Dear Parents and Carers
I hope this communication finds you and your families well and that you are looking forward to the bank holiday this weekend.
I am writing to you with a few updates regarding this term so far. The vast majority of our students have returned to school since the Easter break with a really positive attitude and punctuality is continually improving. Overall, the school attendance has been 94% which is a very positive start to the term and is above national average which was last reported on April 22nd as 91% for mainstream secondary schools. I would like to thank our parents and families for their ongoing support with attendance and punctuality.
We have also seen almost 2,500 positive rewards being recorded on our internal system Bromcom since our return this term, with some of the highest recognition points being awarded to students who showed ‘Ambition’ and ‘Collaboration’. This is a clear reflection of the determination of our students to make the most of being back in the classroom, and working with their peers and friends.
Our year 11 and 13 students have been working incredibly hard on their internal assessments and it has been wonderful to see the dedication and efforts they have been putting in. Mr Simmons will be writing to parents next week with further information on teacher assessment grades so please look out for his communication.
Before the Easter holidays we had some very successful consultations with our parents and students regarding our PE uniform. I would like to thank the parents who contributed to the discussions by attending our meeting and also the students who were very helpful with their feedback. We have been able to redesign the PE uniform so it is more accessible and cost effective for our parents and families. We will be launching this with our new year 7 cohort joining in September 2021 and the remaining year groups will be expected to buy the new kit only when they need to replace the previous one. Mr Knight will be sending further information regarding the new kit next week so please look out for his letter. If you do have any questions regarding the PE kit please contact the school after the letter next week as it is likely that most of these questions will be addressed in that communication.
I also wanted to inform our parents that although the vast majority of our students have been excellent in terms of their behaviour and conduct, we have had a very small minority of students who have engaged in physical violence at school. We have also seen an increase in the inappropriate use of social media and as a consequence we have had to exclude some students as this behaviour will not be tolerated by the academy. All students and staff should feel safe when attending the academy and I would appreciate the support of parents and families in ensuring their child’s correct usage of social media. I have attached a link from the National Online Safety, which will provide some guidance on how to keep your child safe online. I have also attached the academy Behaviour Policy and addendum and would appreciate you taking the time to go through this with your child and to reiterate our expectations. Thank you for supporting the behaviour policy and for the positive feedback that we have received as we continue to promote our high standards.
As restrictions have started to lift, we are delighted to be able to offer after school clubs and the link to the schedule is here After school clubs We hope to see as many students attend as possible as enrichment clubs are such an important part of our curriculum offer.
Finally, thank you to all parents and families for their support with face masks for students and also the lateral flow testing on Sundays and Wednesdays. We have seen a dramatic decrease in positive cases being recorded by the academy and to date we have only had one reported to us since the end of February. We are expecting a further announcement from the government regarding face masks on 17th May and we will write to you after with any updates.
As always If you have any questions or concerns then please contact the school in the normal way. Have a restful bank holiday week and we look forward to seeing all students on Tuesday 4th May.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Anwar
