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Welcome from our Principal, Mr Hacker

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Dear Parents and Carers

What a brilliant couple of weeks we've had in the Academy. Pupils have made an excellent start to the year and are really showing that they're focussed on doing what matters most! Pupils have received the highest number of achievement points and merits and the lowest number of negative behaviour points by this stage than at any other time over the last few years. A huge well done and great foundations for a really successful year!

Last week we welcomed prospective pupils to the school at our annual Open Evening. We had more than 1250 visitors and we hope to see lots of those walking through our doors as official Walkden pupils next September. 

This week we had our Year 11 launch and Post 16 evening, which was really well attended. We covered the key elements of effective revision and the additional support for Year 11 throughout the year, as well as key dates, including the mock exams, the first of which being in just a couple of weeks. We were also joined by multiple college and apprenticeship providers who also talked parents and pupils through the relevant pathways and application routes. A huge thanks to all parents and carers who came to support our young people at this key time in their school lives.

I hope you enjoy the newsletter, but please also follow us on our socials. You may have already noticed that as a Trust we no longer post on Twitter/X, however you can find us Instagram and Facebook @coopwalkden 

Best wishes for a great weekend.

Matt Hacker

 

 

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Who to contact at Walkden

Please see the linked document for who to contact at Co-op Academy Walkden.

Communications

Please note the academy will be closed over the summer break and all emails will be responded to in the new academic year.

Attendance information

This month we sent an email regarding attendance and fixed penalty notices. This email was sent to all students in the academy. This is something that we share with parents to ensure you are aware of the rules and consequences involved regarding absence. This is not a direct reflection of your child's current attendance. We are sorry if this email caused any undue concern.

For more information about the attendance process and expectations, please see below.

 

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To report your child as absent, please use ONE of the available options below.

  • You can call our Academy to report absence 0161 8501625 (Option 1).
  • You can now use the 'log absence' function on your Arbor app. You can find this by going to Dashboard - Menu (three lines) - Attendance - Log Absence.

For any pre-planned absences or appointments, please email our Attendance Team.

walk-attendance@coopacademies.co.uk and include an attached appointment card or letter as evidence of the reason for the planned absence.

Whichever method you choose to use, please do this each day that your child is absent from school before 8.30am.

As a helpful reminder, we wanted to share the below information that is useful to know when it comes to attendance.

The school bell is at 8.25am and students are expected to be in lessons ready to be registered by 8.30am.

Students who arrive late between 8.30am and 8.50am will be given a late mark; however, this does not affect their overall attendance percentage.

Students who arrive after 9am will be given a U code (unauthorised absence) on their register which equates to a half a day of absence, this does affect their overall attendance percentage.

The day is split into two halves with a morning attendance mark and an afternoon attendance mark, students must receive both marks to be registered in school for the full day.

Please note that medical appointments and authorised absences are marked differently and to authorise one of these absences or to make us aware of any exceptional circumstances please email our attendance team with prior notice where possiblewalk-attendance@coopacademies.co.uk

Thank you as always for your support.

Parent Pay guidance - Lunch payments

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An email was sent last week with the below information.

We wanted to share a couple of reminders and options regarding your ParentPay account for breakfast/lunch payments.

If your child purchases meals at Co-op Academy Walkden, please ensure funds are topped up via ParentPay in advance of the week ahead. ParentPay has the function to set yourself an alert for when funds are getting low, if you would like this reminder please follow the process below

  • - Log into your ParentPay Account
  • - Click the three lines at the top left of the screen
  • - Communications
  • - Alert settings
  • - Balance alerts
  • - Set threshold per student
  • - Tick email (email is free to use / text messages can be set up, however there is a charge for this)
  • - Save

All students are offered a free bagel with spread during breakfast service, which runs between 8am - 8.25am.

Other breakfast items are also available to purchase during this time as well as during morning break at 10.30am.

Breakfast items range from 29p - 99p per item.

At lunchtime, students can purchase a meal deal which consists of a main meal and a dessert for £2.20

Please see our menus here

We encourage students to bring a refillable bottle as there are water fountains positioned in each zone of the academy. If your child would prefer bottled water, these can be purchased for 85p.

We believe that £5 is the most any student should need to spend on food/drinks throughout the day, which is why all students' daily spend is capped and will not let them spend more than £5 a day at school. If you would like this cap to be increased, then please let us know via this link Any changes can take up to three days to show on the catering system.

If your child is entitled to free school meals, they can have a free bagel at breakfast like all other students and then, when they put their PIN number in at the till for lunch, they can order a main meal and dessert (meal deal).

ParentPay log in details are sent via email to one parent/carer for each child at the beginning of each school year. If you have forgotten your password, you can select 'forgotten password'. If you believe you do not have an account set up for your child or if you have any queries about ParentPay and lunch payments, then please let us know via the same form here.

All students require their catering PIN number at the till when getting breakfast and lunch. If your child is entitled to Free School Meals, they still need to use their PIN number to get the meal. 

 

What's on at Walkden

Club/activity Where and when
Maths Homework Club Every Monday and Wednesday lunchtime in Cr4
Frozen Jr Rehearsals Every Friday lunchtime with Mrs Hughes in E1
Expressive Arts Club Every Wednesday 3-4pm with Miss Wharton in Drama Studio
Year 11 Revision Every day 3-4pm in the library

See below for all of our extra-curricular clubs

Extra-curricular Timetable 

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Year 11 Launch Event - Own the year, shape your future!

This week we held our Year 11 launch event where Year 11 pupils along with their parents/carers came in to the academy and were given all the information needed for the year ahead. Students and parents have now been provided with the Autumn Mock timetable. 

Remember supervised revision is available every day in the Library 3-4pm. Further targeted revision will be available in the winter term. 

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Year 6 parent/carer coffee mornings.

We are opening our doors to Year 6 parents/carers who may not have been able to make it to our Open Evening, coffee mornings will be a great opportunity to see the academy on a normal school day, enjoy refreshments and an overview of Mr Hackers Presentation as well as a tour of the building.

Coffee morning drop-ins – Thursday 9th October and Tuesday 14th October 9am - 10.30am

 

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Academies Trust Yearbook

Each year, the Academies Trust publishes a yearbook, filled with news articles, success stories and highlights from our 38 academies over the past 12 months. If you are in the academy, please take a look at the book in our reception area, you will also find a digital copy below, we are very proud to show you that Walkden and our pupils feature heavily in this year's book. 

Academie Trust Yearbook 24/25

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College Open Days

It's an exciting time for our Year 11 cohort, as they are starting to think about their post-16 plans. Have a look at the image opposite to see when the open day is for your preferred college.

All colleges require you to book in advance. 

Please type the name of the college you are interested in and ‘open day 2025’ into Google and you will be directed to a booking page. 

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Co-op Academy Walkden, Chosen Charity for 2025

You may remember last year our pupils and staff chose Milly's Smiles as our academy charity of the year, we managed to raise an incredible £3800 for them, this was raised from bake sales, sweet cone sales, Christmas makers markets, bingo night, raffle tickets, sponsored run/walk and a sponsored staff v pupils fitness challenge. 

This year our pupils have chosen Moya Cole Hospice (formerly known as St Ann's Hospice) in Little Hulton. We cannot wait to get started with our fundraising plans for the year ahead. Each year group will be organising their own events in a competition to raise the most amount of money for Moya Cole Hospice. 

We hope you will all get behind our pupils in their fundraisers throughout the year. We will have more details of what we have planned soon. 

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Repair Shop at Christmas

We would like to share an exciting opportunity that has been shared with us via the Rio Ferdinand Foundation from the BBC’s Repair Shop team.

They’re currently looking for groups, families, or community members who may have cherished festive items that are in need of repair or upcycling — things with strong emotional or cultural value tied to Christmas and the festive season.

It could be: A treasured family heirloom, A community decoration, A much-loved nativity figure or even a broken tradition in need of revival

They’re especially keen to find items in very poor condition that need more than just a clean, and that have meaningful stories attached to them. The show’s expert craftspeople will restore them for free, and it’s a lovely chance to have those stories shared on this year’s Christmas Special.

?? Filming starts 20th October

If you think this is something you or a family member may be interested in, please contact victoria@rioferdinandfoundation.com or ryan@rioferdinandfoundation.com.

October Half Term and community activities

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Important upcoming dates

Year 7 Meet the Tutor Evening - Time TBC
All Day
09
October
Year 6 Coffee and Cake Morning Drop in
9:00am – 11:00am
09
October
Year 7 & Year 10 Photo Day
All Day
from 14 Oct until 15 Oct
14
October
Year 6 Coffee and Cake Morning drop in
9:00am – 11:00am
14
October
Autumn Mock Series Year 11 - 3 weeks - Monday 20th Oct - Friday 14th Nov
All Day
20
October

Latest stories

21 Aug 2025
Class of 2025 GCSE Results Day
So, the day has finally arrived for our 2025, Year 11 students to collect their GCSE results.  Whatever the results inside the envelope, we hope our students are incredibly proud of themselves for the hard work and determination they have shown during their GCSE Exams. We wish each and ev...
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Check out our social media pages for daily updates.

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Year 8 Parent/Carers On Sat 11th October we are inviting you to attend our Cadets parents information morning, 10-12pm at Co-op Academy Walkden. If your child is in Year 8 and interested in joining Cadets then this is your opportunity to have a look at who we are and what your child will be involved in. Year 8 pupils will also be having an assembly with the cadets team to learn more and to express their interest with Captain Bawden and the CCF
1 day ago
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