Dear Families,
I hope this update finds you and those closest to you in the best of health. This week has almost felt like summer with some consistent sunshine and above average temperatures. Our students have enjoyed a more comfortable temperature during break and lunch and have taken full advantage of the outdoor spaces opened up to them this week. The predominant game of choice has been football but it has also been nice to see some students playing table tennis, cricket, catch and others just relaxing in the sun or the shade under our canopy.
Vacancies
We have some vacancies for both support and teaching posts at present to add to our capacity within school. Current support roles include Data and Exams Administrator, Administrative Assistant/Receptionist, Specialist Teaching Assistant ( All Training Provided) and Teaching and Learning Cover Supervisor. We will also be present at two recruitment fairs this month, one at George Spencer Academy, tomorrow on the 26th March and then at Chellaston Fields Academy on the 31st March. These are aimed at anyone looking to get into jobs relating to education. If you or someone you know is interested, please follow this link.
Parking and Blagreaves Ward
You will be aware that the traffic and parking around our site is a regular issue. Thank you to those families who consistently use our turning circle and are courteous to other road users. I know a number residents and road users would welcome action around this but, equally, understand that road use resides beyond our jurisdiction. Following on from recent communications with city council I have been advised to direct anyone with concerns to local neighbourhood ward page found online.
Countdown to examination season
With our final round of mock examinations complete and now being marked, alongside the Year 11 parents evening/results day on Wednesday, we are certainly into the business end of the year for students in the examination years. The exam season starts early this year with some students sitting exams as early as the 16th May, leaving around 25 school days between now and then. Our usual cycle of intervention will continue to run into the exams and there will be additional sessions over the Easter break and May half term which students will be invited to. For now, it’s about them planning their time, showing discipline around their revision schedules and maximising the time they have in lessons with our expert staff.
Sporting Update
Having lost to Leesbrook a couple of weeks ago, the Year 9 football team enjoyed a 7-5 victory over them this week in a thoroughly entertaining game. This now means they will play Woodlands in the play-off final in an attempt for promotion to the A league.
The Year 11’s continued their impressive winning run this season, beating West Park 2-0 in the County Cup, to book themselves a place in the semi-final. They have another tournament this Tuesday.
Careers Update
This week’s job of the week is a dentist. you can watch the video here.
Year 11 Careers Fair: On Tuesday we were delighted to welcome Rolls Royce; DHL; HSBC; JCB; The RAF; The Army; EMA Training; Shakespeare Martineu and Shoosmiths (both firms of solicitors) to our careers fair. Year 11 students took advantage of the opportunity to talk to our visitors and ask questions. It was also great to welcome back former students Danielle Sodhi; Imran Cousins, Ansar Hussain and Gavan Bassi as part of the event. Gavan said afterwards: ‘I really enjoyed attending this event and interacting with the students, they came across very interested and engaged’.
Our Year 11 students have also been lucky to hear from another one of our former students, Sam Packham. Sam works as a consultant and delivered an inspiring assembly to all Year 11 students from his hotel room in London. He shared some key messages about employability skills and how to seize every opportunity whilst at school to develop these skills. Earlier in the week, Sam also took part in the Year 11 Maths intervention session with Mr. Press, helping students to make the link from maths at school to the world of work.
Year 10 have also had a busy week on drop down day with a half day visit to Derby University looking at the key question ‘Why consider university as an option?’ The other half of the day was spent looking at the question ‘Why consider apprenticeships as an option?’ We are grateful to Mark from DHL and John from Alstom who delivered some great sessions.
Please do take a look at our Careers section of the school website and in particular, our ‘Careers Programme Overview’ which provides an outline of the careers activity covered in each key stage from 3-5.
Uniform, phones and ear pods
Thank you to families for supporting us with our uniform expectations. A copy of the guide to uniform can be found on our website here. A reminder also that mobile phones are not to be used in school. alongside this, student should not be bringing ear pods into school. If they have them, they should expect to have them confiscated the same as a mobile phone and repeat offenders will require families to come to collect items.
Ukraine/Russia Crisis
A reminder that the deadline for all donations to be handed in is 4th April to allow us enough time to get these packaged up and sent off. All donations should be left outside the English hub.
PTFA meeting
Our next PTFA meeting is this Monday 28th March at 4pm at Derby Moor Academy. Please attend if you are interested in joining the team or volunteering to support with ideas/events. If you missed one of our launch meetings, please accept this as an extended invite!
House of Lords visit
I had the pleasure of representing our school this week at a visit to the Palace of Westminster for a conference about careers provision in the House of Lords. Over the last year we have taken part in the Big Careers Conversation which is the largest survey of its kind to look at the attitudes of young people towards careers education, work experience and the transition from education into the world of work. Preparing our students for the world of work is a fundamental part of our offer and a theme that you will see through these weekly updates and the curriculum we offer our young people.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Scott Doyle
Principal
