Newsletter Dear Parents, Guardians and Students, I would like to warmly welcome you back to the start of our second half-term. There is much to celebrate even after seven weeks at school. We were delighted with our GCSE results in the summer and can now confirm that this means we are the best school in Coventry. 82% of our Year 11 students gained at least a C grade in both English and Maths and 55% of students were awarded the English Baccalaureate. Over 27% of grades were awarded at A/A* level. This is testament to the hard work of all our students and staff and to the invaluable support of parents. The sixth form results were very pleasing with students moving on to excellent destinations including University, apprenticeships and jobs. I would like to thank parents and carers for your continued support of the school and for the difference it makes to the lives of our children. As a school we are continuing to focus on punctuality and supporting students to arrive on time to school and to have a positive start to the day. Lessons start at 8:45 for all students and staff will be on the gate to welcome students into school and issue a same day detention when they are late. Thank you for your continued support with punctuality, the result of which has been a significant improvement in the timely arrival of our students. Now that our school site is secured with electronic gates, you will need to speak to reception over the intercom if you wish to enter the school site. Please do not push the gates but wait instead for them to open automatically as this prevents damage to the gates. Please also ensure that you sign in and out at reception and wear the Photo ID that will be generated for you when you are on site. All staff and sixth form wear photo ID for the safety of students on site. It was great to meet so many parents and carers at our recent Parent Information Evenings and the presentations from these events can be found on the school website at: www.bluecoatschool.com/page/? title=Information+Evenings&pid=403 I would also like to thank the students and parents who supported at our very successful Open Evening. Record numbers of visitors attended the school and were very impressed with what they experienced and the students they spoke to. As a school we continue to focus on our Christian identity and how this can make us both distinctive yet and inclusive of all students. We have introduced a new programme called ‘Worship Works’ whereby all students are able to reflect together on key themes in smaller groups which is then complimented by Year Group worship in weekly assemblies. We have also enjoyed celebrating other religious events and festivals, highlighting these to our students through form time and an RE Calendar of events led by staff in our RE department. We have a very busy half term running up to Christmas and I look forward to meeting many of you at our upcoming events, services, concerts, productions and Parents’ Evenings. Mrs V Shelley (Headteacher)

Y7 football Finham Park 2 Blue Coat 0 This may well be the first time in the emerging Blue Coat football dynasty that any year group has fulfilled two first team commitments in consecutive days. This fixture afforded the manager with an opportunity to start 22 different players in the space of 48 hours. The result was no disgrace. On a wide grassy pitch there were many stand out performances. Finham turned out to be the nemesis of the school of 2011, Blue Coat losing in two cup finals in 2012 and 2014. On this showing the current assembly will have their measure if we are ever drawn together again in competitive cup fixtures. Whilst it would be wrong to single out individuals in what was a solid team performance, the managers eye was caught by the "never say die" attitude of Elliot Hemming at full back, the acrobatic goal keeping of Anton Das and the midfield craft of Liam Farmer. An excellent team performance. The lads kept going to the end. Hanok Ghebru will no doubt find his niche in the first team squads to come and Ericsson Iyeyouo will certainly have a few tricks up his sleeve as the winter fixture list approaches. A cameo performance by Bashar Idris underlined his class. Well done lads. Onwards and upwards! Mr F Peacock—Deputy Headteacher and Y7 Football Managar

Year 7

7 a-side tournament at Sidney Stringer 20 September

Blue Coat played very well in this pre-season tournament, one of our teams winning the competition. Everything augurs well for a successful season ahead. Well done lads! Mr. Peacock (Manager) / Mr. Winterton & Mr. Curry (Assistant Managers) Team 1 Anton Das, Leo Stacey, Tyrone Chitakatira, Liam Farmer, Harry Donaghy, Aidan Finch, McKenzie Hook Team 2 Callum Middleton, Emrys Wabe, Khamisi Seif, Kwame Obeng-Ampofo-Darko, Glaven KingueKoutta, Hanok Ghebru, Ericcson Iyeyouo Team 1 Sidney Stringer

L 0-1

Lyng Hall

W 1-0

Chitakatira

Stoke Park

D 1-1

Donaghy

Blue Coat B

L

0-1

7 points 4th

Team 2 Sidney Stringer

W 1-0

Iyeyouo

Lyng Hall

W 1-0

Iyeyouo

Stoke Park

D

1-1

Ghebru

Blue Coat A

W

1-0

Ghebru

11 points 1st

Charterhouse Tour and Art Exhibition At the beginning of this term Year 9 and Year 13 students visited The Charterhouse which is situated off the London Road, next to Blue Coat School. It was originally a Carthusian Priory and built by an order of monks. Blue Coat pupils were given an extensive tour of the buildings which included the precious Medieval wall paintings dating from the 15thC, which are of national importance. During the tour students created drawings and took photographs of The Charterhouse. This resulted in a series of paintings being created of The Charterhouse and an exhibition of this work took place as part of the “Heritage Weekend” in September. Students created work of exceptional quality and it was rewarding to be able to work closely with The Charterhouse once again. A great deal of thanks goes to John Plumley who once again gave of his time to give the students a guided and detailed tour. Mr Howard Art Department

Open Evening 7 October 2016

Here are some pictures of the Open Evening held at school on Thursday 7 October 6-8pm. Thank you to all who came and saw our school in action. A very successful evening. Photos taken in the Art department.

School Bible Project Year 10 RE students entered the SCHOOL BIBLE PROJECT and were successful with 12 runner up prizes. The students were tasked with the challenge to create an article exploring a key miracle performed by Jesus and writing an account from an eye witness viewpoint. The students had to reflect on various different angles and were creative with illustrations and presentation. Congratulations to all the students that took part in the project and especially those who were awarded with a prize. Mrs Hathaway Head of RE

Articulation Trip.

The Yr 12/13 Art students attended an Articulation Discovery day at the Herbert Gallery to develop their critical analysis, research and public speaking skills and explore the Herbert Gallery. The ten students worked with students from other schools to make a presentation about various works of art in the gallery. They all successfully presented a comprehensive account of the art work and were commended by the organisers on their delivery and thorough research. The students gained a great deal from the Articulation workshop, gaining confidence when communicating their ideas and research.

Mrs C Owen Teacher of Art

House Crests Students from across the school entered a competition to design the crest of their House at Blue Coat. The entries were shortlisted and voted on by representatives from each House. Designers worked together on the final designs incorporating their different ideas and these were then digitalised. Congratulations to those involved in this project. I am sure you will agree, the winning designs are excellent. Mr I. Corden

Carlos Cortese Catherine Thomas Erin Massey

Michael Salvo Peter Reynolds Jay Gill

Adrienne Friswell Kristen Walker Helen Young

Emily Cooke George Watson

Sophie Kirkwood Sameer Ali

Ellya Hayden-Kaur Kacie Brooks Jamal Fazaldin

Callum McArthur MacKenzie Ryan Hannah Dixon

Alisa Krasniqi Maariyah Habib Mikolaj Jonas

Joseph Lees Seim Ghebru Charlotte Snooks

Geraldine Mabhumbo Samon Safi Sam Couzens

Blue Coat Parent Teacher Association News, October 2016

On Monday 10th October the PTA held their AGM. The positions of office are as follows: Chair person: Lucie Pontin Treasurer: Claire Bradshaw Secretary: Rebecca McGrattan Committee members: Ruth Ling and Caroline Crosbie.

We are always proud to be able to support the work of students and staff in our school. Here is a summary of what we have been up to: Current Projects Blue Coat Pages – The PTA have already put together a directory of businesses that are run by or connected with Blue Coat families. Thank you to all who passed on their details to us. This is currently being changed from a spreadsheet into a more useable document. Look out for your copy coming soon! Library donation – The PTA has made a donation of £1000 to the Learning Resource Centre for the re-stocking of books, including some dyslexia friendly books for children who struggle to read or who are reluctant to read. We know that reading is a springboard to learning and we are pleased to support this project. Look out for the new range coming soon. Give as you live on line shopping – A small number of people have signed up to this and we have just received our first £5 from the company. We do need more people to use this web site as we could be raising much more money for our school. Simply go to ‘Giveasyoulive.com’ and sign up to support Blue Coat School Coventry PTA. Through the website you can shop in a range of high street stores, purchase gift cards, arrange travel or switch utility provider and give a donation to the PTA at the same time. It really couldn’t be easier. Bags2school – We are always ready to accept bags of good quality items such as: clothing, paired shoes (tied together or elastic band around), handbags, hats, bags, scarves, ties, jewellery, lingerie, belts and soft toys. Hand them into Reception or bring along to an evening function. The next collection date is in November. We can exchange your goods for money for school. Thank you to those who gave so generously in the Summer term. PTA Christmas Fair – We are in the process of organising the PTA Christmas Fair which will take place on Tuesday 13th December in the Sixth Form Centre from 6pm-7pm before the Spirit of Christmas production. We hope that you will visit us before the production and during the interval. We will be selling mince pies and mulled wine for £1, and holding a Christmas raffle. We already have a number of stall holders who will be selling Christmas table and tree decorations, handbags and purses, cakes and treats, personalised charms, paper craft items, Body Shop gifts and more for your seasonal treats and unique gifts. If you would like a stall, please do contact us. We hope very much to welcome you at the Fair on the night. Refreshments We are in the process of purchasing some new flasks which will enable us to be more mobile when serving your refreshments. We are also awaiting delivery of a new notice board to make it easier for you to find us at events. Open Evening – Thursday 6th October. We served cold drinks, chocolate and sweets near the theatre and in the Bardsley corridor. Thank you to those who made a purchase! The Good Soul of Szechwan Production – Wednesday 2nd – Friday 4th November. We will be serving refreshments in T1. Sixth Form options - Tuesday 6th December. We will be serving refreshments in the Sixth Form Centre. Please bring along some change to these events to help support our work, or drop us a line if you can volunteer to help us out. Contact us On our Facebook Page, Blue Coat School PTA On email, [email protected] Join us – on Monday 7th November, 7.30pm in the Learning Resource Centre It would be great to see you there!

Thank you for helping us to support our school

A VERY SUCCESSFUL WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAMME FOR YEAR 10 PUPILS IN JULY 2016. This year’s Year 10 pupils really excelled at their work experience in July, resulting in a number of pupils being offered Saturday or Summer jobs. In fact we had more than 20 students with offers of part time paid employment. Another five pupils were offered a full time job if they want to take up this option when they complete their education. Coventry University College supported us and presented Gift Vouchers to the five overall winners who achieved over and beyond what employers were looking for on work experience. These were Melissa Pinnegar, Jack Bowlby, Ruth Osindera, Shaquille Donaldson and Daphne Apel and we held a special Presentation Assembly in the Theatre to mark the success. Pupils were asked to contact a placement of their choice when applying for work experience and found some really exciting and beneficial work experience opportunities, some travelling abroad to work with an International company, others to London and Birmingham. The companies ranged from Estate Agents, Solicitors, Chemists, Engineering companies, Schools, Charities to Pet Shops and Builders. The feedback from the employers was excellent. Quotation from two employers: “We are extremely happy with the attitude and maturity your pupil has shown throughout her two weeks work experience. My staff have spoken very highly of the pupil saying she was great with the staff and children and fitted in perfectly in our department. Quote from placement company “We really value her friendship and commitment. She has become a very important member to us and a great team player. She is kind, considerate, patient and a really happy young lady who is able to follow instructions when asked and works well with adults and young children. We have watched her grow in confidence day by day and it has been a real pleasure to have had her working with us. We would wish her the very best in her career path and for the future.” We have had numerous messages from parents of our children saying that the placements were fantastic and a credit to Blue Coat School.” Mrs R Jones Careers

MacMillian Coffee Morning—30 September 2016 The staff at Blue Coat School had a Macmillan coffee morning to raise money for a worthy cause. Staff made lots of home made, delicious cakes and raised £327.00. Mrs P Davis Learning Support Assistant

DRAMA DEPARTMENT NEWS PRODUCTIONS In July, students from Years 7 to 9 performed Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. The production combined live music and choreography with Shakespearean verse and was a collaborative project between Blue Coat’s English, Drama, Art and Music departments. The students also performed scenes from the show at The Albany Theatre in Coventry. Students from Years 10 to 13 are currently hard at work rehearsing a production of Bertolt Brecht’s “The Good Soul of Szechuan”. The show has been adapted and directed by Mr Kyle with original music composed by Year 13 student, Laurence Trowsdale-Stannard. Performances are at 7pm on Thursday 3rd, Friday 4th and Saturday 5th November 2016. And finally, rehearsals for Blue Coat’s annual musical production are underway – this year’s show is “Hairspray”. Performances are at 7pm on Wednesday 1st, Thursday 2nd, Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th March 2017. To book tickets for the above productions go to: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/bluecoattheatre Tel 02476 223542 ext 1211 THEATRE TRIPS Year 12 and 13 Drama students spent a day in October at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. Students took part in workshops and talks with actors and members of the production team of “King Lear”. Students then saw the show in the evening, preparing them for their final examinations in June 2017. Meanwhile, Year 11 Drama students have been to The Hippodrome in Birmingham to see Willy Russell’s “Blood Brothers” as part of their GCSE coursework. More theatre trips will take place through the year. Mr A Raffle, Head of Drama