Dear Families
I hope this update finds you and those closest to you in the best of health. We have enjoyed another eventful week at the academy this week and will be looking forward to celebrating Eid Al Adha with our community at the start of next week. The details on our Eid Fayre are below along with a number of other updates from the week.
As a school we have further cause for celebration having received our report from the Quality in Careers Standard validation process. You will know that this externally validated award means a great deal to the academy and recognises the unique work that we do to prepare our students for success beyond their time with us at the academy. It sits alongside our World Class Schools Award and our Inclusion Quality Mark Centre of Excellence designation which, collectively are 3 key pillars of the provision that underpin the success of our young people. You can read more on this and find a link to the full report below.
Art Design and Technology Update
Our ADT team and students will host and exhibition to showcase the work produced by Year 11 Art and Textiles students on Tuesday 18th June between 3.30pm and 5pm. Parents of these students should have received an invitation via text message. Please RSVP to Mrs Calvert to confirm your attendance. We look forward to showcasing the hard work that has been put into Art and Textiles over the last two years!
On Friday, Mrs Calvert took A-Level Textiles and Product Design students to the ‘Inspiring Minds’ Event at Loughborough University to participate in a variety of degree level workshops related to Textiles and Product Design. The students got involved with a variety of taster sessions to experience studying a creative subject at university level and welcomed speeches from the University’s Careers Project Officer. They participated in a Q & A session held by current students and members of the alumni, where course specific queries were addressed as well as general enquiries about university life and experiences, halls of residence, business skills and why Loughborough should be considered for their higher education. The students were able to explore the Design School and Creative Arts Degree Show, which showcases work produced by Textiles, Fine Art, Graphics, Design and Foundation Level students, and were able to gain valuable insight and inspiration to use in their own A Level studies.
Anti-Vaping Letter – working together across Derby
Attached to the email version of this update is a letter regarding vapes and e-cigarettes that has been written collaboratively by all the secondary head teachers across Derby City. There is considerable concern about the use of vapes by young people, the lack of regulation around them and the unknown longer-term consequences on both physical and mental health. I would urge all families to discourage their children from using nicotine products and seek help from school and your GP if you are struggling to manage this.
Student Uniform Labelling
A polite reminder for all parents to ensure that their child’s uniform is labelled as this makes it easier to return should any items become lost. We have a considerable amount of lost uniform in our lost property basket, they are not labelled and cannot therefore be returned to their rightful owner.
School Term Dates 2025-2027 Consultation
Derby city Council are consulting on the term dates for the academic years spanning 2025-26 and 2026-27 and have asked us to share this consultation with you. You can find the survey here. It is worth noting that, as an academy, we do not follow the Derby City term dates and urge families to use our website as the main source of information around term dates. We do tend to align on the whole with Derby City as this is most convenient for most of our families but there are minor changes around some dates to accommodate the needs of the school and training days.
Medical School Visit
On Friday, a number of Year 12 aspiring medical students visited the Medical School of Nottingham University at Derby Royal Hospital, gaining a firsthand insight into the world of Medicine and Biomedical studies. The interactive experience, designed to provide a glimpse into studying Medicine, comprised a diverse range of workshops and laboratory sessions. Students had the opportunity to participate in activities such as lung function testing, cell detection, and hands-on laboratory exercises. Throughout their visit, the students were fully engaged and thoroughly enjoyed their time, leaving with a sense of enthusiasm and motivation to pursue their passion for Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at university.
Year 7 Parents Evening
On Wednesday, 12th June we welcomed Year 7 families into school for Parents Evening. The event was really well attended and provided a chance to make connections and review the performance of the newest members of our community. Thank you to the Year 7 team for organising the event and to all families for taking the time to visit. If you have any further enquiries about this, please contact the Year 7 team – Mrs Thomas and Mrs Hrncic.
Eid al-Adha
As a school we will be celebrating Eid al-Adha on Tuesday 18th June. We will be welcoming students to school with a small gift, followed by our Eid Fayre at lunch. Here we will be selling Samosas for 50p each, there will be an opportunity for Henna, decorating Eid cards and also enjoying music together in our courtyard.
May I remind any Muslim families to notify school if your child is spending Monday the 17th celebrating so we can adjust our registers accordingly. Please see the letter distributed previously for further information about this.
Year 13 Student Leadership Application deadline
On Wednesday, Gurkiran Kaur, a former student and now a Councilor for Normanton Ward came to speak to the Year 12 students about ‘Taking Opportunities’. Gurkiran outlined the numerous opportunities that she had taken whilst a student at Derby Moor and how the skills developed through taking part in these activities had been of use, even in her current position as Councilor.
The aim of this session was to raise the profile of the opportunities within the school and to encourage the Year 12 students to consider applying to be part of the Year 13 Student Leadership group. If your child is in Year 12, please do speak with them about the role of Year 13 Leadership and encourage them to take the opportunity and apply. Mr. Scott sent out the application forms by email on Friday morning.
Year 12 Reading Mentors – short term 4-week project
There is still an opportunity for Year 12 students to get involved in a 4-week Reading Mentor project that will be starting on Thursday 20th June with Year8 students. Year12 students who are interested in this project can email Mr. Scott. There is a meeting on Wednesday 19th June during session 1 in the FLC.
Library
I am pleased to introduce you to our new school Librarian, Miss Jones. She is working to update the resources in the library and has sent out a survey to students and staff for them to complete. The link to this survey is https://forms.gle/UrHbQoBJF5r1Ki1h8 If you have not done so yet then please feel free to contribute your ideas, so that Miss Jones is able to use these to help update and create a new and improved library resource for our students.
PTFA Uniform Appeal
The PTFA Uniform shop have asked for an appeal for donation of clean uniform to help replenish their stocks. As we come to the end of the school year. If you find that you are needing to buy new Uniform for your child, then please could you consider donating the old uniform, providing it is in good condition. The PTFA sell the donated uniform at a vastly reduced cost, compared to buying new e.g. a Blazer costs £5, Trousers £3 etc. All monies raised will be used to support students in school. The PTFA would like to receive donations of Blazers, Ties, Trousers, Skirts, PE kit etc. If you wish to donate uniform to the PTFA, then please can you put the clean uniform in a plastic bag and leave it in the ‘Blue Bin’ which is to the right of the Main reception.
Principal’s Coffee Morning
The next Principals Coffee morning is on Wednesday 26th June at 9.40-10.40am. All are welcome to attend for an informal chat with myself and Mr Scott. If you are interested, please come to Main Reception, ahead of 9.40, where you will be met by Mr Scott.
Sports Update
Athletics Competition: On Saturday 8th June 2024, three of our talented athletes took part in a County Championship competition at Moorways Athletics Stadium. The competition was against all Derbyshire schools with all three students competing against a very high standard of athletes. Despite this and some very strong headwinds all the student’s exceeded expectations. Please see below the results.
- Senior Girls: AL came 1st in the 100m – Will be considered for English Schools competition based on finishing times.
- Intermediate girls: IW came 4th in the 100m and 4th in the Long Jump
- Junior girls: MRS came 4th in the 100m.
We look forward to seeing IW and MRS in next year’s competition and wish AL all the best in future events and after leaving Derby Moor Academy this summer as a Year 13 student. We will watch IW and MRS closely this summer as they compete in a variety of other athletics competitions.
U13 Cricket vs Littleover: On Tuesday, our U13s played their first cricket fixture of the season against Littleover. The team consisted of a range of year 7 and 8 students who have never played together before and for some this was their first ever cricket match. We started the game with a strong opening from MH retiring on 27 and building up the score. The boys settled into the game and further outstanding performances came from FK who hit three 6’s and one 4 to retire on the maximum of 30 and AE who hit a convincing 20. In 12 overs the team managed to score a staggering 118 runs. When bowling, the team came out firing, with early wickets from MH to settle the team. It was then in the 4th over where FK again stepped up and produced a hattrick of wickets, something rarely seen in cricket! Later in the game saw the team commandingly take charge of the game with debut wickets for JD, UR, AC and in the last over in his first ever time bowling, AC took a brilliant wicket where the team all ran to congratulate him with pure joy. The team came out winners by 49 runs and were absolutely outstanding throughout the match. It was an absolute delight to see these young men come together and really succeed as one.
Next week the U15s have a cricket fixture on Tuesday 18th at home vs Landau.
National Sports Week: Next week is National School Sports week and there will be a number of different extra-curricular activities throughout the week.
National School Sport Week was created by the children’s charity, the Youth Sport Trust. It began in 2008 and has been running every year since. In 2020, the event became National School Sport Week at Home – encouraging children and their families to take part and be active while under lockdown restrictions.
The week-long celebration will champion the return of youth sport and its power to bring people back together. This is done through sports days being held up and down the UK. In 2021, the theme was ‘Together Again’, and in 2024, the theme will be ‘Belonging – a place in sport for every child’. The Youth Sport Trust are urging schools and families to get involved by holding sporting events throughout the week that showcase how inclusive sport can be.
We will challenge all students to take part in 60 minutes of sports/ activities to aid their physical and mental health.
Extra-Curricular Timetable: Please find the extra-curricular timetable for next week attached to the email version of this update.
Careers Update
This week’s job of the week is a Games Tester.
Derby Moor Dispatch: The Derby Moor Dispatch goes out weekly to all students in Year 11, 12 and 13. However, we are now also including Year 10 students for the remainder of the term so that they have a chance to see the range of opportunities that appear before they enter Year 11. The Dispatch contains a wide range of opportunities for work experience, summer schools, careers related webinars and so on. Please do have a look at the latest edition. The Dispatch is emailed to the students’ school email address, so it is important that they check this regularly on a Monday. You can also view the Dispatch via the Careers page of the Derby Moor website. Please take a look at the website as there is a wealth of useful information including a specific page for parents.
Year 7 Parents Evening: We were delighted to share our 4Rs Employability Skills programme at the Parents Evening on Wednesday. The 4Rs programme has been designed in partnership with local businesses to ensure that Derby Moor students are fully equipped to enter the world of work and have developed the necessary skills to be ready for employment in an ever changing and fast-moving world. We were thrilled to welcome our business partners from Alstom (formerly Bombardier); JCB and DHL and they explained their role in supporting our students. We were also proud of a group of our Year 7 students who presented to parents all about their experience of the 4Rs and in particular the Inspiration Day in January. If you would like to know more about our 4Rs Employability Skills programme, please contact our Careers Leader Andrew Kilgour.
Quality in Careers Standard award: After a rigorous and detailed assessment, we are delighted to share with our Derby Moor Community that we have successfully passed the verification process and have been awarded Careers Mark Platinum again for a further two years. The assessment recognised the wealth of opportunities offered by the school and the coherent and strategic approach we take to our careers provision. During the process, I explained that “careers and employability is threaded through everything we do, therefore, this process of external validation of our careers programme and another set of eyes on it is really important to us.”
The report itself stated: ‘’This is an excellent achievement and recognises the quality and breadth of your careers provision. You fully meet all Benchmarks and the accreditation criteria, as detailed in this report’’.
The assessor spoke to groups of students in different years and was incredibly impressed in the way in which they spoke about the school. One student said when asked about how the school embraces diversity and challenges stereotypes:
“Because we are a very diverse school and understand different cultures…this means you can carry this into the workplace and get along with people’’.
If you would like to read the full report, please go to the home page of the Careers section of the school website: https://sites.google.com/derbymoor.derby.sch.uk/careers/home
DHL workshops: Our partners from DHL were back in the academy again on Friday. They were running employability skills workshops with Year 10 students who had been part of the Outward Bound residential as well as those who had applied at the start of the process. The students learnt about the wide range of job opportunities within DHL worldwide as well as finding about the levels of entry and the skills that employers are looking for when recruiting.
International women in engineering day – Inspiring the next generation: Rolls-Royce are holding an event for young people attending secondary school on 24th June. Please see the letter attached to the email version of this update for more information.
Staff Spotlight
This week, we shine the Staff Spotlight on one of our newest members of staff, our Office Manager, Ms. Bains:
- Q) How long have you worked at Derby Moor Spencer Academy?
- A) Since June 2024.
- Q) What is your role and what does it entail?
- A) As Office Manager I oversee the school office, reception and reprographics department, ensuring these services run smoothly.
- Q) What is your favourite thing about working here?
- A) The friendliness and enthusiasm of the staff and students. Every day being lively and varied.
- Q) Tell us a fact about yourself.
- A) My first ever job was as a storyteller.
- Q) What other interesting roles or experiences have you had?
- A) My previous roles have been in learning resources, literacy and working with educational technology.
Final Thoughts
A big update from an eventful week. It is really satisfying to see the work of our team here at Derby Moor recognised by the Platinum Careers Mark report – careers provision is not featured in school league tables but is so important in helping to shape young people for a future of success. I think the regular ‘careers update’ in these weekly emails show the breadth and regularity of the work done around employability in the school and how important this work is to us as an academy. A huge congratulations to Mr Kilgour and everyone involved in our careers projects.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend. Eid Mubarak to those celebrating Eid Al Adha.
Scott Doyle
Principal