Principal's Letter to Parents Feb 2010

There is a copy of this letter available to download at the bottom of this page.

12 February 2010

Our ref: PH.LJP                                                                                                         

Dear Parents/Carers

We are writing to you at the end of a very busy half term.  Despite the snow and the rain, our attendance figures have been higher than last year.  We are very proud of our Academy students whose attendance every week has been higher than the national average.  Thank you to all our parents for making sure your son/daughter attends every day.

Sport

Notable results have been the Year 9 and Year 10 teams both reaching the semi finals of the County Cup in football.  The Year 9 team’s opposition is still to be confirmed but the Year 10 team will play away at Montsaye in Rothwell.

The Girls U15 basketball team played against North Bromsgrove High.  They lost but battled hard until the end despite five of their strongest players missing.  Particular mention goes to Jess Williams Year 11 and Omotola Akinwande Year 10 for outstanding performances.

The Year 9 Boys and Under 19 Boys basketball teams have also been in National Cup action with mixed results. The Boys U19 Central Venue League is held at the Academy every Friday night. The boys have qualified for the play offs during half term.

Mr Power’s Rugby Club has gone from strength to strength and the Academy has entered teams in Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 District tournaments.  The Year 9 team came fourth but both Year 7 and 8 won their respective competitions and will now compete in the next round.

Robert Male (Year 11) continues to blaze a trail in cross country competitions and finished eighth in the County Championships and has since represented Northamptonshire.

The Northampton School Sports Partnership organized and delivered four Year 5/6 Indoor Athletics Festivals involving 23 schools at Lings Forum Leisure Centre.  The festivals were a great success, with the winning school and runners up now proceeding to the County Finals in March.  Much of the success has to be attributable to the outstanding Young Leaders (YAP Students) from Northampton Academy who supported all four festivals. They are:

Emma Mitchell

Jamie Wilson

James Mildren

Ryan Moss

Jack Walker

Well done to all our students who compete in teams, enjoy PE and learn the skills of teamwork and leadership through sport.

Valuables

The Academy policy on valuables is clear.  All valuables, including phones must be left in student reception.  In doing so, this diminishes the risk of theft and helps to keep the Academy safe.  The Academy cannot take responsibility for valuables which are not stored in this way.  

PE Department policy on valuables:

• Although clear safeguarding rules are in place, the PE department are unable to guarantee the safe storage of students' valuables during PE lesson time.  Students should only bring in valuable items such as keys, a watch, and a limited amount of money for break and lunch refreshments. 
• Students must leave any valuable items with student reception on arrival at school, not during lesson times.
• Any valuable items remaining in the changing rooms are the responsibility of the student. The Academy cannot be held responsible for them.  It is recommended that valuables be left at home on the days when the student has PE.

It is unfortunate but we live in a world where items that are of value to us can sometimes be viewed as valuable to others.  If pupils adhere to the above policy their valuables will remain their valuables.

Academy TV

Each week we broadcast in the Academy a short TV programme.  This gives students the opportunity to contribute and through Academy TV we encourage debate throughout the Academy.  The broadcasts are found on our website.  In the most recent one we featured students from the Progress Zone who collected money for the Haiti Appeal and Courtney Cox who won a design a ‘Don’t Drop Litter’ poster competition.  The poster is now featured on banners in the courtyard.

Healthy Eating

We do not serve drinks containing sugar or unhealthy food in the canteen.  Please do not allow your children to bring crisps or sugar drinks into the Academy.  The Academy Council is promoting a Healthy School campaign and an Eco School week next half term and we ask you to support this.

Behaviour for Learning

Mr Mason has joined the Learning Management Team and we continue to promote high standards in behaviour and uniform.  Students are not allowed to wear coats in lessons or while moving around the building inside.  Students must wear the Academy blazer, a white shirt, a tie, smart black trousers and black shoes.  Trainers and boots are not allowed.  Please also be aware that facial piercings are not permitted.  We want all our students to be smart, to feel safe, enjoy learning and make progress in learning.

The fact that more parents than ever are attending parents’ evenings shows that you want the same for your child. 

If you need to contact us please telephone or email Parent Services kay.millard@northampton-academy.org (01604 774425) or if you need to speak to me directly then please contact my PA Mrs Linda Pollard on 01604 774401 or email l.pollard@northampton-academy.org.

Next Half Term

Looking ahead to the next half term, we may be visited by an Ofsted team.  We have made significant progress since they visited us three years ago and we want the efforts of our hard working students and staff to be recognized.  We recently had a team of experienced inspectors conducting an internal audit and they commented:

“High expectations are demonstrated through the setting and exceeding of challenging targets.  Self-evaluation is accurate and is based on close and more thorough monitoring of students progress.  This has resulted in improving progress, higher attendance levels and better behaviour for most students over the last four years”

We can do even better and we will!  Please let us have any suggestions as to how we can improve what we do at the Academy.  We do listen and we will act on what we hear.

DREAM (Determination, Respect, Enthusiasm, Aspiration and Motivation) are our key values.

DREAM – THE MUSICAL is our next school production.  We look forward to seeing you on 18 or 19 March 2010 at 7.30 p.m.

We wish you and your family a relaxing half term.  Exam groups should be working every single day and SAM Learning should be used to help revision.

With best wishes and in thanks for your support.

Yours faithfully

The Rt Revd Peter Hullah                                        Mrs Anne Hill

Principal                                                                     Deputy Principal