On Friday 25 September, Year 9 spent a full Personal Development Day looking at the routes open to them after Year 11 and the skills employers look for.

Exploring post-16 pathways

The day started in the Hall with a joint session alongside Year 11. Sixth forms, colleges and apprenticeship providers gave presentations and ran a provider marketplace, where pupils could talk to them directly. Pupils learned about A levels, college courses, apprenticeships and T Levels, and saw how the subjects they study now link to future careers. Question-and-answer sessions let them raise their own questions with each provider.

Working with Johnson & Johnson

After the break, half the year group joined a workshop run by employers from Johnson & Johnson. Pupils took part in a team-building challenge, communication activities, problem-solving tasks and a mock recruitment exercise. The employers then gave feedback on what they had seen. The two groups swapped after lunch, so every pupil took part.

Virtual work experience with U-Explore

The other group worked with their form tutors in the computer rooms on U-Explore. They completed a skills audit, a career interests questionnaire and an aspirations survey, and then tried a virtual work experience placement. Pupils can complete as many placements as they like, so we encourage them to keep trying different careers at home. They sign in with their school Microsoft account at www.u-explore.com.

Reflection and pupil voice

The day ended with a reflection session. Pupils set their Life and Career Goals on U-Explore and filled in a survey on MS Teams. Their feedback will shape future enrichment days.

Thank you

Thank you to the visiting providers, Johnson & Johnson and Katy Henson and to our form tutors for making the day possible.

In 10X/En1, we’ve been working on crafting effective descriptions of setting, using an array of challenging and effective techniques. As part of a recent extended writing activity, we did some peer assessment to see where we could both encourage our peers and challenge them to develop their descriptions. These boys’ work was particularly impressive, and their peers offered excellent feedback to push them towards excellence.

Our Year 11 pupils have made a fantastic start to the academic year and now pupils have begun attending Period 0 to give themselves additional time to prepare for their upcoming mock examinations and future GCSE exams.

This extra session provides pupils with valuable time to revisit key knowledge, practise exam skills and complete additional work beyond their normal lessons. It has been particularly encouraging to see the commitment and effort pupils are putting into these sessions. They are recognising the importance of making the most of every opportunity to improve their understanding and strengthen their confidence. The additional work they are completing now, starting with poetry, will help them to identify areas for development, address misconceptions and build the knowledge and skills they will need as they progress through Year 11.

We are incredibly proud of the effort they are putting in and look forward to seeing this hard work translate into progress and success throughout the year.

7Y2 have hit the ground running with their science education this year. Today we see Bobby and Thomas making very Valuable Contributions by demonstrating to the whole class how some objects float and others sink. This got us thinking about Density and how boats can float. Next week we’ll be looking at Archimedes and how an over-full bathtub led to such an amazing discovery. Thank you to our two scientists for being absolutely golden (this pun will make more sense next week I promise!)

A big well done to our Year 8 and Year 9 basketball teams, who both secured victories against Dame Elizabeth Cadbury.  Year 9 came away with an impressive 33–19 win, while Year 8 secured a 10–5 victory.  

Both year groups represented Turves exceptionally well, demonstrating our Turves values consistently throughout the day. In particular, the pupils showed a fantastic level of teamwork, respect and sportsmanship, both during and after their games. It was great to see them supporting one another and representing the school in such a positive manner.  

A special mention also goes to Ethan and Godlee, who supported with refereeing and coaching tactics throughout the fixtures. Their contribution was greatly appreciated.  Well done to all the pupils involved — a fantastic achievement and a great reflection of our school values. 

A huge well done to our Year 7 basketball team, who represented TGBS in their first-ever school basketball match this afternoon! 

The boys faced a strong Dame Elizabeth Cadbury team in the opening fixture of the newly formed Matrix School Games. Although the result didn’t go our way, the boys were absolutely brilliant and produced a performance they can be extremely proud of. They demonstrated some fantastic basketball skills, but most importantly showed outstanding resilience, teamwork and determination from start to finish.

For all of the boys, this was their first opportunity to represent TGBS in competitive sport, and they represented the school superbly.

Well done to: Kaleb, Flynn, Jacob, Tobia, Lincoln, Enoch, Lewis, Jaeden and Harley.

A fantastic start to the Matrix School Games and hopefully the first of many opportunities for our boys to represent TGBS this year!

Year 7 started the academic year in English lessons by looking at the opening of the novel Wonder. The character of Augie was born with severe disfigurements and the story follows him as he goes from home schooling to mainstream school. It is a story about friendships and betrayal, as well as reconciliation and growth.

Our Year 7 pupils looked at how our TURVES values can be seen in the opening of the novel and they considered not only where they are presented in the novel, but how they can embody these values day-to-day in their lives. The English Department have gifted a copy of the novel to all Year 7 pupils and we encourage them to read it over the course of this half term and they can sit an Accelerated Reader quiz when they are finished. Happy ready!

Another record-breaking year for Turves Green Boys’ School with the GCSE and Vocational results from the 2026 cohort. This year, TGBS pupils achieved the most grade 9s ever and the highest proportion ever of pupils achieving Grades 7 and above in both English and Maths.

Over a quarter of all pupils achieved Grade 7 and above in Mathematics, as well as 1 in 5 pupils achieving the top grades in English. Around half of our pupils achieved a strong pass (Grade 5 and above) in both English and Maths. These excellent grades will allow our pupils to move onto exciting and fulfilling pathways. 

We are incredibly proud of all our pupils with such a fantastic set of well-deserved results. We would like to thank everyone in our school community who have supported pupils to achieve this, most notably our staff and parents. Everyone at Turves Green Boys' School is committed to our vision of ensuring all learners become successful, confident and resilient individuals and we are very excited about the next steps for our 2026 cohort following their excellent achievements.