Student journeys at our academy have a beginning, middle and end.
The starting point is a Year 6 Open Evening, which we held last Thursday.
It was an incredible night. The reason why was a massive team effort.
Staff worked tirelessly and showed great creativity to put on an event which gave an honest and true reflection of our curriculum and life at the Academy.
I would also like to thank the students who helped host the 200-plus families who attended.
We stressed to our visitors the importance of asking questions and finding out the answers.
We never take for granted that parents will place their trust in us. We hope they had a good evening that helps them make an informed choice about the next steps in education for their child.
I thank them for coming and making the night what it was.
At the other end of our spectrum, we have finally had clarification from exam regulator Ofqual around standards for next year’s GCSEs.
Allowances, in place for the last three years because of Covid, will be scrapped and grade profiles will return to those of 2019, though with an additional safety net that overall grades will be no lower.
Formula sheets in GCSE Maths, Physics and Combined Science are due to be kept but advanced information about what is covered in the exams will no longer continue.
Students will be expected to learn and revise all topics, and any could come up in the exam.
It is important information for Year 11. They are basically being told it is “back-to-normal,” pre-Covid times yet they have still experienced two years of disrupted education.
The draft of next year’s GCSE timetable has been produced and we will be talking to students in the coming weeks as to what that looks like.
In the meantime, we have published the timetable for Year 11 exams that will start after half term. It can be found here.
We stress to our young people all the time their experience is inclusive of so many things:
- Taught curriculum
- Reflections / collective worship
- Character education
- Futures
- Extra-curricular programme
- House participation
- Raising Aspiration Days (RADs)
The first RAD of the school year is today and I wanted to give parents a flavour of what the staff team have put together for Years 7 to 11.
Years 7, 8 and 9 have a day focused on PiXL Edge, a framework that rebrands our leadership programme.
They will be learning the importance of LORIC – leadership, organisation, resilience, initiative and communication – skills.
Year 9 will do so at Glanford Park, with the sessions delivered at Scunthorpe United. Thank you to them for giving our students the run of the ground.
Year 10 are focusing on Futures, including a work experience launch event. They will be learning what it is, where they might go and hear from fantastic guest speakers, who will talk about options and opportunities.
Finally, Year 11 are having a post-16 preparation day. It will feature sessions around high performance, including materials produced by BT Sport presenter Jake Humphrey.
The day also looks at study skills and the application process for colleges and apprenticeships.
The day’s just as important as our curriculum and it’s the first example this year of our unique selling point that sets this Academy apart from others:
“Nourishing our young people with the skills needed to grow, flourish, and be well prepared for life.”
From the start with Year 6, through to supporting our Year 11s with the next steps in their lives at the end of their time here, and plenty of terrific midpoints in between.
What a journey.
