The Leigh Academy Summer Newsletter 2024

Dear Parents/Carers, 

It is with delight that we share with you our Summer 2024 Leigh Newsletter. You will see a packed edition showing a range of wonderful experiences that our young people have been able to be a part of once again.  This is the last newsletter from ‘The Leigh Academy’; as our next edition will be full of articles from our renamed ‘Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy’, in recognition of our founding sponsor. Our new name reflects the status of our academy as the founding academy of Leigh Academies Trust. We are the flagship academy and our name  will ensure that our excellent reputation is maintained both in the local area and across the LAT academies in Kent and the South East.

Over the last few months students in every year group have shown real passion for learning, as they have worked hard in their end of year assessments as well as public examinations for Year 11 and 13 students. In July,  we received our IB diploma results for year 13 and we are extremely proud of their outcomes, which as an average points score, exceed the IB global average! We look forward to the final results days for Year 13 on Thursday 15th August and GCSE results days for Year 11 on Thursday 22nd August and will share overview results details with you on our return after the summer break. 

We have held a successful Enrichment Week at the end of this term, with visits to Greenwich for Year 7, and the Imperial War Museum and Tate Modern Museum for Year 9.  Year 8 students have thoroughly enjoyed designing, building and programming robots, learning Mandarin and Arabic, watching a Macbeth performance as well as hearing from Refocus charity, supporting young people to make the right choices. There has also been a focus on safety in the community through the summer break and in the future, with presentations from the police, the fire services as well as online safety workshops. Students have fed back that they have really enjoyed this week and benefited from the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom. Our students have shown themselves to be open minded, resilient inquirers as they have participated fully in all the activities and events. 

Over the summer break, we start the next phase of our site development, with three new classrooms being created, one on the ground floor of Shakespeare College, one on the top floor of Curie College and one on the top floor of Seacole College.  We also have works planned  to increase the number of, and refurb a large number of the student toilets. 

As we take an increasing number of students into Year 7 each year  (as requested by the local authority), we have a 3 year plan to maximise the space and facilities available in the existing building. We also continue with the designs and planning for the new Post 16 building  to be opened from September 2026.  We will share photos in our next edition. 

As we grow and strengthen year on year, we have planned some developments within the College leadership teams. I welcome formally here, Mr Barry Stephenson as Deputy Principal at The Leigh Academy. Mr Stephenson joined us at Easter as an experienced leader in secondary and IB education. In addition, please do review the College pages to see the leadership teams for next year, as we add capacity with an additional pastoral member of staff per College - four Student Service Officers,  and strengthen our College leadership teams further. 

Within this newsletter you will also be able to read updates from every subject area, information on the many Sports Days that have taken place as well as the another successful cohort of Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Year 9 students, and our second cohort of Silver DofE award students. This opportunity will be offered to all Year 9s so do look out for this information in the Autumn.

I wish you and your families a lovely, restful summer holiday and I look forward to welcoming our students back for the new academic year 2024-2025.

Kind regards

Mrs Julia Collins 

Principal 

It seems like only yesterday, at Easter, when I was introducing myself to you as Deputy Principal at The Leigh Academy. Fast forward through two modules and we are on the verge of the end of another academic year. During this short time, it has been a pleasure to meet so many polite, respectful and ambitious students, who try to be the very best they can be, every day. 

This leads me to reflect on the importance of being in school, on time, every time, as every minute in every lesson counts. I want to congratulate those with exemplary punctuality and attendance, as the correlation between these and progress is very strong. There is no doubt that those students who cheerfully cooperate with their expert teachers, everyday, every lesson, are the happiest and most successful at school. I will reiterate that punctuality and attendance will be as important as ever as we anticipate a new academic year and a new beginning in September. However, before the new academic year begins, the Post-16 and GCSE outcomes are pending in anticipation of results that reflect the hard work of students and staff alike. I have seen first hand the ambition of The Leigh Academy’s Year 11 and  Post-16 students as they strive for University and Higher Level Apprenticeships accessible through the International Baccalaureate Career Programme, and I recommend this pathway unreservedly.

It has also been a pleasure over the last two modules to see students engage beyond the classroom and embrace the wider opportunities that school has to offer. From Culture Day, where students celebrated their similarities and differences, where they appreciated that others can also be right. To the determination required to push themselves during Sports Days and the Duke of Edinburgh award programmes - well done to all who took part, and remember, often finish lines are more important than finish times! 

I remember saying to staff and students in assemblies recently that I have had the opportunity to stop, look and listen as collectively we look to move successfully into the future. Whilst doing this I have seen and heard a community with ambition to work together to help your child achieve great things.

Barry Stephenson

Deputy Principal