided backing and incidental music. We held a full dress rehearsal during the afternoon where our performers from Fat Sam’s and Dandy Dan’s Gang tried out their ‘splurge’ guns for the first time, causing much hilarity amongst the cast.

The evening performance was enjoyed by friends and family and we are all incredibly proud of the performers, many of whom were Year 7 students, new to Winstanley this year, which shows an incredible amount of confidence. We should also say a big thank you to Mrs Olner, Head of Music and Miss Curzon, Teaching Assistant who have worked tirelessly to ensure the performance was a success.

I currently teach Film Studies at Bosworth Academy and am also a Moderator for WJEC GCE Film Studies. This means I assess A level Film coursework from schools across the country. However, my experience in research and teaching the subject spans several years.

In 1993 I studied Italian with Film Studies, BA Hons. at the University of Reading. As part of the course I spent a year studying at l’Universita di Trieste, Italy, which was fantastic. I achieved a First Class in my course and developed a real passion for learning. After that I was lucky enough to be awarded a scholarship by the Arts Council to attend a Masters degree in Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick.

This all led to my specialist qualification of a PhD in Italian Cinema at the University of Reading. The title of my 60,000 word thesis was ‘The Soviet Model in Fascist Cinema’. This looked at how Mussolini tried to use cinema as the Communists had in the 1920s. I was fortunate enough to be granted another scholarship by the Arts Council for my PhD. Much of my research was carried out in libraries and archives in Rome. After this, I spent a couple of years lecturing Italian Cinema at the University of Manchester.

In 2007 I completed a PGCE in English and Media Studies and have been teaching at Bosworth ever since then. I feel really lucky to be able to use my cultural and academic expertise on a daily basis working with young people at Bosworth Academy!

Students of the Bosworth Theatre Company performed David Greig’s play ‘Dr Korczak’s Example’ on 25th and 26th of May. The play is set in an orphanage in a ghetto in Poland.

The action takes place shortly before the mass deportation of Jews to concentration camps and focuses on the real life pediatrician of Dr Korczak. The subjects of humanity, tolerance and acceptance in the face of fear and brutality were particularly resonant and important to explore in light of recent national and world events. Students learnt about life in the ghettos and the experiences that people faced at that time.

They explored the different viewpoints on how to resist oppression and how there are no easy answers to this. The students performed as an ensemble with the whole cast multi-rolling different parts.

Students also learnt and performed a song in Hebrew called ‘Hine Ma Tov.’ This literally translates to ‘It is a beautiful thing when brothers stand together in unity’. Students were involved in set design, costume and marketing as well as acting.

Together, the Bosworth Theatre Company produced a wonderful example of beautiful work and ensured that the first year of our Company was a tremendous success. Parents thoroughly enjoyed the play and were very moved by the performances given.

This year, 33 students from Bosworth Academy went to visit our twin School in Rouen “Le Collège Jean Delacour”. Students were involved in a busy activity programme which gave them an opportunity to discover more about the culture and history of France. Students went to visit the memorial of Caen and one of the D-Day beaches where French and British troops fought together.

Students visited Rouen with their French classmates. They learnt about the great Viking ‘Rollo’ who was a common ancestor for both countries. They experienced shopping in town using what they had learnt in class to buy souvenirs, or order food and drink. Finally, they spent one day at the Collège Jean Delacour and took part in different lessons such as PE, Maths, Music and Art in full immersion.

In June, the French students came and visited us. They visited Leicester with a group of our year 10 students and spent a whole day at Bosworth Academy. This exchange has been taking place for three years and it has enabled students to develop strong links with each other. True friendship has developed among the students from the two schools, and they still communicate actively with each other.