We are very pleased to welcome our new Foreign Language Assistant to Turves Green Boys’ School. Mr Bugnet has joined us from Lyon in France and will be working with pupils at our school. He will be helping pupils in all year groups to improve their spoken French which will in turn help them with their listening and writing in the French language. Mr Bugnet will be here with us until the end of May 2025. He has prepared a presentation that he will deliver to pupils this week and is a huge sports fan. He is a keen gymnast and also enjoys football.

 Bienvenue, Monsieur Bugnet!

Reading is the core priority for Year 7s at Turves Green, whether it be through the Accelerated Reader Programme, Classroom readers, Library readers or the 16 x 16 programme or – best of all – boys enjoying a book of their own because they love to read a good story. Literacy is at the heart of all our learning. But what if you live in a place where books are banned? During Banned Books week – which runs through the last week in September - Year 7s have been taking the chance to learn about where and why books have been banned both in countries as far apart as the United States and China.

Boys have been surprised to learn that much-loved stories, such as ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ have been banned in some places for what they reveal about the difficult issues of racism and injustice. They have also discovered that a key Year 8 text, ‘Animal Farm’ was once banned in the Soviet Union for what it seems to say about Josef Stalin. Most shockingly of all, they have discovered that not only ‘Witches’ by Roald Dahl, but even the Harry Potter series have been banned in some countries for promoting witchcraft.

Luckily all these books are available to our boys, helping them not only to immerse themselves in great stories and enjoy the fantastic worlds of imagination to which they can be transported by a writer, but also to understand the complexity of human life and experience by thinking about some of the issues which spurred the writer to create them in the first place. Year 7, who are currently reading ‘Ghost Boys’ paused their reading for a lesson or two this week to consider the reasons behind censorship and the implications while some have been exploring the displays and activities on this vital topic in the library.

Year 7 students have been learning how to heat and mould plastics. They have used CAD software to design a logo, using a laser cutter to engrave their designs onto phone holders.

Year 8 students have been learning about lamination and experimenting with different categories of wood. They have also been using forging techniques to bend metals.

Year 9 students have been learning about electronics and how to solder PCB circuits. They are currently learning about the different units of power for electronics and the various types of circuit.

Over this week and last week all maths classes will be introduced to Mathswatch. Most students will have seen this website before as the maths department has been using it for the last few years to set maths homework. Homeworks will once again be set on matswatch from Thursday to Thursday each week and will be a great opportunity for students to recap what they have learnt in the week as well as get hints at what topics will be coming up in the future and what core maths skills may be needed for those lessons.

As well as being able to set homework that will be instantly marked for pupils at home it also has a vast array of other resources our students can use to further their maths education. Clicking on videos at the top right will let you find any topic you can think of, view a video to help you with that topic and also some interactive questions that will be marked for you. As you watch videos and get involved with your learning you will earn points that will be tracked on a school wide leader board. There will be shout outs and prizes to those students who have completed the most extra lessons for that half term.

If you are struggling to log in to Mathswatch please talk to your maths teacher before or after school or at breaktime and they can log in with you.

At TURVES we aim to teach our students to build a love of reading and through this we have managed to find some writers in the mix! During our previous academic year there was a multitude of creative writing competitions. One of these competitions was held by YoungWriters and they challenged the students to write a 100-word story on chaos. Thirteen boys submitted their work and all of them were successful in receiving the opportunity to publish in an anthology.

Congratulations: T. Farrell (10B1), J. Welds (10A2), N. Shaw (10A1), T. Clarke (10T1), S. Ahmed-Daufulani (10A2), S. Scott (10B1), J. Choi (10A1), E. Hevey, (10B1), L. Gittus (10T1), J. Jeremy (10A1), A. Payne (10T1), C. Kunzwa (9A1), A. Imtaz (10A1)

Their hard work and endeavour have certainly been recognised 😊

The English department are truly thrilled to know that their creativity will now extend to readers and as a school we are extremely proud to see our students engaging and succeeding in the literary field.

We would also like to say a special thank you to our Librarian Miss Deakin as the library has been a hub for these competitions and she has been fantastic at both organising and support!

Just below are some photos of the successful students and one of their English teachers.

More competitions are also available in the upcoming weeks and the most recent is the YoungWriters Poetry competition.

If students require any more information please see Miss Deakin or any member of the English Department 😊

Well Done and Happy Writing!

Schools across Matrix Academy Trust have been recognising the International Day of Democracy (15th September).​

International Day of Democracy began in 1997 and it is based on the principles of equality, liberty, and justice. Democracy is essential for human rights and development.​

Schools will be considering the meaning behind the international day, but also our modern British values – democracy and individual liberty.​

We practise democracy in all of our schools by electing pupils to take on various roles and responsibilities on behalf of their peers including Form Captains, School Council Representatives, Personal Development Ambassadors, Anti-Bullying Ambassadors and Careers Champions.​

We will be celebrating democracy in our schools across the week by voting for our peers and encouraging our pupils to take on these fulfilling roles for the academic year ahead.

We will be holding a few open events this year to give all prospective Year 7 parents and pupils the chance to come and visit us. These events will give you a little insight into what is means to be a pupil at Turves Green Boys' School and give you the chance to ask any questions you may have.

Year 6 Opening Evening: Tuesday, 17th September 2024, 4:30pm to 7:30pm

Headteacher Presentation Times: 4:45pm, 5:45pm, and 6:45pm

Year 6 Open Mornings: Monday, 23rd September – Thursday, 26th September 2024, 9:15am to 10:15am

We’ve extended our line of communication to include even more social platforms so you can be the first to see important updates and get an insight into all the fun and exciting things happening in school. 

Please take a few minutes to follow us on our social media platforms using the below links:  

Facebook - @TurvesGreenBoysSchool

Instagram - @turvesgreenboys

Twitter - @TurvesGreenBoys

The fastest way to ask a direct question is to email our post box email address (postbox@tgbs.co.uk) as these are forwarded to the correct member of staff for your enquiry.

On Wednesday 22^nd June , Year 9 pupils took part in an educational visit to the Big Bang Fair at the NEC.  The event enriched the pupils' current science curriculum they are studying with practical demonstrations that are not always available at school.  There were plenty of stands that were STEM based. Additionally,   a range of demonstrations, shows and activities were available for the students to observe and take part in. There were scientists and engineers at the event, to inspire our pupils regarding college or apprenticeship applications in year 11.