Coder Dojo – Saturday the 7^th March saw our biggest Dojo yet at BCA! Coder Dojo is a worldwide volunteer organisation that allows children to code, hack, build computers and try new technology in all its forms. Their only rule? Be Cool.

The Warrington Coder Dojo has been asked to blog about its exciting activities on the international Coder Dojo site coderdojo.com.

This is because we’re doing things no other Dojo in the world is doing. 3D printing, Robotics, laser cutting and all kinds of coding especially in the world of Minecraft!

Lots of kids want to design computer games and we can teach them how to do it. Mums and Dads are welcome to learn alongside their ‘ninjas’ and it’s suitable for ages 7-17.

Click here to view the BCA Dojo Blog

Click here to view the  Warrington Guardian piece on the Dojo

Word: Intrepid

Synonyms: Fearless, bold, heroic

How it can be used in a sentence: The explorer was praised for his intrepid attitude.

Word: Vanity

Synonyms: Arrogance, egotism

How it can be used in a sentence: Her vanity is obvious.

Word: Foisted

Synonyms: Imposed, Forced upon

How it can be used in a sentence: The unwelcome guest was foisted upon us.

Word: Fervent

Synonyms: Keen, avid, enthusiastic

How it can be used in a sentence: He is a fervent football supporter.

Beamont Collegiate Academy students took part in one of their first competitive debates on Wednesday 4th February and won! The students represented themselves and the school exceptionally well. House of Commons and New York here we come…..

A group of Year 10  GCSE Art and design students went to the Conway Centre on the Menai Straights, Anglesey for  the weekend working with Artists and students from other schools in the Northwest.

The students accompanied by Mrs Aspey and Mr Nield ,  worked throughout the weekend  on various Art projects for their GCSE coursework.

Students in previous years attending the weekend have created some spectacular pieces of Art work:

“The weekend at the Conway Centre was really good, we all had so much fun and produced lots of excellent quality work. We made friends with people from different schools and had the chance to chat with them. We spoke to people we didn’t think we would speak to and produced work that we didn’t know we were able to do. The work we produced will go towards our GCSE and will help us to exceed our GCSE target grades.”

Word: Cantankerous

Synonyms: Argumentative, Unreasonable

How it can be used in a sentence: You’re being incredibly cantankerous.

Word: Affable

Synonyms: Pleasant, Sociable, Easy-going

How it can be used in a sentence: The teacher was affable.

As part of their spiritual ,moral, social and cultural curriculum year 9 & 10 students at BCA have been introduced to the dangers of alcohol & drug use and the possible links to the dangers of exploitation.  Theatre company ‘2engage’ performed a very relevant, interactive & hard hitting performance of ‘Risking it all’ which deals with one of society’s growing problems. The performance was delivered in a straight talking way and offered students the opportunity to discuss, reflect and evaluate the outcomes of the behaviours demonstrated by all of the characters in the performance. All students were extremely engaged throughout the performance and you could hear a ‘pin drop’ at pertinent points as some of the more shocking scenes unravelled.

Students comments…

Year 10

‘I thought it was really powerful and a bit of a tear jerker’

‘It was good to learn about it in a different way, the performance kept us interested’

‘It was realistic and the acting reflected real life situations that could happen to us’

‘It showed us that we could speak to someone if it ever happens to us’

Year 9

‘It taught me the facts and how bad it could be’

‘It taught me not to trust people online’

‘It was really good and made me understand that things like that really happen and that we need to be aware of it’