Easter Newsletter 2018
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March 2018 Newsletter We are finishing our spring term today with much to celebrate and reflect upon. This newsletter is full of articles about events which pupils have participated. Time passes so quickly in school and it is a year since we moved into our brand-new building! At the start of September, we became an all-through school with Year 5 and Year 6 pupils, moving to the secondary building. We are now oversubscribed in Years 7, 8 and 9, along with next years’ Year 7. I am very proud of the continued improvement of Ark Kings and this is down to the continued hard work of staff, pupils and support of parents. During this term I have been especially pleased with the efforts of our Year 6 and Year 11 pupils, preparing themselves for their upcoming external SATS and GCSE’s. In the coming weeks hard work is vital, not only for those year groups but for all. Attendance this term has also improved and is above the national average. As you know, attending school every day is a cornerstone to success in school, by making great progress, and achieving success. At the end of this term we are saying goodbye to Ms Redhead, Mrs Weston and Miss Gabbitas. We wish them well in their new schools and thank them for their work at Kings. Mrs Critchlow will be starting her maternity leave from the summer term and will return during the next academic year. As you know, Ms Gregson joined Ark Kings last year as Acting Head of Primary to support the amalgamation of Kings and Rose. Having successfully transitioned Rose to Kings, in September she will be resuming her staff development role as Network Lead for Teaching and Learning in Birmingham. In this post, Ms Gregson will continue to support Ark Kings Primary, building on the progress that the school has made over the last year. I would like to thank Ms Gregson for all the work that she has done at Ark Kings and I look forward to continuing to work with her in her new role. I am very pleased to let you know that, from September, Mrs Brasenell, will be taking up the role as Primary Headteacher at Ark Kings Academy. Mrs Brasenell is currently the Primary Headteacher at Ark Victoria Academy in Small Heath. Having set up a successful all-through school, Mrs Brasenell will bring with her a wealth of experience in embedding an all-through school ethos as well as continuing to drive up standards. Mrs Brasenell also has in depth experience of school building projects which will be hugely beneficial as we continue to develop plans for the new primary building at Ark Kings. We hope to have more detail about this new building during the summer term and will update staff and parents as these plans progress Thank you for your continued support and I wish you a enjoyable Easter break. Roger Punton Principal Aspire. Expect. Achieve. Together. The Brilliant Club - Scholars Programme Since October 2017, 12 students from year 9 and 10 have been working hard to complete the scholars programme. Their topic was on politics and had a title of “What’s in a name? Labour and the working class”. Together with their university tutor, Luke-John Davies the students were taken on a journey through the history of the Labour party and were challenged to par- ticipate in university style seminars. Through the tutorial sessions, they learnt about public speaking, debates, writing skills and writing university style essays. The programme required them to complete an essay that would be marked according to university standards about the question “Should Labour still be the party of the working class?”. 8 students successfully completed the programme and submitted a final essay for marking. On Saturday 3rd February, 4 students and their parents were able to attend the graduation event at the University of Warwick. During their visit they were able to participate in a lecture, take a tour of the campus, speak to current students and finally celebrate their achievements by attending their own graduation ceremony. I am very proud to be able to share with you the results of the 8 students who completed this programme below, together with a photograph of the 4 students who were able to attend the graduation celebration. Olivia Agbe, year 10 - 78%, First Class Jamie-Ray Chandler, year 10 - 73% - First Class Dean Binuyo, year 10 - 70% - First Class Heather Neath-Martin - 67%, year 9 - Upper Sec- ond Class (2:1) Charlie Hockell, year 10 - 63% - Upper Second Class (2:1) Amal Ibrahim, year 10 - 59% - Lower Second Class (2:2) Katriana Lightfoot, year 10 - 55% - Lower Second Class (2:2) Aiden Jones, year 9 - 43% - Third Class The Brilliant Club has been very successful for all of these students and they have gained a lot from participating in the Scholars Programme. Olivia Agbe commented: “Overall being in- volved with The Brilliant Club has helped me and my peers evaluate our plans for the future. We have been able to discuss a topic that is considerably different to what we are taught with- in our lessons. Through this experience we have been able to grow as individuals who take pride in their work and who can realise our potential. Anyone involved with this project has an amazing opportunity to learn something new, while also having fun with peers. Our eyes have been opened, allowing us to see life beyond Ark Kings Academy and through this we are paving the path to a bright future!” Congratulations to all of the pupils who successfully completed the programme! Mrs D. Brown 2i/c science, lead teacher for Brilliant Club Aspire. Expect. Achieve. Together. Year 7 Residential Trip to PGL Boreatton Park On the 14th February, 92 students from Year 7 boarded coaches to take them to PGL Boreatton Park where they would brave the cold weather and their own personal fears to develop new skills and friendships that will outlast their time at Ark Kings Academy. Students had been looking forward to the trip since the au- tumn term and it did not disappoint. Based in the middle of the beautiful Shropshire countryside, Boreatton Park is PGL’s most popular and biggest centre. Spread out over 240 acres, it can offer more activities than any of the other PGL adventure centres in the UK.. Wrapped up in coats, gloves and scarves our students took part in activities ranging from high ropes to canoeing, to the giant swing! Students stayed in the same groups for the du- ration of the three days which allowed them to develop sup- port systems and friendships that would help them to chal- lenge and overcome their fears. It was wonderful to see stu- dents giving their teammate a ‘leg-up’ over the wall on the challenge course, or cheering on their teammate when they jumped for the trapeze. As well as the plentiful daytime activities students took part in evening events. On the first night, students attended a disco where they had a dance-off with another school, then on the second night, they competed to find different maps of the world based around the site. Students seemed to thrive on the activities and fresh air mak- ing it a peaceful journey back to school with students catching up on sleep after an exciting three days. Back in normal lessons, students are applying the communi- cation and teamwork skills they developed on the trip to their everyday work. It is fantastic to see students showing the same resilience in class that they showed combatting the challenge course or aiming for the bullseye on the archery range. Aspire. Expect. Achieve. Together. Reflections on the trip from students in 7 Pankhurst: Muhammad: “I have done new activities that I’ve never done before and I’ve really enjoyed them. Also, I have made new friends in my dormitory and we got to learn new skills together.” Bayleigh: “My favourite thing was the trapeze, because even though it was really slippy and I wanted to get down when I was only halfway up, I still got to the top!” Syl: “My favourite activity was canoeing because I’ve never done it before. I liked that we worked as a team to keep on going down the river.” Alfie: “On this trip I’ve made many new friends and it’s also helped me to conquer my fear of heights; even though I found the high ropes really hard and scary the first time, I still went on it the second time!” Holly: “It was an amazing experience doing all of the activities and taking part. Also, the staff at the centre made me feel welcome.” Dan: “Even though I wasn’t fond of heights, I still managed to do three laps on the high ropes. Also, in my dormitory I found I have things in common with people I didn’t know before.” Girls Netball Fixture at Hall Green School A group of year 7 girls participated in Ark Kings’ first netball match of the season. The girls made a strong start with some excellent passing from Poppy, Emma and Steph. Despite some great defending from Zulekha, Alleigha and Elysia, Ark Kings were trailing at half time 2-0. The changes at half time saw Alesha take to the court and Willow stepping into a shooting role. The girls showed great endeavour throughout the second half, working hard to keep possession of the ball and the score moved to 2-2. In the final quarter the girls were playing some great netball and with another two excellent shots from Willow, the girls won the match 4-2! Congratulations to all of the girls involved.