ASTON MANOR ACADEMY SUMMER NEWS
PART OF EQUITAS ACADEMIES TRUST 2024
HEAD TEACHER
What an eventful year we have had! We started off the year being told that we had to close around a third of the building and had to move the whole of the sixth form to another teaching space! We had no canteen, no main hall, and lost a number of other teaching spaces. Despite this you will see what an amazing community Aston Manor Academy is as we have not let this hold us back this year. Our wonderful students have adapted to our constraints this year and have excelled in a number of areas. We have achieved the gold school games award for our participation in sports events this year, the Duke of Edinburgh Award continues to provide opportunities for our students to get into the outdoors, our school garden is now a delightful place for students to engage with nature, and we have provided students with almost 100 opportunities for educational visits. I am so proud of the hard work and dedication of students and staff of this school who make the most of their time here.
It is with sadness that we say goodbye to some long-standing staff members who have impacted the students in this school greatly. Ms Latham is leaving after an incredible 34 years, Mr Brown (PE) after 23 years, and Ms Green (English) after 17 years. I would like to thank them for all that they have given to the school and wish them the very best for their future.
We look forward to our school being returned to us following the completion of the RAAC works and welcoming back our sixth form on site. I wish you all a safe and relaxing summer break.
Many of you may have seen the word SEND and SEND Provision advertised in Birmingham but may be unaware of what it is. Below is a short article which explains SEND. Overview of SEND
Some children have difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn compared to most children of the same age.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is a term that describes the difficulties and disabilities that can affect a child’s ability to learn.
Most children with special educational needs overcome these challenges eventually, but they are likely to need extra support and help during the early years and at a young age. Examples of SEND include difficulties with:
1. Speech, language, reading and writing
2. Concentration and the ability to understand things
3. Behaviour and emotions
4. Socialise and make friends
5. Physical ability
SEND Coffee Mornings
AMA was pleased to host successful SEND coffee mornings this year. It was pleasing to see parents engaging and able to talk openly about their child’s SEND needs and how AMA can help their children further. Parents have also had opportunities to meet teaching assistants who support and work closely with certain pupils in classes. Alongside this, it has been a pleasure to welcome professional agencies to come in and advise parents too. Liam, from Speech & Language, and Sarah and Emma from the Communication & Autism Team, were able to advise parents and pupils with any concerns/ misconceptions/strategies and any other worries they may have.
I am very grateful to all and hope that we can continue to have more meetings in the forthcoming year. If you have any concerns about your child’s SEND needs, please do not hesitate to contact us. Mrs Oubhie - SENDCo
SIXTH FORM SUCCESS
“It has been an extremely busy term in the Sixth Form, with our Year 13 students accepting offers and getting ready to move onto some incredible destinations. Highlights include Zahra, who is leaving to become a trained pilot, Hassan, who is going to St. Andrews University for medicine, and Imaan, who is on her way the Royal Veterinary College to become a vet. We have had 87 applications to university which is incredible. Even more pleasing, we have had our Year
13 students mentor the Year 12s who are starting their applications, as well as form students such as Nazir, coming in and giving his experience up to his second year studying medicine at UOB.
Over the next few weeks, we have some exciting and aspirational trips such as visits to Keble College at Oxford University, the UCAS Exhibition at the NEC, Aston university campus tours, and an exciting end of year trip to Alton Towers!”
MOCK INTERVIEW DAY
Friday 14th June saw our Year 10 students take part in their Mock Interviews, where they were put through their paces by a range of local business leaders. The day provided an opportunity for our young people to showcase their skills and prepare for the demands of work and college selection processes beyond their time at AMA.
Students rose to the challenge with enthusiasm, and the local employers were left seriously impressed. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for these young leaders!
Mr Siddiqi – Business
Mr Roble – Head of ICT
Ms Leigh Taylor – PE
Mrs Bargach – French
Mr Yacub Ali - Art/DT
Miss Lester – English
Ms Younis – Health & Social Care
Mr Miah – Sports Co-ordinator
Mr Ahmed – Maths
Mr Thompson – Brown – PE
Mr Evans – Science
Mr Mahmood – ICT
Ms Morris – English
PwC in Birmingham Welcome!
AMA NEW STAFF EAL - AQA AWARDS TRIPS
Congratulations to EAL students completing AQA Awards
A big shout out to the EAL Students who have been working hard in the Inclusion Department and completing work successfully from the AQA Unit Awards. This month we have been working very creatively with students taking part in cultural cooking activities and making sensory toys. The students have taken part in a range of activities from Extra English, to Maths and extracurricular activities. The students have gained certificates from AQA for their hard work and developed their communication and teamwork skills.
Hamilton
Mrs Shokar took 13 students from Year 12 to PwC in Birmingham for a careers insight day, organised by Urban Synergy.
The students found the experience very inspiring, engaging and informative. Students were on the top floor of the new building which they were able to take a tour of. They participated in a range of activities such as quizzes and speed mentoring sessions with current employees. Students really valued the opportunity to engage with graduate employees, asking them about their career pathways and journey through education and employment. The day was very informative and involved giving our students an insight into:
• What it’s like working at PwC, talks from early graduates working within a range of different roles.
• How AI and technology is use in PwC using Microsoft 365 CoPilot, chat PwC tool and the risks and rewards attached with AI.
• The methods and employment opportunities at PwC, including the four different methods and the recruitment and selection process was also discussed
Science Trip Year 9 to Aston Engineering
Year 9 had the brilliant opportunity to visit the microscopy and biomedical science lab at Aston University.
They gained hands on experience of using different types of microscopes to view living cells.
Students enjoyed using the fluorescent microscope and observed different ways of staining cells, for both research and medical purposes.
Students engaged brilliantly on both trips, and have been invited back, which is a testament to their maturity and
DofE Award Expedition
This year saw 14 students from a mixture of Year 9 and 10 undergo their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award. The group planned their own expedition including a two-day plan of a route around Bromsgrove and an overnight camping stay at Blackwell Adventure. They showed excellent resilience and development of their navigation and orienteering skills. Well done everyone!
Maths trip to Stratford Upon Avon
On Tuesday 2nd July some Year 8 and Year 9 pupils had the wonderful opportunity of visiting Stratford Upon Avon – the town where Shakespeare was born. The pupils listened attentively and participated in a very enlightening talk about the relationship between numbers and Shakespeare.
The talk made lots of links to several subjects such as English, Music and Maths. We discovered what a typical school day would have looked like for Shakespeare – lots of Latin, how numbers were developed, how calculations and timetables were previously calculated, and lots more!
Our pupils were very courageous and several of them went to the front of the theatre to participate in various activities in front of lots of people from various other schools; Yassmin (Year 9) participated in a music segment, Roman (Year 8) participated in a literary segment and Sudais (Year 8), Muhammad (Year 9) and Abdulkadir (Year 8) participated in a game against another school, which you will be glad to know, AMA won!
The pupils all represented AMA extremely well and enjoyed the trip! Here are some comments from our pupils about the trip:
What a wonderful afternoon watching the spectacular musical, Hamilton. We spent the whole afternoon enthralled by this incredible production and the incredible talent of the cast who just dazzled us from beginning to end. The students found the experience exciting, inspiring and educational.
Beat Club
Our Beat Club is going from strength to strength and next year we shall be offering both a KS3 & KS4 Beat Club at lunchtime.
Mr. Allen, our resident DJ and producer, is teaching the next generation of music technicians the skills of producing and recording music using state-of-the-art music software. Next year will see the launch of their termly podcast to showcase their work alongside them talking about what they have achieved and how.
Samba Band
We have a Samba Band!
We were delighted to be lucky enough to be given the money to purchase all the instruments for a Samba Band and this term the band have been rehearsing hard in readiness for their first performance next term under the tutelage of Mr. Amirgowar. We are delighted with how they are progressing and look forward to their performance. Watch this space!
The Basketball Academy had very little time off after finishing the 2023/24 basketball season. They have been training hard since Easter and will continue to do so over the school summer holidays in preparation for next season. We are excited to formally welcome our new intake, who have been training with us for a significant amount of time already.
We are proud of the achievements of our players during the 2023/24 season who were rewarded for their efforts this season at Aston Manor Academy’s Annual Awards Dinner. Special recognition should go to John Mangala and Ebenezer Adusei who were selected as Coach’s Players of The Year, Tom Wilson and Kian Richards who were voted as Player’s Players of the Year and Josh Agho who was selected as our Student Athlete for the 2022/23 season.
We look forward to a positive season next year.
Birmingham Basketball League Finals
Success for both Year 7 and Year 9 girls Basketball Teams, winning the Birmingham Basketball League Finals, massive well done! This makes it 2 consecutive successful years for our Year 9 girls’ team.
3v3 Basketball County Finals
Congratulations to the Year 9 girls Basketball team for winning gold in the 3v3 Basketball County Finals! Great improvement shown, having only secured bronze the year
GOLD AGAIN FOR ASTON MANOR
Winning success in a number of sports and our students have led/taken part in 27 School Games opportunities and programmes over the year! Now we end the year with the GOLD School Games Mark Award for a 3rd year running, huge achievement! Just one more year of gold and we’ll be going for Platinum.
The footballers have been putting in lots of hard work, training over the close season. The squads are still training 4 times a week, preparing themselves for next year’s 2024-25 season, making sure they are in peak physical and mental condition.
Along with training, the Sports Academy have been putting their knowledge and skills to the test. This summer term they have volunteered at the Titan primary school event. Over 2 days they helped organise, coach and referee at the Doug Ellis Sports Centre, Aston University. Over 450 primary students competed in 5 sports including football, basketball, water polo, fitness and dodgeball. The group have also supported and led activities for Chilwell Crofts Sports Day, held at Aston Manor Academy, Aston Manors’ own Sports Day held at Wyndley Stadium and led a boy’s and girl’s football tournament for Year 4 & 5 Chilwell Crofts’ students. During the summer term we had our Sixth Form Sports Academy Awards Evening. This event
Year 9 and 10 girls completed a 6-week training course of Bellboating to get them ready for the upcoming Regatta. Year 7 also had a great time at their taster session!
SEND EVENT
took place at Aston Villa’s FC. It was brilliant to see all our fantastic footballers celebrate their achievements this year. We were fortunate to have Birmingham Hometown Hero Hassebah Abdullah to speak to the group and present the awards. Christopher Buchanan was awarded the Equitas Academies Trust Sports Academy Award, for excellent representation for his two years in the academy. Alexie Gray was awarded the prestigious Student Athlete of the Year Award for the whole of the Sports Academy, a fantastic achievement. Aaron Brown and Hammad Saleem were awarded Coaches Player of the Year
Leadership SEND Schools Event
Huge well done to our Year 9 and 10 leaders who completed their final leadership event of the year at the University of Birmingham, leading the Panathlon Challenge SEND School Event. ‘The best leaders of a SEND event I’ve ever seen’ quoted one of the organisers!
EXCITING TASTER DAY AT SOUTH AND CITY COLLEGE BIRMINGHAM!
Year 10 Textiles Group
We’re thrilled to share the highlights of our recent visit to South and City College Birmingham. Our group had an amazing time exploring the campus, participating in workshops, and gaining valuable insights into the world of textiles and fashion. Here’s a recap of our day:
1. Campus Tour:
Our journey began with a guided tour of the Fusion campus. We were impressed by the state-ofthe-art facilities and the vibrant learning environment.
2. Workshop 1: Transformation: In the first workshop, we delved into the concept of transformation and sustainability in textiles. Students experimented with transforming new school jumpers that were to be thrown away due to a change
in their school logo. They used their creativity and a range of techniques to create unique new textile product. It was inspiring to see how small changes can lead to remarkable transformations and help the environment!
3. Workshop 2: Team Building and Pattern Making: The second workshop was all about collaboration and creativity. Working in teams, we designed and crafted paper dresses. We explored various patterns, folds, and drapes, turning simple materials into wearable art. The laughter and teamwork in the room were contagious!
4. Meet the Lecturers: We had the privilege of meeting experienced lecturers who shared their passion for textiles and fashion. Their insights into industry trends and career paths were invaluable.
5. Future Opportunities:
Our visit left us excited about the possibilities. Whether it’s pursuing further education in textiles or exploring apprenticeships, South and City College Birmingham offers a pathway to success. Incentives such as a free bus pass, support groups, free breakfast and free sewing machine and equipment when you enrol onto their fashion courses.
A huge thank you to the college staff for hosting us and making our visit memorable. We look forward to future collaborations and inspiring our own textile masterpieces!
For more information about South and City College Birmingham’s textiles programs, visit their website: https://www. sccb.ac.uk/
Martin for the girls’ team. Shane Edwards and Taf Musakanyi were awarded Players Player of the Year for our two men’s teams and Mia Lawson-Spencer and Elle York for our girls’ team. A lovely evening was had, full of celebrations.
SAFEGUARDING AND WELLBEING
With the summer holidays coming up, and to support the safety and wellbeing of your children, here are some services outside of school who may be able to offer support, and activities for you and your children, which might make life a little bit easier…
1. Bring it on Brum! – Holiday Activities and Food: This website has a range of activities across all ages for children and young people to enjoy. Take a look at the play, sports, food, art and leisure, and wellbeing sections. Free Activities in Birmingham: Take a look at some of these for ideas 5 FREE Activities for Kids in Birmingham during Summer 2024 (thestringsclub.org)
And Free things to do In Birmingham (visitbirmingham. com)
2. Free Online parenting course through Birmingham City Council: There are courses for parents, carers, and grandparents of children from bump to 19. Learn about how your child develops and get tips to manage their behaviour. Just enter the access code “COMMUNITY” at the top of the page to claim: Online Learning (heiapply. com)
3. One stop directory for health and wellbeing services across Birmingham: Take a look at the following for a range of advice support and help: thewaitingroom.org
4. Mental health wellbeing support: There are times that we all could benefit from a little support and help with our mental health; For young people aged 11-25 there are forums, guides and counselling available at Kooth. If your
child aged 0-25 needs support, get in touch with Pause by calling 0207 841 4470 or via this link: Pause hubs | Forward Thinking Birmingham . Adults can get support from MIND by calling 0121 262 3555. Or for urgent help call Forward Thinking Birmingham on 0300 300 0099. See this for more information on helping your child: https:// www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/make-it-countguide-for-parents-and-carers
5. Financial help: Its always worth checking what you may be entitled to, or where to get support and advice. Financial, employment and benefits help | Birmingham City Council can make a big difference if you are in a crisis and need food, fuel or basic white goods. Discretionary Housing Payments may be able to help with rent. And there are food banks across Birmingham that are here to help.
6. Early help for families: There is a range of services that support families in Birmingham; please see What is Early Help? - Birmingham Safeguarding Children Partnership (lscpbirmingham.org.uk) If anyone in your family needs more help, from public services or community groups, then please contact our voluntary sector local leads. We have ten areas which can connect you to support across the city. There is also help support and advice on engaging with your child at home to support positive relationship building; Home - My Family Coach
7. Staying safe online and outside of school: To keep your child safe online and when they are going to and from school, take a look here for advice, information and guidance:
Parents and carers | CEOP Education (thinkuknow.co.uk)
Keeping children safe online | NSPCC
StreetSafe | Police.uk (www.police.uk)
If you are worried about a child, please call Birmingham’s Children’s Advice and Support Service on 0121 303 1888. In an emergency, including child abuse, contact the Police on 999.
Information for Pupils over the Summer Holidays
There are so many ways that you can keep yourself safe and well when you are out of school and during the summer holidays; take a look at some of the websites below for information, advice, and guidance on safety and wellbeing:
Mental health wellbeing support and advice: For practical advice and help finding support around mental health and wellbeing: https://youngminds.org.uk/ and Home - Kooth
Bullying:
For help and support around bullying, take a look at: Find help and support (anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk)
Bullying | How To Deal With Bullying and Getting Help | YoungMinds
Remember, you can use our SHARP system to report anything to us as well.
Healthy eating and healthy living:
To help you to eat well and support you to keep active and fit, take a look at:
The Eatwell Guide - NHS (www.nhs.uk) https://www.nhs. uk/change4life/activities/sports-and-activities
Keep your mind sharp and learn new things by using Home - BBC Bitesize
Staying safe online:
Technology can be used positively to connect with our friends and family, and it’s really important you know how to stay safe online; take a look at some of these websites so you can educate yourself and protect yourself online: https://www. thinkuknow.co.uk/
Staying safe online | Childline
Birmingham City Council have announced an extension to the household support fund until September 2024, which gives grants to families in need. Families can only receive this once from April 2023 - September 2024, and applications are now live, more information and applying for this can be found at: hsfbirmingham.online/enquiry/’.
DESIGNATED SAFEGUARDING LEADS IN SCHOOL (DSL)
If you need help or are worried about something or someone and need to talk to someone – we are ALL here to listen. You can speak to ANY member of staff in school about ANY concern, but they may need to share that information with one of these members of staff
