At Northern Education Trust Kirk Balk Academy, we share a vision of being ‘Outcomes Focused, Child Centred’. As such, we believe that all students are entitled to educational experiences that are both enjoyable and enriching.

You may already be aware that in order to achieve this, over the course of Key Stage 3, all students have the opportunity to take part in our ‘EBACC Experiences’ programme. This programme is designed to provide exciting experiences and events which take place throughout each year of Key Stage 3. All experiences are offered to our students completely free of charge and allow students to explore a range of topics from different subjects that make up the English Baccalaureate – a set of subjects studied at GCSE that keep our young peoples’ options open for further study and future careers.

The first EBACC Experience of the year for students in KS3 is due to take place in the last week of this term. This involves students participating in our school escape room experience which will be delivered by our partners at The Problem Solving Company. The event takes place in our assembly hall and involves students working together to use their mathematical skills to code break and solve riddles and puzzles in order to unlock the ‘escape boxes’ and unravel the mystery as they race against the clock.

The schedule for students participating in this Ebacc Experience is as follows;

• Monday 18th December – Year 7
• Tuesday 19th December – Year 8
• Wednesday 20th December – Year 9

Students will follow the normal school timetable until their class teacher escorts them down to the assembly hall to participate when it is their classes’ turn. Furthermore, students do not need to bring anything with them during the experience and they will need to wear their school uniform as usual

I am sure that this will be a fantastic event for all our KS3 students and I am looking forward to seeing them enjoy this unique and exciting experience.

Mr J Gates
Asssistant Principal