Spring Newsletter
Principal's Letter
Welcome to our Leigh Spring Newsletter
As always we have had a busy two modules and much of this is represented within this newsletter.
A highlight over the past 12 weeks has been the College figurehead project which was launched in Module 3.
At The Leigh Academy, we value our College Model with its benefits of the small school approach, College identity and College pastoral and leadership teams supporting the needs of our young people. However, following consultation with governors and staff, we agreed that our current College Figureheads – Brunel, Chaucer, Darwin and da Vinci - whilst having served us well for the last decade, are not representative, nor as relevant to our community as they once were. Students and staff were asked to research and present back on their ideas of inspirational role models who can take on the lead of their Colleges. Students presented to their tutor groups, and then the strongest presentations and candidates presented to the College teams. The final round then took place, with students presenting to the Principal.
The high standard of the presentations, the quality of delivery and the depth of research made the decision making process a tough one for the senior leadership team, the governors and I, who all had involvement in the final decision making.
I am pleased to announce the following:
Chaucer College will now be known as Nelson Mandela College
Darwin College will now be known as Marie Curie College
da Vinci College will now be known as Mary Seacole College
Brunel College will now be known as William Shakespeare College
Post 16 will now be known as David Attenborough College
There will be a period of transition over the summer term to the new College names, with time to update signage, websites, lanyards, room numbers etc, ensuring everything is in place for the new academic year.
We feel that we now have a balance of College figureheads that are more representative, inclusive, reflective of diversity and equality and fit for purpose in 2022, with a range of specialisms and areas of excellence that will inspire generations of Leigh students to come. Please do read the College pages to find out more about the figureheads.
I am also pleased to inform you that we have our Deputy Principal, David Freeman, starting with us after Easter. David has many years of experience as a senior leader and maths teacher, most recently at The Leigh UTC. David will temporarily be taking the helm of Darwin/Curie College in Module 5, before the arrival of our new Head of College in in June, Claire Grimes. Claire is also an experienced senior leader and English teacher. These appointments will further strengthen our Senior Leadership Team at The Leigh Academy and I'm sure you will join with me in welcoming them to our Leigh community.
I know that many Year 11 and Year 13 students will be attending Easter revision sessions and I congratulate them on their dedication and thank staff in advance for giving up some of their holidays to deliver these sessions, supporting students in the final approach to their summer examination season.
I look forward to welcoming all students back to lessons on Tuesday 19th April
I wish you all a happy, safe and restful Easter break
Mrs Julia Collins
Principal