Newsletter Easter 2017

Similar documents
THE ALTON SCHOOL GUIDE TO SPORT

Newsletter No 24 Dear Parents and Friends Friday 18 March 2016

About our academy. Joining our community

St Matthew s RC High School

15 September. From the Head Teacher

NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER Imperial Road South, Guelph, Ontario, N1K 1Z4 Phone: (519) , Fax: (519) Attendance Line: (519)

Teacher of Art & Design (Maternity Cover)

Husky Voice enews. NJHS Awards Presentation. Northwood Students Fight Hunger - Twice

Paws for News from the Principal

Virtually Anywhere Episodes 1 and 2. Teacher s Notes

ERDINGTON ACADEMY PROSPECTUS 2016/17

The Charter School East Dulwich

St Mary s, Isleworth Newsletter for 26th June 2015

Westminster Cathedral Catholic Primary School

St Matthew s RC High School, Nuthurst Road, Moston, Manchester, M40 0EW

Meet Modern Languages Department

Athletics Carnival Disco Basketball Tournament

UK Residential Summer Camps English Summer School London Day Camps 3-17 year olds. The summer of your life...

How To Take Control In Your Classroom And Put An End To Constant Fights And Arguments

Diary Dates Half Term First Day Back Friday 4th April

Year 3 at Leighton. Autumn Term - Ancient Britain, from Stone Age to Iron Age. Spring Term Ancient Egypt Summer Term The World Cup

Alma Primary School. School report. Summary of key findings for parents and pupils. Inspection dates March 2015

Executive Session: Brenda Edwards, Caddo Nation

Students of the week. Living & Learning Together.

PE SPORT FUNDING AT IVY LANE SCHOOL September 2016 July 2017 A grant of 9,335 received EFFECTIVE USE OF FUNDING

to Club Development Guide.

TEAM-BUILDING GAMES, ACTIVITIES AND IDEAS

No Child Left Behind Bill Signing Address. delivered 8 January 2002, Hamilton, Ohio

IN THIS UNIT YOU LEARN HOW TO: SPEAKING 1 Work in pairs. Discuss the questions. 2 Work with a new partner. Discuss the questions.

WEST WIND BLUE JAYS HELPING BLUE JAYS NEWSLETTER FOR WEST END HIGH ALUMNI

Term Two Week 1 Wednesday 26th April 2017

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and

Family Liaison Officer. Sports Coach. Play Therapist. Breakfast Club Leader. Afterschool Club. Senior Midday Supervisor. Road Crossing Patrol

Spiritual Works of Mercy

WEEKLY NEWS SHEET. Aldworth School. Issue 116 Friday 16 October What s on this week. Last day of school normal finish time of 2.

LEARNER VARIABILITY AND UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING

Quiz for Teachers. by Paul D. Slocumb, Ed.D. Hear Our Cry: Boys in Crisis

Putnoe Primary School

Head of Maths Application Pack

Welcome Prep

STELLA MARIS PARISH SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

RESPECT, EQUALITY, COURAGE, KINDNESS

TEACHER OF MATHEMATICS (Maternity Full time or Part time from January 2018)

The St. Marylebone Church of England Bridge School

Pinner High School Parent feedback

COMMUNICATION & NETWORKING. How can I use the phone and to communicate effectively with adults?

Effective Practice Briefings: Robert Sylwester 03 Page 1 of 12

Sight Word Assessment

Functional Skills Mathematics Level 2 sample assessment

SAN ROQUE BOARDING HOUSE

About this unit. Lesson one

Following the Freshman Year

St Philip Howard Catholic School

UNDERSTANDING DECISION-MAKING IN RUGBY By. Dave Hadfield Sport Psychologist & Coaching Consultant Wellington and Hurricanes Rugby.

Synthesis Essay: The 7 Habits of a Highly Effective Teacher: What Graduate School Has Taught Me By: Kamille Samborski

GREAT Britain: Film Brief

2017 Guide to Applying for Wisconsin 4-H & Youth Conference

Date: 25 January 2012 Issue: 11

Society of Women Engineers. SWE Spoke , Issue 4 November Winter Formal. Laurel Moses Fundraising Chair

PREP S SPEAKER LISTENER TECHNIQUE COACHING MANUAL

St Michael s Catholic Primary School

Experience Corps. Mentor Toolkit

Archdiocese of Birmingham

Sample Of Welcome Back Letter From Vacation

Sleeping Coconuts Cluster Projects

How to get the most out of EuroSTAR 2013

Pre Registration is required; registration will close on Sunday, October 8, 2017 at midnight. Visit

PANORAMA. Exam Schedule. parent newsletter. THURSDAY December 15. TUESDAY December 13. MONDAY December 12. WEDNESDAY December 14.

Minutes of Loose Primary School PTA Committee Meeting. Wednesday 15 th July 2015

Evaluation of pupil premium grant expenditure 2015/16 Review Date: 16th July 2016

Getting Started with Deliberate Practice

KENT COLLEGE INDEPENDENT DAY AND BOARDING SCHOOL FOR GIRLS 3-18 KENT COLLEGE PEMBURY. Assistant Housemistress September 2017 or January 2018

TRINITY GRAMMAR SCHOOL, KEW CRICOS PROVIDER CODE 00350M INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ORIENTATION HANDBOOK

Enjoying Achieving Succeeding The Fernhill Post. 26 th May 2017

Consequences of Your Good Behavior Free & Frequent Praise

Teacher of Psychology and Health and Social Care

How to make an A in Physics 101/102. Submitted by students who earned an A in PHYS 101 and PHYS 102.

No Parent Left Behind

Inspection dates Overall effectiveness Good Summary of key findings for parents and pupils This is a good school

RAMSAY READER EASTER Dear Parents/Carers

UNIT IX. Don t Tell. Are there some things that grown-ups don t let you do? Read about what this child feels.

Leisure and Tourism. Content

ST PATRICK S CATHOLIC SCHOOL TAUPO

Information Pack: Exams Officer. Abbey College Cambridge

The Foundations of Interpersonal Communication

The Holy Cross School Behaviour Policy & Procedure

Parent Information Booklet P.5.

Murchison Swimming Club Coaches meeting. Beechwoods Café 18th September pm Could all coaches please bring their swim lists from last season.

PGCE Secondary Education. Primary School Experience

Earl Grey School. February, 2016

Amiens Whistler Principal s News

MERRY CHRISTMAS Level: 5th year of Primary Education Grammar:

Homebase Notes 5/1/2017

29 th April Mrs Diana Dryland Headteacher Bursted Wood Primary School Swanbridge Road Bexley Heath Kent DA7 5BS

Boarding Prospectus By the boys, for the boys

LEARN TO PROGRAM, SECOND EDITION (THE FACETS OF RUBY SERIES) BY CHRIS PINE

This course has been proposed to fulfill the Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures Level 1 pillar.

Jigsaw- Yellow- Red White- Grey- Orange- Brown- Gold- Blue- Green Pink

What is an internship?

14 N Leo News. Information for all Leos. District 14N Leo Clubs

Transcription:

The Codsall High Federation of Schools Bilbrook Church of England Middle School 01902 840910 office@bilbrook.staffs.sch www.bilbrookmiddle.com Newsletter Easter 2017 Welcome to our latest newsletter. As we approach the end of another incredibly busy term I would like to thank all the staff and students at Bilbrook Middle School for an excellent term s work and for having made such progress in the key areas for development we had identified. Easter is a key time within the Christian calendar signalling rebirth and resurrection and in a small way we have been working with our students over the past year on a similar theme. We have been working hard to get them to understand that every day is a fresh chance, a new opportunity to do something different and be a better version of yourself. The key thing is to learn from your mistakes and not be afraid of taking a risk, of pushing yourself that little bit further so that you achieve bigger and better things each and every time. As an institution we have had to look very closely at how we do each and every thing that we do due to very challenging financial circumstances. As parents will no doubt be aware through the increasing national press coverage schools are having to cope with less and less money whilst being asked to do more and more. I am very grateful to all staff for the positive and constructive way the approach their roles each and every day, ensuring that the children get the very best of what we can offer. This Easter we say goodbye to Mrs Joyce who is moving on to pastures new. We are very grateful for what she has done in her time here and wish her all the best in the future. In the meantime, I hope that everyone has a restful break and avoids the temptation of eating too much chocolate! Year 8 Careers Day BIG BANG STEM FAIR A few G&T STEM students were given the opportunity to visit The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair at the NEC Birmingham recently. The event is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people in the UK. The Big Bang Fair is an awardwinning combination of exciting theatre shows, interactive workshops and exhibits and careers information from STEM professionals. The aim is to show young people (primarily aged 719) the exciting and rewarding opportunities out there for them with the right experience and qualifications, by bringing classroom learning to life. On Tuesday 14th February Year 8 visited the Careers Fair at Codsall High School. The event aims to bring an insight into the world of work with the opportunity to speak to employers about possible career choices, the varying roles available within an industry and different ways of getting into employment. Jaguar Landrover gave a presentation about Women in Engineering, to the Year 8 girls. They explained about apprenticeships, graduate schemes available at various levels and spoke about how, regardless of gender, they can all do exactly the same job. It was a very rewarding morning and gave our students a lot more to think about for the future. FarewellWe say farewell this term to Mrs Joyce as she moves on to pastures new. We would like to wish her luck for the future and say thank you for everything she has achieved in her time at Bilbrook Middle School. During the Spring term at Bilbrook we have been visited on several occasion by the Rev. Simon Douglas. He gave our Eucharist Service in February and an assembly on the hare and the tortoise in March. Our School Easter Service was at Holy Cross Church on Tuesday 4th April. Reminder: The Easter holidays start on Monday 10th until Friday 21st April. Students return to school on Monday 24th April. Monday 1st May is also a Bank holiday! Please make a note of these dates as school will be closed to staff and students!

On Thursday 2nd March the whole School took part in our Readathon. Staff and pupils were invited to come to school dressed as their favourite storybook character. Pupils spent the entire day reading and taking part in tutor and class activities. Over the last couple of weeks, pupils have been busy collecting sponsors for their sponsored read. All of the money raised goes to a variety of children charities. Readathon is now the biggest sponsored reading event run in schools across the UK., encouraging children even reluctant readers to read for pleasure. Children can read whatever they like, including comics, nonfiction, poetry, electronic books, or just listen to stories. The money raised by schools provides children's hospitals with regular storyteller visits, plus a mobile bookcase jampacked full of brandnew books. Reading for pure enjoyment enriches children s lives beyond measure and it s been proven that reading for pleasure is more important than wealth or social background in improving a child s future socially, emotionally, academically and vocationally. We raised over 260 in total. Students made the decision to divide the money raised from our Enterprise Week in December between three charities: Help the Heroes, Heidi s Heroes and Guide Dogs for the Blind. Each received a cheque for 100. We were very lucky to have a visit from Lisa Wharlon with her guide dog Orla, which means Golden Princess. She came into school to talk in assembly about her experience of being blind and how important Orla is in her life.

Year 5, with the Friends of Bilbrook, have been out around Bilbrook taking part in the Great British Spring Clean Up. This event happened nationally between 3rd and 5th March in an attempt to not only keep communities clean and tidy but also educate students about the consequences to wild life and the environment from dropping litter. Year 5 learnt about the effects on the environment as well as collecting information from the litter pick to use in school in their lessons too. Well Done Year 5! On Monday the 6th March, my classmates and l went litter picking because we all wanted to help in the Great British clean up. Often, people throw litter on the floor and into bushes, so we all decided to help. The thing that surprised me the most was that a crisp packet that was thrown on the floor in 2003 and was still there when we litter picked! We also had collected 14 bags of rubbish (that included recycling). Even though we found it quite disgusting, we did it anyway and after that we got a wellearned lunch. Written by D Arcy Peterson of a lot nd found recomme d n a ll g y i t in i w k n d c u r pi f fun an e comm o t litte urself th e wen had a lot d to help ie! Ask yo, do you w, h arc, we t is goo art to d he floor at t 6th M owever st se wh. I onday things. H f Bilbrook imals will mething on die becau M n n O gs to ent a nds o ow so sting disgu g the frie n't, innoc out to thr e hedgeho o n k b i d li a lp l e a w re he se if OU a t anim becau xt time Y or innocen on't do it!! e d o n p ll e the want a O! W on really e doing? N h Peters b r a o you en by A Writt On Monday the 6th of March, year 5 went litter picking with the friends of Bilbrook. As far as we know, we filled approximately 14 bags of rubbish. The reason we did this is because wild life might get trapped in cans and things like that and might die. Daily, people drop rubbish on pavements, roads and drains. When people do this, wild life is in danger! Now we have cleaned up Bilbrook, animals will be in less danger until people start throwing rubbish again. While we were litter picking, we found plenty of things like: plastic bottles, cans, glass bottles, sweet wrappers, milk cartons and plenty more! We enjoyed going litter picking with the friends of Bilbrook! Written by Kadi Tattersall and Tiffany Cotton Since it s launch in 1988 Red Nose Day has become something of a British institution. It s the day, every two years, when people across the land get together to do something funny for money at home, school or work. Comic Relief spends the money raised by Red Nose Day to help people living tough lives across the UK and Africa. To date they have raised over 73million from their big day on Friday 24th March. At Bilbrook we helped raised money by having a nonuniform day and selling cakes!

Hi Mr Harding. Welcome to our question and answer session. I m Jessica, I m Keia and I m Karisha. Today we will be asking you a few questions about your life and career. What made you become a Headteacher? One of the reasons you go into teaching is because you think you can make a difference to peoples lives. As a Headteacher, you could make much more of a difference because you can make the changes that you want. You can get teachers delivering the kind of education you want children to receive. It s about wanting to make as big a difference as possible. Have you ever achieved your dream? That s a good question. Probably not. I ve done a lot of things that I m really proud of. I ve done a lot of things that I m really happy I ve done. In terms of achieving your dream, part of what drives me on is wanting to make things better each and every day. If you get to that point when you think everything is absolutely perfect, you haven t really got that much to keep on going for. I want to keep on going and making things better so, in answer to that question, no not yet. Have you ever played a team sport and won? Yes. I played a lot of rugby when I was younger. I played in lots of teams and competitions in Wales, England and Spain. We won a lot of things. We were quite successful; in one team we were unbeaten for two years. What time do you wake up in the morning? Ten past six, every morning. I walk the dogs and then I leave the house at about ten to seven. What subject did you teach when you were a teacher? I was an English teacher, but I ve also taught a bit of PE and a bit of History. Do you think you spend an equal amount of time in each school? No, I don t. That s probably the most difficult part of the job. The majority of my time is spent at the High School. I split my time as best I can at the other schools to make the most difference. I ve made changes to the leadership structure at the other schools so that each has a Head of School. Would you send your child to this school? Absolutely. It was a consideration for my son who has just gone into Year 7 in a secondary school in Shropshire. We seriously considered him coming over here but, in my job, I m often here quite late. It wouldn t be fair on him to have to wait around until 7 or 8 o clock at night some nights. What s the most embarrassing thing you ve ever done? I ve done loads of things over the years. I ll tell you about two. Once I bent over and split my trousers. It was 10am and a member of staff in the school said she could repair them for me. I had to wear some hideous tartan trousers from the Drama department. When I was a Deputy Head, I bought some moisturiser for my dry skin. I piled it on in the evening and when I woke up my wife laughed at me. I realised that the moisturiser was actually self tan. I scrubbed my face but couldn t get it off. All of the kids at school thought I was wearing make up. What s your favourite food? A proper, authentic Italian pizza. A really nice, homemade, thin crust Italian pizza. Were you naughty at school? I had my moments. We used to do some terrible things. Generally, I was polite, courteous and wellbehaved but there were occasions where I stepped over the line. In a Geography lesson, we stole the teacher s keys. There used to be globes on the ceiling and we hooked the keys to the Artic. The Geography teacher would be looking for the keys and we d say, they re somewhere really cold, sir. Do you think bullying is a problem at Bilbrook? I think there are problems in every school. The issues we have here are about relationships and about people being able to be sympathetic and understanding. I think bullying takes on different forms in every school. What we need to do as a school community is really work hard to make this the kind of place where people are more considerate of each other.

What is your worst nightmare? At the moment it s the England rugby team winning back to back Grand Slams. That would be terrible. In a serious way though, anything that happens to my own children as a parent you re incredibly protective of them. Anything that would make them unhappy or unsettled would probably be one of my worst nightmares. Do you think our behaviour is acceptable at this school? I think the behaviour of some people in unacceptable, but not everyone. It s the same in any school you go to there are some people who overstep the mark. It s a shame for the others who just want to get on with their learning. Who inspired you to become a Headteacher? I had two fantastic teachers when I first went to secondary school. Before this, at Junior School, I was in a group for slow readers I wasn t a good reader. However, Mr Shepherd, my English teacher inspired a love of reading in me. They inspired me to become a teacher. In terms of becoming a Headteacher, when I was a Head of English, there was a man called John Stokes who was a Head in a really challenging school. He had such a fantastic way with everybody. He understood that you can t do all elements of the job and what you need to do is bring the best out of everyone look for their strengths. He had the best interests of the kids at heart. Where would you most like to visit? There are two places that I d really, really like to go to: Italy and Australia. As Australia is over the other side of the world, you d probably need a month there it s one for when I retire. Moving to the High School is scary. Do you think we should be worried? No. I can understand why people might think it s scary because it s big. There are lots of other students; there will be over 1000 students there in September. The staff there are fantastic. They re phenomenal. They go out of their way to make people feel at home really quickly. The students are lovely: they ll open doors for you, they ll ask you how your weekend was and they ll smile at you. It s a great environment. What do you enjoy about Bilbrook? I like that all of the schools are individual. I like the size of this school everybody knows everybody really well. This school has a Christian ethos which gives it a unique atmosphere. There are lots of things to enjoy here. What do you like to drink? Like most teachers, I m dependent on coffee to get me through the day. At the weekend it tends to be coffee. It used to be beer on a Friday night but now it s a nice glass of wine with some good food. Thank you for letting us ask these questions. It has been great fun! Football This term Bilbrook have played two football games. The first game was our year five and six mixed team who played Codsall Middle on our 9 aside home pitch. Unfortunately, we came across a very strong Codsall side who had a mix of county and academy players. We lost 110 but Bilbrook left the pitch in positive spirits as it was their first competitive match and were excited for the next game to put things right! Our Year 7&8 Team: Charlie Jones, Jack Poyner, Sam Williamson, Daniel Wallbank, Jozsef Karakas, Cameron Peck, Chalie Spencer, Kyle Wardle, Jack Lee, Harvey Grant and James Spencer The second game was our year seven and eight team. This game was away against Codsall Middle and was the third time this school year that the two teams had played. With Codsall winning the first match and Bilbrook winning the second earlier on in the year, it was all to play for! Codsall took the lead and looked confident on the larger 11 aside pitch. Bilbrook had Kyle Wardle making his Bilbrook debut and was courageous and dogged in the centre of the pitch. Bilbrook pulled one goal back to make it 11 but within minutes had conceded another which took the score to 21. The score stayed the same for the remainder of the game and Codsall took the win. The game was played with an excellent competitive edge and both teams look forward to the next footballing encounter.

On Wednesday 29th March we welcomed Steve Judge from Edg VR to Bilbrook Middle School. Edg VR has been created by world renowned educators, who utilise the latest technology in their workshops to give students a virtual scenario using videos, games and CGI content to simultaneously transport the class to another world. The students experienced a VR experience that excited, inspired and delivered a shared educational experience. 'Mutual Respect' is an antibullying workshop aimed at 713 year olds, developed in partnership with the Bullying Intervention Group. Using the latest technology, virtual reality film puts a whole class in a bullying scenario and allows them to interrogate the characters to explore various questions: What is bullying? What can we do to prevent it? How might people feel who are being bullied? The workshop gave our students the opportunity to explore their own beliefs about bullying. By watching the VR, Bilbrook students gained a greater insight into the people involved in the scenarios: to care about the characters and think about empathy and their motivation why are they doing this? It enabled students to come up with ideas and strategies of how to deal with situations. Using discussion, they asked the characters questions using the VR technology. The message students were left with was that we should be taking personal responsibility for our own behaviour and looking out for those around us. Students were encouraged to speak to an adult they trust if they feel concerned or worried. Bullying is about power, but by sharing with someone we all speak in one voice; this response leads to a more secure, robust and less anxious society. We hope Bilbrook Middle School students enjoyed the experience and, as a result, feel more empowered to tackle bullying. We have been working really hard over the last few weeks in Textile Club using Tie dye techniques to produce some highly original and bespoke designed T Shirts. Tie dye, a fun way of dying fabrics in vibrant combinations of as many colours as you want, is one of the best ways of creating colourful patterns for shirts and tops. You can come up with all sorts of designs from spiral or striped patterns to a heart or the fan hold tied prints. The basic raw material being a white buttondown or tshirt and some dye of your preference. T Shirts designed by the students from our Textile After School Club with Mrs S Lee

For Your Information... COMPETITION TIME! Who will be the highest earner? Don t forget to log on to Times Tables Rock Stars (or download the app) and see if you can earn the most money over Easter. There will be prizes so get earning! Good luck! Year 6 SATs Week commencing the 8th May. These tests are very important and we would appreciate it if you please make sure your child revises daily to guarantee the best results. Year 6 have been working incredibly hard this year in preparation for their SATs. Last term all students completed their Reading and Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation, Mental Maths and Mathematics tests. I m sure our students will be using their study guides to revise over the Easter holidays. A huge well done from all the staff to all Year 6 for their continuous commitment to achieving the best results they are capable of, with plenty of enthusiasm and much good humour along the way. REPORT BY GOVERNORS Bilbrook Middle School s governors attended the Finance, Premises and Personnel Committee and Full Governing Board meetings of the Codsall Community High School Federation during the second half of the Spring term. These meetings are an opportunity for the governors of the 3 schools that make up the Federation to report back to each other. We also attended a joint governor training session to help us to keep up to date with the latest government expectations of school governance. As a Foundation Governor of Bilbrook CE Middle School I am a representative of Holy Cross Church. On March 1 st three other members from Holy Cross joined me in attending the special service led by the Reverend Simon Douglas to celebrate Ash Wednesday. All of us are parents of students who attended Bilbrook Middle (our children are all parents themselves now!) After the service Mrs Noble gave us a guided tour of the school and we agreed that many improvements have been made to the building in the intervening years. We enjoyed our visit very much and were very impressed by the usual courteous behaviour of the students. On behalf of the congregation of Holy Cross Church I would like to wish you a very Happy Easter. We look forward to seeing you at our Easter Monday Street Fair. Andrea Dawson Foundation Governor New School App Tel: 01902 840910 E.mail: office@bilbrook.staffs.sch.uk Receive alerts about important information Read about school

OUR YEAR 5 Visit by Evie Purchase We waited in reception until Miss Keene took us to the classroom, then, when we were all ready we made our way to the coach. As we boarded the coach, we arranged who we were going to sit by on the trip to Leicester Space entre. I sat next to Aobh. We left at 8.30am. On the way we played games, sang songs and talked. In the end, we arrived at Leicester Space centre! Before we started our first activities, we went to the gift shop. I purchased a Saturn necklace, it was shiny. After the gift shop, we were split into groups of 8. I was with Miss Keene. We went to do our first activity and it was fun. I learnt lots of facts. Then we went to have ago on a simulator which simulated a trip to Europa (Jupiter's moon). It was fun as it actually moved. Later, we ate lunch where we shared snacks talked and ate food. After this, we went to a weather pod where we were weather presenters. Finally, we went to the planetarium, I learnt a lot of interesting facts from a 3D video. An example is that astronauts train under water before going up to space. After that, we went home on the coach. D'Arcy fell asleep, me and Aobh wrote a song and everybody was happy. When we got to school at 4.00pm we were let out to go to our parents. Miss James Head of Year 5 I would like to thank all Year 5 students for a fantastic Spring Term. You have all worked very hard and have been a credit to the school and mainly yourselves. Well done to all of those who continue to collect house points. A special mention goes to Chelsie Dornan, Neve Barnsley and Harry Rowley for being house point super stars. Year 5 have participated in various charity fundraising this term including, Readathon, where various book characters invaded the Year 5 room! There aren t many times where you will find Hulk having a deep conversation with Cinderella and the Mad Hatter! We donated towards Comic Relief. The bake sale went down as well as always and many thanks to all who donated cakes and those who bought them. A key highlight for year 5 was our visit to Leicester Space Centre, where all the children were a credit to the school and represented the school well. In addition, we have been out and about in the community. We took part in the Great British clean up, where we worked very hard collected 14 bags of rubbish! We have even taken this into our school and set up a Year 5 green team. A quick reminder not to forget our Greek day, first day back. I look forward to seeing your fantastic outfits. I would like to wish all of Year 5 and their families a very happy and peaceful Easter. Remember; don t eat too many Easter eggs! Enjoy your holiday Year 5 Miss James

Mrs Joyce & Mr Calvert Head of Matrix Dream it, Believe it, Achieve it! Dear Matrix students, Another term is over and I'm sure you are ready for a relaxing break. Isn't it wonderful to see the daffodils and tulips blossoming, to remind us that change is ahead and that summer is around the corner. It is important to remember that spring is a time of new beginnings for many; Christians spend Easter thinking about Jesus and his resurrection and how this gave them a chance to have a fresh, new relationship with God. Whether you are religious or not, spring is a time for all of us to consider making positive changes. As the Year 8s in our tutor group make plans to move up to CCHS, they certainly have lots of change ahead. Our Year 7s are becoming more independent and soon they will be the older role models of the school. Our Year 6s have settled wonderfully well into the vertical tutor group and it's a pleasure to see them mixing with older students in the school in such a positive way. have finished. There have been many highlights this term. It was a real delight to see the tutor group working so well together on World Book Day. The students designed and crafted beautiful door displays to represent a book of their choice. A special well done to students who have been reading every Wednesday morning, displaying a positive attitude to the importance of a good reading habit. Year 8s are currently redesigning our tutor board in the corridor, and I'm sure it will look super once they Finally, it is with a heavy heart that I type the next sentence. Change is also ahead for me too. I will be leaving Bilbrook Middle School at Easter to seek fresh opportunities. After being here for a year, I have met and taught some wonderful students, who have brightened up my working week with their enthusiasm and infectious sense of humour. I wish all members of my tutor group the best of luck in the summer term. I also would like to say a goodbye to all of the students and staff and wish them a wonderful Easter break. Mrs Joyce Mr Bakewell Head of Java No Limits Another term done and dusted with only one term left before our year 8 students leave us for the high school. The weather is improving, the nights are getting lighter and everyone is excited for a two week break over Easter. At school this term, Java have been busy earning housepoints, becoming house captains, representing the school in dance and sport and raising money for charity. Behaviour as a tutor group has also improved halving the amount of children on report in Java in just under a term. Again, Java have made sure that attendance is always high with several students achieving 100% attendance for the whole term. Well done to those that have managed this, an amazing achievement. On our housepoint table, Carla Walley is sitting at the top, with Megan Hillman, Millie Davies and Joshua Brookes just behind her! Everyone in Java has worked hard over the last term to earn housepoints to hopefully give us that massively deserved win against the other tutor groups. I hope that everyone in Java has a great Easter break making sure they take care of themselves and one another. Don t forget to think about why we celebrate Easter in school, in church and also at home and what it means for others around us. Have a good one! Mr Bakewell

Ms Allen Head of Oberon We leave nobody behind I would like to thank Oberon for welcoming me into Bilbrook. I cannot believe another term is nearly over and the Year 8s have only one more term left at this school. They all enjoyed the career morning at Codsall High and certainly returned well equipped with freebies! A big thank you to Callum, Olivia and Charlotte who helped and ran a successful and enjoyable Who wants to be a millionaire? style assembly even without sound! Well done to Jozsef, Olivia and Joseph who managed to obtain over 250 house points this term and each received an early Easter egg for doing so. Come on Oberon more gifts will be up for grabs next term! Well done to all those who were part of the Readathon. Thank you to all the parents and family members that sponsored the children. Also this term we supported Red Nose Day with an abundance of cakes! They were amazing! I would like to wish Charlotte and Olivia luck in their dance festival at Codsall High. They have worked very hard rehearsing in their breaks and after school club. Finally, I hope you all have an amazing Easter and the sun shines during the holiday for us Mrs Allen Ms Munford and Mrs Lee Head of Vector We are a force to be reckoned with it isn t long now before the Year 8 s leave us to start the next stage of their education and Vector are really going to miss all of the Year 8 s we have been lucky enough to have as part of our form. Ruby Riley and Lewis Brain have been successful in securing Sports Captains for Vector, congratulations to them both and I look forward to seeing what changes they can promote for sports at Bilbrook.We are all fully behind them. This term seems to have passed very quickly and has been jam packed full of activities. I would like to thank all of Vector for participating in the Readathon, Comic relief and being sponsored for participating in a sports in schools event. All of your contributions will go to support a number of fantastic causes and you should be very proud of yourselves. We are still in second place for house points Vector, and we only have one more term to go so let s keep pushing and see if we can take the lead. We would like to wish all of Vector and their families a Happy Easter. We have welcomed a new student into our form, Chardonnay Ryder, who seems to have settled into Year 8 well. This term has been a busy one for Year 6 who have been preparing for their SATS, we all wish them the best of luck and hope their hard work pays off. Year 8 have been looking to the future by selecting their options for their further studies at the High school, Miss Munford and Mrs Lee

CODSALL DANCE SHOW Our dancers have been rehearsing for the end of term dance show held at Codsall High School on Tuesday 4th April, where they performed two group routines. One dance was called Castle from the Huntsman. House Captains During the last month or two, I have decided to revamp the house captain role within school to encourage positive sportsmanship, ownership of sport in school and responsibility for changes in PE and extracurricular sporting activities. The number of house captains has been reduced and in order to become a Bilbrook house captain, each applicant needed to ask a teacher of their choice for a reference. Teachers were only able to give a reference if the student in question was well behaved, positive, helpful and enthusiastic. From a total of 42 references, 20 children were shortlisted to be interviewed by myself and professional squash player SarahJane Perry. Several questions were asked and some excellent answers were given resulting in the house captains being chosen. Next term, the house captains will be organising an event in order to raise money for new sports equipment in the school. Thank you to all applicants and good luck to those chosen to be house captains and represent each house. Bilbrook were joined by other middle schools and students from the high school. A great deal of time and effort is put in to these productions, practicing after school and at break times they all gave a great performance. Well done girls and thank you to Molly for giving your time to teach our after school club! Mr Bakewelll OBERON Harry Rowley, Jozsef Karakas, Charlotte Lacey MATRIX Neve Barnsley, Dylan Wright, Tiannah Gordon JAVA Tristan Adams, Reece Smith, Megan Harris VECTOR Chelsie Dornan, Lewis Brain, Ruby Riley Anxious wait before the interview with SarahJane Perry and Mr Bakewell Throughout the term Mr Bakewell has been running interhouse matches. Due to the poor weather conditions, we will have to catch up on some of the house games next term. Students have taken part in, Netball, Hockey, Volleyball and Tennis. This is how the table stands: Basketball Rugby Fitness Football Tennis Netball Volleyball Hockey Final Results JAVA 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st OBERON 3rd 3rd 3rd 4th 2nd MATRIX 2nd 2nd 1st 3rd 2nd VECTOR 3rd 4th 4th 2nd 4th

Dates for Your Diary Summer 2017 Monday 1stMay MAY DAY BANK HOLIDAY Monday 8th May PSA meeting 8th to 12th May Year 6 SAT S week Wednesday 17th May Year 8 Leavers photographs Tuesday 23rd May Pentecost church service 1.15pm at Holy Cross Church 24th to 26th May Chasewater Residential (Year 6) 29th May to 2nd June HALF TERM Tuesday 13th June Eucharist Service in school 19th to 23rd June GL Assessment week Thursday 22nd June Year 5 Parents Evening Friday 23rd June Birmingham Athletics event Wednesday 28th June Year 8 Taster day Option lessons at CHS Year 4 Taster Day 1 Friday 30th June Year 8 Full Reports Wednesday 5th July Year 8 Taster day Induction Day at CHS Year 4 Induction Day 2 Thursday 6th July Year 8 Girls immunisation Friday 7th July Middle School Sports Day at CCHS Tuesday 11th July Bilbrook Middle Sports Day Thursday 13th July Year 8 Graduation Evening Friday 14th July End of Year Grades to parents Year 5 and 8 Full Report Year 6 Tuesday 18th July Moving On service at Holy Cross Church 24th July to 1st September SUMMER HOLIDAYS Please visit our website for confirmation of these events as they unfold.. www.bilbrookmiddle.com PSA THANKS Many thanks to the parents on the PSA committee for their continued support. They have recently bought a digital piano for the school, which will be well used by staff and students!! Please note at the beginning of the Summer term, your child will be given a new clubs letter. There will be a change of clubs available and the response form should be completed with the new choices and returned to school. There will be no clubs during the first week back at school. Once your child has gained a place at a club, they must attend every week. If they can not attend for any reason they must ensure they have informed the club leader of their absence as we have a duty of care to 4.00pm