KSSC Newsletter Jan 2013

What a busy start to 2013. We are committed to

developing in our students a sense of duty and

responsibility to the wider community in preparation for

adult life. As you will see in this newsletter our students

have been leading the way in fund raising activities for a

variety of charities and through the work of our Sports

Partnership coaching younger children.

We have had a number of successes this month in

addition to those featured in the articles that follow. Fifty

four Year 11 students have succeeded in securing A*-C

grades already in GCSE Maths, with many achieving the

higher grades and very good progress. Well done to

those students!

Having battled the snow in Birmingham ourselves, we

welcome back students from the annual international ski

trip that went to Switzerland last week. Photos and a

report will be in the next newsletter.

Ms C O’Driscoll, Head Teacher

NEWSLETTER

January 2013

Message from the Head Teacher

Kingsbury School and Sports College, Kingsbury Road, Erdington, Birmingham, B24 8RE Phone: 0121 373 1080 Fax: 0121 306 4878

Web: www.kingsbury.bham.sch.uk Email: [email protected]

A snowy start to the

year

A big Thank You to Mr Green and the site team who worked very hard to open the school site after the heavy snow over 18-21st January. The team put in many hours making the school pathways and car park safe for students and staff.

Ms O‘Driscoll

WELCOME to the following staff who have joined us this term:

Miss L Green—Teaching Assistant Mrs R Baskerville—Teaching Assistant

Mr S Ancell—Data Manager Mrs Akhtar

Dates for your diary

Thurs 7th Feb 5pm Parent Forum. All

welcome, contact Mrs Jakszta for

details

Fri 15th Feb Half Term holiday begins

Mon 25th Feb Students return

Year 7 held a Readathon in December, raising

£245.92 for these charities:

Readwell provides books and storytelling for

children in hospital, CLIC Sargent helps

children with cancer, and Roald Dahl’s

Marvellous Children’s Charity supports

children with serious neurological and blood

conditions .

The students did very well and read an

amazing amount of books. Well done to Sam

Perry 7S who was awarded with a certificate

for raising the most money. Mrs Bowley

Reading more for good causes

Year 7 Readathon students with English Lead Learners, Mrs Bowley, Miss

Cook and Mrs Hall

Postage Stamps

We are collecting used postage stamps in partnership with Sainsbury‘s Castle Vale, to support the military patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Selly Oak. If you are able to send used stamps into school, it would be much appreciated. There is a box in student reception. Mrs Rose

EXAMS

Would parents of Year 11 students kindly not book medical or other appointments for them from 28th February to 4th March inclusive and for Years 10 and 11 from Monday 13

th May to Friday, 28

th June

inclusive due to GCSE exams. Thank You. Mrs Perry

Together we can

Leadership begins early at

Kingsbury

A group of Year 7 students who took part in a leadership project have put their new skills to good use for charity. The group spent 5 weeks developing skills in public speaking, team building, goal setting and project management, supported by Miss Millward and leadership expert Errol Lawson.

They presented a proposal for a fund raising event to Ms O‘Driscoll and Miss Thom for approval, and spent the last week of term carrying out a variety of activities to raise funds for Marie Curie Nurses. These included selling cakes, a 'Guess the name of the Teddy' competition, and an open choice PE week. The students raised £151.87. Ms O'Driscoll was impressed with their commitment and the skills they had learned in such a short time: "It is fantastic to see young people develop and apply new skills for the good of others‖ she said. ―The skills and mind-set that these students have exhibited points ahead to their future career success and as citizens in the community. It exemplifies the Kingsbury motto 'Together we can." Miss Millward

Improving lives through learning

WELL DONE to all staff and students who together raised an impressive £1100 for Cancer Research UK last term. This includes the Movember initiative, and fundraising activities organised by Year 11 students Shaima Amin, Lee Simmonds and Remel Cockett. The three decided on this cause because it is close to the heart of the school and to many students whose families have been touched by this awful disease. The group set a target of £1000, and delivered assemblies to encourage fellow students to contribute. They spent Friday afternoons organising and planning activities and making collections, culminating in a non uniform day at the end of term. All three say the experience helped their confidence, team and communication skills. ―It was a struggle at times, but we learned to overcome obstacles‖ said Shaima. Remel commented: ―I learned to work with different people, which helped my team skills‖ whilst Lee said: ―It made us feel good being able to help others; we never dreamed we would reach our target.‖ Remel concluded with a powerful statement: ―Students and staff were very generous. It is thanks to donations such as these that my Dad has recently been given the all clear from cancer.‖ We have a strong sense of community at Kingsbury; our staff and students are always willing to help those less

fortunate than themselves, as articles in this newsletter demonstrate. These activities also provide students with the

opportunity to develop wider skills which are essential for their future success. Mrs Jakszta

Five Years of Teach First

Teach First is a national organisation which recruits outstanding individuals to become teachers in areas where there is economic or social disadvantage, such as the West Midlands. Teach First has been very successful in recruiting top graduates into teaching and is now 4th in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers table.

Kingsbury has been involved with Teach First since its inception in the region in 2002. What this means for the school is that we have been able to recruit top quality graduates as teachers to inspire and engage our students. Recent participants include Mr Choudhury, Miss Luscombe, Miss Prothero and Miss Chmielewska. Teach First recently awarded the school with a trophy to celebrate five years of the partnership. Ms O‘Driscoll

Year 7 Leadership group with Miss Millward and Errol Lawson

Celebrating excellence: Chair of Governors Mr Bhara, Teach First graduates Mr Choudhury and Miss Luscombe, and

Ms O‘Driscoll

Students Shaima and Remel with the cheque for Cancer Research

Together we can

English News The school has adopted a range of measures to ensure students are fully supported with key literacy skills across the whole curriculum. Each half-term we have a specific focus, which involves staff training, the sharing of resources and coaching in a particular faculty, to help develop the teaching of specific literacy practices in that curriculum area. This has proved successful and we have already seen faculties review their approach to securing spelling, developing vocabulary skills, and the sharing of good practice between staff. Teaching staff are continually adding literacy dimensions to their lessons, and literacy has been recognised as a strong area in an increasing number of lessons. The school's current focus is on READING, with all faculties ensuring that students are devoting time to reading and reflecting on texts in their subjects, and linking topic areas to suitable books that students can use to extend their learning in our fantastic library. Our Student Librarian team (pictured) are busy promoting books via their own blogs and Twitter account, which is available to students on the faculty's 'BeENGspired' site via the main school website. They will be visiting form groups to promote books to students, and our 'Read, Return, Recommend' system enables students to post online reviews of books they have checked out from the library and access others' reviews in a forum.

You can follow us on Twitter @KSSCBeENGspired and @KSSCLibrarians Mr Barton

Kingsbury alumnus aiming for the top

Former KSSC student Gemma Keen perfectly demonstrates the Kingsbury

qualities. Having just completed her first term at the University of Nottingham

where she is studying Geography, Gemma, who wants to be a teacher, also plans

to climb Mount Kilimanjaro this summer! She recently returned to the Kingsbury to

carry out some work experience, and had the following advice for current students:

“Don’t worry about the cost of University; you can apply for grants and scholarships

like me, but even if you take out a student loan you only have to pay it back out of

your salary once you earn a certain amount and even then it will only be small

amount You need a passion for your subject, and to work hard at your GCSE’s

because this is the key to your future. It is never too early to start planning for Sixth

form and beyond—don’t leave it until the last minute! You are not alone, your

teachers will help you—Mr Singh at Kingsbury supported me to get in to King

Edwards and they helped me with my university application. Try to get work

experience in the career area you are interested in, it really helps your application

as it is very competitive out there. One of the most important things is to get

involved in activities in and outside school; it can really make a difference.‖

Gemma is a shining example of how taking part in extra activities at school can make a difference and gain students

valuable experience. At Kingsbury she was a librarian, prefect, sports leader, member of the School Council and on

various committees. At King Edward Five Ways Sixth Form, she was again a prefect, and a peer mentor to younger

students. At University Gemma is keeping up the tradition with membership of the Geographical Society, taking

additional modules to support her course as well as signing up for the expedition to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for charity.

Gemma needs to raise £2,500 to pay for her expedition to Kilimanjaro and to support the work of the charity HOPE for

Children, which helps vulnerable children worldwide. After completing the climb she will be staying in a village in

Tanzania to meet the children and see how the money raised is helping them. Gemma has personal reasons for doing

the climb, not only to test herself physically and mentally but also as a tribute to her mother who passed away recently.

If readers are able to support Gemma‘s fundraising, she would appreciate any donations. Please visit her fundraising

page: www.hopeheroes.org/gemma_keen Mrs Jakszta

Disability Awareness

At Kingsbury School and Sports College we are actively promoting the awareness of disabilities. Following our visit from Paralympian Claire Cashmore last term, we have been holding assemblies on Tourettes Syndrome. Guest speaker Suzanne Dobson from Tourettes Action came to speak to students about 'What is Tourettes' and Miss Pearson gave an insight into living with Tourettes. Miss Pearson

Together we can

Kingsbury Christmas Fair

The Kingsbury Christmas Fair on Wednesday 12 December was a success.

Nine mini-enterprise companies had spent the Autumn term planning and

making products/providing service for the Christmas Fair.

In the run up to the fair, students were organised and job roles allocated to

ensure everything from products to banners were ready on time. At the fair,

all mini-enterprise companies operated professionally and their customer

service skills were commendable.

Mr Moore had also organised charity activities for the Christmas Fair, raising

money for Cancer Research UK.

The event was well supported by staff, students and parents and most

companies managed to make a small profit from their activities. A special

mention goes to The Christmas Goodies for time and effort in making their

hand-crafted stockings and their good customer service at the Christmas Fair. Miss Jennings

If you would like to receive newsletters by email please contact: [email protected] with ‗Newsletter‘ in the subject header.

Stallholders Richard Coles, Levi Henry and Remi Bell

Sports Partnership News

LEVEL 1 PRIMARY INDOOR ATHLETICS

On Friday 11th and 18

th January, Year 6 children from Erdington Hall

Primary School took part in a Level 1 Indoor Athletics Competition. The event was led and run by a very able group of Sports Leaders from Year 8 and 9, who coached and officiated the children in Long Jump, Triple Jump, Shuttlecock Throw and Speed Bounce. The Erdington Hall children all tried their best and worked really hard to get good scores. The Kingsbury Sports Leaders were a credit to themselves and the school as always.

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERING AT ERDINGTON HALL

We currently have 2 students going to Erdington Hall School every Friday at 1.45pm – 4.30pm to volunteer their time during the schools‘ Golden Time lesson, and After School activities. This term they will be supporting a Gymnastics and Basketball Club.

HOCKEY CLUB AT BIRCHES GREEN JUNIORS

Five Year 11 students, who are currently our hockey leaders, will be running a club at Birches Green Junior School this term. A hockey coach will help them to plan sessions and then the students will run the club themselves, during the school‘s Golden Time lesson from 2-3pm on Fridays. Mrs Cotter

Our Kingsbury Sports Leaders support lots of primary school pupils

Big Brum visits Kingsbury

In December a group of Year 9 students worked with the Big Brum Theatre company at

Kingsbury. The theme of the day was based on what humans want versus what they

actually need, and it was very thought provoking. Students spent time contemplating

these differences, recognising that much of what humans think they need is socially

constructed rather than being essential for survival. Students made a lot of insightful

comments, particularly during the analysis of that day's newspaper where they

discussed the effects of different articles. One student stated that he had "never

thought this much!" Later, the company performed a drama which incorporated the

themes that the students had been thinking about. All the students displayed excellent behaviour and were clearly

engaged throughout the performance. Mrs Hitchins

@KingsburySSC

Club News Girls Netball: Wednesdays 3-4pm for all year groups. Miss Millward Rugby: Thursdays after school for all year groups. Students need to bring football boots. Sessions will be on the middle pitch. Mr Brotherton