This weekend, Phoebe N in Year 7 competed at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu European Championships in the Midlands. She gained a Silver in two categories, which is fantastic news!
Phoebe trains very hard and is very dedicated to the sport. Great results Phoebe!
You will remember our SHINE reading challenge over the Summer: https://www.studleyhighschool.org.uk/summer-reading-challenge/
The winner of the challenge this year, was Jacob T in Year 8!
Jacob completed the SHINE reading challenge, reading six books, including an autobiography and two books from the challenge list. Books that he read included:
Jacob received his prize, a £20 Amazon voucher, from Mrs Guy and Mrs Evans yesterday. Congratulations!
House competitions are back – better than ever before!
There are many ways for pupils to earn house points not only for themselves, but also for their house. Competitions will run throughout the year, giving pupils opportunities to earn those all-important house points.
Over the summer, more pupils than ever, took part in the summer reading challenge competition. We will announce the winner of the £20 Amazon voucher shortly. Many pupils completed the SHINE challenge and earned themselves a SHINE Postcard (worth 10 house points).
Don’t forget the poetry competition that is currently running! Pupils and staff have been asked to write a poem, based on the topic ‘Truth’.
Deadline for entries Friday 20th September. You can hand your entry to your English teacher.
MFL are celebrating European Day of Languages. We are asking pupils and staff to bake a treat. We would love as many pupils as possible to bake, bake, bake! Entries for this competition will be sold as part of the Macmillan Coffee Morning, which will take place on Friday 27th September. Who will be star baker?
Here is what happened last year – an incredible success, let’s beat it this year! https://www.studleyhighschool.org.uk/macmillan-coffee-morning-pupil-information/
In tutor time, throughout the year there will be a weekly current affairs quiz. Each week tutees will get to take part and prove their general knowledge of current affairs.
Watch this space for more house competition news!
This year we ran another exciting opportunity of summer school for our new year 7 pupils. The three days were fun-filled opportunities to get to know each other, the staff and the school itself.
The first day saw all children getting involved in computing and exploring programming and using micro-bits. Pupils were divided into three groups and the Aspirational team cooked spaghetti bolognaise for 60 people! With much slurping and licking of tomato juice from chins, pupils had their first chance to sit in the sun and chat together as a complete group. The tradition was continued and each group cooked lunch for everyone and poor Mr Salmon had the job of washing up!
Pupils all had an opportunity to explore science lessons, understand the rules for entering the laboratories and wear their goggles and get involved in an experiment studying solubility and chemicals in sweets. Following the science lessons, pupils were in art using willow and wire with colourful tissue creating beautiful fish. Pupils also had a chance to experience technology and build rockets and take part in the egg drop competition.
We also wanted pupils to experience the school grounds so we ran an eco session each day ranging from making bird feeders to planting bulbs and autumnal plants for a beautiful display outside the science block.
Pupils also gained confidence with navigating the building itself and the grounds by completing a QR code quiz and then setting a treasure hunt for the other group. Great fun was to be had by all pupils, running around the outside grounds and hunting for clues around the building.
Finally, each day had a period of some quiet where we read Boy at the Back of the Classroom; a fantastic short novel about a child who arrives from Syria as a refugee without his family and how he finds friendship and compassion from his friends at school.
The last day was an opportunity to celebrate the summer school as a whole and recognise the individuals who stood out for their hard work and commitment to the activities.
Summer school is a superb way to make friends before starting school and to gain confidence with new surroundings. We can’t wait to run it again next year!
We were delighted to welcome over 500 people to school last Thursday, 12th September for Open Evening.
With Secondary School application date coming up next month (31st October), the entire staff and many pupils spent days preparing for an evening to showcase the school in all its glory.
As parents and carers started arriving from 5.30pm, they were greeted by pupil tour guides, pupil leadership and members of staff. Pupils gave school tours, answering questions and talking about the activities that were available.
Each department offered activities to engage potential pupils and ignite their interest in a subject they may never had encountered including:
Mr Gray and Mr Eost greeted visitors in the hall and talked about the many benefits of sending their child to Studley High School and the experiences our pupils have during their time here.
Year 7 pupils delivered a brilliant presentation on settling in to school and their journey from Year 6 to Year 7, including experiences at Summer School, to ease the transition.
Feedback from parents has been overwhelmingly positive, focusing on the passion and knowledge our pupil guides displayed, as they carried out their tours.
If any parent or carer still wishes to see the school and meet a member of the leadership team, please contact the office to arrange a personal tour: 01527 852 478.
Thank you to all who attended and all staff and pupils involved, for making this such a successful event.
Today we took delivery of a new catering pod, designed to cater for the ever-growing number of pupils at Studley High.
As the school consistently expands in numbers, we are expanding our provision in all areas, including refreshments!
Our latest addition to the school site, is our new food pod (yet to be named!).
The pod, supplied by budgetshippingcontainers in Studley, will house members of our catering team at key points through the day, offering sandwiches, cold food and drinks and in winter – hot chocolate!
The area isn’t complete yet but seating and tables are on their way!
We are incredibly proud of the excellent outcomes pupils have achieved. It is always a delight to see pupils move onto their chosen destinations as a result of their hard work and motivation.
These are some of the best results ever achieved within the school and they are testament to the positive attitudes and maturity of pupils as well as the commitment of a dedicated staff. We wish all of our pupils the best in the future.
Rajpreet Kalsi, Courtney Ligthfoot, Lucy Scragg, Zac George, Oliver Taylor, Max Hicking and Sarah Randle are among many pupils celebrating excellent results, reflecting the progress they have made at Studley.
Congratulations to the class of 2019!
Last week 24 Year 11 GCSE History students travelled down to London to visit the National Archives and Westminster Abbey.
The National Archives are the official archive of the UK government for England and Wales, and guardian of some of the nation’s most iconic documents, dating back more than 1,000 years.
Once they arrived, the pupils had an induction to the archives and then washed their hands during the process in order to help preserve the original documents that they would be handling.
The morning session explored the question of ‘What was Elizabeth I’s personality like?’ and used original documents from the reign of Elizabeth in order to help explore this. The ‘Tidal Letter’ which Queen Elizabeth wrote to delay her travel to the Tower of London (by writing very slowly so the tide would go out and they would be unable to transport her via the Thames) was a real highlight with many students touching the exact same paper as Elizabeth I had done.
Pupils then crossed London and entered Westminster Abbey to explore the role of Elizabeth’s sovereignty and monarchy. They viewed numerous objects linked with Elizabeth, including the coronation chair which has been used for the crowning of every monarch since 1399!
Elizabeth was no different and while she was crowned at Westminster, she is also one of the numerous monarchs to be buried here alongside her Tudor family in the stunning 16th Century Lady Chapel. Pupils were encouraged to think about the function of this special building and what it meant to Elizabeth.
The trip gave a real insight to the work historians do and how such differing views and interpretations can be taken from the exact same piece of evidence. Such skills will be vital for the students to continue to develop as they head towards the final exams and beyond in constructing arguments and analysing primary source material.
Well done to our Year 7 and 8 pupils who recently took part in the UK Mathematics Trust Junior Maths Challenge. The Mathematical Challenges aim to stimulate mathematical problem solving. It is the UK’s most popular mathematics competition with over 300 000 students taking part each year.
Here are the results:
Best in School & Best in Year 7 – Mattie R & Jack J
Best in Year 8 – Morgan D
Silver Award – Mattie R, Jack J, Morgan D, Alex W, Sammy R and Daniel B
Bronze Award – Agatha L, Finlay S, Rosie W, Lilly M, Isabella E, Jessica H, Niamh A, Isabel B, Emma W, Lucy S, Matinda S, Poppy G, Ruby W, Chloe K & Isabelle T.
Yesterday, all staff were invited to a ‘cake painting and cake eating’ workshop as a way of Mrs Milne saying ‘farewell’ to all the lovely people she has worked with at Studley High School (her words!). Everyone commented on how therapeutic it felt to sit and draw and paint
I was genuinely impressed with everyone’s creations. I have awarded the ‘Progress Certificate’ to Jayne Foster from the canteen who has discovered a new talent, and Mrs Morland gets the ‘Attainment Prize’ for her beautifully expressive studies and focused attention to detail – clearly a talented family!
I would like to say thanks to everyone who came along – I really enjoyed it!
Last Thursday, Nadhim Zahawi MP visited Studley High to lend his support and find out more about the school’s participation in the 2018-19 Beacon School programme.
Nadhim, along with the UCL Centre’s Programme Leader, Stuart Foster, met with the Headteacher and senior leaders, the programme’s lead teacher and a number of students to consider the relevance of Holocaust education today and the challenges and opportunities faced by schools across the country when teaching and learning about this difficult, complex and challenge past.
Mr Hobbis reflected upon the value of Holocaust education and what difference participation on the programme is making
Being a Beacon School has been truly transformational, for students, school and myself. This programme has led us to cutting edge pedagogy and engage staff in superb CPD. This in turn has allowed us to explore the Holocaust in a way never done before at Studley and has inspired students to study the Holocaust and all its complexities. In doing so we have unearthed the complex questions and have encouraged our students to think critically about important issues within the Holocaust, but also in today’s society. We look forward to our long relationship with the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education which will allow us to further develop our teaching and learning for Holocaust education.
Mr Eost commented:
It has been a privilege to be part of the UCL Holocaust Beacon School programme this year. This has inspired staff and students to deeper into the personal stories of those involved in the Holocaust and begin to access the real complexity of the issue at hand. This has lead to an array of fantastic opportunities for our students which will no doubt make them better global citizens.
We were delighted to welcome Nadhim Zahawi to Studley High School. It is particularly pleasing that Nadhim is both recognising and showing his support for our work with the UCL Beacon School programme for Holocaust education.
Studley High are at the end of their 2018-2019 Beacon School journey and it was wonderful to see our commitment to Holocaust education recognised, and the role of the Centre in supporting schools like us across the country to improve provision for and quality experience of Holocaust education through research informed pedagogy and practice. We look forward to carrying this work on with our Holocaust Quality Mark application in 2020.
We are grateful to all involved and a final thanks must go to Nadhim Zahawi for his time and interest in Holocaust education.
This year’s ‘Let’s Get Quizzical’ event was a suitable end to the SHINE programme.
Expectations for closely fought contests were high, given the standards of previous years.
After battling through to the final, Priory defeated Manor to win their first ever title. Well done to all participants for their enthusiasm and positive attitudes throughout.
Will Priory retain their crown next year or will a new champion emerge?
ASPIRE pupils were lucky enough to be invited to a VIP experience with Hagley Falconry centre this week, and their wonderful birds of prey.
A new initiative introduced this year, the ASPIRE programme currently has a key group of 27 pupils across Years 7 and 8, who are receiving additional support throughout this academic year. This support is to ensure they do their absolute best in homework, effort, attendance, and/or behaviour, to further improve their academic achievement and reach their full potential.
Fiona, from Hagley Falconry centre, introduced us to 6 wonderful birds of prey:
Tom – American Kestrel
Mr Burns – Long Eared Owl
Boo – Boobook Owl
Puddle – Harris Hawk
Mr Jangles – Spectacled Owl
Nugget – Bateleur Eagle
Hagley Falconry centre currently house and display a wide variety of Eagles, Vultures, Hawks, Falcons and Owls native to the UK and from around the world.
The ASPIRE students were able to get up close and personal, enjoying seeing them fly, learning about their life in captivity and in the wild, interesting facts it was easy to see the excellent relationship between Fiona and all of the birds. The pupils asked superb questions and showed a real interest in learning about the birds. It was also great to see them pushing themselves to stroke the bird, or have it fly close to them, something which some had been very nervous about beforehand.
We are proud to report that 5 pupils who are swimmers from Redditch Swimming Club attended the Netherlands Invitational Open Meet in Eindhoven this weekend.
They all swam fantastically with Ashleigh G and Rosie W returning with medals.
Well done to:
Bradley S – Year 7
Rosie G – Year 8
Ashleigh G – Year 9
Nicola S – Year 10
James M – Year 10
Studley High School’s History department received some fantastic news last week, when they were informed they had been awarded a Historical Association Quality Mark.
The Historical Association is incorporated by Royal Charter and its rolling Quality Mark programme recognises the excellence of history provision in schools. At present, Studley hold the status as one of only 23 schools in the United Kingdom.
The Historical Association Quality Mark provides a framework for success in which to develop outstanding provision. There is a quality assured framework for a school working to achieve the Quality Mark to follow, with a clear assessment procedure delivered by independent Historical Association appointed assessors.The QM overall assesses and values the history provision of the teacher, their department and the school, and the offer to young people.
This award is even more special as we are the very first of the schools generously funded by the Royal Historical Society (RHS) to undergo the Quality Mark process. Studley applied for the grant funding in June 2018 and become the first grant funded RHS school to complete the process.
An independent assessor who visited Studley High School, said that history lessons ‘‘…were characterised by clear planning, focused learning, a good range of resources used to support pupils of all abilities, excellent behaviour and very good relationships between staff and pupils.” The report concluded: “The department has significantly improved provision of history over the past few years”.
Mr Hobbis, Head of History at Studley High School, is delighted with the Silver award – the second highest level issued by the Historical Association. Mr Hobbis commented, “The history department is very pleased to have attained the Quality Mark from the Historical Association. This accreditation focuses on standards in teaching and learning, the curriculum, pupil achievement and enrichment. Our vision as a department is now to further develop best practice, continue our hard work and push for the Gold award in the future.”
Rebecca Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer at the Historical Association, said: “I would like to congratulate Studley High School on achieving the Silver History Quality Mark”.The assessor very much enjoyed visiting the school and agreed that the evidence provided matches the criteria for the silver award. “We support the teaching, learning and enjoyment of history at all levels and bring together people who share an interest in and love for the past. We passionately believe that the study of history should be accessible to all people at all levels of study.”
Mr Eost, Head of School commented, “This is a fantastic achievement for our History department and reflects the hard work and passion that they all put in to teaching their subject.”
Wellbeing is where every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.
World Health Organisation
Whilst wellbeing is a priority all year round at Studley High School, our wellbeing team set aside one week to focus on it intently at the end of last term. Throughout the week 1 – 4 July, the wellbeing team laid on a host of activities for pupils and staff. Activities focused on social engagement, wellbeing and growth mindset, learning and giving back.
Pupils enjoyed Pip the therapy dog visiting school, listened to inspirational speakers, had the opportunity to learn a new instrument, ran a coffee morning for local elderly residents and visited a local residential care home to spend time with residents.
Staff joined together to attend a local keep-fit class, went on local walks, attended coffee and cake mornings, took part in arts and crafts sessions and took part in a staff quiz.
We wanted to provide a range of activities for both pupils and staff, that were unrelated to academia and outcomes. We devised an extra-curricular timetable for both pupils and staff.
The focus was for pupils to understand the concepts of ‘feeling good’ and ‘functioning well’.
Miss Hughes, wellbeing week creator and organiser
Feedback has been so overwhelmingly positive that plans are in place to provide regular, similar activities into the new academic year, extending to parents as well.
As part of our wellbeing week – Year 9 pupils organised for special visitors to come to school for afternoon tea and music.
Pupils preparing a range of savouries and cakes for a residents from a local branch of the charity Contact the Elderly. The charity look out for elderly citizens who may otherwise become isolated. They hold regular events to ensure that their guests get out and about and can socialise with others.
Our year 9 pupils made some amazing food and the guests were blown away by the quality of the afternoon tea, produced from scratch. There were also homemade decorations and some lovely music performances from a range of pupils in Years 7-9, which brought tears to the eyes of some!
One visitor commented:
You’ve treated us royally. This afternoon tea is better than that at the Ritz and I know, because I have been there….it’s astonishing. We haven’t wanted for a thing.
A spelling bee is a competition in which contestants are asked to spell a broad selection of words, usually with a varying degree of difficulty.
This year’s competition for Year 7 was bigger and better than ever. It was therefore appropriate that the expanded format was matched by a fierce competition. The final results saw:
4th place – Castle
3rd place – Priory
2nd place – Manor
1st place – Abbey
We are grateful to Mrs Evans for her organisation of the event and to all of the staff who came to support. Here are some of the comments made by participants and audience members to sum up their thoughts:
Though the competition was intense and nerve-wracking, I enjoyed taking part in it and I’m proud of how far I managed to get. Bring on next year’s Spelling Bee!
Kimi S.
It was a fun event and amazing to watch. The atmosphere was lovely with a healthy competitiveness between all of the houses
Jazmin D.
I really enjoyed taking part in the Spelling Bee, even though near the end the words got quite difficult! I’m super happy that I won!
Erin M.
Year 9 pupil, Taylor E has been called up to the Under 15’s Warwickshire County Football squad for the 2019/20 season, after competing for his place in two trials over the last two weeks – against the best footballers in Warwickshire.
Taylor has proven that he is a top player; captaining his school team, playing for Cheltenham Town and now being included in the Warwickshire squad. He will be playing against different counties from up and down the country to pit his skills against the country’s next generation of top players.
A huge congratulations to Taylor for this massive accomplishment.
Yesterday, we welcomed the High Sheriff of Warwickshire to Studley High School. Simon Miesegaes’ role, is as the Queen’s representative in Warwickshire for all matters relating to the maintenance of law and order and supporting voluntary and statutory organisations in the area.
After being appointed for 2019-2020 by the Crown, Simon Miesegaes wrote to school, asking to come and visit us and explain his role, tour the site, and deliver a short assembly, highlighting how important it is for young people to ‘do their bit’ to become responsible citizens. He also introduced Crime Beat – a charity aimed at encouraging young people to focus on crime prevention.
Finally, he asked for us all to consider those ‘unsung heroes’ at school – to be nominated for the award at a formal awards ceremony next year.
It has been a delight to welcome Simon to Studley High School. His message of community and ‘doing our bit’ is one that resonates with our school ethos.
We are looking forward to nominating our unsung heroes at Studley High School to support the High Sheriff’s Awards next year.
Mr Gray, Principal
Our final Shine session of the year took place last week, with Prof. Bill Niven & Amy Williams joining over 45 pupils who made the fantastic effort to attend after school.
Both Bill and Amy work as historians researching the Holocaust and in particular how it is remembered at Nottingham Trent University. They focused on a particular event during the Holocaust, the Kindertransport. The Kindertransport was the agreed movement of German Jewish people from all over Germany to countries like Britain, France and the Netherlands.
Amy and Bill gave a fantastic oversight into the journey these young people faced, and finished with the Kinder arriving at their final destinations. However, Amy and Bill were keen to stress this was not the end for most. Some Kinder found themselves in less than friendly settings and struggled to adapt with racism within communities. Likewise, other Kinder were then evacuated following the extensive bombing of Britain during the 1940s and hence, the Kinder story is far more complex than the current perception within the media.
Amy and Bill discussed this concept, but looked at memorials across the world. In Britain our memorials are very much about the rescue but seem to ignore the darkest experiences of the Kinder, such as internment camps, while in Britain. Whereas, while Germany still remembers the Kinder, the focus there is very much on those who found themselves on trains to the death camps, rather than the safety of neighbouring European countries.
It was a real thought-provoking talk and Humanities are excited to be working with Amy & Bill next academic year. Pupils will be invited to support researching local Kinder stories (as many found refuge in Birmingham) and then creating a memorial/commemoration to this process.
What an incredible final history shine session that was all about Kindertransport. Really intriguing to find out about what had actually happened. Thank you to Amy and the History Department this year for putting on this amazing SHINE session.
Ethan (Year 9)
This week, our Year 9 Photography pupils visited Coughton Court an English Tudor country house, situated on the main road between Studley and Alcester in Warwickshire. Part of a National Trust site, the main house is a Grade I listed building.
The house has a long crenelated façade ( a rampart built around the top of a castle with regular gaps for firing arrows or guns) facing the main road, at the centre of which is the Tudor Gatehouse, dating from 1530; this has hexagonal turrets and oriel windows in the English Renaissance style. The gatehouse is the oldest part of the house and is flanked by later wings, in the Strawberry Hill Gothic style, popularised by Horace Walpole.
Pupils visited, to take a range of photographs based on ‘macro’ – focusing on detail and texture. Pupils have been studying the work of the artist ‘Slinkachu’ :
I started working with miniatures in 2006. My work involves remodelling and painting of miniature model train set characters, which I then place and leave on the street. It is both sculpture, street art installation and photography. The street-based side of my work plays with the notion of surprise and I aim to encourage city-dwellers to be more aware of their surroundings.
Slinkchu.com – quote from artist
Pupils had a tour around Coughton Court to hear the history of the building and a countryside walk around the property, into the woodland area to provide the maximum opportunity to take a range of photographs in various settings.
Last week, 52 of our Y7-9 pupils went to Stratford track to compete in the South Warwickshire Athletics Championships.
An excellent atmosphere at the track brought some brilliant performances from our pupils, who all displayed grit and determination whilst representing us at the competition. Our team persevered, produced some fantastic team work and individual displays of skill and athleticism.
Stand out girls overall performances:
Ruby W – 2nd place in Y7 Girls 100m
Faith S – 3rd place in Y7 Girls Shot Putt
Taylor C – 2nd place in Y7 Girls High Jump
Charlie B – 3rd place in Y8 Girls 100m and 2nd place in Y8 Girls Discus
Maddie A – 2nd place in Y8 Girls Shot Putt
Paulina J – 1st place in Y9 Girls Discus
Jasmine F – 3rd place in Y9 Girls Shot Putt
Megan H – 1st place in Y9 Girls Long Jump
Stand out boys overall performances:
Lewis A – 1st place in Y7 Boys 1500m and 2nd place in Y7 Boys 800m
Jimmy F – 2nd place in Y7 Boys 1500m
Daniel H – 1st place in Y7 Boys Discus
Alfie B – 2nd place in Y7 Boys Shot Putt
Charlie R – 3rd place in Y8 Boys 100m and 3rd place in Y8 Boys 200m
(Please note that other pupils won, came second or finished third in their heats)
Well done to all who took part!
Last week, Studley High School English department took their second trip of this academic year to the Harry Potter Studios Tour.
During the tour, pupils visited the iconic sets, learned how various effects were created and even sampled some of the world famous ‘Butterbeer’! The newest addition to the tour, ‘Gringotts Bank’, wowed pupils and staff in equal measure, with the CGI dragon frightening even the bravest of tour members!
As part of our department’s aim to offer an even greater breadth of extra-curricular opportunities to pupils, we have been delighted with how pupils have responded to this new initiative. We are particularly grateful to the tireless work that Mrs Guy has put into the organisation of this new trip, as well as the staff who supported on the day. We are really looking forward to future trips when even more pupils will receive an opportunity to visit this magical place.
More photos to follow
Last week, our Dof E Gold team completed their practice expedition. Year 11 pupils Ashleigh W, Felix W, Nathan W, Finley C & James H took to the hills of Brecon, to practice their skills before their qualifying expedition in July.
Day 1 started in the Crickhowell carpark in the eastern part of the Brecon Beacons National Park, South Wales and pupils walked 19km ascending to a height of 890m (2920ft), finishing at Court Farm, Llanthony Priory.
Day 2 started with a walk up the slope they had descended the previous day and they walked 17.8 km finishing at the lower lying Newcourt farm, Felindre.
Day 3 consisted of a 19km walk, starting at an elevation of 200m, climbing to a height of 800m through the day and descending back down to the Pont Cadwgan car park, 200m above sea level.
We are very proud of the 5 pupils who have gone straight from finishing their GCSEs, to this very demanding, team challenge.
They had to carry all their provisions with them, which included food, tents and cooking stoves for the 3 days and navigated the routes using a map and compass, in some challenging weather conditions.
We wish them all the best for their qualifying expedition, which will take place in the Lake District 24th – 28th July 2019.
This week, Year 10 Photography pupils visited Birmingham City University (BCU) to see their graduate shows ‘Inspired Festival’.
The festival is a culmination of graduate shows, exhibitions and events highlighting the creativity, hard work and progression of BCU students. The shows were a celebration of the students and their innovative work, and an opportunity for them to showcase their inventive, fresh ideas to audiences.
Pupils visited these faculties:
It’s not only our students who have busy lives outside of school, but also our staff.
Our Graduate Support Assistant, Miss Boyle, who specialises in Drama & Performing Arts is a Choreographer for a Youth Musical Theatre society, in her spare time.
She has worked with Lollipop Youth Theatre, based in Worcester, for over a year now and this is her third show with the company. She has choreographed ‘Oliver’, a concert based on ‘The Greatest Showman’ called ‘This is me’ and now ‘Wizard of Oz’.
Lollipop’s students range from ages 5-16 currently, so it can be a challenge to choreograph, Miss Boyle tell us.
I have to find a balance between being able to create dances that the little ones can do but also ensure the older ones don’t get bored, whilst still looking good on stage and fit the song! Wizard of Oz has been a real challenge for me because due to licensing, we also have to fit in the Jive, Charleston, Jazz and other styles of dance.
The Wizard of Oz is on at The Norbury Theatre, Droitwich. Thursday 25th July to Saturday 27th July 2019
Last Saturday, Year 10 pupils, James M battled through torrential conditions to finish in first place in 1500m race, at the Warwickshire county Athletics Championships at Pringles Stadium in Nuneaton.
The event saw him beat the five best 1500m runners in the county and allowed him to qualify for this weekends National Championships where he will be representing Warwickshire.
Well done James and good luck!
Year 8 pupil, Leia D has been successful in becoming a Police Cadet after a formal interview and application process. She told us:
The police cadets is a wonderful opportunity to see what happens in various real life situations. A police cadet gets the insight of what the police force is like, we do different scenarios and we individually get asked ‘what would you do if…’. When you join the police cadets you need to pass your first aid training. As I am wanting to join the police force, I thought that this would be a good place to start. Ever since my older brother joined the police cadets, I’ve been waiting until I was old enough to join. Now I’m old enough, I applied and a couple of weeks later I received notification of that I had been successful!
Congratulations Leia, we wish you all the best.
For more information: https://www.westmercia.police.uk/cadets
This week saw the final personal development day of the academic year.
Year 7 and Year 10 took part in the ‘Raising Aspirations’ event, meeting over 20 local and national employers, colleges, apprenticeship providers and ex pupils. The aim is to showcase a variety of careers and options available to them once they leave us, whether it be college, sixth form or an apprenticeship.
We had over 15 exhibitors from colleges, army, engineering and even some four legged friends came to join us from the local veterinary practice. We also welcomed back former pupils, inlcuding Billy Stowe, who is training to be a paramedic and brought his ambulance for our pupils to experience, from his perspective. Former pupil Emma Roberts was on hand to talk to pupils about engineering apprenticeships, representing MGTS Ltd. Local haulage company Allelys, stole the show with their huge HGV.
The rest of the day focused on sustainability, highlighting the challenges our planet may face in the future.
Year 8 learned about government and democracy which included creating a political party and taking part in elections.
Year 9 were involved with sessions led by charity organisations LIFE and Brook, looking at risks in relationships, consent and online activity. Pete Martin from Redditch Self Defence Association, accompanied by Caroline Davis from Alcester Police also led sessions on knife crime. Billy Stowe also visited and led sessions on staying safe in emergency situations.
Local radio station 102Touchfm came to school to interview Mr Sidhu and film Pete Martin, covering the knife crime session, aiming to empower, educate and inspire young people to make the right decisions, especially with a national rise in knife crime, across the country.
Year 8 pupil, Maddy A has been boxing for 20 months, and is making quite a name for herself!
Before she took up boxing, Maddy spent 4 years training and competing in Tae Kwon Do, gaining her black belt after 36 months, winning 21 regional titles, 2 national titles and 2 world titles, before moving into boxing.
Maddy attended the National Championships at the end of May in Crawley, where she won the Semi Finals. This weekend she was asked to join team England against Scotland and Wales at the Barnsley Metrodome. Maddy fought over 70 bouts and won! She was praised by England for her performance on the day, against her opponent, who was 4 inches taller and 3kg heavier.
Maddy trains for 8 hours a week and runs 3-4 times a week along side boxing in the mornings and weekends.
Maddy is an incredible sportswoman. On top of Boxing and Tae Kwon Do, she played football for Redditch when she was 7 years old, winning many trophies, and last year won the Midlands shot put championships in Oxford.
Well done Maddy!
Local fencing coach Wai Yu Kwan visited school yesterday to introduce some of our Y7, 8 and 9 students to the sport of ‘Fencing.’
Fencing is an organised sport involving the use of a sword – épée, foil, or sabre, for attack and defense according to set movements and rules. Although the use of swords dates to prehistoric times and swordplay to ancient civilisations, the organised sport of fencing began only at the end of the 19th century.
Using only the following colours in acrylic paint: Sap green, primary red and white. The portraits were from photos (head & shoulders) or mirrors.
Pupils grew in confidence throughout the day and gained great experience building up their portraiture skills. All work will count towards their current portrait project.
On Tuesday 4th June 2019, over 125 GCSE History and prospective Year 8 GCSE History students took part in a ‘Medicine in the Trenches’ workshop, run by Frontline Living History.
All students now have to study ‘The British sector of the Western Front, 1914-18: injuries, treatment and the trenches’ in-depth as a part of the History GCSE and this session had been specifically designed to help support the teaching and learning of the Edexcel ‘Medicine Through Time’ historic environment study.
Two authentically dressed World War One officers showed the pupils how wounded and sick soldiers in the trenches would have been treated.The workshops were supported by hundreds of authentic artefacts, hands-on and role play activities and carefully-chosen period images and film. Most importantly they were based entirely upon the actual experiences of those who served Britain during the Great War. Pupils had the opportunity to try on gas masks, become stretcher-bearers and handle many artefacts from the trenches, including a deactivated Lee Enfield rifle, blood transfusion kits, amputation saws, helmets and some shrapnel.
Students explored important topics such as:
Conditions in the trenches and how they impacted upon the health and well-being of soldiers, how they affected the wounds, recovery and treatment of casualties.
Common trench illnesses including lice infestation, trench foot and PUO.
Wounding and disease agents, and their relative significance.
The introduction and effectiveness of personal protective equipment such as shrapnel helmets and gas masks.
The roles of the different medical staff working on the Western Front.
The Casualty Evacuation Chain from Battlefield to Blighty.
The legacy of Great War battlefield medicine—how experimentation, improvisation and innovation developed medical techniques and technologies leading to better care for Great War casualties and for everyone since.
It was a fantastic day, which really brought history to life for our pupils. A huge thank you to David and Richard from Frontline Living History for a well-run, interactive and informative workshop.
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