Our RE specialist Ms Jones has been very impressed with the homework her Year 7 classes have completed. Their task was to write a report considering different view points about the disappearance of Jesus’ body over the Easter break.
Keeping things simple – a better way to communicate
We have already made some noticeable improvements we are sure your children have told you about, and we will keep you fully informed of any changes going forward.
One change you may have already noticed is our streamlining of communications. We want our teachers to put all of their energies into teaching, so only those staff who work in the House system (Heads of House, Assistant Heads of House, House PAs) will now be contacting home. If you need to give or receive information specific to your child, you need to contact your child’s House Office and they will be able to provide this. Having a single point of contact means you get the most reliable information about your child at all times.
We always welcome feedback and, if you want to get in touch or you have general queries, please email enquiry@decschool.co.uk. During the week, we will aim to get back to you within 24 hours.
Thank you for your continued support,
Mr Lowbridge-Ellis and Mr Prime
Meet Our Headteachers
We are very excited to lead Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School at this stage of its development.
We want the best for every child, regardless of who they are. That is what drives us. Our golden rule is: if it would not be good enough for our own relatives, it is not good enough for Dame Elizabeth pupils.
We have gone back to basics with our approach to behaviour. We expect pupils to have manners and show respect to each other and their teachers. Anyone who does not show manners and respect is sanctioned and reflects on their behaviour so they make better choices in future. We know parents and carers chose Dame Elizabeth because they wanted a superb learning experience for their children. To that end, we will not allow anyone to steal the learning of others.
Both of us have extensive experience of improving schools in a range of different contexts and we are really enjoying making Dame Elizabeth even better.
We always welcome feedback and, if you want to get in touch or you have general queries, please email enquiry@decschool.co.uk. During the week, we will aim to get back to you within 24 hours.
We are also going to be more active on twitter, so please follow us at @FollowDECTC
Thank you for your continued support,
Mr Lowbridge-Ellis (right in photo) and Mr Prime (left in photo)
Exams Advance Information
On Monday 7th February, the exam boards released their Advance Information, which is intended to help you prioritise your revision. The pupil guide written by the JCQ, who speak on behalf of all of the exam boards, is available here and we recommend everybody reads it carefully:
https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/JCQ_Advance-Information-Student-Guide.pdf
A key point in the guide is this: “Your revision plans should take account of everything you have been taught.”
Why should you need to “take account of everything” even if everything is not listed in the Advance Information?
When we learn new things, we build on top of things we have learned previously. Even if we are not asked exam questions about those things we learned first, we might still need that knowledge to understand what we learned later.
For instance, if the Advance Information specifies that there will be questions on Units 2 and 3 but not Unit 1, you might still need to have a good understanding of the material from Unit 1 to be able to answer questions on Units 2 and 3.
Your teachers will explain to you how this works in each of your subjects.
Here is the Advance Information for all of the subjects we teach.
GCSEs – Click HERE
A Levels – Click HERE
National School’s Football Week
Next week is National School’s football Week here at DEC. This will mean all other clubs in PE, except from planned GCSE moderation will be cancelled, just for this week. Sign-up sheets can be found on the wall outside the PE office.
KS3 Book Swap
Key Stage 3 enjoyed a Book Swap earlier this week on February 1st. It was brilliant to see so many of our pupils talking excitedly about books and recommending books they had read to others. Enjoy your new books and we look forward to the next one! Watch this space for the Key Stage 4 Book Swap which will also be taking place soon.’
Anti Bullying Ambassadors
Last term was another busy term for the anti- bullying team.
Our year 7’s have now had the opportunity to apply to become an anti-bullying ambassador and they will be announced shortly. A massive well done to all those who have applied.
Anti-bullying week also saw lots of different activities that the pupils were involved in around preventing bullying and what bullying is. This was in the form of PSHE lessons, assemblies and a one kind word challenge. We also allowed pupils to wear odd socks to celebrate everyone’s uniqueness and identities.
Anti-bullying week also gave pupils the opportunity to take part in a poetry competition. This competition saw lots of entries from our pupils and some of the poems were fantastic!
The Diana Award
We will continue to work on our Diana award badges this term. You can click on the link below for some guidance on how you can get involved and come up with ideas from home. We encourage all pupils to have a go! https://bit.ly/3GHUgUr
Reminders
If you are concerned about bullying in school, please make us aware of the problems so that we can deal with it effectively. Pupils can report any issues to their Form Tutor, Head of House, Ms Faulkner, via the Enquiry email or any member of staff – we are all here to listen!
German Market Trip
Bratwurst and Knoblauchbrot?
On Tuesday 7th December 2021, two full minibuses of students from year 8 set off together with Ms Thompson, Mr Scarth, Mrs Roberts and Mr Chin 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, pupils hunted down to find out by using our knowledge of German and English but also by speaking to the stall holders themselves. Whilst on their hunt around the Christmas Market students tried many different types of food that were on offer- the Bratwurst were 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!
Advent Calendar of Kindness
When we were looking at how we could celebrate the festivities this year, we asked our pupils, what is it that they wanted to do? We had lot of suggestions from Christmas assemblies to form group parties, non-uniform days to Christmas jumper day. Whilst we have been able to make some of these ideas happen, one idea which really stood out was from a pupil in 7EX1, Grace had the lovely idea of creating an advent calendar of kindness, with a thoughtful act to be completed each day. We were really pleased to be able to bring this suggestion to life and our advent calendar of kindness has not only been shared with the whole school, but across the Matrix Academy Trust too! This means that all our schools in Walsall, Birmingham and Nuneaton can show their kindness to each other throughout December!
Pupils are invited to pass compliments to one another, hold the door open for each other, make a drink from somebody at home and donate to a local food bank throughout the month. There are also activities to complete on the days when school has finished, so it does not stop on 16th December!
Well done Grace for such a kind and thoughtful idea, and well done to all our pupils for taking part on this wonderful gesture.
Want to take part in our advent calendar of kindness?
Please use this image as a guide for the gestures to be completed each day. Have fun!
Sixth Form Open Evening
Our Sixth Form Open Evening is always busy. Therefore, to keep the flow of people moving and minimise large gatherings we are splitting the evening into two.
There will be an entry time at 5:00pm and then a second one at 5:45pm. There will be a talk from the Sixth Form Team at the start of each of these sessions.
Tickets MUST be booked in advance or you will not be permitted entry. A ticket must be booked for every person attending, including any students. As tickets are limited, please support us by booking only the number of tickets you need and keeping your party as small as possible.
Even with these measures in place, we strongly encourage all visitors to wear face coverings during Open Evening.
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Contact Info
Woodbrooke Road, Birmingham,
West Midlands B30 1UL
Contact Number: 0121 464 4040
enquiry@decschool.co.uk
Monday - Friday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
