July 2018 www.lordswoodgirls.co.uk Lordswood News will be sent out via Parentmail and you A Letter From The will recently have received a letter from our Finance Director regarding the move Headteacher to cashless catering from September. Dear Parents, One of the recurrent issues raised by students at Headteacher’s Question Time this year, has been that I write this letter with the memories of the superb of lunchtimes. The School Council has worked with the production of The little Mermaid and the 60th school leadership and catering manager to address anniversary celebration event fresh in mind. The concerns and from October half term, there will be production was stunning and, if you did not manage to a new catering provision in school. The new provider see it, you sadly missed a real treat! is looking to redevelop the canteen area and create ways of speeding up the through-put so that students The 60th celebration was also a fantastic event and I have more time to eat their lunch. Part of the solution should like to thank everyone who helped make the is to have a cashless provision thereby speeding up day such a success. It was wonderful to see so many time at the till. I should be grateful for your support in students, parents, staff and governors, past and present, implementing this new approach which ultimately will and also members of the local community. The day improve your child’s enjoyment of lunchtimes. reinforced the concept of the Lordswood Community to which I so often refer. What was particularly lovely was I would like to be able to say that all building work has speaking to some of the original Lordswood students now been completed – sadly this is not the case! The who joined the school in 1958. They were clearly very sports hall and sixth form centre are now finished but proud of their school and were pleased to see that the the corridor linking the main school to the new build has Lordswood Girls’ School of 2018 remains one of the yet to be constructed. I have been informed that this most successful schools in the city. Clearly much has should be completed by the end of the summer holiday changed over the last 60 years but the school’s focus on so hopefully my letter to you in September will include striving for excellence in all things remains. some positive news in this regard. The whole build has been a protracted nightmare and I know that there are One of the many challenges facing schools in 2018 several staff who have aged during the process! The remains funding; sadly in spite of recent government construction of the 3G football pitch has started and pronouncements issues around funding have not gone this project is expected to be completed by the end of away. Lordswood Girls’ School’s success is based on October. hardworking and focused students, supportive parents who work in partnership with the school and excellent I referred earlier to the quality of our staff and this teachers. We will not compromise our focus on term we sadly say goodbye to a number of teachers delivering high quality teaching and learning and refuse who have gained promotion to other schools. Ms to let funding cuts lead to a reduction in the number of Bukreedan, KS5 Co-ordinator of Mathematics, Mr Butt, subjects offered or in the number of teachers, thereby teacher of science, Ms Christian, Lead Professional for increasing the size of teaching groups. We do, however, Humanities, Mr Jones, teacher of mathematics, Mrs need to look at where we can make savings without Ling, cover supervisor, Mrs Mellor, teacher of geography impacting on standards. This means that we really and Miss Pickford, Acting Achievement Co-ordinator do need to move forward with our plan to become KS4, will be leaving us at the end of this term; we a paperless and cashless school. We have tried to thank them for everything that they have done and promote Parentmail this year but there are still a large wish them every success and happiness in their future number of parents who have not signed up. There have beyond Lordswood. We also wish Mrs Uffindall, KS4 Co- been issues with the rollout of the system but, where ordinator, well as she embarks on her maternity leave. parents have got in touch with the school, we have been able to resolve these. If you have not yet activated your The term ends for all students at 12 noon on Friday 20th account, please do so and if you are having a problem July and the autumn term resumes for Years 7-11 on setting it up, please come into school where we will be Wednesday 5th September. There is a staggered start happy to support. From next year, all reports and letters on this day so please refer to the timings below for your daughter’s year group: Ms Pickford said of the Year 10 winners “The year 10 Year 7: 8:35am students this year have made a real effort and have Year 8: 9:25am pushed themselves outside of their comfort zones, and Year 9: 9:50am have embraced new experiences across the subject Year 10: 10:15am areas. They have been involved in many events in school Year 11: 8:35am and have been praised for their confidence in getting involved. It has been lovely to see their personalities Year 12 and 13 will be meeting with tutors during the and maturity levels grow this year and I wish them all week and all year 12 will be required in school on Friday the very best as they start year 11 in September.” 7th September at 8:30. The school calendar for next year will be available on the school website in addition Year 7 Year 8 to the calendar for next term which appears at the end Grace Currall Rania Khurshid of this newsletter. Molly Gillett Faith Murray Raya Rodney-Taylor Claudia Bryan I should like to take this opportunity to thank you for Millie Conway Alishbah Yasin your support over the last year and wish you and your Rosa Maria DallisonL Gia Dhami family an enjoyable and relaxing summer. Lidiya Hassan Christal Dilworth Erin Norman Lyla Perkins With very best wishes, Nicoli Tcacenco Reeha Saleem Eleanor Davies Upright Melika Hussain Megan Harper Rachel Ling Nell Harris Nour Abdel-Dayem Anoushka Saint John Macaiah Darman Claudia Vuthyani Holly Freeman Davina He Aishat Lekuti Aminah Ilyas Betsy Merrell Mrs Jane Götschel Headteacher Year 9 Year 10 Mona Khosroshahi Farah Al Ali Jovita Manickam Luka Emanuel Farah Shah Zara Hussain Summer Term Lucy Fan-Bruno Parveen Kaur Chloe Gandolfi Sanna Wazir Achievement Awards Layeba Khan Hajra Ahmed Congratulations from the Achievement Ayshah Zulfiqar Liyah Gill Ellie McDonald-Stanton Ishpreet Sohanpal Co-ordinator team of Mrs Peniket, Mr Gursimran Kaur Zara Ahmed Baker and Ms Pickford Tanisha Sangha Kushmeet Roopra Nosheen Siddiqi The following students received awards at the Amna Shuja Ariana Ahmadzadeh Lordswood Girls’ School Celebration Evening on Tuesday, Nina Dixon-Biggs Alina Javed 17th July. The girls had shown great determination and Saniyah Mahmood Hannah James improvement in skills specific to the following subject Deeba Nasari Samantha Middleton areas and were applauded for their success. Jaspinder Shoker Simran Purewal
Ms Peniket said of the Year 7 winners, “the current Shinee Tomlinson Year 7 achievers have successfully demonstrated Victoria Babajide perseverance and commitment to developing their Iqra Naseem talents in a range of new skills and challenges at Erin Norman Headteacher’s Award secondary school level. I am extremely proud of the Nour Abdel-Dayem Headteacher’s award girls and wish them all the best as they move up to Year Lucy Fan-Bruno Headteacher’s award 8. The girls will prove to be excellent role models to our Ishpreet Sohanpal Headteacher’s award new Year 7 students when they start at Lordswood in September.” Mr Baker said that Years 8 & 9 have both had a The School Council successful year and have been praised by their teachers Mrs Riley on a busy year for the School for their determination and maturity. These year groups have been involved in a personal growth mindset Council Reps challenge during the morning review programme and As ever, the School Council’s fundraising efforts have they have applied their growth mindset qualities in their been amazing this year and, in total, they have managed learning. to raise an amazing £2421.23 for various charities! Our regular Wear It Pink day for Breakthrough Breast Cancer raised £815.13 in October 2017 and the Council went grow older. The Reps even stated that it should be a trip on to raise £856.07 for Children in Need the following that is run more often. month. I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the School Council Fundraising Week in April 2018 was a students involved in the School Council for their hard huge success and each Year Council worked incredibly work and dedication over the past academic year. hard planning and arranging their fundraising activities. Attendance to meetings has been exceptional and each The week was a festival of events with talent shows, non of the girls has contributed to everything we have done. uniform days, a photo booth and cake sales and below is a break down of which charities our Year Councils I would like to encourage all of our current Reps to apply supported and how much they managed to raise: to be a member of the School Council again next year as well as asking all other students to consider applying. Year 7 - £155.15 for the British Heart Foundation I look forward to receiving lots of application forms in Year 8 - £138.92 for the RSPCA September! Year 9 - £152.20 for Water Aid Year 10 - £167.76 for Unicef Year 11 - £137 for Save the Children Summer In The Art Students are also taking part in a non uniform day on Thursday 19th July to raise money for a local boy, Josh Department Nicholson, who has been diagnosed with Leukaemia for Miss Tooley on a busy term the third time. Josh’s family are currently fundraising to raise money to support themselves while they have The summer term has seen the culmination of a lot of to live away from home during his treatment. Josh’s different projects up in the Art Department. Our year mother has given up work to look after him and Josh 8 Arts Award students have completed their Bronze also has a little brother who has previously donated his award work and, having learnt how to create stop frame bone marrow to save his big brother. animations, take professional looking photographs, edit imagery using Photoshop and how to teach someone The School Council has also been fundamental in else the skills they have learnt, they will be waiting the forthcoming changes to the school canteen and hopefully on Thursday 19th July to find out if they have a number of Reps were involved in the catering passed! consultation which involved listening to presentations by and sampling food from three external caterers. Mrs The architecture group have finished designing their Götschel was very impressed with how the students buildings for disused areas of Birmingham and have participated in the day and said that their contribution been using 3d model making materials to bring their was invaluable and their questions insightful. ideas for a library underneath viaducts in Digbeth and a restaurant venue with roof top garden to life. Year 11 and 13 students completed their GCSE and A Level courses and their successes were celebrated in our end of year exhibition. Andrew Fox, professional photographer and arts coordinator for BEP and Becca Randle from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts were stunned by the quality of the work on show and awarded prizes to four of our talented students. Mrs Götschel also chose her favourites who were congratulated with a head teacher commendation. We are extremely proud of all of our students who took examinations this summer; the work looked fantastic on display and we are keeping our fingers crossed for August when the results finally come out.
Students and residents during their interviews at Hagley It was not just art students at our school completing Road Village qualifications in the arts; Year 10 and 12 art groups had a chance to see what students at BCU had been A number of Reps also took part in a special project creating for their final degree projects. The groups run in association with the ExtraCare Hagley Road visited Margaret Street, the School of Jewellery and retirement village to celebrate the School’s 60th the Parkside building and were able to take a closer anniversary. Members of the Council accompanied me, look at the portfolios and final pieces by students and met with residents to interview them about what studying illustration, photography, fashion and textiles, life was like 60 years ago and how things have changed. fine art, architecture, jewellery design and horology. All of the girls involved loved the experience and got a Everyone came away feeling really inspired and having huge amount out of it; they all said that it changed their taken hundreds of photographs! I have no doubt the opinions on older people and about what it is like to inspiration they gained from seeing artists studying at university level will fuel our students’ exploration of “It was very interactive and it has given me a different media and influence their own creative ideas. perspective of university life. My favourite parts were the tour and the motivational speaker. The tour was really fun because I got to see around the university and the different things they had. The motivational speaker was my favourite part because he really made me understand things and he was very inspiring.”
“I thought the trip was very inspiring. I loved listening to the perspective of a student now studying in university who was once on the Forward Thinking programme and how it helped her get to where she is today. Overall, I think the trip was amazing and very inspiring. I cannot wait to see where this programme takes me in the future and the upcoming opportunities.”
“It was such an amazing experience and I made so many Students at the BCU degree shows new friends!”
LGS students at Birmingham University A level and GCSE work at the end of year exhibition Breakfast Club Year 8 Do Some Breakfast Clubbers on the start to their mornings Forward Thinking “Breakfast Club is for all students to come and enjoy Mrs Healey with word of an event at classic games, talk about the latest gossip and relax and Birmingham University enjoy the start to the school day. However, it is also a place where students can catch up on homework or In June I had the privilege of accompanying six of school work. If students have any worries, Breakfast our students to Birmingham University for the Year Club’s committee is always happy to help and reassure 8 Forward Thinking launch event. The purpose of students and help them with their worries.” the Forward Thinking programme is to engage and Komalpreet Dhiman 9L motivate students to pursue a university education and to develop high aspirations. Initially, students were “It is fun to hang out and play with friends. We laugh greeted by final year university students who were also and talk and we always gossip and play different games, ambassadors for the university. During the day, there it is enjoyable to talk before the school day starts. It is a were various team building activities with students from pleasure to be in the Breakfast Club committee because other schools. This included using Play-Doh to design it brings joy to the other students.” your dream drop, building the best spaghetti tower Gursharon Chohon 9L competition, quizzes, a campus tour followed by a buffet reception and a talk from a motivational speaker. The “Breakfast Club has become a part of my everyday students found the day really positive and inspirational life that gives me the opportunity to work with many as shown below in the quotes from the students different people and make new friends. Mrs Baxter is involved. the most wonderful teacher.” Alisha Symons John Moore, the former Assistant Commerce Secretary Press Release - Unify under President Reagan, and current Professor of Economics at Georgetown University as well as advisor to the President, explained how we could develop a Success! career in politics,” explains Erida Osmani, “As well as Lordswood Sixth Form Students Winners John Blake, Head of Education and Social Reform at in National Competition for Study Tour to the Policy Exchange who gave us an introduction to American Political History, as well as an insight into the Washington DC political and historical context of the USA in 2018.” Students from Lordswood Girls’ School and Sixth Form Reya Malhi explains her highlight of the visit; “We met Centre are celebrating being selected as winners in a with Cedric Richmond, a serving US Representative national campaigning competition that sent students on for Louisiana’s 2nd district and Chairman of the a once-in-a-lifetime study tour to Washington DC this Congressional Black Caucus, who gave us an overview summer. of the importance of race as a political issue in the USA, which was a main issue in our campaign and so it was The study tour is the culmination of a fully funded interesting to hear from him about issues such as the programme called Unite US, run by national education representation of minority groups in government”. charity, the Transformation Trust. Schools from across the UK were invited to take part in the competition, The final part of the competition came on the final day challenged to come up with a campaign that students of the study tour, when the students needed to draw run locally, focusing on identifying and bringing together on all of the speakers’ insights and expertise to help any divisions in their local community. them pitch their long term plan for their campaign, their goals, how they would achieve them and how Rudi Graham, Reya Malhi, Erida Osmani and Madihah they could fund this. The four students, although a little Tahir competed against schools from across the country nervous, impressed the judges with their detailed and to secure their place as a finalist school, with four varied plans to improve the representation of young school teams selected to go on the fully funded study people in politics and their sound financial planning. tour to Washington DC. The students had to present their Unite US campaign to a panel of judges from the Andy Bookless, who runs a campaign company in the Transformation Trust to demonstrate their passion for USA and one of the judges commented, “At some point their campaign and the impact they have had so far. you girls have to realise that one of you needs to be the candidate; what is stopping you, as young women, from The four Politics students focused their grass-roots being the change, rather than campaigning on behalf campaign to unite young people in an effort to achieve of others?”. Rudi Graham said, “To have someone who more diversity in government and increase participation works with people who run for Congress day in day and engagement in politics. out, to see something special in us and believe that we could be the candidates who help change the face of Madihah Tahir explains, “We wanted to raise awareness government has been a real confidence boost.” of the lack of representation in all levels of government for particular groups, and to try to increase the John Blake, Head of Education and Social Reform at engagement of different groups with politics and the Policy Exchange and also a judge commented on political processes, especially 11-25 year olds, and how impressive both the campaign had been to date, those from a range of ethnic backgrounds. It is these and the plans for the future. Madihah Tahir said “To groups who often feel they are not represented or have someone involved in policy formulation praise our listened to by the government today.” Rudi Graham efforts was incredibly special.” adds that “Ultimately we want to increase the range of demographics represented in government; for Amy Leonard, CEO of The Transformation Trust example, age, gender, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic commented; “We were hugely impressed with the background, education. But that’s a huge challenge, calibre of campaigns that students presented, but and we need to start small, by simply engaging those Lordswood and their Unify campaign really stood out different groups in political issues and the political and the passion of the students shone through.” process.” Reya, Rudi, Erida and Madihah plan to continue their During the visit to Washington DC the students campaign, and hope to inspire other young people to participated in a campaign school, where they get involved in politics, “We want people to realise were given the opportunity to hear from experts in that young people are important and that their voices campaigning and politics in the USA, and then use this need to be listened to along with those who aren’t insight to further build and plan their campaign. always represented. To young people, thinking of getting involved or wanting to make a change to their “We listened to Kinn Badger and Christine Fang, who communities, we would want to say don’t let anyone worked as Field Organisers for the Florida Democratic stop you from making difference – your voice and ideas Party about their experience of the 2016 presidential are important and people will listen.” elections and the future of the Democrats. Professor On Tuesday 12th July 2018, students from schools Reviewing The RSC across the region attended the Role Play Competition Regional Final. These schools included St Thomas Year 9’s Caitlin Norman on a recent Aquinas Catholic School, Bartley Green School, Balaam production of Macbeth Wood Academy, Four Dwellings Academy and Hillcrest On Thursday 26th April, Year 9 watched the Royal School. Shakespeare Company Schools’ broadcast of ‘Macbeth’ which is one of the GCSE texts. Watching the play The standard of performance was exceptionally high was an entertaining and engaging way to become and all of our nine students were outstanding! They familiar with the text and also see how different people demonstrated an exemplary attitude and approach interpret the story. The play’s theme was based around to the competition, and it was clear that they had all children and the lack of children at the end of the worked extremely hard to memorise and interpret play (as most have been killed by Macbeth and Lady the dialogues creatively in Spanish. Our students, Macbeth). The characters were also cast in contrast once again, made us very proud, and the Department to the usual interpretation; for example the witches of Modern Foreign Languages would like to take were children, Lady Macbeth was older than expected this opportunity to thank and praise them for their and Macduff was not portrayed as a military man like achievement. Macbeth which made the final battle more tense and the outcome more unexpected. The clock ticking, the Many congratulations to the following students for porter watching everyone and the death count on being runners up: the walls of the waiting room all helped contribute Team 1: Sree Tejaswini Pappala 7S; Alesha Nazir 7S; Ria to the theme of waiting throughout the play and the Dhillion 7S countdown to Macbeth’s eventual death. At the end the Team 3: Tiffany To 7R; Shannon Sheppard 7S; Eleanor clock went backwards and the witches spoke the final Davies-Upright 7R words of the play which ended the play with the spooky theme. A special congratulations to the following students who were crowned the Regional Winners of of the I really enjoyed watching the play and it was a fun Spanish role play competition and thus won certificates, way to help with my knowledge of the play. I would vouchers and a prestigious shield for the school! recommend it to people, especially if you are studying Team 2: Viktoria Augustyn 7W; Davina He 7W; Nikolette ‘Macbeth’ because it is interesting and unusual. Even Murphy 7L though I know the plot of ‘Macbeth’, it was still very creepy and there were lots of surprises. This is a fantastic achievement and a real testament to the students’ dedication and positive approach towards both Modern Foreign Languages and school life as a Role Play Competition whole. In The MFL Dept Glorious Geography! Miss Siviter with congratulations for our Miss Gager sums up talented linguists Year 7 Geography students have been learning about Since 2013, schools within South West Birmingham the contrasting landscapes and features of rainforests have come together to compete in this competition and deserts. They looked at the adaptations of the to showcase the linguistic talents of their students. In animals who live in these environments and produced the summer term, all year 7 students dedicated time their own ‘adapted animal’ - some of which were very with their teachers both in and outside of lessons erm, imaginative! A Unispine, Scallycat or a Samuel-a- preparing for the Modern Foreign Languages Role Play gazamle anyone?! They then looked at the threats to Competition. these environments and what we must do to protect our fantastic earth. We will be continuing this theme by Students were given the first half of a dialogue in the going on to study the unit of work on ‘Global Warning’ target language and asked to complete the conversation next! in an original and creative way. Subsequently, they had to perform the dialogue from memory, using props and Year 8 students recently completed a unit of work costumes in front of members of the MFL Department on population and have been looking at reasons why who then selected three teams to compete in the our population is growing and various measures that regional final. countries have utilised to try to control their population growth. We then went on to look at reasons why people Historically, the regional final has always been hosted migrate and produced a diary entry for a migrant by Lordswood Girls’ School, however this year, we were moving from Mexico to the USA. The students produced delighted to accept the invitation to perform at the some fantastic empathetic diary entries. The Year 8’s are prestigious Birmingham Repertory Theatre. now going on to study a topic on ‘extreme weather’ – the first lesson being the recent ‘Beast from the East’! Year 8 students were selected to go on a visit to the University of Birmingham at the end of term to participate in a number of interactive workshops such as Volcanology and Town Planning. The girls behaved impeccably and joined in all activities with gusto! We had lots of comments about what fantastic ambassadors for the school they were!
Year 9 students have made a brilliant start to their GCSE Geography courses and are getting stuck into a skills unit to prepare them for their GCSE lessons over the next two years. This included using 6-figure grid references to direct Harry Potter towards Hogwarts and teaching an alien how to use contour lines to plan their route! We certainly have some very talented new GCSE Geographers!
Year 10 students have recently undertaken their mock GCSE exams and are now looking towards their real GCSE exams in a year’s time! The fieldwork is planned for the beginning of Year 11 and students will be Members of the Geog Squad meeting Dippy! conducting both human and physical investigations - details to follow!
The A-Level Geographers have been continuing to work Online Safety Update very hard in their lessons and have recently been on a Mrs Finucane with the latest on keeping fieldtrip to Stratford to collect data for their coursework. It was a very warm day so ice creams (and fish and chips your child safe online next to the river!) were obviously very necessary! The Online video services and live streaming - Promoting A-Level Geographers have also been volunteering as safe watching and sharing of online videos teaching assistants for the new GCSE classes and Miss YouTube is by far the most popular provider of Gager is very grateful for all their help! Superstars! online video, but other services, such as Vimeo and Dailymotion, offer the same. The vast majority of video ‘Geog Squad ‘ have concluded a fantastic year by sharing websites, including YouTube, are designed for producing and delivering assemblies to the whole 13+ year olds. school looking at ‘Awe and Wonder’ in our world. They really enjoyed researching what awe-some things we Watching videos: what are the risks? have in our world! To congratulate the pupils on great Due to the openness of the Internet and despite the attendance and enthusiasm this year at Geog Squad, work of real-life moderators and the removal of videos we went to Birmingham Museum to see ‘Dippy the that breach policies, young people may accidentally Dinosaur’ and finished off our trip with an ice cream in stumble across or find videos that are inappropriate, Victoria Square enjoying the sunshine! offensive or pornographic. Children may also come across videos that promote violence, bad language, The Geography Department is saying a big heartfelt particular viewpoints and religious opinions. Young ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’ to Mrs Mellor this term. Mrs people will also come across advertising, some of which Mellor started at Lordswood Girls’ School 15 years ago may be targeted at adults. and has taught many students through the years, and many students have gone on to universities including A key part of watching online video is the social Cambridge and Oxford. Mrs Mellor has had some interaction through commenting; this therefore means fantastic times as Lordswood – and can tell some real that young people may be exposed to language that is tales of her times here! Mrs Mellor is a much loved unsuitable or that promotes bullying. teacher and colleague and will be very missed. We hope to welcome her back for the odd ‘guest speaker’ Children should be encouraged to report or talk to an session! adult about any content that they feel is inappropriate or if they viewed something that particularly upset or We welcome our new Geography teacher Mr. Linton to worried them. the Department. He was very impressed by the standard of work produced and behaviour of our pupils on his Sharing video: what are the risks? interview and visit, and we hope that he continues to Publishing video online has been made very easy and be! most modern smart phones have tools built-in for this. Before publishing a video, young people should consider whether: • The video reflects them positively (will they be proud of it in years to come?); • The video is respectful (could anyone find it Battlefields Trip 2018 offensive or upsetting?); • They’ve protected their private information within Mr Lovejoy reports back from the annual it; trip to the battlefields of the First World • Everyone in the video is happy for it to appear War online; • They want to share the video with the world, their In June this year, the History department was delighted friends, or keep it private. to take 33 LGS students to visit First World War battlefields and memorials in France and Belgium. This Children should also consider how they respond visit allowed students to deepen their understanding of to comments on their videos and what to do with world history by considering the impact of one of the comments that are upsetting or those written by trolls: greatest global conflicts. Not only did students explore • To not respond, since responses can fuel the fire; these large-scale historical impacts of war, they also • To report or flag such messages where possible; conducted research into individual soldiers and their • To save any evidence of online bullying, as this will wartime experiences. In many cases, students were able be useful later; to locate their assigned soldier listed on the memorials • To block users where needed; visited. • To gain support from a trusted adult.
Live streaming Live streaming is a popular feature of lots apps and platforms. By understanding the risks of live streaming, you can help your child stay safe when they are online. The most popular live streaming apps:
FaceBook Live, Instagram Live, Periscope, Livestream, YouTube Live Students in one of the many war cemeteries What makes live streaming risky for children and young Our students’ conduct was exemplary throughout the people? visit – even attracting comments to this effect made • Reduced inhibition online by members of the public to LGS staff. Students made • Tactics such as trickery and flattery to manipulate poignant tributes to the sacrifices of victims of war at behaviour a number of stages: a beautiful rendition of Amazing • Live streaming is ‘in the moment’ – could share Grace at Tyne Cot cemetery, a thoughtful speech personal information considering the contributions of women at Lijssenthoek • Unpredictable and hard to moderate cemetery (where staff nurse Nellie Spindler is buried), • Viewing inappropriate content and respectful participation in the Last Post ceremony How can you help your child stay safe when live at Ypres’ Menin Gate. Over the course of visits to streaming? these sites and many more, our students showed great • Stay involved in their internet use maturity and consideration for the legacy of the First • Use webcam and devices in public spaces World War in the centenary year of the Armistice. • Privacy and safety settings Some have even written poems reflecting on their • Be wary of requests to chat in private experiences, which will soon be displayed in the school. • Build resilience • Ask safe and trusted adults for advice Of course, students also enjoyed their downtime • Make sure your child knows where to go for support while away from home – much fun was had in the and where to report reconstructed trenches (and puddles) at Sanctuary Wood, for example. Finally, no summary of the visit ThinkUKnow has produced a guide to help parents would be complete without mention of the stirring understand why live-streaming is so popular, and how to musical tribute that a particularly creative group of the keep children safe. students made to our wonderful coach driver, which they titled “Shout Out To Our Dai”. You can find the article here: https://www.thinkuknow. co.uk/parents/articles/live-streaming-responding-to- The Battlefields visit has long been a mainstay of the the-risks/ History Department’s extracurricular offer, and it has been a pleasure to continue the tradition this year. We ‘afterlife’ is our actual life and this current state is what only hope that the students who took part will continue we believe life to be. According to many religions, the to reflect on the issues of war and remembrance raised afterlife will be full of tests to decide whether you go to by the visit, and that they will share their experiences heaven, hell or purgatory or what you reincarnate to be with friends and family. as - what if that is the reality, the real test, the real life? We don’t want to believe in the harsh reality, so make one up ourselves, until we are forced to live ‘real life’, and finally lose control of the direction the boat steers Year 8 Visit The towards. Rutherford Appleton Laboratories Well Done To Maths Claudia Bryan on a recent engineering trip Students On Thursday 24th May, Mr Baker took several students Mr Pearce with news from the Maths to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. We had the opportunity to participate in numerous activities based Department on engineering. The day commenced with having I would like to start by saying a huge well done to our the chance to programme our own robots with the Year 11s, who showed dedication and commitment to challenge of guiding them through a maze. We were their maths revision right up to the final exam. It was also honoured with the opportunity to receive a guided great to see how they approached the exam period with tour around the centre where we saw the use of liquid a mature attitude, making good use of the extra support nitrogen and the ISIS neutron and muon source which offered at school. I have every confidence that their is a particle accelerator and collider. We had a further hard work will pay off and I look forward to seeing them challenge of designing and making solar powered cars all on results day in August. and racing them against other teams - one of our groups won! The day concluded with a presentation Our key stage 3 students deserve a well done on how the research centre works and we saw some too, especially our year 7 students, as they have examples of how the discoveries are then applied in demonstrated fantastic progress in maths this year industry. and have adapted well to secondary mathematics. Some of the work completed by our year 7s this year is outstanding, with real challenge evident in the classrooms – it would appear that the reformed Is Our Reality A curriculum at key stage 2 and the increased level of Dream? challenge at key stage 3 is really paying off. Year 10 attendance at maths clinic during lunch time An extract of a piece by Kainat Jahangir, has increased substantially over the year, with many Dilawaiz Jahangir, Mehwish Jahangir, students requesting and completing extension maths Summayyah Hussain & Iman Raza, Year tasks. An excellent way for the students to continue this hard work outside of school is to log in to their 11 Philosophy & Ethics A Level Students MethodMaths.com account – a brilliant way of ‘‘Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. practising exam style questions and getting instant Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream” feedback.
The life we live, the experiences we go through while I would also like to say well done and congratulations we’re ‘awake’ is considered a ‘reality’, but what if it isn’t to all those students in years 7 and 8 who took part in reality? How do we genuinely know what ‘reality’ is? the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge in April and thank When we aren’t experiencing reality, we call it a dream, you to Mr Fox for his organisation and coordination of but how can we be sure of what dreams are? the maths challenges this year. I would like to give a How can we easily distinguish between the two? special mention to the following students who received Perhaps we are incorrect and our reality is actually a bronze, silver or gold certificate from the UKMT in a dream and what we call our ‘dreams’ are reality. recognition of achievement in this national competition: Dreams are a part of reality and yet, they’re a reality Simran Malhi, Namirah Khan, Donia Jawid, Claudia in themselves. Even in nursery rhymes, such ideas are Bryan, Lyla Perkins, Sanya Mohammed, Sumaiya Khan, incorporated. An example is a classic nursery rhyme, Tafadzwa Matsenhura, Amelie Stanway, Erin Norman, ‘Row, row, row your boat’. ‘Row your boat’, meaning He Xingyue, Emily Town. steering the boat in the direction you want it to go towards: a metaphor for your ‘life’. However, “life is but Well done and congratulations to all! a dream” - a dream we say is reality because we refuse to accept the truth. Perhaps what is now known as our “The rehearsals throughout the last few terms really Delights From Drama benefitted us longer-term as we were able to listen to any criticism that Miss Briggs, Mrs Swallow and other Mrs Swallow on a frantic term for our teachers gave us. It went very well and it really helped drama students us having so many rehearsals to ask any questions.” Year 7 Integrated Learning Day Lyla Perkins The whole of Year 7 were off timetable on Monday 26th June to complete an integrated Learning Day using drama across the curriculum. Students created identity cards and took on the role of undercover spies to complete various missions in order to crack the code. Students completed fingerprint analysis in science, an army style assault courses in PE, drills in drama and code breaking in history.
The whole day had a really positive feel, and students moved around the school demonstrating maturity and commitment.
Erin Norman reflects: Our Mersisters practise their moves for The Little “I really loved our integrated learning day. My favourite Mermaid part was the science because it was really fun and Afternoon Tea with Shakespeare interesting. I really liked the PE too!” Year 12 Drama students performed carefully selected extracts from the Bard’s Plays on Wednesday 4th Anna Ndure continues: July. A combination of monologues and duologues “I really enjoyed the day as it helped me to be more demonstrating a range of intriguing scenes from his observant and to develop my detective skills.” works, alongside some original arrangements of old English and Latin melodies, captured the summer afternoon beautifully. Guests were treated to tea and fresh cakes outside underneath the willow tree whilst enjoying the afternoon delights.
“Being able to perform outside was a rare and special experience” Megan Moloney.
“The challenges presented by performing in a different environment than I am used to were many. Projection and diction needed to be exaggerated in order to be heard.” Kiran Ubhi
“Having to play male characters was particularly Students busy doing analysis in science difficult as I had to thoroughly immerse my body in a Arts Award character that was the complete opposite to ones I have Students in Year 9 have been completing the Arts Award previously played” with a drama focus. They have taken on roles in the Hana Khan chorus of The Little Mermaid. Students have enjoyed the challenge of learning to sing, dance and act, all The Little Mermaid at the same time! Not only did they manage this but In response to the success of last year’s school they have also taught some of our Year 7 students the production, ‘The Little Mermaid’ ran for one primary routines and songs too. school matinee and three evening performances. The setting was in many ways the most adventurous yet Each student has picked an arts inspiration to research with more special effects than ever before; from the and some even got the chance to see ‘Much Ado About smoke machines to the lasers, UV bubble, glow in the Nothing’ at the Globe Theatre in London. dark body paint to more shimmer than you can shake a glitter stick at. This year’s effort was truly a cross arts “Going to the Globe Theatre really inspired me and production with art staff and students creating glorious motivated me to continue acting, and I loved watching puppets, props and costumes for the show, without the actors use different acting techniques that we which much of the visual effect would have been lost. had previously looked at in class. It was an amazing experience, and I am so happy I had the chance to go!” Ruby Howarth It was great to see of our Year 11 students coming back students for university and encourage them to look at to perform in the show and some of the students even opportunities in Higher Education. took on leadership roles and helped with choreography. There was also a costume and props making club that Year 12 students also took part in a visit to Birmingham students attended to help create all the amazing sea Crown Court. The students received a tour of the court creatures. and were then given the opportunity to attend a range of court cases. The students involved carried out an It goes without saying that staff and students spent analysis of the different cases, looking closely at issues many hours perfecting all areas of the show and it was involving class, ethnicity and gender in the legal system. wonderful to see so many parents and friends there to The trip ended with a discussion of the theoretical support us yet again. insights we had made and the opportunity for students to decide which sociological theory is best able to ‘“The whole thing from the performance of the girls to explain criminal behaviour. the show production team, music, fantastic costumes, scenery and special effects - all brilliant - very clever.” Mr Pearce Midlands Sixth Form Betsy Merrell and Lydia reflect on the experience: “During my time working with everybody I have found it Management Team very enjoyable to help choreograph some dances as well Stefan So reflects on the first year of his as help younger students learn the songs.” Betsy business studies course On July 20 2018 seven members of the current year “I have enjoyed being in the show because I can put 12 business studies class (including myself) had the my own ideas into the performance (good and bad). pleasure of participating in the Midlands 6th Form Everyone has so much fun participating in singing, Management Team Game, which was organised by dancing and acting.” the prestigious Chartered Institute of Public Finance Lydia and Accountancy. The event was held at Birmingham University and representatives of many other fine academic institutions across the Midlands also attended. The challenge revolved around allocating a fictitious budget of 14 million pounds in order to optimise the income of the fictitious Cromwell University. Members of the business studies team were allocated a position within the senior management team of Cromwell University which included the role of Vice Chancellor, Head of Human Resources and other management positions. Although the game was set under hypothetical circumstances, it was extremely engaging and reflected a real life business environment. This was because members of the team were given vastly different plans to be selected and implemented in their respective departments. The decisions made had The fabulous cast of The Little Mermaid to be justified with well thought out reasoning and be implemented within the financial constraints that made up part of the scenario. The circumstances were further authenticated as the team was given various intentional Visiting Lecturers And interruptions throughout the process which included a meeting with a fictitious leader of a trade union and a A Crown Court Trip pretend press conference, where members of the team News of fascinating events in the were selected to justify the reforms that were chosen as part of the process. Eventually the final task was a Sociology Department scenario where all changes made to Cromwell University The Sociology Department welcomed Dr Kehinde were presented to the Board of Governors in order to Andrews from Birmingham City University to deliver a be approved. lecture on ethnicity and achievement in education for year 12 students. Kehinde delivered a passionate and Furthermore, not only was the management game engaging talk on the ways in which the curriculum and interesting from a finance perspective, the various labelling has an impact on educational achievement. circumstances the team experienced heavily correlated Students enjoyed the experience and were able to offer with the business studies specification. For example a range of contributions to the activities and discussions aspects of a dynamic market and external factors involved. This is one of the many opportunities within the PESTLE analysis were reflected in the form the Department is looking to provide to prepare of the interruptions delivered to the team throughout At the end of the day, the girls were asked if they had the course of the challenge. Also the fundamental made a new friend, and everyone left with a smile on principles of managing a financial budget and their face, looking forward to starting in September. motivational theories such as Herzberg’s two factor One girl asked if she could come again the following theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, were also day! put into consideration when making decisions on the implementation of reforms. This meant that the skills Myself, and the teachers who led sessions, would like to and knowledge taught as part of the A-level business thank all the current Year 7 and 8 helpers who proved to studies qualification were utilised and refined within the be excellent role-models for the new Year 7s. course of the process.
Finally, as I am approaching the end of my first academic year at the Lordswood Sixth Form Centre I would just like to share with you all some of my personal experiences at the sixth form. After joining the welcoming Lordswood community I have found that not only is Lordswood a profound academic institution but most importantly Lordswood is a place of innovation and opportunity. I believe that this closely knit community does not only standout due to its well earned academic achievements but most importantly it is the dedication of the staff and the willingness of the students that truly define the fundamental principles and values held by each and every one of the Lordswood community. Through the course of the past year not only have I made progress in my studies but I have also been enlightened by both members of staff Smiling Year 6 students on their induction day and my fellow peers. I have discovered that Lordswood prioritises not merely academic achievements but also the nurturing of students as people within a wider community. Food And Cookery Mrs Faulkner reviews the year Well this year has really sped by! Students have been so busy cooking and creating a wide range of dishes and developing those all-important food preparation and cooking skills. When I talk to the students they have all really enjoyed making the dishes and, for some, tasting food that is not familiar to them. On the whole students love to eat what they have made and can’t wait to show it off to people at home.
This year students have enjoyed a newly extended room which has meant each student has a little more space to be creative in. Year 11’s have also completed their food and cookery qualification and have cooked a specially prepared meal for their chosen teacher as part of the final assessment. I would like to wish them all well in Business studies students at Birmingham University their future endeavours. This term we have also welcomed Year 6 students from Abbey Junior School. They have been learning how to Welcome Year 7! cut, slice and chop a few ingredients and how to boil Mrs Peniket on another successful pasta which culminated in the making of a tomato pasta induction event bake with a cheesy bread crumb topping! We welcomed our new Year 7s to their first day Our own new intake day at the beginning of July saw at Lordswood Girls’ School, which proved to be a students doing some biscuit decorating which they successful, fun, and boiling hot day! The girls met really loved! their new Review Tutors and participated in a range of exciting lessons including music, cookery, Spanish, Please encourage your daughter to continue cooking physical education in the new sports hall, maths and art. over the summer holiday as they have some great cooking skills which you can utilise at home meaning The OCR Cambridge Technicals is a new level 3 course you can sit back and relax, at least for a short while! and the external verifier was very impressed with the standard and organisation of the students’ assignment work.
We have also said goodbye to the Year 13s as they reached the end of their course. They are still awaiting some examination results in August and we wish them lots of luck. Many of our students will be starting university in September on a range of courses including paediatric nursing, adult nursing, nutrition, social work and criminology. We would also like to congratulate those students who have already secured jobs and apprenticeships in their chosen career pathway and wish them luck in their new ventures.
The National Health Service celebrated its 70th birthday on Thursday 5th July 2018. We look forward to another 70 years of excellent health care and as a department Biscuit decorating on induction day! we will continue to support our students in their career aspirations; we hope many of them will continue to choose career paths in the wide variety of health and Hectic In Health And social care professions available to them. Social Care Mrs Muggleton describes a record Year 10 Get A Taste breaking year! Looking back, it has been an extremely busy year for the For Space Health and Social Care team. So many new courses have Amanpreet, Liyah and Madeleinen talk been launched at both level 2 and level 3. We have been about a recent careers trip delivering a record number of 8 different courses. Last month eleven students were fortunate to have the opportunity to attend a space careers event with Mr We have welcomed two groups of Year 9 students on Baker at Birmingham airport. We were able to listen their new course, BTEC Tech Award in Health and Social to people in the space industry discuss their roles and Care. All students have made an excellent start and staff learn about the qualifications needed and the pathways are very impressed with the enthusiasm, commitment which led to their current position. and quality of work they have completed so far. We were given the chance to program small model of Year 10 health and social care students have had Mars rovers which are robots that can be programmed a fantastic year and have produced work to an to explore and analyse the surface of another planet. exceptionally high level. We proudly sent their work off to the external verifiers and received very positive Many of us found the presentation by an engineer from feedback. Year 10 have impressed us with their strong Rolls Royce to be the most interesting. We learnt about work ethic and determination to produce their first his role and the challenges of designing jet engines piece of coursework to a high standard. – one of which is the cooling required to prevent the metals from melting because the engines can be so We say goodbye to our two classes of Year 11 who hot. He provided information about the Rolls Royce finished their course this year. We wish them luck apprenticeship programme and many of us are now in their examination results and look forward to considering this option. welcoming lots of them back to the 6th form to expand their health and social care knowledge and support their ambition of further study or working in the health and social care sectors. Accelerated Reading Mrs Ashford with the latest stats Year 12 health and social care students have been All Key Stage 3 students are involved in the Accelerated using their communication skills in both group and 1:1 Reading Scheme. interactions. Through assessed role plays they have shown the importance of maintaining a professional Students pick books within the reading levels they are manner whilst dealing with challenging patients. They given by their teacher after they have completed a have demonstrated active listening, appropriate facial STAR reading test, and once they read their book, they expressions, good use of tone and body language. complete a quiz on the website which helps to ensure around the stalls. The experience also helped us as they understand what they have just read. Students students to bond with each other as we were all going need to attempt the quiz no more than 48 hours after through the same experience and many students felt reading the book. that they had formed new relationships with different students throughout this event. When going around As part of the scheme students are given certificates the event with the visitors, it also gave us an insight into along with prizes for “milestones” such as completing 10 what is available to people who have not only a visual quizzes and achieving their targets. In the school library impairment but also have hearing issues, giving us an we have a Reading Wall of Fame and a Word Millionaire insight into other lives.” board to celebrate students’ success. Lilly Daffon
Since the start of September 2017, Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils “My experience at the Sight Village Conference has been have read over 256,779,768 words and 4,635 books an very enlightening. I take certain things for granted such increase on previous year’s totals. as being able to wake up every morning and being able to see everything around me. It has taught me to be As the Summer term ends all students should be more patient than I was before as everyone is different congratulated on their efforts but a special mention and their needs will also be different so we need to should go to those students who have become word respect that. By meeting the visitors at the conference, multi-millionaires! it has shown me that we shouldn’t look at people Caitlin Norman 7,897,545 words differently just because they may have certain problems. Hannah Lewis 7,331,761 words They are able to do the same things as us, it just might be that they may do it a bit differently.” 4,000 + words 2,000+ words Juwayria Rafiq Suditi Mukherjee Abigail Parker Sara Alamolhoda Zoha Hussain “At the Sight Village Conference, I was working as a Erin Norman guide for those who were partially sighted or completely 3,000+ words Nikita Gill blind. I had to guide individuals around the venue in Haya Vardag Harsimran Kang the way I had been trained. It was an eye opening Gia Dhami Samantha Middleton experience as it helped me realise that I take my senses Aram Akbari Madovi Alisha Parvaiz for granted. This experience has made me notice and Hayley Chikerema understand other things about myself, such as being Khalisah Aftab comfortable with people getting close to me. It also Darcie-Lea Lynskey helped me become more patient as I understood that everyone is different, have different needs and that Also congratulations to the following Key Stage 3 review everyone requires different levels of care.” groups who have (to date), read 18,988,563 words Rukhbar Bi between them during the Summer term alone! 7L 8,584,631 words Finally, a word from Karen Easthope, Enterprise Event 8W 4,904,324 words Coordinator, Queen Alexandra College: 9W 5,499,608 words Please pass on our gratitude to the youngsters that volunteered at this week’s event; they were all amazing. They were fantastic ambassadors for your school. They all worked extremely hard throughout both days. Sight Village 2018 The ones I spoke to were very courteous and some Mrs Kempthorne on the 20th year of our thanked me for providing them with the opportunity! collaboration with the QAC We are going to ask our visitors for feedback about their guides which will be forwarded to you in the autumn. For more than 20 years, Lordswood’s Year 12 students Once again, thank you for your continued support. Have have been supporting the Queen Alexandra College a great summer and we look forward to working with for the Blind with their Sight Village Conference. Blind you again next year! and visually impaired people from all over the country attend to find out about the latest technological aids. They need ‘guiding’ around the conference and our students are trained to work with them and work as Reminders For All ‘sighted guides’ for the two day conference. As with all other years, this was a great success. Parents Some student comments: Mrs Rossiter with notes for parents “I volunteered to assist at the Sight Village Conference. Leave in term time I enjoyed the experience of getting to know new people Please note that due to the increased numbers of whilst also developing my understanding of other absences from school at the end of term and start people’s life stories. The experience has helped to of term, absence is only authorised on production of develop communication skills whilst guiding the people medical evidence. All ‘Leave in Term Time’ requests should be made to the school with at least 2 weeks prior notification. A Year In The PE Dept Medical Reminder Mr Guppy rounds up the year Please contact Mrs Rossiter, a.rossiter@lordswoodtrust. The 2018/2019 academic year has been a very co.uk if your daughter has recently been diagnosed with memorable one for the Physical Education department, a medical condition or requires prescribed medication filled with incredibly difficult challenges to overcome to be brought into school. Parents will be required to alongside the exciting opportunities that all of the complete a medication form for all medicines held in fantastic new sports facilities will give Lordswood school. students over the coming years. There has not been a week go by this year without a significant disruption to lessons, changing space and teaching space, which was made a further challenge due to the inclement weather RAF Cosford Trip that we were subject to over the winter months. The Miss Walters on a great day whole department has worked hard as a team to Earlier in the summer term, myself and a group of provide the best possible experiences for the students students went to RAF Cosford for its 100th anniversary. and, without exception, all of the Lordswood students The girls took part in lots of different activities and even have supported the department through this transition won a trophy for the fastest time on the assault course! year. The new Sports Hall is now completed and some sample lessons have already taken place. The feedback from the students is extremely positive and the opportunities that are now open to the students equally so. Alongside the incredible Sports Hall, the tennis courts have recently been refurbished and the work is well underway for the full-size 3G Astro pitch. All of these new facilities and equipment that we have been given will hopefully help to inspire the future generation, both to be healthier but also to achieve sporting success along their journey as well.
The model for the Sports Academies has proven that sporting and academic success can be achieved under the right structure and with the positive approach from the students taking part. The Department are keen to develop the concept further next academic year through provision of dance and netball, to help cater 60th Anniversary for the needs of the students in Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. This will provide further opportunities for our Thanks students to pursue creative and active topics in a time where they are under so much stress and pressure to Mrs McInerney with huge thanks to our achieve in the core academic subjects. local sponsors Thank you to Hadleigh Estate Agents for sponsoring our The Basketball Academy had a particularly successful 60th anniversary event and to all the local businesses year finishing second in the WMBL Premier Division who donated prizes! Thank you to SJ Financial for (the highest ever finish for a Lordswood team), making donating a fine dining experience at Harborne Kitchen, it to the final of the playoffs (losing by 3 to an unbeaten Calthorpe Estates for donating a £150 voucher to Birmingham Mets team), winning the Rosebowl Cup spend in Michelin starred Simpsons, Nicholls Brimble (beating the same Mets team a week later by 30 Solicitors, Smith Construction, The Plough, Utopia Spa, points) and also finishing the season off by winning Barefoot Yoga, Forward Products, Wink Photography, the Summer League. The team has developed and Boo Boo Coffee Shop, Lloyds Bank and big thank you grown over the last 12 years and for the first time in the to our parent donation from Jane Freeman. Thank you 2018/2019 season, the Basketball Academy will actually also to The Greenery florist for the beautiful flower have a home court! With the majority of the squad arrangement in our reception area and last, but by no available to play, alongside any new talent that begins means least, thank you to Cake Box in Bearwood for studying in September, it is hoped that next season donating a superb cake to help celebrate our special may become even more successful. Details of games milestone! and tournaments will be published on the website at the start of the new academic year, which in turn will hopefully enable Lordswood to have some incredible home support at their games. Outside of the Academy structures, the KS3 and The outstanding Year 10 sports leaders group put on six KS4 sports teams have also had something of a of the most impressive Primary Festivals we have ever breakthrough year. The Year 8 netball team went the seen, gaining valuable praise and thanks from the local entire Division 2 season unbeaten and have gained schools that attended. We have also hosted the Level 2 promotion into Division 1 for next year, as well as cricket and hockey tournaments for the Primary Schools representing the Shenley SGP at the School Games. (including volunteer sports leaders from Year 10) and They were a credit to the school and have helped to are hoping to be awarded more hosting duties for the organise netball dresses for the teams to wear at the primary competitions next year. With further leadership School Games Competition and in games next year. Both experience, our students have helped at Chad Vale the senior (Years 9/10) and junior (Years 7/8) rounders Primary School sports day and also completed a netball teams trained hard and played some very close matches leadership qualification over 7 weeks with Raddlebarn against local schools. The Junior team made it to the Primary School. Schools Finals, held at the University of Birmingham on 12th July, with the Senior team narrowly missing Our Sports Council students have been busy in helping out in their final game. The PE Department has also to direct the department from a student’s perspective; provided opportunities for the girls to compete in dance offering advice on the clubs and activities that are competitions, badminton, rowing, football, basketball, offered to students, providing a valuable insight into tennis (including a coaching course at the Priory Tennis students’ perspectives on their physical education Centre), gymnastics at the regional competition in development. With the widely-reported increase Stoke and plenty more possibilities to compete through in youth mental health problems and increases in intra-school competitions. It is always a pleasure to see childhood obesity there has never been a more such diversity in the students who wish to take part and important time for physical education and with the hopefully the new facilities will next year encourage development in facilities alongside the opportunities even more to take part. that are provided to the Lordswood students, the future is very promising for the school and the department.
Diary Dates W/C Mon 29th - Half term Tues 4th - Year 12 intake day Nov Sept Thurs 8th - Year 12 Parents’ Evening Weds 5th - Autumn term begins Nov 4 - 6.30pm with review tutors Sept Staggered start for Years 7 - 11 W/C 12th - Year 13 mock Year 7: 8:35am Year 10: 10:15am Nov examinations Year 8: 9:25am Year 11: 8.35 Year 9: 9:50am Wed 21st - Year 7 Integrated Nov Learning Day Fri 7th - Year 7 Dudley Zoo trip Sept Thurs 22nd - Sixth Form Open Evening Nov 6 - 8pm Thurs 20th - INSET school closed to Sept students Fri 23rd - INSET school closed to Nov students Thurs 20th - Open Evening Sept 6 - 8pm W/C 26th - Year 11 mock Nov & 3rd Dec examinations Mon 24th - Open Morning Sept 9am -12noon Thurs 6th - Year 13 Parents’ Evening Dec 4 - 6.30pm Thurs 27th - Duke of Edinburgh Sept parent meeting Thurs 13th - Christmas Concert Dec Thurs 11th - Year 10 Parents’ Evening Oct 4 - 6.30pm Mon 17th - Year 7 theatre trip Dec Thurs 18th - Year 7 Parents’ Evening Oct 4 - 6.30pm with review tutors Tues 18th - School Christmas lunch Year 9 Options Dec Information Evening Fri 21st - School breaks up for Fri 26th - Parents’ Forum Dec Christmas 12noon Oct 8 - 9am Mon 7th - Spring term begins Jan 2019