This Week in the Academy - 9th May 2025

Dear families, parents, and guardians,

Firstly, a heartfelt thank you for raising such wonderful young women — it has truly been a joy and a privilege to support and teach them over these many years.

I know you’ll agree that we’ve been on a real journey together, and I hold onto an overwhelming sense of pride in having served your daughters. They are a credit to you and to our academy.

This next period is incredibly important — a time for them to feel calm, focused, and able to revise in a healthy and balanced way. Encourage them to take regular walks, get plenty of fresh air, eat well, and stay hydrated. The little things really do make the biggest difference.

And please remember: if your daughter — or you — need anything at all, we are here. We don’t leave anyone behind.

Once again, thank you. Together, we’ve nurtured some phenomenal young women who are ready to take on the world.

With all my very best wishes,
Miss Takhar

Manga Competition

Our students competed to produce a manga cartoon, please see our winning entries below:

Dress Design Competition

Our amazingly talented girls submitted their own dress designs, please see the winning entries below:

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.

Welcome to all of our new and existing students. Thank you to all who continue to support your daughter attending school every day and arriving on time. We have seen a dramatic improvement in morning punctuality, and attendance overall is way above the National average for Secondary schools. In fact, at the end of the Spring Term 2024 we were recognised as being in the top 25% of all FFT secondary schools for secondary attendance.

Please take some time to view the letters pertaining to Attendance and Punctuality at King Edward’s VI Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy that were sent to you by email in September 2024. If you didn’t get the email, then we have attached the letters here too.

• 27th June 2025 – End of Year Reward Trip (KS4)
• 2nd – 4th July 2025 – France Trip (SELECTED STUDENTS)
• 8th July 2025 -End of Year Reward Trip (KS3)
• 10th July 2025 – End of Year Reward Trip (KS5)

Summer Term 2025

• Term Starts: Monday 28 April 2025
• Half-term: Monday 26 May 2025 to Friday 30 May 2025
• Term ends: Monday 21 July 2025

Remaining INSET Days

• Monday 21 July 2025

• 15th May 25 – The Design Museum London (Selected Students)
• 17th June 25 – The Big Bang Fair NEC (Year 7 students – limited spaces)
• 24th-25th June 25 – Duke of Edinburgh Cannock Chase (Selected Students)
• 27th June 25 End of Year Reward Trip (KS4)
• 2nd-4th July 25 France Trip (Selected Students)
• 8th July 25 End of Year Reward Trip (KS3)
• 10th July 25 End of Year Reward Trip (KS5)

Bookings are live on Arbor.

Spaces are limited, and it’s first come, first served, so be ready to book your spot!

• Year 7, 8, 9 trip will be Tuesday 8th July 2025
• Year 10 & 11 trip will be Friday 27th June 2025
• Year 12 & 13 trip will be Thursday 10th July 2025

Trip Locations

• Drayton Manor – £15
• Gravity Jump – lunch included in price  – £15
• Cinema & Bowling – lunch included in price – £15
• Arts/Crafts and Sports Camp at School – FREE

Students with platinum status are eligible to go on the trip free of charge this will be reflected on Arbor

DISCLAIMER – TRIPS MAY VARY DEPENDENT ON YEAR GROUPS

We are thrilled to announce that HWGA has achieved the prestigious Wellbeing Award! This incredible achievement highlights our commitment to ensuring that the wellbeing of both staff and students remains at the heart of everything we do.

We want to remind families that we offer a range of in-house support for students, so if you feel your child needs someone to talk to, please don’t hesitate to reach out—we are here to help.

Additionally, families should know that period products are provided free of charge at the academy. We are dedicated to ensuring our girls feel seen, valued, and confident, with no shame in asking for what they need.

We are proud of the way our students support one another, and we celebrate the
uniqueness and superpowers each girl brings to our school community.

Thank you for being part of this journey with us!

Who is eligible

To be eligible you must:

• be a Birmingham resident
• experience financial hardship, particularly with covering costs linked to food and energy
• not have received a £200 grant payment in the last 12 months

Returning applicants

Each household is only eligible to receive one £200 grant payment in a 12 month period.

For example, if you received a £200 payment on 31 May 2023, you cannot make another application until 1 June 2024.

Any enquiry received before your eligibility date will be rejected.

How to apply

Please be advised that the Hardship Grant Community Fund scheme is currently closed for new enquiries whilst the team work through the waiting list.

If you have submitted a successful enquiry since the current scheme reopened earlier this year, you are on the waiting list and will be contacted within the next eight weeks to complete your full application.

Please note that the enquiries will open for Round 7 later this year. If you are not currently on the waiting list, or it has now been 12 months since your household last received a grant payment, you will be able to submit a new enquiry once enquiries resume in June 2025.

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.

This week we introduce Creating – a thinking skill.

Read more here

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 your child to play sudoku, crosswords or complete jigsaws.

✓Drawing, painting, writing, photography-these will enable your child to not only abstract think, but also creative problem solve.

✓Practice mindfulness with your child, becoming more in touch with their feelings and emotions.

✓Research new places you intend to visit, discussing different cultures and traditions.  This will help to expand their mind and abstract thinking.

✓Suggest a new hobby for your child to take up.  exploring new ideas and ways at looking at the world.

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.

10 Top Tips: Fostering a Sense of Belonging

Creating a strong sense of belonging is essential for children’s emotional wellbeing and academic success. This guide explores ten simple and effective strategies, such as encouraging participation, celebrating diversity, and addressing bullying, that help schools build inclusive environments where every child feels valued and connected.

The National Online College has created this free guide offering parents and educators effective solutions to build inclusive, nurturing environments that help children and young people feel a strong sense of belonging.

• 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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