WHITEH EATH EDU C ATION C ENTRE
Whiteheath Times
AUTUMN
ADVENTURES
Read all about it!
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
DUDLEY MIND
PRESENTATION AFTERNOON
WALL OF LIFE
CHRISTMAS!
PARENT BOARD
NEC SKILLS SHOW
BRING AND BUY SALE
INTO FILM FESTIVAL
MATHS MASTERCLASS
PUMPKIN CARVING
MUSIC
MACMILLAN COFFEE MORNING
HEALTH FUTURES UTC
RECYCLING PROJECT
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W HIT E HE AT H T IME S
NEC skills show
The Skills Show at the NEC is the nations largest
skills, apprenticeships and careers event. It covers
five industry sectors and gives pupils an opportunity to try hands on activities they‟ve never seen before. Year 11 visited lots of stands including fine
jewellery making, aircraft building challenge,
Volkswagen, Land Rover, a bodywork repair centre and wall decorating challenge. They even saw
a mock-up of an operation where you could see a
real heart and liver!
“We had a lot of fun and this is a picture of me under a truck pretending to hold it up!” Reehan
Bring and buy sale
Year 10 pupils Abbey and Callum, and year 11 Vicky organised a
„Bring and Buy Sale‟ in aid of Birmingham Children's Hospital. They
collected books, clothing, toys, teddies and more, priced all of the
items and worked through break and lunch times to raise over £87! A
fantastic achievement! Any items not sold were passed to a charity
shop and the money has joined that raised by the staff Christmas
Card donations.
Into film cinema trip
The Into Film festival is the worlds largest free film and education
event for young people. The festival offers more than 3000 screenings of over 165 films. Pupils from the centre travelled to Odeon Cinema in Dudley to see ‟Suffragette‟, a 2015 film showing the rise of
the suffragette movement and the involvement of women in the UK.
Pupils were pleased to arrive first at the venue and so managed to
„bag‟ the best reclining seats whilst some tucked into some popcorn.
The film was just under two hours long but our pupils were impeccably behaved throughout. There were some very positive comments
and even some tears from those who attended.
A thought provoking, harrowing, yet inspiring film.
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W HIT E HE AT H T IME S
Maths
masterclass
On 2nd November, Whiteheath pupils travelled to the University of Birmingham to take
part in a Maths Masterclass. The „How to win at game shows‟ afternoon was based on
the probability and statistics behind winning famous game shows like „The Weakest
Link‟ and „The Million Pound Drop‟. It linked in with the work that pupils had been studying as part of their GCSE course and was a great opportunity to see the university.
Pumpkin
carving
Pupils took part in the annual
Halloween pumpkin carving
activities on Monday 31st October. As usual, everyone enjoyed the messy scraping out
of the inside of the pumpkins
and choosing fun designs to
carve!
Music
“Our music club will be performing at midday on the last day
of term. They have been rehearsing in lessons and during
their free time, alongside other year groups and staff. Mrs
Howell, Mrs Taylor, Mrs Lawrence, Mrs Siddall, Mrs Esty
and myself will be performing alongside the pupils who have
shown to be dedicated in learning their instruments and developing their vocal range, we are hoping for everyone in the
centre to join in for a festive sing along.” Miss Wishart
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W HIT E HE AT H T IME S
Macmillan coffee
morning
On the 30th September we held a coffee morning in the centre to raise money for Macmillan. The World‟s Biggest Coffee Morning is Macmillan‟s biggest fundraising event for people facing cancer and last year raised over £25 million. A huge amount of preparation goes
in to hosting the event, from making and delivering invitations, to a lot of time cooking up
delicious treats in the kitchen. Our own event was a great success and we managed to
raise £683! Everyone helped out by doing different jobs and setting up stalls or activities.
The bacon sandwiches and samosas were very popular, again! The raffle, craft stalls, hand
massages from a Body Shop representative and silent auction were all a great success.
The morning was great fun and we were so proud to have raised such a fantastic total.
Many thanks to all those who helped out, donated items or came to enjoy the morning with
us. Hope to see you again next year!
Author visit
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W HIT E HE AT H T IME S
health futures Utc
Pupils and staff from Whiteheath travelled to West Bromwich to visit Health Futures UTC. The first stop was the
Anne Frank exhibition, the story of her life and experiences
growing up. The displays were really interesting and pupils
learnt a lot. During a tour of the centre, we saw lots of
rooms set up for different activities, a gym, dance studio and
rooftop courtyard. Pupils liked the ‟dummy room‟ the best,
set up to help those preparing to be doctors or nurses by
offering opportunities to practise CPR, emergency responses and first aid. A fascinating experience that
pupils thoroughly enjoyed.
Recycling
project
Following a successful bid for funding last year, Mr Hartley and pupils started a recycling project in the centre.
As the project has continued, we have now taken delivery of two brand new 1100 litre recycling collection bins,
supplied by Serco who are collecting our recycling for
free!
Mr Hartley says „I have been surprised just how much paper we throw out and how
quickly it builds up. Its great that we have Serco collecting it for free.‟ The pictures show
the bins and one of them already half full with paper!
Dudley mind
Dudley Mind run a variety of therapeutic services across Dudley, including peer support, gardening and
sport, all focused on helping you stay
well, or improving your well being.
Last year we raised £50.68 with our
Dress to Impress Day, and Will and
Josh personally took the money to be
donated.
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W HIT E HE AT H T IME S
Presentation
afternoon
We were pleased to welcome back some of last
year‟s year 11 pupils to receive their GCSE certificates. It was wonderful to learn about their new experiences and hear their advice on preparing for
GCSE exams and applying for college.
Wall of life
Reflections on loss and living is a nationwide project
for Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Building on the
theme for HMD 2017: „How can life go on?‟ the project explores living with absence and the roots of life
through artistic responses sent in. Whiteheath pupils submitted a 3D plaster „Poppy‟ piece of work
which they felt would fit with the theme of
„Remembrance‟. The art work was considered and
accepted as part of the „Wall of Life‟ for the website.
Our piece, plus others, each with their own story, can be seen at
http://howcanlifegoon.hmd.org.uk/
Christmas!
Christmas is always a busy time here at Whiteheath. We‟ve
decked the centre out in Christmas decorations, our Christmas
card post box is in full swing and we‟ve been preparing for a carol
sing-a-long on the last Friday of term. Tuesday 13th saw our trip
to the German Market and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
The following day we enjoyed a Christmas dinner together complete with crackers and party hats.
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W HIT E HE AT H T IME S
Parent board
Calling All Parents/Carers?
Why not join our new Facebook Page?
This is aimed at Parents FOR Parents to Support each other
Don’t feel you’re all alone dealing with a problem
A problem shared is a problem halved
Check out the Parents Page of our website: http://
whiteheath.org/parents
Check out the Useful Links
Latest news & Videos regarding Online Safety
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W HIT E HE AT H T IME S
Merry Christmas!
Head teacher`s message
May I take this opportunity to thank you all for all your support and good
wishes during my first term at Whiteheath; I have loved every minute of
it and am so lucky to have such a caring team of staff who go the extra
mile for all our pupils. The young people themselves are a pleasure to
be with and a credit to their families.
I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a safe and Happy New
Year.
All best wishes,
Lesley Yates
Head teacher
The new term starts on:
Tuesday 3rd January 2017 for staff
Wednesday 4th January 2017 for pupils
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