Dear Families
I hope this update finds you and your family in the best of health. We have had a hugely eventful week at the academy this week, not just with the highly unpredictable weather but the variety of visitors and activities that have been taking place throughout the week.
End of Term Arrangements
In preparation for our final week of the academic year, a letter regarding the end of term arrangements was sent out to families yesterday. You can find a copy of this letter on our website.
English Update
This week in English, several of our Year 7 students have participated in formal speaking and listening examinations aimed at developing employability skills. These exams have presented them with various tasks, such as delivering a speech, preparing a business pitch, writing a CV, and participating in a mock job interview. Preparation for these assessments not only foster essential skills like communication and presentation abilities, but also simulate real-world scenarios, building their confidence and preparing them for future workplace interactions.
It is worth noting that for many of these students, this is their first experience in performing such tasks within a formal setting. However, they have displayed tremendous determination and commitment, putting in an incredible effort to excel in each task. The progress they have made and the level of achievement they have reached is truly commendable, showcasing their ability to rise to new challenges and embrace opportunities for personal growth. Very well done to everyone involved! Please do talk to your child about the experience and share in their success this week.
STEM Karts
On Wednesday, our sports hall was buzzing with excitement as Year 8 students gathered for an unforgettable day of STEM exploration. Here, the thrilling world of go-karts collided with the wonders of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Guided by passionate mentors, students embarked on a hands-on journey to design, build, and race their own go-karts. Through teamwork and perseverance, they tackled real-world engineering challenges, applying principles of physics and mechanics to optimise their vehicles for speed and control. The event ignited their imaginations, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills as they fine-tuned their designs. The air filled with cheers as students raced their go karts, showcasing their ingenuity and embracing the thrill of STEM. This successful STEM event showcased the power of hands-on learning, leaving an indelible mark on young minds, fuelling their passion for STEM and inspiring future innovators. A truly wonderful event.
Art Showcase
On Tuesday, the ADT Team welcomed families of our recent Year 11 and Year 13 cohort to view the work created by students who studied Art, Textiles and Product Design. The exhibition showcased work created as coursework over the past two years, as well as work created during the recently re – introduced exam element of each course. Parents were able to view work that they had not previously seen and could clearly recognise the hard work and effort that had been put in over the past two years by their child. We look forward to sharing their successes with you in the new academic year.
The ADT department also welcomed QUAD Education and artist Helen Jackson to lead their CPD session this week as part of our Schools in Residence programme. Helen introduced working with the free photo editing app Pixlr and encouraged the team to consider how the app could be utilised in our creative arts curriculum. The team experimented with double – exposure selfies, the results of which can be found on their Twitter page @ADTDMA.
Derbyshire Healthcare Work Experience
Two of our Year 11 students have been successful in obtaining a place on a work experience programme over the summer at Kingsway Hospital. Congratulations to KA and RI, we are so proud of you for managing to secure a place on this prestigious programme.
Year 12 Geography Trip
Our Sixth Form Geographers spent the first three days of this week completing fieldwork on the Holderness Coast. Covering a huge distance over the trip they visited Hornsea where they measured rate of erosion behind the Groynes. Great Cowden to study the unprotected farmland behind the beach. Then on to Mappleton to investigate the two stone groynes and their impact on beach size. Next up, they visited Flamborough Head where they watched the seals in the sea, investigated the different rock types and compared them to the previous day before heading to Bridlington to note the impact of sea wall and rock armour. On the final day they headed to Spurn Head and to examine the formation of a Spit. The staff team were hugely complimentary about the commitment of the students and are hoping the trip may inspire even more of them to study the subject at degree level.
Baby People Summer Holiday Sessions
This Summer, Baby People are holding a free Summer School for young people. There are 20 places available for students between the ages of 10-16 years and are on free school meals. There will be a range of fun activities taking place and a hot meal every day. Their poster is available to view here.
FACE Family Advice
We have recently been contacted by Jane Keyworth, lead facilitator at FACE to share details about a one-off two-hour online talk about anxiety and supporting teenagers. The talk will be delivered by Jane on 27th July (6:30 pm to 8:30 pm) and is now available to book now via their website. You can see the flyer for this event here.
Arriva Bus Travel
Arriva has sent a reminder for families about their monthly saver student tickets that are available. Please see information on student and child travel for 2023/2024 here.
Loughborough University Trip
On Thursday, the Year 12 Chemists visited Loughborough University to complete the A-Level practical endorsement by synthesising Aspirin from Salicylic Acid. Aspirin is a widely used drug that is used as pain relief and more recently at low doses it has been used to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Going to the university laboratory students were able to gain an insight as to what to expect at both university or industrial laboratories. Pupils did three separate steps: reaction step of acetylation with reflux, recrystallisation and analysis. In between this, the students saw the world class sports facilities on the campus, some of the Halls of Residence and the library as well as the Chemistry and Physics buildings. Students produced fine crystals and analysed their product by both infra-red spectroscopy and NMR. Upon their return to the academy, students analysed the purity of their Aspirin through carrying out melting point analysis.
Reward Trips
Next week there are a number of trips taking students out of the academy. On Tuesday 18th July 2023, there is a trip to the Natural History Museum in London. Details have been e-mailed out. It is essential that students arrive on time. Latecomers will forfeit their place and any contribution towards the trip.
There are also trips to Alton Towers on Tuesday 18th and Wednesday 19th July 2023 for Year 7 + 8 and Year 9, 10 + 12 respectively. Again, details have been sent out concerning the trip and students need to arrive on time, as if they are late, they will miss the trip and remain in school.
Student Leadership
The new Student Leadership Team for next year’s Year 13 and Year 11 were appointed this week. The students from both years took the process very seriously with some impressive preparation and performances. As a result, we have been able to appoint a larger group of student leaders, who will be able to focus on a wider range of key areas to support and improve the experience for our student body.
Reward Draws
As our academic year draws to a close, there will be a number of prize draws for students, within each year group and also across the whole school. The reward points that the students have been collecting over this year, will be entered into the prize draws with a range of prizes on offer including Amazon vouchers and the overall Grand Prize of a PS5 games console with FIFA 23 game. These prizes will be available for collection on the day, however we may ring home and check with parents about collection of the larger prizes.
If a student wins but is not at school, then we will keep the prize safe until September. So… if you want the prize for the summer, make sure you are in school on Friday 21st July to collect.
Sports Update
Due to poor weather we have rearranged Sports Day to Monday 17th July 2023. Students who have signed up to events are to come to school in their Derby Moor PE Kit and ensure that they are wearing their lanyard. If students do not have full PE kit and have signed up they will not be able to participate in the day’s events. All other students should be in uniform as normal. We are hoping that the sun will be shining on Monday and the full programme of events can take place as this is always a highlight of our school calendar.
Careers Update
Job of The Week: This week’s job of the week is a ‘Risk Manager’.
Derby Moor Dispatch: You can also view the Dispatch via the Careers page of the Derby Moor website: Please take a look at the website as there is a wealth of useful information including a specific page for parents.
Year 12: We are delighted to report that we have just completed a highly successful Year12 ‘Preparation for Work’ programme over the course of this week. A huge thanks to our businesses: Alstom; HSBC; DCCT; JCB; Derbion and the Civil Service who set our students some challenging project briefs to develop their employability skills. The students worked in teams and had to present to a panel of employers on their findings and recommendations. The feedback from the employers was really positive and have already offered many of our students further opportunities. The theme of preparation for work has continued for Year 12 students thanks to E4E who brought in 20 volunteers to give every Year 12 student a one to one employability mentoring session to help prepare them for future applications, interviews and assessment centres which will be no doubt aid our students’ confidence as they make applications in the coming months.
Visit of Paul Stewart: Yesterday we welcomed Paul Stewart, a senior civil servant in London and former student of Derby Moor (formerly Derby School). Paul spent the day with students from Years 7-12, helping them to understand the variety of work carried out by civil servants from advising government ministers to working in the local tax office. We certainly now have a lot of students who have developed an interest in becoming a spy and working for MI5 or MI6! Paul had a really wonderful day and is already on the calendar to return next year. Paul said of his visit “it was nice to be back in my old school, but I most enjoyed interacting with the students, who asked some great questions, and showed real interest in both politics and public service. The year 12 presentations were particularly impressive.”
STEM Faculty Meeting at Rolls Royce: Our Science, Maths, Computing and Product Design teams were privileged to be invited to the ‘Learning and Development Centre’ at Rolls Royce yesterday afternoon. We were given a presentation about the extraordinary range of apprenticeship and graduate programmes on offer over the next few years and given advice on the application process. We heard from four of our former students who are all pursuing different apprenticeships and graduate programmes with Rolls Royce and we will be sharing more about the opportunities on offer for 2024 when we return after the summer break.
Final Notes
An action-packed week! As referenced on social media, there is rarely an ordinary week at Derby Moor with such a wide variety of enrichment and employability activities taking place beyond and within the mainstream taught curriculum. This week was extraordinary. Seeing our students receive national awards, welcoming so many visitors to school and talking through our inclusive practice with our IQM assessor earlier in the week. This was a highlight for me – it’s not often in a busy school week you have chance to take stock and talk about how our school works but the accreditation process provided us with an opportunity to do so. To hear an external assessor recognize that inclusion is at the heart of everything we do as an academy was reassuring and reflective of the hard work our staff team put in day in day our to improve the life chances of all of our students. Together We Succeed.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
Scott Doyle
Principal
