Dear Families
I hope this update finds you and those closest to you in the best of health. I write to you following our second Drop Down Day of the year where students have taken part in a huge variety of different activities and have interacted with a range of visitors and employers on site. There is a brief summary of the day below but it is hard to capture the buzz that you could feel across the site today.
Dates for your Diary
Looking forward to the remainder of the half term, we have a few key dates for your diary below:
Wednesday 24th January 2024 – Parents Forum (6.30 – 7.30 pm)
Wednesday 31st January 2024 – Year 13 Parents Evening
Friday 16th February 2024 – Last Day of Half Term 3
Monday 26th February 2024 – First Day of Half Term 4
Monday 26th February 2024 – Year 11 Mock Exams Commence
Monday 26th February 2024 – PTFA School Uniform Shop (3.15 – 4.00 pm)
Term Dates 2024-2025
Our term dates for the academic year 2024-2025 are available online and can be found below. Please take into account both the holidays and the insets when planning family holidays or childcare arrangements:
| Autumn Term | Wednesday 4 September 2024 – Friday 25 October 2024 |
| Monday 4 November 2024 – Friday 20 December 2024 | |
| Spring Term | Monday 6 January 2025 – Friday 14 February 2025 |
| Monday 24 February 2025 – Friday 4 April 2025 | |
| Summer Term | Tuesday 22 April 2025 – Friday 23 May 2025 |
| Monday 2 June 2025 – Wednesday 23 July 2025 |
School Closure/Training Days 2024-2025
Monday 2 September 2024
Tuesday 3 September 2024
Friday 4 October 2024
Friday 29 November 2024
Monday 2 December 2024
Monday 6 January 2025
Drop Down Day
Drop Down Day 2 was hugely varied across year groups with so many different activities taking place. It’s been fascinating to hear some of the inspirational ideas young people in Year 12 have to improve our quality of life in the future. Alongside Year 13, they have been hearing from local guest speakers about independent living and a range of social issues, Year 11 Geographers found their way to Birmingham City Centre for the fieldwork element of their studies whilst the rest of the cohort took part in a history conference. Our Year 10 historians visited the Thackery museum whilst others examined sustainability, cancer awareness and metacognition. Year 9 worked with JCB all day on their Regional Challenge – the two winning teams from the day will now progress to the National Final in April. Congratulations to EW, MK, ZR, ME and HS with their idea of ‘Catch Ink,’ a solution to leaking pens and SR, MK and KBN with their ‘Frenzy,’ an interactive robotic bear to comfort and calm you. Some of our Year 8 students learned to cycle today whilst others refined or tackled new circus skills in workshops. Year 7 took part in their Inspiration Day entitled flight where they worked with a range of employers who assessed them on their employability skills. More on the Inspiration Day and the JCB Challenge below in our Careers Update below.
Year 13 Parents Evening
Year 13 Parents Evening will take place in school, on Wednesday 31st January 2024.
Appointments can be made with class teachers using school cloud. The evening starts at 4.20 pm and runs through to 6.50 pm. All Year 13 students and Parents have been emailed login details. If you have any queries then please contact your child’s form tutor or Mrs Ingleby on the main school reception. We look forward to seeing you then.
Youth Sport Trust Meeting with Year 9 Students
Last year our Year 10 girls’ active ambassadors led basketball activities to Year 8 students from across the city at a large Youth Sport Trust event in Nottingham. This year those participants have not stepped up to become our Year 9 ambassadors for DMSA. The students met with Youth Sport Trust representatives this week to discuss and arrange how they would like to lead and organise this year’s event. They reviewed last year’s activities, discussed qualifications for sports they may need in order to lead their sessions and potential barriers and solutions to girls becoming active in sport. Between now and April the ambassadors will continue to plan their sessions with the aim of leading their session to students from across Derby city schools in May.
National Citizen Services (NCS) to Year 11 Students
In previous years we have built a relationship with National Citizen Service (NCS) as they provide fantastic opportunities to help students to succeed in life beyond year 11. This week NCS were invited in to speak to current year 11 students. The NCS programme offers young people aged 16-17 a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something meaningful, as well as a chance to develop skills and take on new challenges that will set them up for adult life. We have attached a leaflet to the email version of this update for you to view more detail about the opportunities, dates and how to sign up.
Parents Forum
The next Parents forum is on Wednesday 24th January from 6.30 -7.30pm in HO08.Please enter through the out of hours entrance. Light refreshments will be provided.
Agenda:
– Writing questions for discussion
– Food and queues – response to previous question raised
– Reward process evolution – response to previous feedback at Parents forum
– Discussion of questions raised
Rewards
On Wednesday, the Year 7&8 students who had not received any negative points during last half term (‘purely positive’) had a retro games experience. The students seemed to enjoy playing retro games like Pac Man and shove ha’penny, as well as newer games like magnetic chess and Tetris amongst others. There are similar experiences next week on Monday for Year 9&10 students, Thursday for Year 11 and Friday for Year 12/13.
Careers Update
This week’s Job of the week is a Landscape Architect.
Derby Moor Dispatch: The Derby Moor Dispatch goes out every Monday 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.
Inspiration Day – Year 7: We were delighted to welcome our inspirational employers from a range of businesses many of whom were former students of Derby Moor for Drop Down Day today. The Year 7 students were tasked with designing and making a flying machine. The students worked in teams with each student taking on a specific role based on a real job. Our volunteer employers spent the morning assessing the students for their employability skills and in particular focussing on our 4 R’s: Respect (Listening & Speaking) Resilience (Problem-Solving & Staying Positive), Responsibility (Leadership & Aiming High) and Resourcefulness (Creativity & Teamwork). Our employers worked alongside our students and staff to help everyone understand the importance of these employability skills in helping prepare our students for their future. We finished the day with a presentation assembly where the winning team from each form had the opportunity to impress our assessors before the overall winners were announced.
JCB Regional Challenge – Year 9: The whole of Year 9 took part in a truly inspiring STEM challenge on Friday where their employability skills (the 4 Rs) were really put to the test. The students worked in teams throughout the day and were assessed on their employability skills before an overall winning team were announced, They will now be invited to JCB Head Quarters to compete against other schools from the East Midlands as the competition gets tougher. Neil Fowkes, HR Manager – Early Careers | Global Learning & Development from JCB and a former student of Derby Moor came in to see the students during the day and was impressed with the level of engagement, teamwork and creative ideas.
Staff Spotlight
This week, we shine the Staff Spotlight on Miss Toplis:
Q) How long have you worked at Derby Moor Spencer Academy?
A) I have been here since Easter 2022.
Q) What is your role and what does it entail?
A) My main role is teacher in the Innovation provision in school. I teach English, Computing, Art, Technology and Personal Development to name a few subjects. I am also Assistant SENDCo for Year 7 while Mrs McGuinn is away, providing support for students who have additional needs, meeting with parents and support services, and leading the brilliant team of Teaching Assistants.
Q) What is your favourite thing about working here?
A) I get to work with the most amazing students and help them to achieve their best. My job here is never boring and although there are challenges, it makes me smile every day.
Q) Tell us a fact about yourself.
A) I have ADHD which I view as a real strength, especially for the busy job I have.
Q) What other interesting roles or experiences have you had?
A) Before joining Derby Moor, I was a Primary school teacher for 17 years and Assistant SENDCo for 3 years. In 2011 I volunteered to teach in a refugee camp in Zambia, as well as travel to many different countries around the World. Outside of school, I have taught Karate as I have my 3rd Dan Black belt, I played in a steel band, and at the moment I am learning the Ukulele.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
Scott Doyle
Principal