Dear Parent/Carer, It was wonderful to welcome so many families to our superb Quiz Night, organised by the Friends Association last night. A huge thank you to the Friends Association for all their hard work. This week saw our Year 10 students perform their assessed GCSE drama pieces at the Bull Theatre. I was incredibly proud to see the quality and sophistication of the students work and have no doubt that their results will be superb. It has been a busy week for Year 10 with Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, GCSE Citizenship presentations and drama performances but they have coped incredibly well. We can certainly see just how grown up they are getting! As a community our minds are now firmly focused on the upcoming exam period; with Yr7 and Yr8 examinations running from Monday 5th June and Yr9 and Yr10 examinations from Monday 12th June. All examinations will take place on the lower school. Timetables and revision guides, were published some weeks ago, and are available on Show My Homework. So how can we all help and support our young people in securing a happy and confident exam period? The tips below are designed to support our students and families over the coming weeks:

1. Brain food - Nutritional therapist Kerry Torrens recommends making breakfast the most important meal of the day, filling up on energy-giving oats and eggs, which contain a nutrient called choline - thought to help cognitive performance and improve memory as we age. As for revision snacks, consultant Dr Alex Richardson recommends popcorn over crisps as it is higher in fibre, so releases energy more slowly.

2. Bedtime - Lisa Artis from the Sleep Council argues a good night's sleep is more beneficial than doing last-minute revision into the early hours. "When you sleep well, you function and perform better and your memory is better, meaning you retain what you have revised," she said.

3. Support Vs pressure - Parenting coach Anita Cleare says it's important to "find ways of being supportive without being imposing". "They know the exams are important. Us ramping up the pressure is not going to help," she said. While some parents may opt for large rewards, pending results, Anita suggested smaller rewards throughout the process. "These can be little things like a takeaway or a trip to the cinema after a certain number of hours of revision."

I must express some concern at the number of absence requests from parents surrounding the 5th June. Our school calendar is always available on the website in the preceding academic year and our newsletter publishes date reminders each week. It is imperative that families work within the term dates of the school to ensure that students’ studies are not disrupted or disadvantaged. With my best wishes,

Lucy Harrison Headteacher

KEY DATES FOR THE DIARY: June Mon 5th – School starts 8.30am w/c 5th Year 7 & 8 Exam Week w/c 12th Year 9 & 10 Exam Week Fri 23rd INSET day July Fri 7th – 7SJO Archer café Weds 12th – Summer Showcase Thurs 13th – Summer Showcase Fri 14th – Learning Review Day Mon 17th – Sports Day

REMINDERS:

Please ensure your ParentPay account is topped up for the last half term.

26th May 2017

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Tues 18th – Year 9 Graduation Party Weds 19th – Last day of term Thurs 20th – INSET day

KEY INFORMATION: Show My Homework: We will be posting the weekly newsletter and notifications for students on the Notifications tab on SMHW. Please encourage your child to keep an eye on this tab, as well as the Homework tab for future events, talks and opportunities. Who’s Who: You can find a list of who to contact at the school here: http://thearcheracademy.org.uk/who-to-contact-when/ Please use this list to direct any questions to the correct member of staff or department.

FRIENDS ASSOCIATION UPDATE – Lisha Taylor Supper Quiz We were delighted to welcome over 100 parents and staff to our quiz night. The atmosphere was brilliant and we raised important funds for the school. A special thank you to our amazing quiz masters Pat and Avis. We will let you have an update of the total amount raised soon.

7MGO Rainbow Cake Sale

7MGO held a rainbow themed cake sale today with lots of fantastic rainbow coloured cakes and treats. We were joined by a representative from Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice who was giving out information to students about a Rainbow Run the hospice is orgaining to raise funds on 25th June. More info here: https://www.noahsarkhospice.org.uk/support-rainbow-run/ Some dates for the diary: Friday 7th July – 7SJO Archer Café Saturday 15th July – Archer Summer Party Race the Neighbours – Sarah Pearce With just under six weeks to go until Race the Neighbours, we now have a fantastic team signed up to represent the Archer Academy. From the staff we have Mr Gillo, Ms

Allcock, Ms Walker, Ms Ingleby, Ms Jones, Mr Savage, Ms Randall, Ms Rodford, Ms Bickers and Mr Naylor. Parents and governors include Sarah Pearce, Cathy Halstead, Martin Bright, Joel Romaner, Michelle Hall, Jonathan Hall, Bill Edgar, Alex Shattock, Steve Hobden and Mikha Mekler. We’re raising funds to provide resources for the Art and DT GCSE facilities at Beaumont Close, so we hope you’ll give whatever you can. Please donate at https://mydonate.bt.com/events/archeracademyrtn

There may still be places left if you want to join us, www.racetheneighbours.com or if you’re not a runner and still want to be involved, then the organisers would love some more marshals on the day. Please email sarahg@thearcheracademy.org.uk if you want to race or help.

SUMMER REVISION – Mrs Gillham Please take a look at our top tips for revision this week. The revision guides for all year groups are available on Show My Homework. Mrs Bickers has been providing a brilliant series of revision assemblies for students and recommends the following article for parents: http://www.connectionsinmind.co.uk/2017/05/01/support-stay-connected-child-revising/

EMOTIONAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING UPDATE – Mr Naylor The following information is designed to update and inform parents of approach we are taking at school to subjects that concern us all. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any concerns or questions via office@thearcheracademy.org.uk. Exams Exam season is fast approaching. For students up and down the country this means trying to cram in as much information as they can in their final few weeks of revision. This often leads to doubt, tears and worries (and that’s just how the parents are feeling). So what can parents do to help their children survive the exam season?

Please do ensure you have accessed the revision guide resources shared by Mrs Gillham and Heads of Year via Show My Homework to fully support your child as they prepare for their exams.

Ramadan Discussion with staff and students to plan the support they need during Ramadan is ongoing and the importance of hydrating properly before the fast begins each day has been prioritised. Parents need to discuss what food and drink should be avoided or encouraged to help promote better health and concentration levels as much as possible throughout the day. Blue Whale A number of concerns have been raised recently alerting schools to news and social media posts about ‘Blue Whale’. The posts urge you to share the posts to protect young people from a viral suicide game. The ‘Blue Whale’ story is a hoax, or fake news, something which is permeating almost every news area recently. Film: Thirteen Reasons Why (available on Netflix) Thirteen Reasons Why is a controversial film aimed at older teenagers on the popular streaming service, Netflix. Launched recently it is based on a book by Jay Asher published in 2007. The story concerns a high-school student who takes her own life, and has left 13 cassette tapes she has recorded explaining why. The film has become controversial because of its explicit portrayal of the character’s death and that this could lead to other similar deaths. In the UK there are strict guidelines about suicide in drama, but Netflix operates outside those rules. Media guidelines from The Samaritans explain that "over-simplification of the causes or perceived ‘triggers’ for a suicide can be misleading and is unlikely to reflect accurately the complexity of suicide." Young people in school may well have watched and be talking about 'Thirteen Reasons Why'. Sex & Relationship Education Days Information will be shared after half term with Year 9 and 10 also completing Drug & Alcohol Education Workshops. Please do contact Heads of Year or Mr Naylor if you have any questions, a parent session will also be confirmed as soon as possible.

- Year 10 SRE and DAE Lifelong Learning Day 29th June 2017 - Year 9 SRE and DAE Lifelong Learning Day 6th July 2017 - Year 8 SRE Lifelong Learning Day 13th July 2017

- Year 7 Introduction session PM assembly 13th July 2017

MATHS DEPARTMENT UPDATE – Mrs Williams

Calculators for End of Year Exams – Mrs Williams and Dr Morrison It is absolutely essential that your child has their own calculator for every exam, in addition to spare pens, pencils and a ruler. It is crucial that students own their own calculators rather than sharing with siblings, so they can learn to use them in every Maths and Science lesson, rather than approaching serious exams without a familiar calculator. Students need a dual algebraic display calculator as pictured: these can be bought from Casio through the following hyperlink. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Casio-FX-83GTPLUS-S-UH-FX-83GTPLUS-Scientific-Calculator/dp/B001O3IF9U

Hegarty Maths The Archer Academy is proud to be one of the first 350 schools in the country to launch Hegarty Maths. Students can watch high quality videos explaining any concept from the start of Year 7 to the top of Year 11, and test their knowledge with closely matched questions. A student turning all 619 skills green will be working at a Grade 8 at GCSE. It has been described as ‘Cutting edge technology: almost like a free private home tutor’. Accelerating your child’s Maths progress Since launching Hegarty Maths in the last few weeks, Archer students have already built up a stunning 952 learning hours. Competition to top the leaderboards for each year group is fierce, at about 12 hours’ total revision already. The programme’s tracking of exactly how long each student has spent on homework and revision is incredibly valuable, and shows us that many students are spending less than an hour on Maths homework each week. Could

this be your child? This is crucial, especially in the run up to End of Year exams, because homework consolidates students’ understanding, and helps them build key skills into their long term memory. To supervise your son/daughter’s time on their Maths homework, you can click the ‘Hegarty Maths’ logo to return to their home screen, and see their total learning hours by the speedometer image (12.3 hours in the image below). All students can log in via www.hegartymaths.com/learner with their name and date of birth: they do not need any special log in details. We are encouraging a minimum of an hour a day of Maths revision for five of the days over half term. We value your support of your son or daughter’s learning.

DRAMA AND DANCE AUDITIONS – Miss Randall We are excited to announce our next audtion dates in the CPA department. These slides are also posted in the notifications section for all students on SMHW. Good luck to everyone who takes part. Drama:

Dance:

GRANDPARENTS’ DAY – Miss Harrison We were delighted to welcome almost 100 grandparents to school for our annual Grandparents' Day. It was wonderful to see the delight on both the grandparents' and students' faces as they greeted each other at school. Our guests were treated to dance, music, poetry and a delicious afternoon tea. The afternoon closed with a rousing rendition of our school song.

Thank you to all our visitors for coming to the school and making it such a special day. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

BRIGHT IDEAS LECTURE – Mrs Gillham

Thank you to BBC Home Affairs correspondent, Danny Shaw who gave a Bright Ideas lecture at school on human rights and the justice system. It was a great opportunity for students to get a real insight into the subject for their citizenship studies.

THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS – Miss Devi

Last Thursday 60 Year 7 students embarked on an exciting journey to east Sussex to visit Battle Abbey. Students have been learning about the medieval period and students and answer various historical questions regarding the Battle of Hastings. During the visit, students were given the opportunity to visit the area this gruesome and significant battle took place and they combine their historical knowledge and drama skills to bring it to life. In addition, they visited interactive several exhibitions to further explore the events which lead to the battle and the consequences that changed English History forever.

THEMATIC LEARNING – Mrs Vandervelde

Year 8 Thematic Learning are currently studying a unit on Sport. As part of this we were very fortunate to have two sports journalists, Bill Edgar and Jon Brodkin, deliver talks to the students. Our visitors were very well received and the students asked a huge array of questions before writing their own articles. We were delighted with the year 8׳s enthusiasm and spotted some budding journalists in the process too!

GCSE DRAMA PRESENTATION – Miss Randall

Year 10 Drama GCSE students were given the opportunity to showcase their talents at The Bull Theatre this week. They presented pieces they have been working on to a packed audience. Year 9 Drama students were invited to come along and watch the show to get an idea of what is in store for them next year in the Drama department. Well done to all the perfomers.

CARE IN OUR COMMUNITY – Mr Lia

A group of Year 9 students visited a local care home and were fascinated to hear all about the residents' stories. The Archer students also performed some music pieces, poetry recital and dance routines. 'One of the resident's story of her life was really inspiring and I learnt a lot about when she went to school and how she had started work when she was just 14 years old.' Georgia R, Year 9.

BOOK OF THE WEEK – Mrs Gillham We are delighted to announce the winners of Book of the Week. Well done on the tremendous superb daily efforts of our students.

Teacher Year Subject Student Comment

Miss Walker 7 English Mouni C For impeccable QMS, as well as her attention to detail in her annotations and assessment planning this week.

Mr Wick 10 Science Devnia B For her incredible attention to detail and extensive notes!

Miss Jouhal 10 Geography James P Very neat, thorough and good quality work produced lately

Mrs Williams 10 Maths Krishna G Excellent book, with all minitest corrections complete to a high standard, all work self-assessed or peer assessed, and excellent QMS.

HEAD OF YEAR UPDATES – Mr Naylor

Revision/Exam Week:

‘Procrastination is the thief of time.’ Edward Young

Year 10 – Mr Savage Year 10 have been focusing on their exam preparations this week, by now all students should have an exam timetable set up for half term and the week before exams. Students who get to grips with this now will feel the benefit next year when they have a longer period of study leave. Self-regulation is crucial and as many revision sessions as we will offer and the opportunities available externally, students need to be able to make themselves sit down and revise independently. As well as their exams, Year 10 have been visiting universities, presenting their business ideas, performing superb theatre pieces at the Bull Theatre in Barnet and skilfully navigating the countryside on their Duke of Edinburgh expedition trips. I was really impressed with the group especially the cooking, I don't remember preparing quesadillas with tofu on my Duke of Edinburgh trip back in the 90s, but they looked delicious. In assembly we discussed the importance of community and the value of being honest and holding one’s hand up when we make a mistake. We also discussed the recent events in Manchester and any student who has concerns or worries knows they can speak to any member of staff. You should have received an email today about a special Open Evening at Woodhouse College on Tuesday 27th June, exclusively for Archer families. Tickets can be booked here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/woodhouse-college-open-evening-year-9-and-year-10-parents-and-students-tickets-34854720407

Have a lovely break.

Year 10 Stars of the Week

Lania, Anjali, Jack, Maha, Alexa for making a fantastic profit during their £10 challenge enrichment

Y Y

Year 9 – Ms Humphrey As we approach half term, I would like to congratulate all Year 9 students on their achievements over the last few weeks. While it is important for students to have a break and relax over the holidays (including from social media!). Please do ensure that your child has planned their revision timetable ahead of the forthcoming exams. All revision guides are available on SMHW and for further stretch and challenge, I recommend BBC Bitesize and SAM learning for additional resources and support. You should have received an email today about a special Open Evening at Woodhouse College on Tuesday 27th June, exclusively for Archer families. Tickets can be booked here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/woodhouse-college-open-evening-year-9-and-year-10-parents-and-students-tickets-34854720407 Have a lovely half term break.

Year 9 Stars of the Week

Raul P for his sporting achievements Mohammed B for improvements in attitude to English

Megan S and Eve B for wonderful poetry recital at Grandparents’ Day

Year 8 – Mr McSherry Exams are upon us. I hope you have all received the information sent out via email with regards to the arrangements. Please do take some time to discuss this with your child and ensure they are clear on expectations. A good opportunity to begin to build good habits I feel. Year 8 have conducted themselves exceptionally well previously so I expect this to be no different. The exam week for Year 8 will run from Monday 5th June for one week. Do support us by ensuring your child revises over the half-term break, Mrs Bickers describes the best methods as HIIT.... although we replace the 'T' for Training with an 'R' for Revision. I wish all students all the best with their HIIR. Enjoy your half-term.

Year 8 Stars of the Week

Jacob M – For demonstrating great leadership skills and encouraging others to make good decisions in lessons Emily McC - Has achieved a high level of consistency in behaviour for, and commitment to learning. Setting an

excellent example to her peers.

Year 7 – Ms Martin

It has been a very busy week for us in Year 7 as we prepare for the upcoming exam week commencing after half term on Monday 5th June. Please check your emails today for further information on how your child should prepare themselves for the exams. This afternoon 7MGO are hosting a bake sale in aid of Noah's Ark Children's Hospice. Information will be available at the cake sale regarding a 5km run to raise more money for this fantastic cause - I would encourage your child to get involved with this. As detailed in the letter sent out to you this week, I will be handing Year 7 over to Mr Mustafa after half term. It has been my absolute pleasure to lead this year group through their first 5 half terms of secondary school. I have been privileged to watch the year group transition exceptionally well from Year 6 and succeed in all aspects of school

life. Mr Mustafa is delighted to be joining us and I will be on hand to continue supporting your children with their transition into Year 8.

Year 7 Stars of the Week

Tyrell R-M - 7ETH - 'For sustained effort with his academic subjects'

Neola L-G - 7ADE - 'For always role-modelling the Archer Way through her excellent conduct'