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Controversial education stories help sell newspapers and the last few months have seen several interesting

features hit the National Media. Notable headlines include quotes from the new Chief Inspector of

OFSTED, Michael Wilshaw, who wants to replace the word ‘satisfactory’ with the phrase ‘requires

improvement’, whilst he has also suggested that that there may be some five thousand Headteachers who

are not up to the job. He was also quoted stating that “If anyone says to you that ‘staff morale is at an all-

time low’, you know you are doing something right”. Sometimes these comments can be taken out of

context and sensationalised to make dramatic headlines. Unfortunately , some national newspapers seem

prone to negativity and are quick to seize on these statements, tending to deride much of the good work

that goes on in school.

It would seem that good news is not news. It seems to have escaped the national media, for example, that

UK Headteachers have just been acknowledged as the best in the developed world. The Organisation for

Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), has just praised headteachers in this country for ‘doing

what school principals should be doing – spending time focused on learning, not administration’. Published

recently, their report – Preparing Teachers and Developing School Leaders for the 21st Century – put UK

heads top of an index that showed that they were more involved with the details of education and

teaching than their counterparts in any other industrialised country. The UK finished top overall in the

‘leadership index’ suggesting that British Headteachers are the best.

In many ways this should be no surprise to anyone looking at the significant improvements in many

schools, particularly in Birmingham, over recent years. Despite the tendency of the media to greet

improved examination results with the response that ‘GCSE’s keep getting easier’, schools now have a

professionalism and focus unrecognisable to those of us whose personal experience of education was a

few decades ago. Energy and dynamism are two key ingredients that permeate Stockland Green School

and have helped build the significant improvements we have seen over the last three years. I hope that

this newsletter reflects some of the varied learning experiences that our students have.

Our job is to ensure that good news most certainly is news! Our students thrive when they are given

encouragement and the self-belief to achieve. On that note, it has been lovely to end the term with a series

of high profile acknowledgements of our students being successful. GCSE module results suggest that we

will set new records for attainment this summer with some really encouraging news already. 2 7% of our

Year 11 students achieved a grade A* or A in their recent GCSE Religious Education examination for

example! It is essential that we find ways to spread the good news and I would particularly like to thank

those parents who have attended our special Celebration Assemblies this week. It is lovely seeing high

achieving students wearing their new enamel badges with pride as we seek to promote a ‘can do’ culture.

You will also read about our inaugural Physical Education Awards Evening which was another terrific event.

Good news is the best news and we can’t get enough of it! Wishing you a safe and Happy Easter.

Neil Wallace

Associate Headteacher

Good News is Not News?

Stockland Green Business Partner

Recently our Year 9 students visited Jaguar Land Rover in Castle Bromwich

This was a very educational day as we were given a tour around the site. As the photographs show we started at the show room where we looked at the latest Jaguar cars and the students enjoyed analysing the latest specification and technology within the new cars

Students were given a video presentation about the company and their latest products prior to entering the production line. Our guide showed us around the manufacturing plant whilst explaining the production process these lovely cars go through from beginning to completion.

Students learned about different materials used to make the cars and the robots, almost transformer like, amazed the students. We were shown the different stages of manufacturing, assembly and finally the painting. All cars were made to order and the majority of the products were to be exported overseas to include some for famous celebrities and footballers.

Students were given a talk on employment opportunities in the director’s Spitfire Room. Jaguar Landrover are interested in post 16 apprenticeships for the future which really excited our current Year 9 students.

Throughout the day we were complimented on the behaviour of our students and their appearance by several staff including the tour guides who showed us around. The Year 9 students showed great interest and this was reflected by lots of very good questions.

However it doesn’t end here … Jaguar Landrover have confirmed an ongoing partnership to include many more opportunities such as use of their business centre, talks to the students including talks at Stockland Green and many more opportunities to develop this exciting partnership.

Jaguar Land Rover Time Piece

The Technology department is now working together with the help of Mr Foster and Mr Watts on an exciting project of an atomic clock to be displayed in the entrance of the school using parts supplied by Jaguar Landrover.

Mr Price’s students have created some amazing initial design ideas using the Jaguar parts delivered so far. Jaguar have recently collected the project to spray at their site in Castle Bromwich before the Technology department will add the final touches

Seven Year 7 students were given the unique opportunity to attend a specialist session at Birmingham Metropolitan University as part of our schools Gifted & Talented programme. They created their own 3D computer games environments and learned how to use industry-standard software. The students had a great time!

I feel that it’s vital that students get the chance to have these experiences, engaging them to be creative, innovative and stimulate career potential. A big thanks to Miss Roberts (Head of Year 7) for her help on the day and Mrs Yates for coordinating the event.

“I love games and

enjoyed finding out

how they are made”

Jake 7ST

“It was fun doing

something different”

Demi 7RC

“It was really good, I

want to do it again!”

Chloe 7LE

Design & Technology

Year 7 Gifted & Talented!

Pixel Games Design @ Birmingham Metropolitan University

Mr Price (Teacher of Technology)

Year 7 Wacky Weaving

As part of our first ACE day, Year 7 students worked together to create a unique and exciting installation for our social learning zone.

Students were inspired by groups of artists called ‘Gorilla Knitters’ and ‘Yarn Bombers’. Each student weaved their own piece of fabric. These were then patchworked together to transform a discarded chair!

Students learned about basic fabric construction, developed their understanding of colour theory and were introduced to current and exciting artists who challenge convention in Art.

Year 7 Technology

Jewellery Design

The lunchtime Techno Girls Club has been so popular that the boys have requested a Techno Boys Club! The girls have had opportunities to develop their CAD skills and knowledge of the laser cutter to make keyrings.

They have made some exciting jewellery bracelets using smart materials such as Thermochromic cord.

Currently Year 7 students are working on existing projects and using the lunchtime clubs on Wednesdays to develop their skills further.

Year 7 Tutor Time

Exciting

Paper Helicopters

FUN

Mini Skills Form Challenge

Form Skipping Challenge

Inter-Form Mile Relay

Yr 7 Challenge to Yr 9

Tutor time was increased to twenty minutes in September with a view to providing students with learning opportunities that enthuse, engage and motivate at the beginning of the school day. This term has seen students across all year groups participating in a wide range of activities, some of which are shown in the pictures. Some of the activities put students into a competitive situation where they are competing against other forms and all of the students are rising to the challenges that they are being faced with.

We are all looking forward to next terms activities, which will defiantly continue to enthuse, engage and motivate the students.

During February and March, Year 11 Hospitality students have been involved in hosting six events for different groups of people. The students started planning in September and have undertaken the process of researching, designing, costing, planning, hosting the event and evaluating as part of the 60% controlled assessment in Hospitality and Catering.

Different groups of people were invited to the events and all the feedback was extremely positive. One guest commented ‘the food was of restaurant standard’. All students rose to the challenge and produced food of a very high standard and prepared the function area attractively.

I am extremely proud of all the Year 11 Hospitality students who gave 100%. Well done! It has been a privilege to teach you and to see how you have grown and developed your Hospitality and Catering skills.

Do we have the next Masterchef?

You never know – you could certainly give them a run for their money. Mrs McKiernan Head of Faculty

Year 11 Hospitality Events

Year 7Y1 had a presentation from a chef from Animal Aid. Paul educated the pupils about being a vegetarian and why he had chosen to become a vegetarian. He then demonstrated how to prepare a tasty vegetarian bolognaise type dish which he served with tortilla chips.

All the students enjoyed his presentation and his vegetarian food. They gave glowing feedback about the meal and the learning experience. Mrs McKiernan - Food Technology Teacher

Year 7 Food Technology

Jack Crockett Year 7

I loved the food and tasting it. I didn’t

realise that vegetarian food can be so

tasty.

Kiranjit Kaur Year 7

It was interesting to learn about

Vegans and what they eat.

Science ACE Day

In Science we are passionate about ensuring that each child is inspired, enthused and engaged with

their learning. On 23rd March the Science department organised a series of activities and experiences

for the whole school to promote the science behind sport. Year 7 learnt about the science that goes

into broadcasting the Olympics, the biological knowledge required to ensure athletes have the correct

nutrition and the technology that goes into designing a striking Olympic torch.

Year 8 went to Twycross Zoo to find out the Olympic skills of each animal, Year 9 did a series of sports

science investigations and Year 10 got involved with some Zumba and body contact. It was incredibly

pleasing to see the motivation of our students with their science learning!

On Thursday 23rd February we had a great time in Humanities as we collapsed the usual timetable in favour of a special day for our Year 8 students based around the Humanities subjects of History, Geography, RE and French. All the Year 8 students had a fantastic time getting a taster of each subject. The day was in preparation for the very important Options choices evening that followed our ACE day.

Miss McKiernan (Faculty Leader Humanities/MFL)

We all own a pair of trainers, but do you know where and how your trainers are made? .

We had great fun as we set up a market place and factory in the Humanities SLZ in order to see how some people work so hard, but still remain poor.

In family groups, students had to make and sell trainers and earn enough to survive over a 5 week period. It is really encouraging to see our students learning in this way. They really threw themselves into the task, worked so hard and showed a real empathy for people around the world who are less fortunate than themselves. Whilst this is an educational game, it really did highlight the situation facing many poor countries that manufacture trainers – where working hard for a living does not equate to earning a fair amount.

Geography The Trading Trainers Game

Humanities ACE Day

Geography Ecosystems

We had a great time looking at Ecosystems and Animal Habitats. The Animal Man brought in a varied collection

of furry, slithery, slimy and other creepy crawlies to show us how different animals adapt to living in different

environments. It was quite a challenge for some us to stay in the same room as a python and a tarantula!!

The students were given a presentation about the different types of ecosystems around the world and then the

opportunity to handle the animals if they wished to do so. I have to say, we do have some very brave students

at Stockland Green!

We all got to see what a brutal lot we were in Medieval times as we had a fascinating workshop on Medieval life with a particular focus on weaponry. Not only did we gain an insight into the different types of weapons and armour used, we got to have a go at trying them on and picking them up.

You definitely needed to be have big muscles as it felt like some of the weapons weighed a tonne!

We were also able to try on the armour, again this chain mail was extremely heavy, our students could hardly walk in it! A really great workshop for our budding historians about one of the more bloodthirsty periods in our history.

History - What were Medieval meapons like?

French - F….F…..F…...Fashion (or not as the case may be!)

Year 10 were immersed in the tale of Of Mice and Men on Ace Day as Say Two Production spun the story before their eyes. The actors had the year group captivated and built up to the impending doom which lay in the final scene of the play with dramatic flair. The entire audience was transported to a ranch in the Salinas Valley in California as the three actors took on multiple roles and played out several key scenes.

After watching the play Year 10 took the chance to flourish on the stage as volunteers were selected from the audience and with directions from the actors slowly built up and acted the heart wrenching scene where Candy’s dog was shot.

The audience broke off into workshops with the actors to portray their interpretation of character and themes. Armed with props and with their creativity unleashed, students engrossed themselves in a wonderful interactive learning experience.

The day provided a fantastic medium for students to prepare for their GCSEs and consolidate their knowledge.

Of Mice and Men

Students from Year 7 and Year 10 entered a poetry competition through a website called Young Writers. They

created a range of poetry around the theme of ‘Express Yourself’ and all students who entered are having their work

published in an anthology. Students did this during their lunchtimes as part of a Gifted and Talented club in English

and we’re proud of their achievements! Miss Perks Head of Faculty

My World

Although you’re not near I still feel your presence caressing my soul

You are my Sun, There for me to brighten my day.

You are my Moon, There for me to light the dark. You are my compulsory piece,

You keep me whole. You are with me,

Like I am with you. We are under the same sky,

Under the same stars, Together eternally, Bonded by heart.

We will meet again someday soon, You are my Sun, My Heart

My Moon The black twinkles oh so bright,

Are you there to comfort my night? Are you sending me kisses from afar?

You are my Sun, My Moon My Stars.

You are my world,

My life, My day, My night

By Louise Brown (14)

Life

Life is a game but get it right ‘Cause in this level there’s no retry.

Life has troubles, life can make you sad

But try to make the most of it the best you can.

Although life can be bad—try to get it right! ‘Cause all we have now is life.

So bring joy to others, even those who are bad

And maybe you’ll get something nice back.

Come join the party, never decline Get all you can out of life and have a great time.

We may fall down, but we always rise

We dream of many things like catching butterflies.

If you believe, you can fly to the stars. Fly through space and glide past Mars.

Dream every day, wish while you can

For this could possibly be your only chance.

Live, laugh, love, sing and dance Accept what you have, whilst you can

Whatever you do, don’t make life a mess Life can be short, so make yours the best

Life is a journey, so sit back Enjoy the ride.

By Chloe Jones (11)

Perfection in My Eyes

I’m never alone, Your presence stays,

Your love where it belongs, Our necklaces winging, Heartbeats pendulums,

Hanging round our necks. I’m falling now,

But you’re holding me tight, Whispering you’ll never let me go.

I believe you when you say, We will never part,

The bond’s too strong, the love is deep. Warm heart,

On the coldest days, In the loneliest of moments

I love you baby, You’re perfection in my eyes

Paige Cunningham (14)

Happiness

Happiness is a feeling A feeling that should never be rejected

Happiness is a door, A door is a mountain,

That should stand forever.

Happiness is the sun, That shines on what we believe in,

Happiness is a surrounding, A surrounding that should not be ignored

Happiness should be spread,

So just let happiness do its job.

Megan Redfern (11)

IKON Gallery Visit

As part of our Gifted and Talented provision a group of talented artists in Year 8 were invited to visit the IKON Gallery, Birmingham. The event organised by Stockland Green School involved five local secondary schools from the North Area G&T network.

The visit promoted creativity, reflection and enthusiasm for modern Art. The students took part in a workshop lead by the IKON Gallery learning team responding to a exhibition called Postcards from Japan - a message from Tohoku artists. After the devastating earthquake and tsunami in north east Japan on 11th March 2011, power supplies, land lines, mobile phones networks and internet access failed, making it extremely hard to contact family and friends to find out if they were safe. The post office was quickly up and running again and in many cases the first news of survival was a postcard.

The students created their own postcards to become part of this exhibition which will then be posted to Japan.

Making the postcard!

Photos taken of the Hamish Fulton Exhibition IKON Gallery

The Grove

We have lots of groups running in the Grove to help students achieve their full potential. Different groups

include.

Speaking and Listening groups – helps students in Years 7 to 9 improve their speaking and listening

skills in different situations.

Book Club – aimed at students in Years 7 to 9 who need more practice reading.

Social Skills group – boosts social skills and understanding of social situations.

Corrective Reading – improves reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension skills.

Fingers & Thumbs – aims to improve hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

Toe by Toe – a reading group to encourage steady progress.

Year 10 Alternative Curriculum - Work Experience Programme

A small number of Year 10 students have been given the opportunity to take part in an Alternative Curriculum programme. This programme has been tailored to allow the students to follow a range of GCSE subjects as well as do a work placement.

Every Tuesday students attend their work placement, these include pet shops, clothes shops, car garages, jewellers and an old people’s residential home.

Within their working establishment they are developing their social skills as they deal with members of the public. They are learning new techniques pertaining to their area of work and they are also gaining relevant an valuable work based experience which will prepare them for their lives after school.

The students are very positive about the work experience they do and this is shown in the positive responses we receive from employers on a termly basis.

Conor “It can be cold working in a garage but I have enjoyed learning about being a mechanic. I

have learned how to change spark plugs and tyres as well as oil and filter changes.”

Carlos “It’s excellent! I love it there; my managers are all very friendly and helpful.”

Amar “It’s really quiet at my work experience and the work is fiddly.”

Luke “It’s really exciting to be part of a staff team.”

Charisse” It’s my job to hang the clothes and shoes making sure they are all displayed nicely in the

shop. “

Clarice “It’s my job to feed and water all the animals, it’s a great experience for me as I want to

work with animals when I leave school.”

Library News

The celebrations commenced on Wednesday 29th February as we welcomed award winning

children’s writer Sally Nicholls to give talks and writing workshops to students in Years 7 and 8.

Sally talked about the publishing business, the inspiration for her books and what it was like to see

her first book made into a film. She showed the trailer for the film of Ways to Live Forever and read

some extracts from All Fall Down which is about the plague and was very gruesome!

At the end of the day, students were able to buy copies of Sally’s books and get them signed by the

author – guaranteed collectors’ items!

Sally’s first book Ways to Live Forever won the

Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize in 2008 and has

recently been made into a film starring Emilia Fox.

Her second novel Seasons of Secrets was published

in 2009, and the third All Fall Down came out earlier

this month.

The highlight of the Spring Term in the Library was

undoubtedly the events surrounding

World Book Day

The fun continued on World Book Day itself (Thursday 1st March) when every student in the

school received a special £1 book token. These could either be spent on a book of their choice

or exchanged for one of the 8 limited edition World Book Day books, which included titles by

Jacqueline Wilson and Roald Dahl.

Classes who were lucky enough to have a Library lesson on World Book Day were treated to a

range of games and activities including a Design the Bookmark Competition, a Teen Read Book

Quiz and lots of word searches and cross words to complete.

At lunch time we held a fantastic book sale in association with Usborne books.

The sale was very well attended and with prices starting from just £1.50 with the book tokens, we had lots of very satisfied customers. The samples from the cookery books were delicious and were a very effective marketing technique!

Another book sale is planned for the Summer Term.

Library News

The Legend of the Green Man

Year 7 students have been developing their key skills in Art as they explore the legend of the Green Man. Students have created detailed pencil studies, paintings and oil pastel pieces inspired by the theme.

Muniba Islam Kyron Dyer Spencer Phoebe Overton

Ikra Iqbal Reece Bansal

Ben McKeown

Year 11 Art

Alexis Parry

Karen McMichael

Year 11 Art students are working towards completing their practical preparation work to support their ten hour exam.

Students are creating projects based on a range of exciting starting points including Cityscapes, Portraying animals, Star, Gather, Olympic and Street Art.

Students have already completed their 60% unit producing inspiring, personal and highly skilled portfolio projects.

Year 11 will showcase their work in our annual Art Exhibition during the Summer term.

Jimmy Chung Simran Bhandari

Monique Harris Nicara Stewart

Tuesday 27th March 2012 saw Stockland Green School hold its inaugural Physical Education Celebration Evening. The purpose of the event was to reward and highlight excellence and determination in PE.

The evening was very well attended by parents and carers who witnessed at first hand the successes of their children in PE.

We were extremely fortunate to have two ex-professional Premier League Footballers - O’Neil Donaldson, has been working at this school for 8 years and previously played for Sheffield Wednesday when they were in the top division and his close friend Ian Taylor who played for Aston Villa for 9 years – to give out the awards alongside the school’s Headmaster Mr N Wallace.

The categories for the awards were; Most Improved Performer, Best all Round Performer, Sports Person-ality, Gifted and Talented and Extra-Curricular Attendance. At Stockland Green School we are also com-mitted to developing the leadership skills of all our students and so we awarded our exceptional Sports Leadership. There was also a special award given to Mrs Gilchrist for her 10 years as Head of PE at Stock-land Green School.

The evening was a real celebration of the achievements of the students at Stockland Green School and was also an opportunity for our dancers to showcase their performances.

I would like to thank all the PE department for their hard work in organising the event and students, par-ents and carers for supporting the evening. Furthermore, a special thanks to O’Neil Donaldson and Ian Taylor for their attendance at the ceremony.

Mr D Mandley (Head of PE)

Physical Education Celebration Evening

Year 7 awards

Student Leaders receive their awards Team of the Year 2011-2012:

Year 9/10 Girls’ football team

Year 7 student Kamal Parry his award for:

Extra-Curricular Attendance

Ian Taylor and O’Neil Donaldson

meeting students and families

Mrs Gilchrist receiving an award for 10 years’ service

to Stockland Green School as Head of PE.

Year 10 Dancers

SPORT

Rhythmic Gymnastics (Team)

Individual free routine

CLUB

City of Birmingham Gymnastics Sparkles.

LEVEL OF ABILITY

Midland and National- In 2012 she is attending a European competition

WHEN DO YOU TRAIN ?

Monday 4:30 – 8 Tuesday Thursday 5:00 -7:30 Wednesday 6:30- 9

Thursday 5:30 – 8 and Sundays 10:00 –1pm.

CAN OTHERS JOIN THE CLUB (DETAILS) ?

Attend the gymnastics rhythmic academy and then you are scouted to join the City of Birming-

ham Gymnastics Club

HAS THE STOCKLAND GREEN SCHOOL HELPED YOU ACHIEVE YOUR LEVEL IN THE SPORT?

Working on my confidence in lessons.

ASPIRATION IN SPORT

To increase the awareness of Rhythmic Gymnastics and get into the British team

Spotlight on…………...

Nicole Allen

On Friday 2nd March, four of our GCSE Music students performed at the area Sound City

Concert at Sutton Town Hall. Jasdeep Ghataora, Katie Fisher, Joe Hill and Ben Haycock

played brilliantly together performing two classic songs in front of a packed house.

Groups from other local schools also performed ranging from an entire choir to solo piano

performances, but the star performers were without a doubt from Stockland Green, now

in its fourth year of participation. Katie’s vocal performances were the talk of the event

whilst Ben’s rapping clearly impressed the younger/more hip members of the audience.

Mr Scott and Miss Crump accompanied the group, with Mr Scott performing the role of

Sound Engineer for the night, with former pupil Jasmine Arnold popping over from Arthur

Terry to join her old class mates on stage for the group’s final number.

Sound City Concert

Year 11 Prom

Year 11 Leavers Prom

2012

Thursday 5th July

7.00pm—Midnight

The Pavillion

Tickets now on sale £14

Examination Results

Examination results are expected to be available from Stockland Green on Thursday 23rd August 2012. Students may collect their results by calling at the school between 10am to 12 noon on this date.

All uncollected results will be posted, first class, to the address held on our school administration sys-tem. If students require results to be posted to a different address, please provide the Exams office in school with the alternative address.

Please also be aware that results can only be handed to the named students personally unless the Ex-ams Office have received a letter signed by the student giving written permission that the results can be released to another family member/friend. Any such letter must be handed into the Exams Office be-fore Year 11 students leave Stockland Green School when their exams have ended this summer. Re-sults will not be given out over the phone.

Students will receive a copy of the Summer 2012 timetable prior to breaking up for Easter and a further copy will be posted to parents towards the end of April.

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact the Exams Officer.

Sue Nicholls

Exams Officer

Year 11 Information

You may have read the recent letter I have sent out regarding the Parent Voice Group I have established at Stockland Green School. We firmly believe we are stronger when we work together. The Stockland Green Parent Voice Group will provide an opportunity for the community, parents and carers within the Learning Partnership to support and shape the development of our school. Serving the needs of the local community underpins our commitment to be an outward facing school, and the Parent Voice Group provides a fresh forum for discussion, and action planning for change in the Stockland Green and Erdington area. The next meeting will be held on :

19th April at Stockland Green School from 2.30 to 4.30pm

For those of you interested in joining, feel free to come along. It is a great chance to meet representatives from the school and like-minded parents who want to make a difference with our pupils, your children at the heart of all we do. I look forward to meeting you. Sarah Cardwell (Assistant Headteacher, Stockland Green School)

Stockland Green School

Parent Support Group

Easter Activities in the local community

Freax are offering Easter holiday activities at Brookvale Lake from 10am to 4pm on the following dates:

Monday 2nd April to Saturday 7th April

Monday 9th April to Friday 13th April

These will include:

Canoeing ‘Pay and Play’ £3 for 25 minutes

Climbing Wall all day on Good Friday 6th April

www. Freax.co.uk

Contact telephone number: 0121 327 5959