KINGS NORTON

HIGH TIMES

JULY 2011

TWIST TWIST TWIST TWIST & & & & PULSEPULSEPULSEPULSE

FRENCH TRIP

IN THIS ISSUE

SYMPHONY HALL

STOP PRESS

SUMMER TERM DATES

Monday 5th September - Friday 21st October 2011

In the South Network Maths Challenge held on 21st June

2011, twelve schools from Birmingham South Network

participated in the challenge, with each school being

represented by six pupils. It was a nice opportunity to do

something fun with maths, and at the same time connect

with other students

The challenge had schools competing in group round,

countdown, multiple choice questions, true or false and

relay maths. These challenges were tailored for year nine

students.

The South Network Challenge has made a massive impact

on Team KNHS, having climbed from 11th position in

previous year to 6th position and also, winning silver in the

maths relay.

The atmosphere and the day at times were absolutely

electric which when added to the general competitiveness of

the students was really uplifting, I couldn’t help but leave

with a massive smile written across my face.

Karen Sewell-Morris (Maths Dept.)

Magnet, Ducks and Superconductors

June 2011

For two days, the Gazebo Theatre Company took up residence in our drama studio. They were working in partnership with

the University of Birmingham Engineering department to deliver a workshop to all our groups of year 9 students.

The objectives were to provide a high impact play and workshop exploring the impact of science and engineering on our

everyday life and to raise awareness about ideas for the future and possible career opportunities.

Students were allowed into the lives of a scientific engineer and her teenage daughter in order to explore their relationship and

lives at school and at work. Electrical resistance has already been investigated by our students as a part of their year 9 BTEC

Science course. The play and workshop took this to a higher level by introducing magnetic superconductors with their low

resistance and potential for the future in helping to reduce our ever increasing energy demands. This is field that Dr. Tim

Jackson and his staff are developing at Birmingham University.

Our year 9 students were given plenty of opportunity to explore how science, technology and engineering make our lives

easier and active encouragement, potential future developments and to share them with others.

Robotidy friends, time travel pens and G-shock teleporters were just a few future products

suggested by year 9.

Where do the ducks fit in? .... We learned that this refers to 30,000 plastic ducks lost from a

shipping container in the Pacific Ocean in 1992. There progress around the oceans if the World

have helped to provide information on ocean currents and their effects.

Congratulations to all the year 9 students who became involved and made positive

contributions. What happens to the future World is in your hands!

G. Taylor

Head of Science

It was an absolute pleasure to go to such a big school and it was

also a day to remember. I never wanted to leave. I was having so

much fun. The day was very exciting, adventurous and just

really great. Words can’t explain how good this day was. I can’t

wait for the next one.

Chloe Porter 9N

TWIST

PULSE

On Thursday 14th July a group of Year 9 pupils went to West Heath Primary School to work with the Year

5’s. The object of the visit was to prepare and perform poetry in a ‘Poetry Slam’.

A Poetry Slam is a competitive poetry contest where the emphasis is on good writing; good performance and warmth of audience

response. In a standard slam competition there are five judges who mark the contestants numerically. The awarded scores are

then collated and the winner is the one that has been awarded the highest score.

Chloe Porter, Kielo Brown, Michael Henderson, Xi Yin Dong and Daniel Ketley worked with individual groups of pupils to

produce a poem on the theme of sport and then to recite the poem using drama. No props, instruments or costumes were

allowed. The pupils were extremely enthusiastic and threw themselves into the task with excitement. The results were fantastic

and extremely amusing. The judges scores were collated and the top two scoring groups had both achieved a score of 23.5.

The two groups then performed again and the pupils voted on the winning team.

Congratulations to Kielo Brown and his team, Katlego Singo, Thomas Kempson, Jack Howard, Mahamed Salah,

Dylan Resuggan and Rasheed Douglas, who became the overall winners.

We had the opportunity to have two young men

that came 2nd on last years Britain’s Got Talent

Competition called Twist and Pulse to come to

KNHS as they were promoting their new song.

They danced and then picked some students and

staff to learn some of their moves this was very

good and also very funny. Twist and Pulse then

did a 30 minute question & answer session with

the students and at the end they posed for

pictures. The students and some staff thought this

was a very exciting time and were all extremely

pleased that they had met somebody famous!

The DofE practice expedition will take place from

Monday 18th – Tues 19th July. All of our

participants are fully practiced in camping, cooking

and navigating, as the picture shows!

Ed Gerrard

Dr E Gerrard

On Thursday 7th July the English Department organised their first ever

" Year 5 Spelling Bee competition". We had four teams altogether from Hawkesley, Bells Farm, St Paul’s and West Heath.

The event took place in the Learning Commons.

The atmosphere was intense as the four schools battled for the title of "Spelling Bee Champions". Both parents and teachers were amazed by the

confidence shown by the pupils and their ability to spell some very tricky

words.

It was a closely contested competition but after several intense rounds

West Heath won through to become ""Spelling Champions""

I think everyone there thought it was a brilliant morning, and the spectators

could only sit back and admire the confidence of all those who took part and their ability to spell some very tricky words.

We now look forward to next years event and perhaps having even more teams.

KNHS Sports Day 2011 Lions V Panthers

Results:

The weather stayed fine on the 1st July for Kings Norton High to hold its first traditional sports day for

many years. Pupils competed against each other in various athletic events, whilst also having the

opportunity to take part in football, basketball, netball and even face painting. The day was a huge

success with the pupils getting into the spirit of things cheering on their team mates with the eventual

team winners being the Panthers!

YEAR 7

Girls Boys

Shot Put Arama Lemon Kyle Batchelor

Discus Arama Lemon Connor Hogan

Long Jump Arama Lemon Jhavan Samuels

Triple Jump Arama Lemon Kyle Batchelor

80m Sprint Rebecca Phillips Zamar English

200m Sophie Hickey Zamar English

300m Arama Lemon -

400m Sophie Hickey Jhavan Samuels/

Aaron chance

800m - Jhavan Samuels

YEAR 8

Girls Boys

Shot Put Stacey Burt -

Discus Sinead O’Neil Ashley Hancock

Long Jump Samra Khan -

Triple Jump - -

80 m Sprint Stacey Burt Sultan Ahmed

200m - Ayaanle Ali

300m Shelley Gough -

400m - Ayaanle Ali

800m - James Connington

1000m Shelley Gough James Connington

YEAR 9

Girls Boys

Shot Put - Brandon Mole

Discus Remi Graham Connor Poole

Long Jump - Emran Khaksar

Triple Jump Bethany Brown -

80m Sprint Nikkita Moore Kielo Brown

200m Lianne Phillips Eyobel Werie

300m Chloe Lawlor -

400m Chloe Lawlor Raheem Sossah

800m Zarqa Razaq Kielo Brown

1000m - Emran Khaksar

YEAR 10

Girls Boys

Shot Put Ionie Luke Nazar Khaill

Discus Shannon Britton Reno Hughes

Long Jump - -

Triple Jump - Ahmad Mugul

80m Sprint Leonisia Nsaku Ramario Gauntlett

200m - Shadhan Alsalami

300m - -

400m - Ahmad Mugul

800m - Shadhan Alsalami

1000m - Shadhan Alsalami

Trip to Normandy, 1st- 4th July 2011

27 students and 4 teachers from Kings Norton High School left Birmingham at 4.30am on Friday morning, starting their

journey to Tailleville, France.

For 3 nights and 4 days, the group stayed at the “Manoir des Hauts-Tilleuls”, a stunning mansion surrounded by peaceful

gardens. On Saturday morning, they set off to the lovely coastal town of Saint Malo where they enjoyed walking around the

ramparts and practising their French in the various shops in the town centre. In the afternoon, the group went to Mont Saint

Michel where they visited the huge abbey which dominates the Mount. They learnt about the history of the abbey and also

admired the dazzling views from the top of the island.

On Sunday morning, the coach drove the group to the Souterroscope, an amazing cave with three huge underground rooms,

each telling a story of the water cycle and the cave’s various resources discovered over centuries. Children and adults wore

a helmet for the visit and all had the opportunity to buy some fantastic jewelry and objects made with local materials in the

site’s small shop. The group had their picnic 30 miles from there, in Arromanches, a town famous for its D-Day beach

(Gold Beach) and various historical landmarks. Everyone ate their French baguette at the top of the cliffs, while making the

most of the beautiful landscapes in the sun. In the afternoon, they went to a very special cinema, the only 360-degree

cinema in France, to watch a short film about the conditions of Arromanches in June 1944 and how it was affected by

World War II. The film was moving and made them realise how awful the conditions were in which the soldiers lived.

The group then strolled through the centre of the small town and enjoyed a typical “crèpe bretonne” by the beach and the

remains of Arromanches’ artificial port.

On Monday, the group packed up their suitcases and said goodbye to the ever-so-welcoming staff who had looked after

them over their 4 day stay. The sun did not fail to shine on the last day of the Normandy trip and they all made the most of

being out on the deck of the ferry before setting foot on the British island. The whole experience was pleasant to everyone

who took part and both children and staff came home delighted with their trip.

“I absolutely enjoyed every part of the trip. Some of the food was surprisingly nice and delicious. Thank you to all the four teachers for all their patience and effort throughout the trip.” Agnes Birungi

“I enjoyed all the French

culture, the food was

interesting and it was

brilliant. Thanks!”

Tom Suffolk

“I took part in the Normandy trip

and I enjoyed going to the caves.

I also enjoyed seeing the crystals

and learning about the history of

the water.”

Layton McKeon

“I really enjoyed going down in the caves because it was very historical and real with lots of explanations. “ Tolu Odubanjo

“I enjoyed every-

thing but what I

especially enjoyed

was going down in

the caves.”

Toby Scott Wilson

“I enjoyed visiting France for the first time and had lots of fun! Thank you to the four teachers who took us and made this an unforgettable experience.” Sam Moy

“The outcome of this trip

was amazing, it was much

better than I expected. I

enjoyed every attraction as

it was something new for

me, plus the teachers were

fabulous! Thank you! I had

an amazing time in France,

this memory will stay with

me for the rest of my life.”

Cindy Dong

“I enjoyed all of the trip and I

particularly liked the ‘manoir’

we stayed in and its grounds

where we could play football

in the evening.”

On Monday 11th July 2011, six students from KNHS

took part in a Birmingham wide singing project at

Symphony Hall. The Sing For All project aims at

enhancing choral development in schools by offering

teachers support to develop singing ensembles in

schools. At the end of the project all the participants

come together to put on one huge performance inside

Symphony Hall. This year the project focussed on Karl

Jenkins’ Stabat Mater.

Students have had many challenges whilst learning this

piece, not only do they need to know how each

movement of the piece sounds but they have had to learn

how to sing in three different languages: Latin, Arabic

and Hebrew.

The composer, Karl Jenkins, attended the concert and

gave his support for this huge project. The performance

was accompanied by an 11-piece orchestra which

included the amazing Symphony Hall Organ. These

instruments, combined with dancers brought the

performance to life.

The project was featured on the Classic FM podcast for

8th July, which will be available from the Music

Department page on the schools website.

Mr J Firth

Wednesday the 4th of July 2011 saw the first annual south area art exhibition. KNHS was one of 10 schools to exhibit at the Foyle studio within the midlands art centre. The exhibition was for one night only and the work on display was observed by more than 400 people. A fantastic night was had by all. We now look forward to next year and preparations are already underway.

Harvesting our fi

rst crop of pota

toes.

Picking

and

eating

strawberries

Glazing and putting the roof on our green house

“Its the most wonderful time of the year” no its not Christmas but kings Norton High School Awards evening 2011 . As July approached we began to plan for another celebration of student success at Kings Norton High School. The event took place on Tuesday 12th July. One hundred and two individual learners were nominated for awards, which included effort and attainment for individual subjects, attendance awards, head of year and faculty awards and special awards from the headteacher and governors. The evening was called Transcend, which I feel encompasses our school ethos where we are all individuals with a goal to achieve. The school hall was so full it left only standing room for parents and staff who attended the event. This event has grown over the last four years and we look forward to seeing you all there in 2012.