A group of students from The Avon Valley School and Performing Arts College have recently learnt vital lifesaving skills as part of their ‘Health and Social Care’ course.

The training was delivered to over forty Year 10 students, who study Health and Social Care, by Rugby’s Community First Responders, who work in partnership with the West Midlands Ambulance Service. During the training the students learnt how to operate a defibrillator, place a casualty in the recovery position and how to perform CPR.

One of the volunteers who gave his time to train the school students was ex-AVS student Jake Walker who is now a trainee paramedic working with West Midlands Ambulance Service. Jake was joined by Linda from Rugby Community First Responders who are trained by West Midlands Ambulance Service to a nationally recognised level to provide lifesaving treatment to people in the local community.

Community First Responders attend, in their own time and without pay, emergency 999 calls in both urban and rural areas. CFR schemes are financially self-supporting and although the Ambulance Service will provide all necessary support, training and consumables, CFRs must raise funds for their uniform, equipment and vehicles.

Assistant Headteacher, Laura Bindley, who teaches health and social care, said, “It is really important that our students get hands on experience which they can relate to the course. It was a pleasure to see the students so focused on learning these lifesaving skills”. 

Alison Davies, Headteacher, said “It was a pleasure to welcome Jake back to the school; it is always nice to see former students doing well and making progress in their career, and I am glad Jake and Linda were able to share their lifesaving knowledge with our year 10 students.”

According to the British Heart Foundation website there are, across the UK, over 30,000 cardiac arrests outside of hospital every year, but the survival rate is less than 1 in 10.

We look forward to welcoming prospective students and their families to our Open Evening which will take place on Thursday 19 September, 6.30pm - 8.30pm.

During the evening their will be opportunity to hear from the headteacher, tour the school and meet our wonderful students and staff.

If any of our guests have access requirements please contact us before the event so we can make arrangements to ensure you enjoy visiting us. 

If you know someone with a child in Year 6 we'd be grateful if you could let them know about this event. 

In order to support our Year 11 students with their revision and exam preparations we have re-launched our ‘GCSE Revision Schedule’ for the new academic year. Previously, many of our students have regularly engaged with, and have benefited from, the sessions offered by each subject area. Often regular attendance at the sessions is the key to success.

Where possible please support and encourage your child to engage with revision activities both at school and at home. If you have any queries, please contact your child’s subject teacher or Achievement Leader. 

To download the schedule click here

Our Inclusion Team would like to invite parents and carers, of students in any year group, to a workshop which will give advice, support and suggest strategies for dealing with mental health issues.

As many as 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health issue at some point in their life. Young people can often have concerns about a range of issues such as coping with stress, school and exams, body image, friendships and identity and can find it difficult to cope.  For parents and carers supporting a young person with their mental health can be complex and causes worry for the parent.

If you would like to find out more you are welcome to join us for an informative workshop where we will look at ‘The 5 Ways to Wellbeing’, ‘The Teenage Brain and How to Understand it’, along with strategies for supporting your child and how to cope with exam stress.

It has been wonderful to welcome all our students back to school this week following the summer break, and we look forward to working with them, and you, throughout the 2019/2020 academic year.

Unfortunately, during the first week back we have had contact from a number of local residents about incidents of inconsiderate and, at times, unsafe parking on the residential roads near the school during drop off and pick up times. Whilst we appreciate this will not apply to the majority of parents and carers, we ask to you consider the following.

Where possible we recommend that students walk, use a bike or a school bus to get to/from school. Car sharing can also help to reduce the volume of traffic at these times of day. If using a car is essential to get your child to school we ask that you park safely and are mindful of the people who live nearby. To help ease congestion you may consider dropping your child off slightly further away, allowing them to walk the last stretch of their journey.

If your child does walk please take a few minutes to remind them about road safety strategies such as sticking to paths and using designated crossing points. If your child travels to school on a bike we recommend that the bike has working lights, that a safety helmet is worn, and that the bike is secured with a strong lock throughout the day.

Ultimately, keeping students safe is our first priority. Please work with us and, bearing in mind the dangers vehicles present, if you do use a car to transport your child to school, please be considerate of others as you complete the school run.

We thank you for your support in this matter. 

During the evening on Thursday 4th July, The Avon Valley School and Performing Arts College held its annual awards evening which celebrated the success, and hard work, of well over 100 high achieving students.   

During the well-attended event, the school’s highest achieving students were presented with an award recognising their hard work, commitment and academic success. Each of the school’s faculties and subject areas nominated two students from each year group to receive a subject award. The subject areas also selected one students, from any year group, to receive the overall subject award.

In addition, one high achieving student from each of the school’s Houses was selected by their Achievement Leader for an award. The outstanding students of the year were Shreya Rana – Apollo, Aisha Bacon – Fortune, Natalia Wojcik – Garrick and Maisie Lloyd– Phoenix. Year 10, Garrick House, student Sam Newberry was selected by the school’s headteacher for a special award.

The students sat in front of proud parents, carers and family members, were presented with a medal by TEDx speaker coach Minnie von Mallinckrodt-Grant, and received a certificate from the school’s headteacher Alison Davies.

This year’s guest speaker, Minnie von Mallinckrodt-Grant, is a TEDx speaker coach who has helped both novice and experienced speakers turn their big idea into a concise, punchy, TED-worthy talks which are delivered to large audiences with authentic confidence.

Achievement Leader Carole Labreize, who organised the awards evening’ said, “It is always a pleasure to organise the school’s awards evening and to see our hard working, high achieving, students receive their medals and certificates. They have all worked hard throughout the year and it is nice to celebrate their success.”

Alison Davies, Headteacher commented “It was wonderful to welcome so many parents and carers to our school. Our students benefit greatly from the support they receive from their teacher and their parents which enables them to achieve and to enjoy success. I am also very grateful to Minnie who spoke to the students about breaking down barriers and having the right attitude for success.”

Guest speaker, Minnie, said “It was an honour to be invited to speak and present awards at The Avon Valley School’s awards evening. The students who received their awards and those who performed were a real credit to the school and their families. While at the school I heard all about the range of performing arts opportunities given to the students; from my own experience I know how much these can benefit young people and enhance their confidence.”