2. Vouchers are available from the office for £2 which will enable you to get a child ticket for Aston Villa home matches for free. Adult prices vary depending on the fixture but you will receive a discounted price for taking part in the tickets for schools scheme. For full details please visit – http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/TicketsForSchoolsIntro http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/TicketsForSchoolsIntro

3. The Albion Foundation The Albion Foundation provide weekly football training for any children who want to develop their skills – http://thealbionfoundation.co.uk/?page_id=13590 http://thealbionfoundation.co.uk/?page_id=13590 They also provide holiday camps – http://thealbionfoundation.co.uk/?page_id=23686 http://thealbionfoundation.co.uk/?page_id=23686

4. This year we will be working with the Wasps Community team to try and provide an opportunity for our children to get involved in rugby. On Friday 26 th February Hannah Haywood from the Wasps Community visited our school to hold an assembly where she provided our children with lots of information about rugby and the Wasps Team. Later in the year the Wasps community team will be back to work with our children- providing rugby coaching sessions and enabling some of our children the opportunity to have a tour of the Ricoh Arena. If you are interested in watching the Wasps Rugby team play then please visit - http://www.wasps.co.uk/homehttp://www.wasps.co.uk/home

5. Thursday 25 th February Matchday Squad- Kyrees, Annice, Tenayha, Maddie J, Imogen, Ashton, Jowell, Darby, Tobias and Kalid. Perfect performance as Great Barr dominate. Great Barr expected a difficult game against Dorrington whom we knew from our previous encounter would be a strong, physical team – capable of playing a dangerous, attacking style of netball. This is exactly what we came up against. Dorrington, again, were very physical. However, from start to finish Great Barr dominated the match. Great Barr were extremely fluent and accurate with their passing and had the greater share of possession. A mixture of fantastic movement and precise passing also ensured that we kept creating numerous chances for our GA and GS throughout the game. Add to this some brilliant anticipation in defence and clinical finishing and you can see why it was almost a perfect performance from the team. Overall Great Barr created around 14 shooting opportunities which is a great achievement in itself but to score 9 of them shows just how accurate the team’s shooting was. What is perhaps even more impressive is the fact that the points were shared- with Tobias scoring one, Ashton two, Jowell four and Kalid (who made a very impressive debut) scoring two. The determination, desire, effort and teamwork were all fantastic to watch. Imogen and Maddie also deserve a special mention as both of them performed incredibly against what were arguably Dorrington’s two best players. Both girl’s seemed extremely determined to make sure they were assertive and won their personal battle. With two league fixtures left to go, the team have put themselves in a fantastic position. Lets make sure it continues. Player of the match - IMOGEN Jowellx4, Tobiasx1, Kalidx2, Ashtonx2.

6. Thursday 3 rd March Matchday Squad- Kyrees, Annice, Tenayha, Maddie J, Imogen, Jowell, Darby, Tobias and Kalid. Emphatic victory for Great Barr. Immediately after our 2-2 draw with Glenmead in our home tie of this fixture, there was a lot of frustration and disappointment from the Great Barr team. We felt that we should have beaten them at home and that drawing that match was a missed opportunity for us. So we came in to this game, expecting a tough match, but also with a great sense of determination and a desire to put right that result from earlier in the season. 1 st Half - Within the first 20 seconds Tobias and Jowells movement, speed and accurate passing caused Glenmead problems and Tobias put us in to the lead. This was a sign of things to come. The Work ethic, movement, decision making and passing were all immaculate from the Great Barr team and we spent the first half camped in the Glenmead defensive third; creating chance after chance. Team work and passing was a must as we came up against a very tall GK who made it difficult to shoot. Tobias and Jowell (and Kalid when he came on) did really well to keep passing the ball around the GK to whichever team mate was in a better position to shoot. Our attacking players were backed up by great defensive play from the rest of the team with Imogen, Annice, Darby, and Maddie all working tirelessly and making vital interceptions; not letting Glenmead escape from their own defensive third. The slight negatives from the first half were that – 1) we could have given ourselves a bigger half time lead had our shooting been a little more accurate. 2) A sloppy pass out from our defensive third gifted Glenmead possession and they capitalised; scoring a goal just before half time. It seemed as if we may have let Glenmead back in to the game. Jowellx4, Tobiasx3, Kalidx2.

7. 2 nd Half - Glenmead grew in to the game a little more in the second half. However, it was Great Barr who again made the perfect start- scoring within seconds of the re- start. More movement, tenacious defending and precise passing meant that, again, Great Barr were creating lots of shooting opportunities, and with Tobias, Kalid and Jowell we had three very confident, accurate shooters who were able to capitalise and increase our lead. Those three players eventually went on to score 9 goals between them (4 for Jowell, 3 for Tobias and 2 for Kalid). Kyrees was kept a little busier this half as Glenmead did have more of an attacking threat, however, he read the game very well and numerous interceptions to ensure that he stopped any Glenmead attacks before they could cause us any harm. Overall, a fantastic performance from every member of the team. An immaculate display of team work, and skill level to help contribute to such an emphatic victory. We now have one game to go in the netball league – the challenge for the players is – 1) Can we win at Perry Beeches and therefore win the league (for a second year in a row)? 2) Can we go a whole season unbeaten? Time will tell. Player of the match – JOWELL Jowellx4, Tobiasx3, Kalidx2.

8. Thursday 17th rd March Matchday Squad- Kyrees, Annice, Tenayha, Maddie J, Imogen, Jowell, Darby, Tobias, Kalid, Brodi and Tiera. Great Barr’s impressive unbeaten record comes to an end. Perry Beeches had improved a lot since our first encounter earlier in the year and unfortunately for ourselves, took control of the game early on. Perry Beeches were doing to us what we have been doing to other teams throughout the league campaign- attacking with pace. Unfortunately, we could not get our game going and could barely escape our defensive third. Having set such a high level of consistent performance throughout the season, it was very disappointing that our performance (in particular our passing a catching) did not reach anywhere near that same level today. It was a very disappointing and frustrating performance from the team. Perry Beeches had the better of the first half, dominating possession and chances – however at that point their shooting was not quite at its best and so we managed to somehow take a 1-0 lead in to the half time interval. Credit to Jowell as he managed to take the one shooting chance that we created in the first half. I had hoped that the second half would see a huge improvement from our team and that the first half was just a little “rustiness” but unfortunately today was not our day. The passing and catching did not improve. Unfortunately for us, one thing that did improve in the second half was Perry Beeches’ shooting accuracy- they were finally making their possession count and scored 4 quick points. At this point Great Barr were very disheartened- there was a lot of disappointment and frustration within the team but we did manage to get a consolation goal late on- Kalid adding his name to the scoresheet. Credit to Perry Beeches they were fantastic today and deserved to win. Unfortunately Great Barr could not quite maintain the impressive level of performance that they had been managing through the previous seven matches. A disappointing end to the league campaign but it is important for the children to remember just how well they have performed across the year and how much they have developed their skills since October. They have been fantastic all season. We will have to wait and see where this result leaves us with regards to our final league position. Man of the match – Tobias. Jowellx1, Kalidx1.

9. Great Barr (League 3 champions last year) were again placed in to League 3 for the 2015/16 season.

10. Our first fixture of the new season was against St.Marys. Our match day squad for this fixture included – Jack, Ashton, Jowell, Kalid, Rilley, Kyrees, Owen, Lewis and Darnte. Great Barr made a good start to the game and were impressively trying to keep possession and pass the ball around on what was an extremely uneven playing surface. However, it was Jack who made the first save of the game (a massively important save) as he saved well from a St.Marys corner. After that scare, Great Barr started to stamp their authority on to the match and it was Great Barr who were creating the majority of the chances – the St.Marys keeper was forced to make a few good saves during the match. Midway through the first half, Kalid finished off what was a great team goal; the build up was fantastic. Jowell won the ball in midfield, played it wide to riley who then played a first time cross in to the box where Kalid managed to calmly slot the ball past the keeper on the volley. Shortly after Kalid added a second goal giving us a comfortable looking two goal lead. In the second half we did not have the same tempo, intensity or work rate and we conceded a goal. Overall, a good performance and a good start to our league campaign with the three points. What was very imp[ressive in the first half in particular was the team’s style of play. It was great to see them playing with confidence and trying to pass and move. Furthermore, several players were often able to hold the ball up, protecting it against a defender and then laying off (or setting) one of our team mates (so we were ‘playing the way we are facing’ rather than turning in to trouble) something we have practiced a lot in training. MOTM - Kalid

11. Our match day squad for this fixture included – Jack, Ashton, Jowell, Kalid, Rilley, Kyrees, Owen, Lewis and Darnte. Our second match of the season was against Prince Albert. Again Great Barr started the game well. Kalid, Rilley, Lewis and Jowell in particular all looked very comfortable on the ball and tried to pass and move. The front 4 of our team, constantly looked dangerous and created openings. At the same time, Owen and Kyrees were defending well, making some great tackles and interceptions. Kalid and Rilley both scored in this game to give us a two goal lead. Unfortunately again in the second half we let our standards slip a little and we conceded a goal (luckily it was no more than a consolation goal for Prince Albert). MOTM – Jowell

12. Our match day squad for this fixture included – Jack, Ashton, Jowell, Kalid, Rilley, Kyrees, Owen, Lewis and Darnte. Heathfield were our opponents in our third league match. Against St.Marys we scored a fantastic team goal, but the goal that won us this game (a goal worthy of winning any game at any level) was a 20 yard, top-corner strike from Lewis. Again, the team played well, looked to pass and move and get the ball wide as often as possible. They also all worked very hard. A clean sheet and a third win in 3 games – a great start to our league campaign with 9 points from three games. MOTM – Lewis

13. Our match day squad for this fixture included – Ashton, Jowell, Kalid, Kyrees, Owen, Lewis and Darnte. Earlier in the year Twickenham had beaten Great Barr 6-1 in a cup final. Therefore we knew that this was going to be a very difficult game. I can not praise our team enough for their performance during this match. They did everything they were asked to do. On a very uneven playing surface they still managed to play some good passing football but the most impressive part of the performance was the industrious effort the entire team put in. Every single player gave 100% and the team were extremely committed in their closing-down and tackling. The first half saw us dominate possession and due to our tireless work- Twickenham struggled to escape from their own half. Lewis scored a good goal and gave us a thoroughly-deserved 1-0 lead at half time. We were still wary, thoughg, that Twickenham had some talented players who could easily turn the game around for them and so 1-0 was a very tense scoreline. In the second half, Ashton was forced to make a good save, but again, it was Great Barr who enjoyed the majority of possession and finally Lewis managed to score from a seemingly impossible angle, giving us a much more comfortable 2-0 lead. The commitment and determination on show from the Great Barr team was fantastic to watch. MOTM – Lewis

14. Our match day squad for this fixture included – Jack, Jowell, Kalid, Kyrees, Rilley, Owen, Lewis and Darnte. Goals from Kalid, Jowell and Lewis seal a comfortable victory for Great Barr in a good display where the team played some fantastic football. In our final league match Great Barr won 2-0 with goals from Jowell and Darnte. This win secured our 100% record in the league- we finished our league season with an amazing record of ‘Played 6. Won 6’. Well done to the team on a brilliant league campaign.

15. Tuesday 15 th March – Squad – Jack, Owen, Kyrees, Nathan, Darnte, Lewis, Rilley, Kalid, Travis. Q3 Academy generously let us use their facilities for our second round match in the George Waterfall 9 a-side cup competition against Wilkes Green. 9a-side football on a large, immaculately flat playing surface was a new concept for our children as it is the first time we have played this format of football and first time we have played on a large astro-turf pitch. It took a whuile for both teams to settle in to the game. The first half saw Great Barr enjoy the majority of possession but without creating too manty clear cut chances- Wilkes Green worked very hard and were difficult to break down. Even on a large pitch there didn’t seem to be much space for the person on the ball. Rilley showed glimpses of good footwork but Kalid was a little isolated upfront. We tried to express the importance of getting the ball wide. In the second half Wilkes Green grew in to the game and created a few chances with Jack making two good saves. Again Great Barr were still playing good football but without creating clear chances- both teams were working very hard defensively- perhaps both being cautious due to the knockout format of cup football. 0-0 at Fulltime meant we went to a 5 minute extra time period. Extra time saw more of the same- both teams proving to be difficult to break down but both keepers making a couple of good saves from long-range efforts. With full-time and penalties approaching Kalid created a yard of space for himself and shot- the Wilkes Green keeper made a good save- tipping the ball on to the post. From this rebound there were a few ricochets in the penalty area until finally the goalkeeper managed to get to the ball and kick it clear. However, on his way from the floor back up on to his feet the ball hit Kalid and rebounded back towards the goal, and in to the bottom corner. With seconds left Great Barr had clinched the winning goal and ensured their safe passage through to the next round. Admittedly it was a very fortuitous goal but, especially in cup football, you would accept any goal that comes your way if it means proceeding to the next round. I would like to point out that Wilkes Green played very well and were very unfortunate to concede such a strange goal and so I do feel for them but overall, Great Barr probably slightly edged the game and deserved to go through.

16. Perry Beeches The Academy work with us throughout the year and often invite us to take part in inter-school competitions. This half term they invited year 3 / 4 to take part in football and benchball.

17. Benchball- In benchball we entered two teams (a year 3 team and a year 4 team)- Year 3 – Nikki, Judith, Rayyan, Mihir, Mohammed, Mea. Year 4 – Abigail, Millie, Ishmael, Libby, Shylah, Shola, Harsimran. The year 4 team finished in 4 th place and the year 3 team finished in 3 rd place.

18. Football – For football we decided to take 3 teams (two teams of year 4 children and one team with only year 3 chidren). Year 3 (Team 2) – Dante H, Dante P, Kamron, Hadi, Kairo. Year 4 – (Team 1)- Marley, Harvey, Jahdean, Luca, Ryan. Year 4 – (Team 3) – Dante, Kyreese, Freddie, Evie, Levi. Results – GB1 -Played 4 Won 0Drew 0 Lost 4(4 th Place) GB2- Played 4Won 2Drew 1Lost 1(3 rd Place) GB3- Played 4Won 2Drew 2Lost 0(1 st Place) Congratulations to our Year 3 football team on winning this football competition.

19. On Friday 18 th March we were invited to take part in a sports celebration/competition event. The oasis academy family of schools were kind enough to invite us along to take part in their event at the Doug Ellis Sports Centre at the BCU. The event was organised by a company called Fit4Schools. Our team for the day was made up of – Jowell (6) Kalid (6) Darby (6) Lewis (5) Tiera (5) Niamh (5) Evie (4) Dante (4) Marley (4) Libby (4). Unfortunately we had a depleted squad of ten (we were supposed to be taking 12 children to the event).

20. Morning Activities – The morning competition involved the children taking part in 4 fitness tests that have been designed by the Fit4Schools company to help improve and monitor children’s fitness levels within school. For more information on this feel free to visit their website - http://www.fit4schools.co.uk/. Activity 1 – Distance Covered – This activity was basically a shuttle run between two cones for 60 seconds. Niamh was our highest scorer in this activity with 19. Activity 2 – Get up’s – This activity involved children performing sit ups and then standing up straight repeatedly for 60 seconds. Tiera was our highest scorer with 21. Activity 3 – Hoop Jump – This was similar to our speed bounce activity in school; jumping over an obstacle as many times as possible in 60 seconds. Tiera top scored for us with 78. Activity 4- Step ups- This activity involved stepping on to and off from a bench as many times as possible. Kalid was our highest scorer with 63. After the morning activities we were in 3 rd place (out of seven schools). Kalid received a medal from our Fit4schools representative for being the “hardest working member of the group so far”. (Well-deserved considering he, and lewis, had to do every activity twice). Marley was our top scorer from year 4 in the fitness activities with a combined score of 158. Kalid top scoredout of our year 5 and 6 children with a combined score of 178 from the 4 activities.http://www.fit4schools.co.uk/

21. Afternoon Activities – In the afternoon the year 4 children were split from the year 5/6 children to form two separate teams. Each team then took part in a benchball and dodgeball competition. Here were their results – Year 4 – Benchball – Played 3 WON 2 LOST 1 Dodgeball – Played 2WON 1LOST 1 Year 5/6-Benchball – Played 2WON 2 Dodgeball – Played 4WON 3LOST 1 Overall in the afternoon our school took part in 11 matches and won 8 of them. So results time – Great Barr Primary School finished in SECOND place (out of seven schools). Well done to all of the children involved. Our children all behaved immaculately and performed fantastically. Well done. Evie also received a ‘Well Done’ medal for her personal efforts/achievements throughout the day.