Dear Parents and Carers,

Early Finish Thursday 29th September

A reminder that the Academy will close at 2:20 on Thursday 29th September.  This is to enable staff to prepare for our Open Evening for prospective Year 7 parents.  If you have any concerns over childcare up to 3:20, please contact us here at the academy.

Assemblies – Social Media

This week I have led assemblies with all students raising awareness about misogynistic views that are being perpetuated online.  Specifically, I drew attention to Andrew Tate who was recently banned from all social media platforms because of his hateful and misogynistic views.  Most alarmingly, as I pointed out to our students, he has 4.3 million followers and has recorded over 11 billion hits across a range of social media platforms.  

During our assemblies, I spoke to students about the Equalities Act 2010 and made clear that they have rights, enshrined in law, to protect them against intimidation, harassment and victimisation.  As an academy, we are clear that everyone is equal and we respect one another at all times.  I emphasised to students the importance of reporting instances of discriminatory language.

I would also remind parents to continue to be vigilant about what young people are doing online.  As I stated in my letter last week, young people do not have an inalienable right to be on social media; that decision is up to parents.  However, it is important to recognise the importance of staying safe online and I would ask parents to play a part in checking what young people are doing on their digital devices to ensure that they are safe.  As I outlined in my letter last week, we operate a complex and sophisticated monitoring and filtering system in the academy and track what students are engaging with online.  I can be clear that we know there are people with huge social media followings who are promoting ideas and beliefs that are entirely incompatible with life in a 21st Century democracy.  It is our role as educators to work alongside parents to ensure our young people can identify discriminatory views and to help them see why they are harmful.  

If you become concerned about your child’s activity online, please do not hesitate to contact us for further support.  

Holidays During Term Time

The Government is quite clear that young people are not permitted to take holidays during term time.  Every day missed from school is five lessons of lost learning.  This will have an impact on students’ learning.  Any child who misses 19 school days in one year is what the government calls a ‘persistent absentee’.  Clearly, a term time holiday can quite easily lead to a student meeting that threshold.  As a general rule – unless the circumstances are exceptional – the academy will not authorise term time holidays.  

If you believe that the circumstances are exceptional, you should complete a holiday form and return it to the academy.  You must clearly state why the circumstances are exceptional.  The ultimate decision as to whether or not the reasons meet this test rests with the academy.  

We have seen an increase in the number of requests over the last year.  This is leading to a rise in unauthorised absences.  While we understand that holidays are cheaper in term time, we are emerging from the most disrupted period in education during peacetime.  Young people need to catch up and attend school regularly.

Year 11 P6s

Our P6 programme is now underway.  This is a vital part of our Year 11 strategy to support our students to prepare for their exams.  Year 11 students are a matter of two weeks away from their first set of mock exams.  This is an incredibly important time for them.  I would ask that all parents are having conversations with their child about how they are revising for the upcoming exams.  These exams are the first milestone in an incredibly important period for Year 11 and we need to see what they know and can do in exam conditions.

My best wishes to you and your family for a peaceful weekend.

Yours faithfully

Mr S. Richardson

Headteacher