Dear Families,
I hope this update finds you and those closest to you in the best of health. Students have enjoyed their first full week at the academy and you can see our newer members of the community getting to grips with the rhythm and routine of a busy working week. The new drinks machines have proven to be a big hit and we will be investing in additional machines this half term to meet the demand. There is more information about bottles for these below.
I’ve had the pleasure of showing a number of visitors around this week and we’re looking to open our doors to our wider community on a more regular basis so they can see our academy in action and gain an insight into ow things work here on a daily basis. More about this later in the term.
Inclusion Quality Mark – Centre of Excellence
You may have seen from our twitter feed this week that we have had our provision recognised and received the Inclusion Quality Mark. Whilst this aspect of the assessment was confirmed before the summer, we have been informed this week that we are now recognised as a Centre of Excellence for Inclusion. We are understandably delighted at this accolade and some of the remarks in the recent report. Please do take a moment to read it as it does capture the collective work of our staff teams. Highlighting their tireless efforts to give all students the opportunity to be successful, regardless of their start point or need. You can read IQM article about Derby Moor here.
Year 9 and 10 Update
Miss Gooderham would like to say a huge well done to students in Year 9 and 10 for an excellent start to the school year. Their conduct, uniform and presence have been outstanding so far. Students in Year 10 have made a strong start to what is a critical year and are already showing genuine commitment to their studies. Well done.
Year 13 Geography
Guest Speaker Clare Galpin (Yorkshire Wildlife Trust), who is a specialist in coastal management on the Holderness Coast visited the academy this week. She worked with Year 13 Geographers, reflecting on their recent residential trip to the coast, where they collected data for their NEA assessment. Students were able to gain an in-depth insight into the reasons behind the coastal management strategy and why they are allowing Spurn Point to erode naturally into the sea.
Link to Hope – Shoebox Appeal
Over the course of this next half term students, in tutor groups from Year 7 up to Year 13, will be encouraged to take part in the Link to Hope ‘Shoebox Appeal’. The aim is for tutor groups to fill a number of shoeboxes with gifts for families or the Elderly, which will be collected and sent to families in Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and Bulgaria. Further details of the Shoebox appeal can be found at www.linktohope.co.uk
Any families wishing to take part, would be able to drop their Shoebox at school reception and this will be added to the boxes that are collected as part of the school’s commitment to the project. Further details to follow later.
Water Bottle Update
Aluminium reusable water bottles are now available to purchase through Parent Pay for a cost of £1.49. We are confident these are good value when compared to those in local supermarkets etc. Students using the new bottles will assist us in reducing our carbon footprint by limiting the consumption of single use plastics. This all forms part of our wider sustainability plan for the school.
E-Scooters
South Derbyshire Magistrates have asked us to update you on the legal position relating to electric scooters. It is illegal for anyone to ride a privately-owned e-scooter in a public place, including roads, footpaths, parks and pedestrian areas without insurance. Offenders may receive a Police caution, and are more frequently being brought to court, incurring significant fines, destruction of the e-scooter and picking up a criminal record. As such, we strongly discourage student use of e-scooters as a means of transport.
Computing E-Safety News
Miss Akbar in computing recently shared a story from the media where social media firms have been told to block under-13s or face ‘humongous fines.’ Apparently the Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan recently told journalists from The Telegraph she is taking a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to this. It will be interesting to see how this pans out over the coming months.
Sports Update
The Derby Moor Football and Education team played a fantastic game in their inaugural season opener against Birmingham City, despite being on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline, the team controlled most of the possession and created some great chances to score, taking one with a long range strike from one of the midfielders! The team have plenty to build on in the training sessions and games ahead! Their next fixture is away in a local Derby Vs Nottingham Forest!
Extra-Curricular Programme: The PE and Performing Arts extra-curricular programme is now in place and is attached to the email version of this update. This includes all fixtures and extra-curricular clubs.
Final thoughts
We’ve had another positive week at the academy and received some wonderful news with regards to our Centre of Excellence accreditation. There are very few secondary schools in the country who hold this accolade. Even fewer who hold this and the World Class Schools Quality Mark, and we are not aware of any that have these two and the Platinum Careers Mark. The reason this is so pleasing is that each of these accreditations look at different aspects of the school and verify the effectiveness of our provision in different ways. They all look at how we go about improving the life chances of our students, through developing their employability skills, personal attributes, oracy, confidence and ultimately securing the grades they need for progression. Being truly inclusive for our young people, holding world class aspirations for them and providing exceptional employer encounters ties together three key strands of our provision that help make our students highly employable and capable of making a significant contribution to our society. I feel ever so proud that we are receiving recognition of the work our teams, families and wider community put in each day at the academy. Together We succeed.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Scott Doyle
Principal
