Dear Parents and Carers,

As the students are preparing for their half term break, behind the scenes here at the academy there's going to be a lot of work happening over the next two weeks as we upgrade our IT servers. This upgrade signifies a major investment by the academy and one which will have an extremely positive impact on students when they get back. Please be aware that the academy will be completely closed for the next two weeks and staff will have no access to email. Please also note that students will not be able to log in to Show My Homework, so all Home Learning should be in their planners.

At the start of Year 7, students and parents sign the Home Academy Agreement, part of which is the commitment to come to school every day and on time. A small number of students appear to have forgotten this and have been persistently late this semester. As parents and educators we all share the same goal - the best possible outcome and success for your child. Please support this by making sure that your child arrives at the academy by 8.20am every single day. If students arrive after 8.20am they are recorded as being late, and parents of persistently late students will be asked to come to the academy for a meeting. If your child is not in school by 9.30am and we do not have a valid reason for the absence, this is recorded as an unauthorised absence and will also result in meetings with parents. If your child is actually too ill to come to school, you must call the absence line on 0207 2751546 or email absent@petcheyacademy.org.uk.

With more free time on their hands over the next couple of weeks, students are likely to be tempted to spend more time than usual on their phones. On Wednesday we held a workshop for parents to share advice and techniques for managing screen time. Please scroll down for the resources and handouts from this session.

Wishing all our students and families a happy half term.

Jayne Nelson (Marketing & Communications Manager)

The school has been given the opportunity to take part in a project that will run jointly between schools and the Metropolitan Police.

Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools, prior to the start of the next school day, when a child or young person has been exposed to, or involved in, any domestic incident.

Operation Encompass will ensure that a member of the school staff, known as a Dedicated Safeguarding Lead, is trained to allow them to liaise with the police and to use the information that has been shared, in confidence, while ensuring that the school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children, or their families, who have been involved in, or exposed to, a domestic abuse incident.

We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our students and we believe this will be extremely beneficial for all those involved.