We have been very much enjoying the skills evident in creative writing amongst Year 9s over the past week.

For their mid-term ‘Key Piece’ in English, students been a descriptive piece about a desolate character on a seashore. The results have been remarkable, not to mention evocative, thoughtful and moving. Like this from L. Cullen (9T1) who used his piece to depict isolation loneliness and sacrifice, describing his figure as a guardian: ‘His immense presence, standing at attention, though painfully isolated from any comrades. He could not falter; his duty was to the ocean’.

There are also many fine examples of students using techniques and structures that will help them develop into confident authors by the time they begin their GCSE years. At this stage students are busy experimenting with new words, techniques and images to see if they can create a telling impact with their description. Like J. Hollick (9T1) who uses the image of a struggling sun to show us how his character might also be struggling, ‘Despite the clouds blanketing the Earth in a grim grey, the sun’s heat still somehow manages to fight through the clouds, keeping me warm...’ A. Williams (9T1) skilfully uses the metaphor of a bird appearing to signal a change of mood and also uses a triplet of adverbs to help the reader feel what his character is feeling, ‘Zooming and gliding effortlessly across the sky, a dove contrasted with its desolate surroundings. Delicately, beautifully, elegantly, the dove reminded me of what I could have been. L. Thompson-Clarke (9T1) uses a simple repeated phrase to convey a feeling of growing sadness: ‘I sink deeper. Eyes glazed over, I stare off into the grey sky trying to find solace and hope from the weak light that penetrates the clouds only to be reflected and rejected by the sea. I sink deeper.’

These are just four, but there are many such examples of thoughtful and imaginative young authors in the making.

WELL DONE!

The Art department wanted you to see some of the amazing portraits that pupils in year 9 have produced this week. They are hoping you can tell who it is meant to be; Barack Obama! 

G Thompson

A Williams

Z Clifton

D Pere- Enaregha

C Kunzwa

F McKinnon

L Turner

C Boadi

M. Yahya Khan

L Thompson Clarke

On the 5^th of March , 27 pupils from our school’s Warhammer Alliance embarked on an exciting trip to Warhammer World in Nottingham. The day was packed with activities, offering students the chance to explore the fascinating exhibits, showcasing the rich lore and stunning models of the Warhammer universe.

The visit included opportunities to build and paint the ‘model of the month’ from the past four months, allowing everyone to get creative and hands-on with the hobby. Students also had the chance to play big games of Warhammer 40K on the specialist boards at Warhammer world including a massive 3-way battle.

In addition to the hobby sessions, pupils were able to visit the Warhammer shop, where they could purchase their own models to take home and continue their painting and modelling journey. Many students left with new kits and a spark of inspiration for future Warhammer Club sessions.

A special highlight of the day was receiving a generous gift of battle mats and dice cups from Warhammer World. These anniversary gifts will be a fantastic addition to our club, enhancing our future games and activities.

The Warhammer Club welcomes all students, from complete beginners to experienced hobbyists. If you’re interested in strategy, creativity, and a bit of friendly competition, come along and join us!

Over the past term, the boys have been studying Romeo and Juliet, and as part of their learning, they created impressive posters that reflect their deep understanding of the play. The posters demonstrate their ability to analyse key themes, characters, and moments from the story, showcasing the knowledge they've gained throughout the term. In addition to creating these visual representations, the boys worked hard to present their ideas to their classmates. They took the time to explain their creative choices and how these choices relate to the themes of the play.

Pupils also collaborated with one another, offering support and encouragement as they refined their work and expanded their understanding of the material. This collaborative effort allowed them to enhance both their individual and collective knowledge, creating a positive learning experience for everyone involved. The project highlighted not only their academic growth but also their teamwork and communication skills.

Year 10 & 11 pupils enjoyed a visit from Onatti Theatre, a French theatre company who perform interactive and engaging shows. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the story of attempted insurance fraud by a pair of French thieves and many of our pupils took on starring roles in the production as characters Madame Burger (Callum H, Year 11),  Hugo (Jacob H, Year 11) and – central to the plot – the doorbell (various Year 10 pupils)! Pupils (and Mr Woodall) rose to the challenge of understanding the entirely French production. Très bien, les gars!

Our trip to Leicester was out of this world! Arriving in style, we were greeted with a fantastic show of our solar system in the Sir Patrick Moore planetarium which immersed us in a journey through our solar system (though I have to admit it left me feeling a little dizzy whizzing through the planets). Once we regained our centre of gravity we split into 2 teams to tackle both the tower - where the pupils marvelled at how technology has changed over the years – and the ground team who looked through the different principles that underpin our very universe. After meeting back at the home planet and having a spot of lunch we then switch sides so every pupil had a chance to explore the entire centre and engage in all the amazing displays. A quick trip back (and a few choruses of Sweet Caroline later) and we were home. The pupils behaved admirably and really enjoyed the day.

On Friday 7th February the F1 in School Teams competed at the West Midlands Regional Final at Aston University. The boys competed amazingly well and recorded the 2nd, 4th and 5th fastest car times out of 21 teams. They were shortlisted for 3 awards, including "best sponsorship" and "fastest reaction time". They had to present to industry professionals and give team talks to volunteers about their journey, although very nervous, they all performed amazingly and got several commendations from judges. Unfortunately, we didn't walk away with any trophies, but we will be having our own awards ceremony in school.

We are going to meet again after the half term and hopefully start preparing for the step-up into "Development" class.

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: A Hall: A polite and respectful pupil who consistently demonstrates what it means to be a TGBS pupil.  

Year 11: H White: Using his first aid skills to help a member of the community this week.  

Y10 N Shaw exemplifies Turves Values and making excellent progress in 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 second workshop took place this week for some of our Year and 9 pupils. The esteemed oracy specialists ‘Talk the Talk’ took the boys through a series of activities exploring their confidence in communicating aloud, 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.

11E1 have continued to show their application of key skills for English Literature in their latest Friday morning assessment. The pupils were asked to compare the poem Remains by Simon Armitage with one other of their choice from the Power and Conflict poems. Many made a significant improvement from their attempt in their mocks in October which is great to see. Pupils looked at the feedback they were given and tried to improve their work by focusing on a personalised task - this is the green pen work which you can see in the pictures. The class will continue to complete their assessment tasks on Friday morning between now and half term to help them further develop their skills for English Literature.

The work in the picture is from: B. Abaker, C. Bosely K. Fisher, K. Foster, J. Hartnell, C. Hatch, A. Smith, M. Weston in Year 11.