Once again we are delighted to be celebrating the success of our two gymnastics teams who competed in the Floor and Vault Schools National Finals. This is an extremely prestigious competition and GBHS qualified to compete in categories that are of an extremely high standard and that we haven’t got through to before. The U19 Girls team competed on Sunday morning and were outstanding. All gymnasts performed with grace and elegance and scored well. With top scores on the Vault of 15.30 from Amelie S and some great scores on floor. All gymnasts contributed to the team finishing 5th in the country which is an outstanding achievement and the highest we have placed in this category in GBHS history. A massive well done to the U19 Girls Team, Layla D, Francessca D, Amelie S, Naiha K and Sophia W. The U14 Girls team competed later on Sunday afternoon, again an extremely prestigious and difficult competition with some well known schools all competing and scoring highly. The U14 Girls started their competition with brilliant vaults from all the gymnasts, with the top score being 15.45 from Emily B who captained the team with class and encouragement for all of her teammates. They then went onto the floor routines where, with great expressions throughout their routines, they performed skills effortlessly, gaining strong and high scores, with the top score being 15.05 from Freya P. The team made GBHS history by placing 3rd in Great Britian in the U14 Girls category, a category we haven’t made it through to before now. It was so lovely to see all of the girls cheering each other on throughout their routines and was a display of a real team performance. They were also complemented by the judges at the end on how excellent their skills were performed. A huge well done to the U14 Girls Team, Emily B, Florence B, Aaliyah P, Freya P and Poppy P. "Overall, an outstanding weekend and incredible results for our gymnastics squads this year. I am extremely proud of all of the work they have put in throughout the last couple of years to build to reach the top categories and places in these National Schools Gymnastics Competition and myself and Miss Freeman are delighted to have supported both U14 and U19 Girls team to these successful positions." Miss S Smith

Twenty-one students from Years 7, 8 & 9 have worked extremely hard since the project commenced in October. This group of more able students visited Jesus College in Cambridge in February, had face to face tutorials from a world class PHD tutor over the winter and wrote a dissertation (approx. 1500 words each) to answer; ‘The Anthropocene vs Deep Time: An investigation of climate change” Comparing different eras and a multitude of data, geological & atmospheric factors, they independently and effectively researched the impact of humans on the natural world and what measures can be taken to slow climate change. They have developed their resilience, up-skilled their critical thinking, verbal communication and essay writing, they have additionally developed their time management, their ability to work with new people, their understanding of plagiarism and copyright, how to create a bibliography and acknowledge the sources used in their research. Our students each produced a short university level piece of work and have been awarded grades accordingly. The Brilliant Club charity graded the work and our results were very pleasing. 5 graded 3rd, 7 graded 2:2, 7 graded 2:1 and 2 First Class grades. GBHS students produced high quality work and when compared to The Brilliant Club national average (1800 students) the progress they demonstrated over the three month course was outstanding. Such standards of excellence are hard won and we are truly proud of every one of them. QUOTES FROM THE BRILLIANT CLUB “This is a lovely cohort of students, really nice young people who have worked very hard.” Happiness ( PHD Tutor) “It was particularly pleasing to see your pupils make significant progress in all three academic competencies (written communication, subject knowledge and critical thinking). In addition ……….impressive growth in their university knowledge and understanding.”  Adam Kerr(Scholar’s Programme administrator) QUOTES FROM STUDENTS “I really enjoyed The Scholar’s Programme and it’s made me want to work harder and aim for a more ambitious choice in higher education. Now it feels like a realistic goal and I’m hopeful I can challenge myself to do better.” “The programme has helped me to understand how to be an independent learner and our tutor has given great assistance and feedback to my work.”

On Wednesday 10th April, 25 excited Year 10 students and 3 staff (Mrs Dawson, Mrs Sweeting and Mrs Burdon) left GBHS at 3.30 a.m. bound for Catania, Sicily for the geography field trip. On arrival in Sicily the group were met by their driver and began their first day at the Alcantara Gorge with a quick lunch, after which they explored the river and volcanic basalt columns. Students learnt about Sicilian (lunar) lemons which fruit 5 times a year. After a day of travelling, the lure of the beach and river was too enticing and so many of the students enjoyed a quick paddle and skimming stones before heading back to the coach and hotel to unpack and enjoy their first typical Italian dinner. Day 2 saw another early start to catch the Hydrofoil to the island of Vulcano. A quick wander round the town of Milazzo, a boat trip over and they were soon listening to Manuelo the guide and trekking to the top of the 800m volcano. Looking across the 500m wide crater gave the students a breath-taking view of all the volcanic islands in the distance (over 200) and the sulphur gases at the summit. The students bought themselves a well-earned gelato when they descended to the base and some had a walk on the black sand beach and investigated the sulphurous thermal baths. Friday was Mount Etna day. Everyone was excited about the prospect of seeing the mountain that dominated the view from the hotel. A coach to the Lava Fields first, followed by honey and olive tasting, then a further drive north to the base camp for the cable cars. After the cable cars, they boarded jeeps to the next level to meet an Alpine Guide who walked the group the final 100m. With snow all around, standing 3000m high, the students were eager to learn that the last lava eruption in December had left areas where the rocks were almost too hot to handle! They were all in awe of this magnificent volcano. They then returned to the hotel for some much-needed down time and a football game on the beach. The last day dawned bright and sunny for some beach time and a delicious granita (sorbet) at Giardini Naxos. and then a drive to Taormina where the students all enjoyed making pizzas for lunch. The guide took the students through the history of the town and showed them the spectacular view from the Greek Amphitheatre overlooking the bay. Some free time for shopping was then on offer for those wanting to buy gifts after the final part of the itinerary.  The town even put on a parade for everyone to enjoy before the journey back to Catania airport. “Sicily provided the group with a fabulous opportunity to test their geography knowledge, learn what else the island had to offer and try new food. The students were superbly behaved and a credit to the school (we had lots of favourable comments from hotel guests). They were fun to be with and a pleasure to support. We have all brought back memories that will last a lifetime.   Arrivederci Sicily – until next time.” Mrs Burdon

As we receive details of our new 2024 Year 7 student admissions, we are delighted to see that the upward trend in the number of students choosing GBHS as their first choice has continued this year with our school becoming the most popular school in Chelmsford. A ‘Good’ Ofsted report is always important, and we received excellent feedback following their visit in 2022 and it endorsed the hard work, dedication and commitment that our school community has made to make Great Baddow an incredibly special place. ‘Pupils are proud to attend Great Baddow High School. They feel happy and safe as tolerance and respect are the norm.’ ‘A culture of safeguarding is rooted in the school ethos.’ ‘Leaders have an ambitious vision for providing pupils with a high-quality education.’  However, becoming the ‘parents school of choice in Chelmsford’ is an amazing validation that the work we do at our school offers a curriculum that stretches and challenges our students, delivers outstanding teaching and learning and that we have created a vibrant and welcoming community that parents are eager to join. We have amazing students, wonderful staff and an important and valued partnership with parents and stakeholders that allows us to create a happy, safe and successful environment for everyone. We take pride in being the preferred secondary school for many parents, and we look forward to supporting our students’ academic adventures as they embark on this exciting next step! Great Baddow High School was the fourth hardest in Essex to get into and the most popular in Chelmsford with 362 putting it down as a first choice with 227  of those being offered a place. “I am really pleased to see that, once again, we have been able to offer so many pupils their parents’ preferred secondary school place this year. “Starting secondary school is a hugely important milestone in a child’s life and I hope those embarking on this exciting next step enjoy their last few months at primary and junior school before starting their next academic adventure.” Councillor Tony Ball, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Education Excellence, Lifelong Learning and Employability. Secondary School offers 2024 | Essex County Council  

On Saturday 16th March, to conclude our week of music competitions at Great Baddow High School, we hosted our 3rd consecutive Inter-Primary Music Competition. All Primary school pupils from the local area were invited to participate with 16 of them joining us on the day for a friendly competition. There were many outstanding performances and all pupils were a credit to their schools. A fantastic mix of instruments made it incredibly difficult for the judges (Mr Nolan and Mr Herbert) however the results were as follows: Awards for Musical Connection: Most Energetic Performance - Callum C (Drums) Most Accurate Performance - Edie D (Recorder) Most Emotional Performance - Lotte M (Voice) Category Winners: Beginner (Preliminary Grade) Category Winner -  Anika S (Voice) Intermediate (Grade 1) Category Winner - Linden C-B (Cello) Advanced (Grade 2-3) Category Winner - Hailey K (Piano) Congratulations to all that took part and we look forward to welcoming you back next year either as a Baddow Student or for another year of the competition.    

British Science week has been celebrated at GBHS in many ways this week. The science department have been continually linking the theme of ‘Time’ into lessons and topics across all year groups. In addition, there have been after-school activities taking place which have engaged and intrigued our students. The STEM club have been completing their propeller cars and were hoping to hold a drag race with them this week, but it has been postponed to allow further build time. Many of the groups are still problem solving the issues surrounding opposing forces preventing the car from reaching the desired speed. On Thursday 14th March, a large group of KS3 students opted into the activities run by the science department. One challenge was for students to design the slowest ‘marble run’ course down a table with only limited materials. Students successfully managed to record a time of 30.15s. The second group were investigating how concentration effects rate of reaction. The iodine clock worked really well and students mostly managed to achieve the reactions to take place at the correct times to make the clock face work. The final group were undertaking rat dissections. The aim here was to understand how mammals achieve effective digestion by having very long intestines. This allows a longer time for nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream. I think lots of students were amazed to see approx. 2m of intestines removed from a rat that is only 20cm long. All students thoroughly enjoyed the activities over the week. A big thank you to the science department and in particular Dr Pratt, Mr Becker & Mrs Richardson for hosting activities.

The music department hosted it's annual music competition week with the most entries from students ever. 34 students took part in the heats over the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday competing in the three categories: Beginner (Grade 1-2), Intermediate (Grade 3-5) and Advanced (Grade 6-8). The standard of entries was fantastic and it was very difficult to decide who progressed from the Heats to the Final. Congratulations to our students who did progress to the Final: Beginner Category: Max L - Y8 (Piano), Liz H - Y10 (Flute), Martin Z - Y7 (Classical Guitar), Rose N - Y9 (Voice and Guitar), Grace K - Y9 (Clarinet) Intermediate Category: Reuben R - Y10 (Piano), Iris O - Y10 (Voice), Shaun R - Y9 (Violin), Chloe A - Y10 (Voice), Hazel K - Y8 (Flute), Adelaide B - Y9 (Voice) Advanced Category: Isabella R - Y10 (Voice), Jack B - Y11 (Piano), Julien H - Y10 (Saxophone), Ben M - Y10 (Voice), Hazel K - Y8 (Piano) The final was judged by Mr Barton, Mrs Fox, Mr Kellett, Mrs Pickwick and Mr Sheldon. They were delighted to award the following results: Awards for Musical Connection: Most Accurate Performance: Hazel K (Y8) Most Energetic Performance: Max L (Y8) Most Emotional Performance: Isabella R (Y10) Category Winners: Ensembles Category Winners: Noah P (Y9) and Isaac B (Y9) performing their rendition of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' Beginner Category Winner: Grace K (Y9) performing the 'Theme from Wallace and Gromit' on Clarinet Intermediate Category Winner: Shaun R (Y9) performing 'Via Dolorosa' on Violin Advanced Category Winner: Jack B (Y11) performing 'New Kid' on Piano  Congratulations to everyone involved and we look forward to seeing you all compete again next academic year!

On Friday 8th March, four teams travelled to Stoke on Trent to compete in the Milano Gymnastics Schools National Finals. We had four teams competing, U13 Mixed, U16 Mixed, U19 Mixed and U19 Girls. In this high level competition teams must perform an individual floor piece, 2 vaults and a group trio routine. All teams performed brilliantly and put everything they could into their pieces at this prestigious competition. On Friday, the U13 and U16 Mixed teams competed, and all scored well. The U16 mixed team were part of coming 3rd in the country as an East Region. The U13 mixed team placed 2nd Region in the country in their category and were also part of the East Region team and came 3rd in the country as a whole region. On the Saturday, the U19 Mixed and U19 girls teams were ready to compete, and all students showed outstanding performances with some extremely high scores from Layla on vault of 15.45. The U19 Girls team placed 3rd Region in the country in their category and were also part of the East Region team and came 2nd in the country as a whole region. The U19 Mixed also performed excellently and were also part of the East Region team and came 2nd in the country as an East Region. Overall, a hugely successful weekend and a massive congratulations to all 4 teams who competed at the National Finals with all teams bringing home a medal either as a team or region.

On Sunday Great Baddow High School competed in the Regional Round of the Floor and Vault Gymnastics Competition. This is an extremely prestigious competition and one in which we have never won before with only the team that places 1st going on to represent East Region in the National Finals.  We had 3 teams entered, U14 Girls, U19 Girls and U19 Boys. This involved 15 students and all had to perform a floor routine and two vaults. All students performed exceptionally well and to an excellent standard. The boys had a brilliant competition and finished 2nd in their age group. Both the U14 Girls team and the U19 Girls team performed exceptionally making little mistakes only which meant for a real team performance. The students sat together supporting each other as they waited anxiously for their results and were beyond ecstatic to find out the results. The scores were super close in both girls sections however both teams finished with a fantastic team score resulting in them coming 1st in the Region. This means our school will go through to the National Finals in both of the girls sections for the first time in Great Baddow gymnastics history.   "This was an overwhelming and proud moment for all members of the team and myself as the teacher. I am super proud of all the students who participated and excited for the National Finals. Miss S Smith, Physical Education Teacher

We were pleased to offer one of our largest and most successful Careers Fairs last week with 300 students attending and exploring over 40 exhibitors. Students were able to explore a wide range of employers as well and different higher education pathways. Ex-students now completing apprenticeships with TELEDYNE E2V impressed as they returned to give a talk and pass on their experiences. Year 9 students used their careers booklets to explore the five careers’ zones and open their eyes to a wider range of possible careers. Both parents and exhibitors praised the school stating: "It was the best careers fair we have attended." We would like to thank all our exhibitors for their time and expertise in guiding our students on the options that are available to them, and our parents and students for their enthusiasm and support for our annual careers event. The Careers Fair is part of an on-going Careers Education and Guidance programme, where students are supported to make informed choices and decisions about their futures. This includes impartial careers guidance from our Independent Careers Adviser from Directions IAG ltd, who was in attendance on the night. As our Year 9 students approach the time for picking their GCSE options for the following years, our Options Evening is the next event in the calendar, giving students and parents a chance to meet and discuss with all the subject areas what the course involves and the skills developed and required to succeed in it. The Year 9 Options Evening takes place on Monday 18th March 2024.

On Tuesday 28th February, our Year 13 students took part in their final live performance to an audience in Primmer Assembly Hall. The evening was dedicated to their musical theatre performances for their penultimate unit of the course. The evening was full of lights laughter and exceptional harmonies, featuring extracts from hits such as Guys and Dolls, Hairspray, Les Miserables and Rent. Many students also chose to perform solo performances of their favourite musical theatre songs. The evening was fantastic with an audience full of parents, friends and students (past and present). We would like to thank the students for all their hard work and dedication to the department, with many being involved in the department's productions since Year 7. With one solo unit to go, we all wish them luck as they fly off to pastures new in a few months' time.

On the 24th February, 37 Media and Business students took a trip to Paris to attend the Media Live and Business Live conferences. On the first day, students toured around Paris, climbed up Sacre Coeur and enjoyed the Sunday morning walking around the beautiful and very Parisienne Montmartre, followed by a tour of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and on to the Arc de Triomphe, taking in sights such as Pont Neuf and the Louvre along the way Students went on a behind the scenes tour of the famous Le Grande Rex cinema and were able to make their own action film as well as see behind the workings of a 3,000 seat cinema where premieres take place. On the second day, students attended the Media live and Business live conferences at the Gaumont cinema in Disneyland Paris.  During the conference students heard from impressive Media industry professionals who presented media topics and career advice, using their own first hand experience and a little background on their careers. Students were also able to meet the inspirational speakers and ask questions.   Speakers included: Remel London - facilitator Remel London is an award-winning British TV, Radio presenter and host. Since graduating with a BA Degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Leeds, Remel’s high energy, fun and thoughtful style has resulted in her becoming the lead presenter on SKY One’s Unmuted, the host of the Saturday Afternoon show on CAPITAL XTRA and a highly sought after voice-over artist working with the BBC, CBBC, BET, UKTV and BT Sports to name a few.  Remel London is very passionate about her local community and young creatives. She is the founder of The Mainstream, which is a creative platform offering networking opportunities, live events, workshops, seminars, Q&A’s and a podcast to support individuals that would like to launch and develop their career into the mainstream media and entertainment world.  Stevie White is a Digital Creator and co-host of one of the UK's most listened to podcasts on Spotify, Happy Hour with JaackMaate. He is also a content creator for Guild Esport and frequently streams on Twitch with an audience of over 15,000 followers. In 2014, Stevie launched his personal Youtube channel after the success of his collaboration with JaackMaate on their song 'Hip to be a Hipster' which reached number 1 in the iTunes comedy chart.  Gemma Hunt has been working in TV since 2003 when she graduated with her 1st Class Media Performance Degree.  Having met an agent through a careers day at the University, Gemma’s showreel was sent to CBBC who met her for an interview, invited her for a screen test and then offered her a contract with CBBC, as one of their live on-air presenters working on CBBC1, 2 and then on the CBBC Channel - and all before she had graduated. Gemma has presented a huge variety of shows and has thousands of live hours of TV experience presenting magazine shows, on-air links and hosting coverage from huge live events. Gemma has presented 8 series of the hit BAFTA winning CBeebies pirate gameshow series SWASHBUCKLE and also performs in the Cbeebies Christmas shows and Shakespeare adaptations each year for the channel. In 2020 Gemma was delighted to join the regular presenting team of BBC1’s Songs of Praise. Bobby Seagull is a television personality (University Challenge and the Monkman and Seagull Genius Guides), author (The Life-Changing Magic of Numbers) and vocal advocate of the importance of maths and numeracy. He teaches maths at his local school in east London. 

Last week, 100 Year 10 students left school at 7.30 a.m. to make their way to Suffolk to visit the Great War Huts at Brook Farm Camp. When they arrived, everyone changed their shoes into wellies, so they were ready to go in the muddy and waterlogged trench! Luckily, the sun shone, and it wasn’t too cold for February. The groups rotated around 5 different activities. Walk around a mock WW1 trench: Students and staff tentatively made their way around the trench, looking at the dugouts, fire steps, duckboards, tight corners, and facilities. The guide told us about the soldiers’ day-to-day life. A talk about medical provision with artefacts: One of the guides spoke about how medical care developed over the course of the way, bringing it to life with the use of props and real artefacts! A talk about the progression of the war: In the small hall, a guide showed us how the army equipment developed over the course of the war in response to the different conditions the soldiers faced. A WW1 soldier modelled the uniform and changes in equipment with the occasional jump scare! Rifle handling: The WW1 soldier taught us how to hold, load and shoot a WW1 (without bullets, of course). They are surprisingly heavy! Military parade: Students and staff were taught a few commands and eventually how to march in formation. The coaches then took us to Bury St Edmunds Cemetery. As a group, students looked at the distinctive commonwealth war graves and laid a wreath on behalf of the school. The guides recited a poem, and paid tribute with a one-minute silence. They returned to school at 5.20 p.m. after a brilliant day for students and staff alike. The students behaved impeccably and were a credit to the school.

Thursday 7th March is World Book Day and at GBHS this year, we will be celebrating by; holding our annual ‘DECORATE YOUR TUTOR ROOM DOOR' competition, challenging groups to decorate their door to represent a book aimed at teenagers or focus on an aspect of reading which is important to them.  running a ‘SHELFIE’ competition throughout the week, with students guessing whose bookshelf it is.  having different book related activities each day in the library, ranging from book bingo to a book knowledge quiz. hosting a special ‘Conversation with …’ event with staff sharing their reading journey with students. But why is reading so important?  ‘Read your Way’ is the theme this year with the aim of encouraging teenagers to enjoy their reading by choosing what and how they read and finding opportunities to have fun with reading. Some key elements to encourage reading for pleasure: Having trusted help to a help select a book – there are plenty of book recommendations on our library system (accessed via the portal) and in the library.  Try our Book of the Moment, always a good read! Having a choice in what to read and using the library – the library has a large and varied book stock which is constantly being updated, so always worth investigating.  No need to buy books, just borrow from the library. Having books at home and at school – use the £1 World Book Day vouchers to purchase one of the special World Book Day books or for a £1 discount on a regular priced book.  Vouchers have been given to tutors for them to distribute to their students. The vouchers are valid until 31st March. Finding time to read – students have regular library lessons and should read at home. Being read to regularly and reading to others  - an integral part of library lessons. Making reading FUN! – Try some of the activities organised by the library. Remember reading includes fiction books, information books, brochures, newspapers, magazines, website reports and even timetables! If have a moment this week, try reading along with your child and talking about books and how and when you read. 

We are delighted to announce that our first Year 10 student has graduated the Thinking Reading Programme. This is a whole-school literacy strategy with an intensive, one-to-one intervention at its heart. It is a rigorous, research-based systematic programme designed for students who have a significant gap (more than two years) between their reading age and chronological age. Students remain on the programme until the deficit has been closed. Students are selected based on diagnostic tests and then work with a tutor on a 1:1 basis three times a week. The lessons are personalised so that individual needs and specific areas of learning are addressed, resulting in visible rapid progress. Lessons focus on techniques and skills to decode words and build upon recognition and fluency of reading sounds. Students are also exposed to vocabulary and comprehension. Highly detailed assessment tracks their progress. The methodical and systematic approach to lessons allows positive reading habits to be instilled in the student and within each lesson there are stages for progression and opportunities for attainment. We are proud of our Year 10 student, whose decoding ability has increased in such a short amount of time and has reported now reading at a faster pace with a greater feeling of confidence. We look forward to announcing more successful graduates soon.  

On Tuesday 13th February our Year 12 performing arts students performed their Frantic Assembly inspired pieces to a live audience. This was their first performance to a live audience, since beginning the course in September. The piece ‘Things I Know to be True’ centres around a family, and the struggles they face individually, and together. It is about love in many of its forms. At times comforting and supportive. At others suffocating and destructive. The students have been working incredibly hard in lessons, and in their own time, to produce a moving performance that uses movement and music to symbolise emotions and relationships. They were fantastic and should feel very proud of the work they have created.

Last week, a member of our RBDS department was out undertaking outreach with Year 5 pupils at our primary feeder schools teaching British Sign Language. Sue has been part of the resource base for a number of years and not only works tirelessly with our students at Great Baddow High School, but she has also taught baby sign to parents and babies in order to raise the profile of sign language and support early communication. Her passion doesn't end here,she also wanted to support deaf students coming to GBHS by reaching out to our feeder schools and providing them with deaf awareness and basic sign language. Her presence in the primary schools has been greatly appreciated and she is regularly invited back. In visiting the primary schools we hope to encourage pupils to have deaf awareness and a love of sign language, enabling communication barriers between deaf and hearing students to be broken down. Sue’s visits to the primary schools has been growing and she has visited more feeder schools this year than last. To support this initial introduction into BSL we also run a BSL sign language club during early lunch to enable the many students who attended her session in primary school to develop their sign language skills and bridge gaps in communication.

The Student Leadership Council met this week and voted in the Make Your Mark ballot for the Youth Parliament by choosing the topic they cared about most. The were picking from the following topics: Education & learning; international relations; health & wellbeing; rights, equality & democracy; jobs, the economy and benefits; crime & safety; culture, media, sports; climate change and the environment; transport; youth work and young people’s services.  They also discussed and provided feedback about using the school library. This included when and how students use it and what they would like to be able to see/do at the library and improvements they would like to see made. Finally students worked in groups based on their Houses to work on projects relating to differences we can make around the school and local community. Attenborough house are looking at possible green initiatives we can introduce in the school. Ennis -Hill are looking at fundraisers and community pay back around the school. Hawking are working on outreach and using their voice to make a change. The next meeting is set for 27th March.  

On Wednesday 7th February 2024, the drama department took 43 performing arts students from Years 10, 12 and 13 to see Agatha Christies ingenious courtroom drama ‘Witness for the prosecution’. We stepped inside the magnificent surroundings of London County Hall and truly experienced the intensity and drama of Agatha Christies gripping story of justice, passion and betrayal in a unique courtroom setting – we were summoned for jury service. The plot features Leonard Vole who is accused of murdering a widow to inherit her wealth. The stakes were high, and as the accounts of the night in question unfold, we begin to act as detectives and make our own minds up on what we believe the truth to be. All the students were completely gripped throughout the immersive experience and were stunned at the multiple, amazing plot twists at the end. The entirety of the coach journey home was full of theories and opinions of the characters in the production. The students were impeccably behaved, and we even received feedback from the public relaying how well the students represented Great Baddow High School. It was fantastic to be able to offer our theatre loving students a unique theatre experience and will definitely be a repeat trip for our younger students when they reach KS4/5. Thank you to all involved.

To celebrate and mark International Women & Girls in Science Day 2024 the GBHS science department are running a host of events over the course of the week to emerse our women and girls into the world of science. Students should also keep an eye on the screens around school for ‘surprising science’ profiles as teachers share information about what made them choose a career in science! Although Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields are widely regarded as critical to national economies, so far most countries, no matter their level of development, have not achieved gender equality in STEM. This day is a reminder that women and girls play a critical role in science and technology communities and that their participation should be strengthened. Find out more about the International Women & Girls in Science Day on the United Nations website here.  YEAR 7 On Wednesday 14th February Year 7 will undertake a lesson where they will look at the life and work of Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock. Their objective is top understand the forces at play and the escape velocity required to send a rocket into space to launch a geo-stationary satellite. YEAR 8 Year 8 will have a session on ‘smashing stereotypes in science’ delivered in tutor time. The interactive session will look at why there are preconceived ideas of what a scientist looks like vs the reality. YEAR 9 A select group of Year 9 students will have the opportunity to work with out very own Dr Pratt and Sixth Form science students. The session will be aimed at investigating the untimely death of some pet rats. Students will employ a variety of investigative skills to solve the reasons behind the unknown deaths. YEAR 10 Year 10 are encouraged to enter the artwork competition for prominent women in science. Keep a look out for further information on the posters in tutor rooms and the screens around school for entry details. Winning entries will be displayed in the science department.  

Great Baddow High School works closely with Essex Schools ITT to provide a very special, school-based teacher training experience, in partnership with Tes Institute, for those that are thinking about becoming a teacher. If you would like to join a profession which will engage you in the most challenging and interesting way with the clear worth and the moral objective of educating the future of our locality, Essex Schools ITT will provide the very highest opportunity to be an outstanding practitioner. To learn more about the programme, we host small-group or individual ‘Coffee, Cake & Chat’ sessions every Monday and Tuesday between 9 am and 10 am, although we can arrange other times on request. To arrange a drop-in just email gbn@gbhs.co.uk. Alternatively you can register to learn more about teacher training - hear from current and past trainees and ITT experts at the next virtual event on Tuesday 5th March at 7.30. Register to join the Virtual Information Event here.

On Monday 5th February, 38 of our students from across the school represented Great Baddow High School at the Stratford and East London Music Festival singing as members of Choir 16. The competition was held at St Mary's Church, South Woodford and the Adjudicator was Ben Costello (BMus, PGDip, MA, FRSA, FISM). The choir competed in the U18 Youth Choir Category and placed 2nd with a rarely awarded Distinction grading. Mr Bentley and Mr Herbert are incredibly proud of how our students conducted themselves and for the clear joy they took in their singing and the overall experience. We look forward to entering more competitions in the future and continuing the high-level work Choir 16 is achieving. Particular thanks go to Rosie B and Jasmine A of Year 13 who have been helping prepare the choir by leading sectionals and to the staff that accompanied the trip. The full adjudicators comments for our two performances were: Seasons of Love (from RENT the Musical) Lots of energy in your rousing rendition of this RENT classic Great Baddow. Committed focus, with warm speech quality, energy emerging. Some stylish riffs along the way too. You harnessed some of the later gospel fervour too, and can enjoy this further if you like! Rise Up (Andra Day) Well done for being so quickly "in the zone" with so little intro DSL (down-stage Left) group [the Alto section]. Another vivid response to a classic track here, with promising vocal agility, energy through the angular vocal writing. Well-prepared upper (tilt) work too, added suitable warmth to the lyric objectives. Good coordination with the backing track in both numbers.  

As we come to the end of term, we would like to share our December issue of Magnus, our termly newsletter, which is now available to read on our website. "As 2023 draws to an end we can look back with pride at a term filled with amazing experiences and successes for our whole community. As a school we saw record GCSE results that place us with the very top schools in Essex and indeed the country. Our Year 13 students were all successful in securing places in the further education establishments of their choice or in the vocations they have decided to pursue. We are proud of these achievements and will work hard to build on them and to drive our high levels of achievement even higher. As this edition of Magnus testifies, we have delivered an educational experience for our students that is exciting, varied and comprehensive, taking excellent learning from the classroom to the local community and further afield. We can all be proud of the way our community has embraced and relished the challenges and opportunities outlined in this round up of the year so far." Mr Paul Farmer, Headteacher Enjoy a very much deserved rest over the holidays and have a great Christmas and a very happy and successful New Year and we look forward to seeing our students back and ready to commence the Spring term on Thursday 4th January 2024. Read more here: Magnus December 2023

Our pupil librarians are very hard working, they give up their break and lunch times to help out in the library as well as help out with primary school visits and activities such as our Chatterbooks sessions and our Spelling Bee competitions.  We have a group of wonderful Sixth Formers who have helped us every year since Year 7 and they will be leaving us in the summer, after their exams.  We didn’t want them to miss out on the reward trip for this year and so we decided to take them all on a special day out to the Harry Potter Studios for the ‘Hogwarts At Christmas’ event.  The trip not only acts as a reward but as a team building session for our newer students to get to know our team better and see just how helpful and friendly the older students are. During our trip, students were able to learn about the hundreds of different careers that are involved in the making of a film.  A lot of people only think of acting as a career when talking about the film industry but there are so many others such as directors, casting crews, hairdressers, costume designers, prop designers, make-up artists, choreographers, music composers, caterers and more!  Students also had a chemistry lesson by learning how they made different types of snow for different scenarios when filming, for example paper snow for the ground and polymer snow for the actors.  It was quite amazing watching the snow come to life in front of us. We hope that students were inspired by the different careers and hope they enjoyed the day as much as we enjoyed taking them. “Everyone had an amazing time at the Harry Potter sets, seeing the winter themed castle was especially magical and I learnt so much about the reality behind the filming process. It definitely made me want to rewatch the films! Thank you to everyone who organised the trip!” – Grace, Year 13

On Tuesday Great Baddow High School had a visit from the Charity Made for More, as part of their Hope is Here School Tour.   We got the chance to do several activities based around the Nativity and how we can use the story of the nativity to help us in our every day lives, my favourite was the “light” activity we talked about how we can bring light to someone who is struggling or in a dark place. We coloured in a touch and wrote down things we can think about or say to bring light. I also enjoyed the Hopes and dreams task, we all wrote our own hope and dreams on strips of paper and then we joined all our paper together to make a huge paper chain. We talked about how we can use God to help us have hope.   Student Report: By Neve B (Year 8) "I really enjoyed the Made for More experience that was arranged for us. There were five different activities that were all crafty and had a message about God. Afterwards we got to ask questions to the team about the nativity side of Christmas. I had a lot of fun and want to do it again." Freya P (Year 8)

Our Sixth Form and selected Key Stage 4 students took part in the “Maths Inspiration” show on Monday 4th December 2023 at Saffron Hall in Saffron Walden The show was a unique opportunity to participate in a national programme of interactive maths lectures aimed at teenagers. Inspiring speakers such as Collin Wright (Patterns predictions and juggling), Alison Kiddle (Risk and Reward) and Matt Scroggs (Maths and the video game arcade), ran the lectures who present mathematics live, in a context of exciting real-world applications! Collin Wright’s very entertaining talk showed us how spotting patterns can help in a surprising number of situations, including the invention of new juggling tricks. But beware, patterns aren’t always as predictable as they seem! Alison Kiddle’s talk introduced us to micromorts (the unit of risk defined as a one-in-a-million chance of death) When we make decisions, we have to weigh up the risks of our choices and decide whether the potential rewards make it worthwhile. But when it comes to assessing risk, humans are notoriously bad at estimating how likely events are. Students were led to discover the ways probability and statistics help us to find certainty in an unpredictable world. Matt Scrogg made us ask: How can I do a Pac-Man speedrun? Was Pac-Man the first 3D video game? Do any retro video games take place on the surface of a sphere? And did Asteroids enter another dimension?  This talk answered these questions and more, as we took a look at some maths related to classic arcade machine games. Students were enthused and amused, very inspired to be shown a fun side of maths and everyday applications! Mrs Hrabak, Mr Atkins Mrs Wood and Mrs Wallbank escorted our students, with Mrs Wallbank on the spotlight signing on stage!

München Weihnachtsmarkt Klassenfahrt   This week forty Year 8 and 10 students departed Great Baddow to fly to Munich. After landing we took the coach to drive to the Youth Hostel and after settling in and a German style dinner, we dressed warm to face the snow and headed off to explore the Winter Festival at the Theresienwiese where normally the Octoberfest takes place. The Tollwood festival is a spectacular display of lights and  21st century German culture.   On Wednesday, Mrs Fox organised her own special and very interesting sightseeing tour. We visited the Lady of Munich and saw the Devil’s footprint which showed a twist of divine intervention.  We loved the snow and even managed to build a few snowmen. Despite the cold temperature, Germans are mad enough to surf in the freezing waters of the river Eisbach (literally meaning freezing stream) but unfortunately none of us braved the dip. Then it was time to explore the traditional Christmas market. Lots of presents for family and friends were bought and typical German food was tried by all. A clear winner were the roasted nuts and Kartoffel Tornados. In the evening, we decided to revisit Tolwood for more street performances, music and celebrations.   Luckily, we had planned on Thursday to visit BMW Welt as it was snowing heavily and we also got a glimpse of the Olympic Park. Students, and especially the staff, enjoyed testing their balancing abilities on traditional and modern BMW motorcycles. The Elvis car for 8 Million Euro was a real treat. In the afternoon we explored the Deutsche Museum which is a technological marvel – we could have spent all day there as it was so interactive. We ploughed through the snow and climbed 306 steps to get a bird’s eye view of the centre of Munich with snow topped roofs. With the choir from the townhall balcony, we chose our last dinner at the Christmas Market and heading back for our last night at the Youth Hostel.   On our last day, Friday, we left our home away from home for the last time and took the bus to the Allianz Arena to see where the magic of Bayern Munich happens.  A massive thank you to all members of staff Mr Shah, Mr Fox, Mr Jackson and Mrs Leinemann and our wonderful Year 8 and 10 students. They were amazing.  

On Monday 27th November an audience of 600 parents and students enjoyed the Great Baddow High School Winter Concert within the beautiful setting of Chelmsford Cathedral.  The concert featured performances from all the extra-curricular clubs run by the music department (minus Percussion Club, Music Tekk Club, and The Rock Band Club who will all feature in our next concert). Full details of our upcoming events can be found here. There were collaborations between Art and Drama too with the Art department displaying their Christmas card entries whilst the KS4 Drama leads prepared three short sketches devised around winter poems selected by the students. The evening had many highlights within the 80-minutes of music performed by our students but some of the credible mentions go to: Our exceptional Soloists: Hazel K (Y8) 'Tico Tico No Fuba' on Flute; Ava S (Y10) 'The Wizard and I' from Wicked the Musical; Luke M (Y10) 'Nocturne in Eb Major' by Chopin on Piano; Ollie K (Y13) with his own, very moving Composition for his friend Rosie; Jasmine A (Y13) 'Somewhere Only We Know' with the BSC; and Ben M (Y10) 'Evernore' from Beauty and the Beast. Our Readers: Ava M (Y11) and Iris O (Y10) who read winter poems. The BSC (Baddow Signing Choir) who made their debut at a Winter Concert and communicated the songs 'Mountain' (alongside Baddow Voices) and 'Somewhere Only We Know' which inspired over 70 students to learn the signs to the entire song on the day of the concert and join their performance at the Cathedral. Choir 16 (The Competitive Choir) also gave their debut live performances of 'Rise Up' by Andra Day and 'Seasons of Love'. There were lots of emotions after their outstanding performances and then the announcement that they have made it through to the final of the Stratford and East London Choral Competition (our first ever entry into competitive singing). The Year 7 Choir, consisting of 63 students who all learnt the song as part of the classroom curriculum, gave a heart-warming performance of John Farnham's 'You're The Voice' concluding their performance with an acapella refrain of the chorus with no conductor. They were an exceptional credit to themselves all night and have kickstarted their Baddow music journeys in style. The extra nice part of the Winter Concert this year is that we are enjoying it all again on Friday 1st December performing to 150 students from Beehive Lane, Larkrise and Mildmay Prinary schools. This is our first matinee of the Winter Concert and we will thoroughly enjoy singing carols with the primary students who had been preparing them to perform. Our thanks, as always, to the staff and parents who supported such an incredible event. We look forward to welcoming you all to our next events and the Music Department wish you a very merry Christmas.

Chelmsford Science and Engineering Society have a fantastic opportunity that is open for all Year 10 students who are studying science subjects (biology, chemistry, physics, D&T, maths, computer science etc). CSES and ARU would like to invite Year 10 students to apply for a place at their Saturday Science and Engineering club which starts in January 2024 and will run for 15 weeks.  The club,  under the umbrella of the National Saturday Club (NSC), runs from10.00am – 12.30pm on Saturday mornings during term time at Anglia Ruskin’s Chelmsford Campus. More information about the National Saturday Clubs can be found on their website here.  Further information about CSES and ARU can be found on their respective web sites (https://cses.org.uk  and  CSES at Anglia Ruskin University - ARU). Club members will experience a range of different Science and Engineering topics using the state-of-the-art Super Lab and workshop facilities at ARUs Chelmsford Campus. Each session will explore the science and engineering behind real life activities and problems that can affect our daily lives. In addition to laboratory and workshop sessions there are also visits to science and technology related organisations. The programme is delivered totally free of charge to Club members and applications are open to all Year 10 students who are studying science subjects. The only thing they are looking for is a commitment to attend regularly, have a passion for science and technology and a willingness to explore new subject areas. If your child is interested in applying for a place, please visit https://saturday-club.org/join-a-club/ and fill out the form. They aim to start the Club on Saturday 27th January, but places are limited. Please note, that this is not a drop-in Club. They have a maximum of thirty places and if your child is successful in securing a place, they expect them to attend every week during their 2024 programme.  

As we read the news regarding the continuing earthquakes in Iceland and the concerns about a possible volcanic eruption, our thoughts go the residents of Grindavik who are being evacuated from their homes. The recent developments are being watched by our A Level Geography students as they consider the wonders that they witnessed on their recent trip to Iceland and the possible devastation that a volcanic eruption is potentially going to cause. However as we reflect on the Sixth Form trip, we are fortunate that it did not disappoint, as it allowed our Year 13 students to not just understand but experience, the enormous geographic forces which have shaped the countries amazing and varied landscape! Upon arrival in Iceland, we were greeted by interesting conversations with passport security around the 1400 earthquakes they had had in the previous 24 hours! The premise of feeling actual ground shaking or experiencing a volcanic eruption made for an exciting start to the trip! An early flight allowed the students to make the most of the first day. The day’s activities included crossing over one the world’s major plate boundaries- The mid-Atlantic ridge, walking through colourful geothermal fields of various mud pools and a trip to Reykjavik, the northern most capital city of the world. However, I think most would agree the highlight of the day was a trip to the hotel car park… Here we were lucky enough to see the Northern lights out in full force! What started as a tiny green smudge in the sky quickly transformed into a sweeping light show of vivid greens and pinks. They definitely lived up to their ‘wonder of the world’ title, remaining a talking point for staff and students for the rest of the trip! The remaining days were packed full of more amazing experiences including all three golden circle destinations (Thingvellir National Park, Geysir geothermal area, and Gullfoss waterfall), a dip in the secret lagoon and a breathtaking walk up to the Sólheimajökulll glacier. However, the lava tunnel could not go without a special mention. The 1.4km tunnel was created over 5000 years ago by an enormous volcanic eruption. The rocks within the tunnel had been formed by cooled lava, the minerals from which coloured the walls in a range of yellows, reds and oranges.  However, the beautiful vibrancy was lost when our guide turned out the lights leaving us all in an absolute darkness which many of us had never experienced!  The geography department are already looking forward to returning soon to share these awe-inspiring experiences with future Year 13 students. However, it was lovely to see that most of our Sixth Form students were already discussing their own plans to return whilst we were still there! In light of the recent tectonic activity, it will be interesting to see if the landscape has changed upon our next visit.  

BTEC Level 3 Sport students take part in several events as sports leaders, to support work within their course and to gain experience of leading a variety of young people with varied disabilities and needs. This is so important for our students as it gives them great opportunities to become an all-rounded individual with lots of experiences with working with different people. Year 12 and some of our Year 13 BTEC sport students attended the Panathlon event on Tuesday 7th November at the London Aquatic Centre in Stratford and helped lead the event. They worked with pupils with multiple disabilities and needs aged from 7-18 and were fantastic.  The students were phenomenal and we received multiple comments and emails with lots of fantastic feedback from the organisers and schools about our Great Baddow High School students. One email said: "Can we all thank the leaders from Great Baddow High School. They were all brilliant, both in and out the pool and I thought they were great with all the kids and helped them enjoy themselves."  Students who attended the event said: Lisa L (Year 12) - "I really enjoyed working with the young pupils, they made me happy seeing them so happy and proud of themselves being able to get in the water and compete." Fraser C  (Year 12) – "It was really good to see them getting involved in sport considering their different needs and it was so nice to be involved with helping them to achieve." Olly P (Year 13) – "I really enjoyed doing the Panathlon because it’s nice to help give these young people opportunities that they might be able to access, it was awesome to get to know the kids and one of them became my buddy and actually knew my name the whole day." We were also fortunate enough to spend a bit of time with the Great Britain divers in their elite environment. This included meeting Olympic diver Tom Daley, which we were all very excited about.

Year 11 Computer Science students were privileged to be visited by BAE Systems engineers delivering a STEM session on robotics. The three hour session began with an overview of what BAE Systems do as a company and what it is like to be an engineer working for them. Students had the opportunity to ask a few questions and gain real insight into the daily work that the visiting professionals undertake. This led students into the first task of the day where they were introduced to ‘Sphero’ – a robotic ball that is controlled by an app. Students’ were immediately engaged in the task of understanding the robots capabilities within the context of exploring and mapping a disaster zone where humans cannot enter. There was a great deal of fun had at this point and students could have easily spent hours making the robots cruise around the hall. However, they were redirected to the next task which was using drag and drop coding to navigate a course through chair legs. This proved quite the challenge for students. They were required to use knowledge of kinematics to solve this part of the problem. Most students were able to complete the course within the allotted time using ‘scientific method’, and test/re-test principles. After a well deserved break, students were greeted back into the main hall and presented immediately with a ‘race course’ type challenge in front of them. They were required to visualise the course, take measurements, calculate angles, velocity and finally write the code to ensure the robot navigated the course correctly. This was quite a difficult challenge, stretching the students’ capabilities. Nevertheless, they showed their mettle and were totally engaged in trying to succeed. After a period of preparation the time had come for students to race the robots. We were graced with dimmed lighting, disco effects and appropriate music to set the atmosphere courtesy of our very own Archie in Year 11. With that, the race was on and the crowd went wild! All of our students had a fantastic time learning how to code these robots and putting into practice skills they have learned in maths and physics. It was a truly inspirational experience for them and one we hope to emulate in the future by forging a secure collaboration with BAE Systems. A massive thank you to Dan, Gary & Rhea from BAE Systems for providing our students with such a fabulous experience, we look forward to your next visit and are excited for the future opportunities.

Hallo! Guten Tag! Willkommen! On Friday 20th October GBHS had a fantastic opportunity to welcome 20 students and their teachers from our Partner school in Eschenbach, Bavaria, Germany.  The visitors were already on a residential stay in London and were excited to be invited to our school for the day, to experience lessons and school life at a typical British school. Around 25 Year 9 and Year 10 GBHS students studying German were partnered with our guests for the day. Our students took their" buddying" role very seriously indeed, escorted them to lessons, organising groups and giving our visitors a very warm GBHS welcome!. Lunchtime in the diner was just a buzzing crowd of students wanting to chat with the guests. Students have already been in contact with their new made friends! The Partner School Exchange Programme was set up by Mrs Fox back in 2006. Countless students throughout this time have taken part in the exchange programme, allowing them, and their families, to make long standing friendships. We are very keen to keep this partnerships alive and thriving.  Well done Year 9 and 10. Thank you to all buddies and, class members and staff for accommodating our guests and making it a wonderful day to end the half-term!  

Students in Year 7 & 8 were privileged to have the opportunity to experience the depths of our oceans to the furthest points in space. The @roadshow_team in collaboration with BAE Systems, the Royal Navy and the Royal Airforce put on a spectacular show for our students to enjoy. They got ‘hands on’ exploring some of the engineering puzzles that deep sea and outer space exploration provide. Students were able to understand that the problems posed by each scenario are not  necessarily unique and the innovative ways of solving them can provide answers to similar problems in opposite areas. The ‘stand out’ wow factor which will not be forgotten is the scaled demonstration of the size of our Sun relative to our Earth. Bringing this concept to life in front of their eyes really captivated their interest and will certainly make that part of the curriculum all the more memorable. We hope the performance will inspire the next generation of engineers! Who knows? One of our students may be responsible for putting people on Mars within the turn of the decade!

On Wednesday 18th October, 22 students from Key stage 4 & 5 were accompanied on a trip to the Chelmsford Science Festival at Anglia Ruskin University. Students were able to take part in a varied number of hands on experiences as well as lectures at the event. The day started with a hands on experience exploring the use of AI models in state of the art electric vehicles. This was possibly the most enjoyable part for some as they got to ‘play’ inside several different TESLA cars. Afterwards we were whisked away to a lecture from Prof Graham Ball on computational Biology including the use of AI to create models which can be used in drug development and disease treatment and management. The content and potential application of AI here was mind blowing! Students then took part in a session where auditory and visual perceptions were changed, exploring what it may be like to live life with deaf/blindness. Students really engaged well within the session and will look at the world in a different light because of it. After lunch, students took part in a hands on A&E trauma response exercise. This small session taught them what paramedics would do when attending the scene of an injury and then what happens as the patient is taken into to A&E. The group then also had time to practice their midwifery skills and discussed public health. Finally, students rounded things off with sessions on engineering where they put their maths skills to good use and then a lecture on understanding the use of AI in business models. The students really enjoyed the day and hopefully it has given them some experiences to consider where they might like to take their own career in the future, making STEM relevant to the everyday.