April 12 - Woodlands Academy

A day without pens!
Page 2
Grease!
Pages 6-7
WOODLANDS ACADEMY
The Woodlander
Super Specs!
Page 5
What is a House?
Page 3
World Book Day
Page 13
Take a look inside our newsletter to see some of the exciting things that have
been happening at Woodlands Academy over the last few months.
April 2012
Issue 15
The success stories continue.....
This is the 15th edition of The Woodlander and we hope it continues to give you an insight into life at Woodlands Academy.

Woodlands Academy
A day without pens!
There was none of the usual equipment checks at Woodlands Academy
on Wednesday 7th December, as it didn’t matter whether or not the
students had a pen as it was No Pens Day! By taking part in the national
No Pens Day, staff at Woodlands Academy successfully created a unique
opportunity for students to share their ideas and learn through talk as all
lessons focused on speaking and listening rather than writing.
Mrs Barker, Literacy Co-ordinator at Woodlands Academy, said: “We were
delighted to take part in No Pens Day in support of ‘learning through
talk’. Reading and writing are very important skills but people are often
not aware of the vital importance of speaking and listening skills. They
underpin everything. Not only have the students loved it, teachers and
parents have also benefited as well.”
Students took part in English lessons using playdoh to mould the item
their partner was describing, a wider key skills lesson making origami
cubes, a science lesson making The Möbius strip and an English lesson
where the students had to cut up words and separate them into word
class - verb, adverb or adjective. There were lessons in debating skills,
spelling games and collage making. All lessons centered around speaking,
listening and following instructions without the teacher or student using
a pen!
Learning about the Holocaust
Last December, the whole of Year 8 spent PSHCE day in preparation for
‘Holocaust Memorial Day’. The theme for the day was ‘Survival’. During
the morning, after a short introduction from Mrs Pearman, the students
worked in groups going through the journey of a young boy called Paul
and his family, a journey that lasted more than ten years, taking him
to several different European countries. Paul was 11 years old at the
beginning of his journey and did not understand the hatred being shown
to different groups of people at that time.
The students had to find out the reasons why the Nazis persecuted the
Jews, through the eyes of someone their own age. They also listened to
witness testimonies from survivors from all over Europe and learnt that it
was not just Jews who were persecuted but also Roma and Sinti gypsies
and Jehovah's Witnesses to name but a few. Some found it difficult to
understand why these events happened but they found it an interestring
subject to learn about.
Mrs Pearman said “The purpose of the morning was to look at the Holocaust without looking at pictures of gas chambers and their victims but by
understanding the individual stories of real people who survived to be able to tell their stories like Paul.”
In the afternoon, after reflecting on what they learnt, the students took it in turns to create a triangle of images from the Holocaust that were put
together to create three large Stars of David, a badge the Jews were made to wear. Other students created small shoes reflecting the symbols of
Auschwitz, the largest and most notorious concentration camp.
Mrs Pearman added “Hopefully next year we will be able to take this one stage further and invite a Holocaust survivor to come and talk to the students
about their own personal experiences as well as learn about Paul's journey.”
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Issue 15 April 2012
Any Year 6 boy will tell you that the question they most want the answer to before joining
Woodlands Academy is “What House will I be in?”. Any ex-Woodlands student will always
ask people they meet later in life who also attended Woodlands “What House were you
in?” But many people will ask “What is a House?”. A quick look in a dictionary will tell you
that a house is “A building for human habitation, especially one that is lived in by a family
or small group of people”. And that is exactly how we would describe one of our Houses at
Woodlands Academy.
Most people will probably know that we have many buildings on our school site which are full of classrooms and they are
used for teaching and learning. For those of you who have yet to have the pleasure of being a part of the House system here at Woodlands, what you
may not be aware of is that we also have six large, single-storey buildings which we call Houses. Each House has a name - Cresswell, Ellis, McLachlan,
Sparkes, Stringer and Thompson. Inside each House there are several rooms including an office, staffroom and toilets as well as a large area for day-today
House activities, much like a living room at home. Twice-daily assemblies also take place in the Houses. Our Houses have a range of activities for the
students to take part in such as table-tennis tables, pool and snooker tables, games consoles as well as other games.
Each House is ‘home’ to around one hundred and fifty students and about nine members of staff. Each House is overseen by a
Learning Leader, traditionally known as a House Head. There is a Deputy Learning Leader and a team of tutors in each House,
one for each year group. Each House has its own colour and students wear a small colour flash above their badge on their
blazer, depending on which House they are in. They also wear the school tie which has the name of their House embroidered
onto it.
Once a student joins Woodlands Academy in Year 7, they are placed in a House and they remain a part of that House until the
end of Year 11. During the day they go to lessons with students from other Houses, but before school and at break-time, lunchtime
and even after school, students return to their Houses. For the staff and students at Woodlands Academy, the House
becomes very much like a home, just like the description in the dictionary. Staff are with their students in the Houses during all
of the non-teaching times during the day, even eating their lunch together.
During our last Ofsted inspection, the team of inspectors visited the Houses and got a real feel for the sense of belonging.
They described our Houses as “providing a real sense of family” and “where older students look after the younger ones”.
It is a tradition at Woodlands that if a student joining the school already has a brother here, he will usually join the same
House. This is certainly true of the Edwards brother’s Ashley (Year 9) and Josh (Year 10), pictured right, who are both in
Stringer House. Josh said “it means a lot to have your brother with you as there is always someone that you know with
you all the time”. Ashley added “We are looking forward to our younger brother joining us in September and we will be
there to look after him”.
Mrs Newman (picture left during one of her regular mentoring sessions) is the Learning Leader in Stringer House and
when asked about the House and its history, said “Stringer House is one of the original ten Houses of the school and is
still in its original location. It is named after Alderman Sidney Stringer who was a former Lord Mayor of Coventry City
Council.
In recent years, Stringer has become renowned within the school for its sporting success and much of this is due to
the ethos of the whole population of the House working together as a team and ensuring that the students compete
in a positive manner as a team. This is nicely complimented with its examination success with the majority of our boys
achieving 5 A* - C (inc. English and Maths) when they leave. Many boys go on to our sixth form and we are proud to say
we have frequent visits from our school leavers. Our House’s head boys often go on to be head boys and deputy head boys of the school which is a real
testament to the achievement and attitude that we always endeavour to cultivate.”
Mrs Newman went on to say “In Stringer House, we ask one thing of our boys and that is to always try their best. That said, we recognise that each child
is different and each has qualities they can offer and that others may learn from. Simply put, in Stringer we invest time in the academic and pastoral
mentoring of the boys under our care offering leadership opportunities and the facet of working together.”
Lewis Hines and Declan Hubbard (pictured right) have been in Stringer House for four years and both recognise the
support that the House system offers its students. Lewis commented “You can talk to the teachers about anything and
they are always there for you.” Declan added “There’s always someone in the House to turn to and if there are any
problems they will sort them out straight away.”
As well as being the base for the students for five years, which provides them with
a sense of belonging and security for their time with us, the Houses are well-known
for being competitive, either in examination success, sporting achievements or in other inter-House competition such
as the Year 7 and Year 8 art homework competition, and the newly introduced Spelling Bee.
Many secondary schools in the country are now introducing a House system, but they are usually formed just for
events such as the annual sports day. Woodlands Academy’s House system dates back to when the school was built
in the 1950’s and is a truly successful House system in every sense of the word, and one of which we are extremely
proud.
Page 3

Woodlands Academy
Cresswell House News and Views
100% Attendance Rewards
At the end of each term, every Cresswell student who achieves 100% attendance receives a special mention during House
assembly and is presented with a certificate. A HUGE well done to the Autumn term winners:
Year 7 : Lewis Barlow, Aaron Flint, John Hall, Sam Jackson, Ciarin Maddy, James Maton, Jack McGuire, Lennon McMahon, Owen
Mesnard and Josh Ranger.
Year 8 : Jacob Cunningham, Harry Hughes, Mason Osborne, Josh Rapson, Max Raybone, Evan Taylor and Kieran Tumilson.
Year 9 : Janko Florovic, Michael Hadley, Matthew Keay, Aidan Peat, Erik Szasz and Jack Taylor.
Year 10 : Jonathan Beasley, Ryan Copeland, Seb Harrison, Abdullah Khan, Gavin Mayne, Declan Miskimmon,
Ryan Neale and Elliott Sheepy.
Year 11 : Courtney Baker-Richardson, David Blakemore, Kane Blakemore and Dominick Franklin.
All of the students listed above were given a lunchtime treat of pizza and a fizzy drink.
My five years at Woodlands have been amazing. I
have achieved so many things such as four and a half
GCSE’s including 3 B’s and 2 C’s which I am hoping to
improve to gain more A’s.
I have met some inspirational people, especially my
House Head, Mr Hunter. I have had a great laugh
and have become a better person.
Arjan Banwait
My Five Years at Woodlands
As they near the end of their five years in Cresswell House, here some of the Year 11’s share some of their thoughts on their time here.
My five years at Woodlands has been a very
eventful time.
Year 7 was the introduction to my lessons and
my teachers. In Year 8 I was diagnosed with
diabetes and have had support from the House
ever since. Year 9 was my GCSE year and in
Year 10 I got my results, I gained 9 GCSE’s. In
Year 11 I was given the title “Deputy Head Boy.”
Year Seven Assembly
On Friday 20th February some of the Year 7 students
in Cresswell House gave their first assembly. The
theme was “My favourite place”. Prior to the
assembly the students prepared what they wanted
to read to the rest of the House and practised.
One-by-one they read aloud their stories to the
staff, students and the parents who attended the
assembly. This was what will be the first of many
assemblies that 7Cr will take part in during their time
at Woodlands Academy, following in the footsteps of
many students in years before them. To read about
their favourite places, go to the Cresswell news page
of the website.
Page 4
Jack Rafferty
In my five years at Woodlands I have achieved eight and
a half GCSE’s A* - C.
In Year 11 I was appointed Head Boy of Cresswell
House. Throughout my school career I have grown
in confidence. I have spoken in front of parents and
potential students and I have been part of a tutor group
assembly where I talked about my hero, James Corden.
I hope to go to Sixth Form to study Law and Maths.
Callum Richardson
Starting life at
Woodlands Academy
Whilst the Year 11 students have been reflecting on
their five years in Cresswell House, the Year 7’s have
been looking back on their first few months here.
Lewis Barlow said
“My first term was
excellent, I have had
a great time. I like the
older students in the
House and I get on with
them. I look forward
to Fridays because we
get rewarded for 100%
attendance. In the
summer I get to go to
Thorpe Park and Alton
Towers.”
Ciarin Maddy said
“My first impression
of the school was that
it was so big. One of
my favourite lessons
is science because we
do experiments. I have
100% attendance and
I have already been
moved up to top set in
maths.”
James Maton said “At
Woodlands so far I have had
really good fun, the lessons
are fun especially PE,
English, music and drama.”

Issue 15 April 2012
Spelling Bee
This term, the top twelve best spellers in all year groups came face to face
in a nail-biting inter-House Spelling Bee showdown, the first of its kind
at Woodlands. The competition was led by Mrs Barker, our Literacy Coordinator
as part of the school’s new literacy initiative.
Mrs Barker said “The students did their Houses proud as they whizzed
fearlessly though a minefield of challenging words. All in all, it was a display
of Woodlands’ students at their best – and very
entertaining to watch for staff and students alike.
Top places went to:
Year 7: Max Jefferson (Cresswell)
Year 8: Joe Capar (Cresswell)
Year 9: Yusuf Broujerdi (Cresswell)
Year 10: Nerojaan Chandran (Sparkes)
Year 11: Daniel Ferrar (Sparkes)
During the month of January, Year 7 were set the challenge
for their homework competition to design and make a pair of
glasses for a well-known person or character. They discussed
their ideas for their glasses and how they could make them.
The students had to source the materials and then put
together these stunning disguises. Miss Carter said “The
glasses looked amazing and we are very proud of the efforts for
this competition. Well done to the winners and everyone that
took part. Keep up the hard work!!!”
The competition winners are on page 11.
Page 5

Page 6
Woodlands Academy
Woodlands Academy greased back their curtains and set
the Greased Lightning ready for a thrilling ride. This year’s
sell out joint musical production, ‘Grease’, astounded
audiences with a fantastic cast, set and music played by
our house band, Johnny Quasar and The Starlights. In
partnership with Tile Hill Wood Girls School’, students
between Year 9 and Year 13 amazed the crowds over 4
nights between Wednesday 29th February and Saturday 3rd
March.
Danny Zuko, played by Tim Boyce, and Sandy Olsen, played
by Abi Carruthers, wowed the audiences with that famous
song “You’re the One That I Want” and stunned the crowd
with their fantastic acting. Audiences commended the
whole cast on their excellent dancing and singing of those
legendary songs, “Summer Nights”, “Greased Lightnin” and
“We Go Together” to name a few.
The T-Birds and Pink Ladies put on a tremendous show:
their role plays were acted so convincingly and it was hard
to distinguish the cast in the original film from those in
this show. With excellent acting and singing by Frenchie
(Laura Hunt), Rizzo (Kelsey Checklin) and Teen Angel (Dan
Houston) there were certainly some rising stars to be
seen and heard here. The whole cast truly struck a chord
unheard before and raised the bar even higher, their
excellence in acting, singing and dancing may be said of all
members involved. From the costumes to the gel in the
hair, the entire cast took the audience back to 1958 and put
us in the mood for what has to be celebrated as our most
successful musical performance to date.

Issue 15 April 2012
The stage hosted an array of different scene
changes and one in particular stood out
the most. For the song “Greased Lightnin”
the T-Birds rolled on the car and performed
a well-choreographed routine based on
the original in the garage scene. From the
mirror ball lighting the High School Hop and
incredible dance and chorus routines to the
silver jet explosions and confetti covering the
crowd and cast, ‘Grease’ is certainly a show
to be remembered.
Thomas Bartlett, Creative and Performing
Arts Technician at Woodlands, said
“Woodlands Academy’s cast danced off stage
in style and have driven home the success
achieved by students here at Woodlands
Academy and Tile Hill Wood Girls School.
All of the performers have exceeded our
expectations and achieved the highest of
standards whilst having fun. Grease is our
best performance yet and if you missed
it be sure to see the next performance at
Woodlands Academy.”
A DVD of ‘Grease’ may be purchased from
the Performing Arts Department at The
Woodlands Academy.
To see more photographs from ‘Grease’
please visit www.thewoodlands.coventry.
co.uk.
Page 7

Woodlands Academy
Paddling towards success
Tom Goddard, 11Mc, is fast becoming one of the most successful young kayakers in Great Britain.
Tom started paddling at the age of 12 at a local pool where he was introduced to freestyle kayaking.
He entered the Youth Freestyle competition which is where paddlers compete against all other
kayakers over Great Britain. The competitions took place in Nottingham, Cardiff, Northampton and
in Yorkshire. This year he came second in his age group category and was the highest scoring nonsponsored
paddler. He also took part in the GB selection events this year and has now qualified
for a place on the GB Freestyle Team as first reserve. Tom also entered the GB selection events
for Squirt Boating and has also been very successful and has qualified for a place on the GB Squirt
Boating Team as first reserve. Tom spends most of his weekends paddling. We look forward to
hearing of Tom’s future successes and wish him well in the competitions he is taking part in this year.
Year 8 Indoor Rowing
Woodlands Academy’s Year 8 Rowing Team (Elliot Brooks, Doug Clark, Shane O’Donnell
and Shathees Ganesharatnam and Patrick Kantor) have entered into the National
Concept 2 Indoor Rowing League for schools. They currently occupy 9th place out of 131
teams. Each month they are set a challenge to train for and practise. Earlier in the year
the team were 21st and 17th but have now rowed into the top ten teams. This is a new
competition for us to encourage more boys to get involved in Olympic type sports. Well
done, boys.....keep it up!
Page 8
Year 8 Table Tennis
Woodlands Academy Year 8 Table Tennis team, consisting of Cameron Loughran,
Marcel Mapp, Connor Parsons and George Allison, won the Warwickshire Team
Championships at Lawrence Sheriff School beating Warwick School in the final
5 – 3. The team qualified for the Warwickshire competition by beating Westwood,
Coundon Court and Sidney Stringer in Coventry Round. They have now since taken
part in the Midlands Zone Final at Cheltenham College. Congratulations and good
luck for future competitions.
Year 7
Board Game
Inventors
In their technology lessons, the Year 7’s have been working
as a team to come up with ideas for a design of a new board
game. Each group has to decide on a theme for a game
before producing a number of design ideas for the board and
game pieces. Mrs Palmer said “The project really encouraged
independent learning. It really raised the boys’ confidence and
encouraged them to communicate their ideas within a group.”
Games were marked on quality of design, creativity, quality
of game pieces and instructions. Mrs Palmer added “Instead
of marking the work myself, we experimented with group
marking. Students were asked to give an attainment level
for each other’s game and to give reasons for their decision.
This really raised the students’ awareness of how they could
improve their work and level of attainment and I noticed that
the accuracy of their assessments improved as we worked
through the different games.”

Issue 15 April 2012
As an introduction to Musical Theatre the Year 7’s were given the challenge of performing a scene from ‘Bugsy Malone’. They had to learn
to sing the song ‘Bad Guys’ taken from a scene in the film, while also learning how to take on the role of the characters while performing
it. They were taken back in time to act like the gangsters of the 1920’s- 30’s and take on the genre of Musical Theatre and learn to dance.
Miss Sedgwick said “To combine all of these disciplines and perform their final piece in front of a video camera was both exciting and nerve
wracking. We were so proud of how hard the students worked and with their fantastic interpretations of the dance.” If you haven’t already,
you can see the videos on the school website, where you can judge for yourself, if they really are ‘Bad Guys’!
Our Young Community Hero
One of our Year 7 students, Joel Ellis, was a finalist in the Coventry Telegraph’s ‘Pride of Coventry and
Warwickshire Community Award : Young Community Hero’. As well as being involved in Scouts and with the
Young Carers’ group, Joel, who is in Stringer House, helps to take care of his mum who is disabled. He helps
her with the shopping, cooking and with general chores around the house. Mrs Newman, Learning Leader of
Stringer House, says “Joel is a diligent and committed student. He is unassuming and yet takes on his school
responsibilities with gusto and enthusiasm. Not a day goes by when I don’t see Joel’s smiley face cheering us
all up and I know that he takes that cheery, bright disposition to every lesson. I am immensely proud of Joel’s
accolade and what a fine young man he already is. We are very fortunate to have the calibre of student that is
Joel in Stringer House and I can see great things for the future.”
Rotary Chef Competition
This year four Year 10 students from Woodlands Academy - Jomar Ablen, Jordan De Vos, Andrew
Stone and Harry Huggins - entered the Rotary Club Young Chef Competition. The internal school
round was at the end of January and each student had to cook a two-course healthy meal and present
it in a restaurant style setting. The students put in a lot of hard work and their efforts were judged
by Mr Roger Woodward of the Rotary Club and Dick Taylor, one of our Governors. In a closely fought
competition Andrew Stone and Jomar Ablen won this round and were awarded certificates and
cookery books as prizes and they then went on to compete at the Area Final.
The Area Final took place on the 8th February at Henley College in their professional catering kitchens
and Hospitality Department. Jomar and Andrew had to devise a two-course meal, menu, time-plan
and design a table setting on which to serve the meal. They were judged by the Head Chef and
lecturers of catering and hospitality courses at Henley College.
Andrew’s menu comprised a mushroom risotto starter followed by fresh home-made pasta served
with pan-fried chicken in a white wine and tarragon sauce. Jomar’s meal consisted of pan-fried
chicken schnitzel served with a home-made potato salad and served with green rocket and mixed
leaves. His dessert was a pineapple and banana crumble served with a tropical fruit coulii.
Head of Food Technology, Mrs Taggart, said “They faced strong competition from older students at
Hinckley Catering College and despite their tremendous efforts, they were very unlucky not to win
a place into the next round of the competition as their dishes were highly praised. However it has
made them even more determined from their positive experience of the competition that they will
enter next year with the ambition of reaching the National Final!”
Page 9

Woodlands Academy
Woodlands Academy
A city-wide boys’ school
We are a school for boys across the city, and further afield
As you can see from the areas indicated on the map, Woodlands Academy
really is a school for all boys in Coventry as well as further afield. Whilst many
secondary schools are usually only populated by students from the immediate
catchments area, Woodlands Academy is an extremely popular school for
students throughout the city and beyond. Woodlands Academy is a truly
representative school for Coventry’s young males.
Many boys travel to Woodlands by our subsidised minibus service from
Allesley, Fillongley and Corley. Others travel on buses from all areas of
Coventry including Walsgrave, Wyken, Longford, Ernesford Grange, Binley,
Stoke, Cheylesmore, Earlsdon and Coundon whilst others walk to school from
local areas including Eastern Green, Mount Nod, Park Hill and Whoberley.
Our students enjoy arriving at Woodlands to join their friends in their
Houses in the morning for some social time before enjoying a day learning in
lessons. Many students also enjoy a range of after-school activities and clubs
including art, sport, technology, homework club or taking part in inter-House
competitions.
Other areas including
CV7, CV10 and CV12
An ever increasing number of students are opting to join Woodlands Academy each year, and all are welcome as they each play a part in
creating such a positive environment for Coventry’s boys.
If you are in Year 5 or Year 6, or you know someone who is and wishes to be one of the many boys who are requesting a much soughtafter
place at our school, then all it takes is a phone call to us (02476 462634) to set you on your way.
For more information about what Woodlands Academy has to offer, why not arrange a visit to the school, or take a look at our website,
which contains videos and photos of events and activities our students have recently enjoyed.
Don’t miss your chance of a place at Coventry’s only all-boys’ school - call us now and become one of the escalating number of boys
choosing a first-class education with us.
Stargazing!
Students from Years 7 to 12 joined Mr Nangreave for some stargazing! Over the winter they have
observed a number of nearby stars and planets, including seeing the weather on Jupiter and craters
on the Moon. Mr Nangreave said “We are now aiming to use the internet to access telescopes in La
Palma, Hawaii, and Australia. We intend to have many more stargazing experiences over the coming
term.”
Mr Nangreave added “All students are welcome to come along to Astronomy Club. The days the
club runs will be announced via school Notices as the use of the telescope is dependent on good
weather conditions.”
The students have really enjoyed using the telescope which was generously provided by funding from the Institute of Physics.
Some staff and students attended a ‘Stargazing Live’ event hosted by Ernesford Grange School and we intend to extend our activities
here at Woodlands Academy. Watch out for details or please see Mr Nangreave for more information. In the meantime, why not go
to the BBC Stargazing Live website and explore the online stargazing opportunities including the search for new planets? The website
address is :www.bbc.co.uk/tv/features/stargazing.
Page 10
Free bus pass for all Woodlands Academy students living over
3 miles from the school, within the Coventry local authority.

Issue 15 April 2012
Every half term, the Art Department gives the Year
7 and Year 8 students a homework project and here
you can see the winners which were chosen from lots
of brilliant entries. Each winning student received a
certificate as well as points towards the inter-House
competition totals for their Houses.
Year 7 – Make a moveable object
1st James Bray (Sparkes)
2nd Tom Brooks and Jack Hales (both McLachlan)
3rd Ellis Dodds (Ellis)
Year 8 – Design a flick-book
1st Cameron Houston (Thompson)
2nd Cam’Ron Barrett (Sparkes) and Jake Upton (McLachlan)
3rd Callum Collins (Ellis), Joe Capar (Cresswell) and Tom Neale (McLachlan)
Year 7 – Make a pair of glasses
1st Charlie Neale (Thompson)
2nd Max Jefferson (Cresswell)
3rd Reece Frailing and Kyle Hodson (both Stringer)
Year 8 – Design a toothpaste box
1st Reece Bruce-Chang (Stringer)
2nd Cameron Houston (Thompson) and Cam’Ron Barrett (Sparkes)
3rd Finn Thomas (Stringer)
Page 11

Bouncing into school
Woodlands Academy
As part of their drive to increase
attendance at Leigh CE Primary
School, they approached us to
see if we could help them by
providing an afternoon of fun
activities for the class with the
highest attendance from the
Autumn Term.
There were joint winners, Year 1
and Year 5, so they each came to
Woodlands Academy for a fun
session in our Sports Hall as a reward.
Leigh CE Learning Mentor, Mrs Brook,
said “We are always looking for
new ways to improve attendance
and we approached Woodlands
Academy to ask if they could
help us to reward our children”.
The Year 1 warm-up was
overseen by our Year 8 students
Thane Baillie and Ben Lawson
(right) and Year 9 students Sam
Mitchell and Harvey Suddick.
The children laughed and squealed with delight as they
jumped into the foam pit and as they scrambled to get
out again. The groups then swapped around so everyone
got to experience both activities. On the trampolines the
children were assisted by Ben, Sam, Harvey and Thane as
they gained confidence and learnt to bounce higher and
higher! Mr Austin said “The children had great fun. From
five to fifteen year olds the gymnastics area is always
popular!”
Angel aged six, pictured (top) with Thane said “I liked
going on the trampoline and bouncing really high”.
The afternoon ended in a race to scramble from one end
of the foam pit to the other with the children following
their teacher, Mrs Carpenter, and their Teaching Assistant,
Mrs Poole who were the first to face the challenge!
Qistina, aged five said “I really enjoyed the challenge in the
foam pit, it was fun”.
On their morning at Woodlands Academy,
the Year 5’s had great fun in the foam
pit perfecting their skills jumping
from different heights and using
different jump positions. The
session ended with a fun race
though the foam pit.
Mr Young and Mr Austin said
“We look forward to providing
more fun-filled sessions to Leigh
CE Primary School attendance
winners in the near future.”
Page 12
Ellis House ~ Striving for Excellence
Ellis House have recently launched an initiative aimed at praising and
rewarding those students who consistently perform well in their lessons and
achieve outstanding ‘attitude’ grades.’
Last half-term’s winners were : Corey Blackwood, Lee Patterson (below left),
Sam Round, Zack Hankinson, Claude Hunter (below centre), Daniel Roberts,
Rupesh Patel (below right) and Thomas Bettany.
Ellis House ~ 100% Attendance
Mr Berridge, Ellis House Learning Leader, said “In Ellis House we
feel it is important to recognise and celebrate attendance. The
following boys received 100% attendance during the last half
term.”
Year 7 : Robert Anderson, Bailey Angliss, Harry Barwick, Zachary Birch,
Charlie Blakemore, Lewis Blakemore, Ellis Dodd, Daniel Hughes, Joshua
Lamarra, Kyle Mather, Jason Matthews, Jack Moeller, Adam Nicholson,
Dean Paton, Hayden Porter, Sher Singh Lulildia, Jordan Thompson and
Aaron Viner.
Year 8 : Jamie Bird, Matthew Chappell, Liam Horwood, Conor
McQuiggan, Morgan Nown, Connor Parsons, Arran Revell, Jamie
Roberts, Corey Savage, Callum Speirs, Myles Taylor, Lewis Tougher-
Gernon, Ethan Williams and Charles Yogarajah.
Year 9 : Jack Auckland, Cameron Aze, Cieron Carr, Ethan Cassidy, Billy
Covington, Joseph Gilbert, Ben Heath, Matthew Kuznik, Harry Lawton,
Ben Mathew, James Moeller, Lee Patterson, Tom Pittaway, Daniel
Roberts and Kieran Smith.
Year 10 : Samuel Berry, Thomas Bettany, Tom Bicknell, Liam Cottle,
George Curtis, Harry Huggins, Jack Minshull, and Jack Tolley.
Year 11 : Louis Addleton, Cameron Beales, Lewis Gregory, Jack Hawker,
Claude Hunter, Liam Jordan, Ross Knight, William Papadopoulos,
Kurtis Patterson, Lewis Robinson, Samuel Round, Joe Smith and Reece
Thompson.
Free school
uniform for all
Year 7’s joining
Woodlands
Academy.
See page 13 for
more details

Issue 15 April 2012
This year, we celebrated
World Book Day with a
whole-school book poll to
choose our Woodlands Top
Ten most popular reads.
Also, right across the school
we participated in a ‘Drop
Everything and Read’ session
where all students and staff
picked up a book and read
for twenty minutes during
lesson 3.
Our Literacy Co-ordinator,
Mrs Barker, said “The
students embraced the idea
wholeheartedly as they were
allowed to read for pleasure
and they got to decide
which book they read! This
is certainly something that
we’ll be doing again in the
near future.”
Free uniform and bus pass at
Woodlands Academy
Students joining Woodlands Academy in Year 7 will each be issued with a
free school blazer, school badge, school tie and colour flash as well as our
new PE kit consisting of rugby shorts, football shorts, polo shirt, sports socks
and a reversible rugby top. This offer will give families a huge saving of over
£80 per student.
Also, any student living over 3 miles from the school (within the Coventry
area) will be issued with a free bus pass. We also run a minibus service from
Fillongley, Corley and Allesley.
Page 13

In our first ever literacy-based Inter-House Competition, more
than fifty students from all year groups participated in this
creative writing challenge. The pieces produced were of an
incredibly high standard. Competition judge, Tom Clempson
who is a successful author from Leamington Spa, said he was
impressed by the quality of the work that was entered. Literacy
Co-ordinator, Mrs Barker, said “There is no doubt that there are
some budding writers amongst us”. Some of whom are pictured
here!“
First place awards went to:
Year 7: Owen Kinnersley (Stringer), Year 8: George King
(McLachlan), Year 9: Will Holloway (Stringer), Year 10: Jack
Minshull (Ellis), Year 11: Joe O’Connell (McLachlan).
Page 14
Woodlands Academy
Inter-House Story Writing Competition
Site improvements
underway
With a historically tight financial
situation and while waiting
years for the doomed BSF
programme to commence, we
spent very little on significant
improvements to the facilities
around our school. Since
conversion to academy status we
have been busy upgrading various parts of
the site. One of our latest projects is a full
refurbishment of the toilets in what was
West House. Business Manager, Mr Miles,
said “This has been a great success and has
given us a prototype for which we intend
to roll out to other Houses in the next year.
We are sure that the new facilities will
come as a relief to all”.
Charity Quiz Night
In aid of
Bone Cancer Research UK
Sunday 29th April 2012
at the Hare and Hounds
Watery Lane, Keresley, Coventry, CV7 8JA
6.15 p.m. (doors open at 5pm)
Teams at £2.50 per person (£1 for students)
For more information or to enter the quiz, contact
Tim Walton – 02476 678814 or 07523 352239
or email : etypetims@hotmail.co.uk
for more information on bone cancer and how you can
support the Bone Cancer Research Trust, please go to their
website www.bcrt.org.uk
Hoodies
from £9
Football
Shorts
from £4
SALE
Fitness
T-shirts
from £4
Waterproof
Jackets
from £9
Rugby Shorts
from £4
Polo Shirts
from £4
Tracksuit
bottoms
from £7
plus many more items
The PE Kit Sale order form is available from the school’s Reception or it can be
downloaded from our website www.woodlands.coventry.sch.uk

Issue 15 April 2012
Calum Domican says his favourite
book is Harry Potter and the
Philosopher’s Stone. Calum said “I
like this book because I like the films
and it is the first book and there is
a lot of action. It starts you on a
magical journey.”
The Recruit is Tom Brooks’s favourite
book. He says “I like it because it is
action-packed and sometimes funny.
It makes me relax and takes me to a
quiet place. The description in the
book is very good which helps me
picture what is happening. I think
The Recruit is a great book which
makes you wish it was real!”
Every other Wednesday during morning registration,
the Year 7 McLachlan students go as a tutor group to
the Learning Resource Centre. Whilst there they choose
something to read and sometimes their tutor, Mrs Palmer,
reads a book with the students. They are especially
enjoying the Cherub Books. The students also use the
time to renew and take out books in addition to talking
about what they’re reading with their peers. The Guinness
Book of Records is a firm favourite!
Charity cycle ride in memory of former student
We were very sad to learn of the passing of one of our former students, Michael Hurst, who died in February 2011 aged just 31 years. Michael was in
Sparkes House and was Head Boy at Woodlands and we have named a cricket cup in his honour, after he won our batsman of the year title several years
running.
Married dad-of-two Michael fell ill at his home in Somerset, and died three days later at Bristol Royal Infirmary. The cause of his death was sudden adult
death syndrome, and Michael’s family and friends are now trying to raise awareness of SADS as well as raising money for research into this devastating
condition.
Michael was born in Coventry, where he lived with his parents Jackie and Mick and older brother, Scott, before he moved to North Somerset to live with
his girlfriend Nicola. The couple married in December 2004 and went on to have two children, Oliver and Matilda. Michael was an electrical engineer with
Wessex Water and was studying for an HNC in electronics. Sadly Michael never found out that his lecturers had already decided to award him Student of
the Year for his hard work and dedication.
Nicola said her husband was a “healthy person who kept himself fit and well and had run two
marathons.” SADS, also known as Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome, is a rhythm problem with
the heart that often affects the young and fit - up to 500 cases a year. The charity’s aim is to raise
money and awareness so that the public and medical staff can recognise symptoms more easily.
For more information about this charity, they have a website : www.sadsuk.org.
In March 2012, Michael’s family and friends set off from Woodlands Academy on a bike ride to
Portishead near Bristol to raise money for this very worthwhile charity. The family have also set up
a “Just Giving” page in memory of Michael which anybody can donate through : www.justgiving.
com/Ruth-Garrett.
Jack Hales says “My favourite
book is Assassins Creed. I
like the book because it is an
adventure book. I like learning
about what the Templars
were like in the 16th century
as I went to Templars Primary
School. The main character is
Ezio and he searches for the
secret of his ancestor. They
were both looking for the
grand templar.”
Page 15

Woodlands Academy
HELP US TO HELP YOU
Register for free school meals to help out your school
If your child is eligible for free school meals, please could you register
for them, even if your child does not wish to have school lunches?
We are asking this because schools receive a ‘Pupil Premium’ under a
recent Government funding initiative, which grants an extra payment
to the school of £600 a year for each registered child, which we can
then spend on useful services. Registering might also get you extra
help for things like music lessons or school trips and the application
process is remarkably simple.
For more information, eligibility criteria and a FSM application form
please go to our website (see bottom of page).
Diary Dates
Wednesday 4th April
School closes for Easter holiday (12.15 p.m.)
Monday 23rd April
Summer Term begins
Thursday 26th April
GCSE Art Exhibition
Monday 7th May
School closed for May Day Bank Holiday
Friday 25th May
PSHCE Day
A’Level Art Exhibition
Friday 1st June
School closes for half-term holiday (3.00 p.m.)
Monday 11th June
School re-opens after half-term holiday
Thursday 21st June
Year 7 Parents’ Evening (4.15 p.m.)
Friday 22nd June
PSHCE Day
Thursday 28th June
Year 8 Parents’ Evening (4.15 p.m.)
Friday 29th June
Sports Day (p.m.)
Thursday 5th and Friday 6th July
Woodlands Unplugged
Wednesday 11th July
Year 6 Induction Day
Thursday 12th July
New Parents’ Evening
Friday 20th July
School closes for Summer holiday (12.15 p.m.)
Early morning arrivals/late afternoon leavers
As we have a significant incidence of students arriving very early in the morning and staying late in the afternoon, we
must advise that any students attending the school site before 8.15 a.m. or staying after 3.15 p.m. (2.15 p.m. on a
Monday), unless attending an official school activity, cannot be guaranteed to be supervised. Staff have many pre and
post school commitments, which mean that we cannot guarantee to supervise those who arrive very early or stay late
after school, of their/your own choice.
Woodlands academy, Broad Lane, Coventry, CV5 7FF. tel : 02476 462634
email : thewoodlands@woodlands.coventry.sch.uk Website : www.woodlands.coventry.sch.uk