Dear Families
I hope this update finds you and those closest to you in the very best of health. We have a slightly shorter update following a slightly shorter week at the academy. Thursday evening saw our doors open to prospective students and families with our student leaders and staff putting on a great display of what it is that makes our community so special and unique. Whilst Friday was a staff training day, time for our colleagues to reflect on their practice and a little respite for our students in the midway point of the half term. More details on this week’s events below.
Year 6 Open Evening
We hosted our annual Open Evening for Year 6 students on Thursday this week and were overwhelmed with the number of excited, prospective young people who came through our doors to explore the academy. There was a genuine buzz throughout the evening with our students and staff showing families what it is that makes our community here so special and unique. Thank you to all who attended and our staff and students for making the event happen.
Year 7 Update
Year 7 continue to impress us with their resilience and adaptability since they have started in secondary school. Most of them can now navigate their way around the school and are fully immersed in their school experience. As with each year, a number of students have lost vital parts of their uniform, PE kit or equipment along the way. To help us reunite them with it, can we kindly ask you that you label all of their items so it is easier to find if lost. Students can visit lost property in Honour (the reprographics room) to reclaim any items they have lost this half term.
We have an up and coming event for your diaries, Wednesday 8 November 2023 from 4.00 pm – 7.00 pm is our annual Year 7 settling in evening. Please look out for the email/letter from us coming this week, inviting you to book an appointment to meet your child’s form tutor and find out how well they have settled in.
Year 11 Geography
Students from Year 11 Geography were invited to the academy on Friday’s training day as part of our ‘Project 9’ intervention. Miss Gooderham was exceptionally proud of the students who attended. Their knowledge, work ethic and essay writing skills were all commended by the Trust specialists who guided them through key examination skills for their GCSEs. Ms Collins said our students were an absolute delight to teach and she can’t wait to come back.
Parents’ Forum
The first Parents’ Forum of the year is on Wednesday 11th October, form 6.30 – 7.30pm in HO08. Entry will be via the Out of Hours entrance (closest to the main car park). Light refreshments will be available. Agenda: (i) Parent Questions; (ii) Behaviour and Rewards Update; (iii) KS3 Report Update; (iv) Review of Parent Questions. We look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.
NHS DigiVan
Last year, Year 9 Student Tanvir Tamber won a National Competion called ‘Step into the NHS,’ having created a display advert about the role and work of Doctors in the NHS. This has since been turned into a ‘DigiVan’ which will tour the country to promote the Role of Doctors, to help raise awareness of the range of jobs in the NHS and hopefully inspire the next generation to look into medical related careers. This DigiVan is coming to Derby Moor Spencer Academy on Friday 13th October 2023, for its first public appearance. After which it will head out on a tour of Derby, visiting other schools and communities. If you would like to see the DigiVan, then please feel free to come to the front of school on Friday 13th October, when the photos are being taken, between 12.45 and 1.00 pm.
Scholastic Book Fayre
We have the Scholastic book fayre scheduled to arrive in school on Tuesday 10th October until Tuesday 17th October 2023. Last year it was so successful, with over £800 of books being sold, that we had to extend the stay in school in order to meet the demand from students so we are expecting it to be busy all week. The book fayre will have a range of new books and a variety of reading resources that can be bought. Students are able to pay in cash but last year there was also the option to pay using a QR code.
Kenya Fundraising
On Tuesday we had our samosa sale to raise funds for our students going to Kenya in 2025. Thank you to all students and staff who supported this event, it really has helped to make inroads into the fundraising element for our participants. The next event will be in the last week of half term and it is going to be the ‘identify the Staff from their Baby Photo’ competition. Students will pay to enter into the chance of winning a special prize. Again, all money raised will go towards the Kenya trip.
Computing Update
We know many of our students enjoy gaming outside of school hours. To some families this can be unfamiliar and worrying territory. To help, our computing team have provided a link to this short online guide to gaming from ThinkUKnow.
Sports Update
Derby County Football in the Community: Wednesday’s game saw our Derby County team face Aston Villa at home. After a great week of preparation in training, and a new formation to test out, the team were excited to face a Villa side who looked strong on paper. The whole squad of players worked extremely hard throughout the game and managed to score 2 great goals, but, unfortunately they ended up on the wrong side of the scoreline. The team look forward to next week’s game in a (very) local derby Vs another Derby County side, on Wednesday afternoon at home.
Cross Country: Our school Cross Country Team is continuing to grow with many students attending the fixture during the Inset Day on Friday. There were amazing times from JG and MG Yr8, securing valuable places and really good performances from HB, RS and SR (Yr7) and HR (Yr10). Next week we have relays at West Park, returning to Derby Moor around 6pm.
Final Notes
That’s everything for this week. Looking forwards we have delegates from Oxford and Cambridge Universities in school on Wednesday to work with Year 13, our Sixth Form Open Evening takes place the week after on the 18th October and our first Drop Down Day of the year is on the horizon.
You will have noted earlier in the update about or upcoming trip to Kenya and I’m delighted to share with you that we will also be renewing our international links with a school in Hefei, China. Having worked together on an exchange around 5 years ago we look forward to hosting a delegation here and sending students on a once in a lifetime trip to China in the near future. Our own Mr Hall is about to touch down in China as I write this to begin the planning phase with our International friends. We wish him well on his travels and hope to share some of his experience in the near future.
Best wishes,
Scott Doyle
Principal