This week, we have additional awards for pupils who have exemplified TURVES Values in the community. Our reading rewards vending machine continues to be a focal point of our celebrations on a Friday lunchtime. Pupils from all year groups are considered and selected for a range of approaches to demonstrating our TURVES Values., contributions in the community and extra curricular efforts.  

Year 7: D Tayengwa – For receiving the highest amount of positives consistently in his year for a number of days. Mr Dependable and extremely polite to boot.   

Year 8:  C Grundy, E Lowe and JP Atwood – finding and handing in a bank card 

Year 9: K Light improved attitude and effort since the start of Y9 

Year 10: J Cartlidge – positive behaviour and positive work ethic that has had a brilliant start to KS4 and is a consistent achiever across all subjects.   

Year 11: K Foster - an excellent year 11 pupil who is consistently showing excellent attitude towards his studies and preparation for his GCSEs. 

Our commitment to driving up literacy standards at TGBS continues with a keen focus on developing oracy for all staff and pupils this year. As part of an ongoing programme to promote confidence in a range spoken arenas, all pupils will have the opportunity to take part in an externally run workshop this academic year.

Our first workshop took place mid-November for all of our Year 7 pupils. The esteemed oracy specialists ‘Talk the Talk’ took the boys through a series of activities exploring their transition from primary to secondary, friendship groups, adapting to new situations and new opportunities. All the boys took part in individual, paired and group discussions and presentations. The pupils felt they were more confident in talking aloud, sharing ideas and trying new things in their evaluations at the end of the day. The trainers were full of praise for our boys and are keen to come back to work with our older pupils.

Since September a variety of pupils having been competing in the F1 for Schools competition after school, each week they have been meeting and working as teams to design a model formula 1 car to race at the regional finals in February. Since the start of the competition our school has been linked with the Austin Ex-Apprentices Association Trust, set up in memory of Herbert Austin. The trust have kindly donated financial backing for the boys to manufacturer their designs and compete at regional finals. on Monday 25^th November trust members visited school to meet and talk to the club teams.

I would like to express a huge thank you to all of the parents who came to join me for another successful SEND coffee morning this November. It was a lovely opportunity for you to meet with our new Assistant SENDCO, Mrs Morris, and to discuss the varied and bespoke provision we offer for those pupils in our care.

It was great to hear your thoughts on our systems and processes, and we will definitely look into some of your fabulous suggestions for an even wider array of Extra-Curricular opportunities for our young people with SEND.

Thank you all for your continued support, Mrs Green.

A big thank you to the Outreach team at the University of Birmingham for coming back and helping our pupils analyse their particle traps. A great session was had by all and the pupils thoroughly enjoyed getting hands on with the equipment – firstly looking at locust legs through their microscopes and then their particle traps.

Our reading rewards vending machine continues to be a focal point of our celebrations on a Friday lunchtime. Pupils from all year groups are considered and selected for a range of approaches to demonstrating our TURVES Values. 

Y7 C Zebrowski: Quiet and understated student that gets the job done. Great help to Austin house office this week.  

Y8 J Allabush : Deserves to be recognised for his brilliance across all subjects and his high level of effort.

Y9 M Scarfe: For his excellent effort within D.T. He has already completed his project in the lesson and is supporting his peers and helping them complete their projects, without being prompted to do so. 

Year 10 O Orchard: A polite and respectful young man who has had a huge improvement in his attendance this year.  

Year 11 Hunt: A polite and respectful young man who is continuing to make incredible effort in lessons and his final year here at TGBS.

I wanted to take a moment to share how incredibly pleased I am with the enthusiasm and dedication shown by my 8A1 group as we explore the fascinating work of microbiologist Robert Koch from our medicine topic.

The pupils have embraced this topic with genuine curiosity, engaging in thoughtful discussions about Koch’s groundbreaking contributions to microbiology and their impact on modern medicine.

 They have shown a keen interest in understanding the principles of his work, such as the identification of disease-causing microorganisms and the development of his famous work.

The aim of Movember is to raise awareness of important areas for pupils and to get us all talking about mental health. Pupils have had the opportunity to learn about what Movember is and discuss various issues around mens mental health. Pupils and staff have been buying and wearing moustache badges to show their support.

So far, as a school, Mr Lusk has completed a 10k Movember run, Mr Westwood has raised £256 through his page, our school page has raised £80 and we have raised £96.50 through cash donations and badge sales. As a team raising £432.50!!!     

But we aren't finished yet, in our final week, please continue to share our schools donation page, donate yourself and most importantly, keep talking.

https://uk.movember.com/mospace/15312251

Our Year 10 students have made an outstanding start to their Religious Studies GCSE journey, showcasing dedication, enthusiasm, and a commitment to excellence. They take pride in their work, reflecting our school’s TURVES value of being self-motivated to achieve. Their determination and positive attitude are setting a strong foundation for success—well done, Year 10!

Congratulations to all our Year Ten History students for your commitment and self-motivation in pursuing success in GCSE History! Your hard work, curiosity, and dedication to understanding the past are inspiring and set a strong foundation for achieving your goals. Keep up the fantastic effort—you are building skills and knowledge that will benefit you far beyond the classroom. In particular I would like to congratulate Owen A, Noah S, Ethen H and Max C. Well done!