message from gary hill - the phoenix collegiate pdf...the phoenix collegiate newsletter december...

The Phoenix Collegiate Newsletter December 2013 Edition No: 11

Message from Gary HillI can hardly believe that we are at the end of the autumn term already. It only seems like a short while ago that we were celebrating record breaking GCSE and A level results and yet so much has happened since! You only have to turn the page to discover the amazing things going on at Phoenix. Producing the school newsletter is becoming more and more challenging each term; with so many articles to incorporate, sadly we can no longer include everything that we would like to.

In this edition you will find a new section introducing you to your school governors; we will be introducing two each term. You will also find a breadth of articles celebrating the success and experiences of our students. As usual, our sporting success features highly, also the early achievements of our DofE students, news of our budding

entrepreneurs, our expansion into world languages, our work with primary schools and much much more! We have also included forth coming events for next term. May I draw your attention to the dates of our parents evenings - please support us by attending if you don’t already do so.

I am sure you will have noticed that we have up-dated our logo recently to incorporates our new motto; aspire • believe • succeed.

This change reflects the transformation that has taken place at Phoenix. Our students have high aspirations, they are confident, relish challenge and are achieving record breaking levels of success!

Finally, can I remind you that ALL students return to school on Wednesday 8th January 2014.

On behalf of the staff and governors at Phoenix may I wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful, happy and healthy New Year.

Gary HillHead teacher

Important dates for Spring term 2014Monday 6th & Tuesday 7th January 2014 School closed to pupils for Inset days

Pupils return to school on 08/01/2014

Wednesday 22nd January 2014 First Parents council meeting – Time to be confirmed

Monday 27th January 2014 Year 10 parents evening 4.00 - 7.00pm

Monday 3rd February 2014 KS5 parents evening 4.00 - 7.00pm

Monday 10th February 2014 Year 9 options evening 5.00 - 7.30pm

Monday 17th to Friday 21st February 2014 Half term holiday

Monday 3rd March 2014 Year 9 parents evening 4.00 - 7.00pm

Monday 14th to Friday 25th April 2014 Easter break

WE ASPIRE ...to turn our dreams

into reality

WE BELIEVE ...that there is no

limit to what we can achieve

WE SUCEED ...through our

endeavour, our determination and

our passion

PHOENIX

www.phoenixcollegiate.orgaspire • believe • succeed 1

IN THIS EDITIONGovernors ........................................ page 2

Business news ..........................pages 4 - 5

Duke of Edinburgh ........................... page 8

Primary Links ................................... page 9

Pastoral news ........................pages 12 - 13

Charity events ................................ page 14

Sports update ..........................pages 15-16

Parents get involved at PhoenixFollowing on from the success of the family learning session in July we held our second event during the Enrichment Day in November. The hour was a very messy but fun event with over 24 Gingerbread Houses being made with varying degrees of success! Problem solving at its best, the number one phrase for the day by pupils

being – My roof/chimney/side etc has broken! At one point I looked over to a table of boys and there was just a chimney left!

Watch this space for the next event.

aspire believe succeed

www.phoenixcollegiate.org aspire • believe • succeed2

Leigh PepperLeigh Pepper is Chair of Governors and is responsible for supporting the Head teacher, Colleagues and Parents to deliver an outstanding education for the pupils of Phoenix Collegiate. A Local Director with Halifax Community Bank (part of Lloyds Banking Group), Leigh is responsible for managing outlets across Birmingham and the West Midlands, which includes West Bromwich. Through Business in the Community he has formed a 'Business Class Partnership' with Phoenix to share the vast resources and expertise of Lloyds Banking Group with the school. Passionate about pupil achievement and progress Leigh is also keen to ensure pupils develop long term employability skills, and supports the school by providing summer intern and work experience programmes for Y11 and Sixth Form pupils each year. An ambitious and driven individual Leigh seeks to embody the Schools vision to Aspire, Believe and Succeed. Having studied at Leeds University, he graduated in Economics and Management in 2003 and joined Lloyds Bank. Over the following 10 years

he has worked in both the UK and internationally in the USA and Switzerland. With practical experience in senior leadership roles in Financial Services he enjoys providing guidance in these areas to shape school policy and direction.Having been a governor for over 7 years and Chair for the past 3 years Leigh has worked tirelessly to develop the governing body into a team that provides a range of experiences and support to the school. In the past year he has radically reshaped the governing body to make it more responsive to the needs of pupils, parents, colleagues and other stakeholders.On a personal level he lives with his partner Iain, 2 dogs, a cat and a rabbit in Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire. A keen football fan, having now given up playing he enjoys attending matches and is a Manchester United season ticket holder. Enjoying physical pursuits Leigh is a keen Skier, holds a Scuba Diving Qualification, is a fair weather golfer and occasionally runs when called upon for charity!A firm believer in the potential of Phoenix Leigh says 'with the appointment of Mr Hill as head teacher the past 12 months have seen a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of Phoenix, best ever exam results, funding for a new building and acknowledgement from Ofsted of this remarkable progress, I'm looking forward to being part of the journey over the next few years'.

Year 6 Open Evening in the English Department

Open evening this year saw the English Department embrace the wonderful world of literature and transform their classrooms into that magical place at the end of the yellow brick road. Yes, you guessed it, the English Department became Oz.

Our Oz was complete with its own yellow brick road into the department and munchkins who welcomed guests in. Once inside, parents were dazzled by the inhabitants of emerald city and their childhood favourites, Dorothy, Glenda the Good Witch, the Wicked Witch, the Lion, Tin Man, the

Scarecrow and Phoenix’s very own Wizard.Not surprisingly, the department’s efforts were rewarded by the excellent attendance of parents and the outstanding feedback that the department received. Parents were blown away by the

dedication, drive, enthusiasm and passion that the staff and students showcased and once again, the English Department demonstrated that learning can be fun when done the Phoenix Way.As many of you know, the English Department traditionally go to extreme lengths to engage their students and open evening last year saw a return to the Victorian Era, with writers and characters from the classics like Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, and the year before they brought Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory to life for the students to enjoy, and eat. Now, the big question on everyone’s lips is what will they do next year? The English team are already planning their next opportunity to shine and hope that as many parents as possible return next year to see what magic they bring to life. All we can tell you is that whatever it is, it will be unmissable, unforgettable and unbeatable. We look forward to seeing you there.

Governors Don WilliamsDon Williams is the Vice Chair of the governing body. He has been a school governor in both primary and secondary schools for 16 years and on The Phoenix Collegiate Governing Body he supports three areas of responsibility.Along with another governor, Don works with Mr Smith, Pastoral Deputy Head teacher and the pastoral team to monitor attendance, behaviour of students and parental support. Additionally he supports the SEN department. Don’s third area of responsibility is Human Resources where he works with the school’s Operations Director to guarantee that the school has the correct teaching and support staff in place and that the staff feel supported.In all of these areas he ensures that government policies are implemented and that the school complies with its legal obligations.Outside of school, Don works as a Senior Conductor in the rail industry on one of the local train companies. He has been married for 26 years and has one son who attended Menzies.

LiteracyYears Seven to Ten are once again engaged in the Renaissance Reading Challenge, with each tutor group reading as many words as possible. The first half termly challenge was won by 9H2, who read an amazing 1,834,338 words! Many other tutor groups had combined totals of over a million words and the competition is looking equally fierce in the run up to Christmas.

Parents and carers are now able to log into Renaissance from home to monitor their child's reading and see how quickly they are progressing towards their goals.

School Closure Additionally this announcement will be posted on the school website, www.phoenixcollegiate.org (details will also be posted on the Local Authority website following notification by the school to the LA).

If the school is closed BEFORE the start of School Day - Please refer to the procedures outlined above.

If the school closes DURING the School Day - Pupils will only be sent home if there are satisfactory arrangements for them to return safely. Should any parent/carer wish to make any alternative arrangements for their child they should put these in writing to the Head teacher.

Closure due to poor weather conditions are very rare and will be avoided where possible. In some cases we may decide to open later than normal to allow time for the site to be made safe, again this will be announced on the radio and the school website. There is no need for parents to contact the school to check whether or not the school is open. Unless announced on the Radio and School Website, the school will be open.School Closure Procedures:If the school is to be closed, there will be an announcement on the following radio stations to state this:

Radio WMFree Radio Birmingham (formerly BRMB)Heart FM/Capital FMFree Radio Black Country (formerly Beacon Radio)

due to poor weather conditions

English


Maths

Science

Super CellsYear 7 students have been busy studying cells as an important part of their Science studies. To develop their independent study skills, students researched a cell of their choice to find out how the cell is adapted to carry out its function. Students were asked to make a booklet /leaflet of their findings and 3-D model of their cell to help deepen their understanding of the cell and how it functions.

It is a pleasure to share with you a small sample of the high quality work produced by the students. Please read their articles below.

Shane Huda

Sperm CellBefore this project, I knew absolutely nothing about it (except that it is the male reproductive cell).

I made my model by adding a cardboard cut out of an oval shape. In order to put the tail on (shoe lace) I put play-dough inside the cut-out and put the tail in the play-dough.

The sperm cell is very unique as it has adapted to its function by growing a tail. It uses the tail to swim to the female egg cell and fuse with it to create a new born child and that is why it is a specialised cell.

By Aadel Semmoudi

Human cellI have produced a human cell for my project. It is made out of play-dough. During the process I have learned what different key words mean, mitochondria provides energy for the cell and golgi stores and packages proteins. I have enjoyed making the project because it tested my skills and knowledge.

By Maram Ahmed

NeuroneAs an assessment I was given the task to create a model of a particular cell of my choice and a booklet to go along with it. For my model of a cell I created a small pokiball shaped ball with a transparent top for people to look in to without damaging the interior of my unique cell. In order to own up for this small unspecialized cell, I wrote a whole book about: Cell organelles, Cells, Origins of Cells and the history of Cells.

I also learned about a completely new specialised cell called a Neurone cell which together creates a tissue which is part of the Nervous system. It possesses some incredible adaptations including a long, thin body in order to send rapid messages around the body.

By Bardia Dodangeh

Maths trip, to Wolverhampton UniversityOn Wednesday 10th July, Year 10 pupils attended a gifted and talented maths trip to Wolverhampton University. The day started off with a presentation by Mr Boddison explaining how maths is used in the media and how it is involved in films, TV shows, the radio and other media. He also talked about the probability of winning the lottery and showed us a card trick to predict the lottery numbers. Next we took part in an interactive quiz where we answered multiple choice questions using keypad remotes.

After lunch we then took part in a fun activity called Monty Hall, it showed how game show presenters often trick their contestants into thinking there is a 50/50 even chance of winning the grand prize. By playing this game we saw that the probability increases if you change your original answer. The second activity we took part in was Practical Mechanics where 5 different experiments involving physics were done. It showed how maths isn’t just about numbers, but how it can be used in different ways. The last activity was called Fun Maths Roadshow, we did a series of maths problems showing how maths is used in everyday life. Overall we had a very fun and interesting day and we learnt many new maths skills.

By Tamara Davies, Shelby Agger, Tian Melia and Rose Dhiman.

Maths Celebration Breakfast – Friday 22nd November Pupils from year 7 and 8 were invited to a Maths Celebration Breakfast for achieving the highest assessment score in their class. They enjoyed a hot chocolate and croissant as they joined Mr Hill and members of the Maths Department to talk about their achievements and successes. Students worked very hard to gain the highest place in their class amongst their peers and will have to ensure that they retain their position as highest scorer in the assessment if they want to be invited to the Maths Breakfast again!

The Maths department would like to congratulate the following students on their very successful assessment results.

Year 7Harmanpreet Jabbal, Alisha Kainth, Megan Purewal, Sean Perks, Kiya Spray, Joseph Taylor, Amrit Mann, Brooklyn Mabika

Year 8Milan Parchment, Simona Herakova, Prabhjoyt Kaur, Patrycja Fischer, Bobbi Lowe, Dawid Gniatkiewicz, Keiron Woodard, Harman Grover, Abigail Richardson, Jakub Szwarc, Brandon Twist


Business and Creative Technology Academy

Phoenix students take part in Global Entrepreneurship Week 2013

Red blood cellI’ve made a model called the red blood cell. I’ve learnt that every plant and cell has a chloroplast. Both animal and plant cells have a cell wall. The function of a cell wall is to import and export chemical substance and protect the cell. Every cell has a cell membrane.

Red blood cells carry O2 to the respiring tissues in the body and carry CO2 back to the lungs. They also accumulate where an injury has occurred to clot blood. Red blood cells contain glucose to provide the body with energy needed.

To make the model of the red blood cell I got a box and cardboard, cut shapes out of them and stuck them together.

By Aman Chopra

A Female Reproductive Cell (Egg Cell)The model I created was a Female reproductive egg cell. While making and finding information for the booklet I learned quite a lot. I learnt that the female egg cell joins with the male sperm cell to create a new cell. This is called a new born baby. I also learned that the female cell has special features such as a lot of cytoplasm and huge in size compared to the sperm cell. I find the female reproductive egg cell and the male sperm cell special and unique because they join to produce and create new cells.This shape of the cell is a circle and is purple and white. I created this by blowing up a balloon that was white and then cut out white paper in medium sized circles. I then carefully stuck them onto my balloon that I blew up earlier. I personally enjoyed creating the female egg cell and would love to do it again.By Sonia Walia

I have learnt a lot about different cells with this project and has made science homework my favourite.By Matthew Johns

Root hair cell In this project I made a root hair cell, I got I piece of cardboard then I cut it into root hair cell shape and I labelled it. First I did not know much about root hair cell but when I made a booklet to go with it I learnt a lot about it. I enjoyed this project because it was FUN!

What is the function of root hair cell?

Root hairs are very important to plants. They help feed the plants by absorbing water and minerals form the soil.

The function of root hairs is to absorb water and mineral nutrients present in the soil and take this solution up through the roots to the rest of the plant. As root hair cells do not carry out photosynthesis they do not contain chloroplasts.

By Helen Mohammed

Halifax Bright Sparks meet Phoenix Student CouncilSeven staff from the Halifax Bank met members of Phoenix’s Student Council for a working lunch in November. The staff are part of the Halifax’s ‘Bright Sparks’ programme which enables staff at grass roots level to put forward their ideas on how to improve the experiences of customers and staff.

Halifax staff will be working with student councillors to develop their role and ensure that they provide an effective channel through which the views of students can be expressed, and discussed with senior management.

Following a fun and thought provoking first session, council members will bring to the next meeting their groups views and opinions on:> Activities / events they want to START> Activities / events they want to STOP> Things that are working well and they want to CONTINUE

MacMillan Coffee Morning

Global Entrepreneurship Week is the world’s largest campaign to promote entrepreneurship, taking place in 115 countries across the world. Each year it plays a critical role in developing and encouraging the entrepreneurship of young people. The theme for this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week was to...

‘TAKE A STEP FORWARD’During this week all Phoenix pupils took part in a challenge entitled...

‘How can Phoenix Collegiate take a step forward?’

All year groups submitted their ideas and those judged best from each year group will take part in a showcase presentation of ideas with the Head teacher.

On Friday 27th September Year 11 and Year 13 Hospitality students raised a staggering £356.00 for Cancer research. The event was held at lunch time in the school hall.

This event was the first charity event in the school calendar and was very well attended by both staff and students.


4MAT UKAs part of 4MAT UK - Midland Art Education Network, Art and Textile teachers have been involved in continuing professional development for the past year and were invited to the first birthday celebration at the IKON Gallery in Birmingham with a demonstration by Artist Ian Cook; who creates art work from cars and tyres as seen on Blue Peter and Top Gear.

Communications Studies Academy

New opportunities in ICTFor the first time we have provided our students with a new computer workshop to help them develop their practical skills and consolidate their theoretical learning.

Boys are in danger of being out-performed by girls who have shown a great aptitude for practical computing.

Our new 2D / 3D system allow our students to create their own animations to industry level.

Students use stop motion animation to create their own digital movies.

National young people's photography competitionGCSE Digital photography students have responded to a National young people's photography competition on 'Where Do I belong? run as part of National Science and Engineering Week. Students have responded with a range of creative ideas from what they do, their interests and where they feel at home.

Year 10 undertake The Real Business ChallengeDuring Global Entrepreneurship Week, Year 10 Business Studies students took part in a

‘Real Business Challenge’ arranged by Coca-Cola Ltd.

This is a national challenge requiring students to form a company to develop a new sustainable healthy juice brand.

The company then needed to present the brand on PowerPoint and complete other key business documents. Students with the best ideas will be invited to a regional final where they will be given the chance to work with Coca-Cola Enterprises on a live project.

We wish our students the best of luck with their entries!

Product Design VisitJust before the summer break, Year 13 Product Design students enjoyed an afternoon at the New Art Gallery Walsall. There, they were able to put their critical and analytical skills into good practise through observations of Damien Hirst’s “Sheep in a Tank” exhibit.

The visit enabled the students to develop their knowledge of exhibition design in preparation for their final A2 project. Well done to all those who participated. National Sail Art

CompetitionKS3 Students have taken part in a National Sail Art Competition as part of The Campaign for Drawing. Students were given a theme 'Legends of the Sea', to unleash their imagination and for an opportunity to design a 10m sail for a 'Star Class' boat to be sailed by Olympic sailors.

Communications Academy Introduces MediaFrom September 2013, the Communications Academy introduced a new creative qualification for its Year 10 option students, iMedia. As we are living in a technological world, it was decided that iMedia would be an appropriate course to offer our digital native students. Students have the opportunities to study creative units and produce digital outcomes in Animation, Audio, Graphics, Mobile Apps as well as creating Online Portfolios.

Currently some Year 10 students are carrying out producing graphical images whilst other students are producing enhanced podcasts using GarageBand software.

“I’m really enjoying creating podcasts, as I’ve never done this before...!”

Year 10 Student

By carrying out this course, students will have the opportunities to develop creative, communication and organisation skills. They will also have potential opportunity to enter employment with a wide range of job roles across the Digital Information Technology sector and creative industries.


Languages at Phoenix –

What’s Happening?The languages department has become a real hive of activity this term – there is so much going on!

On Mondays after school we have Mr Walker who comes in to work with our students studying Latin GCSE – a language often only taught in grammar schools but which is the origin of many modern languages. This is certainly an impressive qualification to be able to include on any CV!

During Tuesday lunchtimes, a group of keen linguists in Year 9 are working towards gaining their Language Leader Certificates. They are developing their leadership skills and preparing to pass on their language knowledge to younger pupils. They could be coming to a Primary School near you very

soon!

On Wednesdays after school we have a Spanish drop-in session for any pupil, in any year group to be able to come for extra help with homework or class work and general practice with Mrs. Abraham and Mrs. Francis. Pupils can also come to play against each other on the many games available on www.espanol-extra.co.uk.

Not only this but, in D1.2 Ms Wilkinson offers an EAL Homework support club, open to all pupils with English as a second language. At the same time, with Miss Legarska, we have the Year 11 Polish GCSE class, enabling pupils with Polish as their native

language to gain an extra qualification and work together to improve their skills.

On Thursdays after school, also with Miss Legarska, we have the All Stars Extra English Club for any pupil with English as a second language to come and help improve their use and understanding of English. On week B we

have a French drop-in session for any pupil studying French in Year 10 whilst in D1.3 we have Mrs. Sinha’s Year 11 GCSE Hindi class – another opportunity for students to gain a qualification in their home language. In yet another classroom we have a group of Phoenix sixth-formers who attend a beginners’ Spanish class with our assistant, Natalia!

And it doesn’t stop there! On Fridays after school Mrs. Dulay comes in to teach Panjabi GCSE to an ever-expanding group of students who, again, are being given the chance to achieve an extra GCSE in their home language!

This is all in addition to extra English for pupils new to English being supported every day after school with Ms Chumber!

Mrs Lucy Abraham, Leader of World Languages

Communications Studies Academy

ICT Trip to National Space CentreWe had an amazing time at the Leicester’s National Space Centre in October! Students were fact finding and exploring the Universe on their non-stop tour of the Centres’ exhilarating exhibitions and presentations.

85 year 9 students landed on the grounds of the famous Space Centre to explore and extract facts about their Space and ICT mission that took place during the 4 hours of their voyage. We had exemplary behaviour from all who had an interesting time working in their groups, collaborating, decision making and supporting each other with collating the facts they were required to obtain.

They did a marvellous job and completed their mission with great success!

We would like to thank the National Space Centre for all their help and efficiency for making this day successful and also our Staff; Miss Wilkinson, Mr Abbas, Mr Martin, Miss Howard, Miss Gill, Miss Lal, Mr Barrett, Miss Foulkes and Mr Webb. A special mention to some students who went the extra mile to support and work with others; Ramandeep Sandhu who not only completed the mission fact sheet successfully with his group but also the Gifted and Talented (G& T) sheet and Hannah Lay for ensuring her team members were looked after when they felt unwell.

Clothes Show at the NECA level Digital Photography students attended this years' Clothes Show at the NEC to inspire their own ideas for their coursework. Students had the opportunity to view fashion photography exhibitions from Universities and take photographs of the various fashion shows.

These photographs (attached) are a sample from Louise Duffy's coursework, the Academy representative for Digital Photography.


People Studies Academy

Year 7 Learning to Learn! Year 7 had a great time working as a team to make castles. Motte and Bailey and Stone Keep castles were made and then painted for their Humanities lesson. Jakub, Jordan and Lukas with their Stone Keep

Castles ready for painting

Performance Academy

Christmas Carol ServiceThis year, the Christmas Carol service is held at All Saints Church and will feature the school choir and a wide selection of instrumental musicians. The pupils and staff from Phoenix will bring in the holiday in festive style.

Year 13 Performing Arts This term the drama department has been a hive of activity. Year 13 Performing Arts students have been showing off their talents as both actors and arts event managers. Having studied two very contrasting theatre practitioners, Brecht and Stanislavski, the students performed extracts from ‘The Crucible’, ‘Beautiful Thing’ and ‘Chairs’. All three plays were highly challenging and students rehearsed for long hours to ensure a truly professional production. The second task facing the sixth form this term was to organize and manage the hugely successful ‘Pearl of Africa’ charity event. The year 12 have also been very busy rehearsing for their first production ‘DNA’ which will be performed next week. This play is a dark thriller, and has really required the students to use their imagination and creativity to ensure a truly chilling experience for the audience! Come and see it if you dare!

Afrikan Fusion - Celebrating Black History MonthOn Friday 18th October, some of our Key Stage 3 students experienced African Drumming led by Afrikan Fusion as part of the celebration to mark Black History Month. Students enjoyed creating the unique sounds of the djembe drums with rhythmic vitality. Watch out for their return in the Summer Term.

Sixth Form BandMembers of the Year 13 Music Sixth form group have organised and performed at a local music venue to great success. Joseph Foster (Vocals and Guitar) and Calum Richardson (Rhythm Guitar/Bass) showcased their own original material and have represented the school with professionalism and talent.

X-Mas FactorStaff, pupils and students have been working hard to prepare for this year's Music showcase AKA X-Mas Factor. Try to guess who the secret judges are and who will win first place in the competition!

Mash Up The MusicalOn Thursday 11th July 2013, 25 pupils from key stage 3 put on a fantastic performance of 'Mash Up The Musical'.

The pupils committed themselves excellently and were a shining representation of the school.

It was a sell out performance attended by pupils, parents and staff.


Student Enrichment DayOn Thursday 14th November 2013, it was Student Enrichment Day. Each year group from Year 7 to Year 13 took part in activities, workshops and seminars based on a given theme. Year 7 students participated in discussions based on

Drugs and Alcohol led by an external organisation DECCA. They were given opportunities to wear beer goggles to understand what it is like to be drunk and not in control of your actions. Some Year 7 pupils worked with the SENCO Department to develop practical life skills and made chocolate crunches! Later during the day, parents of Year 7 pupils were invited to attend a team building workshop. Parents and pupils had to work together in order to build a house from gingerbread.

Year 8 students had an excellent day in understanding the ‘world of work’. The year group had opportunities to talk to professionals from

different work related backgrounds based on career choices and pathways. The students were also presented with a talk by a motivational speaker based on the importance and value of having a career.

A trip was organised for Year 9 students to attend Leicester Space Centre and Year 10 students enjoyed the day planning and organising their end of school Prom. Year 11 students visited the ‘Skills Roadshow Exhibition’ at the NEC where they had opportunities to speak to professionals about different careers, apprenticeships and what professional, academic and creative skills are required.

Lastly, 6th Form students were presented with informative presentations by guest speakers from Worcester and Staffordshire Universities. Students were given opportunities to practice interview skills and to understand the UCAS application process.

Overall, it was a fun day which was enjoyed by everyone!

Duke of Edinburgh newsThe DofE students have had a very busy few weeks this term and have worked exceptionally hard to achieve some outstanding results.

Saturday 23rd November – Charity bucket collection at Decathlon, Wednesbury

A section of the DofE awards requires time spent volunteering and supporting a charity. Phoenix students have been raising money to fund a community defibrillator to be based at Phoenix Collegiate. The DofE students spend a toe chilling 5 hours at Decathlon with buckets, and raised just over £170.

Tuesday 26th November

Big Lottery Award – Cheque presentationWe were very pleased to be awarded £10,000 from the National Lottery’s ‘Big fund’ and were presented our cheque with the company of the Chair of governors- Leigh Pepper and Neil Morris from Malthouse stables. We even let Mr Hill hold the cheque! The local press helped to celebrate our achievement. The group will now benefit from state of the art kit to enable them to work through their awards.

Friday 29th November –

Ironbridge - Day Walk (Expedition training)DofE students were put through their paces on an introduction to a ‘day walk’ as part of the expedition section of the award. The day involved walking 5 miles, using map skills and identifying locations using the landscape, finishing off with a group picture on the world famous ‘Ironbridge’.

DofE is one of the fastest growing extra-curricular activities at Phoenix and is currently over subscribed for this academic year. Anyone interested in securing a place for September 2014 please see Miss Hancocks.

Key Stage


Primary Links!Some exciting events have been happening this term. In October, two hundred local primary school children came to Phoenix for a morning of live music, dance and physical activity.

First of all they experienced a live concert. Afterwards, the children were separated into small groups to experience different workshops. The Performance Academy staged dance sessions, stamina and agility challenges, drama and music workshops, and they even had the children playing the Blues!

A huge thank you to Mr Gibbs, Mr Kibby and all of their staff for organising this enjoyable and successful morning.

Mr Bryan, in the Science department, has forged a close link with a local primary school. He has been into Harvills Hawthorn to teach Year 6 about electricity. They enjoyed his lesson so much that the children came to Phoenix the following week to experience another Science lesson, but this time in a real laboratory and using equipment they do not have the chance to handle in their school. A big thank you to Mr Bryan as we are sure the students enjoyed the experience.

Year 6 Open Evening – Wednesday 25th September 2013

Primary Links / Key Stage 3 Achievements

Robin Hood visits Hateley HeathThe Pupils of Hateley Heath Primary School were treated to a special visitor on the 19th November when Robin Hood played by our very own Chloe Stanaway and Jonathan Staten from Year 11 came to visit. The pupils of classes Seahorses and Turtles (both Year 1 classes) had recently been looking at the legendary tales of Robin Hood, Maid Marion and their Merry Men and were desperate to meet the famous Prince of Thieves.

Both of our students went into the classes in full costume (no that’s not how they usually dress) and were immediately met by a sea of young faces all of whom were awe stricken. After a brief introduction “Robin” was asked a number of questions by members of the classes.

Both of our students were extremely convincing (especially Chloe who also had to overcome the slight problem of being a different gender) and set a great impression for our school, especially as both classes were being observed at the time. The head teacher Mrs E. Stevens who also watched seemed very impressed and thanked both of our students at the end of the visit. Of course “Robin” also promised to return in the future to read the children stories and to teach them his infamous archery skills.

Yet another enjoyable evening with Phoenix staff and students showing just how great we are! There were displays by the DofE team, darts matches, the infamous chocolate fountain, The Wizard of Oz were in town, Drama rehearsals and so much more. Our canteen was open to show the new menus available to our pupils from our new caterers. All local year 5 and 6 pupils were personally invited to join the evening and several coffee morning/visits were on offer during the following weeks.


Key Stage 4 Achievements

PerformanceFollowing the massive success of last year’s Pearl of Africa children’s choir we were lucky enough to host a full day’s workshop with the group. 30 Key Stage 3 pupils were given the opportunity to spend the day with the 25 strong choirs and their staff. All staff and pupils involved certainly went away with a life changing outlook on life. Thanks to the organisational skills of the Yr 13 Performing Arts students the whole day and evening was another great success.

Year 11 Intervention EveningOn 19th September, we held our first ever Year 11 Intervention Evening. The event

featured presentations from the core subject areas and Vince Green, Deputy Head, outlining how parents, carers and staff would be working together over the coming year to ensure that our Year 11 students receive as much support and guidance as possible in achieving

their challenging targets.Such was the level of commitment from parents, carers, students and staff involved with Year 11 that we struggled to fit everybody into our Hall. Since the event, students have continued to make huge amounts of progress in core subject areas. Congratulations to all of them.

Year 11 Skills Show TripOn Thursday 14th of November, our Year 11 pupils attended The Skills Show event at the NEC, the UK’s largest skills and careers event. This trip formed an important part of our enrichment and careers education for Year 11 as we prepare them for their lives beyond GCSEs and their transition into adulthood.

At the NEC, our students got the chance to have a go at many different careers, including presenting the news,

applying stage makeup and bricklaying. There were also a variety of shows and speakers at the event to tell them more about careers they may be interested in and the pathways needed to achieve them. There were also specialised ‘Career Zones’ where they could seek specific advice on their post-16 choices. It was a very successful and enjoyable day for all involved.

Question Time On the 24th of September 12 year 10 students took part in a question time session, with some local business men in Sandwell. The session gave students a chance to ask questions and talk to the local business men on how to become young successful people and what trials and tribulations they had to face.

Once that session had finished each school went into separate room. Every ten minutes two of the panellists would come and speak to us in more depth about their personal journeys into the industries that they were in.

This also gave us the opportunity to ask the panellists more personal questions as to what qualifications we will need for the experience we would need.

Panellists went into further detail about their role in their company and also talked about what school life was like for them. Some of the panellists included Joel Blacke who co. funded hot 500 and co. funded biz Britain and Craig Hill who was a former pupil of Menzies high school who is a bid manager for Carillion.

This was a very useful activity to us because it gave us input on P.T.C., what we need to do to achieve our goals in life as well as giving us insight into what it takes to be a success in this world. It was also an enjoyable day that was very rewarding.

By Brandon Ohiwerei



DebateSince the start of the New Year, debates in 6th form have been run to question the beliefs of students. These debates are now a regular occurrence within the school. Previous topics have included euthanasia, gay marriage and whether or not phoenix days were productive enough. The next debate will be held on the 13th of December in the CLC function room. Year 11 students are welcome to attend.Summer placements

There was a Nuffield placement scheme advertised to the students through the school this time last year. The deadline for applications was January.

After interviews and many letters students were accepted onto a research placement at Heartlands hospital and the University of Birmingham. During this placement students analysed data and worked on the efficiency of transmitting genes to a host cell.

These placements have now been accredited by the national science association and their projects have now been entered into the national science and engineering competition.

Pearl of AfricaAs part of their Level 3 performing arts course the students in year 13 were given the module “arts in the community” and part of this module the students were required to execute an arts in the community event.

The pearl of Africa children’s choir were the main focus of the day running workshops with selected students in making jewellery.

As part of the fundraising efforts in preparation for the day the Yr13 students raised over £150 by selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts purchased at a special price. Many thanks to the company for their support.

The Philippines AppealHave you seen the news lately? The tragic event in the Philippines shows that there are people in the world who are in a real need of our help! Based on an idea initiated within the YR12 P2 tutor group, Bilal Rashid responded to the challenge of collecting for this worthy cause. Bilal went equipped with a bucket approaching both staff and students alike to donate money for Philippines appeal. He collected £100 in the space of a few hours. Watch this space for further collection ideas money raised by 12P2.

Additionally, as part of the YR12 Btec Level 3 Public Services course, learners had to lead a team activity. Bilal’s leadership idea was to carry out a charity event to raise money for Cancer Research UK. As a result of this team activity, £130 was raised by Year 12 Public Services students in particular Bilal, Vienna Griffith, Rohim Uddin and Dylan Muman. Students clearly showed that they have got the ‘spirit of charity’ and compassion for helping others that are in need of help.

Other Year 12 students namely Kiran Bawa (12P2), Harmandeep Kaur (12P2), Sapna Sandhu (12P2); Alexander Herr (12P2) Farzana Akther (12P1); Chloe Millard (12I) Katie Walker (12I) also raised a combined total of £106.74.

6th Form Open Evening Tuesday 12th NovemberThis year’s Open Evening was an overwhelming success. It looks like the Y12 of 2014-15 is going to be a bumper year and I am looking forward to starting the 6th Form Guidance Meetings in January 2014. If you haven’t yet handed in your application form hurry up as places are filling fast! Deadline is December 13th.

Application Forms and 6th Form Prospectus available from the 6th Form Centre and through the school website.

Miss Barr, Director of Post-16

Pathway to LawI’ve had an interest in Law for just over 5 years now, and to eventually study it at university is probably one of my biggest goals. When I was told about the “Pathways to Law” programme set up by Sutton Trust, I instantly knew I wanted to take part in it. After realising I had the requirements (at least 5 A grades at GCSE) I wrote an application with a personal statement and got a reference from my tutor. Apparently it is a very popular scheme, so I was really pleased when I was offered a place. The scheme is specifically tailored to students interested in entering into the legal field and provides excellent opportunities that really help your chances such as good connections with people in the field, work experience with some of the best

law firms in the country and a useful and worthwhile achievement that will be instantly recognised by any university on any application. Many universities will also lower their entry requirements for Law when they see you have completed this course. There are several events planned for over the two years of Sixth Form, and so far I have taken part in two of them, met some wonderful people, and gained some really useful skills. Finally, anyone who is in Year 11 now and is interested in entering into Law, this is a great opportunity, and I would definitely recommend that you look into this when you are in Sixth Form.

Matthew Roberts – 12P2


Pastoral AttendanceThe school continues to improve the overall attendance of its pupils and wishes to thank those parents who have helped in making this happen by ensuring their child attends every day through organising medical or dental appointments outside the school day and not taking holidays during term time.

Most local employers expect a minimum 95% attendance and so this is also our minimum expectation.

Parent Survey Feedback: At the recent Year 7 parents evening:

100% of parents - said that their child was:

Making good progress

Had their needs met

Were well looked after

Taught well

The school responds well to parents concerns.

98.6% of parents - said that they felt their child was safe.

Please ensure that you help us make your experiences at school be smooth and effective by completing a questionnaire following any visit. Could you please also make sure that you inform the school of any change of address or contact details?

Many thanks

You said We did

Develop a queuing system for each teacher so you know who is next at parents evening

We shall be trialling an online booking system for some parents evenings in 2014 to see if it is better for parents

Create a space for visitor parking By January a number of dedicated spaces will be available for visitors in the Clarkes Lane car park

School Admissions Policy and ArrangementsThe Governing Body has commenced consultation on proposed changes to the school’s Admission Policy to take effect from September 2015. This includes a proposed reduction of the Pupil Admission number (PAN) from 360 to 330, which will affect the Year 7 student intake from that school year onwards.

The consultation period will run from 16th December 2013 for 8 weeks until Friday 7th February 2014, during which time feedback will be welcomed from parents/carers and other interested parties. The proposed policy can be viewed via the school’s website www.phoenixcollegiate.org or copies may be requested direct from school.

All comments/questions and requests for information should be forwarded to Vanessa Nevin, H.R. Manager, by email at [email protected] or in writing to the South Campus address. All representations will be considered by the Governing Body in due course.

Vanessa NevinH.R.Manager

UniformWe continue to strive to be the smartest school in the area and again ask for your support in ensuring your child wears the correct uniform. Could I please remind you that Hoodies, Trainers and more than one stud earring are not acceptable.

Halloween partyOn Thursday 24th October, sixth formers organised a Halloween fancy dress party to raise money for the upcoming prom in 2014. Head girl Amy Higginson 13I and Jess Botfield 13I organised the fancy dress success along with some fellow Year 13 students.



Online ForumWatch out for our new parent forum, which will be available for parent comments via the school website over the next coming months. Below are some of the early online consultations.

Week beginning: 02/12/13 Behaviour

20/01/14 Pastoral support for your child

10/02/14 The Curriculum

03/03/14 Career advice and guidance

It is an easy opportunity for you to post what we do well or what you think we need to improve on.

Courses currently running here at The Phoenix Collegiate

Step into GCSE Maths

Step into GCSE English

Step into Childcare

Level 2 Children Young People’s Workforce

ESOL

Changes Parenting Course

(open to all parents and the local community)

New for January is Step into Administration. This starts 13th January 2014 9.30-12.30 for 22 weeks and places are available.

You will learn about:

Working in business and administration

Creating business documents and text production

Using office equipment

On successful completion of the course you will be awarded a nationally recognised ABC certificates in all the elements of the course that you pass.

Did you know that Phoenix Collegiate have holiday provision? Next holiday club is February half term, 9.30-3.00pm, £5 per day per child, ages 4-12. A packed lunch is required.

Come along, get fit and have fun with your child! Netball for adults and children aged 9+ every Monday night 6.30-7.30pm, £3 per session.

Coffee Morning sessions at local primary schools where you can come along and meet new people and find out what courses/activities are going on in the area. Monday at Harvills Hawthorn, Tuesday at Moorlands Primary, Wednesday at St Mary Magdalene, Thursday at Hateley Heath Primary and Friday at St John Bosco RC Primary School. Help available with forms, application forms and referrals to outside agencies.

Do you want to learn Makaton? Sessions take place at Hateley Heath Primary School on a regular basis. Next sessions will be in January 2014.

For further information on all of the above please contact Michelle Hellend, Development Worker on 0796648548 or contact school.

First Parents Council MeetingWednesday 22nd January 2014

Watch out for further information!

LPPAThe school continues its work towards achieving this National Award and we hope you will have noticed some of the ways we have attempted to improve parent engagement over the last year. This may have included the parent classes which are running out of the recently equipped family learning room, the Year 11 intervention evening, the family learning event with Y7 transition, the feedback questionnaires available at all parent evenings to name just a few.

Over the next couple of months we will be rolling out our parent council, online parent forums and newly updated parent/pupil website.

As previously mentioned should you wish to work with the school or its improvements either through joining the parent council, becoming a parent governor or simply attending a parent forum group, please contact the school.

Phoenix Anti Bullying weekThis year thanks to continued promotion throughout the week over three times as many students took part in the national survey compared to last year with the degree of genuine bullying incidents remaining at a similar low level to last year with positive feedback about the success of resolution.

This year for the first time we opened up a parent forum on the website to allow direct feedback from parents which again provided positive comments about the school’s anti bullying actions with also some suggestions for improvement. The pastoral team will follow up any issues raised directly with parents.

We continue to strive to achieve the National Quality Award for Anti Bullying which contains 10 strict criteria to gain the award. Bullying features regularly in the discussions carried out by the school council.

Bullying and our response remains a top priority at Phoenix with cyber bullying mirroring the national trend as the top reported issue in genuine bullying cases.

We continue to educate our young people in distinguishing between genuine bullying and a ‘fall out’ to ensure the figure for cases reported and dealt with remain accurate.

Bullying is not tolerated at Phoenix and we will continue to work as one big team to beat the bully.


Miscellaneous

Special Educational Needs Changes 2014

Raising money for a school defibrillatorOn Thursday 17th October we held a Halloween cake and biscuit sale in the Library.

There were lots of different cup cakes with various toppings such as eyeballs black cats and orange and green spiders. The homemade biscuits were made into different shapes to include pumpkins coffins and bats.

A big thank you to staff and pupils who supported this sale as we managed to raised £85 towards a defibrillator for school.

More fund raising for our defibrillator…On Sunday 24th November we did a fund raising bag pack at Morrisons Wednesbury to raise more money towards our school defibrillator.

It was a lovely day but very tiring as it was very busy, due to lots of people doing their Christmas shopping. Armed with Christmas hats and big buckets a team of 5 sixth form pupils and a number of our lovely staff that changed over throughout the day managed to successfully pack thousands of bags of shopping for the customers.

Very generous local people doing their shopping in store donated a staggering total of £851.43.

The kind support of Morrisons together with the generous donations from shoppers and the caring staff who kindly donated their precious time allowed this to be a wonderful outcome for Phoenix as we have now enough money to purchase a defibrillator.

To all the people who did anything to support this THANK YOU SO MUCH

Pupil support hosts NHS Information Day

This term we have been lucky enough to have NHS staff visit the Pupil Support Department of Phoenix Collegiate. The sessions inform pupils how to contact the appropriate services they may need as adults.

From September 2014 the government is changing the whole process of SEN Education. This is the first comprehensive change of SEN provision in 30 years. Although we are still waiting for the Government to confirm exactly what is to change, we know that the changes will not only change the language of SEN, but also how the parties supporting children carry out their duties.

To help parents and children come to terms with these changes, we at Phoenix will hold a pupil SEN Conference on the morning of 26th March 2014, we will follow this with two Parent / Carer Conferences - both on the 26th March 2014 - one at 2.30pm till 3.30pm and a second at 4.30pm till 5.30pm. If you wish to attend these Parents /Carer Conferences, please inform Phoenix Collegiate SEN Dept on extension 124.

Wear it Pink – Breast cancer campaignStaff and pupils at Phoenix joined the hundreds of thousands of people who take part in “wear it pink” by turning Phoenix pink on Friday 25th October to raise money for the breast cancer campaign.Wear it pink supporters managed to raise £327.35 which will go a long way to help beat this disease by funding ground-breaking research.Gail Bradley won the Guess the cake sweep stake and the best dressed Member of staff went to Andy Martin. The winning cake was 'Rosy Delight'.Joseph Dee (year 7) won the pupil Guess the cake sweep stake. The winning cake was 'Buttons Galore'.A group of Year 9 pupils also organised and performed in a music concert to raise money for this charity. Congratulations to them for raising the roof and over £55!


Sports Update

Black Country School Games Volleyball teams

KS4 BadmintonThe KS4 Badminton team came third on Tuesday 15th October in the Sandwell tournament, the pupils worked really hard as a team and showed a lot determination throughout, developing their skills all the way through the tournament.

The players who represented the school are; Iqubalpreet Sigh, Rajeev Ram, Gurvinder Sign and Nathan Abraham.

The pupils in the attached photos competed in the year 9/10 Volleyball finals at the Black Country Games recently. Both teams came 7th overall, playing some fantastic Volleyball against top teams from Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell and Wolverhampton. The pupils showed a lot of determination and their level of play improved throughout the tournament with some really pleasing performances.

Well done to all those involved and thank you to Miss Legarska who has coached them throughout the year.

Phoenix Festival of Sport sponsored by Asda - July 5th 2013Four primary schools took part in the festival; Priory, Penny Hill, Hateley Heath and Hall Green.

160 primary pupils from year 3-6 took part in a Dance warm up, indoor athletics competition, Basketball and Dodgeball. The event was run by 12 sports leaders; Sam Miller, Shannon Sloan, Toni Aston, Aleisha Lawley, Chris Evans, Colby Barnsley, Ben Gibson, Daniel Hickman and Lewis Botfield.

The event was sponsored by Asda (Walsall) who came with over £200 of refreshments, bottles of water and fruit. All the Sports leaders got an Asda Active t-shirt. The winning team was Hall Green, students gained both individual medals and a trophy.


Sports Update

Indoor athletics teamThe Indoor athletics team competed on Thursday 17th October at Tipton Sports academy with a lot of pupils making their first appearance for the school. The pupils showed a lot of promise in their efforts.

Their attitude and positive approach was great to witness with some very encouraging performances.

Well done to all those involved.

6th Form- Community Sports Leaders Award and Higher Sports Leaders AwardThis ran on Enrichment day Thursday 14th November. A Fantastic number of students took part, 31 in total. The students took it in turns to lead each other in games, warm ups and activities. It was an enjoyable day and a credit to the school.

Indoor athleticsThese girls represented Phoenix at indoor athletics in November.

They were really well behaved, supportive and really showed Phoenix at its best light. Some fantastic performances.

Congratulations!

NetballThe following students represented the school against RSA on 14th November 2013.

The u16 in green won 12-3

The u14 in red won 13-0

They were really well behaved, were great sports women and very gracious in their win.

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