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happy new year
happy new year
Welcome to my weekly blog - I hope you and your families are well and have had a good Christmas and New Year!
It's been fantastic to witness the return of our students to school, eagerly diving into their studies right away. I've been particularly impressed with how seamlessly they've adapted to a slight change we implemented by introducing an end-of-day registration session.
On Tuesday morning, I had a delightful encounter with a Year 10 student. As I was heading out of my office to greet students at the beginning of the day, this young man knocked on my door and requested a moment to speak. He expressed his gratitude, saying, "Sir, I just wanted to come and say how fortunate we are to spend our day in a school that feels so warm, especially when it's so chilly outside. Thank you for this, sir."
This heartfelt expression truly brightened and warmed my day, and to that young man, I extend my sincere thanks. That said, with the upcoming drop in temperatures over the next few days and weeks, it's essential to make sure your son is adequately bundled up for his travels to and from school.
We held our third Y11 Parent Engagement Evening on Thursday 11 January, and it was wonderful to witness the strong turnout of families supporting their sons and gaining insights into their priorities for the term. Thank you for joining us, and please stay tuned to our school communication channels for updates on all details related to your son's studies throughout the year.
Reading Week 1 Highlights - From Ms Russell, Assistant Principal
Reading Week 1 Highlights - From Ms Russell, Assistant Principal
Monday 18th December – Friday 22nd December
At the end last half term we celebrated Reading Week where students in Y7 – Y10 spent the week exploring challenging texts and showcasing a love of literacy and reading.
Students were encouraged to read aloud, enjoy storytelling and complete their activity booklets supporting their understanding of the text.
There was also a differentiated Reading Week curriculum to support all our readers including EAL students who worked on their LEXIA programme as well as studying ‘The Witches’, ‘Stone Cold’ and ‘The Hobbit’. They took part in drama workshops and got creative designing book covers for their text.
Y8 Students also designed cookies based on their reading of The Witches, there were fantastic activities planned by teachers to enhance the week!
These also included character sketches, drama performances and engaging whole class reading.
Numeracy was also incorporated this week as the maths department planned a brilliant escape room style maths challenge where students had to use their problem-solving skills as well as team work and communication to escape the room!
One of the highlights of the week was the Reading Cafe! Students were able to enjoy a free hot chocolate as well as sampling books from the Scholastic book fair and lots of magazines and news articles. Students loved spending time looking at all the books and having the opportunity to buy them half price at lunch time!
Students also took part in drama workshops to explore the themes in their texts. These Y9 students put together some really powerful and moving drama pieces based around ‘The Kite Runner’ and performed them in the auditorium.
During the week we also had a visit from children’s author Claire Fayers whose books have won the Waterstones book of the month. Claire led a Q&A with Y7 students all about writing and storytelling and she answered all their questions about what it is like to be an author, from how she gets her inspiration to what a typical day looks like! She also read to the students from her new book and has generously donated some copies for the library.
Year 8 students also took part in an author workshop where Claire taught students tips and tricks for story planning and the groups worked together to plan and create fantasy stories as well as asking brilliant questions about life as an author. They loved reading aloud their creations and working in a team!
The students showcased their work in the end of the week rewards assemblies. Each literacy group was tasked to put together something to present. There was a fantastic array of presentations from videos, to posters, to game shows and drama performances. It was brilliant to see students confidently speaking in front of their year group and celebrating each other’s success.
During the assemblies, students were also nominated by their literacy tutors to receive prizes for special recognition during Reading week. Students nominated received a National Book Token as well as a brand new book from our donation by the Bradford Literature festival for going above and beyond during the week. The students were celebrated for their participation, enthusiasm, reading aloud and literacy skills.
Personal Development & Character Education Term 1 Highlights - From Ms Sandhu, Assistant Principal
Personal Development & Character Education Term 1 Highlights - From Ms Sandhu, Assistant Principal
In the previous half term, our emphasis in the Personal Development and Character Education curriculum was on INTEGRITY. The video below showcases the highlights of the work and activities that students participated in and enjoyed.
Black Country Radio Visit - From Mr Mitchell, Head of Year 9
Black Country Radio Visit - From Mr Mitchell, Head of Year 9
I have had such a high amount of amazing feedback from listeners, friends and family and most importantly, parents.
You may recall that we provided information about our visit to the Black Country Radio Station in the blog on December 11, 2023, during the last term.
If you missed this week's show you can catch up with it here - https://www.blackcountryradio.co.uk/player/black-country-xtra/on-demand/vis-ability/
It is only an hour long, but if you get the chance to listen to this, it will really blow your mind how amazing they are.
This was part of an email I received from a parent this week;
"We did listen to the show last night and what a joy it was! A fantastic opportunity for the boys to learn how to present and speak on public radio! Brilliant opportunity! I think it will be their core memory for life! I wish the boys have more support to learn like this!"
NOS Updates - 12 January 2024
NOS Updates - 12 January 2024
The National Online Safety programme publishes a weekly #WakeUpWednesday update for parents/carers. This weeks update relates to 'What Children & Young People Need to Know about FREE SPEECH vs HATE SPEECH'.
Freedom of expression is enshrined in international law. Some individuals, however, misunderstand the right to share their opinions as a license to target others with the most horrendous prejudice. So how do we balance people’s prerogative to have their voice heard against everyone’s right to live in a respectful, inclusive society?
This conflict frequently unfolds in the digital world. Online posters can be falsely accused of hate speech, while actual hate is often defended as merely being ‘free speech’. To help children and young people learn to identify the boundaries and recognise genuine hate speech when they see it, the #WakeUpWednesday guide provides some helpful definitions and guidelines.
I hope your find this information useful.
free-speech-vs-hate-speech-2.pdfDance, Performing Arts and Extra-curricular updates
Dance, Performing Arts and Extra-curricular updates
From Mrs McKeon, Director of Learning of Foundations Studies and Extra-curricular learning
Performing Arts
The students have had a fantastic start to their Performing Arts lessons this week. Students are developing their group skills and compassion for others through Dance and Drama. KS3 are starting to work in larger groups which challenges their communication and leadership skills. Many class chart points have been awarded to those that have excelled in these areas.
The countdown to The Lion King has started -25 days until opening night! Ticket details will be shared shortly. Rehearsals are full of energy and students are extremely excited to showcase their talent and hard work. The cast have become a family and it is amazing to see students from different years and friendship groups join together for Lordswood’s first musical production.
Extra-Curricular
We encourage parents to explore the extracurricular clubs scheduled for this half term and engage in discussions with their sons to motivate them to participate in as many clubs as possible. This will contribute to further enhancing their learning and social experiences.
Our new extra-curricular timetable is now live.
This week we have seen students queuing up for Chess Club and our Year 7 students are eager to start our new Creative Writing club with Mr Amjad. Please encourage your son to find a new club to join, there are lots to choose from.
Extra – Curricular Clubs LBS.pdfSport fixtures and training schedules for week beginning 15 January 2024
Sport fixtures and training schedules for week beginning 15 January 2024
Weekly sports round-up from Mr Janes, Director of Sport
Weekly sports round-up from Mr Janes, Director of Sport
Year 10 Basketball
The Year students have been working hard with Mr Noble as they prepare for the start of their league campaign. Mr Noble has focused on Zonal Marking to develop student game understanding. The team host Bishop Challoner in a League Fixture next Tuesday here at LBS.
Primary Provision
On Tuesday, we hosted two local Primary Schools as they competed in a Regional League Fixture. Yesterday we hosted a further eight local Primary Schools as they also completed their scheduled Regional Fixtures. We are delighted to host and support our local Schools to facilitate and further their sporting provision.
Player of the Month Awards
Congratulations to our winners in December - Sachin Banda, Muizz Khan, Denzel Fernando and Amara Ganess. We look forward to seeing which students put themselves in the frame to win the January Player of the Month Awards across our Elite Sports Academy teams.
New PE Kit Reminder
As announced in the blog on 15th December, click here, the new LBS PE can now be purchased from Clive Mark using the link below:
http://www.clivemark.co.uk/collections/lordswood-boys-school
From September 2024 it will be compulsory for all students to be wearing the new kit.
If you have any questions relating to the details above, please use the contact details below:
Mr Deeks, Director of Learning - SCP Faculty, j.deeks@lordswoodboys.co.uk
Mr Janes, Director of Sport, d.janes@lordswoodboys.co.uk
To conclude, you may remember my earlier well-wishes to Mr. Thorpe and Mr. Southall as they departed at the end of the last term. I mentioned that Mr. Foric and Mr. Ahmed would be joining the Science department this term. Alongside their arrival, I'm pleased to announce and warmly welcome Mr. Badu, who has joined our team as the Head of Year 11.
I hope you have a good weekend and I look forward to updating you with more news next week. Until then you can always contact me directly at: l.williams@centralacademiestrust.co.uk.
Mr. L. Williams,
Interim CEO, Executive Headteacher
Central Academies Trust
Lordswood Boys' School • Hagley Road • Harborne • Birmingham • B17 8BJ
Tel:0121 464 2837
Email: enquiry@lordswoodboys.co.uk
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