Dear Families,
I hope this update finds you and those closest to you in good health. We are about to enter the final week of this first half term after what has been a busy fortnight of events at the academy. There are a few updates and reminders for you below to carry us through next week and into the second half term of the academic year.
Applications for Year 7 in September 2022
Our Open Evening last week was a wonderful showcase of all that makes Derby Moor special. On the back of that evening we have already received a record number of applications for Year 6 students to join us in September 2022. With that in mind, may I remind you to complete your application before the deadline on October 31st via the Derby City portal. The link to the Derby Schools Admissions Portal can be found here.
Duke of Edinburgh
This week one of our Alumni visited school to give a talk about their experience in completing the Gold Level Award. We found the talk inspiring and hope it spurs out current DofE cohort on to complete their challenges this year and beyond.
Drop Down Day
Today has been our first Drop Down Day of the year and what a wonderful day we’ve had. Students have had experiences of learning how to work effectively in teams, keep themselves safe from a variety of situations, take better care of our environment, look after our mental health, budget with money, be inventive, market their ideas and produce professional applications for future training. Alongside this there have been key threads around employability and embracing diversity that are key themes in all we do at Derby Moor. A big thank you goes out to to everyone involved – the facilitators, our staff team and our students who worked together to make the day so successful.
Weather
We have been blessed so far this term with dry and warmer weather than autumn would usually present. The forecast for next week looks much less stable so we will advise students to check the weather and bring a waterproof or umbrella where necessary. It is also worth noting that journey times in vehicles increase significantly in wetter weather. Please leave sufficient time for your journeys if it is raining in the morning as the local roads become very busy after 8am.
Half Term Dates
A reminder that the last day of this half term is this Friday 22nd October with students returning to school on Monday 1st November.
Fixtures and Extra-Curricular
Our extensive extra-curricular offer is now in full swing with many clubs and fixtures taking place at the academy after hours. You can find the guide to this term’s activities on our website here with a summary of this week’s sporting action below:
- Yr7 County Cup (from last week) a great game vs Long Eaton School ended in a narrow defeat for our Yr7’s – Despite being 3-0 down, they fought back to make it 3-2 and almost equalised with the last kick of the game. In their tournament this week, they beat Murray Park 1-0 and lost 1-0 to Noel Baker
- Yr7&8 Girls played a friendly against John Port and, despite playing well, lost 3-0
- Yr8’s were beaten 5-0 by a very good Leesbrook team this week – The squad have shown excellent togetherness and resilience despite some difficult results, they should be very proud.
- Yr9’s finally played their first game after a long time waiting; They beat ‘top of the league’ Murray Park 5-3, with an excellent team performance. Well done.
Covid Update
Whilst the number of cases within our school community remain relatively low, we continue to be vigilant around our measures and home testing. As such, we continue to recommend that students test every Sunday and Wednesday as a routine. Please inform school via covidalert@derbymoor.derby.sch.uk if your receive a positive result on these tests. You should then book a further PCR test to confirm the result.
We are constantly monitoring our situation in school and are prepared to respond to the local situation if there is an increase in numbers within the school or our wider community. The likely first step will be the re-introduction of face coverings in a similar manner to during the last academic year. As things stand, we will continue as we are but I do want families to be alert to the fact that we may need to reinstate further measures as the term progresses. Your support with this, as ever, will be appreciated.
Vacancies
We have some vacancies amongst our educational support professional teams that are currently out at advert stage. These include Behaviour Mentor, Classroom Assistant, Catering Assistant, Examinations Officer and examinations invigilator. We have a new post amongst out teaching staff and are looking for a teacher of students with complex needs. If you know someone who could be interested in joining our team and shares our passion for improving the life chances of young people, please direct them to our trust vacancies page.
Final Thoughts
As we enter the final week of this half term I have begun reflecting on what has been a really successful few weeks for our academy. Our students have shown a wonderful resilience and the special something that makes out community so unique has been evident day after day. I’m also acutely aware of the challenges many other schools are facing with covid cases and consider ourselves very lucky that things have remained quiet here on that front. As stated earlier we remain vigilant and know we have the agility to respond should the situation change. I urge all of our community to take precautions as the autumn progresses to protect themselves from C19, flu and other seasonal illnesses. A collective approach to distancing, limiting contacts and good hygiene will go a long way to maintain the health of our entire community.
Wishing you all a relaxing weekend,
Scott Doyle
Principal
