Wilson Stuart School
Wilson Stuart School Winter Term A Special Academy
Newsletter Winter 2013
W
ell, we have enjoyed a very successful autumn term. Since September 15 new members of staff have started work in school. They have been a great addition to our team and have settled in extremely well. Our 19-25 College has started brilliantly and the new students are really enjoying a very exciting new course.
Another of our highlights included making a film with First Light Productions. The students and staff really enjoyed the experience during April. The film “Buried” has since recently won two awards for best live action film from the British Film Institute and another “best short action film” from the National Youth Film Festival Awards. Staff and students enjoyed a fantastic day out with film stars at the award ceremony in London. Our 6th. Form enjoyed a visit from the Aston Villa player Marc Albrighton as part of their course. We also had a Helicopter land on the school field as part of a visit from a very successful young entrepreneur; this was a real thrill for everyone in school. Our Christmas Bazaar was a fantastic event, was very well supported and managed to raise over £2500 for school fund. It has been wonderful to have so many parents coming into school as part of our IMPACT programme, and all of the school staff were delighted with the extremely positive feedback and comments made by parents at Parents’ Evening. During the last two weeks we have enjoyed two fantastic Christmas concerts, a mince-pie morning and a visit from the Lord Mayor. It is time for everyone to enjoy a well-earned rest! I hope you enjoy a happy and peaceful Christmas, and would like to wish health and prosperity for the New Year ahead..
Steve Hughes Head Teacher
19-25 Live Official Opening
Humanities/PE Afternoon
The 19-25 LIVE at The Hive programme commenced in September 2013 with eleven students who have enrolled onto the new and exciting programme of vocational education. On Thursday 17th October the partnership between Wilson Stuart School and University College Birmingham was firmly established with the official opening of The Hive. This was carried out by Jack Dromey, MP for Erdington and Professor Linforth, Vice-Chancellor & Principal of University College Birmingham. The Hive students and staff helped to organise the event and along with staff from both establishments they also invited various employers to attend who are offering valuable work experience opportunities for our students.
On the 24th October 2013, Wilson Stuart School staff and pupils were involved in a Humanities/PE curriculum afternoon. Pupils from primary and secondary up to and including Y11 took part in activities in small mixed age groups, allowing a wide range of pupils to work together and build friendships.
Both Jack Dromey and Professor Linforth spoke about the tremendous opportunities there are available to them once they have completed their studies at The Hive and highly praised the LIVE programme and the school as a whole. The event was a great success and the students and the staff proved to be a credit to the school.
Four groups of pupils explored sensory materials, sounds and smells linked with the beach, sand and the sea. Three groups of pupils took part in physical challenges linked to orienteering, route finding and mapping. Six groups of pupils learnt about cheese through the help of “The Deli,” a delicatessen shop in Boldmere. Two groups of pupils conducted a school environment survey to find out where the best and worst places in school are. Finally, 1 group of students visited Story Wood Primary School to take part in PE/sports based activities like football, boccia, curling and hockey. It was a fun, action packed and rewarding afternoon. Many thanks to everyone who helped make it a successful event.
www.wilsonstuart.co.uk
Wilson Stuart School
Winter Term
Pizza Express
Film Awards
On Thursday 14th November, Monkeys class went on a trip to Pizza Express which linked in with our topic on Italy. The children met the head chef who told us how to make the dough and showed us how it was formed. The children had the chance to try lots of different ingredients including olives, goat’s cheese, peppers and some meats. The children had never tasted some of these ingredients before but had a try. The chef then showed us how to cover our own dough with tomato sauce and cheese to create our own margarita pizza and we were told lots of key information. We put our pizzas in the oven for about 4 minutes and they were cooked. We were able to take our pizzas home with us. We had a fantastic morning and a special thanks to the chef and staff at Pizza Express.
In April Phil Arkinstall from ArkMedia and Justin Edgar 104 films asked if we would like to take part in producing two short films. During the process pupils from 3.1, 4.2 and some sixth form students shared script ideas, tried out different pieces of camera equipment, had an active part in the filming, discussed editing and laughed at the outtakes! The films ‘Buried’ and ‘For Your Own Good’ were produced and screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival in June. Following this a group of pupils and staff were invited to attend the ‘Kids for Kids’ Film Awards held at the British Film Institute in Southbank London on 26th October. Out of 20 films shown in the 13-19 category the film ‘Buried’ produced at Wilson Stuart School achieved the award of ‘Best Live Action Film’ by the professional jury who all agreed that this film deserved to win and said that it had ‘mysterious and compelling characters, well shot with a wonderful voice over’. Needless to say everyone had a fantastic day. And as if this was not enough …. another group of staff and pupils went to the prestigious ‘National Youth Film Festival 2013’ held at the Vue Cinema in Leicester Square, London. The event was hosted by the BAFTA winning stars of the BBC’s ‘Horrible Histories’ programme, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond and a string of other famous film producers and TV personalities. Cameras rolled, speeches took place then: “and the nominations for the best ‘All Shorts’ film …..” A series of clips from 6 short films followed … with the announcement … “and the winner is ‘WILSON STUART for the film ‘Buried’.” Conor Handel delivered a speech on behalf of the School to thank Justin Edgar and Phil for the fantastic opportunity to be involved and told of the amazing time everyone had in making the films.
Visiting the BBC
This term the Communication group have worked hard on their topic ‘Reporting the News ‘. They had fun investigating newspapers, TV and radio reports. Everyone shared and explored a subject that interested them. They produced individual reports on a pet cat, Dr Who, the weather, football, cub scouts and Eid. The group had to think about how best to present their report to other people. We then went to the BBC Public Space, and used a green screen and pre-recorded backgrounds to film the reports. They all used their communication aids brilliantly and did a very professional job.
“And the winner is….”WILSON STUART for the film ‘buried’...”
Watch out Nick Owen, is your job safe? www.wilsonstuart.co.uk
Wilson Stuart School
Winter Term
Marc Albrighton’s 6th Form Visit
Secondary Loudmouth Production
On Tuesday 17th September 2013 the Aston Villa player Marc Albrighton visited Wilson Stuart School to observe the 6th form in action as part of the Villa Vocations course Marc was able to observe a range of 6th form lessons to see the diversity of the curriculum offered to the students. Marc was able to watch and take part in a game of Boccia, help the students paint a door in the 6th form room, plant a hanging basket and also observe a literacy lesson where the students were having a discussion on “the role of women in football”. We thank Marc for his visit as it was an experience for the students to treasure. On the 26th of September 2013 Wilson Stuart had a performance company ‘Loudmouth’ in school supporting the education of year 7 pupils in Key Stage 3 around puberty and growing up. Children sat in groups supported by TAs and teachers. The workshop consisted of a 50 min drama scene where 2 children experience changes in their friendship and feelings from year 6 to 8. This followed by repeated scenes which contributed to discussions.
Parent’s Literacy Experience Parents and students thoroughly enjoyed the Parent literacy experience at Wilson Stuart on Wednesday 13th November.
UCB Facepainting! On Wednesday 23rd October students from UCB very kindly gave up their time to come and show the 6th form the marvels of stage makeup and face painting. The students from UCB were wonderful - in both their creativity and manner. So much so that students who were initially reluctant were soon eagerly asking for their faces to be done! It was a brilliant morning and gave our students another insight into Drama other than acting.
Parents of children in Butterflies, Monkeys and classes 3.3 and 4.3 were invited to attend and join in our sessions to see all of our good work in developing phonics and reading skills. Firstly, parents were introduced to Read Write Inc, a programme of study which Wilson Stuart has been following across the school. Parents were able to take a closer look at the Read, Write Inc resources we use in school and at our new Home Reading scheme. Later, parents were invited to see Read Write Inc in action in the classroom, across our nursery, primary and secondary departments.
Giraffes visit German Market! As part of an ICT project Giraffes were asked to research and carefully plan a school trip. They chose to organise a visit to the German Market and decided to go to Pizza Hut for lunch. The trip took place on the 4th of December and everyone enjoyed the lovely Christmas atmosphere and especially liked choosing different pizzas. Everyone had a wonderful time and all agreed the German Market was a fantastic place! www.wilsonstuart.co.uk
Wilson Stuart School
Winter Term
Helicopter Visit!
German Market & New Library!
As part of the GCSE Business Course at Wilson Stuart School the Sixth Form and 19 to 25 students are completing an assignment about a local entrepreneur. They invited young entrepreneur Adam McGill to be the subject of their assignment. Adam was more than happy to come and share his experiences and knowledge of creating and developing his own business.
In late November 5.4 went on a pre-Christmas trip to the German Market in Birmingham city centre. Despite the drizzle we had a lovely time looking at all stalls and savouring some of the culinary delights on offer! We then headed to the new library and listened to Liz reading a story in the Children's department. This trip covered the "Going on a trip with our friends" element of our ASDAN Personal Progress course.
Much to the delight of the pupils he arrived via helicopter which was a fantastic, unforgettable and a once in a lifetime experience for the students of Wilson Stuart School. The students had the opportunity to explore the helicopter and gain an insight in how it works as well as get some fantastic tips from a successful entrepreneur.
Maths impact learning!
Many lucky pupils from around the school were present for landing and take off. It was amazing to hear the sound of the helicopter approaching and then be able to watch it land on their own school grounds. An event that they will never forget.
Visit to Ash End House Farm! The children in Caterpillars spent a wonderful day at Ash End House Farm. They helped feed the goats, sheep and chickens and collected an egg each from the hen house. They held a baby chick and sat on and helped brush a pony. The highlight of the trip though was learning about the Christmas Nativity Story. The children dressed up as Mary, Joseph, Shepherds and Kings and helped act out the story. There was even a real donkey for Mary to sit on in the stable! After learning about the true meaning of Christmas and why presents are given every year, they went to visit Father Christmas and sang Christmas songs in the stable. Everyone had a wonderful time and came back to school feeling very festive!
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On 22nd October, parents from Monkeys and 3.3 were invited in to find out how their child is taught Maths at school. The Maths faculty did a presentation to the parents with ways they could support their child at home to encourage Maths every day. Children progress up to 30% more with parental support at home. There was a 4 week homework task based on the workshop and the children joined their parents in playing a game which was part of the homework task. Both parents and the children enjoyed the morning and we hope to see the results of the home school partnership over the forthcoming weeks.
Dates for the Diary Jan Feb
Mar
Apr
6 16 4-6 6 12 24-25 27 3-5 6 11 24 26 27 1-2 3 10 11 29
www.wilsonstuart.co.uk
Pupils return to school Young Voices LG Arena NEC Y12 Annual Review WSAS Secondary Winter Games Valentines Disco Turtles Annual Review PFPA Meeting Y13 Annual Reviews KS4 & KS5 Parent’s evening PFPA Pamper Evening Monkeys Annual Review Monkeys Annual Review Caterpillars Annual Review Butterflies Annual Review 19-25 Parent’s Evening 6th Form Show End of term (Students leave at 2pm) Pupils return to school