Pupils delight at Potter and pottery

~ Stoke-on-Trent students help with development of literary festival ~

Birches Head Academy in Stoke-on-Trent has embraced its literary links with the Hot Air Festival to produce a survey of pupils’ favourite authors. The school was approached by local pottery legend and festival trustee Emma Bridgewater who wanted to know which writers the children would most like to see at the next event, running between June 12-14, 2015.

Amongst top picks were Dame Jacqueline Wilson, David Walliams and J. K. Rowling - big names that would draw quite a crowd at Stoke-on-Trent's second literary festival.

Reading Champions of Birches Head Academy, that is, students who have been specially selected to promote reading to their classmates, surveyed every pupil in study group time. The answers were then collated into a graph that contained 26 different authors.  

To thank the Reading Champions for their help towards the next literary festival, Emma Bridgwater rewarded each and every one of them with a handmade, hand-decorated mug.

Popular with the students were authors of current literary hits such as The Hunger Games trilogy and The Fault in Our Stars, which has sold just under eleven million copies to date. However, modern children's classics were not forgotten. Number six on the list was a name that is synonymous with capturing the imagination of children and adults alike: Roald Dahl, the author of iconic books like Matilda, Fantastic Mr Fox or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

"Our students are incredibly proactive when it comes to reading," explained Roisin Maguire, head teacher at Birches Head Academy. "Pupils are actively involved in purchasing books for the school library and the National Literary Trust Reading Champions project has been taken up with aplomb.

"When the opportunity to help develop the next Hot Air literary festival came about, the children were overjoyed. The survey has been enlightening from our perspective and the students cannot wait for the festival in the summer."  

In addition to the top authors survey conducted by the pupils of Birches Head Academy, the librarian - Jo Lawton and lead teacher for English - Janet Beard are currently working with Emma Bridgewater to develop the literary festival's schools offer.

Can you interview?

~ Stoke-on-Trent school to hold careers education day ~

Preparing for the future

Birches Head Academy is preparing its students for the working-world by organising a careers education day for Year 9 pupils on February 12, 2015. The high school would like to invite local businesses to get involved by conducting mock interviews on the day.

The careers day will comprise of students applying to mock job advertisements followed by interviews with prospective local businesses.

Interviews will last approximately 10 to 15 minutes per student and participating companies must be willing to donate two hours of their time. In addition, volunteers should be ready to give students useful and constructive feedback.

"We hope our careers education day will engage the students in thinking about their future," comments Josephine Bailey, responsible for 14 - 19 Pathways at Birches Head Academy.

"We currently organise two weeks work experience placements for our Year 10 pupils. We hope that conducting the careers day for Year 9 pupils will act as preparation for this, as well as providing them with an excellent opportunity to learn about the world of work and gain much-needed skills for the job market."

Birches Head Academy has held careers days in the past involving Stoke-on-Trent colleges and work-based training providers, E.Quality Training and PM Training.

"We want to help build communication skills by offering our pupils the chance to take part in something a little bit different," continues Bailey. "Our goal is to be as forward thinking as possible to ensure students gain useful knowledge that will help prepare them for working life."

Any businesses willing to donate a couple of hours of their time to help the local community should contact Josephine Bailey on 01782 233595 or e-mail at jbailey@bircheshead.org.uk.

Success selfies – your chance to shine

To celebrate the accomplishments of its ex-pupils, Birches Head Academy in Stoke-on-Trent is encouraging former students to share their success stories and selfies on the school’s Facebook page, using the hashtag #BHAsuccess. 

The first selfie was posted a few weeks ago by an alumnus who is currently doing a work placement in India with Tata Consultancy Services. It was quickly followed by contributions from other ex-students, happy to share their professional achievements in the financial, education, building and beauty sectors. Several entrepreneurs have also posted their business successes, while more recent graduates have shared their stories of academic achievements in higher education.

“We try to keep in touch with our students after they leave us, as much as we can; it’s always great to hear of their achievements,” explains Josephine Bailey, responsible for 14 - 19 Pathways at Birches Head Academy. “We have a success story board in the school, but until now we’ve never created an online platform for these fantastic achievements.

“With our #BHAsuccess selfie campaign, we’re hoping to grow the Birches Head Academy community, motivate former pupils to keep in touch and inspire current students. We’re also hoping other schools will initiate similar projects, to help older generations of graduates keep in touch and motivate current pupils to achieve their ambitions.”

Past and present students have welcomed the idea. One such student is Amber Clarke, who left Birches Head Academy ten years ago and went on to achieve a BTEC in Beauty Therapy at Stoke on Trent College.

“I’ve always known I wanted to have my own business, although I wasn’t entirely sure what the business would be,” comments Amber Clarke. “In 2012, I opened my own beauty salon called BareBeauty in Stockton Brook. I work with my mother and three other members of staff and we’re hoping to expand the team even more in the future.

“I think it’s important for pupils to know there is a huge range of options available to them after they finish school. From my experience, professional success always comes if you have a strong passion for what you do and if you work hard at it.”

School designs and 3D prints gadgets

A team of pupils from Birches Head Academy in Stoke-on-Trent will be designing and 3D printing their own gadget for KMF’s 2015 Young Engineer of the Year (YEOTY) competition. KMF and Birches Head’s appointed sponsor, the engineering group Goodwin, donated a Makerbot Z18 3D printer to the school to help its pupils get to grips with the innovative technology and experiment for themselves.

The KMF competition is designed to tie in with the school’s STEM curriculum. After giving students the chance to revamp a fully-functioning race car last year, KMF has now challenged the 25 participating teams to design and 3D print a concept gadget. To encourage creativity and lateral thinking, no additional stipulations were imposed on the students, the only limitation being the capabilities of the printer.

“Birches Head Academy is starting to consolidate its portfolio of innovative engineering projects,” explained Roisin Maguire, head teacher of Birches Head Academy. “Last year, our pupils set up a radio station, a hyperlocal news website and a hack lab, not to mention they designed and modified a race car for KMF’s YEOTY competition.”

“We try to take the STEM curriculum out of the text books and transfer it to real world applications that develop our pupils’ practical skills. We know from experience that projects like KMF’s YEOTY competition capture our students’ imagination, while also growing their engineering, business and interpersonal skills.”

Currently, the Birches Head Academy students are working on outlining the concept for their gadget. The team has already submitted the idea, alongside some market research, a feasibility study and details of the manufacturing process.

The Birches Head Academy team is composed of seven students: Zakhir Hussain, Lewis Atherton, Yousaf Ahmed, Mohammed Abubakr, Charlotte Holdcroft, Mohammed Riaz and Katie Moayedi-Arazaour.

The next will be a Gadget Show meets Dragon’s Den event that will take place at the Britannia stadium on March 12, 2015. Selected teams will get a chance to exhibit their project in a stand and pitch it to a panel of judges, made up of local business people and industry bodies, such as the Royal Academy of Engineering. Final judging will take place on June 18, 2015. The project’s advocate, Jason Bradbury, of Channel 5’s The Gadget Show will make the final decision.

Exploring the great outdoors

During the summer break Stoke-on-Trent high school Birches Head Academy teamed up with The Bushcraft Company to hold a three day residential course. As part of the school’s summer learning programme, students from primary and secondary education, aged between nine and twelve, took part in a range of outdoor activities between July 21 and July 23, at Cholmondeley Castle, Cheshire. 

Alternating between lectures and fun activities, the course consisted of content linked to the National Curriculum, but being taught in a context outside the conventional classroom environment. Taken out of their comfort zones, students worked in groups of ten to fifteen, developing new skill sets in an outdoor environment. Over 100 students camped in shelters and bell tents on the castle grounds.

"Students don’t just visit different environments; they are immersed in them. Whether they are cooking river trout over an open fire, climbing to a mountain summit or sea kayaking, our outdoor adventures are as real as you can get," explained Alice Hicks - co-founder and sales and marketing director of The Bushcraft Company.

In an effort to build leadership and teamwork skills, attendees of the course were required to be resourceful whilst in the wilderness. Activities ranged from camp craft, shelter building and first aid to swimming, camouflage and fire-side night time games.

Birches Head Academy believes that activity like this supports the overall building of a child’s character and the promotion of general well being. This is something that Tristram Hunt, the shadow minister for education has recently commented on.

“These are very hard-edged skills young people need to gain,” explained Hunt. “The teaching of resilience and self-control and character is more and more important to develop, not only in terms of academic attainment but also in terms of the outcomes you need to improve your life chances, employability and all the rest of it.”


“These activities enabled students to really get to grips with life in the outdoors,” commented Karen Healey, headteacher of Birches Head Academy. “The great thing about working with The Bushcraft Company was that together, we found a way to encourage children to learn and interact in a unique environment.

“All of the food for the residential course was fresh and homemade by Bushcraft - the students were very well looked after! Throughout the week the sun was shining and it was the perfect opportunity for the students to learn about the wilderness.

“As we watched the children return to their parents, we could see a real sense of achievement and a new level of confidence in the great outdoors. Working with The Bushcraft Company is certainly something we will consider doing again next year,” she concluded.

Grow it, hack it, make it happen

~ Joan Walley MP impressed by Birches Head Academy visit ~

Stoke-on-Trent MP, Joan Walley, has officially opened Birches Head Academy’s new polytunnel. The unique structure was built by the school to teach students about healthy eating and encourage them to grow their own fruit, vegetables and herbs. After the official ribbon cutting ceremony, Joan Walley went on a tour of the school, during which she met the engineering team and the students. 

The MP had a chance to share her passion for horticulture with some of the school’s gardening group members, including pupils, staff and parents. The school’s gardening project has grown exponentially over the last two years and now includes a polytunnel that houses fruit and vegetables. There are also several cultivated plots of land that pupils individually care for, a bug hotel and even a small allotment with flowers from the Rod Wood Coronation Meadow.

During the ribbon cutting ceremony that officially opened the polytunnel, Walley offered to help the school arrange visits from relevant high profile speakers, in the hope of encouraging more students, parents and grandparents to get involved.

The polytunnel project started two years ago and is currently growing its second batch of fruit, vegetables and herbs. Last year, some of the harvest was used in the school cafeteria and the surplus was taken home and enjoyed by the members of the Grow It gardening group. Birches Head Academy is currently working with the local fire brigade to implement a water irrigation system in the polytunnel.

The next stop on the MP’s itinerary was the school’s engineering team, currently working hard on the final modifications to a race car, donated by local firm KMF, which they want to make faster and more eco-friendly. The Birches Head team is set to race its car in July at Darley Moor race track, in the Greenpower national competition. The young engineers discussed why their car should win, emphasising they had done all the work as a team and spent countless hours improving its design and testing it.

The visit ended in the Birches Head Academy’s hacklab, where Joan Walley met some of the school’s most talented IT students. The pupils were keen to explain why coding and creativity go well together and showed the MP how they use technology in innovative ways. Several students also mentioned they were hoping to pursue an IT career and thought the hacklab was an excellent place to get useful skills.

“There are many positive initiatives at Birches Head Academy,” commented Walley.  “Pupils and staff are obviously passionate about what they do and the range of activities available caters to a variety of students. I hope to see these initiatives grow in the years ahead. Every project I’ve seen today empowers and equips students with useful skills for the future.”

Summer excitement for primary school leavers

This summer, Stoke-on-Trent high school Birches Head Academy, will host a range of summer schools to ease the transition between primary and secondary education. The summer schools, named Groundwork and Time4Sport, were specifically designed to help break down barriers for children who are nervous about moving on to a new school. 

The first summer school, which is run by Groundwork West Midlands, opens with friendship and teambuilding activities, as well as a tour of Birches Head Academy. Throughout the week, students will take part in activities such as creative arts, baking and orienteering. The final day of Groundwork will draw to a close with a circus skills workshop and circus show, enabling each student to walk away with a personalised certificate.

The Time4Sport programme will be held at Birches Head Academy everyday between 9am-2pm from Monday, August 11 until Wednesday, August 13.  Time4Sport will be packed full of activities to help children develop fundamental movement skills.

As part of the programme, each child will also receive information on other sports services within the local area, as well as the chance to win various prizes presented by the Time4Sport team.

“Time4Sport offers a range of fun, exciting games to help build confidence, and improve levels of fitness,” commented Karen Healey, headteacher of Birches Head Academy. “The programme will allow students to make new friends, have fun and learn what exciting facilities that Birches Head Academy has to offer.

“During the camp week, all children will take part in a healthy lifestyle quiz, which will give an insight on how physical activity and healthy eating can have a positive effect on everyday life.

“Not only does Time4Sport ease the transition period, but it also develops skills, boosts attainment and gets children where they need to be this summer – in the outdoors,” joked Healey.

Children who haven’t already signed up for Time4Sport can contact Rob Smith on 01782 233595.