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Welcome from our Principal, Mr Hacker

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Dear parents and carers

Welcome to the latest newsletter.

I want to say a huge thanks for your support with attendance. Attendance really matters for our pupils, maintaining routines, accessing consistent teaching and developing resilience which prepares them well for the future. Whole-school attendance at Walkden is the highest it's been this year at the moment and we're grateful for your support with this for all the above reasons. 

You will have noticed a few communications over the past week or so, but in case you missed it, the annual parent and carer survey is now live and can be accessed through this link.

This is a brilliant opportunity to provide feedback on all aspects of school life and helps us to shape future plans. 

As well as all the usual awards and prizes in the academy, it's been great to see our pupils being selected for some different events and awards outside our academy.  A huge well done to Walkden's band ''Paradox'' for coming second in the MAPAS Battle of the Bands Competition and to Ellie for being successful in her application for the Academies Trust Young Musician of the Year Competition, we look forward to seeing Ellie perform in the Semi-Finals in May. We also saw three of our Year 7 pupils competing in the Academies Trust Spelling Bee, where they narrowly missed a place in the final, as well as Year 11 Science Pupils who brought home the first place trophy for The James Joule Challenge at Pendleton Sixth Form College. 

Forward planning and a reminder that we finish for the Easter break at the end of Thursday 2nd April.

Wishing you all a great weekend

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

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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Attendance Matters

This week you should have received an email from our Attendance Team about our plans to improve punctuality.  

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Parents raising money for charity

We regularly share events that our pupils and staff are involved in and this week we are sharing an event that one of our parents is involved in. 

Miss Tornai is running the Manchester Pretty Muddy 5k Race for Life, hoping to make a positive impact to people's lives who are currently battling cancer. 

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Salford Neurodiverse Drop In

The team at Salford Children's Services have shared the below details with us for their weekly neurodiverse drop-in sessions and other events that are coming up in the local area. 

Find out more
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Careers 

This month some great companies have opened their apprenticeship applications, take a look by following the links below

If any Year 11 students would like advice or support around Apprenticeships, please pop into the Careers Office to speak with Mrs Fletcher or email victoria.fletcher@coopacademies.co.uk 

Apprenticeship details

 

NHS Apprenticeships - https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/search/results?keyword=apprenticeship&location=

Farm Foods Management Apprenticeships - https://www.farmfoods.co.uk/apprenticeships.php

NG Bailey Engineering - https://careers.ngbailey.com/en-gb/job/75782334

Network Rail Apprenticeships - https://www.earlycareers.networkrail.co.uk/.../apprentic.../

Google - London Based Apprenticeships - https://www.google.com/.../buildyourfuture/apprenticeships

BT Apprenticeships - https://jobs.bt.com/content/Engineering---Apprenticeships/

You can also check for other apprenticeship opportunities in a range of different sectors here

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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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Government Online Safety Campaign

''You won't know until you ask'' online safety campaign. 

Please find below some helpful resources to support families in keeping children safe online.

Online Safety

 

Help your child stay safe online - Kids Online Safety

This website introduces a government campaign called “You Won’t Know Until You Ask”, which is all about helping parent and carers feel more confident talking to their children about what they see and do online. It offers simple, practical tips—like how to start conversations, what questions to ask, and how to support your child if they come across upsetting or harmful content.

Many children spend a lot of time online, and it’s not always easy for parent and carers to know what they’re being exposed to. This guidance is useful because it helps you open up regular, relaxed conversations, build trust, and make sure your child knows they can come to you if something doesn’t feel right. It’s a helpful starting point for keeping your child safe and supported in today’s digital world.

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Uniform Update

This month the Academies Trust has shared their new Uniform Standards for 2026/2027. Please find the update below.

Uniform Update

 

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Year 10 & 11 Parent/Carer online sessions

GM Higher are offering multiple online courses for parents and carers of Year 10 and Year 11 pupils who are starting to think about their post-16 choices.

Future Ready – supporting your child’s HE journey

11th March, 6-7pm online

Suitable for parents/carers of learners who are in Y10-12

This session will help you understand how you can support your child to explore education choices, career ideas and take positive steps to open up future opportunities.

A guide to Student Finance and DSA

Tuesday 31st March, 6-7pm online

Suitable for parents/carers of learners who are in Y10-13

This session covers student finance, including loans, bursaries, scholarships, and repayment. We’ll also explain Disables Students’ Allowance (DSA) and guide you through the forms to ensure support is in place before starting Higher Education.

Accessing support in Higher Education

Tuesday 12th May, 6-7pm online

Suitable for parents/carers of learners who are in Y10-13

We’ll look at the support available within Higher Education and outline the ways to access this. It’s an opportunity to receive up to date information around support services to enable your young person to fulfil their potential.

You can book on to any of the above courses via the following link : Parents & Carers - Greater Manchester Higher

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Important upcoming dates

End of Spring Term 2 - Easter Holidays
All Day
02
April
Start of Summer Term 1
All Day
20
April
Year 8 Progress Review Evening - Time TBC
All Day
07
May

Latest stories

10 Mar 2026
International Women's Day 2026
Following International Women’s Day, we are proud to highlight the incredible work of Miss Crook and the 'Her Own Way' extra-curricular club. This week, our pupils are leading assemblies to share their mission: ending period poverty and ensuring menstrual dignity for every pupil...
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Check out our social media pages for daily updates.

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KS3 Art project. Each year group has been given a different task to complete as homework. Further details are available on Google Classroom. All artwork must be submitted by 20th April.£10 vouchers up for grabs for each year group. Pupils can speak to their Art Teacher for further information.
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