Alderbrook Sixth Form

Some photos of our students having fun in the snow last week!

School is closed today from 12.20am, with the Year 13 Biology exam rearranged and will now take place Monday.

A Sixth Form snow man just had to be built!

Some photos from a photography trip to SE Davies. A great day was had by all. Love the hats folks!

I would like to take a moment to share my thoughts about our Italian adventures. What an amazing experience with all of this down to our fantastic students and my wonderful team of staff. It has been my absolute pleasure to experience Italy with superbly behaved, mature and most importantly fun and enthusiastic students.
You were all such endearing company with lots of memories made. So very proud of you all! A true and spirited example of ABK at it's best 👌
Enjoy the rest of your half term everyone.

This is Mrs Desjarlais, signing out!!

Slightly later ETA of just after midnight.

Last leg! All on the ground and heading for ABK
ETA : 11:45 at school 🚍

At Napoli Airport pre check in.
We're on our way back...

All on board about to depart. UK bound 😎

Today we climbed Vesuvius in thick cloud and some brightly coloured ponchos. The view was non existent but team ABK had their heads in the clouds.😀

Lunch on the rocks. Making the most of our last hour on the beach.

Stunning sunshine, sea views and our last few hours in Napoli.
Lunch on the beach before we start to make our way home.

Stunning sunshine, sea views and our last few hours in Napoli.
Lunch on the beach before we start to make our way home.

More photos from Pompei

Pompei day!!

What a day!!! All 49 of us braced and conquered the Mount Vesuvius with volcanic speed!
Followed by a top Italian lunch packed with Pizza 🍕just for a change!! We continued to the Herculaneum and just about to set off for our last night in Sorrento! Mama Mia!!!

Just arrived at Pompei. Lunch Fantastico!! Off to explore now !

Hanging out before our walk around Palatine

Brilliant day at the Colesseum yesterday!

Out and about on the streets of Rome. On our way to Vatican City

Alderbrook Sixth Form Cultural City Trip, Rome 2023.

Arrived at Vatican City. What an amazing place!

Some ice cream before the Pantheom today

Touchdown in Italy, everyone in good spirits. I am confident that our English Teacher leading the trip did not make the sign!

A great afternoon making some pancakes with the enrichment group... should have took better photos!

Looking forward to an early start for the Sixth Form trip to Italy tomorrow.
See everyone at 2am sharp!

Congratulations to Caitlin Smith who has just received an offer to study Materials Science at Mansfield College, Oxford!
We are so proud!

All of our thoughts and prayers are going out to those affected over in Kingshurst, Solihull today!

Some photos from our wonderful Culture Day today.

Applications are rolling in, with over 100 already. If you have not applied yet. the deadline is Friday 6 January. Get those applications in folks!

Last week Year 13 Geographers visited the home of Geography in Kensington, London. They attended lectures led by examiners, and authors of the textbooks used for their studies. The students can now used tips and tricks picked up today, in their exam responses later in the year. I big shout out to how they all kept their spirits high on such a long day that was finished off with a 2 hour train journey back to Solihull that had standing room only. Very proud of the Ambition, Bravery and Kindness exhibited by our ABK students today.

We are anticipating a large volume of cars for Sixth Form Open Evening tomorrow, if you are able to car share or walk this may help ease congestion!

We hope members of our school community had a great time celebrating the Festival of Diwali this week.

Calling our Alumni Students!
Have you considered a career in teaching and education?
Would you be interested in some hands-on Work Experience or on the job Training supporting learning in the classroom here at Alderbrook?
It could be the perfect way to decide whether teaching is for you, even if you have never thought of it before!
Contact Mr Stent - [email protected], if you would like to know more about what would be a paid opportunity for a year.

A lovely photo of some of Alderbrook's finest

A new segregated route into town centre which protects pedestrians, joggers and cyclists has been shortlisted for a national award.

A spokesperson for SMBC said: “The 3km Active Travel route along the to Solihull town centre, incorporating , uses Department for Transport funding which was made available in response to the reduction in car use during the pandemic.

“The innovative design balances the needs of users on the busy corridor by reallocating road space to create a segregated lane, with a physical barrier using wands and orcas, for cyclists, joggers and walkers. Space for the active travel route was created by removing central hatching and reducing lane widths, but no road lanes were lost in the creation of the route.”

Solihull Council’s Cabinet Member for Economy and Infrastructure, Cllr Ken Hawkins, said: “I’m really proud of this innovative new active travel route and I’m pleased that it has been shortlisted for the Active Travel Scheme of the Year Award at the national Highways Awards. While I acknowledge that some people don’t see the benefits of the scheme, I am starting to see more and more people using the new route to travel actively into the town centre.

“We have listened to the concerns expressed and will continue to monitor the use of the route. As a result, we have created more signage, additional lines and lane buffers and we have smoothed out the gradients by the bus stops. There are still a few more tweaks to be made over the next few of weeks but I think we are nearly there now.

“This is very much a pilot scheme for Solihull, but we need to be experimental if we are going to reduce the use of polluting motor vehicles on our roads and encourage clean air alternatives. The more people that can be encouraged to walk, cycle or jog the better for our air quality and of course the health of the people who make those changes. It is simply not sustainable to continue as we are with polluting vehicles using finite oil resources. We need to try new ways of travelling and this new route complements other pilot schemes across the borough, such as bicycles for hire, free and low cost cycle training, walking and cycling groups in order to meet our Net Zero Action Plan.

“Lastly, I would add that confident cyclists can still cycle in the road lanes. The new route is about offering a safe, segregated alternative for less experienced cyclists who would like to cycle safely but don’t currently have the confidence to cycle alongside cars driving at speed.”

The Active Travel Scheme of the Year Award takes place in London on 19 October.

To find out more about Solihull Council’s Net Zero Action Plan ➡️ https://netzerosolihull.co.uk/

For further information about cycle training and walking and cycling groups ➡️ https://solihullonthemove.co.uk/get-moving/

View Solihull Council’s Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan ➡️ https://www.solihull.gov.uk/About-the-Council/Cycling-walking-strategy

Pathways to Birmingham

The Pathways to Birmingham programme are now taking applications:

Pathways to Birmingham Pathways to Birmingham

Pathways to the Professions | Aston University

The deadline for the Aston Pathways programme is Friday 7th October.
More information can be found here:

Pathways to the Professions | Aston University Student Recruitment and OutreachPathways to the ProfessionsOur innovative Pathways to the Professions programmes have been designed to expand knowledge, develop skills, and give an insight into what university life is really like for those students with ambitions to study Healthcare, Business, Law o...

For more information about Pathways at Warwick University:
https://warwick.ac.uk/study/outreach/whatweoffer/post-16-programmes/wap/

We are looking forward to welcoming Year 12 students on Wednesday!
All the details for return to school have been emailed directly to students and parents. Please do contact us if you have not received these details.

All set for enrolment tomorrow.
Internal students: 9-12 (The Edge)
External students: 12-3 (The Edge)