The Woodlander

WOODLANDS ACADEMY
February 2016
Issue 24
The Woodlander
The success stories continue.....
This is the 24th edition of The Woodlander and we hope it continues to give you an insight into life at Woodlands Academy.
Open Morning
Page 2
Charity Fundraising
Pages 4-5
Prizegiving Ceremony
Page 7
Sixth Form
Pages 8-9
Year 7 Literacy
Page 11
High Achievers
Page 14
An action-packed start to the
year at Woodlands Academy!
Inside this newsletter you will see just some of the exciting activities that took
place at Woodlands Academy since the beginning of the school year.

Woodlands Academy
Our Open Morning
You may remember reading in the last newsletter that we were holding an Open Morning for
prospective students and their parents in September.
On a very sunny, late September Saturday morning, staff arrived at school early to set up their
stalls for our fete-style open morning. Each department had a number of activities set up for the
visiting Year 5 and Year 6 students to take part in!
Even before the open morning officially started, visitors were walking up the drive to register and
receive their sticker collection sheets.
Each visiting student was given the task of going to each department to take part in one of the
activities. Upon completion of the activity they would receive a sticker. After they collected a
sticker from each department, the visiting students were given a Woodlands Academy water bottle
and entered into a prize draw. We also had a bouncy castle, taste-testing in the Woodlands Diner,
an ice-cream van and face-painting so there was fun for all the family!
Each visitor was offered the opportunity to be given a guided tour of the school by one of our
current students who gave up their Saturday morning to help the school to showcase what it does
best - which is to give a fantastic education and extra-curricular opportunities to the boys who
come here.
At Woodlands Academy we believe it is important to let the students share their own experiences
with parents and prospective students, so we asked the Head Boys from the Houses, as well as one
very brave Year 7 student, Kian Hamer, to talk to a Hall full of eager parents and their sons about
every aspect of life at Woodlands Academy.
The morning was a great success with lots of happy, smiling Year 5 and Year 6 students looking
forward to the day they can join Woodlands Academy.
Afterwards, visitors completed an online questionnaire to give us their thoughts on the Open
Morning. Comments included “We felt that we had the best student guide! Alex was thoughtful,
understanding and very patient with us! He makes an excellent ambassador for the school.”
“Matthew made our morning - he was brilliant and he was a real credit to the school.” “Hayden
was extremely helpful, patient and attentive. He was happy to wait while we were talking to the
teachers and was very informative, answering all of our questions. He was a credit to the school
and his family.” “A great vibe with the 6th Form band (The Commonjets) outside. Lovely day. My
son and nephew loved it and really want to go to Woodlands. A lovely, traditional boys school with
great values and facilities.” “It was a lovely informal morning and my boys really enjoyed it. It was
nice that they could have a go at the activities. The students and teachers were really nice and
welcoming.”
If you were not able to attend our Open Morning, please don’t worry
as it is not too late to apply for a place here for September 2016.
Please call 02476 427674 for more information
about how to apply for a place and for a prospectus.
Page 2

Issue 24 February 2016
A message from Dr Harris
As you read through this newsletter, I very much hope you gain a sense of what it is like to be a student here at Woodlands
Academy.
You will read about the phenomenal amount of fundraising that has taken place this year, and you will see how the students
and staff work together to raise as much money as they can to help worthy causes. I am extremely proud of the way we
support others in our local community and further afield.
In November I had the pleasure of attending a new and improved Governors’ Prizegiving Ceremony as Headteacher here. We
handed out many prizes, certificates and awards to students from Year 8 through to Year 13 and it was a fantastic occasion to
share with staff and parents who were in the audience to celebrate the achievements of so many of our students.
Despite national statistics sometimes stating otherwise, I firmly believe boys can achieve as well as girls and this is certainly
true here at Woodlands Academy. As you will see from this newsletter, and previous editions of our newsletter, we have some
very talented students, past and present, who go on to achieve great things in school and when they leave us. I am very much
looking forward to seeing the results of the forthcoming UK Maths Challenge, into which we have entered a number of our
gifted mathematicians. We also eagerly await the outcome of the MENSA test which you can read about on page 14. The
MENSA test is just a small part of our new and exciting Higher Achievers programme.
We have held our Year 8, 9 and 11 Parents’ Evenings so far this year, as well as our Options Evening for Year 8 students and
their parents. I have been delighted with the turn-out at each of these events. These evenings are an opportunity for parents
to meet with the staff to discuss how well their son is progressing and what support might be beneficial to ensure that he
reaches his full potential. To have such keen and committed parents will certainly help the students here as they know that
both at home and at school they have full support, which is going to be imperative if they are to go on to achieve their best.
I very much hope that all of our students continue to have a successful school year, particularly those taking public
examinations such as GCSE’s, A’ Levels in the summer, and to our primary school readers who are taking their SATS in May.
Good luck to you all!
Dr Roger Harris
Acting Headteacher
Our Website
www.woodlands.coventry.sch.uk
Our website
is constantly
updated with
news, photos
and other
information.
@woodlandscov
Get news and updates direct
to your smartphone or tablet.
Page 3

Woodlands Academy
Charity
Regular readers of The Woodlander will know that staff and students at Woodlands Academy like to do as much as we can to
raise money for those less fortunate than us. So far this year lots of charities, organisations and individuals have benefitted
from our fundraising efforts.
Macmillan Coffee Morning
Cake Sale
Each year we have a cake sale at Woodlands Academy to raise money for
the Macmillan Cancer Support charity. One September morning, students
and staff came to school armed with bags and boxes of cakes to sell at
break time. Each House, as well as the Sixth Form, sold cakes during a
specially extended break-time.
As well as holding a cake sale to raise funds for the
Macmillan Cancer appeal, this year we decided to go
one step further in our fundraising efforts – shaving the
Headteacher’s hair off!
Dr Harris said "I challenged the Houses to raise as much
money as they could during their cake sale and in return,
a student from the winning House could shave my head,
as part of the charity's ‘Brave the Shave’ challenge.”
Ashley Jay-Tinkler from Sparkes House had the honour
of being armed with the electric shaver whilst staff and
students donated money to watch him shave Dr Harris’s
hair off.
In total, including the cake sale and head shave, we
raised £915.70!
Woodlands Wolves
On Sunday 6th September ten staff from Woodlands Academy took part in
another Wolf Run Event. The group had a fantastic time and completed the
course in just under two hours. They are already planning their entry to the
next event in May.
Page 4

Issue 24 February 2016
Fundraising
Children in Need
To raise money for the BBC Children in Need appeal, we held a non-uniform day.
As well as being given the chance to come to school in their own clothes, students
were also given the opportunity to dress in a ‘super-hero’ costume, following the
national theme. Two Year 7 students, Ahmed Said and Owen Cain, went to the effort
of dressing up as Batman and Robin for the day. Each student wearing non-uniform
donated at least £1 to the Children in Need appeal and we raised £974.75!
Text Santa
Christmas Jumper Day
On the last day of last term, as we broke up for Christmas, students and
staff took part in the national Text Santa Christmas Jumper Day.
Wearing our Christmas jumpers we each donated £1 to raise money for
the fantastic charities the event supports. We raised £624.08 in total!
As well as supporting Macmillan, Children in Need and Text Santa,
we also raised money for the British Legion Poppy Appeal. The
West Coventry Sixth Form also sold sweets and cakes to raise
£169.20 for ‘Wear it Pink’ for Breast Cancer Research.
Page 5

Woodlands Academy
Getting on their bikes for Tanya
When students from our Sixth Form heard that former student Tanya Henderson
had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer which needed specialist treatment
in America, they were only too happy to jump on their bikes to help.
Tanya was a student based at Woodlands Academy for most of her time in Sixth
Form and she was a leading light in all the school performances and musical events
such as ‘Unplugged’. As such, she is well known to many of the current sixth form
students who remember her from her time supporting them as young performers.
The NHS agreed to fund Tanya’s 12-week Proton Beam Therapy treatment in
Florida as well as allowing her mum to travel with her, but the students here
wanted to help with the fundraising to allow Tanya’s dad to travel too, to support
both her and her mum at a difficult time.
WCSF students, lead by Harry Holles, Reuben O’Connell and Arran Pallan came
up with the idea of an indoor cycling fundraiser with students and staff all
volunteering to ride a certain distance or time to raise funds. The whole event was
planned and then carried out within a four-day window.
They set up two exercise bikes in the common room and, over one school day, lots
of staff and students took part riding for a total of 11 hours and cycling over 500
miles. It was a hectic day which went on into the evening as they carried on cycling throughout the Governors’ Prizegiving
ceremony and collected donations from generous parents on their way home.
In total they managed to raise just over £1000 with more being donated by staff and children at Coventry primary schools,
including a generous donation from Broad Heath Primary School, for which the family were very grateful.
Head of Post 16, Mr Griffin, said “The whole staff were so proud of the students going out of their way and being so
considerate of an ex-student who needed some support at a crucial time in her life. It was inspiring to see Tanya come in at
lunchtime which was really motivating for the cyclists. She is so positive, so courageous and so determined to beat this terrible
illness that you couldn’t not be inspired to take part.”
Year 13 Engineering visit
As part of their Engineering course the Year 13’s had to select an
engineering company as a case study and were required to find out what
legislations and regulations are in place, and how these have an impact on
manufacturing. Students also had to identify how the change in regulations
relating to energy efficiency and consumption have had an impact on their
selected manufacturing company.
They were welcomed at AW Precision by Andy Whitworth who is the
Business Development Executive and grandson of the founder of the
company. They began their visit with a Q&A session which enabled them to
gather valuable information to assist them with their case study. Next they
were given a tour of the company starting with the sales team and then
they went to the manufacturing floor where they all had to wear safety
goggles and listen to a health and safety talk.
The students gained valuable knowledge on manufacturing and how
legislation and regulations affect all members of a work force. Following
the visit they had to write an essay using their findings, including a list
of possible modifications they feel could improve performance of the
engineered product or service.
The positive way they presented themselves resulted in a number of
members of staff commending them, and an invitation to give them a call if
they were looking for an apprenticeship.
Page 6

Issue 24 February 2016
Prizes galore at Prizegiving!
In December we held our annual prizegiving ceremony. The school hall was full of delighted parents and proud staff to
witness what was a fantastic night of celebration as we awarded many students with awards ranging from effort and
achievement to subject specific awards.
Headteacher Dr Harris said “I feel honoured to be the Head of this school and nights like our annual prizegiving ceremony
are one of the most gratifying things about my role. To see so many students receiving awards in front of their proud
parents was fantastic.”
Our guest speaker, who also assisted with giving out prizes, was Mr Nick Eastwood, Deputy Chairman of Wasps Rugby Club.
Mr Eastwood also delivered an inspirational speech to the audience which enthused the award winners and hopefully they
will remember his wise words in years to come.
Photos of all of the prizewinners are on our website.
Maths test success!
We have some fantastic mathematicians at Woodlands Academy
and this year we have already had a lot to celebrate.
A team of WCSF A’Level maths students entered the UKMT
Senior Maths Challenge at Warwick University in November and
finished a very impressive 7th out of 17 schools, which is fantastic
considering some of the competitors were from the top fee-paying
schools in the county.
The team was made up of James Cook (Captain) and Nyle Patel
from Year 13, along with Leah Normoyle and Keziah Fitzpatrick
from Year 12 (photo, bottom right). On the night the team were
supervised by a teacher from Kenilworth School who said what a
great team they were to work with!
Despite the challenge being designed for A-Level Mathematicians,
eight Year 11 Woodlands Academy students bravely volunteered
to take part and to test their maths skills. We were delighted
that three of them were awarded bronze certificates which is
impressive as the competition is aimed at students one or two
years further on in their maths studies. The Year 11 bronze
certificate winners are James Ashmore, Sher Singh Lulilidia and
Max Jefferson who are pictured right, above.
In total we had ten students awarded bronze and silver certificates
which means they are amongst some of the best
mathematicians nationally. Well done!
Page 7

Woodlands Academy
Good sports!
2015 Special Schools’ Games
In late November a group of students from our BTEC Sport Extended Diploma course spent the day at the Xcel Centre where
they helped to organise and officiate at the 2015 Special Schools’ Games.
Hundreds of staff and students from all over the West Midlands gathered to take part in a vast number of sports and games
events. Our students were in charge of organising the games which included draughts, darts and Connect Four.
Year 12 student Kris Roscoe said “Our main objective was to assist disabled children to participate in the various games. We
had to help plan and organise the games, as well as taking the time to talk to and get to know the students. The feedback
was that they really enjoyed themselves. This experience helped teach us patience and empathy and how to communicate
with students with a range of needs. It also showed us how to adapt and to differentiate the way we played in order to
accommodate all the students. We all gained positive experience from this and are grateful we got to help with the event.
We had to deal with some difficult and sensitive situations and we are proud of the way that we represented the school. I
think that we took away as much from this experience as the students who participated.”
The group were accompanied by PE staff Mr Austin and Mr Williams who said “We think this experience reflects the sort of
student we get at Woodlands Academy, and how they step up to the mark when they are asked to help others.” The staff
also said they were proud of the students for their enthusiasm, care and patience. This was a fantastic experience for the
students and will be a great addition to their personal CV’s or UCAS personal statements.
The organisers have since been in touch to complement the group and award them certificates recognising their
contribution.
A helping hand at Christmas
As well as fundraising for good causes, at Woodlands
Academy we try to help people in other ways too.
Before Christmas students and staff were asked to bring in any items
they could that would be suitable to fit into a shoe box that could be given
to a homeless person at Christmas.
To help the Coventry Comfort Carers charity, who support homeless
people, students filled shoe boxes with items suitable for different ages
and genders and also wrote a Christmas card to put in each shoe box,
which they then wrapped. The shoe boxes contained items such as
scarves, gloves, warm socks as well as chocolate and toiletries.
Representatives from the charity then came in to school to collect the shoe boxes so that they could distribute them to those
most in need.
Coventry Cyrenians, a Coventry based charity that support homeless and vulnerable people, benefitted from the generosity
of the West Coventry Sixth Form before Christmas after they collected five large boxes full of food, toiletries, hats, gloves and
scarves.
The gift was gratefully received and John Sexton, the Quality Manager of Coventry Cyrenians, has since emailed us to say
“Thank you to your Sixth Form students for the very generous donation of food and toiletries in support of our Christmas
meal. These sort of gifts make a real difference to our residents and visitors so we really appreciate the gifts on their behalf.
Thanks again for the continued support from students at Woodlands Academy and the WCSF.”
Page 8

Issue 24 February 2016
Taking the right road
In an exciting development to the WCSF PSHCE programme, we were able to bring in outside support to deliver part of
the programme on personal awareness. We were fortunate to have West Midlands Fire Service and their various partner
organisations in to talk to the students about different aspects of driving and personal safety. Students took part in a carousel
of activities with the general consensus that it was an excellent and very valuable day.
The AA provided a short session aimed at learner drivers and the pitfalls relating to choosing driving instructors, taking
lessons, and sitting the awareness and driving tests. Students then had the opportunity to sit in the cab of a HGV lorry. This
was to emphasise the difficulty for HGV drivers when looking down onto other motorists and pedestrians.
Staff from Kwik Fit delivered a practical session on vehicle safety and maintenance including a lesson on checking tyre depths.
The fire officers’ session was about making responsible choices as a driver and as a passenger. Some
of the statistics relating to young people and accidents were horrifying and the stories really made our
students think. The outdoor session simulating drink driving involved the students wearing a set of
‘beer goggles’ and simulating the sobriety or drink-driving tests used by many police forces to test a
driver’s fitness to drive. The ‘best’ part of the day for many was the session where they were given the
opportunity to sit in an electric go-kart and whizz around a track avoiding obstacles! They were then
challenged to repeat the exercise wearing the ‘beer goggles’ to simulate drink or drug-driving and the
associated dangers – it is fair to say the second laps were clearly not as impressive as the first!
The day ended with a harrowing group-talk listening to similar aged youngsters explaining about how
a girl caused a fatal accident as a result of texting whilst driving. Students worked in groups to discuss the moral and ethical
issues around the girl’s actions and the consequences for all parties involved.
At the end of the day the fire-fighter leading the session thanked everyone and praised the group as the easiest and most
involved group he had worked with in over three years of delivering such sessions – excellent praise at the end of a really
thought-provoking day.
Sixth-Form Christmas Quiz
After an absence last year, this popular whole sixth-form event found its way back onto
the calendar, and it was great fun to see over 250 WCSF students from Woodlands
Academy, Tile Hill Wood School and The Westwood Academy taking part.
Quizmaster, Mr Griffin – or ‘Father Quizmas’ as he is known on the day – lead students
through ten rounds of general knowledge, music, films and just general Christmas
fun. An extra bonus was the donations added another £250 to the
Christmas Jumper fundraiser.
In controversial circumstances ‘Team Flumpman’ were declared Quiz
Champions 2015. Team members included Nyle Patel, James Cooke,
Danny Choudhury, Louis Scallon and Will Holloway. Mr Shelton was
spotted offering assistance to the team but they claim his
presence made no difference to their
intellectual ability and winning
streak!
Page 9

Woodlands Academy
Year 7 Castle Project
As part of their first PSHCE day at Woodlands Academy, the Year 7’s went to visit Warwick
Castle. The trip allowed time for tutors and students to get to know each other as well as
improving their historical knowledge of castles. The trip was a great success and the students
not only learnt more about their local history, but represented the school well and really
enjoyed themselves!
Jonny Miller, Archie Gray and Jake Jones said one of their favourite parts of the day was
watching the birds of prey show. Jonny said “My favourite part of the day was walking over to
the bird show where we could see an eagle fly above your head.” Archie said “There were lots
of birds of prey and the Golden Eagle was called Archie!” Jake said “My favourite part of the
day was when we saw the peacocks because they were really funny.”
The trip took place during the Rugby World Cup and the students were excited to find out that
the Japanese Rugby team were training at Warwick School, and to mark this the Japanese
flag was displayed on top of the main turret. Archie said “My favourite part was climbing to
the top of the turret and seeing the massive Japanese flag”. Other students enjoyed exploring
the castle grounds as well. “My favourite part of Warwick Castle was when we climbed the
tower and a lot of people got lost up there and went the wrong way” said James Burdett. Billy
Mulhern said “It was good to explore the castle and see lots of armour and cool chairs.”
After the trip the students had a castle project as part of their Humanities homework. This
is always a great part of the year as the amount of time and effort put in by students (and
parents) is exceptional. We had some wonderful castles this year. Ben and Luke Ireland
produced an amazing replica of Warwick Castle that is currently displayed in the Humanities
block. Another superb castle was made by by Kienan Harding. Kienan said “My castle was
called Bodiam Castle. It took me about one week to complete it. I wrote all about the attack
and defence methods.”
Post-16 Rugby match
As you have probably read in this, and in previous editions of
The Woodlander, our Post-16 students are fantastic fundraisers and
are always willing to help others. Earlier in the term, true to form, the
students organised a charity rugby match against Bishop Ullathorne Sixth
Form so they could raise money for good causes. As Bishop Ullathorne
didn’t have enough players for a full team, WCSF leant them some of ours
and the match went ahead. The match ended in a win for WCSF with
a last minute try scored by Corey Blackwood but most importantly the
teams managed to raise almost £100!
Page 10

Issue 24 February 2016
Year 7 Book Worms
Each year at Woodlands Academy, the new Year 7’s are welcomed to the Learning Resource Centre by
being given a free reading book to keep.
During one of their English reading sessions in November they each had the opportunity to choose a book.
Ms Honey, our Librarian, said “This year the selection of books were from the Horrible History series, which is very popular
with many of the Year 7’s. During their time here, the students are expected to have a reading book with them at all times as
they read during some English lessons as well as in Tutor-Time. Reading helps to improve their literacy skills in all subjects.
Hopefully by giving them a free, funny and interesting book they will enjoy reading for pleasure.”
Accelerated Reader
What is it and why do students take part?
This poster is seen around school to help
Year 7’s with their book choices
Accelerated Reader is the name of the reading
programme that we use to help you become
more confident with your literacy skills and
to enjoy reading books.
Accelerated Reader is a computer programme
that tracks your reading progress and quizzes
you after every book you have read, to see
how well you are doing and how much you
can remember about each book.
The system keeps a log of how many books you
have read and how you are improving through
the levels.
To start with, you have a ten minute test
to work out your reading level colour,
once you have your reading level you can
choose a book in your level. (Most fiction
books in the Library are labelled with a
level and colour code).
As you read more books and take more quizzes
you receive certificates and awards for major
improvements.
Accelerated Reader Book Level Guide
0.0 - 1.9 4.0 - 4.9
2.0 - 2.9 5.0 - 5.9
Our favourite books
Matthew Miles says he likes action-packed books
and his favourite book is Harry Potter and The
Order Of The Phoenix because “It is exciting and full
of action.”
Charlie Gaut likes reading because “It gives you
knowledge and expands your vocabulary.” Charlie’s
favourite book is Butterfly Lion because “It is
interesting how the author, Michael Morpurgo,
described the boy and the Lion.”
Sawyer Baillee enjoys reading the Tom Gates
books by Liz Pichon. Sawyer said “I really like the
Tom Gates character in all of the stories that I
have read”. Sawyer added “I don’t like really long
books but I do like a book with a good story.”
Ryan Gough’s favourite book is The Death Cure,
from the Maze Runner series, by James Dashner.
Ryan says “I like this book because it is adventurous
and action-packed and it is one of those books you
can never put down.”
Thomas Miller enjoyed reading Top Gear - Dream
Cars. He said “I like this book because I like cars.
The author has included amazing detail and there
are great pictures.”
Ben Williams (Year 7 Stringer) has read the most
books so far this year and had read a
staggering 2,126,874 words by
Christmas!
3.0 - 3.9 6.0 +
Page 11

Woodlands Academy
Warwickshire Cross-Country
Year 10 Rugby
Sporting Success
Well done to Jack Harrison, Year 10 Cresswell, who came second in the Under-15’s Warwickshire Cross-Country
Championships. Mr Austin, Curriculum Leader for PE, said “Jack has trained hard and his work and dedication has paid
off.” Congratulations to both Jack, and Saul O’Neill (Year 11 Sparkes), who have qualified to run in the prestigious English
Schools’ Cross-Country at Donnington Park.
Our Year 10 Rugby team have been involved in the Natwest Vase U15’s
competition. They have played extremely well, competing at the highest
level, beating some well-established rugby schools, including Kings
Worcester Grammar School who have won this competition a number of
times.
We were unfortunate to lose to Gloucester’s St Thomas Rich Grammar School to make it to the quarter finals of the
competition. Mr Williams said “All students should be extremely proud of themselves and what they have accomplished. They
have made me and the school extremely proud. We now have the Coventry Schools’ Competition to look forward to and our
tour to South Africa this summer.”
Year 7 Football
Our Year 7 football team have been training hard and have played a few games against other schools including a 5-2 win over
Cardinal Wiseman School and a 4-1 win over Sidney Stringer Academy. Good luck for the rest of the season!
Woodlands Diner
As students and staff who have eaten in the Woodlands Diner know, the food
served there is delicious but we are pleased to have been given the highest
grade “VERY GOOD, 5” by the Food Standards Agency in a recent inspection.
Home-made food is served daily and each lunch-time students eating at the
Woodlands Diner can have a lunch with a dessert and a drink for just £2.60.
Menus are available on the ‘Lunches’ page of our website.
Up-to-date
records
If you are a parent or carer of a student
at Woodlands Academy, it is vital that
we have up-to-date contact details for
you. If at any time you move house or
change your phone number - either
your mobile, work or home - please
ensure you let us know as soon as
possible. In case of emergency, or if a
member of staff needs to contact you
about your son for any other reason,
we need to be sure we have a working
phone number and emergency contact
details. Please contact the school if
you have recently changed any of your
phone numbers, email addresses or
other details.
Page 12

Issue 24 February 2016
Daniel
Year 7 Technology
This year in Technology the students are doing some projects new to Woodlands Academy.
One of the projects the Year 7’s have been working on in to make a candle holder suitable for
a tea-light candle.
Merveille Ekalakala enjoyed making his tea-light candle and said “I enjoy technology as I’m
learning things I’ve never done before and I like learning how to use the machinery”.
Merveille
Kian Hamer said “I have really enjoyed this project as I was able to learn new skills and had
lots of fun, especially cutting the wood.”
Kian
Brooklyn
Daniel Green said “I like technology because you get to use proper equipment. I have made
my candle holder for my family.”
Brooklyn Gbemudu said “I think technology in secondary school is good. At first I was a bit
scared of the equipment but when we started using it I began to enjoy it. I enjoyed making
my candle holder and I need to decide who to give it to.”
Year 11 Food Technology
The Year 11 Food Technology students have been working hard
producing their six design ideas for their coursework. From here
they will then go on to develop a final product, from the best
one of their designs.
Food Technology teacher, Miss Jones, said “The students have
been striving to produce some high-quality products such as
chocolate fondants, mousses, éclairs, choux pastry and meat
dishes. They have had to take presentation into consideration and also add their own unique twist on
each product. Well done boys and good luck with your final products!”
Careers
Our Careers Advisor, Mrs Shouker, is available to students at Woodlands Academy if they need advice on what they might do
once leaving school in terms of careers or further education. She is here to give all aspects of careers advice.
A visit to the Skills Show at the NEC was also organised by Mrs Shouker for the Year 11 students in November.
The following careers talks have been held in the Careers Office for Year 11 students so they can make a more informed
career choice and they had an opportunity to ask questions to the speakers.
Engineering by Midland Group Training Services Insight into engineering, the history, entry requirements, pay and
progression , the apprenticeship programme and what is expected in an interview.
Catering/Army Former Woodlands Diner Catering Manager, Mark Neal, who was a Chef in the armed forces gave a very
interesting insight to the army and being a chef. Mrs Shouker said “The students were totally mesmerised and asked lots
of questions.”
Gaming by Mean Genie A very interesting vision into the career of a not-so glamorous
side of gaming including the long hours behind the scenes and the patience and
dedication needed to test and research games. The main message
to the students was to build a portfolio if they are serious
about a career in the gaming industry.
Page 13

Woodlands Academy
Our High Achievers
As part of our High Achievers programme, some students have been
participating in a variety of activities over the last term.
Just before Christmas Mr Smith and Mrs Curtis took a group of students
to Warwick University. They had a tour of the University and were
also selected to be the subjects of lessons by aspiring teachers. The
students were superb and their conduct was a credit to the school and
this was commented on by the university staff.
A group of Year 10 students will be attending an open day at Oxford
University. This is incredibly prestigious and will give the students
the chance to visit one of the world’s top universities. We will also be
taking a group of Year 11 students to Warwick University for a tour and sample lectures. All of these visits are designed to
show the students what university life is like and to show them what they can aspire to.
MENSA
In late January some students in Years 8, 9 and 10 as well as
all of Year 7 took the Mensa test. All students were incredibly
competitive and worked hard to achieve the best results. We are
eagerly awaiting the results and looking forwards to offering many
students the chance to join Mensa, something that only 2% of the
population have the chance to do. You will hear more about this in
future newsletters.
Applying for a place at Woodlands Academy
If you, or someone you know, is interested in applying for a place at Woodlands Academy, please
take a look at our website for more information, or call Julie Curtis, Transition and Communications
Manager, on 02476 427674.
Our pastoral House system puts students first. We aim to support students in all aspects of their
education, to help them to become responsible, mature and independent members of society. A
dedicated team of staff in each House ensures that all students are guided and supported, with
interventions implemented where necessary. Equally, successes are celebrated, rewarded and
shared with the school community.
If you want to be a part of the Woodlands community, please don’t hesitate to call us or apply for a place via Coventry City
Council.
PE Uniform
The wearing of the school PE uniform is very important. It is as much a part of the school rules
as having to wear a blazer and school tie. All students, even if they are injured or have a note
from a parent excusing them from taking part in a PE lesson, are still expected to bring full PE
uniform and wear it during the PE lesson.
Even those students unable to play a full physical part in the lesson are still expected to take part in learning by
undertaking tasks such as officiating, timekeeping, coaching and peer marking etc.
We now have extra optional PE uniform available at our school uniform supply shops. These include a
Woodlands Academy zip-up top, Woodlands Academy black track-suit bottoms and a black base layer.
These have been introduced as optional items to wear during inclement weather.
In addition, for indoor PE, and for outdoor PE in the summer term, students are now permitted to wear
black or white sports socks (not socks worn with school shoes). This should make for a
more comfortable PE lesson during warmer weather.
Page 14

Issue 24 February 2016
Doctors Bragg, Popovic and Crofts
Three former students - Craig Bragg, Alex Popovic and Perry Crofts - have graduated as junior doctors in
the last year. Craig and Perry both graduated from Warwick University and Alex from Newcastle.
Craig (pictured) said “From Year 7 through to sixth form I was pushed and encouraged and I treasure
fondly my time at Woodlands. I am genuinely appreciative of all the help and support I received in
pursuit of my career goal and thank the staff who supported me throughout. I am happy to offer my
assistance to anyone thinking of a career in medicine, in the hope that the profession is represented by
people from all walks of life. I am currently at Coventry University Hospital working through my junior
rotations. It is all going well so far and it is genuinely a fascinating career but really hard work!” Craig
has actually come into school during his degree to help current West Coventry Sixth Form students with
getting access to medical school and to help them to write their personal statements.
Perry said “I am working as a junior doctor at University Hospital Wales in Cardiff. It's great and I can
honestly say I love it! I've worked in paediatric surgery, recently undertaking care of the elderly and think general surgery is
where I will ultimately end up. What I would say to any student is aim high and work hard and you will get there in the end!”
Alex said “I would like to thank all the staff at WCSF for all their efforts in helping me get to where I am today. Without them
I doubt I'd be in the position I am and thanks for their persistence and advice - even when I was stubborn! Looking back now,
staff always knew what was best for me and they were able to point out exactly what I needed to do to achieve my goals!”
On a Monday afternoon, from 2.00 p.m. onwards, teachers at Woodlands Academy meet for a weekly Teaching and Learning
session. These sessions include training on new teaching strategies and also to share good practice.
In December we hosted a Partnership Plus session, which are sessions for teachers, organised by ex-headteacher Roger
Whitall, to further develop teaching skills across the local area. Teachers from schools in Coventry and Solihull came to
Woodlands Academy to learn about STAR Lesson which is a teaching and learning software tool we use in school.
STAR Lesson allows a lesson to be recorded discreetly, without impacting on the lesson, and the recording can then be used
by staff to improve their lessons via self-review, share best-practice with colleagues or to view and critique in small groups.
This session was held to showcase how teachers at Woodlands Academy use STAR Lesson to improve the quality of teaching.
For more information about STAR lesson please contact Mrs E Curtis (Assistant Headteacher – Learning, Teaching and
Assessment).
Free bus passes
Woodlands Academy students whose home
address is three or more miles away from
the school are entitled to claim for a free bus
pass, providing they live in the Coventry Local
Authority area. Distance is measured by the
nearest available walking route. For further
information, please contact Coventry City
Council’s Admissions and Benefits Team, Civic
Centre 1, Coventry, CV1 5RS. Telephone (024)
76831555 or (024) 76831552.
Minibus Service
Fillongley, Corley and Allesley
To help those students living further afield, and not on a regular bus
route, we operate a subsidised minibus service to and from
Allesley (Browns Lane and Village), Fillongley and Corley.
For more information, please contact
Julie Curtis on 02476 427674.
Page 15

Woodlands Academy
We have recently introduced a new online Behaviour and Rewards system called Class Charts.
Using Class Charts staff can award either positive or negative points to students, based on
their behaviour in lessons and around school. This is a real-time system which give parents the
opportunity to see how their son is behaving during the school day.
We feel it is a very useful tool for parents to help them to support
their son throughout his school life. It offers a chance to discuss any
behaviours, both positive and negative, at any time as parents will have
instant access to their son’s behaviour report.
There is the potential for every student to receive one ‘Behaviour for
Learning’ point (BfL point) every lesson, each day, providing he follows
the BfL rule of the week. These are displayed on the website each week.
By attending school every day during a week each student receives ten
‘100% attendance’ points each week. As well as these potential 34 points, there is also the opportunity for students to earn
additional ‘reward points’ in lessons and around school in general.
Students have the same access as parents to their behaviour log. In addition, students have access to the school’s online
Reward Shop via Class Charts. By logging into their accounts, students can see how many points they have to spend and they
can choose what to spend them on.
Between 1st December 2015 and 31st January 2016 over 750 items have been ordered from the online Reward Shop! Below
you can see just some of the items available to order. Students have also donated £22 worth of points to Cancer Research UK
and Macmillan Cancer Support.
These are just some of the many things students can exchange their Reward Points for.
In an attempt to make the homework system more transparent for students, their parents and the
school, in September we introduced Show My Homework.
Show My Homework is an online tool for parents, students and teachers, aimed at making the setting,
completing and feedback regarding homework easier and more transparent for all parties.
Parents who wish to take a more active role in their son’s home learning, can do so by accessing their own Show My
Homework account. They can now take a more pro-active role in encouraging their sons to complete homework tasks and
keeping tabs on the progress, without being intrusive.
Students access their homework via their online account. They can see what homework has been set, when it is due in, and
more importantly, the mark given to them by their teachers.
Woodlands Academy, Broad Lane, Coventry, CV5 7FF. Tel : 02476 462634
Email : thewoodlands@woodlands.coventry.sch.uk Website : www.woodlands.coventry.sch.uk