PRINCIPAL's BLOG - 26th may 2023

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end of helf-term 5

Welcome to my weekly blog and I hope you and your families are well and have had a good week.

I had the pleasure of receiving a letter from one of our local primary schools this week, thanking the school for all we do to engage with our primary feeder schools. Mr Rhys Bowen, PE co-ordinator at Chad Valley Primary school, has been working closely with Mr Janes, Director of Sport and Mrs Lowndes-Ford, Director of Music on a number of projects this year. I'd like you to have a read through the letter (below) as this really encapsulates the outreach work we have committed to at LBS.

Good morning Mr Williams,

My name is Rhys Bowen. I work as the PE Co-Ordinator at Chad Vale Primary School & I help to run the Harborne District Football Association. On behalf of the Harborne District FA I would like to say a huge thank to Lordswood Boys' School, especially Danny Janes, for enabling the Primary Schools in the district to use your fantastic football facilities throughout the school year. One Thursday afternoon/evening each month local Primary Schools without access to football pitches have been using your school's 3G pitch to play their fixtures. Having access to a floodlit pitch has enabled schools to extend their extra-curricular sports provision throughout the winter months when they are usually unable to play fixtures after school. Over 100 local children have benefitted from your school's kind hospitality this year & we are very grateful for the support that Lordswood Boys' School has been willing to offer. Pupils, staff & parents attending have also been very impressed with both your school's facilities & the school's attitude to working in collaboration with local primary schools.

In addition to this I would like to thank Mr Janes for all the outreach work he has done with my school. Over the past two years he has visited Chad Vale on a number of occasions to lead PE session with our pupils, organised inter school sports events & invited our Y6 boys for taster mornings at your school. I also understand that Mr Janes has also undertaken similar work with a number of other local schools. I know at Chad Vale these efforts have been much appreciated & seen your school's reputation enhanced in the eyes of our pupils. I know around 10% of boys form our 2021-22 Y6 classes now attend your school & I believe that we have similar numbers joining your school next year. This is a significant increase from previous years & a trend I hope continues.

At Chad Vale we are always keen to build strong working relationships with our local secondary schools & hope to continue building on the partnership our schools have developed over the past two years.

I hope your Y11s exams go well over the coming weeks.

Kind regards,

Rhys Bowen.

Art Therapy

Year 9 students have been working with our artist-in-residence, Mr Metcalf-Molinari building and creating musical instruments out of cardboard and modroc.

This programme has hugely benefitted the students and the results are highly impressive. Thank you Mr Metcalfe-Molinari and Miss Dawson.

The Great Outdoors

Year 10 enjoyed getting out of the classroom and exploring how nature influences poetry. They collected items and took inspiration from the outside world to create their own poetic sonnets. Dare we say, even better than Shakespeare himself! Thank you Miss George for organising this.

Origami Masters

Year 9 have been creating origami (the Japanese art of paper folding) as part of their 'Mental Health Project' in their Art & Design lessons this week. They were absolutely fantastic, and developed the skill with real precision. I know Miss Dawson was very proud of what they had achieved.

Superstar Mathematicians

A message from Ms Savani, 2nd in Maths

A few weeks ago we had 50 year 7 and 8 students take part in the Junior Maths challenge.

The Junior Maths challenge is a 60 minute, multiple choice challenge. The challenge encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency in using basic mathematical techniques. The problems are designed to make students think. Most are accessible, yet still challenge those with more experience.

The students have performed extremely well and the results are as follows:

Sandra Liperowski achieved the best in year for year 7 and RJ Taylor achieved the best in school! RJ has also qualified for the Maths Kangaroo challenge which will take place in June (and no, I didn't just make the name up).

Certificates will be printed and awarded in their next assembly.

We are so proud of the boys and we cannot wait to share this success with them during assembly.

Sport fixtures and training schedules for week beginning 5 June 2023

Weekly sports round-up from Mr Janes, Director of Sport

After topping the group with a 100% record, the Year 9's headed to Edgbaston to take on the very best that Birmingham and Warwickshire has to offer. The first game vs Cockshut Hill was a nail biter. We batted first and set a respectable 68 from our 10 overs, our bowlers started excellently with the ball and had the opposition 7-3, however their 4th wicket partnership grew resulting in a Lordswood loss by 1 wicket, on the last ball.

The tournament favourites were next, Westwood Academy. Their players were very skilled and performed the basics well. We fell 35 runs short of the target as our opposition rattled through our top order.

We saved our best performance until last, after only setting a below-par target of 53. Our bowlers stepped up and reduced Tudor Grange to 26-5. They had one batter left, who showed every ounce of resilience as they scored run after run. Our hopes of getting into the semi-final were in the balance as the batting side needed 3 to win off 18 balls. The field was brought in close and the awaiting fielders surrounded the batter, awaiting a catch. Hazeem Ran up to bowl, slow and loopy leg spin. The ball tossed up and the batter took the bait, top edging the ball straight to Captain Shayaan. Described as the best indoor game the umpire had ever seen, as we cemented our 3rd place finish.

Player of the tournament - Ali Usman (5 wickets in 3 games).

On Tuesday Mr Deeks took a group of students to the Edgbaston Cricket Stadium to watch a professional Women's T20 Fixture. The trip was an opportunity for students to experience a world class facility as well as observing the details of an elite Cricket player, the boys then held a de-brief session around the details they observed and how they could apply these

into their own practice.

Mr Janes also took a group of students to the Hawthorns Stadium to observe the National Football Finals. The boys watched three games consisting of the Under 12's, 13''s and 14's age groups. The schools that competed were recognised as the best in the country as they reached the Finals in such a prestigious tournament. This was a great experience for our boys as they were able to walk around the Stadium, as well as observing high level players.

If you have any questions relating to the details above, please use the contact details below:

Mr Deeks, Lead Professional for PE, j.deeks@lordswoodboys.co.uk
Mr Janes, Director of Sport, d.janes@lordswoodboys.co.uk

Music schedules for week beginning 5 June 2023

Y11 Farewell

Finally, today we held our Y11 leavers celebration event. Often these events are full with emotion, happiness and laughter and the event today did not disappoint. These moments last long in our memories as leaving school is such a huge event. We will obviously see the students after the half-term break as they continue with their final GCSE exams, but in true LBS spirit, took the opportunity to gather them all together today for one final hurrah.

I think you'll agree that the pictures below speak volumes. We'll miss you boys', you have been AMAZING!

I hope you have a good half-term break and I look forward to updating you with more news when return to school. The final half-term of the year starts on Monday 5 June and students are expected to be in school and ready to learn on time at 8.35am. Until then you can always contact me directly at: l.williams@lordswoodboys.co.uk

Mr. L. Williams,

Principal,

Lordswood Boys' School.

Lordswood Boys' School • Hagley Road • Harborne • Birmingham • B17 8BJ

Tel:0121 464 2837

Email: enquiry@lordswoodboys.co.uk

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