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.”