Frequently Asked Questions

30th October 2020.

At present, this will not be possible. We have tried our best to provide a virtual tour and we hope that if allowed we can open the academy to parents and students from Y6 if government guidance allows it.

Mr Gibson is going to be available for a general Q&A session in June 2021. You can access this by asking your child's primary for Mr Gibson email address and join a GMEET online or by calling reception and asking for Mr Gibson to call you.

There are 3 separate dinner sittings of 30 minutes. All year 7 students have their lunch at 12:30. We use a cashless payment system where parents can add money via Ipay.

You will have 25 lessons per week. You will study English, maths, science, history, geography, Spanish or French, ICT, music, art, food, textiles, design and technology and PE.

It is probably much bigger than your primary school but it will very quickly feel like home. The building is an E shape with classrooms on 3 different floors. The PE block is separate to the rest of the school.

There are academic or creative enrichment clubs running every day. As well as catching-up on your studies you will also get the chance to play in sports teams, build robots, play board games, discuss football, carry out science experiments, code break, sing, dance or paint. The number and type of enrichments are controlled by the students - if you want to do something then we will try to make it possible.

There are 3 different options for your lunch. There is a sandwich bar, a snack bar (jacket potatoes, pasta, salad) and then a counter serving hot food. At break there are a range of snacks such as bacon sandwiches and paninis and before school, you could purchase breakfast if you wanted to.

There are just over 200 students in each year group from Year 7 to Year 11, with around 100 students in our sixth form.

The food and drinks for sale are all listed on menus around the restaurant. You will be given a four-digit PIN number that you will use to add money to your account using the payment machines in the restaurant. You don’t pay with cash at break and lunch, so will need to add any money before school.

SLT is the Senior Leadership Team who support the Principal in leading the Academy. These will be introduced to you during your first few days in Year 7.

You will have a tour of the building on your first day and can look where your classrooms will be. There are silver signs at the end of each corridor to direct students, so look out for these. If you need to know where a particular room is, just ask.

At present assemblies are via a web link into classrooms.

You will be shown how to evacuate in a fire drill. All students need to make their way to one of the astroturf pitches next to the sports hall. You will need to go into the court with either a G/1/2 on (depending whether your class is on the ground, first or second floor), then you line up quietly at the point in front of your classroom number.

Yes, you will have a number of different teachers. This is because each teacher is a specialist in the subject that they teach you.

You will spend 20 minutes per day in your tutor group. You will have a teacher and there will be students from year groups in your tutor group. Tutor groups are allocated randomly but there is usually someone you will know from your primary school. You will have some of your lessons with this group of students and stay in one classroom at present, this is took make sure you are a safe as possible in our Y7 bubble.

You will be given a timetable on your first day and your VMG teacher will explain it to you. You will be told when your break and lunch times are, so you can write these down. Your timetable will show your subject, teacher and room, so has everything that you need included.

The toilet should only be accessed at break and lunch times, there is a designated Y7 toilet in our zone within the academy. The First Aid room is for first aid emergencies only. Teaching staff will direct students on a discretionary basis.