Dear Families,
I hope this update finds you and those closest to you in the best of health. This week was a busy one for the academy with a number of additional activities taking place alongside the usual curriculum. Exam season is upon us with a number of students now having sat speaking exams or taken part in practical assessments. There are key dates for coursework coming up to as we enter the final stages for Years 11 and 13. We welcomed the families of Year 8 to the academy for parents evening on Wednesday, hosted 30 guests from local employers to conduct mock interviews for Year 10, sent students to take part in the JCB Challenge Grand Final and underwent our assessment process for our Quality in Careers Mark re-validation. More detail on this below.
Year 8 Parents Evening
On Wednesday we welcomed Year 8 families into school for Parents Evening. Thank you to the families who attended, the turn-out was very strong and gave us a chance to make connections and review the performance of our students this year. Thank you to the Year 8 team for organising the event and to all students who took time out to help. If you have any further enquiries about this, please contact the Year 8 team – Mr O’ Connell and Mrs Hrncic.
Food Technology
Students in Year 7 and 8 have rotated to their final Technology subject for this academic year. If your child has rotated to Food Technology, the Technology team would like to thank you in advance for your support in providing your child with ingredients for their practical lessons. We understand that the cost of food has risen in recent times, so the team are very mindful to ensure that the recipes incorporated into schemes of work use minimal or lower priced ingredients to keep costs low. Recipe sheets are provided to pupils a week in advance of their practical lesson and will always be put on to ClassCharts. Please check ClassCharts or ask for their printed list where you will find a list of ingredients required for their particular dish. If you are unable to provide ingredients, please let your child’s teacher know in advance. Please could you also ensure your child brings a suitably sized container to take their dish home in, as school are unable to provide these.
PTFA – Uniform donation
This is an appeal for Uniform donations for the PTFA Uniform shop, with a particular need for Blazers and PE kit at present. If you are able to support this, please could it be clean and brought in in a plastic bag and put in the Blue PTFA Uniform bin at reception. If families of Year 11 and Year 13 are able to donate, once they have completed their exams, it would really help with stock ahead of the next academic year.
Alton Towers – Parent Pay
The list of students who are eligible for the Alton Towers trip is updated each Friday. The names have been passed to the Finance department, who will be putting them onto Parent Pay shortly. Please check Parent pay, if your child has met the eligibility criteria of 1000NET positive points.
If you wish for your child to go to Alton towers, then please complete the payment and permission details on Parent pay.
Class Charts – Badge (Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze)
Students who have been awarded a Class Charts badge should check to see if they have had a message from Mr Scott, regarding HT4 – behaviour points (platinum, gold, silver or Bronze award).
There are still some students, who have been awarded a badge, who have not yet collected theirs from Mr Scott. This can be done at break or lunchtime next week.
Parents Forum
The next Parents Forum is on Wednesday 1st May, 6.30 – 7.30pm in HO08. Entrance is via the out of hours entrance. There will be a 4Rs Project presentation by students to give an understanding of the kind of work produced through our employability projects. All families are welcome to attend.
PTFA meeting
This is just a reminder that the PTFA meeting will be on Tuesday 30th April, from 6-7pm in LH1 with Mr Scott. Those attending should report to the main entrance where Mr Scott will let you in.
Careers Update
Job of the Week: This week’s job of the week is an Actuary.
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 10 Mock Interviews
On Tuesday E4E visited Derby Moor with around 30 delegates from local companies to interview our Year 10 students. This was the first time we have organised mock interviews for students in Year 10 and it follows our journey of developing their 4Rs employability skills and putting them in to practice. The students were asked a series of what are called ‘competency based’ questions such as ‘Can you give me an example of where you have demonstrated good leadership skills?’ This is encouraging students to give real examples either from their curriculum experience or from things they do outside of the lessons such as taking part in D of E or helping organise family commitments at home. The aim is to ensure that Derby Moor students are better prepared when being interviewed for college, apprenticeships, sixth form and part time jobs in the future and that they can speak about their employability skills with confidence. Feedback from the students was that the experience was overwhelmingly positive and they felt so much more confident after the interview. They will have the opportunity to have another mock interview in October this year.
JCB Challenge Final: Our two teams, selected by JCB to go to the Grand Final made us proud on Thursday with impressive Dragon’s Den style presentations in front of a panel of judges. The Ink Station team showcased a brilliant idea to solve the problem of leaky pens with a sleeve that fits over any type of pen to catch the spills and prevent damaged work called Catch Ink. The Frenzy Team had designed an AI operated interactive bear to comfort and support people with anxiety or any mental health problems. Both ideas have great ‘real world’ potential.
Participating in the JCB Challenge has given our students an invaluable opportunity to develop their employability skills, increase their self-confidence, creativity and resourcefulness and test themselves against the pressure of time constraints and the formality of a business presentation
After the pitching of ideas, we were taken for a tour of the JCB Museum to discover the history and progress of this impressive business, before listening to enlightening talks by apprentices in various fields of work. The day gave us a genuine insight into the reality of working for such a prestigious company and the potential career routes that exist for our young people. Congratulations to EW, HS, MK and ME from Ink Station and MK, SRR, KBN and IR from Frenzy for being selected to do this.
Sports Update
Year 9/10 Basketball: Derby Moor faced an experienced Murray Park side last week who boasted a squad with twice as many players at their disposal. Our team started brightly with some solid fast break play and quick hands on defence. AY and NT stole the ball on a number of occasions by stepping into the passing lanes around the three-point arc, which developed into potential scoring opportunities. With YG showing real maturity and leadership both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, he was effective in grabbing a number of rebounds at both ends of the floor and his defence in the key was vital to holding the opposition to such low scoring numbers. RZ was also effective both inside and outside of the key, scoring a number of tough layups on offence and disrupting shots on the defensive end.
Derby Moor were leading at half time but Murray Park brought with them a number of experienced players and they too played strong defence to keep this a low scoring contest. OP provided some important outside shooting and PO in strong unison with KW, provided good energy on attack with some excellent assists for shots close to the ring. This was a really close game which could have gone either way. Despite a resilient Derby Moor side that never gave up, Murray Park just edged things in the final quarter. The final result being 20 v 26 to Murray Park. Most Valuable Player awarded to AY.
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 our Human Resources Officer, Mrs Shaw:
- Q) How long have you worked at Derby Moor Spencer Academy?
- A) Just over 3 months – since January 2024
- Q) What is your role and what does it entail?
- A) As the HR Officer, I look after the wellbeing of staff in the academy and make sure they are all paid correctly. I keep all training and personal records up to date and oversee our recruitment processes.
- Q) What is your favourite thing about working here?
- A) Everyone has been so friendly, helpful and welcoming. I get to spend my day with great people!
- Q) Tell us a fact about yourself.
- A) I can write with both hands!
- Q) Who is the person who inspires you most?
- A) Richard Branson. He is very successful and always looks after the people that he works with.
- Q) What other interesting roles or experiences have you had?
- A) I once drove a Tesco delivery van!
Final notes
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
Scott Doyle
Principal