On Friday 7th February, as part of our PSHE programme, we welcomed Saltmine Trust Theatre Company to Dame Elizabeth Cadbury to perform 'Filters' for pupils in Year 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. Filters is a production and workshop which focuses on social media use, sexual harassment, consent, cyberbullying, AI, and pornography. These are sensitive topics, but they are delivered in an age-appropriate way. This powerful production aims to encourage pupils to take control of their own futures, to be encouragers and positive influences on each other. 

The statutory Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education guidance in secondary schools from the Department of Education states that by the end of secondary school pupils should know: about different types of bullying (including cyberbullying); online risks, including that any material someone provides to another has the potential to be shared online and the difficulty of removing potentially compromising material placed online; how to identify harmful behaviours online (including bullying, abuse, or harassment) and how to report, or find support, if they have been affected by those behaviours; the impact of viewing harmful content; and that specifically sexually explicit material e.g., pornography presents a distorted picture of sexual behaviours, can damage the way people see themselves in relation to others and negatively affect how they behave towards sexual partners.

As part of national apprenticeship week, we have been immersed in activities which have highlighted which apprenticeships are available to pupils when they leave school and which can be studied with specific subjects on our curriculum.

In Science, some of our students have been looking at how they can gain an apprenticeship in nuclear power. Key stage 3 have been looking at how science can help gain an apprenticeship in jewellery making.

Maths have built in apprenticeships into each key stage by displaying the types of maths problems someone might be asked to solve in a certain role.

Health and Social Care have also been looking at what NHS apprenticeships are out there.

Year 7 Spotlight

Year 7 are continuing to develop their knowledge and skills within geometry this half term. 7y1 have been looking at the properties of different shapes focusing specifically on properties of quadrilaterals. After identifying the different properties, they then created their own ‘What shape am I?’ task and challenged each other to identify their chosen shape given the clues they created.

Year 12 Spotlight

Our year 12 mathematicians are continuing to work through their A Level scheme of work. Miss Buckley’s class have been extending their knowledge of trigonometry from year 11 and are learning to manipulate trigonometric expressions using trigonometric identities. Both groups are working incredibly hard and are making good progress with some of the more complex A Level topics.

This week we are celebrating National Apprenticeship Week 2025 (10th-16th February) as part of our Careers curriculum at DEC.

We have lots of exciting opportunities lined up for pupils, including form time activities on 'Green Apprenticeships' and lessons throughout the week focussing on subject specific apprenticeships.

As a parent or carer, we know you will want to be able to guide and advise your child towards the best opportunity for them. So, where do you start? Being open-minded about the range of opportunities, and equipping yourself with knowledge and information is the best way to build your confidence, and ultimately to support your child to make the best decision for them.

The links in this message will help you to help your child. 

See our website for more advice on careers https://matrixcareersguide.co.uk/

Apprenticeship Hints Tips for Parents/Carers

Amazing Apprenticeships

As parents and carers we all want our children to understand how to be able to communicate their mental health needs. Research suggests that 1 in 5 children are recognising their need for support with mental health. At Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School, we recognise the importance of educating pupils about their ability to acknowledge and how to seek support with their mental health.  

Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Week will take place from Monday 3rd February to Sunday 9th February. This years theme is “Know Yourself, Grow Yourself” and is in partnership with Here4You and Disney. Children across the UK are being encouraged to discover how getting to know who they are can help them build resilience, grow and develop. During this week, and beyond, pupils will be taking part in assemblies, form time activities and discussions to support their mental health. 

If you have any questions relating to Children’s Mental Health Week, please do not hesitate to contact the school on enquiry@decschool.co.uk.  You can find out more on the following link https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/.  

To continue to promote and reward outstanding attendance, we are running our ‘Love Attendance’ incentive between the 10th and 14th February.

Roses are red, violets are blue, we love attendance, and you should too!

If your child attends school every day on time between Monday 10th and Friday 14th February, they will receive a Valentines treat on Friday 14th. They will also be entered into a raffle where the lucky winner in each year group will receive a £20 Amazon voucher.

As you know, your child should be in school every day, but every effort should be made to ensure 100% attendance during these periods. If you have made medical or dental appointments during either of these periods, we kindly ask that you make every effort to rearrange these if possible. If not, please ensure that your child only misses the minimum amount of time and not a whole morning or afternoon.

At Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School, wellbeing of all pupils is our primary focus, and our vision is to enable all pupils to maximise their potential both academically and socially. We are committed to building successful, resilient and confident individuals, providing pupils with the knowledge, skills and enriching opportunities to thrive in their chosen career path and make informed contributions to modern society.

Pupil Support Services are essential in helping students navigate the complexities of school life. They ensure that no student is left behind due to academic, emotional, or social challenges. By fostering an environment of care, inclusivity, and individualised attention, these services contribute significantly to both the immediate and long-term success of students, preparing them for life beyond school.

Parent/Carer Guide

It has been a positive start to the term in the maths department. All year groups have moved onto their new unit of work are enjoying learning new skills;  

Year 7 – In maths this term year 7 are developing their knowledge of geometry focusing on co-ordinates before they move on to looking at area and perimeter later this half term. 

Year 8 – Year 8 are focusing on their understanding of proportion and percentages. They have been enjoying applying their skills and knowledge to real life situations including scaling recipes to be able to serve more or less.  

Year 9 - Year 9 are working through a new unit of non-linear sequences. This will build on their sequences knowledge from year 8 and help them spot patterns including real life data. Most recently they have looked at geometric sequences and may have seen how they can be used to model disease spread like during the COVID pandemic.  

Year 10 – Year 10 are continuing to work learn new content needed for their GCSE including how calculate compound measures like density and have been revising for upcoming mid-year assessments. 

Year 11 – Each class in year 11 is currently working on their own bespoke scheme of work that targets students weakness identified in their November mock exams ready for their next set of mocks later this term.  

This week we hosted our first ever trust wide football competition between all our schools. The competition was hosted at Etone College and utilised the outstanding facilities and Football Academy provision to implement a very competitive and fun filled event. The day consisted of high quality and competitive football from Year 8 pupils from each of our schools. Our pupils showcased sportsmanship of the highest quality and their passion for football shone through as pupils enjoyed playing and meeting people from across the trust.

It was evident as soon as the group stages started, the games were going to be decided with a bit of magic, an error, or the dreaded penalties. The group stages ended Bloxwich Academy, Dame Elizabeth Cadbury, Etone College and Turves Green Boys’ School progressed to the semi-final stage.

The 7th and 8th placed playoff was a competitive affair which saw the Etone B team victorious over Wednesfield Academy on penalties. The 5th and 6th placed game saw Barr Beacon win the game 1-0. In the semi-finals there was very little difference between the four schools in what was a very competitive high-quality game and again the dreaded penalty shoot-out came into force, Etone College and Bloxwich Academy progressed to the final and Turves Green and Dame Elizabeth went into the third and fourth playoff game

The 3rd and 4th playoff game was a very exciting game that saw both teams miss chances and played some free-flowing exciting football, unfortunately both keepers were to remain unbeaten, and Dame Elizabeth took the third place on penalties. The final consisted of Bloxwich Academy and Etone College in which was anyone’s to win after the two teams had played out a 0-0 draw earlier in the day. Etone started quickly and scored an absolute thunderbolt into the top corner to make it 1-0, Bloxwich to their credit competed fiercely and played some fantastic football and deserved their equaliser to make it 1-1. With both teams going for the win Etone caught Bloxwich on the break to open them up and scored 3 late goals to take the game and the title 4-1.

A huge well done to all pupils and staff involved and a big thankyou to all those that contributed to the event. We are looking forward to getting the next event booked into the calendar to see where the shield will end up next year.

In the last week of term a small group of students from 7X1 were invited to spend a day at the University of Birmingham. They attended two science lectures. The first considered differences between humans and apes, pupils looked at the ratio between femur and humerus, brain size and the way we walk. The second lecture looked at diseases, vaccines and how they can be distributed, including the use of drones to deliver medicine in remote areas of Africa!​

In the afternoon the students looked around the Lapworth Museum of Geology. Pupils looked at fossils, rocks and gem stones whilst completing a trail booklet. ​

This trip was a great opportunity for pupils to experience life at university, meet students and scientists and visit a local museum. ​