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Skills For Life Trust Schools at the O2 for Young Voices, See 6

Continued on Page 2...

Win

ter

Term

2019

GREENACRE ACADEMY

NEWSLETTER

This issue:

Maths Whizz

Young Voices

Yr 10 Work Experience

Karol Teaches

Skills for Life

Pupil Pages

Community Corner

Message from Mrs Bridger Dear Parents and Carers,

This term has been a short but important term for Greenacre Academy. It is a

critical time for Year 11, 12 and 13 students and, for all of them, the

examinations will begin practically as soon as the summer term begins in term

5. The next few weeks, alongside term 4, are significant in determining the

success of the students this summer.

Students have revision materials from their subject teachers, and time invested

now in revision will be invaluable when it comes to performing well in the

examinations. I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents that there

is an extensive February half-term revision timetable and all Year 11 students

are strongly encouraged to attend school revision sessions and also revise

thoroughly at home.

Parents and carers can help too: create some time and space for your son/ward

to revise at home, somewhere quiet and with all the usual distractions (TV,

computer, phone, etc.) removed for the duration. Do please take the time to

question and test your son/ward and ask him to explain key points to you. This

will help cement his knowledge in preparation for the examinations.

Year 11 have been completing their Sixth Form interviews and,

experience placements have led on to part time work

and apprenticeships in the past.

I am thrilled to announce that Greenacre Academy is one

of fifteen schools in Kent to be awarded the Excellence

Award from Kent School Games. We will be collecting

this prestigious award at the cultural celebration

evening, in Canterbury next month. Whilst I am talking

of success, I am beyond proud of our Year 9 football

team in making the finals of the Kent Cup. The final will

be held on 2nd March, and I am sure you will join me in

wishing our team the best of luck!

Our boys joined many other schools at the O2 earlier this

month for ‘Young Voices’ and were joined by all of our

Trust schools. This was an incredible event and was

enjoyed by all who attended.

Key dates next term:

Year 9 Parents’ and Options Evening: Tuesday 28th

February

Sixth Form Parents’ Evening: Thursday 14th March

Year 8 Parents’ Evening: Thursday 21st March

I would like to request that all parents of the above

listed year groups please attend these vital evenings as,

by working together, our students can achieve anything

they put their minds to.

Finally, I would like to thank all parents and carers for

your continued support, and also all students and staff

for their on-going hard work and commitment to the

Academy. Without such positive contributions from

everyone, we would not be able to continue to move

forward and progress at the rate we are.

Have a restful break and I look forward to welcoming our

students back, fully prepared with equipment and full

uniform, and ready to drive their learning forward on

25th February 2018 (Week A).

Mrs S Bridger

Headteacher

GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Winter Term 2019

once again, the numbers of year 11 students who have

opted to come to the Sixth Form in September are

amongst the highest we have seen. I would like to

congratulate all students for the mature and

professional way they have approached the application

and interview process; this really is Skills for Life at its

finest!

Our Year 7, 8 and 9 boys sat mock examinations this

term and, for the first time, they were exposed to exam

conditions in the hall to start to prepare them for their

future. It was encouraging to see our younger students

taking it seriously and revising hard. Well done, boys!

Throughout the term, I have been reminded time and

time again of the outstanding character our students

regularly display. It’s impressive to see them exuding in

confidence as classroom ambassadors when speaking to

external visitors, and representing the Academy proudly

when competing (and largely winning!) in sporting

events. Exemplary behavior is also displayed when we

have welcomed speakers into our Academy to talk to

students as part of our ‘Skills for Life’ strapline. Our

students show us there is no limit to where hard work,

determination and ambition can get you, and I look

forward to helping even more of our students realise

their full potential.

Safer internet week has been running this week and our

students have been informed of the potential dangers

online. With the internet being so accessible on phones,

do please encourage your son/ward to stay safe online

and be mindful that anything posted online is then

accessible to anyone.

Year 10 began their work experience on 4th February for

2 weeks. This is always a wonderful way for students to

be immersed and exposed to the world of work. I hope

that all Year 10 students have enjoyed their exposure to

working life and a reminder that many Year 10 work

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


Churchill With the end of term 3, we are now halfway through the

school year. It has been wonderful to see so many

Churchill students setting themselves targets and

witnessing them being motivated and persevering in

order to achieve them. Sadly, this is not the case for all

of our students. There are still a few students who are

letting the Churchill team down. With this in mind, in

term 4, I want all of our students to reignite their

motivation and set themselves new goals focussing on

attendance, behaviour and progress in lessons.

With regards to attendance, we need to ensure that

students are in school. Coming into school late and

missing time at school can have a huge impact on

learning and can severely affect the progress of students.

Missing two weeks of school means that the highest

attendance a student can achieve is 94.7%.

Congratulations to form DB who have a fantastic 98.4%

attendance for this term.

A massive congratulations to our top 10 house point

earners. As always, you represent the house in such a

positive light. It is fantastic to see our house point total

rise on a daily basis. I am inundated on a daily basis with

students proudly showing me their postcards that they

have received for displaying excellent Skills for Life in

their lessons and around the academy.

We had a fantastic victory this term with our year 8s

thrashing the other houses in inter house football. I

particularly enjoyed standing pitch side and cheering

them on and seeing the pride they showed at being in

Churchill. The students showed exceptional

perseverance. I was also incredibly impressed with their

sportsmanship and their ability to work as a team and

listen to each other. Well done boys!

Finally, I would like to thank our fantastic form tutors

and PSAs who work tirelessly to support our students.

Have a wonderful half term!

Miss Ware

Dickens I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Dickens

students on an excellent third term! It has been a

pleasure to see each and every one of you continue to

display our Skills for Life principles both in lessons and

around

Interhouse sport took place again this term with the

boys demonstrating their skills and determination on the

Football pitch. Dickens House was once again

represented by our fantastic Year 8’s. However, despite

having the best team on paper, we failed to live up to

our ability and came bottom of the table! Hopefully our

Year 9’s can reinstate us back at the top during Term 4.

Attendance has continued to be a main focus this term

and the boys in blue haven’t disappointed. Dickens

house have blown the other houses out of the water,

winning the attendance battle most weeks.

Congratulations to Mr Hilleard’s form who have

maintained their place at the top of the house table with

an impressive 97%.

Good luck to the Year 10 Dickens students who went on

their Work Experience during Term 3. I am sure that you

will find this experience challenging but beneficial and

one that will ultimately develop those essential Skills for

Life principles.

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

Dickens Form Tutors for their hard work and

commitment during Term 3. Have a great break!

Mr Franklin

My name is Mr. McGregor, and I would like to take this

opportunity to formally introduce myself to you all, as

the new Head of Marlowe House. I aim to continue

keeping Marlowe in contention for, and challenging for

all the top rewards and honours.

The third term can always be a challenging one; the days

are shorter, the nights are longer, and all the joys of

Christmas are packed away for another year. Despite

this, myself and the house’s form tutors have been

working diligently throughout the term, and we have

seen a good and steady increase in attendance figures.

It’s flu season, it’s cold and it’s dark, but the students in

Marlowe are working tirelessly to be in school, learning

and achieving, every single day. Well done guys!

One of my most important responsibilities is to improve

the house’s general behaviour. Because of this, I have

had the opportunity to work closely with students I may

have never met otherwise, some of which have showed

a massive improvement towards their conduct in the

academy. I am also grateful for the time given by those

families who have come and met with me, and I look

forward to meeting many more of you in the future.

Speaking of positives, Marlowe has been gifted two new

form tutors this term; Mr. Malkin and Ms. Balogan. I am

incredibly proud of the work that all Marlowe form

tutors put in; More often than not, when there may be

an issue at school (good or bad) your child’s form tutor is

usually the first port of contact. I urge all parents and

families to make yourselves known to your son/ward’s

form tutor, and begin to build a relationship where we

can provide students with the best support possible.

I would like to thank Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Bridger for

having faith in me to succeed in this new role. I would

also like to thank the other Heads of House for their

invaluable support and guidance. Marlowe, it is an

absolute honour to be your Head of House.

Be amazing.

Mr McGregor


Chaucer We have made it!

January seemed to last forever, but we are finally at the

February half term. It sure has been a busy one.

Already at the end of term 3, how time flies when you’re

having fun! We have had such a great term and there

has been so much positivity surrounding Chaucer House.

I am delighted to be working with such a hardworking,

talented group of young men.

This term we have smashed the attendance charts,

lowered our negative behaviour watches, increased our

postcards and house points and had many members of

Chaucer House involved in rewards. We have also had a

Chaucer student win the Head Teachers award.

This term in Chaucer house there has been some great

aspects to celebrate: we have had many members

recognised for their outstanding class work, great

attendance and always displaying the Skills for Life ethos

throughout the academy.

We have had our KS3 students working hard on their

exams and our year 10 boys out in the community,

experiencing the world of work. I have had the pleasure

of visiting some of you and I have loved the photos your

parents have sent in for me to see.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the Chaucer

form tutors, who are outstanding every day; I love

working with you. I’d like to extend a special thank you

and well done to form SL/AF who have displayed an

excellent effort in the mornings and had great

attendance.

Mrs Wall, Mrs Coburn, Ms Boynton and Mrs Hill: thank

you for your ongoing pastoral support for Chaucer

house; it is greatly appreciated by the students and

parents you support daily.

I hope you all have a wonderful half term and return in

term 4 rested, refreshed and ready to learn.

Miss Murphy

Head of Chaucer House

Marlowe


Attendance As you will have seen through our Facebook, Twitter and

numerous communications, much research has been

carried out on the impact that good attendance has on

attainment.

Government targets are set nationally, so every school

has a duty to ensure that students are attending in

excess of 96% of the time. This is because it has been

recognized that students with 96+% attendance make

the most progress in their educational settings over 5

years.

As we only expect students to attend school for 190 days

of the year, having the expectation that students attend

for at least 182 of those days should sound easy.

However, we are seeing increasing patterns of students

taking days off for colds and coughs as we move through

the winter period.

Whilst we appreciate that we are all human, and at

times there are really good, medical reasons for missing

school, we implore you to send your son as often as

possible. The school can and will send home if we feel

that your son is too poorly to be in lessons. We have

installed hand sanitizer stations throughout the academy

to combat germs spreading. We encourage our students

to drink plenty of fluids throughout the day, and allow

them to drink their water in lessons to aid healthy

lifestyles. However, it is inevitable that at times, all of

our students have a sniffle or a cough. What we would

try and encourage you to do is send them in so they

become more resilient to feeling unwell, which can only

support them as they enter the world of work, who, will

have an expectation of attending more than 190 days of

the year.

As we move into term 4, our whole school attendance is

94.1%. This is fantastic for our students, and we would

like to congratulate the many students that have 100%

attendance and the many more that are above the 96%

target set by the government. This is a fantastic

achievement.

For some, this is still an achievable target, and as the

warmer weather comes in, we would appreciate seeing

your children on time and attending every single day.

For the many that have had fantastic achievement this

year so far, we have rewarded in numerous ways. This

has included; attendance certificates, attendance

commendation letters to parents, rewards breakfasts,

rewards afternoons in the hall with pizza and games and

sweets on the playground. Well done to all of our

students that we have celebrated with so far. Without all

of our supportive parents in the community, we cannot

celebrate such achievements, so thank you.

Below I have outlined how attendance can affect

attainment outcomes and how, by looking at our leavers

2018 grades, we can see the patterns with good

attendance and their attainment.

Have a wonderful half term, we look forward to seeing

you in term 4. Mrs.

L Campbell

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 a staggering total of 44,539,051 words and

have taken 4,291 quizzes!

Please join us in congratulating the following students

who have all accumulated over one million words read

since September. Well done to:

James Shea: 1,970,846

Adam Cordier: 1,530,241

Noel Jagun: 1,298,552

Joseph Parsons: 1,253,670

Cameron Jones: 1,003,819

To continue the positive reading ethos around the

Academy, we have also begun testing students on their

reading speeds! We have been thoroughly

impressed with the boys’ perseverance

and motivation to


English Term 3 KS3 English:

This term, KS3 students have been introduced to a range

of challenging literature texts. 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 1700s through Romeo

and Juliet. Year 8 have been studying 21st Century

events, such as 9/11, and Year 9 have been discovering

the Elizabethan Era through Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

During Term 4, the boys will be building upon their

analysis skills and will be working closely with the

schools’ ‘Skills for Life’ motto to help them develop

empathy and understanding for the characters within

the texts studied. We will be encouraging the pupils to

use the ‘Emotion Wheel’ – see the example to the side of

this text!

Half Term Challenges!

Year 7: If you were Romeo and could write a letter to

Juliet after being banished, what would you write?

Year 8: Write a diary entry that imagines that you

were involved in the 9/11 disaster. What would you be

thinking and feeling?

We are continuing with both of these KS3 topics next

term so please continuing reading and researching

them over the holidays!

Year 9: Research what life was like in England in 1912.

Design a poster that includes facts from your research.

For Year 9 students, this research will be used to help

you get a head start for our topic next term: An

Inspector Calls.


improve their reading and would like to celebrate the

excellent of KS3 readers. The English department have

been amazed by the expression and fluency of our

students.

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.

We would also like to take this opportunity to ask

parents to encourage their son/ward to read at home

and to be organised by remembering to bring their

library book/ reading book to school every day. Reading

is an integral part to the Academy ‘Skills For Life’ motto

and we would like KS3 pupils to continue being

excellent!

KS4 English

It's been a busy term for the English staff and students

who are working towards the GCSE exams.

Year 11 intervention is now in full swing with groups

revising on both Wednesday and Thursday after school

as well as at lunchtimes with individual teachers. The

boys are working hard and learning some valuable

revision techniques along the way. Next term will be

even more intense as the department fine tunes its focus

to help the boys as much as possible.

The mock exams results afternoon was a great success.

Many English students were encouraged to find that

their hard work is paying off. For others, the afternoon

was something of a wake-up call and it's been

encouraging to see so many students who did not do as

well as they hoped, now applying themselves to their

English studies with increased energy and focus. The

whole afternoon went off very well and it was lovely to

see so many parents there supporting their sons.

English have held their first walking talking mock of the

year. Miss Barr ran a very useful session and the boys all

responded well, holding their focus and attention for the

whole hour. There will be more of these vital sessions

next term.

KS5 English

A Level English: As we reach the halfway point in the

academic year, our year 12 and 13 A Level students

continue to persevere with their studies. Currently, we

are focusing on Atonement and the Carol Ann Duffy

poetry component of their exams. After several mock

examinations, our Year 13’s are aware of their strengths

and weaknesses and must now remain motivated to fill

any gaps and misconceptions. Intervention opportunities

will arise in Term 4 and we have high expectations for

the attendance to these.

KS5 English retakes:

At the start of this term, our students received their

results of their November resit. There were definitely

some achievements here and a special well done to Sam

Tasker and Andrew Diddams who, despite some set-

backs, persevered with their studies and did especially

well. Unfortunately, some of our students did not display

the necessary skills needed to pass this time. With

another opportunity in June, these students need to

ensure they are attending revision sessions and

completing past papers at home. Focus on displaying

excellence and stay motivated in the final months of the

academic year – you can do it!

English Term 3

...Continued from previous page


Karol Teaches Olympic boxing Gold Winner Karol delivers a knock out

lesson to our Year 7’s

Karol is one of our outstanding 6th form students, both

academically and professionally, who volunteered to

give up his time to teach a year 7 group.

He showed complete dedication and commitment in

delivering a fun filled lesson on finding missing angles in

shapes. He embodies the schools ethos for ‘Skills for Life’

by being organised; he planned the lesson using

differentiated tasks to accommodate the student’s

abilities.

All students were fully engaged, in awe of Karol and all

that he has achieved. It’s wonderful for the students to

be inspired by someone so successful and someone they

can relate to.

Karol has agreed to give up more of his time when his

boxing and school commitments allow. After the lesson

he sent me an email saying ‘If there’s anything I can do

to help and give back then I’d be more than happy to

help!’ Karol is not only successful in his own right but it’s

amazing to see someone who is prepared to give back

his own time to inspire the next generation.

Year 9 Semi Final Greenacre ‘Berry’ Norton Knatchbull to make first Kent

Cup Final in 25 years

Year 8 Mikey Berry dominated the year 9 Kent cup semi-

final, scoring two and causing chaos amongst the Norton

Knatchbull defence. Greenacre’s manager, Mr Gearey,

described the game as a ‘complete performance’,

praising every one of his players.

“We had to battle hard, shut them down, show them

that we wanted it more and let our pace and pressure do

the rest. Every player in the squad put in a performance,

a 5-1 win was exactly what we deserved.”

Norton Knatchbull played a risky tactic of playing out

from the back but this was seized upon by Enriko Itauma

and Tyrone Clarke. The two forwards, supported by

Berry, didn’t let the defenders play and turned over

possession in attacking areas of the pitch for Greenacre.

The pressure enabled the Walderslade side to drive into

a 3-0 lead before conceding a soft consolation goal. This

moved Greenacre into another gear, and Enriko Itauma

went on to complete his hatrick.

Tommy-Lee Box and Harrison Negus controlled the

midfield, breaking up the Knatchbull possession before

they could build up a head of steam. On the rare

occasion they broke the midfield, a man of the match

display from Callum Scovell stopped them threatening

goalkeeper Bedford. Debutants Zarek and Zuriel Olafa

were similarly impressive as well as extremely calm and

cool Tyler Jackson Hunt, playing up a year.

The final takes place on Saturday 2nd March at The

Gallagher Staidum Maidstone. A tough St Paul’s

Academy will no doubt be challenging opposition, but

Greenacre go into the game on a high, hoping to bring

glory back to Walderslade Road.

Mr Gearey


Exam week:

This term has been very busy for our students in years 7,

8, and 9. We would like to say a huge congratulations to

all of our boys for taking part in KS3 mock exam week,

where students worked hard and persevered to

complete their work in real exam conditions. Results will

be coming out to parents and carers over half term, so

please ensure you look out for this important post

coming through your door.

Reading and spelling:

Knowing how to spell vital vocabulary is important,

which is why all students have completed spelling tests

this term. We have given each student 100 important

words which they should all be expected to learn before

the end of the KS3. The result of this will also be seen on

your son/ward’s report. If you would like to continue to

support your son/ward in learning these spellings, please

visit the ‘Literacy’ section of the website.

As you are all aware, Greenacre takes part in the

‘Accelerated Reader’ reading scheme. All KS3 students in

the Academy have access to the library and should have

their own reading book. It has been fantastic to see

many students reading over 1 million words this term,

with some students completing the whole Harry Potter

series in 6 weeks! All students should be reading for, at

least, 20 minutes every day; it would be fantastic to see

lots of our boys reading over half term! Please visit the

‘Literacy’ section of the website for recommendations of

books for our boys.

We have also been lucky enough to receive book

donations from families of our students and we are very

grateful for all of the donations received so far.

However, we are always eager to extend the library even

further, so if you have any books that need a new home,

the Greenacre library, would happily welcome them!

Key dates for term 4:

Thursday 28th February – Yr9 Parents’ Evening and

Options Evening. This is a vital evening for all yr9

students and parents. Please come along to speak to all

your son/ward’s teachers about his progress and to learn

about the GCSE pathways and options for next year.

Wednesday 6th March – Numeracy Day. Your son/ward

will be taking part in a wide range of numeracy activities.

Please encourage him to engage with the apps and

Maths Whizz every day!

Thursday 7th March – World Book Day. Lots of book

themed activities will be taking place throughout the

Academy. Teachers will be dressed up as their favourite

book characters, and we also encourage our students to

do this. We would love to see a Fantastic Mr Fox or Willy

Wonka walking through the corridors!

Thursday 21st March – Year 8 Parents’ Evening. A very

important event for you to come into the Academy and

speak to teachers about how your son/ward is

progressing.

Key Stage Three


Congratulations to the following students who are in our top ten for usage and progress in Maths Whizz.

Maths Whizz www.whizz.com

Top 10 for usage - motivation

Student Class

1 Aaron GRAY 073/Ma

2 Lewis TURNER 076/Ma

3 Kieran DANIELS 081/Ma

4 Kelvin BOISSIERE 075/Ma

5 Kian BEDWELL 07B/Ma

6 Max JOHNSON 074/Ma

7 Izaak BATES 07A/Ma

8 Luke ODELL 07B/Ma

9 Alex JONES 072/Ma

10 Daniel WILLIAMS 08B/Ma

Your teacher has given you a username and

password, so please logon and start making

progress.

Your target: Four progressions every week.

Recommended usage: At least one hour in

maths tutor mode each week, best split over

three twenty minute sessions.

Top 10 for progress - excellence

Student name Class

1 Kelvin BOISSIERE 075/Ma

2 James HEALEY 09B/Ma

3 Phil HEMMINGS 093/Ma

4 Alex JONES 072/Ma

5 Daniel WILLIAMS 08B/Ma

6 James DOYE 072/Ma

7 Max OWEN 073/Ma

8 Adam EASTON 07A/Ma

9 Marley JAYAGURU 076/Ma

10 Kian BEDWELL 07B/Ma


Modern Foreign Languages

MFL students in KS3 carried on showing motivation and

perseverance whilst trying a more interactive and

appealing approach to their learning, encouraging them

to speak and use French in a more purposeful way. Well

done boys and keep up the good work! You are

becoming real French specialists!

MFL students in KS4 have showed great signs of

organisation and employability during intervention

sessions after school. Those who turned up made

excellent progress in the subject and are on track to

achieve great results. Keep it up guys!

Interhouse Dominant Churchill victorious in year 8 inter house

football

Another successful inter house event saw the year 8

Churchill team come from behind to take an unlikely

victory. With the teams level, the tournament on a knife

edge, Miss Ware called both A and B teams together at

half time of the last game for a famous Churchill inspired

speech. They left the huddle charged and went on to

take 6 points from their games, pushing them on to

victory. Each goal scored was met with a demand for

Miss Ware to come and watch but as both Churchill sides

became more dominant, Miss Ware had no idea where

to go!

Dickens had a disappointing tournament having won the

event last year. An extremely talented side just failed to

get going, leaving Mr Franklin a devastated man. The

Skills for Life award went to Marlowe, having managed

to get 2 full sides out and remained motivated

throughout the tournament, offering praise and

encouragement in every game.

1st - Churchill

2nd - Marlowe

3rd - Chaucer

4th - Dickens

SFL Award – Marlowe

Dates to look out for:

Year 9 inter-house football: 8th March

Year 7 inter-house basketball: 22nd March

Year 8 inter-house basketball: 5th April


Our Year 13 cohort have, for those applicable, now sent

off their UCAS application forms! The tasks of completing

the UCAS forms and writing personal statements are

ones which certainly encompass many of our Skills for

Life principles. The students actively listened to advice

from staff on how to further improve their personal

statements, and then acted upon said advice, they

certainly showed motivation in completing all required

documents before the deadline. Their applications were

well organised, and they showcased excellence in the

construction of their fine personal statements. We wish

all out students who submitted UCAS applications every

success in their next steps!

On Friday 8th February, our PGW students visited an

apprenticeship fair in Maidstone. The event was hugely

successful and it was apparent that all students found it

very beneficial. The fair had stalls from all manner of

different career avenues, such as: the Hilton hotel group,

P&O Ferries, the NHS, the British Army, and EDF Energy.

The students were an absolute credit to PGW Sixth Form

as they explored the different stands. The students

approached stall holders with confidence and showcased

some of our Skills for Life principles when: actively

listening to information that was being shared with

them, demonstrating outstanding manners, and finally,

they showed to all whom they interacted with, what

excellent employability skills they possess.

We hope that the students found this a helpful and eye-

opening opportunity and we look forward to supporting

them in any industry links they wish to pursue in the

future.

they follow EMPLOY ME and how they display those

behaviours in all aspects of secondary school life. They

also linked both RECIPE and EMPLOY ME so that the

primary pupils could see how one follows on from the

other. There was an opportunity for our young

ambassadors to ask questions of the boys, which was

well received.

The whole experience has been a great opportunity for

both primary and secondary pupils to see how Skills for

Life is part of everything we do across ALL schools in our

trust. Both secondary and primary pupils like having an

acronym to represent Skills for Life and that they can link

it to everything they do within their school career.

SFL Assemblies

This term we were lucky enough to host two different

speakers: Gabriella from Hadlow College and Emma

Harvey from CITB.

Gabriella came in and spoke about the options Hadlow

College have available. This was mostly to do with

careers in land based studies. She gave us detailed

knowledge of different courses offered at Hadlow


Skills For Life Skills for Life Ambassador’s spread the word.

Our Skills for Life ambassadors take their role very

seriously when visitors come to Greenacre Academy.

With our trust now having three primary schools within

it, we felt term three would be a great opportunity for

our Ambassadors to visit each of the schools and share

with our younger Ambassadors how to be a positive,

professional Ambassador.

Along with Mrs Pamphlett, Mrs Presneill and Mrs Doree,

the boys discussed what they felt would be the

important message to give our young ambassador’s

ahead of their visits. The Primary schools eagerly

awaited the arrival of the boys.

Armed with training materials the boys set to work,

dividing the young ambassadors into smaller groups.

They asked the young ambassadors what skills they felt a

good ambassador should display. They then practiced

the all-important handshake, smile and eye contact,

along with answering some questions that our visitors

might ask us.

The boys also spoke about RECIPE – the Primary

acronym that underpins Skills for Life in our primary

schools and shared with the young ambassadors that


College and the vast amount of careers that land based

studies could lead to. It really helped our students to

consider the variety of options available to them.

Emma Harvey came in to discuss different routes and

options available to students in the construction

industry. She discussed all the different routes available

to our students. We have a lot of students who are

interested in a career in construction so this was

incredibly insightful.

PGW Interview Preparation

This term has been an important one for year 11 as they

consider their options moving forward. For most, this

meant attending a PGW interview. We wanted to

continue to support our students and ensure they

excelled at interview so we ran a training session which

related to all interviews. This included questions they

may be asked, what to wear, creating a great first

impression and much more. We felt this would not only

help support our students but would make them stand

out amongst any other competition.

Mock Interviews with DWP

Year 13 are coming to the end of their time at Greenacre

and this means they are applying for university, for jobs

or apprenticeships. In order to support our students they

were given the chance to be interviewed by Marie

Colgan from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Marie was impressed with how well our students

promoted themselves through the interview and she

gave them loads of helpful tips to improve. They boys

who participated said they felt much more prepared for

interviews and that Marie had given them some really

helpful hints and tips.

We have another two days planned for sessions with

Marie so even though not all our year 13’s received

these mock interviews they will have further

opportunities available to them.

Cyber Security with DWP

This term we have also had Marie Colgan in from the

Department for Work and Pensions to talk to some of

our year 7’s about their digital footprint.

The session was incredibly engaging and informative. It

really made our boys think about their online presence

and how this may positively or negatively affect their

future and people’s opinions of them.

Marie discussed social media at length and how easy it is

to be vulnerable online. Students now feel more

informed to ensure they are safe online. It was great to

bring this to the forefront of our students’ minds and

helps to keep them safer online.

Skills For Life


Young Voices at London’s O2 Arena rehearsing until 5 pm, with a concert in the O2 Arena to

a sold out audience at 7pm, but the students absolutely

loved every minute of it.

At the O2 we were all joined by guest stars Tony Hadley,

formerly of Spandau Ballet and Britain’s Got Talent 2016

winner, Beau Dermot, as well as dance troupe, Urban

Strides. Seeing performances of such a professional

standard has really inspired some of our students to

want to work within the Performing Arts sector. Our

students have all put in a lot of work in their own time,

learning lyrics and the songs and have shown amazing

perseverance, effort and determination to do their very

best.

It is participation in events like this that allows us to see

how music and singing can benefit all of our students;

from confidence-building, listening and perseverance

skills, to teaching respect for others, and above all,

enjoyment!

Skills For Life Takes Choirs From Every Academy to

Perform At Young Voices with 11,000 Children at

London’s O2 Arena

On Monday 4th February, for the first time, the Skills for

Life Trust brought pupils from choirs at all of its five

academies to perform together at an amazing event,

Young Voices, at the O2 Arena. Around 11,000 school

children from all over the South East performed

together.

With over 150 students from across all five academies in

the Skills for Life Trust, this was the first time all of the

schools had come together to perform. It was such an

exciting event and it was absolutely brilliant that we

were able to take so many students with us this year

from across the Trust. A definite favourite song of the

students across all of our academies is 'Viva La Vida' by

Coldplay, as well as the Greatest Showman medley, that

featured in the concert. The students sang around 14

songs in total. It was a full on day, starting at 2pm and


Year 10 Work Experience Over the last two weeks, Year 10 students at Greenacre

Academy have been finding out what it is like to be at

work in the ‘real world’. They have been participating in

2 weeks of work experience where they have been

practising many of the Skills for Life that they have been

developing in school. Many of our boys have been

fantastic ambassadors for the school and have shown

their true potential. Here are just a few comments we

have received from their employers:

“Oliver Hicks is doing brilliantly. He is in on time and is

using CAD to create his own project of weekend retreat”.

“Bobby Frampton is doing brilliantly and getting on with

everyone well. He says that he may consider this as a

future career option and is finding this a very valuable

experience”.

Leevan Owugah – “Has been fantastic and very

proactive”.

Jack Cooper – “He is always well-mannered and is a

welcome member of the team. He has been working

with trainees much older than him and doing well”.

Izaak Mann – “He is a pleasure to have in the office,

always proactive and has a positive attitude. We are

really happy to have him here”.

As you can see from just these few students, work

experience is extremely valuable. The Skills for Life we

learn in school really do help when they go into

employment. I would say that all these young men have

shown Excellence, Manners, Perseverance, Listening,

Organisation, You, Motivation and real Employability!

A reminder to year 9 parents: The best placements are

always ones you have arranged yourself. So put your

thinking caps on now so that your son doesn’t miss out

on this great opportunity.


Year 11 Term 3 Where has the last term gone? I am sure Year 11 would

agree a lot has happened this term. We began the term

with their mock results afternoon where the students

got a taste of what it will feel like in August when they

open their results. There were a mixture of responses

from the boys however there seems to be a renewed

passion to revise and prepare fully for their GCSEs, which

has been evident in lessons and with the revision we are

seeing being completed. It is essential this is developed

further and they are using the revision techniques

discussed at the end of term to help aid their recall; such

as:

Condensing notes to key words/bullet points

Voice recording key facts and listening back – good

particularly for MFL

Creating posters of key facts

Mind maps

Use of post it notes

Collaboration

Use of memory aids like Mnemonics

Creation of revision cards

Exam papers under timed conditions

A reminder that on the trust website, under Greenacre

Academy, there are links to Revision Hints and Tips,

http://www.sflt.org.uk/greenacre/revision-hints-tips/

and also KS4 Independent Learning Revision Support and

Materials,

http://www.sflt.org.uk/greenacre/ks4supportmaterials/ .

Under these sections links can be found to support

revision at home.

The Year 11 have also been involved in Vocational Week

where they focused on key Vocational subjects solely

during the week. Feedback from staff and students

includes how useful this time has been in order for

students to improve the quality of their work and also

how focused the majority of the students were.

http://www.sflt.org.uk/greenacre/revision-hints-tips/

http://www.sflt.org.uk/greenacre/ks4supportmaterials/


Year 11 Term 3 Progress

I would like to take the opportunity to reflect on what

has been a hectic but successful journey for a great

number of our year 11 students so far this year. The

‘Exam Season’ is creeping closer to us with each day that

passes and with it the level of pressure placed upon you

may feel like it is increasing. So many of you are doing

the right things daily, so you need not worry – just keep

doing what you are doing and you will see the fruits of

your labour in August – I promise you will be proud of

your achievements and it will all be worth it! Remember,

you have a great amount of people willing to help and

support you and a vast amount of resources available to

you; please access and utilise them!

After looking at our most recent ‘Data Drop’, it is great to

see so many of you working at or above your MEG

(Minimum Estimated Grade) – if this is sustained we will

see some brilliant results in August. I wanted to take the

time to praise those of you who are working significantly

above your MEG and who frequently go ‘Above and

Beyond’ in your studies and in your everyday conduct

around the Academy.

The following students have shown Skills for Life in

abundance in a variety of ways and it is rewarding and

truly pleasurable experience to be able to work with

such a talented yet humble group of students who show

perseverance and motivation in their studies – never

giving up no matter what is placed in from of them. They

work to achieve excellence at each and every

opportunity, in a range of subject areas whenever the

chance presents itself. Each displays beautiful manners

on all occasions, whilst maintaining a good sense of

humour. Their organisation helps them to be equipped

for the day/week ahead and they listen to advice and

feedback and act upon it. In short, if you are a Greenacre

Academy student, you should aspire to emulate the

attitude and application of the following students; I urge

you to speak with them to find out how you can give

yourself the best chances of achieving success when you

reach year 11.

Have a restful and relaxing half-term – but make sure

you stick to your revision timetables!


PSHE Term 3 Within our Skills for Life strategy is the promotion of

what is termed ‘British Values’; these are values as

individuals that we should all be following and living by.

These are categorised in four main areas:

Democracy

Rule of Law

Individual Liberty

Mutual Respect and Tolerance

During this term and last, year 7 and 8 students have

been focusing on these values within their PSHE lessons.

Year 8 have focused on mutual respect and tolerance

which has required the students to consider not only

how tolerant our society is but also how tolerant they

are as individuals. Students were also asked to consider

whether there are times when tolerance can be a

negative thing. This term year 7’s have focused on each

of the British Values individually. They have not only

been learning about how British Values affect the UK and

the way society functions but they have also been

looking how countries function without them. Students

have been discussing the issues associated with

dictatorships, the problems that arise when laws are not

questioned by the people and also how an individual’s

human rights can outweigh the laws of a country. Whilst

studying these topics each student has been able to

display excellent listening skills and manners.

This term there have been a number of events

prompting awareness of mental health. Between the 4th

and 10th of February was Child Mental Health

Awareness Week and the 7th February was ‘Time to

Change’ day which emphasised the important of talking

about mental health issues. In order to raise our

students awareness of mental health and the issues

which may affect people, this term year 8 have been

focusing on what it means to be ‘healthy’, how mental

health issues can impact their lives and also those

around them. In addition to this, we also ran a whole

school activity during form time to promote Time to

Change Day and encourage our students to check in on

each other every now and again and perhaps start a

conversation about mental health. During form the

students watched a short video explaining the

importance of having a simple conversation, then

discussed the way these conversations could begin and

then finally made their own pledges about how they

would try to end the stigma around mental health.

Whilst studying these topics each student was

respectful, participated sensibly in the activities, asked

some very thoughtful questions and displayed excellent

Skills for Life such as manners, listening and

perseverance.


Humanities Term 3 Key Stage 3

In History this term, KS3 pupils have been working hard

on their historical skills whilst learning about a range of

topics. Year 7 have studied the Black Death and the

devastating impact that it had on England. Year 8 have

been looking at how Britain changed during the 19th

century and Year 9 have continued their study of Nazi

Germany. During lessons, all students have been working

on their source analysis skills as well as explaining the

significance and consequences of events.

In Geography, Year 7, 8 and 9 students have been

studying the use of natural resources on Earth, the

continent of Asia and social development respectively. In

these lessons students have been quizzed very

frequently on the topics they have learnt since the start

of the year as we know that this regular recapping has a

huge impact on knowledge recall.

Both subjects culminated in the first set of KS3 mock

exams where pupils really demonstrated their excellence

skills to work to the best of their ability.

In RE, KS3 students have conducted some more in-depth

study of Islam. Students have been involved in lessons

on Islamic dress, the Quran, how Muslims pray, Allah

and Jihad amongst others.

Year 9 students will finalise their option choices early in

Term 4. For many pupils this will mean making a decision

between History and Geography. You need to make sure

that your decision is made based on the right criteria:

favourite teacher and who you sit with need to make

way for which subject you find most interesting and

which one you performed best in during mock exam

week! Pupils also have some other exciting humanities

options available to them in Religious Education,

Citizenship and Law and Travel and Tourism. Speak to

your humanities teachers at the parent’s evening if you

would like more information on any of these.

Key Stage 4

With exam season approaching fast, all year 11 pupils

have begun to revise topics that they were taught much

earlier in the course. Students have sat more mock

exams and we now have a firm grasp of where their

strengths and weaknesses lie. All boys in year 11 need to

now take a real responsibility for their own behaviour

and effort in class. As well as designated lesson time,

some pupils have been invited to intervention sessions

after school and during half term. It is imperative that

these are attended as they are the best opportunity to

work closely with your teacher to tackle your areas of

weakness. In addition to the intervention sessions, pupils

should also continue to complete the GCSE Pod

assignments that have been set and use the material

provided on the ‘Year 11 Independent Study’ section of

the website.

We hope Year 10 pupils had an insightful two weeks on

work experience. They too sat mock exams in History

and Geography earlier in the term and again, your

teachers now have a better understanding of the key

topics and skills that you need to improve on. Citizenship

and Law pupils carried out their ‘Active Citizenship

Projects’ this term. Students were required to plan,

research, deliver and evaluate a citizenship action and

will be tested on this during one of their exams in Year

11. Projects have included campaigning for the

criminalisation of legal highs and designing leaflets to

inform tourists of human rights breaches in the

destinations they are visiting!

We hope you all have a great half term.

Humanities


Pupil Pages...

Year 9 Football Team Kent Cup Finalists 2018/19

Meet the Team

Callum Scovell

Position: Defender

Favourite player: Messi

Team I support: West Ham Utd

Favourite subject: PE

Favourite teacher: PE Department

Mikey Berry

Position: Midfielder/forward

Favourite player: Isco

Team I support: Chelsea


Favourite teacher: Mr Gearey

Enriko Itauma

Position: Forward

Favourite player: Bale

Team I support: Arsenal

Favourite subject: PSHE


Andrew Radford

Position: Goalkeeper/everywhere

Favourite player: Wayne Rooney




Harry Beech

Position: Midfielder

Favourite player: Ronaldinho



Favourite teacher: Mr Gearey

Tommy Nye

Position: Defender

Favourite player: Jake Cooper

Team I support: Millwall


Favourite teacher: PE department

Harrison Negus

Position: midfielder

Favourite player: Gary Cahill



Favourite teacher: PE department

Tyler Jackson-Hunt

Position: Defender/Midfielder

Favourite player: Ronaldinho




Lewis Bedford

Position: Goalkeeper

Favourite player: de Gea

Team I support: Man Utd



Zuriel Olafa

Position: Midfielder

Favourite player: Hazard


Favourite subject: English

Favourite teacher: Miss Barr


Pupil Pages...

My name is Cameron Jones, I am in Year 8 and I am in Mr

Sharpe’s form in Dickens House. I am the Student Voice

representative for my form. In our form we were asked

to volunteer to run to be our form rep. Myself and

another student put our names forward to Mr Sharp so

the form voted. Luckily I was successful.

Once every two terms we meet in the conference room

to discuss issues that are given to us by Mr Franklin. For

about half an hour we sit and discuss our ideas amongst

the other form reps from Dickens. When we have

decided on some good actions, Mr Franklin records

them. In the last couple of meetings we have discussed

areas such as fundraising and how we can motivate

students.

After the meetings, Mr Franklin takes our ideas and

reports them to Mrs. Bridger. At our fundraising meeting

we came up with ideas such as having more coffee

mornings and holding sports events to help raise money

for the school. One student even came up with the idea

of hosting a Guy Fawkes bonfire! At the meeting about

motivating our pupils we liked the idea of fun activities in

lessons such as ‘escape rooms’ which we actually went

on to do in a French class!

Another area that has been discussed at the meetings

was the toilets. The new toilets at the front of the school

are much better as they are lots bigger, there are not

queues to get in and there are nicer facilities such as

proper toilet roll, nice wash basins and hangers for your

coat.

In the future I would like to discuss how we can make

sure all pupils are always using their Skills for Life as this

will make the school a nicer place to be!

Cameron Jones


Pupil Pages...

I am Jake wheeler and I am a Skills for Life Ambassador.

An ambassador is someone (a student) who will politely

greet visitors when they enter your classroom, and will

explain the lesson to them. I explain what the learning

objectives of the lesson are and how this fits in to what

we have been learning that term. I also tell the visitor

what the Skill for Life is and how it relates to the lesson.

I was selected due to my good behaviour and

achievements in class and I find it a huge honour to do

this job. Personally it has helped me a lot with my

confidence – before becoming an ambassador, I could

never have imagined approaching a complete stranger,

shaking their hand, looking them in the eye and talking

to them!

Thanks for reading.

Jake Wheeler

7a

Jake Wheeler


Community Corner...

Out and About in the Community

As an Academy, we are very proud to be part of such a

close-knit community and we feel that it is our duty to

give back to the community. As part of this initiative, we

have taken part in a range of activities in order to do

this.

Last week, we welcomed Steve from Arriva who talked

to our students about the problems that the company

had faced in the local community and the impact this

had.

We have also been to some Age UK facilities with groups

of students who helped with Christmas lunches. A group

of our year 9 students supported younger students with

reading in some of our local primary schools and we

have taken part in bag packing and fundraising at

Morrisons and the Co-operative in Walderslade.

Coming up, we have more bag-packing and fundraising

events, coffee mornings and litter picking.

We are really keen to get involved in any local

community projects, please email me on

[email protected] if you would like to recommend

projects for us take part in.

Friends of Greenacre Academy

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]

After the success of the FOGS Christmas Afternoon Tea

and the Joint Year 7 & 8 Disco last term, the FOGS team

are looking forward to a more events very soon. There

are going to be two film nights, one aimed at Year 9 and

one at Year 10. These should both be fun evenings

where students will have a chance to see a film on the

big screen (the way they ought to be seen) while

consuming the delicious tuck that will be available.

Elsewhere, we have some parents who are willing to be

involved in FOGS activities. This is an exciting and

welcome development. We are on the look-out for more

parents to be involved so please spread the word. The

more the merrier!

There will be other things happening soon so watch this

space. If anyone has any ideas for raising funds for FOGS

please get in touch with a member of the team.

mailto:[email protected]


Community Corner...

We were thrilled to welcome parents, friends and family

in for our Valentines Coffee Morning. The hall was

packed and we had to add extra tables and chairs to

accommodate the crowd of parents that attended.

A group of our students proudly represented us as they

served a wide selection of cakes and baked goods as well

as making cups of tea and coffee. We also had students

selling raffle tickets, interacting with parents and

decorating cookies. It was lovely to see students joining

their parents for a cupcake!

A highlight of the morning was the musical delights by

some of our talented students. Thank you so much to

Mrs. Breckin and the music department for co-ordinating

this.

Congratulations to the raffle winners. I hope you enjoy

your prizes!

Finally, a massive thank you to all of the staff and

parents who donated cakes and also to Arriva,

Lordswood Leisure Centre and The Taj Cuisine for

donating raffle prizes.

We would also like to extend a special thank you to Ms.

Armstrong, who kindly donated her prize to the school.

We look forward to seeing you at our next coffee

morning.

Miss R Ware

Valentines Coffee Morning


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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