SPRING NEWSLETTER

Dear Parent / Carer,

The autumn term is always incredibly busy and this year has been no exception.  As a staff team, we have had a sharp focus on attendance because it is only when students are in the classroom learning with us every day that the learning really 'sticks' and progress happens.  At the start of September, I shared Bridget Phillipson's, Secretary of State for Education, thoughts on this:

"Mass behaviour change is a remarkable thing, requiring buy-in not just from some of us, but from all of us - and there is no area where that is more urgent than getting children back into school."

As we have seen time and again at OSA, we are capable of achieving significant cultural change when we work together to achieve it; our work on attendance is no exception and I am pleased to report that our attendance rate is improving with rates of persistent and severe absence declining.  There is still much work to be done to ensure that all our students are attending as regularly as possible, but things are certainly moving in the right direction.

As a school community, we have come together on several occasions to celebrate significant moments this time and our students have risen admirably to meet our high expectations.  You can read about these moments in the articles below on Remembrance Day, Culture Day, the Year 7 Carol Service and our Awards Ceremony.

With very best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

Julie Jones
Headteacher