Dear Parents / Carers,

I hope this update finds you and your families well.  

This module so far has seen a continued increase in positive logs from previous academic years with over 8 times the number of positive progress points being issued in comparison to any negative logs.  We have issued over 2100 Golden tickets since the start of the academic year to celebrate our students excellent academic progress, that is a lot of fridge's across West Kent that are hopefully displaying them proudly!  Could I please urge all parents and carers to ensure they check on their BromCom MCAS App to access the logs so you can celebrate achievements of your child/children and to also be aware if there are patterns of concerns beginning to emerge from subject teachers.  We track this internally of course, but we will only ensure the success of our young people if we work as a team to support them in and outside of school as a collective.  If you experience any challenges with accessing MCAS, please contact your College admin office via the main reception number, and they will be able to assist.  

The mock exam season is upon us for our Year 11 and 13 students who have undertaken the 1st full week of exam with real determination, congratulations to you all.  The results of the mocks will be shared in January with students and parents alike and this is the most reflective data we will have access to to indicate what their end results will be in August.  Students will be using their Question Level Analysis as well as their Performance Portfolios in lesson and advisory to assist in identifying any gaps in learning so that it can be built up over the 4 month lead up to the formal examination period.  

Our Year 7 students have settled incredibly well, having the highest attendance across the academy (being closely competed with by Year 12 and 13) and are continuing to develop their knowledge of the IB MYP traits throughout all areas of the curriculum which has been wonderful to see in lessons and through discussions with them at break and lunchtime. 

Year 9 are about to embark upon their options process with the parents evening and options talks being held by Mrs Mahon on Thursday 11th January.  Within lessons, teachers have been referencing careers strands relevant to their subject areas to support students in making these important decisions.  The aim is also to hopefully inspire thoughts regarding which careers certain subjects may lead onto, and for subject teachers to dispel any myths too! 

Our cohort of Year 10 students have made an exceptional start to their GCSE and BTEC courses with many already having created some outstanding pieces of work very much at the higher echelons of the GCSE course.  Having been in many Year 10 lessons, students are engaged and proactive in their learning and using their Chromebooks to further their understanding and knowledge in and outside of the classroom.  Keep it up Year 10!

We are hugely proud of the Leigh Academies Trust Chromebook scheme, which enables each of our students to have access to their own device free of charge.  This is something that the vast majority of students across the UK do not have access to.  The benefits are immeasurable in terms of students accessing their google classrooms; Knowledge Organisers; the newly introduced performance portfolios; the online apps to support learning such as Sparks, and for completion of work in lessons with their teachers and peers using the collaborative Google docs.  A significant challenge in accessing these crucial aspects of our curriculum is now occurring for an increasing number of students.  Broken screens and broken keyboards etc.  A minority of students are simply not respecting the devices as much as their do their smartphones unfortunately.  

As parents and carers, we need your support with this if possible, could you please purchase a Chromebook cover to support in preserving the screens.  A couple have been permanently damaged beyond repair and it is simply through misuse, others are a genuine accident which we understand will happen.  There are suitable covers available for £9 on Amazon, If there are challenges accessing this due to financial reasons, please do make contact with your child's advisor and inform them and we will support where possible.  All students were issued with a charger alongside their device, this is something that some are saying they do not have access to and as a result are arriving at school without it charged and are therefore not able to access all aspects of some lessons fully.   I am sure some are simply lurking in a bedroom somewhere, so again your support would be gratefully recieved! 

Thank you, as always for your support and I wish you an enjoyable weekend and start to the festive period!

Many thanks 

Mrs Brooks

Period Wellbeing 

Mascalls continues to provide free period products on the Academy site for all those that need it.  These can be found in all College offices, C Block toilets and the Sixth Form toilets. 

A website about period wellbeing at Mascalls can be found here, with a guide to all the support we offer, tips from current students about how to manage your period at school and a range of external resources for our students and Sixth Formers, including a suggested reading list from our Librarians.

Health and wellbeing awareness

A period wellbeing session was held for female Sixth Formers, covering managing your period at university and in the workplace, advocating for yourself and links to organisations that can provide support.  All students received a goodie bag of free period products and items that can make having a period a bit easier, including some tea bags and chocolate!

Male Sixth Formers had a session focused around male mental health and the importance of awareness to help mark 'Movember' month.  Students also had information about male health and links to guidance from the Oddballs charity about testicular cancer.  They also got a goodie bag, with some hand-made moustache soap and a stick on moustache to wear with pride!

Students were fully engaged and welcomed the open forum to highlight these important issues.  Feedback will be used to continue to tailor our provision to meet the needs of our Sixth Form students.  Thanks go to Miss Couch for all her hard work in running these assemblies as part of our Sixth Form Advisory programme. 

Miss Honey - Assistant Principal - Deputy Head of Earhart College 

Year 10 Football Update

The Year 10 Boys Football Team have done the unthinkable and won every match in their league this season!  Since September we've witnessed 2-0 wins against Skinners Kent Academy and St Gregory's, as well as a 3-2 win against Knole Academy and 5-2 win against Charles Darwin.  By winning our league, we are now fortunate enough to be through to the Play-Offs after Christmas, against another team still to be confirmed.

A big shout out goes to Fin who scored one of the finest goals Mascalls Academy has ever produced, as well as the consistent performances of Jack Hames and George Berry every week.

It has been an absolute pleasure to manage the boys this year, and I have no doubt the best is yet to come!

Mr Cornwell