Here is a message to our parents and carers from our Principal this festive season.
It’s hard to believe that it is almost time to break up for Christmas – this term has absolutely flown by! Some of the highlights include our continued successes in sports fixtures and events, the appointment of our Sports Leaders and Year Group Student Councils, the Christmas Shoe Box Appeal, attending assemblies on anti-racism and anti-bullying, which were expertly led by a group of students from across Years 7 - 9 and of course, the Christmas Concert, which I had the pleasure of attending last night [Wednesday 15 December]. It was a joy to watch so many of our young people perform and entertain their family, friends and members of staff, and we are so proud of each and every single participant! I am already looking forward to the next event……
During this term we have been working hard in response to feedback from both the parent/carer survey and the student survey we carried out at the end of October. Some of the adjustments we have made include making our stairwells oneway during lesson changeover so as to ease movement and congestion and introducing a ‘split lunch’, with Years 7 & 8 having lunch together at 12:20 and Years 9 -11 at 13:15. This has been in response to feedback that the queues to buy food can be quite lengthy [especially on Fridays!], the toilets can feel quite busy during lunch time and the playground congested as the playing fields are out of bounds during the winter months.
Early feedback from our students suggest that these changes have been well received! As parents/carers, you will have seen that this term we held an SEND coffee morning, with the team available to meet and discuss provision and hosted an open invite anti-bullying parent event. You also should have received your child’s written report, which provides you with an update of how your child is doing in each of their subjects and more generally in school life. We will be continuing to make tweaks and adjustments in key areas in order that we can provide the best education and opportunities for our young people. We intend to carry out another round of surveys during Term 3 and look forward to hearing your views.
Friday 16 December is a non-uniform day, with monies raised being donated to our student charity of choice, which for this non-uniform day is Integrate UK, a local charity who help young people find a voice and a platform to advocate for social change on issues that matter to them. All that remains is for me to thank you for your on-going support and wish you a peaceful Christmas and best wishes for 2023. I look forward to welcoming our young people back to the Academy at the usual time [08.47!] on Wednesday 4 January, in full school uniform [including school shoes and blazers] and ready to continue learning.
Best Wishes
Victoria Boomer-Clark