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In our penultimate week of the term, we visit Sociology and Computing to see what students have been learning in their lessons. In addition, we share the fantastic Careers Speed Networking Event that our Year 9 and Year 13 students experienced, the exciting event that our Year 7-10 girls took part in to celebrate International Women's Day, our recent Reflexions parent workshop, and finally our Zafta winner. Please remember that we break up for the Easter holiday next Thursday 21st March at the normal time of 3:15pm. Hard work or privilege: Is the UK education system meritocratic?This week in Sociology, students have been debating whether the UK education system is meritocratic. The tier 3 word, meritocracy, means achievement is solely based on how hard you work – the idea being that you are able to achieve in life based on your hard work and ability. 
A prominent sociologist, Parsons, put forward the theory that all individuals have an equal chance to succeed in education. In the UK, success in education is measured by achieving five GCSEs at level 4 and above. Students successfully argued that Parsons did not take into consideration other powerful factors like material deprivation, or choosing to be disruptive in lessons to gain status amongst friends rather than completing work. 
Many students in class had real life examples of relatives and family friends who had a meritocratic experience within the UK education system, and were able to achieve social mobility and move to a higher class through their hard work. – Ms Colley 
Digital Wizards at Work: A Peek into IT LearningThis week in Computing, students have been working on the digital learning and information technology aspect of the curriculum. Year 7 students dove into the world of databases, playing detective to solve intriguing crimes using given witness statements to identify the suspects. Year 8 unraveled the mysteries of how information zips from one computer to another, and Year 9 are in the process of creating their own webpages using HTML. 
In the midst of Year 11 mock revision and exams it's good to remember some students are still working on their coursework. Our Creative iMedia students are in the exciting final stages of their coursework, crafting and editing of multimedia masterpieces, incorporating many different assets to use on their project. Currently they are filming and editing 'how-to' video clips to include on their product, which also includes animated GIFs, sound files and other content they have repurposed. – Mrs Y Smith 
Future Ready: Year 9 & 12's Inspiring Encounter with ProfessionalsWe warmly welcomed 27 diverse companies, FE, and HE providers, along with our alumni, to an electrifying morning of Career Speed Networking for the Year 9 and Year 12 students. This event is part of National Careers Week, aimed at supporting students with their upcoming career decisions. There were many highlights of the day, and it was lovely to see the students so engaged. There was great feedback from everyone involved! 
Our inquisitive students turned the spotlight on themselves, earning prizes for their outstanding questions, as voted by the impressed employers. Krish, from Year 12, said speaking with employers gave him an insight into what a career would look like. 
Year 12 students met with professionals from the West Brom Building Society, whose representatives from Branch, HR, Finance, IT, and Audit were there to show the students the many departments within a business. Year 12 were particularly surprised after talking with HR professionals at the West Brom and Clayton Hotels, and felt motivated to explore this career further. 
The event was a hub of activity. Some of the students commented that it was good to speak with the Universities on a one to one basis getting more information on courses and lifestyle. Feedback from the employers were that the students were fully engaged and polite, which we was very proud of. 
Thank you to all our fabulous attendees for a fantastic morning. Some have also offered work experience which we are very grateful for. – Mrs Meredith 
Celebrating our girls!Friday 8th March was International Women's Day. To mark this event, our girls in Years 7-10 took part in an event called 'The Biggest Ever Football Session', which is promoted by the FA. This was part of a national campaign to raise awareness of girls in sport, more so, football. 
The girls completed many challenges on the day and even got to obtain signatures from the WBA football team and manager. As an Academy, we are very proud of the girls! 
Supporting with AnxietyOn Tuesday 5th March we welcomed the Reflexions teams into the Academy. They delivered a session on 'Supporting Your Child with Anxiety'. This was a welcome experience for what is a concern for many parents. Parents had the space to learn, share and gather ideas on how to help their children whilst enjoying a warm drink and pastries. 
Mr Price scoops ZAFTAMr Price hosted Zog this week, having shone in the classroom since stepping up to teach GCSE Computer Science. Zog couldn't resist showing off his photo editing skills! – Mr Mills 
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