Colton Hills School Bulletin

Website: https://www.coltonhills.co.uk/highperformancelearning

Welcome to this week’s school bulletin. This will be the final one before half-term and it has been a busy and exciting academic year so far. You will have seen from previous bulletins that we already have had a huge number of exciting events and things to be proud of this half-term, and we’re not slowing down yet!

On Thursday, 24 October, we have the Sixth Form Open Evening which I’m sure you’ll be aware of already, especially if you’re a Year 11 family. This event will run from 4.30 - 6.00pm and places can still be booked online. This will give students and families an opportunity to see the amazing provision on offer as the sixth form continues to become bigger and more successful.

Last week we had a special event – the Year 7 Music Showcase – where Year 7 students were involved in performing songs that they have been learning in lessons, and some of our instrumentalists got a chance to perform in front of their peers, friends and families as well. It was a really wonderful, affirming event, and you can read a little more on that below. A huge thank you to the Performing Arts team especially who helped put this event together.

On Thursday of this week we have our first Rewards Day of the year, where students who have demonstrated excellent standards of behaviour, attendance and punctuality will be celebrated. After school, there will also be a ticketed Silent Disco for students to attend, with food and drinks also available. We are sure this will be a really fun event to help us end the half-term on a high!

Our student unions are also up and running for this year, and we look forward to the impact they can have on driving school improvement and really continuing to provide Colton Hills with the community feel that help us thrive.

Finally, please note that Year 11 and Year 13 students will be taking their mock exams in the coming weeks. The exam timetables have been sent home with students and is also available on our school website. We encourage students to use this opportunity to practice and prepare for these exams and I’m sure I speak for the whole school community when I wish them luck when they arrive! We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events and thank you for your continued support.

On Thursday, 17 October, our Year 7 cohort performed to a theatre full of parents, carers, siblings, and friends in their first showcase since joining Colton Hills. The audience were treated to a wide variety of singing from R&B to Pop to Soul and Motown by our Year 7 students.

There were also performances from some of our budding musicians who attend peripatetic lessons. It was a fantastic night as the students performed with confidence and pride to a full theatre. We are incredibly proud of their achievements and the hard work that they have put in. Well done to everyone all who took part!

We are delighted to share that we have donated £400 to our school charity, The Birch Thompson Memorial Fund (pictured are one of the charity's Trustee - Mr O’Hara and Mr Berry with Colton Hills staff Mrs Panaser, Mrs Hipgrave and Mrs Pearman) displaying posters from the first Dance in 1981 to 2024.

Funds were raised from various school activities including our 50th dinner party, and other school events. In early October, we handed the cheque to Chairman, Mr Keith Berry, who organised all the previous 43 dances. In his 84th year, Keith will be organising the annual dance fundraiser in November at the Wombourne Civic Centre for the final time this year. He will step down and pass the baton on to the other trustees for future fundraisers. Tickets can be purchased via our school website or by emailing jkumar@coltonhills.co.uk.

Yo! Wolves October half term holiday activities are free for any school age child or young person resident in the City of Wolverhampton. The activities include arts, crafts, fun days out, dance and drama workshops, photography and much more. Booking places is easy at www.yowolves.co.uk. Running from Monday 28 October to Friday 1 November, all activities are fully funded by City of Wolverhampton Council and will include a meal. Booking is now open.

On Tuesday, 15 October, our PE team made a trip to Ashton Gate in Bristol to watch England U21’s v Azerbaijan U21’s. Goals galore! It was a great experience watching England’s future stars bag 7 goals at Ashton Gate! Big thank you to Mr Esty, Mr Warden and Mr Jackson for taking the boys football team and delivering them back safely!

Just a quick update on our new digital revision platform, GCSEPod. Since its launch in September, we are up to over 2600 pods views. Congratulations to the English department–the first to break the 500 views mark! Coming in a close second is History, followed by Computer Science.

GCSEPod helps with revision, breaks down into topics and is easily accessible. Do check it out via the link below.

We had a new science lab installed over the summer by WF_Education and Mr Ocran is the lucky Science teacher who has been assigned the new room! We were able to showcase the new lab on Open Evening and we hope to be able to do more refurbishments in the near future.

On Monday, 7 October, some Year 13s geography students set off to spend 3 days in Llandudno, Wales, working hard to collect data as part of their Non Examined Assessment. They all had individual research projects investigating a topic and geographical issue of their own interest, which contributes towards 20% of their grade.

Last week, we held an afternoon tea session to celebrate this term's Star of the Week students with our Headteacher, Ms Hunter. These students have been awarded Star of the Week in this term by their head of year leaders for showing school values or exemplary behavior around school. They had a chat and enjoyed some snacks. Congratulations to all of them on their nominations and also to the lucky 3 students who walked away with a £10 Amazon voucher each from the raffle!

If you suspect or believe a child is suffering or is likely to suffer Significant Harm, including any form of mistreatment or abuse, you should report your concerns on the following numbers:

Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5pm,

Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm on 01902 555392

Outside of the above hours for emergencies on 01902 552999

If the child or young person is at immediate risk of serious harm dial 999