Between 14-17^th February, pupils and staff raised money via a collection for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Turkey-Syria earthquake appeal. Thanks to everyone’s generosity, we raised a total of £424.02. Donations from the UK public are allowing DEC charities to scale up their humanitarian response, deliver lifesaving aid and support survivors both now and in the weeks and months ahead: 

£10 could provide blankets to keep two people warm. 

£25 could provide emergency food for a family for ten days.  

£50 could provide emergency shelter for two families. 

A special mention must go to R Alawad in Year 7 who personally donated £113.04.  

If you would like to donate directly to the appeal, you can do so here: https://www.dec.org.uk/appeal/turkey-syria-earthquake-appeal 

To celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day (1 Feb 2023), we interviewed three of our female athletes, Mia (Year 11), Maya (Year 10) and Heidi (Year 9). The girls are fantastic role models for any aspiring athletes and had some great advice for other young people who want to get more involved in sports. National Girls & Women in Sports Day honours the influence that sports have on the lives of women. This includes living a healthy and active lifestyle, building self-confidence, helping learn how to work as part of a team and offering opportunities to develop leadership skills.

The 16th annual National Apprenticeship Week will take place from 6^th to 12^th February 2023. 

National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) 2023 aims to shine a light on the amazing work being done by apprentices, employers, and their training providers across the country. 

The theme for National Apprenticeship Week 2023 is ‘Skills for Life’.  

The annual week-long celebration of apprenticeships, taking place across England, will reflect on how apprenticeships can help individuals to develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career, and businesses to develop a talented workforce that is equipped with future-ready skills.  

Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School will be focussing on upskilling our pupils about apprenticeships through various form time and lesson activities. For more information about national events happening during the week, please visit (naw.appawards.co.uk). 

You can also keep up to date with the latest National Apprenticeship Week news by following social media channels: @Apprenticeships and @AmazingAppsUK on Twitter and Apprenticeships Gov on LinkedIn. 

To find out more about NAW 2023, please visit: 

https://naw.appawards.co.uk/

Tuesday 7^th February 2023

Safer Internet Day is held every February in over 170 different countries. The goal of Safer Internet Day is to call on people across the world to work together to make the internet a safer and better place for all, but especially for young people. In the UK, the UK Safer Internet Centre run a campaign especially for the day which aims to start a national conversation about using technology safely and positively. 

Last year over half of children and young people in the UK heard about the campaign, but it also involves and influences government, charities, police forces and tech companies including social media and gaming platforms. 

This Safer Internet Day asks everyone to make space for conversations about life online, especially with young people.  

That’s why this year, the theme for Safer Internet Day is: 

Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online 

To help raise further awareness of the importance of keeping safe online, pupils in all year groups have written their own pledges about how they will keep safe online.    

So, this Safer Internet Day we are challenging everyone to talk about it. 

Talk to your friends. Talk to the adults you know and trust. 

Most importantly, tell them if something is worrying you. It’s never too late to share an online problem and get help and support that can make things better. 

Happy Safer Internet Day everyone!

On Thursday 2 February, pupils and staff came together for a Time to Talk event with pastries and hot chocolate in the canteen after school. Run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, Time to Talk Day is the nation’s biggest mental health conversation. Every year, one in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem. Talking helps to create supportive communities which can empower us to seek help when we need it. By opening up the conversation about mental health, we can support both ourselves and others. The event gave pupils and staff an opportunity to unwind and talk over mindful colouring sheets and chess. It was great to see Year 11 pupils sharing tips to support their wellbeing during the upcoming exam period. We are looking forward to celebrating more events next week for Children’s Mental Health Week. 

On Monday 23 January, Loudmouth delivered an engaging performance of Calling It Out to our Year 9, 10 and 11 pupils. The Calling It Out programme supports our work as a school to create a culture where sexual harassment and sexual abuse are not tolerated. The performance explored where these harmful sexual behaviours are coming from and alternative, positive behaviours. It raised awareness of the huge impact these everyday incidences of sexual harassment and assault can have on young people and how we all have a role in safely challenging and reporting these behaviours. The pupils asked some interesting and important questions between the performances and the actors were able to address any misconceptions and signpost pupils to the relevant support services. The actors were brilliant and extremely knowledgeable about the issues being addressed. Feedback from the staff and pupils was very positive and emphasised that pupils enjoy and benefit from visits from external organisations. A very positive addition to the PSHRSE curriculum! 

On Monday 16 January, Loudmouth delivered a brilliant performance of Working for Marcus to our Year 11 pupils. The programme teaches about a wide range of child exploitation issues including child sexual exploitation and exploitation into crime (county lines and knife crime). Pupils had the opportunity to ask questions between the performances and discuss the key themes and the actors signposted pupils to relevant support services, which was really valuable. The actors were excellent, not only in their performances, but in their ability to relate to the pupils. Overall, the performances were engaging and thought provoking and the feedback from the staff and pupils was very positive. 

On Friday 9^th December 2022 two full minibusses of students from year 8 set off together with Ms Thompson, Mr Canning England, and Miss Handley to explore the German Christmas Market in Birmingham City Centre. Once at the market, we split up into groups to complete a trail around the market. The task was to find out what the German signs on the stalls all over the market meant in English. Do you know what Bratkartoffeln, Zwiebeln or Kastanien are? So, we hunted down to find out by using our knowledge of German and English but also by speaking to the stallholders themselves. Whilst on their hunt around the Christmas market students tried many different types of food that were on offer – the Bratwurst was a firm favourite! Birmingham’s German Market is also called Frankfurt Christmas Market because it was originally brought to the city from Frankfurt/Main in 1997 as this is Birmingham’s twin city in Germany. It is the largest Christmas Market outside of Germany and Austria counting around 5.5 Million visitors every year.

Frohe Weihnachten = Merry Christmas!

Y8 Spanish visited the Spanish Restaurant in Moseley on the 12^th December as part of their KS3 languages development curriculum. The pupils all experienced a tasting menu of authentic Spanish food, which consisted of: Tortilla Española, patatas bravas, paella as well as others.  Students were very lucky and were even gifted with chocolates from the restaurant.

Student reviews:

“Today I visited a Spanish restaurant called ‘La Plancha’ and I would rate it 10/10. The staff were generous, the food was “muy rico”. I would be happy to go again because of the experience there. I have wanted to try a churro and this was my chance to do so. My favourite foods have got to be the churros and garlic dish. The team are doing a fantastic job with the place and they deserve a pat on the back” – Michael.

“Today I visited La Plancha and it was really delicious. I had paella, garlic bread, tortilla and patatas bravas. For dessert, I had churros, chocolate dip, and ice cream. The whole meal was amazing, especially the surprise chocolates at the end. It is really good service and I would like to go again.” – Olivia.