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.
Boccia & Kurling Tournament
On 20th November Yardleys pupils arrived bright and early at Birmingham Metropolitan College for a day of competing against numerous schools in a Boccia and Kurling tournament. Boccia is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. It was a new game for our pupils and they were great at it. They won the majority of their games and gained a fantastic second prize. Kurling is a form of the original curling game, but adapted so that it can be played indoors on any smooth, flat surface, such as a sports hall, rather than on ice. Once again, after a few practice runs, Yardleys pupils found that they were really good, winning the majority of their games, coming a very respectful 4th place.
Both teams won all the schools that are in our Central Collegiate for sport and therefore have been invited to play in the finals in the Birmingham Games in February. Another fantastic day out to look forward to.
Well done to:
Boccia team : Ikrah Mahmood; Malaikah Hussain and Samuel Chowdhury
Kurling team: Rumaysa Ashfaq; Evie-Leigh Berrow; Moiz Hussain and Danyal Hafeez
Children In Need
In November the PE Ambassadors; Juwairiyyah, Ayesha and Muqaddas organised a week of fundraising activities to raise money for Children in Need.
Pupils at Yardleys participated in basketball, cricket, football and other physical activities such as cross bar challenges for a silver coin during lunch times and break. We also sold cakes, undertook sponsored silences and guessed the name of the teddy. It was great to see so many pupils involved in raising money for charity. Many thanks to the Ambassadors, staff that volunteered their time or donated and of course the pupils that participated. Together we raised over £170.00, well done!
Boys Basketball update
Wednesday 5th December was this year’s first boys KS4 basketball match. Whilst the team suffered defeat to Lordswood Boys (previous league winners), they played very well nonetheless. Throughout the game Yardleys were able to display a great variety of basketball skills against a very talented, experienced and athletic opponent. The team should be proud of how well they performed and continue to work hard in training in preparation of our next game.
Girls Basketball update
KS3
The KS3 girls basketball team continued their winning streak this week by winning all three of their games in the Central Collegiate KS3 Basketball tournament yesterday with all girls getting on the score sheet. It is a fantastic win. The girls are now looking forward to the Birmingham Games finals in February. It has been lovely to see the girls growing in confidence and there has been a remarkable improvement both offensively and defensively.
Well done to: Amaani (captain), Sumayyah, Laiba, Amna, Malaikah and Alaina from Year 9 and Renee and Yusra from Year 7.
We look forward to their next fixture.
KS4
This week the KS4 girls basketball team had their first fixture against Bartley Green and they were hoping to start their league with a win like the KS3 girls had previously. Although it was a long trip to get their the girls started with enthusiasm and drive holding off their opponents from scoring in the first quarter and working hard offensively; finishing with a score of 18 points to Bartley Green's 8. We look forward to our next match on Thursday against Shenley Academy.
It was many of the girls' first basketball match and they all played very well. Sabia, the captain of the girls team, was named player of the match. Well done to: Chaimaa, Amal, Maliha, Aliya, Sarah, Aisha, Hafsa, Iqra, Samaviya, Sabia and Aasha.
Update - The Year 11 girls basketball team had their second match of the season away against Shenley Academy. It was a very physical, low scoring game; only three baskets had been scored, all by us in the first three quarters. The girls played exceptionally well, holding off their team from scoring until the last quarter of the game but unfortunately, when the girls from Shenley played a full court press in the last quarter it was just too much on tired legs. Congratulations to Iqra and Aisha who were named the players of the match. We will now be taking a break on fixtures until the new year as the school assessment weeks begin.
Tweedale presentation
A group of Year 10 Design Technology students recently attended a presentation in one of their Design Technology lessons by representatives from Tweedale, the firm of Architects involved with the design of the extension to the school, with Mandeep Mattu who is a Project Technician and Nick Chapman who is an Associate at the company.
Students were able to learn about some of the career opportunities in both architecture and construction and the built environment and to get a better understanding of the different aspects of an architect’s work. The presentation also helped to raise awareness of the opportunities that there are for women in the construction industry which is often considered to be a male dominated sector.
The importance of Employability Skills was also discussed, and student’s awareness raised about the fact that it is not just academic qualifications that employers are interested in they also want people who demonstrate the right attitude to work.
Following the presentation, Nick and Mandeep spent some time looking at the light design project that the students were currently working on and talking to them about their designs. The lights are inspired by modern architecture. Both were very impressed by some of the students’ work and their attitude to learning. Following the presentation, two students who have a keen interest in architecture and design as a career, have asked about the possibility of completing some work experience at Tweedale.
Year 9 Girls Basketball
The Year 9 girls basketball team started their season this week with a fantastic win against Kings Norton Girls’ School. It was their first away game and they started the game well scoring 4 baskets before their opposition was able to score. They finished 10 points ahead of their opponents; Yardleys 30, Kings Norton 20. Top scorers Laiba Malik and Yusra Saeed.
We look forward to their next venture; KS3 Collegiate basketball tournament on Thursday 29th November where they will compete for their place in the School Games Finals, good luck girls!
Year 11 Taster Day at SCC Bournville Campus
On Wednesday 24th October, twelve Year 11 students, accompanied by Ms Wareham and Mr Thornton, attended a college taster day at SCC’s Bournville campus in Longbridge. After a brief tour of the facilities, the students were taken to their first activity, making pizza. A huge selection of toppings had been provided including various base sauces, however the pizza of choice was a simple, yet elegant ‘Margarita’, most notably the one that Raiba designed, incorporating one beautifully placed single green pepper.
After lunch, and the consumption of the pizzas, their next activity was split, with half the group attending a health and social care event, while the others tried their hands at spooky ‘Halloween art’. To round off the day, the students took part in several quizzes, the first about the college itself and what they had discovered during their day there, and then a film quiz, as several students had told the college tutor that they were studying GCSE Media.
All in all a very productive day, that gave these twelve students an insight into life during a normal college day. A massive thank you to SCC Bournville campus for organising the day’s activities, the twelve students who were impeccable and Ms Wareham for her support throughout the activities.
West Midlands Police World Café
On Wednesday 24th October, four students attended the West Midlands Police World Café event at Ark Boulton School. Our students joined with others, and delegates from the police to openly discuss the problems in our area, and how we can all work together to improve the community. All of our students were confident and expressed their views maturely and sensibly. Students will now cascade the information to forms, through council meetings and all students will discuss community cohesion and management.
Speaker from SnapChat
On Thursday 18th October, Ed Couchman, General Manager UK for Snap Inc. came into the school to give a presentation about the industry he works in to our Year 11 iMedia students.
The talk gave students a chance to learn more about some of the work that takes place in the social media and media industries, and it also highlighted how the mobile phone has changed our culture and the effect that it has had on such things as TV viewing figures, newspaper sales and the way we communicate with each other.
Students were also reminded how reliant we now are on our mobile phones as a means of accessing information, keeping in contact with people in our networks and in helping us to build new networks.
'It was really interesting to hear from a professional who works for Snapchat!' Safah Year 11 student.
'The talk was interesting and it was good to hear from someone about what it's like to work in the media industry.' Ruby - Year 11 student.
Year 9 Geography Field trip – Brindley Place
Our Year 9 geographers recently went on their first field trip to Brindley Place, here are some of their comments from their visit:
‘’Year 9 had their first geography field trip to Brindley Place to find out if its redevelopment has been a success.’
‘We did a people count in different areas to see how popular it was. We worked in groups and had a photography competition of the whole area. Overall it was a really fun day despite the weather and we learned a lot about Brindley Place.’ - Bisma
‘Brindley Place is a great way to start GCSE Geography. It is the pinnacle of urban regeneration with its structures appearing Victorian but on the inside they are completely modern.’ - Amir
‘The weather was very wet and rainy but we still had a great time’ - Eliza
‘I really enjoyed the trip because we did something different to what we normally do. The best part was when we had a warm hot chocolate.’ - Sabah
‘The bit I enjoyed most was the photo competition because I liked comparing derelict buildings to new, leisure and fantastic buildings.’ - Saahil
Visit to Parliament and Facebook Headquarters
On Thursday 11th October we took a group of year 10 and 11 girls on a trip to London to celebrate the International Day of the Girl. We visited the Houses of Parliament and heard an inspirational speech from local MP Jess Phillips about the importance of the empowerment of women. Pupils were able to ask her questions about her role in parliament and issues they are concerned about. All of the pupils engaged brilliantly and did not shy away from getting involved. We then had the opportunity to go to Facebook Headquarters London, where we heard Nicola Mendelsohn speak about the importance of young girls aiming high and seeking leadership positions. The girls took part in an exciting global live stream and heard the voices of girls around the world discuss the need to actively strive for gender equality.
On 11th October I went to the Girl2Leader event with four other students and two members of staff. I thought the Girl2Leader campaign event was amazing as we got to explore the Facebook headquarters and listen to some inspirational speakers; I thought Jess Phillips’ talk about what it is like to be a female MP, as well as battles that she has had to overcome as a female MP, were fascinating. The event was very inspiring and we got to share our views about the prejudices that women face in their daily lives. I really admire the 23 year old who ran the campaign, she is doing such a huge event at such a young age, which makes me want to be like her when I am older!
Amirah - Year 10 student
ParaFootball Tournament
On October 11th eight pupils represented Yardleys School in a mixed five a side ParaFootball Tournament at PlayFootball in Birmingham.
Our team; Madison, Sammia, Sabha; Duaa, Faisal, Hamzah, Raheel and Danial had a whole day of football fixtures against eight other school teams in a fantastic premier indoor football facility.
The newly formed team fought well against their well established opposition, scoring five goals in their first game and six in the second, narrowly losing by just one goal in each. Then came a fantastic win against Ark Boulton with an amazing five goal lead thanks to some fantastic shooting from Raheel and Faisal, Raheel scored 16 goals over the whole tournament!
As the team won out of the schools that represented our collegiate; they now go through to the next round in the competition, a level 3 tournament at the School Games in February, Well Done!
All pupils had a fantastic day. Their behaviour was exemplary; showing a fantastic display of teamwork, resilience and skill.
Precious Lives
In September, we welcomed PC Rob Pedley to Yardleys School to work with our Year 7 students. PC Pedley delivered the ‘Precious Lives’ session, which focusses on the law surrounding and risks associated with knife crime and the possession of weapons, including the risks to young people who associate with weapons and the law of joint enterprise. The session helps students to understand that there are consequences to all of our decisions and actions and the fact that we are accountable for them. The work that PC Pedley does is a key part of the safeguarding and character development work that we do with our students at Yardleys.
Tapestry visit
We recently welcomed a group of actors from The Play House who worked with our Year 8 students. Our students saw a piece of drama and then engaged in discussion and analysis of what they had seen – the focus of the sessions was extremism and the implications and consequences of extremist activity through engagement with the characters in the play and seeing what happens to them. Students had the opportunity to interact with and respond to the characters directly as well as critiquing the views and opinions of others in a safe environment.
Extension update - Almost there!
We are now in the final weeks of the extension project, with handover due around October half-term. There are a large number of tradespeople working hard to bring the project in on time including plumbers, electricians, decorators and grounds workers. Walls are being painted, toilets being plumbed, data cabling laid and flooring being added.
Carding Mill Valley Trip
On Monday 24th September half of the Year 10 Geographers ventured out of the city to the wilds of Shropshire, to Carding Mill Valley to investigate the Ashbrook and its valley. While a lot of Geography was carried out and important work for the pupils GCSEs was completed, many pupils also made more personal discoveries. Questions were asked and answered and hypothesis tested, questions like "What exactly is a sheep?" or "Why don't wild ponies use a toilet but just go on the ground?" or "Why isn't the water in mountain streams heated?" or "What happens if I stick my head under a waterfall?"
A big thank you to all the staff who supported the visit, to the students for their excellent behaviour and willingness to try new things and to the weather for being so nice. The other half of the year group, who will be going on the coming Friday, have a lot to live up to.
Author Visit - Billy Bob Buttons
An award winning author treated some of our Year 7’s to a lively session on literacy planning; talking about how to write a thrilling storyline to captivate their readers. Author Billy Bob Buttons presented an interactive demonstration which was both humorous and also contained helpful writing tips. The pupils were clearly inspired and listened intently to his plot ideas and his journey about becoming an author.
‘ ..It’s the best job in the world! My mind is full of crazy plots, fantastic settings and wonderful characters: and when I put them to paper, children can enjoy them too.’ Billy Bob Buttons.
It proved a most successful author visit and we look forward to reading his next novel.
Extension news 14th September 2018
Four weeks on from the last report and progress on the extension continues to be rapid. The roof covering is now complete, the concrete floor has been laid and a range of internal works have now started. At the moment there are a range of trades on site including electricians and carpenters. Outside the building external works continue including levelling the ground prior to paving, guttering and fascias.
We are now getting very excited at the prospect of taking ownership of the new rooms, which will hopefully be at the start of November. An official opening ceremony is also being planned – watch this space!
Extension update 23rd August 2018
What a difference a few weeks makes. Rapid progress is now being made on the building of our extension. We now have external and internal walls, a roof and most of the windows have been fitted. This week the concrete screed floor will be laid on top of the underfloor heating pipes and once this has dried then a variety of trades will begin their work inside the building, including plumbers, electricians, plasterers and joiners.
Kew Gardens
In July the science department took 45 pupils on a reward trip to Kew Gardens in London for their excellent effort throughout the year. We had specialist workshops from the experts about adaptations of plants for photosynthesis and how they had evolved to withstand extreme environments such as the arid desert or tropical rain forest. Some highlights of the trip included seeing the giant amazonian waterlilies, scaling the treetop walkway for a view of Kew from above the treeline and marvelling at the Temperate House which is the largest Victorian glass greenhouse in the world, which has just reopened after a £41 million refurbishment. The staff at Kew were very impressed with the pupils knowledge and behaviour and said that they were a credit to the school.
Battlefields Trip
On Thursday 28th June 2018, 104 years to the day of the assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand, the spark that ignited the First World War, Yardleys pupils’, accompanied by Ms Deakin, Ms Sumerling, Mr Vaughan and Mr Thornton, began to make their way to pay homage to the fallen on the Western Front. Our journey began at 5.15am and by the afternoon we had reached Ypres in Belgium. During the day, we were able to visit preserved German trenches and the location of the first use of gas on the Western Front. After a lovely evening meal in the centre of Ypres, we headed to our accommodation at the Messines Peace Village.
Our second day took us to the Somme, where pupils were able to follow in the footsteps of British troops as they went over the top, culminating in a visit to Thiepval which commemorates over 70,000 missing soldiers from the war. Our evening meal was eaten on the Rue De Birmingham where our pupils tasted French cuisine at its best.
For our final day, after tidying our rooms and packing our cases, saw us back in Ypres for a little ‘RnR’, chocolate shopping, before heading out to the Passchendaele Museum and exploring combat in the First World War. Two pupils were given the opportunity to don the uniforms of an Indian Sepoy and a Queen Alexandra Nurse. Our final stop was at Tyne Cot, the largest British cemetery in Belgium. After laying our wreath and paying homage to the fallen, we began our journey home.
Yardleys Active Community
During our Active Community enrichment sessions we have been doing lot of things to help the community. One example of this was decorating boxes for people to donate food into.
"Our first task was to decorate a box which was going to be sent to i-care food hub for the Sparkbook area. I was team leader and led our group to victory with creativity with the theme of Ramadan." - Kirti Year 9
"These boxes were given to the local food hub which is known is a part of i-care in Sparkbrook mosque… We did this during Ramadan as it is a time to be thankful; reflect on what we have, be charitable and empathise with the poor. There is then a big feast celebration at Eid ul Fitr at the end of Ramadan… however not everyone gets the pleasure of doing this, therefore we provided them with the food". - Maariya Year 10
In total we were able to fill 4- 5 boxes worth of food; some extra items were bought with the £37 raised in a collection. These items went towards supporting the 37 families the hub provides for.
"I found my time during enrichment exciting as it allowed us to help the community and have fun" – Michael Year 9
Extension Update - 11/06/2018
Real progress has been made since half-term. The steel frame is complete, drainage works have taken place and the floor is now being laid. This means that not only can we see the size and shape of the extension, but we can also begin to make out the different rooms and areas that make up the floor plan.
Yardleys Brilliant Club
Students involved in the Brilliant Club visited the University of Warwick recently for a graduation ceremony to recognise their achievements in producing a university style assignment on Cancer Data Analysis with the support of a world class research student. Students had a wonderful experience at the university and their efforts throughout the programme have been outstanding.
National Grid return visit
On June 5th, a team of in-house lawyers returned to Yardleys to work with a group of 20 Year 9 students who have shown a particular interest in a potential future career in law; this time, students covered modules on police powers and the law surrounding social media. As such, students explored the law surrounding stop and search powers and citizens’ rights as well as discussing ways in which the relationship between the police and local communities could be improved; the social media module delved into ideas such as ‘to what extent is state monitoring of social media acceptable?’, ‘what happens if court orders are ignored by social media users?’, the law surrounding defamation and the protection of freedom of expression; this was done through looking at relevant case law and examples. The session concluded with a series of ‘moots’, where students were allocated the roles of either prosecution or defence and then had to research the law and previous court judgements as the basis for their arguments.
All of our students enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to work with a team of practicing lawyers provided a real insight into the breadth and complexity of the law in this country.
Enrichment sessions - Student Report
Through our enrichment sessions we had the opportunity to engage with children from Greet Primary School, with the aim of helping improve their reading skills and boost their confidence. We were prepared by our enrichment teachers who provided us with a booklet containing phonics and stories to share with the children. We discussed the importance of speaking clearly and positive body language. The main task was when we first arrived and the ice-breaking task which helped us to get to know each other. Moreover, what I enjoyed from this enrichment was listening to the children read and being able to assist them so they could improve. One of the things I have learnt is that it is important to help others, as many children need that extra help but may struggle to receive it. This is because they may have no siblings to listen to them read or they have very busy parents. Furthermore, I think that the teachers from Greet Primary School appreciated our assistance very much because we were able to support them with their children’s education. I found this enrichment fun and enjoyed being able to go out of school and do some community work. It also makes me feel grateful for having siblings who can listen to me and help me improve.
National Grid Visit
On Wednesday 24th June, twenty of our Year 9 students completed their first session with members of National Grid’s in-house legal team; students spent three hours covering areas including ‘Knowing about the Law’, ‘Equality Law and Discrimination’ and ‘Intellectual Property Law’. Our pupils learnt about and discussed various pieces of case law and a variety of case-studies to explore the differences between criminal and civil law, the contemporary relevance of the minimum ages for undertaking various activities, the link between the severity of crimes and their punishments, how the law regarding discrimination has developed since the abolition of the slave trade and the implications of intellectual property law when considering downloading and sharing music, film piracy and the use of apps.
The session was very successful and our students really valued the opportunity to work with practicing solicitors. After half-term these students will spend further time exploring different aspects of the law as well as having the opportunity to ask questions about how to embark on a career in law.
Duke of Edinburgh expedition
Over a sunny weekend in early May, 14 adventurers set off on their first ever Duke of Edinburgh expedition – these are the updates that made it through to the outside world:
Friday. AM. Somewhere near Redditch
A great start to the pupils first expedition. Bags on, singing songs (really!) and they are on it. Can't help feeling something is missing, the sky is too dry...
Friday. PM. A field at Blackwell
All Bronze DofE groups have survived their first foray into the wilderness. Sarah is outraged that farmers don’t cut the grass or pick up the cow poo. Ahsan has waved to every passing car and Mohammed H has a never ending supply of spare trousers. Heaven forbid he should get any mud on them!
Saturday. PM. On the edge of Birmingham
The Bronze Duke of Edinburgh team had a tougher second day than we hoped. Despite leaving a spotless campsite behind them, the groups decided to spend part of their morning walking leisurely in circles before being chivvied back onto course.
Despite lunches varying from Sami's plate of cookies to Waleed's whole head of raw broccoli with raw carrots, they made it through the journey across railways and canals, and in one case there, back and there again. While their navigation skills are lacking, their campcraft and teamwork were excellent, and they should be proud of their positivity and resilience.
Sports Relief Update
At the end of last half term Yardleys pupils managed to raise a whopping £326 for Sport Relief. The PE Ambassadors, Mr Cross and Ms Perry organised sports competitions every lunchtime and fundraising activities such as the 'fastest mile' for all year groups, 'marathon challenge' for Year 7 pupils and a Year 8 Bench ball competition. All activities sparked pupils enthusiasm and in many cases their resilience as they competed against their peers. Pupils donated money and many raised through sponsorship, well done to all Yardleys pupils for their efforts!
An extra special well done to our PE ambassadors for their organisation of activities and for giving up so much of their time. They also sold Sports Relief badges, bands and lanyards every break time on behalf of Sainsbury's raising over £100 for such a great cause.
South and City College Visit
On Tuesday 8th May, eight Year 10 pupils, accompanied by Mr Thornton and Mrs Wareham attended a college taster day at South and City College Birmingham, Handsworth campus. The day was all about discovering not only what college is but also what college life is like. After a short introduction the pupils attended their first session, Media, and were set the challenge of completing a photography treasure hunt. Items included something hot, something noisy and even a cloud, which due to the lovely sunny weather seemed quite difficult but was overcome by a quick visit to the library and a look in the Geography section – great teamwork here! The second activity was sport and for an hour we did a warm up, played football, which resulted in a draw thanks to a late substitution, and dodgeball.
A fantastic day was had by all and the pupils were exemplary representatives of the school. A massive thank you and well done to them all.
Ground floor extension project
After a period of heavy rain the recent good weather has brought some real progress with the extension project. The foundations are now almost complete, with 112 lorry loads of concrete (478 cubic metres) with only 30 cubic metres still to be laid.
Today (8th May) a crane arrived on site, swiftly followed by several deliveries of steel work. The steel frame is now being erected and the shape and dimensions of the extension are becoming clear for all to see. The next stage will be the bricklaying which will begin on Monday.
Ground floor extension project
AMG Construction arrived on site on 12th March to begin work on our ground floor extension. Their first job was to set up the site compound on a corner of the playing fields and establish a safe route round the Drama block and through the playground for site traffic. No deliveries will take place around the start and end of the school day to ensure student safety.
Foundations are now being excavated and poured and the next stage will be the erection of the steel framework, at which point the size and shape of the extension will become clear.
Year 7 Indoor Cricket Finals
The Year 7 Cricket team brought home the Runners up medal from Edgbaston in their recent Indoor Cricket Finals competition at Edgbaston Cricket Ground. Yardleys were anchored by the highly impressive Subhan who managed two half centuries on the day as we won 2 and Lost 2 against strong opposition.
