Dear Families,
I hope this update finds you and those closest to you in the best of health. It’s been a busy but eventful week at the academy this week. As we count down the days to Derby Moor’s Got Talent, we’ve had our planned fire drill for this term and the first wet lunch in while due to an untimely downpour at the end of period 4 on Tuesday. Alongside that we’ve had the ballot booth’s out for the Youth Mayor Elections and celebrated Chinese New Year on Wednesday. More detail below.
Derby Moor’s Got Talent
A reminder that DMGT takes place on Wednesday 5th February. Doors open at 5.45 with a prompt 6om start to proceedings. There are limited tickets remaining on sale on Parent Pay at £2 per ticket.
Chinese New Year Celebrations
On Wednesday students enjoyed the Chinese themed menu at lunchtime and I wanted to say thank you to those who gave their time to write cards to be taken to our sister school in Hefei. Due to the popularity of the event, a team of sixth formers are now going to be making friendship bracelets every Tuesday lunchtime in the FLC. The idea being that the 30 students visiting Hefei No.8 school in March will be able to take these as gifts for the children at the school. If students are interested in making friendship bracelets they should attend. The gifts will be gratefully received in China.
Student Form Representatives
This week we will be re-launching the Student Form Representative Scheme. We are looking for 2 students from each form to represent their form, year group and school in sharing student voice. This role is for students who are keen to collect student voice from their peers, represent the academy at events and uphold our school values. More information will be shared during form times.
Year 7 Update
Year 7 have had an eventful couple of weeks. On the last Inspiration Day, they presented themselves well to the employers who were in school to assess their employability skills. At the end of the event, our guests had nothing but praise for them, their attitude and their approach to the sessions.
Coming up over the next couple of weeks we have a special livestream event on resilience and wellbeing, to celebrate Children’s Mental Health Week, and a questionnaire which will take place in ICT lessons regarding the students experience of Transition.
Youth Mayor Elections
The Youth Mayor and Deputy Youth Mayor elections have now concluded. Over the past week, students across the school listened to speeches from the four shortlisted candidates. Afterward, they completed their ballot forms to have a say in who should represent the voice of youth at the City Council. This annual event offers our students a valuable insight into the voting process and the workings of democracy.
Sixth Form Interviews
Sixth Form Interviews for our internal candidates will begin this week. Students will be informed of their appointment times and should come prepared to discuss their Post 16 choices, current mock performance and have an idea of how they will make their time in sixth form a success. External candidates will be interviewed later in the term.
Careers Update
This week’s Job of the Week is an Event Manager.
Year 11 Assembly theme ‘Enterprise and planning to Succeed:’ This week’s assembly focussed on encouraging our students to show initiative and resourcefulness taking on opportunities that present themselves both in school and outside. Some of our sixth form students have been sharing their experience of school and talking about the activities and opportunities they have taken on such as: Transition Mentors, Student Leaders; Duke of Edinburgh; DHL/Outward Bound Trust residential and many more. They then linked this to the 4Rs employability skills they have developed and the importance of these skills as they started to apply for colleges, universities and apprenticeships.
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.
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.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
Scott Doyle
Principal