Principal's Message

It has been an incredible term for so many reasons! The academic year has started very positively for our children and I am sure you will agree. The fact that over 60,000 positive behaviour points have been awarded this term alone is a testament to the tremendous effort our pupils are putting in to be the best versions of themselves.

This newsletter issue is your opportunity to find out more about your child(ren)’s learning and some of the notable highlights from the term. Below are just a few recent celebrations that deserve special recognition.

Year 5 Harvest Assembly

This term, Year 5 children performed a Harvest Assembly — and what a performance it was! The delivery of lines was exceptional and the singing was simply wonderful. It was a joy to watch and a real celebration of the children’s hard work. Thank you to all the parents for your support; the children loved sharing their efforts and achievements with you.

Sports Competitions

It has been a busy and successful term for sport. Selected pupils have represented the academy at several events, both locally and within the wider Leigh Academies Trust. At the Maidstone Football Tournament, our team reached the semi-finals and at the LAT Rugby Tournament, we proudly earned a bronze award.

We are incredibly proud of all the children who took part — not just for their results but for their outstanding attitudes and sportsmanship. In particular, our rugby team was praised for being very inclusive and welcoming to pupils from Leigh Academy Milestone, who also took part in the tournament.

PYP Mini Exhibitions

We have had some very successful PYP Mini Exhibitions this term. Thank you to all the parents who attended and took part in the sessions. There was such a wide range of engaging activities to showcase our learning journey.

Based on your feedback from previous years, we trialled scheduling the PYP exhibitions at different times to make it easier for parents with more than one child in the school to attend. We hope this change has made the experience even better for you.

OPAL

Thank you for your continued generosity with donations to our OPAL project. Please look out for more frequent updates from Mr. Humphrey about upcoming improvements and specific donation requests. These help us to ensure all play zones remain well-resourced and accessible for everyone.

Recent event

You will recall that I wrote to parents last Friday about reports of unknown males climbing and looking over our fence line. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of our schools despite the unnecessary concern that was cultivated through the media. I want to reiterate that no males were seen on our CCTV system nor were they seen when we did perimeter checks. As a matter of procedure, we have completed a security review of the school with the LAT's Deputy Director for Compliance and I can confirm that there are no recommendations to be made. This indicates that our systems and resources in place are robust enough to manage these situations and in line with statutory guidance.

Lost property

As you know, we often leave unnamed and unclaimed lost property on the table by the main doors at the end of every term. This pile of belongings becomes very big which can be easily avoided with items being properly named. We have had an incident where three labubu dolls were there and they have been picked up. Unfortunately, it seems that the child that they belong to saw them earlier in the day but when they went to collect them they had gone. It could very well be an honest mistake but can I ask that you check for any labubu dolls that have appeared at home that weren't there before! If you think that your child has inadvertently picked these dolls up when they don't belong to them, please can you return them to the main office.

On that note, we are seeing an influx of toys and unnecessary items being brought to school. These become a distraction to children and are at risk of causing disagreements that then take time away from staff helping children to learn. Children do not need to be bringing anything in other than a water bottle, reading book and lunch box if they are packed lunch. These items will need to be confiscated and will only be returned to an adult picking up at the end of the day.

All that is left to say is have a wonderful half term break and we look forward to welcoming you all back on Monday 3rd November.

Miss Brading