Out of the Blue - Winter 2014

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The Blue Coat School Founded by the Church of England in 1722

Food, glorious food!

Pre-Prep tread the boards

Spotlight on the School’s Catering Manager

Pre-Prep’s spectacular Christmas productions

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Head First The new School Year sprang into being in September with a new Reception Area (at last we are now entering the Viney Building through its proper entrance!), a re-conceived Auditorium (where, thanks to the tiered seating, everybody can see what’s happening on stage), several new and talented members of staff, and lots of new (and equally talented) children. Since then, three action-packed months have passed - to which the following pages bear eloquent and attractive witness.

Perhaps the most significant project this term has been our commemoration of the Centenary of the Great War. Although we could not quite muster the 888, 246 poppies that graced the Tower of London, we were thrilled to work with artist Stephen Whitehead to create a striking display that lined the School’s front path, together with an exquisitely-formed copper wreath. Particular thanks go to Mrs Lynn and Mrs Lambert-Green for spearheading such an unforgettable undertaking. Read on!

Alan Browning, Headmaster

Term Round-up It has been another bumper term, crammed full of a multitude of activities from start to finish. Indeed, holiday suitcases had barely been unpacked before Summer School jump-started Year 6 brains into action in anticipation of the children’s 11+ exams. Much still lies ahead for the children – but the early signs are promising!

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However, as we know, Blue Coat is about so much more than excellent academic results. Children in Prep were enthralled by visiting author Ali Sparkes, and those in Year 6 ventured out onto the streets of Birmingham for a ‘Field’ Trip to learn more about our fabulous city.

Year 5 were transported back to the Victorian Age at Ironbridge Gorge Museum, and Year 4 sampled life down on Umberslade Farm. Not to be outdone, Year 3 pupils headed off to the Barber Institute, having previously welcomed Roman soldiers to the campus.

Pre-Prep have also had a really busy term. Year 1 explored History Off the Page’s wonderful travelling museum, full of amazing old toys.

Puzzle Day was a great success, taxing minds and teaching teamwork.

Harvest was celebrated in fine rural style, complete with Harvest baskets and such hymns as ‘All things bright and beautiful’ and ‘A farmer’s life for me’. Conscious of the need to look beyond our own school gates, we were pleased to take the children’s Harvest gifts to the Karis Neighbourhood Centre to provide for homeless and lonely people in the area.

The superb new-look School Hall was unveiled this term, and our first Whole School Assembly saw everyone seated comfortably for the launch of Operation Christmas Child, which resulted in a generous contribution of over 300 boxes. Staff, pupils and parents old and new marvelled at the state-of-the-art facilities, which proved ideal for Open Morning, for numerous recitals, concerts and plays, and for a highly pragmatic and informative series of eSafety presentations to the entire spectrum of the Blue Coat community.

In the Spotlight Our Palmer & Howells Catering Manager, Mark Gladwin, talks about the challenges of providing food for the Blue Coat community. With 558 pupils and over 150 staff, that’s no mean feat!

Q. How long have you been Catering Manager at The Blue Coat School?

A. I started for Palmer & Howells at Blue Coat on 7th December 2009 – just in time for Christmas!

Q. How many school lunches do you think you serve a day/week/year?

A. We serve approximately 700 lunches a day, so that’s 3500 a week, which equates to a massive 132,810 in a school year!

A. All aspects really – from the children’s food to school functions. Whether that’s making sure the children are eating healthily, or educating them about the food cycle. I also enjoy the development of the Catering Team Members, so that they are learning more and achieving different qualifications.

Q. Do you have any hobbies?

A. Golf and Carp fishing. It’s a great way to get away from everything sometimes.

Q. What’s the most interesting food item you’ve had in the school?

A. We once brought a live lobster in on a Fish Theme Day so that the children could see the difference between live and cooked. It was fantastic seeing their faces, as most had never seen a live lobster before.

Q. Do you have any pets?

A. I have a Border Collie called Toby who was a rescue dog; we got him four years ago.

Q. What are you asking Father Christmas for this year?

A. A new bike!

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And here it is – Merry Christmas, Everybody! Christmas Concerts, Lunches, Parties and Pantomimes helped us enjoy the fun and festivity of the season, while sensitively-performed Nativity Plays and Carol Services reminded us of the deeper religious significance of this special time of the year.

Q. What do you enjoy most about being Catering Manager?

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Finally, the PE Department has certainly not been idle this autumn, with almost every child in Prep taking the opportunity to represent the school in a major sport.

A. Having worked in schools for over 15 years I have found from past experience that ‘Theme Days’ are a great way to get children interested in trying different foods. If the children then like the food that is served on these days, we put it on the following term’s menu.

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The Association of Friends are currently on a roll after a highly successful sell-out Fireworks Evening, several coffee mornings, and the stunning Christmas Fayre. They certainly deserved their Christmas Fizz after all the hard work, and are already plotting more activities for young and old next term!

Q. Why do we have Theme Days?

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As part of the School ethos, considerable emphasis is placed on understanding and helping others – and in the space of one week this was done in two very different ways. Building upon the ceramic poppies and beautiful copper wreath created at the Year 5 Sculpture Workshop, we held an extraordinarily moving Remembrance Service in the Chapel. After the Service, mirroring the magnificent 100th Anniversary display at the Tower of London, the Blue Coat congregation filed past our own tribute to the fallen of the Great War in respectful silence, pausing to listen to an emotive rendition of the Last Post. Days later a riotous and often ridiculous bunch of assorted ‘Superheroes’ reminded those in Prep that it was Children in Need Day.

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Pre-Prep Christmas Productions Reception and Transition Production – ‘Whoops-a-Daisy Angel’ The Reception and Transition classes gave us an amazing Christmas performance called ‘Whoops-a-Daisy Angel’. All the staff and children worked extremely hard in a short space of time to learn songs, dances and lines, telling the Christmas Story from the point of view of a very untidy and unreliable angel. Whoops-a-Daisy – brilliantly played by Amelia Smith – always seemed to struggle with such everyday angel tasks as counting snowflakes and being well turned out. One day she was given a really important job to do – to spread the message that Jesus had been born. That was when she triumphed!

The children from the Transition classes made their Blue Coat stage debuts performing dances portraying twinkling stars, swirling snowflakes and perfect angels. The Reception classes filled the roles of angels, snowflakes and the Nativity characters, as well as providing sparkly chorus dancers. The beautifully refurbished School Hall was used for the production, and the children made us all very proud.

Year 1 Production – ‘Santa’s Setbacks’

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Year 1 gave a spellbinding performance of ‘Santa’s Setbacks’, which delighted their highly appreciative audience! Present delivery was thrown into chaos when Rudolph fell ill, Santa’s clothes needed washing and the sleigh broke! Fortunately, it all came right in the end and Christmas could continue. Each child acted, sang and danced beautifully. The fabulous new stage, lights and sound were certainly used to great effect and it was an afternoon to remember.

Both visitors and staff were enthralled by the enthusiasm that Year 1 brought to the stage.

Year 2 Production – ‘Babushka’ Year 2 had a thoroughly enjoyable time performing the Nativity Play ‘Babushka’ and felt like true stars as they performed in the newlyrefurbished School Hall. The story is a traditional Russian folk tale with a very special message – ‘Everything you give with love, you give to my Son’.

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The children showed great determination in learning some very complex lines, and added humour to their performance in a most mature fashion. Music and accompaniment all added to a great experience for the children and parents, and Miss Paterson, Mr Isherwood and all the Pre-Prep staff helped the children put on a fantastic performance.

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Classroom Connection Year 6 Geography Fieldwork Trip Year 6 children had a great time as they embarked on a tour of Birmingham. They have been learning about Birmingham’s past in their Geography lessons – how the settlement has grown over the centuries

and why it was often referred to as a ‘city of a thousand trades’. Whilst they saw areas of the city they already knew, they weren’t quite as aware of the history behind them.

The children learnt about such significant figures as James Watt, William Murdoch and Matthew Boulton. The trip was very timely as it coincided with a special service held at Westminster Abbey, in honour of Matthew Boulton. A new memorial was unveiled, which sits alongside the existing memorial to James Watt, to reflect their

historic business partnership and joint contribution to British and World History.

This was a very educational trip – and the children thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the area in which they live.

Lego Mindstorms Club

Author Visit – Ali Sparkes

Lego Mindstorms continues to develop this year and has seen a full complement of club members (limited to 12 due to robot kit), who are all enjoying the challenge of building and programming robots. The big step forward has been the availability of a set of laptops, which allows the Mindstormers to connect to the Internet and explore the range of building ideas and programming guides quickly and easily.

The Prep children welcomed award-winning author, Ali Sparkes, to the School on Monday 6 November. Years 3-6 enjoyed a splendidly stimulating session as they learned all about being an author. Ali started her presentation by taking the children back in time via her “Whirly” to meet the 4-year-old Ali Sparkes. She described her childhood education and the book that switched her on to reading (Five Go to Smugglers Top by Enid Blyton), and then told the children all about her first novel, written at the age of 15 years.

Already created by the children who were part of the club last year have been a Santa and Sleigh robot, a guitar and a combination lock box. The new recruits have built a basic robot and got to grips with programming so that the robot will move in a simple manner. From these early explorations into robotics, a whole new world opens up.

Educational – and great fun. What’s not to like!

Ali’s story was certainly inspiring – and the theme running through the presentation was perseverance: never giving up, even in the toughest times. Her first few novels were rejected many times, but she never gave up, and has now written as many as 48 books to date.

A truly inspiring and charismatic character: someone we are sure the children will remember for many years to come!

Year 5 History Trip to Ironbridge Stepping off the coaches in the late summer sunshine of September 2014, we found ourselves suddenly transported into the 19th century: steam locomotives puffing smoke, horses and carts clopping along dusty roads, ladies in long skirts, men in bowlers and the delicious aroma of fresh baking bread. This was the Year 5 outing to Blists Hill Victorian town at Ironbridge!

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The weather couldn’t have been better and spirits were high as we explored the various buildings, chatted to their knowledgeable inhabitants, queued for sweets (and hot rolls), and enjoyed all the fun of the fairground. Lunch was a picnic on the grass and then, all too soon, we were rushing to finalise purchases at the gift shop before climbing aboard the Den Caney Time Machines to return to school.

The Happy Puzzle Company On Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th November, Blue Coat welcomed back ‘The Happy Puzzle Company’ for two days of entertaining puzzles and challenges. Every child from Reception to Year 6 participated in an hour-long session of imaginative activities designed to be engaging and fun whilst simultaneously promoting critical thinking skills. Activities included balancing penguins on a wobbly iceberg (or, for the older children, balancing piranhas on a wobbly chewed hat), solving tricky jigsaw puzzles with curved edges, constructing a topple tree, building a giant puzzle cube, and arranging blocks to form a bridge. The key principle in all of the sessions was the importance of team work. Cope and Jenni, our enthusiastic presenters, emphasized the skills of communication, listening, taking turns and working together. Real-world learning at its best!

GISGA Championships 2014 On Saturday 29th & 30th November The Blue Coat School was delighted to welcome the U9 National Premier Championships, and the National 2 Piece Championships. Blue Coat U9s and U10s were just two of the 73 teams entered from 29 schools in the UK, Belgium and Holland.

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In the U10 competition our highest placed individual competitor was Ruby Couzens, who attained an overall 15th out of 65 gymnasts. Ruby’s team mates, Lotti Gabriel, Jessica Whitlock, Lydia Jin and Melanie Page, showed real determination and control, with the team finishing a commendable 9th place out of 13 schools.

Saturday was the big day for the Blue Coat teams, and our girls, looking resplendent in their competition leotards, performed their floor routines and vaults to the very best of their ability. Special mention should be given to the U9s for their determination and courage. Neave Rees, Poppy Couzens, Willow McKenzie, Amy Wilson and Sofia Knight all gave sterling performances. The team eventually finished 13th out of 16 teams. This bodes well for the future, as Willow, Poppy and Neave are young enough to compete in the same age group again next year.

Musical Notes It has been another very busy term for our musicians, with a myriad of recitals, examinations and concerts giving the children a wealth of performing opportunities and a chance to impress. The Chapel Choir took part, once again, in the RSCM Schools’ Festival at St Chad’s Cathedral, and the term’s music-making culminated in a wonderfully entertaining Christmas Concert in the newly-developed School Hall.

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As the Chapel Choir made their preparations for the Advent Processional Service and Carol Service, members of the Chamber

Choir entertained parents and visitors at the fabulous Christmas Fayre. The children really loved singing ‘Let it go’ from Disney’s ‘Frozen’. We’re not sure exactly what Mr Browning thought about it, though! Have his musical tastes finally thawed out?

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The Probationers of the Chapel Choir have been working very hard all term and were all very excited to find out that they had “made the grade”. They all received their surplices at our All Saints Service in Chapel just after half term.

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Charity Check Macmillan Coffee Morning The Macmillan Coffee Morning held in Buttons Nursery on Friday 26 September was a great success, and raised a fantastic £210! Cakes of all descriptions were baked and donated, and refreshments were provided by the Catering Team. The Macmillan Scratch Poster was won by a member of staff who kindly donated the prize money to Macmillan. Thank you to everyone who came to support us and baked a cake.

Children in Need Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Cat Girl, Splat Man and many more well-known Superheroes invaded the Blue Coat School campus on Friday 14 November for our Children in Need Day. From Buttons to Prep, the corridors, classrooms and staff rooms were filled with onesies and Superhero outfits of an extraordinary nature. Four Prep Superhero teams battled it out in the Sports Hall for this year’s Superhero trophies. The hall was filled with cheers as the children admired the remarkable stamina, strength, intelligence and sporting prowess of the teams.

Throughout the day the Pre-Prep Staff organised Superhero activities such as biscuit decorating, puzzle solving and mask making, all of which were enjoyed by everyone whilst raising lots of money for Pudsey!

‘Santa’s White Vans!’

Funds raised through our “Rag Bag” collections, and donations from St. Peter’s Church, have enabled us to buy and fill two white vans with mattresses, sewing machines, school text books and many more items for the Logos Girls High School, Gokwe, Zimbabwe. We are glad to report their safe arrival at the Mission. Christmas has come early for St. Agnes!

A month later, loaded up with 340 sparkling Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes, another white van made its journey to the shoebox warehouse in Kidderminster.

These boxes will then travel thousands of miles and across six time zones before reaching their destination… the children of Kyrgyzstan. We know that they will be welcomed with open arms and provide much joy to those children and families who receive them.

Key Dates for Spring Term 2015 Term begins Tuesday 6 January at 8.30am

Prep Entrance Tests Wednesday 4 February

Second half of term begins Monday 23 February

Open Morning Saturday 24 January 10 - 12.30pm Please arrive by 11.45am

Music Scholarship Tests Wednesday 4 February

Term ends Friday 27 March at 11.45am

Half-Term holiday begins Monday 16 February

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The Blue Coat School, Somerset Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B17 0HR S

The Blue Coat School Founded by the Church of England in 1722

Telephone 0121 410 6800

Fax 0121 454 7757

Email info@thebluecoatschool.com Website www.thebluecoatschool.com The Blue Coat School Birmingham Limited is registered in England, Registration No. 8502615 and is a Registered Charity No. 1152244