Welcome to the academies weekly newsletter, rounding up the events of the past week and keeping you informed of coming events and information to support you and your daughter in school and beyond.

This week we have:

• Biometric till information for parents
• Reminder about Children in Need – 14th November
• InvestIN free webinars
• BOA Super Saturday School
• BBC Apprenticeships
• November: Supporting Well-Being, Neurodiversity & Early Learning 🌟
• CALLING ALL DANCERS – 6888 Project (Y7, Y8 and Y9)
• A HPL focus on Evolutionary and Revolutionary Thinking
• What Parents and Educators need to know about Guiding Young Voices

We hope you enjoy reading this weeks news.

Dear Families,

We are pleased to announce that King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls Academy is installing a cashless catering system in November 2025.

The new system will allow us to continue with the development of the school meal service, and will provide us with a more efficient, faster and ultimately better quality of service.

This system incorporates the latest technology and eliminates the need for pupils to use dinner cards thus reducing the risk of losing the days or forgetting them. It is also biometric so there is no need for pupils to carry a card as the system will recognise the thumb of your child at the revaluation pay points and at the tills.

We will commence operating the system on 13th November 2025 and as such no dinner cards will be accepted at the till points after this date.

As per current legislation we will be operating an ‘Opt In’ policy and therefore require you to give consent via arbor by 13th November 2025. If you choose not to have your child registered on the Biometric System a 4 digit PIN code will be allocated. Please note that PIN codes do not have the same level of security and it will be your child’s responsibility to remember the code and keep it secure at all times.

The below information should answer any questions you may have :

Q What is ‘biometric?’ A Biometric is simply a method of identifying an individual person. The Trust-e Cashless System uses and algorithm based scan, which reads between 50 and 130 points on the finger/thumb. It is not a fingerprint in any way, shape or form and is of use only in the Cashless System.

Q How does a biometric system work? A The information of a pupil or staff member, who has been biometrically registered, is stored on a secure biometric controller within the school, which only your provider, Nationwide Retail Systems, can access with permission from the school. Once an account is credited, the pupil or staff member places their finger/thumb on the EPOS Terminal Biometric Reader, which looks up their account and allows them to purchase items using only this method of identification.

Q How does my child register on the biometric system? A Registration days will take place leading up to the ‘go live’ day of the Cashless System. During these days, registration terminals will be placed in the school. Your child will attend at a requested time and will be required to place their finger/thumb on the Biometric Reader twice to obtain a matching template, which only takes a few seconds. If you have chosen to opt-out of this procedure, your child will be presented with a 4 digit PIN code.

On Friday 14th of November we will be raising money for Children in Need.

All students will have the opportunity to wear pyjamas to school in return for a £1 donation.

There will also be a bake sale on the day!

New Free Webinar Series: ‘In Conversation’ with Industry Professionals

InvestIN has launched a new series of free webinars led by industry professionals for students and parents. From medicine to engineering, each webinar will help your child prepare for the next steps after school and provide inspiration for their future career.

The professional will answer your questions live, share their experiences and offer tips and guidance for students seeking a career in the industry.

The events are suitable for all students in Years 10-13, whether they are beginning to explore their options or preparing applications. Parents are also encouraged to attend alongside their child.

Here is the webinar schedule:

Monday 17th November 6pm (UK Time)

• Graphic Design: In Conversation with Billie Sky Walker

• Psychology: In Conversation with Vicky McKechnie

 Tuesday 18th November 6pm (UK Time)

• Law: In Conversation with Sophy Lelliot

• Investment Banking: In Conversation with Rob Angel

• Digital Media: In Conversation with Karl Mok

Wednesday 19th November 6pm (UK Time)

• Entrepreneurship: In Conversation with Rahmon Agbaje

•  Engineering: In Conversation with Bhavik Bhatt

• Medicine: In Conversation with Dr Obaid Syed

All sessions are free to attend online. If you can’t join live, you can still register to receive the recording.

 Register here

Please see below information from BOA – BOA | Imagine Everything – #WEWILL Social Action Programme

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are pleased to announce that registration is now open for BOA Super Saturday School – an enriching 8-week programme designed to nurture creativity, develop confidence, and provide children with valuable learning experiences. We are passionate about inspiring the next generation of young artists from the very beginning of their creative journey.

FREE places with priority registration are available for families receiving Free School Meals (FSM), Pupil Premium, or Universal Credit – we are committed to supporting every child to benefit from this opportunity.

Programme Overview

BOA Super Saturday School offers children the opportunity to:

Develop their creative abilities through structured, engaging activities

Build confidence and social skills in a supportive, inclusive environment

Work with experienced students – our expert team of social ambassadors

Celebrate their achievements at our Festival of Sharing on 21st March, where families are warmly invited to attend

Session Dates

The programme consists of 8 Saturday sessions:

Time: 10:00am–1:00pm (3 hours per session)

January: 24th, 31st February: 7th, 14th, 28th March: 7th, 14th

Festival of Sharing: Saturday 21st March (longer session 10am – 3.30pm)

Fees and Free Places

We are committed to ensuring this programme is accessible to all families: FREE places are available for children whose parents/carers receive: Free School Meals (FSM) Pupil Premium Universal Credit (Please provide supporting evidence by emailing a letter from your child’s school to: mary.savva@boa-academy.co.uk)

For all other families: £10 per session (£80 total for 8 sessions)

How to Register

Places are limited and we anticipate high demand, particularly for funded places.

Children eligible for free places will be given priority.

Please register via our online form: REGISTRATION FORM

We encourage you to complete your registration promptly to secure your child’s place. Should you have any questions or require assistance with the registration process, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We look forward to welcoming your child to BOA Super Saturday School.

Yours sincerely, The BOA Super Saturday School Team

Dear Y11, Y12 and Y13 Students and Families

The BBC have produced a number of free online one-hour sessions where students will get insights into the apprenticeship schemes and what they involve, step-by-step guidance on the application process, real stories from current apprentices, and live Q&A to get their questions answered. They cover a range of different apprenticeship roles such as technical operators, HR, project management, camera operating, broadcast, and more.

Please the link below to register:

https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/bbc-apprenticeship-webinars-2771489

This November, join a month of events and learning opportunities that celebrate inclusion, understanding, and support for every child and family. 💙

🧠 Mental Health Conference 2025: Well-Being for All
📅 Saturday 15th November, 10AM – 3PM (Registration from 9:30AM)
📍 Mount Zion Community Church, Birmingham
🎤 Theme: Embracing Autism and Neurodiversity
Join inspiring guest speakers, lived-experience voices, and interactive workshops designed to create understanding and build inclusion.
🍴 Food provided by Brammies Caribbean Takeaway
👉 Reserve your place today!
📞 0121 554 9638 | ✉️ admin@mountzioncc.org.uk | 🌐 www.mzcc.org.uk
#WellBeingForAll #Neurodiversity #InclusionMatters #MentalHealthAwareness

💻 Free 6-Week ADHD “Nurturing Kids” Online Course
👩‍🏫 Led by adults with lived ADHD experience
📅 Starts early November | Tuesdays (10–11:30am) & Wednesdays (7–8:30pm)
💬 For parents and carers of children with ADHD or suspected ADHD
Gain insight, strategies, and confidence to support your child’s journey.
🕔 Registration closes 31st October 2025
✉️ contactus@brewseducation.org
#ADHDAwareness #ParentSupport #NeurodiversityCelebration

📚 DfE-funded EYSEND Project: “A Special Approach to Making it REAL” Webinar
🎯 For Early Years Practitioners and Family Hub staff
📅 Tuesday 12th November | 10AM – 12PM
💻 Register Free on Eventbrite

Learn how to support the home learning environment for families with a child with SEND, focusing on early language and literacy.
💡 Explore:

• The context for young children with SEND and their families
• How Making it REAL supports two-year-olds and young learners
• Practical ideas, activities, and low-cost resources to empower parents
  #SENDSupport #EarlyYearsEducation #MakingItREAL #DfEfunded

Let’s work together this November to create understanding, build inclusion, and support every journey 🌈

Flyers can be seen below

📣 Calling All Dancers! 💃🏽🕺🏾

We’re looking for passionate and creative students to audition for our upcoming Dance Project honoring the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion — “The Six Triple Eight.” 

✨ The 6888th was the only all-Black, all-female battalion to serve overseas during WWII, breaking barriers and delivering millions of letters that kept hope alive for soldiers far from home. If you want to know more about the 6888, I can highly recommend this film on Netflix that has been made to showcase their amazing contribution. The Six Triple Eight Cast, News, Videos and more.  What makes this project even more important to us, is that the 6888 were based at King Edward School in Birmingham during the Second World War!

✨ The dance project will include students from across the KEVI Trust so it is your time to shine!

✨ We’ll celebrate the 6888’s courage, discipline, and rhythm through movement. Join us as we bring their story to life on stage!

🎶 Auditions: Wednesday 26th November 2025 – P3 and P4
📍 Location: Dance Studio 
🎟️ Open to: All students in Year 7, 8 and 9 — no experience required!
💫 Theme: “Carrying Hope, Moving History”

✨If you would like to take part in the audition, please sign up using this form 6888 Dance Project – Sign-up for auditions – Fill in form

Absence disrupts the education of the individual pupil and the whole class. Are you aware those children who do not attend regularly:

• do not achieve well in exams
• find it difficult to maintain friendships
• are more likely to become involved in crime
• miss out on opportunities in further education and the world of work?

Please be advised that term-time holidays are very unlikely to be approved. If families ignore this the absence will be unauthorised and you will be at risk of receiving a £160 Fixed Penalty Notice per parent on your return.

Last term, 36 parents have received Penalty Notices for taking students on unauthorised leave in term time.

Please note that, Birmingham City Council strongly discourages pupil leave of absence during term time. The expectation is that such leave would only be authorised in the most exceptional circumstance.

Please ensure that leave is taken in the school holidays only.

Frequent absence can add up to a considerable amount of lost learning and can seriously disadvantage your child in adult life.

• 5 minutes late every day means around 3 ½ days of education are missed
• a score of 90% in a test would be a good result but 90% attendance means that a child
• will have missed around 100 lessons over a school year.

The majority of our students are on time to school every day. Thank you for your ongoing support in ensuring that your daughter attends school on time every day. Lesson 1 begins promptly at 8:45am, which means that your daughter needs to be in her seat waiting for the register to be taken by 08:40am.

Students who are late, without a valid reason, will sit in a 30 minute after school detention on the same day.

The only method for reporting your child’s absence is now through the Arbor Parent Portal App.

Using the Arbor Parent Portal App is quick and easy, and it is now our preferred way for parents to communicate absence reasons to the school.

For step-by-step instructions on how to report an absence, please visit our online guide.

Benefits of the Arbor Parent Portal App:

• Update student/parent details
• Top up dinner money
• Sign up for trips and clubs
• Check your child’s attendance
• Access school reports
• and now reporting absences

Additionally, our new school app, KEVI Handsworth Wood Girls (via Reach More
Parents), will be our primary platform for sharing school-related updates and information.

Please note that the absence reporting feature will no longer be available on other
platforms, and we will no longer monitor absences reported via Studybugs, even if you still have access to it.

Thank you for your cooperation.

• 12th November – Sixth Form Open Evening
• 19th November – Y9 Parents’ Evening
• 3rd December – Y11 Parents’ Evening
• 16th December – Chai and Chat from 15:30 – 16:30
• Term ends: Friday 19 December 2025

• 12th November – Sixth Form Open Evening
• 14th November – Children in Need (Pyjama Day)
• 17th November – Geography Trip – Birmingham City Centre
• 19th November – Y9 Parents’ Evening
• 1st December – Y7 end of term movie afternoon
• 3rd December – Y9 end of term movie afternoon
• 3rd December – Y11 Parents’ Evening
• 4th December – Y10 end of term movie afternoon
• 5th December – Y11 end of term movie afternoon
• 8th December – Y12 & Y13 end of term movie morning
• 8th December – Y8 end of term movie afternoon
• 9th December – Personal Development Day
• 11th December – KS4 Performing Arts Theatre Trip
• 16th December – Chai and Chat from 15:30 – 16:30
• 17th December – Winter Talent Show

Please see information about how young people and families can access support for mental health through Pause. There is also information about events and workshops that are available.

Here are some practical tips to help stay grounded and healthy for teens:

1. Prioritise Sleep   8–10 hours of sleep each night. A consistent bedtime and reduced screen time before bed can dramatically improve mood, focus, and energy.
2. Move Your Body   Regular physical activity—whether it’s dancing, walking, or team sports-releases endorphins that boost mood and reduce stress.
3. Eat Smart   A balanced diet rich in fruits, veggies, and Omega-3s supports brain function and emotional wellbeing. Skip the ultra-processed snacks when possible.
4. Talk It Out   Open communication with trusted adults or friends helps feel heard and supported. Listening without judgment is key.
5. Practice Mindfulness  Simple techniques like deep breathing, journaling, or yoga can help manage anxiety and build emotional resilience.
6. Build Positive Connections   Strong friendships and supportive relationships are vital. Join clubs or groups that align with your interests.
7. Manage Screen Time -Set boundaries that work for you-
   1. Create a daily screen schedule that includes breaks
   2. Use timers or app limits to avoid endless scrolling
   3. Keep screens out of bedrooms to protect sleep
8. Know When to Ask for Help   Mental health matters. If a you feel overwhelmed, support is available—whether through school counsellors, helplines, or trusted adult

Sleep Matters – Tips

• A consistent bedtime—even on weekends
• A wind-down routine (no phones 30 minutes before bed)
• A cool, quiet sleep environment

• Keep windows closed during high pollen days
• Shower and change clothes after being outdoors
• Use antihistamines as advised by a GP or pharmacist

• Drink 6–8 glasses of water daily
• Eat fibre-rich foods (whole grains, fruits, veg)
• Stay active to support gut health

• Practice breathing exercises or mindfulness
• Break tasks into manageable chunks
• Reach out to a trusted adult or school nurse

• Gentle cleansing twice daily
• Avoiding harsh scrubs or picking at skin
• Seeking medical advice for persistent or painful acne

• School nurses can advise on immunisation schedules
• Any health concerns can be raised with the school nurse/First Aid team.

Advice to Parents – School Age Immunisation Service has been published by the NHS to help you to understand the immunisations your daughter will be offered at school.

We know how challenging it can be to balance all the demands parents and carers have to cope with. That’s why NSPCC have put together some tips to help. All children need boundaries and discipline, and this guide helps you develop what works for you and your child.

If your family is in need of any support for any of the following issues –

• money advice,
• special educational needs,
• disability,
• food,
• housing,
• parenting groups,
• relationships,
• sexual health & family planning,
• under 5’s support,
• bereavement,
• mental health,
• leisure activities,
• physical health
• & much more.

Please see download the family action leaflet here.

Our Healthy Lifestyle Checklist:

• Exercise – 60 minutes a day
• Hydration – Drink 2 litres of water a day
• Nutrition – Eat a balanced Diet
• Sleep – 8-10 hours a night

Please find a range of helpful medical factsheets put together by the School’s First Aid Medical Lead.

If you would like to see these factsheets in an alternative language, please get in touch.

We use the High Performance Learning philosophy and framework in our school. This means that we believe that all the students can be high performers, and we teach with these expectations in mind.

Using the research-based High Performance Learning approach helps us to systematically build the cognitive competencies that lead a young person to thrive in school and in later life.

We embed the HPL philosophy throughout our school. We never tell our students they cannot achieve; it is just they are not doing it yet but with practice and persevere it will happen.

You can support your child with developing the High Performance Learning skills at home.

There are 30 skills which are broken down into the two categories of Advanced Cognitive Performance Characteristics (ACPs) and Values, Attitudes and Attributes (VAAs). These help students how to think, and how to behave.

HWGA will be sharing a some HPL key competencies (VAAS & ACPs) strategies with you weekly.

Using the HPL framework at home will help you to enhance your child’s academic
achievement and personal development.

Home Challenge:

• Quiz your child on the ACPs and VAAs. How may of each can they remember?
• Ask them to quiz you? Can you beat your child?
• Select 3 VAAs and ACPs at random. Can your child tell you what they mean?

Not there yet? Repeat the challenge – can you both beat your previous attempt?

✓ Encourage conversations that start with “I wonder what would happen if?” or “What would it look/sound/feel like if you created..?!”

✓ Explore new ideas together by trying to produce a unique invention or further developing something that already exists. What improvements/ modifications could you make to something?

✓ Research someone that has been innovative or diverted away from existing ideas. Someone like Heston Blumethal for example, who is more revolutionary in his cooking than most by incorporating a scientific approach to his methods.

✓ Encourage confidence in giving new ideas a go! Part of what it is to be a high performer is seeing how ideas can flourish and develop; often something like a visual organiser or diagram can help someone to see their ideas and next steps in their thinking.

✓ Encourage entries into the Word of the Week. How can the word be used in different ways/contexts.

QUESTIONS:

• Do you have a concern that a student is being physically, sexually or emotionally abused or neglected?
• Has a child/young person made a disclosure to you?
• Are you concerned that a student could be living in a private fostering arrangement?

REMEMBER:

• Please do not ask the student leading questions
• You must report concerns relating to FGM,CSE, FM, HBV and Prevent
• Do not ask children to remove items of clothing and do not ask them to write anything down or sign anything you have written
• Allegations against staff MUST be referred directly to the Headteacher (or to the Chair of Governors if about the Head)

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The Safeguarding Team will gather all of the information, link with multiple agencies and the decision will be made whether a referral to Children’s Services or an Early Help Assessment (or other action) needs to be made. Any information the Safeguarding Team are able to share with you will be shared. If you have any questions or a ‘gut feeling’, then please do not hesitate to seek advice and support from the Safeguarding Team.

What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Guiding Young Voices

Discover practical strategies to help young people speak up and support one another – explore this week’s guide for tips on fostering confidence, kindness, and connection to tackle unkind behaviour and build inclusive school communities.

• All students must wear jumpers.
• Skirts if worn should be black and pleated.
• Hoodies are not permitted in school.
• The school uniform consists of a jumper, a white revere blouse, and a black skirt or trousers.

Students are not permitted to wear trainers unless medically required to do so School shoes should be below the ankle.

Boots should only be worn in severe weather (snow).

Jackets/coats should be plain and Hoodies should not be worn in school.

• No nail polish/ false nails
• Make-up if worn should be natural looking
• False eyelashes are not permitted in schoo
• Pins are not allowed to be used for headscarves. Please use a safer style fastening to secure headscarves.

Jewellery:

• One stud in each ear
• One small nose stud – not a ring
• No rings,
• No bracelets – unless for religious purposes
• No necklaces.

We collect preloved but good quality uniform throughout the year. If you would like to donate preloved items, please bring them to the School reception.

if you would like to receive preloved items for your child, please contact the pastoral team at pastoralteam@hwga.org.uk

We are now using the Free School Meals Eligibility Checking Service in School. If you think that your child may be entitled to Free School Meals, please complete a ‘New Application’ on the following link: https://www.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/birmingham

Just registering your child for Free School Meals means that the School gets extra funding – register now to make sure we don’t miss out!

Get notifications on your phone by using the King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls App available in your phones app store to download today.

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Visiting our website, you will find the news feed on the homepage with quick links to our most up to date news and information.