Nearly 5,000 children have been allocated a secondary school place in Sandwell.

A record number of parents and carers have received their first choice of secondary school place for their children and 89% of parents have been given one of their top three choices.

Councillor Simon Hackett, cabinet member for children's services visited the site where new secondary school, West Bromwich Collegiate Academy is being built. He said: "We have given nearly 5,000 school places to children and more parents than ever have received their first choice of secondary school.

"In Sandwell we are making sure that more school places are available including building new schools like West Bromwich Collegiate Academy, due to open in September."

West Bromwich Collegiate Academy will open its doors to its first 175 pupils in September.

George Faux will be the Principal at West Bromwich Collegiate Academy. He said: “It's really exciting to be opening a brand new school here and the community have been amazingly supportive.

"There are 175 notifications going out to families to tell them they will be the first at West Bromwich Collegiate Academy. What will really make this a school community is these families and the staff coming together in this great building when it is finished in September."

Parents and carers will receive email notifications about their offered school place if they have applied online or a letter will be posted if they used the paper application form.

A Wolverhampton school is taking “effective action” to move out of special measures, according to Ofsted.

Inspectors carried out a monitoring visit to Corpus Christi Catholic Primary Academy last term and noted a range of improvements which have taken place in recent months.

The Ashmore Park school became subject to special measures following an inspection in February 2018. Since then there have been a number of staffing changes at Corpus Christi which have helped to raise standards.

Julie Wardle, who became headteacher in September 2018, has "developed positive working relationships" with governors and staff, galvanising the school and making some “significant changes to begin to drive the necessary improvements across the school". This has led to some early improvements in some aspects of performance, including the quality of teaching and learning in Key Stage 1 and the teaching of phonics.

She and her deputy have a "very accurate understanding of the quality of teaching and learning" across the school and have developed a detailed monitoring programme to check on standards. The leadership team are "taking appropriate actions to address" weaknesses, with carefully targeted support programmes in place to help teachers improve their skills where necessary.

As a result, inspectors found "notable improvements" in the quality of teaching and learning in Key Stage 1, while the teaching of phonics "has developed rapidly". The leadership team have a "clear and realistic overview" of pupils' attainment and progress at Key Stage 2, and are using this information to target pupils who may have fallen behind in their learning to "ensure that they make accelerated progress to help them catch up".

Inspectors were full of praise for Corpus Christi's pupils, saying they demonstrate "very positive attitudes to learning" and are both eager to line and rise to the challenges presented to them. They are "well behaved" and show a "high level of respect to one another and all adults". Overall attendance has improved and is now in line with the national average.

Inspectors congratulated the school, part of the Pope John XXIII Catholic Multi Academy Company, for seeking support from a wide range of external advisers, saying they have "engaged particularly well" with the City of Wolverhampton Council "to utilise the expertise and support" of its staff to develop the quality of leadership, management and teaching. There has also been good support from the Multi Academy Company.

The inspectors found that the "comprehensive and cohesive support programmes that are in place are providing a strong platform for the school's leaders and governors to drive further improvements across the school to enable pupils' outcomes to improve".

They concluded that "leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures", and that both the school's improvement plan and the Trust's statement of action are fit for purpose.

Mrs Wardle said: "The positive feedback from the inspectors has been achieved as a result of all the hard work and commitment of the staff and the children at Corpus Christi, alongside the on-going support of our parents.

“We are delighted with the result and extremely pleased that it has been recognised that the school is moving in the right direction."

Councillor Lynne Moran, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said: "I would like to thank Mrs Wardle and her team, the governors and the parents and pupils at Corpus Christi for their hard work which is bringing about real improvements at their school.

"I would also like to highlight the excellent support being given to the academy members of the council's School Improvement Team, both through membership of its School Improvement Board and direct support from advisors who are working closely with the school's leadership team."

Next week (March4-9) is National Careers Week, which celebrates career guidance and opportunities. People choose their career direction based on various different factors, but a new test means that they can now do so based on their memory type.

The Memory Matrix, created by The Oxford Open Learning Trust, puts adults to the test to determine which type of memory is their biggest strength and the potential careers that would be best suited to an individual's certain type of memory.

The online tool was launched after the Trust's research revealed that nine out of ten Brits feel having a good memory is important for their jobs.

The survey of over 1,000 workers found that those that are self-employed and teachers are the professionals that rate the importance of memory most highly for their job.

The top five professions that rate memory as important for their job:

• Self-employed (100%)
• Teacher (100%)
• IT (99%)
• Accounts (97%)
• Operational (97%)

Spatial memory refers to how well you can retain information that’s presented to you in a very short space of time. For this particular memory type, the information is presented through sensory means, such as sight, smell, sound, touch and taste. Ruth Sparkes explains that the following career choices lend themselves well to good spatial memory skills; architect, builder, sculptor, fashion designer, film director, makeup artist, chef, surveyor, pilot, driver, mechanic or carpenter.

Short term memory jobs need individuals to be able to absorb information quickly and have rapid recall. Police officers, barristers, doctors, pilots, waiters, bartenders, journalists and MPs all typically possess these traits.

Those that have a strong long term memory are much better at recalling and remembering information from the past. Often people working in these careers will have to refer to previous cases, earlier studies and remember rules and laws. Those with these traits should considering entering professions such as a solicitor, doctor, engineer, scientist, architect, lawyer, data scientist or civil servant.

Dr Nick Smith, courses director and founder of Oxford Open Learning Trust, said: “The results suggest an overwhelming majority of UK workers view memory ability as being important to their professional lives. It’s a known fact that people are happier when doing something they are good at and our Memory Matrix tool focuses on matching the strengths of memory types with different professions.

“It’s never too late to learn new skills or consider a career change and our memory tool gives people an idea of what they might be suited to if they’re thinking about a new challenge.”

To use the Memory Matrix tool login to: https://www.ool.co.uk/the-memory-matrix/

Birmingham City University student Ryan Webb was crowned national high-jump champion at the British Universities and College Sport (BUCS) national athletics finals.

Ryan, whose personal best is 2.2 metres, completed an impressive 2.14 metres at the finals to claim the title.

BUCS runs weekly leagues and competitions for group and some individual sports, as well as organising championship events for individual sports including athletics and swimming.

Part of the University’s sports scholarship programme, Ryan is also in his second-year studying a Sports Therapy degree.

The scholarship aims to support students to continue competing at an elite level in their chosen sport whilst also completing a degree.

Mark Jeffreys, Director of Sport and Physical Activity at Birmingham City University, said: “The level of competition at BUCS national championships is incredibly high, so for Ryan to come away with a gold – as national champion – is a fantastic achievement. We are all really proud of Ryan here at the University.”

Ryan previously scooped a bronze medal at his first BUCS outdoor championships.

Speaking about his success, he said: “I'm very pleased with the height I cleared as the indoor season started off below where I wanted to be as I was recovering from a hamstring injury, so to end it as BUCS national champion I can’t really complain.

The competition was filled with athletes I compete against on a regular basis, with two of them being training partners, so to have that friendly rivalry between us all made the competition all the more enjoyable. It’s a great achievement to end the indoor season with and a good motivator to get back to training and put in the hard work to have a really good outdoor season in 2019.”

Holyhead School, in Handsworth, was recently visited by the Power of Muzik – an innovative programme created to empower and inspire young people through music education - for a musical masterclass with new educational book “If You Can Speak, You Can Sing’, written by celebrity vocal coach CeCe Sammy.

Leading the show was Asher Knight, a rising music star, and original member of the Power of Muzik collective, who experienced physical and emotional bullying first hand, as well as former X Factor contestant, Luena Martinez. At the school, the duo hosted a masterclass of the educational self-help book, ‘If You Can Speak, You Can Sing’ which uses music uses music therapy techniques to help young people overcome societal pressures and challenges.

As well as offering vocal tips and tricks, ‘If You Can Speak, You Can Sing’ features the real-life stories of Asher Knight and Luena Martinez, with the pair offering first hand advice on how music helped them to overcome adversity.

‘If You Can Speak You Can Sing’, draws upon CeCe Sammy’s professional life as a vocal and motivational coach and her personal life as a survivor of a brain aneurysm, which left her unable to speak or breath independently. CeCe believes music played a vital role in her recovery as, whilst recuperating in the hospital, she saw a direct correlation between music and an increase in her mental and physical stimulation.

On the launch of ‘If You Can Sing, You Can Speak,’ CeCe comments, “I hope that my new book will encourage young people to use music to help them face issues such as anxiety head on.”

CeCe adds, “With mental health and bullying common issues for today’s young people, the Power of Muzik actively seeks to encourage open conversation about these topics so they don’t feel along, in turn building confidence amongst the nation’s youth. The Power of Muzik collective, including Asher and Luena, are inspiring, brave young people and I’m extremely proud to have them on the tour. You can really sense that the students walk away from the concerts with a more positive and optimistic outlook and energy”. 

‘If You Can Speak, You Can Sing’ will be available to buy on Amazon and in a number of retailers and will be given to every state school visited in 2019.

The Power of Muzik is touring with Boyzone.

For more information about CeCe Sammy, the Power of Muzik and ‘If You Can Speak, You Can Sing’ visit: http://www.powerofmuzik.com/wp/ 

The Secretary of State for Education has praised a Wolverhampton school for outstanding performance at Key Stage 2.

The Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP, along with Minister of State for School Standards Nick Gibb MP, wrote to SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary Academy School Headteacher Jenny Byrne after the school was ranked one of best in England for the progress made by children between Key Stages 1 and 2.

Pupils recorded progress scores of 4.4, 3.3 and 5.0 in English, writing and mathematics respectively, putting the Hordern Close school among the top 3% of schools in the country in terms of progress from Key Stage 1 to 2.

They wrote: "We would like to congratulate you, your staff and your pupils on the very high level of progress that pupils demonstrated in the reading, writing and mathematics Key Stage 2 assessments last year.

We want to equip every child with the fluency in reading, writing and mathematics necessary to prepare them for a successful secondary education and beyond, and your school has provided this.

Thank you for producing such high standards through your hard work and professionalism, and congratulations again to you and your staff for all you have achieved."

Mrs Byrne said: "I am very proud of this statistic; our pupils have excelled themselves in reading, writing and mathematics. For our children, staff and parents, it’s good recognition for their dedication and hard work.”

Councillor Lynne Moran, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said: "We are determined to further raise standards of education for children and young people in Wolverhampton, and for more schools to achieve fantastic results like this.

It is great to see the efforts of teachers, pupils and parents at SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary Academy recognised by the Secretary of State for Education in this way, and I would like to congratulate the children on their outstanding progress between Key Stages 1 and 2."