Academy Newsletter Edition 2, December 2012 FRIDAY 21st DECEMBER 2012: Arrangements for the last day of Term • Lessons 1 and 2 – normal timetable • Lesson 3 – 11.20am – 12.00pm • 12.00pm onwards – Mentor time and assemblies Assemblies (in year groups): 1. 12.20pm – Years 10 and 11 2. 12.35pm – Years 8 and 9 3. 12.50pm – Year 7 • 13.00pm – end of Term
Welcome from the Academy Principal, Mr R Gilbert The end of Term two is upon us and before we know it Christmas Day will have arrived. This Term, in the Academy, there has been a great deal of successes, and I would like to share some of those with you in this newsletter editorial. As an Academy with the sport specialism, we pride ourselves in the extent to which our sports teams thrive against local competition. In the autumn Term 2012 all sports teams in the Academy have been particularly successful. This has been the case in rugby and netball, as well as competing in the South Gloucestershire cross country championships. The commitment shown by all students to these activities is to be commended and we look forward to the spring Term sports getting underway with equal success. A number of individual students have also been successful in their own fields during the course of this Term. I would like to make particular reference to the culinary successes of Eloise Robertson in Year 11. Once again, this year, Eloise has been successful in the first round of the Yate and District Rotary Club's Young Chef of the Year competition. She competed against other students from the Academy, as well as those from Winterborne International Academy. The dishes won particular praise for their originality and we look forward to hearing of her further successes as she progresses through the competition. My congratulations also go to all of those students who performed in the first Academy Production, ‘Cromwell at Christmas’, on Tuesday and Wednesday 11th and 12th December 2012. This was the first Academy Production in the new Auditorium and specials thanks must go to Mr Haskins, Mr Hipkins and other staff who contributed to this landmark production. We recently attended the Wills Memorial building at the University of Bristol to celebrate the achievements of last years’ GCSE students. The guest of honour was an Olympian in 1988, Vernon Samuels. Once he had presented the students with their awards, he spoke with a great deal of passion about being the best you could be. This is something that we try to ensure that all of our students understand, and that being the best you can be will enable you to reach your own personal goals and targets. This was a very successful evening and we certainly look forward to the event in 2013 when we will celebrate the results of our current Year 11 students. We do need to look forward to 2013 and, when we return for the start of Term 3, the January examination season will get underway. In this period there are examinations for Years 12 and 13, as well as a few GCSE modular exams for Year 11. Alongside these we will also be conducting the practice GCSE exams for subjects in Year 11, that students have an examination in the summer. The timetable for these internal exams has been published and all parents/carers should have received a copy of this along with the students themselves. These exams are important and I would urge all students to be wellprepared for them. It will provide a very clear indication of the progress that students are making towards their target grades for the summer.
I cannot write this editorial, the last one for 2012, without making reference to the new and old Academy buildings. Our facilities in the new build are excellent - the opportunities presented to our students are significant and I would certainly encourage them to make the most of everything that is presented to them within these state-of-the-art facilities. We are all very fortunate indeed to be able to work and learn in such a well designed and beautiful building. However, we must not forget the value that was placed in the old building as part of the community, therefore, it falls with a tinge of sadness when the final part of the building was raised to the ground on Tuesday 11th December. A piece of history left the community at that point and we can all be very proud of what was achieved within that facility. However, there was a point that we were really able to move forward and prove to everybody in the community that Yate International Academy provides the very best secondary provision for young people in the area. By the beginning of April 2013 our contractors, Willmott Dixon, will have completed the construction period of the new facilities both internal and external. The new multiuse games area and all-weather pitch are due for completion in early March and we are anticipating returning to using the entrance on Sundridge Park at that time. More information on that transition will be sent to all families closer to the date. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a very happy Christmas and look forward to 2013 with a great deal of optimism.
Mr R J Gilbert | Principal
Message from the Principal It is very clear that the expectations placed on us as an Academy, by the Department for Education, as well as our sponsors, is that all students conform to Federation policies. Therefore I would ask your support in ensuring your child comes to the Academy each day in the appropriate uniform. To remind you all: • The Academy blazer is a compulsory item and must be worn at all times • The Academy jumper is optional, but is the only garment to be worn over the top of the mandatory white shirt and Academy tie. No other garments are permitted whatsoever, including cardigans, hoodies etc. • The Academy tie must be worn properly • Black shoes are compulsory at all times • Grey trousers, or knee length skirts for the girls, are the only garments to be worn in addition to the above. Leggings are not permitted. If your child does not wear the correct uniform you will be notified on a consistent basis. We expect your child to turn up every day, on time and dressed in the appropriate manner. Please ensure they do so!
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PE Round Up Year 5 and 6 Girls Football Tournament For the fifth year now our students have organised and run the South Gloucestershire Year 5 and 6 Girls seven aside football tournament. This year it was run by our new Year 9 Ambassadors with the help and support of the year 11 BTEC students. The tournament featured 15 primary schools from across South Gloucestershire, with Charorough Rd winning the final against St Michaels. As always feedback from parents and staff was fantastic, with comments made about how organised our students were and how well the tournament went. RC2013 This year Rock Challenge has started with over 120 students signing up to perform. The performance will be based on the game of Cluedo, a theme thought of by Courtney Gaymer in Year 11. In the initial planning meeting staff and students played out a game of Cluedo to decide who the murderer should be. (This will remain a closely guarded secret and only revealed on the performance night.) This year’s performance is being choreographed by Erin Cacacie, Kathy Millichamp, Courtney Gaymer, Amy Roberts, Miss Greaves & Mrs Bell.
International Academy taking part. The tournament was played to the official International Dodgeball rules with teams comprising of 6 players. Each match was played to the best of five games, with the winning team being the team with the most players left in at the end of each two minute time period. The Yate International Academy team had Castle A, Bradley Stoke B and Winterbourne in their group. The games proved to be very competitive but the Yate International Academy team, dominated the pool winning all three matches, without having to pay the full complement of games. Yate International Academy finished with a total of 59 points with Castle in second 17 points behind. This put the students into the final against Bradley Stoke A. Confidence amongst the Year 8’s was very high and they dominated the final winning the first three games to win with ease. The students must be congratulated not only on their performance but also the way with which they approached each game as a team ensuring that all 9 of the squad had equal game time. The winning squad was: Tom Newton, Rhys Higton (captain), Levi Thame, Corey Luke, Cian White, Casey Hacker, Ellie Sady, Jessye Kelly and Jimmy Bristow. We hope to develop Dodgeball further in the New Year with Martin Knight a current England international coming into the Academy to run some development sessions.
As in previous years we will need to make a large number of costumes for the performers, so if there are any parents, family members or friends who would like to get involved your help would be very much appreciated. (Please contact Mrs Bell on helen.bell@trfyia.org.uk). The date of this year’s performance is Thursday 25th of April 2013 and once again we will be performing at The Portsmouth Guildhall. Dodgeball This year Dodgeball has been introduced to the schools competition Calendar with the first inter schools tournament being held at Yate International Academy on Tuesday 11th December, with Year 8 teams from Castle A and B, Winterbourne International Academy, Abbeywood, Bradley Stokev A and B and Yate
The Year 7 girl’s netball team have had a busy few weeks, travelling to The Grange School for a master class delivered by Bath and England international players in preparation for the Annual Year 7 tournament being held again at the Grange. Unfortunately the girls drew a very tough pool and were unable to progress to the knock out stages.
MLE Developments We have been busy developing the PE Subject page on the MLE. Students and parents/carers will now be able to look up dates and times of up and coming clubs and fixtures as well as keeping an eye on the current position of the Physical Education Guild Competition.
Visit from “SMARTER UK” “Take a pill and become smarter”! This was the basis of a workshop that three groups from Years 9-11 participated in at the end of November. The workshops took place in the STEM theatre and involved a dramatisation and group discussions. Learners were asked to give and justify their points of view on a number of different questions, such as “would you take a pill if it made you smarter temporarily?” and “should everyone have access to a smarter pill?”. All learners participated fully and represented themselves and the Academy in an exemplary manner. “We really enjoyed the role play and the chance to show our own opinions” said Suraiya Foreman and Matt Akue from 10x4.
This Term has been incredible on ‘mangahigh’. With the addition of the primary classes Oak and Maple, we are winning medals like anything. On the 10th December we were in the top 100 in the country! Nicco Chapman from Oak has won an amazing 21 Bronze, 10 silver and 22 gold medals at the time of writing. Well done Nicco!. We also won the ‘fai-to’ competition against Nailsea school.
Year 10 Radiation Seminar On Monday 17th December Year 10 students undertaking the BTEC Principles in Applied Science course will take part in a miniconference hosted by a Scientist who works at Oldbury Power Station. The students will learn about energy types and transfers involved in Nuclear Power as well the process of nuclear fission. This will aid them in the completion of one of their BTEC assignments. Year 12 Forensic Conference Year 12 Forensic Science students are being offered the opportunity to attend a Forensic Conference at the University of Nottingham in March. All interested students should see Mrs Rowlands as soon as possible to book their place. Mrs H Rowlands – Head of Science Faculty
In November Yate International Academy gained 488 medals. Can we beat that in December? Get playing.
Thirteen Year 10 students visited the University of Bath for the ‘Maths is your future’ event. They had a tour of the campus and undertook workshops on the ‘mathematics of crop circles’, what they could do with A level Mathematics and a team competition. There was also a talk about the mathematics used in the building of the Olympic stadium.
UN Model Climate Conference
Paperchain event – Year 7 Inter-Guild competition Maths challenge team selection - Term 3 Maths challenge team final 7th March Individual UKMT Mathematics challenge 7th Feb Mrs E Taylor – Head of Mathematics Faculty
The teams ready to argue the viewpoints of their countries
Homework Club From Monday to Thursday, the Learning Support Department provide a homework club down in our base. It runs from 3.00 - 4.00pm and Support Staff will help and guide the students through any of their homework, coursework or just provide advice on organisation skills. Students can just turn up at the end of the Academy day - they can stay from ten minutes to the full hour! If you would like any further information, please contact Nick Stanton (SENCo)
THE GEOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT AND INTERNATIONALISM Secondary Geography Quality Mark In September the Geography department achieved the Secondary Geography Quality Mark. The award recognises excellence in the teaching and learning in Geography. The prize was awarded by the Geographical Association to only 43 schools across the country in 2012. The award, now in its fifth year, reflects the national standard for the teaching of geography. It aims to promote effective leadership and management to help teachers raise the standards of geography in schools. The Department are really pleased to have been awarded the SGQM. A lot of hard work was completed by students and teachers to enable us to be rewarded for the teaching and learning of this subject within our school. Thank you very much for your support
On Tuesday 4th December 2012 students from Year 9 took part in a UN Climate Conference which mirrored the real UN meeting taking place in Doha, Qatar between 26 November and 7 December. The project was linked with young people in Czech Republic and Poland who were also taking part in similar model conferences and students had the opportunity to share experiences between the three nations on the afternoon through Skype. During the Model Climate Conference, the students represented different countries and debates mirrored the major elements of the actual negotiations taking place in Qatar. Students were forced to argue their case for their country as well as developing allies with other similar nations to protect themselves in the search for an agreement regarding future regulations on carbon emissions. The day saw the group from Russia refusing to reduce their emissions in their search for an increasing GDP as well as a plea from the Maldives to the rest of the world to save them from rising sea levels. Students commented that they really enjoyed the day and it made them think about their role in reducing carbon emission for the future. Red Cross Events 2012 Students from Year’s 8 and 10 were involved in two events runs by the Red Cross this Term. Year 8 took part in a Disaster Workshop where they learnt how the Red Cross support victims after major disasters. This included prioritising actions after the Haiti Earthquake and the
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importance of worldwide support for developing countries after a natural disaster. As part of the day students learnt basic first aid skills which could save lives after an Year 8 students earthquake. The event practising the was a success and recovery position students have been able to apply what they have learnt to their Geography lessons. Year 10 were involved in a workshop surrounding the issues of Migration to the UK. Students examined the reasons why people are forced to leave their country and their search for safety in the UK. They also discussed the impact of the media in creating a moral panic over the numbers of migrant workers entering the country. Students are able use what they have learnt to support them in their unit of work on Population and Migration for their GCSE. Mrs Macey & Miss Bulpin
out well and Christmas is duly celebrated in the proper fashion. A cast of twenty-five, including a generous sprinkling of Year 7’s, performed the show with gusto to enthusiastic audiences. Notable performances included Toby Brewer (Assistant Caretaker, Brewster), Christine Allen (MLE, aka ‘Emily’) and Jamie Bateman (Mr Kingstreet). Our show for next Christmas will be CINEMA CRAZY! – a musical tale of stage and screen, set in the 1920’s. Book your seats, or places in the cast, in September, when everything starts all over again! Chris Haskins, Head of Performing Arts
FULL STEAM AHEAD! This Term, on Thursday evenings, we have been making that essential Christmas decoration... the tombstone! Actually, these featured in 'Christmas at Cromwell' alongside a giant snowball splat, an assortment of drinks and some large foam tools produced by the Prop-Making Club.
CHRISTMAS AT CROMWELL STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Maths) aims to provide an opportunity for students to work alongside professionals in fullyequipped workshops on creative (and hopefully fun!) projects. After Christmas we will be moving on to the set and props for Rock Challenge and are looking for keen propmakers to help out, but if you have a project of your own, and you would like some space to work, feel free to join us Thursdays from 3pm in the DT workshops. Mr G Sims – DT Technician
Students have recently been involved in the Academy Christmas production, CHRISTMAS AT CROMWELL. Casting and rehearsals began in early September, culminating in two evening performances on Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th December in the Auditorium. The home-written musical tells the story of an Academy Principal who cancels Christmas due to the nefarious goings-on of her pupils during the festive season. Needless to say, all turns
ATTENDANCE HOTLINE This is the number to phone if, for ANY reason, your child will be absent from school:01454 333583 Jane Whiting —Attendance Clerk Jane.whiting@trfyia.org.uk
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Lion Guild
Griffin Guild
Lion Guild students have been working very hard generally and this had made for a very successful Term for the vast majority. As a PE teacher as well as a Head of Guild I always take a keen interest in the success of our sports teams. It has been really encouraging to see how many of our Year 7 Lions have involved themselves in various sports clubs and fixtures. The following Year 7 students have represented the Academy this year so far: Ammar Nazrali, Kieron Kay, Wade Campling, Kieran Winter, Daniel Ashby, Ian Olaviaga - Rugby Sophie Bull, Chloe Beal, Charlie Pedder Smith, Grace Leppard and Paige Andrews – Netball Obviously there are plenty of other afterschool clubs that students could be involved in, such as drama, cooking and DT, and I would encourage Lion students to make the most of these opportunities as possible.
Christmas has once again crept up on us: suddenly the temperature has dropped, the male staff are wearing knitwear and teachers are having to raise their voices over the cacophony of coughing and sneezing in the classroom. The Christmas Griffin hopes that everyone in his Guild will be able to say, hand on heart that they truly deserve the presents that Santa will bring them. Certainly, the students of Miss Strachan’s’ group will be high up Father Christmas’ list because they currently sit in fourth place overall in the Guild league table with a whopping 2322 points! Special mentions must go to ‘Awesome’ Adam Jefferies, ‘Magnificent’ Michael Pitt (actually in G7JPO), Dove ‘The Destroyer’ Strachan-Wills who are the top three Guild point earners in Griffin at the time of writing.
There have been some students who have been working particularly hard this Term and this effort has not gone unnoticed: Aaron Williams(L7SB), Jessica Williams(L7KW), Nathan Allinson(L8RH),Luke TownsendBrown(L8TH), Nathan Reed(L9SH), Megan Wood(10HR),Bade Pirnic(10SCo), Aimee Gibbins(11KD) and Abby Payne (11CJ). There will be a Lion reward trip before Easter and I welcome any suggestions from students as to what activities they would like to do. Year 11 are preparing for their practice exams after Christmas and I would urge them to use the holidays to not only rest but also to prepare for these exams. You need to work efficiently and plan a revision timetable. They have also recently attended mock interviews with staff from companies in the surrounding area. The Heads of Guild, including me, were really encouraged by the mature attitude that the students adopted.
Mince pies should also be awarded to the Year 8 and 9 Griffin mentor groups who are the next highest placed in the Guild point league table at this moment in time. Miss Lane’s group (currently in sixth place with 955 points), Miss Best’s group (currently in eighth place with 832 points) and Miss Bulpin’s group (currently 17th with 609 points) are all setting the standard for the rest of the Guild. The three Guild point Kings of Orient are (not including Year 7): Joe ‘Joy to the World’ Wood (SJ), Leah ‘Little Town of Bethlehem’ Morgan (PW) and Bradley ‘Santa’ Simons (PW). Well done to all of you; if you don’t know how many Guild points you have, ask your mentor or find out for yourself on the Academy website. 70 points are required for a bronze award, a silver needs 150 and a gold certificate 250. Merry Christmas to one and all! Mr S Ponsford – Head of Griffin Guild
Finally, I would like to wish all Lion students a Merry Christmas and I will see you all in the New Year. Miss M Greaves – Head of Lion Guild
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Pegasus Guild
Blink and you have missed Term 2. It has rocketed past in a blur of trips, sporting wins, Guild points, rehearsals for the school production and most importantly progress towards learning goals. 45 students chose and were eligible for the Pegasus reward trip to Laser quest. A tremendous afternoon in a chilly warehouse in Avonmouth was had by all, some notable laser questers were Kieran Fisher, Kian Muglistone, Luke Packer, Milan Cacacie, and Emily Fincher, they were definitely the afternoons sharp shooters. Thank you to the parents/carers for their understanding as they were kept waiting for our return, a broken down bus caused a little excitement and traffic jam, however a replacement bus was soon delivered and enabled us to finally make our way home. Term fours reward trip can be voted for on the Academy’s Virtual Learning Environment by each student of Pegasus. Have a look and cast your vote! I am delighted that two Pegasus students were part of the Yate International Academy Dodge Ball team that beat the surrounding schools, Bradley Stoke, Castle, and Winterbourne Academy in a cross schools competition, well done to Jimmy Bristow and Cian White for their contributions to the team and the overall achievement. I look forward to more of this cross county wins! Guild points have been collected at an encouraging rate and currently there are 2 students holding the top spots Toby Brewer and Maia Boucher-White well done to both of these students who have achieved 43 Guild points – more than one a day demonstrates their focus towards learning and achievement. Alice Mucmullan and Sophie Banwell are closing the gap with Corey Whitmore not far behind. Keep these points as they will turn into Mall or Mobile phone top up vouchers. Year 11 are beginning to change gear towards the exam season and should be revising thoroughly after Christmas, to prepare
themselves for the practice exams, which begin on the 1st day back on 7th January 2013. Please give them every encouragement over the holidays. Christmas is nearly upon us and a time to consider those less fortunate than ourselves, spare a few moments this Christmas thinking about these people and try and find an opportunity to do a nice deed over the holidays for a family member or neighbour. May I take this opportunity to wish you all very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you all back in 2013! Mr S Matthews – Head of Pegasus Guild
Phoenix Guild
The great news headlines this Term is that Phoenix Guild have been consistently the highest scoring Guild in the Guild points competition and I expect to break through the 3000 barrier by the time you all read this newsletter. Well done every one! 7XPB, 8XET and 8XET are leading the way. Amber Phillips, Bobbie Phillips and Amber Sharpe are the top three scorers. The recent review showed a number of students in Key Stage 4 who can be considered as academically excellent. They are Hannah Bradley, Jennifer Lovell and Chloe Wilkinson from Year 11, and also Rebecca Weeks, Adam Turner, Courtney Sutton, Amber Sharpe, Thea Seaman, Andrew Parsons, Shaun Mitchel, Steven Lythe, Emma Griffiths, and Hannah Box from Year 10. Phoenix attendance is still something to be really proud of. The following students had 100% at the end of November. Matt Akue, Liam Bailey, Sophie Baker, Abbie Banwell, Hannah Box, Kacy Brown, Kara Buet, Ashton Coleman, Mia Davis-Porter, Chloe Faithful, Jake Faithful, Kyra Fletcher, Charlotte Fox, Logan Garland, Billy Hack, Brandon Hamilton, Laura Johnson, Steven Lythe, Jack Miles, Shaun Mitchel, Andrew Parsons, Reece Pearce, Amber Phillips, Thea Seaman, Amber Sharpe, Katie Short,
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Jared Slocombe, Jasmin Tanner, Sarah Taylor, Sammy Trotman, Katharina Vollmer, and Connie Wright. Well done and keep up the good work, a recommendation of 100% attendance is a great asset when it comes to applying for work or college places. Finally, I would like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and fun New Year. We have an especially long recovery period this year so everybody will be refreshed and keen to work hard during 2013.
Community News Following our Yate Participate Group meeting in November at Yate Library we decided to do a Christmas Fair for primary age students on Monday 17th December 4-5pm which will include Christmas crafts like name the teddy, make your own Christmas cards and posters etc. Many thanks to our very enthusiastic volunteers – Morgan Hill, Christian Howlett, Emily Boskett, Chloe Simpson, Thomas Keenan, James Heron, James Westacott and Deanna Prendergast – and also to their very supportive families.
Ms D Longley – Head of Phoenix Guild
YIA DISCOVERY CENTRE NEWS: December 2012 We are all settling into the new Discovery Centre well and what a positive difference it is making! The Academy population is now rolled over on the system, we have done a Quiz on the American presidential election and foreign affairs and you can see Mr Gilbert with the winners below: Stephen Lythe, Aaron Walkling, James Westacott, Lewis Pearce and Alfie Buet. All received chocolate and a choice of a diary or book plus Guild points so well done chaps!
A reminder of Yate Library’s opening times: Sun Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat
11.00 – 3.00 9.30 – 7.00 9.30 – 7.00 Closed 9.30 – 7.00 9.30 – 7.00 9.30 – 5.00
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STOP PRESS: Please return all books by the date stamp and we are especially keen to get back Hunger Games books as we have a waiting list, not surprisingly, although we have several sets! Thank you very much to the Mum who donated a Hunger Games set! Much appreciated.
Just a quick reminder: We are open at break/lunch/after the Academy day for homework priority along with MyMaths and Manga High and games are allowed on any remaining computers. If you are playing games you have to make way for work-related use obviously and if you do not follow instructions on this you will be off the computers the following day (or longer) in the Discovery Centre.
e-Readers Winterbourne International Academy are testdriving some e-Readers and we hope to have the benefit of their experience to set up here soon.
HAPPY READING – whether electronically or keeping it real on paper! Mrs Fiddes and Mrs Ashmead
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CALENDAR TERM DATES 2012/2013 Term 2
Monday 5th November 2012
Friday 21st December 2012
Term 3
Monday 7th January 2013
Friday 8th February 2013
Term 4
Monday 18th February 2013
Friday 22nd March 2013
Term 5
Monday 8th April 2013
Friday 24th May 2013
Term 6
Monday 3rd June 2013
Friday 24th July 2013
During the above Terms the Academy will be closed to students for staff INSET:
Note:
Friday
28th June 2013
Wednesday
24th July 2013
Monday 6th May 2013
Bank Holiday
Academy closed
IN THE INTERESTS OF SAFEGUARDING Parents and Carers are reminded that if your personal contact details change e.g. telephone/mobile numbers/work numbers or addresses, then Yate International Academy should to be informed as soon as possible. We may need to get hold of you in an emergency! Students can give this information to The Academy, via their mentors or parents, or contact the main office themselves to ensure we have the correct information. Your help with this important matter is greatly appreciated. Or email office@trfyia.org.uk Be on your SAFE ‟GUARD‟ ING. CHALLENGE It is now policy that all staff wear I.D. badges at all times. It is an expectation that parents/visitors always enter Yate International Academy via Reception. Parents/visitors will then be signed in and given a Visitor badge. Please do not be offended if you are asked to go to Reception and to sign in as a visitor – it is an important matter of safeguarding. You will then be met by the member of staff you came to visit or escorted to them through the building. We have innumerable points of entry at YIA and we are endeavouring to make the building as secure and SAFE, as we possibly can. The new build Academy will have only one point of entry and a secure line to safeguard your children.
LOST PROPERTY We have a very large amount of items in lost property which is still unclaimed. If it is not clearly labelled or is not claimed by the end of Term, it will be taken to a charity shop, as we cannot store it all.
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