Tile Cross talk Spring 2017

www.tisbham.org

Welcome to Tile Cross Academy!It is my great pleasure to announce that the school successfully joined the Washwood Heath Multi Academy Trust on 1st May 2017. This is fantastic news for the school and the local community as we continue on our journey to make the school the best place it can possibly be.

It has been a time of great celebration at the school as we have remembered The International School and reflected on some of our wonderful experiences here. Many thanks must go to Mr Hutchinson, Ms Gray and all the performers who made our last ever ‘International’s Got Talent’ show so spectacular. It really was a fitting send off for the school so close to so many of our hearts.

As we transition to Tile Cross Academy there are some key dates for your diary:

1. Friday 12th May: Deadline for applications for parent governors. Please read the information later in this newsletter about how to apply for this vital and rewarding role at the school.

2. Wednesday 5th July: Tile Cross Academy community afternoon, 3.30-5.30pm. As part of our Armed Forces day celebrations, together with TS Stirling Sea Cadets Corps, we will be inviting all the local community on to site to hear about all the exciting developments at Tile Cross Academy and participate in military themed activities provided by the armed forces. There will also be a free BBQ cooked by our new school based cadets corps!

3. Friday 14th July: Tile Cross uniform distribution. As part of pupil review day when parents are invited in to school to look back on the previous year, we will also be looking forward to September with the issuing of your free Tile Cross Academy embroidered blazer, tie and PE polo shirt. There will also be advice and guidance on the correct uniform needed for September.

Please keep the afternoon of Friday 8th September afternoon free as this will be the official grand opening of Tile Cross Academy. We are expecting many distinguished guests and much celebration. More details to follow in our summer newsletter.

WELCOME Car free siteAs part of the redevelopment of the site we have just had a new bicycle parking shelter fitted. We want to encourage greener ways to travel to school and encourage our pupils to lead healthy lifestyles. This is positioned at the front of the car park at school.As a result we will become a car free site from Monday 8th May. The car park will only be open to staff, official school visitors and contractors. The car park will not be open for drop-off or pick-up from school by parents. There are many areas near the school where you can safely park and we encourage you to find a regular meeting point that suits you. Please remember that it is a motoring offence to park on the zig-zags outside the front of school on Gressel Lane.

We thank you in advance for respecting this decision which has the safety of our pupils paramount.

Mr C EtheridgeHeadteacher

the official newsletter for The Tile Cross Academy

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Nelson Mandela

Life is an echo – What you send out comes back. Chinese Proverb

I would like to invite you to stand for election as a Parent Governor at the newly formed Tile Cross Academy.

The Local Governing Body along with the Head of Academy has overall responsibility for the running of the school. The role of a School Governor is to contribute towards the work of the Local Governing Body to ensure high standards of achievement for all the children and young people in the school.

The role of Parent Governor can be demanding but rewarding. Governors both support and challenge the school, supporting the school to move forward and implementing improvements.

The successful candidates would be expected to spend between 10 and 20 days per school year on governing duties including attending meetings, reading reports and visiting school.

You will be expected to agree a Governors’ Code of Conduct, and to have:• A strong commitment to the role and improving

outcomes for children• The inquisitiveness to question and analyse

FROM OUR GOVERNORS

Tile Cross talkrecently met all our partners for a planning meeting in Amsterdam.

French Exchange TripsThe school is very proud to have received a £5,000 grant from the British Council to visit our partner school in Paris. This allowed 11 pupils and two staff to visit Lycée des métiers Armand Guillaumin for a week in September. During the week the pupils worked together on art projects, sport, health and social care, and child care, as well as visiting the National Assembly and Panthéon. The theme of the project has been British and French national values.

In November our French partners visited us and engaged in similar activities including an overnight trip to London with tours of the Imperial War Museum and St Paul’s Cathedral.

Visit by Italian TeachersIn November we were very pleased to be able to host two teachers from our partner school in Turin. They came to visit us to examine how we teach children with English as an additional language as well as comparing the English and Italian education systems. They also very much enjoyed a meeting with our many Italian speaking pupils.

Cadet Expansion Programme

The International School has been specifically targeted by the Department for Education and the Ministry of Defence to become part of the Cadet Expansion Programme. As part of this the school will become partners with TS Sterling in Shard End so that pupils can join the Sea Cadets and Royal Marine Cadets. Through the programme instructors will come into school once a week to assist school staff to deliver an exciting after school programme of activities. The cadets will enjoy enormous opportunities to learn new skills and attend residential experiences at Royal Naval bases.Cadets and officers from TS Sterling joined us at our cultural event at school before half term.

Cadets and officers from TS Sterling joined us at our cultural event at school before half term.

• The willingness to learn• Good inter-personal skills• Appropriate levels of literacy in English• Sufficient numeracy skills to understand basic data.

If you are interested and would like to know a little more please feel free to make an appointment to meet with me via my PA Clare Holmes. She can be contacted on either 0121 566 6405 or via e-mail at clare.holmes@internationalsch.org.uk.

If you would like to stand for election please complete the nomination form (found at the back of this newsletter) and return it to school no later than Friday 12th May 2017. You should include a personal statement to support your nomination.

If there are more nominations than vacancies the election will be by secret ballot on Monday 22nd May. If that is necessary, voting papers, including your personal statements, will be sent to all parents with details of the ballot procedure.

Alcoa Kitts Green

A very generous grant of £2301.85 from Alcoa Kitts Green has enabled the English Department to buy specialist media technology for their after school media club and the Technology Department to buy a 3D printer and die cutter.

Birmingham to Bergen-Belsen - Liberating the RomaOctober saw the completion of our £19,000 Armed Forces Covenant Scheme project exploring the role played by the British Army in liberating prisoners from the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp at the end of the Second World War. The final visit in the project involved 20 pupils and three staff flying to Germany for four days during which they visited the site of the concentration camp and other historical memorials. The whole project was recorded in a professionally made video which was shown for the first time at our International Cultural Event before half term in front of the Lord Mayor and our MP, Liam Byrne. The video can be watched here: https://vimeo.com/188289378

Erasmus + Project ‘Everybody is Special – You only have to see it’The school has been successful in joining another Erasmus+ schools partnership project with a grant for more than 20,000 Euros. The project will last two years and is aimed at raising awareness of disability equality issues. Pupils and staff will have the opportunity to visit our partners in Hungary, Spain, Malta and Turkey. To help set things up Mr Mackintosh and Miss Brett

INTERNATIONAL LINKS

Spring 2017Erasmus + Visit to BirminghamIn late October it was our turn to host our European partner schools involved in our international project ‘Listen Stories engaging in the past– World War Two’. We have received a grant of 23 Euros for this two year project which has already involved staff and pupils visiting Romania, Croatia, and Turkey. During a packed programme the group met the Lord Mayor of Birmingham at the Council House, visit the RAF Museum at Cosford, paid their respects to British and German war dead at the cemeteries at Cannock Chase, visited the National Memorial Arboretum and then travelled to London to tour the Churchill War Rooms and visit a Chelsea Pensioner.

Whilst in Birmingham another highlight was an international cultural evening during which all the schools performed a drama piece they had created to do with the Second World War. The next visit will involve five pupils and two members of staff heading to Turkey in April 2017.

Visit by Pakistan Scouts Cadet CollegeOur partner school from Pakistan were also able to join us for the Erasmus+ visit we hosted in October. Being a military school the pupils were very interested in the subjects we covered and made their own contribution to the cultural evening with a performance of traditional Pakistani dance. Our relationship is through the British Council’s ‘Connecting Classrooms’ programme and both schools hope to secure grant funding to maintain the link at the next round in 2017.

During the visit to the National Memorial Arboretum, the cadets proudly wore their uniform whilst the principal, Brigadier (retd) Abdul Hafeez lay a wreath at the memorial to the Baloch Regiment of Pakistan.The Annual Commonwealth Service

The school were extremely lucky to be granted ten tickets to the annual service at Westminster Abbey in March this year. The group had excellent seats in the Naïve and saw the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, and other senior members of the Royal Family at close range. The Prime Minister was also there.

Visit by Berlin Partner SchoolIn the week before half term in February we were privileged to host 12 students and two staff from our partner school in Berlin. This was the second leg of an exchange that had seen Mr Hutchinson and Miss Uppal lead a visit to Berlin last summer. The theme of the visit was World War One and included a number of visits including to the British and German war cemetery at Cannock Chase and an overnight trip to London to visit the Imperial War Museum and St Paul’s Cathedral. Whilst in school they worked with the technology

We are delighted to have a large number of our Year 11 students coming to school to begin their mathematics intervention at 8:00am!!! The mathematics department have begun interventions with Year 11 just before Easter and will run all the way until the end of the students GCSE exams. These sessions will run on Monday and Tuesday from 8:00am in various classrooms in the department. All of the students are treated to a light breakfast consisting of a piece of toast and a juice drink. The feedback and attendance so far has been brilliant. Well done Year 11, keep it up!

YEAR 11 EARLY MORNING RISERS!

To celebrate World Book Day, five Year 7 pupils entered the nationwide competition ‘500 Words’ run by BBC Radio 2. The competition required entrants to create an original short story, with a limit of 500 words. All five pupils committed themselves to creating imaginative and unique tales.

Well done to: Maximus Wiltshire; Lidia Capitan; Muhammad Raza; Chloe Slater and Mahedy Basher, who were awarded a certificate, signed by BBC Radio 2’s Chris Evans, in assembly.

YEAR 7 BUDDING AUTHORS

department to make their own poppies and composed a song in Music.

Future International EventsFebruary – partner school visit from Berlin!March – Five pupils and two staff to visit Hungary!April – Five pupils and two staff to visit Istanbul!May – Five pupils and two staff to visit Barcelona!May – Four staff to visit Berlin!

Students in early intervention sessions for maths

Year 8‘Terrifying Tectonics’ was the first topic, which explored the fascinating world of earthquakes and volcanoes. The students also got a chance to investigate Alfred Wegener’s theory of ‘Continental Drift’ and explore the compelling evidence. ‘Planet People’ was the second topic in Year 8, which delved into the study of population, settlement and migration. Students were challenged to understand why we are distributed around the world in the pattern we are and why there are such differences in our quality of life. The upcoming topic of ‘Resourceful Rivers’ will not only look at the journey of a river from source to mouth and the devastation that flooding can cause, but also how rivers can be managed and become a useful resource for mankind.

With British Science Week falling during last term we were busy with lots of exciting activities in lesson and extra enrichment activities.

HS2 STEM DayIn collaboration with the DT department we hosted a STEM day delivered by Smallpiece trust for 60 of Year 9 students. Students were tasked with designing a new train from scratch, from making the motor, designing the chassis and producing marketing materials. There was fantastic team work shown throughout the day and engineering, problem solving and presenting skills developed.

Congratulations to the victorious team, ‘SuperNinjas’; Naomi Ion, Mariana Gogoro, Sara Amar, Sefora Dobre, Aicha Ben Khayi and Pushpita Ghosh, who showed fantastic determination and resilience throughout the day, starting from scratch to reproduce two hours of work after their initial prototype broke in the middle of the day.

Big Bang FairAn annual event, 26 of our Year 10 students benefited from a trip to the Big Bang Fair at the NEC. We started the day by watching the ‘BodyHacking’ show and were treated to a whizz-bang gruesome trip through the digestive system, including smelling and exploding farts! Students then had the opportunity to visit over 150 stalls of interactive activities and talk to scientists and engineers from some of the biggest companies in Britain.

Students at the NEC Big Bang FairThis was an invaluable opportunity for some of our students to start to plan their potential careers as future scientists.

Geography DepartmentThe geography department is introducing a range of new exciting topics at Key Stage 3. The aim is for students to develop their knowledge of Human and Physical Geography, whilst studying a range of different countries from around the world. Below is an account of what students have been studying so far this year.

Year 7The first theme of the year was the induction topic of ‘Access All Areas’. Students developed their map skills and improved their geographical knowledge and awareness on a range of scales. We moved onto our second topic of ‘Whatever the Weather’, which introduced students to the interesting study of climates. This new found knowledge is very useful at the moment as the students are currently studying two contrasting ecosystems in the third topic, ‘Ridiculous Rainforests vs. Desperate Deserts. Finally, we will look into the impact of a changing global climate in ‘Global Warning’.

NEWS FROM HUMANITIES

Tile Cross talkSCIENCE SPRING TERM Alien Genetics

Mrs Mvura’s Year 9 class have been learning all about genetics and inheritance whilst creating their own alien families. They have produced some very impressive work using Punnett squares to predict genotypes and phenotypes of their baby aliens!

ParachutesMr Jones’ Year 8 class have been learning about forces and drag by creating parachutes. They have had to work in teams to discuss what makes the most effective parachute, testing their designs, evaluating and re-designing to produce the most effective parachutes.

This term, we have been lucky enough to be joined by students from France and Spain. In January, Yona Bry and Sarah Dalmasso from the IREO de Saint Fulgent in Western France spent a month working with pupils across all year groups as part of their work experience placement.

In February, we were lucky to host Alexandre Gouttequillet and Noeline Tournadre from the Lycee Clement Ader , near Rouen for a four week placement. They have worked in administration as well as providing language sessions for the GCSE French group.In addition, the school is delighted to host Irene García Orts, our Spanish Comenius Assistant who joined us in February and is supporting pupils in both Spanish and Italian. Irene comes from Alicante and will be with us for four months.

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Tile Cross talk

Primary SpanishAmtul Sabooh in Year 9 has produced an A-Z in Spanish to help primary school pupils to learn basic vocabulary.Her booklet is being given to our primary feeder schools to encourage language learning.

Spring 2017

Religious EducationRE after-school revision sessions have been running for the past 8 weeks. They take place on Tuesday and Friday. Many thanks to Ms Nabila Shah who has and continues to generously give up two hours of her time per week to facilitate these sessions. The impact of the initiative is evident in the students’ own evaluation.

“I got a ‘D’ the mock exam last week. I always get ‘E’ or lower grade so that is good because of the revision.” Mujeeb Ullah

“I now understand the questions more after the revision sessions that I been to.” Shuq Abdalla

“The revision sessions helped me and improved my grades, 2+ grades up.” Sulayman Mahamed

Thanks again to both attending pupils and Ms Shah for their efforts.

Child CareTen Year 11 Child Care students attended the Apprenticeship Crackerjack Roadshow in Birmingham on 9th March 2017. They looked at the difference between Study Programmes, Traineeships and Apprenticeships. They also looked at the qualifications needed and the different levels of study. All students had a great time completing fun activities which are now displayed in the classroom and entering competitions.

Students working with one of our visitors

The International School wins the M&C Saatchi & Kitbox Marketing Challenge 2017The International School is celebrating after winning the M&C Saatchi & Kitbox Marketing Challenge 2017.

Kitbox is a social enterprise that provides unique opportunities for students to gain the experiences, skills and enterprising attitude they need to kick start their careers. Each year, Kitbox school teams are paired with members of the M&C Saatchi graduate scheme and presented with the task of developing an integrated campaign for their Kitbox business. After weeks of mentoring and hard work, the teams went to London to present to leaders from M&C Saatchi including Chairman Tim Duffy.

Year 10 students from the International School were the youngest Kitbox contenders to date and rose to the challenge in competing with mainly sixth formers and year 11 students from schools in London and Birmingham. Teams presented their three-box thinking including a “consumer truth” (the need of their customers) – their own “brand truth” (a unique insight about their business that solves that consumer problem) and their overall ‘proposition” (their big idea and creative inspiration) – teams then demonstrated their creative ideas to the panel of judges.

Praise flooded in from the judging panel for the quality of the strategy and thinking. Everyone was equally impressed by the ideas developed by the young teams, which included viral videos, inspired drawings, live performance commercials with a friendly protest in school against, “boring day long uniform shopping

IT AND BUSINESS STUDIES

Tile Cross talkTile Cross talk

The Silver and Bronze DofE students had their first practice walk on Saturday 4th March. This was an opportunity to put their newly learnt navigation skills into practice in an unknown environment. All five groups successfully found their way round the route with only a few minor diversions. Some students quickly learnt that sometimes trying to take a short cut is not always worth the effort, much to the amusement of the rest of the group and the staff! Thanks must go to Miss Brett and Ms Mohammed for giving up their time to help out and also to some Year 10/11 Silver volunteers, Katie, Chardenay, Kane, Aziz, Estera and Lidia, who gave up their Saturday to gain hours for their volunteering section and who either sat on a check point or assisted other groups.

A PE UPDATE

Students on their practice walk

MAC World Music ProjectOn Monday 27th March, ten of our pupils performed three musical compositions at the MAC Centre in Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham. The evening celebrated Birmingham’s diverse musical cultures, led by renowned local composer Sid Peacock with a new eclectic world music ensemble comprised of professional musicians and students. We were one of three secondary schools involved in the six week project where students composed their own musical pieces. Students were outstanding in their enthusiasm and commitment to the project and the evening was very well received.

Tile Cross Academy Textiles ProjectStudents in Year 9 and 10 sought to make something to symbolise the transition of our school into Tile Cross

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

around town with parents,” from the winners at the International School in Birmingham winning the day.Mr Arif the Head of the Business and Computing Faculty said “It was great to see the confidence and enthusiasm of our students. It’s no mean feat coming to the capital and presenting to M & C Saatchi managers, who are leaders in advertising.”

There were winners in categories ranging from best creative, strategy and presenting, but the champions at The International School get to bring their idea to life with the creative team at M&C Saatchi in the coming weeks. M & C Saatchi Chairman Tim Duffy commented that “The creative industries are the UK’s most vibrant sector. If the entrepreneurial zeal and creativity of these students is anything to go by, our future is going to be in very good hands.”

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

The tile Cross Quilt!

Academy and have been working incredibly hard on producing a large quilt. Each student was given a square of denim and complete creative freedom in how they wanted to represent each subject within the school using a vast range of decoration techniques they had been taught. The end result was showcased at the end of term talent show. Huge congratulations to the students’ fantastic efforts in producing such a colourful piece that represents everything we love about our school.

Registered Company No: 08531479

NOMINATIONFORMfortheelectionofparentgovernors

PleaseenterINBLOCKLETTERSthenameandaddressofthepersonbeingnominatedforelection:

Name:___________________________________________________________________

Address:

_________________________________________________________________________

Signatureofpersonnominated:________________________________________________

Signatureofproposer(ifdifferenttonominee):____________________________________

NameandaddressinBLOCKlettersofproposer(ifdifferenttonominee):

_________________________________________________________________________

Pleasecompleteyourpersonalstatementonthereverseofthisnominationform.

Thereisnolimitonthelengthofthisstatement,however,weencouragecandidatestoreadthenominationlettercarefullyandbesuccinctwhensettingouttheskills,experienceandattributesthattheycanbringtotheLGBtosupporttheirnomination.

Yourpersonalstatementwillbeprovidedtoeachpersonwhoiseligibletovote.

Completednominationformsmustbereturnedtotheschoolby12thMay2017

NOMINATION FORM for the election of parent governors

Please enter IN BLOCK LETTERS the name and address of the person being nominated for election:

Name:

Address:

Signature of person nominated:

Signature of proposer (if different to nominee):

Name and address in BLOCK letters of proposer (if different to nominee):

Please complete your personal statement on the reverse of this nomination form.

There is no limit on the length of this statement, however, we encourage candidates to read the nomination letter carefully and be succinct when setting out the skills, experience and attributes that they can bring to the LGB to support their nomination.

Your personal statement will be provided to each person who is eligible to vote.

Completed nomination forms must be returned to the school by 12th May 2017

Tile Cross talk

Personal Statement:

I wish to submit my nomination for the election of staff governor.

I confirm (i) that I am willing to stand as a candidate for election as a parent governor and (ii) that I am not disqualified from holding office for any of the reasons set out in the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012.

Signature

Date: