The following students celebrated their achievements with Mr Blanchenot this week, congratulations to them all!

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.

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.

Mrs Berry and her team of Sporting Young Ambassadors were delighted to lead the Year 4 dodgeball event and the very last of the primary school partnership events for this academic year.

The Sporting Young Ambassadors 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 our Sporting Young Ambassadors 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!

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

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

Dear Parents/Carers and Teachers,

Please be reminded that nominations for the prestigious JTMAT Exceptional Achievement Award are still open but close on Friday 13th June. This award gives all John Taylor Multi Academy Trust (JTMAT) pupils the chance to be recognised for their extraordinary achievements both inside and outside of school. We are extremely proud of our students at John Taylor High School and hope that parents and teachers will nominate a pupil should they meet the criteria.

If the nomination is successful, winners will receive a special gold pin badge presented by Mr Donoghue OBE, CEO JTMAT via an online celebration. This is a wonderful way for students to share their achievements with the school community and gain recognition for their dedication and success.

The deadline to nominate a pupil is at 4pm on Friday 13^th June 2025 and the online celebration will take place on Friday 11^th July 2025 in Mr Blanchenot’s office.

We look forward to receiving the nominations and celebrating those pupils who strive for personal excellence!

For further details and to make a nomination please access the followng letter:

The below menu will be served in the Canteen on Wednesday 18th June