Welcome from our Principal, Mr Hacker
Dear parents and carers
Welcome to the first newsletter of 2026 and a belated Happy New Year.
We're already near the end of January and the past few weeks have marked a brilliant start to the year for our pupils in school. Year 9 are now busy preparing for their Option Choices and Year 11 are busy preparing for their next round of mock exams which start on the 2nd February. We wish both year groups the best of luck with all of these important milestones.
As mentioned in the Christmas newsletter, you may have noticed all the festivities we had ongoing throughout December. I am sure you will agree it was lovely to see the smiles on the faces of pupils and staff alike from those little moments of something different and at times a bit silly and light-hearted, on a school day. As adults, when we think back to our own time at school, what often stands out most are the memories of funny, unexpected moments in school, no more so than when they involve staff who you might ordinarily only see at the front of a classroom! With this in mind, we want to give more attention to those experiences that can enhance the learning environment, but are more focused on developing a sense of care, belonging and enjoyment in our academy. You will find a brief outline of what we have coming up this term later in the newsletter.
Pupil experiences, both in and out of the classroom, are a key focus for us as an academy, this year. We are relentlessly focussed on delivering high quality teaching in the classroom so that pupils are able to learn and achieve in the best possible way. There is a heavy investment in staff training to ensure that this is increasingly consistent in all classrooms. Experiences outside of the classroom are expanding all the time and it's so good to see so many pupils getting involved in the range of extra curricular clubs and also to develop their leadership skills at events like the Options Evening, which took place this week. We're so proud of all our pupils' efforts and achievements and feel privileged to work with such amazing young people.
Of course, to experience everything that's on offer in school, we need pupils to be in school consistently. Whole school attendance is much improved from last year and is now just above the national average for secondary schools, which is great. That said, I implore you to only keep your child off, if it is an absolute emergency and there is no way for them to manage in school. Every lesson missed makes catching up all the more difficult when they return to school.
Wishing you all a good weekend ahead
Matt Hacker
