Weekly Updates

Friday 8th December 2023

King Edward VI King’s Norton School for Boys

The process of conversion

We are extremely excited at our opportunity to join the King Edward VI Academy Trust. The conversion process is rightly complex and rigorous; I would compare it to the complexities of buying a house with a very long chain, everything needs to fall into place at the right time for it to be successful.

Our conversion has not been straightforward, and it has been a real test of the Trust’s capacity to support their schools, a test they have passed with flying colours. We feel we are in very safe hands and remain convinced that this partnership is an excellent opportunity to support the long-term future of King’s Norton Boys’.

Of course, the conversion has taken many hours of work, mainly for our School Business Managers, Leadership Team, Support Staff Leaders, our Governors, and the King Edward VI team. It has been a challenging journey, with many external obstacles, and we thank them for their dedication to the school. We are pleased to report that we are on track for conversion on the 1^st January 2024, which is testament to that dedication.

What will it mean for:

Our School’s Leadership?

When our Governing Board were looking at possible future partners, they were very clear on what they were looking for. Autonomy to run our school in the best way for our boys and staff was top of that list. To be able to establish systems and processes in school that support our boys to flourish is important to us. In King Edward VI Schools the Leadership Team remain in control of the operations and strategic direction of the school. The Trust is there to support, guide and challenge – and having a proactive, critical friend is so important to our ethos and our strive to bring out the best in our boys.

Our local partnerships?

It will not, however, change our current positive relationship with local schools. King’s Norton will remain an important part of the South Area Network of schools and will maintain those links. For example, our close relationship with KNGS will remain. We intend for this to grow rather than shrink; currently we are collaborating on a musical production, and the preferential admission for our boys to their 6^th form is very much secure. Becoming a partner in the King Edward VI Trust does not prevent those local relationships from blossoming.

My son?

We do not expect students to notice much difference day to day, for example, central behaviour systems or a central dictated curriculum is not a part of the King Edwards way. Everything they are used to will remain at the point of conversion, the school will operate normally and maintain the strive for positive learning habits that our systems and relationships encourage.

We are proud of the identity of our school and what it adds to our new partners. The current ethos of KNBS will remain; it is an important part of our school, and no-one wants that to be lost. We chose King Edward VI as they recognise our strengths and want us to continue our journey on the path we have already established. King Edward VI chose us for what we can add to the Academy Trust, and they know that our reputation is growing all the time and that families want their sons to come here, and staff want to work here.

Over time, there will be opportunities that will lead to developmental change, such as combined events that our boys may benefit from, competitions that we are invited to, and potentially improved access to King Edward VI 6^th forms.

The Staff?

We are confident that the staff will benefit from the expertise in the Trust. The back-room operations will enable many of our support staff to focus much more on developing the school for the benefits of all stakeholders.

The collaborations open to staff across the Trust will also help us to continue our Professional Development journey. We all remain dedicated to supporting the development of our practice, and looking at the King Edward VI training event on the 8^th January, they will be a great support in this endeavour. Our motto of “We humans are always striving” is very much here to stay!

We can also benefit from the certainty the Trust can bring. With the highly publicised issues in funding that Birmingham is facing, having a secure partner to be there if anything goes wrong is of great reassurance to the whole school community.

Uniform?

There will be minimal change to the uniform to begin with. We consider ourselves the King’s Norton branch of King Edward VI, and our school will keep much of its identity. Therefore, the only item of uniform that will change will be the blazer, and plans are in place to achieve this smoothly and without cost to families.

When will blazer badges be changed?

In January, we will mark the conversion by having a new badge applied to the boys’ current blazers. This method of reusing the current blazers is important to our school as we have a strong sustainability agenda and throwing away 800 blazers for new ones is not something any of us here can sign off on. Instead, a local company have designed a badge that will be applied via a heat press.

We had previously hoped to get this completed in December so the boys can start on 9^th January with their new badge on their blazer. Unfortunately, due to the blockages and obstacles that we have had to overcome, this plan has not been possible. We do have a contingency in place and the company is ready to mobilise on the first week back to make this plan a reality. There will be a detailed schedule released prior to students returning, however, the plan will be similar to the one below:

A form groups’ blazers will be collected at the start of the day.
We will check that every blazer has a name written on the labels and a name card put in the pocket.
They will be shipped to the supplier and badges will be applied via heat press.
Blazers will return to school in form bundles and presented to students.

The supplier we have been working with has been exceptional in their collaboration with us: https://www.ace-embroidery.co.uk

All other uniform will remain the same at the point of conversion, and families do not need to replace any items of uniform.

The eagle, therefore, remains part of our identity as the King’s Norton branch of the King Edward VI Trust. In the future, new Year 7 students will only be able to purchase a blazer with the King Edward VI badge. However, the option to purchase a jumper or PE top with an eagle will remain, alongside the option to purchase the same items without any badge to keep costs down for families.

Our shared message is clear:

Evolution is the key to preventing a loss of our unique identity, to ensuring limited wastage of uniform stocks and for keeping costs down for families.

The Canteen

Our canteen will be managed by Alliance in Partnership (AIP), the provider for the Trust, who bring a wealth of experience and practice.

To help facilitate this, we are upgrading our kitchen over the Christmas break ready for the return to school. This investment will aid service, and the partnership with AIP will help us with our continual progression. Our canteen is well used, and the boys will be pleased to know that this will not mean changes to staffing; it will, however, open up new menu opportunities and we will benefit from AIPs central chef team and their buying power to help manage costs.

Find out more about AIP: https://www.allianceinpartnership.co.uk

*REMINDER* December House Competition

From Monday 11^th December until Friday 15^th December, King's Norton Boys' School will kick off another house competition, challenging each form to fill a shoebox with non-perishable food items. The goal is to aid those in need by collecting essential provisions.

This thoughtful competition not only promotes camaraderie among students but also serves as a powerful reminder of the school's commitment to making a positive difference in the wider community. By encouraging generosity and compassion, King's Norton Boys' School is developing a sense of social responsibility among its students.

A list of suggested donations has been included below. Students will need to bring their items into school between Monday 11^th until Friday 15^th December. The form in each year group with the most items donated will win the most points for their house.

As we embark on these philanthropic endeavours, let us remember the impact that small acts of kindness can have on the lives of others.

Michael T and William H - Head Prefects for Philanthropy

Year 11 Parents’ Evening

This will take place on Thursday 14^th December from 4.00pm in the sports hall. This will be an opportunity for you to meet your son’s teachers, to discuss his progress and to get advice on the way to make further progress. Form tutors will only be there in their capacity as subject teachers, and will generally not be available for general progress discussions. Bookings are now open – you should have received notification of this in the primary email account we have on record for your son. Appointments will be five minutes in duration, and we would request that you do your best to adhere to this limit. To help the evening run smoothly, we suggest that you either make a note of your appointments or print them off to bring along to the event.

Year 11 PPE Results

Our year 11 students have collected their PPE results today. We have held a reflective assembly with them during the day and provided additional support at lunchtime for any student that felt the need to talk through their results. We would welcome reflective conversations taking place at home and we hope that next weeks parents evening offers the opportunity to ask any questions about future planning.

We would like to make year 11 parents aware of the free parent seminar on Tuesday 12^th December from 6pm-7pm led by Elevate Education.

Key Dates

Monday 11^th December	Harry Potter Studio Visit (Y11 Creative iMedia)
Monday 11^th December	Christmas Music Concert
Thursday 14^th December	Y11 Parents Evening
Monday 8^th January	INSET #4 – KEVI Collaboration (School Closed to Students)

Friday 1st December 2023

King Edward VI Partnership

It may feel a little like the information around academisation has slowed recently, just when you would expect it to be increasing. So next week’s comms will be focused on the transfer and details surrounding our move to the King Edward VI Multi Academy Trust.

As I am sure you will understand, a transfer of this nature is not a simple procedure, and many checks and balances need to be met. The process has reassured us that our Governors’ choice of Multi Academy Trust was an excellent one, as the King Edwards VI team has been a great support and we have already built up some excellent relationships with their staff.

In advance of next week’s information, we wanted to update you on the re-branding of the blazer, as previous communications suggested that we would be taking them in next week, which is not the case. We have worked with a local company to design an embroidered heat transfer badge which meets our school’s eco agenda. Although we are running a little behind in this plan, we still have time to re-badge all student blazers in time for transfer, and more details on that plan will be shared next week. The essence of the plan has not changed, we will be taking blazers in prior to transfer, and these will then be ready to hand out to our boys on their first day of King Edward VI King’s Norton School for Boys.

Student Leadership - Charity update
This week, the Charity Committee of King’s Norton Boys' School met to select a charity to support throughout the 2023/24 academic year. After careful consideration, the committee has chosen to support the Birmingham Children's Hospital Charity.

The Birmingham Children's Hospital Charity is renowned for its tireless efforts in providing financial, physical, and mental support to young patients at the Birmingham Children's Hospital. By supporting this charity, King's Norton Boys' School community aims to make a meaningful impact on the lives of sick children and their families.

On Friday 22^nd December, we will be holding our first fundraising event where there will be a competition for both students and staff to wear their best Christmas outfit to school. There will be a suggested donation of £1 for students to wear their outfit in school and there will be the option to pay this on ParentPay during the last week of term. There will be prizes available to those with the best Christmas outfits. The money raised from this event will be donated to both The Birmingham Children's Hospital Charity and will help fund the Student Leadership here in school.

N.B. On Friday 22^nd December students will be leaving from 12:30.

December House Competition

As we embark on these philanthropic endeavours, let us remember the impact that small acts of kindness can have on the lives of others.

Michael T and William H - Head Prefects for Philanthropy

Y11 Elevate Education Sessions

We would like to thank Elevate Education for their time delivering a really valuable session to our Year 11 students on Thursday 23^rd November. Elevate commented on the outstanding commitment and conduct of our boys. The students were given the opportunity to provide feedback to Elevate about how they found the session, with 142 of 144 students stating that they found the session helpful and would recommend it to other students. We are now in the process of exploring the opportunity of working with Elevate again before the February PPEs and final summer examinations. We will keep you updated, as and when these sessions are arranged. Additionally, we would like to thank those parents that were able to attend the parental seminar with Elevate Education on the same date. For those parents that were unable to attend you can access the PowerPoint here. The next free webinar with Elevate for parents takes place on 12^th December at 6pm.

Y11 PPE Results

This is a reminder that the mock GCSE results day for Year 11 students will take place on Friday 8^th December. Students will collect their results in a sealed envelope from our main hall during period 1. A whole year group assembly will then take place during period 3 to aid reflection and provide advice on how they should be moving forward from this point. We will also provide a drop-in session for any students that wish to talk through their results with staff during lunch time. Of course, this is all followed up with Year 11 parents evening on Thursday 14^th December where we strongly advise all students attend with their parents to receive face-to-face feedback from each subject teacher.

Period 6 Sessions

Period 6 sessions for Year 11 students will continue for the next two weeks. Please be mindful that sessions are unable to run on the next two Thursdays due to upcoming parents’ evenings. You can view the schedule here.

SDfL Behaviour Challenge

Mr Hanson has delivered assemblies to all year groups this week highlighting the positive data from the first 9-week block. For the vast majority of students, it has been an excellent start to the year. He has also reminded students of the pre-Christmas SDfL behaviour challenge that was introduced last week in form. For your reference you can see the behaviour challenge here. Good luck to all students!

External Examination Results 2023

2022-23 was another excellent year for our Year 11 leavers. With assessment and grading back to pre-pandemic norms, our students approached their final years at KNBS with self-discipline, resilience and endeavour. We are proud of the partnerships we form between students, parents and our dedicated staff, which once again resulted in an overwhelmingly positive set of results:

81% of our students achieved at least grade 4 in both English and Maths. This compares with 63% locally and 65% nationally.
68% of our students achieved at least grade 5 in both English and Maths, compared with 45% both locally and nationally.
A really pleasing 16.3% of students achieved at least grade 7 in both English and Maths.
41% of our students achieved a standard pass (4 or above) in the EBacc suite of subjects in comparison with 25% locally and 24% nationally.
27% of our students achieved a good pass (5 or above) in EBacc, compared with 17% locally and nationally.
The EBacc average points score was 4.6, compared with 4.05 locally and nationally.

Progress 8 (P8)

A student’s progress 8 score is a measure of how they have performed in their best 8 eligible qualifications relative to how they would be expected to perform given their achievement at Key Stage 2. It is based upon a huge set of data, tracking the past performance of students nationally with the same KS2 scores.

For example, a P8 of 0.00 means that a student has performed exactly according to expectation given their starting point at the beginning of secondary school. A negative P8 indicates less than expected progress and a positive score indicates more than expected progress.

Schools report on their ‘Average P8’ score, which takes account of all students in the cohort.

In 2023, KNBS achieved an average P8 score of +0.16. This means that on average, students achieve 0.16 of a grade above their expected grade in each eligible qualification.

The local authority average P8 score for state-funded schools is +0.03, and nationally this figure is -0.03.

Notable Performances

Many students continued the strong tradition of the most able students achieving some outstanding results:

Student A	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	D*
Student B	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	6
Student C	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	7	7
Student D	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	7	6
Student E	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	6
Student F	9	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	6
Student G	9	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	6	6
Student H	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	6	5	5
Student I	8	8	8	D2	7	6	6	6	6	5

There were many more successes. The following students outperformed their statistically most likely grades based upon Key Stage 2 SATs. The value-added figure is the average number of grades above their most likely achieved by the student.

									‘Value Added’ +/-
Student AA	99	8	7	7	7	6	6	5	1.6
Student BB	8	8	7	66	6	6	6	4	2.6
Student CC	8	7	7	7	66	6	6	5	2.1
Student DD	7	7	65	6	6	5	5	4	2.0
Student EE	8	7	7	7	7	77	6	5	2.0
Student FF	7	7	D2	6	6	6	65	5	1.9
Student GG	9	88	7	7	7	6	6	5	1.8
Student HH	7	6	6	5	5	5	5	55	1.6

There was a sea of smiles on results day in August – we are so proud of the achievements of our boys. They have earned this success, and we wish them every further success in their chosen paths.

Friday 24th November 2023

King Edward VI Academy Trust

We have not shared very much information recently about joining the King Edward's VI Academy Trust. Please be reassured that everything between KEVI and KNBS is progressing well, and we are working collaboratively to get things in place to meet our 1^st January target.

We have plans and communications ready to go, and as soon as we have the green light, we will dedicate most of a Friday communication to bringing everyone up to speed.

Lost Property

There is a lot of lost property collected almost daily. We are keen to get this back to the boys, however more often than not the uniform or equipment is not named or labelled.

We will be thinking about how to address this over the next couple of weeks, if during this time, you could add names to your son's uniform, that would be incredibly helpful.

We think we have managed to reunite any named uniform items with their owners, and the current lost property will be double checked for names. Then anything that is not named will be displayed on the stage during break and lunch next Friday. If your son has lost an item of uniform, please encourage him to come and check those items to see if it is there.

Year 11 GCSE Pod challenge

We are excited to announce that Callum S, Jack C, Nigel M, Joe H and Dian W are our Year 11 winners of the GCSE Pod challenge. These boys have accessed the most number of 'pods' during the first term to date. We will be providing them with some vouchers very soon. Congratulations! A reminder to all students that this is a fantastic revision resource that we would encourage all to engage in. If any students need support with accessing GCSE Pod, please let their Form Tutor know.

Reading

This week saw the launch of our new KNBS peer-reading programme. After a full day’s training delivered by The Children’s Literacy Trust, where our Lead Readers in Years 9 and 10 learned about the reading process, the importance of reading aloud, praise vs barriers, and phonics training, our Lead Readers met with their reading partners and hit the ground running, exploring the library for a book that they will read together to improve fluency, confidence and encourage reading for pleasure. If your son is interested in becoming a Lead Reader, then please ask them to contact Miss Turley.

Personal Development – Year 7

Year 7 students are starting their new module on risk and safety next week. Your son will explore online safety, personal safety and how to respond to potential dangers. In December, our students will be lucky enough to have some hands on First Aid and CPR training delivered by Midlands Air Ambulance Charity. If you have any questions about this, please contact Miss Turley.

We will be encouraging our students to continue the dialogue outside of the classroom, so over the next six weeks, let’s get talking as a household about:

Real vs fake news
The importance of looking out for each other
Road safety – their travels to and from school
Gaming – the chemical reactions we have and ways to remain mindful and aware of online use.

Year 8 – Personal Development

Year 8 students are now starting their new module on Relationships and Sex Education. Your son will explore gender and the problem of gender stereotyping, sexual orientation and discrimination, as well as healthy relationships and what they look like.
Let’s get talking as a household about:

Why stereotyping is a problem
What love is
What healthy relationships look like and why they are important

9-week Data

Our first 9-week monitoring period finished on Friday 17^th November, and the initial analysis looks very pleasing. We want to share with our wider school community some of the early headlines:

Commendations continue to rise! On average, each student has received 30 more commendations than this period last year. 377 students have achieved more than 150 commendations in this 9-week block – the highest of any data since the 9-week blocks began!
The number of students with 100% attendance is just under 31% of the school. 251 students have achieved a 100% attendance record for this 9-week block.
74% of our boys have achieved Silver, Gold or Elite awards for impressive behaviour.
785 students (96.7%) achieved Merits in this 9-week block. 596 students achieved 150+ Merits – this is over 73% of the school population - the highest proportion of the school since the 9-week blocks began!
102 students achieved the maximum number of Merits in this 9-week block – once again the highest 9-week block since records began!

We will continue to remind students that all their hard work across the year, culminating in the collection of Merits, will contribute towards the end of year reward trip. Sweet treats, certificates, letters home and celebrations within forms will have already been taking place this week. Please also find below a reminder of how our students qualify for rewards in each 9-week block.

The next 9-week monitoring block ends on Friday 2^nd February 2024.

Samsung Insight Day

On Friday 17^th November, 40 Year 10 Design and Technology students had the opportunity to spend the day at Samsung HQ in London. They had to work in small teams alongside Samsung employees to design a new Samsung product/prototype to improve sustainability.

Below are some photos of the winning team and some stand-out individuals from the day with their prizes.

Students also had a tour of Samsung’s home of the future, which includes all the latest technology you could have in your home, from a fridge that would order your shopping, to the lighting in your gaming room which responds to the action of the game.

The day concluded with a careers Q and A with Samsung employees.

Year 10 Parents’ Evening

This will take place on Thursday 7^th December from 4.00pm in the sports hall. This will be an opportunity for you to meet your son’s teachers, to discuss his progress and to get advice on the way to make further progress. Form tutors will only be there in their capacity as subject teachers, and will generally not be available for general progress discussions. During the course of next week we will email you a link to our school-cloud booking system, as well as instructions on how to book your appointments. You will not be able to access the booking system until you receive the link. Appointments will be five minutes in duration, and we would request that you do your best to adhere to this limit. To help the evening run smoothly, we suggest that you either make a note of your appointments or print them off to bring along to the event.

Key Dates

Thursday 30^th November	Parents Forum 6pm Drama Studio
Friday 1^st December	INSET #3 (School Closed to Students)
Thursday 7^th December	Y11 Christmas Carol Performance
Thursday 7^th December	Y10 Parents Evening
Monday 11^th December	Harry Potter Studio Visit (Y11 Creative iMedia)
Monday 11^th December	Christmas Music Concert
Thursday 14^th December	Y11 Parents Evening
Monday 8^th January	INSET #4 – KEVI Collaboration (School Closed to Students)

Friday 17th November 2023

Safeguarding Newsletter

We are pleased to be able to bring you our monthly newsletter, 'Spotlight on Safeguarding'. This newsletter will be your go-to resource for staying vigilant and ensuring the safety of your children, both in person and online. From insightful articles to practical tips, it's designed to keep you informed and equipped so that you can support your child in this ever-changing, fast-paced world.

This month’s edition is focused on bullying, as this week is anti-bullying week. It follows on from the assemblies the boys have received in school. It also helps to support you, as parents, with the issue of vapes, something we are, as a school, vigilant about. Finally, each month will have an app focus. This month hopes to inform you about an online streaming site called Twitch.

Click here to view.

Elevate Education

This is a reminder to Year 11 parents that we would like to invite you to a parent-only evening event next Thursday 23^rd November from 6pm-7pm run by Elevate Education. There is no need to sign up, just turn up on the evening. Elevate also run parent webinars across the year which are free to access and just require you to sign up and sign in on the day. You can find more detail about these webinars here.

Period 6 Sessions

Period 6 sessions for Year 11 students will begin again from Monday 20^th November following the conclusion of PPEs. You can view the schedule here.

9-week Data

Friday 17^th November signals the end of our first 9-week of the academic year. It has been an excellent start to the year for the vast majority of our boys and I look forward to sharing the headlines from the data with you in next week’s updates. From Monday 20^th November students will have their points re-set to 20 SDfL points and will be expected to maintain these until Friday 2^nd February.

Over the next week the following actions will take place:

Certificates will be awarded for those students with 100% attendance, those who have maintained their 20 SDfL points and those who have also achieved over 150 commendations
Sweet treats will be provided to students who have achieved 150+ Merits during the first 9-week block (as well as demonstrating a good attendance and behaviour record)
Letters will be sent home for those students who have achieved the maximum of 400 Merits
Assemblies will be delivered celebrating individual and year group successes
Students will have the opportunity to reflect on the start of their year and set targets for the next 9-week block
In next week's parent updates, we will provide you with the headlines for how successful the start of this year has been
We will introduce a pre-Christmas SDfL points behaviour challenge through form time.

Year 11 PPEs
The second week of Year 11 PPEs is now complete, and the majority of students have completed all of their exams and will return to lessons next week. The students' behaviour and approach to the PPEs has been excellent. I wanted to pass on praise from the exam invigilators who have been incredibly impressed with the year group as a whole. I have also been pleased with the students’ focus, effort and maturity throughout these two weeks. It was hugely impressive to see so many of them revising in the library at lunchtime earlier this week – let's hope their efforts have paid off!

Miss Yussuf

Do you ever leave your engine on?

Something to think about from Jake W, our KNBS Head Boy

We notice when we are leaving school that there are a number of cars picking up students. This is not unusual, but it can be really harmful, especially when cars are parked on paths or have their engines running. This week we would like to appeal to those parking near to school to turn off their engine while they are waiting

Leaving your engine running when you are stationary is called ‘idling’. This creates air pollution by increasing the levels of exhaust fumes and harmful gases in the air. Air pollution irritates the lungs, lowers resistance to infection and makes conditions like asthma, heart and lung disease worse.

Please don’t leave your engine running when parked up waiting for someone - it wastes fuel and harms the air we breathe.

It’s easy to play your part in improving our air quality. Simply switch off your engine if you’re going to be stationary for more than a minute - you’ll help protect our health, save money and reduce air pollution.

The facts and dispel the myths about idling

Myth: Starting an engine causes more pollution than idling.
Fact: Turning an engine off and restarting it after a minute or longer causes less pollution than keeping the engine idling and uses less fuel.

Myth: The engine needs to stay on to keep the battery fully charged.
Fact: Modern batteries need less engine running time to work and don’t need the engine on constantly to keep them charged.

Myth: It is better to idle the vehicle as turning the engine off and on wears it out.
Fact: Ignitions in modern cars have eliminated this problem. Idling dirties your engine with incomplete combustion increasing wear and tear. Maintaining your vehicle is important for preventing breakdowns and reducing air pollution.

Myth: Catalytic converters need to be hot to work properly.
Fact: Yes, but an idling engine does not keep a catalytic convertor warm. They retain their heat for about 25 minutes after an engine is switched off.

Myth: When it’s cold I need to keep my vehicle and passengers warm or warm up my engine.
Fact: It can take up to an hour for an engine to cool down. Turning off your engine on but keeping the ignition on and the fan blowing will provide warm air for some time.

Thank you for your support in keeping the air around school clean.

Key Dates

Monday 6^th – Monday 20^th November	Y11 Pre-Public Examinations (Click here to view timetable)
Thursday 23^rd November	Elevate Education Session Parental Event 6-7pm
Friday 24^th November	Closing date for Y7/Y8 Christmas Card Design Competition
Thursday 30^th November	Parents Forum 6pm Drama Studio
Friday 1^st December	INSET #3 (School Closed to Students)
Thursday 7^th December	Y11 Christmas Carol Performance
Thursday 7^th December	Y10 Parents Evening
Monday 11^th December	Harry Potter Studio Visit (Y11 Creative iMedia)
Monday 11^th December	Christmas Music Concert
Thursday 14^th December	Y11 Parents Evening
Monday 8^th January	INSET #4 – KEVI Collaboration (School Closed to Students)

Friday 10^th November 2023

New Staff Joining the KNBS Team

We are delighted to be welcoming a number of new staff to our team this year – we are certain they will all make a really positive difference to our school community. Below you will find a short bio about each of them to help you get to know them:

Miss Hussein – Student Coach

From my early childhood, I have lived in different countries with many cultures, making me multicultural and giving me a boundless view of the world.

I joined KNBS last academic year with City Year as a mentor, and it is an honour to be back at KNBS as a Student Coach. I am a final-year university student studying English Language and TESOL (Teaching English to speakers of other languages), and I plan to be a teacher in the future. I am excited to be coaching and helping the students develop lifelong skills, think about careers and mentor them on academic and social matters they need help with.

Outside of working as a Student Coach, I enjoy learning languages, reading, and swimming passionately; I was on the swim team in high school.

Mr Hussain - Student Coach

Hi, my name is Mr Hussain and I am delighted to join the team at KNBS as a Student Coach. I will be assisting staff with the development and implementation of Individual Education/Behaviour/Support/Mentoring Plans for particular target groups of students. Over the previous year I had a similar role in the school where I connected with students across year groups. Within this role I would love to build upon that through being a positive role model and pushing students to achieve their full potential. I hope to inspire change in students and I am here to guide and support them through this process.

Mr Bartlett – Student Coach

I am Mr Bartlett, a former KNBS student and new Student Coach at the school. I come to the role with a background in filmmaking and university teaching; my education includes an MA in screenwriting from the London Film School and an MSc in psychoanalysis from Birkbeck. My focus at KNBS is on supporting students' personal and academic development by working closely with them in a coaching/mentoring capacity to enable their progress. I will also collaborate with fellow staff members to gather information and create resources that cater to individual student needs.

Mr Mahfozullah – Teaching Assistant

Hello, my name is Mr. Mahfozullah and I'm one of the new Teaching Assistants at KNBS. I work with the SEND department. My role is one of diverse duties with all the other Teaching Assistants where I help students with needs get the

most of their education either with 1 to 1s and mentoring or by going to lessons and helping them understand and get through the content. I also help out with group interventions for those who need extra support. I’ve enjoyed my experience so far and expect it to only get better as I continue to help students achieve the best they can and bring out their full potential as I've been doing

Miss Donaldson – Teaching Assistant

Hi, my name is Miss Donaldson. I am from Windsor and moved to Birmingham to study psychology at the University of Birmingham, where I graduated this past summer. For many years I have been a gymnastics coach and joined KNBS as a teaching assistant to continue to support young people reach their full potential. I am based in learning support and work closely with students to help them access education and overcome any social or learning challenges that may arise. I am enjoying getting to know each student and look forward to supporting them throughout their time at KNBS.

Mr Rowe - Data Officer

Hi there, I am Mr Rowe. I am a born and bred Brummie but without our local accent. I went to school in the north of Birmingham and sixth form in Solihull before studying European politics, society and economics at the University of Birmingham. I went on to get a master's in marketing at Keele and a PhD in social sciences at Birmingham City University. I recently led a programme of doctoral studentships for Black students at a university in the south of England, and I came back to my hometown to support the work of KNBS through data support, analysis and reporting. I have a special interest in improving the achievement of students with SEND, those from underrepresented groups and students from ethnic minority backgrounds. I am also passionate about using creativity to improve learning and teaching at the school. I look forward to working with the school to set more of the boys on the path to attending outstanding universities, having great careers and making a positive impact on people and the planet.

School Fund Update

At King’s Norton Boys’ School, we have a long-standing history of giving our students opportunities to engage with outdoor education and learning outside the classroom. This continues to be a very popular addition to the students’ school experience. Access to these opportunities can have a positive impact on students’ physical and mental health, as well as nurturing skills and attitudes that will help them to achieve great things throughout their lives.

Running these programmes places a financial burden on the school, but we believe that these costs pale in comparison to the benefits.

We would like to thank the parents/carers who have made their contribution this term. It goes a long way to ensure these programmes and opportunities continue for our students at KNBS.

Year 7 students have recently completed their climbing sessions on our climbing tower and now we move on to mountain biking with year 8 on our fleet of bikes.

The ‘Parental Contribution’ fund will help us to maintain the existing outdoor equipment, memberships to venues, entrance fees and the purchase of new equipment for all our outdoor adventure programmes and outdoor learning outside the classroom experiences. They will also fund specialist equipment to help expand outdoor learning within our curriculum.

If you haven’t already contributed and would like to do so, this can be done via ParentPay. By contributing, you will be helping to support and expand the outdoor education here at our school. Any contribution you can make will be very gratefully received and will make a real difference.

Sport Fixture Update

Year 8 football vs George Dixon 4-0 Win

Year 11 football vs UOB 4-1 Win

Year 10 football tournament at Lordswood came 2^nd in table

Year 9 football vs Arden 10/11/23

Year 8 football vs Alderbrook 13/11/23

Year 7 football vs Ernesford Grange 15/11/23

Year 7 football vs Tudor Kingshurst 20/11/23

Year 9 football tournament at Lordswood 21/11/23

Year 9 - Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award

Every year the school offers students in Year 9 the opportunity to participate with the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. The award offers young people the chance to develop their individual, team and social skills. It also gives participants a chance to make a difference in their community. As such, it is highly regarded by colleges, universities and employers.

There are four sections to complete at Bronze level. They involve: helping the community/environment; becoming fitter; developing new skills; and planning, training for and completing an expedition. More information about the award can be found on the D of E website www.dofe.org.

The D of E scheme is a fantastic award; however, it does require a high level of commitment from participants. Students are expected to organise and commit to at least 3 hours of completing a physical activity, working on skill and volunteering every week outside of school hours.

If your son is interested in completing his D of E award, please click on the link below for more information and to register his interest.

https://www.knbs.co.uk/bronzedofe

Sparx Maths Update

Well done to the 50+ pupils who attended SparxMaths Club this week. For the first time ever we needed to open a second computer room to cope with the number of pupils who were keen to get ahead and finish their compulsory homework, or wanted some help from their teachers with some of those final, trickier questions. There was a real buzz around the room, with pupils showing excellent teamwork skills by helping each other, and resilience and determination to complete some very difficult questions- in particular the questions about forming and solving quadratic simultaneous equations for some of our Year 10 students!

All pupils are welcome to attend in A2.6 on Thursdays from 3:05 – 4:00.

Year 9 STRIVE Grade Review

We are now one week back into the term and it has been pleasing to see the vast majority of Year 9 students working hard in lessons and doing their very best. Students responded well to our assembly last term when we informed them of the importance of their upcoming assessments, as they will be used to review their STRIVE grades. These are an indicator of what students are capable of achieving in their final GCSE exams at the end of Year 11. The review will be taking place, as detailed in our previous parental letter, at the end of this half term, and any changes will be reported to you. Please encourage your son to do his very best in every lesson.

It was also pleasing to see students engaging with post-16 providers at our Career Fair at the end of term. So many of them were discussing their future career plans and aspirations following their attendance at this, and we are hopeful that this will fuel their desire to work hard.

Elevate Education

Prior to half term we introduced Elevate Education to you. Elevate Education works with hundreds of schools around the country specifically focussing on working with Year 11 students around their examinations. They support students with revision aids, time management, effective work and so much more. This will be the first year working with Elevate so we are hoping that they can have a positive impact on our students. Year 11 will engage with Elevate Education on Thursday 23rd November. We will start the session as a whole cohort before breaking off into smaller working groups. We will be gaging student feedback following this event with the intention that we will work with Elevate again before both the March PPE's and Summer examinations.

In addition, Elevate run parent engagement workshops, the first of which will be held face to face at KNBS on Thursday 23^rd November from 6-7pm. This is a parent only event. Elevate also run parent webinars across the year which are free to access and just require you to sign up and sign in on the day. You can find more detail about these webinars here (just click the link and join in). The first webinar available to you will be held on November 14^th at 6pm.

Miss Yussuf's revision challenge

The first part of Miss Yussuf's PPE revision challenge has been completed. Miss Yussuf has reviewed any revisions forms that students have submitted and she is delighted to announce that 11L are the tutor group winners, with the 5 individual winners being Cameron J, Marcus L, Callum S, Daniel M and Rhys G. They can look forward to some sweet treats very soon! There is still a GCSEpod challenge on-going which will concluded on Friday 17^th November. Those year 11 students who have viewed the most 'pods' are in line to receive vouchers.

Kings Norton Sixth Form

Kings Norton Sixth Form are holding a "meet the sixth form" event on Tuesday 21^st November from 4pm-5.30pm. We know how many of our boys will view KNGS as a post-16 option and we therefore advise that this is a good opportunity to visit and ask as many questions as possible!

Year 11 Prom and End of School Celebration Event

We have started our initial communication with KNGS about our Year 11 Prom and our in-house End of Year Celebration Events, both of which will mark the end of your son's time at KNBS. Once we have details around both events we will first communicate this your son and then to you. Both events are a wonderful opportunity to celebrate 5 years of continued hard work and we hope that your son will be keen to attend both. Please expect further communication and details around payment prior to the Christmas holidays.

Pre-Public Exams (PPEs)

The first week of Year 11 PPEs is now complete but exams continue next week. We have been really impressed once again with the year groups approach and commitment. It is vitally important that your son continues his preparation for remaining exams and undertakes revision in line with any guidance from his class teachers. Please remind your son that in addition to the resources that teachers in individual subjects have given him, he can also make use of his GCSE Pod log in to access some superb video ‘pods’ that are available for every subject. The exam timetable can be accessed here.

Period 6 Sessions

Period 6 lessons will remain suspended for the second week of the PPEs as afternoon sessions may run over the usual school day, and we are mindful that once the exams each day finish, students need to take a break and prepare themselves for subsequent exams. These lessons will recommence in the week commencing 20^th November.

PPE Mock ‘Results Day’

The results of the PPEs will be kept tightly under wraps until they are shared with Year 11 students in our mock ‘Results Day’ event taking place during the morning of Friday December 8th. We have held this type of event previously and students have responded really well to it – it offers them a preview of what success feels like, and for those who may be disappointed at their results, in our experience, this is a great motivator for improved effort and commitment in the all-important final months of their school career. We will follow up this up with a whole year group assembly within the school day and offer further support to any students who feel they may need it before they head home for the weekend. This will allow for a few days of reflection before we welcome you, and your son, in for parents evening on Thursday 14^th December (finer details to follow).

Reporting Timeline 2023-24

Half Term	YEAR 7	YEAR 8	YEAR 9	YEAR 10	YEAR 11
Autumn 1	Pastoral Settling in contact			Information Evening	Information Evening
Autumn 2	Milestone Report	Milestone Report	Milestone Report	Milestone Report & Parents’ Evening (Thurs 7^th Dec)	PPE Results Parents’ Evening (Thurs 14^th Dec)
Spring 1		Parents’ Evening Thurs 25^th Jan)
Spring 2	Milestone Report & Parents’ Evening (Thurs 14^th March)	Milestone Report	Full Reports & Options Evening (Thurs 21^st March)	Full Reports	PPE2 Results
Summer 1			Parents’ Evening (Thurs 11^th April)	Milestone Report	Full Reports
Summer 2	Full Reports	Full Reports	Milestone Report

Key Dates

Monday 6^th – Monday 20^th November	Y11 Pre-Public Examinations (Click here to view timetable)
Sunday 12^th November	Old Norts Remembrance Service (10:50am Start)
Friday 17^th November	Samsung Insight Visit (Y10 DT)
Thursday 23^rd November	Elevate Education Session Parental Event 6-7pm
Friday 24^th November	Closing date for Y7/Y8 Christmas Card Design Competition
Thursday 30^th November	Parents Forum 6pm Drama Studio
Friday 1^st December	INSET #3 (School Closed to Students)
Thursday 7^th December	Y11 Christmas Carol Performance
Thursday 7^th December	Y10 Parents Evening
Monday 11^th December	Harry Potter Studio Visit (Y11 Creative iMedia)
Monday 11^th December	Christmas Music Concert
Thursday 14^th December	Y11 Parents Evening
Monday 8^th January	INSET #4 – KEVI Collaboration (School Closed to Students)

Friday 27^th October 2023

Welcome to our last Friday communication for this half term. It has been a long and busy half term, so well done to our boys for maintaining their focus for this lengthy period of time; we are sure they are tired and will welcome the rest to recharge the batteries. Staff will also need that time so please be aware that they will most likely be unavailable during the half term week to answer emails and queries. It is important they also recharge their batteries ready for next half term and all it has to offer.

The progress to becoming a member of the King Edwards’ VI Academy Trust is ongoing, and we are making excellent progress, with the help of the Academy Trust, the DfE and BCC colleagues. We are currently on track for a conversion in January 2024. Please, therefore, be aware that King Edwards’ VI have scheduled an Inset Day on the 8^th January for all their schools, for collaborative training. This has been added to the key dates below.

We work in partnership with our local agencies and fully endorse the messages below about keeping safe over the break in this ever-changing world that young people and families are navigating.

Dear Parents/Carers,

HAPPY, SAFE HALLOWEEN/BONFIRE NIGHT – REMINDER FROM WEST MIDLANDS POLICE

With the darker nights fast approaching, it is important that students are reminded what we, as a school community, expect of them in terms of behaviour.

Parents/carers and students should already be aware that as part of our safeguarding arrangements, the school has a two-way information sharing agreement in place with West Midlands Police, and we are active members of the local Police and Schools Panel. This joint approach helps us to intervene early to prevent and reduce crime and anti-social behaviour involving our students and provide support and up-to-date safety messages.

In partnership with the police, we would also like to remind our students about the following: -

Anti-social behaviour: Halloween can be a scary time for people who don’t like surprises or callers at their door. Think about how your actions and behaviour affect others; elderly and vulnerable people may be frightened by ‘trick or treat’ so look out for signs in windows that people do not want callers at their door.
Personal Safety:
- Be aware f your surroundings, take care of friends and family members and keep valuables such as phones out of public view whenever possible.
- Dn’t drink alcohol, take illegal drugs or unknown substances; they can have a big impact on your health and safety, behaviour, and your ability to do well at school and enjoy other interests and activities. They can also be addictive and have unpredictable side effects, including sudden death. Information is available at www.talktfrank.com
Social Media: Don’t allow your use of social media to put you at risk of grooming, exploitation or regret in the future. Use social media positively and avoid being negative about anyone online as comments/actions may be traced back to you and you will be held accountable.
Weapons in public places: Carrying a knife or other weapon will get you a criminal record which can have life-long effects on travel and job prospects. Those who carry knives are also much more likely to be injured by them. Don’t take BB guns, gel blasters/guns, or any other real looking toy guns into public spaces as these can cause alarm to the public - which could receive a Police Firearms response.
Off-road bikes: These can only be ridden on private land with the landowner’s permission. Don’t risk your life and future prospects by illegally riding these on the road.
E-Scooters: In the UK, you must be at least 18 years old and hold a provisional or full driving licence to ride or hire an e- scooter. A privately owned e-scooter can only be used in a private place with the landowner’s permission; they are illegal to use on a road or in a public place.

Remember the company you keep: If your friend breaks the law, you may also be held responsible for that crime – even if you weren’t the one directly responsible.

Yours faithfully,

David Clayton

Headteacher

King’s Norton Boys’ School

Richard North

Chief Superintendent - Birmingham LPA

West Midlands Police

Year 11 Message from Miss Yussuf

It has been a pleasure to see Year 11 students focused and engaged this half term. All students have taken on the challenge of balancing both the learning of new content and revising for their upcoming PPEs.

Year 11 students have taken part in two revision challenges:

A general Revision Challenge which ends on Friday 27^th October
The GCSE Pod Revision Challenge which runs throughout the half term holiday.

Winners for both challenges will be announced after half term, and prizes, including sweets treats and Amazon gift vouchers, will be given. Over the half term, we would like students to rest, reflect and revise for their upcoming PPEs.

I am sure that your son does not need reminding, but his first set of PPEs in Year 11 begin on Monday 6^th November. He should have received the full PPE schedule along with an individual timetable. For your reference, you can find the timetable here. It is vital that your son is present in school every day, arrives on time to each exam, and has the necessary equipment required (including specialised equipment such as a scientific calculator).

Following the PPEs, we will be engaging with an external organisation called Elevate Education. Elevate works with hundreds of schools around the country specifically focussing on working with Year 11 students around their examinations. They support students with revision aids, time management, effective work and so much more. This will be the first year working with Elevate so we are hoping that they can have a positive impact on our students. Providing that the first session is a success, we will continue to work with them prior to both the March PPEs and Summer examinations. The date for this exciting session will be Thursday 23^rd November. In addition, Elevate provides the opportunity for parents to become involved through a face-to-face meeting initially and follow up webinars. The date for the parents' event will be the evening of Thursday 23^rd November. We will provide more details once we return after half term.

We continue to be impressed by the level of commitment that Year 11 students are showing towards their period 6 sessions. We know, however, that the upcoming PPEs can be a stressful time for some, and therefore there will be no compulsory period 6 sessions for the two weeks following half term. Period 6 sessions will begin again week beginning 20^th November. We will update you with the period 6 schedule closer to this date. Thank you for your support in ensuring that your son has attended each session up to this point.

Year 7 KS3 Residential

We are very excited to launch our new KS3 residential for 2024 for students who are currently in Year 7. We are running a 5-day residential to the PGL site in Newby Wiske Hall, North Yorkshire, from Monday 16^th September 2024 until Friday 20^th September 2024. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to experience a multi-activity programme which will help develop many of their STRIVE values. Below is a video of the KS3 residential that took place in September this year to the same site:

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Please follow the link for more information www.knbs.co.uk/ks3residential. Deposits need to be paid via ParentPay by Friday 17^th November 2023.

Eco Schools

As many of you will be aware, over the summer term, we worked with Solar for Schools to install solar panels across our flat roof areas. These were successfully connected to the power grid at the start of September and are now generating zero-carbon electricity for our school.

Over the coming months, to help raise the profile of the new solar panels, our newly formed Outdoor Community Team is going to be embarking on a new eco project. Their aim will be to help increase awareness of our new solar panels through the delivery of assemblies and presentations. They will be sharing with everyone all the fantastic benefits the project will bring, not only for our school, but also how we are doing our bit to help tackle the important issue of climate change and fossil fuel consumption. The Outdoor Community Team will be meeting on Wednesday 8^th October at 3.15pm to discuss this exciting new project.

Year 9 STRIVE Grades

We delivered an assembly to Year 9 students this week, telling them about the review of STRIVE grades that will be taking place towards the end of the next half term. We stressed the importance of making the most of every learning opportunity in school and reminded them that Year 9 offers a chance for them to prepare for the onset of their GCSE courses in Year 10. They were given a letter with more details about this to bring home, and this was also emailed to parents. Please click here to see this letter.

Parent Forum

The next meeting of Parent Forum will be on Thursday 30th November at 6pm in the school Drama studio. I am delighted to be taking hold of the staff reins from Mrs Bartlett. On behalf of us all, I would like to thank her for her excellent contribution to the setting up and success of Parent Forum so far.

Over the course of this year, we will be exploring each of the school development pillars; ‘Leadership and Management’, ‘Quality of Education’, ‘Personal Development’ and ‘Behaviour and Attitudes’. The first meeting will focus on ‘Leadership and Management’, and we will be accompanied on the evening by our Headteacher, Mr Clayton, and one of our Business Managers. Topics covered will include the transition of KNBS from a local authority school into an academy in the King Edward VI multi-academy trust.

If you have any questions you would like to raise on this topic, or on the theme of Leadership and Management at KNBS more generally, then please email them to me by Thursday 23rd November at the latest.

We have a regular group of parents who attend our Parent Forum, but we are always looking for others to become involved. I have already received a number of expressions of interest this year, but if you would like to be involved and haven’t yet made contact, please email me on j.butcher@knbs.co.uk with your son’s name and your contact details.

Measles (MMR) Vaccine Reminder

As half term approaches, this is an ideal time to get up to date with the measles (MMR) vaccination. There has been a recent rise in measles cases across the country, and Birmingham and Solihull have low MMR vaccination rates so there is a risk of a measles outbreak this winter. Please click here for a letter from Public Health Birmingham with more information.

Student Leadership Update from our Head Boy, Jake W

Student Leadership this year has kicked off with a blast! Firstly, I would like to say a massive thank you to every student who helped us during our open evening. Student leaders from all year groups did an amazing job at showing just how wonderful our school is by giving a really warm welcome to all the prospective parents and students. I want to give a special mention to Tyler T for stepping up in my absence and opening the evening with an amazing speech. Thank you all!
Within school, we have been busy setting up our student leadership team for this academic year. Students have been busy writing and delivering speeches to their forms in a bid to be elected for the different positions available. These include the chance to be a School Council, Sports, Charity or House representative for their form. A massive congratulations to anyone who has been elected a position by their form. Our Outdoor Community team, which is open to all students, has had a very successful first meeting. Anyone who is still interested in joining this team should speak to Ms Bishop or Mr Julian - there is still time to join! Our Peer Mentors in Years 9 and 10 have also been busy attending form time sessions with their appointed Year 7 forms, offering their guidance and help to our younger students.

After half term, the entire student leadership team will begin their meetings where they can discuss with their teams ways they can host events, improve the school and get their voice heard. We are all very excited about what awaits us in the next couple months and can’t wait to share it with you all.

House competitions by Rhys G (Head Prefect - House competitions)

I am really excited to be writing this communication home as the newly appointed Head Prefect with responsibility for House Competitions for KNBS, alongside Sam B. It is a privilege to be awarded this role and to reintroduce a formal house competition system for our students to enable them to participate and earn house points for their house. Here is a non-exhaustive list of events confirmed and already in the works by our teachers, departments and ourselves: Musician of the Year, Basketball House Competitions, Cross Country, a Chess Tournament, a Bake Off and an Art Competition. These are only some of the events we are preparing, and we will be officially launching the house competitions after the half term holiday. We are so excited and cannot wait to share more with you, watch this space...

Year 7 Climbing Tower

It has been a great half term introducing Year 7 students to the Outdoor Education department. They have been putting their climbing skills to the test and working towards their Bronze level award. There are still a few more sessions to run to enable every Year 7 student the opportunity to take part. Well done to all students who have given it ago.

Educational Visits and Residentials

2023-2024 is shaping up to be a fantastic year of opportunities for students to learn outside the classroom. Educational visits and residentials not only provide students a way to learn their subject practically, but they provide an opportunity for students to develop their personal skills such as confidence, independence and resilience. Here are a few of the educational visits and residentials currently planned, and there are more to follow in the new year:

Offsite

Year 7: KS3 Residential - Outdoor Adventure and Student Leadership

Years 8 and 9: Mountain Biking - Outdoor Adventure Programme

Year 9: Battlefields Tour - History

Year 10: Samsung Insight Tour – Design Technology

Year 11: Harry Potter Studio tour – Creative iMedia

Onsite

Year 7: Literacy Trust workshop – English

Year 11: Live production of the 'A Christmas Carol' - English

Sporting Fixtures Update

Year 7 Football vs Bishop Challoner 11-0 WIN

Year 7 Football vs Smiths Wood 7-2 WIN

Year 7 Rugby vs UoB School 40-10 WIN

Year 8 Football vs Dame Elizabeth 7-0 WIN

Year 8 Football vs St Thomas Aquinas 4-2 WIN

Year 8 Football vs Bishop Challoner 8-0 WIN

Year 8 Rugby vs UoB School 65-20 WIN

Year 9 Rugby vs UoB School 64-0 WIN

Year 10 Football vs Dame Elizabeth 5-3 LOSS

Year 11 Football vs Lode Heath 6-2 WIN

Year 11 Football Tournament - 1 WIN, 1 LOSS

Year 11 Rugby vs Kings Norton Rhinos 10-7 LOSS

Key Dates

This Half Term:

Monday 30th October – Friday 3rd November

Half Term

Looking Ahead:

Sunday 12th November	Old Norts Remembrance Service (10:50am start)
Friday 24th November	Deadline for Y7 and 8 Christmas Card Design Competition
Thursday 7th December	Y10 Parents’ Evening
Thursday 14th December	Y11 Parents’ Evening

Monday 8th January	King Edwards’ VI collaborative Inset Day
Thursday 25th January	Y8 Parents’ Evening
Thursday 14th March	Y7 Parents’ Evening
Monday 18th – Friday 22nd March	Y10 Work Experience
Thursday 11th April	Y9 Parents’ Evening

Friday 20th October 2023

MFL Paris Visit

Year 11 students recently had a fantastic time exploring Paris, taking in the sights and putting their French speaking skills to the test. We visited places such as the Eiffel Tower, took a Bateaux Parisien river cruise on the River Seine, and made visits to Sacre Coeur and Montmartre. To finish the visit off, students had the pleasure of meeting many Disney characters when they spent the day exploring Disneyland before heading home.

KS3 Residential

Year 8 students recently spent five days in North Yorkshire on their KS3 residential trip. For many, this was their first experience being away from home, but you would never have known! Students had an amazing time taking part in water, land and rope activities throughout the week. This is always a residential to remember, with lots of memories being made, but more importantly, it is a time for students to develop their personal skills and grow as individuals.

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Drama Visit to the Hippodrome

Year 11 GSCE Drama students had a fantastic afternoon visiting the Hippodrome and watching a production of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical'. Learning outside the classroom is key to developing students’ understanding of their subjects, and it is great to have such opportunities to share with them.

Year 10 Parent Information Evening

It was so lovely to see so many parents in attendance at the Year10 Information Evening this week. There is nothing like being able to speak with parents face to face, and we hope those who came found it useful, and now feel more ‘in the loop’ about how we are supporting Year 10 students in school.

On the back of this evening, we have received a couple of queries regarding GCSE pod. We will ensure that all students have their login details before they break up for half term. Please take the time to explore the website with him, and following half term, we will provide further advice about how best to use this revision platform.

For those of you that were unable to attend the information evening I have attached the PPT for your reference here.

Year 10 Work Experience

A reminder to all Year 10 parents that the deadline for work experience forms to be submitted to Mr Kirk or Mr Clifton is Friday 22^nd December. You can find the work experience form here. Health and safety checks will not be able to go ahead if this deadline is not adhered to, and your son will remain in school during this week instead. It would be wonderful to see 180 year 10 students out and experiencing a week of work!

50/50 September Draw

The winning number for the September 50/50 draw is 34! Click here to see the full reveal moment on Twitter.

Sporting Fixtures

Already played:

27/09/23: Year 10 Football vs Dame Elizabeth Academy @KNBS. 5-3 LOSS

02/10/23: Year 8 Football vs Dame Elizabeth Academy @KNBS. 7-0 WIN

05/10/23: Year 8 Birmingham Cup @KNBS vs St Thomas Acquinas. 4-2 WIN

05/10/23: Year 11 South Birmingham Football Tournament @Lordswood SECOND PLACE

10/10/23: Year 7 Rugby @KNBS vs UoB School. 40-10 WIN

10/10/23: Year 8 Rugby @KNBS vs UoB School. 65-20 WIN

10/10/23: Year 9 Rugby @KNBS vs UoB School. 64-0 WIN

11/10/23: Year 7 Football vs Bishop Challoner @KNBS 11-0 WIN

11/10/23: Year 11 West Midlands Cup vs Ernsford Grange @KNBS - forfeit WIN

11/10/23: Year 11 Rugby vs Kings Norton Rhinos 6:30pm KO @KNRFC 7-10 LOSS

16/10/23: Year 9 Football vs Lordswood @Lordswood

17/10/23: Year 10 Football vs Lode Heath @KNBS

18/10/23: Year 8 West Midlands Cup vs Bishop Challoner @BC

19/10/23: Year 10 South Birmingham Football Tournament @Lordswood

Upcoming:

24/10/23: Year 11GCSE PE Moderation with Bartley Green and STA @KNBS

26/10/23: Year 10 Birmingham Cup vs Bishop Walsh @BW

Key Dates

This Half Term:

Wednesday 18th October	Y10 Parent Information Evening 6-7pm
Monday 30th October – Friday 3rd November	Half Term

Looking Ahead:

Sunday 12th November	Old Norts Remembrance Service (10:50am start)
Friday 24th November	Deadline for Y7 and 8 Christmas Card Design Competition
Thursday 7th December	Y10 Parents’ Evening
Thursday 14th December	Y11 Parents’ Evening

Monday 8th January	King Edwards VI Collaborative INSET Day
Thursday 25th January	Y8 Parents’ Evening
Thursday 14th March	Y7 Parents’ Evening
Monday 18th – Friday 22nd March	Y10 Work Experience
Thursday 11th April	Y9 Parents’ Evening

Friday 13th October 2023

Open Evening – Thank you

Last night was an amazing experience, all of the boys that came back and took part were a credit to their families, their school and themselves. With their help, staff were able to capture the community feel that we are known for. The night was an overwhelming success.

Important mention to Tyler (Deputy Head Boy) who gave an insightful and assured speech to approx. 600 visitors. Well done to everyone involved for an impressive evening.

Parking and traffic

It is raining today which will mean that Northfield Road will be busier than usual. All our measures around parking are in place to keep our students safe. We have been waiting for double yellow lines opposite the school for a long time. We have been notified that these are now due any day, which will help us enforce that no cars park outside the school.

Thanks for your help in this matter.

King Edwards VI Academy Trust – Update

We have already shared extensively that King’s Norton Boys’ School is due to join King Edward VI Multi Academy Trust in January 2024. The preparations for this to happen have been ongoing and so far, things have run smoothly. We are aware the Birmingham City Council have some current issues; however, we do not expect these to impact on the transfer.

The next steps working with our community will be:

Parents’ Forum meeting on the topic of the transfer.
Updated proposal to change the blazer badges for all students.
Update on any other changes to practices or processes.

Year 11 PPE Timetable

A reminder that the first set of PPE's will take place the week following half term (Monday 6^th November). We have provided the boys with a paper copy of the PPE timetable today. You are able to view the timetable here. In the unlikely event that the timetable needs to change for any reason then we will endeavour to let your son know at the earliest opportunity.

Year 10 Parent Information Evening 18th October 6-7pm *Reminder*

We would like to invite parents of Year 10 students to a presentation about Key Stage 4 and working towards GCSE exams. Year 10 students have settled well into 'GCSE life' but we want to share some information, insights and tips with you to help you understand what the next two years will look like for your son and to help you to support him. This event will take place on Wednesday 18th October from 6-7pm - please pop this on your calendar. It is a parent only event, but we will also share this with students afterwards. We will remind you nearer the time.

Sporting Fixtures

Already played

27/09/23: Year 10 Football vs Dame Elizabeth Academy @KNBS. 5-3 LOSS.

02/10/23: Year 8 Football vs Dame Elizabeth Academy @KNBS. 7-0 WIN.

05/10/23: Year 8 Birmingham Cup @KNBS vs St Thomas Acquinas. 4-2 WIN

05/10/23: Year 11 South Birmingham Football Tournament @Lordswood. SECOND PLACE

10/10/23: Year 7 Rugby @KNBS vs UoB School. 40-10 WIN

10/10/23: Year 8 Rugby @KNBS vs UoB School. 65-20 WIN.

10/10/23: Year 9 Rugby @KNBS vs UoB School. 64-0 WIN

11/10/23: Year 7 Football vs Bishop Challoner @KNBS. 11-0 WIN

11/10/23: Year 11 West Midlands Cup vs Ernsford Grange @KNBS - forfeit WIN

11/10/23: Year 11 Rugby vs Kings Norton Rhinos 6:30pm KO @KNRFC. 7-10 LOSS

Upcoming

16/10/23: Year 9 Football vs Lordswood @Lordswood

17/10/23: Year 10 Football vs Lode Heath @KNBS

18/10/23: Year 8 West Midlands Cup vs Bishop Challoner @BC

19/10/23: Year 10 South Birmingham Football Tournament @Lordswood

24/10/23: Year 11GCSE PE Moderation with Bartley Green and STA @KNBS

26/10/23: Year 10 Birmingham Cup vs Bishop Walsh @BW

We know some parents would like to come and watch matches at school. The safeguarding guidance means that this can only happen if the spectators are supervised by a member of staff. This is very difficult when PE staff are coaching and refereeing. When there are two or three fixtures on at the same time it is even more difficult.

We will aim to identify some spectator friendly matches in each year group so that parents can come and support. We will contact the parents of players for those matches directly via text to offer supporter places.

Getting back to normal

We are fully aware that there is significant sickness around recently. However, not as much as we have experienced during the dark days of Covid. We just thought it worth noting that we are so happy that many of our normal pre-covid events and visits are now able to happen again.

This year we have already had:

Year 8 Residential Visits to North Yorkshire
Face to face year 11 Parental Meeting
Year 11 Paris visit
Full Open Evening

There are lots more things on the horizon and we will be putting together an overview of trips and events for you once we have finalised a few visit proposals being explored at the moment.

Key Dates

This Half Term:

Wednesday 18th October	Y10 Parent Information Evening 6-7pm
Monday 30th October – Friday 3rd November	Half Term

Looking Ahead:

Sunday 12th November	Old Norts Remembrance Service (10:50am start)
Friday 24th November	Deadline for Y7 and 8 Christmas Card Design Competition
Thursday 7th December	Y10 Parents’ Evening
Thursday 14th December	Y11 Parents’ Evening

Thursday 25th January	Y8 Parents’ Evening
Thursday 14th March	Y7 Parents’ Evening
Monday 18th – Friday 22nd March	Y10 Work Experience
Thursday 11th April	Y9 Parents’ Evening

Friday 6th October 2023

Open Evening – early closure *Reminder*

We will be holding our annual Open Evening for prospective parents next Thursday (12th October). Many of our students enjoy taking part in Open Evening and are proud to show their school to new students.  To prepare for this event, the school will close early and students will be dismissed at 1:45pm.  The following day school will start at 9:30 for form and lessons will begin at 9:50 with period 2.

GCSE Geography Revision Guides

We are currently ordering GCSE Geography revision guides (RRP £5.95), published by CGP, for the Edexcel B exam course that we follow. We strongly recommend that all students purchase the guide as it will help their understanding of key ideas and provide opportunities to practise exam technique.

As the department is purchasing a significant number, there will be a discount and the cost of the revision guide is just £4.00. Please make a payment via ParentPay if you would like to take up this offer.

School Photographs

Carmel Jane Photography visited school recently to take individual student photographs, and these are set to go live for purchase next week! If you have not already done so, please pre-register before Wednesday 11th October in order for you to access your son’s photograph when they go live. Please visit: www.carmeljaneshop.co.uk and enter the following code: JRM5M52

Parent Forum

Our Parent Forum meetings for 23-24 will soon be getting underway, and we are hopeful that the first meeting will be held early in Autumn 2. For those parents who are new to KNBS, the Parent Forum offers a chance for parents to regularly attend meetings to discuss topics that are important to your son's education and our school community. We have a range of parents of students from Years 8-11 already involved in the Forum, but we would like to invite parents of students in our new Year 7 cohort to get involved. If you would like more information or would like to be involved, please get in touch via enquiry@knbs.co.uk, citing Parent Forum as the subject. 

Y11 Period 6

Please find the schedule for the Year 11 period 6 timetable for the next two weeks here. Your son should have been informed as to what his candidate number is. If he does not know, please ask him to see his Form Tutor who will be happy to provide it to him. We continue to be very impressed with the commitment shown towards period 6 sessions and hope that this will continue as we near the first set of PPEs at the beginning of November. In addition, we expect that students will be provided with the PPE timetable next week which we will then share with parents in next week's communications. 

Year 10 Parent Information Evening 18th October 6-7pm *Reminder*

We would like to invite parents of Year 10 students to a presentation about Key Stage 4 and working towards GCSE exams. Year 10 students have settled well into 'GCSE life' but we want to share some information, insights and tips with you to help you understand what the next two years will look like for your son and to help you to support him. This event will take place on Wednesday 18th October from 6-7pm - please pop this on your calendar. It is a parent only event, but we will also share this with students afterwards. We will remind you nearer the time.

Key Dates

This Half Term:

Friday 6th October - Monday 9th October	Y11 Paris Trip
Tuesday 10th October	Flu Vaccinations
Thursday 12th October	Open Evening (students finish at 1:45pm)
Friday 13th October	Later opening – School starts at 9:30
Wednesday 18th October	Y10 Parent Information Evening 6-7pm
Monday 30th October – Friday 3rd November	Half Term

Looking Ahead:

Sunday 12th November	Old Norts Remembrance Service (10:50am start)
Friday 24th November	Deadline for Y7 and 8 Christmas Card Design Competition
Thursday 7th December	Y10 Parents’ Evening
Thursday 14th December	Y11 Parents’ Evening

Thursday 25th January	Y8 Parents’ Evening
Thursday 14th March	Y7 Parents’ Evening
Monday 18th – Friday 22nd March	Y10 Work Experience
Thursday 11th April	Y9 Parents’ Evening

Friday 29th September 2023

Open Evening – early closure advanced notice

We will be holding our annual Open Evening for prospective parents on Thursday 12^th October. Many of our students enjoy taking part in Open Evening, and they are proud to show their school to new students.

To prepare for this event the school will close early, and students will be dismissed at 1:45pm. The following day school will start at 9:30 for form and lessons will begin at 9:50 with period 2.

Curriculum Booklets

We are thrilled that the breadth and rigour of our curriculum was recognised in our recent Ofsted inspection. Our boys have access to a wide range of subjects and learning experiences that we are very proud of, and we want to share with you the curriculum booklet for your sons' stage of learning at KNBS. Please click on the appropriate link below to access this information.

Year 11 Information Evening

It was hugely encouraging to see so many of our Year 11 parents at the Information Evening on Wednesday last week. For those of you in attendance, we hope the information we shared was useful and will help you to support your son in the coming months. If you were unable to attend, please click here to access the presentation. Please remember that as vigilant as we are in school, we can only help your son if we know there is an issue, so please contact us if there is anything we need to know or might be able to help with.

Y7-8 Design the KNBS Christmas Card Competition!

Year 11 Period 6

Period 6 sessions are well underway, and we continue to be impressed by the commitment shown by the vast majority of students. We are now in receipt of your son’s exam candidate number which has been shared with him over the last couple of days. You can find the schedule for next week’s period 6 sessions here. From next week, we will share an updated schedule with you on a bi-weekly basis. A reminder that period 6 sessions will not take place during the PPEs following October half term.

Year 10 Parent Information Evening 18^th October 6-7pm

We would like to invite parents of Year 10 students to a presentation about Key Stage 4 and working towards GCSE exams. Year 10 students have settled well into 'GCSE life' but we want to share some information, insights and tips with you to help you understand what the next two years will look like for your son and to help you to support him. This event will take place on Wednesday 18^th October from 6-7pm - please pop this on your calendar. It is a parent only event, but we will also share this with students afterwards. We will remind you nearer the time.

Flu Vaccinations

On Tuesday 10^th October, the immunisation team will be in school providing the flu vaccination to those children with consent. The flu vaccine is an annual vaccination programme which will be offered to those in Years 7 to 11. It helps provide protection to those who receive it and reduces transmission of flu to the wider community. For most young people it is offered as a nasal spray. A small number of children cannot have the nasal spray because of pre-existing medical conditions or treatments are offered protection through an injected vaccine instead. The nasal vaccine contains highly processed porcine gelatine as an essential stabiliser. For those who may not accept the use of porcine gelatine in medicines, a flu vaccine injection is available. Parents should discuss their options with the school-aged immunisation team - speak to a member of the team by calling 0121 466 3410 or by email at bchnt.birminghamimms@nhs.net.

We have already received the majority of parental consent forms back to the school office, however, if you have yet to receive one and would like to provide or deny consent, please complete and return the consent form which can be found here to the school office by the end of the school day Tuesday 3^rd October.

Further information on school vaccinations can be found on the Birmingham community NHS website https://www.bhamcommunity.nhs.uk/immunisation-services/

Key Dates

This Half Term:

Friday 6^th October - Monday 9^th October	Y11 Paris Trip
Tuesday 10^th October	Flu Vaccinations
Thursday 12^th October	Open Evening (students finish at 1:45pm
Friday 13^th October	Later opening – School starts at 9:30
Wednesday 18^th October	Y10 Parental Information Evening 6-7pm
Monday 30^th October – Friday 3^rd November	Half Term

Looking Ahead:

Sunday 12^th November	Old Norts Remembrance Service (10:50am start)
Friday 24^th November	Deadline for Y7 & 8 Christmas Card Design Competition
Thursday 7^th December	Y10 Parents Evening
Thursday 14^th December	Y11 Parents Evening

Thursday 25^th January	Y8 Parents Evening
Thursday 14^th March	Y7 Parents Evening
Monday 18^th – Friday 22^nd March	Y10 Work Experience
Thursday 11^th April	Y9 Parents Evening

Friday 22nd September 2023

Ofsted

It seems such a long time ago that Ofsted visited us in July 2023. We have been patiently waiting for our report and it is now here for us to share with you.

Ofsted Report

The report shares some key messages from the inspection. From our point of view, we are happy with the outcome that clearly identifies the great work going on in school and how much the school has improved since our last inspection.

Please let me take this opportunity to thank you again for the many messages of support that we received during the inspection and the very positive parental feedback that Ofsted received in their survey.

We are very proud that the positive work of the school has been reflected in the report and in particular that the inspectors agreed that our boys, on the whole, have a great approach to school and learning. They should be very proud of how they represented themselves, our school and their families.

Year 11 Period 6

We have been really impressed by the commitment shown by year 11 during their Maths and English period 6 sessions this week. The full timetable will commence next week for those students required by their teacher. We are awaiting confirmation of student candidate numbers, and therefore it is not possible at this stage to share individual period 6 timetables with you. Class teachers will inform your son if they are required to attend this week.

The Eagle

The end of last year was yet again one that brought together our school community as the final week of school was marked by a collapsed timetable and enrichment activities taking place across all year groups, and we had our end of term charity day. During this day, we raised over £3000 for our chosen charity, Mind. There were so many fantastic opportunities and activities taking place, we simply did not have room to squeeze them all into our summer edition of our online school magazine, The Eagle. So, here is our Enrichment Week Special Edition of the Eagle to remind us all of the fun we had at the end of the last academic year!

https://sway.office.com/m557ufRsnp0S6kU0?ref=Link

Friday 15th September 2023

Rewards Trip Friday 22^nd September

We are excited to be taking over 400 students to West Midlands Safari Park and Drayton Manor next Friday. Congratulations once again to all involved. You can find the timings of the day below. For students who are not attending the rewards trip then you are expected to attend school at the normal time and in full school uniform.

West Midlands Safari Park Schedule

8.00am	Students arrive at KNBS (go to sports hall) Register and groups for coaches organised
8.30am	Leave for West Midlands Safari Park
9.15am (approx.)	Arrive at West Midlands Safari Park (traffic dependent) Safety guidelines and meeting point shared
2.45pm	Meet back at meeting point Register and groups for coaches organised
3.30pm	Depart from West Midlands Safari Park
4.15pm (approx.)	Arrive back at KNBS (traffic dependent)

Drayton Manor Schedule

8.40am	Students arrive at Rowheath Pavilions Register and groups for coaches organised
9.15am	Leave for Drayton Manor Theme Park
10.00am (approx.)	Arrive at Drayton Manor Theme Park (traffic dependent) Safety guidelines and meeting point shared
2.45pm	Meet back at meeting point Register and groups for coaches organised
3.30pm	Depart from Drayton Manor Theme Park
4.15pm (approx.)	Arrive back at Rowheath Pavilions (traffic dependent)

Parental Contributions

At King’s Norton Boys’ School, we have a long-standing history of giving our students opportunities to engage with outdoor education, and this continues to be a very popular addition to the students’ school experience. Access to these opportunities can have a positive impact on students’ physical and mental health, as well as nurturing skills and attitudes that will help them to achieve great things throughout their lives.

We know that outdoor education programmes like ours are hard to find, and we are truly passionate about continuing to deliver these opportunities to our students, but to continue doing this we need your help.

There is significant research indicating that outdoor education encourages healthy physical activity and behaviours, helps to develop life skills, enhances self-esteem, and promotes improved academic performance. Outdoor education offers students the chance to learn in a different environment where real-world and progressive, practical skills can be developed. It provides an environment where students can develop their self-confidence and character, learn to manage risk and experience truly memorable moments. For many, just being outdoors for extended periods of time can lead to benefits in terms of health and wellbeing, stimulating curiosity and developing an appreciation of the world around them – something that employers are taking more and more notice of.

When such experiences are part of a progressive programme designed to support integrated learning in both formal and informal settings, the impact is greatly enhanced. The outdoor education programmes at KNBS have been designed to impart core life-skills in our students by having fun outside of the classroom, and as such we encourage all students to get involved. Our ever growing and inclusive portfolio of outdoor education programmes provide the students opportunities with the chance to develop crucial skills that they will need now, perhaps more than ever, to survive and thrive once they leave us and go on to the next stage in their lives.

Running these programmes places a financial burden on the school, but we believe that these costs pale in comparison to the benefits. We are contacting you today to ask for parental contributions that will allow us to continue providing high-quality bespoke outdoor education programmes and allow us to develop these programmes and initiatives further.

This fund will help us to maintain the existing outdoor equipment, memberships to venues, entrance fees and the purchase of new equipment for all our outdoor adventure programmes and outdoor learning experiences. They will also fund specialist equipment to help expand outdoor learning within our curriculum, in lessons such as Science, and Geography, which would help promote the benefits of learning outside the classroom across the curriculum.

We are asking for a contribution of £30. By contributing, you will be helping to support and expand the outdoor education here at our school. Any contribution you can make will be very gratefully received and will make a real difference.

Lunchtime Detention

We have been so pleased to see the boys looking smart and ready to learn this week. Coming to school on time, with the correct uniform and equipment makes a huge difference to the progress the boys make with their learning. To keep up the momentum, we just want to remind you and our students that our daily lunchtime detentions for those students who do not meet our expectations with uniform and equipment will be continuing this year and will include those who are late for school. Your son will, of course, still be allowed plenty of time to get lunch and use the school facilities. The best way to support us with this is to ensure that your son is organised every day. Please get in touch with your son’s Head of Year if you have any queries.

Lockers

Well done to those students who have purchased and claimed their lockers this week. Staff will be on hand after school (3:05pm) in the hall to issue any remaining lockers on Monday and Tuesday.

Homework Timetable

Our 2023-24 homework timetable is now available on our website. This has been shared with students and will be in use from next week. This can be accessed below.

Reminder: Year 11 Information Evening Wednesday 20th September 6-7pm

Our Year 11 Information Evening will take place on Wednesday next week. Due to restrictions on space, this is a parents-only event but if you are unable to attend, your son can attend instead.

Numeracy Newsletters

Our maths department has created a termly newsletter which will aid you in supporting your son in his maths learning this term; many parents find it useful to know what their son is learning in school. Please find this term's newsletter below.

Year 7
Year 8
Year 9

Attendance

Getting our boys into school every day is incredibly important for us as we know the impact that low attendance has on the development of children and young people. Please click here to view Mr Clayton's annual attendance update letter which gives further details. If there are any concerns around your son attending school, please contact his Form Tutor in the first instance.

Mental Health Newsletter

Each month, you will receive a link to our Wellbeing Newsletter – click here to view our latest publication. This month’s newsletter offers some hints and tips on the school routine and dealing with the overwhelming feeling some students may experience when they come back to school after the summer break. If you have any concerns around your son's wellbeing, please contact his Form Tutor in the first instance.

Y7 My Child at School (MCAS)

We are delighted to be launching the My Child at School portal to our Year 7 parents which will help us to share up to date information with you about your son. The portal will be in the form of an app and will allow you to access to the following:

Curriculum Overview (STRIVE grades)
Data Collection (to update contact details etc.)
Progress reports
Timetable
Self-Discipline for Learning (SDfL point loss and comments from teachers)
Attendance information

Invitation emails will be sent out over the next few days to activate your account. If you have not received these details by Tuesday 19^th September, it is likely that we do not hold a correct email address on record for you. Please email our enquiry line with your name, email address and son’s name and tutor group, to enable us to resend these details to you.

User Guide: https://www.knbs.co.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=1732&type=pdf

How to login: https://docs.bromcom.com/knowledge-base/how-to-access-add-accounts-on-the-mychildatschool-app/

School Photographs

Carmel Jane Photography will be in school on Wednesday 20^th September to take individual student photos. Parents and carers are requested to pre-register before the photography date above to enable access to your son’s photograph. Please visit www.carmeljaneshop.co.uk and enter the following code: JRM5M52.

You will then be asked to pre-register with your son’s full school name. Once registered, as soon as the photos are available you will receive an automatic email notification to inform you that your son’s photo is now ready to be viewed and can be purchased. Don't miss out - pre-register today.

Post 16 Careers Update

Many of our local post-16 providers have begun to release their dates for open days/evenings. We have collated many of these providers in one useful document. Please click here to view. This is not an exhaustive list, so research by your son, with your support, is paramount to finding the best course for him. We would advise booking time slots early, in addition to visiting a range of post-16 providers. Do explore many courses that are available and what grades they require to reach them. We will be sharing updates to this list regularly with your son during tutor time. If your son requires time away from school to attend an open day (such as at KNGS) we will need to be made of this ahead of time.

Year 11 – Introducing Period 6

Our recent history has shown that those students who actively engage in our period 6 additional support sessions make greater progress as they move through Year 11. We are therefore introducing our Year 11 cohort to their period 6 schedule from next week. Click here to view the broad two-week period 6 timetable that we will use across this academic year here. Students will know which subjects they have in each option block from their timetable.

For the week beginning 18th September, we will just host Maths (Tuesday) and English (Wednesday). Your son will be informed whether he is expected to attend this week. Moving forward we will provide your son with a two-week bespoke timetable in letter form. On this letter he will have a candidate number which is unique to him. Every two weeks you will receive the full year group timetable for period 6. You will be able to monitor which period 6 sessions your son has by checking the sessions against his unique candidate number (all will become clear in due course!).

Period 6 sessions will start immediately after tutor time and will finish between 3:45pm-4pm. We will inform you via text if your son has not attended an expected period 6 session.

Period 6 sessions will not be scheduled during weeks when students have PPEs and if a session is unable to go ahead (such as staff unavailability) then we will endeavour to let you know at the earliest opportunity, again via text message.

Wednesday 13th September 2023

Message to Parents/Carers of boys in Year 8-11

Sports Day

You may recall the disappointment when the inclement weather in July led to Sports Day being postponed. Therefore, we are very pleased to confirm that on Friday 15^th September our rearranged 2022-3 Sports Day will take place.

Things to be aware of:

Lessons 1-4 on Friday will take place, they will be shorter than normal so Period 5 can be extended to run our sports programme.
Students break and lunch will be earlier in the day for us to extend period 5 suitably.
As lunch is earlier (brunch) the canteen will not be open at break time.
Any student in year 8-11 competing (or a reserve) can wear their PE kit to school as we do not have enough changing space to cater for all competitors.
Competitors will need to wear school PE kit to take part in their race.
We do not envisage an issue with finishing time, but sometimes students are a little late leaving site, especially if they have volunteered to help pack away.

Welcome to the first FRIDAY COMMUNICATIONS of the year. If this is your first visit, then you may be pleased to know that every Friday we share key information and updates with you. This helps to keep the information organised and in one place which is easier to find when you want it.

We also produce THE EAGLE newsletter each term which gives an insight into some of the things that have been going in on each department. You can access the previously published Eagles for 2022-3 here.

Friday 8th September 2023

Welcome Back

It has been wonderful to welcome the boys back this week; they have returned with purpose and determination. We have also welcomed our new Year 7, who have been very impressive and are settling into the KNBS family well.

We decided that it was important to start back in our new uniforms to set the expectations and the tone for the year. Of course, with the summer we were all waiting for finally coming as we return to school, we have made some adaptations in school to try and make things more bearable. It looks like next week is much more normal for this time of year so it should be much less of an issue moving forward.

For the new year we have also reviewed our expectations of a King’s Norton Boy with staff and students and made a few adaptations. If you have not managed to get time to read through this with your son already (click here to view) it is a really good thing to do.

New Staff Joining the KNBS Team

Mr Clifton – Teacher of Maths, Raising Achievement Lead for Maths and Careers Lead

I am a Geordie by birth, however, having spent over half my life in Birmingham, I feel more a Geordie in exile. I came to Birmingham to study Civil Engineering with computational mechanics and eventually stayed on to raise my family, and while doing so found a love of being in a classroom too. I am excited to be taking over from Mr Kirk as the School's Careers Lead. In an 11 to 16 school, Careers is a vital strand of our pupils' education, ensuring they are aware of the pathways that exist and how to choose the right one for them, before the pressure of GCSE examinations really kicks in. Mr Kirk has developed an excellent programme, and I look forward to building on his successes. Outside of teaching you will mostly find me on and around the region's hockey pitches, playing, coaching and umpiring. I am also a keen cyclist, with a preference for the road, but getting more adept on the national gravel and MTB trails. I am also now trying to find time to get back into white-water kayaking and trad rock climbing, though my youngest is hoping to convince me to bring my scuba qualifications back into remit and become a ready-made dive buddy!

Ms Dixon – Exams Officer

Hello, I am Miss Dixon, and I am the new Exams Officer at KNBS. I studied at KNGS and KNBS sixth form (a long time ago) and am so happy to be back in this wonderful school. I am passionate about children being given the best opportunities in life, and as a mother of two boys I feel that I can bring a caring and positive attitude to the boys in our school.

Ms Evans – Teacher of Computing

Hi I'm Mrs Evans. I have one daughter who is currently off being clever at Winchester University. I have been teaching ICT and Computer Science for what seems like forever - over 20 years! I’ve taught in a variety of Walsall and Birmingham schools and have experience with students of all ages and abilities. My previous school, King Edward VI Five Ways, is where my passion for Computer Science really took off, so much so that I returned for a second time after a five year stay at a Walsall school running the Computing courses. I love everything to do with Computer Science especially the fun things - the competitions, the Raspberry Pi and Pico, Microbits, and Lego robotics. There is so much to learn and experience! While I am at KNBS, I hope to share my enthusiasm, and I will be encouraging the boys to look beyond the curriculum and find aspects that they enjoy - there really is something for everyone!

Mr Hastings – Teacher of Science

My name is Mr. Hastings and I've just joined the school as a trainee science teacher after graduating with a physics degree from the University of Birmingham this year. I'm super excited to meet all the boys at the school so I can get to know them and share my love of science and learning with them.

Mr Kabuye – Student Engagement Mentor

Hi, my name is Mr Kabuye, and I am the new Student Engagement Mentor here at KNBS. I work with both the Pastoral and SEND departments to help engage students in their learning. My role here is to implement strategies to improve student behaviour and engagement both in and outside of the classroom. I also mentor students regarding any academic or social issues that may arise in the school year. I hope to help students overcome barriers to enable them to meet their full potential.

Ms While – Teacher of Drama

My name is Mrs. While and I am the new Lead Drama Teacher for KS3 and KS4 and a mother of two boys. I am delighted to join such a thriving, ambitious school where the students’ best interest is truly at the heart of the school. I have a strong passion for teaching and supporting young minds through the journey of discovering drama and theatre. Equally, I am passionate about supporting young people in all aspects of their development. I hope to lead multiple shows in the future, allowing your children an opportunity to perform in plays and musicals, enhancing their experience in the arts. I come to the role with great enthusiasm and a wealth of knowledge in my subject. I thoroughly look forward to meeting you all in the future.

Labelling of Uniform and Equipment

Every year we end up with a mountain of uniform and equipment that students have misplaced. Some of this is easily and swiftly returned to them, but much of it remains unclaimed for the year. The reason for this is that items are unnamed. Therefore, can you please ensure that all of your son’s uniform is clearly labelled and that equipment items such as bags, lunchboxes, pencil cases, calculators etc. are also named. This will enable us to return these quickly and save you money in having to replace things.

Parent Pay

KNBS is a cashless school. All parents have a Parent Pay log in so that they can make payments for things such as school lunches, trips, etc. If you have not yet received or have lost or forgotten your login details, please email enquiry@knbs.co.uk so that these can be reissued in time for you to put money on your son’s account for lunches, if needed, and for any other items that require payment.

Lunchtime Detention

Homework Timetable

To support our students in managing their homework and to ensure that they are able to complete this to a good standard and in a timely manner, we will be continuing to use a homework timetable for each year group. These will be published in the parent communications next week; please note, however, that your son may still have some homework set this week.

Update on school uniform

We have always tried to keep branded, expensive items to a minimum, however, in these difficult economic circumstances we have made the following adaptations:

PE shorts can be branded with a badge or navy-blue PE shorts without a school badge.
PE socks do not need to be purchased from a school uniform supplier, as long as they are sky blue football socks.
Our school jumper has always been optional. Students do not need a school jumper, however, if they wish to wear one under their blazer, we will now accept a plain navy-blue V necked school jumper without a KNBS badge.

If you are struggling with the cost of uniform, Rubery Schools Community Swop Shop (ruberyswopshop.co.uk) have more affordable reused stock and we have donated a significant amount of uniform to support their endeavours.

My Child at School (MCAS) App

Many of our parents now make regular use of the MCAS app to stay informed about their son’s behaviour and rewards, about their progress, and to ensure that their confidential information is always up to date. We are asking that all parents, even if you used this regularly last year, log onto the app and check the confidential information so that we can ensure that we have up to date details about contact numbers, addresses, etc. It is vitally important that this information is accurate at all times.

Lockers

All Year 7 and Year 11 students who purchased a locker on Parent Pay should now have their padlock and have chosen their locker. If any other Year 7 or Year 11 want a locker, please use Parent Pay to book one over the weekend and we will organise their allocation next week. Year 8, 9 and 10 lockers will be allocated in the canteen on Monday. Please encourage your son to come along to the canteen to collect his padlock. Lists will be printed Monday morning so any locker booked before 8am Monday morning will be included on our lists.

A message from our School Council – regarding travelling to school and parking

Dear Parents/Carers,

We worked hard last year to make the roads around our school as safe as possible. One of our campaigns was to secure double yellow lines for the area opposite school. This would definitely help as our survey suggested that most people do not know that cars should not stop on, or opposite, the yellow zigzag school lines. We have been informed by the council that the double yellow lines should be in place very soon. In the meantime, we will continue to put out our no parking signs and from time to time we will drop this information into drivers who pull up opposite the school. Please remember we are doing this for all the right reasons, not to be annoying.

Please let us also make the following recommendations:

If you do need to collect your son from school and maybe arrange to pick him up in a local road or at Rowheath Park carpark which is just a short walk away.
If you do need to come to the school site and surrounding area, then please can you turn your car engines off when parked to limit exhaust fumes.
It would be even better if your son could walk home as it is good for him, both physically and mentally, and is also good for the environment.
If you do need to access Northfield Road before school or at the end of the day, please be considerate. Cars parked alongside the road can obstruct buses, and cars parked on the pavement can be really difficult to walk around for students leaving school – there are a lot of us to fit onto some pretty narrow pathways.

We have been asked to liaise with City Enforcement Officers who would like us to report cars parked inconsiderately or illegally. We know that other local schools do this, however, for now, we would much rather try to work collaboratively with our families to help keep the school area as safe and fume- free as possible.

Thank you so much for your support, and I will be in touch again soon with some updates on the School Council’s latest and upcoming projects.

Yours faithfully,

Ashton (Year 11 Student and School Council Lead)

Postponed Sports day

Due to the rainy season last July, we had to postpone Sports Day. We aim to hold this on Friday 15^th September. More information will follow as we finalise our plans and keep an eye on the weather. These events will be in last year’s form and year groups, so Year 7 students will spend the afternoon with their form tutors, giving them a chance to get to know the boys a little bit better.

English Literature GCSE Set Texts

If your son is in Year 10, please do your best to ensure that he has a copy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare ready to annotate in lessons. If your son is now in Year 11, please try to ensure that he has a copy of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens as he will be studying the text this half term.

If you have any issues in doing so, please contact Head of English, Mrs Holder, via enquiry@knbs.co.uk.

Year 11 Information Evening Wednesday 20th September 6-7pm

Many students and parents will be anxious about transitioning into Year 11 as it is such a vital year, but we will be here to support you all along the way. This will start with our Year 11 Information Evening which is taking place at 6pm on Wednesday 20^th September. This event will include information about key dates in Year 11, when PPEs will be taking place, revision – what it is and how to do it – the importance of wellbeing and how you can support your son, amongst other things. It would be great to see you there. Due to restrictions on space, this is a parents-only event but if you are unable to attend, your son can attend instead.

Upcoming Events – advanced warning/more information to come

Friday 15^th September: Afternoon being held for the postponed Sports Day

Friday 22^nd September: Rewards trip for last year’s performance

Wednesday 20^th September: School Photographs (All Years) and Year 11 Information Evening 6-7pm

Thursday 12^th October: Open Evening

Friday 1st September 2023

A message from the pastoral team

We would like to extend a warm welcome back to all of our students following the Summer break. We hope you have enjoyed a lovely Summer holiday with your son and that he is ready to hit the ground running as he returns to his new academic year. A particular welcome to our new cohort of year 7 students who we are excited to get to know over the coming weeks, it was lovely to see so many of you at Summer school!

We would like to inform our new parents and remind our existing ones of how to contact the pastoral team if the need arises. Please see below for the current structure of the pastoral team.

The best way to make contact with the relevant member of pastoral staff is using the enquiry@knbs.co.uk email address, citing which member of staff you are trying to contact in the subject. In the first instance, please contact your son’s form tutor. Please be aware that all members of the pastoral team are teaching members of staff but they will endeavour to get back to you at their earliest opportunity. For any urgent matters, please call the school directly.

We look forward to continuing to work together with you to ensure that your son has a successful and positive year ahead!

Pastoral Team structures 2023-24

Head of Year 7 Mr Francis	House/Form	Form Tutor
Head of Year 7 Mr Francis	Chamberlain- 7C	S.Sajeed
SEND support Mucklow	Lloyd- 7L	M. John
SEND support Mucklow	Regis- 7R	H. Brown
Form support S. Evans (7L)	Tolkien- 7T	Close
Form support S. Evans (7L)	Varley- 7V	While
	Austin- 7A	J. Butler

Head of Year 8 Ms Knight	House/Form	Form Tutor

	Chamberlain- 8C	T. Ouazzani
SEND support M. Wallace	Lloyd- 8L	M. Turner
SEND support M. Wallace	Regis- 8R	A. Davies
Form support A. Fox	Tolkien- 8T	G. Griffiths
Form support A. Fox	Varley- 8V	H. Lartey
	Austin- 8A	S. Gluyas

Head of Year 9 Mr Garvey	House/Form	Form Tutor
Head of Year 9 Mr Garvey	Chamberlain- 9C	A. Maxwell
SEND support TBC	Lloyd- 9L	D. Onwunaje
SEND support TBC	Regis- 9R	S. Kirk
Form support J. Grindrod	Tolkien- 9T	L. Cooke
Form support J. Grindrod	Varley- 9V	E. Cooper
	Austin- 9A	A. Miruszenko

Head of Year 10 Mrs Kendall	House/Form	Form Tutor
Head of Year 10 Mrs Kendall	Chamberlain- 10C	U. Akhtar
SEND support R. Drennan	Lloyd- 10L	S.Turley
SEND support R. Drennan	Regis- 10R	L. Holder
Form support S. Hanson	Tolkien- 10T	R. Woolley
Form support S. Hanson	Varley- 10V	G. Day
	Austin- 10A	E. Delaney

Head of Year 11 Miss Yussuf	House/Form	Form Tutor
Head of Year 11 Miss Yussuf	Chamberlain- 11C	D. Thomas
SEND support L. Millward	Lloyd- 11L	J. Williamson
SEND support L. Millward	Regis- 11R	G. Jones
Form support P. Clifton	Tolkien- 11T	R. Hodgetts
Form support P. Clifton	Varley- 11V	H. Clegg
	Austin- 11A	D.Day

Parents of year 9 students

You may be aware that Miss Bishop has taken responsibility for our student leadership programme and therefore Mr Garvey will now be Head of Year 9. Mr Garvey brings a wealth of pastoral experience to the role having led a successful year 11 cohort last year. He looks forward to building upon the excellent relationships with parents and students that Miss Bishop has already developed.

Recent concerns over schools being unsafe to open

We can update parents and families that that our school site we will open as normal next week. Thankfully we are not part of the group of the schools that are working with the DfE over building safety fears.

We work closely with Birmingham Local Authority and the DfE in regards to our school site and have had various recent surveys to assess our buildings. The Local Authority have assured us that we are not affected by the current safety concerns (RAAC).

School Results

It was with great nervousness that we downloaded our GCSE results this year. We had been informed that the results would be ‘re-calibrated’ to 2019 levels, but schools would not know what this actually meant for their students until the results arrived. We are delighted with our outcomes, of course each year there are highs and lows in the results, but collectively our lads have achieved some great things in the 2023 results. As results become clearer to compare, we will update parents on our achievements and how we rank against others. It has become clear that grades have been tougher to achieve this year and the early signs are that our 2023 cohort have done very well indeed and should be very proud of their achievements.

Start of Term Arrangements

Monday 4^th & Tuesday 5^th September

INSET days for staff training and induction

6^th September

Year 7 Induction Day; new Year 7 students are in all day and start at 8:30

Year 11 will have an afternoon assembly and preparation for their final year and start at 1:30

7^th September

Year 7 start at 8:30

Year 10 start at 8:30

Years 8 and 9 start at 9:00

Year 11 start at 9:50

Uniform

Some of you will still be finalising school uniform ready for your child’s return in September. To support with this process, we would like to remind you of our uniform expectations, please click here to view details of the uniform requirements. We have made adaptations to give you the option to have unbranded items, so please take a look at the details before purchasing.

As an eco-school we promote our re-use and recycle agenda. Therefore, we would also like you to consider Rubery Swap shop, where preloved uniform is provided for free to all visiting customers. Please click here to find out more about what Rubery Swap Shop has to offer.

Children misplace things, and we accumulate a large amount of lost property. To ensure we can return items to their owners easily, could you please make sure that all uniform is clearly labelled with your child’s full name. Each year we have a large amount of uncollected uniform that we donate to the swap shop, even though this is a good cause we would rather that uniform stayed with its owner.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer, and we look forward to seeing you all in September.

KNBS Student Expectations

We have reviewed our expectations of a King’s Norton Boy with staff and students and made a few adaptations. It might be worth reading through these with your son (click here to view), so he understands them in preparation for the new year. We will of course be reviewing them in the first few days in form time.

Summer Celebration Eagle

Just in case you missed our Summer newsletter, which is a celebratory roundup of the things from the summer term 2023:

sway.office.com/INQ5elKQrBlfoyre

Other information

Key Dates: www.knbs.co.uk/keydates

Wednesday 16th August 2023

Dear Parent/Carer,

Many of you will be at in the process of sorting school uniform ready for your child’s return in September. To support with this process, we would like to remind you of our uniform expectations, please click here to view details of the uniform requirements. We have made adaptations to give you the option to have unbranded items, so please take a look at the details before purchasing.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer, and we look forward to seeing you all in September.

Weekly Updates

Friday 8th December 2023

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Friday 1st December 2023

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