Private School News

HIGHCLARE SCHOOL’s Got Style – and raises money for their charity

The pupils and sixth formers at Highclare School have been working hard to stage their own amazing fashion show to raise money for their school charity “The Kampala Children’s Centre”, which helps provide homes and education for the vunerable young orphaned children in Uganda.

The fashion show was a great success, taking place on Friday 7th May at the Ramada Hotel, Penns Lane, Sutton Coldfield. With the help of local businesses, parents, staff and friends, the pupils have raised a staggering £3,500 for their charity.

The charity are so appreciative of their efforts that they are sending a member of the charity to be presented with a cheque at school assembly on Friday 18th June at 9.00 am.

Senior Prefect, Becky Soen, who has already had a number of professional modelling assignments herself, said “We all wanted to do something that would raise much needed funds for these children. There is such a big difference in their lifestyle to ours, so we are using our talents to help them as much as we can. We are thrilled that our efforts have raised such a worthwhile sum”.

Highclare Pupils Wear Hats for Haiti

Pupils across all three sites at Highclare School raised money for the Haiti Earthquake Appeal last week, raising a total for the whole school of £1,412.

Children at the school’s Nursery and Infant department at Highclare Woodfield, in Wylde Green, wore a great assortment of different hats on Friday 29th January to raise their money, and with the help of staff and parents raised £805. Their fund raising event was enjoyed by all the children from aged eighteen months to 7 years and saw the school awash with colourful, cosy and crazy hats!

“The idea came from the children themselves after their weekly reflective Assembly when Year 1 & Year 2 pupils discussed the current earthquake in Haiti and the impact it was having on children and their families. After looking at photographs of Kiki, the young survivor who was pulled from the rubble after eight days, they decided that as Woodfield is a
caring school, we should extend our caring hands across the world.” said Mrs Lin Jude, Head of Highclare Woodfield.

Eight members of the school council then took their cheque to the Oxfam shop in Wylde Green where the money was gratefully received by staff.

Junior pupils at Highclare The Abbey held their own raffle and a ‘Ten pence Trail’ covering all the letters of the words ‘Help Haiti’ in 10 p coins and pupils at Highclare St Paul’s paid £2 each to take part in a non-uniform day to raise further money for the disaster fund.

Pint-size gymnast floors national rivals

A gymnast at The Blue Coat School, Birmingham, has floored his rivals in a national competition….with nearly three years to spare!

Eight-year-old Emilio Olson became U11 individual floor winner in the Trinity Gymnastics Competition, Wycombe Abbey, with an almost equally peerless performance on the vault.

Attracting teams from several counties – West Midlands, Shropshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and North Devon – the annual competition enables children to perform new routines, skills and vaults under the searching scrutiny of a judge.

A faultlessly executed floor performance propelled Emilio to first place, but his vaulting ambitions fell 0.1 of a mark short of gold. The winner? Elder brother Paolo, aged 10!

Not content with his national success, Emilio cleared the board again later the same month – this time at the Revolution Gymnastics Club Competition, Birmingham – taking six golds in a row for trampette, bars, floor, vault, rings and U9 Champion.

Quite an achievement!

Skiing ace recognised by top children’s TV programme

A youngster at The Blue Coat School, Birmingham, who was told that she may never walk has confounded doctors with her skiing exploits – and won a coveted Blue Peter badge in the process!

Ten-year-old Molly Griffith was awarded the badge after her sister wrote and told Blue Peter about her disability, a hemiplegia resulting from a brain haemorrhage due to extreme prematurity. In spite of her disability, Molly has not only learned to ski but has also won medals for racing and has skied down some of the toughest (black) runs.

A member of the Midlands Ski Club, Molly trains at the Ackers Trust dry ski slope each week. Never one to turn down a challenge Molly first took to the slopes, aged three, with her mother, before learning to ski independently from six. Now a veteran of black runs – and ski lifts – she accompanies her parents to the Alps each year and joins her able-bodied peers at ski school.

Molly, who needs botox injections and her leg in plaster before skiing each February, has benefited greatly from the sport. Her mum, Dr Ursula Griffith, explained: ‘Skiing has helped Molly tremendously. Not only is it helpful in terms of physio, balance and strengthening her legs, but it’s also been great for her self esteem. Technically, she has to be very precise as she can’t rely on sheer strength.’

A star performance from a very modest young lady!

New ICT facilities at The Blue Coat School

Exciting new developments have been made to the ICT facilities at The Blue Coat School, Birmingham, during recent months. 20 Apple iMac computers now form the centrepiece of a brand new Media Centre, giving pupils the opportunity to work with industry-standard applications on wonderful, cutting-edge equipment. So far they’ve manipulated audio, video and still images using existing material, and created new material with the help of five digital-video camera kits provided by The Association of Friends.

Since Apple applications allow a seamless transfer of work across several programs the Media Centre facilities have enabled pupils to work on various collaborative projects. These include collecting, manipulating and organising digital photographs into exciting slide shows, and editing video clips to create short projects. In turn pupils have imported their own musical compositions to create truly cross-curricular pieces of work. The new facilities will continue to open up opportunities in all subject areas.

The Media Centre is fast developing into a hub of creativity. With pupils continuing to broaden their skills, an enviable array of technical and artistic opportunities is being developed both inside and outside the classroom. It is hoped that as the year progresses the fruits of the children’s endeavours will manifest themselves in the production of many technical and creative masterpieces!

Hot on the heels of the Media Centre was the opening of the Saville Music Centre, resplendent with new carpets, curtains and furniture, and equipped with 22 iMac computers to enable pupils to develop their understanding of music through new technologies.

The Saville Music Centre, under newly appointed Director of Music Jeremy Nicklin, is a state-of-the-art learning environment to rival that of any prep school and those of many senior schools too. The generous, well-lit space is equipped not only as a teaching room but as a rehearsal space for Chapel Choir, Wind Band, Percussion Group and many other musical ensembles.

All pupils in the Prep School now have a music technology element in their programme of study at what is an extremely exciting time in the school’s development. Watch this space!

Summer Term 2009 – news from Emscote House School and Nursery

The Yellow Woods Challenge
The School achieved 1st place in “The Yellow Woods Challenge”. In liaison with Warwick District Council a presentation of £300 and a Gold Oak Award Certificate was received for outstanding achievement in recycling 235 “Yellow Pages”. Emscote House is now one of the top 6 Schools in Warwick District Council to recycle the highest number of “Yellow Pages” per pupil.

Photo: pupils with their certificate

Recycling
The pupils use recycled compost compiled from the remains of their break time fruit skins for their raised garden beds. The pupils have learnt to weed and prepare the beds before planting could take place; they have gained knowledge and understanding of how to plant, care for the plants, measure and record their growth. This term the Nursery have grown peas and the following herbs – Sage, Thyme, Rosemary and Tarragon. Reception – Onions, Lettuce, Beetroot and Chard Year 1 – Potatoes, Tomatoes and Cotton Year 2 – Carrots and Lettuce.

LAMDA
Y1 and Y2 participated in the LAMDA examinations for Speech and Communication and achieved outstanding results of Merit and Distinction. The pupils have certainly developed more self confidence by participating in the School Drama Club where Y1 pupils performed the play “Lion and the Mouse” and Y2 “On the Train” to pupils and parents. The exams involved learning a poem and a prepared speech about a toy (Y1) and a photograph (Y2).

Fund raising
Congratulations to the Reception, Y1 and Y2 pupils who raised £231.52 for “The British Heart Foundation” The pupils worked hard with great determination to skip non-stop between 5 and 10 minutes.

Productions
The production of “Eddie the Penguin Saves the World” was performed by the Nursery and School pupils at “The Bridge House Theatre” in Warwick for the summer concert. Thank you to staff, parents and Mrs Stonehewer for providing the delightful array of costumes, props and scenery and also to Mrs Sudbury for co-ordinating the arrangements for the day. Thank you to the Friends of Emscote House who kindly organised the delicious cream teas to enjoy after the concert!

Summer Fayre
Thank you to everyone who supported the Summer Fayre and kindly gave their time helping on the stalls, providing goods to sell and assisting with the “clearing up”. The amount raised was £403.50. Thank you also to “The Friends of the School” for organising and preparing the delicious multi cultural lunch. The Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils performed the annual Maypole and Morris dancing which was much appreciated by parents and visitors. The weather was glorious and a special thank you must go to Mrs Sudbury for her meticulous
planning and organisation of the day.

Sports Day
Sports Day was well attended by parents who equally enjoyed participating in the parent’s very competitive race. A happy afternoon was spent with the pupils involved in individual and team events. Thank you to “The Friends of the School” for providing the tea and Krishan’s Mum for making a delicious “Sports Day” cake.

Certificates
Congratulations to pupils who have achieved certificates this term and especially those who achieved the highest ASA Water Skills Award Grade 6 and to all Reception, Year1 and Year 2 pupils who achieved the British Gymnastics Proficiency Awards.

Year 2 outing
The Y2 pupils spent their final outing at the “Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum” with the additional viewing of the BBC Walking with Dinosaurs exhibition which explores the science and technology behind the programme, featuring some spectacular life-sized dinosaur replicas and real fossils. The pupils experienced an enlightening day of science making it a truly memorable final leavers outing.

Inspection
The Early Years Foundation Stage Moderator from WCC (Inspection takes place in all schools every 3 years) confirmed that the school met all the requirements for recording and assessment for the Foundation Stage Profile which is completed at the end of the Reception Year.

Anti Bullying week – staying safe in cyberspace

Anti Bullying week, which runs from 16-21 November, is this year urging children to stay safe in cyberspace. The focus comes as we witness an increase in the worrying – and growing – trend that is cyberbullying.

Staff and pupils at Highclare School will be taking part in Anti Bullying week and using it to reinforce the work we have already achieved in the field of E Safety.

Cyberbullying is bullying through the use of information and communication technologies – so via text messages, emails, phone calls, instant messaging and social networking sites. Of course, today’s young people have grown up using computers and mobile phones to organise all elements of their lives, from their education, social events and even relationships.

Internet and video games are very popular with children and young people and can offer a range of opportunities for fun, learning and development. The internet and new technologies also offer great benefits and learning opportunities in schools. It is important that pupils learn how to be safe when they are using these new technologies such as social networking sites, which are becoming an essential aspect of creative social learning.

While children are confident with the technology, they are still developing critical evaluation skills and need our help to make wise decisions. In relation to the internet we need a shared culture of responsibility between school, families, government and third parties to reduce the availability of potentially harmful material, increase children’s resilience and restrict access to it.

Schools have the opportunity to transform education, help pupils fulfil their potential and raise standards with the use of ICT. Highclare School equips its students with the skills and knowledge they need to use technology safely and and to manage the risks, wherever and whenever they go online. We have had a very successful year working with our students, their families and the community police to promote safe and responsible behaviours in using technology both at school, in the home and beyond.

Children and young people need to be empowered to keep themselves safe – this isn’t just about a top-down approach. Children will be children – pushing boundaries and taking risks. At a public swimming pool we have gates, put up signs, have lifeguards and shallow ends, but we also teach children how to swim.

‘Grow your own expertise’ helps Highclare school allotment scheme to blossom

Green fingered youngsters at Highclare School Woodfield saw their hard work blossom this term thanks to some expert advice.

They opened a mini allotment thanks to new ‘grow your own’ e-business Urban Allotments Ltd, who have worked with the school to create this scheme for the Highclare children.

A concrete area which previously had little use has been transformed into planting beds for a range of vegetables, fruit, herbs and salads. The children from throughout the school regularly get their hands dirty in their outside classroom growing more than 30 varieties including lettuces, runner beans, green beans, chives, parsley and strawberries.

The allotment was officially opened at the school in June by gardening writer Bob Purnell, author of the bestselling Crops in Pots, who was horticultural adviser for the project..

Sarah Kent, who designed the site for Urban Allotments, said: “Our message is that anyone can grow their own fruit, veg and herbs no matter how small a space they have at home, how little time they have or how little gardening knowledge they have.

“This is our first school project and shows just what can be done on what was a patch of concrete with a bit of expert help, it’s very exciting.

“Hopefully the children will have a lot of fun and get a real sense of achievement out of seeing their plants grow into food they can eat. They’ll learn valuable skills for life and hopefully get the grow your own bug.”

Head teacher Lin Jude said: “This is fantastic for the children and something we’ve wanted to do for a long time. As well as giving the pupils very useful life skills it will help us bring home the message from the classroom about sustainability, reducing food waste and eliminating the environmental impact of transporting food we can grow ourselves.”

LATEST EXHIBITION ‘LIGHTS UP’ VINER GALLERY

Guests who came along to the Viner Gallery this week were able to take a closer look at the work of a renowned local artist – who also happens to be a teacher at WGS.
Out of Darkness was an exhibition of work by Mr James Millichamp who has been a member of WGS’s art department since 2001. This latest exhibition follows his highly successful summer show at Wolverhampton’s Eagle Works Gallery in 2008.
As well as students, staff and parents, representatives from Wolverhampton’s arts and business communities also came along to enjoy the show.
“ As a teacher I am always looking to develop the talent of my students, and a professional exhibition held in such an incredible venue as the Viner Gallery may help to encourage and perhaps inspire students,” explains James. “It may also help students develop their own critical appraisals – but that’s a risk any artist has to take when showing their work!”
The title of his exhibition – Out of Darkness, is taken from the motto of Wolverhampton, a city in which James has lived and worked for most of his life, and it is this environment which has shaped and informed much of his work.
“This is one of a series of exhibitions that are being staged at the Viner Gallery throughout 2009,” comments John Perkins, head of art at WGS. “There is a wealth of artistic talent associated with this school which we can now properly showcase in what is a superb, professional facility.”
Out of Darkness is on at The Viner Gallery until Friday February 6th. Anyone wishing to see the exhibition should email Mark Hand on mark@wgs-sch.net.

WGS CELEBRATES HIGH LEAGUE TABLE PLACING

Wolverhampton Grammar School is once again celebrating its placing in the annual league tables which were published on Thursday.

The school consolidated its position as one of the highest performing in the region following record GCSE and A Level results in the summer.

“It is extremely encouraging to see that we remain so high in the league tables,” comments Head of WGS, Vincent Darby. “With 100 per cent pass rate at GSCE we are clearly achieving far above government recommendations and at A Level there are few schools who do better than WGS in the entire West Midlands.”

Wolverhampton Grammar School offers one of the widest range of subject choices at both GCSE and A Level. And with subject specialists teaching in all areas of the curriculum, the school continues to produce outstanding results.

WGS is one of only seven schools in the West Midlands which saw 100 per cent of its GCSE students achieve at least five A* – C grades, including passes in both English and Maths. At A Level, a 100 per cent pass rate (including a record 80 per cent at A & B), resulted in a points per pupil score of over 986 – one of the highest in the region.

“We are proud of the consistently high academic standards we achieve here at WGS,” continues Vincent Darby. “Just as we are proud that as Wolverhampton’s grammar school we are helping to ensure the city’s standing in the national league tables continues to progress.

“There is always room to improve however and everyone here – staff and students alike – will be working hard to ensure next year’s league tables reflect the continued progress of Wolverhampton Grammar School as one of the top schools in the region.”

To view Wolverhampton Grammar School’s 2008 GSCE and A Level results in detail, please go to: www.wolverhamptongrammarschool.com/pages/prospective/results

LAUREN HITS THE RIGHT NOTE WITH NATIONAL GIRLS CHOIR

Life for one Wolverhampton Grammar School student is on song after gaining a place in a prestigious national choir.

Lauren Dennis aged 13, was awarded one of just 60 places in the National Youth Girls Choir after a London audition in which she had to sing and perform vocal exercises to a panel of judges. The letter telling her she had been accepted finally came this week after a nervous month long wait for Lauren and her family.

“My Mum had been encouraging me to try out for the choir for quite a while, so in November I applied through the National Youth Choir website.” states Lauren who lives in Tettenhall. “I was called for an audition at the beginning of December and after that it seemed a long time to wait for the news, but it was worth it when I got the letter telling me I had been accepted.”

Lauren, a Year 9 student at Wolverhampton Grammar School (WGS) already has an impressive track record when it comes to singing. A member of the school choir, Lauren also sings in the city’s St Peter’s church choir. She has been a member of the Stagecoach performing arts company since the age of five.

Director of Music at WGS, Mr Andy Proverbs is pleased that Lauren’s talents have been recognised at such a high level. “Lauren is an outstanding singer who is actively involved in the wide range of musical activities on offer here at WGS. I am thrilled that she has won a place in such a prestigious choir and that she is able to show her talents on a national stage.”

A keen netballer who is hoping to be a barrister, Lauren is looking forward to taking part in her first course with the National Youth Choir which is taking place in Oxford during April.

The National Youth Girl’s choir is open to girls aged 11 – 16 and Lauren is hoping to progress to the senior National Youth Choir once she reaches 16.

Wolverhampton Grammar School is one of the leading independent schools in the region. Its music department offers all its students the opportunity to work with dedicated instrumental specialists in order to develop an appreciation of, and skills in, all aspects of music.

Birmingham Primary School continues record success at 11+