Prospectus 2017 -18
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Contents Welcome 06 Introduction 08 The curriculum 10 Learning and pastoral support 12 Student leadership and participation Parental involvement 20 The academy day 22 Behaviour and discipline 24 Equality of opportunity 26
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Welcome Welcome to Downham Market Academy. I understand the importance of the decision you are about to make for the next stage of your child’s education and I am confident that Downham Market Academy can offer an excellent environment for them to develop their aspirations, achieve their ambitions and reach their goals. A key feature of the academy is a commitment to high standards, evident in our smart formal uniform for all and our approach to respect through our ‘Behaviour for Learning’ policy. The academy’s organisation, systems and curriculum are based on the best of modern innovative practice. We have a well-trained and inspirational team of staff who are committed to becoming outstanding practitioners in the classroom and beyond to find the best way to motivate and engage your child. Most of all, we are fully committed to ensuring that every student is enabled to develop a love of learning. We recognise and develop the skills, talents and abilities of all our young people and prepare them for their adventure beyond the academy. Jon Ford Principal CWA Academy Trust is a multi-academy trust founded by the College of West Anglia, an established high quality provider of education with campuses in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. Our family of academies helps us fulfil our desire to establish a vibrant education system that inspires young people and supports economic development of the region. As a successful education provider we believe we can contribute to all phases of education within our local community, including primary, focussing on raising standards and improving transition and progression for every child. Like all strong families, the CWA Academy Trust family of academies seeks to offer mutual support to one another, develop shared learning and understanding, collaborate to achieve better outcomes, recognise unique qualities and differences, be positive and aspirational, focus on the successes of individuals and develop a culture of healthy competition. David Pomfret Chief Executive CWA Academy Trust 6
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Introduction Downham Market Academy is one of the largest academies in Norfolk with a wide rural catchment area. Drawing students from a large area, many of whom travel by bus, means we have a truly comprehensive intake. Through our Parent Partnership Initiative we are keen to work together with you for the success of your child. We frequently seek your views through questionnaires and meetings and offer a programme of useful parent events to explore issues such as homework, supporting your child and keeping your child safe and active. We are also keen for suggestions as to what should be in the programme so we can respond to your needs. As well as the information in this prospectus, you will find more detailed information on our website. Parents are able to log into our Learning Gateway providing access to information on your child’s day-to-day progress, behaviour and achievement.
Academy aims We aim to grow ambition within all our students and will support them in their learning to achieve the best they can. We aim to achieve this through a single-minded focus on learning within a context of mutual respect, continuing to develop on our communityagreed respect agenda which states that at Downham Market Academy: • We are prepared and ready to enjoy learning • We act as positive role models for those around them • We are polite, helpful and always ready to listen • We bring a positive attitude towards every aspect of learning • We respect standards, regulations and the environment
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The curriculum The academy curriculum constitutes all the learning opportunities that we provide for our students, not just the timetabled lessons – although they are, of course, the main part of our work. A wide range of teaching methods are employed, including whole-class teaching, group work, project work, workshops and supported self-learning.
Key Stage 3 – Years 7, 8 and 9 Every student follows courses in the following subjects: English, Mathematics, ICT, Religious Studies, Personal and Social Education (PSE), Science, Physical Education, a foreign language (French, German or Spanish), History, Geography, Drama, Art, Music, Computer Science, Design Technology and Food Technology. For students with special needs, support is provided either within the classroom or in an individual setting. This may include additional work to enhance literacy and numeracy skills. Students may be invited to participate in one-to-one learning to meet individual needs during lesson time and/or beyond the curriculum. If your child requires support in this way, this will always be discussed with you first. In Year 9 we are developing a ‘preference’ process where students can choose to embark on a vocational qualification, which will be completed by the end of Year 10, and select a modern foreign language to study for their GCSE. We will be starting more GCSEs in Year 9 so the boundary between Key Stage 3 and 4 will become less evident. It is also likely that most subjects at Key Stage 3 will be studied for two years.
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Key Stage 4 – Years 10 and 11 All Year 10 and 11 students follow courses leading to public examinations or other approved courses. The following subjects are compulsory for all students in these two year groups: English, Mathematics, Citizenship, Religious Studies, Personal and Social Education (PSE), Science and Physical Education. All our students are expected to follow a pathway which will see them achieve sufficient subjects in the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). To achieve this they are expected to follow at least one of the following subjects: Computer Science, Geography or History and a Modern Foreign Language (MFL) along with English, Maths and Double Award Science. Three further qualifications are now considered important to ensure a rounded education on top of the EBacc; these include one or two vocational subjects, an artistic and/or design subject and one other from the student’s range of interests. The range of subjects offered include: Art and Design, Business Studies, Child Development, Computing, Drama, French, German, Geography, Graphic Products, Health and Social Care, Engineering, Food Technology, History, Leisure and Tourism, Media Studies, Music, Physical Education, Resistant Materials and Triple Award Science. In addition, some students in Years 10 and 11 will have the opportunity to join our Increased Flexibility Programme, which includes the chance to study a vocational subject at the College of West Anglia (course choice availability is dependent on sufficient student numbers).
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Learning and pastoral support House system We believe that learning is an adventure, finding out about ourselves and what the world has to offer. Our pastoral system therefore takes the theme of an ‘adventure’. The academy operates a house system and students are supported within their houses through mixed-age groups, with at least one dedicated tutor. Following the adventure theme, each house takes on the context of a continent for a year; each group becomes a country in that continent. The students’ ‘place in the world’ will provide opportunities for extending learning both within and beyond the curriculum. We also look forward to real life expeditions, a privilege that will be earned by students who best demonstrate the hard work, progress and respect we aim to develop at the academy.
Groupings Students are grouped differently for different purposes. Some individual departments will group students according to their ability in the subject area. The higher expectations demanded by the National Curriculum at Key Stage 3 means that whilst it can be beneficial for some groups to work at a higher level, mixed middle groups frequently lead to a higher expectation for all. Therefore, in some areas of the Key Stage 3 curriculum we have used linear blocks to maximise this effect. Groupings are regularly reviewed and changed as appropriate.
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Homework We think working beyond the curriculum is vital and we provide challenging homework for all our students. We are working to ensure that all tasks recorded on our Learning Gateway are fit for purpose and all staff track and monitor the students’ progress on these tasks. We offer a supported homework club where staff and student volunteers help and support other students to get ahead and stay ahead of their homework tasks. Homework club is available in the Learning Zones every evening and will involve more volunteer students as the programme develops.
Student progress Measuring and monitoring student progress is vital to them achieving their goals. We have been developing our systems and practices to ensure that progress is measured regularly and tracked not just by the academy, but also by parents and students. Progress assessment is integral to every lesson and teachers will use many assessment-for-learning techniques to ensure all students are appropriately challenged. We have an expectation that students will receive written feedback in most subjects at least three times per half-term and career advice six times per year in addition to a full report on progress.
Careers education and guidance A programme of careers education and guidance is provided for all students throughout the academic year. The academy operates a programme of individual guidance where students may make appointments with our careers officer. Students are also encouraged to make use of career programs for independent development; further information is available from the career officer. A support programme is operated through tutorials, work in PSE lessons and specific events. The programme follows government guidelines and covers the following aspects: self-awareness, making decisions, planning and making transitions. We also make use of contacts in industry that come in to speak to students. The key issue in Years 8 and 9 is ‘option choice’ and making the transition to seniority and the examination years. Particular emphasis is paid to work experience in Year 10, where students will have the opportunity to participate. Year 11 careers education and guidance is based upon individual preparation for post-16 choices.
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Special Educational Needs (SEN) The academy supports the needs of all students in a positive and practical way. We recognise the right of every child to have a fully inclusive, broad and balanced experience, both within the curriculum and beyond. We firmly believe that all students have an entitlement to support when a need is identified. Special needs are many and various and are not restricted to students with learning difficulties. The basis of any provision made within the academy will be to support the individual student in coping with the demands of the National Curriculum. Support for students who experience learning difficulties may be provided in various ways, such as the use of specially designed programmes and materials, the setting of defined learning targets, and assistance provided by an additional adult within the classroom. All students are encouraged to achieve their own potential and, through appropriate support, make progress. Good communication between the academy, student and parents, plus regular assessment and review, help to attain this goal. We publish a SEN Information Report annually, which is available on our website. If you would like to know more about the SEN department, please contact Mr Ridley, the academy’s co-ordinator for Special Educational Needs, on 01366 389130 or email m.ridley@downhammarketacademy.co.uk
Additional support services In addition to the good care exercised by the academy, there are several other people to whom parents can turn to for support. The attendance improvement officer comes into the academy regularly and will seek to help parents and students if there are attendance difficulties. Our SEN department can also facilitate referrals to external support such as the educational psychologist, behaviour management and inclusion teams, which can be especially helpful and supportive when difficulties arise.
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Student leadership and participation Activities and opportunities As a large academy we have the ability to offer a wide range of activities across sports, arts, classics and technology and we will be sharing with you our extensive extra-curriculum program as the new academic year begins. Our Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme is one of the biggest in Norfolk, we are fully committed to the National Citizen Service and have developed a model United Nations group. With many opportunities for student leadership on offer through house and subject, there are many ways that your child can take an active part in academy life.
Student leadership We believe student leadership is vital to our success and there are opportunities for students to become positive role models to those around them. Each house has a head-boy and head-girl and a student executive consisting of roles such as sports leaders, departmental learning leaders, technology champions, events managers, student mentors, ambassadors and peer tutors. Each student executive recruits a team of volunteers to help deliver their service for their house. This enables students to develop confidence and ensure they have a clear voice in their academy. Further opportunities to develop leadership exist through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, sports clubs and teams along with many of our clubs, groups and societies. We aim, through these activities, to ensure that all our students will develop the capability to lead and support others.
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Recognition and reward We believe it is important to recognise student success and have been developing a range of methods for rewarding effort and achievement. Alongside our ‘Behaviour for Learning’ policy which clearly defines our respect agenda, we have a recognition policy based around the use of rewards - called Oobles – to recognise achievement. Ooble rewards have included reward breakfasts and lunches, trips to Nando’s, bowling and theme parks, lunch queue passes and a whole range of other rewards. These rewards are a key feature of inter-house competitions. Each year, we also hold various ‘academy awards’ events to recognise student achievement; these include events to reward progress during the year and one for sport in July. The achievements of Key Stage 3 students may be recognised with a CWA Academy Trust Diploma, given to those who perform particularly well in their studies. This annual event, which recognises the achievements of students from all three of the CWA Academy Trust secondary academies, is specifically designed to challenge our brightest students.
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Parental involvement Academy – parent contact We believe that the partnership between the academy and home is vital for the realisation of a child’s potential. Your prime point of contact for most matters will be your child’s form tutor. This single point of contact should ensure that you develop a strong working relationship with the academy, supporting your child in the most effective way. You will receive a regular report which shows how your child is performing and whether they are on target to achieve the aspirational targets we set at the academy. We call this our Current Assessment Grade (CAG) system. It is linked to actual work, allowing you to track progress and giving us the opportunity to step in and offer more support, if they are not progressing as they could. A key feature of our respect agenda is that we are polite, helpful and always ready to listen. This applies to our staff and our students alike – you should always be able to talk through any issues with our staff and, as well as the form tutor, our pastoral team of head and deputy head of house will be on hand to ensure any issues are resolved quickly.
Learning Gateway The main aspects of students’ day-to-day performance, from attendance and lateness, to how many rewards they have received, and whether they have had to be challenged in the classroom, are recorded on our Student Information Management System (SIMS). As a parent you have full access to our SIMS database for your child and we encourage all parents to review how their child is doing on a weekly, if not daily, basis. At the start of term you will be given instructions on how to log in and try out the system. You will be able to see all your child’s reports, CAG grades and their behaviour and achievement points. As this serves as a key home-toacademy contact method, it is vital that you check it regularly and discuss the information with your child. If you have any issues with accessing this technology, please discuss it in the first instance with your child’s tutor so we can ensure you have access to this information and do not miss out.
Parent Partnership Initiative Our Parent Partnership Initiative is designed to pick up on issues about academy life which parents request help and support for. We then create a programme of events and sessions each term which parents can attend. The content varies from year to year, dependent on demand, but some sessions are run each year. Examples of previously included content are: ‘Revision sessions’, ‘Maths and English workshops’, ‘How to raise boys’ achievement’, ‘How to support your child to prepare for their GCSE’s’, ‘Tracking your child’s performance’, ‘How to keep your child safe online’ and ‘What do you think about…’ sessions.
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The academy day We strongly encourage students to get involved beyond the curriculum, so they may well be here beyond the final lesson. Although we’re a large academy, the site is efficient and we expect people to be at lessons on time. Lateness to lessons is always recorded and passing a lateness threshold means that a student will have to make the time up.
Break and lunch times We encourage students to use the learning spaces in the academy at break and lunch. We operate a split lunchtime system to reduce queuing. Our canteen menu offers a wide range of healthy food and, with the recent addition of serve-yourself salads and hot meals, there is the opportunity to enjoy great freshly-prepared food. Our cashless system is designed so that your child should not need to carry money on a day-to-day basis. Students will have the opportunity to sit and chat or listen to their music in at least one hall. Our zoning system highlights where students should go for the various kinds of out-of-lesson experience on offer. The outdoor spaces are divided into peaceful, chatty, lively and sport play areas and we will be ensuring that everyone feels comfortable, wherever they choose to relax at break and lunch.
Assemblies All students have two assemblies a week, one is always a formal reflection on the PSE theme of the week and is usually taken by the principal or senior leaders. The other is a house assembly which may be more celebratory and operational in focus. Both assemblies are vital for ensuring good communication, high standards of behaviour and uniform, and a strong feeling of community within the academy. Assemblies are also used for giving information and celebrating achievement. Acts of collective worship are mainly of a broadly Christian character, as required by the Education Reform Act 1988. However, at different times, we seek to consider all the world’s major religions. These are all treated respectfully and great care is taken not to cause offence to any religious group.
The academy day Key Stage 3
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Key Stage 4
08.40 Registration/Assembly 08.40 Registration/Assembly 09.00 Lesson one 09.00 Lesson one 10.00 Lesson two 10.00 Lesson two 11.00 Break 11.00 Break 11.15 Lesson three 11.15 Lesson three 12.15 Lesson four 12.15 Lunch 13.15 Lunch 13.15 Lesson four 14.00 Lesson five 14.00 Lesson five 15.00 End of academy day 15.00 End of academy day
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Behaviour and discipline Behaviour for Learning
Attendance
Good behaviour is expected at all times in the academy; our ‘Behaviour for Learning’ policy is designed to raise expectations of the day-to-day behaviour of all our students. We know that high expectation is welcomed by many but may be a surprise for some. It is designed to be a clear process for those who do not respond to reasonable requests. We have a range of non-negotiable behaviour expectations which, if broken, will result in students losing the right to remain in lessons. The system is successful in many outstanding academies and ensures that disruption to learning is minimised.
We are committed to high levels of attendance to maximise the opportunities for learning. The average student should seek to achieve attendance levels in excess of 95% and we ask parents and carers to support us with this goal. It is not expected that students will be away from the academy other than for sound medical reasons or for educational reasons agreed with the academy in advance. We do not believe that holidays should be taken during term time.
We know this is an area of prime concern for parents and we are looking for full support from everyone on this issue. We will endeavour to be clear and fair in the implementation of the process, but will request the assumption of support from parents in our challenge of poor behaviour.
Bullying Downham Market Academy is firmly opposed to all forms of bullying and is committed to the wellbeing of all its students. Part of this commitment is a clear anti-bullying policy based on the Department for Education “Bullying - don’t suffer in silence” publication. Copies of the policy are available on request. Much work has been done to raise the profile of our anti-bullying work and we have recently been awarded the Stonewall School of the Year Prize, recognising our work in raising the profile of homophobic issues within the community. We have introduced a team of student antibullying ambassadors trained by the Diana Awards Programme, an award-winning charity founded as a legacy to Diana Princess of Wales’ belief that young people have the power to change the world for the better. Ambassadors continue to develop our community, ensuring we all look after each other.
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All students returning from absence are required to bring a letter of explanation to their form tutor on the day of return unless parents have telephoned and left a message on the attendance line (01366 389175) or emailed attendance@downhammarketacademy.co.uk. We do not expect form tutors to have to spend time chasing up absence notes and we rely on parental co-operation in this matter. In addition, students are expected to arrive punctually and should be through the gate by 08.30 to enable them to arrive in time to be registered for form time at 08.40.
Uniform The academy uniform is formal and clearly defined; we expect all students to wear it correctly with pride. It is expected that all students will wear the uniform unless there is a valid medical reason why a student cannot wear a particular item or why they have to wear an additional garment. Any student refusing to wear the correct uniform will be withdrawn from lessons until the matter is rectified. Full uniform and supplier details are available on our website. If any parent experiences financial hardship and requires help to comply with this request, this should be communicated in writing to your child’s form tutor.
Site access and safety The academy site is very busy, particularly at the beginning and end of the day. To improve the safety of the site at these times, we request that parents do not drive on to the site between 08.00 and 09.00 and again between 14.40 and 15.30. We may, at times, close the barrier to ensure the site remains safe. All students are trained in the ‘access to transport’ arrangements.
The site is secured throughout the academy day and would request that anyone who wishes to visit either a student or staff member enters the site through reception only.
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Equality of opportunity We are committed to providing equality of opportunity irrespective of gender, socio-economic background, ethnicity, religious beliefs, ability, physical capabilities or appearance. We fully endorse the first foundation principle in “A Statement of Policy for the Curriculum, 5 - 16” (Norfolk County Council, 1989) - “We believe that all pupils are entitled to equal regard, just as they are entitled to equality of opportunity in learning.”
Racial discrimination and the promotion of race equality Downham Market Academy is committed to the elimination of unlawful racial discrimination and the promotion of good relations between people of different racial groups, as required in the General Duty of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. Our full policy can be seen on request.
Disability discrimination and the promotion of equality Downham Market Academy is committed to the elimination of unlawful disability discrimination and harassment of disabled persons, the promotion of equality, the need to take account of disabilities, the promotion of positive attitudes towards disabled persons and the need to encourage participation by disabled persons as required by the Disability Discrimination Act 2010. The academy has adopted Norfolk County Council’s policy on disability and has a single equality scheme which it reviews every three years with all stakeholders.
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Downham Market Academy Bexwell Road Downham Market Norfolk PE38 9LL Telephone: 01366 389100 Fax number: 01366 389111 Attendance line: 01366 389175 Email: info@downhammarketacademy.co.uk downhammarketacademy.co.uk