Parent Updates

This week’s focus has been ‘Determination’. Through our pastoral curriculum, pupils have been encouraged to continue trying their best despite adversity or setbacks.

Over the coming weeks, we shall be celebrating the determination many of our pupils have shown, through their commitment to their end of year assessments, their fundraising efforts, and the hard work put into this year’s production: Beauty and the Beast.  At our Autumn Awards Evening next week, we will reward those pupils who have been determined to achieve – both academically and personally – throughout the autumn term.

I look forward to sharing details of more exciting end of term events in next week’s update.

Mr Cole, Principal

A reminder that school is closed to pupils on Friday 5th December for staff training. All pupils are expected to return to school when gates open at 8.10am on Monday 8th December.

The Academy’s production of Beauty and the Beast will be performed on Wednesday 17th December at 5.00pm. Please join us there to celebrate our talented cast and crew. Tickets are now available through iPay at a cost of £1 for children and £2 for adults.

This week saw the launch of our exciting work experience programme in collaboration with Learn to Work. Every Year 10 pupil has the opportunity to complete one week’s work experience in April 2026. Information packs were shared with Year 10 pupils on Thursday 4th December and included a form to complete and return by Wednesday 4th February. Please read through the pack with your child and if you have any questions, please contact either Ark Boulton’s Careers team or the Learn to Work team on 0121 446 2781.

On Tuesday 2nd December, a group of our Year 9 ‘Envision’ pupils hosted a cake sale to raise money in support of Young Minds.  We are proud to announce that our pupils raised £123 from their cake sale. This donation will help the charity to continue their work with young people who need vital support with their mental health and wellbeing. Thank you for your generosity.

We are thrilled to share with you the newly created Birmingham Parent and Student Labour Market Information guide, which can be downloaded from the link below.

The guide includes the growth sectors for the West Midlands Combined Authority region:

• Digital, Technology and Creative
• Health and Medical Devices
• Clean Tech and Smart Energy
• Advanced Engineering
• Construction
• Green Tech

 Within each sector you will find:

• an industry overview,
• a range of entry, intermediate and advanced level job highlighting typical salaries for the roles and skills needed for each corresponding level
• subjects to consider when studying at school relevant to the sector
• the top 10 employers hiring in Birmingham.

Alongside this, the guide also contains useful ‘What’s Next’ tips and links that you can visit as you support your child in their future choices.

Our annual food bank collection continues, and we encourage pupils and parents to donate non-perishable food items until collections close on Friday 9th December. All items collected will be shared with local charities (Birmingham City Mission and Narthex) for distribution across the local community. Thank you in advance for your support.

• School is closed to pupils for staff training on Friday 5th December.
• Autumn Awards Evening will be held on Thursday 11th December.
• Ark Boulton Academy’s production of Beauty and the Beast will be performed on Wednesday 17th December.

Please click here to see our full Calendar, and here for Term Dates.