Dear Parent/Carer
I wanted to email at the start of the break to continue to work collaboratively for the best of our young people. Within this correspondence I am going to share some updates and ask for your help to address a couple of matters that have been raised with me.
Behaviour and Attitudes:
Mid-Year updates and celebrations
As you can see from the table, the behaviour, attitudes and attendance of pupils continues to improve year on year, and this is only possible when parents/carers and the school foster a partnership and share the same high aspirations for their child.
Thank you for your support and the positive feedback within the parent survey regarding the systems and ‘warm strict’ level of discipline at school that provides a disruption free learning environment.
Parents/carers choose to send their children to our school as we unashamedly focus on academic and character excellence. We “sweat the small stuff”, focusing on minute details (including uniform and behaviour), routines, and high standards for seemingly minor tasks, which prepares pupils for the future by fostering the habits, discipline, and self-regulation that are essential for long-term success. This approach moves beyond academic knowledge to cultivate “soft skills” and professional behaviours that employers highly value, such as accuracy, reliability, and attention to detail, supporting our vision for our pupils to be “more than just educated.”
Parent collaboration, support and reminders over the break
During the break please remember to check the expectations below as we had to address these during the last week of the module:
- No lines should be cut into hair or eyebrows. This maintains a standard, professional appearance, and avoids any escalation of distracting or gang related patterns being added.
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- Fake nails, piercings or lashes to be removed. If you have chosen to apply fake nails, piercings, lashes or tan over the break, then please ensure you have booked to have them removed before we return. New piercings will not have time to heal over this break and so must not be attempted.
- Equipment. Check your child has all equipment items; some pupils had misplaced their calculator and may need a new one. All students must have a minimum of at least one black/blue pen, a ruler, an eraser, a protractor and a red pen. Year 11 students in particular must ensure that they have all their necessary equipment for the PPEs, which continue from the start of module 4 – last module, there were a significant number of students who did not come along prepared for their exams in terms of equipment.
- Uniform (Skirt). Check this fits correctly, it should naturally sit within 6cm of the knee.
- Uniform (Shoes). Check these still fit, with no holes or loose soles.
Anti-Social Behaviour in the community
It was disappointing to have to meet with the Police to discuss how we can work together and utilise parental support to eradicate anti-social behaviour within the Hoo, and other local, communities. We have worked closely with the Police to identify current pupils and known local youths following a ‘dispersal order’ being imposed as a number of young people had engaged in totally unacceptable behaviour.
Our pupils understand appropriate behaviour and, as you can see from the above table, they have excellent behaviour when at school. We talk regularly about acting with integrity at all times and we need to work together to ensure our community is free from anti-social behaviour. Please reiterate appropriate behaviour with your child when they are out with friends outside of school time:
- Speak with respect. No shouting, screaming, foul language or abusive comments.
- Loitering in large groups is intimidating. Keep to groups of no more than 10, as larger groups lead to silly and inappropriate behaviour to impress others.
- Respect other people’s property. There is no need to bang on people’s doors, harass homes or throw items that could hit windows, cars or people.
- E-Bikes/Motorbikes. There have been a number of occasions where youths have been riding these in the community, carrying passengers, trespassing on private land, intimidating pedestrians and causing a disturbance.
I ask that, if your child is out unsupervised, you maintain regular contact with them – use of a tracking app is recommended – and question their plans, for example:
- Who are they with?
- Where are they going, specifically?
- How many people will be in their group?
- Will they be only with their friends, or will there be strangers present?
I would also like to remind all that a pupil’s behaviour outside of school could lead to sanctions being applied by the Academy. This could lead to a Direction off-site, a suspension or, if a criminal act is believed to have been committed, a permanent exclusion may be issued.
Survey questions
The recent survey was very positive – thank you to everyone who took the time to contribute. I wanted to answer a couple of queries immediately:
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- Knowing what pupils are learning. This is located on our website.
- How well is my child doing? We sent reports at Christmas, outlining behaviour for learning scores that indicate if pupils are on track and contributing effectively in class. During module 4 you will receive reports for Year 7-10 (and Year 12) following Mid-Year assessments. You can also track attendance and behaviour through MCAS. Also look out for the SLT drop-in evenings that take place each term, where you can come along with questions and queries.
- SEN information. During module 4, Mrs Haworth (SENDCo) and her team of assistant SENDCo’s will be inviting parents to an SEN drop-in session to understand the support in place at the Academy.
Thank you once again for your ongoing support, and there will be further correspondence this week regarding traffic, parking and phones following local and national guidance being provided to schools.
Yours sincerely
Mr C. Guerin-Hassett
Principal
Mrs M. Hutchinson
Deputy Principal