Holyhead School Pulse - Summer Edition 2022

Pulse: Issue No. 43 Summer 2022

PULSE HOLYHEAD SCHOOL PRESENTS

Teach What Matters

www.holyheadschool.org.uk

CONTENTS 16 Science 18 Year 7 Humanities 19 Religious events at Holyhead

4 Birmingham Connect 8 Sports Day! 12 Creative Arts 14 Language Masterclass 15 Business Summer Challenge

Graphic Designer: Miss Dhanjal

22 Year 7 25 Year 10 26 Year 11 28 Holyhead Sixth Form 34 Careers

Editor: Mrs Mistry

Proofreader: Miss Aziz

Principal’s Foreword

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s we approach the Commonwealth Games based here in Birmingham, I am reminded of the transformational power of sport, but also cultural activities such as Art, Drama, Food and Music. Our ‘Teach What Matters’ philosophy places these important activities at the heart of our ethos . You will see many examples of this within this edition of PULSE. You will also see our enthusiastic celebration of a range of religious events and festivals. The way that students observe these events, even when it’s for a religion other than their own, is a magical and distinctive feature of Holyhead and is one of the main reasons I am so proud to be its Principal.

2022-2023 is a new chapter for Holyhead and I wish Mr Knox every success in his new role as Head of School. I look forward to working closely alongside Mr Knox to keep this amazing school moving forwards.

Have a fantastic summer and good luck to all those expecting GCSE, A-level and other qualifications in August.

You will find much more information about our work by visiting www.holyheadschool.org.uk or by following the school on twitter @holyhead_school. You can also learn more about our family of schools by visiting www.centralregionschoolstrust.co.uk.

Best wishes,

Mr Trafford

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olyhead is one of 14 schools across the city, that have been invited to take part in a project funded by the Youth Sports Trust (YST) in Birmingham. The main aim of the project is to promote social integration, and provide opportunities for social mixing between school children across Birmingham. The project will use the power of sport, culture and the excitement of the fast approaching Commonwealth Games, to promote the social integration of young people aged 11-14 across Birmingham.

As part of the project Holyhead was partnered with Four Dwellings Academy, and together we have delivered a series of sporting activities to students from Holyhead, Four Dwellings, and other schools in the project. Seven Year 8 students (CONNECTORS) have been selected from Holyhead and from Four Dwellings to plan and deliver these events.

Holyhead’s Connectors are Jawad, Aaron, Mamun, Alisha, Khiyana, Maria, and Sarika.

Our connectors have attended training events delivered by the YST at the NEC, and at Birmingham University’s Sports Centre, to prepare for these events. They took part in a variety of sporting sessions run by Commonwealth Games athletes such as, Judo, Badminton, Squash, Basketball and Cricket. They then planned activities, the first of which they delivered to Year 7 students from Holyhead and Four Dwellings. This was really successful, with all students enjoying the session. The Connectors are currently planning to deliver a series of sports activities, which will be delivered at Holyhead and Four Dwellings this term, all in preparation for a final celebration festival in July.

This has been an excellent opportunity for our students so far, and from this, we hope to continue to promote social cohesion through sport and promote the Commonwealth Game’s values of friendship, fair play, humanity, equality and destiny Mrs Gill

“

The Birmingham Connect project has been one of my best experiences so far. It has been a great opportunity for me and my group to meet new people, make new friends, learn different sports and have fun.

Teamwork has been the skill we have all worked on and still are as we have worked together to make an event at Birmingham University where we teach kids a sport we have all created together.

We had the options between judo, squash, basketball, badminton, boxing and diving. I chose judo, boxing and basketball and it was the best opportunity I have taken in a while.

We, Holyhead and Four Dwellings, have taken this chance to come together and have fun as a diverse group with kids of different colours, races and ethnicities to learn from others and educate ourselves about new things we can participate in together as a multicultural team to increase our knowledge about not only different sports, but ourselves also.

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So far everything has been going immensely well and we can not wait for our next event as connectors as I have mentioned previously, it has been the best opportunity we have taken and I am looking forward to having another great time with Four Dwellings as part of this project.” Maria 8H

‘Steps to Success’

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en students from Year 7 were selected to participate in a Sport Birmingham, Steps to Success Leadership programme, where they participated in a wide range of activities that focus on the four pillars to success. All activities had a Physical, Emotional, Social and Green Environment link. Our amazing Year 7 future leaders excelled in all of these activities,

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with their confidence increasing throughout the day. Holyhead students were recognised for their exceptional behaviour and outstanding effort by the leader of the event. The were presented with an additional ‘Destiny’ award. The students are really looking forward to the next event where they will become the leaders, and will deliver activities to local primary students.. Well done to all the students involved, you presented yourselves impeccably, and were outstanding ambassadors for Holyhead.

Miss Wilkinson and Miss Akhtar

Aston Schools Rounders

his term, Holyhead hosted the Aston School’s Rounders Tournaments. These competitions were very well attended by local secondary schools. The Year 9’s kicked started the tournament , follow by Year 10’s, Year 8’s, Year 7’s and finally Year 12’s.

Ranking across their year groups Year 9’s 1st Place - This team has been devoted to improving their ability by attending club every week.

Year 10’s 3rd Place - fully committed to practicing at the club every week.

Year 8’s finished in 4th position - after a tough battle in their tournament.

And finally the Year 7’s came in at 3rd place - Well Done! Considering that most of them had never played rounders before.

Year 12s played in the final tournament, and Holyhead finished in 2nd place. The e girls were ecstatic with the result and had a fantastic time

Well done!

to all the girls who took part in the tournaments.

There were some fantastic skills,and tactical k n o w l e d g e demonstrated, and you all worked exceptionally as part of a team.

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Extra Curricular Sport

his term the extracurricular focus has been on Rounders, Cricket, Tennis, Athletics and Year 12 Football..

Rounders club has been more popular than ever this year. Lots of girls from Years 7-12 have been attending club in preparation for their Aston Schools Competition. With the fantastic weather, and our newly marked out Rounders pitches, students have had a great time at club, and have really improved their Rounders skills, which has been evident from the successful results of the Aston Schools Rounders tournaments.

‘CAAATCHHH!!’

Cricket club has got off to a great start in the summer term, being enthusiastically attended by many students in 7-11. All those attending, have shown a great attitude towards learning new skills, developing their knowledge of the game and bowling Mr

for a Golden Duck!

Prentice out

With the recent fantastic weather, the Tennis club has been very well populated. Students have enjoyed learning the technical skills and rules of tennis, and being able to then apply these in competitive matches with their peers.

Athletics club has got out of the blocks well this term and is gaining in momentum and reputation, with it growing in popularity each week. If you fancy a fun, relaxed and engaging club that focuses on many of the track and field events, then this is the club for you. Come along and see if you can beat the famous Holyhead Sports day records!!

Year 12 Football Club is a new club this year, with many Year 12 students taking part. The students have enjoyed getting together outside of lessons, have enjoyed getting physical and technical on the football pitch.

The culmination of this club will be in a staff v students match, so let’s see who comes out on top!!

PE Dept

Community Links - Diamond Academy Diamond Academy, local Sports Club based in Handsworth Wood. The academy’s aims are to provide ‘Every Child in the local community to have opportunity to play Football & Sports’ Dean Broomes, who is one of the founders of the academy, has worked tirelessly to build up the football and sports academy. Dean delivered assemblies to each year group. All students have been invited to attend the academy for free during the summer holidays. This is a great opportunity for our students, as it will provide a place for them to go to have fun, play some sports and meet up with friends during the summer break.

The Academy also has competitive football teams for almost every year group, and our students have the opportunity to try out and become a member of the club - there is even the possibility of being scouted by the local clubs such as West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Coventry City and Walsall FC.

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In September, we shall be working closely with Dean, where we hope to provide lots of sporting opportunities for our students, and develop a long and beneficial working relationship.

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has achieved the Gold School Games Mark award for their commitment, engagement in the School Games for 2021/22.

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ne of the biggest highlights of this year for the PE department, is our recent success in achieving the Gold School Games Mark award.

This is a huge achillade, and we are extremely proud of our hard work and achievement.

We achieved this award due to our excellent contribution and participation levels in the School Games competitions and initiatives this year. Holyhead has been instrumental in organising and facilitating all of the girls School Games competitions this year. We chair the committee, and organised meetings to discuss fixtures and sporting development within the Aston area.

The award also includes our contribution to Inter and Intra sport, our work with primary

schools, our contribution to Commonwealth Games projects within the city, our work in targeting specific groups of students, such as those lacking in confidence, and taking part in projects to help these students, e.g. The Steps to Success Leadership project, and our provision of Cultural Capital opportunities for students outside of school.

As a team, we have worked hard this year to move Physical Education forward, and provide a range of opportunities for our students. We endeavor to continue with this and build on it even further. Our aim is to maintain our Gold Standard for the next 4 years, where we can then be considered for the Platinum School Games Award.

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SPORTS

DAY!

With the sun shining brightly, spirits were high and there was lots of excitement in the air!

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ear 7 kicked off the first of the year group sports days, and as this was their first ever sports day at secondary school, students were nervous yet excited for the upcoming events. Having competed in the field events the week before, there were great results from Keiarah and Ovidiu who both won the Shot Putt and Javelin.

Sohna and Hamzah won the Discus R’Maiah won the 800m There were exceptional performances from Akylon who won the 80 and 200m, and Zaina who also won the 80m.

College Points Meriden - 99 points Corwen - 96 points Oswestry - 96 points Edgware - 68 points The competition between Year 9 students was fierce. Superb performances came from Amal and Rohan for Shot Putt, Aramatoulie and Keyon for Discus, Muskan and Amrit for Javelin Carlista and Jakub in the 800m.

Carlista was also successful in winning the 80m and second in the 200m, and Rohan smashed both the 80 and 200m. Meriden College was successful in the boys relay and in the Tug of War. College Points Oswestry - 124 points Corwen - 120 points Meriden - 83 points Edgware - 69 points With this being the Year 10s final sports day, they were keen to take part. We have outstanding performances from Kadidja, who won the Shot, Discus and

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Javelin, and Abhijeet, who also won the Shot, Discus and Javelin.

Nubia and D’Jon won the 80m and 200m.

Edgware College were victorious in both relay races and finished third in the Tug of War. College Points Corwen - 90 points Edgware - 76 points Meriden - 66 points Oswestry - 64 points The day ended with the Year 8 competition.

Students were so excited and this made for an exciting afternoon. Overall there were excellent performances from the following students: Kaleb and Simarjot, winning the Discus and breaking the Year 8 school record Faisal broke the school Javelin record for Year 8 by throwing 13.8m Khiyana and Syed both won and broke the Year 8 school record for the 800m Ishaq also won and broke the year 8 school record in the Shot and the 200m College Points Corwen -145 points Edgware - 118 points Oswestry - 111 points Meriden College - 52 points There were many great performances from students throughout the day who broke Holyhead School records this year. Very well done to those students.

The overall results of Sports Day 2022 were

1st - Corwen Joint 2nd - Oswestry & Meriden 4th - Edgware

As always, the Tug of War competition was a huge hit with students. It was competitive, but also lots of fun, and it was really great to see lots of students enjoying themselves and joining in.

A massive well done to everyone who took part in the events, and a big thank you to all the staff who came out to support sports day and supervise. Your continued support is greatly appreciated by the PE Department.

Mrs C. Gill Subject Lead PE

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Creative Arts

s part of the commonwealth celebration festival, the Creative Arts faculty has gotten well underway with rehearsals ranging from drama pieces, steel pans, a year 10 music band and some new solo performers who will be sharing a diverse range of performances in our up and coming Trust performance.

Drama

A group of KS3 drama students teamed up to do some focus work around the Commonwealth games. Students have spent 6 weeks in their own time during lunch and after school, to share their experiences and have intelligently created ideas around their beliefs and values, their destiny, and the themes humanity and equality.

The students worked alongside Marlene Mckenzie from Moovile theatre who once again was well impressed with the growth and determination students presented. All involved should be really proud, watch this space for the final film.

This was a snippet of the poem that students devised as a basis of their performance: I have something to say I love me I hate you The Joy bring the pain I feel .

Sometimes we laugh together, Sometimes we are at war.

“Personally I think that the commonwealth drama performance was an experience and it was fun to do and it created bonds . We met new people and you could express yourself while performing and I had a good time while doing it” Miliah 7B “The drama rehearsal project was a really fun drama experience because I learnt to keep my concentration and to keep focus.

Besides that everything was fun and exciting and I really enjoyed it, it kept me going when

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I had some bad days at school and brightened my day thanks to Miss Brandy and Marlene.”

Tiara 7B “When I first started this drama club I thought it was going to be boring! I was a little confused throughout the process, because we were producing different scenes, but in the end all those scenes were brought together and were then produced into one performance. Throughout more and more working with the team I felt more confident and comfortable working around them. I am so happy that we have come to an end piece and the piece is majestic!!” Tanisha 7B

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Visit from Tech Rootz

atalie Scarlett, founder of Tech Rootz visited Holyhead and presented to students a whole new vision about technology. The aim of the presentation was to give students insight into different career opportunities within tech and not just seeing games for what they are.

Year 10 KS4 Performance

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he Year 10 Drama class performed in their first ever live performance. This took place on Thursday 30th June , where students had the opportunity to showcase some of their acting skills to friends and family. The class did really well and we are extremely proud of them and so they should be too! Watch out for more performances and showcases led by this amazing drama class.

Art and Design

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his year we are lucky to have been part of a very exciting art project called ’On our Way’.

This was created by a group called “China Plate Theatre”, who work with schools and community groups across the West Midlands.

The project was to involve students and groups from the number 74 bus route along Soho Road. At Holyhead we were asked to create collage images about our interests with our artist Nilupa Yasmin. However, due to covid issues our workshop session had to be via zoom. The Year 7 students were very excited and we listened to the instructions from the artist closely from the screen in the classroom. At the end of the session, we sent our collages back to Nilupa who created a large composite collage design using her own collage, drawing materials and digital work.

The next step was seeing our design on the bus stop outside Lidl. There are more designs up and down Soho Road made by other groups that Nilupa worked with.

Our design is bright and cheerful and certainly brightens up the bus stops turning them into mini art galleries.

I hope Nilupa and Aksana can gain more funding for more art work on all the bus stops the bus stop outside Lidl.

The designs are on transparent film, so that they are still an open, safe places to wait.

There is information and a QR code that explains all about the project. Mrs Mistry and I were lucky enough to be invited to the private view of the ‘On our Way’

project at Soho House. The photographs show Nilupa’s work before being transformed into the bus stop areas. The project has been a fantastic experience for our students at Holyhead. Firstly to experience working with an artist. Then seeing their work transforming bus stops on the route they travel. The project was originally conceived by Aksana Khan, called ‘ On Our Way’ because the bus stop galleries are literally on your way to Soho Road, as well as a reflection of its original inspiration - the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott. This boycott

was a key moment in pushing towards the first ever legislation that explicitly outlawed racial discrimination, the Race Relations Act. Given recent discussions on racism, we are still ‘On Our Way’ to fighting for justice.

You can find out more about this project on tothestreets.co.uk/on-ourway Mrs Stafford

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Music

he music department has been taking part in Commonwealth workshops with Black Voices, Cecelia. These workshops will result in a flash mob performance in August with other schools within the local area. Because of the huge potential and talent of our Gospel Choir, we have also been asked to perform an additional song “Blinded by your Grace”.

Our gospel choir features students ranging from Year 7 to Year 13, and showcases an array of vocal talent.

As well as this, our students have been performing a range of songs out in the school playground to compliment the fabulous weather and to entertain our students during their break times. Planning is now in hand within the music department to continue to develop better opportunities for our students, and to create more performance opportunities moving forward next year.

Language masterclass

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n Wednesday 23rd March, 30 Year 9 and 10 promising linguists attended a Language Masterclass event at Birmingham University.

They were introduced to new languages such as Russian and Portuguese and worked on improving their language skills. The event was led by university tutors and students got interactive insights into what it is like to study a language at a Russell Group University.

The students thoroughly enjoyed their day and sparked some fantastic conversations about careers in languages and going to University!

Ms J Williams DOL MFL

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Business Summer Challenge 2022

Can you Design a new cereal?

Design a new cereal Target market – which market segments?

Your product – including flavours & ingredients, nutritional information Pricing point – where will it place in the market?

USP – what makes your product distinct from your rivals?

Branding - Colour/Fonts/Logo Please prepare a powerpoint showing your product and product decisions and email Mrs Sehra by 4th September 2022 Prizes to be won for the best product! hsehra@holyheadschool.org.uk

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Science KS3 Awards

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uring this term students in KS3 were awarded for their hard work and achievements in science. Throughout this academic year, these students have shown their commitment to learning science, through consistently putting in effort in lessons, showing huge amounts

Big Bang Fair 2022

4 of progress, attending robotics club and being ambassadors for Holyhead School on external visits. We, as a department, would like to congratulate and thank these students and moving forward want them to continue their successes in science.

Mr J. Mohr

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0 students from Year 7 attended the Big Bang Fair at the NEC to take part in various STEM workshops. This gave students the opportunity to delve into the world of tomorrow and think about potential careers for themselves in the future. During the day students had the opportunity to explore new worlds using VR headsets, test their pace against Usain Bolt, look into the lives of the emergency services and get close and personal with creepy crawlies.

The students had an amazing time and were great ambassadors for the school, not only in their conduct but also in the way they embraced the whole experience. A special thank you to Mr. Hillman for organising the event, and Mr. Khan, Miss. Lewis, Ms. Akhtar, Miss. Garawal and Mr. Mellor for supporting us during the event.

Mr J. Mohr

Sixth Form Mentors

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hroughout this year Sixth Form students have been working as science academic mentors, helping to improve the knowledge and skills of students from Year 7 to 10. This term Harjot 13D, Tania 13H and Jaspreet 13E went to St James CofE Primary School to work with Year 6 pupils and help improve their scientific skills. The pupils in Year 6 thoroughly enjoyed this experience and felt much more confident in their science ability. Some quotes from pupils include “I wish we could do science everyday”, “I can’t wait to come to Holyhead” and “This is the best lesson ever!”. As well as theYear 6 pupils gaining something from this experience, the Year 13s were able to develop their leadership, organisation and resilience from this

experience. I would like to personally thank these students for giving up their free time and helping improve the learning at Holyhead School, and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

Mr J. Mohr

EAL

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Interviewer : Year 8 Student Interviewee : Miss Jamie - EAL Coordinator

What do you do at Holyhead School?

I am the EAL Coordinator. Do you know what that means? (reply: hmm, no). So you speak Arabic, I help you with your English. I support pupils who speak a different language with their English.

What is your name?

My name is Miss Jamie.

Do you like Holyhead School?

Yes, I really like Holyhead.

Where are you from?

I am from Birmingham.

What are your plans for the summer holidays?

I want to sleep a lot. I also want to go abroad if I can.

n one of our EAL lessons we have been working on talking about ourselves and asking questions to other people. We practised by interviewing our teacher. Here are the questions we asked and the answers.

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

I have two sisters and one brother.

Do you have a pet?

I have a cat called Atlas

When did you start at Holyhead School?

I started working at Holyhead in March 2022.

What do you do in your spare time?

I like to see my friends and I like to go to the gym.

Do you play an instrument or sport?

I don’t play an instrument or sport.

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Year 7

Humanities

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hat we have been up to in Year 7 Humanities recently.

We have had some fantastic experiences in Humanities recently, celebrating students who have worked extremely hard this year and taking all students to experience local places of worship.

Recently, we visited Chester zoo! It was filled with animals from all over the world, even some who are critically endangered in the wild. We saw elephants as soon as we walked in and explored the islands of Indonesia and their fauna.

“My favourite animal was the meerkats because they were funny and also the monkeys were funny because they were acting so silly. Also the red panda because it was sleeping like a baby.” Aimee 7A “My trip was a great experience. It reminded me of the first time I went to a zoo. In Chester Zoo, I saw Asian elephants, giraffes, a rhino, camels, birds, I even saw a Komodo dragon, deer, a penguin, flamingos and fish. This was a great experience which probably would change my life. I’m hoping to come here another time.” Ibrahim 7G

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e have also been honoured to visit local places of worship including the Vihara and the Gurdwara. It is very important to us in Humanities that we experience all cultures and religions. We were guided around both places of worship, taking in all of the sights and even given the opportunity to have some chips and beans in the Gurdwara! It is fascinating to be able to experience different cultures and ways of life.

“We walked into the Vihara and we were greeted by a very kind Vietnamese woman who led us through the temple after we took our shoes off. It was quite a spacious room with loads of eye-catching pictures and three huge golden statues in the middle. In front of the statues there were tables with flowers and all kinds of fruit.

It was a calm environment with candles and incense burning.”

Aliyah 7H

Religious Events

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at Holyhead

his year Ramadan, Easter and Vaisakhi took place at the same time which made April 2022 a really exciting time for many of our students and staff at Holyhead! We had a range of fun activities and competitions going on across the school to mark this special time and everyone was welcome to take part!

In order to prepare for these celebrations, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians would have had to practise self discipline, give up bad habits and reflect on their character - instead they would try to carry out more good deeds!

In Humanities, we put together an “Acts of Kindness” calendar for everybody in our school community to follow for the month with rewards for the students in each year group with the highest number of Act of Kindness MyPoints.

A massive

to our winners:

Year 7 - Sadat 7B Year 8 - Marius 8B Year 9 - Sahilpreet 9H Year 10 - Hasan 10F Year 11 - Shahan 11E

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Vaisakhi

he festival of Vaisakhi was celebrated by many in our school community on Thursday 14th April. Vaisakhi has been a harvest festival in the Punjab for a long time, even before it became so important to Sikhs. In the year 1699, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikh faith chose the festival of Vaisakhi to establish the Khalsa.

Khalsa Sikhs are pure devotees who will fight for their faith and against injustice. At this time, many Sikhs will wear the colours blue and orange, with blue representing a warrior and protector and with orange representing sacrifice and courage. Staff and students were invited to wear these special colours to show solidarity with the Sikh faith!

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Easter

aster was celebrated on Sunday 17th April. Easter marks the end of Lent and celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, making it one of the most important events within the Christian calendar. The resurrection of Jesus teaches Christians that there is life after death and Easter is also a time which reminds Christians of Jesus’ sacrifice which meant that they could be saved from sin and brought closer to God. During Easter, many people will enjoy easter eggs which represent new life and many children will usually take part in Easter Bonnet competitions! Take a look at this amazing Easter Bonnet which was created by Abhijeet in 10G! The RE Department also welcomed Birmingham City Mission back into our classrooms! The BCM team delivered a brilliant session on the importance of Easter to Christians to all Year 7 students.

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Ramadan

he Holy Month of Ramadan was marked by many of our pupils and staff, even those who are not of Islamic faith! We ran Ramadan Club where students could visit us during lunch each day to take part in activities such as Ramadan colouring, themed quizzes and Ramadan Film Club.

In Ramadan Film Club we watched Belal: A New Breed of Hero which shows the life of important figure Bilal ibn Rabah.

Both staff and students who were fasting found Ramadan Club to be a helpful place to come. We want to thank everyone across the school who got involved in marking this Holy Month!

Thank you

to PWC for sponsoring Perry the Commonwealth Mascots visit to Holyhead.

Year 7

Inter-Form Competition Winners

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s of January 2022, we decided to initiate and organise an Inter-form competition where the tutor groups (7A-7H) went head-to-head amongst one another. The categories that they were judged on were: Attendance, Punctuality, myPoints, extra-curricular activities including a Fifa tournament and least number of negatives.

The prizes were: 1st Prize – a meal at Nando’s 2nd Prize – a Pizza buffet 3rd Prize – early lunch passes for a week

myPoints 1st 7B - 115

2nd 7C - 14

3rd 7A - 112

4th 7G - 111

6th 5th 7F - 107 7E - 106

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8th 7th 7H - 92 7D - 82

Last term 7B were crowned the Interform Champions at Holyhead School. During the competition 7B demonstrated their hard work, resilience and respect which allowed them to reign supreme as the Interform Champions. Achievements during the competition included being top of the myPoints leaderboard, having the least amount of negatives and coming 2nd in the Fifa tournament. As a reward for everyone’s efforts, 7B were taken out on a trip to Nandos. Looking towards the future hopefully 7B can retain their status as the Interform Champions, only time will tell.

Mr J. Mohr

Morgan Stanley Event

Students with highest number of myPoints:

Congratulations and well done to the

following students who participated and took place in multiple Morgan Stanley Events. Not only were they praised for their application, conduct and work ethic but they’ve received praise from Mr Trafford and Mr Khan for the way in which they represented the school.

Lilly, Sahil, Haleema, Sadia, Mtambala, Kioni, Tanisha, Sadat, Suniya, Numair, Simran, Mercy, Zeeshan, Alexandra, Mohammed, R’Maiah, Grace, Syedur, Samanta, Ishwin, Guste, Rajveer, Melin, Tamia, Aliyah, Shubhleen and Zakia.

1 2 3

st

nd

rd

Mtambala, 7B 2,805 myPoints 270 Positive Incidents Youma, 7B 2,055 myPoints 202 Positive Incidents Sadat, 7B 2,485 myPoints 246 Positive Incidents Tanisha, 7B 1,920 myPoints 203 Positive Incidents Kioni, 7B2,385 myPoints 240 Positive Incidents Sohna, 7B 1,910 myPoints 190 Positive Incidents

WELL DONE to Year 7 for averaging the highest number of myPoints with 6531!

Shout out to 7A for producing this beautiful artistic piece of work as part of the Queen’s Jubilee.

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Have you logged into Arbor & Parent Pay

If you have not successfully logged into Arbor please email arbor-support@holyheadschool.org.uk stating the following: - Your child’s full name and form - Child’s date of birth - Parent/carers own name - Your relationship to the child

If you have any problems with ParentPay or need to register please email sseniaray@holyheadschool.org.uk or contact the school on 0121 523 1960 and ask to speak to Mrs Seniaray

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reetings Year 10,

Year 10

As we approach the end of a significant school year, a fully completed year at Holyhead School after going through the last couple of years of experiencing a pandemic and ‘lock down’ where we’ve all had to adjust to new rules and practices.

However, we are now getting back to normality in school where we can experience things like getting back on the grass area for break times, single lunch breaks and not having to wear mandatory masks.

Firstly I would like to say Thank You and Well Done to all the students for your patience, understanding and resilience especially after completing your mock exams.

So when you On your next Of You will be Into What is

I will never tell you it’s going to be easy, but I will say it’ll be worth it in the end.

Ending Year 10 and beginning Year 11 feels like one door closing and another one opening.

As we go into Year 11 which will for some of you be your final year at Holyhead we all must go into it with the confidence and belief that

I know I can, Be what I wanna be, If I work hard at it, I’ll be where I wanna be

Don’t count the days. Make the days count - Muhammad Ali

Embark Level Education Venturing Exam preparation and sitting those exams. And who knows Next on your journey

During Year 11 you will have to make some decisions about your next steps, this can be a scary and daunting prospect but it is ok to not have everything figured out yet, continue to work hard, make use of all the support and guidance during this crucial stage in your education and school life. I just ask to try your best in all your subjects keep your options open as there is potential for achieving very good grades as Year 11 aim for a grade higher than your expected grade. You don’t want to be looking back knowing you could have done better.

Well done to all the winners in the recent sports day with special mention to D’Jon (80m) and Kadidja (Javelin & Discus) for breaking year 10 records during Sports Day.

Stepping into the new year at school means more challenges than the previous one; realising there is a big world out there and you are part of it. Some of you will take it in your stride while some will find it difficult.

But if you talk to someone, a member of staff, family member or among your peers it can help as problem shared is a problem halved.

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he Year 10 students who took part in the Envision pitching challenge to raise money for St. Basils Homeless charity.

It was an intense competition and despite problems with the display (kept falling down) our Year 10’s came on top winning the challenge which meant a significant amount of money was made for the charity.

Well done.

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Mr E Smith Head of Year 10

Year 11

our time has come to an end at Holyhead (for some of you). What a journey it has been, these last few years have been challenging for you but somehow you have managed to come out the other side. Despite covid and every obstacle you have made it!

And now you get to explore the big wide world, this is where the hard work begins.

Some of you may go on to sixth form, others college and so on but wherever you go just know that we wish you all the success!

Mr Lovell and I have thoroughly enjoyed our time as part of the Year 11 team and along with your form tutors we will miss you.

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents and carers for their continued support. There have been a few challenges along the way but I am confident that in Year 11 you will grow from strength to strength. I am proud to be your Head of Year and I hope you have a wonderful and safe summer break.

Please remember to always look after yourselves and be the best you can be. Life will be tough at times but just remember you can achieve anything.

Year 11 and Well Done for a successful exam season.

We look forward to seeing you on results day!

All the best, Miss Phillips and Mr Lovell

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i All

This, for some of you, is the end of an era at Holyhead school, and for others, you will remain in this great establishment. Whatever direction you have chosen to go, I wish you all the best wishes for your future.

It has been a real pleasure being your Form Tutor and getting to know you all. I was fortunate enough to be a part of 11C - (The best Form Group in the world). Now go out there and continue to ‘Smash it’.

I know some of you will move on to bigger and greater things, I look forward to hearing about your future successes.

Stay Safe and stay motivated.

Behind You all of your memories Before You all of your dreams Around You all who love you Within You all you need

Best Wishes for the future. I will miss all of you.

Miss Francis 11C Form Tutor

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I

t has been a term full of stress, big decisions and fun.

For many of the students this term has been the hardest they have had to do post pandemic. The expectations on them to revise for exams and complete external coursework has been a challenge that many of them have risen to.

The students have started to look at Unifrog and UCAS and in preparation for applying for university and apprenticeship. They have been writing their personal statements and have been encouraged to start visiting higher education establishments.

I have been really impressed with the students’ attitude throughout this year and have really enjoyed being their Head of Year since February. I hope that they learn from the mistakes they have made this year and finally understand why we nag them so much. We are doing it to push you to be the best that you can be.

Thanks everyone!

Mr Mills

Careers event

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n Thursday 28th April a career event took place where a wide selection of universities and colleges were invited to engage students and give them a glimpse of what the next stage of life would be like. It was a quick, fun way to start inspiring students to look at future options.

Students were given questions as a base to start conversations, and many of the visitors had a great time interacting and listening to what students’ plans for the future were.

We found it very useful as many others did as well as informative on other choices or pathways they may go on. This would be very useful if it is carried out again in the future!

Zeenat 12E and Hafsah 12D

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O

n Wednesday 29th June, 40+ Year 12 students were taken to Thorpe Park as a reward for their attendance, punctuality and effort. It was an early start for us all with the coach leaving at 7am. We arrived in plenty of time but encountered the one thing you can guarantee at a theme park, queues. Despite the slow start to the day the students got to make the most of the time we had in the park and thoroughly enjoyed their time.

Mustafa couldn’t wait to get to Thorpe Park looking worried before Nemesis Inferno.

Mr Mills

Heroes I began to broaden my knowledge on careers and apprenticeships back in Year 12, preparing my CV and thinking of which firms I would like to apply to. I began to apply to different vacancies as soon as they opened in November-January. My goal was to keep my options open, so that I had the best chance at landing a role. Having reached the final stage of the application process for Mazars - a top 10 UK Accounting firm. I was successful in gaining an offer to join Mazars this September in an Audit role.

vs

Villains

The Year 13 Student Council are continuing to work hard to raise money for their end of year event. Here are some of the amazing photos from the Heroes vs Villains Day which they arranged this week. All students who participated had an enjoyable day.

The winner of the best costume was Zahura dressed as Poison Ivy!

Harjot 13D

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Sixth Form Work & Wellbeing Week 4th - 8th July 2022

n the week beginning 4th July, the sixth form team had organised a series of events to prepare students for university, the world of work and their wellbeing. The week was organised as follows: Monday: Students had the opportunity to attend workshops which focused on personal statements, CV writing and interview skills.

These workshops were led by The DWP, University of Wolverhampton and the Apprenticeship Centre. The purpose of the workshops which students attended was to help them get a step ahead and prepare for life beyond Holyhead. Many students found the workshops very useful and informative.

Here is what one student had to say: “The work and wellbeing week started with a range of workshops throughout the day. I didn’t realise the importance of them until I attended them. Amazing opportunities were shared with us that would really benefit us in the future and an abundant amount of knowledge was gained”. Mohammed 12D

Tuesday and Wednesday: The year 12 student were working off site on virtual work experience opportunities. The sixth form team had shared a documents filled with links to online work experience in a variety of different sectors e.g. Law and Business. We encouraged our students to gain experiences in the careers they wish to pursue so that it will help them stand out from the crowd when making future applications and writing personal statements. About 20% of our students went a step further and managed to source their own face to face

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work experience over the two days. For example, 4 of our students wish to pursue a career in pharmacy, so they managed to arrange a two day work experience with their local pharmacy. Work experience provide young people with a great insight into the world of work. Not only does it benefit them, but it is also highly regarded by universities and apprenticeship providers.

Below is a comment from one of our student’s who completed a two day work experience at a law firm.

“Through some family links, I was able to complete face to face work experience in a local law firm. I want to be a barrister in the future and I believe this work experience opportunity helped me gain a greater insight in to the day to day running of a law firm. The work experience provider was impressed with my enthusiasm and has agreed to allow me to complete some more work experience this summer.” Zara 12F Thursday: At Holyhead sixth form, we take mental health and wellbeing seriously. Our students are taught about the importance of wellbeing and taking care of one’s mental health through the tutor programme. Our students also have regular access to our Student Engagement Officer, Mrs S Rashid if they ever need a chat or need some support/ advice. On Thursday of this week, the sixth form team organises a range of wellbeing activities for our students to choose from.

The workshops were in boxing, cricket, rounders, badminton, mehndi, arts & crafts, baking and much more. As you can see from the pictures, our students had a lot of fun and the feedback was overwhelmingly. positive.

We finished off the day with inflatables as seen in the pictures - this created moments of joy and happiness. Some of our students have gone through a tough time with lost learning due to the pandemic so it was really refreshing to see them smiling and happy. We finished off the day with some ice cream, because who doesn’t like ice

cream? Below are some comments from the students about the work and wellbeing week as a whole:

“The Year 12 Well Being week was astounding! A week full of essential, immersive and inspiring workshops that has definitely increased my knowledge on higher education. I really enjoyed taking part in the UCAS and student finance workshops as my understanding on these topics was limited but after being educated by the knowledgeable speakers I feel like I have truly got a grasp of these topics and am feeling much more confident. Thursday was a day full of excitement and a good reward for completing exams. Thank you so much!” Kiran 12D

The last day of the wellbeing week involved another 2 important workshops. The first was a workshop on student finance and the other was on apprenticeships. Understanding and applying for student finance can be tricky, so we reached out to the University of Aston who kindly ran this workshop for us. The students found it very beneficial and have a better idea of what they need to do now so their applications are easier to complete in Year 13. The second workshop was focused on apprenticeships. We appreciate that not all of our students who leave us in Year 13 go to university, therefore, the sixth form team

arranged for a visit from the Apprenticeship Centre to run this session. The students left this workshop feeling like they had a better understanding of what apprenticeships are and how they can apply.

“I had so much fun today. The wellbeing workshops and inflatable stuff were great.

I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed being in school this much. Thank you for organising this. We need more days like this!” Kamalpreet 12G

The week concluded with an outdoor team building activity. Student were put into 12 teams - each competing with one another to open a case. Students had to demonstrate effective leadership and communication skills in order to win. This was a nice way to end the week, leaving students refreshed and energised.

A lot of time, effort and resources went into the planning and delivery of the work and wellbeing week. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the students for their enthusiasm and commitment during the week. I’d also like to thank all the members of staff who helped to make this a success.

Mr F Khan Director of Sixth Form

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Dr Hussain from Birmingham QE Hospital visits students in Year 12 who are interested in a career in medicine “It was an absolutely amazing opportunity to get to speak with Dr Hussain. I am so grateful we were able to have an in depth conversation about medicine and what being a doctor really means. He gave us so much useful tips and information and hearing his story really has motivated me even more to work hard and get to a position like his!”

Kiran 12D

“It was a privilege to attend the Careers in Medicine talk given by Dr Hussain. This talk not only was informative but also sparked more motivation in me and inspired me to continue to work hard and pursue a career in medicine. Dr Hussain was very inspiring and full of wisdom, he discussed many aspects in the journey to become a doctor, from the application process to choosing specialities. His talk was very captivating, I especially liked the intriguing stories he shared with us that had taken place during the Pandemic. It was extraordinary to see and speak to a doctor as accomplished as himself!” Thahsin 12C

“It was the first time that we were given the opportunity to ask questions to a doctor in person. Dr Hussain touched upon the many important aspects of the career from getting into a med school up until specialising in a field as a doctor. I enjoyed the talk as it sparked my interest into medicine even further”. Sukhmanjeet 12B

Sixth Form Induction Day 5th and 6th July 2022

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very July we invite the students we have made offers to for a two-day sixth form induction programme. The aim of these two days to help out new year 12 students prepare for Post-16 education.

Over the course of the two days, the students have had the opportunity to find out more about the courses they have selected and receive transition material to complete over the summer. From the pictures you can see how well our students engaged in their lessons. As part of the induction programme, the sixth form team organised for students to take part in a session whereby they would research and find out more about their future career through the use of an online platform - Unifrog. This platform enables apprenticeship courses, entry requirements and more. By providing opportunities such as utilising Unifrog, we believe we can help our students set a roadmap for success.

This year we decided to include a team building activity to help the students gel with each other. They were instructed to work as part of a team to create a tower using minimal resources - this was a nice activity which allowed students to improve their leadership, communication and teamwork skills. Many of the students who joined us for the induction days have come from other schools, so this activity helped them to feel more welcome and as a part of the Holyhead family. I truly believe that this the new cohort of Year 12 students will go on to achieve tremendous success with us at Holyhead Sixth Form.

Mr F Khan Director of Sixth Form

Is your child eligible for Free School Meals?

Your child might be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following: • • • • • • • • •

Income Support Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance Income-related Employment and Support Allowance Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 The guarantee element of Pension Credit Child Tax Credit, provided they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by HMRC Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit Universal Credit, provided they have an annual net earned income not exceeding £7,400 (£616.67 per month)

Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.

Your child might also get free school meals if you get any of these benefits and your child is both: • •

Younger than the compulsory age for starting school in full-time education

If your child is eligible for free school meals, they’ll remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (Primary of Secondary) they’re in.

What Next Parents/Carers can confirm eligibilty by completing an application form via https://www.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/birmingham Registering for free meals could also raise an extra £935 for your child’s secondary school, to fund valuable support like extra tuition, additional teaching staff or after school activities.

This additional money is available from the central government for every child whose parent is receiving one of the benefits listed above.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Miss Sidhu our School Business Manager or Mrs Seniaray on 0121 523 1960.

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epresentatives of the Transformation Trust came into school to work with 45 of our Year 10 students. They ran the NHS Next Generation of Nurses workshop, the aim of this workshop was to: To give you accurate and trusted information about nursing careers. To break down some of the misconceptions about nursing.

To learn about the varied and flexible career being a nurse can offer, including the different fields of nursing available, where nurses work, and career progression opportunities.

To ask any questions the students might have about the career.

We also had some nurses who joined our session virtually who spoke to the students about their own careers and how and why they went into nursing. They also told us about their day to day duties and also about the difficult times they have faced and the things about the role that they have enjoyed.

All students really enjoyed the event and gained so much valuable information which will help them in the future when it is time to make career choices. We would like to thank the Transformation Trust and the NHS for taking the time to work with us.

Mr Briah Director of Careers

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“During the NHS workshop, we were informed of the different sectors nursing operates in. The wide variety of occupations allows students to decide which one they prefer, from mental health to children’s nursing. We were given inclusive tasks to complete and activities which demonstrate how workers would treat and communicate with patients. Two nurses shared their journey on becoming a key worker, including the trauma, but alsowith the joy that comes after a successful treatment. Students were told about the starting salary and the senior salary, whilst also being educated about the funds that the government provides to encourage workers to join the NHS.” Syeda 10E “The workshop was an interesting experience.

It is nice to learn about different careers in a sector and it is nice to learn about something I didn’t know before. Along with this, it was great to hear about different stories on how people got to where they are today e.g how they got to their career. It would be nice to have more workshops like this more often.” Muhammad 10A A parent/carer guide ‘What’s Next’ is now available for download. It provides a useful summary of all post 16 and post 18 options and is perfect summer reading for any parent/carer with children in years 10-13. www.theparentsguideto.co.uk/whats-next

The link below gives access to information about the Local Labour Market. You can use this information to help your children make informed career choices.

Having up-to -date, high quality information can help your children decide things about their future such as:

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e completed the second session of our programme with Morgan Stanley. The students completed their Environmental, Social and Governance business idea and they came up with some brilliant ideas. We then completed our company literature and practised our presentations ready for the Dragons Den on the 16th June Mr Briah “I think I can speak for everyone when I say the latest Morgan Stanley project was brilliant. It was enjoyable but also taught us about the real world, from a business perspective. The only problem would be the time we had. We had to not only answer questions, but make, practice and share our pitch and we only had 2 periods to do so.

We had to be given an extra period because of this issue. Other than that, we were shown to be capable without our leaders, we got to work with our teams again and we thoroughly enjoyed it.” Kioni

“I really liked learning about business and the state of the world right now.I loved the concept of making an environment friendly business.I liked working with other people who i haven’t spoken to in a long time or never spoken to.It is a great way to get people together and share Ideas.I think this could be used in a way to help people who don’t have that much friends socialise and make friends.Overall I really enjoyed the event and wish to take part in another one.”

Mtambala

Are the opportunities close to where I live in, the sector I am interested in or will I need to relocate?

How competitive is the industry I am interested in?

Are there enough jobs and do I need to have a back-up plan?

Does the pay for the job I want align to what I would like to earn?

What is the best route for me to take to get to the job I would like?

Is the industry I would like to work in growing or shrinking? h t t p s : // b e p . e d u c a t i o n /w p - c o n t e n t / uploads/2022/02/LMI-Guide-MY-WAYInto-The-World-Of-Work.pdf The Parents’ Guide to University has been produced by UniTasterDays.com in collaboration with HELOA - to help you, as a parent or guardian, to support your young person with their higher education decisions. Editorial has been provided by over 40 colleagues at universities and schools and colleges throughout the UK – including Aimhigher West Midlands. On topics including student finance, university applications, university events, student wellbeing and more. https://files.unitasterdays.com/downloads/ U n i Ta s t e r D a y s _ P a r e n t s _ G u i d e _ t o _ University_2022.pdf

Sixth Form Work & Well Being Week

t 0121 523 1960

e enquiry@holyheadschool.org.uk

w www.holyheadschool.org.uk

@holyhead_school