TMBS News April 2022

Year 9 did not disappoint taking on the reins and organising their stalls for the afternoon and to top it off the sun was shining, a winning combination for all those staff that agreed to be sponged! Thank you all!

British Science Week 2022 at TMBS!

This half term we have had several exciting events held at TMBS for British Science Week 2022. Students had the opportunity to engage and enjoy a variety of different demonstrations and activities.

These have included:

• Science Fayre: Lots of fire and explosions!
• DNA Bracelet Making: Make a bracelet using the genome of a number of different species.
• Rat Dissection: Learn about the anatomy of a rat and learn surgical techniques
• TMBS Science Quiz: Future Mastermind champions in waiting!

Thank you to all of our TMBS students and staff for supporting British Science Week 2022. We hope you were inspired and excited in equal measures!

See you next year!!!

Maths Update

Pi Day

A day to celebrate pi, a special number in the maths world. Each year group took part in pi themed activities throughout the day. We also launched our inaugural pi day bake off and what a success. We were blown away by the creativity of the pi bakes that were on offer and we are sure you will be too.

Winners:

Year 11

1. Alice Cleaver
2. Isaac Spencer

Year 9

1. Oscar Young
2. Ivy Beckitt and Liv Spencer AND Will Browning (joint)
3. Samuel Atkinson

A special mention goes to Ivy and Liv who spent 8 hours mixing, cutting and baking the first 100 digits of pi - well done girls!

Year 8

1. Mia Bhuller
2. Will Goodhew
3. Eleanor Woodhouse (we loved Eleanor's note about the ratio of the circumference and diameter being pi!)

Year 7

A massive massive shout out to Year 7 where we had 11 entries!!

1. Maisie Brian (the look, the taste... it was incredible!!)
2. Rosie Dinsdale and Sophie Clayton
3. Rachel Boardman

Whole School Champion: Maisie Brian!!

A big thank you to my wonderful Year 11 judges where they fairly judged on look (how pi'd was it?!) and taste.

TMBS Maths Primary School Network

Over the last month we’ve welcomed over 50 Year 6 students into our maths department at TMBS. These sessions have allowed students to engage in secondary school maths whilst also meeting students from other schools. We’ve been lost on treasure islands and jumped around with frogs, who knew there was so much maths involved in that?!

If you’d like to have a go at our frogs challenge, then click on this link: https://nrich.maths.org/1246

Maths Meets Art!

Year 7 students learnt all about sequences and special sequences too in one of their most recent topics. A special sequence they looked at was the Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci Sequence is the series of numbers: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, ...The next number is found by adding up the two numbers before it. When we make squares with the numbers as widths, we get a nice spiral. Below our some of our Year 7 spirals and their own special Fibonacci spiral creations.

Grand Masters of Numeracy Ninjas!

These students have achieved 30 out of 30 for 5 weeks in a row, a fantastic achievement. Well done to all of our Grand Masters!

Year 9 Make a Great Escape

Twelve Year 9 students left the comfort of their maths classroom for a challenging problem solving escape room activity in Leicester. The students were split into two teams to compete against each other, led by Mr Henstock and Mr Kendrick. With just one hour to escape, the students had to overcome several obstacles that required their utmost maths skills, team work and resilience. In a close fought contest, the team led by Mr Kendrick emerged from their room first, followed by Mr Henstock's team a few minutes later. All the students were an absolute credit to TMBS!

The Learning Garden

Located near to the Science labs there is a small unloved garden space that is going to become our new 'Learning Garden'. We are very excited about utilising this space to its true potential. Currently the space has been overgrown, unloved and not used by staff or students. We are going to supervise small groups of students to work in the garden during lesson times.

Over time the vision for this space is to be able to plant and grow our own produce, (more for a learning venture than consuming) including a variety of vegetables and a herb garden. The plan is to teach the students how to look after plants and the garden and to take ownership of the space to be able to pass on the skills to other students.

We would like to kindly thank Bosworth in Bloom, especially Peter, for their time, effort and for the work carried out on Saturday 19th March. We now have four raised beds ready for planting which have already transformed the top part of the garden into a manageable space. We are looking forward to supporting them and working in collaboration with them for future projects.

This will be a long standing project with a garden transformation to create a sustainable environment for the students to pass on to others in years to come. If you would like more information please contact Mrs Fairbrother or Mrs Wright.

Watch this space for how our Learning Garden blossoms over "thyme".

Year 7 Sculpture Challenge

Congratulations to 7G who won this half term's inter-form challenge. Students had to create something that represented the school using the mystery items given. 7G explained that the TMBS hot air balloon shows how our school's character pillars inspire us all to reach high, no matter who you are. Well done Mr Thomas and the 7G team!

Year 11 Take a Bow

What a night it was for our amazing Year 11 Performing Arts students on Wednesday 6th April. Perfect performances and lots of tears, following the last 5 years of dedication to Performing Arts at TMBS. They truly are an inspiration and a credit to the school and Mr Morrow, Miss Abbott, Mr Gillespie and Ms Donlan could not be more proud. Thank you.

Eco Club

On Monday 21st March 2022, members of the school’s eco club, Student Footprint, participated in a litter pick around the school premises during period 5. The students really enjoyed it and we managed to rid the field and courts of lots of the litter that was left after the comic relief stalls of the previous Friday.

“Personally, the litter pick was an extremely meaningful experience. Throughout, it clearly projected an underlying issue threatening modern day society that is often overlooked as an expensive inconvenience by large companies. The microplastics in the grass, shards of forgotten pens half-buried in mud, and squashed bottles under fences vividly demonstrate how pressing as well as discrete plastic pollution is. During my walk through the luscious woods it became clear why we should actively retain the amazing flora and fauna of the only planet to have life. The litter cleanup was an overall success; we significantly reduced the rubbish plaguing the school grounds as well as discovering the paramount importance of bins. The effort was fueled by teamwork shown by everyone participating, led by the determined ambassadors. Those were the reasons why I enjoyed it most.” - Daniel Ahearne

Overall, it was a great experience and we hope to do it again to keep the school tidy and reduce the negative impact the litter has on the environment and wildlife.

Exams & Attendance

Mock Exams - YEAR 10

• Tuesday 3rd May through to Tuesday 10th May
• Seated timetables will be issued after Easter.
• Why not prepare a mock revision timetable using a Google Sheets (Schedule).

External Exams - YEAR 11 SUMMER EXAMS

Please see our Examinations Guide, which can be found on the school website. Other exams updates are also posted here: www.tmbs.leics.sch.uk/UsefulInfo/Exams/

Exam boards also provide support pages for Parents & Students:

AQA - www.aqa.org.uk/student-and-parent-support

OCR - www.ocr.org.uk/students/exam-support/

Pearson - qualifications.pearson.com/en/campaigns/summer-2022-support.html

WJEC/EDUQAS - www.eduqas.co.uk/home/2022-here-to-support-you/

Attendance

Attendance Reminder...

• To support us in safeguarding children, please remember to call in on each day of absence when your child is off school.
• Please contact your child’s tutor or head of year if you feel that your child is missing too much school – interventions may help!
• Please contact us if you have any concerns about your child’s attendance.

Careers Talks

TMBS employer led career talks have continued this term delivered by our Career Champions who are volunteers from the world of work.

It means students in Year 9, 10 and 11 gain a greater understanding of the world of work, pathways accessible to them and the skills they will need for future employment.

Talks have included;

• Jade Lewin - Assistant Chemist at Structural Adhesive Ltd
• Jo Broadhurst - Veterinary Nurse
• Lucy Cutler - Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
• The Royal Air Force
• Claire Carter - Business owner of Precious Pieces Jewellery and Director/owner of Isla B Bridal
• Carla Boardman - HR Business Partner for Greencore, a food manufacturing company
• Rebecca Taylor - Solicitor for Crane and Walton

A big thank you to all of our volunteers as without you this wouldn't be possible.