Khalid, a Year 8 pupil, has been working hard in preparation for his RE assessment on prophets. He is taking real pride in his work and showing good understanding of the topic. His written tasks are thoughtful and well-presented, reflecting steady effort and focus. Khalid’s positive attitude towards learning is clear, and he is making strong progress that should help him do well in his upcoming assessment.
Our Year 11 pupils have had a fantastic start to their first mock exam series. Pupils have been utilising the revision guides each subject purchases for them during our breakfast revision sessions.
Pupils are welcome to join us from 8am to revise. Staff are on hand to support and reassure last minute nerves. It is incredible to see how the boys revise together and test one another. Good luck with this round of mock Year 11!
The Year 8 Drama students at Turves Green Boys’ School have been showcasing their creativity and performance skills this term by devising their very own melodrama pieces — complete with expressive characters, exaggerated emotions, and imaginative use of props!
Under the guidance of their drama teacher, the boys explored the key features of traditional melodrama — from the virtuous hero and the dastardly villain to the classic damsel in distress. They learned how body language, voice, and facial expressions can be used to heighten tension and entertain an audience.
Once they understood the conventions, the pupils were challenged to create their own original melodrama scenes, developing storylines filled with mystery, danger, and over-the-top emotion. To bring their stories to life, they made clever use of classroom props — from chairs and scarves to makeshift swords and villainous cloaks — transforming ordinary objects into tools of dramatic storytelling.
The boys worked in small groups, collaborating to script, rehearse, and refine their performances. They experimented with stock characters, dramatic music cues, and stylised movement, all while supporting one another through the creative process.
One pupil commented, “It was really fun making our own story and using props to make it look dramatic — my group even turned a broom into a sword for our fight scene!”
The project not only allowed the boys to express themselves but also helped them build confidence, teamwork, and performance skills — key elements of the drama curriculum at Turves Green Boys’ School.
The final performances were met with laughter, cheers, and a healthy dose of dramatic flair. The Year 8 boys proved that when creativity meets enthusiasm, the results can be truly melodramatic magic!
The Warhammer Alliance Club has officially returned this term and is already busier than ever! Now four weeks in, we’ve welcomed more than 20 new Year 7 recruits, all eager to dive into the worlds of Warhammer.
Each new member has received their starter models — an Assault Intercessor and a Necron from Warhammer 40,000, and the Vindictor and the Gutrippa from Warhammer Age of Sigmar. During the first few sessions, pupils focused on building their first models. More recently, they’ve moved on to painting, and getting creative with their colours and faction choices.
At the end of term we will celebrate with the yearly painting competition. There will be two categories: the Recruit Category for our Year 7 newcomers, and the Veteran Category for other pupils who have been part of the club before. The competition will be judged by members of staff, making it a great opportunity for everyone to show off their hard work and creativity.
After half term we will be starting to learn how to play Warhammer 40,000 with pupils using the miniature they have built and painted supported by the club models generously donated by Patrick’s family.
Across both Wednesday and Friday sessions, we’ve had 48 pupils attend so far — and there’s still room for more! Anyone interested can speak to Miss Soden in B10 and come along to A5 on Wednesdays at 3.05pm to join the fun. Warhammer is for everyone.
In 10Y/En1, we’ve been looking at the ways in which Scrooge learns from what the Ghost of Christmas Past shows to him. After unpacking Dickens’ presentation of Fezziwig’s Christmas party, pupils in 10Y/En1 produced some short pieces of writing on what Scrooge is learning. Pupils’ use of advanced vocabulary, complex phrasing and clear explanation of tricky ideas were impressive! Below are some of the pieces of writing which particularly shone: Taylor (10T1), Cameron (10B1), Rumaan (10T1) and Ethan (10A2).
This week we thank S. Scott for his services to Silver Readers and celebrate his award certificate. He has been taking part in the programme which matches young readers with elderly listeners. The programme's patron is the Quenn Consort. They read to them over the phone in the presence of an adult weekly. He read 'Wind in the Willows' to Edward, our silver listener over several months. Now he is in Y11 he needs to focus on his GCSE studies and has handed the reins over to a Y10 pupil.
Our annual Summer School was busier than ever this year! We hosted over 80 pupils each day for a range of crafting and sporting activities. Our new Y7 cohort did rock painting, dropped egg hot air balloons from the top floor, explosive science experiments, camping and a whole range of sports. All pupils are given a TGBS t shirt and a water bottle alongside their snack and lunch each day.
The final day hosted a celebration assembly for all who attended, parents were also invited and again, we had a full house. Summer school is one of our most successful ways of making pupils feel comfortable and secondary ready as well as giving them a taste of the extra curricular offer at TGBS.
Friday 10th October marks World Mental Health Day. We wanted to take the opportunity to raise awareness with our KS3 pupils and give the opportunity to explore and develop strategies to support their mental health and support other.
All KS3 took part in a workshop in their year groups that allowed them to watch clips focusing on issues particularly pertinent to young people's mental health from eating disorders, anxiety and bullying. Once pupils had watched a short case study, they used our common approaches for developing oracy in their planners to discuss what they had seen and share their own view on causes and how to help.
At the end of each session, pupils all shared one key thing they had learned in the session, how they could support their mental health and support others. The pupils spoke highly of the sessions and were comfortable sharing their own experiences. It was great to see the bos making links to our Turves and British Values when referencing support.
Our library continues to be a hive of activity at social times and has even hosted its first book fair! Pupils regularly use the library at break time to complete homework, research areas of interest, play board games and read. Supported by our prefect team, Miss Deakin our librarian is always on hand to support our pupils.
Our first Scholastic book fair drew even more pupils in who purchased a range of books and helped us to select more books for the library. We hope to get the fair back later in the autumn term.
Pupils can use the library at break time, before and after school.
Over the last two days, our Year 11 pupils have taken part in focused Lead Lessons designed to prepare them for their upcoming mock exams. Each group attended a dedicated session in the library where they explored key exam skills by looking at feedback from the exam board at the common mistakes made by previous Year 11’s.
The sessions focused on identifying common exam mistakes, with pupils seeing real examples and learning how to avoid them in their own work. One of the most common pieces of feedback is work not being well presented and hard for examiners to read, so lots of time was spent in presenting answers clearly and effectively to ensure they can gain maximum marks in every question.
Pupils found the sessions both engaging and useful, gaining greater confidence in how to approach their revision and exam technique. These lessons are part of our mock exam preparation for Year 11 as they start their mocks next week. They are continuing with their revision through the rest of the lessons this week in preparations for their first maths mock on Monday.
Turves Green, Northfield,
Birmingham, B31 4BS
Contact Number: 0121 483 2890
Email: postbox@tgbs.co.uk
Monday - Friday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
