This term Year 9 have had to opportunity to carry out a practical science investigation with researchers from the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham.

Researchers ran classroom sessions with us back in October to help us set up an investigation into which classrooms are exposed to the most pollutant particles.

We learned about different pollutants that exist and the effect that they can have on our respiratory systems. We then worked together to plan a fair investigation, as such pupils of all ages may have spotted clipboards dotted around the school collecting particulates in different classrooms.

We are incredibly fortunate that this is the third year that researchers have come to carry out this investigation with Year 9. Every year we are made proud by our pupils response to this opportunity. This year in particular Year 9 have impressed us with their curiosity and the interest they have shown to the worlds ever-changing atmosphere.

In January researchers will visit us again and we will analyse the results. We can’t wait to see what our boys come up with.

What a fantastic start to the year science club have got off to. We have been delighted to have returning members and so many new members from Year 7 who have brought so much curiosity and enthusiasm to the group.

We have spent time developing our skills in all three sciences including making batteries, using microscopes and preparing slides, speeding up reactions using catalysis and measuring rates of reaction using the iodine clock reaction. We celebrated Halloween by making non-Newtonian fluids (slime!), bonfire night by carrying out flame tests and Christmas, well we won’t ruin the surprise in case anyone gets these as presents!

Next term we will be continuing to develop our skills by extracting DNA from fruit, working with the Discover Materials Group and learning what Calix[4]arenes are that Dr Patchett keeps talking about.

Well done science club for all for your effort this term, wishing you all a fantastic Christmas break and see you in 2026!

This week pupils in the X1 maths sets got the chance to attempt the GCHQ Christmas challenge 2025. Created by GCHQ (the Government and Communication Head Quarters), who are usually tasked with protecting the UK from cyber threats and hackers.

This year's Christmas Challenge features seven puzzles designed to test everything from codebreaking and mathematical analysis to lateral thinking and creativity – the same blend of skills GCHQ use every day to keep the country safe.

Working in teams of 4, pupils spent time looking at each of the 7 puzzles, showing resilience and determination in the face of some very difficult questions. The maths department where very impressed by how many puzzles pupils were able to complete and bringing those answers together pupils were able to attempt the final puzzle, though no individual team was able to get the final answer by themselves.

By attempting and completing the challenge pupils embodied our Turves value of self motivation as we strive to build the resilience of pupils through the maths curriculum. Anyone who took part in the challenge should be very proud of themselves and we look forward to the next challenge next year.

Some of our very self-motivated to achieve pupils have attended yet another fantastic lecture at the University of Birmingham.  Here, Cian in 9S1 has summarized the entire lecture for us so any who weren’t able to attend are able to learn from this amazing lecture.  Thank you Cian!

“100,000 light years across the Milky Way. ‘The galaxy us nothing else but a mass of innumerable stars planted together in clusters’ -Galilea Galilei 

Galactic archaeology is studying the history of the milky way using stars- Where, What, When? 

Where 

They used to figure out how far stars were from how bright they were. Astrometry and the structure of the milky way. 4 main components of the galaxy, thin disk, stellar halo, bulge, and thick disk. We got the data from a European space agency mission when they launched a spacecraft called Gaia, starting its mission in 2014, ending on March 27^th, 2025, because it ran out of fuel for its thrusters. It is so defined that it could pinpoint a pound coin on the moon. Gya has observed over 1 billion stars, not even 1% of stars in the galaxy. Studies the movement of stars over time. 1% of stars in galaxy lets us see precision 

What 

Stars shine as they fuse hydrogen and helium in the core. The star doesn't change over time on the outside. We always see the same ??? the outline. A star is a collapse of gas to form a star. The cloud of gas is what the galaxy was made of. We can see the material that made the Milky Way long ago. The universe was formed with an even distribution of many elements. Processes of nuclear fusion inside the star. The energy of the star is blown off over time. During death of star during supernova, energy is released violently and quickly, possibly making new elements 

When 

Fuses hydrogen INTO helium*. The outer layers of sun look redder as they cool down. The time when it fuses hydrogen into helium is the longest phase of its life, about 10-20 billion years. We can work out the age of a star. How to work out the size of a star?  Each section in the picture is the size of Texas (Picture). Noise gets trapped inside the star as the sections move. Can't hear noise in space, how do we know the frequencies of stars then?  

The disk of the galaxy is formed from the inside out. Stars formed in the middle first, died first, allowed elements to spread further ad make more stars further out. Stars interact with different galactic structures like gas clouds. We can figure out that the sun was born towards the center of the milky way because it is too metal rich compared to where we are located in the galaxy.”

The top performing Year 11 pupils were treated to an afternoon of bowling, arcade machines and games of pool at Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday 3 December.  This was a rewards trip to recognise the hard work, commitment and dedication towards their studies, both inside and outside of the classroom. The boys thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon out competing with their peers to be crowned as the '2025 Bowling Champion'.  A highlight was seeing the determination of the boys trying to beat the 2p machine in the arcade, something that the boys are desperate to do again in the not-so-distant future! 

16 of our GCSE French pupils in Year 10 joined Wednesfield Academy (another school within Matrix Academy Trust) for a visit to the Christmas markets in Lille and St Omer in northern France. 

Pupils travelled by coach to the residential centre and immediately started a game of football, enjoying some running around after a long day on the ferry and in the coach, before dinner and an early(ish) night. 

Mr Brennan woke us all up very early on Saturday, ready for our day out in St Omer. The boys completed a town trail, visited the Notre Dame de Saint Omer cathedral, before visiting the local and Christmas markets in St Omer. Here, some pupils treated themselves to a delicious pizza lunch or chicken and chips at the market instead of their packed baguettes. After this, we went to a chocolaterie, a local business which makes chocolates by hand. We learnt how they make chocolates and how they create their Christmas hollow snowmen and reindeer, before quality assuring the taste of some of the goods. Our tour guide was very impressed with the quality of French from our pupils and made them practice their verbs throughout! After dinner in our accommodation, pupils made their own crêpes before enjoying the games room onsite (no football in the rain!). 

On Sunday, we ventured into Lille and visited the shopping centre in the morning, before enjoying the museum of illusions. Pupils really enjoyed the illusions, especially a tunnel that felt like you were upside down and ‘dangling’ off balconies. After a quick lunch stop at McDonalds, we went into the Christmas market and pupils used their French skills to make their purchases. Our evening activity was snail and cheese tasting (not together) – with many of our boys being brave enough to sample the snails… but decided they were not fans of the blue cheese on offer. 

Our journey back was smooth until we hit London and then traffic on the M40 / M42, but the boys returned home full of stories to share back at school on Tuesday. 

🎄✨ Join the Family Wellbeing Team for Festive Parent Coffee Mornings! ✨🎄

We’re excited to share that the Family Wellbeing Team from Northfield Community Partnership will be hosting two special Christmas Coffee Mornings—and all our parents and carers are warmly invited! ☕🥧

Enjoy some relaxed festive fun with Christmas crafts and activities, a cosy drink, and a mince pie. It’s a lovely opportunity to unwind, meet other parents, and get into the holiday spirit.
Children are more than welcome to join in! 👶🎨

📅 DATES & VENUES

🗓️ Tuesday 16th December
⏰ 9:30am – 11:30am
📍 Northfield Library (77 Church Rd, B31 2LB)

🗓️ Wednesday 17th December
⏰ 9:30am – 11:30am
📍 Frankley Library (Balaam Wood Academy, New Street, B45 0EU)

❄️ These will be the final drop-in sessions of the year. Regular sessions will start again the week of 6th January 2026. ❄️

For any questions, you can contact the team directly:
📞 07859 779506
📧 familywellbeing@northfieldcommunity.org

At the recently inaugurated Debating Club, we’ve been developing our oracy and articulation skills by discussing and debating a range of issues.  Sessions have spanned from heated debates on the best type of crisp (including the ‘are Pringles legally crisps?’ rabbit hole) to what financial decisions we would make to improve our city and area.  Dexter, Hamzeh and Oliver (Year 7) particularly shone in recent sessions, with their impassioned and well-articulated arguments on why Birmingham City Council should invest more in technology, healthcare and policing, respectively.

If you want to join us, come along to B15 on Thursdays at 3.05pm to get involved and have your opinions heard!

Turves Green Boys' School has been awarded Foundation level of the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in recognition of its work to bring the world into the classroom.

The International School Award celebrates the achievements of schools that do exceptional work in international education. Fostering an international dimension in the curriculum is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need for life and work in today’s world.

During this academic year (2025-26), we are very excited to now be working towards the Intermediate level of the International School Award whereby we have made the initial steps to form a partnership with a school in Germany as part of the British Council's UK-German connection. We look forward to updating you on our progress towards this!

The International School Award encourages and supports schools to develop:

· An international ethos embedded throughout the school

· A whole school approach to international work

· Collaborative curriculum-based work with a number of partner schools

· Year-round international activity

· Involvement of the wider community