February Athlete of the Month – Mroso good
The Athlete of the Month for February goes to Renee Mroso 8AMT. Her outstanding contributions to the school basketball team led her to be named player of the match on two occasions. Despite being in Year 8, she is representing the Year 11 team. Miss Perry commented ‘Renee is so good, her ability with a basketball is without question a pleasure to witness and her skill belies her age’.
Aspire to Be at Birmingham Metropolitan College, James Watt Campus
On Wednesday 12th February, Ms Wareham and Mr Thornton, accompanied 10 SEND students to the ‘Aspire to Be’ event at James Watt College. As soon as we arrived we were taken to our first taster session, electrical and electronic engineering. Our instructor was Dennis, who after a short introduction and health and safety brief, gave us our task, making a circuit board. Students were given a circuit board, a resistor, a fuse carrier and fuse, a bulb and battery leads. Humayd Ashfaq completed his circuit board first, and it worked.
Our next session saw us washing our hands and checking how clean they were under UV light, followed by changing nappies! Everyone had a go and now knows how it’s done. Our third session was gaming but rather than using computers we were creating hand drawn concept characters, and we made some very strange creations. After lunch, we attended a media session. Here we were shown how to use Photo Shop, and were then tasked with creating our own Andy Warhol pieces using our favourite stars, ranging from Scarlett Johansson to Alex Turner.
Our final session was in the gym. Here students took part in fitness circuit training, and it was commented on by the college staff how engaged our students were, with Kadeer turning the stepper machine up to max and carrying on as if it were a walk in the park! A fantastic day was had by all and a massive thank you to Mrs Price for organising the day.
Brilliant Club Graduation
This year’s Brilliant Club cohort completed their studies with a graduation ceremony held at the prestigious University of Warwick. Twelve successful Year 10 students worked hard completing a university style assignment on the project named 'Protecting Human Rights in the UK - Is it important?'. Congratulations to the 12 students who graduated.
Boccia and Kurling News
On Friday 7th February our Boccia and Kurling team attended the School Games Finals following their successes in the first round of the competition. The competition was held at Nechells Wellbeing Centre and the pupils were very excited for a full day of games against the winners of all the other collegiate teams in Birmingham.The Kurling team; Hamza Aslam, Akemi Tidmarsh, Mica Ming and Shafim Rahman had an excellent start. They had one win, drew against Central School and Small Heath, but lost against Bartley Green, Selly Oak Trust and Arthur Terry. This meant that they just missed out on 4th place by points.
The Boccia team; Emily Simpson, Amaan Ahmed and Dev Tank did exceptionally well, they won all of their matches except the last one against Ark Bolton. They were joint 2nd place but based on points missed out on a medal this time.
All pupils agreed it was a fantastic trip. We look forward to participating in next year’s competition and feel that we have a good chance of winning a medal. Well done to all the pupils that took part and a special thanks to Ms Bondos for her support on the trip and Ms O'Donovan for her organisation.
KS3 Parafootball Tournament at Aston Villa
On 27th January two teams from Yardleys School entered the Parafootball Tournament at Aston Villa Football Club. The teams were looking forward to a jam packed morning full of football against a large number of schools at this prestigious event and venue.
The Year 7 team; Malaikah Naveed, Zeshan Afzal, Haleema Ahktar, Sefora Bozu and Mohammed Mouzam worked very well together, even though they were the youngest team in the tournament. They had some amazing goals from Zeshan, Sefora & Malaikah.
The Year 8 team; Dev Tank, Subhan Mahmood, Muhammed Farooq, Mica Ming, Emily Simpson and Akemi Tidmarsh did very well against some difficult competition. Dev as the goalie made some fantastic saves and there were some great individual performances including two great goals from Emily and Mica.
Rugby News
On a cold and damp day at Yardleys, the Year 8 Rugby Team welcomed their counterparts from KESH school in Sheldon.
This was a tough game with some strong performances all round. This included, good running and pace shown by Farhaan Hussain, crunching tackles being dealt out by Uzair Azhar and excellent ball carrying from Elijah Adeyemi. The game was controlled well by Raheem and Hasheem Sharif who become more and more confident in their play around the field.
Very strong performances came from Nauman Ilyas and Shayaan Khan who were physical in the tackle and with ball in hand. KESH were a good team and played in the right way and with no fear. However, the power of Yardleys saw through in the end and took a good home win. Thanks to those that played for KESH to make up their numbers – without you the games can’t happen!
Man of the Match – Shayaan Khan – eye watering hits all over the pitch including one on their big ball carrier. Shayaan also scored himself with some bruising ball carrying.
Final Score: Yardleys – 35 KESH - 15
January Athlete of the Month – Adeyemo-azing
The Athlete of the Month for January goes to Sarah Adeyemo. Her performance in the girls’ basketball fixtures has led to recent successes for the team. Ms Perry added ‘Sarah has been a rock in the team and her outstanding skills and leadership have also helped improved her teammates performances’.
Eco-Leaders News
Back in November the Eco-Leaders participated in Switch Off Fortnight to help mitigate climate change and save the school money. During this time they were patrolling the school at lunch times, switching off lights and leaving friendly reminders for those unoccupied rooms with computers and lights switched on (being incredibly thorough...).
During November 2019 in comparison to November 2018, the school saved approximately £398 on electricity alone (£295 of this was during the day). This is around 7% of the monthly kWh usage!
Not only has there been a large saving made during November but we have seen a change in "switch off" behaviours particularly during lunchtime, so we are hoping we will see a continuing reduction in monthly usage. Well done to the Eco-Leaders for this fantastic achievement.
Virtual Decision Experience
On Tuesday the 21st of January some students took part in ‘virtual decisions’ experience, aimed at highlighting the dangers of risk-taking behaviour. The students watched a scenario based on street crime and personal safety, and made choices throughout to see how the scenario would play out. There was then dialogue between the students and adults around young peoples’ society, and how actions have consequences and repercussions. The students very much enjoyed their sessions, and this is something we hope to repeat with other students in the future.
Athlete of the Month
The Athlete of the Month for December goes to Hasan Raza 7VNR for his recent sporting exploits. Hasan played cricket for year group above him, helping the year 8 team win, in a match winning performance. He also represented both the year 7 and year 8 football team as a goalkeeper and performed admirably, steering his team to the final in the football tournament.
Girls Active event
A mixture of Year 7 and 8 girls attended the Girls Active event held at the impressive new Birmingham City University campus in Edgbaston just before the Christmas holidays. The event aimed to increase participation of girls in sport. Our pupils thoroughly enjoyed the dodgeball and basketball competitions once they had warmed up and wanted to win - resulting in them receiving bronze medals for their efforts! They represented the school impeccably, showing fantastic behaviour and sportsmanship. The PE department now hope to see the girls attending more extra-curricular activities in the near future.
Quaker visit
A small, select group of RE students in Year 8 had the opportunity to visit the Quaker meeting house in Hall Green. They listened to the beliefs and practices of Quakers and were able to ask reflective questions. They spent some time studying features of the meeting place and were able to look at photos demonstrating Quakers in action - peacefully protesting. The afternoon was enjoyed by all and students commented on how useful it was to be able to explore another faith within their own area.
Basketball news
On 4th December 2019 the KS4 girls’ basketball team had their first match against Kings Norton Girls’ School. It was a home game and the girls were excited to start of their basketball league with a win.
The team started well getting a comfortable lead of 10 points in the first quarter. However, Kings Norton got back into the game with some fantastic offence; catching up and staying in contention with some fantastic lay ups. At the beginning of the fourth quarter both teams were neck and neck with 20 points each. Kings Norton scored the next two baskets but Yardleys was not ready to give up, they scored two after.
The teams were drawing with 10 seconds remaining and finished the game with a 2 point shot from Laiba Malik, who scored just before the full time whistle; Yardleys had their first win.
Well done to all the girls; Sarah Adeyemo, Aisha Farah, Aliya Dahir from Year 11 and Laiba Malik, Marriyah Qaiser, Alaina Ahmed, Amna Sarfraz and Amaani Deere from Year 10. Many thanks to the Year 11 officials on the night: Hamzah Aswad, Abdallah Mohammed, Haaris Khan and Waleed Khan.
Year 9 Theatre trip
Recently the whole of Year 9 went on a trip to The Crescent Theatre to watch an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It was a novel that the pupils had read in Year 7, so was interesting and fun to see how it had been adapted for the stage and our modern times in this season of festivities. Not only was it a great opportunity to experience the theatre, but will prove valuable for the pupils when they come to study their next Shakespearean play, giving them a greater insight into what it is like to an audience watching a live production. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and pleasingly, the staff at the theatre were more than complimentary of our pupils' behaviour.
Collegiate Dance Festival
On 28th November Yardleys hosted a dance festival for primary and secondary schools in our Central Collegiate. It is always one of our favourite events and it was clear to see how much hard work and effort had gone in to all the performances. Unfortunately, not all the schools that entered were able to attend on the night, nonetheless it was still a great event and all the pupils should be proud of their performances.
We would like to say a massive thank you to Hannah Reed for her organisation and to Michelle Homer from Hall Green who was our judge.
After the combined results from Michelle Homer and the values voting by all the schools, congratulations go to Oasis Blakenhale Primary School who will now represent the Central Collegiate at the County School Games Finals on 13th March (dance only). Audley Primary School finished in a very close second place with a fantastic dance choreographed by the pupils. All of the performances from Yardleys School were created by the pupils.
The secondary school results were as follows:
1st Place - Yardleys School - Madihah Khan - Year 7
2nd Place - Yardleys School - Hannah Yahya - Year 7
Joint 3rd - Yardleys School - Remi Sowe; Mica Ming; Aminah Qayyum; Nishat Jolie and Zara Ahmad all from Year 8.
The winners of the following categories were:
Best Choreography - Oasis Blakenhale Primary School
Best Concept - Yardleys School Year 7 girls; Hannah Yahya; Alishbah Ahmed; Muskan Anwar; Aisha Yahya
Best Costume - Yardleys School - Sonia Ghafoor Year 8 and Mobeen Kousar Year 10
Alishbah Ahmed, Muskan Anwar, Aisha Yahya will progress to the finals as solo performers along with Madihah.
Para-Sports Hall Athletics Tournament
Year 9 pupils recently attended the Para-Sports Hall Athletics tournament held at Billesley Tennis Centre. The pupils took part in a range of activities from speed bounce to the up and under assault course sprint. Yardleys were able to finish in second place overall and progressed through to the Birmingham School Games finals. There were lots of excellent performances on the day but the most notable was Miss Ashleigh Masters setting a new speed bounce record of 45 completed in 20 seconds.
Author Visit - Alex Wheatle
Yardleys recently welcomed the award winning author Alex Wheatle who in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2008, was awarded the MBE for services to literature.
Alex presented an assembly to our Year 9 students inspiring them with his life story and journey to having his books published. They responded well to his warmth and were inspired by his enthusiasm and knowledge.
During two further workshops Alex gave a fascinating insight into the process of writing a novel and where ideas can stem from. His young-adult novel Liccle Bit was previously longlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
Our Year 9 pupils had a really valuable and enjoyable experience. The visit was a great success.
Student Voice
The School Council met to discuss a variety of issues around school life. Discussions centred around classroom routines, homework and also the school environment as a whole. The discussions were positive, with effective ideas and thoughts shared. The council also met with the Canteen Manager to discuss the school catering. Prices for food, menus and other important factors were discussed and the feedback given was very constructive, it can only make the lunchtime dining experience even better than it already is. It was an excellent opportunity for the council to put forth the ideas shared by all of the students throughout the school.
Movember
Congratulations to the staff and pupils that have raised money for Movember.
They have raised a whopping £404.
Movember is a charity that raises money for men's health including prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. At Yardleys we felt that it was important to raise awareness of men's health so pupils know what to look out for and where to get help.
Our Sports Leaders have done a magnificent job raising money through games, a cake sale and voting for their favourite teacher moustache this month. These activities and the online fundraising site have collectively raised a huge amount of money for a very worthy cause.
Well done to all those that have participated and contributed: the Sports Leaders;
Mubeen from year 10 and the following girls all from year 8; Nishat, Aminah, Sonia, Alisha, Ummayyah, Rhea, Samihah, Hajer, Laiba, Alae, Manahil, Alaa, Sakina, Yusra, Alae, Shahrukh, and Mariam Farrah and last but not least, well done to our Movember Members of Staff; Mr Basra, Mr Pohl, Mr Cross, Mr Thornton, Mr Webb and Mr Porter for being such good sports!
Times Tables Rockstars
Between 11 and 16th November, pupils in Year 7 and 8 completed an astonishing 235,861 times tables as they battled pupils from all over the country to complete the most times tables on the Times Tables Rockstars website. A big thank you to all of our year 7s and 8s for taking part and congratulations to 7HL who completed the most times tables in KS3!
The “most valuable players” who completed the most times tables will be rewarded with certificates during Year 7 and 8 assemblies but a special mention must go to Zahed Ali and Raheen Rahman who completed 17,467 and 11,634 times tables respectively. What an outstanding effort!
The competition is part of our commitment to times tables, with KS3 pupils expected to complete 30 minutes of practice weekly as part of their homework.
World Skills UK Trip 21 November 2019
The World Skills UK event at the NEC provided a great opportunity for the majority of students from of Year 11 to find out more about a huge variety of different career opportunities. All the employments sectors were represented – health, hospitality and lifestyle, engineering & technology, digital business and construction & infrastructure.
The event was full of interactive demonstrations, information on apprenticeship and technical opportunities plus lots of inspiring presentations about different careers. Students were able to watch highly skilled young people take part in World Skills UK competitions in their own trades and areas of expertise. These competitions are at the heart of World Skills UK with winners being crowned as being the ‘best in the UK’.
Some of the stands were amazing with actual planes, helicopters, ambulances, tanks and police cars being available for students to sit in. There was also lots of presentations taking place around different careers in addition to interactive things for the students to have a go at. Representatives from training providers, colleges and some of the universities were also on hand to talk to students about post-16 training opportunities. Many of the stands had people on them who were currently dong an Apprenticeship ranging from Intermediate level all the way up to Degree Apprenticeships.
This event provided a great opportunity for students to see that there are a lot of different career opportunities available including a huge range of practical careers that require highly trained people.
Trip to Birmingham Royal Ballet – 20th November 2019
Birmingham Royal Ballet opened its doors to a small number of Year 8 students last week providing a fantastic opportunity for them to not only hear from a variety of people about their careers at Birmingham Royal Ballet, but also to learn about a part of the creative industry that they may possibly not have another chance to see.
Representatives from Costume and Wigs were on hand to talk about their jobs and answer questions and gave the students the chance to see some of the costumes that will be used in the Christmas production of the Nutcracker. The group was amazed to learn that a typical ballet tutu can cost around £2,500 due to all the hand stitching that is required. Staff from Human Resources and the Learning Education, Access and Participation Team also spoke to the group about the work that they do.
The group were given the opportunity to watch one of the performers from the Nutcracker apply his stage make-up whilst talking about his career, before disappearing off and reappearing wearing his full costume.
The afternoon session provided a chance to look round the Birmingham Hippodrome and to go back stage and see the rigs that control the props as they move on and off stage. The group also got to sit in the stalls at the Hippodrome and watch some of the rehearsals of the act where the Christmas tree and everything else in the room grow to enormous heights on stage.
Students were also able to go into the Medical Suite, which looked like a big gym. Here, dancers who have injuries receive treatment or to get their muscles ready for a rehearsal or performance.
The trip provided a fantastic opportunity to learn about some of the great career opportunities that there are in the creative sector.
Children In Need fundraising
Last week Yardleys PE leaders have organised and led a week of fun activities to raise money for Children in Need. Activities at lunch and break time were for a silver coin to ensure that all pupils had the chance to participate and have their share in raising money for such a worthy cause.
Pupils were spoilt for choice with boules, face splat, pin the eye on Pudsey, name the teddy, Pudsey pong and cake sale stalls at break time and sports competitions every lunch; there was lots to join in with! They also organised a sponsored silence and a sponsored mile challenge. Shahid from Year 8 was the fastest boy with 8.08 minute mile and Manahil, also from Year 8 had the fastest mile for the girls with her mile taking 9.24 minutes. Ifrah from Year 7 raised the most money for her Sponsored Silence. She raised £45! Well done!
Well done to all the leaders this week:
Mubeen from Year 10 and the following girls all from Year 8; Nishat, Aminah, Sonia, Alisha, Ummayyah, Rhea, Samihah, Hajer, Laiba, Alae, Manahil, Alaa, Sakina, Yusra, Alae, Shahrukh, Mariam and Farrah.
World Maths Day
On Tuesday 22nd October, Yardleys School celebrated World Maths Day. Students took part in a competition where they had to find and answer a number of maths related questions. The students who took part really enjoyed the day.
Here are some comments:
‘Taking part has made me feel more confident answering word problems.’
‘I liked working with my friends and solving problems together.’
‘It was fun having to find all the different teachers who had a maths problem. Some of them helped me answer the question.’
Congratulations to the winners of the competition: Mikael Sadaqat, Essa Ahmed, Isa Deen and Ismal Wajid.
Well done!
Girls Basketball
On Thursday 21st November, Yardleys hosted the annual KS3 basketball tournament for the Central Collegiate. Holy Trinity entered a team and our Year 8 girls had their first ever match. The girls took the lead early, with baskets scored by Manahil and Yusra. In the second and third quarter Holy Trinity managed to claw their way back, dominating play, resulting in a two basket difference between the two teams when the fourth quarter started. In the final quarter the team played some of their best basketball; with plenty of baskets firing in from Yusra Saeed. The girls had achieved their first win 22-10, well done! The Year 8 girls’ team are entered for the Birmingham Basketball League this year, we wish them the best of luck in their upcoming games.
Athlete of the Month
The Athlete of the Month for November goes to Sohail Hussain 10PYE for his outstanding contribution to the PE department. Sohail has committed to attending football club every week. The recent football tournament saw Sohail make a string of fine saves and ensured that Yardleys performed well at the Football Festival at Small Heath. Congratulations Sohail, keep up the good work.
Movember
Movember is the leading charity changing the face of men's health, and this Movember Yardleys’ staff and pupils are joining them. Together we can make a difference for men's health – in prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. Help us stop men dying too young and sponsor our staff members that are growing a moustache, or pupils and staff can play games or buy cakes for a silver coin from our PE ambassadors. Next week pupils can vote using a silver coin for their favourite teacher 'tache'. Please get involved in raising money and awareness for men's health at Yardleys School.
If you would like to support our staff at Yardleys and donate please click here.
Science News
On the 19th November 2019, Dr Nick Barker from the University of Warwick wowed and delighted Year 8 pupils with an explosive and colourful set of Science demonstrations in an assembly not to forget in a hurry. Highlights included deflating and re-inflating balloons using liquid nitrogen (or slowing down the particle movement inside them to make it appear as though this was happening), a cool trick with dry ice and a rubber glove (solid carbon dioxide) and ending as the universe began - with a Big Bang! Thank you so much to Dr Barker for taking the time out to visit and we look forward to the next time you return.
Girls Football News
On Tuesday 12th November the Year 8 girls’ football team played in a tournament against six other teams at Waverley School under the floodlights. The girls worked extremely hard in all six games and their coaching with Ms Davies during Enrichment was evident with Rhea Rakhmat top scorer, excellent defensive work by Ibtisam Ali and fantastic skill by Manahil Shahzad dribbling round opponents.
Switch off Fortnight
From Tuesday 19th to Friday 29th November our school Eco-Leaders will be running and participating in "Switch off Fortnight". This campaign, with aid from EDF energy, encourages all individuals in school to be energy conscious due to monetary expenditure and climate change. Our Eco-Leaders will be monitoring wasted energy and will be switching off any appliances that are not in use. Alongside all the "switching off", there will be a number of competitions, such as a poster making contest, which will allow all students and staff to get involved, raising awareness and help do our bit to mitigate climate change.
Year 10 Careers Presentation - HSBC
The whole of Year 10 attended a presentation in school on 4 November 2019 by Ian Stuart, Group Managing Director HSBC UK. The presentation was organised through Speakers for Schools and gave students an opportunity to find out what it is like to be a top flight business person.
The presentation started off by giving the students an overview of part of the HSBC banking group and then went on to describe what a typical day in the speakers work life might look like. This gave students an opportunity to learn just how hard the speaker has to work and that it was definitely not a 9 – 5 job that he is in.
The speaker talked about his own personal career journey which included leaving school at 16 with 6 x GCSE’s and going to work behind the counter in a local bank. A few years later he realised that he would not get anywhere in the banking world without more qualifications, so he went to night school to do higher level qualifications and eventually ended up going to university in his thirties. Students were advised not to leave it until later in their lives to get higher level qualifications, rather to work hard at school to enable them to progress on to do other qualifications which will help them in their careers.
Students heard about the importance of not only having ‘hard skills’ in the form of knowledge and qualifications, but how employers also greatly value the ‘soft skills’ including communication and emotional intelligence skills. The speaker also touched on some of the career opportunities that technology has brought to the banking sector.
This very informative presentation enabled students to see the success that can come through hard work and application.
Dr. Lad Visit
On Wednesday 23rd October we were visited by Dr Lad, a partner and practitioner at Solihull Healthcare Partnership. Dr Lad gave Year 10 an assembly about the risks and health hazards of energy drinks. After the assembly 24 students took part in a Q&A workshop with Dr Lad, where they asked him questions about careers in the medical field. The workshop was very inspirational, particularly because Dr Lad was a student at Yardleys and lived in Sparkhill, on St John's Road. Students learned about pathways into medicine and the attributes a medical professional should have. Dr Lad spoke about medicine being a vocation, and even though it's a well paid profession, you can only do it well if you are passionate about helping people and compassionate about their problems. Dr Lad then was given a tour of the school by Yousef Ahmed and Abdul Baseer.
KS3 Basketball Tournament
Well done to the Key Stage 3 Basketball team for winning their regional tournament and progressing into the Birmingham finals.
Yardleys entered three teams across three year groups with each team managed by Year 11 students. From the professionalism of the warm ups, to the comradery and enthusiasm on the court, this made it inevitable that Yardleys would progress and take the top three spots.
Mr Meddings and Mr Cross would like to extend thanks to the Year 11 students who also officiated the games when the teams they managed were not playing.
Brindley Place Geography Field Trip
On Tuesday 8th October 2019, our Year 9 Geographers went out on a field trip to Brindley Place in Birmingham. Here are a few comments from students on their visit:
‘We started by walking along the canal where there were old, derelict factories, vandalism and explore how different it looked in the past. Then we went to the regenerated part of Brindley Place and saw how modern it looked compared to the old factories. As we were doing this, we measured the different amounts of people walking around in different locations. Our conclusion was that the newer part was more populated and used. The best part was the views and to see how the place has changed from vandalism and factories to modern, enormous buildings.’
‘There was a massive difference between the qualities of the area. The regeneration was a success as there are new buildings, more shops and attractions. We measured the amount of people and we made notes on the old and new Brindley Place. Near the old canals there was vandalism, whereas the new canal is looked after and there are bridges with flowers growing. Overall the trip was amazing and enjoyable.’
‘We looked as how deindustrialisation took place and if regeneration that had taken place was successful. We started to measure the differences between the types of building and how to identify the places on a map.’
‘In my opinion the regeneration of Brindley Place is a success, this is because it tends to have leisure, restaurants and businesses all in one place. The good thing is that it has modern features and a nice canal for tourist attraction or for business transport.’
‘We looked at the different types of buildings, where vandalism occurs and the different amounts of people in different areas.’
‘We investigated the success of the regeneration. We had measured how many people had crossed us there and investigated the land use mapping. We saw the poor conditions of the old side of Brindley Place and saw how the developed side of Brindley Place was much more successful and attractive to many people.’
Year 10 Theatre Trip
As part of the GCSE curriculum, Miss Clarke and Mr Thornton took 15 Year 10s to see Blood Brothers on Wednesday 2nd October at the Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre. It was a wonderful experience. The pupils were a credit to the school and behaved impeccably throughout this fantastic show. Well done Year 10.
Local litter picking
As part of enrichment, a mixed group of conscientious students have been cleaning the local community. They voluntarily put themselves forward for this challenge, wishing for their area to be kept clean and tidy. They have shown incredible responsibility and teamwork by picking up litter on Reddings Lane and we were even congratulated by a member of the public for the hard work shown. We aim to encourage all students to be environmentally responsible and recycle where possible, and use the bins provided.
Macmillan cake event
Yardleys staff raised £120.08 for Macmillan Cancer support, with a cake event held after school. Thanks to everyone for their participation, and special mentions go to star bakers: Mr. Porter, Ms. Doherty, Ms. Austin, Ms. Czosnyka, and Mr. Evans’ youngest daughter.
Enrichment News
Last Wednesday, 2nd October, Miss James visited Yardleys with her pet baby Bearded Dragon called Rexy. She was very informative and able to answer all questions during the Enrichment session. We found out how to care for a Bearded Dragon, including the fact that it needs UV light to help him absorb the calcium from his diet and basks under a heat lamp to keep warm and to imitate its natural habitat in Australia. We found out that it eats live crickets, fruit and vegetables and only drinks one drop of water a week!
Students were able to stroke and even hold Rexy. Some were unsure at first but everyone was all smiles at the end of the session, happily interacting with Rexy the lizard.
Year 10 Carding Mill Valley Geography Field Trip
On Thursday 26th September 2019 our Year 10 Geographers went out on a field trip to Carding Mill Valley, here are some comments from students:
‘We started to measure the height, width, depth and velocity of the river in the lower course and made our way up to the middle course and upper course of the river. We saw sheep, horses and dogs but the main highlight was the waterfall.’
‘I enjoyed measuring all the important factors for a river cross profile as it was very practical. However, the walking was quite annoyingly long!’
‘The best thing was the trip overall as it was really fun and we did things such as climbing and standing in waterfalls.’
‘We all did our field work which we successfully accomplished. The best thing about the trip was not slipping down, the waterfall and the wonderful views over the valley and the hillside.’
Dentist Visit
On Thursday 26th September, Dr Sat Kelly gave an assembly to the all Year 8 students about dental health, which is a topic the year group will study in their Personal Development sessions. He talked about good brushing methods, regular check-ups and food & drink that is good for our teeth. He also brought toothpaste samples for the whole year group.
After the assembly, 21 students from The Brilliant Club took part in a workshop, where they asked Dr Kelly further questions about dental hygiene and careers. Several students in the group are thinking about a career in medicine and one student, Ahmad Ali, would like to be a dentist. Sahib Mohammed was so inspired by today's event and Dr Kelly, that he decided he wants to become a dentist too. Dr Kelly invited us to visit his surgery in Dickens Heath, which the students are very keen to do in the near future. The next step will be for this group of Year 8 students to prepare and deliver an assembly about what they have learned to Year 7.
Year 7 and 8 Crest Award
Last year, some talented year 7 and 8 pupils completed the Crest Award successfully, with the help of science teachers Mr Kobir and Ms Begum. The budding young scientists explored the theme “Worldwide Washing”, where they acted as microbiologists investigating the effectiveness of preventing the spread of waterborne diseases with simple hand washing techniques and using various hand soaps. This is of particular significance in preventing disease in countries where clean water is not easily accessible. The pupils researched the ethical importance of why clean water should be a basic human right for all and went on to grow bacteria on petri dishes when testing different variables. The findings were well received by the Crest Project and the pupils were awarded the Bronze award, which is the first stage of Crest accreditation. Well done to these students for completing the project to a high standard!
Year 7 Precious Lives Assembly
On Wednesday 11th September, PC Rob Pedley MBE from West Midlands Police, came to talk to year 7 about how to avoid the effects of knife crime and gang culture. Rob spoke to the students for an hour, where he de-glamorised knives, and involvement in gangs, and gave them advice on how to stay safe.
Rob was granted an MBE in 2016 for running the Precious Lives project, and reaching over 100,000 youngsters from the Midlands, diverting them away from danger.
Record GCSE exam results
Our 2019 cohort of Year 11 pupils have achieved the best ever exam results at Yardleys School. Overall in all subjects there was an increased pass rate of 73% at grade 4 or above (equivalent to the old C grade) compared to the national average of 70%. In English & Maths 47% of pupils have passed both subjects at the new more challenging grade 5+ which is an increase from 45% in 2018 and above the national average of 43%. The average grade achieved by each pupil has also increased and we expect the government’s pupil progress indicator to show further improvement from last year’s figure of +0.25.
We are extremely proud of all our students and the hard work, perseverance and teamwork that they demonstrated not just in Year 11 but throughout their time at Yardleys. We wish them every success in the next stage of their education and in their lives generally.
We would also like to highlight and thank all the teachers and other staff who have worked so hard to teach and support the pupils. Similarly the tremendous support we have received from parents, carers and families who have worked with us to help their children academically and in their personal development.
Well done to everyone and we look forward to seeing our new Year 11 cohort matching and even exceeding these high academic standards.
Year 10 Geography Trip Report
Our Year 10 Geographers went out on a field visit to the Botanical Gardens. Feedback from some of the students on their visit:
‘One the 9th July Year 10 Geography students went on a trip to the Botanical Gardens. We studied the characteristics and adaptations of rainforests and hot deserts. We explored plant adaptations.’
‘In the two tropical areas I noticed there were more uses for each plant than expected. The plants were also all sorts of sizes. The arid environment felt dry and smelt earthy of plants. The plants also looked unique and filled with potential danger.’
‘We went into a rainforest where it was wet and the temperature was over 30’C which caused the air to be very humid and sticky. We also went to the arid house to see different types of plants and describe what they do. Overall we went to gather physical characteristics, adaptions and issues related to bio-diversity.’
‘Overall the day was extremely interesting and fun. I learnt so much, such as the Dumb Cane, which damages your ability to speak if consumed.’
Healthcare Aspiration at Aston University
Mrs Ashfaq took students from Year 10 to the Aston University on Tuesday 2nd July 2019, to explore the Healthcare Aspiration Courses. Students were keen to find out lots of information on healthcare careers such as medicine, surgery, pharmacy, nursing, optometry, biomedical sciences and many more including first aid and ambulance services. Students also experienced real lectures on neuroscience, optometry and the requirements to get onto a medicine course at the New Medical School in Aston University.
Book Bus visit
On Wednesday 19th June, Yardleys School was visited by the ‘Browns for Books’ Book Bus. Two groups of Year 7 students and one group of Year 8 students visited the bus, and were able to browse an array of hundreds of books: they had everything, from manga to modern art. The pupils enjoyed ‘zapping’ the books they were interested in reading, and they also enjoyed reading and discussing books with each other and staff. The ‘zapped’ books will form a student wish list for the library. The students were a credit to the school: they were polite, well-behaved and well-mannered. Special thanks to Ms Keskinkilinc for organising the visit.
Year 10 Geography Trip
On Wednesday 8th May the Year 10 Geographers went out to Curzon Street in Birmingham City Centre to investigate the Big City Plan, HS2 and the effects on the local area. This Human Geography fieldwork will go towards 30% of their GCSE. Feedback from some of the students on their visit:
‘We went to Curzon Street to investigate whether the gateway redevelopment is creating enough social, economic and environmental opportunities. To investigate this we used a few data collection methods such as the pedestrian count, the environmental quality survey and questionnaires. However, we went on a day when there was heavy rain and so not many people were around so we weren’t able to gather the most accurate and reliable results.’
‘We did a environmental quality assessment where we rated it from 1 to 5 and the quality of the area.’
‘The weather was cold and wet. We did a people count, the environmental quality assessment and questionnaires to see if the gateway redevelopment was creating enough social, economic and environmental opportunities.’
‘It was interesting to look at the development and changes and see what people thought.’
‘We reduced the time spent in each site due to the rain and cold weather which made it difficult for us to spend time gathering accurate data.’
ASDAN Taster Day
On Thursday 9th May, six Year 10 ASDAN pupils and a Year 11 pupil, accompanied by Mrs Wareham and Mr Thornton, attended a college taster day at South and City College Birmingham, Bournville campus in Longbridge. After an introductory tour of the facilities including the gym and motor vehicle department, the pupils were taken to their first taster session, Art. Here they experimented with impressionism, following in the footsteps of Picasso, and creating some truly memorable pieces of work.
Before lunch we went on a second tour of the campus, exploring its whole expanse this time, visiting the library, the music department, the hair and beauty salon, and the construction building, where everything from gas fitting to decorating is taught. After lunch we moved onto our second taster session, baking. Here the pupils made chocolate concrete, weighing out all of the required ingredients to the exact amount, mixing, baking, decorating, then washing up the equipment they had used and then finally cleaning the kitchen! After a short debrief, the pupils collected their cooled chocolate treats, and we made our way proudly back to school.
A truly fantastic day for all seven pupils, who were given an insight into what college can offer and how it can support them in the future. A massive thank you to South and City College Birmingham Bournville campus for hosting us, especially our guide Katrina, Lee for Art, and Jess for baking, to the seven pupils who were wonderful and Mrs Wareham for her support throughout the day.
GCSE Live!
In February Mrs Hiley, Mrs
Hackett and Mrs Price took 40 budding Year 10 scientists attended the
GCSE Live! event at Birmingham Symphony Hall where they were treated to guest
lectures from famous scientists about their field of expertise. A personal
highlight from the pupils was Robert Winston's lecture about fertility, and Jim
Al-Khalili’s lecture about time travel! Pupils were also able to hear from the
head examiner from last summer's GCSE exams, who gave them tips and tricks of
how to be better at answering questions in the exams. Special thanks to Ms
O'Donovan for her help organising the trip.
Big Biology Quiz at Birmingham University
A group of our Year 10 triple scientists embarked on a trip to the University of Birmingham to participate in the annual Big Biology Quiz. Over 300 students from schools around the West Midlands battled it out by showing off their specialist knowledge on rounds including microbiology, cancer, and adaptations of plants and animals. Pupils were also treated to a lecture by Dr Jess Blair about Superbugs, which was fascinating and terrifying in equal measure. Thank you to Mrs Hiley for organising the trip and driving the minibus, and Mrs Price for accompanying pupils.
Big Bang Fair
The UK's largest STEM fair was attended by 180 Year 9 pupils who are now studying triple science. Pupils got to interact with scientists and professionals from a wide range of STEM careers to find out more about what they do and how they can get involved. There were lots of interactive workshops which pupils participated including using medical equipment such as an ultrasound machine and an ECG, participating in dance workshops, making slime, making Lego robots and playing with drones as well as watching the live stage shows where there were lots of LOUD explosions and stunning science on display.
Year 7 Rugby News
On Wednesday 7th March the Year 7 Rugby Team travelled to our regular rivals KESH in Sheldon. It was a dark, wet and filthy day and handling was especially hard with a muddy ball and cold hands. In spite of playing a more experienced team, the Yardleys students got a foothold in the game and played good rugby to score four tries. Unfortunately, home advantage and that bit of rugby experience meant that KESH scored six tries to edge us out. Especially pleasing was the positive attitude of all the boys who played and how, despite the game being tough and physical, hands were shook after the game. Apologies to the mums, dads and carers who need to wash the kit, it was very muddy!
Stand out performances were from Asif Rashid who neutralised their big ball carrier and ran well with the ball, Elijah Adeyemi who carried on his family tradition of rugby players with an all action performance and the last try of the game, Hasheem and Raheem Sharif who quickly switched on to situations, tackled well and also showed good pace. Zak Yasin also was aggressive throughout and added structure. Special mention must also go to the hard work of Yasir Zaman who made up numbers for KESH and then played well for Yardleys. Man of the Match however was Nauman Ilyas who put in a destructive display of ball carrying and rucking that resulted in two tries.
Plans are already in hand for the rematch at home, the boys are already determined to get their revenge and win that one!
Final Result -
KESH – 30 Yardleys – 20
Badminton News
On 13th February a group of key stage 3 and 4 boys took part in the badminton finals and came so close to bringing a trophy home. Well done to them all for getting to the finals and playing so well in the tournament. Congratulations to the following boys on their fantastic achievement: Ramiz Ahmed, Umair Ahmed, Zachariah Winnicott, Hamza Imran, Zaid Al-Rawni, Luiz Bozu, Mohammed Sulaiman and Mohammed Arshad.
Brilliant Club
This year’s Brilliant Club cohort concluded their studies with a graduation ceremony held at the prestigious University of Oxford. Our successful students worked hard completing a university style assignment and researching 'Can we make our muscles stronger by just vibrating them?' Congratulations to the 10 students who graduated.
Basketball news
KS4 Boys Basketball team travelled to Waverley to play a series of league games. The first game was against the hosts Waverley. Yardleys came out playing smooth and consistent basketball and managed to win the game with a final score of Yardleys 28 – 0 Waverley.
Next up was Archbishop Illsley. With Archbishop Illsley hitting 3 pointers and scoring good baskets inside the paint, Yardleys found themselves down 6 points with 3 minutes remaining. After a switch from man marking to a press, Yardleys were able to steal the ball and score a quick basket. There were 2 ½ minutes remaining and Yardleys were down to a 4 point deficit. Some fierce play again from Yardleys and a few missed opportunities from Archbishop Illsley meant that Yardleys were now tied with 2 minutes remaining. Then a foul… Archbishop Illsley had two three throws from the line. First shot taken and missed. Second shot was a score. Archbishop Illsley were up by 1 point with 60 seconds remaining.
Yardleys put on a full court press and managed to steal the ball and complete the basket. Yardleys were up by 1 point. Archbishop Illsley intercepted a pass and started to break. 20 seconds left – As they approached the halfway line, Yardleys hit them with a lot of defensive pressure and forced an error from them. Yardleys attacked and scored a reverse layup to go up by three points. 10 seconds left – Archbishop Illsley attacked at full pace and made a few quick and well thought out passes, the ball in their best shooters hands and him on the three point line in the dying seconds of the game. The shot taken that could send the game to overtime… but it missed. As Yardleys left the court we had two victories from two games on the road. An excellent way to end the evening after excellent team basketball from all. Well done to all players.
The extension is handed over…..
The ground floor extension was formally handed over to the school on 23rd November. We are delighted with the way in which the building has turned out, the multi-purpose hall in particular exceeding our expectations. We would like to publically thank Faithful & Gould who have provided excellent project management support to the school throughout, Tweedale the architects and especially Arthur M. Griffiths & Son Builders Ltd. who have succeeded in delivering the project with minimal disruption to the smooth running of the school.
We will be moving into the extension fully in January when two English staff will take possession of the new classrooms and the multi-purpose hall will begin to be used for a range of activities including lunch service, lessons, assemblies and detentions. In the meantime we are using the hall as an exam venue during assessment week.
We are really looking forward to having a second venue for lunchtime which should help to overcome our students’ biggest concern which is queueing. A range of hot and cold food will be on offer from our new catering company, Aspens, who take over the contract in the new term.
A formal opening of the extension by Jess Philips MP will take place in the new year – watch this space for more information.
