Aspire Summer 18 Pub Low

ASPIREASPIRE The official termly newsletter of Langley School SUMMER TERM 2018 ISSUE 18

TEL:0121 706 9771 EMAIL:[email protected] WEBSITE:langley.solihull.sch.uk Aspiring to be the best we can be: Student Enrichment

Freedom By Eoin Hodgkiss 9O National Writing Day – Let Them Loose! I feel free when I draw. th Flowing, swirling colours turning a blank canvas into a masterpiece On Wednesday 27 June, students at Langley participated in a only dreams could previously create. national project to celebrate the freedom of expression that writing No limits, offers as part of National Writing Day. The theme for this year was No boundaries, ‘Freedom’ and students wrote first as a class to produce a piece of Only you and your imagination. shared writing before writing independent creations. Students’ Nothing can stop me, not even the sky, enthusiasm grew throughout the day as they had the opportunity to The stars, write without limits and create without constraints. The universe. A single stroke of a pen can create the most inspiring landscapes, A single colour can portray an ocean of feelings and thoughts. I feel most free when… Bernadette Jordan 8H Freedom smells fresh. Like fresh ideas- I feel most free when I’m let out. Released from my horrible cage that I spend every A new outlook on life, hour of every day of every week, waiting in. Waiting for something that I know might A clean fresh canvas for when life goes wrong. not ever come. Waiting, just waiting… Freedom sounds relaxing. No pressure, I know that I shouldn’t be excited about being let out, I should be savouring every last No judging faces, moment but I’m not. They say that “it’s the best” that I’m in here, and that they have No sound. “saved me” but all they have really done is make my life worthless. I have gone from Just me and my thoughts in an oasis. something that was created to soar through the skies to something that is more of an Freedom can be a sound, ornament, something to look at. People like looking at me, staring at me, pointing at A feeling, me. And they all like laughing at me, not with me. A scent: They seem to think that I’m helpless, that I can’t do anything for myself. They think Anything your heart decides, that they are cleverer than me. But they aren’t. We are just as clever as they are, Because freedom is whatever you want it to be. possibly cleverer, because we know how to survive in the wild, yet they wouldn’t last Your freedom is yours and yours alone. five minutes out there. They are all treated like heroes. But they’re not. They are life snatchers, they see you out in the wild, see your colourful feathers and hear your squawk, so they snatch you and trap in a fearsome cage, a bare and rusty cage that I FEEL MOST FREE WHEN... by Eoin Hodgkiss 9O smells and feels like it’s about to fall apart. They say that they are saving the species, …Freedom isn’t free, most of you will say but really they see it as their golden opportunity to make even more money. But actually, freedom comes by me in the form of victory, There is this word I have spent a long time thinking about: freedom. I like to associate Freedom at the wheel, around every single bend it with me being let out of my cage, and swooping over the highest mountains, In the driver’s seat, my perfect day to spend, skimming across the vastest oceans and soaring over deep, dark forests. Now that’s Some of us grasp it twenty-four seven what I call freedom. The majority of us don’t find it until we’re a hundred and eleven

They say that I might be let out one day. But it’s not for definite. Nothing is ever for I feel most free when the adrenaline surges through my body certain. I just want to smell freedom, to taste freedom, to touch freedom. Me, the team, the cup, the car and the Grand Prix Life is boring. Every day I get up, fly the short distance to my food bowl with its feeble The burble of the engine, the sound of a victory to gain dried seed and peck at it listlessly. No juicy colourful berries from the highest tree But what do I know the victory could be in vain tops for me. And then it’s time for a day of being laughed at, being mimicked and Red light, green light, go go go pointed at. They’re copying what I say, trying to make me copy them. This isn’t The engine heats as the diesel flows freedom. This is humiliating. Round the Apex then a tight left The rear end spun out I have been let out once. That one precious time is something that I will never forget. Could my freedom holdout? I only had five minutes to take to the skies and feel the wind on my face. But it didn’t last. Freedom through my veins, my brain, They say I can leave soon. I’ll be let out. They pretend to be heartbroken that I’m Could I hold it, I don’t know being released but really they’re glad that they won’t have to put up with my never Yes, no, yes , no as the adrenalin starts to grow, ending squawking and pecking. They think I’m desperate to stay, but in my head, I’m already counting down to my day of freedom. It’s like it’s the end of my prison I had found inner freedom sentence. People think that it’s easy to be me. But it’s not. I will never be beaten. It’s a hard life being a caged bird. When I feel most free by Jenna Remes 7H When I feel most free by Easha Haroon 8H I can relax and not have to worry about anything When I feel most free, it’s me against the world. It’s when I’m focussing on myself, I can listen to the birds chirp and sing. whether that is when I’m shopping for new clothes or waking up in the morning; it’s When I breathe the magnificent nature’s scent warms my body personal time. Breathing in the fresh air and cold breeze as I walk to school, I realise I feel comfort within even with no-one around me. how lucky I am to feel so much inner peace. But then I’m quickly distracted with the horrible thought of thousands of children who can’t feel peaceful, who don’t have a The sun fades and the rain starts as if exchanging shifts real home and must always seek refuge. I try and distribute this thought with a But still I feel joy as if I’ve been given gifts different one; a bright, azure sky and the golden sunshine hitting my back. Then, A shiver runs down my spine. peace restores itself once again and I’m brought back to being hush and happy- the way freedom works with me. The birds hide and take shelter Away from the pouring rain. Freedom, to me, is almost the equivalent to karma. If I do good deeds, I feel free, but The leaves fall and gently sway if I don’t, I feel pressure devouring my mind. I wish it were possible to describe this And mould themselves to the ground like clay. type of pressure- maybe the word ‘anxiety’ sums this up pretty accurately. But I’m talking about freedom- a rare feeling where you’ve nothing to hope as life feels As I walk the leaves crunch underneath my feet heavenly, for however long you cling on to this privilege. When I feel most free, I can I spread my arms as the wind pushes against me affix my eyes onto anything and have deep, deep thoughts about everything. I notice As the wind supports me. every single branch on the biggest of trees and the twisted brown lines they assemble to form a lumpy arch of bright green leaves (with or without my glasses I I feel free in the comfort of my garden, can observe this). I feel free as the rain falls and brushes against my face, When I feel free, I can soar through the sky like a bird that’s just been released from Feel free not having to worry about my perfect imperfections, its cage. Only, the world is my cage and I am sometimes trapped inside of it. I feel free.

2 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Headteacher Introduction

HEAD’S LINES

Dear Reader A very warm welcome to the Summer 2018 edition of Aspire . And what a great summer it was! Reading through these pages, you will see the vast range of activities and unforgettable learning experiences that were on offer to our fine, young people last term. From a wonderful dance performance opportunity as part of the pre-race entertainment at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone to entertaining our local senior citizens during Langley’s summer tea party in our theatre, from winning the Solihull Inclusion Sports Award to an enthralling visit by the UK’s national children’s playwright, from the simply excellent production of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to the first ever ‘Langfest’, we were becoming quite dizzy with the amount of things going on in school and beyond! I have to give a special mention here to the Class of 2018. They were facing a very different challenge in the summer - the new-style, extremely demanding GCSE examinations. The pressure was on for staff and students alike. ‘Team Langley’ really did work so hard together, showing total commitment during normal lessons and through a full range of intervention sessions before school, at lunchtimes and after school. Their resilience certainly paid off and there were many, many happy young people in school towards the end of August to collect their well-deserved results:

• 76% of all examinations taken were awarded grades 4 to 9 [the former grade C to A** (exceptional performance)]. • 64% of our students achieved 5 or more grade 4s to 9s, including English and Maths – well above the national figure. • 23% of all grades this year were at grades 7 to 9 [the former A to the new ‘exceptional performance’ A**]. • 74% of our students achieved at least 5 grades 4 to 9. • 19% of our students achieved 5 or more grade 7 to 9 GCSEs [the former A to the new A** ‘exceptional performance’ grade]. • 23 students from the class of 2018 achieved a grade 7 to 9 in every subject they studied. • 42% of our students achieved the English Baccalaureate [5 or more pass grades (4-9), including English, Maths, Science, History/ Geography and a Modern Foreign Language]. We now have most of the national comparison data for individual subjects and this confirms that we have out-performed national pass rates in the vast majority of cases. The 42% ‘EBacc’ figure above is a new Langley record and should be almost double the national average. In my view, it says a great deal about our young people and the rich, inspiring learning diet offered them by our wonderful, committed staff. I think this edition of Aspire in particular really does go a long way to sum what Langley is all about. We know that academic achievement is crucially important but we are not an examinations factory. We see education not as equipping our students for a lifetime of tests, rather equipping them for the tests of their lifetime. My very best wishes to you.

P Talbot, Headteacher

3 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Student Enrichment

A message from last years Head Boy and Head Girl Head Boy and Head Girl HEAD GIRL 2017/2018 2018 - 2019 ‘Be the best we can be’, what does that entail? Exam results, happiness, medals, compassion? At Langley, unlike many schools it means all four in equal proportions. This school has soul, meaning, relevance and produces young adults with an appetite for success and happiness. It teaches us that the best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today, something that certainly happens every day at Langley. During our 5 years at Langley we have all grown together, appreciated the highs and the lows and as we come to the end of our journey and take different paths we will all have the spirit of Langley within us. So when we learn, remember be the best you can be, make your future now and let us map our dreams to tomorrow’s reality. Georgia Rowe HEAD BOY 2017/2018 Where have these last five years gone? It has been a privilege spending them here at Langley. I have made so many good friends and learned so much in different ways. Over the next few years at this school it is crucial that you respect the teachers and staff at Langley, all they want is to see you grow into mature adults and succeed. We would like to introduce our 2018/19 Head Try and attend the vast array of extra-curricular activities offered by the school. It is a place to meet new Girl Amelia and Head Boy Charlie, pictured people, develop your skills as there is something for everyone. here with Headteacher Mr Talbot. They are Getting awarded as Head Boy really drove me to be a good role model of the younger pupils. supported by Deputies Maddy Whapples & I hope your time at Langley goes smoothly and most importantly, enjoy it! Work hard and ‘Be the best Noah Lowe and Prefects Mia Rimington, you can be’. Damien Boisset Zahra Saeed, Zoya Tashi, Isabelle MacBean, Nancy Evans, Amelia Bodenham, Haider GCSE RESULTS 2018 Malik, Henry Chapman, Nihaal Sanga, Ben Langley students, parents, staff and governors are celebrating another year of outstanding examination Jenings, Richard Malone, Charlie Wells, Arlo results in 2018. This is especially pleasing, given that we have seen the introduction of reformed GCSEs in most subjects, which have incorporated harder, longer and more extensive examined content. Basu, Mohammed Isa Khan, Louis Angoy and Overall highlights of the 2018 exam season are: Umais Saeed. • Overall pass rate (grade 4s and above) increased to 76% across all of the qualifications we offer • 13,000FT TANDEM SKYDIVE 23% of our results were graded at 7+ (which was A*/A in the former grading system) • 5% of our results were graded at 9 the new A** ‘supergrade’ • We achieved our highest ever result for the English Baccalaureate mix of academic qualifications at 42% (to include 4+ in English, Maths, two Sciences, a humanity and a language) • 70% of our students gained good passes in English and Maths, which are so vital for their future learning and career pathways. • All achievement is to be celebrated, but particular highlights are: • Billie Delpino who achieved eight grade 9s • Ifrah Javid who achieved six grade 9s and three grade 8s • Maya Pogson who achieved six grade 9s and three grade 8s • Hannah Rogers achieved six 9s, three 8s and two 7s • Alex Borland gained five 9s, three 8s and one grade 7. The Class of 2018 has produced excellent results through the hard work and resilience of the students, the loving support of parents and carers and the support, efforts and expertise of Langley staff and governors. We congratulate you all.

“Never again!!”, I said as I landed! What an experience myself and great friend of Sharon Cooke, Andrea had. The main part was to raise £600 for Myton Hospice who looked after Sharon so wonderfully well and the post care I have received from them. We ended up raising just over £2000 . Thank you to everyone who donated, it really is appreciated. My next challenge will not involve a parachute!

4 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Curriculum Enrichment

A Summer of Shakespeare! 2018 Young Writer’s Award – Students have enjoyed a summer of National Competition Shakespearean adventures at Langley Earlier this year, 7 and 8 pupils were invited to enter the National this year with three visits to the Royal Young Writers’ competition. The theme was ‘Heroes’. We were Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford as absolutely delighted when Libby Taylor, in Year 8, won the regional well as lots of opportunities in class to section with her beautiful piece, ‘The Forgotten Hero’. It contains a perform extracts from famous plays powerful message to us all and we are incredibly proud of her. such as Twelfth Night and Much ado The Forgotten Hero About Nothing. Earlier today, I asked my little cousin (who is 5 years old) what a As part of their GCSE English Literature hero was and who her hero was. She answered, studies, Year 10 and 11 visited the RST "It's a superhero who saved the city every day and night. My hero is to see their production of Macbeth, with the Flash." Christopher Eccleston and Niamh I asked my mom the same questions and her answers were, Cusak in leading roles. Students were stunned by the eerie child witches; mesmerised by the controversial portrayal "A hero is someone that is strong and brave. My hero is your Nan." of the porter as well as being appalled as we watched Macbeth meet his Many children will answer the same way my little cousin did and bloody and gruesome end. realise later in life that it's more than that. They may also write about their parents. Their family. Their friends. These are the Towards the end of the year, our Year 9 students were treated to the people who are always there for you no matter what and who have emotional and passionate production of Romeo and Juliet. It is always a the kindness in their hearts to care for you more than themselves. privilege to accompany students on a trip to the RST and it is with great pride They are the shining heroes. that we regularly receive praise for our students’ respectful conduct in the Although, one hero is always forgotten. There is one hero that is theatre. greater than them all and is closer than you think. Often Students in Year 7 were invited to produce independent projects based on misunderstood this hero is never heard and sometimes not loud Shakespeare’s Globe theatre and we were astounded by the quality of their enough. An average hero always saves the day and defeats bad guys. This hero, however, can sometimes hide in the shadows of work and the level of effort and creativity that had gone into producing some that one bothering them but they still seem to win in the end. This amazing boards, booklets, models and even a few cakes! hero will always be there when you need them and it may be the Students continue to thrive in their study of Shakespeare in every year at only hero you have one day. That hero is the little voice inside of Langley and it is a joy to see students enthused by stories which are still your head that tells you to keep going strong. To never give up. To get through the struggle. Although sometimes it may be hidden in relevant to their lives today! the amount of stress put upon it, the shining heroes can sometimes help that little voice shine too. You are your own hero. Save yourself when Batman can't. Year 7 Shakespeare’s Globe Project Libby Age 13

Year 7 were set a task to conduct independent research on the Globe Theatre and present information it in one of the following forms: A model; a booklet; a display board; a film or a power point. We were overwhelmed with high quality projects that were handed i n which included three baked Globe theatre cakes! The standard of entries caused quite a headache when it came to judging them but these were the winners: Overall winner: Poppy Close for her Shakespearean version of monopoly including board, counters, properties, Chance cards and Globe Theatre quiz questions. Model Winner: Josie Beaumont Display Board Winner: Frankie Webb Booklet/ Power point: Isaac Marshall Cake: Paris Barker and Caitlin-Kay Moreby All pupils were awarded prizes including the runners-up.

5 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Beyond the Classroom

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN IN Year 8 - Birmingham University ENGINEERING DAY TRIP RAISE Sunshine Lectures On 22nd June the Science Department invited some of our Year 8 girls to On the 3rd of July Mr Thomas took a group of Year 8 attend an International Women in Engineering Day event at Birmingham City students to the University of Birmingham to attend their University. The event was hosted at Millennium Point in Birmingham and gave annual RAISE lectures. The lectures are designed to students the opportunity to find out about motivate and inspire students and help to raise achievement the numerous careers paths in the field of at GCSE. The students attended a lecture on the Engineering. The girls got to experience a development of modern materials and saw demonstrations university lecture hall first hand and they of smart alloys and novel machines constructed using had the opportunity to visit the fantastic memory wire. The students were a credit to the school workshops and laboratories available to throughout the day. students at BCU. In the afternoon the girls participated in the “squashed tomato” challenge where they had to devise a solution to the problem faced by Nepalese farmers of how to transport their tomato’s down the side of the mountains without them getting damaged. The girls demonstrated great resilience and teamwork with one of the teams winning the prize for most tomatoes transported!

Year 7 E-on Creative Conductors Workshop On 24 th April some of our Year 7 Students were Year 10 – Medical Mavericks invited to attend the “Creative Conductors” workshop which was sponsored by E.on. During the On 6th June all Year 10s had the opportunity to participate workshop students had the opportunity to learn in a series of workshops run by Medical Mavericks. about electrical circuits and also to use the special Students had the opportunity to attend two workshops, one circuits to design an aid to help people in their lives. focussing on medical procedures and one on Sports Some of the designs included an aid to help a Science. Students thoroughly enjoyed the engaging and driving instructor and a pram which informed a hands on activities that included trying to accelerate faster parent of their baby’s needs. After the workshop students than Usain Bolt, taking artificial blood from an arm and were invited to apply for a place at the five day summer using an ultrasound machine to investigate their own school run by Learn by Design and five of our students secured places. We hope they have a fantastic time and growth. Students also had the opportunity to attend a talk can’t wait to hear about their experiences in September. about the variety of medical careers available. Hopefully the day helped to increase students’ awareness of the many careers available to them in the NHS. YEAR 9 AT NETWORK RAIL Five year 9 students attended a Network rail event at the National College for High Speed Rail. They started the day with a behind the scene tour of Birmingham New Street station, including a trip to the control room. In the afternoon they had the opportunity to carry out tasks involving VR, AR and 3D printing. This culminated with the team winning a certificate for a bridge design competition against other local schools, an excellent end to the day. KS3 SCIENCE CLUB Keen scientists from years 7, 8 and 9 have be attending science club on Tuesdays after school and have managed to successfully attain their CREST Bronze award. Their project, which they completed over 10 weeks, involved testing different flavours of crisps to see which was the 'crispiest' and also burning them to see which flavour contained the most energy. They employed lots of important science skills including planning an investigation, writing a risk assessment, fair testing and evaluating a method. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed taking part and most have signed up for the CREST Silver award next year. Well done!!!!

6 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Creative Arts Beauty and the Beast June saw the much anticipated performances of Beauty and the Beast from our Year 7-10 students. This hard working cast of young actors wowed their audiences over three nights with a show that was packed full of talent, energy and fun. Over 80 students were involved in the production and the commitment and dedication from them was incredible. We were also lucky enough to have a fantastic technical team who produced a high quality set, costumes and much more. Lucky for us Mr Talbot agreed to be the Musical Director meaning that the singers were supported by a wonderful score. All in all we had a great time working on this show and the whole team was overwhelmed by the standing ovation on the last night. Thanks again to all involved and we are looking forward to the next one!

7 Aspiring to be the best we can be: The Arts

Y10 Birmingham City Photo-shoot Year 11 GCSE Exhibition & Rosette Awards

In June Y11 GCSE Art & Photography pupils were invited to their Exhibition; parents, carers, family and friends came along to support the students and see the amazing work they created during their GCSE course. As in recent years, pupils were awarded Rosettes for Outstanding Effort and Artwork, we even had a recipient FaceTime from Marrakech to receive his award! Langley Artist of the Year 2018: Aleysha Siddique Outstanding Artist of the Year: Mya Sharma Outstanding Photographer of the Year: Safwan Chowdhury

On Friday 15th June both GCSE Photography groups took a trip to Birmingham City Centre to take photographs for their Coursework project based on ‘The City’. They visited visually exciting urban areas of the City including Digbeth, the Selfridges building and City buildings near Snow Hill Station. By the end of the day the group had walked almost 10K and taken over 300 photographs. We look forward to seeing the excellent work created with the photos over the next few months.

Arts Ambassadors This year the Arts Faculty has launched a new ambassador programme where we have looked to recruit Rosette Winners: some fantastic young people to help support our events Billie Delpino, Zaina Butt, Ifrah Javid, Nicoll Bednara, Jessica Tennant, Nicole and clubs. These young people represent all areas of the Quay, Isabelle Goddard, Emily Jenkins, Ifrah Javid and Joshua Pearce Faculty and have made a huge impact since they have joined us; taking part in assemblies, shows, exhibitions, The Art Department is incredibly proud to announce that last years students concerts, meetings and always encouraging fellow achieved the best results in many years; the department always achieves students to get involved. highly, however, we are especially proud of last year’s cohort who worked hard to achieve these results: A new crop of helpers will be joining the team from September so we are looking forward to even more of a GCSE Art ...... 100% Grade 4 – 9 62% Grade 7-9 fun packed year in the Arts. GCSE Photography ..... 100% Grade 4 – 9 29% Grade 7-9 We think you’ll agree that the results were simply fantastic! Y10 Pitt Rivers Art Trip The Year 10 Art students visited The Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford to draw from the cultural and natural items in order to begin their 60% Portfolio project. The students were give 2 titles to choose from ‘Cultural’ or ‘Natural Forms’

8 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Student Enrichment

LANGLEY’S GOT TALENT After the success of last year’s Langley's Got Talent, we were once again amazed and delighted by the wealth of talent on show at this year’s event. Following some great auditions from staff and students, the finalists were selected by the judging panel made up of showbiz staff members. The live final was presented in the Dovehouse Theatre in front of a select number of students as part of their reward experience. Former student Amy Morris returned to open the show, once again, with her incredible vocals. The acts in the final ranged from a singer-songwriter to a magician and dancers. After a tough decision the judges and audience crowned Year 8 student Quanita as the winner. Quanita had wowed everyone with her own piano composition and beautiful vocals. Hosts Mr Evans and Mr McCallum presented Quanita and the other finalists with their prizes. A fantastic event showcasing how much talent we have here at Langley and a fabulous way to end a successful school year.

WINNER

Formula 1 British Grand Prix LANGFEST 2018 th On Saturday 7 July we took 37 students from Langley and Thank you so much to everyone who helped and joined in the fun at the 15 from Lode Heath to dance in front of thousands of fabulous Langley Festival. It was a lovely display of community spirit and fund spectators at the British Grand Prix. The students had to raising and we managed to raise over £2,300 ! So a massive ‘Well Done’ to attend over 25 hours of intensive rehearsals in preparation everyone! for the event, where they were taught nearly 7 minutes of complicated choreography by the professional dance team from Pro-Excel. Once we arrived at Silverstone on event day we had a chance to rehearse with the other schools that we were performing with. In total there were 300 students from across the country that performed together to create a huge mass movement dance event. All of the students performed exceptionally and should be incredibly proud of their achievement. We also managed to enjoy some of the Formula 1 qualifying after the performance and soak up the amazing atmosphere that Silverstone has to offer. Well done to everyone involved. I am looking forward to planning the next performance already!

9 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Student Enrichment

YEAR 8 MANOR ADVENTURE

Manor Adventure was a brilliant weekend away and we even had the good weather which made the activities even better as the sun was shining. The students learned archery, abseiling, canoeing and kayaking to name just a few of the activities on the weekend. The staff at Manor were brilliant, giving encouragement to all students as some of them faced fears on high ropes, etc. The students really enjoyed the weekend spending time with their friends and growing in confidence. Thank you to all the staff who gave up their weekend to come on this trip.

YEAR 10 ENJOYING PGL On Friday 25 th May 2018, 98 Year 10 pupils went on a PGL trip to Boreatton Park in Shropshire. The trip was a reward for excellent behaviour, attendance and punctuality. The pupils and staff took part in a number of adventure activities such as Quad biking, zip wires, abseiling, giant swings, high ropes and rifle shooting. Everyone thought the trip was amazing and loved the activities, choice of food and accommodation. Miss Struthers was very proud of the way the Year 10s conducted themselves whilst on the trip. They were a credit to themselves and the school.

10 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Creative Arts

SUMMER CONCERT 2018

Another wonderful evening was had by all at the Summer Concert on 5 th July. It was a jam-packed night of musical entertainment with a wide range of acts from across all the year groups. There was something for everyone, from Classical violin solos to Jazz and Rock. For some of the performers it was their first Langley concert experience and they were warmly supported by an enthusiastic audience of family, friends and staff. It was also the final concert for Miss Maxwell who has led the ukulele club for the past few years. She has done a great job and we all wish her well in her new post. The whole event was expertly hosted by Amelia Bodenham, who did a fantastic job and the evening closed with the fabulous Jazz Band led by Richard Jones from Solihull Music Service. The Jazz band is keen to get new members so if you are a woodwind or brass player, come along on Monday lunchtimes. A huge ‘thank you’ goes out to all those who supported the event, whether behind the scenes, on the stage or in the audience. We look forward to seeing you all at the Christmas Concert! J Hadley

OAP Summer Tea Party

During the last week of term the Arts Faculty invited over 80 local senior citizens to a Summer Tea Party which was held in the Dovehouse Theatre. Our welcome guests were entertained with music and songs from our students, jokes and excellent compering from Mr Evans and former teacher Mr Clarke, as well as a wonderful tea of savouries, pastries and cakes produced by Miss Johnson and her team of food students.

11 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Curriculum Enrichment

MFL FOOD TASTING MFL YEAR 7 PROJECT

As a treat, at the end of the year, the students were enjoyed a French breakfast of croissants and Nutella, brioche, pain au chocolat with the favourite being the fresh French baguette, baked that morning, with French butter! They weren't so keen on drinking the chocolate milk (like they have in France in the mornings). The extra breakfast went down very well and the classroom was left smelling very nice! Bon apetit!"

Well done to all Year 7 pupils who took part in the extended research homework on a French or German speaking country. The variety of projects was amazing! Some pupils even baked cakes or made a dish from the particular country of their choice. It was a very difficult task to choose the winners but after a lot of debate and thought Mrs. Mc Coy and Mrs Chaudhri chose a winner and 2 runners up for French and German. We look forward to David Wood visits Langley displaying the best entries for the Open Evening in September. In April we were delighted to welcome David Wood OBE a Formidable! Wunderbar! Film TV and radio star, who is also known as the UK’s ‘National Children’s Playwright’ . www.davidwood.org.uk The end of year MFL project competition winners are

David’s films include starring roles in ‘Aces High’ and ‘If’ with FRENCH WINNER Harleen Khatra - 7H Malcolm McDowell and John Gielgud, and ‘North Sea Hijack’ with Roger Moore. He wrote the screen play for a TV RUNNERS UP - Bethany Murray - 7H, Lukas Leberhardt - 7H version of ‘Swallows and Amazons’. GERMAN WINNER Pollie Edwards & Georgia Smallwood - 7E He has adapted most of Roald Dahl’s plays for the West RUNNERS UP - Maryam Idris 7S, Gracie Burns 7L End theatre and has won countless awards for them. He has written for tv progammes including ‘Playaway’ , ‘The Old man of Lochnagar’ and ‘The Gingerbread man’. He has recently starred in BBC Radio 4’s ‘Semi-circles’ comedy half hour. He is an accomplished magician and stage actor too. During his time at Langley he talked to the students about how to develop their skills in story telling. He talked to them about books, what books are for, different types of books, favourite books, the world of the imagination, ingredients for story- telling (to help our students’ own creative writing), ideas for starting stories and how to finish them! He then presented a very special show in the Dovehouse theatre.

12 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Curriculum Enrichment Year 7 Geog ‘Country in a Box’ Year 7 Geography students had the opportunity to compete and create a country in a box. The students filled their boxes with lots of facts, images and geographical information about their country. The boxes were then submitted for judging. We received over 100 entries and were very impressed with the standard and effort applied.

1st 2nd 3rd

Runner up

Lara Leslie Sam Posaner Mohammad Saddiq Natasha Tickle

Emily Ashwell Armani Graver-Adams

Frankie Webb Rose Ryan Oscar Metcalf

LANGLEY DEFIBRILLATOR Langley took part in the ‘Restart a Heart’ day in October 2017 and as a result the West Midlands Ambulance Service very kindly donated to us a defibrillator for use in our school community. This is a very valuable piece of equipment which saves lives. The West Midlands Ambulance service came in on our staff training day in July 2018 and did a training session with all members of staff for this equipment. We are very fortunate to have this equipment in our school and are extremely grateful to the Ambulance Service. We are again taking part in Restart a Heart day in association with West Midlands Ambulance Service. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a valuable skill to learn, you never know when you may be required to step in and help someone. We hope all the students benefit from these sessions. Daisy Amarilli (It had lights!!)

13 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Sporting Achievement

NETBALL RACE FOR LIFE

A massive well done to all pupils that took part in the Langley 5K Race for Life. They raised an amazing £9413.76, which is a fantastic amount for Cancer Research UK.

SOLIHULL SCHOOL SPORT PARTNERSHIP AWARDS 2018

We had a fantastic night at the Netball presentation evening! Year 7 were tournament runners up, Year 8 ‘B’ league winners, Year 9 ‘A’ league winners and Year 11 were tournament runners up! Well done to all the girls - a great netball season! ZONE HOCKEY

The 10th year of running the School Sport Partnership Awards is a chance to celebrate the work and achievements of the young people in our schools as well as teachers, coaches and volunteers. Langley School was invited to the evening where we received the Inclusion Sports Award. The evening was a combination of awards by Schools Sport Partnerships, Solihull Sports Council and Solihull Talented Athlete Recognition Scheme (STARS) and was held on Tuesday 19th June at The Library Theatre in Solihull. Langley was delighted to host its first inclusive Special recognition goes to Mrs Botley who works tirelessly to hockey tournament. Several schools from ensure that Inclusion sport plays a significant part of our students’ across the area attended. It was a great to see time at Langley School. some really competitive hockey being played and it is now firmly on our calendar as an annual event. Well done everyone. PANATHLON COMPETITION In April, Langley hosted the North and South Solihull heats for this year’s Panathlon. Competitors travelled from across the borough to take part in the event. The atmosphere SPORTS DAY 2018 was amazing and the competition was fierce. We were all given the chance to compete in every event. These included Bocchia, Table Cricket, New Age Curling and Polybat. All the events are designed to be fully inclusive and for any ability. It was a well attended event Yet another action packed day with every student given the and our Year 9 leaders helped to ensure that everything ran smoothly. Our Langley team opportunity to participate. Events ranged from was so strong we were all given the opportunity to represent the borough in the finals held Tug-o-War, Boccia and Race Walking to traditional track and field Coventry. events and culminated in the relays. For the final we were given the choice to compete in 1 of the main events - we picked a The winning house this year was: Elmdon sport that played to our strengths. In the afternoon we all competed in events ranging from relays, wheelchair slalom and javelin. We were so proud to tell you we came first and won GOLD medals. We were also awarded the “Games Value Award” this award means so much to us because all the judges decided that Langley showed great team spirit.

14 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Sporting Achievement

ROWING CRICKET Year 10 Level 3 Rowing Championships for Coventry, 8th May - Year 10 away at King Edwards in the Solihull and Warwickshire Warwickshire Cup Round 1 A tough initial draw saw KE post a score of 180 from their 3 Langley teams had won the Level 2 Solihull 20 overs and although we gave a good account of Games and therefore went forward to represent ourselves, we were all out in the 19th over. th Year 9 South Solihull on 20 April 2018 15th May - Warwickshire Cup game away at King The Year 9 & 10 boys event provided Langley with Edwards Birmingham. the opportunity to once again dominate the A poor batting performance meant that we were defending individual races and the relay against a number of a total of just 40 runs after being bowled out with 5 overs to high profile schools. A deserved first place to: Lydia, Connie, Chloe, Lucy and our super spare. Encouragingly, wickets fell and some great fielding meant that KE had to work pretty hard to reach the target reserve Macey! thanks to some great catches by Luke Tildesley in Having watched the senior rowers in the morning, particular. the inclusive teams were ready to row at 11am. 17th May - League game at home against Tudor The Year 7 and 8 rowers had a nervous wait to Grange. Again, a poor batting display meant that only 57 see how they had got on compared to other runs were scored. A great fielding display was not enough schools and were delighted to receive the bronze though and T.G. won by 5 wickets medal. The team were: 21st June - A much improve batting performance set up a comfortable win over Alderbrook in the League. We scored Tegan Donovan, Lawson Lindon, Caitlin-Kay 121 with Day May retiring on 33. In reply, Alderbrook Morby and Cort Jones reached 70 for 7. Year 8 The Year 9 and 10 team found themselves up 9th May - Home to Arden in the League. against some extremely strong opposition and Lost after scoring 60 runs from the 16 overs which wasn’t although the overall results were close, they found enough on a good pitch. Josh, Dan, Henry and Connor. themselves in 5th overall, which is still a fantastic 16th May - Warwickshire Round 1 Cup game at achievement. Well done to: home to St Georges. A strong fielding display limited St. The Year 9 and 10 girls competition saw an Tom, Ryan, Lewis and Yasin. George to 55 and our openers James Barr and Kharan extremely tight contest between Langley who had 3 Nandara reached the total in just over 6 overs. Year 9 girls and 1 Year 10 girl and Alcester Zoe Ashwell As a result of her exceptional 5th June - Warwickshire quarter final at home to Grammar School who had 3 Year 10 girls and 1 performance in securing the title, Zoe has been Saltley. A strong Saltley team scored over 100 runs and Year 9 girl. Unfortunately, the Alcester girls rowed a selected by British Rowing to represent England bowled us out for just under 50. superb relay to just pip us into second. South against England North in the next level of 18th June - Putting a strong Tudor Grange team into bat Zoe, Maddie, Aliyah and Sophie. championships. It will take place at Loughborough first didn’t really work as they raced to 91 for 1 from 12 University over 4 days at the end of August. overs. We managed to reach 52 runs for 4 wickets. The Year 7 and 8 girls had all morning to watch the British rowing coaches will certainly put Zoe to the senior rowers and by the time their event was on, test as only 7 other rowers in total have been they most certainly were ready. They dominated the selected from the whole country. relay and were exceptional to score another gold medal for Langley. ROUNDERS ATHLETICS Year 9 Tournament The Super 6 Championships involves 6 athletes Unfortunately, the Year 9 team were denied a from each year group competing in 2 events each. place in the semi-finals due to the fact that they The times and distances are added up to gain only played 2 games in the league and other Year 7 points. leagues had 3 games. They performed really well 23rd May - Their first game was in the league at Super 6 Girls against Solihull School to lose 9 – 4.5 and then home to Lode Heath. A superb fielding and bowling Year 7 - 5th,Year 8 - 5th, Year 9 - 3rd beat Heart of England 5-3. performance restricted the visitors to just 30 runs. The Super 6 Boys numerous parents and supporters then saw Langley win by Year 7 Boys 4th out of 10 teams 10 wickets in just the 7 th over.

Year 9 Boys became the South Solihull Champions 19th May - Light Hall were restricted to 51 runs with some with exceptional performances from: great bowling from James Averill and Rohan Rana in Alex Veloso, Ben Ivory-Wilkes, Dan Royston, particular. The same two players then saw us through Tom Garner, Josh Naylor and Joe Humble. comfortably in only 8 overs. 3rd July - A home match against Arden in the Dougie Brown Warwickshire Cup provided a fantastic match. Put into bat, Arden scored an impressive 124 for 3. Up until the th SWIMMING 10 over we were above the run chase with some impressive batting from Rohan (14) and Jamie Burke (30). Will Evans then took control of the match and in a dramatic finish which needed us scoring 1 run from the last ball, he got home to secure the win. Year 7 Tournament 17th July - Final of the Solihull Schools A win against St Peters then a defeat to St. Championships Martins meant that we had to win against At home to Tudor Grange. On a perfect day for cricket, Alderbrook in the final league game. Langley batted first and were exceptional with retirements Unfortunately, the girls just didn’t get going for Rohan Rana, James Averill and Will Evans. We posted against them and ultimately lost. 123 for the loss of 7 wickets. Tudor Grange were up with the run rate up until about the last 4 overs with fine bowling and fielding ensuring that they were restricted to 104 for 6. Year 8 Tournament Some excellent performances at the swimming 18th July - The final of the Dougie Brown Cup was A great start and victory against St. Peters plus gala. Well done to Tash who won the Yr7 girls away at King Edwards, Aston. breast stroke and Jess who won the Yr8 freestyle! an encouraging performance against St. Martins A good fielding performance restricted them to 130 from Also well done to Tom who won the Yr9 butterfly meant that if we beat CTC we would qualify. their 20 overs. It turned out that they were an exceptional and to Tom, Eion, Alex and Tom again who won the Unfortunately, the pressure (and the heat) got to fielding and bowling team and we did fantastically well to Yr 9 relay! us and we were beaten. score just over 100 to finish runners up.

15 Aspiring to be the best we can be: Academic Achievements

GCSE RESULTS 2018

Summary and comparisons

Class of 2018 198

Langley % National % *

Attainment 8 50 46

Measure Total Langley % National % *

Students achieving 5 Standard Passes 146 74 Students achieving 5 Standard Passes inc English and Maths 127 646464 59 Students achieving 9-4 in English and Maths 139 707070 64 Students achieving 9-4 in English 168 858585 76 Students achieving 9-4 in Maths 143 727272 69 Students achieving 9-7 in English 63 323232 22 Students achieving 9-7 in Maths 43 222222 18 Number of 9, 8, 7, A* or A grades 406 232323 21 Number of 9-4 or A*-C grades 1337 767676 67

EBacc Total Measure Total Langley % National % * Students entered for the Ebacc 112 575757 37 Students in cohort achieving the Ebacc (Standard Pass) 83 424242 22

Above 2018 National averages

* Early National Progress Calculations - awaiting official DfE Guidance in October 2018 Standard Pass: 9-4 or A*-C

Attainment 8 Attainment 8 measures the achievement of a pupil across 8 qualifications including Mathematics and English, 3 further qualifications that count in the English Baccalaureate measure and 3 further qualifications that can be GCSE qualifications or technical awards . E-Bacc The English Baccalaureate is not a test or qualification; it is a measure used to provide information about a particular range of qualifications. A pupil is considered to have 'achieved' the E-Bacc if they got a 4+ in English & Maths and grade C or better in Sciences, a Language and either History or Geography.