Dear Parents and Carers, 

Thank you for your continued support. 

This week we have continued the momentum into the new module with many different events taking place, from Indoor Athletics competitions, Sixth Form parents evenings as well as many intervention sessions for our Year 11 and Year 13 pupils. 

Throughout the week we have been conducting a review of the quality of education in Science, English as well as across Key Stage 3. This has been supported by the Trust as well as the leadership team completing a number of lesson visits. It has been excellent to be part of many lessons, to see our expert teachers in action is absolutely incredible. The quality of the work in pupil books as well as excellent use of the chromebook to support learning within the classroom. A hugely successful week. 

This week we have seen a decrease in temperature and even a flurry of snow earlier in the week. I have recently shared a letter reference the academy arrangements in the event of adverse weather. Please see the letter here.

I also note that many pupils are choosing not to wear a coat to school. Please encourage your child to wear a suitable coat to keep warm during their journey to and from school. Please be mindful that hoodies are not allowed on academy site. Thank you. 

We are extremely proud of the improvement in attendance this year for both pupils in Years 7 - 11 and also pupils in our Sixth Form. We understand and appreciate the impact and importance of attendance to school and we monitor attendance each and every day to manage and work with pupils and families on any barriers to attendance. It is often common that during the winter seasons pupils miss days at school due to the dark mornings, increase in poor weather but also increased illnesses. I urge parents to ensure all pupils attend school each and every day. Our curriculum is sequenced extremely carefully to support long term memory and even if one lesson is missed our pupils will experience gaps in their knowledge. Attendance is pivotal to academic success and we appreciate your support here.  

This week following feedback in a recent Parent Forum event we have launched ‘request a call back’. Should you require a call back from the academy please fill in the form below. Link attached here. We hope this further supports the communication between academy and home. Please don’t forget to review our contact us page when you are trying to contact the relevant college. 

Thank you to all parents and carers for their continued support, it is appreciated that the community can see the effort the academy is going to, as we continue to provide the best possible education for all pupils. 

Have a restful weekend and we look forward to welcoming pupils back to school on Monday. A reminder that our academy gates close at 8:30am. 

Regards,

Jon Richardson

Principal 

STRUCTURE OF THE DAY 

ATTENDANCE

Since coming back after the Christmas holidays, we have come together as a community to reflect on all we have achieved so far. This includes:

• Introducing and embedding routines for students such as morning line ups, the assembly protocol and focusing on transitions around the academy building; encouraging students are moving between lessons with pace and purpose and ensuring all students feel safe when moving around the academy

• Focusing on combating 'Culture Killers' such as poor uniform standards, litter around the academy, use of foul and inappropriate language and body language within lessons; ensuring all students are presenting as focused and ready to learn

• Implementing a standardised homework policy across the academy, where students are aware of the expectations around homework as well as the importance of this 

• Promoting students' extra curricular interests and hobbies through a range of lunchtime and after school clubs and activities

• Improving relations with parents, carers and the local community through information shared social media platforms and in Weekly Parent Bulletins

• Further improving communication with parents and carers through events such as face-to-face Parents Evenings, Year 7 Meet the Form Tutor, Parent Voice Forums and Parental Drop-Ins as well as tools such as 'Request Call Back' button and college-specific email addresses

We are immensely proud of the progress we have made so far, and while acknowledging that we are still at the very beginning of our Vision 2028 journey, we are looking forward to the successes we will continue to achieve along the way.