letter to parents sept 2013 4

7/29/2019 Letter to Parents Sept 2013 4

1/5

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Dear Parents & Guardians

We are delighted to introduce ourselves as the new Executive and Associate Principals of theIsle of Sheppey Academy. We look forward to working with you to ensure your child receives the best possibleeducation, support and guidance which will enable them to have the chances and successes they deserve in life.

We have a fundamental belief in human potential and that every child and family is entitled to an outstandingeducation. Standards have not been good enough and we will be working tirelessly to deliver an Academy thatwill be the hub of the community and something to be proud of. We know that this is only possible through closepartnership with you and are therefore asking for your support and engagement with everything that we aretrying to achieve.

In order to ensure that every child makes rapid progress and is best supported to achieving their potential thisyear and beyond we are making the following improvements:

We are auditing the curriculum provision for all students to ensure that they are on the best pathways toenable them to be successful;

We are auditing the quality of teaching across the Academy; A new rewards and consequences system is being created to encourage and recognise expected

behaviour, attendance, punctuality, effort and achievement;

All students will receive more English and Maths teaching, in Years 10 and 11 this will equate to one ofeach every day;

Students have been more closely set according to their potential and current performance, to supportrapid progress and allow for greater flexibility in moving to the most appropriate set in each subject;

More classes have been created to ensure that every child receives the personal support they need; Student movement between sites has been greatly reduced, to ensure maximum learning time; The school will run on a two week timetable to allow for greater flexibility across the subjects; The Academy day will consist of five one-hour lessons. This will ensure more rapid progress, support

students with additional needs and increase pace and challenge;

The previous Ready to Learn morning start is replaced by an afternoon mentoring session in smallergroups than before. This will be delivered each day between 2:35pm and 3:00pm, allowing learning to

start promptly each day with lesson 1 at 8:30am;

We have introduced flexible partition walls in the open learning areas to enable different types ofteaching to take place, and to increase the opportunity for display and celebration.

New structure of the Academy Day:o Lesson 1 8:30amo Lesson 2 9:30amo Break (and movement time between sites where needed) 10:30-10:55amo Lesson 3 10:55amo Lesson 4 11:55amo Lunch (and movement time between sites where needed) 12:55-1:35pmo Lesson 5 1:35pmo Mentoring 2:35pmo Enrichment and extra lessons as required from 3:00pm


2/5

We ask you to support us and your child by ensuring they:

Attend school and lessons on time in smart dress according to Academy uniform standards; Attend with the correct equipment; Ask for and accept help and support; Have somewhere appropriate to work outside of the school day at home or at the Academy; Get enough sleep and rest.

Timetables

We appreciate that the timetable has caused some uncertainty in the first few days, but these changes wereurgent and necessary, and we are confident that we now have the right and appropriate curriculum model inplace to take us forward. All students received their final timetables on Friday. However, if your child has anyqueries, please ask them to see their Mentor or Family Leader. If any student has queries regarding options,they should speak to their Family Leader as soon as possible.

Expectations

We have the highest expectations of ourselves and the students. With the start of a new academic year, comesthe opportunity for every student to reinvent themselves where needed. We expect all students to approach lifewith curiosity and to respect and care for others with an open mind and self-motivated attitude. They should takepride in themselves and the wider community, and aspire for excellence in all that they do and be proud of whatthey achieve.

Please encourage your child to:

Be present not only to attend school on time, but to arrive to lessons on time and fully participate inclass;

Be punctual to the Academy and all lessons and activities. Those students arriving after 8:25am willbe marked late and receive a 10 minute detention at the end of the school day. Lateness to lessons willalso result in similar consequences;

Be prepared with all necessary equipment including a school bag, stationery, books, PE kit etc.Failure to bring the correct equipment will result in after school detentions with effect from Monday;

Be responsiblefor their actions around the Academy, when travelling to and from the Academy sitesand in all lessons;

Be proudcelebrate their achievements and those of others. Take pride in themselves, their work, ourAcademy and community;

Be considerate engage in lessons and do not disrupt the learning of others. Act kindly towardsothers. Follow all instructions;

Be an ambassadorWear correct uniform (smart, business-like dress), including plain black shoes,have natural hair colour and style, and make-up. Only wear a wristwatch, 1 ring, 1 bracelet and 1 pairof stud earrings.

Electronic Devices

We understand that our students have mobile telephones and other electronic devices. However, we also knowthat these can be an enormous distraction to learning, can put students at risk of being victims of crime, and cancause schools many other problems. Therefore, unless being used for learning under the specific request of amember of staff, use of electronic devices is not permitted inside any of the Academy buildings, and items will beconfiscated by staff if seen from Monday. If confiscated, items will be securely stored until we receive a notefrom you in your childs planner, or you collect them in person the following day. Students may continue to useelectronic devices outside the buildings at break and lunch-times.


3/5

Uniform Requirements

Full Academy uniform, (not summer uniform) is expected at all times unless directed. Please see our website ifyou need further clarification and detail. To ensure your child is looking smart and presentable, uniform can bepurchased from the Academy uniform shop at both sites daily from 8:00am to 3:30pm. Hooded tops andbaseball caps are not permitted anywhere on the Academy sites.

Safeguarding our Students - Site Closures

To greater safeguard students during break and lunch times and to limit the amount of on-site traffic, both siteswill now be closed to visitors between 10:30am and 10:55am, and 12:55pm and 1:35pm. If your child needs toleave the site during these times for any reason , please give your childs Family Leaderadvanced notice and wewill have your child ready for collection.

Parking & Site Traffic

Now that the site alterations and ground works are complete you will have noticed that the main Academy

entrances and road layouts have changed for the final time. We are now seeking your cooperation to minimisecongestion within the Academy approaches.

On the West Site, drop-off areas are provided to accommodate the morning rush. However, we would be mostgrateful if, at all possible, you could avoid coming onto the site at the end of the day to pick up your children asthe car parks will struggle to cope with this additional demand safely. On the East Site, please can all vehicledrivers use the lower car park (near the main entrance) to drop-off or collect students in order to keep the mini-roundabout area free from congestion and safe for buses to turn. The top car park is for staff use only please.Disabled access is available through a controlled barrier with an intercom system.

To protect the safety of students and staff there are double yellow lines around both sites to prevent parkedvehicles obstructing the various crossings from pedestrians. Please do not park on these areas and please donot wait for students in areas that are designated as bus stops or drop-off points. Academy staff will be assistingwith traffic flow to ensure safety for all.

Communication

Please communicate regularly with the Academy and attend all key events. If you have any queries or wish todiscuss any concerns, please contact your childs Mentor in the first instance, or the relevant Family Leader:

Mr Fogg Abbey [email protected]

Mr Greenfield Harty [email protected]

Mr Meaning Shurland [email protected]

Mr Barrett Brabazon [email protected]

Ms Francis Sixth Form @ Sheerness [email protected]

All written communication from us will now come via your child. We will update our website with all parentalletters, and advise you of any postings via Facebook and via text message. To ensure we can always contactyou, please ensure we have your up to date contact information by Friday 20 September.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


4/5

Year 11

All Year 11 students this year will be taught on the East Site for virtually all of the time. This is to enable us tofocus on their achievement with our team of specialist GCSE teachers to ensure they are in the right subjectsand sets, and to begin to form them into one team. This is necessary if we are to bring about the rapidimprovements needed in this short final year. While we have been unable to eradicate student movementbetween sites, it has been significantly reduced so that less learning time will be lost. Transport will be providedfor former West Site Year 11 students in the morning and afternoon if required. If you havent already replied tothe letter requesting transport please do so by Friday 20September.

As well as academic support, mentoring will include personal care and guidance to ensure students feel happyand able to achieve. We will take particular care that students formerly in Brabazon receive the supportnecessary to cope with the transition they will make. You as parents and guardians can support your childgreatly during this period of change, and we would ask for your help to ensure your child attends all interventionsessions and extra classes as directed, meets deadlines, and is organised.

There will be a Year 11 Parents Meeting on Tuesday 1 October on the East Site at 5:30pm where informationwill be given about the English and Maths exams in November. A separate letter with more details and a reply

slip will be sent next week.

Parent Council

The Academy assists in the running of termly Parent Council Meetings. This is an excellent way to have aninfluence in your childs education and input into the way the Academy operates. If you would like to join theCouncil, please contact Mrs Lyn Baseley [email protected] details of upcoming meetings. We willadvertise details on our website and contact you by text message to keep you informed.

Biometrics

By way of reminder, we now urgently require you to provide consent for your childs biometric details to be storedwith us. This will allow your child access to printing and catering facilities. Thank you to those of you who havealready returned your completed form. Should you require another form, these can be collected from receptionor from the Catering Department by students. If you have any queries or concerns, please make contact with theCatering Manager, Mr Brian Reddington via reception. If you require any further information, or have anobjection to this, please put this in writing for the attention of the Catering Manager. We require completedreturns submitted to reception or the Catering Department by no later than Friday 27 September. In addition,letters to parents have been issued advising of logon details for Parent Pay. This online facility enables parentsand guardians to credit their childs account so that the student can purchase food at school and allows parentsto monitor what their child is purchasing on a daily basis. If you require a copy of this letter, please contact theCatering Manager.

Oasis Community Learning

As you were informed at the end of last academic year, from January 2014, the Academy will change sponsorsto Oasis Community Learning. Oasis is a charity which operates nationally and internationally to bringtransformation to people and communities. One of the ways Oasis does this is through community hubs aimedat creating safe and inspiring local neighbourhoods that provide education and integrated and diverse services tobenefit the whole person and the whole community. A series of events will be held to inform parents and thecommunity of the upcoming changes and events, and we will include details of these on our website. We willagain contact you via text message and Facebook to update you of these events.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


5/5

Lettings

The Academy has now appointed a Lettings Manager, Mr Eddy McEntire who will coordinate use of Academyfacilities. We are lucky enough to have world class facilities including state of the art sporting facilities, aperforming arts centre and teaching spaces with the latest technology and would encourage students, parentsand the community to make use of them. If you would like further details about the types of facilities available to

hire, please visit our website or contact Eddy direct [email protected]

If you have a skill, talent or connections which you feel may be of use to the Academy, staff, students or thewider community, please contact us on 01795 873 591.

Revised Calendar

Please note that amendments have been made to this years academic calendar, and a copy is enclosed forinformation.

We look forward to working in close partnership with you and wish your child a happy and successful academicyear.

Yours faithfully

Mr David MillarExecutive Principal

Mr John CavadinoAssociate Principal
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

letter to parents sept 2013 4

Documents