Weekly Newsletters

We break up on Tuesday 19 December, after our whole school assembly.  This term has been more than productive as the fantastic energy put in by staff, governors, students and parents/carers has laid the foundations to build upon a multitude of successes that will be communicated over this and the forthcoming terms.  It is the season to be positive and my message is one of optimism and belief that we have a goldmine of talent here at our school and we will recognise this.

One aspect of the end of term will be about acknowledging and celebrating academic success, progress, high attendance and other achievements that students have been awarded. The accomplishments of Jaden Harris, one of our Post16 students, is testimony to the talent we have in the school.  Congratulations to Jaden on the four awards she has received during her kick boxing career, which you can read more about in this week’s newsletter.  

Congratulations also to:

• Matt Denton- in recognition of his flying achievements
• Logan Marriott- involvement in St John's Ambulance
• Ethan Smith- setting up the Warhammer Club

From the start of next term we will be opening the school gates from 8.00am rather than the usual opening time of 6.30am.  Students arriving early will be directed to the canteen and will be expected to remain in this area until 8.30am.

At the end of the school day, the only exit will be the main entrance, with the library entrance remaining closed.

Bryan Erwin
Principal

Revision sessions will begin at 3:25pm and last for approximately an hour. It is imperative students attend so they can work closely with their teachers to look to close the gap on areas of weakness as well as revise key topics in preparation for their exams in the 
Summer. 

Mondays: Dance (Misss Clissett 5L47), GCSE PE (Miss Sothman 4U04), History (Miss Hackett 3L19, Miss Walker 3L16)

Tuesdays: GCSE Art & Design (Miss Williams 1L37), BTEC Art & Design (Mr Housley 1L40), Italian (Miss Frith 4U12)

Wednesdays: Drama (Mr Fisk 5L17), Health & Social Care (Miss Mayfield 3U23), IT (Mr Boothman 1L25)

Thursdays: Computer Science (Mr Satari 1L26), Geography (Miss Leeman 3L15)

Mr Hussain
Head of Faculty, Maths

These will primarily arrive via email, so please check your inbox for these. We have made upgrades to the system distributing these reports and have simplified the way in which you access the individual report. Each email will now contain a single PDF attachment which consists of the report and guidance to accompany it. Within the email is a link to a short feedback survey, should you wish to request a call from a subject teacher.

Mr Swift
Assistant Principal

In its fifth Year now we have once again got 5 deserving candidates. This year’s nominees are:

Alex Shaul – Mountain biking

Imran Sharzi – Boxing

Jorga Matchwick – Rugby

Ellyssia Crutchfield – Football

Thomas Fox – Athletics

The voting is open from today and will remain open until Thursday 14 December at 9.00am. The winner will be announced in the final school assembly of this academic term. Good luck to all the nominee’s.

Mr Gray
Teacher of PE

Jaden was presented the following;

• Second degree Black belt.
• International fighter recognition.
• National coach award - she was awarded this because Jaden will travel the country to difference competitions, even ones she does not fight at to ensure the fighters are coached for their fighters, and for her dedication to the younger fighters, ensuring they are always coached.
• Best female of the year award.  

The Best female of the Year award was one of only 8 main awards on offer for the evening, Jaden was awarded this for her dedication and commitment. For fighting at every competition she can, for always doing what is asked of her, she teaches, she coaches, she fights and always supports the fighters, always stepping up to the mark without question.

February will mark 6 years of Jaden’s kickboxing career, and in that time she has achieved the following:

• She has passed 10 belt gradings, to become a second degree black belt.
• 9 World titles.
• Over 100 British, English and European titles.
• 2 Highly commended Peterborough telegraph awards.
• 3 KSCS sports personality of the year awards.
• 3 BCKA performance of the year awards.
• 5 Special recognition awards.
• She has also recently been promoted to full instructor gaining her level 2 coaching certificate, and will now teach on of the Peterborough BCKA clubs.

She has done all this along side her education, and still gained excellent gcse results and excellent A level results.

I’m sure you agree, this is all something to be extremely proud of.

Victoria Harris

Every week I will be sending out resources students can start using at home called the final countdown, this may seem premature but their are only 80 teaching days to the first summer exam and revising gradually is much more effective. Using the countdown alongside Hegarty and other revision resources will really make the difference to closing the gap on areas students still have issues with, please find attached week 1 of the extra questions students can do at home with the support of parents as mark schemes and examiners reports are also attached. Every week I will continue to attach five topics that regularly appear on examinations, there is also a Personal Learning Checklist so students can track what they feel they have mastered and what they need more help on. This can be used alongside Hegarty maths which has video tutorials to help students understand topics.

Mr Donnelly
Teacher of Maths

We take attendance and punctuality very seriously and will continue to support our students in improving their overall attendance and punctuality to lessons.  One of the key roles of a school is to prepare our young people for the world of work.  Persistent lateness to work will almost inevitably result in a dismissal and so arriving at school on time is a key life skill.  Furthermore, when a pupil arrives late to school, there are many other consequences:

• If your child misses out on essential instructions given at the beginning of lessons.  In fact, arriving 5 minutes late each day adds up to missing 3 entire days of school by the end of the year.
• Pupils might feel awkward and embarrassed going into the classroom when everyone else is already settled.
• When one person arrives late everyone loses out as the class is disrupted and the teacher must take time away from the other pupils to explain what is going on for the lesson.
• Students who are frequently late develop a pattern of lateness which often means they arrive late for GCSE or A’ Level examinations, negatively affecting their performance in their final examinations.

The school will take account of individual circumstances in each case, however we wish to make it very clear that the following are not valid reasons for being late to school and will results in a “late" or "late after registration closed” code being issued, alongside the 30 minute late detention after school.

• “I got up late” or “My alarm did not go off”
• “The bus was late” or “Traffic” (except in exceptional circumstances, such as a break down)
• “I couldn’t find my uniform / coursework / PE kit / etc”
• “My parents made me late”
• “I was taking my brother or sister to school.”
• “I had an appointment” or “Mum/Dad had an appointment” (These should be made outside of school time unless it is an absolute emergency) 

We thank you for your continued support in helping our school to further improve attendance and punctuality.  

Mr Abbott & Mrs Blackledge
Assistant Principal / School Attendance Officer

They are delivering a very strong message about Cyber Bullying, Discrimination & British Values.

Graduates from the famous BRIT School of Performing Arts, Stephan Benson and Jeffrey Okyere, make up the dynamic and explosive UK Pop/R&B duo “Misunderstood”. Since appearing on the “Britains Got Talent” Semi Finals in dance group "Myztikal" the boys have supported MOBO Award Winner "Chipmunk" and the legendary Grammy winners !Boyz II Men on tour!

Year 7 students will watch a unique and entertaining performance from the artists, followed by discussions around the main message of empowering students to make the right choices in regards to Online Safety & Cyber Bullying.  As well as to inform students to treat everyone fairly, whether they have a different sexual preference or are of a different race, sex, or nationality. They will also discuss why diversity should be celebrated and the fundamental British Values.

Mrs McNaughton
Teacher of English

Congratulations to Aspire who have pushed further into first place. It is important to make the most of your time at school. 96% at the end of the academic year is classed as good attendance but this still misses 8 days, with 40 lessons missed. If you have 90% attendance this equals 19 days with 95 lessons missed. This impacts on the students results.