March Monday 27th : Year 7 exams commence Thursday 30th : Y10 Parents’ Consul-tation Evening, 5.00pm - 7.00pm

April Thursday 6th - Sunday 9th : Berlin trip Friday 7th : End of term, school closes at 12.30pm Monday 24th : School reopens for all pupils, 8.45am Monday 24th - Friday 28th April : Ingestre Hall visit Friday 28th : Netherlands Football tour

May Monday 1st : May Day, school closed Monday 8th : Year 9 exams com-mence Year 7 Reading Sweep Thursday 11th : Year 8 Parents’ Con-sultation Evening, 5.00pm - 7.00pm Thursday 25th : Y7 Parents’ Consul-tation Evening, 5.00pm - 7.00pm Friday 26th : Y8 Girls’ Immunisations Friday 26th : school closes for half term

June Monday 5th : school reopens for all pupils 8.45am Thursday 8th : PPA meeting, 6.00pm Tuesday 20th : New Intake Evening Monday 26th : Year 12 exams commence Tuesday 27th : Post 16 New Intake Evening Wednesday 28th : Sports Day

July Monday 3rd - Friday 7th : Years 10 & 12 Work Experience Thursday 6th : Year 11 School Prom Wednesday 12th : Sports Awards Evening Friday 14th - Saturday 22nd : Plas Gwynant Residential Friday 21st : End of term, school closes at 12.30pm

5/5/13 Issue MARCH

2017

PERRYFIELDS’ PUPILS AND STAFF RAISE FUNDS TO BUY A LIFE SAVING

SCHOOL DEFIBRILLATOR

Throughout the Summer term staff and students organised an array of fundrais-ing events in order to purchase an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). We are pleased to inform you that we have now been able to purchase an AED and it is based in the school’s reception area. This vital piece of life saving equip-ment can improve the chance of survival by up to 70% when used alongside CPR when dealing with cardiac arrest. The school would like to thank all staff, students and parents who have support-ed us in achieving this important goal. A special thank you goes to the PTA for their donation and on-going fundraising support. Can we also say a BIG thank you to Haden Cross Fire Station who have trained our staff in the use of this equipment. Well done all!

KS4 DANCE

Huge congratulations for the KS4 Dance group that have been working tirelessly every week since September in preparation for ‘the great big dance off’ competition. The group were successful through the first stages of the competition and have earned a well-deserved place in the regional heat finals! The group performed in the final on Monday, 6th March at Wolverhamp-ton Grand Theatre. They were all very excited to perform there and did a fantastic job in repre-senting our school. Huge congratulations! Unfortunately only the top two schools went through to Nationals and it was a very close competition. All who performed should be extremely proud of themselves, they were fantastic .

HEADTEACHER UPDATES

Thanks to all Pupils and Parents for your support After 15 years as Headteacher at Perryfields High School I am retiring at the end of this academic year. Preparations have already been put in place to recruit a new Headteacher for September and this appointment will be made shortly. I have thoroughly enjoyed working particularly with some outstanding pupils and staff since 2002 and I am very proud of the school’s achievements during this period. At pre-sent we are predicting excellent outcomes at both GCSE and A Level this summer and this should provide the new Head with a strong platform on which to move forward. During this period I have been extremely proud to serve as both Headteacher and as a member of its local community, I have always ensured that pupils and staff have been well supported and this has created a school with high academic expectations with a caring school ethos. During this period I have continually been able to rely on the on-going support of both parents and the community and I will be forever grateful for your help in moving the school forward. I will now endeavour to ensure that over the next five months I work tirelessly to ensure that the handover to the next Headteacher is both positive and seamless. The govern-ing body has already met and an appointment will be made by the end of this term. Finally, can I thank everyone who has supported both myself and Perryfields over the last 15 years. It has been my honour to be the Headteacher and I hope the school con-tinues ‘to achieve excellence’ in the future. D J Meredith Headteacher

ASSOCIATE HEADTEACHER UPDATES

Perry’s Diner

Unfortunately, from April 2017, there will be a price increase for school meals. This is because

of an unprecedented increase from our suppliers. There will be an increase in the cost of free

school meals to match the price rises. New prices will be available online at the start of April.

Recycling

You may be aware that the school has been in receipt of two machines that recycle drink cans

and bottles. As a reward, after a certain number have been put into the machine, a token is

issued which will allow the winner to receive a free meal. There has already been a significant

impact on the amount of cans and bottles that litter the school!

E-Safety

I have mentioned before about the issues that all schools are facing regarding the misuse of

social media. In recent weeks I have dealt with a significant increase in the use of Instagram to

bully others and send inappropriate pictures. I have also been contacted by Children’s Services

and other schools about pictures that are being sent.

Please can I encourage parents to check their children’s internet use, particularly Instagram, in

order to avoid further issues. I have also said in previous newsletters that it is becoming very

difficult to resolve issues that happen out of school and that if parents become aware of a situa-

tion regarding social media, it should be reported to Police.

Mobile Phones

As a school we take a clear line when dealing with mobile phone use in school. Pupils know

that if they are used or seen in school, they will be confiscated. Unfortunately there has been an

increase in pupils texting or phoning parents during the school day if an issue arises. This is not

acceptable as often parents know about issues before staff, which doesn’t allow us to deal with

these.

Therefore, could I please ask that parents discourage children from contacting home with their

mobile phones, emphasising that should issues arise, children should speak to their Head of

Family first.

YOUNG CARERS AWARENESS DAY

January 26th this year was Young Carers Awareness Day. This was a national event to raise the profile of young carers, and to highlight some of the issues affecting their lives. Children and young people caring for family members who have an illness or disability often go unnoticed so this day was also a chance to celebrate and recognise some amazing young people. Members of our own Young Carers Nurture Group had already requested if they could have a day in school to raise awareness so this was the perfect opportunity. On the day, nine pupils (Katie Jones, Tia Grewal, Goonjan Kaur, Harry Strickland, Jonathan Payne, Isabelle Burgess, Ellie-May Smith, Amira Grewal and Aliscia Dennis) visited Form Groups. They were given special permission to wear Young Carers wristbands for the day. In the form rooms, they spoke in front of the class about what it means to be a young carer and explained how others can access support if they need it. The pupils prepared notes about what they wanted to say. Some of them were very nervous, but determined to be heard. They showed great courage and maturity and were all rewarded with positive SHARP Points. If anyone knows of other young carers in our school and would like more information or support, contact Miss Finney in Inclusion or log on to the school website where you can find details of sup-port services for Young Carers in Sandwell and Birmingham.

WELCOME TO FROG!

Frog is our brand new virtual learning environment (VLE). Frog is modern, visually appealing and engaging. With its user friendly technology, we hope it will engage your child and allow you as parent’s easy access to their learning. The new VLE will allow teachers to create exciting re-sources, quizzes and forums that the students can access and use in school or at home to enrich and enhance their learning experience.

Each parent also has their own unique access to the Frog VLE providing you access to a range of information, such as child’s attendance & timetable and leading to future paperless communica-tions.

All parents should have received a letter from the school in December 2016 detailing how to gain access the portal. If you didn’t receive this letter, please email directly frogadmin@perrys.org.uk and we will resend this letter.

POET LAUREATE

SPRING

Earth reawakens From its slumber

We fear starting with the Broken

Pieces of yesterday.

There comes a time When everything is

Finished. The roots grow;

The sun’s rays shine.

The ice of Perseverance

Melts when winter expires And Spring awakens.

We contemplate, But a flower

Does not think about competing With the flower beside it;

It just blooms.

By Bethany Godfrey – Poet Laureate

ARTS AWARDS

Perryfields High School would like to congratulate the following pupils who worked extremely hard last year and PASSED their Dance Leaders Bronze Arts Award certification. Beth Gilbert, Gurveena Padda, Alyssa Kerry, Jessica Cox, Aimee Fairbrother, Eve Davis, Priya Varaitch,

Shayla Thomas, Chloe Bromwich, Lauren Bridgwater, Lucy Bisseker. Certificates will be issued

to pupils shortly. The Arts Award is a range of unique qualifications that support pupils to grow as artists and arts leaders, inspiring them to connect with and take part in the wider arts world through taking chal-lenges in an art form. We look forward to working with these pupils to enable them to achieve their Silver Arts Awards next year. We will be running the Bronze Dance Leaders Arts Awards again in September 2017 for anyone interested. To get involved and for more information on Art Awards please see Miss Haynes or Mrs Murray-Price.

CALLING ALL TEXTILES ENTHUSIASTS!!

The textiles department will be starting an afterschool club available to Years 7, 8 and 9 on

Thursdays from 3.20pm until 4.20pm in U2.

We will be doing a range of fun and exciting projects including, Jewellery making, headwear, upcycling, knitting and many more enjoyable activities.

Consent letters will be available from Miss Whittingham in U2.

We have recently had two recycling machines installed in school.

Since they have been in position the school site is looking considerably cleaner!

When students recycle their empty bottles and cans they could win a token to redeem in

Perry’s Diner on food or drinks up to the value of £2.05.

These can be redeemed with the cashiers at breakfast, break or lunchtimes.

RECYCLE AND WIN

DO

Recycle empty cans and bottles purchased from

school or brought in with a packed lunch

Dispose of lids in the bin

provided

Crush your can/bottle before recycling

DO NOT

Bring in empty cans or bottles from home

Put anything other than cans or bottles into the machine as this could

damage it (eg sandwich wrappers, paper etc)

Enjoy your free food

and drinks and help

keep Perry’s green

Ajax Football Development Tour 2017 All medical forms and payments have now been received; we thank you for making the process run smoothly. We are now waiting on PASSPORTS, if you could keep us updated on the progress of your child’s passport application that would be great. As soon as you have received the passport please send it in to school so Mrs Parker can take a copy. We will be collecting in passports and European Health Insurance Cards prior to travelling. Please make sure your child has an EHIC CARD, it is essential to go on the trip. You can apply for free through the NHS website: www.NHS.uk. The FINAL MEETING for parents will be on Tuesday 4th April at Perryfields High School 6.00pm – 7.00pm. The meeting will cover; the final itinerary, spending money, travel arrangements and more.

Extra-Curricular Headlines

Jan 2017- U14 Basketball team finished 2nd in the Black Country after winning the Sandwell

League undefeated.

Jan 2017- Dancers qualified for the regional finals of the 'Great Big Dance Off' and got to per-

form live at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on Monday 6th March 2017.

Feb 2017- U14 Cricket team won the Sandwell Cricket League, winning all 11 matches played!

Undefeated!

Feb 2017- An AMAZING Dance Show once again! Well done to all pupils involved and thanks

for your support on the night!

Feb 2017- Y7 Junior NBA won the group stage after only losing one game. They now progress

to the 'play-offs'

Feb 2017- U14 Cricketers won the Sandwell Indoor Cricket League after being undefeated after

11 games!

Sainsbury’s School Vouchers We are now collecting Sainsbury’s school vouchers. The vouchers help the PE Department buy school sports kits and equipment for the pupils, so please collect and send them in to Perry-fields. We have a box in reception to post the vouchers in or alternatively hand them to a member of the PE Department. Thanks in advance for all your support! Social Media Follow @perryfieldspe on Twitter to keep updated on all fixtures, results, clubs, trips and revision sessions. Tap ‘settings’, ‘notifications’, and ‘turn on notifications’ on our page to never miss a tweet. Follow @WestBromBC on twitter for more information regarding West Brom Basketball Club. Follow @jrnba on twitter for more information and news regarding the Junior NBA initiative.

SCIENCE BRONZE CREST AWARD

Last half term Year 9 students completed a Bronze CREST Award in Science lessons. The pupils worked in teams to complete a 10 hour project creating a design for a wind turbine destined for a Kenyan wind farm. Pupils independently researched the potential effects of a new wind farm being constructed in Kenya on the local people and went on to conduct their own investigations on the best design for a turbine. Pupils designed their own wind turbine blades and tested them on model turbines in the classrooms to find which designs provided the best energy output. Final designs were presented to the class in the form of a poster and pupils were encouraged to evaluate their own work. The students really enjoyed this project and will receive awards for successful projects! “It was enjoyable and I learned a lot about how other people live in Kenya and how much effort people put into designing wind turbines” 9b2

MUSIC NEWS

Christmas Concert On Thursday 15th December 2016 the Music Department held its annual Christmas Concert in the main school hall. The audience of over 150 welcomed their seasonal refreshments to help put them in the Christmas spirit. Over 80 pupils took part in a variety of different ensembles; ranging from guitar ensembles to a brass band and showcased beginners to Grade 8 musicians. The evening featured a varie-ty of different musical pieces and included Jingle Bell Rock performed by our talented Year 10 GCSE class and our new Perryfields Vocal Group who performed the late Lennard Cohen’s Hallelujah. The finale featured another first for Perryfields as the newly formed Perryfields Orchestra, containing over 50 pupils, performed an energetic version of Slade’s Merry Christmas Every-body whilst all our other performers accompanied with vocals. It was a fantastic evening which showcased all of the incredible musical talent here in school. Thank you to everyone who took part and helped, you were fantastic and made your music teachers very proud! Brass Band and Christmas Dinner Perryfields Brass Band put everybody into the Christmas Spirit when they performed at the school’s annual Christmas lunch. We have an incredibly talented group of brass players here at Perrys and it was wonderful to see them showcasing their talent. Pupils and staff were incredibly supportive and sang along to Christmas favourites such as Rudolf and Frosty the Snowman. Well done to all who took part! Instrumental Exams Congratulations to the following pupils who took and successfully passed their external instrumental exams: Neve Rose Grade 4 Tenor Horn Merit William Denny Grade 4 Tenor Horn Merit Sam Fletcher Grade 4 Trumpet Merit Jaikiran Dhani Tenor Horn Grade 7 Aimee Jones Grade 4 Cornet Merit Lauryn Bowater Grade 6 Flute and the following pupils who took internal Sandwell assessments: Joshua Cilliers Tenor Horn Grade 4 Millie Cross Cornet Grade 1

Miss Fradley and 8A1 have been taking part in an external competition, run by Edge Hill Univer-sity. The challenge aims to promote problem thinking skills whilst encouraging team work and devel-oping presentation skills. The class was divided into teams of 3-5 and each group had to create a poster to present their ideas to the problem question. Their finished pieces have been submitted and if any of our teams are successful, we will be invited to complete a further, similar challenge. If successful again, we will be invited to compete against students from other schools at Edge Hill University itself! Fingers crossed…!

DANCE NEWS UPDATE

“Shine Bright” Dance Show 2017 On 2nd February we hosted Perryfields High School’s annual dance show at the Crescent Theatre. This was a huge success and all pupils were fantastic both performing and in behaviour! The dance show is a crucial performance for both KS4 and KS5 students as this is their assessment for the BTEC qualification. All students should be very proud of themselves as they worked very hard to ensure they did their best during their performance. Congratulations and farewell to the Year 11 and Year 13 students who for some was their last dance show at Perryfields High! Good Luck for the future and remember to keep dancing! London Visit 2017 We are very excited about our planned visit to London in March 2017. The KS5 BTEC students will be visiting London for two days experiencing life in Broadway! Students will be partaking in professional dance workshops at Pineapple Dance Studios as well as being audience members in the Broadway show - "The Lion King!" The trip takes place on 16th and 17th March 2017.

I am very pleased to inform you that Perryfields has been nominated for the Diabetes UK Good Diabetes Care in School Award, a brand new school award scheme which celebrates and show-cases schools that deliver good care and support to children and young people with Type 1 diabe-tes. As part of the nomination, Diabetes UK is inviting parents and carers to complete a brief online parent survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/schoolnomination. Please follow the link to the survey if you would like to show your support or to oppose this nomi-nation. The survey should take no more than two minutes to complete. You can select to answer this survey anonymously.

NOTIFYING ALL PARENTS AND CARERS OF YOUR SCHOOL

NOMINATION

Following our recent update in STAR testing of all pupils currently doing Accelerated Reading, this term has seen some excellent progress in both reading ages and working towards termly targets.

Millionaire Readers

We have three new readers who have earned millionaire status since September. A huge well done to - Jade Goulde 1,166,683 words read so far Amelia Nott 1,087,329 words read so far Nikita Athwal 1,045,571 words read so far

CELEBRATING SUCCESS

A fantastic effort has been made by pupils in lessons and it gives us pleasure to say that over 100 pupils have increased their reading age by one year or more. Reading targets are set termly and pupils have until the end of term to reach these targets. Already we have several pupils that have achieved these which is absolutely fantastic.

FANTASTIC NEWS!!

Jordan Anderson Alicia Harper Megan Sullivan Zhia Zulfaqar Makyiah Padda Nikita Athwal Pierce Horner Tricia Ssewannyana Ashdeep Dhillon Sonia Gill Kimberley Potter Jack Layton-Boffey Mollie Deakin Aimee Holyoake Leah Nott Afia Spencer Odei Emily Allen Jaya Devi Jack Hughes Amber Leigh Dickens Ellie Kirby James Paton Aliscia Dennis Leshontay Pinnock-Faure Jade Goule Daniel Russell Annie Willetts Sophie Charles

Information about the Accelerated Reading programme was given to parents on Review Day. If you have any queries about the information, Home Connect or your child’s progress then please contact the school

HOMEWORK CLUB

Homework club is open to pupils from all years after school. Our times are:-

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday until 4.00pm

Wednesday until 3.00pm

When pupils attend homework club their planner is stamped. When they have five stamps, they receive 10 sleuth points. We have 6th Form pupils available each day for anyone who

needs any additional assistance with homework issues. Refreshments are also available during the sessions.

Please come in and collect a parent consent form, if you haven't

already done so.

The LRC is open for pupils before school from 8.30am, at breaktime and lunchtimes and after school at Homework Club. Pupils may come and complete homework or sit and read in our quiet area.

NEW BOOKS!!!!

We have a fantastic range of

books stocked in the library

by many of your favourite

authors.

If there’s a book that you

would like

to read but

we don’t

have it in

stock,

speak to

the school

librarians

and see if

we can help.

Prosecutions for poor attendance is a reality

We have an expectation that once we have notified a parent about our concerns, they will ensure that their child’s attendance improves significantly. If a student continues to have poor attendance, we will discuss this with our Education Welfare Manager and if necessary make a referral to Attendance and Prosecution Service. The Attendance and Prosecution Service may issue a parent with a warning letter or decide to prosecute if a child is persistently absent. Prosecution happens at Perryfields High School for children’s nonattendance that school deems to be a serious cause for concern. If you receive a letter regarding your child’s attendance please do not ignore it - especially if the letter requests you contact school to discuss this matter. Contact should be made to school promptly to avoid a referral being made to the Attendance and Prosecution Service. The role of the local authority (Attendance and Prosecution Service)

Local Authorities (LAs) are responsible, by law, for making sure that registered pupils of compulsory school age attend their school regularly.

The Attendance and Prosecution Service works work closely with schools to monitor and enforce regular attendance.

If you do not co-operate with the school the Attendance and Prosecution Service may implement legal action under Education Act 1996 and/or Children Act 1989.

Parents will know we aim to have an attendance rate above the national average and to exceed our attend-ance target. We think it is very important that all our students benefit from 190 days of learning to ensure they make progress and achieve the results they should. If a school can improve its attendance by 1%, this can result in a 5-6% improvement in attainment. We are asking you to support the school by ensuring your child achieves excellent attendance. It is proven that attainment is connected to good attendance, missing crucial time at school could have an impact on any exams that your child may be taking, remember that one day’s absence is 6 lessons missed, one week’s absence is 36 lessons missed in Year 11, 35 in Years 7-10. This is valua-ble learning time that cannot be given back. There are a variety of ways that parents can help their children to maximise their time at school through good attendance. There are also potentially serious implications for noncompliance with the legal require-ment for children to be in school every day. We expect pupils to arrive at school on time. Lessons start at 8:45am prompt, if your child is late for school your child will receive a 30 minute detention to attend after school on the same day your child was late. Late arrivals disrupt the education of others. Pupils arriving after the register has closed will be marked in the register as having an unauthorised absence. We do not expect pupils to come to school when they are sick, but those with regular absences caused by sick-ness will be expected to provide us with medical evidence before we authorise further absences. Avoid medical and dental appointments during school time. If medical appointments during school time are unavoidable the school requires an appointment card to be provided before these appointments are authorised. If appointments are not provided then these days will be unauthorised. Routine dental and medical do not warrant a whole day off school and a request to parents would be their child either attends before or after the appointment.