Activities - Colmers School and Sixth Form

What a year!
2012 will live long in the memory of
this country and this school. The
Olympic Games seems to have
rekindled a national self-confidence
and pride – generating an ‘anything
is possible’ mind-set amongst so
many people.
Hearing Bradley
Wiggins’ humble response to winning
the BBC Sports Personality of the
Year was inspiring because of his
words that if he can do it, so can
anyone else!
On behalf of everyone at Colmers, I
wish everyone a wonderfully relaxing
and happy Christmas break. After an
eight week term the pupils and staff
are looking forward to putting our
feet up and gearing up for 2013.
I hope Mrs Brooke (English) and Miss
Rushton (also English) have a
particularly restful break after all
their efforts in putting together the
latest edition of Fanfare in their
spare time! They do a wonderful job
in harvesting the great work and
experiences that take place at
Colmers and I wish to thank them
publically and personally for their
enthusiasm and their fantastic
design!
Since being appointed Sports
Ambassador last year, I feel I have
taken the role in my stride. The role
gives me opportunities to represent
the school at events in the area, it
gives me the chance to organise
some events in school and even out
of school. As an ambassador, our
role is to push the idea of the spirit
of the games which is to reward
participants that demonstrate the
skills involved. I think that since
becoming an ambassador, I have
become a lot more confident and a
better leader which has been shown
in some of the successful events I
have helped to plan and organise.
Merry Christmas!
By Jason Timmington 11KW
Mr Barry Doherty
The same can be said of our 2012 at Headteacher
Colmers. We go from strength to
strength and our pupils are able to
feel greater pride and self-worth as
they look back on their
achievements, their character and
their contributions.
This edition of Fanfare gives another
insight into the everyday life at
Colmers School. From this summer’s
record GCSE results through
extracurricular experiences, sporting
accomplishments, concerts,
competitions and dropping
everything and reading!
As we look ahead we have made
great progress in developing our site
to host sixth form education in the
future and extend the facilities
available to our pupils – ensuring we
continue to provide a first class
education that pupils deserve and
one that they need.
By Ellie Bartholomew 11JG
Being a Sports Ambassador for
Colmers is the biggest achievement
that I have achieved during my time
at the school. The role that I take
on involves leading young children
in sports and it also involves going
out to represent Colmers and
different sports ambassador events
such as the Sports Ambassador
Conference.
Not only am I a Sports Ambassador
for school, I now represent the
school as a Gold Sports Ambassador
along with Ellie, and as well as
leading others in sports, this higher
role we have been given involves us
helping and directing the two Sports
Ambassadors in Year 10 to become
better Sports Ambassadors.
Being a Sports Ambassador means a
lot to me and has helped me gain
more confidence and grow more as
a person.
By Jasmine Humpage 10LR
Since becoming a Sports
Ambassador, I am recognised
around the school more. It has
given me the opportunity to be
involved in breakfast club and quick
sticks club with local junior schools.
I have also been able to represent
the school at sporting events, such
as the Sport Ambassador
conference, where I met Mel Clarke,
the silver medallist from the London
2012 Paralympic games. If you ever
get the chance to be a Sports
Ambassador, I would definitely
advise you to go for it as you get to
work with new people, develop your
skills and give something back to
the school.
By Joe Rushton 10GG
Being a Sports Ambassador
Well, yes as the title of this shows,
there is a lot to live up to being a
Sports Ambassador.
You most
certainly need to be organised and
willing. With these attributes you
will be successful. You need to be
organised, as you need to make
sure you turn up on time for the
different tasks you are needed to do
and must be able to meet deadlines
with organising tournaments etc.
You need to be willing to give up
your spare time to help with
different clubs, no matter what they
may be. Even helping out with
maths counts!
We are also excited to be offering
some places to students who haven’t
Colmers Sixth Form is open for previously attended Colmers; this will
applications!
create a new social mix within the
sixth form with the chance to meet
Exciting times ahead as Colmers is new people too.
now open for pupils to stay on to
experience new courses, extra Getting ready
enrichment activities and aim high to Colmers staff have been busy
university and beyond. With eight developing the most up to date
subjects on offer, lots of different c o u r s e s , a n d w o r k i n g w i t h
activities and the continued support outstanding established sixth forms
of the ‘Colmers family’, this is an in Birmingham, Worcestershire,
excellent offer for students wishing Northamptonshire and Warwickshire,
to study A levels or Sports Studies so that we are prepared to help our
BTEC.
Sixth Formers achieve the same
excellent results that Colmers pupils
Open Evening
achieve in Year 11.
At the Open Evening, pupils and
parents had a taste of the exciting Extra
things planned, from blind-testing Miss Pearson is planning the extra
soft drinks in Psychology, to the activities we will offer to help you
range of skills and knowledge plan for your futures, enrich your
developed in Sports Studies.
student experience and stand out
from the crowd when you apply to
There are many ways pupils can university.
Miss Whipp has been
shape what the Sixth Form preparing to extend the sports
experience will be like including the leaders programme ready for
furniture in the sixth form centre and students to take it to the next level at
the sports and arts activities Sixth Form. We are also pleased to
organised, not to mention the be able to offer students two
cultural experiences planned.
supported hours each week for their
enrichment activities, so students can
For anyone who missed out on the continue practising Drama, Art, Music
Open Evening, we will be holding or Dance during their time at Colmers
drop in sessions to speak to Head of Sixth Form.
Sixth Form, Ms Toynbee and Deputy
Head of Sixth Form, Miss Pearson Want to find out more?
about what Colmers Sixth Form can Check out the Sixth Form pages on
offer them and how to apply.
the school website to see the
prospectus, course guide, sixth form
Sixth Form Film
film and to download an application
Several pupils and ex-pupils featured form. Alternatively have a chat with
in a film made by Mr Boardman Ms Toynbee or Miss Pearson.
showing what the Sixth Form
experience will be like.
Several
Dare to Dream what you can
ex-pupils explained that if they could
achieve: start to make it happen at
make the decision of where to study
Colmers Sixth Form.
again, they would choose Colmers
Sixth Form. As a small sixth form we
can offer extensive and personalised
Dare to
support for all our students, with no
Dream
student ever feeling anonymous.
Colmers Sixth Form
By Ms Toynbee
Just a quick note to all friends, staff
and students who fully supported our
efforts this month to raise money for
Prostate Cancer UK and the Institute
of Cancer Research. A special thank
you to 7SW who raised £40 from their
form time raffle!
Together we raised
almost £500!
Many thanks to all...
Ordeal it was Very prickly at times!
Everyone really supportive.
Many pennies collected.
Bringing us closer together
Each has a personal motive,
Remembering who it is for…
By Mr I Atkins
storm was followed by paddling back and We had an awards ceremony and
some people falling into the river or being trophies and prizes were handed out to
The Stansfeld Residential was a
pushed in.
every student.
huge success in the July residentials
week 2012. Seventeen Year 8 and 4 Thursday we spent the whole day in
Top boy of the week went to Luke Evans.
Year 7 pupils attended this Outdoor Oxford, visiting the amazing Christ
Top girl of the week was Chloe Hosker.
Education Centre near Oxford. Church College which was commissioned
Accommodation included bunk beds by King Henry VIII. There is a strong However the most outstanding student of
in dormitories.
Harry Potter link here as some of the the week, voted for by all of the staff,
went to Gemma Maher.
All pupils were very well fed, always with early filming was done on site.
the opportunity to have 'seconds'.
The first two days included orienteering,
team games and Fox and Rabbit, where
teachers had to 'catch' the students in the
very muddy woods.
Bushcraft
activities included making fires and
cooking popcorn, pancakes and an
amazing chocolate cake.
We went to the Natural History Museum
and saw skeletons of various dinosaurs
including T-Rex. Linked on to this was
Pitt Rivers Museum which contained
thousands of man-made objects; from
early building tools and materials, to
various items of jewellery. Finally, we
made our way to the Botanical Gardens,
but by this time it was raining again,
so although we managed to see various
greenhouses with different plants from
around the world, our time was cut short
here.
Every pupil who went on the trip was
very polite, joined in every activity,
bonded well with pupils from different
forms and year groups and were
generally a real credit to themselves,
their families and of course a real credit
to Colmers School.
I can honestly say I love Colmers kids!
(Unless it's 2.30am on a Tuesday
morning!)
All students were involved in team games
like football and individual games of table
tennis and pool. Daniel Charlton was
Some of the student's responses on their
boys table tennis star and Rachael
feedback sheets included:
Brookes from Year 7 won the girls trophy. On Friday, students made their "I would come back again!"
Wednesday was spent canoeing on (and own PowerPoint presentations using "All the staff were lovely."
sometimes IN) the river Thames. Some some of the photographs staff had taken A member of our own staff responded"It has been a fantastic week, not only
of the canoes were in pairs with up to during the week.
for the kids who have clearly got a lot out
three students in each boat. A picnic in a
of it, but for us too."
Kevin Essery
Premises Manager
By H ar ry B us h el l
Miss C Taylor
7 CT
Jamie Lynock
BSS Supervisor
Janet Davenport
BSS Supervisor
Kim Westney
BSS Supervisor
Patrick
Temp Caretakers
Assistant
a n d In the following weeks, we’ve seen a
demonstration
of the
‘whoosh
bottle’ (lighting ethanol vapours on fire)
Science Club has been running since and made and raced our own balloon
half term and we have done lots of rockets – with varying levels of success.
fun experiments so far!
Over the last three weeks, we have been
We started by making our
designing and making parachutes for
own non-Newtonian fluids
eggs.
Some of the ideas were
with corn flour, water and
questionable (Kirsten and her ‘egg in a
food colouring. Miss Walls’
bag’!), and we had a few egg casualties
lab was a mess afterwards
before the parachutes were even
but it was definitely worth it.
launched, but watching the eggs fly (and
Matthew Evans
DT Technician /
BSS Supervisor
fall) out of Miss Taylor’s window was a lot
of fun.
We do lots of good and exciting things in
Science Club and in the future we are
going to do screaming jelly babies,
methane bubbles and the Van der Graaf
generator (which makes your hair stand
up and gives you static in your body
which makes you shock other people).
Miss Taylor is also busy planning an
astronomy Science Club session for the
New Year.
By Danny Reeves 11JS
On this day I felt privileged to be
chosen and able to go and witness
the disability games and help out.
I was really impressed how the
wheelchair users, and everyone else,
worked and coped with the activities
provided. After this day, I realised
how difficult it must be for
wheelchair users to engage in
sporting activity and I hope those
children continue to enjoy their
sporting lives.
By Krishan Pavaday 11DB
Going on the trip to the NIA was a
great experience for me and the
others. I got a chance to help young
people with disabilities and play
sports with them. It was also good
to meet new people we have never
met before. The people that we
helped were in wheelchairs, but that
didn’t stop them from being great in
the sports that we were also involved
in. The person I helped was a boy
called Haseem, who even taught me
how to play one of the games. At
the end of it, we were presented with
medals and our photos were taken
with a Paralympian. Overall this was
an excellent experience that I will
never forget.
need it most. Seeing that children
with disabilities can play different
sports, and enjoy it, means that they
are capable of anything so they don’t
feel out of place. After the trophies
and medals were handed out, I meet
Paralympic athlete and gold medal
winner Mickey Bushell. I also go to
hold one of the relay torches. It was
a day to remember.
By Ashley Ellis 11JG
The experience at the NIA was great;
learning how to be around children
with disabilities and helping them
play sports like goalball. In fact, it
has changed my mind about
disabilities and I will help others that
By Marcus Dinanga & Emily Hart
My name is Marcus. I started
playing football at Redditch
United.
After one year, I left
Redditch United to go and play
for Callowbrook Swifts and on
my first game for Callowbrook, a
Wolverhampton scout spotted
me and he invited me in for a
trial. After a few months, I left. I’m Emily Hart and I’m part of
Then I went back to Callow- the JAE programme for ballet.
brook.
I am currently on grade 5 in the
syllabus Associated Board of
I signed for Callowbrook and I played Dance (A.B.D).
a game for them. I got scouted for
W e s t B r o m , B u r t o n A l b i o n , I have been dancing since I was four
but I have only been at Excels Dance
Kidderminster, Coventry, and Walsall.
Academy (where I currently am)
I said no to all of them and I went to since I was six.
Walsall and I have been in Walsall FC
for ten months. They said I should So far I have passed my ballet exams
be playing with the under 16s. That and danced in London in Her
is who I am playing for. I think in Majesty’s Theatre and Saddlers
three years time, I will be playing for Wells.
the first team I hope.
We also do two shows a year and
competitions every November where
I have won many gold, silver and
bronze medals.
Over the summer, I took part in a
master class. This involved ballet,
jazz, commercial and contemporary.
It was a three day intense dance
event that took place at the MAC in
Birmingham.
The age was from
13-23 but due
to my ability I
was allowed to
take part at the
age of 12.
The highlight of
my dancing so
far was being
told I could go
on pointe.
It’s
every
ballerina’s
dream!
By Mr S Warner, AR Co-ordinator providing a better range of books for
“The more that you read, the our pupils and their interests. The
more things you will know.
books in our Library have been
The more that you learn, the colour-coded on their spine for the
more places you'll go.”
ZPD range of the book, so pupils can
Dr Seuss
easily pick out a book that is suitable
to their level.
Colmers has recently introduced
Accelerated Reader for Key Stage 3. All pupils have been told that they
The programme aims to increase the should be reading for a minimum of
amount of reading undertaken by 15 minutes each day (but the more,
young people, thereby improve the the better!). We hope that parents
quality of their reading skills.
can monitor this and encourage their
child to read as much as they can.
In September, all of the pupils in KS3
took an online reading test and this After they have read the book, they
gave them a Zone of Proximal use time in their English lesson (or
Development (ZPD). Put simply, this before and after school) to take a
is the most suitable level for their quiz on the book they have read.
ability. So, if your child has been Because the book is aimed at their
given a ZPD of 3.2-5.2, they should ability, they should be looking for a
be reading books in this range.
score of 85% or higher. If they
achieve this, they should then look to
We recently invested heavily on move up their ZPD range. If they are
By Mrs S Finch
What an amazing term we have had
so far. As is the Colmers’ tradition,
we continually strive for the best.
Therefore, we have introduced a new
focus for staff with regards to
Teaching and Learning this year, and
this is being experienced by many
pupils in lessons across the school.
their true potential at Colmers and
beyond. Therefore, pupils have been
faced with new challenges this term
which include: choosing resources
themselves; choosing activities which
they find suits their own learning
style ; being taught in environments
other than their normal classrooms;
teaching plenaries to their classes
and devising activities for their peers.
The new idea is ARGOS. No not the All in the name of ARGOS!
high street shop!
Here are some photos of ARGOS in
What it stands for is:
action. Year 9 pupils in an English
lesson are presenting an argument /
debate about the fur trade, a Year 8
ctivities,
e s o u r c e s , group are recording a podcast about
the Civil War, Year 11s in PE BTEC
roupings,
u t c o m e a n d are teaching each other different
skills and in DT, pupils are teaching
upport.
their peers about ready meals.
Watch this space for more examples
Greater independence is a skill which of ARGOS in action!
all pupils need if they are to achieve
A
G
S
R
O
attaining a score lower than 85%,
they should look at going further
down their ZPD range. The pupils
will take the online reading test again
in the Spring and Summer terms, and
we should see the fruits of their
labour rewarded with the ZPD range
increasing.
At the end of each term, we will be
rewarding those pupils who have
been
attaining
exceptional
performances in the quizzes they
have taken.
We have already seen that pupils are
engaging well with Accelerated
Reader and Drop Everything and
Read, and we know that the more
they read, the better they will
become at writing and
communicating, and it will increase
the success of their endeavours in
school and beyond.
By Mrs Dawson Smith.
Even in their grief, when the storm had
cleared, students and teachers from one
Hello everyone!
school went out to clear the streets of
debris. One lady, Patricia Diggins, said
Although I have been at home “If you can do something, it begins to
looking after my new baby lessen the hurt. For the people who lost
daughter, there are a few issues and so much, helping to clear up gives hope.”
people that have inspired me, and
really got me thinking this term.
This second article of Supporting Thinking
and Reflecting Time contains these issues
that I hope will get your mind ticking,
and inspire you too.
As Colmers’ pupils, it’s important to try
and take a moment or two to stop and
think about others around the world, as
well as your own lives and communities. Thinking and reflecting moment
Enjoy!

El Ahmadi (a practising Muslim) agreed
that his religion was very important to
him and makes him stronger as a person,
as well as on the pitch. He thinks it is
important to have respect for each other;
as players as well as for people in every
culture.
Do you have any experiences with
extreme weather? What are they?
Hurricane Sandy hits New York
What happened?

How do you think the people
affected by this hurricane could
respond to this disaster?

How would you offer support to
others if you were in in this
Richard Dunne
situation?

Do you think anything positive
could come out of such a tragedy? Thinking and reflecting moment
If so, what?

What things in your life make YOU
stronger as a person?
Football players attend Mosque

Do you think it makes someone
less of a sportsman/woman if they
In October, three members of a local
follow a religion?
Birmingham football team attended
Do you know any facts about a
Birmingham Central Mosque to take part 
different religion or culture to your
in a presentation about the religion of
own? If so, what are they?
Islam. Karim El Ahmadi, Darren Bent and
Richard Dunne (who play for Aston Villa)
met faith leader Abdul Rashid to Katie Piper “Positive Thinking
demonstrate their commitment to
equality and diversity in the week that
(guardian.co.uk)
the club were running its “ Kick it Out”
At least one million people across the campaign.
USA were badly affected on 29th October
2012, when Hurricane Sandy struck the
East coast of the US. Hundreds of people
from seventeen states (including New
York and New Jersey) lost their homes
due to the widespread strong winds and
flooding. Many homes and businesses
lost power, and many schools had to
close for a week or more. Families were
devastated as many had lost their lives.
(Newsletter.co.uk)
Many children and adults were left
Katie Piper was badly burned when a
homeless and stranded.
friend of an ex-boyfriend threw sulphuric
(bbc.co.uk)
acid into her face. She was blinded in
Darren Bent
one eye and lost most of her nose and
ear. Katie spent seven weeks in hospital
and had to wear a plastic pressure mask
for 23 hours a day for two years. She
has had 150 operations and still has
some to go.
Katie has recently written a book about
positive thinking. She feels that this is
what has helped her to recover, along
with the love, support and patience of
her parents. In her book, she talks about
affirmations (words or phrases that help
people to think positively) and how they
have helped her to get back on her feet.
should be allowed to be educated in her
home country of Pakistan.
Malala lived in a part
many think that girls
an education. Each
school, her life was at
of the world where
should not receive
time she attended
risk
By Joe Rushton 10GG
Because of speaking out about what she
believes in, she was violently attacked on
October 9th, as she travelled home on
the school bus.
I woke up on the Friday and I
was extremely nervous and had
no idea what to expect. It turned
out to be one of the best
Men with guns stopped her school bus experiences I have ever had.
and she was targeted and shot in the
head; the bullet grazing her brain.
Katie is now a TV presenter and has set
up her own charity called the Katie Piper The bullet travelled down the side of her
Foundation which helps people living with jaw and damaged her skull, and she was
burns and scars.
later flown to Britain for treatment.
Her favourite affirmation is quite a She survived, and is now being treated at
spiritual one and is as follows:
the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
Birmingham.
“You should appreciate the darkness
because it’s the only time you can look up She has been praised for her courage in
and see the stars”.
fighting for the rights of women and girls
in Pakistan and has received thousands of
This helps her to remember that there is gifts, cards and messages of support
always something good that can come from all over the world since arriving in
out of difficult challenges.
Birmingham.
On Friday we learnt all the basics
about bag packing, cooking, setting
up a tent and orienteering; that day
was the easiest day of the three. On
the night we spent our time drinking
hot chocolate around a massive
campfire and having a laugh. But
then Saturday arrived and the hard
work began.
We had to walk for six hours straight
with huge bags on our backs. It was
still fun though.
We were given
where we had to go and using the
map we had to plan our route to get
to that certain point. After a long
hard day, we returned to camp for
Thinking and reflecting moment
Thankfully, she is getting better every
another night exactly the same as the

Has positive thinking ever helped day.
one before, except maybe it was a bit
you to succeed in anything?

What words or phrases help you to Her father said she wanted to thank well- colder, which unfortunately stayed
wishers for helping her to 'survive and with us throughout the night.
stay positive?
What does being spiritual mean to stay strong'.
you?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article2 2 3 0 1 6 8 / M a l a l a Girl gets shot for wanting an
Yousafzai.html#ixzz2DbN9zzyX
education

Hayden, Levi and I awoke the next
morning to find that we had been iced
into our tent; the zip had been covered in ice! Once we had got out of
our tent, we had our
breakfast and
Thinking and reflecting moment
went for another long walk, which
was just as uneventful as the last but

Do you think that we take having a still a really good time.


(dailymail.co.uk)
Malala Yousufzai is a bright 15 year old
girl from Pakistan who tried to stand up
for children’s rights to be educated. She
wrote an article about how it was
important that women and children
free education for granted?
Why should YOU make the most of
your education
Have you ever had to stand up for
your rights to do anything? If so,
what?
And finally it was time for us to go
home. There was nothing better than
when I finally got home to the
warmth. I had an amazing time while
I was there but I wish it was a bit
warmer than it was, then Saturday
night and Sunday morning might have
been a bit better.
By Dylan Jarvis
(Creative Writing Club)
By Miss Dennis
For the first time ever, Colmers
entered the Birmingham Schoolgirls
The Room of the Undead
Novice Gymnastics Competition at
Edgbaston High School on Monday
The corridors creaked and the doors 10th December.
slammed as Jamie walked through
the room without any sight. His
hands outstretched feeling his way
around. Suddenly his hand was on
the door. He opened it shaking like
mad. A gust of wind rattled the
wooden windows.
He stepped
cautiously forward, but found there
was no floor. A heavy lump was in
the way.
He crouched down.
Jamie’s hand felt out a strange
shape, first a foot, then a leg, then
hands, and a head. Lights flickered
on and Jamie’s hand was on
someone’s shoulder.
A scream
pierced the air like a gun shot.
When on vault, there were even more
nerves, as at times they let it get the
better of them and now they all had to
try and get used to a different
springboard and vault. Despite this,
when they competed, they all pulled it
out the bag and performed their vaults
the best that they have ever been.
We took a year seven team, made up of
Danielle Murphy, Lauryn Temple, Holly
Meadows, Emma Humpage and Isobel
Haynes, and an over 12s team, made up
by Kayleigh Brown, Caitlin Jones,
Rachael Brookes and Chloe-Ann Edmonds.
We did not expect to win anything at our
first competition… but the over 12s team
amazed us all and came first receiving a
medal each and a shield. All gymnasts
showed Colmers at its best,
demonstrating their effort, positive
attitude, and great sportsmanship, and
We were all nervous at the prospect of all should be proud of their performance.
performing a floor
routine and a vault
in front of all the
other competitors,
and judges in our
first
competition.
E v e r y b o d y
successfully
Jamie ran but the room was full of managed to get
through
their
indescribable living dead.
routines, with some
performing
skills
spectacularly.
Where were you born and where did you grow up?
What was the happiest moment in your life?
I was born at the Queen Elizabeth hospital and grew up I would have to go for the birth of my children.
locally in Bartley Green.
If you were to be given £1million what would you
How long have you been teaching at Colmers?
spend it on?
This is my sixth year.
A house in the country and flights to Perth for all of the
family. Then we could all spend Christmas together.
Where in the world would you most like to be right
now?
What is your favourite film and why?
At any one of the Disney theme parks (if you pushed me - The Empire Strikes Back. It was painful to choose one from
Florida), watching my children meet all their favourite the series, but, of them all, this one has everything.
characters.
What is your favourite part of your job?
Who in the world would you most like to meet (dead Driving to work and seeing ex-pupils going to colleges and
or alive)?
work.
Although I am tempted to name one of the literary greats, I
would have to go for Muhammed Ali.
What is your favourite joke?
What do you call a fairy that doesn't have a
What is your favourite piece of music?
bath.
I am the Resurrection - The Stone Roses
Stinkerbell.
It always gets a laugh in my house!
By Mr D Jones
By Jake Vale 8L
September 26th was European
Day of Languages and the
Languages Department organised
some activities which colleagues
from a number of
departments
embraced to promote the
importance of learning languages.
On Wednesday 31st October,
twelve
year
8
pupils
(including myself) went to
Hillcrest School for a French
trip. We left at the start of
period one and travelled by a
school mini bus.
By Mr D Jones
Members of staff were encouraged to
use as many foreign language phrases
When we got there, we had to do In October, seven of our year 11
as possible in their lessons.
The
winning member of staff was Mrs a quiz against the other schools pupils took part in the inaugural
that were there. Unfortunately, South W e s t Bi r mingham
Brooke.
we didn’t win, Turves Green Girls Schools Key Stage 4 French quiz
Staff rose to the challenge of trying to School did.
After that, we at Lordswood Girls' School.
translate as many teachers' names watched a production of Les Filles
from their French version into English. which lasted about an hour and a The pupils representing Colmers
were James Brunt, Callan Trafford,
The winners were: Mrs Hulbert,
half. It was very funny and, while Lydia Payne, Melissa Heslop, Tamara
Mr Strong and Miss Naggea
I did not understand all of it, I Campbell, Reece Charlton and Jason
Pupils in Years 7 and 8 were also could work out what was going on Timmington.
Teams from ten
given the opportunity to take part in a and was able to follow the schools took part and in addition
regional poster competition organised storyline.
two combined teams of pupils from
by Routes into Languages, which has
different schools were formed; each
strong links with Aston University. The After that, we had lunch. Then of which featured a Colmers pupil
University received thousands of
we were dismissed into randomly (Reece Charlton and Jason
entries from schools all over the
Timmington).
Midlands and into Staffordshire and selected groups and had two
Shropshire. One of our year 7 pupils language workshops. My group
The teams were served lunch on
came runner up and is to be awarded had Japanese first which was
arrival and then had to answer a
with a prize that will be awarded in a interesting.
Then I had Latin. number of challenging questions on
forthcoming assembly. Well done to Other groups learnt some phrases
various topics including Grammar,
that pupil!
in Russian, German, Greek and Geography, Vocabulary, Famous
Urdu.
In my opinion, the People, Spellings, etc. When the
Japanese workshop was better.
scores were added up, the results
were announced, and the Colmers
When we arrived back at Colmers, team was named Runners-Up, and
we went to one of the ICT rooms the mixed team (featuring Reece
and did a greetings poster on the Charlton) was announced as
By Mr D Jones
two language workshops that we Winners! The pupils in these two
teams each received a certificate
In February, there will be the se- were involved in.
and gift voucher as their reward.
cond regional final of the Spanish and French role play compe- THE YEAR 8 PUPILS WHO WERE Congratulations go to all those
INVOLVED:
tition.
involved, and let's hope for more
success next year!
Pupils attending Languages Club on Joshua Oreton; Megan Flynn; Lucy
Mondays will be able to prepare for Lewis; Owen Quinn; Jay Smith; Zoe
the Colmers heats, with the winners Pain; Jake Vale; Michael Maharaj;
going on to represent the school on Alex Boscott; James Cooney; Tara
finals day. Last year our pupils just Fitzsimmons; Megan Goddard
missed out on winning, so hopefully
we will go one better next time!
By Adam Belsey and Calhan Chapter. The Glee Club performed a
Frost
mesmerising version of Owl City’s
Fireflies, and finally a great way to
The 22nd of November was a finish a fantastic night was a vocal
particularly cold and rainy duet between Robyn Gordon and
evening.
People gathered to Chloe Farrall who performed For
listen to the sheer sound of Good which is from the musical
music, echoing its way through Wicked.
East Hall. It was the Colmers
Winter Concert and all was set in Overall, the concert was a very
place…
successful night which followed with
several assemblies featuring musical
The night kicked off with A Message pieces from the concert. This year
to You Rudy performed by the newly also featured the return of the
formed band club, created by Mr concerts announcer Mr Warner, as Mr
Young and Mr Reed.
Gladstone has retired and returned to
his Hollywood home somewhere in
This year there were many new the Beverly Hills. We wish him all
additions to the concert such as the best with his new movie My Life
Penny Davis who sung a rather Without Specs!
memorable performance of I Can
Hear the Bells from Hairspray and Another bonus of the concert is that
Lillie-May Bridgen who sung Turning it ran so smoothly that Mr Warner
Tables by Adele, as well as a new didn’t have to use any of his ‘brilliant’
vocal group called Little Angels who jokes!
A large part of why the
performed Wings by Little Mix. concert ran so smoothly was due to
Daniel Charlton performed his own, the music leaders doing such a good
very well composed piece called Final job of setting up and stage
managing.
It was a very successful first concert
for Mrs Brereton so well done to
everybody who took part and helped
make the Winter Concert a magical
evening.
By Miss Rushton
By Mr D Jones
To reward pupils who take part in
the school boys' and girls' football
teams, Walsall Football Club allow
Colmers to invite twelve children to
perform ball boy/girl duties at a
couple of home matches each
season.
This venture has been going on for about
seven years and many Colmers pupils
have benefitted greatly from the
experience.
So far this season, our
pupils have turned out on two occasions
at The Bescot (Banks's) Stadium, versus
Leyton Orient and Scunthorpe United.
As part of the package, pupils receive
coaching from Walsall FC staff before the
game, form a guard of honour as the
players run out and return the ball to the
players when it goes out of play
(this happens a lot in League One!).
Pupils who have been involved so far this
season are: Dion Clapham, Jamie
Hancock, Michael Maharaj, Shauna
Buckley, Danielle Jones, Charlotte Evans,
Sophy Paton, Chloe Hosker, Joe
Bartholomew, Leo Valdmanis, Luke Evans
and Tom Farren. On each occasion they
have done a superb job and represented
Colmers impeccably.
The next
opportunity to be a ball boy/girl is for the
match against Tranmere Rovers in midMarch.
One very cold but festive December
evening, Santa, two of his reindeer,
and local celebrity Spoz came to visit.
They had all heard that our library was
being opened that evening and
couldn’t wait to join us!
The library, which has undergone a
radical transformation, was the star of
the show at the event. Spoz cut the
famous red ribbon and unveiled a
plaque which will be a constant
reminder of the celebration.
By Ms J Howell
Jade Whitbrooke and Chloe
Cartwright of year 9 represented a
number of pupils who were saddened when they heard that their
former Deputy Head teacher at
Colmers Junior School had passed
away after battling a long illness.
There were carols, turkey sandwiches,
and mince pies which helped everyone
feel very Christmassy indeed. It gave
staff and students alike the chance to
g et to g ether and c eleb r ate th i s
wonderful new addition to our school.
Some pupils were even lucky enough
to receive an early Christmas present
as they were entered into a raffle .
Spoz made another appearance later
that night as a special guest at out
annual presentation evening.
He
performed a poem specially written for
Colmers. Several lines from the poem
can be seen on the plaque outside the
library.
had a meeting and a cake sale was
suggested.
A variety of cakes went on sale at break
and lunchtime on the 21st and 22nd of
November and a total of £63 was raised.
The money will be forwarded to Colmers
Junior School to be put towards a
memorial of their choice.
The girls approached the Headteacher A big thank you to all the staff and
and asked if they could raise some mon- pupils who supported the cake sale and
ey to put towards a memorial. The girls, helped make it a success.
Ms Howell, Ms Mitchell and Mr Doherty
By Courtney May 10AM & Ellie The skill with plastering was getting
Bullas 10KN
mortar onto a hawk and then sliding the
mortar up and down on the hawk and
In our Asdan lessons, we did then we smoothing it against the wall.
Construction at Southside Learning It is really difficult to get it smooth and
for eight weeks in September and takes a lot of practise – ask Mrs Evans
October. Some of us did plastering (either of them!).
and some of us did brick laying.
Courtney and Ellie were classed as the
In the first week, they showed us how champions and achieved this plastering
to do both activities and then they asked title! The tutors often said we were like
us which we wanted to do. Most people professionals at it and really thought we
chose brick laying. The remainder of us had done it before.
did plastering. We thought plastering
was easier than brick laying so this is After all our hard work, they give us all
what we worked on each week.
sweets and biscuits in the last week as a
treat!
By Mrs R Jackson
Catering News – Year 10
Twelve of the year 10 BTEC catering
group were chosen to spend a morning
at UCB (the former College of Food) on
a Chefs Taster Session. Students were
shown around the training kitchens
and restaurants before watching a
demonstration to make a ‘floater
coffee’ in the bar. Some students
volunteered (whilst others were
picked) to make one themselves. All of
the students managed to get the
cream to float beautifully on the top
and were very professional when
making them.
Following this, the students went into
one of the many training kitchens
where they worked with a bakery chef
to create four Halloween themed
cupcakes. I was very impressed with
the creative work that Colmers
students demonstrated, in particular
Luke Perry, who was praised by the
baker for his wonderful creations. Well
done Luke; you showed the same flair
when decorating your Christmas cake.
A future for you as a baker, perhaps?
Students then had an hour with
another chef who showed them how to
make a pasta dish with two different
sauces.
Students made one for
themselves but worked in pairs
demonstrating their teamwork skills.
By Tom Rushton & Eliot Morden
The students were able to take home
all of the food made during the
morning and it was a fantastic
opportunity to gain some training from
some of the best training chefs in the
world. UCB has recently been awarded
an outstanding Ofsted and is also the
best catering/ food college in Europe.
Students were told about the courses
that are on offer there for post-16
studies and were advised to come to
one of the open days to find out more
and apply early as many courses get
filled quickly.
All the students we took were very well
behaved and looked extremely smart in
their uniforms. It was a pleasure to
take this group of students out; I was
very proud of them.
As a trial run, the whole group ran a
Macmillan coffee morning to practise
serving customers and working as a
team.
They raised £250 for this
charity, which was fantastic, but it also
gave them confidence and developed
their serving skills and teamwork ready
for their ‘real event’.
When the menus were released, both
teams were both fully booked for their
lunch events within 24 hours.
The Chef Gods created a jacket potato
lunch with choices of fillings and salad
followed by home-made cake and tea
or coffee.
Sugar and Spice offered a choice of
Chicken Tikka with mint raita dip, salad
Catering News – Year 11
and new potatoes or a cheese and
broccoli quiche with salad. This was
Year 11 catering students began the followed by fresh fruit salad or
year working on their major unit– strawberry shortcakes.
Event Planning. The group split into a
boys team calling themselves ‘The Chef Students worked so hard showing all
Gods’ and a girls team naming the TRICX: team work, reflective work,
themselves ‘Sugar and Spice’. In their independent work and creative work.
teams, they had to plan and run a They learnt so much about event
catering event. Both groups decided management and realised just how
to put on a two course meal in the much work is involved in running a
Bistro. They had to plan how to do successful event.
this, practise their dishes, promote the
event, cost it out as well as prepare Well done to all of you; the feedback
the bistro ready for customers.
you had from staff was amazing, but I
am very sorry staff…we are not doing
this every day!
The project was set out to make year
9 think about how we can improve
During this term in Geography, Longbridge to be more sustainable,
classes in year 9 have been and make us think how the developers
partaking in a project about the would think about this. One group in
re-development of Longbridge.
9B1 got a level 8 in this project, which
is a B in GCSE.
While in the process of designing their
presentations, they were able to cre- To help us with this, the wonderful
ate maps and models of the area Geography department came up with
which would aid them in explaining lessons which taught year 9 about the
their ideas about what the Longbridge crime and defensible space around
of the future should look like.
homes, and how the police use this.
We used real crime data and GIS to
look at patterns.
It was a very
creative and fun set of lessons which
many of the students enjoyed.
In the first lesson on Longbridge, 9B1
student Eliot Morden had to pretend to
be a developer from St Modwen while
the rest of the class used ‘thinking
dice’ to come up with challenging
questions to ask him about their plans.
He responded very well and really
impressed the class with his ideas.
Team
Pl'd
GS
GA
GD
Pts
Rednal Rockets
4
4
0
Spartans FC
5
3
1
0
30
0
30
12
1
16
6
10
10
Birmingham Bulls
5
2
1
2
18
10
8
7
Rising Sun
4
2
1
1
10
9
1
7
Warriors FC
4
2
0
2
6
10
-4
6
Colmers Terriers
5
1
3
1
8
14
-6
6
Wizard Wanderers
5
0
1
4
1
18
-17
1
Real Racers
4
0
1
3
3
25
-22
1
Team
Pl'd
GS
GA
GD
Pts
Gold Stars
3
3
0
0
13
0
13
9
Black Skulls
3
2
1
0
9
3
6
7
Dynamo Devils
3
1
1
1
5
4
1
4
Brum Bravehearts
2
1
0
1
5
3
2
3
The White Knights
2
1
0
1
5
4
1
3
Colmers Cougars
2
1
0
1
3
4
-1
3
Shamrock Athletic
2
0
0
2
1
8
-7
0
Rhino Royals
3
0
0
3
1
15
-14
0
Team
Pl'd
GS
GA
GD
Pts
No Name United
4
4
0
0
18
8
10
12
#Stay Dench
4
2
2
0
15
7
8
8
Sit Down Kid
5
2
2
1
15
15
0
8
Heskeys Hero's
4
2
0
2
14
7
7
6
Ninjas
5
1
2
2
16
17
-1
5
Colmers All Stars
Colmers United
4
2
0
0
0
0
4
2
3
0
16
11
-13
-11
0
0
Year
Div
Yr 7 Div 2
Yr 7 Div 2
Win Draw Lose
Win Draw Lose
Win Draw Lose
Opposititon
Venue
Day
Bishop Challoner
Colmers
Weds
By Mrs L Wilcox
In September and October 2012, a
number of year 7 -11 students
tried their hand at fishing.
Some were successful, while others
were very successful!
I believe all
students enjoyed their time, learning
new skills, meeting and interacting with
new people and for some learning how
to be more patient.
Names of the winning students from
both groups were:
Charlotte Brown Year 8 and Joshua
Carmichael Year 11 who caught the
most fish in one group, and Jordan
Cooper Year 8 and Danny Spooner Year
9 catching most fish in the other.
Well done to all the students who took
part.
Home /
Away
result
win /
lose
17th Oct
home
6 - 23
lost
Date
Swanshurst
Colmers
Thursday
18th Oct
home
1 - 0
win
Yr 8 Div 1
A
King Edwards Five Ways
Colmers
Thursday 27th Sept
home
9 - 3
win
Yr 8 Div 1
A
Kings Norton Girls
KN Girls
Weds
3rd Oct
away
18 - 4
win
Yr 8 Div 1
A
Bishop Challoner
Colmers
Weds
17th Oct
home
12 - 1
win
Yr 8 Div 1
B
Kings Norton Girls
Yr 8 Div 1
B
King Edwards Five Ways
Colmers
Weds
31st Oct
home
4 - 4
draw
KE 5 Ways
Tuesday
6th Nov
away
2 -7
win
Yr 9 Div 2
Shenley Academy
Colmers
Monday
8th Oct
home
22 - 1
win
Yr 9 Div 2
Swanshurst
Colmers
Thursday
18th Oct
home
26 - 1
win
Sen Div 3 C yr10 King Edwards Five Ways
Colmers
Thursday 27th Sept
home
8 - 6
win
Sen Div 3 C yr10 Swanshurst
Colmers
Thursday
18th Oct
home
12 - 8
lost
Sen Div 2 B yr11 St Albans
Colmers
Weds
19-Sep
home
23 - 1
win
Sen Div 2 B yr11 Bournville
Colmers
Monday
24th Sept
home
17 - 26
lost
Monday
5th Nov
home
11 - 19
lost
Thursday 15th Nov
away
3 -4
win
away
away
10 - 15
7 - 2
win
lost
Sen Div 2 B yr11 King Edwards Camp Hill
Yr 7 Div 2
Lordswood
Sen Div 3 C yr10 Bishop Challoner
Yr 8 Div 1
B
Bishop Challoner
Colmers
Lordswood
Bishop Chall
Bishop Chall
Weds
Weds
21st Nov
21st Nov