Inspire

At Baysgarth we are always asking ourselves whether we provide everything that our students need to go on and be brilliant throughout their lives. Creating well-rounded students with the skills they need to be successful in life is a key goal for us and this means we have to ensure they take part in a wide range of extracurricular experiences.

Student voice told us that not all students could stay behind after school for extracurricular activities - some students are young carers, other have to pick up younger siblings from primary schools and others had to catch the school bus home. We wanted to make sure that every student could benefit from learning outside of the traditional curriculum.

We also wanted to build resilience in our students and develop their employability skills. These are critical for preparing students for life after Baysgarth. This combination of factors led us to develop our Inspire Time curriculum.

Every fortnight, students have an 80-minute session in the school day where they complete extracurricular activities. Our Year 7 students develop resilience by learning to play chess and by carrying out Taskmaster activities. Other students have a choice of activities. These range from physical fitness such as gym sessions and swimming, problem solving and teamwork activities such as Escape Rooms, and activities that develop their skills and knowledge in areas such as Fashion and Cooking. We also use this time to work in the community with students supporting reading in primary schools and other community projects such as delivering sustainability projects based around our Greenpower and Engineering specialism.

Each session is designed around an employability skills framework so that students can develop communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills. Through Inspire Time we guarantee that every Baysgarth student has a variety of experiences that will develop their skills and knowledge and provide invaluable support in the adult world.