Last week our Year 7-9 pupils were looking at this year’s offering from the Book Trust for their ‘Bookbuzz’ initiative. The Book Trust is a charity that aims to improve literacy of children through reading, our pupils have been fortunate enough to take part in choosing texts that they would like to read themselves. In form time, pupils listened to the authors promoting their books before making their selections. Pupils then selected their top three books on their own books marks and now eagerly await the delivery of their very own text purchased by the school.

There is a lot to update you on from our Eco-club. Firstly, we spent an afternoon outside in our garden with the Tigers and Mr Sidhu where the pupils had a practice at being green fingered and planting the saplings graciously donated to us by the Woodland Trust. These will help provide a habitat and food for all sorts of wildlife around our site and hopefully encourage more to increase our biodiversity. How wonderful to see our pupils being “Respectful to All” and wanting to provide a “Valuable Contribution”. 

Also, today the eco-club members have distributed new recycling bins to every classroom and office in the building. They were inspired by National Recycling Week and wanted to encourage all of our staff and pupils to help out. The pupils also wanted to take responsibility for this and will be emptying these on a rota, each week, to ensure they are being used properly. What a brilliant example of “Self-motivated to achieve”. 

Finally, we took part in #Cutyourcarbon month, with over a third of the school participating, we have sent off our final numbers and eagerly await to see if we have won anything in the prize draw. A big round of applause to all of our pupils especially our eco-committee members for all the hard work they are doing to make Turves Greener.  

Throughout this week (4^th December-8^th December), our assemblies have focused on the topic of ‘Human Rights’. Pupils have gained an understanding of what Human Rights are and the history behind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Pupils also learnt about how different countries across the world have a varying degree of civil liberties and human rights. During the assembly, we also focused on human rights breaches happening in the world today, as well as the importance of using reliable news sources and demonstrating empathy and respect to others around the world.

Turves Green Boys School choir joined Longbridge Baptist Church on Friday 8 th December for a carol Service, the choir was invited to attend with members of the school, church community as well as members of other choirs that attended.

The choir sang a number of carols as a unit as well as individual solos from year 11 pupils.

Turves Green Boys School has linked over the last year with the warm place based at the Baptist church. The year 10/11 Hospitality and Catering students cook for the members of the warm place, the school either take it over to the church or we invite them into school. The members of the church have attended many of the school's performances and theatre productions.

The Science Department would like to celebrate Miss Mansell’s Graduation day! She has worked incredibly hard to earn her MA in Teaching studies, we are very proud of her and are looking forward to using some of the ideas from her research in our lessons. Enjoy your day Miss!

Year 8 are currently devising their Drama performance with each week focusing on a different skill. This week they have been looking at action scenes. Action scenes within drama performances serve as crucial moments where tension, conflict, and resolution occur. They offer actors a chance to showcase their physical prowess and emotional range, while providing audiences with an adrenaline-fueled spectacle. The Year 8 boys took to this weeks task with energy and enthusiasm.

Watch the video: IMG_8616 (1).MOV

This month in the maths department we have had had have 63 hours’ of work completed on Mathswatch. With 360 logins, and over 1700 questions attempted. 

Last month our top user was S. Ahmed-Danfulani 9A1 who spend nearly 4 hours attempted questions, revising and watching videos. Join second was L. Connolly 7B1 and J. Oguntimehin 10T1 who both spent 158 minutes working. Final special mention this month goes to L. Larkin in 9B1who has shown he is self-motivated to achieve watching the largest number of instructional videos that compliment the questions on mathswatch. Any student stuck on a homework question or questions they have assigned to themselves can watch the videos attached to any question to help them answer it.

As part of the TGBS Physical Education curriculum, every student takes part in a block of teaching around Health-Related Fitness. As part of this, we look at components of fitness, methods of training and ways to link this to other physical activities in our lives. The aim of this is to encourage all our students to live a healthy and active lifestyle.

Along HRF in lessons, we also have a fitness club after school on a Friday which is run by Mr. Woodall. Students from all year groups have attended in order to try and develop or maintain a healthy style as they begin to understand why it is so important.

“Being physically active can improve your mental health, help manage weight, reduce the risk of disease, strengthen bones and muscles, and improve your ability to do everyday activities” - CDC

The physical and mental benefits to fitness and physical activity are endless and we are looking forward to more people participating in fitness club!

The SEND Department are proud to have hosted their first ever Parents’ Coffee Morning on Thursday 23^rd November. Thank you so much to those parents who found time in their busy schedule to come and meet with me and Matt O’Neill from the CAT Team. It provided a wonderful opportunity to catch up with you all and I do hope you found it beneficial. These links between home and school are so crucial to help us in supporting your child; I know that I speak for myself and the boys when I say we really appreciated your attendance at the event. Look out for details of more Coffee Mornings with us in the New Year! 

It has been lovely to meet and get to know all of the boys on the SEND register and their families over the course of this term. I look forward to booking more SEND reviews with all of you in the New Year. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out and contact me if there is anything you feel your child needs additional support with in school.

Finally, Christmas can be a tricky time for neurodivergent children or children with SEND. This could be the case if your child has Autism, ADHD, a Sensory Processing Disorder, or if your child experiences anxiety or anxious feelings. Planning in advance can help you all adapt and enjoy the festive period. For some advice and more guidance on this topic, please follow the link below: https://parents.actionforchildren.org.uk/additional-needs-disabilities/support-home-school/send-christmas/

From all of us in the SEND Department, we wish you a very peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

BTEC Sport Year 11 students recently completed Component 2, showcasing not only academic prowess but also a remarkable array of athletic skills across various sports. Their dedication and hard work have proven instrumental in their success, highlighting a commitment to excellence both inside and outside the classroom.

The students' outstanding progress in learning training methods and components of fitness has been a standout feature, laying a strong foundation for their upcoming Component 3 exam. The seamless integration of theoretical knowledge with practical skills acquired through sports demonstrates a holistic understanding of the subject matter.

As Year 11 prepares for the next academic challenge, their achievements thus far emphasise a year of commendable success, combining academic achievement with a genuine passion for sports and physical well-being. Congratulations to Year 11 on a year marked by exceptional accomplishments!