Dear Families,
I hope this update finds you and those closest to you in the very best of health and looking forward to the bank holiday weekend. We’ve enjoyed another busy week at the academy with a number of additional activities taking place alongside the usual curriculum. Exam season is upon us with many 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. On both Tuesday and Thursday, we hosted a number of guests from local employers to conduct mock interviews for students, we’ve had our Harry Potter day today and our students who visited China have presented a summary of their experience to our Governors and the whole staff during our CPD evening.
Library Update
Just a reminder that when students borrow books from the library, it is important they return them on time. If a book is lost or damaged, it would need to be replaced. This is to ensure all students are able to enjoy the books available. If families could periodically check bags or bedrooms for any library books that have been forgotten, it will help with our stock.
The Harry Potter Day took place today (Friday 2nd May) and included a Horcrux Scavenger Hunt, Raffle (50p per ticket) and the ‘Yer a Writer Harry’ writing competition. Students also enjoyed music from the film series playing all day in the library and Harry Potter style decoration.
Year 11 Update
Year 11 Graduation – As mentioned in previous updates, Graduation is taking place on 27th June. Students have been working hard on their Passport for Graduation points, and we hope many of our year 11 students will be able to join us to celebrate their graduation before moving on to their Post 16 options. The event takes place on site and in the morning of 27th June, with a start time around 10am and end around 1pm. Students need to have accrued enough points allowing them to attend. Once we have confirmed their eligibility, we will issue a survey to see who wishes to attend. More details on that will come to you in the coming weeks from the Year Team.
First week of GCSE exams – Our Year 11 (and Year 13) students have now begun their formal examinations, and we wish both year groups the very best as they start this intense period. We know you understand the importance of ensuring that students receive as much time with subject specialists as possible in the run up to each examination. As such, we have timetabled a revision session for all students the day before or on the day of an exam with a subject specialist, usually their normal teacher, to help with final preparations. This is a considerable undertaking and means that normal lessons are rearranged to allow this to happen. These revision sessions will take place in the school day throughout the exam period alongside normal lessons. The school day will remain unaffected, starting at 8.40 each day and ending at 15.05 (or 14.45 on Wednesday).
Conduct and uniform – our standards for Year 11 remain high therefore, we remind Year 11 that we expect them to continue attending in their full uniform as per our uniform policy. Attendance and punctuality is now more important than ever and we expect our Year 11 to be in school on time and in lessons. Full uniform expectations remain until they sit their final exams. We are planning on organising year 11 ‘shirt signing’ opportunity for our students and would also like to remind them that they need to have a spare clean shirt allowing them to continue sitting their exams. More details on that will come out in due course.
Year 10 & 12 Mock Interviews
Over 400 students took part in a mock interview this week. We had over fifty volunteers from a wide range of businesses including: Balfour Beatty; JCB; Alstom; Cooper Parry; Stepnell Construction; Huws Gray; Weightman’s; Derby City Council and DJH. Students were given the opportunity to talk to an adult about their future interests and aspirations and were able to practise answering questions about their employability skills. The feedback from our employers was very positive and included comments such as: ‘the students were so focussed and clear about their aspirations and how to achieve them.’
Year 9 Update
Year 9 Mock Interviews – Showcasing Employability Skills: As part of our ongoing work to develop key communication and employability skills across Key Stage 3, a group of Year 9 students who demonstrated a particular strength in recent speaking and listening work took part in mock interviews with an external employer this week.
This experience builds on the wider employability programme delivered through English lessons this year, where all students in Years 7–9 have been engaging in activities designed to strengthen their confidence, clarity, and real-world communication.
The employers were full of praise, describing the students as a “delight”, and said they were blown away by how confident, articulate, and self-assured they all were. The students represented the school exceptionally well and should be very proud of themselves.
Student absence and Punctuality
We would like to kindly remind you of the importance of reporting an absence if your child is unable to attend school. You can notify us either by phone at 01332 772706 or by email at attendance@derbymoorspencer.org.uk. We ask that, where possible, you notify us before 9:30 AM. If we have not received notification of your child’s absence, we will send an email to inquire about the reason for their absence. Good attendance is essential for our students to progress, and generally, attendance at the academy is strong. Please note that, in instances where we do not receive an explanation for an absence or where attendance becomes a concern, we are required to report it to the Education Welfare Officer at Derby City Council.
PE Update
A reminder to all parents that with the increase in temperatures recently, students should come to PE with plenty of water, sun cream and caps if possible. The usual PE kit expectations still apply.
Year 9: Following the BTEC Sport subject selection process, the PE staff will start to hand out letters for the annual GO APE trip shortly. The trip will take place on the 26th June and will be available to the first 90 students who return their slips. Parent pay will be open next week and all information will be contained in the letter.
Careers Update
This week’s job of the week is ‘Opthalmologist.’
Apprenticeship Guide: If your child is considering looking at apprenticeships, the following link will take you to a useful guide for both parents and students.
Derby Moor Dispatch: The Dispatch is emailed to the students’ school email address, so it is important that they check this regularly. 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.
Luminate Careers: Our independent and impartial Careers Advisers from Luminate Careers have an excellent website with a wealth of useful information Please have a look at these links designed for parents/carers about careers conversation starters and Post 16 Options.
Final notes
We have enjoyed a week of much warmer weather this week, but we anticipate that temperatures will return to a more seasonal average next week. As such, our usual uniform expectations remain in place. Students can leave jumpers or sweaters at home if they choose but the blazer is a compulsory item along with the shirt, tie lanyard etc. Our fields will remain open at lunchtime and, with this in mind, we encourage students to bring a re-usable bottle with them for water, be prepared with suncream and, potentially, a sun hat.
We are truly at the business end of the school year now. This is most obvious with students in Years 11 and 13, whose focus is rightly on the final examinations. Equally though, the options processes for Years 8 and 9 are well underway and are a mark of their maturity as learners where they are given more choice in the subjects they study. For Year 10, they are aware that their end of year exams are on the horizon but, as noted earlier, are also in full swing with their preparations for employability through the mock interviews and employer encounters – the DHL trip springs to mind as this will be coming around very soon. We have students away this weekend completing their Duke of Edinburgh practice expedition too. They certainly look like they will enjoy dry and warm conditions.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Scott Doyle
Principal