Principal's Welcome Letter

Dear Parents and carers

Firstly, welcome to Outwood Academy Easingwold’s “Virtual Open Evening”!

I am sorry that we are unable to welcome you into the Academy to experience first-hand the fantastic work that happens here. I hope that you find all of the information in this website useful and that after reading this you and your child decide to apply to join us in September 2021.

I am sure that all of the children in Year 6 are very disappointed at missing out on visiting us in person and being able to meet our fantastic students and staff in person. We certainly live in very different times.

In this letter I would like to give you a flavour of what learning is like at our happy, community school.

Our knowledge-rich curriculum supports students' success. Our broad and balanced curriculum covers a wide range of subjects in Years 7, 8 and 9. During Year 9 students are guided as they select their GCSE courses and we have a flexible and personalised Key Stage 4 curriculum in years 9 and 10. Our team of experienced staff support students as they consider their options for GCSE and we also offer personalised careers advice. During times when there is no pandemic we offer a number of after school enrichment programmes to support with learning and a whole range of other activities such as music, drama, sport and the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme. In addition we have a welcoming and highly successful Sixth Form and our Post 16 students play an important role in developing our strong sense of community.

The table below shows the number of hours your child will study each of the subjects offered in Years 7, 8 and 9:

We always strive for teaching excellence as raising achievement first and foremost rests in what students achieve in the classroom. We have very effective monitoring and assessment called Praising Stars©. These reports are issued to students to take home every half term and for Years 7, 8 and 9 give a target grade, a progress assessment against Age Related Expectations, an effort grade & homework concern. For Years 10, 11 and at Post 16 the report gives a predicted grade, effort grade and indicates whether there are any concerns around homework.

There is a relentless focus on the five pillars of effective learning. These are sharing the learning intentions, to ensure students know what they are learning and why. This is followed by recapping and recalling previous learning to ensure students have understood and learnt the material from previous lessons. The teacher will then model the new learning and students will then practise this. The final aspect of good learning is the feedback students receive from their teacher and that they act upon this feedback to progress their learning.

Our behaviour policy focuses on three areas, to be safe, to be respectful and to be responsible. At this unprecedented time there has never been more need for everyone to be safe, respectful and responsible. We teach students these skills through a programme called Academy Conduct and Expectations, more widely known as the ACE programme. We know that some students’ conduct and expectations will be exemplary but some students need more support to achieve this.

Whilst at the Academy, students will be able to participate in a wide range of enrichment activities, they will graduate at the end of Y9, they will have the opportunity to go on a residential trip and in normal times we run a variety of trips both in this country and abroad.

I very much hope that you enjoy the virtual tour and decide for your child to join us in September 2021.

Yours Faithfully

Laura Eddery

Principal