Kingswinford Newsletter April 25 by Windsor Academy Trust

11th April 2025

11 April 2025

DearParents/Carers,

WelcometoourfourthNewsletteroftheyear.IthasbeenafantasticSpringTermandanincredibly hecticﬁnalcoupleofweeks.AsIwritethis,I’vejustreturnedfromwatchingtheThursdayevening performanceofMatilda.I’veheardquitealotoftherehearsals(whichhavebeengoingonallyear)and knewthatitwasgoingtobegood.Butwow!Itwasincredible-thebestschoolshowi’veeverseen. Thecastwerejustbrilliant.Thequalityoftheacting,singinganddancingwasﬁrst-class.Thestudents, parents,MrsCooper,MsAbelandMrCotterillshouldbeveryproud.IknowIam!Thankyoutoallthe staffwhosupportedmakingthisabrilliantshowandeventfortheschoolandcommunity,andthank youtoallofthefamilieswhocamealong.Whatshowshallwedonextyear?

We’vealsohadGCSEexamsthisweek,nottomention‘BattleoftheBands’atBrierleyHillCivicHall. Whenyouflickthroughthisnewsletteryou’llseethatwe’vebeendoingeverythingwecantohelpour studentsfindtheirpassions-andfulfiltheiracademicandpersonalpotential.

Ijustwanttoﬁnishbysayingathankyoutoyou-ourparentsandcarers.Weputahugeemphasison attendance,punctualityandourstandardofuniform.Thisisallbecausewewantouryoungpeopleto maximisetheirtimehere,beproudandtothrive.Studentattendanceandpunctualitythistermhas beensuperb-thisisdowntothewayourfamiliesareworkinginpartnershipwithschool.Uniformhas beenfantasticalso-thankyouforyoursupportwiththis.Soagain,thanksforyourcontinuedsupport.

HavealovelyEasterbreak.StudentsreturnatthenormaltimeonMonday28thAprilfortheshortest halftermi’veeverknown!

Bestwishes,

IanMoreton Headteacher

Upcomingevents-

● 28thApril-Termbeginsatusualtime

● 28thApril-GCSEDancePracticalexam

● 30thApril -1stMayY11ArtandTextilesexam

● 2ndMay-GCSEPEModeratorvisit

● 5thMay-MayDayBankHoliday-schoolclosed

● 6thand7thMay-MFLspeakingexams

● 7thMay-Y10ParentsEvening

● 8thMay-ExternalExamsBeginfully

11 April 2025

PE

Barclays Biggest Football Event for Girls –AHuge Success!

Recently, our MUGAcome alive with energy and enthusiasm as we hosted the Barclays Biggest Football Event for Girls! Under the bright sunshine, over 60 girls took to the pitch, showcasing their passion for the game and their fantastic footballing skills.

Ahuge thank you to our incredible leaders who helped organise and guide the session, ensuring that all participants had a fantastic time.Their support and encouragement made the event both enjoyable and inspiring for everyone involved.

In celebration of World Book Day, every student who took part received a free book to take home.This wonderful initiative combined the power of sport with the joy of reading, reinforcing the importance of both physical activity and literacy in our school community.

The excitement didn’t stop there! One of the highlights of the event was our Crossbar Challenge, where students tested their accuracy and skill. Special prizes were awarded to those who successfully hit the crossbar, adding an extra element of fun and competition to the day.

It was fantastic to see so much enthusiasm on display, with students fully engaged and embracing the opportunity to take part in the beautiful game. Events like these continue to inspire and empower our students through sport, promoting teamwork, resilience, and a love for physical activity.

Well done to everyone who participated, we can’t wait for the next big event!

Girls football club is after school onTuesdays from 3:15pm - 4:15pm with Miss Plant, come along and have a go! It would be great to see more of you there!!

Local Football Clubs:

If your daughter is interested in playing football here are some local clubs with links to their contacts:

Kewford Eagles Girls

Dudley Sports Juniors

HalesowenTown Colts

OldswinfordYouth

Wordsley Wasps Girls

Wordsley Wasps

GornalAthletic Minor

Black Country Rangers

Duncan Edwards Juniors

Wombourne Olympic Minor

Netherton Colts Girls

11 April 2025

Kingswinford Girls Shine in the Sun -Y7 &Y8 Football Tournament

The Kingswinford girls’football put on an impressive display of talent, teamwork, and determination at the recent localYear 7 & 8 7-a-side tournament, delivering exciting performances across five competitive fixtures.

The tournament got off to a flying start with a dominant 6-0 win over Kinver, setting the tone early. Scarlett was unstoppable, scoring an incredible four goals, while Mia and Charlie Pboth added to the tally with a goal each.

Kingswinford then faced a tightly contested match against Summerhill, where despite a strong effort and a goal from Scarlett, they were narrowly edged out 2-1.

Next came a challenging match against a well-drilled Crestwood side, which ended in a 2-0 defeat, but the team showed resilience and continued to fight hard in the game.

In a thrilling encounter with Wombourne, Kingswinford found themselves in another close battle. Charlie J scored a remarkable goal straight from a goal kick and Charlie Padded another, Kingswinford 0-2 Crestwood.

The girls bounced back brilliantly in their final match, securing a 3-1 victory over Ellowes. Goals from Phoebe, Charlie, and Scarlett sealed a well-deserved win and ended the tournament on a high note.

Across the tournament, all of the girls demonstrated excellent sportsmanship, teamwork, and perseverance throughout.They should be incredibly proud of their performances. Well done, Kingswinford!

11 April 2025

U16GirlsFootballThrilling2-1Victory

Inanexcitingandhard-foughtmatch,theU16girls’teamsecureda2-1winagainstWindsorHigh School.Thegamewaspackedwithenergy,determinationandstandoutmoments

Emilyopenedthescoringwithabrilliantgoalfromthewing,cuttingthroughthedefenseandﬁnding thebackofthenetwithprecision.ThesecondgoalcamecourtesyofLacey,whodeliveredastunning long-rangestrikethatsmashedofftheundersideofthecrossbarandbouncedintomakeit2-1

Theteamshowedimmenseteamworkthroughout,holdingtheirleadwithresilience.Itwasafantastic effortallaround,welldonegirls!

11 April 2025

Schools’Football Week

We received a huge turnout forYear 7 House FootballTournament to celebrate Schools’Football Week!

This week saw an incredible turnout for theYear 7 Boys’and Girls’House Football tournaments, held after school under the golden sunshine. With over 60 students taking part, the fields were alive with energy and excitement of friendly competition.

It was fantastic to see so many students getting involved, showing great sportsmanship, teamwork, and enthusiasm.The sunshine only added to the occasion, making it a perfect afternoon of football fun.Ahuge well done to everyone who took part, you made it a memorable event!

Amassive thank you also toThe FAfor providing us with some brilliant rewards.

11 April 2025

Brean Down, Somerset Field Trip

As part of GCSEAQAGeography, students visited Brean Down, Somerset to carry out fieldwork linked to coastal erosion and coastal management in the area. During the morning, students collected data on pebble size at the foot of the cliffs and also conducted a coastal erosion survey, assessing 5 different sites and commenting on visual evidence of erosion.

After lunch, students walked up the steep headland steps to appreciate the views of Brean and Weston-super-Mare before making the journey back to school.The students represented the school excellently and thoroughly enjoyed the experience - even if there were a few achy legs on the way home and the next day.

Thank you to Miss Whitehouse, Miss Balmforth Mrs Barker and Mrs Caroll-Grigg for supporting the trip.

Mr Porte

11 April 2025

Wellbeing Garden

This half term students have been working hard on our Wellbeing Garden. Students have enjoyed building bird baths, weeding and planting flowers. We are looking forward to seeing the progress and spending some peaceful time outside.

The Peer Education Project

This term we have launched the Peer Education Project.The aim of the project is to give students the skills and knowledge they need to safeguard their Mental Health and that of their peers.The project provides a safe environment for peers to express themselves freely without being judged.The project is delivered by Year 10 students who are fully trained Peer Educators.

The project has been a real success so far, we have found students engage well with their peers as they are closer in age and they are all experiencing first hand how everyday life can impact on their Mental Health.

The lessons will cover the following areas: Mental Health and the Mental Health Spectrum, Risk Factors and Protectives to Mental Health,The 5 Ways to Wellbeing. 8Top tips for good Mental Health, Creating a Mental Health and WellbeingToolkit and Building a network of support.Abig 'ThankYou' to our Peer Educators who have shown a real commitment to the project.

11 April 2025

Mathematics

Spring MathsAward

The following students have been nominated by their Maths teachers for the Spring Maths award.These students have shown fantastic attention to learning and strive to do their best every Maths lesson.

Congratulations to the following:

Oliver Hollies

GeorgiaTodd

Poppy Bagnall,

Hugo Li

Danni Griffths

Elizabeth Hyde

Inayah Saddique

Pav Malhi

Raniyah Razzaq

Scarlett Hewitt

Matthew Clipa

Attewell, Lex

Mia Lilly Cullis

Millie Hart

Haoyang Zeng

Maisie-Rose Lloyd

Kylie Raybould

Alexandra Hunter

Bella Worthington

Archie Hickman

Chris Greenaway

Isabelle Hyde

Cameron Pearson

Amy Bennett

MaxTaylor

AishahAhmed

AlinaAhmed

Shabnam Miran

Bradley Watts

SayfAziz

Joshua Smith

Shae Edwards

A|leeza Hubab

Jess Baker

Melissa Bailey

11 April 2025

Mathematics

11 April 2025

Mathematics

Sparx Leaderboards

The sparx website is proving to be very popular amongst pupils completing homework and independently learning. Below is the leaderboard showing the top 5 pupils measured by the number of XPpoints they have accumulated.As always we will be rewarding pupils throughout the year with extra house points and prizes. Easter is an excellent opportunity to get onto sparx and challenge yourself, the system will match questions based on data collected and has shown to improve results in GCSE exams!

11 April 2025

11 April 2025 Mathematics

Active Learning Week Residentials

The students are looking forward to the activities that are being arranged for ourActive Learning Week and our Pledge Week. Please can all payments for the Pledge Week be made by Wednesday 16thApril 10am and for Newquay and Barcelona it is 27thApril.All payments for theYear 9 Pic ‘n’Mix activities are to be paid for by the 10th June.

11 April 2025

Careers andAttendance

Inspiring Futures: University of CambridgeAssembly forYear 9 and 10

This term, we were delighted to welcome representatives from the University of Cambridge to deliver a special assembly to ourYear 9 andYear 10 students.The session focused on introducing students to the world of higher education, explaining what university is, why it matters, and what makes Oxbridge – the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge – so unique.

This was a fantastic opportunity to broaden students’understanding of post-16 education and to begin encouraging them to think about their futures. By hearing directly from one of the world’s leading universities, our students gained valuable insight into the pathways available to them and the importance of ambition, curiosity, and academic exploration.

We look forward to offering more opportunities like this as we continue to build students’knowledge of life beyond school.

11 April 2025

Careers andAttendance

Inspiring Futures: University of CambridgeAssembly forYear 9 and 10

We look forward to offering more opportunities like this as we continue to build students’knowledge of life beyond school.

11 April 2025

Careers andAttendance

Bumping into New Skills: Vehicle Bodywork Session at Kidderminster College

This term, a group of our students had the opportunity to take part in a practical vehicle bodywork session at Kidderminster College.The session gave students a first-hand look at the skills and techniques involved in restoring and repairing vehicle exteriors.

Guided by experienced tutors, students learned how to assess and repair dents, smooth out panels, and understand the tools and materials used in the bodywork trade. It was a brilliant introduction to the world of automotive refinishing and repair, and gave students a real appreciation of the precision and craftsmanship involved.

Experiences like this help students explore alternative career paths and gain confidence in hands-on, vocational skills.Abig thank you to Kidderminster College for providing such an engaging and inspiring session.

11 April 2025

Careers andAttendance

Exploring the Future of Engineering: University of Wolverhampton Trip

This term, a group of our students had the exciting opportunity to visit the University of Wolverhampton for a hands-on experience exploring civil engineering, architecture, and design.

Throughout the day, students took part in interactive workshops and heard from industry experts and university lecturers about the wide range of careers available in these innovative and fast-growing sectors. From bridge-building challenges to architectural design tasks, the trip gave students a real insight into how creativity, problem-solving, and engineering go hand-in-hand.

Opportunities like this are a fantastic way to help students make informed decisions about their future and to spark interest in subjects they might not have previously considered.Ahuge thank you to the University of Wolverhampton for hosting such an inspiring and engaging day.

11 April 2025

Careers andAttendance

The Power of Showing Up: WhyAttendance Matters

We’d like to take a moment to thank all our families for their continued support in promoting excellent school attendance.Your commitment is making a real difference to our students’success.

Arecent government study has highlighted just how important attendance is: students with 95% attendance or higher are more than twice as likely to achieve a grade 4 or 5 in their GCSE Maths and English compared to those with lower attendance.This shows that being in school, every day, really does count.

We’re incredibly proud of the many students who have shown fantastic dedication this term.Those who have either improved their attendance or achieved 100% during the spring term will be receiving their rewards vouchers to be used at the rewards shop during the first week back after the Easter break.

Let’s keep aiming high—every day in school brings our students one step closer to their goals.Thank you again for your ongoing support.

11 April 2025

Careers andAttendance

Celebrating Success: King’s Quest Bronze and SilverAward Winners

We’re thrilled to celebrate the achievements of our students who have completed their King’s Quest Bronze and SilverAwards this term.These awards recognise students’commitment to personal development, leadership, and going above and beyond both in and out of the classroom.

Ahuge congratulations to the following students who have earned their BronzeAward and SilverAward.

11 April 2025

Careers andAttendance

11 April 2025

Careers andAttendance

11 April 2025

Careers andAttendance

We’re incredibly proud of the determination and effort shown by all students taking part in King’s Quest, and we’re excited to announce that several are now just steps away from completing their GoldAward—the highest level of the challenge.

Keep up the fantastic work! We can’t wait to celebrate even more successes in the terms to come.

Headteacher’sAward: Celebrating Resilience and Determination

We are proud to announce the launch of KingswinfordAcademy’s first Termly Headteacher’sAward, a new initiative introduced to recognise outstanding students who demonstrate exceptional resilience, determination, and a positive impact on our school community.

This term, the award was presented to Holly Wilkes, a truly deserving recipient who continues to be a constant source of inspiration to staff and students alike. Holly approaches every challenge with courage and commitment, and consistently goes above and beyond in everything she does—both in her studies and in supporting others around her.

Our Headteacher introduced this award to shine a spotlight on the kind of character and spirit we value at Kingswinford. Holly is a perfect example of those values in action.

Congratulations, Holly - we are incredibly proud of you!

CelebratingAcademic CommitmentAcross the Curriculum

At KingswinfordAcademy, we are proud to recognise the outstanding commitment and achievement of a number of students who have gone above and beyond in their academic studies.These students have been nominated by their subject teachers for demonstrating exceptional effort, enthusiasm, and progress, and we are thrilled to celebrate their success.

English

Jamshid Mohammed (10X3) – Recognised for being proactive in his learning and working exceptionally hard, particularly after a significant period of time off before Christmas. Amelia Cadman (Year 7) – Her confidence has grown enormously, and she continues to work tirelessly towards success in English.

Maths

Haoyang Zeng – Demonstrates outstanding effort and achievement in all areas of maths, including classwork, homework, and the Maths Challenge.

Jess Barker – Shows amazing effort and resilience in aspiring for a grade 4 or higher, both in lessons and during intervention sessions.

11 April 2025

Careers andAttendance

Business & IT

Daniil Grew (Year 9) – Outstanding attitude and contribution to Computer Science.

Ayyan Ahmed (Year 10) – Consistently displays an excellent attitude and commitment to Business.

Modern Foreign Languages

Hannah Round, Elizabeth White, Dominic Powell, Pravin Asad –These students have shown an exceptional attitude to French, consistently producing work of an excellent standard.

Katerina Kalinkova (Year 9) – Has gone beyond the Key Stage 3 curriculum independently, producing outstanding work in French.

Performance Faculty

Music

Skyleigh Morris (Year 9) –Atrue role model whose dedication to Music and enrichment clubs is inspiring.

Alice Moth (Year 10) – Demonstrates a wonderful approach to Music studies and enrichment, showing commitment and leadership.

Drama

Oliver Grainger – Brings infectious enthusiasm to every performance and supports productions through both performance and backstage roles.

Eden Taylor –Amodel of dedication, contributing outstanding effort to both lessons and the school production.

Isabelle Hyde (Y10 GCSE) – Displays a great attitude and commitment to the subject.

James Best (Y10 CNAT Sport) –Always striving for excellence and achieving top-band marks.

DT & CreativeArts

Ben Barnes (Year 10 – DT) – Shows excellent commitment in both practical and theory lessons, with a keen eye for accuracy and innovation.

Riley Page (Year 10 – Photography) – Demonstrates enthusiasm and dedication to the subject.

Priya Patel (Year 10 – Textiles) – Her fantastic sketchbook reflects her commitment, regularly taking it home to complete additional work.

Sophie Clift (Year 9 – Art) – Embodies the principles ofAspire and consistently produces highly skilled artwork both in and outside of lessons.

Humanities

Chris Greenaway (History) – Recognised for his consistent enthusiasm and commitment to the subject.

Isabel Evans (Geography) – Outstanding performance and attainment in Geography.

11 April 2025

Careers andAttendance

Science

Martha Edwards (10.8H) – Outstanding effort and classwork, and an exceptional result in her recent Biology KAT.

Eli Zuiderduin (Year 9) –Always brings curiosity and a great attitude to learning Science.

These students are a credit to their subjects, their teachers, and the school community.To award them for their hard work, effort and commitment each student received a GoldenTicket award for extra perks on the last day of term. We congratulate them on their achievements and look forward to seeing even more students recognised in future newsletters!

11 April 2025

Enrichment Superstars

It has been another fabulous half term for our attendance to enrichment clubs.There have been over 3000 attendees to our extra curricular provision this half term! MissAbel said “It is wonderful to see our students developing their personal potential across a range of subjects and skills. Our staff are really committed to ensuring our students have diverse opportunities to nurture and develop their talents and interests”.

Congratulations to all of our students who have been involved in a range of clubs this half term and a special well done to our Enrichment Superstars for HalfTerm 4.

11 April 2025

Enrichment Superstars

School Orchestra

We are one of only three schools in the Dudley Borough that have an orchestra. Our orchestra rehearsals take place on aThursday at 3.15pm-4pm. If you play an instrument then please come and join us! It is a special and unique experience to be able to perform within an ensemble. We perform a range of styles from Rock to Soul, Disco to Pop and many more!

11 April 2025

Instrumental tuition

We continue to work in partnership with Dudley PerformingArts (DPA) to provide our instrumental and vocal lessons in school.The summer term is a fantastic time to start learning an instrument, lessons will start after Easter for as little as £8.50 a week. Learning an instrument has a range of transferable skills that support your well-being, academic ability as well as nurturing a passion for Music. If you would like your child to start music lessons simply click on the link below for more information about enrolling.

https://www.dudley.gov.uk/things-to-do/dudley-performing-arts/information-for-parents-and-young-people/mu sic-lessons-in-schools/

Mia spreads her message!

Mia Bedi was invited to give a speech at the Mayor’s Parlour in Wolverhampton. She gave an inspiring speech about Child Labour in front of local dignitaries including former Cabinet Minister, Clare Short.As a result of her fabulous presentation, she has now received an invitation from an MPto go to Parliament and also present on a local radio station. We are all so incredibly proud of Mia!Afuture leader in the making!

11 April 2025

Battle of the Bands WAT South

Tuesday 8th ofApril saw two secondary schools in WATSouth come together for an evening of rock and pop music with WATPerformance Battle of the Bands.The show took place on the huge stage at Brierley Hill Civic Hall to 150 audience members.The students from KingswinfordAcademy and Windsor High School and Sixth Form were incredible.They were unfazed on a huge professional stage, talented instrumentalists and vocalists but above all they were so supportive of each other by cheering and singing along.

The headlining band,The Rock Kings, from Windsor High School and Sixth Form, were all onlyYear 8 but stole the show with their awesome rendition of Black Sabbaths paranoid.Thank you to all parents, carers and guardians that came along to support. It is truly appreciated.

11 April 2025

Matilda - the musical

Wow, what a week! Our absolutely incredible cast and crew have worked tirelessly over the last 12 months on an amazing production of Matilda! OnTuesday 8thApril they performed toYear 5 pupils from Blandford Mere and Dawley Brook. It was so lovely to see the pupils clapping and singing along to our performance and we would like to thank them for joining us at our matinee!

On Wednesday 9thApril we held our first evening performance to a sell out audience and the cast were phenomenal! Some students had even performed at Battle of the Bands at Brierley Hill Civic with MissAbel and Mr Cotterill the night before! Everyone was so complimentary as they left the ‘King’sTheatre'.

OnThursday 10th and Friday 11thApril, the cast and crew yet again performed two outstanding shows.The packed out theatre gave standing ovations, as they acknowledged what an incredible performance the students had given.

It has been such a privilege for the production team to work with such awe-inspiring and talented students.They thoroughly deserve the success and praise that has come their way!The production team would like to thank everyone who supported the show and helped along our journey as well as at the performances themselves.Thank you very much to Matt Bird andTyler Smith for their support with the sound, stage and lights too.Avery special thank you goes to Mrs Cooper, MissAbel, Mr Cotterill, Miss Barnett, Mr Painter, Miss Davies, Mrs Wilson, Mrs Hodge and Mr Edwards for all of their hard work, commitment and leadership! We will definitely be seeing a lot of our cast in the West End and film industry one day!

11 April 2025

Library Events

11 April 2025

Josh SilverAuthor Event

In February, we were lucky enough to receive a visit from author, Josh Silver. His dystopian novel, HappyHead is a favourite in the library and it was great to hear Josh’s journey through theatre and film; to his career change, becoming a mental health nurse working with teens, which then gave him the inspiration to write HappyHead. Josh ran sessions on Creative Writing, LGBTQ+ and Mental Health, as well as a talk for the whole ofYear 8.

Since the event, all our copies of HappyHead, and its sequel Dead Happy, have been checked out of the

11 April 2025

World Book Day

World Book Day was an exciting event for the library. We had hundreds of World Book Day books available for students to collect for free.

The Library Scavenger Hunt provided a hit (and became very excitable!) Izzy Locke and Ethan Hawkins kept their cool and found the winning title first, with Mohammed Rahat winning the raffle for the rest of the

11 April 2025

Dudley Children’s BookAwards

Anumber of students represented KingswinfordAcademy at the Dudley Children’s BookAwards. These students worked extremely hard ensuring they read all four books within their selected category. We collaborated and discussed each text to decide our school nominations and they represented us at the award ceremony where they got to meet authors in person, get books signed and find out the overall winners of the event. All of the students thoroughly enjoyed the event! We are hoping to secure a school visit from one of

11 April 2025

Dudley HAF - 11+ Secondary Holiday Activities

Guide

Just a reminder that there are over 10,000 free holiday places for FSM eligible children across the two weeks.

Each child can have up to 4 FREE holiday places on activities this Easter

Please can you remind your families to book on and it’s not too late to register if they haven’t already.

Here is a link to the newly branded brochure targeted at secondary children.

Dudley HAF Easter 2025 What’s on forAges 11+