BARTLEY GREEN SCHOOL Term 5 The Owl Newsletter June 2018 THE WINNING BIG FORM DRAW ENTRIES IN THIS ISSUE Bear walls by Laura, Y9 Y10 Cup winners The final term will start to see the fantastic entries this year s Big Form Draw grace the walls of Bartley Green. As usual there were some fantastic and thought-provoking entries to what is, form many, one of the highlights of the BGS year. Forms competed to design Our Bear on a topical theme that is important to the students. Varied themes Organiser, Mr Teli told The Owl every year I m blown away by the effort, creativity and imagination of our students and this year was one of the best ever. Themes ranged from metal health, Cancer Research, gender equality, and global warming to recycling, again proving that not only is this a great opportunity for forms to work together to express their ideas but also a unique reflection of the issues that students feel are the most important concerns. Judging The onerous duty of selecting a winner falls, as ever, to Mrs Chan who acknowledges that is it a duty she approaches with mixed views. She told The Owl while I love to see all the fantastic art work on display, picking the top three, let alone a winner, is daunting as I know so much hard work goes into all the pieces. Congratulations However, after much thoughtful deliberation, this year s winning entry was 7TDW s Ro-Bart Bear, a celebration of recycling using a range of materials. Mr Dowling was thrilled with the win commenting that it was really a group effort. Where did their inspiration come from? Grace and Deen told The Owl we had the idea of using different materials and the theme of the bear really grew from that. It took a lot of effort from everyone in the Form but we are very proud of Ro-Bart. Does Mr Teli know what next year s theme will be? If he does, he s not sharing it with us! Y10s capped a great season with a thrilling cup final win Page 3 Visiting WW1 Battlefields History comes to life for two lucky students Page 5
THE OWL NEWSLETTER Issue 4 2 Y9s get GCSE ready by Riley, Y9 Y9 is a vital year for students at BGS as they lay the foundation for their GCSE studies in Y10. Most subjects start the GCSE content in Y9 which helps students, who make their subject choices at the end of the year, decide. However, selecting which subjects to study for GCSE is a hard choice for many students to make. Life after BGS To get our students thinking about the world of higher education that is available to pupils after leaving Bartley Green, there have been a series of trips to Halesowen College where students have had the opportunity to take part in a series of special workshops. makeup. It s something I ve been interested in, but I didn t really have much idea of what was involved or what I d need to do, so it was a really useful experience for me. Enjoying college life interesting, and they gave me a useful insight into college life. Now, all pupils in Year 9 have selected their options for next year, and as their GCSEs draw ever closer, they are already thinking about life beyond Bartley Green School, and how they would like to further their education and progress to the jobs they desire. Our thanks go to the team at Halesowen who have put together such an inspirational programme for our students and given them another great incentive to work hard for their GCSEs. BGS students enjoying their Halesowen College experience This has helped them to understand what lessons in college are like, and at the same time getting experience of further education in certain subjects, such as music or art and design, which has helped some of our students confirm their GCSE choices. One of our students, Faith, who participated in the trips told The Owl the trips made me consider going to college to pursue a career in hair and College Life During the trips, our students were given a tour of the college where they were able to take a look at the different facilities available to college students, including the gym and café. In addition, they took part in several workshops across a wide range of subjects, such as animal care, which was very popular with our students. In the workshop they worked as teams to create a design for a pet carrier for a dog, having first measured the pet to ensure that it had enough room. The ability to engage in such practical projects was something many particularly enjoyed. Students also enjoyed some hands-on experience repairing computers and working out how they are put together. Another of the participants, Saffron, explained that I found the trips very BGS students getting stuck in
THE OWL NEWSLETTER Issue 4 3 Three Cup winning football teams by Hannah, Y9 and Ellie, Y9 The BGS footballers have had a remarkable term. The success started in April when a team of Y7 and Y8 girls entered a tournament at the University of Birmingham, winning four and losing one of their games meaning that they were crowned overall winners. A great team performance all round with Scarlett and Madison playing well in each game. The Y10 boys beat Shenley 5-1 in the quarter final of their tournament with Chris, Callum and Jamie having particularly dominant games, before beating Kings Norton 3-2 in the semifinal in a close match. Having lost to Kings Norton for the past three years, this was a sign that this could be a winning year for the team and so it proved. The final against Wheelers Lane was predictably close, with a scoreless first half. Shortly after halftime, we went behind but thanks to some inspirational leadership from Joe we ended up winning by a convincing margin of 4-1 to lift the District Cup. Can there be anything more satisfying that winning the final of a football competition? Well, the Y7s might think there is because not only did they win the final 2-1, but they beat our local rivals Shenley in the final. Having beaten Kings Norton 4-1 on the way to the final, the match against Shenley was a close affair. All looked to be going our way at half time as we sat on a two goal lead, but huge credit to our rivals for coming back in the second half leading to a fantastic defensive performance with Nelson and Ethan both having exceptional games. Nelson told The Owl it was a hard game they had some really big players! Although Shenley did manage to grab a goal back, we held on to lift the Y7 District cup for the first time since 1996 long before any of the team were even born! They ended the season unbeaten, having drawn just one game. What a fantastic season. Y8s lost in the semi-final to Bishops Challenor but not before a satisfying 10-0 victory over Dame Elizabeth Cadbury in the quarter final. The girls netball team enjoyed the annual tour, finishing fourth in the competition. However, the best part of it was the team building activities according to Laura. She told The Owl it s a great opportunity to meet different players at different schools and even though we didn t win, the team bonded together really well and we had a fantastic time. I loved the squad photo but best of all was just really getting to know our team with players from different years. I m sure it will be one of my favourite memories of BGS when I leave. The girls netball tour Y7 Cup winners did we mention we beat Shenley in the final?
THE OWL NEWSLETTER Issue 4 4 Royally Entertained by Bethany, Y9 To celebrate the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry to Megan Markle, a team of BGS students, led my Miss Smitherman, put on a wonderful lunchtime party for 100 local residents. The GCSE exam desks were swiftly replaced by bunting and sandwiches as locals thoroughly enjoyed a lunch and entertainment including bingo and prizes. One of the helpers, Prisca told The Owl it s been such a lovely event. Everyone has been so happy, and they are certainly enjoying themselves. It really is so sweet to see so many happy faces. One guest told us, we were thrilled to be invited. It is so nice that you have thought of us. The food has been excellent and we ve all had a terrific time, but what has really made it so special has been the friendly young faces of everyone who has helped out. They should be applauded for their kindness and friendliness. Well done Bartley Green. Thank you again for involving us. Y7/Y8 Disco The party theme continued towards the end of term when a group of Y10s organized a disco evening for the Y7s and Y8s to help raise money for a trip to Paris later in the year. Raising well over 350 pounds, Cleo told The Owl it s great that we have found a way to raise money by people enjoying themselves although I m not sure the staff were so keen on the music choices! Well done to the Y10s for putting on such a great event, and special mention to Kamai who volunteered his time to help out, even though he is not going on the French trip. Celebrating the Royal Wedding with the community
THE OWL NEWSLETTER Issue 4 5 Faculty Focus: History by Claire, Y8 The First World War Centenary has been marked by the past four years by offering the opportunity for two students and one teacher from every state funded secondary school in England to visit battlefields on the Western Front. The battlefield tours are a key part of the Government s plans to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. BGS were given the opportunity to participate this year so the History department ran a competition to select the two students for this fantastic, once in a life time opportunity. Eventually, two winners were selected out of the 120 entries for this wonderful experience and Louise and Anthony set off, accompanied by Miss Thomas for a trip that none of them is likely to forget. The first destination was Essex Farm. During the First World War this had been an Aid station just behind the front line and was the place where the poem In Flanders Fields was written. The group then visited an excavated trench which really gave the students a sense of what it must have been like for the soldiers there. As Anthony pointed out some of the soldiers would not have been much older than we are now. It s a chilling thought. The group went on to visit a German and a British War Cemetery. The students were struck by the differences between the two and there was a great deal of interesting discussion and Miss Thomas was particularly impressed by the intelligent questions from our two historians. The final stop for the afternoon was the museum in Ypres reconstructed Medieval Cloth Hall. The museum entitled In Flanders Fields has a huge range of excellent exhibitions covering so many different aspects of the war. Students were interested in the weapons used; the equipment soldiers had to carry; and models of the battlefields. Louise and Anthony were able to handle some of the weapons used in the War an experience that really brought the past to life for both of them. After dinner the group proceeded to the Menin Gate to observe and participate in the Last Post Ceremony which has been held almost every night since WW1. It is hosted by the Ypres Fire Brigade and we were fortunate enough to be given the privilege of laying two wreathes of remembrance before returning home. Louise told The Owl I feel very luck to have had this opportunity. It really makes you realise that history isn t something written in a text book it s real. It affected real people in real places. I don t think I ll ever forget this trip. Miss Thomas and the historians pay their respects in the British Cemetery while Louise gets to grips with some WW1 ammunition