Headteacher Update

As we begin the final week of the half term I would like to thank families for their continued support. Our students have continued to respond extremely well to the challenges they have faced over recent weeks and they have fully embraced both the new one way system and the decision to continue to wear face coverings in corridors. It is also encouraging to see so many of them taking advantage of the opportunities presented by being back in normal teaching classrooms and now having access to the new Library and Resource Centre as well as a full range of extra curricular and enrichment opportunities. Well done! We look forward to the final half term and the further opportunities this will bring.

An additional well done to both Year 11 and Y13 for their effort and conduct during their recent assessments and the way that they have continued to apply themselves both in lessons and around school since these have finished. We look forward to a positive final week and hopefully seeing lots of students next half term as part of the exciting and enriching transition programme we have designed.

We should also take this opportunity to commend Year 10 for the way they prepared for their recent English Speaking Assessments. I know that Mrs Edmondson and the English team were very impressed.

Please find the link below to the latest Wellbeing Newsletter. I hope that this is helpful.

WB. 24th May Wellbeing Newsletter 15 (1)

A reminder that students are not to bring any form of medication into school. If there is a need for a child to take paracetamols etc they need to ask at the reception. If students have to take any other form of medication this is to be left at the reception and not carried around school in their bags. Thank you.

I am pleased to confirm the term dates for next year, including planned Training Days:

• Monday 6th September to 22nd October (includes training day Tuesday 28th September Open Evening)
• Monday 1st November to Friday 17th December (includes 6th Form Open Evening 2nd November and training day Friday 26th November)
• Tuesday 4th January to Friday 18th February
• Monday 28th February to Friday 8th April (includes training day Friday 8th April)
• Monday 25th April to Friday 27th May
• Monday 6th June to Monday 25th July (includes twilighted training day Monday 25th July

Head of Year Awards

Head of Year Updates
Miss Kincelll and Year 7
This week we have been thinking about kindness and how this can look in different ways. 

Mr Furniss in the chapel looked at how we can be kind to others as well as being kind to ourselves. And in assembly we looked at the Festival of Eid and how the Muslim community are particularly charitable during Ramadan and for Eid. We explored what Ramadan and Eid are and how important these events are in the Islamic calendar it has been lovely to see our Muslim students and our school community celebrating Eid- and I received a lovely little gift, it was a really lovely feeling to feel part of this celebration. A piece of scripture we looked at in assembly was ‘There are many rooms in my father’s house’ (John 14:2) I am always reminded of this when I see our school community, we have families from lots of different cultures, faiths and races and all are welcomed.

We have a particularly exciting Year 7 challenge at the moment: Year 7 Time Capsule!

Do you want your words and/or photographs to be a primary source of information in history lessons for the next generation? If so you can do any of the following.

Write a letter to Year 7 starting school in 2031, telling them about your first year here and how it was affected by Covid.
Write an article for a newspaper explaining what was enjoyable about lockdown. (Did you see more of nature? Did you enjoy working at home?) Also tell the reader what you didn’t like.
Have you got any photographs that you’d like to share? From you wearing a mask as part of your uniform, where you worked from at home to any hobbies that you took up over lockdown.
You can send me anything you’d like to be included in the time capsule either via your form tutor, hand to me in the library or email them to smurphy@ahs.pmat.academy

We will collect items until the end of term when the capsule will be sealed for 10 years!

Well done this week to our students of the week:
7Cm: Mary Cornforth
7Cy: Evie Simpson
7CAd: Lydia Scott
7Bl: Brooke Haywood
7Hf: Matthew Watkins
7Hv: Danuli Jayawardena
7Gr: Erin Smithson
7Cmp: Holly Gregson
7Mr: Noah Smee-Brown
7Nth: Amali Estabrooks
7Wno: Theo Beattie

Well done to our gold awards students this week:
Libby Lynch 7Cy: Well done for your resilience this week, you should be really proud of yourself. Keep it up, Miss Kincell
Josh Bailey 7Cy: Well done for your Well done for being incredibly brave and showing the form your best dancing! Keep it up, Miss Kincell.

Library Newsletter 21^st May
What a lovely term it has been, having everyone back in the library has made the place come alive again.  We want to remind you of our Book Group selection. We have more than thirty titles with multiple copies. Why not see if you can get together with a group of friends and read the same book over half term? You have until Thursday to make a selection. I’ve given you a few suggestions below, all from different reading levels. We really do have something for everyone!

Where the World Turns Wild Colour Black. (Quiz number 239139 Genre Fantasy)
Animals, trees, flowers, our city forbids them all… Juniper Greene lives in a walled city from which nature has been banished. While most people seem content to live in such a cage, she and her little brother Bear dream of escaping into the wild. To the one place humans have survived outside of cities. To where their mother is. Will they ever find the home they’re searching for?

You can read a short extract, synopsis and a review of the book by opening the link below. https://bookmurmuration.wordpress.com/2020/02/03/where-the-world-turns-wild/

Smart by Kim Slater. Colour Purple (Level 4.7. Quiz 227854)
A homeless man has been found murdered and no one cares apart from Kieran. He is determined to find out what happened. Kieran struggles to fit in, but has an amazing ability to draw. There seems to be dangerous secrets everywhere, not just outside but under his own roof. Will he get to the bottom of the murder?

You can read the first 13 pages by clicking on the link below. http://www.worldbookday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Smart-Chap-1.pdf

Clean Getaway by Nic Stone Colour Green (Quiz number 238050. Level 5)
Eleven-year-old Scoob has had a rough time of it of late, so the prospect of going on a road-trip with his gloriously wilful grandma seems pretty good. Travelling with the Green Book guide that lists ‘safe’ places for African Americans to travel, they visit sites such as the bombed church where civil rights activists used to gather, including Dr Martin Luther King, and the former home of Medgar Wiley Evers, a black soldier who fought in WWII and came home to fight for civil rights.

 You can watch a trailer for the book by clicking on the following link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zKomZFZGoI

This book gives us loads to think about. It is set in America, and tells a short history of racism in the United States. If you would like some discussion topics, and learn more about the real people in the book (Medgar Evers, Emmett Till and Ruby Bridges) click on the link below. https://images.randomhouse.com/promo_image/9781984892973_6648.pdf

Please return Your Library Books
Lots of you are telling us that you have brought your library books back to school, but have left them in your form room. Please can you return them to the library. We are still showing as having over 500 books outstanding. I called into a class this week with eleven students and they had 21 overdue books between them!

Mr Arthur and Year 8
As always, I hope this bulletin finds you all safe and well, and that you have been taking advantage of the new raft of ‘unlocking measures’ that were initiated this last week – it’s been a long and arduous road, but we really can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

A key focus for Year 8 at the moment continues to be the completion of homework. Staff are working hard to ensure all measures have been taken to make homework meaningful and accessible. Students should be receiving homework on paper currently as we are in the process of organising KS3 students to be set homework on Google Classroom after the May half-term break. Non-completion of homework will result in an after school detention the following day, and I very much hope that Year 8 will begin to set the standard for making sure homework is completed consistently and to the best of their ability. Homework club will also be running for Year 8 in ML2 for anyone that is struggling to complete homework and needs extra support. This can be attended on a voluntary basis, or myself and Mr Deamer may be in touch to discuss if your child may need to be in compulsory homework club if they are failing to meet deadlines consistently. Furthermore, if you will need a device for your child when Year 8 move across to receiving homework on Google Classroom, please do get in touch using the contact information at the bottom of this post.

Further to this, I would like to include a reminder from something I  have mentioned in previous weeks regarding punctuality. This is a key contributor to the success of students . It is important that students are sat in their form rooms ready to start the day before 8:45. This means that students must ensure they arrive on school site well before then – form rooms will be open from 8:30 for them to ‘drift in’ on a morning, and there are wellbeing resources available for when they arrive. This will also ensure that any important messages that are relayed to students during morning Tutor Time are given to all of the students. Furthermore, it is also vitally important that students arrive to lessons on time. Studies have shown that re-capping on old content through low-stakes testing is crucial to consolidating their learning. The first few minutes of a lesson is where most re-caps take place. It is therefore vitally important that students arrive to lessons promptly and ready to learn to ensure they maximise the input that is given to them by teachers across all subjects.

Finally from me, this week’s Act of Collective Worship focuses on the idea of climbing mountains (and involves a brief listen to the Miley Cyrus song – the Climb!). We look at the metaphor of climbing mountains – these challenges of varying different sizes that we face in our lives. For us, this can be arguments within friendship groups, the negative voices in our heads, exams and assessments in school or a deep fear of not being good enough. We seek to conquer our own personal mountains every day, and we as a school look to support students when overcoming these issues. Whilst it is certainly the summit the drives us to overcome these obstacles, it is the climb itself that matters – the Journey we take that helps us to grow and makes us better people in the face of adversity. In one of the most widely known scriptures from the Book of Matthew, Jesus says “You have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Faith, in God and in one’s own abilities, is crucial to overcoming these mountains. If we have faith, and we work hard to overcome these mountains, the view from the top tends to be spectacular!

Congratulations to the winners of the Head of Year Award this week – they are…

Ed Candlin (8ABt) – For demonstrating vast improvement in personal organisation this term! Well done!
Rosie Liddell (8JHe) – For excellent resilience and consistency this term. Well done!

Well done – a £5 Amazon Gift Card will be on its way as soon as possible!

Thank You for taking the time to read this bulletin. If you have any issues regarding your child in Year 8, please contact me on aarthur.ahs.pmat.academy, or Mr Deamer (PSW For Year 8) on rdeamer@ahs.pmat.academy

Mr Avery and Year 9
It’s hard to believe that the students are coming to the end of another half term, and their GCSE transition Year. In only 7 weeks time, the students will depart for their summer holidays and Y10 students. I mentioned this to some Year 9s the other day, and as shocked as they were at the short time they have left in Year 9, many explained they were ready to make the next step in their school journey. From the evidence I have seen over the last few weeks, I have to agree with the students. Their hard work and focus in lessons, and their dedication to completing learning away from the lesson, all points to a smooth transition to year 10 – where the real hard work begins! I am hoping for a more settled year, and as the national vaccine program continues (i had my jab the other day!), I am more confident the students will have a settled two years in preparation for their GCSEs.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents about the uniform policy in school. Over the last few weeks, with a minority of students,  there has been a decline in the very high standards set by the Year 9  earlier in the year. The main concern is around trainers, jewellery and leggings. A polite reminder that these items are not allowed to be worn in school, and students will be asked to change their shoes or trousers if they wear them to school. After a long period out of school, we are working hard to reinforce expectations with the students, and we appreciate the support of parents on this matter. 

This week it has been a real pleasure to see a select number of students in Year 9 continue the peer mentoring programme with students in the sixth form. The students have been really positive about this, with the aim to raise aspiration and support with emotional wellbeing. If this is something you feel your child might benefit from, please contact either myself or Miss Clark and we would be happy to discuss it further. 

This week the head of year award was given to Ben Blackburn (9MSt) and Caitlin Wright (9CAl) for their hard work and positive attitude since Easter. Well done!

As always please feel free to contact me on navery@ahs.pmat.academy to discuss any concerns or issues.

Mrs Avey and Year 11
As we enter our last week before transition the team would like to highlight what a pleasure it has been to interact with out students who have continued to come into school daily  and make the most of the lessons on offer. The animated videos – soon to be available on google classroom –  are amazing: creative; fun; educational and witty. Students have also received information in ACW about the transition programme in place for after half term and are encouraged to continue to sign up for what promises to be an enjoyable, informative, helpful confidence boosting time.

A huge thank you to those of you who have been able to donate to our prom  ‘Just Giving’ page. You are being so generous and we thank you for it. A number of our wonderful, resilient, giving and tough students braced the rain last week to wash staff cars to further boost the coffers. A huge thank you and well done to them too. Project Prom has been open in the new library and it has been well attended by our students. We are arranging for any clothes that are borrowed to be dry cleaned and we have a seamstress who is willing to make any necessary /possible alterations. 

On Friday last week, those students in school at morning registration received  their Leavers Books. We hope that they are very happy to receive them. Opportunities to sign up for potential seating arrangements for the Prom will be taking place this week. Whilst the vast majority of our students in school are extremely reliable, trustworthy and mature, we would like to finish by reminding that lessons  still need to be attended this week  and good behaviour is expected in and around school at all times.

Collective Worship
This week our form tutor Act of Collective Worship looks at how we can understand poverty better, its impact on people’s lives and what can be done to make a difference.

“The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” Proverbs ch29, v7, The Bible
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” Proverbs ch31, v8, The Bible
“As long as poverty, injustice, and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.” Nelson Mandela
Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs ch31, v9, The Bible
“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.” Nelson Mandela