Thank you to everyone in the Yew Tree family for another successful, yet busy, half term.
We are now closed for our HALF TERM BREAK.
Children return to school on TUESDAY 4th JUNE (as 03.06.24 is an INSET day).
We are delighted to confirm, following consideration of the evidence we presented & the recent Ofsted report, the DfE have officially revoked our academy order.
This means that Yew Tree will no longer be compelled to join a multi-academy trust & can remain as a Sandwell school.
We are absolutely delighted to share the news that, following an inspection in October 2021, we are now officially a GOOD school.
A letter for parents, and a copy of the report, is available to download from our website:
#LearningWithoutLimits
The High Court has ruled today that the Secretary of State for Education has acted irrationally in refusing our request to revoke the Academy Order in place for Yew Tree. This means the decision has been quashed.
Further details are available at:
We are INCREDIBLY proud of our very own Jayden who has been selected to join the cast of the Lion King musical.
He starts rehearsals next week before heading off on tour later this year. We can’t wait to see him perform and show us his talent!
#ChanceToShine
The Governing Body had previously communicated its intention to seek a Judicial Review in order to prevent the forced academisation of Yew Tree.
This message is to confirm that a court date has been set for 15th July and we shall keep you updated of the outcome.
We are delighted that, out of 1539 schools, our entry for a £10k playground design with
@CreativePlayUK
has made it to the TOP THREE. We now need your help to win. Vote for us online at: before 3.00pm on THURSDAY 14th MAY to help us.
#LearningWithoutLimits
Wow! Take a look at Year 1’s fantastic BIG ART for Famous Artists Week. We recreated
@stevenbrownART
“Lewis McZoo”. It is magnificent! We are very proud and can’t wait to see our work displayed around the school.
#LearningWithoutLimits
We have installed a very special bench at school. Staff contributed to a commemorative bench to remember Ms Moore who is sadly no longer with us. This will be officially unveiled at our site opening in October.
#YewTreeFamily
We are so proud of the incredible site we have developed at Yew Tree. This includes an outdoor gym, school farm, forest, allotments, woodland maze, picnic area and much more.
Take a look at the latest aerial pictures from our neighbour Andy:
The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.
The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.
We are looking forward to welcoming
@Ofstednews
to our school on 15th September for a pilot 'Interim' visit so we can talk about how we have welcomed children back to school. Information about the structure of the visits is available online:
Wow. We were so impressed by Ollie’s reading this morning. He has come such a long way in learning to read Braille and we couldn’t be more impressed. This truly is
#LearningWithoutLimits
We are incredibly privileged to be welcoming
@HiboWardere
here with us, as part of our staff training, about FGM and her survival story (which you can read in her book).
#Safeguarding
Well done to our girls’ football team who WON the Premier Stars Football Tournament with
@WBAFoundation
today. They won every single match in the tournament before smashing the final!
Well done girls.
#LearnimgWithoutLimits
We had a visit today from Acorns Hospice who came to collect a cheque for an amazing £495 that the Yew Tree children raised. She was grateful for the cheque and she also took away all the entries to show the children at the hospice!
Thank you again for your help!
@AcornsHospice
Well done to Mrs Neville, Mrs Turton, Mrs Reed and Ms Melia (who will collect her award Monday) who have all been nominated as
@UNISONWMC
#StarsInOurSchools
. These are well deserved awards and it is great they are recognised.
Thank you
@AsdaFoundation
for this incredible grant of £500 from the ‘Getting Schools Back On Track’ scheme. We really appreciate your generosity.
#YewTreeFamily
Mr Barry is very excited. Our amazing Jayden is currently on tour with
@LionKingTour
and, this Saturday, he’s performing in Mr Barry’s home city of Bristol.
Front row tickets are booked all ready to cheer on our Yew Tree star. Good luck Jayden.
Congratulations to Mr Latham who won the most staff nominations this term so is now crowned our GOLDEN STAFF MEMBER for Spring 1. Well done to everyone nominated.
#YewTreeFamily
Thank you
@Morrisons
for your amazing donation of food. This will make such a difference to our families and community. Your help means more than you know.
#YewTreeFamily
Thank you to our staff, governors, parents and children. We welcomed
@Ofstednews
today to celebrate how hard we have worked together so children can return to school this year. Amazing sense of pride talking through our journey.
#LearningWithoutLimits
We would like to say a HUGE thank you to Ms Johal, Ms Capewell, Ms Neville and Ms Lowe for giving up their personal/family time these last few days to support our children’s residential experience.
#AboveAndBeyond
Well done Mr Thorpe for becoming our Golden Staff member this half term. We appreciate all you do helping to look after our school and site.
#WellBeing
@nourishworkplce
Congratulations Ms McKnight for being crowned as our Golden Staff member this half term. What an asset to our school you are.
#Wellbeing
@nourishworkplce
The dining room is being prepared for our children have their Christmas lunch. Thanks to our staff, as well as the catering staff, for their efforts in making today so lovely.
#Christmas
We are looking forward to welcoming
@HiboWardere
to our school on Tuesday. As the author of the book ‘Cut’ we are looking forward to hearing her story as a survivor of FGM as part of our staff training programme.
We would like to say a MASSIVE thank you to our PTA for their fundraising efforts last year.
Thanks to this, and support from parents/carers, we raised over £7k.
This morning £3.5k has been given to the school to support our playground development work.
Our teachers have REALLY enjoyed phoning lots of our families tonight for Parents’ Evening. They’re looking forward to the rest of the phone calls planned this week.
#YewTreeFamily
Mr Barry applied for a schools’ tree pack from
@WoodlandTrust
. We are DELIGHTED to hear we are getting 420 saplings delivered in November. This will help us create an exciting woodland on our school grounds as well as support the environment.
@EcoSchools
Mr Barry was so excited to see Jayden back in school this morning. He’s brought his programme in from
@TheLionKing
@BristolHipp
for Jayden to sign.
This autographed version will stay on school as a souvenir or our star.
Is your child missing their friend but can't make contact as you have no details? Get them to write a letter including your contact details. We will then forward this on to their classmate in the first week back after half term. Full details are on Class Dojo.
#YewTreeFamily
Congratulations to Mr Whittington and his wife on the birthday of a beautiful baby boy. We are sure you will join with us in sending love and best wishes to their family.
We are delighted that, from the Spring term, we shall be working with coaches from
@WBAFoundation
as part of our Sport Premium strategy. This work will include lunchtime coaching support, mentoring and after school clubs.