Headteacher’s NewsletterHeadteacher’s Newsletter

HalfHalf--Term Summer 2010Term Summer 2010

Another action-packed half-term with the addition of a visit from Ofsted! Staff and students coped extremely well with the addi-tional work generated by the inspection and clearly showed Vesey’s in a very favourable light. We are grateful for the many kind words of support and con-gratulations we have received from a wide cross-section of the Vesey Community. BVGS is held in such high regard and with such affection by so many who were willing us on to what proved to be a fantastic result. Our on-going development programme for the school continues as we strive to become one of the top performing schools in the coun-try - our challenge for the next few years. Do enjoy reading about all that has happened over the past six weeks - never a dull moment here at BVGS, thanks to the generous service of so many who give of their time to make it happen.

BISHOP VESEY’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Message from the Head

Urdu Celebration Evening

David Iddon Headteacher

Staff News

Members of Year 10 on 20 May in business wear for their spe-cial ‘Global Enterprise Day’.

BVGS Urdu Teacher and former Vesey parent, Fouzia Syed and Language College Manager Matt Phillips organised a celebration evening on 19 May during which certificates were pre-sented to students who had completed the one year introductory course or who had completed the GCSE Urdu course this year. Pictured below is Fouzia with parents who joined us at the event in support of this thriving language option.

Our visitors from Ofsted were provided with wide-ranging and up-to-date evidence to support our view that we had made dramatic progress since the last inspection in 2006. Five inspectors over two days trawled through our evidence files, observed lessons, interviewed staff, students, governors and analysed statistics from parent and student questionnaires. And the outcome? BVGS was judged to be:

‘A good school with many outstanding features

and with an outstanding Sixth Form.’ Deemed ‘Outstanding’ by the Inspection Team: All aspects of the Sixth Form. And across the whole school: Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils. Pupil achievement and the extent to which they enjoy their learning, Pupils’ Attainment, Development of workplace and other skills that will contribute to economic well-being, Pupil Attendance, Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development and ‘Community Cohesion’.

A truly great result with which we can justifiably feel well pleased. Congratulations are due to all mem-bers of the Vesey Community for the considerable efforts over recent years. We are delighted with the result and look forward to addressing these relatively few but very important areas for improvement:

An even higher percentage of A*/A grades at GCSE

More opportunities for student leadership, particularly in Yrs 7-11

With sincere thanks to all who helped to achieve this memorable outcome. Full report on our web-site.

Gala Events Galore!

On 29 April the Annual Rugby Dinner at The Ramada Hotel was a great success with 170+ attendees enjoying a won-derful celebration of Vesey Rugby and an excellent ‘Q&A’ session with England Captain Lewis Moody. On 15th May Veseyans descended on The Old School House, Weeford for a memorable ‘May Ball’, so ably organised once again by parent David Jupp and his team of helpers from the PAC. On 18th May the Upper Sixth held their Leavers’ Ball at The Botanical Gardens to which they invited the in-coming team of School Officers, who will now embark on work to leave their own legacy of improvements here at BVGS. We are indebted to the U6 who have created a step-change this year, particularly in the area of student participation in the functioning of the school. We wish them well for their forthcoming exams and university careers.

Pictured above, the U6 at the Leavers’ Ball formal dinner and below the L6 in-coming Officer Team for 2010-11.

Work-related Learning and Enterprise Education at BVGS

Congratulations to Senior Leaders Steve Baugh, Bev Gilbert, Ruth Hearn & Matt Phillips whose whole-school effectiveness input has led to promotion to Assistant Headteacher level from 1 April. We say thanks and farewell this half-term to Craig Gubbins, care-taker/painter, and Alison Harvey, Teacher of Languages, who have helped over recent months.

Ofsted Inspection April 2010

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Phil Barker led Aston Villa’s Ambulant Cerebral Palsy U17s to a creditable 3rd place in the Midlands and North League.

On 5 May , Phil Griggs, James Chapman, Chris Cantwell, and Tom Gough L6 attended the Engineering Education Scheme celebra-tion day event, accompanied by Simon James. Students have been working on an Engineering project with GKN Driveline, a local engineer-ing firm, as part of their Enrichment course since last September. As part of the event, they had to present their final project to a group of high-profile judges from various branches of engineering, along with visitors and members of the public who came to view what they had been working on. The students had constructed a working side-shaft inspection rig used to inspect a shaft from the new McLaren supercar.

Year 7 takes a lead in BVGS attendance target This year BVGS has set itself a challenging attendance target of 97% for Year 7-11. All years are making excellent progress towards this, especially Year 7. Following on from the popularity of the 100% certificates at Main School Prize Giving each year, termly certificates have now been awarded to those students achieving this praisewor-thy milestone interim target. 206 students in Yrs 7-11achieved 100% attendance for the Spring Term, and they have received certificates to mark this. Well done to all those gaining a certificate! We hope to see your names come up again when we review the Summer Term performance.

Examination students have now completed handing in their course-work folders and practical outcomes. Once again, there have been some outstanding efforts with superb outcomes handed in across all the qualifications. The formal launch the ‘Scalextric for Schools Challenge’ will take place sometime in September, so any students who are interested in getting involved with this new venture, are recommended to keep an eye on any notices coming from the D&T Department, or look at the Scalextric 4 Schools area on the VLE.

Design & Technology

International Chemistry Olympiad Congratulations to Peter Whiting U6 who achieved an impressive Silver Award in the countrywide competition amongst the top 2400 students studying Chemistry A level. Thanks to all U6 students who gave up their time for the very demanding challenge: Joe Clarke, Ryan Felton, Ben Martin, Parris Innis-McKenzie, Abigail Hand & Carys Howell.

Harnessing new technology Moving with the times…….Y9 and Y10 have benefited this year from having the GCSE Chemistry modules in mp3 format so they can now revise on the way to and from school!

Election Fever hits Big School! Policies under pressure, as U6 student representatives of the three main parties take to the stage for a ‘Live Debate’ in front of 300 Sixth Formers, teachers and an Ofsted Inspector!

In the BVGS Mock Election the Lib-Dems, led by Taha Lodhi (far right in photo….but not in politics!), came out on top with 36% of the poll. Conservative Mohammed Bilal (left) 24% forced to negotiate a coalition! Labour candi-date Ishmael Jabbar 19% remained stranded in the centre! UKIP 9%, Green 6%, Respect 6%. Not quite the national picture which emerged but a great event, a leadership development opportunity and a lesson in politics for all BVGS students involved.

Summer Music

2010

The ‘Funky Bishops’ in rehearsal in Big School for the Summer concert on 29 April. They will perform in the Lyon Jazz Festival in early July.

On 29 April we held our first concert in celebration of the wide-ranging cultures and heritages in our school with outstanding performances from students in a range of musical genres and playing a wide collection of instruments from dhol and tabla drums to Irish flute.

French Exchange 2010 On 1 May our French exchange partners ar-rived from Dreux for a week long stay, incor-porating visits to the Oxford, Warwick Castle and Drayton Manor Park. Our thanks to Jane Broughton for organising the French ex-change programme this year.

Hannah Smith & Annie Mears L6 are organising an Arts’ Evening on 1 July. All proceeds go towards the Multiple Sclerosis Trust. The evening includes drama, music, dance and an auction. The guest speaker (local artist) Peter Welton will donate one of his own pictures for the auction. There will be a Chinese buffet as part of the ticket price and a bar will be available. There are just 90 tickets avail-able so purchase your tickets from Sue Foster, in BVGS Enrichment Office as soon as possible. Do please support this new, worthwhile venture.

Artsfest Evening 1 July 2010 Great Midlands Fun Run By now all students should have collected ‘Team Vesey’ T-shirts from Deputy Head Dominic Robson’s office for them-selves or their families. We expect c100 runners who will be joining this annual fun run as part of our corporate support for this local event. Other local sporting news:

Engineering Education Scheme

Page 3 May 2010May 2010

Artist John Denaro visited the Art department on 11

February to conduct a work-shop with our current Year 10 GCSE students. Throughout an entire day individuals devel-oped a large scale self-portrait using chalk pastel. Inspired by the artist’s work, students successfully employed his tech-niques and processes with outstanding results. All those who were fortunate enough to be involved in the day found it an extremely beneficial and enjoyable experience. We hope John Denaro will join us again next year.

Charities - Grand Total so far: £8682.99

Students helped marshal the 7 Pools Run on behalf of The Norman Laud Association on Sunday 28 March. James Youngman, Danny Knowles, Onyx Peynado Penny Hodges, Becky Weaver, Ed Heritage and Jay Lal and organiser Pam Maskell.

Ricky Bala Shaw U6 raised in the region of £200 by abseiling down Walsall Art Gallery.

Help for Heroes - £438

Cancer Research - 168.51

Cardiomyopathy - £768

RNLI - £221

Prem Baby Unit - £278

Guide Dogs - £181.74

Air Ambulance - £779.58

W-ton Parish Church - £450

St Basils - £100

CRISIS - £530.41

Acorns £104

DEC Haiti £1292.27

Teenage Cancer £692.60

Children in Need £1460.97

Chilean Earthquake - £1092.91

British Heart Foundation - £125

Lyon Delegation building educational partnerships with Birmingham BVGS hosted an important delegation from Lyon on 18 May with high-profile delegates from the Académie de Lyon and B’ham Local Authority. Stu-dents in Yrs 7-10 took on leadership rôles, giving presentations on ‘Language College status’ and ‘Community Cohesion’ in the Headteacher’s Office and then joined delegates over a business lunch. BVGS is at the forefront of the educational partnership being developed between the two cities.

Professional artist inspires Vesey students Vesey Volunteers

Yr 10 Global Enterprise Day

Students in Yr 10 enjoyed meeting a range of professionals from the world of business who led a variety of activities, including problem solving, teamwork and communication and, seen above, members of the Royal Navy, who set challenging tasks for our young students.

Much more use is being made of our SchoolComms system to communicate with parents/carers by e-mail. We have received very positive feedback on this. For further advice or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Dominic Robson, Deputy Head on dgr@bishopveseys.bham.sch.uk. One recent example of an important message going to all parents is our request for the deposit of a personally named spare inhaler in Reception for sons/daughters who suffers from asthma. Please help us to ensure we have your e-mail address so that we can continue to provide a first-rate service.

Electronic ‘School to Home’ Communication

History Trip to Berlin Easter 2010

40 Yr10 & 11 students (accompanied by Hannah Lockyer, Head of His-tory, Ruth Hearn, Dave Goodwin and Dave Phillips) sampled the his-tory and culture of Berlin during their 4 day trip at the end of last term. Visits were made to the Reichstag, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. A fantastic time was had by all.

Headteacher’s NewsletterHeadteacher’s Newsletter Page 4

Published for BVGS by Sharon Weblin, Headteacher’s PA sw@bishopveseys.bham.sch.uk. Printed by Jayne Joyce , BVGS Reprographics.

Rowing: History in the making….. Members of the Senior Boys squad became the first BVGS students to represent the school in an out-door regatta at Birmingham Rowing Club on Sat 24

April. Two groups of four boys were selected in the novice and beginners categories in the ‘sweep fours’ events. Vesey won two of the three races that they entered, with the one defeat the result of an equipment malfunction. Special mention to Jack Jones who raced in all three of the races. The rest of the Novice Crew were Rhys Jones, David Baxter and Tom Jackson, the beginners Alex Hart, Greg Hodgson and Tom Davies.

Congratulations to Tom Jones 9B who, on Mon 12 July, will com-pete in the English U16 Individual Golf Championships having become the U16 Warwickshire Schools’ Champion at Rugby Golf Club on 6 April returning 71 (3 over par) in the Gross Competition. 14 year old Tom is competing 2 years ahead of the competition age limit with a current handicap of 6. He captained the Vesey team with team-mates Oliver Jupp 11G and Monty Foley-Williamson 9W who finished 2nd in the Warwickshire Schools Team event. We now can also look forward to the traditional BVGS v OVA Golf Club match.

Concept 2 Online League: Vesey’s Indoor Rowing teams have again enjoyed great success throughout this year’s competition, which sets teams of 4 and 8 man relays a variety of challenges. Overall, the Vesey ‘Allstars’ won seven medals across four age groups, whilst the Nostars (B-Team) produced some very creditable finishes in the four-man events. Dave Baxter L6 attended a National sculling camp over the Easter holidays. This in-volved working with elite rowing coaches on tech-nical, physiological and psychological aspects for three days at the National Rowing Centre in Not-tingham. Dave benefited greatly from this experi-ence and was earmarked by the coaches as one of the most improved rowers from the weekend, and one to watch in the future.

Cricket

Outdoor Rowing: Brian Davies launches a new sport for BVGS students, now available from Yr 7 to Seniors

BVGS Golf Summer 2010

1st XI has made an excellent start to the season: 4 wins out of 5 matches. The highlights being outstanding wins against KES Birmingham and KE VI College Stourbridge. George Findlay 11R has been in great form with the ball and backed this up with an excellent 61 in a well timed run chase against Stourbridge. He was well supported by Jack Robson L6 and Monty Foley Williamson 9W, who saw the team home under pressure. Matt Hill U6 and An-drew Hendry 10W were the men in form against KES Birmingham in another confident run chase. Junaid Qasim, Tom Finn and Daniel Lock have all bowled consistently and taken important wickets. The stand out performance to date is George Findley’s magnificent 7-27 v Princethorpe College, who failed to match Bishop Vesey’s 138 which was built around Will Slattery’s 50. 2nd XI had great wins against Princethorpe College and Bablake. There have been some encouraging individual performances with Luke Finn 11G showing real potential with both bat and ball. A mixed start to the season for U15s with 3 wins and 2 close defeats, losing to Kings Macclesfield on the last ball, beating Bablake with 2 balls to spare, losing to KES Birmingham in the Warwickshire Cup by 1 run and beating Washwood Heath in the Birming-ham Cup by 12 runs. Best performance to date v Princethorpe College where the team won by 99runs, with Qasim Yasin claiming the match ball with a hat-trick of wickets. New captain Matthew Heller has been outstanding with both bat and ball, 51no against Princethorpe, 4 not outs in 5 innings. Andrew Smith has also been prolific with the bat with scores of 45 and 44. U14s have narrowly lost on a number of occasions, but had a great win against QMS Walsall with Steven Mapp returning stunning figures of 6-6. Most consistent batsman is James Morgan and Joe Mewis took 4 wickets playing for U15. U13s have had an excellent start winning 5 out of 6 matches. Highlights so far Ed Greenslade’s 7-27 v Princethorpe College. Dan Betty, Will George, Will Sharpe, Jack Andrew and Pardeep Rumprai are all performing well. U12s have finally got off to winning ways against Princethorpe College after 3 competitive defeats. Outstanding contributions from captain Niall Keating 51no and Staffordshire's county opener Ollie Wem 36 against Princethorpe, Keating 5-15 against KES Five Ways and consistent displays from all rounders Ahsan Abdullah and Altaf Qadir.