Dear Families,
I hope this update finds you and those closest to you in the very best of health. We have enjoyed another busy and interesting week at the Academy this week. Having hosted more colleagues from across our Trust on Wednesday who visited lessons and spoke to our students, gaining an insight into what makes our community so special. Year 13 have continued through their mock examinations whilst Year 11 have begun the process of analysing their performance and making the necessary improvements in preparation for the summer series. Full details of the Summer Exam schedule will be shared with families in due course.
Year 11 Update
Year 11 parents evening: Year 11 Parents Evening will be held on March 26th, offering an opportunity to receive an update on your child’s progress in their mock exams and gain advice on how to best support them leading up to their exams in May. Appointment bookings opened on March 12th and are available on a first-come, first-served basis, so please let us know if you need assistance with booking. Our Sixth Form team, as well as Careers’ advice service Luminate, will also be available to answer any questions following the release of the Sixth Form conditional offers. We look forward to seeing you there!
Easter & May half term revision sessions: We will be sharing our intervention plans for Easter and the May half-term during the parents evening, hence, we highly encourage your attendance to plan this together with our staff team and your child.
Exams start and finish date: The summer exam schedule will be shared with you shortly. Some GCSE exams, such as the language speaking exams, will begin right after the Easter holidays and will continue until June 20th. While some students may finish before this date, we do not recommend planning any holidays before then. There is always a ‘contingency day’ at the end of the series that is used for any exam cancellations – once we have this date confirmed, we will share it and holidays etc. can then be booked accordingly.
Student Leadership Update
We look forward to celebrating Eid in school with our students on Tuesday 1st April when our Eid Fayre will take place. On entrance to school in the morning, student leaders will be handing out sweet treats and during lunchtime the ever-popular Samosa Shack will be open. There will be music and traditional Henna under the canopy depending upon the weather. Students should bring cash on this day if they wish to purchase items from the shack.
China Exchange Trip
On Saturday 29th March, 30 students from across Years 9 -12 will embark on their long-awaited trip to China to our sister school Hefei No.8. The group will arrive in Shanghai early Sunday morning to do some sightseeing before heading to Hefei City on Monday. Once in Hefei the students will go to school for 3 days to experience life in the Chinese education system. Finally, the group will explore Hefei before stopping off in Shanghai for a day of shopping. They arrive back on Monday 7th April. The experience is part of our ongoing partnership with a school in China and we hope to strengthen our links and welcome our counterparts back to Derby Moor in the future.
Library Update
We have a new “free library” cabinet in the FLC. Our student librarians will be decorating it in the near future. Free libraries are a lovely opportunity for students to ‘give a book, share a book’. If a student would like a book from this cabinet, they have to swap it out with a book they no longer want to keep.
Derby Neuro Hub Parent Support
There are a series of upcoming parental workshops at the Neuro hub in Derby (St James Centre, Malcolm Street, Derby DE23 8LU). These workshops are for parents and will be delivered by Derbyshire educational psychologists. Numbers are limited and bookings are essential – contact 07561 856320 or neurohub@stjamescentre.org if you are interested in finding out more.
Workshops are as follows:
- The impact of anxiety on school attendance and engagement
Date: Friday 2nd May 2025, 1:00-2:00pm
- Using Emotion Coaching to support children and young people to regulate feelings
Dates: Part 1 Friday 16th May 2025, 1:00-2:00pm
Part 2 Friday 6th June 2025, 1:00-2:00pm
- Understanding and supporting ADHD children and young people
Date: Monday 16th June 2025, 10:00-11:00am
- Supporting children to regulate
Date: Wednesday 9th July 2025, 10:00-11:00am
Careers Update
This week’s job of the week is a Kitchen Fitter.
Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) Teacher, Parent & Career Adviser Information Session: Wednesday, 26th March 3:30pm – 4:30pm. Helping students make informed career choices can be challenging. Join the PwC Parent and Teacher Information Session to gain valuable insights into PwC’s career pathways and how you can support students in their journey.
PwC is one of the world’s leading professional services firms, offering exceptional career pathways for students through Flying Start Degree Programmes, Apprenticeships, Work Experience, and Graduate opportunities. This session is designed to provide parents and teachers with valuable insights into:
- The range of career opportunities available at PwC
- How students can stand out in the application process
- The skills and attributes PwC looks for in future talent
- How PwC supports young professionals in their career development
This event is open to parents and families who want to understand the opportunities available for students at PwC and how to support them in making informed career decisions. Please follow this link to register if this is something that may be of interest to you.
BBC Bitesize – guide for parents: BBC bitesize have produced a helpful online guide to help your teenager explore their job and career options. You can find the site here.
Year 9 Pathways: To support the options process in school, our students will be shown a simple video in the PD lessons made by our Careers Advisers at Luminate Careers with some ‘Top Tips’. This will enhance the work already being done around their subject choices as they choose their GCSE course for Key Stage 4.
Final notes
As alluded to earlier, we have hosted more visitors at the academy this week. Having hosted 3 delegations of visitors this half term it has been nice to walk our corridors and visit classrooms with other professionals to showcase what our school and community is all about. Last week we had Principals from other secondary schools looking at our inclusion provision, whilst this week we have had colleagues from our central team engaging with students about their learning and experience. As you would expect, the feedback has been incredibly positive. My favourite quote, which I shared with the students this week, was when a visitor said “I just love coming here. Every time I visit, everyone is so lovely and the children are just wonderful.” Together We Succeed.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Scott Doyle
Principal