Dear Families,
I hope this update finds you and those closest to you in good health. Much like the weather, we have had some ups and downs this week at the academy as the exam season continues and we have welcomed families of Year 12 into the building to discuss progress and next steps.
This time of year is always busy in secondary schools. Not least because of the exams, intervention sessions and all of the preparations for the end of the year but also because of recruitment – all schools have until the end of May to appoint their teams for next year so there is always a flurry of activity as we interview new colleagues looking to join our team. There is more detail on vacancies below, this may also help to explain why your child has been selected to take part in interview lessons or student panels over the last few weeks. Alongside this I’ve been working with contractors to finalise plans for our new Centre of Excellence for Inclusion building and I’m very pleased to say that the groundworks will finally begin next week with an anticipated build completion by the end of September. This is great news as it will provide modern, state of the art accommodation for the teaching groups who fall under our Inclusion umbrella and the support teams (such as school based family workers who are in our Staff Spotlight this week) to work with our young people, families and wider agencies. You can read our Inclusion Quality Mark report here that details the work we do to achieve the Centre of Excellence status.
Year 11 May Half Term Interventions
As formal exams are underway, it is really pleasing to see so many students increasing their efforts and taking real ownership of the subjects they are studying. Over the next couple of weeks, each faculty area will be sending invitations home for students to attend May holiday interventions. Please see attached to the email version of this update, an overview of a range of subjects that will be offered. Each session will be led by a subject specialist and will focus on developing the key knowledge and skills which are necessary to help secure a higher grade. We therefore ask that your child makes a commitment to attend the session(s) required.
Some subjects are personally inviting students to attend whilst other subject areas are making intervention sessions voluntary. Please complete the reply slip that will be attached to the letter, stating that you give your consent to your child attending. It is important that if students make a commitment to attend that they do arrive promptly on the day.
GCSE History and Geography Revision Masterclasses
Please find below the links to the streams for the GCSE History and Geography Masterclasses:
History Paper 1 Live Masterclass
Geography Paper 1 Live Masterclass
History Paper 2 Live Masterclass
Geography Paper 2 Live Masterclass
History Paper 3 Live Masterclass
Geography Paper 3 Live Masterclass
Teen Tech Success
I’m pleased to announce that 4 of our teams have been selected to go to the Teen Tech National Finals this year. The teams have been working with Mrs Ezis and Mr Kershaw and include students from Years 8, 9, 12 and 13. Their projects have been entered into the categories of Health, Patient Safety, Best Use of AI and Wearable Technology. They will be working hard with their industry mentors to develop their projects further before the Final on Friday 28th June. Well done to all who entered the competition this year and congratulations to the 4 shortlisted teams.
Ivy House/Derby Moor Summer Reading Picnic
As part of our collaboration with Ivy House, there will be a reading picnic on Thursday 20th June. Throughout this year, for each Half term, we have sent small groups of Year 8 students to read with Ivy House students. This is the second year of this project and we have seen a real development in confidence, especially in reading, with our students along with an air of excitement and happiness from the Ivy House students as they engage with our students.
The reading Picnic will be open to all the Yr8 students who have been over to Ivy House this year. Last year’s event was fantastic and I am sure that this year’s will be also.
Year 13 Student Leadership Application Process
The application process for next year’s yr13 student leadership and the role of Head Boy / Head Girl will be published after half term. This process is open to anyone in our current Year 12, regardless of whether they have been part of the year 12 leadership team or not. However, in their application students will need to include evidence of how they have already supported the school and students, as well as ways that they could support and lead whilst in Year 13.
Vacancies
We have a variety of vacancies out to advert at present in both support and teaching roles. They can be found here and include Specialist Teaching Assistant, Teaching and Learning Supervisor and Teacher of PE.
Careers Update
Job of the Week: This week’s job of the week is a Disaster Manager.
Derby Moor Dispatch: The Derby Moor Dispatch goes out weekly to all students in Year 11, 12 and 13. 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 12 Parents Evening: On Wednesday we welcomed families of students in Year 12 to the academy alongside visitors from Derby University; Leicester University; Loughborough University; Althaus; Balfour Beatty and Derby County Community Trust. It was great to involve so many employers and universities as part of the Next Steps process and to involve our parents/carers directly in finding out about pathways available Post 18.
Price Waterhouse Coopers ‘One firm, one day’ delivered a session on ‘The rise of Artificial Intelligence’: On Friday, over 30 Year 7 students were fortunate to take part in a workshop led by staff from PwC on the Rise of AI. PwC are a professional services business and a top 100 employer of school leavers and university graduates. The workshop looked at an introduction to code breaking, generative AI and the risks and benefits of the future of AI. One of the visitors was a former student of Derby Moor, Balwinder Singh so it was wonderful to welcome him back to his old school in order to inspire our Year 7s. You can find out more about careers at PwC here.
Sports Update
Extra-Curricular Timetable: Please find the extra-curricular timetable for next week attached to the email version of this update.
Staff Spotlight
This week, we shine the Staff Spotlight on one of our School Based Family Workers, Miss Khalil:
Q) How long have you worked at Derby Moor Spencer Academy?
A) Since June 2023.
Q) What is your role and what does it entail?
A) I am a school based family support worker. My role within school is to provide support to vulnerable students and families in and outside of the school. This usually includes meeting with pupils on a 1-1 basis in order to support their conduct, attitude to learning and general wellbeing.
Although I am based within the school building, I regularly will complete home visits and keep in communication with families I am supporting in order to assist them with a range of different needs such as but not limited to; housing support, benefits, social care and emotional support.
Q) What other interesting roles or experiences have you had?
A) Prior to this role, I worked as a mental health practitioner which again was a school-based role. This required me to travel to schools around Derby City to offer low level mental health support to children and young people through 1-1s, assemblies, workshops and parent support.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
Scott Doyle
Principal