Ninestiles News at Nine December 2019
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Welcome to our <strong>December</strong> newsletter<br />
Dear Parents and Carers<br />
It’s my gre<strong>at</strong> privilege to be able to write to you <strong>at</strong><br />
the end of another busy, eventful and gre<strong>at</strong>ly<br />
fulfilling term for everyone <strong>at</strong> <strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong>. As you will<br />
have seen from our weekly bulletins, we have had a<br />
packed autumn term, offering a wide range of<br />
exciting opportunities to students. We’ve also<br />
undertaken considerable work to ensure we have a<br />
curriculum which is broad and balanced whilst also<br />
stimul<strong>at</strong>ing and full of rich learning experiences.<br />
This curriculum, allied to our focus on reading and<br />
literacy, is allowing us to raise our aspir<strong>at</strong>ions for all<br />
students. Our commitment is to work in<br />
partnership with all parents and carers to provide<br />
our students with a high quality educ<strong>at</strong>ion th<strong>at</strong><br />
allows them to leave <strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong>, An Academy as self<br />
-respecting, global citizens. It was fantastic to see<br />
our Year 11 high <strong>at</strong>taining students return in<br />
September and receive the accolades from Jess<br />
Phillips, MP, which their high accomplishments<br />
deserve. Look out for their Hall of Fame appearing<br />
soon <strong>at</strong> the front of school.<br />
A huge thank you to all those parents who support<br />
us by ensuring their child is in school as regularly as<br />
possible. High <strong>at</strong>tendance is very closely linked to<br />
<strong>at</strong>tainment and outcomes, and I am delighted to be<br />
able to say th<strong>at</strong> we still have over 400 students with<br />
100% <strong>at</strong>tendance this school year.<br />
For those th<strong>at</strong> have fallen short of our 97% target,<br />
then a prolonged period of <strong>at</strong>tendance and the<br />
commitment to not taking holidays during the<br />
school year will help to reach the heights.<br />
Unfortun<strong>at</strong>ely, some parents have received penalty<br />
notices from the local council through their Fast<br />
Track process. Please work with us to ensure this<br />
isn’t you!<br />
As we approach the festive period, my thoughts<br />
always turn to the students and families in our<br />
community who find this time of year challenging,<br />
and need support to ensure it is an enjoyable and<br />
restful time. I’ve been delighted by the way our<br />
staff and students, supported by local charities such<br />
as the Acocks Green Lions, have come together to<br />
provide for our most vulnerable. It is a real sign of<br />
the respect th<strong>at</strong> students have for each other and<br />
the community th<strong>at</strong> so much has been don<strong>at</strong>ed and<br />
given to families and shows the strength of<br />
commitment we all share to our local area. This<br />
term has also seen extensive work with our Young<br />
Carers. We have over 30 students in this group and<br />
they handle the day to day of school life alongside<br />
the added responsibility of being a carer<br />
magnificently. We’ve<br />
been able to support<br />
them with day trips,<br />
support and<br />
counselling and a<br />
special Principal’s<br />
Afternoon Tea; they<br />
are a truly inspiring<br />
group.
We were delighted to welcome a team of Ofsted<br />
Inspectors into the school <strong>at</strong> the start of<br />
<strong>December</strong>. The whole staff body <strong>at</strong> <strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong> is<br />
dedic<strong>at</strong>ed to ensuring we deliver a high quality<br />
educ<strong>at</strong>ion for your children and so were very<br />
gr<strong>at</strong>eful to receive and act on the feedback given.<br />
We are committed to the constant improvement of<br />
everything we do and look forward to sharing the<br />
full report with you when it is published in early<br />
January.<br />
The end of term of this term sees two colleagues<br />
heading to new pastures. I wish Mr Mendonca well<br />
in his new role and Mrs O’Grady a long and action<br />
packed retirement.<br />
Term starts again for Year 11 on Tuesday 7 th<br />
January and for all other year groups on<br />
Wednesday 8 th January. I look forward to seeing all<br />
our students return in full school uniform,<br />
including black shoes, and with the necessary<br />
equipment to be successful in the new year.<br />
Have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New<br />
Year; I look forward to working with you all in<br />
2020.<br />
Best wishes,<br />
Alex Hughes<br />
Principal<br />
Our final students of the week for <strong>2019</strong><br />
The following students will be enjoying hot<br />
chocol<strong>at</strong>e and doughnuts with Mr Hughes and our<br />
Vice Principles on the last day of term.<br />
Congr<strong>at</strong>ul<strong>at</strong>ions to them all for their efforts.<br />
Year<br />
Student<br />
7 Roop Rehal<br />
7 Mashkoor Labid<br />
8 Malaika Waqas<br />
8 Divine Munhuash<strong>at</strong>i<br />
9 Reayah Sarwar<br />
9 Alasan Njie-Morgan<br />
9 Alfie Redmond<br />
10 Elliott Clifton<br />
10 Aisha Tabassum<br />
10 Chelsea Marshall<br />
11 Raafay Irfan<br />
11 Humaira Choudhury
Director of Year End of Term Upd<strong>at</strong>es<br />
Year 7—Miss Simpson<br />
Year 7 students have had a fantastic start to their<br />
first term <strong>at</strong> <strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong>. They have been extremely<br />
busy exploring new surroundings, forming new<br />
friendships and being immersed in a broad and<br />
exciting curriculum.<br />
Following on from a successful Parent/Tutor<br />
meeting in September, parents and carers, along<br />
with students, were invited back to school in<br />
November to celebr<strong>at</strong>e Year 7 Achievement <strong>at</strong> our<br />
Celebr<strong>at</strong>ion Event. It was a perfect opportunity for<br />
teachers to recognise students in their classes who<br />
are committed to learning and achieving their best.<br />
Subject departments cre<strong>at</strong>ed some eye c<strong>at</strong>ching<br />
displays of outstanding work produced by the<br />
students, and everyone enjoyed some tasty<br />
homemade refreshments, made by the students<br />
themselves.<br />
Year 7 are currently leading the way for their<br />
<strong>at</strong>tendance <strong>at</strong> the extra-curricular clubs on offer <strong>at</strong><br />
<strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong>. Many students have been <strong>at</strong>tending<br />
more than one after school club so far this term,<br />
making sure th<strong>at</strong> they are tracking their progress in<br />
their Enrichment and Healthy Active Lifestyles<br />
passports. This is a huge credit to them and will<br />
continue to be beneficial to their overall health<br />
and wellbeing. This was clear to see from the<br />
commitment shown by our SEND Athletics team,<br />
who were awarded gold medals for their<br />
particip<strong>at</strong>ion in a recent <strong>at</strong>hletics meet.<br />
Congr<strong>at</strong>ul<strong>at</strong>ions must go to the Deb<strong>at</strong>e M<strong>at</strong>e<br />
students who particip<strong>at</strong>ed <strong>at</strong> a deb<strong>at</strong>ing event <strong>at</strong><br />
Birmingham University in November. They<br />
continue to go from strength to strength with the<br />
support of Mr Talib and Mr Kemp.<br />
Year 7 also had the opportunity to explore<br />
Birmingham with the Geography department.<br />
Students spent a morning exploring the<br />
Birmingham Museum, wandering through the<br />
Christmas markets and admiring the architecture<br />
inside Grand Central, all whilst completing field<br />
work <strong>at</strong> three key loc<strong>at</strong>ions en-route.<br />
In January we look forward to welcoming David<br />
Graham, who will perform an interactive show for<br />
Year 7 called N<strong>at</strong>ural High.<br />
As Director of Year 7, I am extremely proud of<br />
wh<strong>at</strong> students have achieved so far this year,<br />
especially as they are only <strong>at</strong> the beginning of<br />
their school experience. I look forward to guiding<br />
and supporting them further in the new year,<br />
w<strong>at</strong>ching them build self-confidence and exceed<br />
our high expect<strong>at</strong>ions.<br />
Year 8—Miss Ferguson<br />
Year 8 students have had a steady start to the<br />
school year. Our focus this term has been ‘Basic<br />
Expect<strong>at</strong>ions’ where students have been<br />
encouraged to do the right things <strong>at</strong> the right<br />
time, and to make the right choices when faced<br />
with decisions. Their tutors have been amazing <strong>at</strong><br />
helping to support Year 8s with this, and I’m<br />
delighted th<strong>at</strong> the vast majority of students are<br />
managing this with ease, whilst the remainder<br />
are working well to achieve this.
Next term I hope to organise some ‘Parent and<br />
Child’ subject specific sessions and other<br />
opportunities where parents can come into school<br />
and access help and support in order to help their<br />
children. Thank you to all parents and carers for<br />
the work th<strong>at</strong> you are doing to support us.<br />
Year 9—Mr Payne<br />
My name is Mr Payne and it’s with gre<strong>at</strong><br />
enthusiasm th<strong>at</strong> I’d like to introduce myself as<br />
Director of Year 9. The year group has had a good<br />
start to the year with lots of exciting activities<br />
happening. It was pleasing to see so many of the<br />
year group take the opportunity of visiting a<br />
university this term. We had visits to Cambridge,<br />
Oxford, Birmingham City, Worcester,<br />
Gloucestershire, and Birmingham universities over<br />
the four days. I hope th<strong>at</strong> this experience has given<br />
students some aspir<strong>at</strong>ions as to where they would<br />
like their Year 10 option choices to lead them in the<br />
future. New opportunities such as the Duke of<br />
Edinburgh Award and visits to the nursing home<br />
have been well <strong>at</strong>tended by Year 9, which is lovely<br />
to see. I can also see Year 9 are making gre<strong>at</strong><br />
strides forward in reading and m<strong>at</strong>hs in time for<br />
starting the GCSE content this year. I would like see<br />
Year 9 students really knuckle down and focus on<br />
being ‘GCSE ready’ in time for the Options process.<br />
Some key d<strong>at</strong>es I would like to draw your <strong>at</strong>tention<br />
to:<br />
<br />
<br />
Tuesday 4 th February: Options Inform<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
Evening (5-7pm)<br />
Tuesday 28 th April: Parents Evening<br />
Year 10—Miss Wright<br />
Year 10 have had a busy start to the academic year.<br />
Students have been receiving extra English provision<br />
during tutor time, and many have found this<br />
extremely useful; it is therefore imper<strong>at</strong>ive th<strong>at</strong><br />
students arrive to school on time.<br />
A number of students have been selected for a<br />
variety of activities throughout this term, including<br />
“Restart a Heart” CPR training, and workshops from<br />
“Prison Me, No Way” and HM Royal Marines. We<br />
hope th<strong>at</strong> students can use these opportunities to<br />
think about their future and make informed life<br />
choices.<br />
Work experience continues to remain the main<br />
focus for all Year 10 students- well done to those<br />
who have already secured a placement! Work<br />
experience starts on 11 th May 2020. It is important<br />
th<strong>at</strong> those who are yet to secure a placement do so<br />
quickly, as other school students will be applying,<br />
and competition will be fierce!<br />
I would like to take this opportunity to thank those<br />
students who have consistently had impeccable<br />
behaviour and uniform, and a strong work ethic. You<br />
continue to make staff <strong>at</strong> this school extremely<br />
proud and I’m sure the commitment you have<br />
shown towards your studies will be rewarded.<br />
Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday.
Year 11—Miss Kaur<br />
This half term:<br />
References are currently being written by form<br />
tutors which will then be sent to college<br />
placements.<br />
Students have started to apply to colleges and<br />
have been given deadlines for grammar school<br />
applic<strong>at</strong>ions which are this side of Christmas and<br />
some in January. All the others will be in January/<br />
February. A handful of our students have already<br />
had successful interviews, demonstr<strong>at</strong>ing their<br />
proactiveness.<br />
Careers Interviews: All of our Year 11s will<br />
eventually have a careers interview with our<br />
careers advisor, Debbie Perry. A significant number<br />
of students have already had their interviews and<br />
have found the inform<strong>at</strong>ion useful.<br />
Prom: we will be booking the venue after<br />
Christmas so all deposits MUST be in by January<br />
10th 2020. We have a Prom Committee; the<br />
members are: Chloe Clarke, Zarah Ahmed, Charlie<br />
Jones, K<strong>at</strong>ie Wilcox, Georgie Ry<strong>at</strong>t, Arooj Shoaib,<br />
Manasveer Kainth, Vaishali Shingadia and Aswin<br />
Kumar.<br />
Our Head Boy, Aswin Kumar, had a talk with an<br />
ex-student, Haroon Irshad, about an amazing<br />
opportunity to join the UK Youth Parliament last<br />
week.<br />
Please note: Year 11s have their PPEs in January so<br />
teachers are preparing them for these; students<br />
have access to revision guides and m<strong>at</strong>erial and a<br />
personal exam timetable has been issued.<br />
Book of the Week<br />
Christmas Stories—Scholastic Classics<br />
A heart-warming collection of<br />
classic Christmas tales. Perfect<br />
for curling up with on a cold<br />
<strong>December</strong> night. Gre<strong>at</strong> festive<br />
traditions brought alive by top<br />
writers.<br />
Gifts, snow, elves, acts of<br />
kindness - all the joy of Christmas, from sleigh<br />
bells to ballet trips, captured by the world’s<br />
gre<strong>at</strong>est authors.<br />
Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan<br />
Doyle, Kenneth Grahame, E. Nesbit, Hans<br />
Christian Andersen and more.<br />
Year 11 Poetry Lectures<br />
All Year 11 students have been invited to <strong>at</strong>tend<br />
university-style poetry lectures in the Hall every<br />
Monday. Lectures have taken an in-depth and<br />
contextualised approach to poetry. There has<br />
been an excellent turnout of students, who all<br />
listened <strong>at</strong>tentively and made diligent notes.<br />
These will continue next half term where we<br />
hope to see as many Year 11 students as<br />
possible.<br />
Monday 13 th January<br />
Monday 20 th January<br />
Monday 27 th January<br />
Monday 3 rd February<br />
Monday 10 th February<br />
Tissue: Mr Bond<br />
Storm on the Island:<br />
Ms Nelson<br />
The Emigree: Ms Price<br />
War Photographer:<br />
Mr Flowerdew<br />
Ozymandias: Mrs Raja
Geography Upd<strong>at</strong>es<br />
This half term, Geography have been busy<br />
providing extra curricula activities for our Year 7<br />
and 11 students. We have taken out two very<br />
successful trips looking <strong>at</strong> regener<strong>at</strong>ion.<br />
Year 7 have been learning about the local area, in<br />
particular, Birmingham. We have covered<br />
numerous aspects from the history of migr<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
to the UK, which has made it the diverse<br />
multicultural city it is today, to wh<strong>at</strong> it will look<br />
like in the future, with the regener<strong>at</strong>ion of<br />
Digbeth and its change to Smithfield. Year 7 were<br />
taken out to look <strong>at</strong> regener<strong>at</strong>ion across<br />
Birmingham and all completed a pedestrian<br />
count, field sketch and an environmental quality<br />
survey. As they had a little time left over, they<br />
managed to squeeze in a visit to St Martin’s<br />
Church or St Phillips C<strong>at</strong>hedral and also a trip to<br />
the German market. Children used their<br />
knowledge when they were back in lessons and<br />
cre<strong>at</strong>ed and completed st<strong>at</strong>istical analysis.<br />
Our Year 11s travelled further out into Gre<strong>at</strong>er<br />
Birmingham and visited Coventry city centre. As<br />
part of their GCSE studies, students are asked to<br />
conduct a research project looking <strong>at</strong><br />
regener<strong>at</strong>ion. Students dived into the tasks well,<br />
despite the cold and rain. Outstanding behaviour<br />
was seen on the trip and all students thoroughly<br />
enjoyed their research. Through completing<br />
questionnaires, our students gained confidence in<br />
themselves. They have since been back in lessons<br />
cre<strong>at</strong>ing radar graphs, pictograms and complex<br />
bar charts to enable them to reach a results<br />
analysis, conclusion and evalu<strong>at</strong>ion.<br />
British Sign Language Club<br />
<strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong>’ British Sign Language Club started this<br />
term and has been a huge success. We hope to<br />
fund members to take an Entry Level course in the<br />
new year.<br />
Merry Christmas from <strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong>’ British Sign<br />
Language Club!<br />
Parent Forums<br />
Please see below the d<strong>at</strong>es for the parent forums<br />
for the rest of this academic year. We do hope you<br />
come along and give us your views on various<br />
topics rel<strong>at</strong>ed to your child’s educ<strong>at</strong>ion and<br />
wellbeing <strong>at</strong> <strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong>:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Monday 13th January<br />
Monday 2nd March<br />
Monday 27th April<br />
Monday 8th June<br />
All forums start <strong>at</strong> 5.30pm. Please email<br />
principal@ninestiles.org.uk if you would like to<br />
<strong>at</strong>tend.
M<strong>at</strong>hs <strong>News</strong><br />
This has been another<br />
exceptional term of<br />
M<strong>at</strong>hem<strong>at</strong>ics <strong>at</strong><br />
<strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong>.<br />
Pupils across all year<br />
groups have been<br />
working hard to answer<br />
as many questions as possible on Hegarty M<strong>at</strong>hs,<br />
with an average score of 200 questions per student<br />
across the school. The top pupils in each year group<br />
were: Adam Hussain (Year 7, 1220 questions),<br />
F<strong>at</strong>ima Noman (Y8, 1699), Wajihah Kadiri (Y9,<br />
1613), Rukhsar Chandni (Y10, 934) and Mohammed<br />
Alam (Y11, 6566). Pupils in Year 7 have also been<br />
working towards earning their Rock Hero<br />
certific<strong>at</strong>es, which can be collected from their form<br />
tutors once they reach this target.<br />
Year 11 pupils have represented the school in the<br />
M<strong>at</strong>hem<strong>at</strong>ical Olympiad for Girls (Hinaa Ladha,<br />
Vaishali Shingadia, Eliza Nisar, Muntaha Ali), Senior<br />
Team Challenge (Alex Brogan, Musa Idriss, Hinaa<br />
Ladha, Manasveer Kainth) and Senior M<strong>at</strong>hem<strong>at</strong>ics<br />
Challenge this term. Silver certific<strong>at</strong>es were<br />
awarded to Alex Brogan and Musa Idriss, while<br />
Hinaa Ladha, Manasveer Kainth, Javed Shajahan,<br />
Anika Fahmida, Alaadin Ali, Subhan Ali, and Aman<br />
Mohammed all earned bronze. Congr<strong>at</strong>ul<strong>at</strong>ions to<br />
everyone who took part!<br />
Urban Artwork<br />
Well done to Year 8 students, Abir and Aamina, on<br />
their fantastic Urban artwork. These pieces,<br />
produced in the style of the artist ROA, show their<br />
commitment and skill in art and design.<br />
Drawing by Aamina Bibi—Year 8<br />
Drawing by Abir Ahmed—Year 8
<strong>News</strong> from the MFL department<br />
September saw the launch of our new Japanese<br />
Club, which students have been <strong>at</strong>tending regularly<br />
in the mornings before school. They have been<br />
exposed to the Japanese culture and are now able<br />
to introduce themselves confidently, with some<br />
excellent pronunci<strong>at</strong>ion! <strong>December</strong> also saw a visit<br />
to the University of Birmingham for current Year 10<br />
GCSE students, who were given an MFL<br />
masterclass. The afternoon included a lecture<br />
about the benefits of speaking another language as<br />
well as taster sessions in Russian and Japanese.<br />
Students thoroughly enjoyed trying new languages<br />
and enjoyed visiting the Russell Group university's<br />
beautiful campus.<br />
Some images from Japanese Club on 12th <strong>December</strong>.
Women in History<br />
In Year 8 History, we have been looking <strong>at</strong><br />
significant women in history and this has really<br />
helped our students to see just how important<br />
these women were and how they overcame many<br />
challenges to achieve the things they did. We have<br />
been learning about Cleop<strong>at</strong>ra, Joan of Arc,<br />
Elizabeth I, Pocahontas, Mary Seacole and<br />
Margaret Th<strong>at</strong>cher. This has also got students<br />
thinking about other groups of people who may be<br />
missing from history and how there are still many<br />
gender inequalities in the world today.<br />
Acocks Green Lions<br />
We are very gr<strong>at</strong>eful to the Acocks Green Lions for<br />
the support they give our school. They very<br />
generously don<strong>at</strong>ed £250 towards our school food<br />
bank. Some of our students went out to support<br />
them with their Santa Sleigh in the week before<br />
Christmas.<br />
Cleop<strong>at</strong>ra,<br />
c. 69BC to 30BC<br />
Joan of Arc, c. 1412 to 1431
<strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong> Foodbank<br />
Thank you to all staff and students who have very<br />
generously don<strong>at</strong>ed food, toiletries and gifts to our<br />
foodbank.<br />
We have given food parcels to 14 families so far,<br />
helping out 57 individuals for whom Christmas can<br />
be a really tough time. We hope it’s one less<br />
challenge for them over the holidays.<br />
Thank you to the Acocks Green Lions for their very<br />
generous don<strong>at</strong>ion.<br />
Maple Dene Care Home Visits<br />
As part of our Enrichment programme, on a 6<br />
weekly rota, a number of our students travel on a<br />
weekly basis to Maple Dene Care home in<br />
Birmingham, to visit residents and provide<br />
company and entertainment.<br />
The staff <strong>at</strong> Maple Dene have been really<br />
impressed by our students, especially Year 9<br />
student, Alfie Redmond, who has really supported a<br />
small group of residents, whose faces light up every<br />
time they see him return.<br />
This week our choir visited them to sing Christmas<br />
carols and enjoy a party with residents.<br />
Thanks to Miss Blaney for organising the choir,<br />
Miss Turton and Miss Fisher for running the club<br />
this term, and Mr Hunt for supporting with the<br />
transport<strong>at</strong>ion on a regular basis. Our students<br />
have got as much out of these visits as the<br />
residents, possibly more.<br />
Christmas Card Winner<br />
Congr<strong>at</strong>ul<strong>at</strong>ions to Tegan Hinckes in Year 9 who<br />
designed the winning Christmas card in this year’s<br />
competition.
<strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong> Student Union<br />
We have three students, who are part of the<br />
<strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong> Student Union, who would like to join<br />
the UK Youth Parliament.<br />
An ex-student, Haroon Irshad, came into school to<br />
speak to the students about this fantastic<br />
opportunity, as he too has been part of the<br />
process and even got to speak in the House of<br />
Commons.<br />
The three students are Abdihafid Ahmed, Demi<br />
Leigh-Jones and Sofina Hussain. They are currently<br />
writing their manifestos on issues th<strong>at</strong> they care<br />
about most, and the school will need to vote for<br />
one candid<strong>at</strong>e after Christmas. They are also<br />
thinking about their campaign and how they<br />
intend on getting votes!<br />
Students from across the UK will be taking part<br />
and we really hope a member of our union gets<br />
voted into the parliament. Good luck to them all.<br />
Young Carers<br />
We have been celebr<strong>at</strong>ing and supporting our<br />
Young Carers this month, in recognition of the<br />
work they do <strong>at</strong> home, on top of their school work.<br />
They enjoyed a trip to Cadbury World <strong>at</strong> the start<br />
of <strong>December</strong>, and were invited to a special tea<br />
party on 17th, with Mr Hughes, Mrs Beech and our<br />
Safeguarding Leads. It was lovely to see them<br />
relax and enjoy themselves together. We have<br />
around 30 Young Carers in school, and they are a<br />
fantastic bunch.<br />
Birmingham City Council SEND Youth Forum<br />
Inform<strong>at</strong>ion for Parents and Carers:<br />
Birmingham City Council is in the process of setting<br />
up a Special Educ<strong>at</strong>ional Needs and Disabilities<br />
(SEND) Youth Forum. Children and young people<br />
have the right to be involved in decisions th<strong>at</strong> affect<br />
them and this helps to ensure th<strong>at</strong> services<br />
provided are relevant to their needs.<br />
We want to make sure th<strong>at</strong> the voice of our young<br />
people with SEND is <strong>at</strong> the heart of the work th<strong>at</strong><br />
we do. This is an exciting opportunity for 12 of our<br />
young people to shape and influence SEND in<br />
Birmingham schools.<br />
We welcome applic<strong>at</strong>ions from secondary aged<br />
young people with SEND who <strong>at</strong>tend a mainstream<br />
Birmingham school.<br />
If you know a young person who is interested in<br />
being part of the forum and you would like to know<br />
more, please email the project team <strong>at</strong>:<br />
youthforum@birmingham.gov.uk and we will get<br />
back to you and discuss further.<br />
Mary Poppins<br />
Tickets for our production of<br />
Mary Poppins will go on sale<br />
after Christmas. There are two<br />
opportunities for parents and<br />
the public to see this fantastic<br />
event on Tuesday 11th and<br />
Wednesday 12th February<br />
2020.
Deb<strong>at</strong>e M<strong>at</strong>e<br />
Deb<strong>at</strong>e M<strong>at</strong>e started in earnest after half term and<br />
it has been a gre<strong>at</strong> success. Students from across<br />
Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 have been taking part in the<br />
weekly club and learning valuable deb<strong>at</strong>ing skills. A<br />
dozen students have also taken part in our Deb<strong>at</strong>e<br />
M<strong>at</strong>e Acceler<strong>at</strong>e programme which is an extra<br />
lesson a week of deb<strong>at</strong>e. There are over 50<br />
students taking part in some form of deb<strong>at</strong>e every<br />
week.<br />
We are looking forward to next term when students<br />
will be able to test their new found skills in various<br />
competitions. Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 will be taking<br />
part in the Urban League deb<strong>at</strong>e and <strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong> will<br />
also be hosting the prestigious ESU Public Speaking<br />
Competition in January, for which our Year 11s are<br />
busy preparing!<br />
BBC Young Reporters<br />
This term, students in<br />
Years 7 to 10 have<br />
taken part in BBC<br />
Young Reporters,<br />
which gives students<br />
the opportunity to write for a real<br />
audience. Students have been busy learning<br />
journalism skills such as finding sources,<br />
interviewing, and writing articles, amongst others.<br />
In March, <strong><strong>Nine</strong>stiles</strong>, along with hundreds of other<br />
schools across the country, will take part in the BBC<br />
Young Reporters <strong>News</strong> Day. We look forward to<br />
seeing wh<strong>at</strong> stories make it to our news deadline in<br />
March. We welcome new members; please speak<br />
to Mr Collins, Mr Flowerdew, or Ms Nelson if you<br />
would like more inform<strong>at</strong>ion about joining.<br />
Responsible Parking<br />
Please ensure th<strong>at</strong><br />
when dropping off<br />
and picking up<br />
your child from<br />
school, you park<br />
safely and<br />
responsibly.<br />
Student safety is of<br />
paramount<br />
importance to us,<br />
and we need your<br />
support to help<br />
keep them all safe<br />
outside of school.<br />
If you need help over Christmas<br />
There may be times over the Christmas holiday<br />
when families need to access additional support,<br />
and a number of agencies will be able to help. On<br />
the Safeguarding page of the school website,<br />
there is a document called ‘How to get help,<br />
advice and support when you need it most’. This<br />
is for parents and carers as well as young people.<br />
It includes details of how to seek support for<br />
mental health worries, young suicide and<br />
domestic violence. It also has the contact details<br />
for ChildLine (0800 1111). All of these services<br />
have a variety of ways in which you can access<br />
them and obtain help, advice and support.<br />
Other agencies such as Health and the Police will<br />
also be able to support over this period and have<br />
other services th<strong>at</strong> they can refer you to as well.<br />
If you need additional advice and support over<br />
Christmas then never do nothing and always ask<br />
for help.