Embedded Files
The Leigh Academy
The Leigh Academy
IB Exam Results 2022
IB Exam Results 2022
Undoubtedly, the Year 13 cohort of students that has just completed its Post-16 journey at The Leigh Academy has faced unprecedented disruption over the last three years. Schools closed in March 2020 and that cohort were unable to sit their GCSE examinations. They then went on to experience more school closures and other limitations during the pandemic.
However, they have proved themselves to be an extraordinary cohort of young people, who have adapted exceptionally well to the demands of remote learning and have, in many ways, benefitted from how different their Post-16 journey has been to previous cohorts’ experiences. They have become the most resilient, adaptably work-ready and best prepared generation of future university students to have passed through the academy. We are proud that 75% of them intend to go to university this autumn and know that they are ‘university ready’.
This was proved when they collected their IB results on 6th July and discovered that they had achieved the best IB results the academy has had since it was authorised as an IB World School in 2017. In that five year period, the Average Points Score of our IB students has risen by 10, so that our 32.6 APS now places us well above the LAT average, second in the Trust and above the global average. For this to have been achieved by a cohort who had never taken public examinations until they faced their IB exams in May is extraordinary.
No end of praise must be heaped on our Year 13 IB students for the way they have accounted for themselves but grateful thanks must also be extended to their parents and carers and huge recognition must be given to the determination shown by staff that this generation of young people in our care would not be written off as either a forgotten generation or simply as ‘The Covid Kids’. It is this triangular approach that means that our Post-16 provision continues to go from strength to strength and gives us confidence as we anticipate A level and BTEC results in August.
Reward Trips and Activity Days
We are delighted to have been able once again to offer all of our students the opportunity to attend reward trips or activity days at The Leigh Academy.
Students were able to select their choice from a wide range of activities, including a day at Thorpe Park, Flipout, Gravity, the cinema, Ninja Warrior, panic rooms, Adventure Island, Mote Park and on site activities. Students were risk takers, trying out new challenges reaching the top of the climbing wall or supporting each other to reach the top of ‘The Wall’ at Ninja Warrior. Students across Years 7 to 12 were open-minded to try out new activities, working in different groups as well as needing to be good communicators, particularly in the panic rooms in order to solve the puzzle to escape before the time ran out!
After several years, with limited experiences available for such activities due to restrictions, a massive thank you to all Leigh staff for this team effort to ensure that over 1000 students had a great day to remember!
Longfield Academy
Longfield Academy
Celebration Evening
Celebration Evening
On Wednesday 6th July we held a celebration evening for 100 students and their parents to receive a certificate and award. Students were chosen by their teachers for excelling in lessons and making a positive impact in their work. Some students also received special personal achievement awards.
We had all Heads of Colleges presenting awards and also the Mayor of Dartford and Joanne Gall (Trust Governor) in attendance. Throughout the night there were performances from various students including our school choir, band and a short snippet of ‘Hairspray’ our summer show.
We had all Heads of Colleges presenting awards and also the Mayor of Dartford and Joanne Gall (Trust Governor) in attendance. Throughout the night there were performances from various students including our school choir, band and a short snippet of ‘Hairspray’ our summer show.
The principal's award for academic year 2021/22 was presented to Eray Arslan who was nominated for awards in 7 different departments. We are proud of his success and see him as a role model as he leads the way in Achieving Beyond Expectations.
The evening went extremely well and fun was had by all.
Post 16 University Trip
Post 16 University Trip
At the beginning of May some of our Year 12 students enjoyed a trip to Canterbury Christ Church University for a Health, Medicine and Social Care Event. It was very informative and the students enjoyed it very much.
Longfield on Location - Photography trip
On 25th May 2022, the Year 10 photographers went on a trip to Whitstable seafront to create some photography for their current project, Distort. The students had a really productive day, looking for unusual angles, compositions and viewpoints to photograph. The photography they have produced will now be incorporated into the work they had already to create interesting and unusual outcomes.
Science – STEM trip
Science – STEM trip
On Thursday 7th July, the science department held a celebration event for the top 10 scientists in Year 7 based on how they have done academically this year.
It was in partnership with the Royal Engineers and the STEM ambassadors across Medway. The students took part in a range of activities and competitions and India Hornett was part of a group that won one of the activities on the day.
Students’ comments describe best what the day entailed:
“First we had robots with balloons on the back and we had to build a defence mechanism to pop the other teams’ balloons. I was in a team with Paris, we made a stick with a pin in the end. It may not have worked at successfully popping other balloons but it held its defence until nearly the very end when another team came from a different angle and popped our balloon!
We then made some Lego; one person had to be a builder, another was a communicator and last was a describer. We then had to recreate a hidden module.” – Arabella year 7
“On the school trip I really enjoyed playing with the Lego Mars rover. It was fun to work in a team and coordinate what to do.” – Markus year 7
Science University Trip
Science University Trip
Earlier in the term some students from Years 8 and 9 visited Universities at Medway. Eray from Year 8 said of the day:
“When we went on a school trip to the Universities of Medway, every single minute of it was enjoyable. My favourite task was when we used efit (the software that the police use to get photos of criminals by eyewitness reports). Although the others were also very fun and enjoyable. Overall, I would highly recommend that if you want to go to a local university you should consider going to this University."
Year 11 Prom
Year 11 Prom
On Thursday 7th July, we celebrated the hard work and successful completion of Year 11 students with a fun and beautiful Prom. It was well attended by delighted Year 11 students who were ready to dance off the stresses of preparing for exam after exam. We are proud to have been able to give our graduating students a happy send off and wish them all the best for the future, especially as so many of them will be returning to join our outstanding sixth form.
Sports Day
Sports Day
On Friday 1st July we held our whole school annual Sports Day. The day went extremely well and was very competitive as usual. It was a close call but Matisse made it to the very end and gained the Sports Day trophy.
Mr Hinks being the Head of Matisse College was especially pleased to win as this was his last sports day at the academy as he will be leaving at the end of term. The Sports Day cup has made its way into Mr Hinks' office and will stay there until next year.
We want to congratulate all participants for all their hard work on the day and look forward to the next one.
Wilmington Academy
Wilmington Academy
ESports@WA
ESports@WA
Wilmington Esports have been competing since January (off site) in the British Esports Association Student Championships. We have teams within Overwatch, League of Legends and Rocket League who have all had some success in the championships. We have streamed our games via Twitch and have reached affiliate status thanks to the support shown from BEA and the Wilmington Academy family. Students have also developed streamlabs to create a professional streaming channel, and this is something we are looking to develop more on site.
One amazing outcome from the competitive element of Esports was that Wilmington created and competed with the ONLY all female side across the UK. The ladies known as ‘Femme Fatale Squad’ fought hard in Overwatch, and overcame some toxicity within gaming to just miss out on qualification by 2 points. The ladies were so well respected by the British Esports Association that they featured in a nationwide campaign trailing Women in Esports and a British Esports Women in Esports interview.
We are incredibly proud of our female esport athletes and hope that they can drive more female esport athletes to join our teams.
Moving forward, Wilmington as one of a small number of secondary schools in the UK competing, are to act as a hub centre in the South East for esports. We have links with Kent Police who are keen to partner with us on the positive ways esports can be used. Alongside this we as a competitive school, hope to cement ourselves as one of the best in the country within the BEA game titles.
Within the Trust we hope that we could possibly look to run an inter-academy tournament across all game titles.
We are always looking for new talent and players, and will be offering coaching sessions for each game title via our Post 16 Esports managers after school.
UDL Showcase@ Wilmington
UDL Showcase@ Wilmington
On Thursday 30 June, Wilmington Academy opened its doors to LAT colleagues and we hosted our first showcase event. The aim of the showcase was to provide LAT colleagues with an insight into the success of the implementation of the Universal Design for Learning at Wilmington Academy and the positive impact for our students. Our aim was to also provide LAT colleagues with the tools to explore the implementation of UDL in their home academies.
UDL has had a major impact on teaching and learning at Wilmington Academy and both teachers and students can clearly see the benefits of its implementation. Staff have worked together to create a “UDL Toolbox” which teachers can refer to when planning their lessons. The success of the implementation and the impact in lessons has been widely acknowledged during visits by the LAT CEO and Academies’ Director, Challenge Partners and most recently, during our OFSTED inspection and the following report when it was remarked that: “The quality of education is likely to be better than good.”
Trust colleagues listened to a presentation given by Mike Gore (Principal), Steph Goodall (VP) and Pauline Wild and Moira Sterry, two Lead Practitioners who have driven the implementation across the academy. Colleagues were paired up and taken on a UDL tour by a Year 10 guide, where they visited six lessons and were able to experience UDL in the classroom as well as receiving printed resources linked to the UDL strategies being used in each lesson.
We received some excellent feedback from our visitors and are hoping to host a similar event in the future.
The Leigh UTC
The Leigh UTC
Focus on Coding Club
Focus on Coding Club
After-school coding has become an integral part of pupil’s learning at The Leigh UTC. The club is for enthusiastic learners who want to learn more about coding. We also work with the Code Club UK organisation, which is a global network of free coding clubs for 9–13 year olds. Pupils use advanced equipment like BBC micro:bit and Raspberry Pi and we have also recently purchased VR headsets and 3D Printers which will be used in our planning of next academic year.
Last module, pupils were working on an exciting project about how to create their own webpage using HTML to tell a story, joke, or poem. Pupils also learnt about music coding using Scratch and Earsketch. The purpose was to boost enthusiasm and confidence in music coding.
Some of our Year 7s have also been working on building a robot Mindstorm EV3. We have some pictures here..
This module, pupils have been working on a project related to ‘building a PC’ where they learn the fundamental knowledge of computer hardware to build their own PC. Pupils are always fascinated and amazed to see what happens ‘behind the computer screen’ especially when they notice how small a computer brain is!
Some of the Year 7 and 8 have already started working on collecting the hardware, engaging in the process throughout.
Well done to all and we are always delighted to see the positive engagement.
The Leigh UTC Welcomes German Link School for the First Time
The Leigh UTC Welcomes German Link School for the First Time
A school party from the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium in Aachen, with the lead teacher Kai Lehniger, spent a day at the Leigh UTC.
The German students and teachers attended lessons, took part in an Engineering workshop and interacted with the whole UTC school community which made them very welcome (according to our German visitors!).
One highlight of the day was a tree planting ceremony, attended by the Mayor Paul Cutler and school governor Clive Barker, to commemorate this special event.
The UTC students, including the German ambassador team, had the opportunity to practise their German speaking skills and gain an increased awareness of people from different cultures.
Everybody involved on the day had a fantastic time. Both schools agreed to form a link. The German department will now take a group of students to Aachen to visit the “Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium” in December and to experience some authentic German Christmas markets in Köln/Cologne.
Vielen Dank, bis bald und Auf Wiedersehen!
Students from the German link school talked to our Eco Ambassadors about what their school does to protect the environment. Noor ul-Eman, one of our ambassadors, tells of their experience:
“As an Eco Ambassador, I recently interviewed a few German students from Geschwister-Scholl- Gymnasium during their one day visit at the Leigh UTC, on nature and wildlife in their local school and their local area. The students were really passionate about wildlife and told me their school was actually near countryside where they found lots of wildlife including owls that they fed and took care of, due to them being unsafe near the big trees. They even do little mini projects every year to contribute towards helping the environment. They recently did a project where the 5th graders planted trees and fed insects through their eco-friendly insect hotels and planted flowers to attract the bees. They even try to reduce their carbon footprint, by walking or cycling to school or using their scooters and would happily team up with us to complete environmental projects so that we all can help save the environment together!”
One teacher, Mr Zaeem Basit commented, “It was a pleasure to see how pupils were interacting during the German visit. I noticed great connections and exchange of dialogues in German. It was fascinating for me as well as the pupils!”
Kai Lehniger, one of the visiting teachers said, “We would like to express our deepest gratitude to you for your great hospitality and kindness. The students and teachers enjoyed themselves immensely at The Leigh UTC. A big thank you to all members of staff who helped make our day at your school such a wonderful experience. We were really impressed by your school. We hope that The Leigh UTC and the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium will develop very close links in the future. We are looking forward to hosting your students and staff at our school in December."
UTC students had plenty of opportunity throughout the day to practice their German GCSE style conversation skills. Guten Tag!, Wie geht’s?, Willkommen!, Wie heisst du?, Wie alt bist du?, Können wir uns schreiben?, Vielen Dank!, Auf Wiedersehen!
A ‘Princeton Gold’ Acer tree was planted in commemoration of building a link between the schools with a plaque to mark the start of a lovely friendship!
The German students had a very good experience visiting our school and were impressed with the food, lessons, building and meeting us too! They even left us some nice feedback on labels which will be on display soon. “See you in December!” (Bridget Schackmar-Gilbane, German department)
Mascalls Academy
Mascalls Academy
Piano Recital
Piano Recital
This module we had the privilege of hosting our first ever piano recital at Mascalls with over 20 performers, many playing for the first time in front of an audience. All of the students did exceptionally well; the evening was an absolute success and we look forward to more events moving forward. Our thanks go to all the performers, their parents and carers and of course Miss Couch and Miss Hannigan for not just the performance but in supporting the hours of rehearsal in the lead up.
Year 8 Visit The Natural History Museum
Year 8 Visit The Natural History Museum
This term students in Year 8 enjoyed the opportunity to visit the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. After a somewhat protracted coach journey enlivened by the masterful commentary on London sites by tour guide extraordinaire Mr Neve, the students arrived keen to explore the vast treasures of the museum.
Students began their journey in Hintze Hall under 'Hope', the blue whale skeleton, and the elaborate ceiling tiles that form what Victorian scientists and architects intended to be a 'cathedral to nature'.
From there, students explored galleries related to mammals, the earth's complex composition, human evolution, and of course the ever-popular dinosaurs (some managed to see 'Dippy', the diplodocus making a temporary return to the museum). Memorable exhibits included spotting fossils uncovered in a Maidstone quarry, finding out about insect communication through chemicals, and discovering the intriguing differences between horns and antlers.
Other popular displays included the giant sloth, the 8 metre-tall termite mound, the earthquake simulator, and the rather unclad models of Homo sapiens.
Students made connections between their existing learning at Mascalls and the displays, spotted rare finds, and reflected throughout on information that was new to them. Of course, no museum trip would be complete without a gift-shop segment, and students' enthusiasm over magnetic stones, plush animals, and thoughtful gifts for parents and loved ones was brilliant to see.
Our students were pleasant, inquisitive and well-behaved, and we were extremely proud of their attitude and presentation. Much special thanks to Dr Pollack, Mr Neve, Mr Burton, Ms Roberts, and Mr Cornwell for accompanying students on such a fantastic trip - there will be others to come!
Year 13 Prom
Year 13 Prom
We also said our final goodbyes to our Year 13 students at their Prom, held at Hadlow Manor. It was a fabulous night and entirely curated by students - most notably Tia Johnson our Deputy Head Student. Thank Tia for organising such a wonderful event and good luck to all of our amazing graduates. Next week we look forward to another fantastic evening with our Year 11 students at their Prom.
Year 11 Prom
Year 11 Prom
A week after we said our farewell to our Year 13 students we did the same this week to our amazing Year 11 students. At the end of the two year GCSE courses these students have seen considerable disruption but arrived at their final examinations the most focussed and prepared we have seen for a number of years. Their resilience has been incredible. The event went by so smoothly and students had a wonderful time. My thanks go to all of the staff involved in organising and decorating the venue and for putting in a very late shift until 1am and still arriving back promptly the next morning! We wish all of the students the best of luck for their results this summer and look forward to welcoming our largest ever cohort back to our sixth form in September.
STEAM Club Soapbox Race
Through our involvement with the West Kent ISSP, Mascalls were invited to take part in the Hospice in the Weald Soapbox event in Tunbridge Wells. Held in Dunorlan Park on a reduced course to the main business race, the schools’ race was open to all Year 9 pupils to build a go-kart from an agreed set of plans held centrally by Kent College. Each school put together a team of designers and engineers and over the past few months spent time resourcing the materials and building the karts, which were designed to be built with minimal tools and facilities, and have full steering and brake systems; the chassis themselves were a standard build. On the day, the winners were determined by time trials between the schools with prizes for the winning time but also in other categories such as the best-decorated kart. As you can imagine there was a fair amount of friendly rivalry between schools! Despite our best efforts, and a few steering issues, the kart made its way down the track in a time of 2 minutes and 19 seconds. A huge thank you to Mr Levitt for his efforts and support in building the kart.
Sports Leaders in Action!
Congratulations to our sports leaders who were fantastic at the recent Colour Fun Run in Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells. Around 300 primary school pupils were participating in 6 different runs around the park throughout the day.
Our leaders were involved in setting up the course, manning the colour stations, guiding the runners and leading them around the course.
Once again they were a credit to the school and a key part of another successful sports event for schools within West Kent organised by the Tonbridge & West Kent Sports Partnership. Mr Beck and Mr Cornwell were impressed with their teamwork and leadership and we look forward to future events prior to the end of term. Well done!
Mascalls and Paddock Wood Primary at Super 8 Athletics
Mascalls and Paddock Wood Primary at Super 8 Athletics
On Thursday both schools joined forces to experience and compete against other local schools at Tonbridge track. The event was aimed at linking Year 6 and 7 students and promoting teamwork and athletic development. All students worked in a positive manner and excellent effort and technique was on display whilst using the great facilities at the Tonbridge track. This will shortly become a base for the Australian team in preparation for the Commonwealth Games!
Congratulations to all involved.
Steve Sallis Workshop
Steve Sallis Workshop
Towards the end of term, a small group of students took part in a very special workshop led by Steve Sallis.
Steve is a renowned educator, coach, and author, and he delivered a powerful, motivating series of sessions on developing students' mindsets. 'Everyone sees the world through a different lens', he taught students. 'One of the biggest challenges is alignment with others' view of the world'. Regaling the students with stories of his own successes and especially failures, Steve encouraged openness and honesty. The result was a positive, humorous, and life-affirming workshop from which students benefited enormously. Interested in finding out more? Details about Steve's work are available at solutions mindset, and Steve has also spoken on the High-Performance Podcast, in an episode linked here.
Steve will undoubtedly return to Mascalls for more workshops in the future, but it's probably best to sum up their impact in the students' own words:
“I learned so much about how to change your mindset for the better and knowing that if you set yourself something you can achieve it. Teamwork is key instead of just focusing on yourself; help other people around you because it might help you out as well.”
“I feel more confident speaking in front of people and it pushed me out of my comfort zone. It was also good to have a person to relate to in everyday challenges. What I found most interesting was when he talked about what happened to him when he was growing up and how he failed his GCSEs but still overcame it and kept on trying until he succeeded.”
“The workshop was an amazing experience for me and I will now stick up for myself more as a result. It was a truly life changing event to meet someone who coaches the top people in the world.”
Budding Chefs Amaze During Mock Examinations
Budding Chefs Amaze During Mock Examinations
Our Year 10 students this week have been cooking their way through their practical mock examinations. The outcomes, as you can see from the photographs are remarkable and needless to say there has been a queue of staff waiting to try the dishes, which have gone down very well indeed! Congratulations to all of those students involved, so very impressive.
Spanish Visits to Primary Schools
Spanish Visits to Primary Schools
This term the Spanish department has been to visit both Paddock Wood Primary Academy and Horsmonden Primary Academy to share some Spanish language and culture with their Year 5 and Year 6 students. It has provided a great opportunity to not only strengthen our links with some of our primary feeder schools but also to immerse the KS2 students in Hispanic culture and the Spanish language. These sessions have allowed us to become more involved in the local community, creating links and building positive relationships with future Mascalls Academy students. Throughout all the sessions, the students have been extremely involved and engaged and we are very excited to welcome our new cohort of Year 7s in September.
The sessions received some amazing feedback:
'The children really enjoyed their lessons again last week and now keep greeting me around school with “Hola” rather than “Bonjour!”' (PWPA)
‘I have had so many positive comments from the students, and the staff were very complimentary too. The students are super excited that you’ll be coming back again!’ (PWPA)
‘Just a quick note to say my daughter was in the Spanish session delivered at PW Primary Academy and where usually she comes home and goes “stuff” when I asked about her day she raved about the session today.’ - A parent of a student at PWPA
Ebbsfleet Academy
Ebbsfleet Academy
Archery Competition
Ebbsfleet Academy took a team of 16 archers to JNOC (Junior National Outdoor Championships) at the National Sports Centre in Shropshire. The team shot 288 arrows over the weekend. It was an excellent competition with the team coming away with several medals:
Maetha - Ladies Under 14 Metric 4 - Bronze medal
Gurmehar - Gents Under 16 Metric 2 - Bronze Medal and Gents Under 16 Bristol 2 - Bronze Medal
Albert - Gents Under 16 Metric 2 - Silver Medal & Gents Under 16 Bristol 2 - Silver Medal
Harvey - Gents Under 18 Metric 1 - Silver Medal & Gents Under 18 Bristol 1 - Silver Medal
The boys who took silver and bronze medals home did so only behind the national record holders for their categories!
Ms Horn said 'I was very proud of our students, both for their archery skills and for their conduct throughout the weekend. One judge called them "the politest children he has ever worked with".'
The team are looking forward to building on their success at the next competition which will be the Junior National Indoor Competition which takes place in December.
Meet the Employer Event
As part of our Careers Week we were delighted to be joined by 17 local companies and education providers at our first Meet the Employer Event. Year 10 students were given the opportunity to learn more about the different companies and explore routes that will be open to them after their GCSEs. Our Year 12 students were also given the chance to sit mock interviews with employers and receive feedback on their technique. We are looking forward to repeating this event next year.
Growing Together - Cherry Orchard
Ebbsfleet Academy have been delighted to share our facilities with Cherry Orchard Primary School this module. Key Stage 2 students had lots of fun at their Sports Day supported by some of Ebbsfleet Academy Sports Leaders. Then Year 2 students joined us for making cookies in our Food Technology kitchens.
UCAS Exhibition
Our Year 12 students took some time out of their normal studies to visit the UCAS Exhibition at the Kent Show Ground. Supported by over 150 further education establishments, the students were able to access information that will support them to make decisions about their next steps.
Sports, Sports and more Sports
We were very pleased to see the summer sporting calendar return to normal this module. Our students have been very busy and proud to represent the school and Leigh Academies Trust. The season started with our very own EA5K sponsored run which took place on Friday 24th June. Staff and students walked and ran 5km. For the second year running, our staff race was won by our Principal Gurjit Kaur Shergill, while the student race was again won by our reigning champion, Oakley.
Duke of Edinburgh Award
On a very hot weekend in June a group of Year 10 students completed their delayed qualifying expedition for their Bronze award. Each group navigated their way successfully through the countryside, and set up an overnight camp in order to complete their award. Students have already completed their volunteering and physical and skill elements of the award so are looking forward to having their full completion signed off shortly.
Hayesbrook Academy
Hayesbrook Academy
A New Principal
A New Principal
We have been delighted to welcome Michael Crow Principal Designate this module to the academy. Michael has enjoyed spending time meeting staff and students to enable planning for our new co-educational academy which opens in September 2023! You can find out more about our new exciting development by visiting our new website https://leighacademytonbridge.org.uk/
A Former Pupil Rides Giro D’Italia 2022
A Former Pupil Rides Giro D’Italia 2022
‘Who sat in your seat?’ has been a campaign this year that we have shared with our students. The idea behind the campaign is to encourage students to think about their own aspirations linked to the university future or career of their choice. 20 year old Ben Tulett is one of those inspirational former students who has been so kind and generous as part of our alumni to share video clips of his own success with the students.
We were delighted to follow Ben during his debut at Giro d’Italia where he rode as the youngest Britain to feature in the race for Ineos Grenadiers. Ben acquitted himself admirably finishing 38/149 and we look forward to watching his successes in the future.
Welcoming Our New Year 7 Cohort
Welcoming Our New Year 7 Cohort
We had a fantastic day welcoming our class of 2022 students. Throughout the day the students were able to spend some time meeting key staff, particularly their form tutor. The day began with a welcome assembly and introduction to their college. Students were excited to find out what college they would be representing throughout their educational journey.
During the day the students had the opportunity to learn some Duke of Edinburgh skills, alongside an introduction to the Combined Cadet Force, which was superbly delivered by our current cadet contingent. In the afternoon, students had the opportunity to take part in a range of activities, which were all centred around teamwork. Some students opted for the "Whizz Bang" science club whilst others decided to opt for bubble football. We had some amazing responses from families regarding the transition day:
"Thank you for such an amazing transition day; my son came home feeling confident that he is going to love his secondary school"
"My son had an amazing day, he said the science flammable bubble experience was his favourite part"
"My son was apprehensive about starting secondary school but now is super excited!"
"LOVED bubble football! He is now really excited to start in September"
Maths in Action
Maths in Action
Some of our Year 10 pupils travelled to Greenwich University this module, for a ‘Maths in Action’ workshop. The students used trigonometry, juggling and bridge building to think about how maths can be used to solve problems. We hope that this experience inspires those students to aspire to study mathematics at A level and beyond.
ACombined Cadet Force (CCF) Summer Camp
ACombined Cadet Force (CCF) Summer Camp
On the 26th June the Hayesbrook Army Section CCF set off for a week of training at Crowborough summer camp, led by 11 Brigade Cadet Training Team. A total of 23 students attended (7 from Year 10 and 16 from Year 9). The aim of the summer camp this year was to support contingents by revising and refreshing and in cases learning new skills.
The week was split into three categories:
Field Craft (2 days)
Adventure Training
In Camp Training
The Field Craft was spent in the field with a night under a basha with the responsibility for looking after their weapon system. There were a range of stands which we rotated through, starting with patrolling methods which included some strong acting skills from Mr. Tapsfield and Mr. Roberts. We then moved onto firing and movements; the cadets loved this stand as it involved being able to blank fire. After lunch we moved onto axe throwing; again this was a very popular stand with the boys asking if we could get a set for school! The final rotation of the day was learning how to create a harbour area (campsite/base). This was a great lesson as after this stand the boys had to go and set up their own harbour area, cook and sleep overnight.
Day two was also spent in the field again starting off with patrolling methods, this time simulating coming into a contact situation and how to communicate as a section. The second stand again was spent developing their fire and movement skills, this time encountering a hostile force in the form of Miss Moscicki and Mr Milner-Pearce. The third stand was laser tag for the sections being able to develop their section attack skills. The final day in the field finished with TIBUA (Training in a Built Up Area) which simulates patrolling and clearing a building.
The incamp training consisted of a lesson on a field gun, assault course, paintballing, indoor range, raft building, kayaking, paddleboarding, mountain biking, climbing wall and archery
The week culminated in a competition day. Hayesbrook excelled in the mountain biking event which would have seen them seal gold position had they not suffered an injury resulting in a time penalty and finishing in bronze position.
We were delighted that LCpl Toby was awarded the Commanding Officer's award. Major Syndenham commented on how well Toby looked after all of the Hayesbrook contingents. A great week was had by all.
A Living History Bringing WW1 to Life
A Living History Bringing WW1 to Life
The experience of life in the trenches was brought to life in this module for our pupils who study history. The students were provided with an opportunity to handle artefacts, try on clothing, uniform, and explore source material.
Duke of Edinburgh's Award 2021-2022
Duke of Edinburgh's Award 2021-2022
Thirty-one Year 9 students eagerly enrolled onto the Bronze Award Scheme in the autumn term and have since been clocking up their hours for their three sections: volunteering, physical and skill. Many of our participants have chosen to volunteer with us in the academy garden on Fridays, which has resulted in the area looking far tidier with many seeds and young plants being planted. We received generous donations of compost, seeds and containers from parents and staff, for which we are very grateful. Students continue to water and tend to the plants each week. The physical and skill sections have provoked students into sharing their extra curricular hobbies with us, and it is wonderful to be able to witness, encourage and celebrate the progress and successes made by our young people outside of the academy day. Activities range from cookery, basketball, playing musical instruments and martial arts, to badminton, cycling and football.
The Bronze qualifying expedition set off on 25th June from Hildenborough. Despite some rain on Saturday and extreme heat on Sunday, behaviour was excellent and all five DofE groups successfully and cheerfully navigated their way to Hever Campsite and back to the academy the next day. Two of the five groups have already presented fantastic expedition projects and we look forward to our DofE celebration evening in November when we can share these projects with parents, staff and governors as well as awarding the participants their DofE certificates and badges. Students are already excitedly planning to sign up for the Silver award in September.
Despite having been delayed twice by Covid, our Year 11 students were finally able to set out on their three day Silver qualifying expedition on Friday the 8th of July. Starting from East Hoathly in Lewes, students made their way to Bushy Wood Campsite in Hailsham. On Day Two the two teams battled the heat as they ascended the Southern Downs, with glorious views all around and then dropped down into the very cosmopolitan Alfriston Campsite for the night.
The final day of our expedition saw our fourteen participants following the River Cuckmere downstream into the beautiful Seven Sisters Country Park. Both teams did spectacularly well at managing the heat and the hills, smiling and laughing their way to the finish at Birling Gap. We look forward to seeing the completed projects from these teams and celebrating with them as they pass the last of their sections. Several students have shown interest in doing the DofE Gold award, and we look forward to promoting this with our Year 12 and 13 students in September.
A Truly Inclusive Sports Day
A Truly Inclusive Sports Day
The Hayesbrook Academy 2022 Sports Day was a roaring success this year, with all students from Year 7 – 10 taking part in a variety of fun challenges and competitive events. The students took part in a carousel of activities, including a 100ft inflatable assault course, a range of problem solving, team building and ‘old skool’ fun races – all complimented by a full range of track events, including 100m and 4x100m finals at the end of the day.
Congratulations to all of the competitors, especially those that made the podium, gained personal bests and broke long standing records! The 100m finalists and 4x 100m relay runners put on an excellent show for the whole school crowd in the afternoon.
We saw three records broken this year, which is very rare. All of the runners did a fantastic job and put on an excellent display of athletic ability and determination in front of a really supportive crowd. The students embraced what the day is all about, conducted themselves admirably and competed well. Thank you to those staff and students that made the day a great success!
Solar System Models
Solar System Models
With another complete revolution around the Sun comes another Hayesbrook Academy Solar System Model Competition. Launched annually, our Year-7 cohort have submitted some truly astronomical representations of our solar neighbourhood. This year we have seen some of the most unusual and imaginative entries: cosmic cupcakes, planetary posters, interactive illustrations, meteoric miniatures and galactic gateaux. They are a wonder to behold.
Staff have been casting their votes within six categories. We would like to commend every student for their effort and skill. There were some very close contenders for each prize.
Congratulations to the winners listed below ...and thanks for all the delicious cake: we should run this competition more often!
Most Creative: David B.
Most Informative: Jacob S-S.
Best Tasting: Clayton B.
Best Use of Recycled Materials: Leon E.
Outstanding Effort: Gino T.
BEST IN SHOW: Alex H.
High Weald Academy
High Weald Academy
During our final module at High Weald Academy, students have had the opportunity to attend a number of exciting and educational trips. As we prepare to close the doors for the last time to High Weald, we wanted to give our students experiences that have developed their confidence, resilience and teamwork skills. At the same time we also set out to deliver a HWA version of the end of Year 6 / end of school themed ‘trips out of school’ that sadly but totally understandably did not occur for many of our pupils due to the pandemic.
Farm Visit
Thank you to Hinxden Farm Dairy for welcoming our Year 9 pupils. Our pupils really enjoyed the afternoon learning about how farms use technology to improve production.
For comparison, the students also visited Mr Cooper on our own farm on Monday. As a small mixed breed farm, Mr Cooper farms very differently to Hinxden Farm Dairy who has embraced technology.
Hastings Trip
KS3 had a lovely trip to Hastings, where the day began with a scavenger hunt based around their science and geography curriculum. Following this, we took the Funicular railway up the West Hill and had lunch at the top of the cliffs. After lunch students played mini golf and had some time on the beach. A great day, in the sunshine, was had by all.
London
Our pupils visited the Tate Modern art gallery and Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London. The purpose of this trip was to develop cultural capital and to build upon prior learning in their lessons.
Mr Whelan said: 'It was amazing to be able to see High Weald students being able to access art galleries again after the pandemic. Students really enjoyed completing a treasure hunt around the Tate Modern finding paintings and looking at artwork they had only ever seen in books or on the internet before.'
Mrs White said: 'It was amazing to see the students working with actors from The Globe; they were able to deepen their understanding of the texts we have studied this year. Being in the theatre with our students was an experience like no other.'
Staff and pupils travelled by train to London and were a credit to the school.
The Lion King
Pupils enjoyed a trip to watch the incredible Lion King performance at the Lyceum Theatre in London. The pupils' behaviour was exemplary, being a credit to the school.
Mr Nolan said: 'It was brilliant to get out into a vibrant London. From walking around London to the brilliant production, it was an amazing celebration of diversity - building our pupils' cultural capital.'
Army Visit
Key Stage 3 pupils enjoyed a visit from the army. They were given a presentation about the army's role and career opportunities. The pupils then engaged in tasks requiring teamwork, resilience and communication. A great day was had by all, including our trainee wellbeing dog Otis!
A huge thank you to Mrs Gray, Mr Nolan, Mr Whelan, Mrs White, Mrs O’Connor, Mr Endicott and Mr Slowey for organising and/or leading these and other excellent events in Term 6 and the excellent support from all colleagues.
Closing Remarks From the Principal
‘It has been a real pleasure and a privilege to both lead and serve the HWA community in its last ever year of existence. I wish to thank all colleagues for their support and especially Mrs Gray (VP) Mr Whelan (AP KS4) and Mr Nolan (AP KS3). I wish all pupils and staff all the very best with their individual onward journey post-HWA.’
Nigel Jones, Principal (Sept 2021 - August 2022)
Mr Pain Competes at the 2022 World Freestyle Kayaking Championships
Freestyle kayaking is a sport which involves performing tricks in a short boat. Our lab technician Rob Pain took up the sport in 2017 and, five years later, he was able to enter the 2022 World Freestyle Championship, in the recently created “Masters” category. The event was held at the National White Water Centre in Nottingham across 30th June - 1st July with the final on July 2nd.
He had a great time, and had the opportunity to meet some amazing paddlers, including American multiple world freestyle champion Eric Jackson. Rob exceeded his expectations when it came to pulling off certain tricks, and finished 6th in his category.
We at High Weald Academy are very proud of Rob’s accomplishments in this very physically demanding of sports. If you want to try kayaking or canoeing you can do this at Bewl Canoe Club.
There are others in Ashford, Maidstone, and Tonbridge.
Stationers' Crown Woods Academy
Stationers' Crown Woods Academy
Greenpower Racing
This year students have been fortunate enough to play an exciting role in Greenpower Racing. Students have collaborated very successfully to develop and build their very own race car – starting from scratch! Greenpower Education Trust is a UK based charity helping kickstart careers in engineering, and we very much look forward to our students competing in race events around the UK once their car is road worthy!
Digital Media Centre
This year the Digital Media Centre has seen the growth of the SCWA Media Crew, a group of students learning the skills and knowledge to become media technicians, photographers, and videographers. This year the Media Crew has covered a wide range of events in and around our school. These have included a ZooLab experience in January, taking photographs of a variety of animals, from geckos to glow in the dark scorpions, and the Build a Bike challenge more recently, documenting the creation of a bicycle from the ground up, which, when completed, the students were able to take home. You name it - the Media Crew has been there! They also found time to film a number of football matches throughout the year, as well as participating in The Edit, a film competition run by Sky in collaboration with the Nation Schools Partnership. Student-led teams were tasked with producing a 90 second news report raising awareness of climate change and putting forward ways in which we can combat this major issue for our planet.
The work of the DMC has again been celebrated this year with success at the Shine Awards! A group of students representing different year groups won the Harrison Cup with a stunning multi-media project! The cup is awarded for innovation and creativity in the category Brilliant and Bizarre. The computer games team came up with a hand-drawn, 2D multiplayer game called Eco Warriors, which allows players to discover and explore an extravagantly colourful world populated by complex monsters and ruthless bosses which is soon consumed by flames. Players try to work out ways to clean up the planet, while making the polluters pay for their destructive actions. The game has been nominated for an award by BAFTA in the Young Games Designer of the Year category. Great news for the young developers!
Matilda the Musical
For the first time in 3 years, SCWA was proud to announce the arrival of Matilda the Musical to the stage. This outstanding collaborative enterprise combined drama, dance and song to create a performance to remember. We are delighted to share a snapshot of the Matilda performances that took place last week. Thanks to David Milliken for this.
Build a Bike
This workshop offered students the opportunity to Build a Bike from scratch, test it for road worthiness and ride it away at the end! Feedback from this very popular experience was exceptional, and students were over the moon with their new bikes (not literally)!
STEM
This year in STEM, the focus has been on getting more students involved in activities they wouldn't normally take part in. We have created opportunities for the whole school to take part in calendared events, such as Space Week, Science Week and National Engineering Week. Different year groups have taken part in several STEM days spread across the year. These have ranged from learning how to power a phone using everyday items, to programming autonomous vehicles for the future of car travel. We've also had a lot going on in our STEM and science clubs: making our own lava lamps, building scribble bots and learning how to build bridges (literally!). Lastly, we have a number of students taking part in the First LEGO League tournament, where they’re busy programming LEGO robots to complete as many assembly tasks as they can in two minutes!
Leigh Academy Blackheath
Leigh Academy Blackheath
LAB Literacy Festival
On the 14th and 15th July, we celebrated the LAB Literacy Festival. The festival was a way for the school to come together and see how important literacy is across all subjects. Additionally, we wanted to cultivate a deep love of learning and the fantastic opportunities that we have in London. Whilst on site, there were a huge range of activities on offer for students to participate in. These included:
Personification poetry
Workshops with published authors
Shakespeare workshops
Workshops with published poets
Blackout poetry
Spanish or French recital
The festival was a huge success with all students in Key Stage 3 being able to enjoy a trip out of the academy. These included:
The Science Museum
The National Gallery
The Maritime Museum (including a planetarium show)
The Clink Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum
Dickens Museum
The British Library
The Globe Theatre
The trips covered a wide range of disciplines and allowed students to consider literacy through experiences in a mixture of: culture, heritage, human sciences and philosophical thought.
Art and DT Exhibition
We held our first formal Art and DT exhibition this year with students exhibiting work across a wide range of disciplines, including textiles, photography and ceramics. It was a joy to celebrate LAB’s creative artists and designers and we look forward to our first GCSE exam exhibition next year.
Matilda
And finally… students across all year groups came together to perform Matilda, LAB’s first ever full drama production! We welcomed all of Halstow Primary School Year 5 and 6 students to watch the opening matinee, and then it was a full house for the three evening performances. It was a magnificent show and we can’t wait to do another one next year!
The Halley Academy
The Halley Academy
The Halley Comet Greenpower Racing Car Project
Last year we were fortunate enough to receive funding to enable us to purchase a Greenpower Formula 24 racing car kit. The Greenpower Education Trust is a charity which promotes excitement and enthusiasm for STEM through the medium of motorsport. They provide kits to build race cars, and then host national and international race meets for students.
Our kit duly arrived in early spring in four enormous boxes which contained a treasure trove of parts. The first job was to check that everything needed was present and correct - not as easy as it might sound as some of the parts were very strange indeed!
The next step was to start the build during our after school STEM sessions. Although the car comes in kit form, many of the techniques required in its construction were unfamiliar to the students, offering them ample opportunities to learn valuable skills along the way.
A particularly exciting part was the week when we fitted the safety harness and needed a volunteer to check that it was attached correctly - this was the first time anyone had actually sat in the driver's seat!
Once the car frame is built, the next step will be to design and construct the bodywork. The car will then undergo testing before we start entering races next year.
It’s very important to keep referring back to the manual as construction progresses!
Strood Academy
Strood Academy
Strood Academy was pleased to welcome Challenge Partners to our school this module. The review process judged the school to be solidly ‘Effective’ overall and Leadership and Management being reviewed as ‘Leading’. In addition to this the academy was awarded an ‘Area of Excellence’ for our relationships and sex education (RSE) curriculum and its impact on student well-being. A fantastic achievement for the whole school community and an immensely positive way to end this academic year. Thank you to all staff and students for their hard work and commitment.
Strood Academy was delighted to showcase Literacy and RSE to leaders from across the Leigh Academies Trust. This involved a range of learning walks, presentations, Q&A sessions and an opportunity to witness our Right to Read programme in action.
The summer term also saw the conclusion of GCSEs and Sixth form qualifications for our Year 11 and 13 students. We have been incredibly proud of how hard Year 11 students worked throughout their exam period. Additional sessions for revision showed high attendance levels including the weekends and school holidays. This exam season was the first time that students sat public examinations since the pandemic. An incredible feat for both students and staff who all showed resilience and dedication to get through them. We are incredibly proud to share that our IB students received their examination results and outperformed the previous cohort. They also scored the highest average grade across the Trust!
It was important that Strood Academy celebrated our leavers this year especially as we were unable to do this with previous cohorts face to face. Year 11 received a leavers assembly with awards being given and the traditional signing of shirts and photograph opportunities. We also had a leavers Prom, and the students looked incredibly glamorous. They were able to party the night away with a buffet, photo booth and DJ. Year 13 had a celebratory event where students were presented with final farewells through video messages from present and past staff, photographs of events held throughout the year, gift bag tokens and a buffet lunch. It was a lovely occasion for staff and students to reflect on their successful journey at Strood academy.
Our extra curricular provision returned to its usual momentum following the pandemic with a huge range of trips and opportunities being organised for all our students to be involved in. The activities ranged from a week long work experience for Year 10 and 12, book author visits, trips to theatres, museums and also fieldwork. We also had our annual summer performance show that students took part in.
Strood Academy has competed in a wide range of sporting fixtures and events across the Trust this year which also included our annual Sports Day for all students. The district athletics demonstrated one great example with a number of impressive performances, most notably from the Year 9 boys team who took a number of medals across both track and field events.
Another success of this year has been, our student support area who have been running a constructive conversations group which involved students creating and running a small business, with profits going to a charity of their choice. Students decided on jewellery making and hosted a sale raising over £200 for MIND.
The Hundred of Hoo Academy
The Hundred of Hoo Academy
Our final module at the Hundred of Hoo has been an exciting finale to this academic year. We’ve not only had Challenge Partners but two very successful Curriculum Development Reviews. Leadership at all levels has been put through its paces and we’ve embraced each and every opportunity to evidence our high standards, and commitment to our pupils' learning.
We have had some real sporting successes as our athletes have put their year of training to the test. They’ve added some trophies to our collection here at Hoo. This has included: NKCS Medway Schools Football: Year 7 league runners-up, Year 8 league winners and our Year 9 3rd in the league. In addition, Medway Basketball: Year 7 and 8 league winners and JR NBA (South East England Region).
As well as sporting successes, we’ve been developing our pupils' learner profiles. Our orienteering groups have strategically prepared pupils with life skills. They have to not just be knowledgeable when solving clues, but communicate well in their teams and take strategic risks to get through the course. Mr Mundie and Mr Griffin have been working across their different subject areas to equip pupils with these key survival skills. There were 10 teams and nearly 40 students across Year 7, 8 and 9. There was a wonderful atmosphere, a lot of friendly competition and a great attitude by all involved. The event was a race in groups of 4 to collect the clues at 10 different checkpoints around the site in the fastest time possible.
1st place: Team Connie Year 8 10/10
2nd place: Team Sophie Year 7 10/10
3rd place: Team Eric Year 8 9/10
Our MFL department has also been working exceptionally hard in developing our pupils’ cultural awareness. This module, we’ve hosted 16 Spanish pupils and 2 teachers (our first international visitors since the pandemic). All pupils involved have had several opportunities to practise their Spanish skills, be caring and open-minded to new friends. With this, the MFL team has also finalised our application for the Intermediate International School’s Award as well as stocking up our multilingual section in our academy library. A vast range of books are now available in French, Spanish and German.
As always, our performing arts department continues to create opportunities for our pupils to show off their talents. With updated lighting rigs and sound systems in our performance space we welcomed 40 families to see their children perform in our Hoo’s Got Talent showcase. Our pupils were also invited to Medway Music Association’s Celebration Workshop at the Brook Theatre, Chatham. These were five pupils who showed exceptional dedication to both woodwind and percussion.
Finally, following a two year break, we were thrilled to open up our exam hall once again and support our Year 11 and 13 pupils through their exam season. Pupils embraced this with incredible resilience and grit. Staff worked tirelessly alongside them to ensure pupils were well supported with warm breakfasts every morning to set them up for success. Our pupils will be ready for their next steps and we are really looking forward to those days in August where we can really celebrate with them.
Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School
Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School
Following a 2 year period of absence due to the global panic, The Math finally had the opportunity to return the true meaning of celebration by way of our ‘annual’ Foundation Day. The anticipation was building for many weeks prior, and hearing the house officials circulating forms gathering names for sports events brought back the true style of how Foundation Day was before the pandemic hit.
The day finally arrived, the choir were prepared, the speeches set and the cathedral looked to welcome over 1000 staff and students to celebrate another year of the school once more. The morning service saw a select few people celebrate the school's founding on a smaller scale, whereby Ibukun Emmanuel delivered a Bible reading from the Book of Amos.
Upon the arrival of the whole school for a much anticipated Foundation Day, the prefects started greeting and the monitors assisted in what was said to be an excellent cathedral service, with readings by Mr Hodges, Mr Brightman, a Reverend and myself. A nervous, yet rewarding occasion.
Following the main service, the staff and students made their way up to the school for a full sports day. This event is a staple of sporting culture at the Math, where House Officials get students together to compete and find out who is the most athletic house. An event that is so fitting to finish the most prominent day on the school's calendar.
After a lot of sweat, hard work and determination on a hot summer's day, the students at the Math showed the ideal standards of a Math school student through their diligence, determination, resilience and teamwork.
The event was supported brilliantly by our parents association who provided stalls, challenges and refreshments making the event one for all of the family, serving the whole community.
Finally, I would like to issue a massive thank you to both Mrs Rose and Mr Harris for making this day the true success that it was, and giving many children the opportunity to get involved with the services and sports.
Oliver (School Captain)
Leigh Academy Rainham
Leigh Academy Rainham
Founding Cohort Celebrations
Founding Cohort Celebrations
Our founding Year 7 cohort have received over 33,500 reward points collectively this year as a result of persistently making positive choices to meet our exceptionally high expectations. We reward points for our LEIGH Learner Attributes of Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Inquisitiveness, Grit and Humility. We set the expectation for our first cohort of students to dream big, believe in themselves and achieve well and they have set ambitious goals for themselves in all aspects of academy life. This year we are proud to say they have collectively raised over £4200 for their chosen charities, conducted 20 community litter picks, are in the top 20% of schools in the world for their engagement with learning Spanish on Languagenut, are 11th out of 750 schools for engagement with Sparx Maths, delivered 120 shoeboxes to elderly residents in the community and 98% have taken part in at least one co-curricular club! In addition both the boys and girls teams came second out of 17 academies in the Trust Sports Day.
Trips and Activity Days
Across two days in May, the Individuals and Societies department took the entire academy to Dover Castle to enhance their learning from Module 2 on the significance of castles and how they enabled William to establish control over England. The students were exceptional in both their behaviour and Leigh Learner Attribute of inquisitiveness. They discovered more about this mediaeval landmark and particularly about the role Dover Castle played in modern conflicts such as: Operation Dynamo. In addition, students had time to explore Henry II’s Great Tower and how the castle was used as a means to meet other European ambassadors and prepare for war. In conjunction with this trip we also ran two Army Careers days. Members of the Army came into the academy and delivered two fantastically engaging and educational days, where students were able to physically and mentally test themselves on a variety of different team building activities.
Our interdisciplinary visit to Rochester was an enjoyable and enriching day of learning for our students outside of the classroom. We visited the Gaia art installation at the cathedral which impressed upon us a feeling of awe and wonder for our planet; the Charles Dickens exhibition at the Guildhall Museum, consolidating students’ studies in English; the castle which supported the history curriculum and lastly partook in an environmental survey linking with learning in geography. The day gave us a renewed appreciation of the wealth of cultural and historical significance on our doorstep here in the Medway towns.
Reading and Literacy
A huge focus for us this year has been improving the reading and literacy levels of our cohort, addressing the progress gap caused by lockdowns in students’ final two years of primary. Our reading incentives have ensured that all students have become habitual readers and students’ reading ages have improved significantly in only 8 months. Our Year 7 cohort can proudly say that between them, they have read 3,381 books which is an average of 16 per student during this academic year. This amounts to over 53 million words which is a huge achievement that the students feel quite rightly proud of.
Community Projects
As a brand new academy we are passionate about playing an active role in our local community and our students have eagerly taken part this year in a range of community projects. For Remembrance Sunday our very talented art teacher, Miss Swanston, worked with the Art Club to make two stunning bespoke LAR wreaths. Two of our students were invited to lay these at the local community church during the well attended Remembrance Sunday Service.
Our Co-curricular Opportunities
At LAR, every member of the teaching and support staff offers at least one club and many offer numerous clubs. Over the course of the year, our students have participated in over 30 co-curricular clubs. These have included everything from drama to knitting, football to news club, Warhammer to German for beginners and everything in between. One particular highlight was Global Cooking Club, where students learnt to make and sample cuisine from around the world. 98% of our students have taken part in co-curricular on a regular basis and this has resulted in some fantastic sporting performances and personal development. Students have developed our Leigh Learner Attribute of Leadership, demonstrating fantastic enthusiasm, grit and humility. They have learnt many transferable skills which will go on to support their academic learning.
Reading and Literacy
A huge focus for us this year has been improving the reading and literacy levels of our cohort, addressing the progress gap caused by lockdowns in students’ final two years of primary. Our reading incentives have ensured that all students have become habitual readers and students’ reading ages have improved significantly in only 8 months. Our Year 7 cohort can proudly say that between them, they have read 3,381 books which is an average of 16 per student during this academic year. This amounts to over 53 million words which is a huge achievement that the students feel quite rightly proud of.
Community Projects
As a brand new academy we are passionate about playing an active role in our local community and our students have eagerly taken part this year in a range of community projects. For Remembrance Sunday our very talented art teacher, Miss Swanston, worked with the Art Club to make two stunning bespoke LAR wreaths. Two of our students were invited to lay these at the local community church during the well attended Remembrance Sunday Service.
At Christmas our students collected over 120 shoeboxes that families packed full of lovely gifts for the elderly. A group of students, including our choir, then delivered these by minibus to 4 different residential homes across Rainham, signing carols to the elderly as part of their visits. They were warmly welcomed and it was lovely to see what joy this brought to so many elderly people in our community, especially those who didn't have families of their own to celebrate Christmas with.
We also hosted our first ever, highly successful Winter Wonderland event in December where we invited over 20 members of the community to host stalls alongside our students for our families. As part of this wonderful event our brave Year 7 students performed a LARs Got Talent event despite only being in the academy 2 modules.
Our Eco Club have conducted a range of litter picks in our local community and also planted 50 trees in the local recreation ground as part of the Queen’s Jubilee Green Canopy initiative with our local councillor.
We have also embraced some more artistic community events. We welcomed the MESS Room to deliver a Shadow Play workshop with students to create silhouettes. These were then painted onto the Pavilion in our local recreation ground as part of the Jubilee celebrations and we are proud that our students feature in this colourful community visual artwork.
Lastly we invited Emergency Exit Arts to work with a group of students to craft and create carnival outfits for the first Chatham Carnival in 20 years. Students made wonderfully eclectic costumes that they proudly wore as they paraded through Chatham High Street for the Chatham Carnival Event, dancing and waving to spectators from the local community.
These are phenomenal achievements for the founding Year 7 and we look forward to seeing what else they can achieve next year.
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