Due to the glorious sunshine, our star pupils enjoyed an ice-lolly with Mr Blanchenot today, rather than a Hot Chocolate!

Firstly, Jem who has been nominated by Miss Wagstaff, told the group how he took part in a sponsored 13.5K run for Cancer Research. Jem completed the run in 1 hour 30 minutes and raised £158 for his chosen charity.

Next, Mrs Richards wanted to give both Alfie and Luay special recognition for showing kindness and personal excellence during the Year 6 transition day. It can often be a nerve-wracking time for new pupils, however Alfie and Luay stood out by being on hand when the Year 6 pupils came to visit.

Next Lauren, Daniella, Rebekah had been nominated by Miss Clayton for their beautiful artwork displayed on the village wells in the community of Newborough. To read more about what the young artists did, click here.

Lastly, Momina, had been nominated by Miss Spurrier for personal excellence while participating in the HOSPEX Programme at Queen’s Hospital, Burton. The feedback from the HOSPEX team commended Momina on her mature attitude and behaviour as well as always being punctual, polite, caring and a role model student.

At the end of the celebration, Mr Blanchenot also commended Lauren for winning the JTMAT Subject Excellence Award for Religious Education, where she created an incredible piece of art that depicted ‘living in a diverse world’. Lauren received a prestigious pin-badge and certificate.

Well done to you all for showing our school’s core values, Mr Blanchenot was extremely proud to be able to hear the pupil’s story’s and achievements.

Refresh at the 7A Drinks Stall – Sports Day Special! 

Come and quench your thirst with 7A Drinks this Sports Day! We’re serving up fizzy drinks and bottled water — just 80p each!

Special Offer: Buy One, Get One Half Price!
That’s right — grab two drinks and get the second for half price! Perfect for sharing with a friend or keeping yourself cool during the action.

Why We're Doing It:
All proceeds from our stall will go towards Breast Cancer Now, an amazing charity that funds life-saving research and supports people affected by breast cancer. Every sip supports this great cause.

Find us near the main field – look out for our bright signs and friendly faces!

Don't miss out — stock is limited and the sun will (hopefully!) be shining. See you there!

The Sports Hall was filled with excitement on Thursday 19^th June as our school community came together for a memorable celebration to bid farewell to our incredible Year 11 pupils at their special Celebration Assembly.

Mr. Forden, Head of Year 11, opened the assembly and said ‘it has been a great pleasure to get to know this cohort and lead such a fantastic year group. Each and every pupil has worked hard, had a positive impact and I am certain will grasp every opportunity that they are presented with.’ He finished by saying ‘the only person that can stop you, is you!’ which left a lasting impression amongst the pupils.

The sentiment was agreed by Mr Blanchenot, Headteacher, who added ‘as my first year as Headteacher, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of individuals. Thank you. I wish you all the best in your next endeavours personally and academically.’  

Form Tutors then took turns sharing personal messages, recounting memorable moments and expressing their appreciation for the special bonds formed over the years. Mr Knight stole the show by rapping lyrics specific to his form group, something our pupils and teachers will never forget! 

At the end of the Celebration Assembly the students were treated to ice-cream and cake and got the chance to sign shirts. All the students conducted themselves exceptionally. We wish them all the success in the future.

Teachers are looking forward to seeing the Year 11s at their prom on Friday 4^th July and at GCSE results day on Thursday 21^st August.

This week seven Year 12 Business and Economics students competed in the Sixth Form Management Games, which is led by The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). Business people working within public finance run the complex event to simulate the scenarios they face on a daily basis when making difficult financial decisions.

This year’s competition was based around a local councils budget and the students having to cover a £7 million deficit in the budget from the previous year. They were required to work as a team to decide on a council budget, including which local services to keep or reduce based on the needs and demographic of the area.

This meant using the costing of different projects such as street lighting and local crèches to tax rates and medical service. It was the students responsibility to then devise a budget based on this and other financial data given to them. The students tackled the challenge head on and enjoyed justifying this budget to not only the council, but also trade union representatives and local MP’s. They had to write a report, have this scrutinised, re-evaluate their plans and present to a panel of judges where they were questioned.

Louie acted as chief executive throughout the competition, which meant that he had to organise the team and ensure that everyone worked well together and all their plans were coordinated. Oscar took on the role of director of finance throughout the competition meaning he organised the budget and considered every departments’ finances. Oscar also had to present these finances to the panel of judges and ensure he was able to explain these concisely. Luke took on the role of neighbourhood regeneration, Charlotte took on the role of director of children and youth services, Eva took on the role of director of adult and social care services, Harry took on the role of recruitment, Johnny took on the role of regeneration; all meaning these students had to balance the needs and wants of the local area with having the finances needed to pay for these.

They all worked hard all day along and should be really proud of their achievement!

Written by Miss Quirk

Our canteen team prepared a delicious traditional British menu this week, to celebrate the great british summer. 

On the menu there was a traditional roast chicken with freshly sliced carrots, broccoli, potatoes, yorkshire pudding, stuffing and a rich gravy. To finish, the pupils could pick from some homemade victoria sponge cake or jelly! 

Thank you for not only creating a mouth-watering menu, but dressing up and decorating the canteen! There was great feedback from all the pupils.

Message from Mrs Findon for parents of Year 10 Geography pupils 

• Cost is £19 
• Consent is needed
• Students to come in non school uniform (sensible clothes to be worn)
• Trainers/ wellies needed (no flip flops/sliders)
• Packed lunch is a MUST and plenty of water
• Bring weather appropriate clothing e.g. waterproof/ sun tan lotion 
• Meet at the front of school. Do not go to registration. 
• Medication -inhalers/ epipens to be brought

Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.

Earlier this week, 39 BTEC and A-Level students made their way to Yorkshire Wildlife Park to learn more about the operations of the business.

The Business students learnt about marketing campaigns, branding & strategies the park has in place to attract new customers and encourage repeat business. The students also found out about the organisational structure of the park and how it is set up to accommodate the variety of departments and employees they have across the organisation; from animal specialists to zero hours restaurant workers. This gave the students not only the chance to apply it to an actual business scenario but also lots of information about different types of careers and employability skills.

They also learnt how exactly Yorkshire Wildlife Park recruits different staff member and the process in which prospective employees go through in order to get their positions within the company. The staff there also showed students the types of international organisations in which they are members of to ensure they are able to make connections around the world in order to benefit from training and support.

Overall the day was a great success. The insight was invaluable for enhancing our students knowledge within Business. Well done to everyone for representing the school so brilliantly!

Finding the right help at the right time to support children and young people with their mental health and wellbeing can be confusing, they might need different types of support at different times in their life.  Sometimes it might just be about getting a bit of advice or sometimes problems are more serious or don’t get better with self-help and need more help such as specialist advice and support. 

The Staffordshire children’s mental health support pathway map has now been updated. We have removed the back page from the map and added a QR code which links directly to the Staffordshire Connects page, this means it will always link to the most up to date information.  The Staffordshire Connects page has also been updated and shows the local support available for children and young people to support their mental health and emotional wellbeing.  

Please find attached a copy of the updated map, the updated Staffordshire connects page can be accessed here: Staffordshire Connects | Children's mental health support pathway  where a copy of the updated map can also be downloaded SCC Mental health support for children and young people map 

This week at Hot Chocolate with the Head, Mr Blanchenot enjoyed meeting with Jessica N who had been recognised for showing one of the school’s core value; kindness.

Miss Roberts, Head of Year 10 said ‘Jessica demonstrated exceptional kindness and maturity on our recent field trip. Jessica stepped in to provide comfort and support to a fellow pupil who needed help. She did everything she could to ensure the pupil felt safe and reassured. Her actions were thoughtful, compassionate, and a true reflection of our school values. Well done, Jessica – you were outstanding and I was incredibly proud of you.’

Enfys A, Gabriela C and Seren W were also nominated but unable to attend.

Ms Bale nominated Enfys for achieving an honour in Air Cadets as a Lord Mayors Cadet for 12 months. Gabriela, had performed a poem from memory in front of her peers and teachers, which took Mrs Tremble’s breath-away. Seren, was nominated by Miss Wagstaff for her fundraising efforts for Brain Tumour Research.

Mr Blanchenot was incredibly proud of all the star pupils this week and proud to have them within the school community.

Barton Music Makers' Summer Concert is on Saturday, 12th July in Barton Village Hall from 7.30pm. Tickets are available at Barton Post Office (Adult £10, Child £5) 

Barton Music Makers

We are a charitable group that provides
- a community choir known as The Bar-Tones
- musical events raising funds for charity.

We would like to thank them for the charitable work and offering BARTON MUSIC MAKERS’ BURSARY AWARD 2025-2026 (INSPIRED BY THE MEMORY OF PAM PRYCE).

Barton Music Makers - Music Group in Barton under Needwood

Well-dressing in Newborough 2025.

We are delighted to hear that 3 of our year 8 students were involved with this community custom.

 

Well-dressings, it is an ancient custom during late spring or summertime in villages around Staffordshire and Derbyshire that needs to be supported to preserve it.

During this Countryside tradition local people gather to create intricate pictures, formed from natural materials like plants and flowers to decorate the village spring or well.

The construction of a masterpiece is made using wooden frames packed with clay, process known as puddling.  

Lauren created the design base on this years topic of "Sharing a meal" then Lauren, Rebekah Abbigail and Daniella continued working for a week after school and it took about 55 hours to make it happen on time.

The design was outlined and transferred into the clay, followed by hard hand work placing every single petal one at a time, and seed by seed. The job was finished on time for the blessing the on 5th of May.

We also very  proud of them for their commitment, hard work, patience and attention to detail.

   

Well done girls for your creativity and supporting the community.

If you want to have a look at their final result you can visit the following web pages:

Derbyshire Well Dressings - Newborough  

• https://welldressing.com/venue.php?id=94

Derbyshire Well Dressings - Photo Albums

Our Year 12 Sports Leaders were delighted to lead the Year 4 dodgeball event and the very last of the primary school partnership events for this academic year.

With the help of the Sporting Young Ambassadors, the Year 12 Sports Leaders were on hand every step of the way throughout the event to support the sixty primary school pupils. From the initial set-up and timekeeping to ensuring the enthusiasm and energy were high, they displayed fantastic leadership skills.

Mrs Berry, PE & SSCO said ‘I am proud of the John Taylor High School pupils who showed respect and kindness to the primary school pupils and led with integrity. The primary pupils had a wonderful time in a competitive but friendly environment. Thank you to those for making the event such a success’.

Thank you to everyone involved!

Year 10 students start their Trial Exams on Monday 16^th June. Students have received an assembly to inform them of the routines and expectations for exams and their form tutors have also reinforced these messages.

We are sharing with you the information that students have received ahead of the exams starting next week. We have asked Year 10 students to return to their lessons promptly after their exam is completed, this is especially important as other exam venues are still being used by students for external exams and we want to ensure these students are not disrupted in any way.

We would appreciate it if you could check that your child has all the equipment that they need for the examinations.

Miss Dean, Assistant Headteacher- Achievement

Head of Upper School

On 10th June, Miss Quirk’s A-level Economics students and Mrs Nurses A-Level Law students joined forces and made their way on the train for a day of discovery in London.

As the group arrived in London, they navigated the London underground commute and headed to the centre of Law making in the British Isles the Palace of Westminster.

Students headed to the Parliament Education Unit and were guided around this historic Palace.  They were able to literally stand where history has been made including the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Hall.  The Hall has hosted numerous state trials, including those of William Wallace, Sir Thomas More, Guy Fawkes, and Charles I. 

Students were able to walk on the 'floor' of the House of Commons and see the dispatch boxes where the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition stand each week. The students were guided through the creation of new laws through the House of Commons, the House of Lords and Royal Assent. 

At the end of the tour, the students attended a workshop run by the Parliamentary Education Unit. The students were placed into groups and asked to create a political party, each selecting a candidate, speech writer, campaign manger and policy expert.  The students were then asked to select three policies that they would pledge to voters during a general election campaign concerning the areas of education, the environment and social policy.  All the students engaged in the activity and were able to articulate their ideas to the rest of the group before a ‘snap’ election was called.  The students’ policies included new initiatives to boast further education in shortage occupations like nursing and NHS dentistry as well as policies design to make housing more affordable for young people. 

Following the tour students were meet by our local MP Dave Robertson for a question-and-answer session in a committee room in the Palace.  Mr Robertson spent over an hour speaking to the students about his role as an MP and all students were given an opportunity to ask their preprepared questions which covered a wide-ranging number of topics including the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the impact of the Reform Party on UK politics and the cost of housing in Lichfield and beyond.   

After this wonderful insight into the workings of our parliamentary democracy the Law and Economics students went their separate ways and headed to China Town and Spitalfields market for a well-earned lunch. 

After a short lunch the Law students headed to the Supreme Court where students were Mrs Nurse said “the students were given the opportunity to visit the permanent exhibition in the Supreme Court outlining its role and history in the UK legal system and beyond. The students were able to sit in Court Room 3 and review recent cases that had come before the Court. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in the UK for civil cases, and for criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Supreme Court hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole population.

Meanwhile the Economics students headed to the Bank of England. Miss Quirk, said, ‘at our first stop we learnt about the different monetary policies set by The Bank of England and the implications of these. The students loved being able to hold the bars of gold and were surprised to find out that they weighed 12.4 kg! The students also found out that Bank of England was nationalised in 1946 and separated from the government in 1997 which they found interesting. The new exhibit this year was all about digital money and the impact this is having on the UK economy, which supported students understanding of the changing economic climate of the UK and worlds economy.’

Students and Staff then enjoyed dinner at a local burger restaurant before travelling back on the train to Lichfield. Thank you to everyone who made the trip so enjoyable. It was a pleasure to watch the students engage and come back home feeling full of knowledge.

Hot Chocolate with the Head – 06/06/25

This week, our star pupils enjoyed some delicious chocolate goodies with Mr Heath, Deputy Headteacher, for their fantastic contribution in the JTMAT Subject Excellence competitions for Art and Maths.

The Subject Excellence competitions are open to all students across the John Taylor Multi-Academy Trust and provide an opportunity for pupils to complete a task set by subject specialist teachers.

The brief for the Art competition was to create a piece of artwork that conveyed a message linking it to the Trust’s core values. Pupils got the option to choose the media they would like to use, the size, the shape and how they would like to interpret the value. Additionally, Raj Dhunna a professional illustrator was involved in judging the competition. The winners of the competition also got the opportunity to meet Raj at an exclusive finalist’s event and workshop.

Congratulations to Bethan P who was named as the winner.

Well done to the participants; Martha L, Rabia W, Jack S, Aisha S, Amelia N, Lotty M, Sophie M, Daisy H, Ffion F, Joshua D, Dylan C, Emilia B, Alice R, Andrei A.

The brief for the Maths competition was to create a Music Festival taking into consideration planning, timings, budgets and presenting them in a mathematical way. Mr Corbett was very impressed with our pupils and wanted to give extra recognition to them at ‘Hot Chocolate with the Head’.

Congratulations to the winners; William G who was commended for his use of Technology and to Oscar W for being the overall winner in the Secondary School Category.

Well done to the participants; Oliver W, Isaac B, Jack S

Mr Heath was delighted to present the pupils with certificates and pin badges and highlighted the importance of striving for personal excellence.

We are delighted to announce details for the John Taylor Summer Concert. See the poster for more information.