retrospect - sandwell academy...you to the 2017 edition of retrospect. as the new headteacher of...

12017 in review @ Sandwell Academy

2017

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2 2017 in review @ Sandwell Academy

Goodbye and thank you

Simon Topper

After 12 years, we are saying farewell

to Simon Topper. Mr Topper has

been Head of the Academy from the

very start when plans for the school

were first drawn up. Previously a

Deputy Headteacher at Thomas Telford School, Mr

Topper brought with him many of the key attributes to

make the Academy such a huge success. With these and

his own drive, tenacity and vision, he led the Academy

to achieve excellent outcomes for students and a series

of Outstanding judgements from Ofsted.

The Academy will continue to hold the values of

determination, self-motivation and resilience at its core

and we thank Mr Topper for the rich legacy he leaves

behind. Mr Topper has now taken on a new role as the

Assistant Executive Advisor of Thomas Telford Multi

Academy Trust. We wish him well in his new role and are

certain he will be very successful.

A welcome from the Headteacher

Ian Williams

It is my great pleasure to welcome

you to the 2017 edition of

Retrospect. As the new Headteacher

of Sandwell Academy, I am proud to

be taking over such a fantastic group

of students and staff. The Academy has a reputation for

excellence in the region, one which is well deserved. I

have been hugely impressed by the welcome I have

received from such mature and polite students.

Having grown up locally, it is with great pleasure that I

see students from the region being so successful and

motivated to achieve.

I do hope you enjoy reading about the wide variety of

activities students have enjoyed in 2017. There is an

amazing array of activities, including curriculum work,

charity work, enrichment, sporting achievements and

much more.

This edition of Retrospect is particularly poignant as it

marks a new chapter for the Academy. One that builds

upon a strong legacy and one that I am sure will see all

at the Academy achieve even more.

This year...

High School Musical

The Voyage

Sport

Results


Thomas Telford Multi Academy TrustIn September 2017, Sandwell Academy became a founding member of the Thomas Telford Multi Academy Trust (TTMAT). Since Sandwell Academy opened in 2006, we have benefitted from the support and close working relationship with our main sponsor Thomas Telford School. Currently TTMAT consists of Sandwell, Madeley and Walsall Academies with Thomas Telford School keen to become a member in due course.

The TTMAT has a unique flat management structure that provides the Headteachers of each Academy with the autonomy, independence and accountability to take full responsibility for running their Academy. The key aim for TTMAT is to provide academic environments where students have the opportunity to achieve their personal best and where individual talents, in all forms, can be maximised. This is very much in keeping with the Sandwell Academy ethos and vision.

Parents, students and staff at the Academy will see only very minor change, as this is a formalisation of a long-standing and highly successful partnership amongst a family of co-operative schools. We look forward to other schools joining the TTMAT in due course.

OfstedSandwell Academy was visited by Ofsted in May 2017. The Academy was once again judged as Outstanding.

This is the third time in a row the Academy has achieved Ofsted’s highest rating of ‘Outstanding’. The Academy has now been rated as Outstanding for six years after first achieving this in 2011, again in 2014 and now in 2017.

The results from the most recent inspection highlight the consistent level of excellence that the Academy delivers in all areas. The staff, students, parents and Governors are delighted to receive another glowing report acknowledging the quality of educational provision on offer.

The inspection, a rigorous one day review; included meetings with the Senior Leadership team and other key staff; an analysis of published data and current progress of students; behaviour of students, learning and teaching observations, meetings with students from all years and a scrutiny of safeguarding procedures.

“Leadership in the school is assured, confident and responsive. There is

absolutely no complacency here. The highly effective and very rigorous systems to monitor and evaluate

performance ensure continual improvement.”

Ofsted 2017

“In many ways, the school helps pupils and sixth-form students translate their hopes into reality. It ensures

that pupils leave the school with the qualifications and skills they need to

progress very successfully to the next stage of their lives.”

Ofsted 2017


Industrialist of the YearMr Dave Salt from Sandwell Council.

Mr Salt has a long standing relationship with the Academy, providing valuable work placements and being involved in other careers and curriculum-based activities. He also visits the Academy every year to work with our Year 11 Employability Skills groups, delivering fantastic interactive sessions for the students. Mr Salt is always highly enthusiastic and provides a positive insight into the world of work. The students really enjoy these sessions and gain a lot from the activities.

Hadley GroupThe Hadley Group continue to support Academy students by offering work experience placements for Year 10 and Year 12 students and promote their apprenticeships and school leaver vacancies. This year they also hosted a day during Apprenticeship Week when students had the chance to tour the factory and speak to current apprentices about their experiences. Students have also taken part in mock interview sessions as part of their Business course.

DWPThe local School Adviser Team continue to support the Academy and have engaged with several different year groups on a number of activities.

Virtechs LimitedVirtechs is a new partner and their staff have engaged with students in a number of activities during the year, including several Dragons’ Den programmes with different year groups, both as panel judges and as a ‘critical friend’ in the planning stages. They have also been involved in the ‘What Employers Want’ DVD which is shown to students.

TescoTesco has continued to support the Academy in a number of activities including the Employability Programme for Year 11, mock interviews for Year 9 Business students, a behind the scenes visit to the local superstore and has delivered a workshop on ‘Tesco - The Organisation’ to Year 13 Business students. Tesco has also supported the Army Cadets by offering a bag packing session in their West Bromwich store to raise funding.

IndustryLinks


Sandwell NHS TrustThe Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust offered students a careers taster day which provided a valuable insight into the roles within a hospital setting for those students who are considering these types of careers. The team were also involved in the Apprenticeship Week and provided students with a good understanding of the routes available at present and in the future. The Health Education lead delivered a presentation at the Employers Breakfast and provided other organisations with an update on what is happening in the NHS.

Lloyds Banking GroupLloyds Banking Group has continued to offer their support to a number of activities in the school, and this relationship will further develop with new activities being planned for 2018. To date representatives from Lloyds have been involved in delivering a one day Employability Workshop during Enrichment which included CV writing, interview techniques and one-to-one mock interviews. Lloyds staff are also supporting upcoming mock interviews and offering site visits at a number of their offices.

InterserveInterserve has once again provided the Academy with work experience placements in a variety of departments within the organisation for both Year 10 and Year 12 students.

Year 12 Work ExperienceSandwell Academy Year 12 students took part in three weeks of Work Experience placements during July. Students not only participated in traditional work experience placements but many were also involved in bespoke weeks including Medical Week, HE Week and Apprenticeship Week.

Nuffield FoundationTwo current Year 13 students completed an extended work experience placement through the Nuffield Foundation. The opportunity was offered to the students after they attended a presentation held in the school, completed an application form and attended an interview at Coventry University. These placements are highly sought-after and respected by universities and industry professionals.

Apprenticeship WeekA group of students who expressed an interest in Apprenticeships took part in a series of workshops and visits to organisations offering this career and training option to find out more. The sectors covered were Engineering, NHS, Retail, and Business.


Art


Lorraine BatesFor Enrichment this year, Year 11 students had the fantastic opportunity of working with ceramic artist Lorraine Bates. Lorraine has over 25 years of experience of working with clay, and once worked at The Potteries in Stoke-On-Trent, well known for its ceramics history. Students made final pieces for their coursework project based on natural forms. It was a brilliant experience for them to work with a professional artist, they came away with many new skills and the outcomes they made were amazing.

Jon DenaroSixth Form students worked with chalk artist Jon Denaro during a two day workshop. Mr Denaro is another experienced artist who began his career as a student drawing chalk art on the pavements of Wolverhampton. Students worked on large scale chalk drawings using their own photographs, learning new skills from the artist and creating outstanding pieces for their coursework portfolios.

Artist Visits


Tesco VisitIn January, the Sixth Form Double Award Business group attended a workshop held at Tesco, New Square given by the local Tesco Community Champion, Bhupinder Sidhu.

The aim of the visit was to look at Tesco’s recruitment and selection process and how this contributes to their overall success. This would help the students when completing their assignments. The group had the opportunity to have a tour around Tesco and a look at what happens behind the scenes from the bakery to the optometry office. Students found out that there are many different roles on offer, from the store floor or checkouts to becoming a personal shopper, as well as the opportunity to train to become a skilled baker or work in the customer cafe.

Students were able to take on the roles and tasks of a Customer Service Assistant, which they thoroughly enjoyed and gained valuable insight towards their Business Studies assessment. They found out that some of the key skills you need to become a Customer Service Assistant include:

Getting to know your customers, greet them with a smile and serve them with pride.

Take time to listen, and help out wherever you can: ‘Every little helps’.

Dragons’ DenA class of Year 9 GCSE Business students went to Shoosmiths, who are investment lawyers in Birmingham, to present their Dragons’ Den style pitch. The students were given a brief to follow and had to design, research, market, and present a new product; this was followed by intense questioning from the ‘dragons’. All five groups presented well with a variety of ideas. After deliberation, the dragons decided that the winners were Harsimran Kaur, Alicja Margraf and Bethany Fray-Andrew who pitched a C-Blast Smoothie targeted at active females. Well done to all participants.

Business


DesignTechnologyIn 2017 the Design and Technology department secured its best ever A Level results with 86% of students achieving A*-B grades.

This page profiles some of the amazing creations produced by our students with projects ranging from lighting utilising LED strips to chairs inspired by 1940s industrialism.

Author VisitsThe Academy has been fortunate to have been visited by some fantastic authors this year.

Bali Rai held a workshop with all Year 11 students during their exam preparation time. The new English GCSE exam requires students to produce a piece of creative writing and Mr Rai suggested some useful techniques students could use in order to be successful in this part of the exam.

Ali Sparkes came to visit Year 7 in September. The students really enjoyed hearing her talk about the way she researches her books, including her television appearances, and all students participated in an interactive quiz to find out if they were a genius!

Saci Lloyd came to speak to Year 10 during the Enrichment Days in October. She delivered a really interesting session on her novels and all students fully participated, asking some interesting and probing questions!

Thanks to all of the wonderful authors who have visited our students this year. There are more visits planned for 2018!

Four million and counting for English StudentsA group of Year 9, 10 and 11 students are on the way to breaking all records thanks to their work on an innovative reading programme. The Accelerated Reader scheme provides students with books at an appropriately challenging reading level. Having read a title, students take an online quiz to measure their comprehension of the book. Regular participation means that students should increase their reading age, become more confident in reading independently and have the motivation to read more. The students who are taking part in the Accelerated Reader scheme, have read more than four million words since it was launched last year. Now the challenge has been set to break that record this year – with the target being to come in the top 10 of schools nationally for all words read. Well done to all those students involved.

English



GeographyField TripsThis year, the Geography Department has been on a variety of field trips and visits.

A Level students visited the fastest eroding coastline in Europe, the Holderness Coast. Here, they spent two days investigating coastal landforms and coastal management strategies.

GCSE students visited the small riverside town of Bewdley to assess the flood risk and investigate the aluminium barrier called ‘the invisible defence’.

This year Key Stage 3 students participated in their annual visit to Carding Mill Valley to complete a river study; they have also visited Dudley Castle and Zoo. The students investigated adaptations and were given a chance to meet some of the animals from the hot desert and tundra environments. Whilst at the castle, students also took part in a Horrible Histories re-enactment of the history of the castle.


PerformingArts

High School MusicalStudents from all year groups came together to perform Disney’s High School Musical to a sell-out audience over three nights. One hundred and twenty six performers took to the stage, all in co-ordinating red, white and blue costumes, and all with bespoke face paints. The skaters, brainiacs, jocks and cheerleaders set the stage alight and gave memorable performances. Students benefited from a professional lighting rig and the support of a fantastic sound engineer.


Join us in 2018 for the Academy production of Our House – the Madness Musical.


Choir ResidentialThis year saw our second visit to Condover Hall in Shropshire, where the choir worked for three days towards a professional sound recording of their performances.

They were joined by Ryan Pinson, who owns RML Recording Studio; he worked with the students to capture their harmonies, creating recordings to make everyone proud.

To build core skills, as well as save voices, the choir also took part in a number of team building activities, including climbing Jacob’s Ladder, Body Zorbing and Raft Building. The choir finished their summer season on a high with performances in assemblies, at the Summer Fayre and at the end of year concert.

PerformingArts


Spanish

Onatti ProductionsPerformance by a Spanish Theatre company – Onatti

Onatti Productions performed the play ¿Cuántos me gusta tienes? for the Year 10 Spanish students in January. The performance was brilliant. The actors were fantastic and the students really enjoyed themselves, especially as they were called up on stage and were able to participate in the performance. Many thought that they would understand very little but the fact that they could understand the majority of the language was a real confidence boost for them.

GCHQ EventA number of Year 9 students attended a Languages event at Holyhead School in November. They attended a talk by a Language Analyst from GCHQ about the work of GCHQ, the importance of languages and the role they play in counter-terrorism and a talk by a Foreign Office ambassador about the work of the Foreign Office. They then had the opportunity to participate in taster sessions for Mandarin, Korean and Arabic where they learnt how to greet someone and introduce themselves and write their names. They also had the opportunity to interact with students from other local schools.

Sixth Form Teach GrammarIn October, our Year 12 Spanish students organised a grammar session to help the Year 8 students revise for their grammar test.

Our Sixth Form students creatively incorporated grammar strategies that we have seen in sessions into their planning as well as different strategies to increase communication.


EnrichmentYear 7

ColomendyThrill-seeking Year 7 students put their team building and adventure skills to the test in this year’s residential trip. The entire year group went to Kingswood Colomendy in Wales as part of their induction programme at the Academy.

Students did a fantastic job, taking part in more than 12 different outward bound activities including orienteering, Jacob’s Ladder and caving.

All students should be proud of their efforts. They benefited from learning skills, challenging themselves to complete activities and importantly making new friends and working together, which is a core ethos of the Academy.

Xander Marriott, who was named whole school star student for his efforts on the trip, said: “It was a great experience. The activities were exciting and we also got to make lots of new friends.”


EnrichmentYear 8

Closer to the EdgeAs part of Enrichment, students are encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and try new activities they may never have experienced before. Closer to the Edge certainly allows students to participate in new challenges including: outdoor team building exercises, high ropes, zip wire, and climbing. Students thoroughly enjoyed the activities on offer and developed personal skills including team work and resilience. Many also displayed the determination and courage to overcome their fear of heights and climbing to conquer the obstacles!


EnrichmentYear 9

Science in LondonIn October, 45 Year 9 students spent three days and two nights in London. The first day involved an early start from Sandwell Academy to arrive at London Zoo. Here students were able to explore the diverse array of living organisms on display and got to take part in a ‘discover classification’ workshop, where they learnt about the science of taxonomy.

The afternoon was spent at the famous Natural History Museum where students were able to explore everything from the diversity of life on Earth to the tremendous forces that shape our planet. The day was rounded off by a sunset ride on the London Eye and a meal at Bella Italia.

Day two started at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, here students stood on the iconic Meridian Line, took a journey through space in a planetarium show, and had the opportunity to meet a real life astronomer. They also took part in a workshop which looked at Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. The afternoon was spent at the Science Museum where students experienced Earth like never before in an IMAX show comprising of images taken from the International Space Station. They also had time to explore the exhibitions including illuminating DNA and the role of Mathematics in the world. The day concluded with a tour of famous London sights including Big Ben and Buckingham Palace and a meal at Planet Hollywood.

The final day was spent at Thorpe Park. Here students attended a rollercoaster workshop where they had to use their knowledge of rollercoasters to design and make the best rollercoaster cart, and the rest of the day was spent testing the park’s best rides!


EnrichmentYear 10

Medical MavericksA group of students from Years 9 and 10 were lucky enough to take part in a Health Careers workshop run by Medical Mavericks as part of their Medical Careers Session 3.

Students were able to take part in various activities including:

• Using the ultrasound machine to see inside their body

• Taking a digital image of the back of their eye with an iPhone retina scan

• Recording and printing an ECG from their heart

• Trying keyhole surgery on a training device used by surgeons

Miss Abrams said “This was a fantastic session and all students were able to get some real hands-on experience and information”.

Duke of Edinburgh AwardThe Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme at Sandwell Academy continues to thrive at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels. More than 50 current Year 10 students have registered on the Award and are well on the way to completing Physical, Skill and Volunteering sections. Students also spent time during Enrichment Week at Birches Valley, learning vital camp craft and map reading skills towards their expeditions next year. Additionally, we have a number of students progressing through the Award onto Silver and Gold levels. These students recently took part in a day walk at Stiperstones in Shropshire. New Gold Award students have already been on a sailing voyage as part of their Residential requirement.


Yo-ho-ho and a whole lot of fun!In early October, several Sixth Form students set off to Hamble-le-Rice in Southampton for the Voyage of a Lifetime. Joining the historic tall ship the ‘Jolie Brise’, students learned how to rig, sail, tack and jibe a large boat, both on the open ocean and through the peaceful waters of the Solent.

Despite a slow start for some sailors, by the second day everyone had found their sea legs and the boat immediately became everybody’s second home. Beyond learning about rope work and wind awareness, students also took on a huge level of responsibility, taking it in turns to cook, clean and perform general maintenance tasks around the boat.

Students enjoyed the opportunity to sit out on the bow sprit with a cool breeze running through their hair and had the opportunity to climb the mast on the very last day, getting incredible views over Southampton and surrounding towns. When anchored, students had the opportunity to take out the tender or go for a swing off the side of the ship into the water. Nobody will forget when Mr Rebecchi forgot to let go of the rope and landed in the sails!

Sixth Form


Ride LondonOne of our Year 13 students took part in the Prudential RideLondon over the summer, riding 46 miles through the streets of London and Surrey in the world’s biggest cycling festival.

She was also at the regional launch of the 2017 PruGOals programme in Birmingham, joined by double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes. She said “I signed up for the Prudential RideLondon as a challenge to myself, as a good opportunity to get to know myself more as a person and let all my thoughts go with just me and the bike,” As a four-time karate European medallist, she still relishes new challenges: “That end goal is finishing the ride, I want to gain a level of fitness to live a normal life while keeping doing the hobbies I do, but being able to do them better”. “The only cycling I’ve ever done is with my brothers, we used to do trails and I always tried to challenge myself to see how far I could go”. “Meeting Dame Kelly Holmes was fantastic, she’s been a massive influence for me to push myself, knowing what her sporting journey is compared to mine”. “I want to get to competing in the Olympics with karate, that would be a dream of mine and I’m really keen to see what I can do.”

The aim of the PruGOals programme is to boost the wellbeing and employability skills of young people at the same time as encouraging them to set their own goals, helping them to achieve what they thought might not have been possible.

Charity WalkA Sandwell Academy Sixth Form student took part in a 27 mile charity walk across Three Yorkshire Peaks with a group from Tameside Primary School in June. Katie Cook completed the walk to raise funds for local charity, ‘Libbymae’s Little Angels’.

The group started their walk at 6.00am and completed the gruelling 27 miles at 5.30pm, having to contend with some of the worst weather the organisers had ever seen. Katie decided to complete this walk as the charity raises funds to help local neo-natal units and her brother was born prematurely and needed support from the neo-natal unit at Walsall Manor. Katie said, “Although the training and the walk was really hard, it was well worth it as the day was fun”.


The annual Achievement Awards Presentation took place in July. Students from all year groups were awarded for their attainment or effort across all subject areas. Our guest of honour for the evening was author Bali Rai who presented all of the awards.

Special Award winners were:

Key Stage 3 Students of the Year Freya Thornton and Jessica Maybury

Key Stage 4 Student of the Year Alexandra Loydon

Sixth Form Student of the Year James Nock

The Mercers’ School Memorial Prize for Community Service Taran Thind

The Mercers’ Award for Contribution to the Academy & Community Charlotte Hands

The Tesco Award for Making a Difference in the Community Katie Cook

The Head’s Award Jean-Louise Harris

The Hadley Industries Environmental Awareness Award Ethan Bishop

Attendance Award Sam Nock and Anoop Sidhu

The Roy and Hazel Harrison Award for the Most Improved Student Umma Habibah

Personality of the Year Award Pardeep Taggar

The Mercers’ Award Beth Hayes Harvey and Molly Evans

Awards Evening


A thrilling yearOur Army Cadet Force has had a thrilling year, with many successes, including the promotion of four exceptional cadets. The detachment has proven themselves as a force to be reckoned with on the shooting range; which has further demonstrated the detachment’s teamwork and dedication, allowing an outstanding result in this year’s Cadet 100 competition.

The cadets have experienced some new activities including a week-long STEM ‘Science in Action’ camp with the Royal Signals. Here, they ended up taking part in exhilarating experiences such as looking around an apache helicopter as well as flying drones, and seeing the inside workings of a Land Rover.

In addition to this, the cadets have been away to Annual Camp in the summer, as well as monthly camps which they have thoroughly enjoyed with many of the cadets excelling and completing massive personal achievements. These weekends away have developed skills in shooting, Skill at Arms, drill, fieldcraft and navigation, as well as providing them with the chance to try a range of outdoor adventure activities such as archery, Laser Quest, motor biking and climbing.

Army Cadet Force


ESFA PlayStation Schools’ Cup Champions 2017The Year 10 Boys Football Team took part in the English Schools’ FA PlayStation Schools’ Cup Final against Nene Park Academy from Peterborough. The final took place on Monday 22 May at The Hawthorns, home of West Bromwich Albion FC.

The Sandwell Academy team were determined to win the National trophy for only the second time in the Academy’s history.

It was Sandwell Academy who stepped up and showed their quality, winning the game 4-2 and deservedly winning the National Cup.

This was a fantastic occasion not only for the boys taking part but for the whole school who were able to go to the stadium and watch. When the game was close during extra time, the enthusiastic encouragement of our students and staff in the stands spurred the boys on to victory.

WBA Player VisitIn September, Year 8 PE students were visited by West Bromwich Albion players Hal Robson-Kanu and Kieran Gibbs and were given the opportunity to ask the players questions.

The players gave some excellent advice to students encouraging them to stay motivated and passionate about what they enjoy.

The students then invited the players onto the Academy’s 3G pitch to join in with their practical PE session. The students played football and handball and thrived off the participation of the players.

It was an excellent player visit, thoroughly enjoyed by the students and appreciated by the staff.

Sports


International Cricket Star VisitsIn June, the Academy was fortunate enough to receive a visit from International Cricketer Chris Woakes (England and the Birmingham Bears) who dropped in to spend some time with a lucky group of Year 9 GCSE PE students.

His brother David Woakes, who has been the Business Enterprise Advisor at the Academy for the past two years, took the opportunity to organise the visit given Chris had been suffering from an injury which had side-lined him from the busy summer schedule.

Spain Sports TourDuring May half-term, 86 Year 8 and 9 students travelled to Salou in Spain on the Sports Tour, where they experienced five valuable days in Salou playing fixtures.

During these five days, students had the privilege of receiving professional coaching and playing games against Spanish school teams in Football, Hockey and Netball. On the final competitive tour day, students had the opportunity to play in a tournament against other UK schools’ boys and girls football teams.

The group enjoyed the scenery of the Salou beach front and the local shops but most of all they were excited about the 40 minute journey to the Nou Camp Stadium.

The tour culminated with the Sandwell Academy Sports Tour Award Ceremony, where coaches from each team nominated a ‘player of the tour’.


Sports2017 was another successful year for sports

teams at Sandwell Academy.

Athletics

Year 7 Girls ‘Give and Gain’ Pentathlon

Champions

Year 8 Girls Sandwell Outdoor Athletics

Champions

Year 9 Girls Black Country Indoor Champions

Year 7, 8 and 9 Boys and Girls Sandwell

Indoor Athletics Overall Champions

Year 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 Boys and Girls Sandwell

Senior Athletics Overall Champions

Basketball

U14 Girls Black Country Champions

U14 Girls Sandwell Champions

U14 Girls West Midlands Runners Up

Cricket

U12 Dudley Cricket League Champions

U13 Dudley Cricket League Semi-Finalists

U14 Dudley Cricket League Semi-Finalists

U15 Staffordshire Cup Semi-Finalists

U14 Dudley Cricket League Finalists

Football

Year 7 Sandwell Cup Finalists

Year 7 ESFA Regional Winners

Year 9 West Midlands Cup Runners Up

Year 10 Sandwell Semi Finalists

Year 10 National Cup Winners

Futsal

U12 Boys Black Country Champions

U16 Boys Black Country Champions





Girls Football

U13 Girls ESFA Individual Area Cup Winners

U13 Girls Premier League Tournament Semi-Finalists

14 Girls Sandwell League Winners

U14 Girls West Midlands Cup Runners Up

U16 Girls West Midlands Cup Winners

Netball

U12 Sandwell Schools Runners Up



Triathlon

U14 Girls Black Country Team Champions

Ride LondonIn July, twelve Year 12 students along with Ms Caddick and Mr Badhan, completed the London-Surrey 46-mile bike ride. Prudential joined forces with Teach First to organise the event as they wanted to encourage older students to work hard to meet a challenge and experience an organised sportive event.

The event was the culmination of months of training and organisation. The event organisers not only provided the bikes but a number of cycling accessories to help students prepare for the event and all students were gifted the equipment and the bikes, as an incentive, at the end of the race.

The group arrived in London on Saturday morning and made their way to St. Mary’s College where they would be staying. On Saturday afternoon they were taken to register for the ride and after registration they were taken to the Lee Valley Velodrome for a Pasta Party with all of the other competitors.

On the day of the sportive the group were called to the start line at 9.00am and then they were off! Less than two and a half hours later, the first of the Sandwell Academy cohort passed the finish line, with the remaining numbers completing their ride over the next few hours.

Well done to everyone who participated in this event.


SportsSports Day 2017


Results DaysOnce again, examination outcomes were excellent. Our Year 11 students achieved brilliant results with many subject areas seeing their best ever outcomes. The new, more challenging GCSE qualifications in English and Mathematics were taken this year and students performed well. Most impressively, 83% of students achieved a new Grade 4 or better in English, the highest in the region and the best outcome in the Academy’s history.

The Sixth Form students also had a fantastic year with particularly striking results being seen in Chemistry, ICT and Sport. The progress made by our Sixth Form students was amongst the best in the country and this was down to their commitment and hard work.

Our Careers and Guidance team were an essential ingredient ensuring all students had a positive outcome with 78% of students heading to university; the majority of which securing a place on their first choice of course.


The class of 2017 were reunited for the Year 11

Achievement Evening in November. Rob Lake, Director

of the Albion Foundation, was the guest of honour who

awarded all of the students with their well-deserved

GCSE certificates.

Prizes were also awarded on the evening to students

by all subject areas for attainment, progress, effort or

sheer commitment.

Special Award winners this year were:

Outstanding Progress Tanvir Singh

Outstanding Academic Achievement Lorna Bennison

Outstanding Attendance Amrit Bains,

Emily Comerford, Jordan Dhaliwal, Emily Jones and

Aneel Sidhu

Outstanding Student of the Year George Harmon

All students were commended for their achievements

and their fantastic set of GCSE results.

AchievementEvening


Key Stage 3Year 8 students excelled with students once again achieving some outstanding results. This year, students moved to a new points system which replaced the previously used levels. Performance across the core subjects was impressive, with students sustaining their performance levels and making an average of 1.7 points of progress across the Key Stage – which exceeds the aspirational targets.

Key Stage 4Sandwell Academy celebrated an excellent set of GCSE outcomes after Year 11 students achieved a fantastic set of results.

66% of students achieved pass grades or better in English and Maths, with 83% achieving a pass in either English Literature or Language.

85% of all results were graded A*-C (9-4) across a range of subjects.

37% of students achieved the English Baccalaureate gained by achieving A*-C (9-4) grades in English, Maths, two Science subjects, Geography or History and a Modern Foreign Language.

Key Stage 5There was once again much cause for celebration after Sixth Form students achieved another excellent set of A Level examination results. Outstanding outcomes included 25% A*/A grades and 85% A*-C grades. All students should be rightly proud of their achievements but amongst the stand out performances were:

Prizam Sandhu who achieved straight A grades in Biology, Chemistry, Business and ICT and has gone on to study Biochemistry with an Industrial Placement at the University of Birmingham.

Muhammad Ali who achieved an A* in English Literature and A grades in Biology and Chemistry and is now studying Medicine.

Rahul Rana who achieved an A* in Biology and A grades in Chemistry and Physics and has gone on to study Medicine at University College London.

Taylor Williams who scored an A* in Mathematics and achieved A grades in Chemistry, Physics and Design and Technology and is studying Mathematics at the University of Birmingham.

Examination Results 2017

Some outstanding individual

performances were achieved by a number of talented students

who achieved stunning outcomes matching

their personal targets. 29 students achieved five A*/A grades or

better including:

11 A*-A GradesFinley Mascall

Junayd AliLorna Bennison

9 A*-A GradesSanju ThomasMolly Barton

Lauren Hartley

8 A*-A GradesAneel SidhuGrace TurnerJoe Jordan

Lauren Parchment

Sandwell Academy, Halfords Lane, West Bromwich, West Midlands, B71 4LG. Telephone 0121 525 1700 Fax 0121 525 0025 www.sandwellacademy.com

retrospect - sandwell academy...you to the 2017 edition of retrospect. as the new headteacher of...

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