PARK HALL - NEWS

On Wednesday 30th June, four students from Park Hall debating club went to the House of Lords to participate in the national finals of the Richard Koch Cup. Although students were not competing, as regional finalists they were invited to contribute to the floor debate. With the motion ‘This house would abolish the monarchy’ a lively and exciting debate followed.

This trip was organised in conjunction with Lordswood Boy’s School and as such we were met by Edgbaston MP Gisela Stuart, who kindly spent a considerable amount of time showing us around the House of Commons and answering questions. We then went to the House of Lords for the final of the main debating competition held by the charity Debate Mate. This was a very high profile event with Sky News, Radio 4 and various familiar faces including Stephen Fry, Krishnan Guru-Murphy and Margaret Mountford (from the Apprentice). The students represented Park Hall Academy extremenly well and raised key points in the floor speeches, which at times gained rapturous applause. Being part of such an event was a fantastic end to a hugely successful year for the debating club!

Eleven of our Debate Mate students participated in the Richard Koch Debating Championship at Birmingham University on Tuesday 30th March. It was a whole day (9.30am - 6.00pm) of highly competitive, intense debating rounds and the standard from all of the schools at the event was extremely high.

As a little bit of 'fun' and without any notice, the university mentors arranged a show debate and asked (well no, forced) some of the teachers to take part. Standing in front of a 200 strong audience and having to speak for 5 minutes about why female sport doesn't deserve equal media coverage was one of the hardest and scariest things I have had to do in a long time. Struggling with the same task that our students have handled with so much ease really highlighted just how wonderful they are!

All students from Park Hall have made exceptional progress in their debating skills and I am really proud of the progress that they have made since starting on the Debate Mate programme. One of the teams representing Park Hall Academy won through to the final. This was held in a large room at Birmingham University and was watched by all of the students that had been involved with the day. The motion for the final was this house believes that your third criminal conviction, regardless of seriousness of the offence, should result in life imprisonment’ and Park Hall was in proposition. It is important to note that Park Hall B team made some excellent contributions in the floor debate. Unfortunately we did not win this time.This was an outstanding final and the judges said that the decision was extremely close.

Our students were absolutely fantastic and really shone in their sportsmanship, attitude and behaviour. Many teachers from different schools actually approached the students and I to comment not only on their superb debating ability, but also their excellent reaction to the result; namely applauding the opposing team and going over to shake their hands. These students were awarded with medals and Miss Jordan and I were extremely proud.

High flying Park Hall Academy students jump for joy at the National School Championships.

Park Hall Academy Trampolinists jumped for joy at the National Schools Trampolining Championships in Bristol. They came home with the Bronze medal in the Elite under 15 Trampoline Championships which is an incredible achievement especially because they came third out of over one hundred and ten teams who came from as far afield as Northern Ireland and Carlisle. This is an absolutely tremendous achievement. Well done to everyone involved.

This follows on from their success at the Zonal Final in Nottingham on Sunday 14 th March 2010 when they came home with the Gold Medal. They competed against Wales, the East Midlands, the East and the West Midlands in the Elite under 15 Trampoline Championships. The Park Hall Academy Team had qualified for this event on 5 th December 2009 by becoming the West Midlands Elite Champions.

The team performed beautifully in the Central Region Zonal final and were rewarded with a massive overall score of 144.30. Two students did exceptionally well finishing individually in 4 th place in Under 15 Elite Championships and the Under 15 Novice Championships.

The Park Hall Academy Trampoline Team are now the West Midlands Regional Champions, The Zonal Champions and The National Bronze Medallists. An absolutely superb achievement. We are all extremely proud. Well done Park Hall Trampoline Team, you are definitely high flying students!

Its official Park Hall Academy catering staff are the best in the West Midlands. On Thursday 18th March 2010 the catering team were invited to a celebration evening organised by the Local Authority Catering Association. Everyone had a really lovely evening and were extremely excited having been picked up to attend the event.

The catering staff at Park Hall Academy have organised numerous events for the school and local community in the last year which included the successful Summer Garden Party which attracted 3,00 visitors, the Christmas Party for Jubilee Gardens and numerous celebration evenings for concerts, parents evenings and community events. The catering team always enter into the spirit of various occasions dressing up at Christmas, decorating the room at Halloween and for Cancer awareness week. They really are marvellous and this was confirmed when they became the West Midlands Local Authority Catering Association Regional Champions.

Park Hall Academy students make a positive contribution as members of Castle Bromwich Youth Parish Council

A number of Park Hall Academy students are current members of Castle Bromwich Youth Parish Council. The student Councillors attend regular bi-monthly meetings to discuss a range of issues relevant to the local community. At the last meeting the Youth Parish Councillors discussed the building of a Sensory Garden at Castle Bromwich Village Green, an application for an environment grant, facilities available at Arden Park and producing a survey to look at possible forthcoming events for young people in the local area. They also adopted a modern symbol as the Youth Parish Council’s new logo which was put forward by Park Hall Academy. As a result of the meeting our students volunteered to help remove existing plants from the Village Green during Half Term, to attend a working party meeting to complete the environmental grant application and to put together a questionnaire for local young people.

Park Hall Academy students are gaining enormous benefits from their involvement in the Youth Parish Council and are developing a wider awareness of how democracy works. They are also developing their confidence, public speaking skills and finding out numerous ways to make a positive contribution to the local community. Excellent work is going on and we are really proud of our student’s considerable contribution to the local community life in Castle Bromwich.

We were absolutely delighted to be offered a number of places for Year 9 Park Hall Academy students on the Young Fire-Fighters course at Sheldon Fire Station. This is a rare opportunity which is offered to schools on a rotational basis and is available to Park Hall Academy students for the first time. Following consultation with staff at Park Hall Academy a number of students were offered places on the Young Fire-Fighters course at Sheldon Fire Station.

The course takes place one evening per week and will last for about twelve weeks. Students were fitted for their uniform at an initial Parents Information Evening before half term and have now attended three sessions. During the course students will gain useful Health & Safety training, First Aid Awareness and take part in physical activities. They will be able to take the British Heart Foundation First Aid Award, The West Midlands Young Fire Fighters Award and an accredited Fire Fighters qualification.

The course is an ideal opportunity for young people to gain a wide range of experience in an important public service area and to also gain transferable skills which are relevant to a range of career paths. This course is highly valued by employers and will provide recognised certification in a number of areas.

Representatives from the Fire Service came into school on Thursday 21 st January 2010 to meet the students and this was followed up with a Parents Information Evening at Sheldon Fire Station. The students have also had a tour of the Fire Station and began important Health and Safety training. They are looking forward to the lighter nights so they can get involved in exercises and other activities such as visits to Birmingham Airport and the National Centre for Fire Fighters.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank Sheldon Fire Service for enabling our students to benefit from such a wonderful opportunity.

A number of Park Hall Academy students are members of the Castle Bromwich Youth Parish Council and have been looking at ways to improve the flower bed at the Village Green and to enhance the local area. The Youth Parish Council decided to focus their efforts on the design and establishment of a sensory garden for members of the local community to enjoy the benefit of. They have researched thoroughly and considered lots of ideas and successfully submitted a project outline for a sensory garden. This aims to recreate the circular flower bed which appeals to the five human senses and visually promotes the Youth Council. Donations and grants of about £1000 have already been received and volunteers from the Youth Council and Park Hall students helped with the groundwork during half term.

It is a particular aim that the garden will be dedicated to peace and compliment the existing garden by the adjacent war memorial with the established ‘Tree of Heaven.’ It is hoped to plant a ‘Peace Tree’ to complement this and install an attractive circular bench around the tree. Footpaths will be of different textures but accessible for pushchairs and wheelchairs. Aromatic planting themes are being designed, with box hedges and raised borders. Existing plants were removed with the help of Park Hall students to enable them to be relocated to other parish council land and the students and members of the Youth Parish Council can be seen helping with this initiative in the pictures opposite.

As part of the Citizenship GCSE course students are required to complete two coursework assignments one based on a Community project. On Friday 12th February Park Hall Academy students took part in a project organised by Solihull Education Department and took part in the Environmental Champions in Solihull Project which involved clearing graffiti at the side of Park Hall School in the alleyway that runs from Water Orton Road to Lanchester Way. This project involved working in conjunction with several local primary schools, the police, local councillors and members of the Solihull Environment Project team. Everyone did an excellent job and felt really satisfied at achieving the days aim.

On Tuesday 9th March students studying Uniformed Public Services (both the Award and Diploma group) took part in a day of activities organised by the Royal Marines.

During the first lesson the students were introduced to the role and history of the Royal Marines through a presentation and video footage. The second session was centred on fitness and preparation for the uniformed public services. Students participated well in a circuit training session.

It was the intention of the day not only to introduce students to a career in the Royal Marines, but also to achieve some of the practical aspects for unit 2, Team Leadership. During the third session of the day students were challenged with two team building scenarios. The Marines then provided feedback on the integral role that effective teamwork and leadership plays in their work.

The feedback from the Royal Marines was very positive, particularly with regards to the enthusiasm and friendliness displayed from the students.

On Monday 22nd February, 44 students from Park Hall Academy went to the ‘Midlands Soldier’ event at MOD Stafford. Sixth form students studying towards the BTEC Diploma in the Uniformed Public Services and year 10 students that have shown an interest in a career in the armed forces attended.

The day began with an explosive presentation and demonstration from the army, during which the skills and expertise of the army personnel was highlighted and the capabilities of the various military vehicles were exhibited. Following this students were free to enquire and question soldiers in a vast careers exhibition. There were excellent stands which included team working tasks, cooking challenges and fitness trials. The stand which proved to be most popular was a large inflatable assault course.

Mr Smith was very impressed with the student’s enthusiasm and pursuit to expand their knowledge of the career prospects in the military. Students left with an understanding of the army which was very different from that of the front line soldier, but rather as a diverse organisation with enormously varied work and thus requirements from their personnel. A particularly exciting development is that work experiences placements have been secured for 22 students to further their insight into the 144 different career routes available in the army!

Park Hall students compete in Oxford Union International Debating Competition

On Sunday 7th February 6 students from the Park Hall Academy debating team went to Solihull School to participate in the Midlands round of the Oxford Union International Debating Competition. Working in pairs the students were involved in 3 debates during the day.

The first debate was a seen debate with the pre-issued motion “this house would pull all troops from Afghanistan”. Clearly a very topical debate it was great to see that all of the students had conducted research and were well prepared for the debate. We were competing against other schools which had established debating teams and were clearly confident in the Oxford Union style of debate. The Park Hall teams found that they had to quickly adapt to the new style of debating..

We discovered that the motion for the next debate was “this house would allow all workers to go on strike, including those in the emergency services”. Now more comfortable with the format of the debate, and having benefitted from participating in the previous debate, the quality of the contribution from Park Hall really picked up.

The motion for the final debate was “this house would establish an opt-out system for organ donation in the UK”. By this stage in the debate Park Hall students were really on a par with the other participating schools. It was excellent to see the increased confidence and intelligence in structuring a debate in only 15 minutes from the morning’s session. It was a great thrill therefore to have witnessed the rapid progress of students through the day and for one of the team representing Park Hall Academy to take the first position in this debate!

High Flying Park Hall Academy students gain first place in Regional Debate Mate competition.

On Thursday 28th January, Park Hall was proud to host the first round of a regional debating competition against Grace Academy and Manning School for Girls. The organisation 'Debate Mate' were invited to judge the debates.

In the first round of debates students had to debate the motion "this house would ban alcohol from being shown on TV". Although very apprehensive about the debate this motion was pre-released and therefore offered students some comfort.

For the second round of debates, however, students were told the motion and their position, and were given only twenty minutes to prepare. The motion was "this house would pay mothers to be at home with their children". We are extremely proud of all of the students involved with the debates. Both teams learnt a great deal about the rigours of debating, but we are sure that as individuals they have also left the competition with improved confidence and enhanced oral abilities. This was evidenced when Debate Mate announced the results and one of the teams representing Park Hall won!

Well done to all of the students involved. We look forward to watching the students continue to develop their debating skills as we prepare for future competitions

During the week beginning the 25 th January 2010, all students at Park Hall Academy were given the opportunity to elect a male and female representative to the Academy Student Council. The four houses of Arden, Bradford, Jaguar and Spitfire all voted for house representatives.

The students experienced a replica of a real election in that they had to register in order to obtain their ballot paper, vote in secret by putting a cross next to the two candidates they wished to represent them and put their completed ballot paper into the Ballot Box.

The elected students will serve on the Academy Student Council which is currently looking at the Park Hall Academy Uniform. This election also supports the curriculum requirements for Citizenship Education as it enables young people to experience the processes they will encounter in adulthood.

On Wednesday 27th January Jonathan, a Sixth Form Student at Park Hall Academy was invited to the full Castle Bromwich Parish Council Meeting to be presented with the Castle Bromwich Parish Council Services to Community Award. Jonathan was accompanied by Mr Tony Morrison, Principal of Park Hall Academy.

The award was presented by the Chair of Castle Bromwich Parish Council, Councillor John Reardon. Jonathon was given a beautiful trophy to remember the event and a gift voucher. Jonathan was then asked to give a brief talk to the Council on his involvement at Park Hall and the wider community. Jonathan explained that he has served on the Academy Student Council since Year 7 and that he had taken part in the Building Schools for The Future project. He had completed visits to Birmingham to look at the architecture of the city with Andrew Siddell, presented workshops to groups of 60 students, spoken and delivered a power point presentation to members of the local community on the new Park Hall. He was also involved in the interview process for the Director of Children’s Services and Quality, for the new Principal Mr Morrison and for numerous other appointments. Jonathan also took a lead role in helping to organise the Park Hall Garden Party and delivering Christmas Cards to local residents.

In 2009 Jonathan completed a period of work placement at Heartlands Hospital which he enjoyed immensely. As a result of the placement experience, Jonathan is now a volunteer at Heartlands Hospital on Sundays. He described his work as involving talking to patients, making cups of tea and following the doctors around! He now hopes to go to university in October 2011 to study Medicine, a career which we are sure he has much to offer.

Everyone had a really lovely evening and we would like to thank the Castle Bromwich Parish Council for supporting Park Hall Academy and celebrating the achievements of young people like Jonathan in such a positive way. It was a proud moment for Jonathan's parents to join in the celebration evening.

Mr Horace Benson, S.Q.M.S. a World War II Veteran delivers a presentation on Team Leadership in the Uniformed Public Services

On Monday 25th January the BTEC National Public Services Sixth Form students, Mr Smith and Mrs O'Keefe were treated to a session at Arden Hall with Horace Benson, a World War II veteran. The session was arranged by The Castle Bromwich Parish Council and Councillor Mrs Pauline Allen was in attendance to support Mr Benson and the students, it proved to be a wonderful experience for all involved.

The Park Hall Academy students are looking at ‘Team Leadership in the Uniform Public Services’ and clearly enjoyed listening to Mr Benson’s accounts about life in the forces in the 1940s and the Dunkirk Landings. The Sixth Form students asked Mr Benson numerous questions about his memories and experiences and then a female student asked Horrace if he would teach them how to march. Mr Benson readily obliged and spent an hour putting the students through their paces. Mr Benson had a lovely manner when working with the students and when the session came to an end everyone showed their appreciation in the usual way. We were especially proud to see every student came over and shook Mr Benson’s hand. Mr Benson said that the students clearly enjoyed the session as much as he did and that they were a real credit to their generation, praise indeed from a man whose generation ‘gave their tomorrows for our today.’

High flying Park Hall Academy students take ‘gold’ at the Zonal Final Trampoline Championships.

On Sunday 15th January 2010, The Park Hall Trampoline Team travelled to Nottingham to compete against teams from Wales, the East Midlands, the East and the West Midlands in the Elite under 15 Trampoline Championships. The Park Hall Academy Team had qualified for this event on 5th December 2009 by becoming the West Midlands Elite Champions.

The team performed beautifully in the Central Region Zonal final and were rewarded with a massive overall score of 144.30. Two students did exceptionally well finishing individually in 4th place in Under 15 Elite Championships and the Under 15 Novice Championships.

The Park Hall Academy Trampoline Team came home with a haul of medals. Everyone was thrilled to bits with their achievements and parents and personal coaches John Price and John Wall were extremely proud. The girls will now compete in the National Finals in Bristol on 14th March 2010. We wish them every success. Well done Park Hall Trampoline Team, you are definitely high flying students!

Everyone was really looking forward to the Christmas Party on Tuesday 15th December and could not wait to meet our visitors from Jubilee Gardens. A lot of planning had gone into the event. Year 7 and the Sixth Form Young Enterprise Group had made Christmas cards for our visitors, The Year 10 Health and Social Care students prepared the tables and Christmas decorations, the Sixth Form Government & Politics students wrapped the presents, collected flowers and put up the decorations and the Performing Arts students prepared carols and a performance from the war to entertain our special visitors. The catering staff did us proud by putting on a lovely spread that was enjoyed by all.

Our very special guests arrived at 2.15 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon and were greeted by a line of honour of Sixth Form students. It was a real treat to see our young men and women take the arm of each visitor and escort them to the Party. Our guests were thrilled by this welcome, but I think the sixth form boys enjoyed it most. They were really excited and thoroughly enjoyed looking after their visitors for the afternoon!

Once everyone was settled our guests from Jubilee Gardens were served by their own personal attendant (Sixth Form students). The boys and girls carried plates of food and then sat down to chat to their guests. Our guests and students learned a lot about each others lives and really got to know each other well.

Jim (guest) told Catherine (student) how much he enjoyed the food and the service from the students. He really loved the building and thought that the handmade Christmas cards were wonderful.

George (guest) felt that the entertainment was simply wonderful and that the room looked lovely.

Jeremiah (guest) said that he particularly enjoyed the choir. He also enjoyed the array of food on offer. Grace (student) said that in all honesty she thought Jeremiah enjoyed the company most. She said Jeremiah spoke about many things like his family and work life. Jeremiah told Grace that it was a pleasure to meet her and to have been invited to the event. As he left he shook her hand and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Grace (student) said, ‘I think the party was a success and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to improve Jerry’s Christmas as well as my own, I felt honoured to meet Jerry.’

Tom (a student) said, ‘Mary showered me with her and her husbands’ thoughtfulness and company. At the end of the afternoon she thanked me for assisting her. I felt very lucky to have met them both and wished them a lovely Christmas.’

Joyce (guest) talked to David about her love of school and also mentioned how lovely it was to be back in a learning environment. She also thanked him for the good company and the festive entertainment.

Hannah (student) summed the afternoon up beautifully when she said that she, like everyone had a wonderful afternoon and that she wished events like this would happen more often. A sentiment felt by us all.

We would like to thank our special guests from Jubilee Gardens for making the afternoon so memorable. All the students felt that they learned a lot from the opportunity to meet and get to know their special guests from the local community. Thank you all so very much.

We had a superb Celebration Evening on Monday 14 th December. It was really good to see so many of last year’s Year 11, Year 12 and Year 13 students celebrating their successes in the 2009 examinations – they were the best that have ever been achieved at Park Hall and so deserved celebrating in some style. (Did you know that last year’s Year 11 were in the top 25% of schools in the country and last year’s Year 13 were in the top 5% of schools and colleges in the country?)

Students and guests were welcomed into the Academy with carols from our Choir and were treated to a number of outstanding musical and arts performances during the evening. The students were presented with their prizes by the Managing Director of Jaguar UK, Mr Geoff Cousins. Mr Cousins also made a witty and poignant speech with some interesting pointers for our students – these were very useful from someone who has done so well with his life. The Chair of Governors, Mr Derek Smart also spoke passionately about the birth of the new Academy and the growing partnership with Arden which has played a big part in making it all possible.

It was a thoroughly good night and we would like to extend our thanks to all involved, especially to Mr Cousins for his speech, our honoured guests for their support and the staff and students for their support on the night as well as all the hard work that made these successes possible!

As part of the Year 7 Citizenship community education programme of study students at Park Hall Academy have sent 1,500 Christmas cards to members of the local community. This project was carried out in partnership with Castle Bromwich Youth Parish Council, Castle Bromwich Youth and Community Partnership and Park Hall Academy. Students were involved in designing emblems for each group, writing, making the cards and delivery of the cards to members of the Park Hall community.

On 4th December 2009 we were extremely pleased to welcome a return visit from Mahange, or Victoria as the children use Mahange’s middle name when speaking to her. Mahange is from Zambia and was orphaned at the age of three. She has been sponsored since that time by Mr Slaughter, a previous member of staff at Park Hall. Mahange spoke to a number of Year 7 Citizenship groups and the Year 13 Sociology group about life in Zambia, the importance of the family and her own personal history.

It was fascinating to have the opportunities to hear about life in Zambia. Mahange told the children about the crocodiles living in the lake by the orphanage and how they administer first aid to locals who have been attacked when collecting water from the lake. She explained that a young boy lost an arm the week she left for England. Stories such as these and her own determination to succeed made us all realise how lucky we are to attend Park Hall Academy!

Mahange now attends a very good school in Zambia and is 16 years old. She is currently investigating the possibility of attending university in Zambia upon completing her education. Mahange visited Park Hall in 2004 and it was lovely to see her again, a number of the children she had met on a previous visit recognised her which was especially welcoming. She is staying with Mr Slaughter’s family over the Christmas holiday and is desperate to see snow as she has never seen it before and only heard stories about it. Mr Slaughter explained that they planned to visit Scotland to ensure she fulfilled this dream, however recent weather conditions probably meant that this dream was fulfilled earlier than expected!

Park Hall scientists had the opportunity to visit the Think Tank Dome which was put up in the main school hall. The Think Tank Team arrived on Friday 27th November with a large blow up Dome Cinema.

Groups of pupils from year 8 to 11 were treated to an exciting show entitled ‘The Atom.’ Everyone sat cross legged on the floor and went on an exciting journey of discovery to view the inside of an atom. Students were amazed at the minute size of the atom. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the show (teachers included) and the Think tank presenters commented on the excellent behaviour of the Park Hall Academy students.