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Welcome from our Principal, Mr Hacker

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Dear parents and carers

We've reached the end of this half term and are officially at the half-way point of the academic year. 

Any of you keeping up with our social media will have seen some of the fun activities that staff and pupils have been having in the academy. Walkden does The Traitors and the mid-weed breakfast karaoke have certainly made our breakfasts more lively and enjoyable for all.

It's worth a reminder that we offer a free Bagel for all pupils in the morning. As a trial, we are going to extend this offer to morning break as well.

I want to say a huge well done to James in Year 8 for being a winner in the Salford Digital Heroes Competition. It's a huge accolade which has also resulted in a prize being awarded to us as a school, so lots of pupils will ultimately benefit from what he has achieved. Thank you, James!

Year 11 are now two thirds of the way through their mock exams. They are doing really well so far and we wish them the best of luck with the remaining exams. We look forward to welcoming some Year 11's into the academy next week from Monday to Wednesday, for the in-school revision sessions and quiet space for private revision.

Thank you for your support with improving the jewellery standards across the school – there is still some way to go, but there has been a huge shift in the right direction this week. Please ensure that after the half term break that any children choosing to wear earrings have just one set of studs and that no other items of jewellery, including rings and bracelets are worn. As mentioned in last week's letter, we will be confiscating any items that do not comply with our policy which can be returned to parents and carers at any time or to the pupils themselves at the end of the term.

Wishing you all a brilliant half term break and we look forward to welcoming everyone back at 8.25 on Monday 23rd February.

Matt Hacker

 

 

View our website

Noticeboard

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 half term break and all emails will be responded to on our return.

Attendance information

Last term we created and shared with pupils a new graphic for our attendance bands, pupils can see privately what band they currently sit in.  This helps pupils and parents to have a clear visual for attendance expectations. This also helps pupils set achievable short term targets to move into a higher band, and helps us to celebrate this when they do.

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

Read more

 

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.

Please NO NOT use the in-app message function to report absence, as this will not be recorded.

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 possible walk-attendance@coopacademies.co.uk

Thank you as always for your support.

Parent Pay guidance - Lunch payments

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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. If a pupils has zero funds, our kitchen staff will ask them to go to Student Services for a note which enables them to get lunch and prompts us to contact you to request payment is made. Ideally we would prefer not to send a pupil away for this note so please ensure funds are topped up, you can ofcourse contact us if you need support with this. 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
Chess  Every break and lunch outside G9
Homework club Every Monday lunchtime with Mrs Davis - D1
Space Club Every Tuesday 3-4pm with Dr Gardner - D8
British Sign Language Every Tuesday 3-4pm with Mrs sayer - G3
Expressive Arts Club Every Wednesday 3-4pm with Miss Wharton - Drama Studio
Year 11 Revision Every day 3-4pm (check specific subject timetables)
Coming soon Look out for Darts club coming soon

See below for all of our extra-curricular clubs

Extra-curricular Timetable 

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Lost Property

Our Student Services Team receive many lost property items each day. We aim to reunite all items with their rightful owners and ask that you help us by adding your children's name to all items; coats, blazers, bags, shoes etc. 

If you are currently missing any items, please email us with a description and we will look through our lost property collection.

walkden.info@coopacademies.co.uk

Please note that at the end of the academic year, all items will be sent to charity or disposed of. 

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Mr Evans Half Marathon

Most of our pupils will know Teaching Assistant Mr Evans, on 31st May 2026 he will be running the AJ Bell Half Marathon, raising funds for British Heart Foundation. If you would like to get behind Mr Evans and support this brilliant charity, we have added his funding page below.

Mr Evans Fundraiser

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Army Careers Centre – Presentation

Year 11 pupils who may be interested in a career in the armed forces – please see the letter below inviting you to a presentation evening for Army Foundation College Harrogate. Booking is essential, please see more details in the letter.

Invitation
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Work Experience Placements

Our wonderful Year 10 pupils are busy planning for their work experience placements this summer. We still have many pupils that have not managed to find a placement yet.

If you have a work place in mind that could offer a placement, please let us know, you can email us at walkden.info@coopacademies.co.uk

Work experience week is Monday 22nd - Friday 26th June. Employers would need to hold Employer Liability Insurance.

Thank you in advance for your support as always for our pupils

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Check your Free School Meals Eligibility. 

You can check if you qualify for Free School Meals by clicking the link below and completing a form with Salford Council, if you do meet the criteria Salford Council will notify us. 

Please also remember that all pupils regardless of Free School Meals entitlement, can receive a free buttered bagel at breakfast (8am-8.25am). Next term we are also trialling extending our free bagels to break time.

Free School Meals 

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Nut Awareness

Please be reminded of the importance of keeping our academy environment as nut-free as possible. We have pupils in the academy with serious nut allergies. 

To ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children, we ask that no nut products (including peanuts, peanut butter, Nutella, or foods containing nuts) are brought onto the premises.

We kindly ask all families to carefully check ingredient labels before sending snacks or packed lunches.

Your cooperation is essential in helping us keep every child safe. Thank you for your continued support and understanding.

 

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Term Dates: 2026-2027 

You will find our new 2026-2027 term dates below. Please note our INSET Days have had a minor change. 

Term Dates 2026-2027

 

 

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Co-op Local Causes Fund

Walkden has been chosen as 1 of 3 local causes for Co-op Members to support.

We would like your support to build sustainable futures for our pupils and future pupils. Co-op members can vote on their membership app.

Read more

 

The funding will help us to purchase inclusive, modern sports equipment, which will open up opportunities for all young people – especially those who are disadvantaged or have physical disabilities – to participate fully in physical activity.

Every time Co-op Members buy selected Co-op products and services, 1% of what they spend goes towards local community causes, and your votes can help our school receive a larger share!

How to help:
Become a Co-op Member at coop.co.uk/membership

Choose Co-op Academy Walkden - Building Sustainable Futures as your cause in the App

Shop and scan your card!

Thank you for helping us make a difference in our school community.

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Important upcoming dates

Year 10 Work Experience Evening - Time TBC
All Day
05
March
End of Spring Term 2 - Easter Holidays
All Day
02
April

Latest stories

05 Dec 2025
Frozen Jr Performance
Pupils at Co-op Academy Walkden brought our community together this Festive Period with a spectacular production of Frozen Jr The Musical. 
Read more
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...
Read more

Check out our social media pages for daily updates.

Thumbnail for Instagram post created 17 minutes ago
walkdencoop
Friday's Celebration Station was replaced today with our Nando's voucher giveaway! All students who have attended school every day since 27th January were entered into a prize draw with 20 winners announced today! Have a great half term break and we will see everybody on Monday 23rd Feb.
17 minutes ago
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