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Year 11 Students Organised and Ready for anything. #playtimeisover (0)

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GREENACRE ACADEMY

NEWSLETTER

This issue:

Sixth Form Open Evening

Cruz Hunter: Head Boy

International Poetry Day

Attendance ‘Are you here?’

Medway Flash Mob

Sports Leadership Academy

#playtimeisover

Message from Mrs Bridger Dear Parents / Carers,

The year seems to be flying past quickly and there are rarely quiet moments at

Greenacre Academy, with Term 1 being no exception. As we approach the end

of this productive term, it is important to reflect on the good work seen in the

Academy so far: from the main priority of getting the students settled into the

routines, affirming daily routines and focusing them back on their academic

work after the summer break.

A firm highlight of this term has seen a successful MacMillan coffee morning,

which raised record funds for this worthy charity. Furthermore, our new year 7s

have made a great start to their educational journey with us and now know

their way around the building and have got used to life in secondary school.

Year 7 Parents and Carers, you will receive, by post, your son/ward’s Settling-In

Report over the half term period. Additionally, Year 8 and 9 will receive

progress update reports.

We have also enjoyed an extended Open Week and Open Evening where year 6

parents and students visited us to gain a real insight into the Academy. The

feedback I have received has been incredibly positive, in particular

Towards the conduct, behaviour and attitude of our students.

during term time and, again, we need confirmation of

your child’s absence upon their return.

I am pleased to report that during this half term break,

work will start on the extension of our canteen which

will be due to finish in February 2020. The canteen will

still be operational during this period and, despite some

building work, we will continue operating as normal.

Looking forward, term 2 will commence for students on

Monday 4th November 2019 on week B and I look

forward to seeing our students fully prepared with both

full uniform and equipment ready to start a new

academic term. Next term, we will see Sixth Form

preparation assemblies for Year 11, which will help them

decide on appropriate courses and learn of entry

requirements for Sixth Form next year. The Sixth Form

open evening will be held here, at Greenacre Academy,

on Thursday 21st November between 6pm-8pm and I

urge every year 11 student, and their parents, to visit

and learn what we can offer in the Sixth Form.

I cannot believe I am going to mention the ‘Christmas’

word already (what happened to the Summer?) but, we

will finish term 2, ready for the festive break, on Friday

20th December 2019 at the normal Friday finishing time

of 1.10 pm.

Finally, I would like to thank you for your continued

support of Greenacre Academy and for working with us.

By home and school working closely together, we can

make a difference in the education of all of our students.

It only remains for me to wish you a wonderful half term

break. I hope you find time to relax and enjoy it and I

look forward to speaking with you again next term.

With my very best wishes,

Mrs S Bridger

Headteacher

GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019

We also held a Sports Partnership rowing event where

Greenacre Academy students once again did us proud!

Other highlights of the term included a number of

parental information evenings, including one in which

our year 7 parents attended at the start of term. Year 11

information evening also took place this term, where our

parents attended and learned about: mock exam dates,

form focus groups and mentors for year 11. In a climate

of ever increasing difficulty with exams and less

coursework, year 11 need to be well underway with

their revision programme from home and I urge parents/

carers of year 11 to ensure they are actively revising,

practicing past papers and completing their coursework

over the holiday period. We also welcomed a

motivational speaker ‘Action Jackson’ who came in, with

his team, for a day and worked with our year 11

students. It is also worth mentioning here how smart our

Year 11 students look in their new burgundy ties!

Our students have been proactive in deciding upon ways

to reinforce ‘Skills For Life’ by becoming classroom

ambassadors in all year groups. The ambassadors have

made a fantastic start to the year and continue to make

an excellent impression to any visitors. We have also

welcomed in a variety of guest speakers who have

spoken to our boys about different career paths.

We also had school photographs this term, so I hope that

your wonderfully smart sons are taking pride of place on

the mantel piece!

We have high expectations for our students and the

minimum expectation that we ask is that your child

attends school on time, every day, ready to learn, in full

school uniform. The school’s target for attendance is

96%. Thank you for doing what you can to ensure this.

Please be reminded that all absences need to be

followed up with a letter when your child returns to

school. Otherwise, unexplained absences are recorded

as unauthorised. We do not give permission for holidays

Message from Mrs Bridger

...Continued from previous page


Greenacre Tweets

Get live updates on what is happening

at the Academy follow us on twitter at:

@GreenacreAcad

technical level vocational courses. We offer courses at

Level 3 (A Level/BTEC equivalent) and Level 2 (GCSE

equivalent) in order to suit all skills and abilities.

Students are set challenging targets and encouraged to

work independently, which yields ‘strong

progress,’ (Ofsted, May 2018). We also recognise the

importance of students having a further opportunity to

obtain Level 4 grades in English Language and

Mathematics GCSEs (should students not obtain these

results in their summer examinations) and, as such,

factor ‘re-sit lessons’ (should they be required) onto

students’ timetables, ‘Those students who retake GCSEs

in English and Mathematics achieve above-average

outcomes,’ (Ofsted, May 2018).

Through our ‘Skills for Life’ strategy, we aim to be the

first choice for employers when they look to recruit, as

well as ensuring that those who wish to follow an

academic path in further education are given

comprehensive advice and support.

Our prospectus, proposed blocking structure and on-line

application form can be found by accessing:

http://www.sflt.org.uk/pgw-sixth-form/prospectus/

We look forward to welcoming you on 21st

November at 6pm.

Autumn 2019

On Thursday 21st November, Greenacre Academy and

Walderslade Girls’ School will host our PGW (Partnership

of Greenacre and Walderslade) Open Evening, to which

we would like to extended an invitation to our current

Year 11 cohort, any external students and their parents/

carers. The evening commences at 6pm in the Greenacre

hall, where parents and carers will be able to listen to a

brief presentation from Mrs Bridger and Mr Mallia. This

will then be followed by a ‘careers fair’ style set-up of all

the Key Stage 5 subjects we offer. This will be an

opportunity for your son/ward to find out more about

the subjects he hopes to study in Sixth Form.

PGW is one of the largest Sixth Forms in Medway – a

true testament to our success! At PGW, we pride

ourselves on recognising our learners as young adults.

PGW Sixth Form aspires to deliver an exemplary learning

experience to our students through a nurtured

atmosphere of both cooperation and mutual respect.

Ultimately, our main aim is to ensure that all PGW

students leave us with the qualifications, knowledge, and

personal attributes needed to succeed in their desired,

future path – whatever that may be: higher education,

an apprenticeship, or the world of work.

PGW Sixth Form is the perfect progression route for

students to complete: academic, applied general, and

GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER

http://www.sflt.org.uk/pgw-sixth-form/prospectus/


On the 10th October 2019, two year seven classes had

the pleasure of having a skype call with Whipsnade zoo

to ask questions about the primate section and what

qualifications are needed to become a zookeeper. We

asked many questions but as there were so many, I'll

give just a few examples of the amazing questions and

their answers:

What qualifications do you need to be a zookeeper?

You need 3 GCSEs and good experience with animals.

Have any animals escaped?

A few animals have escaped but they have put measures

in to deal with escapees.

Have any visitors or zookeepers been injured by

animals?

No, that's because there are two wire fences on each

enclosure and each zookeeper is well trained in the

event of any behaviour changes or out of character

movement.

I haven't been to Whipsnade zoo but just hearing about

it makes me really want to go but it is next to Luton

airport on the other side of London. I hope this report

makes you want to think about going to Whipsnade zoo

or become a zookeeper yourself. We look forward to

more Skyping with people from varying job roles.

Toby George Hamblett

Whipsnade Zoo Cruz Hunter Head Boy

My name is Cruz Hunter and this week I was awarded

the role of Head Boy 2019/20. I am very excited to begin

working with my Deputy Head Boys: James May and

Beckley Owolabi and the rest of the Prefect team.

What being a Head Boy, or even a Prefect, means to me

is that they have to be role models to all of the other

students in the academy, displaying Skills for Life in

everything they do. They have to be great

communicators to be able to talk with students about

any problems and work together with teachers in order

to make change for the better.

In my year as Head Boy, I intend to really communicate

with my fellow students of Greenacre Academy, as well

as the teachers, to grasp an understanding of what we

can do to change and make the school a place with more

student and teacher influence, keeping it a safe haven

for all.

I hope James, Beckley and I all have your full support and

we can’t wait for the year ahead, Thank you.

Cruz Hunter

Year 11


Are you here?

Good attendance is so important to the lives of all our

young people. The government sets an attendance

expectation on all schools across the country because

studies have demonstrated that good attendance has a

direct correlation with good attainment. This target is

96%.

For those students who are in school over 96% of the

time, this means that they are likely to attain three

grades higher than those students whose attendance sits

below 90%.

One Academic year is only 190 days. That means that

our students get 175 days off. That is a huge amount of

free time, much more in fact than the standard annual

leave of an adult in the first three years of employment.

These large numbers of holidays are for students to

recharge and recover from feeling tired and under the

weather during term time. It is not unreasonable to have

an expectation of students being in in excess of 96% of

the time. If a student attends for 96% of the school year,

they are still taking 10 days off. Across five years, this is a

total of 50 school days missed.

Parents who apply to take children off for holidays

during term time will not be granted this request and

Attendance

could face a penalty notice. The school would like to ask

all parents to continue to support us in driving up

standards in results and good attainment for all of our

pupils. This support comes in the form of sending your

sons to school every day. We do understand that

sometimes there are times that children are under the

weather but we do encourage perseverance and

motivation to at least try the day and see how they go. If

your child is ill at school, we will of course send them

home.

It is important that our students are aware of their own

attendance, for many we celebrate exceptional

attendance to school, for others we remind them not to

take any further time off as it is a detriment to their

learning.

Currently whole school attendance sits at 95.2%. We

would love to see this figure continue to improve.

Year 7,8 and 11 are our best attenders. Well done to all

of those students in all years that have 96% attendance

or more.

We hope all of our students have a wonderful two week

break and return revitalised for the next term, leading up

to the Christmas holidays.

Mrs Campbell


Skills for Life Assemblies Term 1

With the start of the new academic year, we thought we

would change how we run our Skills for Life assemblies

at Greenacre Academy. With our collaboration with

Walderslade Girls’ School growing every stronger we

have decided to hold our assemblies across both sites

and within year groups. So far it has been very

successful.

Our first assembly on 12th September was led by Mrs

Eddy, Deputy Head at Walderslade Girls’ School.

Reminding the students what Skills for life means for

them and how EMPLOY ME is a focus in everything they

do whether that be Greenacre Academy or Waldersalde

Girls’ School.

On 18th September, Mr Gearey spoke passionately

about careers in education and how he became a

teacher by doing something he loved, thinking of ways

he could earn a living by doing something he enjoyed,

sadly his passion for football wasn’t going to earn him a

penny, so teaching it was the better option. Mr Gearey

gave his best advice to the students in the room and

shared his experiences that made him stand out at

interview and helped his application for teaching

positions shine. He linked his assembly to all of the

words in our EMPLOY ME acronym, which gave us all

something to consider.

Frankie Fitzgerald Theatre school owner and Actor came

to Greenacre on Thursday 3rd October to talk about

careers within the performing arts sector. He spoke

about how CHER (Character, History, Environment &

Relationships) help him daily to achieve. He asked the

year 10 students from both schools to also think about

WHY before, during or after they do something. It helps

keep the focus and reminds us of why we do what we

do!!! Year 10 Drama at Greenacre were then lucky

enough to have Frankie drop in and talk in more detail

about his career and offer some valuable advice to those

considering careers in Performing Arts.

Sandhole Vets dropped in on Tuesday 8th October to

excite and inspire our newest EMPLOY ME recruits, Year

7! With the amazing opportunities in the veterinary

world. Hopefully the next James Herriot or Noel

Fitzpatrick will have been inspired by Rebecca Ringrose’s

informative talk.


At Greenacre we believe that preparing our Pupils for life

beyond education is as valuable as the academic

qualifications they receive.

Our Mission statement:

To prepare our young pupils to be the adults that they

are to become, by encouraging them to reach their full

potential academically through high quality teaching of a

curriculum including life skills.

Additionally, to introduce all pupils to a wide range of

potential careers and mentors from the business world

both locally and regionally so that they are fully prepared

for the world of work when that time arrives.

Our Skills for Life programme and our Mentoring

programme are designed to run alongside their

academic studies, aiming to fully prepare our students

for the world of work or further education.

Why Mentor?

Given the multitude of choices that exist in the modern

world, many young people do not have a clear idea of

what they want to do in the future; faced with so many

choices this can be overwhelming.

Having mentors, from a variety of business sectors helps

our pupils to understand in detail more about the world

of work. As a mentor, we would be looking for you to

help guide our pupils into achieving their aspirations. By

talking to them about what they can expect from the

working environment, being honest and realistic with

them about the goals they have set themselves, you will

help unlock their true potential. You will be guiding them

onto the most appropriate path, seeing their potential

and encouraging them to develop this. Even the offer of

a job!

As a mentor, we would be looking for you to support our

students in the following key areas:

CV writing and application form completion.

Interview techniques – How to survive the process.

Appropriate dress for an interview.

A day at the ‘office’ compared to a day in school.

The list is not exhaustive. As a mentor, you bring a

wealth of knowledge of the world of work to our

students.

Mentoring can be as rewarding for the mentor as it is

the mentee. Our expectations are visiting the pupils in

school at agreed times, approximately three times per

academic year. Contact is then regular and meaningful to

both parties. It may be from one visit to the next you

ask your mentee to work on something specific ahead of

the next session. Between sessions, you may wish to

communicate with your mentee to check on progress or

for them to contact you for advice. This would need to

be authorised at the school and would be on an

individual basis.

As a mentor, you would be required to complete a DBS

check; the school will advise you on how to complete

this.

Should you wish to become a mentor at Greenacre

Academy please feel free to contact Mrs Sam Presneill,

the Skills for Life Manager ([email protected])

Mentoring at Greenacre Academy

mailto:[email protected]?subject=Mentoring%20at%20Greenacre


One term down already - time flies when you’re having

fun!

I know I have had a wonderful start to the academic

year, meeting all the amazing new year 7s.

Just a reminder, I am Miss Murphy and I’m the lucky

Head of Year who is looking after your young men this

year.

Already they have made a huge impact on the Greenacre

community. Best attendance in the school, best

punctuality in the school, 2nd place in the year points,

lots of learning ambassadors to celebrate and huge

successes across all subjects.

These first few weeks have seen the boys finding their

feet, having new experiences and making new friends. I

can honestly say they are settling in great and already

becoming part of the furniture - it’s like they have always

been with us.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all my amazing

year 7 form tutors, I know the boys appreciate

everything you do for them.

I hope you all have a lovely rest over the half term and

come back ready for term 2.

Thank you

Miss Murphy

Head of Year 7

Year 7 It is with great pride I am able to write this article as the first

Head of Year 8 at Greenacre academy. I would like to start by

introducing myself to the families, parents and carers who may

not be familiar with myself – I am Mr. McGregor, your son/

ward’s Head of Year.

I would like to extend a thank you to a number of parents and

family members who have touched base with myself so early on

in the year – It has been a pleasure to meet with and get to

know so many of you already. To those who I haven’t met yet,

please feel free to send an email to or if you feel it necessary, to

book a meeting with myself ([email protected]). It is always

welcome to have parents who are supportive of their children’s

education, of the school and how we can all work together to

ensure the best 5 (or more?) years for them here.

I would like to take this opportunity to speak about attendance

very briefly. As you may be aware, it was not too long ago that

we received our ‘Good school’ rating from Ofsted and one of the

areas that we would like to see a considerable improvement in

so that we can maintain our rating is attendance. Please ensure

that boys are not kept off from school for menial reasons –

especially at this early stage in the year, even a single day off can

cause a big dip in their attendance percentage. I’m sure we can

all agree that students can’t get their education if they aren’t

here.

On a final note, I’d like to congratulate Miss Andrews’s form for

being victorious in our first ever interform competition. The

form managed to beat off the opposition in a thrilling football

tournament, which saw many of our year 8 boys competing for

the pride of their forms rather than the houses they used to

compete for. This new way of running tournaments also

encourages a lot more students to take part from any given year

group, so with that being said, it was very nice to see so many

new faces on the football pitch as opposed to last year.

I wish all of year 8 and their families a very well earned rest and a

safe half term.

Mr McGregor

Head of Year 8

Year 8

mailto:[email protected]


Firstly, I’d like to take the opportunity to introduce

myself to anyone I have not yet had the pleasure of

meeting or speaking to yet. I am Ms Ware, Head of Year

9. Year 9 have made a good start to the school year and I

have been impressed by our motivated and hardworking

students.

I would like to congratulate the students who have

achieved 100% attendance this term; this is a fantastic

achievement and shows excellent Skills for Life. I have

spoken to the students in year 9 about the importance of

excellent attendance and the impact that time off can

have on their progress. It is so important that if our

students can be in school, that they are.

The year 9 students have also adapted well to the

changes in the pastoral system, specifically with the new

horizontal form groups. I would like to offer my thanks to

the year 9 form tutors: Miss Tywman, Mrs Duncan, Mr

Edge, Ms Odu, Mrs Lyng, Mr Kirk and Miss Pattinson For

their hard work and support so far this year in making

this transition as smooth as possible. I am looking

forward to seeing the competitive nature of our students

with the introduction of inter-form competitions.

I would also like to congratulate the year 9 students who

acted as tour guides or department helpers during our

open evening; they were absolutely fantastic and

displayed brilliant Skills for Life.

As we begin to look forward into term 2, we need to

start thinking about how we are going to build on the

progress that we have made in term 1. I would like to

see an improvement in attendance and punctuality. I

would also like our students to be thinking about the

way they present themselves, not only in school, but in

the local community. Students must ensure that they are

behaving in a considerate, safe and respectful manner.

Finally, a thank you to, Mrs Cowburn, Mrs Hill, Ms

Boynton and Ms Wall, our wonderful PSAs, who work

tirelessly to help and support our students.

Ms Ware

Head of Year 9

Year 9 I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Year 10

students on an excellent start to the new Academic year!

Both students and staff were unsure how the change

from Houses to Years would work. However Year 10

students made the transition seamlessly and have made

my job that little bit easier. It has been a pleasure to

work with you all and to see you display all of our Skills

for Life principles on a daily basis. Your behaviour has

been exemplary and the hard work and effort you

demonstrate within lessons has been wonderful to see.

I have heard nothing but good comments from teachers

of Year 10 on how you have settled into your new

courses studying the subjects that you have personally

chosen. This is a great start to what will be a very

challenging but rewarding Academic year.

Congratulations to the students who are still on 100%

attendance, you will be invited to vote for the big reward

one lucky Year 10 student will receive in July next year.

Well done to Forms TLN x2, SP & EZM who have won the

weekly Form attendance chocolate prize, this will

continue every week so make sure your Form group is in

the running!

As previously mentioned your behaviour has been

extremely good in the opening few weeks of this term.

Every student isn’t perfect and will make mistakes from

time to time but I do ask that we accept consequences

and move forward by not repeating the same mistakes.

There has been no exclusions so far in Year 10 which is a

credit to the positive choices you are currently making.

I’m sure you will all join me in thanking the PSAs and all

Year 10 Form Tutors for their hard work and

commitment during Term 1. Have a great half term!

Mr Franklin

Head of Year 10

Year 10


Where has this first term gone? I am certain our Year 11

would all say the last few weeks have flown by and that

gives an indication of how quickly this year is going to go.

For many of our Year 11 it has been an incredibly

successful beginning to this GCSE year with our new

prefects really stepping up to their duties. We have been

impressed by the standards of the majority of year 11

students this term – they are arriving on time every day,

proudly sporting their chosen new burgundy ties.

Building on this, we would like to see it become the

norm for all year 11 students as we move into next term.

A few things we would like Year 11 students and parents

to take particular note of:

For year 11 school start time is 8.30am, arriving in

form after this time will result in a late detention.

Mobile phones and headphones are not permitted

inside the school building and will be confiscated

immediately if seen by a teacher.

We have zero tolerance to disruption within Year 11

lessons.

We expect all invited year 11 to be attending their

interventions afterschool, with notes signed by parents

if they are unable to attend.

We expect all students be striving to achieve the best

of their potential every single lesson.

We expect students to be making use of the PiXL Apps,

Tassomai and GCSEPod regularly. (Please contact

teachers if your son/ward requires support logging on).

At the end of September Year 11 across the Secondary

Trust Schools were lucky enough to have The FixUp

Team in for the whole day. Action Jackson led the

students in whole school assemblies and small group

sessions to really reflect on the year ahead and their

futures, he had students singing and sharing experiences

as well as in competition with one another. It was

amazing to see how he connected with the students in a

short space of time and encouraged them to

contemplate what they want for their futures. A key

theme from the sessions was about happiness, and in

#Playtimeisover

order to remain happy we need to prepare. Preparation

is key to lowering stress levels and ensuring we are ready

for the challenges ahead, for our Year 11 this is currently

their revision in preparation for their exams; remember

little and often! However, the key messages were not

just about exams but about building their futures.

Towards the end of term a number of our students went

through a rigorous application and interview process in

order to apply for the position of Head Boy. Huge

congratulations need to go to Cruz Hunter (See Page 5)

who is our new Head Boy this year, but also to Beckley

Owolabi and James May who will be his deputies

working alongside him.

For the final fortnight of this term we also saw the start

of the Fundraising campaign from Year 11 to improve

rewards that will be given this year to develop their

motivation and perseverance to aspire to exceeding

their targets. The ‘12th man’ fundraising team lead by

Mr Roberts and Mrs Allen have designed fundraising

opportunities that students will enjoy participating in.

This term has seen a Football penalty shoot-out, FIFA

knockout tournament and cake sale among other

activities. Over the course of this academic year we will

be running other fundraising activities to raise the profile

of Year 11 and establish a legacy for other year groups to

aspire towards.


KS3 Assessments:

Although the end of term brings the relaxation of the

half term break, it also brings with it assessments and

tests to examine what our students have learnt over the

last term.

Our students in KS3 have worked hard in cementing their

knowledge of key concepts and ideas this term and

many have shown a true dedication to their studies.

They have been organised and committed to their

lessons, by being fully equipped, concentrating hard and

rising to every challenge posed to them.

Also, it is fair to say that students have used their

Knowledge Organisers effectively to begin their revision

of topics being covered in class. Quiz scores have been at

an all-time high and assessments have been a success,

with students performing well over the term. Knowledge

Organisers have proven excellent in allowing our

students to reflect on previous learning and learn new

spellings and complete tasks to apply their new-found

knowledge.

All Key Stage 3 parents will be receiving their son/ward’s

report detailing how much progress and effort they have

put into their studies this term. The report will also detail

information regarding: attendance, rewards sanctions,

reading age and maths age.

English KS3 English:

Welcome to a new year of KS3 English! Students have

made a wonderful start to the year with their knowledge

of techniques, SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar)

and sophisticated vocabulary impressing the English

department.

This term, KS3 students have begun studying their topics

that will continue into Term 2. We have been focused on

the context of the texts studied and have been looking

carefully at why: texts were written; the time period in

which they were set and how this influenced the writers.

Year 7 have been exploring the 1950s and witchcraft in

Roald Dahl’s The Landlady. Year 8 have been studying Of

Mice and Men, and have been introduced to the

historical context surrounding the novella, such as: the

Wall Street Crash, the American Dream and the ranches

in California in the 1920s. Year 9 have been introduced

to Shakespeare’s Macbeth and are beginning to explore

stereotypical conventions of gender in the 1600s.

During Term 2, the boys will be building upon their

explanation skills by using ‘because because’ to help

them justify their ideas about character, theme and plot.

To do this, we will be working closely with the schools’

‘Skills For Life’ motto to help students persevere with the

challenging parts of the texts and also encouraging

students to produce work that shows excellence and

motivation.


Half Term Challenges!

Writing Competition: As Halloween is approaching, we would like KS3 students to write a 200 word scary story as part of our half-termly English competition.

The story should focus around Halloween and should include:

A scary setting

1 character only!

A cliff-hanger ending

Entries can be handed into English teachers during the first week back after half-term (week commencing: 4th November).

English Accelerated Reader

Our KS3 students have continued to work with

Accelerated Reader this term and have been working

hard to improve their reading ages. So far this year, KS3

have read an amazing total of 3,623,141 words!

Please join us in congratulating the following students

who have shown excellent Skills For Life with their

reading over the past term. Well done to:

Charlie Edwards

Noel Jagun

Kyron McConnell

Charlie Almond

Tyrese Jakopo

Adam Easton

We have been thoroughly impressed with the boys’

perseverance and motivation to improve their reading

and would like to celebrate the excellent of KS3 readers.

Next term, we will be continuing to encourage pupils to

read for twenty minutes a day at school and we would

like to see pupils beginning to read more challenging

texts. Therefore, we will be motivating our boys to read

a range of subject specific texts as well as their own

Accelerated Reader book from our library; it would also

be wonderful to see the boys engaging with local

newspapers and blogs.

Spellzone

We would also encourage KS3 students to practise their

spellings in half-term using Spellzone. Spellzone is a

website that provides individual spelling resources for

each student. Every student should complete a spelling

test with headphones, with the results Spellzone creates

a personal ‘Course Pathway’. We suggest students

complete at least 3 courses over the half term.

to take a mature attitude to what is going to be a very

pressured time for them. After the Year 11 Information

Evening many of the boys have taken advantage of the

revision materials that have been made available to

them in the Intervention Room. Those that have done so

have shown great motivation and they all now need to

make sure that they are well organised in preparation

for their Literature mock exam coming up on the 7th

November next term.


International Poetry Day

This term, in English Key Stage Three lessons, we celebrated National Poetry Day. Our boys showed their poetry skills

by writing poetry about the recent Amazon Rainforest fires and exploring the past and present stature of the

rainforests. As well as writing sophisticated poetry by showing an excellent grasp of poetic technique and vocabulary,

they also developed their knowledge of how the beauty and significance of the Amazon Rainforest is under threat by

the raging fires.

English

Earth’s Final Conflict

The deep sea of life,

On this green luscious land,

A thriving community,

The lungs of the earth.

Secrets kept for centuries,

Being found every day.

But if they could talk,

All they’d want to say,

Is that they don’t really care about us.

But heaven’s garden,

Is now the playground of hell.

As the fires rage,

The loggers make the page

That you read upon now.

Apocalyptic,

Psychotic,

The dream is ending

Life, death

Mother earth can’t breathe.

By Cameron Jones

Hero

The glistening water gingerly flows by,

With the vibrant trees separating the land and sky.

The lungs of the earth so majestic and peaceful,

Now what’s become of the fire and evil.

The tongue of the flame licking each tree of its breath,

The only thing I see is death.

Flames viciously destroying everything in its path,

Hopeless is all I can say there is only cries there used to

be laughs.

Who will save the day,

We need a hero,

We went from millions down to zero.

By Thomas Smith

GCSE English

The Year 10s have also made a good start to their GCSE

studies and are now preparing for a mock exam on

Monday 14th October. This will be on the Language

Paper 1 and material to help with their personal

organisation is available in the Intervention Room. They

need to show great motivation in order to show off their

newly acquired knowledge and skill in this exam.

The Year 11s have also made a good start to this crucial

year and it has been good to see most of them beginning


Maths Maths Whizz www.whizz.com

Congratulations to the following students who are in our top ten for learning time and progress in Maths

Whizz.

Time Learning – Motivation Progress Made - Excellence

1 MATVEJS KVESKO 1 MATVEJS KVESKO

2 James DOYE 2 James DOYE

3 SULEYMAN KARWHOO 3 ETHAN PAGE

4 Joshua BEADLE 4 Joseph KENNEDY

5 MARTIN WELBY 5 Harry CROSS

6 GORDON STOYANOV 6 SULEYMAN KARWHOO

7 JOSH SUMMERS 7 Max OWEN

8 JONATHAN JESUS 8 MARTIN WELBY

9 ETHAN PAGE 9 GEORGE HAWDEN

10 HARRY HOWLETT 10 ZACK BEDWELL

All year 7 and 8 students have been given a username and password, so please log on and start making

progress.

Target: Four progressions every week.

Recommended usage: At least one hour in maths tutor mode each week, best split over three twenty

minute sessions.


History

Year 7 have started their history studies at Greenacre by

looking at the events of 1066. They have firmly got to grips

with chronology and narrative by looking at the battles of

Stamford Bridge and Hastings. The whole year group sat an

assessment on these topics at the end of term and have also

conducted ‘Pupil Improvement Time’ in lessons to close any

gaps in their knowledge. Year 8 started the year by studying

the Industrial Revolution and the enormous changes that

occurred in Britain as a result. With a combination of the

knowledge organisers, lesson activities and in-lesson

quizzing, students have developed an extensive

understanding of this period of British history and there

were some outstanding performances in the end of term

assessment. Year 9 studied the aftermath of WW1 in

Germany and have begun to develop an understanding of

how it contributed and linked to the beginnings of WW2.

This topic nicely bridges the gap between KS3 and 4 and the

boys have also been introduced to some GCSE-style exam

questions. In KS4, Year 10 have begun their GCSE by studying

Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman invasion. We have

been really impressed with how the boys have applied

themselves and how they have really got to grips with some

of the more demanding GCSE questions. Year 11 are close to

covering all of the GCSE content and will soon begin revision.

Towards the end of term they sat a mock Paper 1 exam and

will receive their feedback in Term 2.

Travel and Tourism

Year 10 this term has been looking at the introductions of

the Travel and Tourism Industry and how these

organisations are owned. They have also looked briefly at

the effectiveness of marketing for major events such as

Fright Night at Thorpe Park, ready for their upcoming trip. In

addition to this, they have created promotional campaigns

for Chatham as Tourism Promoters. Going in to Term 2 they

will have learnt everything to get them started on their first

official piece of coursework for their GCSEs.

Year 12 have got off to a great start learning all about the

different types of tourism and having a real focus on “dark

Humanities tourism” in particular. They have created promotional

materials for “screen” tourism as well. This is all great

material that will help them with their exam later this year.

Going in to Term 2 they will continue with exam

preparations and how best to answer their exam questions.

This term also sees the first of our trips in the Travel and

Tourism department. Both years are attending Fright Night

at Thorpe Park as part of their curriculum. This major event

allows students to have first-hand experience of being a

customer which they can apply to their coursework.

Law

Year 12 have already hit the ground running in preparation

for their exam in January. Unit 1 is focusing on civil law and

the students have started to look at negligence and the

alternatives to court. Role play has been a key focus with

students looking at cases like Brashear vs McSorley &

Humpty Dumpty vs King. Year 13 have carried on with the

good work from last year preparing themselves for their

exam in January. Unit 3 is focusing on crime against property

and murder. With much detail, students have focused on the

different sections involved in theft.

RE

Year 8 boys have been studying religious festivals this term.

They began by looking at some familiar, Christian

celebrations, such as Christmas and Easter and ended the

term by studying the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. The

academy believes that it is really important for our boys to

have an understanding of other beliefs and cultures as we

live in an ever-increasing multi-cultural society and our

students need to learn tolerance and respect for these. Year

9 have looked at the issue of crime. In this unit they have

studied different types of crime and various deterrents. The

boys have sensibly engaged in some very thought-provoking

discussions and have shared their thoughts and ideas.


Kent Fire and Rescue Assembly

This term, we were happy to welcome back the Kent Fire

and Rescue Service for their annual fire safety

assemblies. The focus this year was arson with a brief

recap on fire safety for our year 8, 10 and 11 students,

students were not only asked to explain why we need to

take fire safety so seriously, but were also given real life

scenarios to explain the consequences when it isn’t. The

assemblies allowed students to display both listening

skills and manners as they participated in question and

answer segments of the assemblies.

PSHE Kenward Trust

Towards the end of this term we welcomed Kenward

Trust in to deliver three assemblies to year 8, 9 and 10

students. The assemblies were led by Andy who talked

through the different issues surrounding not only class A,

B and C drugs but also smoking, drinking and even the

way in which addicts can often turn to crime to feed

their addiction. This year we also had the honour of

inviting Kim to speak about her son who passed away

last year after taking a prescription drug. The students

were extremely respectful at this time and continued to

discuss her story throughout the day, considering how

an event like that would impact their own mother and

family. The assemblies allowed students to display both

listening skills and manners as they participated in

question and answer segments of the assemblies.

Assemblies

During this term, year 7 had and assembly focused

around one of the British Values; this was focused on

different ways to manage conflict in an appropriate way

and the importance of making good choices. Students

showed excellent listening skills and openly shared

examples of how they may not have made the right

choices in the past while they considered how they could

change this moving forward.

Year 11 have also started off the term with an assembly

focused an overview of mental health wellbeing;

explaining the importance of good mental health, signs

of stress and methods to combat this. In the up and

coming year we plan to continue these assemblies with

more detailed strategies. In the meantime, if you or your

son/ward have any concerns regarding exam stress

please use the following link to the Childline website,

they offer a wide range of stress dealing strategies and

some real-life examples.

https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/school-college-

and-work/school-college/exam-stress/

https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/school-college-and-work/school-college/exam-stress/

https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/school-college-and-work/school-college/exam-stress/


Our Trust was invited to participate in the Medway Fun

Palace, which was held at Nucleus Arts Centre on

Saturday 5th October, in both Rochester and Chatham

High Streets. Fun Palaces is a free, fun and inclusive

national event which is held annually across the country

in celebration of art, science, technology and the

community. We saw this as an excellent opportunity to

collaborate as a Trust within the local community.

For the last five years, both Greenacre Academy and

Warren Wood Academy have supported this local

community arts event, by performing a Flash Mob, which

has always been one of the highlights of the day. Groups

of people from different communities join together to

perform in one routine, to one song. This year was no

exception, as once again students from across the Skills

Medway Fun Palace Flash Mob For Life Trust – Greenacre, Warren Wood and Hilltop

Academies, performed in Rochester and Chatham High

Streets, on a busy Saturday morning and afternoon, to

entertain local shoppers and publicise the Medway Fun

Palace.

The event was a great success, everyone had fun and

performed with enthusiasm. Thank you to all the

students, their parents and staff who supported the

children in attending this event on a Saturday. The year

10 Greenacre boys who joined us this year were

absolutely amazing and the department really do

appreciate all your support and commitment to our

performances. Skills for Life in action all the way!!! Thank

You.


Vocal Group Performance – Year 6 Induction Evening

This year, the vocal group were invited to perform one of

their songs during the Head Teacher’s speech on the

Year 6 Induction Evening.

The boys performed a brilliant version of Ed Sheeran’s

song ‘Thinking Out Loud’, with a couple of solo

performances from Euan Kemm (Year 11) and Ashton

Smith (Year 8). All of the boys did a fantastic job, with no

signs of nerves in front of such a large audience, on a

very important evening for our school. The boys did

themselves and the school proud having showed our

potential new year 6s that boys can sing!! Once again,

our students demonstrated that Skills for Life are at the

heart of Music and Performing Arts. Thank you boys!

Year 6 Induction Evening

The Music and Performing Arts departments were a hive

of activity during the Year 6 induction evening, with a

range of activities on offer to all! The year 10 and 11

music students had set up a band in the music room to

perform for our visitors and encouraged the year 6s to

play the instruments, whilst keyboard and percussion

instruments were available to play in the other (slightly

quieter room). Meanwhile in the dance studio, year 10

and 11 Performing Arts students, along with the dance

and drama clubs, were dancing and entertaining the

visitors with their crazy drama improvisations and ‘Flash

Mob’ dance rehearsals. A good time was had by all!

Performing Arts Recycling

Please donate your empty crisp packets, plastic

drink bottles and bottle lids to

Mrs Hill in Student Services


Once again, the Greenacre Open Evening and series of

Open Mornings have been an outstanding success!

These events saw year 6 students and their parents

arrive at Greenacre in their masses to see what the

Academy had to offer.

For Open Evening, departments around the school

showed potential new students what they could

experience as a Greenacre student. Lots of own

students, from years 7 to 11, also came along to support

the school with many being department helpers or tour

guides for the evening. They excelled in representing the

Academy, displaying all of the Skills for Life principles

that embodies Academy life.

There were a range of fantastic activities on the night,

ranging from science teachers becoming mad scientists,

the maths department creating the Greenacre crime

scene and the English department showing off how our

boys engage with the wonderful world of David

Williams’s books. We also had performances from the

Greenacre Vocal group who harmonised beautifully.

We would like to say a special thank you to Kian

Campbell and Ollie Tomlin who both gave outstanding

speeches on the evening about their time with us at

Greenacre. Here, they both write about their

experiences of the evening:

At Open Evening this year, I was asked to perform a

speech in front of the year 6s and their parents. This was

not very daunting for me because I have completed

speeches before, such as last year’s Open Evening and

that went great! When you get up there and perform it

is quite nerve-wracking but within a minute it’ll be done

and you’ll get a huge round of applause from the

parents. Before I performed my speech, I had to do a

whole 2 hours of tour guiding showing some year 6s and

parents round the academy, and that was busy!

For a lot of people, performing is very very scary and for

me it was at first too, but the more I do it the better I get

at it. I had to use a range of Skills For Life to help. I had

to use my organisational skills to create, plan and write

Open Evening my own speech, and to get to the hall on time so I wasn’t

late. During my speech I had to persevere and not give

up even when I stuttered on the odd occasion, or

misread a word.

By Kian Campbell

At Open Evening this year I was asked not only to be a

tour guide, but to do a speech in front of all the year 6s

and their parents/carers as well. As a shy person I had to

use perseverance and excellence to make sure I didn’t

break down. I thought being a tour guide was hard, but I

had no idea what the speech was going to be like. I was

so anxious. When the moment to do my speech came,

my arms and chest tensed up but after the first few

sentences I became relaxed and I thought I really out did

myself. At the end of it all I was really proud of myself

and did much better than I thought I would. Guiding

tours is not easy, especially with all the activities. After I

showed around the first group of year 6s and their

parents/carers, I had to do two more large groups on my

own. There were many questions that I was asked, for

example: how many lessons we have of each subject, the

SEN department and how they work.

By Ollie Tomlin

Well done to all students and staff involved in

participating in Greenacre’s most successful open

evening yet!


Is your son/ward eligible for Free School Meals?

At Greenacre Academy we want to make sure that we

are providing your son/ward with the best education and

support we can. To support this, families who receive

certain benefits may be eligible for free school meals.

Your son/ward is eligible for free school meals if you’re

in receipt of one of the following benefits:

Universal Credit with an annual net earned income of

no more than £7,400.

Income Support

Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum

Act 1999

The guarantee element of Pension Credit

Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for the four weeks

after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

Child Tax Credit (with no Working Tax Credit) with an

annual income of no more than £16,190

Free School Meals

Registering for free school meals could also raise an

extra £935 for the Academy which can be used to fund

valuable support like extra intervention, additional

teaching staff or after school activities. This additional

money is available from central government for every

child whose parent/carer is receiving one of the benefits

listed above.

If you think your son/ward could be eligible for free

school meals please use the website below or scan the

QR code to apply for this funding.

https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200164/

school_information/354/free_school_meals/1

If you would like any support with the application

process please contact Mrs Bennett at

[email protected]

https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200164/school_information/354/free_school_meals/1

https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200164/school_information/354/free_school_meals/1

mailto:[email protected]?subject=Free%20School%20Meals

Autumn 2019

University applications are underway!

With a deadline of 15th January for university

applications, our Year 13 students are displaying their

well-practised organisational skills by already making a

great start to their applications. Those wishing to apply

to university were given the opportunity to attend two

very helpful and informative workshops to support their

application process.

The first session, “How Do I Apply to University?” was

presented by the University of Kent. Students were

taken step-by-step through the whole application

process, the UCAS timeline, and were given the

opportunity to ask questions and discuss.

“Personal Statement Writing” was presented by the

University of Greenwich. Students were encouraged to

think about what should and shouldn’t be included in

their statements, the relevance and originality of what

was being included, and style of writing that would be

expected. They were encouraged to fill any gaps in their

experiences of their chosen subject by securing work

experience placements or volunteering.

Kings Ferry Coaches are offering up to 2 weeks’ free

transport to any students travelling to London for a work

experience placement.

https://www.thekingsferry.co.uk/commuter-services/

free-travel-students

This is a great opportunity for our students to look

further afield for meaningful work experience that will

link to their future careers, and should be included in

their personal statements.

UK University & Apprenticeship Search Fair

On 27th September, our Year 12 students were given the

opportunity to visit Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium for the

UK University & Apprenticeship Search Fair. It was a

fantastic venue for our students to get an idea of the

possibilities that are open to them after they leave

school, which will assist them greatly in deciding which

course or pathway would be right for them.

Students were provided with the opportunity to talk to a

wide variety of universities, colleges and apprenticeship

providers, as well as attend seminars to help them make

informed choices about their futures.

As always, manners were impeccable, and students

displayed great organisational skills by preparing

themselves for future choices.

Year 13 will also be given the chance to attend an

apprenticeship fair early next year, and there is no cost

to parents for these events.

Events


https://www.thekingsferry.co.uk/commuter-services/free-travel-students

https://www.thekingsferry.co.uk/commuter-services/free-travel-students

Autumn 2019

In order to ensure that your son/ward is making the

expected progress for his Sixth Form studies, the

following intervention sessions have been scheduled to

run for over the October half term. The benefit of

attending these sessions will be: to ensure that your son/

ward has the support needed to complete any

outstanding coursework/amend coursework that

requires improvements, or to revise key topic material(s)

with his class teacher that may be of benefit to any

upcoming examinations. In addition, these sessions will

also allow your son to develop his ‘Skills for Life,’ such as

perseverance and excellence.

All intervention sessions will take place on the Greenacre

Academy site and will run on the dates and times

detailed below. Please don’t hesitate to contact son/

ward’s teacher should you have any questions about the

intervention sessions detailed below:

Sixth Form October Intervention Sessions


English GCSE retake (Year 12) – English Language, Paper One: Wednesday 23rd

October, 10am – 12 noon (room 25, Miss. Eldridge) – by invite only

English GCSE retake (Year 12) – English Language, Paper Two: Thursday 24th

October, 10am – 12 noon (room 25, Miss. Eldridge) – by invite only

Law (Year 12): Wednesday 23rd October, 10am -1pm (room 107, Mr. Uddin)

Law (Year 13): Wednesday 30th October, 10am -1pm (room 107, Mr. Uddin)

Maths GCSE retake (Year 12 & Year 13): Monday 21st October, 9am – 12 noon

(Mrs. Allen)


Friends Of Greenacre are a group who run different

events school wide to help strengthen the parent and

school relationship.

If you would like to help organise or run an event please

get in touch on the following email, [email protected].

Welcome back! The start of the year has been extremely

busy for our food share programmes. We continue to

collect from Co-Op in Walderslade Village and their

generous donations have enabled us to continue the

fantastic work we were doing during the last academic

year.

This term, we have also started to collect food donations

from our local ASDA superstore as part of the FareShare

programme. This is an amazing new service offered,

where they donate good quality food which they are no

longer able to sell to customers due to ‘best before’

dates. The food collected normally consists of bread,

fruit, vegetables and sometimes even tinned goods,

which we then bag separately and send out to local

families in the community. The whole programme is a

really incredible idea and is helping to reduce local food

waste while allowing different organisations to help

those in the community around them. For more

information please visit the Co-Op or FareShare

websites.

Friends of Greenacre In terms of our events, please keep checking the

newsletter to see what fantastic events we will be doing

to raise money for our charity. At the end of term 2 we

will be hosting a joint disco with Walderslade Girls for

our year 7 & 8 students as a Christmas reward for their

continued hard work.

In terms of our Skills for Life ethos this truly resembles

organisation. If not for good organisation, these parcels

would not be provided to families on a weekly basis.

SSG Indoor Rowing Competition

On Thursday 26th September, the Greenacre

Sports Partnership hosted the first event of the

Secondary School Games, the Indoor Rowing

Competition, held at Greenacre Academy. 13

schools from across Medway took part in the

competition and a total of 376 pupils

participated.

The Overall SSG Rowing Winners were:

Girls: Rainham Mark Grammar School

Boys: Rainham Mark Grammar School


Sports Leadership Academy

The Greenacre Sports Partnership have selected and

trained 43 sports leaders from Greenacre Academy and

50 from Walderslade Girls School. Pupils have been up

skilled in all areas needed for them to lead in high profile

sports events that will be held within the school and

around Medway. All pupils have been rewarded with a

unique sports leadership academy pin badge. Massive

congratulations to all leaders who have shown

commitment, high expectations and the drive to help

others enjoy sports.

The Greenacre Sports Partnership team

Greenacre Sports Partnership


Make sure that you are wearing your full

uniform, with ties done up correctly!

Bring all of your basic Equipment to school

every day!

Be Ready, Respectful and Responsible Represent Greenacre Academy with pride!

You are the Academy!

Academy Uniform & Basic Equipment

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