August Covid-19 Risk Assessment
As part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring a COVID-Safe environment, for pupils, staff and our community, our latest COVID-19 Organisational Risk Assessment can be accessed below.
Josephine’s Journey into Ackworth’s Archives
On 21st July, we were treated to a visit to the school from Josephine Beaumont and her niece, Lorraine Simpson.
Josephine was a pupil at Ackworth from 1943 to 1946 and she had some fascinating insights into life at Ackworth during the war years.
Josephine comes from a long line of Bowmans who have attended the school from its earliest days. The first of her ancestors to arrive in March 1780 were two sisters from Chesterfield, Alice and Sarah, aged 11 and 8. This was just five months after the school opened. They appear as numbers 84 and 85 in the first Admittance Book.
Josephine’s grandfather, John Edward Bowman (AOS 1879-1883) was a well-known Wakefield businessman, and Lorraine has prepared his diaries for publication at the end of the year. We look forward to seeing a finished copy of “The Diary of a Wakefield Draper” and reading about his days at Ackworth in the latter part of the 19th century.
Visits like this constantly add to our knowledge of the history of the school and of the people who have passed through its doors.
Would you like to return to Ackworth School for a visit? Or perhaps take a look at where one of your relatives attended? Please get in touch with us at alumni@ackworthschool.com to organise a visit.
A look inside a photo album from 1946 – Josephine’s final year at Ackworth.
Josephine points herself out in her form group photo.
Click here to learn more about Ackworth’s Old Scholars and how you can get involved.
Exam results reflect hard work and resilience
Ackworth School is pleased to report some outstanding achievements by its pupils in their GCSEs, A Levels and other qualifications this summer.
It has been a difficult year with many disruptions and their grades are a reflection of all the hard work they did and the support given to them by their teachers and parents.
As a non-selective school, it is rewarding to see Ackworth students being offered places at some of the UK’s most competitive institutions. Two pupils have secured places at the University of Cambridge, and most pupils secured first choices at Russell Group universities. Among these are international students who came to Ackworth to help propel them into their chosen paths of study.
Anton Maree, Head of Ackworth School said, “We are all proud of all the commitment and effort our pupils displayed this year despite the difficult circumstances. Some of our international pupils had not been home since August 2020 and they deserve our respect and admiration. Our teachers worked tirelessly to ensure that all of our pupils were able to progress onto further education and the next stage of their lives, and we look forward to seeing what they will achieve in the future.”
Our A-level candidates achieved:
- A*-A – 42.2%
- A*-B – 56.9%
- A*-C – 75.0%
- A*-E – 94.0%
Our GCSE candidates achieved:
- 9-8 (A* ) – 30.4%
- 9-7 (A*-A ) – 48.2%
- 9-6 (A*-B) – 64.9%
- 9-5 (A*-B) – 79.3%
- 9-4 (A*-C)– 93.2%
Following the cancellation of exams for the second successive year, grades were awarded through a process of teacher assessed grades, against a national standard, which were then approved and awarded by the exam boards. The government is not publishing performance data for any schools or colleges this year due to the varying impact of the pandemic.
“We maintained our proud record of being a school with excellent value-added,” said Anton. “Our results at both GCSE and A level are in keeping with those of previous years.”
Alexandra Collingwood, Head of Sixth Form said, “We cannot underestimate the fantastic achievements of this cohort. They have worked tirelessly to achieve the grades awarded. We are confident this assessment season will stand them in good stead as they move forward on their educational journey.”
Dan Jones, Head of Fourth and Fifth Forms said, “I am proud of how these pupils have demonstrated resilience and adaptability over two unprecedented years, learning new skills – particularly in digital learning – that will provide excellent foundations as they enter the next phase.”
Digital innovation and investment have been a core focus of Ackworth School since before the pandemic. The implementation of iPads for every pupil in the senior school has been a key factor in the school’s success in ensuring uninterrupted learning during lockdowns.
Pupils join the Peace Education Project
During March and April, several Fourth Form students volunteered to take part in the Sir James Reckitt Trust-funded Peace Education project.
The project involved three sessions meeting via Zoom with teachers and students from other Quaker schools. We explored themes around peace, violence and non-violence. We also explored what peace meant to us individually and what it means on a wider scale. Here is an overview of what each of the sessions involved, as told by our pupils.
In the first session along with other Quaker schools, we used our own knowledge from before the sessions as well as using quotes and inspiration from famous peace figures to have a developed conversation. From this, we broke out into groups mixing school pupils up and answering questions set by the host. To end the session everybody put three words into answer form to create a picture of words of what everyone thought was peace.
By James & Mathew
In the second session of the peace project, we listened to other people’s views on peace and what it means to them. We also learned about different types of violence and people who took a peaceful stance to resist different types of violence and conflict around the world. We then discussed what peace means to us and how we can show peace in our everyday lives. In this session, I think that it was very interesting to see other peoples views on peace and learn about people standing up to conflict and violence in a peaceful way around the world. It was also good to learn how to lead a peaceful lifestyle in our own lives.
By Steven and Mikulas
On the third session, Ellis Brooks of the BYM Peace Education Team led a session on activism and non-violence. He spoke about different conflicts that have happened in the world and we learned about different types of peace. We also talked about how war affects everyone and how people combat it. We spoke about asymmetric conflict, where one side is much more powerful than the other and what we should do in these situations. We were asked to come up with subjects that should be on a peace curriculum in schools. This project helped us understand more about how peace can be achieved and what problems we would face and why peace is important for everyone.
By Isabel, Ink and Billy
Visit the Quaker website to learn more about peace education.
Mindfulness at Ackworth
This year a number of Ackworth School students have taken the opportunity to study the .b Mindfulness course (Sixth Formers during their Games lesson and 1st to 3rd Years during their after-school club).
‘.b’ stands for ‘stop’ and ‘be’. This may sound simple but it is actually an important life skill and not as easy as it may first appear. Being able to step back and ‘unhook’ from the busyness of habitual activity and the chatter of the mind takes practice.
Living in the present
Learning Mindfulness can help us to create greater space for living in the present moment. This, in turn, can result in increased levels of happiness and can offer clarity to help us respond effectively and make choices that support our performance and well-being in both our school and personal lives.
What do pupils think?
“Since starting the Mindfulness course I have been able to incorporate it into many different aspects of my everyday life. I think that mindfulness is something that should be a key part of everyone’s daily life as it helps you to focus, be present and gain perspective on anything that life throws at you! I think that this particular mindfulness course is a fantastic and positive addition to the school.”Abrielle, Sixth Form
“Since I am easily under pressure, I think the Mindfulness class is very helpful. Many techniques help me to calm down (I like the ‘beditation’ technique best!). I highly recommend Mindfulness to everyone.” Linda, Sixth Form
“Admittedly, I have found mindfulness more relaxing than it’s probably meant to be! However, it has certainly proven to be a useful technique that I encourage anyone to practise especially where you need to untether from your thoughts and distractions and focus solely on the present.”Harry, Sixth Form
“Mindfulness is like good triumphing over evil, how you can stay calm under pressure when things are starting to get out of hand.”Jacob and Luke, 2nd Form
“Mindfulness is giving me the opportunity to take some time to think about myself and the surroundings. A Mindfulness technique that has helped me the most is ‘beditation’, and there are lots of ways you can do it! Lots of these help me get to sleep. Overall, Mindfulness has helped me a lot!” Aden, 1st Form
Mindfulness has had a really positive impact on how I act day to day. I’ve used many different techniques which I have been taught over the last few weeks I especially like 7:11 breathing technique and I have used this often over the last few weeks Daniel, 2nd Form
As a Quaker school, Ackworth shares some similar values with mindfulness principles. Hear from Ackworth’s Visiting Friend, Zephyrine Barbarachild about her adventures through life as a Quaker.
Click here to learn more about the Mindfulness in Schools Project
