Our school community would like to honour the beautiful memory of Rita, our much-loved reading support dog, who worked with all students at BHSA from ages 3 to 19, nurturing confidence, calm, and a lifelong love of reading.

Rita played a truly special role in the lives of our students, staff and parents/carers. Whether supporting a young child taking their first steps in literacy or helping older students build confidence through reading, her gentle presence made a lasting difference across our whole school.

Innovation was in the air this week as students from Years 2 to 6 took part in our very own Dragon’s Den competition. Inspired by the popular TV programme—where budding entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of wealthy investors—the challenge required our students to step into the spotlight and pitch their original concepts to our panel of "Dragons."

To reach this final stage, every student first pitched their concepts to their classmates. The ideas we saw in the final were the "best of the best," selected for their creativity, feasibility, and presentation.

We are incredibly proud of Emily’s recent performance representing Great Britain in the Biathle, Triathle, and Laser Run championships. Despite a strong start in the Biathle heats, Emily faced a major setback on Day 2 when an injury forced her to withdraw from the final.

Showing true athletic resilience, she spent a day in recovery and returned to the course for the next four days to tackle a gruelling route of sand, steep hills, and challenging sea waves. Her hard work and grit resulted in an outstanding set of results:

• Triathle Individual: Emily finished 4th overall (1st GB girl), securing a Team Silver medal.

• Laser Run Relay: A fantastic performance to earn a Relay Bronze medal.

• Laser Run Individual: A 7th place finish (1st GB girl), helping her team to another Team Silver medal.

Emily returns to school with two Team Silvers and a Bronze medal. From navigating big waves to mastering the laser shoot, she has gained invaluable experience on the international stage. Congratulations, Emily, on your incredible achievements!

Birkenhead High School Academy recently hosted a series of incredibly engaging and interactive AI workshops, designed to help our students understand the fascinating world of Artificial Intelligence.

This week, spine-tingling screams and nervous laughter echoed from our historic air raid shelter as it was transformed into a terrifying trail of ghosts and ghouls. The spooktacular Halloween Ghost Tour, masterminded by our dedicated Sixth Form Senior Prefect team, saw students from all year groups bravely sign up for a fright during their enrichment period.

The dark, narrow corridors of the shelter provided the perfect, eerie backdrop for the event. The tour was brought to life (and death!) by our talented sixth formers, who donned gruesome costumes and terrifying makeup to become a host of frightening figures. Groups of younger students were guided through the winding tunnels, encountering scary characters lurking in the shadows at every turn.

A huge congratulations to the prefect team for arranging such a memorable and fun-filled event that brought together students from across the whole school community.

Here at Birkenhead High School Academy, we are marking World Mental Health Day this Friday, October 10th, by reaffirming our commitment to the wellbeing of every student. This day is an important opportunity to encourage open conversations and ensure our entire school community knows where to turn for support. We want to highlight a vital resource for families from the charity Young Minds, whose message to parents and carers is clear: "No matter what your child is going through, we’re with you."

For free, confidential advice, you can call their Parents Helpline on 0808 802 5544 or visit youngminds.org.uk/parents-helpline.