Dear Parents / Carers,

We have made it to the final day of term!  Students have arrived today full of festive merriment and it has been lovely to see the exchanging of cards across the canteen tables at break and lunchtime throughout this week.  We have held celebratory breakfasts for our Year 7 advisories with the highest attendance this week in the 6th Form Common room.  It has been a real pleasure to see how their friendships have flourished in their advisory groups and hearing them share their Christmas plans with Mr Toal, myself, their Head of College and their advisor.  Our Anti-bullying ambassadors also shared a breakfast this morning to thank them for the work they have undertaken this term.  Mrs Wakefield's advisory kicked off the day on Thursday with some Christmas singing in reception along with Miss Shaw-Kew who now knows all of the words to Kelly Clarkson's 'Underneath the tree'!  

Following up on complaints we recieved regarding the 206 bus service, we have been in communication with Starline and KCC and have been assured by Starline that the issues with this service have now been resolved.  We are closely monitoring the bus services currently to ensure that our students are brought to school safely and on time.  We are aware that there are some issues with the time of the 215 service in the morning and KCC are also aware of this and have assured us that when the many roadworks on that route are complete over the Christmas break, the service should be more timely, again we will be monitoring this.  Any students who are late to school because of their bus will not be marked as late 

Upon our return in January, can I please take the opportunity to request that parents and carers check that students have the correct uniform and equipment ready for the new term.  We have found that we have seen an increase in students needing to access the 'Ready to learn' gate to collect uniform items and stationary as this term has progressed.  This should only be used if there is a genuine need for support or if something has been forgotten, not for students to collect items on a daily basis.  The purpose of the 'Ready to Learn' gate is to support in preventing sanctions and enabling students to be 'Ready to Learn' from the start of the day so that the provision of equipment does not take up any lesson time.  Please can you ensure that your child has their Chromebook fully charged, a pencil case with black / blue pens, pencils, a ruler, a protractor, compass and a scientific calculator.  A maths set or a pack of highlighters is a great stocking filler!   If you require support with accessing these items please contact the relevant College admin team who can support in equipping your child with the correct equipment for the start of term.  In addition to this, trainers are not permitted as part of the school uniform unless with a medical certificate.  Students who choose to wear trainers from the start of next term, will be placed in the Inclusion room for the day.  Blazers must be worn each day and any students without their blazers will be placed in Inclusion also.  Please ensure that your child has established strong routines in getting ready for the day by packing their bag the night before and ensuring they are wearing full uniform.

To end on a festive theme, we have held a Christmas card competition across the academy and have submitted our finalists towards the LAT Christmas Card competition.  We had more entries than we have ever had before and it was incredibly difficult to choose the finalists but please see the designs of Gabriela, Isabel and Faith pictured below.  

I also wanted to mention a particularly kind Christmas gesture and action from Rosie in Year 9.  She visited Canterbury with her family recently and saw the number of homeless people there and wanted to do something to help.  Rosie has asked staff at Mascalls to support in bringing warm clothing items and blankets, and she and her family are going to go and distribute them this weekend.  Thank you Rosie for supporting people who are not as fortunate as others and thank you to staff for all of your donations.

We are fully aware that for some of our families, Christmas can be a challenging time for a variety of different reasons.    Please use this link to access some methods of support with managing positive mental health over the Christmas break.  

As always, we are so very grateful for your support and collaboration, and from all of us here at Mascalls Academy, we wish you a very Merry Christmas.  

Mrs Brooks