I am very honoured to be the Headteacher of Newhouse Academy and it is a privilege to serve our students and the community.
We are entering our fifth year together as a team at Newhouse Academy. The ‘Our People’ vision has led to high expectations which we use to hold ourselves and each other to account. We use the ‘Our People’ curriculum to ensure our students are supported to develop the highest standards in personal development and welfare, which supports a positive culture around the academy. This was recognised by Ofsted, who gave the academy its first good judgement for personal development in 14 years.
Newhouse Academy, is part of Hollingworth Learning Trust and is committed to providing opportunities for all students to thrive, in a school where the values of aspiration, integrity and respect are integral. This is coupled with the determination to ensure they all achieve their desired destinations after Year 11, when they leave us. Leaders across the academy and the Trust were acknowledged with a ‘good’ judgement for Leadership and management in November 2023.
We believe that all students, regardless of their starting point, should have the opportunity to achieve their goals in education. Newhouse Academy strives to instil in them a belief that intelligence is an area where we can all improve, if we work hard and see our mistakes as part of that learning journey. This mind-set is placed at the heart of our teaching and learning, and it enables students to develop - both personally and academically. This approach nurtures students to see challenges as opportunities to shine. Ofsted recognised this strong process when judging behaviours and attitudes as ‘good’ for the first time in 12 years.
‘Our People’ and the high expectations of both students and staff are the starting point of every
academic year. Our comprehensive education has been strengthened by the opening of a new building, (September 2024). This will promote the sciences, arts and technical education with subjects such as engineering, product design, IT and construction.
We hope as a community that you will help us to achieve our vision and values. Together we can rise to the challenge of supporting our students as they settle into secondary education. We will work hard to ensure that any gaps in learning are identified when students arrive here and we will support them with interventions that allow them to achieve all that they can.
We will not be complacent, rather, we will be relentless in our pursuit of securing strong futures for all students of Newhouse Academy.
Alex Burnham Headteacher
Our People
Mission
Vision
At the heart of everything we do at Newhouse Academy is a belief in our core values of aspiration, integrity and respect.
• We want all learners to model our core values so that they can develop the resilience and self-regulation necessary to make sensible, safe and respectful choices.
• We want all learners to be on time, ready to learn and to attend more than 95% of the time. We know that learners who do this make the most progress.
• We want all learners to make informed, aspirational and successful post -16 choices in preparation for adulthood.
• We want to work collaboratively with parents, carers and families to help support our learners.
• We aim to foster a culture of continual improvement in all we do, to ensure high-quality teaching, a curriculum that is fit for purpose, and an academy that is happy and safe.
Doing the right thing for ‘OUR PEOPLE’ through our values of Aspiration, Integrity and Respect.
Students are expected to show they are ‘OUR PEOPLE’ by:
• Attending school, being on time to lessons and being ready to learn.
• Being correctly dressed and equipped for the lesson with pens, pencil, ruler, rubber and other equipment needed to take part in learning.
• Knowing what you need to do to improve in each subject area.
• Trying your best in lessons and completing the work set without disturbing others.
• Challenging yourself to complete additional / extension work and homework.
Students are expected to show they are ‘OUR PEOPLE’ by:
• Doing the right thing, even when adults are not looking.
• Doing what you are told by staff – first time, every time.
• Listening carefully when the teacher or another person is talking.
• Considering others and by trying to put others first.
• Speaking to adults in the school if you have a problem, rather than confronting peers.
• Being honest and admitting when you have got things wrong.
• Understanding that by not adhering to this code of conduct, you have broken the school rules.
• Standing behind your chair at the end of the lesson until you are dismissed.
Students are expected to demonstrate they are ‘OUR PEOPLE’ by their actions:
• Respect for British values such as the rule of law, justice and freedom from prejudice.
• Respect for adults in the school.
• Respect for the rights of teachers to teach and other students to learn.
• Respect for others regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion or sexuality.
• Respect for the school, the facilities and equipment.
Teaching and Learning
At Newhouse Academy and across Hollingworth Learning Trust, we believe teaching and learning should be exciting, inspirational and highly effective. Above all, it should provoke thought, develop the imagination and open new doors to a wonderful, bright future. Our students enjoy learning at Newhouse Academy and are expected to have high aspirations. Teaching and learning is our passion; staff work tirelessly to unleash those aspirations.
Newhouse Academy is a fully inclusive learning environment where we recognise that children have different needs. Some require additional support because they find work particularly difficult or have a specific learning need. Others are very able and need to be fully challenged to extend their learning. Different kinds of help
are available, including in-class support, small group teaching, one-to-one teaching, extra classes, clinics and homework clubs. Our Special Educational Needs team provides advice and assistance for students and their families as well as for staff.
Those children who have particular gifts and talents are actively encouraged to develop them. This, in addition to target setting and careful monitoring, will ensure that they have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
We are proud to have specialist teachers in all areas of the academy and attract the brightest and the best teaching and support staff to work with us. We use various learning strategies throughout the academy, ensuring lessons are challenging, engaging and enjoyable.
We have high expectations of all our students and support and encourage them to achieve their full potential. Special tuition, academy trips and out-of-hours learning opportunities further enhance learning.
Our Ambitious Curriculum
Our ambitious curriculum prepares students for 21st century careers.
The curriculum at Newhouse Academy improves and evolves every year to meet the high expectations of our students and their families, and colleges, apprenticeship providers and employers. With the changing employment opportunities, we know a curriculum is more than just the subjects we teach. Alongside a raft of excellent qualifications, we ensure that students develop the necessary life skills to succeed on ambitious pathways when they leave us. We understand the resilience, determination and social skills needed to succeed in the workplace and consider these attributes as important as the examination certificates students are awarded.
As part of Hollingworth Learning Trust, we use our connections to draw upon staff expertise across every department. This is so we can be confident that the subjects we offer align locally across Rochdale and nationally across secondary education. High expectations permeate our teaching and learning, staff development and behaviour and attendance policies, which ultimately lead to students achieving their full potential.
We know that a genuinely ambitious curriculum offer works in partnership with families supporting their children throughout their learning, both in the academy and at home.
We offer a broad curriculum as we believe students must grow holistically. Our offer for all year groups encompasses academic, artistic, creative and scientific characteristics.
Our Technology department is growing, with Construction, Engineering and Design Technology now running alongside Food and Nutrition. Links with Morgan Sindall, who are responsible for our new build, have enabled us to bring learning to life for students with on-site opportunities and experiences.
Through an extensive Key Stage 3 offer, we can be confident that when it comes to making their option choices, students and families are clear on the areas they wish to pursue, the grades they can achieve and the career pathways this will lead them onto. With superb facilities for PE, Dance and Drama, Technology subjects, Music, IT, Art and Photography, we guarantee that students’ passions and talents will flourish with the opportunities on offer.
State-of-the-art Facilities
Our brand new building opened in September 2024, housing new Science Laboratories, a Technology Suite, areas for Music, Performing Arts and Physical Education. We also have a new school hall - for assemblies, celebrations and community events, along with wonderful dining facilities.
The coming year will see our school grounds landscaped and developed to provide fabulous outside spaces too.
With state of the art facilities and a dedicated team of staff, we will ensure that our curriculum offer is ambitious, enjoyable and brought to life for students.
A Bright Future
Our Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG)
Life after Newhouse Academy.
The eight Gatsby Benchmarks are a framework for good career guidance developed to support secondary schools and colleges in providing students with the best possible careers education, information, advice and guidance.
A quality CEIAG programme is central to supporting our core value of aspiration and preparing our students for opportunities, responsibilities and life experiences after Year 11.
The success of our CEIAG programme has meant that over the last three years, 99% of our leavers went on to secure further education, training or employment opportunities.
At Newhouse Academy, CEIAG is provided from Years 7 to 11 within the curriculum areas, and so is taught as part of daily lessons and supported by the ‘Our People’ (PSHCE) curriculum.
Extra-curricular visits and activities, including college taster days, university visits, an annual careers fair at the academy and regular employer encounters, support our CEIAG programme.
All students take part in mock interviews and complete a week of work experience during Year 10. They rate this as a valuable and enjoyable career education experience.
We work closely with Positive Steps to provide independent advice from a qualified careers advisor who is based in the academy two days per week. All students can access careers guidance with our careers advisor including lunchtime drop-in sessions. Our careers advisor also attends Parents’, Options and Pathways Evenings where parents and carers can access advice as they support their children to make ambitious choices for their future.
Opportunities to Shine
Beyond the Classroom, Personal Development, Student Council and Leadership
We encourage students to develop a strong sense of loyalty to our academy, learning trust and wider community. We provide opportunities to support their growth into caring and responsible young adults who will carry our ethos of ‘High Expectations’ and core values of Aspiration, Integrity and Respect forward with them through life.
We encourage students to get involved in the many clubs, teams and school trips we offer, to enrich their experiences and help them develop the skills needed to move into the wider world. Various sports teams represent our academy, there are performing arts opportunities and a diverse array of clubs with academic, creative, skills-based, sporting and character building offerings. Support for academic progress is delivered through homework clubs and intervention groups.
Opportunities for developing leadership skills are available to students of all ages, with members of each year
group contributing as ‘Our People’ representatives on the Student Council. Working alongside Heads of Year, these students represent their fellow students, discussing ideas with members of the academy’s Senior Leadership Team, focussing on the academy’s ‘Our People’ agenda and looking at ways to further improve the academy.
As students progress towards the end of Year 10 and into Year 11, they can apply to be Prefects, and our most outstanding young leaders are appointed as Head Boy and Head Girl. The traditional values embodied in these roles and responsibilities help students grow into young adults and future leaders.
With other roles available such as reading leaders, sports leaders and student magazine designers and contributors there are many opportunities to get involved and contribute positively to the school community.
Celebrating ‘Our People’
We love celebrating our students’ achievements, whether academically, in sports and extra-curricular activities or their conduct around school and in lessons.
Badges can be earned for modelling our core values of Aspiration, Integrity and Respect. Bronze, silver and gold ‘reading for pleasure’ awards and the pinnacle of achievement at Newhouse Academy is earning the ‘Our People’ badge.
Students modelling the values of ‘Our People’ also receive praise and certification from the academy’s Senior Leadership Team on a weekly basis.
Full attendance, outstanding effort, and service to the academy and community are rewarded regularly in assemblies, at an annual Awards Evening and Sports Awards Evening.
Quality Care and Support
Transitioning from primary to secondary school can be a challenging experience for students and families. We have a specialist Year 7 team and a carefully planned programme that makes this as smooth as possible. This includes staff visits to primary schools, an area of our website dedicated to Year 6 transition information and the option to attend our summer academy.
Towards the end of Year 6, children who have chosen our academy spend a day with us and parents, carers attend an evening where they can meet the Year 7 team and other staff from the school and Learning Trust.
During the first few weeks, Year 7 students are supported by staff, Prefects and Peer Mentors as they settle into their new environment. If a child is anxious about starting secondary school or families are concerned about their mental health and wellbeing, we have trained counsellors and mentors in the SEMH department who will meet with and support the child. We aim to involve families fully to provide the best possible transition experience.
Newhouse Academy is proud of the support and guidance we offer all students. Child safety and the best interests of our students are at the heart of everything we do.
We pride ourselves in supporting students to thrive and be the best version of themselves. We have a caring and supportive Pastoral Team alongside responsive systems to assist, guide and safeguard all our children. At Newhouse Academy, staff encourage and guide students through the many choices and challenges they face during secondary school, and all have equal and shared responsibility to safeguard students.
Students are registered in Year Group forms, where their pastoral and academic progress is monitored and supported. Many teaching groups are set according to ability. We review student groupings regularly to ensure that each student has the best possible environment to achieve.
Newhouse Academy does not tolerate bullying in any form and strives to make the academy a bully-free zone. We encourage a culture of kindness and respect and expect all students to show kindness and consideration towards their peers, staff and our community.
Your adventure starts here
We hope that this prospectus has given you a sense of our ambitious, aspirational, forward thinking academy and left you feeling excited about the opportunities ahead. We would love you to be a part of Newhouse Academy’s story.
Applications for a place at Newhouse Academy are made online via Rochdale Council’s school admissions portal. Applications open from the start of September to the end of October whilst your child is in Year 6.
Further guidance about applying, important dates, our admissions policy and uniform information is on our website. Keep up to date with news and stories of life at Newhouse Academy by follwing us on social media.
If you have any further questions or would like to speak to a member of our pastoral team please do not hesitate to contact us.
