The Friends of Cotteridge Park work to ensure that the park is at the heart of the community. They’re volunteers that look after the park, organise events and activities and bring the community together (https://cotteridgepark.org.uk/focp). All activities are FREE (https://cotteridgepark.org.uk/activities) 

The Friends of Cotteridge Park (FOCP) was set up in 1997 after the park was threatened with the loss of services including our on-site park keeper. Local residents mounted a successful campaign, and the park was saved. Since then, park users have been working tirelessly to improve the park’s infrastructure and to provide services and activities that meet the needs of the local community. 

Volunteers do all sorts of things:

• regular litter picks 

• planting and maintenance of trees and plants

• supporting school and youth group visits

• providing opportunities for physical activity – to keep us all healthier & happier

• arranging social activities 

• raising funding for the park from trusts, grants & local businesses

• campaigning to ensure that our park is safe for future generations

We are celebrating Green Careers Week this week at Dame Elizabeth Cadbury. Around 60% of young people are ‘worried’ about climate change so we want to highlight the amazing career pathways they can follow to improve the future climate. See greencareersweek.com for information #GCW2023! Also we have a parents guide with more information here: GCW 2023

On 7^th November we took all our year 11, 12 and 13 pupils to the NEC for the NSCL Fest. This event showcased all opportunities including Apprenticeships, Further and Higher Education, entry level roles, and general employment. The event offered pupils the chance to engage with England’s top Employers, Colleges, Universities and Training Providers in a face-to-face, interactive environment. Our pupils had great fun learning how to pull pints (cold tea of course) in the hospitality section, climbing walls with the Army and taking part in virtual reality sessions.

To continue to promote and reward outstanding attendance, we are running an attendance incentive this week! If pupils attend every day in this final week of term (23-27^th October) and ‘don’t ghost us’, they will receive a treat on Friday 27^th October. We also want to celebrate progress and therefore, pupils with the most improved attendance this half term and 100% attendance in the final week will be invited to visit our hot chocolate pop up bar on Friday 27^th October. 
Our current attendance is 92.5% and we have further incentives and rewards planned for the remainder of the academic year. 

Working alongside parents and carers to support our pupils’ attendance is a key priority at Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School. To support your child during mock exams, we ask you to promote and encourage excellent attendance and inform us of any barriers they may face so that we can work together to address them and minimise any anxiety they may experience.

We know that parents and carers sometimes worry about their children’s mental health. It is important to remember that mild anxiety, whilst a difficult emotion, is normal. In many instances, non-attendance at school only exacerbates anxiety, as pupils miss lessons and opportunities to access support.

Good attendance during the mock exams is incredibly important. Mock exams allow your child to prepare for their real exams in the summer and provide an opportunity for teachers to feed back, identify subject areas which require more focus and revision and identify areas for support.

It is important to us that all pupils feel happy and supported when attending school and we are keen to work with you to ensure your child feels this way.

We are here to discuss avenues for support. Please email enquiry@decschool.co.uk with the subject – ‘For the attention of X – Head of House for X – Attendance’ if there is anything we can do to support your child.  

During the summer, we were delighted to report another set of excellent results for our Year 11 pupils, which saw a significant number of our pupils achieve fantastic grades. Our analysis has shown that:

The vast majority of pupils who missed less than 10 days of school achieved the grades in both English, Maths and the other subjects required to enable them to study the qualifications needed for the country’s best universities.

Pupils who missed less than 10 days of school were more likely tomeet the requirements for Sixth Form or Level 3 courses, rather than Level 2 (GCSE level) courses, including English and Maths re-sits.

Good attendance during the mock exams is incredibly important. Mock exams allow your child to prepare for their real exams in the summer and provide an opportunity for teachers to feed back, identify subject areas which require more focus and revision and identify areas for support. We know that parents and carers have a significant impact, and we would really appreciate your help and support in ensuring that your child comes to school every day so that they can get the best possible outcomes.  We want to work with you to achieve this – please email enquiry@decschool.co.uk with the subject – ‘For the attention of X – Head of House for X – Attendance’ if there is anything we can do to support you or your child.

Year 12 students enjoyed a fun filled day attending webinars on topics such as: student finance & budgeting; personal statement advice; higher & degree apprenticeships and what Russell Group Universities are looking for, as well as networking with exhibitors from a range of career pathways. 

We’d like to invite all parents of year 8 pupils to enjoy a Christmas Carols and Mince Pies Fundraiser event in aid of ‘Save the Children’ at school on Monday 4th December 2023 from 9.15am to 10.10am. Your child will join you for the festivities and you’ll hear our wonderful school choir sing some lovely Christmas songs. Any donations, no matter how small, will be appreciated! If you would like to register your interest for this please use the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/9i9L5bH5m0

We are delighted to launch our themed menus for 2023/24 off the back of our very successful new menu for the academic year. 

These special days are an opportunity to celebrate events, festivals and cultures from around the world across all of the Matrix Academy Trust schools. Not only will these provide pupils with a wide range of food experiences but will also compliment our Personal Development curriculum and Theme of the Week.

Watch this space for more updates on our menus and the wonderful food that we will be offering as part of these events.

On Thursday 5^th October, as part of our PSHE programme, we welcomed Saltmine Trust Theatre Company to perform Switch Up for pupils in Years 8 and 9.  

Saltmine have been touring theatre in education nationally since 1980, educating the next generation on current social issues and empowering them to make wise choices.  

Switch Up is an anti-knife crime production and workshop which focuses on the complex, interrelated issues of knife crime, gang violence and self-identity. Incorporating multi-media and rap music, this powerful production aims to encourage young people to make considered and positive decisions in relation to these concerns. 

The production was both moving and thought provoking and received highly complementary reviews from staff and pupils. 

Pupils valued the workshops after the performances in which they discussed the myth that carrying a knife protects you and the fact that most people that carry a knife end up hurting a friend or themselves. Pupils left the sessions very clear that knife crime is completely avoidable and that they should ‘pave their own path’. 

Our thanks go to the performers and also to our Year 8 and 9 pupils for engaging wholeheartedly with some challenging scenarios.