Heartlands Academy Heartlines Newsletter Issue 5 Spring 2011

Heartlines

Newsletter of Heartlands Academy

Issue 5, Spring Term 2011

Building Begins!

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ork for the new building is now underway.

Contractors have arrived on site and the clear-up has begun in preparation for the construction of the new premises. The new academy will consist of two buildings joined by a large central atrium and there will be a purpose built restaurant and Learning Resource Centre. Another key feature will be the lecture theatre style facility between the Humanities and Communications centres.

The new Sports facilities include: • All Weather Pitch • Multi-use games area • Sports Hall • Multi-gym • Sport Science ICT facilities The facilities will be open to the community.

2012

From Mrs Jones, Principal

The end of spring term sees the old all-weather pitch being dug up and the surface being prepared to form the foundations of the new academy. The next 18 months will play a major role in future developments for Heartlands Academy and the community of Nechells. As you can see from the photographs, the new building is well underway; in May the Sports Hall shell will be in place and then we can look forward to the main building taking shape.

Our 6th form centre is now open and our Post-16 students are benefiting from having their own space. There will be an open day in September but if you would like to visit before then, please telephone 0121 675 3792 to arrange an appointment.

The academy continues to offer a wide range of opportunities to our students, many of which are illustrated in this newsletter. Whilst these opportunities are both rewarding and enjoyable, it is important that we, parents and staff, remind the young people that the aim is for them to realise their full potential. To that end we must encourage excellent attendance, (at least 96%), being punctual, and being focused on their LEARNING. By working together as a team, parents, the academy and the students , we achieve the best success for all of our young people. I am always grateful for the support parents and carers give to the academy and overwhelmed by the students’ loyalty and praise for their academy.

I would like to wish everyone an enjoyable and well earned Spring break and look forward to seeing you in the summer term when I begin my ninth year as the Principal of Heartlands Academy.

Students make “exceptional” progress at Heartlands Academy - Ofsted

Inside this issue

EDUCATION watchdog Ofsted has praised E-ACT’s Heartlands Academy saying students make “exceptional progress”. In a recent monitoring report to review progress since the academy was opened in September 2009, Ofsted inspectors found that prior to joining the academy, many students had not

Pakistan / Creative Curriculum 2 PE report / Shakespeare 3 KESSP 4-5 LRC / Firefighter Training 6 Community Partnership 7 Loose Endz / Academy Dates 8

achieved their true potential. However, students went on to make exceptional progress at Heartlands as a result of “high quality teaching, systematic target setting and tracking, and robust intervention and support, including after-school revision classes across all subjects.”

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School Exchange Project - PAKISTAN In Pakistan, a typical school day runs from 8:30 to 2:30 pm. Pupils start the day with an assembly, reciting a prayer and singing the national anthem. The day’s announcements are made and the children then attend the morning’s lessons until 12:30, at which time they enjoy a 30 min recess. School meals are not provided, and pupils generally make their own arrangements for food. After recess they return to lessons for the remainder of the day.

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n the 26th of February 2011, I travelled to Khanewal, Pakistan, representing Heartlands Academy in the final stages of a 3 year school exchange project between the two countries. The project involved

three schools from Birmingham and five schools from Khanewal, and its primary objectives were to share good practice tips and techniques and to celebrate the differences in culture that exist between the schools.

I was very impressed by what I observed at the five Khanewal schools.

One of the most outstanding aspects was how well the schools were progressing in spite of limited funding and resources. The pupils were eager to learn and always put as much effort into their work as possible.

CREATIVE CURRICULUM Food DT EAL

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uring Creative Curriculum week the newly-arrived Year 10 students enjoyed a week of activities designed to inspire confidence and improve English and team work. We had two trips: one to the city centre where the students delivered a presentation about a particular Birmingham landmark they had researched, and the other to Sutton Park, where students explored and carried out a number of ecology activities. We even managed to catch three fish! As one student said “For me the most unforgettable thing was Sutton Park, getting close to nature and enjoying the beautiful scenery!”

WEK

Creative Curriculum with Year 8 was fantastic to say the least. The four groups pulled together as teams to produce some fabulous cakes based on an agricultural theme for Muslim Heritage Day in Food.

Year 11s produced some exquisite food as part of their practical assessment. The method and presentation of their work was fantastic.

Well done!

Junior Chef Club, an after school activity, is proving extremely popular and is held on Wednesdays 3:05 - 4:15pm.

This week we are focusing on Mothers’ day and producing “yummy” cupcakes.

DIR

Resistant Materials - Year 8 groups investigated a range of artefacts and techniques from medieval times.

The resistant materials group focused on machines and in particular, siege engines. They were given the task to design a mechanism to catapult a wooden ball 3.5 metres into a plastic box. They had a lot of fun trying to 2

I received a magnificently welcoming reception upon arrival at each institution. Although at first the pupils and staff were a little shy and reserved, and many of them were worried about not being able to speak or understand English, I spoke to them in URDU, leaving no question unanswered, and by the end of the day people were asking for my autograph.

Overall it was an excellent trip and everyone involved had loads of fun.

FAS complete the task and three students managed to make a successful engine. Well done!

BMS

PE O Rugby

n Tuesday 29th March a group of 14 students REPORT were taken on a trip to to Five Ways Old Edwardians’ Rugby Club for the Birmingham Schools’ Final.

The boys had little or no experience playing rugby and were competing against schools that had reputations to uphold and players who regularly play weekend rugby.

The boys started tremendously well, winning their first three games convincingly. The match against Kings Norton proved very tough competition, but Heartlands stood strong in defence and eventually won 10 – 5. The final game against Bishop Challenor was lost by a single try, and unfortunately a disallowed Heartlands try proved to be the difference between the tournament winners and runners up.

The boys put in a great deal of effort throughout the whole day and some of the rugby played was as if they had

Geography During Creative Curriculum Week we undertook loads of different activities, but Geography on 15th March was the best.

The task was to create a 3D map of the world using different materials, for instance, cotton wool for the snowy parts and twigs and dried brown leaves for the rainforests. For mountainous areas, we used small plastic cups which

Maths

S

tudents enjoyed Creative Curriculum week in the Maths Department. Year 7 & Year 8 students took part in maths based actvities with a difference. Year 7 investigated family trees while Year 8 made sundials and then tested them out while the sun was shining.

MCF

for the County and both have scored in a 2-0 win against Shrewsbury. Danico is also on trial at Walsall FC.

Girls’ Football

Year 7 Girls finished runners-up in the Goals Schools Premier League - a great achievement. There were outstanding performances and attendance in training from Rebecca Yamalimbu and Gona Sokoli. Well done to both of them! played the game for years. The team consisted of Davon Williams (year 7), Jackir Ahmed, Darnell DonovanHarris, Dariq Warsame, Dai Daley, Abshir Warsame, Junaid Siraj, Rafielle Benjamin, Joshua Richards, Brandon Ashwin, Mardoche Koko, Kyran Gardner, Joshua Wood and Sean Heeley (all year 8).

WIM

Football

Our school football teams are making good progress in their respective leagues. Recently, there have been some exceptional individual performances. Jade Richards (left 2009) is currently playing for Aston Villa Ladies First Team. Danico Johnson and Michael Rabiu (both Year 11) have been playing

Shakespeare

B

ack in January, students were treated to an interactive Shakespeare workshop with theatre company ‘Topbox’ in preparation for their upcoming Controlled Assessment in English. Year 10 assembled in the hall to watch an hour long performance of Romeo and Juliet. The excitement was palpable and many students commented on how they found Shakespeare both amusing and enjoyable; a stance they hadn’t previously thought possible.

The performance involved only four actors taking on multiple roles, which included the portrayal of the nurse by a male actor; something very much in the Elizabethan vein. The production was both comedic and tragic reflecting Shakespeare’s own intentions.

we covered with tissue paper. For the major rivers, we used little blue strips to make them stand out and in my group, we made a man and two snakes to go in our forest. It was fun making 3D maps and I would like to do it again sometime. They all looked fantastic!

Rebecca Yamalimbu

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Staff Football

Heartland’s Academy staff football team have continued with their winning streak. Latest results: v Bishop Walsh 8-0 win v Small Heath 13-1 win v Park Hall 11-1 win PE team

PE Events Timetable Summer Term 2011 23-27 May 27 June–1 July 28 Jun

19 Jul

Whole School House Acitivities Sportsweek Heartlands’ Sports Day (at the Alexander Stadium) E-ACT Athletics Sports Day 9 Academies (at the Alexander Stadium)

After the performance, several students took part in a workshop where they had the opportunity to dress in Elizabethan costume, take part in stage combat with rapier swords and hone their dramatic abilities in mini productions.

Not only was the performance and workshop enjoyable, but it has also helped students who are currently studying Romeo and Juliet to understand the play as not only a page-based script but also as a tangible performance piece. The session was a complete success and the students were able to relate to the themes and issues raised, proving that the play is as relevant today as it was in 1594 when it was written.

BUA

If you’re interested in performing some of Shakespeare’s plays, please visit Drama Club with a Difference, Thursday 3:30 - 4:30 in the Drama Studio

D

uring half term, pupils from the King Edward’s School Sport Partnership Secondary Schools were invited to attend a day at Heartlands Academy to learn how to become good leaders. The day was well attended with Heartlands, KE Aston and KE Handsworth present, and the pupils ranged from yr7-yr13. Even though there were age differences between the leaders they all worked together really well.

The leaders looked at how to make a session effective, how to set up events, how to score the events and also explained how to compete in the events. At the end of the day the leaders were able to take part in some of the events.

On 12th January, the King Edward’s Partnership came together to learn new skills and discuss how the partnership will continue. The day started off with a rowing session detailing how to use a small number of rowers with a class, moving on to how to deliver cross curricular lessons using the rowing machines.

The redesigned play leaders scheme was introduced and explained to the Primary link teachers (PLTs) . The Play leaders training for Heartlands’ Cluster will take place on 24th May. The Partnership training will be on the 30th March.

The afternoon sessions were split into two sections: Tag Rugby and High 5 Netball. Each of these sessions were delivered by the SSCo and both were well received.

ALV

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Firefighter Training Year 8

Kyran Gardiner, Mardoche Koko, Iqrar Zamir, Shakur Mohammed he day started with a tour around Highgate fire station where we met the firefighters on Red Watch.

We saw the engine house where the fire engines are kept, the rest room where they have Sky Sports and the gym where we threw a few punches on the punch bag and Mardoche had a work out with the weights. It was then straight to work: We had to change into our fire kit and quickly get onto parade.

Hose running was next. We were shown

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how it was done and then worked until we got the technique right and were fast enough. It was extremely tiring but good fun. We then learned how to link the hoses together and used the branches to spray the water.

It was then time for ‘tea and toast’. We sat around with the firefighters asking them questions and finding out what it was like to be in the job. The firefighters went through our sleuths and gave us ways to improve at school. In the middle of ‘tea and toast’ the bells went down, everyone had to run leaving their half eaten toast and go down the pole, into their fire kit and onto the truck.

Next was guideline work, which describes how they search and rescue people in a fire. We were put into teams, put on the breathing apparatus frame and were blindfolded. It was heavy and hard work and a lot of communication was needed as some of our senses had been taken away. We had to follow the guidelines around the station and rescue the casualties.

Later, we watched Miss Johnson play the part of a casualty in a smashed up car and the firefighters had to cut the doors and roof off to save her. We were shown the fire engines and used the

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he English Department and the LRC are trying hard to encourage all of our pupils to read more.

We believe that reading helps pupils to expand their knowledge and helps to improve their imagination and vocabulary. As part of a new DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) Time Scheme our Year 7 pupils come to the LRC every fortnight to read, review, quiz, and choose new books.

To encourage our Year 7 pupils to read more, the school has invested heavily in interesting books, offered rewards such as a prize draw of vouchers, free pizza, cinema trips and chocolates.

Well done to all the Year 7 pupils for taking part in the scheme and especially the following pupils for really getting involved in DEAR TIME. They have read a great many books as well as scoring highly on their reading quizzes.

Diev Loukelo has read 54 books since January with an average book quiz score of 94%, Mariam Kulsoom for reading 38 books with a average score of 94.5%. Goitom Asfaw for reading 33 with an average score of 87%. Hamza Hussain for reading 29 books with an average quiz score of 93.1% and Mohammed Mohi Ahmed for reading 25 books with an average score of 92%.

A fantastic job guys.

BLB

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Heartlands Academy Working in Partnership with Business...

...with

sirens and bull horn to see how loud it would be for a real job.

We learned a great deal about being a firefighter and about fire safety. Now we have experienced what is like to be a firefighter, some of us definitely want to be in the job when we are older.

Firefighter Gardiner and Firefighter Zamir (Year 8)

...with

H

eartlands Academy was nominated for a National Award for its work using its specialism to drive learning with targeted sectors of the wider community. This is a prestigious award and the academy was one of only four nominees nationwide. Comments made by the judging panel include: “A comprehensive response by the academy to develop effective community cohesion through the vehicle of specialism - adults as learners, family learning, community engagement and partnership work are all strong and there is an excellent link and theme focused on the Olympics and Paralympics.

There is a real sense of community cohesion bringing people together to take part in a whole range of activities to support the development of learning as well as target issues such as poor diet and health. The effective use of the specialism pervades throughout the application and this academy is highly commended.”

...with

If you would like information about:

A Word of Praise (email received 4th April)

• primary school transition

Dear Principal, I live in Hamstead Village, Great Barr.

On Saturday 2 April I shopped at Asda in Perry Barr, where it was my pleasure to meet some of the most polite and helpful students ever. During what must have been a very long and busy day, they smiled and chatted pleasantly with every customer. At no point did any student appear cross, bored or fed up, a skill I am sure will serve them very well throughout life!

They were wonderful ambassadors - a credit to you and everyone involved.

Janet Bailey Senior Lecturer University of Wolverhampton

• Heartlands Academy events • parenting support programmes • community partnership work

contact: Mrs Rachel Buckingham Community Director

Heartlands Academy Great Francis Street, Birmingham B7 4QR 0121 464 5531 r.buckingham@heartlands-academy.org.uk

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Loose Endz

Shabana Mahmood MP Constituency Advice Surgeries SOHO

First Friday of the month Matthew Boulton Community Primary School, Boulton Road B21 0RE

4pm-6pm

ASTON

First Saturday of the month Broadway School, Aston Lane, B20 3HA

10am-12pm

LADYWOOD Third Friday of the month

Ladywood Community Centre,

St Vincent Street B16 8RP

4pm-6pm

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ul

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NECHELLS Third Saturday of the month 10am-12pm

Nechells Green Community Centre,

Melvina Road B7 4QA

Specialisms: Sport & Mathematics

Open Evening

Wednesday, 22nd September 2011, 4:15pm - 6:00pm

Contact: 0121464 5527 • enquiry@heartlands-academy.org.uk

www.heartlands-academy.org.uk

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO PARENTS

road safety advert.indd 1

24/03/2011 If you bring your child to school by car, in order to avoid dangerous congestion, it would be appreciated if you could park on Wardlow Road and NOT in the car park.

Thank You

Academy Dates Summer Term 2011

Tuesday 26 April- Friday 22 July

Half Term Holiday

Monday 30 May - Friday 3 June

Academy Closed

Friday 29 April (Royal Wedding Bank Holiday) Monday 2 May (May Day Bank Holiday)

Autumn Term 2011

Thursday 1 September - Friday 16 December

Half Term Holiday

Monday 24 October - Friday 28 October

Teacher Days (non-pupil days) Friday, 27 May Friday, 1 July

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his term, Year 11 BTEC music students have been working to plan, record, market and sell their own CD as part of one of their required units for their qualification.

They began by brainstorming ideas for names and themes to guide their journey. Although there were some pretty bizarre suggestions thrown around, they finally they came up with the title “Loose Endz”. This seemed appropriate as the recording would include different musical styles from all years across the school, including many Y11 students. Being the last project of their course, the CD represents a culmination of their BTEC knowledge. Every member of the class has taken responsibility for different roles in the project including recording, advertising, design, marketing, rehearsal, performance and sales. The finished product goes on sale April 4th and will be available before and after school in MU1 and the dining area (during break times).

They cost £2.50 each or two for £4.00.

Proceeds are being donated to the Year 11 prom.

The whole class would like to thank all the staff and students outside of their class that helped to make this CD possible. Please support Year 11 for their hard work by buying a CD or two!

WAL

STEM Club every Tuesday

for selected Year 7 students.

3:05 - 4:05 in SC5 STEM is Science,technology, engineering and maths. Currently we are making a Mars Rover.

09:24

W h e re will you b e n ext year?

Get Set for Great Francis Street, Nechells, Birmingham B7 4QR

H a v e y o u considered the benefits of post 16 o p t i o n a t Heartlands Academy Sixth Form?

• a new and developing Sixth Form which you can help to shape • a Sixth Form that will work with you to meet your personal requirements

y M o n da St a r ts Ja n u a r y 10t h 5p m 4:1 gy in lo wer

Only £2 pw

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• small classes with excellent teacher to student ratios • a wide range of courses at both Level 2 & 3 • committed teachers who you know and who know you • a familiar environment • your own Sixth Form area in which to work and socialise • special Sixth Form events and activities • support with career, further and higher education decisions

Fu n nte e d G u a ra h F it n e s s t h ro u g

Ladie s

o n ly

• a challenging and supportive ethos

Other Dates

Thursday, 19 May Thursday, 30 June Thursday, 14 July

LOOSE ENDZ CD 10 tracks ONLY £2.50

Y10 Parents’ Evening Y8 Parents’ Evening Y7 Parents’ Evening

Go

a

h nyw

fro ere

m here

!

Sixth Form Centre

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Keep fit classes Every Monday 4:15-5:15

For more information please contact Maxine Ward on 07712647644

www.zumbafitness.co.uk

Heartlands Academy, Great Francis Street, Birmingham, B7 4QR Telephone: 0121 464 3931 • www.heartlands-academy.org.uk