Dear Families
I hope this update finds you and those closest to you in the best of health. This is the first Principal’s update of the academic year. With that in mind I would like to extend a warm welcome to families of students who are new to our community. Mostly they will be students in Years 7 and 12 but also those who have joined us mid-way through their secondary school career.
We have had a really positive start to the year this week with students returning to the Academy in good spirits. Having met each year group through assemblies, it was nice to share some of our summer updates, tweaks to our ways of working and reminders about our values with students. It is always good to reconnect after a break away. Our young people arrive with so much energy and positivity that they create a genuinely vibrant atmosphere and a warmth that I’m sure is unique to our school and our community.
Scholastic Book Fair – 8th October – 22nd October
We are excited to announce that the book fair will return from 8th October until 22nd October. The book Fair will be held outside of the school Library, during the school day. Students will need to bring cash or pay through the scholastic website. The fairs are always really popular, so we look forward to seeing out young people there enjoying the literature.
National Poetry Day – Thursday 3rd October
National poetry day is fast approaching, and this year’s theme is ‘counting.’ Student Librarians will create a display to take part in the National Poetry Day competition. This display will be posted on Derby Moor’s X page prior to the closing date of Thursday 3rd October 2024. You can find out more using the handle @PoetryDayUK on X. If your child would like to be involved, they should see Miss Jones in the Library.
PEEA Extra-Curricular Timetable
Our PE and Expressive Arts team have published a copy of their Extra-Curricular timetable for this half term. You can find a copy by following this link. Students will see this posted around the building and can find out more information by visiting the PEEA hub in Honour.
School photographs
Students in years 7, 9, 11 and 12 have had their photographs taken today. Every student has a unique order form with their name and details of how photographs can be viewed and purchased. If your child has lost their order form you can contact the ‘school photography company’ by email on info@schoolphotographs.co.uk or call 01295 250 812 and select option 1. A member of their customer care team will be able to give you the details that you require to place an order.
Class Charts
We will continue to use Class Charts as the primary medium for sharing information about how your child is performing each day at the Academy. It is vital that you access your child’s profile each day on the app or through the web to help you celebrate their successes, address concerns and take an active part in their development. Using the activity log each evening will help you to begin conversations about how their day has gone and will add value to the work they are doing each day. If you have any difficulty accessing the platform, please do contact your child’s Year Team for further information. Mr Malik will be distributing a letter shortly with some updates about how we are tweaking Class Charts in response to parental feedback last year.
Mobile Phones
A reminder that students are not allowed to use mobile phones, headphones or speakers in school. This is a national directive form the Department for Education and has been part of our way of working for a number of years now. However, we have reminded students this week that they cannot have phones out in school under any circumstances, this includes the time before school starts and after school ends. Any phones seen or heard on the premises must be confiscated and parents will be informed. If you need to communicate with your child, you must use our phone lines or our email to do so and not call or text them on their devices. Thank you for your support and understanding with this.
Parent Pay
Could I kindly ask all families, and particularly those in Year 7, to check and update funds on ParentPay this weekend. Due to the login issues, some students have fallen into a negative balance and these needs addressing next week. Families should follow the login instructions sent via email to access the site.
Parking and the turning circle
Please can I urge families who travel in vehicles to use our turning circle at the start and the end of the day and to avoid parking on Moorway Lane. Parking on the Lane causes a hazard for other road users and our children and exacerbates the traffic issues in the locality. Driving and parking considerately helps everyone in our community.
Derby City Family Hubs
There is an array of support sessions on offer for parents of children with SEND through Derby City Family Hubs including the following workshops:
• What is Autism? – 24 September (Sinfin), 16 October (Derwent) and 9 December (Becket)
• What is ADHD? – 23 September (Becket) and 10 December (Mackworth/ Morley)
• Using Visual Resources – 6 November (Derwent)
• Communicative Behaviour – 14 October (Rosehill) and 5 November (Osmaston Allenton)
• Understanding Social Communication – 3 December (Sinfin)
If you wish to reserve a place for any of the support sessions, booking is available by contacting the Hub specified directly. Their contact details are below:
Becket Family Hub: 01332 640250 BecketFamilyHub@derby.gov.uk
Derwent Family Hub: 01332 641010 DerwentFamilyHub@derby.gov.uk
Mackworth Morley Family Hub: 01332 208175 MackworthMorleyFamilyHub@derby.gov.uk
Osmaston/Allenton Family Hub: 01332 956850 OsmastonAllentonFamilyHub@derby.gov.uk
Rosehill Family Hub: 01332 641315 RosehillFamilyHub@derby.gov.uk
Sinfin Family Hub: 01332 956967 SinfinFamilyHub@derby.gov.uk
Fire Alarm and Lockdown drill
At the start of each academic year, we are obliged to practise our fire drill and our lockdown drill. Both of these events are scheduled for next week with the fire drill on Tuesday on the lockdown drill on Thursday. I appreciate that the lockdown drill can cause some distress for our young people, as such, we have made the decision to carry this out during form time when the students are in a familiar surrounding with a familiar member of staff and their form group. We will remind students that this is due to take place, if you could support us by having a conversation with your child in advance of the drill on Thursday if you feel this may be a challenging experience for them.
Upcoming Events
Our open evening for year six students takes place on Thursday the 3rd of October. This will be followed by a school closure day for staff training on Friday the 4th of October. There will be numerous opportunities for your child to support the Academy during the open evening acting as an ambassador for faculty areas or as a student guide for prospective students on the evening. Please lookout for permission slips that will need to be completed and returned if your child is able to help out on the evening.
Final notes
It really has been a joy to welcome students back to the Academy this week. After two days of staff training, looking forward to the year ahead and sharing our priorities for the Academy moving forward, it has been really lovely to reconnect with our young people again toward the end of this week. They have set themselves a very high standard in these first few days with regards to both their appearance, punctuality the overall conduct and I would like to take this opportunity to thank both them and you for supporting or value of high expectations and ensuring they come to school each day with the necessary equipment, uniform and enthusiasm for learning.
For families of Year 7 students, you will be aware that they have been released from lessons early to begin break and lunch this week, we will continue with this arrangement throughout next week gradually reducing the time they have in advance of the rest of the school population to queue and purchase their food items. The early finish that has been in place this week to allow students to leave the site ahead of the main student body will return to normal next week with students in all year groups finishing at 3:05 in the afternoon, this is of course with the exception of Wednesday when students finish at 2:45.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Scott Doyle
Principal