CHARACTER
CONFIDENCE
CREATIVITY
PROSPECTUS 2015 - 2016
CHARACTER CONFIDENCE CREATIVITY
The Principal is determined to ensure that all students make the best possible progress in all aspects of their development. Ofsted 2015
A LEARNING JOURNEY Welcome from the Principal Our vision at The Hazeley Academy is a simple one; we want all of our students to have a fulfilling education. An education which allows them to leave with the best possible set of qualifications and as rounded individuals who display the attributes of character, confidence and creativity, fully equipped to take their place in the world. We do not simply see ourselves as preparing young people for work, but also for family life, friendships and society at large. We do this by working closely and openly with parents and the wider community. Our recent OFSTED report in June 2015 praises the clarity, ambition and commitment of all of our staff to this vision. As a parent myself, I know how important it is to be reassured that my child is socially, physically and emotionally safe and at The Hazeley Academy we achieve this through our excellent personalisation team, which is skilfully led by Senior Deputy Principal, Miss Whiteman and Deputy Principal Mrs Baldwin. This team consists of tutors, progress leaders, learning mentors and other specialised pastoral staff including our qualified first aider and attendance team. Together they ensure that every child is offered the personalised support they need. The teams good work can be seen in action as you tour the academy, our frequent visitors often comment on the calm purposeful learning environment which our staff and students create and enjoy. The behaviour of our students and the way in which the academy prepares them to be responsible citizens were both reported as considerable strengths of the academy by OFSTED. The excellent exam results are driven by teams of dedicated teaching staff who very much work with the students on their learning journey. Deputy Principal Mrs Williamson plays a pivotal role in this by working with our Directors of Faculty to ensure that every lesson is as good as it possibly can be.
We do not apologise for our high expectations on both staff and students, but we try to ensure that all members of our community are supported to meet the challenge. We do not demand or offer perfection, but we expect everyone to truly do their very best and to keep developing to ensure that their best gets better, all of the time. Curriculum innovation is led by Deputy Principal, Mr Healy. His team are constantly reviewing and fine tuning our provision to ensure that our young people have access to the very best experiences both within and beyond the academy day. Our house system ensures that students have the opportunity to be part of a smaller community, competing, socialising and celebrating with other members of their House. The most dedicated students will go on to represent the school in a range of activities including, music, drama and sport. Again our expectations are high and if you have been privileged to have seen some of our athletes or musicians in action you will know that these aspirations are frequently met. I understand how important the decision is when selecting a school. Your child is the most precious thing in your life, and you want to make the right choices. I hope that this prospectus supported by our website provides the answers to many of your questions. Others can be posed at our open evening when you will get the opportunity to meet with many of our staff and students. You are also more than welcome to contact the academy reception and arrange to join either myself or a member of the senior team on one of our daily learning walks. We visit a selection of subject areas, often chosen by the visitors. Thank you for your interest in The Hazeley Academy, Yours sincerely Tony Nelson Principal
02
A WELCOME FROM THE CHAIR (BOARD OF DIRECTORS) Dear Prospective students, parents and carers. On behalf of the Board of Directors I want to thank you for your interest. In its comparatively short life, The Hazeley Academy has grown to be a leading secondary school in Milton Keynes. This has been achieved by the dedication of our staff and through the hard work of our students, many of whom have achieved quite spectacular results. If you choose to join us on your learning journey, you will be part of our new five year vision. We have called this a “Leap of Faith”; to go beyond truly outstanding results and equip all our students with the skills to be self-aware, confident and creative, independent learners and to excel as young adults.
Students’ behaviour is good. They are proud of their academy and treat all staff with respect. Ofsted 2015
You can be confident that we will do our very best to identify and nurture each student’s unique talents. This will allow them to achieve their personalised objectives and to move confidently onto the next stage of their life. Yours sincerely
Malcolm Dobell
Chair of the Board of Directors
CHARACTER CONFIDENCE CREATIVITY
INSPIRATIONAL STAFF & FANTASTIC FACILITIES As you approach along Portway or Tattenhoe Street you are met by the impressive glass face of The Hazeley Academy with the teaching wings sitting along the ridge behind. It really is a truly impressive, well-designed modem building. Across all faculties and subject departments there has been a generous, front-loaded investment in technology, equipment, books and other resources as well as staff training. A better resourced Academy or school anywhere you will be hard pressed to find. Our most important resource of course is human. The staff at the academy, teaching and support, are talented, hard-working and intensely loyal to our young people. We have a coaching and training programme to provide opportunities for development and
furtherance, enabling us to grow our own leaders and managers from within. We invest in staff and most importantly, we invest heavily in our core business which we never forget to be teaching, learning and support for learning. The Hazeley Academy is a non fee-paying school, independent of the local authority and directly funded by the Department for Education. We are not a sponsored academy. We work very closely with local businesses, the local authority, educational groups and with other schools and academies as part of the Milton Keynes Teaching School Alliance (MKTSA) and The Teaching School consortium (OTSC).
A place where dreams grow. Year 7 Student
04
CHARACTER CONFIDENCE CREATIVITY
COMMUNICATION AND THE OPEN-DOOR ACADEMY Excellent communication between the home and the Academy is essential and it is very important to us. We see this as a two-way process. It is critical should a parent, carer or student have any questions or concerns, that they are raised promptly, with the right person and in the correct way. The majority of our parents report that we make every effort to engage well with families. Individual contact details can be found on our website. As an academy, almost daily we receive very positive feedback from parents, carers, visitors and members of the wider community. This is really important to us - and it is always fed back to students - building their sense of well-earned pride in their Academy. Our website: www.thehazeleyacademy.com provides a wealth of information. This includes a weekly ‘blog’ from the Principal. A free school gateway is available allowing parents/carers to access student’s on-going progress, attainment behaviour data and annual reports.
Parents/carers in years 7-11 can also be given electronic access to their child’s Vivo Miles™ rewards account. Vivo Miles™ is an online tool for collecting rewards made for outstanding effort, exceptional work, good citizenship, performances and sporting achievements etc. Each Vivo Mile™ has a monetary value of 1p and balances can be carried forward each year. The Vivo Miles™ platform itself and the associated rewards are paid for via other funding streams into the academy e.g. site lettings. There are many other electronic tools available to parents to make life and communication easier - e.g. Parent Pay for loading up your child’s lunch account. We also make good use of a ‘bulk-texting’ and school comms tool to keep parents and carers up to date.
Teachers show good subject knowledge, have high expectations of their students and show enthusiasm for what they are teaching. Ofsted 2015
CURRICULUM Faculties and Subjects The Academy is organised into six faculties, each with a Director of faculty overseeing the subject within. The six faculties are: Core Faculties • English Literacy & Languages • Mathematics & Computing • Science Foundation Faculties • Confidence (Physical Education, Life Skills, Law, Sociology, PHSE, Psychology, Health & Social Care and Law) • Character (Geography, Business Studies, Philosophy & Ethics, History, Enterprise & Economics) • Creativity (Art, Textiles, Dance, Drama, Media, Performing Arts, Music, Design and Technology and Hospitality and Catering)
Every day is an opportunity. Year 8 Student
06
OUR LEARNING JOURNEY Key Stage 3 (Years 7-8) Developing a foundation of Character, Confidence and Creativity in every student. Our curriculum lies at the very heart of all that we do at The Hazeley Academy. It is constantly under review to ensure that it offers a modern, inclusive, personalised and relevant provision for all learners and has the student at the heart of provision. Our staff very much focus on teaching children rather than just subjects and seize every opportunity to develop character, confidence and creativity. Our Key Stage 3 curriculum is balanced to optimise your child’s progress in the traditional subjects while also providing them with the maximum opportunity to develop. Our aim is to unlock their natural love of learning by offering a more project based and thematic style delivery that mimics the best practice seen in some of our outstanding partner primary schools. We have a 50 period, two week formal curriculum timetable and although subject to slight tweaks from one year to the next, typically over this period our students will have the following lesson allocations per fortnight English & Mathematics
7 periods
Science
6 periods
Modern Foreign Languages
4 periods
Creative Arts (Art, Dance, Drama, Music, Catering, Design Technology)
10 periods
PE
4 periods
Computer Science
2 periods
Humanities including Philosophy and Ethics (RE)
10 periods
Students are placed into ability groups during their first term with us for the core subjects of English, mathematics and science. These groups are not fixed and students can be moved into different groups depending on the progress they make. At the academy we recognise that homework is essential to help students consolidate and extend their learning. Homework,especially longer projects, promote the skills of independent learning and research. Students will typically have 6 projects a year running alongside other weekly homework. Philosophy and Ethics includes the study of the major world religions and looks at their similarities and differences. Parents have the right to withdraw their child from this lesson. In this case, an alternative programme of study and supervision will be agreed with the Principal. For all other elements of the curriculum, a full engagement is expected.
CHARACTER CONFIDENCE CREATIVITY Key Stage 4 (Years 9-II) Embedding – Character, Confidence and Creativity in our students leading to excellent examination results For our three year Key Stage 4 programme, well-informed choice is the key and we go out of our way to ensure that the important choices made during year 8 & 9 are supported by support and guidance. All students follow a common core curriculum of English, mathematics, science & core PE. Our curriculum has a strong academic focus, leaning towards most students achieving the English Baccalaureate at Key Stage 4 and having access to a wide range of courses at KS5. However, it nevertheless remains inclusive by offering a range of additional BTEC vocational courses/technical award qualifications. Allocations (subject to review and slight changes, year on year) are as follows:
picture regarding qualifications traditionally awarded at the end of Year 11. Our Key Stage 4 (Years 9-11) structure provides maximum flexibility whilst ensuring that we deliver on those subjects most highly regarded by employers and education providers alike.
Key Stage 5 (Years 12-13) Equipping our students with the qualifications, character confidence and creativity to take on the world!
Our sixth form curriculum, we believe, is second to none. The offer includes a broad range of academic and vocational courses. There is a separate prospectus for our sixth form provision - this is available to download from our website.
Core Subjects (per fortnight) Science (many do triple award GCSEs in Biology, Chemistry and Physics in this time)
9 periods
English (many do both English Language and Literature in this time)
9 periods
Mathematics
8 periods
Core PE
4 periods
Humanities (study either History or Geography (or both)
5 periods
Modern Foreign Languages (choose from French, German, Spanish, Italian) - a minority do BTEC IT or Sport
5 periods
The remaining time is allocated to a broad variety of option subjects; most students study two of these over KS4 (10 periods a fortnight). The English Baccalaureate [EBacc] (achieving A*-C GCSEs) although not compulsory is considered the best pathway for the majority of students. The percentage of students in The Hazeley Academy who achieve this academic qualification is around twice as high as the national average and comprise of facilitation subjects most sought after by the top universities. During 2015/16 we will be exploring further the evolution of our KS3 & 4 curricula. To meet the demands of recent changes made by the Department of Education to GCSE specifications our GCSE programme will not change but curriculum pathway would become even more holistic, valuesunderpinned and focusing on nurturing highly qualified, confident, creative and characterful young adults. Our excellent curriculum already provides an excellent foundation for this. As many parents will no doubt be aware, there has been a significant shift in the national
The Hazeley Academy helps us every step of the way. Year 9 Student
08
CHARACTER CONFIDENCE CREATIVITY
OUR COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS An Inclusive Academy We want all of our students to have access to as much of the curriculum as possible. Regardless of their starting points upon arrival we always aim to cater for all students in our community. A team of specialist teachers and Teaching Assistants in our “Excellence Department� provide in-class and withdrawal support for those students who require it and work closely with outside agencies. We have specialist teams of support staff in the three core faculties to ensure that we offer the best possible experience. Support is offered according to the level of need. This ranges from children who are new to English as a language (EAL), or who require minor help with literacy and/or numeracy, to those with a Statement of Special Educational Needs/EHCP and students who are recognised as having a gift or talent.
The Hazeley Academy is fully inclusive. One of the ways in which we seek to achieve this is by ensuring that it is physically accessible to all. At The Hazeley Academy, we celebrate success and stretch and challenge our students who have special gifts and talents. We provide a programme of stimulating activities to encourage our students to make further progress and to help us produce the leaders for the next generation. Our Return to Learn (R2L) provision, responds to those young people facing difficulties in their lives that occasionally manifest themselves in behaviour that cannot be supported in the mainstream Academy. A team of well- trained Learning Mentors support young people with such difficulties - reintegrating them as soon as possible. We also ensure that the ways in which we communicate and our curriculum take full account of the needs of learners and others.
Relationships between staff and students are extremely good so that students can ask questions or give their views in confidence. Ofsted 2015
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Tel: 01908 555620 Fax: 01908 508357 Email: enquiries@thehazeleyacademy.com Web: www.thehazeleyacademy.com W AT L
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