Primary Times Birmingham & Black Country Back to School 2016

NEWS
Birmingham Teacher Heads To Chicago For Prestigious Digital Teaching &
Learning Event
A Birmingham primary school teacher will be flown to Chicago this summer,
after being recognised for his work as a digital pioneer in the classroom.
Matthew Haydon, Assistant Headteacher at Greet Primary School in
Birmingham, was selected to attend the Discovery Education Summer
Institute, an exclusive professional development and networking event taking
place in North America later this month.
One of just 8 UK teachers chosen to
attend, Matthew was selected after
taking part in a competitive application
process, and impressing judges
with his enthusiasm for using digital
technology to boost pupil learning and
achievement.
The 8 teachers flew to Chicago at
the end of the summer term, where
they spent an unforgettable week
exploring the latest digital technology,
hearing from inspirational teachers
and networking with colleagues from
some of North America’s leading digital
schools.
To learn more about the Discovery
Education Community and Discovery
Education’s other services and
initiatives, visit
www.discoveryeducation.co.uk
Family Arts Festival 2016
The fourth national Family Arts Festival will take place throughout
October 2016 with thousands of eye-boggling events for all the
family taking place up and down the country. Have a look on their
interactive map (www.familyartsfestival.com/map) to find an event
near you, or use the box on the right to search by art-form, agerange
and postcode.
There are plenty more events being added every day so make sure to
check back regularly. You can also join their mailing list and like them
on Facebook to stay up to date with the latest announcements!
Joseph and his
Technicolour Dreamcoat
A massive well done to Y6 of The Deanery
Church of England Primary School for their
spectacular performances of Joseph and his
technicolour dreamcoat. Every single child
worked so hard to learn songs, dances and
to act their parts so well. There were some
standout performances but every single child
played their part brilliantly and contributed to
making the performances the show stoppers
that they were!
• Well done to everyone that took part!!
Stowlawn Primary School
bring home medals from the
City Sports Championships
Children from Years 5 and
6 represented Stowlawn
Primary School recently at
the Wolverhampton City
Sports Championships.
The following children won
medals:
•Luke Smith (Y6) – 800
m Silver, Relay Gold, High
Jump Gold
•Jack Lewis (Y6) – 80m
Gold, Relay Gold
•Rhys Sellick (Y5) – Relay
Gold, Long Jump Bronze
•M’rickal Tu cker (Y6) –
Throwing Bronze
•Joseph Munro - Dinham
– Relay Gold
Congratulations to all who
took part!
The choir from Shireland Hall Primary Academy recently performed at
West Bromwich Town Hall as part of the BBC Ten Pieces project.
SHP’s choir celebrated and showcased their work as part of a ‘feral choir’
alongside Yew Tree Primary. A feral choir is unusual and doesn’t involve
any singing! Feral choirs explore all vocal possibilities through exercises
and improvisations. Participants are encouraged to realise that anyone
who can breathe is capable of producing sounds that give a positive
aesthetic contribution to the human condition and, unlike traditional
choir performances, many of these contributions are without any cultural
influences or references.
Well done to all who took part.
Birmingham children become
published authors
Local MP backs inspirational writing scheme Pobble
Roger Godsiff MP has backed an
inspirational literacy programme
designed to improve children’s
writing after seeing it in action at a
local primary school.
Children from Wheeler’s Lane
Primary School hosted a very
special writing workshop organised
by teachers from literacy initiative
www.pobble.com. Pupils from
Clifton Primary School, Timbertree
Primary School and Moor Green
Primary Academy also came to the
school to take part. The children
were taught how to write in a
compelling way and then their work
was published on www.pobble.
com.
Pobble connects and inspires the
world’s educational community of
children, teachers and parents and
makes writing ridiculously exciting.
Through amazing lesson ideas
and the ability for children to share
their school work on a worldwide
classroom wall, Pobble boosts
imaginations and confidence, giving
children personal motivation to
write and be creative. This initiative
is now used in over 100 countries
and has been widely praised for
its impact by teachers across the
country, including former Eton
headmaster Tony Little, by bestselling
authors including Michael
Morpurgo and Anthony Horowitz,
and by former Manchester United
stars Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville.
Pobble also offers teachers
free daily lesson plans, and has
developed an innovative ‘Literacy
Through Sport’ programme
which seeks to combine physical
activity with the improvement of
educational outcomes, especially
helping reluctant writers. Their
‘Literacy Through Sport’ partners
include Yorkshire County Cricket
Club, Premier League football clubs
Middlesbrough and Burnley, and
rugby league giants Hull KR.
Pobble has already played host
to some magical tales - from the
beautiful love story by a boy from
Afghanistan that has been viewed
more than 9000 times; to the case
of the shy and dyslexic six-yearold
Fred who used to get nervous
whenever reading and writing
was involved, but was jumping
for joy when he won a Pobble
winter writing competition – the
education is sparking a passion
for literacy around the world and in
Birmingham it looks set to be no
different.
You can find out all about
Pobble by visiting
www.pobble.com/about
Sports update from Wren’s Nest
Y3&4 children from Wren’s Nest recently played in a tennis
tournament with 16 schools competing. All the children played
superbly and came third – a tremendous result! Congratulations
should go to all the children who took part.
Their netball team has also been busy this year playing in the Dudley
& South Staffs Netball League and in a tournament at Wallbrook
Primary School.