Longfield Academy Newsletter

Key Dates:

  • Tues 19th Apr - INSET Day


  • Weds 20th Apr - Start of Term


  • Thurs 21st Apr - Year 7 Consultation Evening 4-7pm


  • Fri 27th May - End of Term


  • Mon 6th June - Start of Term


  • Thurs 30th June - Performing Arts Evening 5-7pm


  • Thurs 7th Jul - Celebration Evening 7-10pm


  • Weds 13th Jul - Year 9/10 vaccinations


  • Thurs 14th Jul - Year 9/10 vaccinations


  • Fri 22nd Jul - End of Term


Principal's Welcome

Dear Parents/Carers,


I would like to start this edition of our newsletter by acknowledging the generosity of our families, staff and students. Your response to our Ukraine appeal has been overwhelmingly positive and I am so proud to be part of a community like this one that knows no bounds when it comes to sharing and caring. Your very kind donations have now been delivered to a collection hub in Folkestone so that they can be transported to Poland. As a community, we have had assemblies to educate our students about current affairs in Ukraine and the related global contexts. Our school counsellor has also been proactive in working directly with some of our students who have Russian or Ukrainian heritage to help them through what has been a very difficult few weeks.


Indeed, this module has been a very busy one for staff and students, and so I hope the Easter holidays brings with it the chance for us to relax and re-energise for the next module.


Work continues, however, during the Easter break for year 11 and 13 students who will be focusing on revision for their public examinations when we return. Letters and/or messages have been sent to parents and carers of students who have been targeted for extra intervention. I will encourage all year 11 and 13 students, targeted or not, to take advantage of the Easter school to engage in some valuable revision with their teachers so that they can achieve or exceed predicted grades. Mr Punungwe has very kindly publicised the sessions taking place on our website so that you are aware of what sessions will be taking place and when. I am very excited about this opportunity to help our students and I will be here, myself, to teach mathematics to some of our students.


You would be aware of the many extracurricular activities that have taken place during the course of the module. I would especially like to thank all the parents and carers who were able to join us to celebrate the talents of our students during the informal music concerts. I would also like to thank those parents and carers who joined us during the Post-16 Transition evening this week. It is when we work in partnership like this that we are able to bring the very best out of our students and staff. In this module, we have had various Saturday school sessions (which we will continue with in subsequent modules); science week activities, which included input from external guests; trips and visits, including P16 to the University of Sussex, Drama to the Noel Coward Theatre, and then another Drama trip to see 'Hairspray'. In addition, Geography pupils enjoyed a Field trip to Margate/Herne Bay. As part of our Middle Years programme (MYP), year 9 students have engaged in the preparation and making of cakes, pastries and many more, which they have shared with students in other year groups, as part of their community project. The year 9 students were very pleased, indeed, to host students and staff from Hartley Primary School as part of their project.


As part of our journey towards school improvement, we have analysed your responses to the parents survey sent to you in the previous module to help us understand what improvements we need to make and what to celebrate. I thank all of you who managed to send us your views. We are actively working on this and I will be contacting the small minority of parents/carers who have some very strong views, positive or negative, in order to gain more perspective on the issues you raised. It is worth stating at this point that we have had two external reviews in this module. The first, a safeguarding audit, by the Education People from Kent County Council, and the second, a Quality Assurance Review from the Challenge Partners - a charity, owned and led by schools, who work together to lead school improvement. We came out strongly, with both reviews pointing to our academy as being an effective provider with some very strong positive practices. The Challenge Partners review commented on the strong teaching in several classes and the exceptional qualities of our Spectrum Centre. They also referred to the caring, happy, inclusive and respectful culture in our school. We are all very pleased with these outcomes as they give credence to the hard work staff and students put in every day and we intend to build on this validation to ensure that everyone in our community continues to maximise their potential.


Please note that the academy is closed on Tuesday 19 April for staff INSET. We look forward to welcoming all our students back for the start of module five on Wednesday 20 April.


Finally, I would like you all to join me in congratulating two of our students, Avah Hutton and Matilda Jinks, who participated in the National Cheerleading Association Championships (NCA) in Dallas, Texas, last month and whose team won the prestigious division one title.


I thank you for your continued support, and I wish you and your family a safe and happy Easter holiday.

Dr F. Donkor

Principal

Ukraine Appeal

We have been overwhelmed by the love, support and donations from our parents/carers, students and members of the public. We have had so much donated ranging from baby food, nappies, medication, soft toys and sleeping bags etc.

Our minibus was packed and filled to the brim which ended up having to be 2 trips down to Folkestone as we had so much.


World Book Day

This year Longfield Academy celebrated World Book Day in a different way! We had the usual staff dress up but the main celebration of the day was getting tutor groups to decorate their door from various books.

All that joined in had a fabulous time and worked as a team to decorate.

They have made an excellent job in transforming our doors!

Bistro Community Project

This term Year 9's have been working on the MYP community project in the DT department where students have been working in our onsite Telescope Bistro. They also used the professional kitchen to cook and hosted a tea party for our feeder primary schools and younger year groups. Students spent time before the event researching types of service and trailed dishes. Students arranged the seating, set tables, and hosted the party. They learnt valuable skills in batch cooking, working to time scales, working as a team, working in a professional environment and communication skills.


Younger year groups were delighted for the treat and they felt they can be more confident interacting with the year 9 students in the future. Some students from the events had never had a tea party before. Many students have not had many or any social interactions like this before since COVID. Students have used and built on all the ATL skills for planning and hosting this event. Both the hosts and the guests found this experience very rewarding and brought joy to all involved, brought the Longfield community together, and gave both parties a rewarding experience. It made year 9 students think about pursuing a career in the catering industry and Food GCSE options and gave year 9 students work experience working in the catering industry.


Quotes from staff


“I was really impressed with how conscientious the students were and how seriously they took their roles. The students really enjoyed their experience of dining in the Telescope and this can only help build a stronger relationship between our students and the Telescope for future”


“There was a large variety of cakes and was served in a very professional manner.”


“The invite was very thoughtful and gave a lot of excitement to the students as most of them had not attended a tea party before. The variety of snacks provided was very generous and the ambience of the environment was relaxed and welcoming. The students on service presented very well and politely offered to refill our cups and plates at regular intervals.

We did not leave without a round of applause and a speech of appreciation from one of the year 7 students.


I thought it was amazing and the students thought so too and we all requested for another tea party.”


Quotes from students


The shortbread were ‘banging’ - says Connor


The shortbread were the best ones that I've tasted - Evie


The service was good (topping up the drinks) - Lola


I especially liked the three girls who kept us company - TT


I doubt I’ll need lunch! - Jim


The scones were nice - Matthew

I ate two of the chocolate victoria sponge cakes! - Marcus


Overall I just want to say “thanks for everything!” - Paige


FIVE STARS!!!!!!



Hairspray! The Musical As we are performing Hairspray! The Musical in July, the performing arts department took the cast and crew to the Orchard Theatre to watch the touring company perform. There was a fantastic atmosphere amongst the students and staff, and the show was excellent. The students particularly enjoyed the portrayal of Edna Turnblad by Alex Bourne, and the whole group gave the cast a standing ovation at the end. A really inspiring night, and we look forward to producing our own production.

Dear Evan Hanson

As part of their GCSE and Level 3 studies, Drama and performing arts students from year 10, 11 and 12 were treated to a trip to the West End to watch the award winning musical Dear Evan Hanson. Students had time to explore St James’ Park and walk past Buckingham Palace, as well as, for many, experiencing the theatre for the first time. The show was breath-taking, and very relevant to young people today. On the train on the way home, it was great to hear that so many students took so much away from it.

Informal Music Concert

We are very pleased this year to have so many students participating in after school clubs and having peripatetic lessons in addition to their normal music lessons. So it was very exciting to see so many involved in an informal music concert that Ms Evans and Miss Dillon put on in March, with the help of Mr Terry, who ensured the set up was of a professional standard, despite the low-key nature of the evening. Parents were invited in to watch their children perform, and members of staff also attended. And what a treat they had; despite some students being complete beginners, it was fantastic seeing so many of them with the confidence to perform, having harnessed and developed their skills in a department where they feel safe and confident enough to be themselves. It was also brilliant to see some students - seasoned performers - also perform, having been prevented from doing so for the last couple of years due to the restrictions. The audience thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and we hope that many of the performers will return for the performing arts evening next month.



NCA Achievement

Congratulations to Avah and Matilda who took part in the National Cheerleading Association Championships in America and came 1st place! We are extremely pleased for both girls.

Welcome Patch!

We would like to welcome Patch our new therapy dog for the students.

He is a 5 month old Bedlington Terrier x Cockapoo x Spaniel. Patch is currently training to be a therapy dog which will enable him to visit students who become stressed. He will be going into classrooms but at the moment he is getting used to the school environment.