STAR PUPILS As We Approach the Easter Break It Is Time to Say a Fond

Update from the Headteacher

STAR PUPILS As we approach the Easter break it is time to say a fond

‘Goodbye’ to a few members of staff. Three members of staff are leaving us after four and a half years. Emma Pajak is Maths Successes Add Up at RWBA leaving the English faculty and working for the DfE in a new role. Graham Turner is leaving Computer Science faculty and Last week, RWBA entered two teams into the Year 10 going to teach at new College in Swindon. Millie Bailey left Maths Feast Competition and came away in first and her role as lead Teaching Assistant a couple of weeks ago to second place. This is a UK-wide competition run by the take up a similar role in Bristol. Finally, after nearly 3 years here , Elliot Schofield is leaving his role as DT/Drama Further Maths Support Programme to encourage young T echnician for a ‘life on the ocean waves’ working on the people to engage in maths and continue to study it at a stage lights on a cruise ship. We wish them all well and hope high level. Our competition was for schools in the Swindon that they continue to have very successful careers. area. Our successful participants were Chloe Chan, Finlay

As per usual we have some amazing success with our Year 10 Cooke, Benjamin Coombs, Jessica Doerr, Jacob Horton, boys winning the Wiltshire Indoor cricket competition and Adam Hubbard, Luisa Osborne and Billy Spearman. beating every other school comprehensively along the way.

Our Year 10 Maths teams also had phenomenal success in the This term also saw our top mathematicians from Years 9, Maths Feast competition at Hardenhuish with the teams coming 1st and 2nd from all schools in North Wiltshire and 10 and 11 take the UK Maths Trust Intermediate Swindon. We have also had success in various other sports Paper. The UK Maths Trust runs challenge question such as badminton, rugby, swimming, netball, cross country papers that are sat by over 600,000 top mathematicians running, hockey, football and basketball. We have also had across the country. The top 40% receive a certificate and th our usual amazing musical performances – the 6 Form 56 students across the three years were awarded either a Chamber concert being a special highlight for me. gold, silver or bronze certificate. An astonishing 10 There are two other things that I would like to alert you to. students scored marks in the top 25% and went through One is that the school now proudly has the Rights Respecting to the Kangaroo round. These were (Year 11) Chloe Schools Silver Award. This fits perfectly with our ethos valuing the ‘whole person’ as much as we value academic O'Leary, Samuel Mitchell, James Absalom, Sophie achievement. The second is the huge success of our MadDog Silcock, Dylan Davis, Benjamin Evans, (Year 10) Russell rugby academy which has given so much than just rugby to Chiu, Jakub Tucker, Benjamin Coombs and (Year 9) Jai the students. The boys have developed an incredible bond Suain. and produced their own set of values to which they all adhere. Again, this ethos fits perfectly with the school’s value system. When we went into partnership with MadDog Rugby Finally, a number of year 8 students went to a maths we did so because they were values led and we are truly puzzle solving morning at Hardenhuish School and one of delighted with the work they have done. They will be working the teams came fourth. far more across the lower Years in years to come.

This is such an important time for our Year 11 and 13 students Recently, RWBA hosted the UKMT intermediate team in particular. They need to be starting their revision now if challenge, at which we will welcome 20 teams from they haven’t already. If they are ever in any doubt as to what Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and beyond. to do for their revision after learning through post-its, mind maps / revision cards etc then they should test, test, test and test themselves again and again and again. Next term will be equally be busy with the UKMT Junior maths challenge and a Year 7 puzzle solving morning at I wish you all a ‘Happy Easter’ and hope that everyone comes Hardenhuish School. back refreshed.

George Croxford, Headteacher Congratulations to all achievements! 

Science

Year 8 Work on

By Grace Crocker, By Aimee Pattinson, 8Winterbourne2 8Winterbourne2

By Rukayat Hamzat, 8Bassett1

Year 7 Work on By Nathan Asante-Otchere, 7Wootton1

By Arvel Hwenje, 7Compton1

P.E

In keeping with the methods by which our pupils communicate and view news, the PE department have taken to TWITTER in a massive way. As a result we would encourage all parents to get on to Twitter, set up an account and follow @RWBAPEDept for everything PE and Sport at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy - results, fixtures, pictures and headlines.

It also saves paper as we have so much going on we would need to write a book to cover all the action of Terms 3 &4. Here is a small taster of pictures of some of the action that’s taken place this term….. P.E

NWSC Primary Events 2018 St Mary's hosted the YrR12 FUNs festival Noremarsh win primary ‘quick sticks’ hockey on 7th March 2018 specifically looking at Agility, Balance and Coordination skills.

Longleaze, St Mary's, St Sampson's and Lyneham all took part in a ‘challenge myself’ skills circuit.

Primary swimming gala 26th January 2018 organised by Mrs Penberthy and our P10 young leaders. 8 schools compete and the winners go to the county finals of the school games on Wednesday 4th July at Marlborough College. Won by Noremarsh.

Wiltshire School Games Spring Festival

600 young athletes representing 43 Primary and Secondary schools competed at the County’s first Winter School Games Festival hosted by Dauntsey’s School recently to compete in the finals of 5 sports. The event was organised by Wiltshire and Swindon Sport (WASP) in conjunction with School Games Organisers. Young leaders from Lavington School, Royal Wootton Basset Academy and Devizes School supported officials from England Hockey, Wiltshire County Netball Association, RFU, Wiltshire Council and Pentathlon GB along with many volunteers from local clubs.

P.E

Powerlifting with Swindon Barbell

December once again saw pupils raising the bar by taking up the opportunity to develop their skills in alternative actives. With the ongoing link between RWBA and Swindon Barbell going from strength to strength. Look out for opportunity with the fantastic club in the summer term.

Taekwondo in school – 6 week beginner’s introduction course.

Further links have been developed with local martial arts provider Leadership Martial Arts, who provided a subsidised introduction to Taekwondo. Over 6 weeks pupils developed an understanding of the basic skills and discipline required in the sport. Some have even signed up to be full members of the club outside of school!

Cross country County finals

We have developed real success in cross country over the past few years with a number of our pupils qualifying to represent the county. This year is no exception with our school teams achieving the best standings ever.

Minor boys placed 2nd

th Minor girls placed 5

th Junior boys placed 4

Junior Girls placed 7th

nd Inter boys placed 2 Inter Girls placed 1st As a result, we had the following pupils go on to represent North Wilts at the county finals Year7: Poppy Wannell, Rebecca Heaps, Matthew Capel Year 9: Jaydn Giles Year 10: Jack Latus Year11: Max Sockett, Sophie Capel, Georgette Jeaps, Joe Lawrence

The largest number of pupils from RWBA ever!

Special mentions to Rebecca Heaps, Jack Latus and Max Sockett who all placed and qualified to represent Wiltshire County in the South West Finals. With Max Sockett going on to compete at the National Finals in Braford.

Leaders at St Bartholomews Term 3 & 4

As part of the core PE curriculum a number of Year11 pupils have selected to follow a leadership pathway which has culminated in the opportunity to teach sport related sessions to pupils of St Bartholomew’s in Royal Wootton Bassett. This is a new link we have developed and one we hope to grow over the coming years.

P.E

Badminton

In January RWBA hosted one of the Swindon level 2 Badminton events. It was a great event and awesome to see Badminton back and supported in Swindon. As a result of the qualifying events RWBA teams did fantastically well with all entered age groups qualifying for the Wiltshire finals.

At the Wiltshire finals our U16 girls were out to revenge their 2nd place last year. They did amazingly, beating all the schools they played and qualifying for the South West finals and a trip to Bournemouth. A massive well done to Sophie Silcock, Niamh Potter, Orla Jones and Jess Doerr who are the best team in Wiltshire!

Handball coaching to raise GCSE attainment

As a result of new specification and limited choices of sports for assessment at GCSE we sourced support from a local Handball coach who has been working with Year10 & 11 pupils in developing their skills in a different sport.

We are hoping they can use their new skills as part of their GCSE assessment as well as put them to the test in the County tournament being held in April. Watch this space!

This term has seen the development of leadership in extra-curricular PE with Year 10 students giving up their time to inspire some of the younger Year groups. Working in conjunction with the Duke of Edinburgh Award has allowed students to learn new skills, develop their confidence and put them on a pathway to widen their participation beyond just playing.

RWBA hosted the Year 7 Level 2 Swindon schools Rugby tournament this term. Organising and hosting 4 other schools from the Swindon area, we were able to play an important role in developing rugby. Congratulations to the winners who progress onto to represent Swindon at the Wiltshire School Games and a huge well done to our players who exemplified the RWBA Way.

Cricket Year 10 indoor cricket team performed exceptionally through the county finals at the Chippenham dome. RWBA won all 3 of their group games with ease and progressed into the semi-finals. In the first game, RWBA played Kingdown, batted first and hit them for six. RWBA posted 118 runs from their 8 overs, with Jack Clarke and Callum Flay both reaching 25 not out.

P.E

What a fantastic start to ’Mad Dog Rugby’ at RWBA it has been. The first two terms have flown by seeing the academy integrated smoothly into the school by our fantastic coaches Alex Burns and Ryan Kirby and the brilliant engagement by the school staff. There have been many successes so far… From the start of their time with us, the boys set their own standards and values that sit alongside the ‘Mad Dog’ pre-existing values, encouraging players to be humble, confident, resilient, respectful and committed. They have encompassed these from day one and the progression as a squad has seen not only an improvement in their skills, strength and conditioning and knowledge around our wellbeing subjects, but their application to their studies too, notably recognised by Headteacher George Croxford who commented that “The decision to go into partnership with Mad Dog Sport has brought rewards way beyond rugby”. We were very proud to see two of our players involved at county level and three get the call up for the welsh exiles, fantastic personal achievements for each one. Our players recently participated in an external training session with Russell Earnshaw (England U18’s coach). This was specifically put on for local coaches and Mad Dog school PE representatives to attend and learn about the way in which the RFU are channelling their coaching style and ways to get the best out of young players. The session was followed by an informal Q & A with the Mad Dog squads from both RWBA and Melksham Oak School. The maturity and values they have ingrain since joining the academy where clearly expressed during this Q & A. The players verbalised the impact the programme has had on them, the positive environment they have created and the massive support they have felt from their peers. Commenting on witnessing this moment Lewis Moody MBE said “I am blown away to see how much personal growth the boys have made in such a short space of time, they should be very proud”. They are all becoming great ambassadors that exemplify the values and ethos that we encourage. We are excited to see how they will develop further over the next year and years to follow. If you are interested in joining the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Mad Dog programme, then please contact the school or [email protected] to find out more information.

Geography

We have had a fantastic start to 2018 in the Geography department!

KS3: We have been busy planning new and exciting schemes of work in preparation for the new academic year. In line with our status as a Rights Respecting school we have planned a dynamic, topical unit of work designed to address our rights to a safe and clean human and natural environment (Article 24).

KS4: Year 9 have embarked on their GCSE Geography voyage and have started work on their first of 6 examined units. They are also going to have the opportunity to carry out a detailed geographical enquiry in the summer term, where we will visit Jubilee Lake to carry out some human fieldwork techniques. Meanwhile, Year 10 are approaching the half way mark with the content for GCSE and are looking forward to a splendid seaside study in Swanage! This will help them to prepare for their physical Geography fieldwork questions in their examinations. Year 11 have now finished their course and are ready to hit the ground running with the revision period.

Italy here we come! We are running a KS4 and KS5 overseas trip to Italy in the November half-term and are currently putting together an exciting and adventurous itinerary including trips to Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii, Sorrento, Mount Etna and Vulcano.

KS5: Our Year 12 students have two fabulous trips to Bristol and Snowdonia National Park. The students have been an asset to RWBA and have had the opportunity to experience the landscapes they are required to study for their A Level examinations. Year 13 are about to finish their RWBA Geography journey and we wish them well in all their endeavours. Social Science - Mock Trial Competition

Year 8 Students excel themselves in Mock Trial Competition

On the 10th March students from Year 8 took part in the local heat of this years’ Magistrates Mock trial competition.

The competition is run by the Citizens Foundation in partnership with the Magistrates Association, with the aim of students developing an understanding of the Criminal Justice System. The competition focused on students battling it out against other schools to put forward their arguments relating to a fictional scenario.

The topic this year focused on the possession on a knife, a crime that has increased across the UK and is a growing concern in schools across the UK. Students were first tasked with taking on a role of either a witness, the defendant, barristers, or the court room staff. They then went forth to research evidence and prepare questions that could be asked and answered during the trial. Students then went against two other schools battling out to put across their arguments for prosecution and for defence.

One of the Magistrates for the competition, Michael Leslie, stated “The trial was very good experience, it was great to find out how the courts work, and I look forward to doing it again.”

On the day, students were fortunate to be given a tour of the law courts and cells, with some students having the opportunity to try on handcuffs and riot gear. The 15 students involved in the competition (Zack Watkins, Emily Lancaster, Michael Leslie, Olivia Cotter, Rukayat Hamzat, Ethan Price, Louis Austin, Molly Matthews, Alex Judge, Charlie Lockley, Xavier Le Pape, Thomas Dubarry, Max Smith, Sophie Hoon, Loretta Lucioni) deserve so much praise for their efforts.

Anthony Matthews (Law Teacher) who supervised with the learning and preparation of the students stated “As staff we are incredibly proud of their achievements, we value the hard work and effort they have spent in their own time preparing for the trial and the courage and commitment shown in performing the trials in an actual courtroom. To be able to stand up and respond to interrogation and questioning has helped support their confidence, and it is brilliant to see them enjoying and engaging in the criminal justice system.”

Many thanks for the organisation goes to Head of Year 8 David Storey who instigated the team and supported the running of the programme.

Student Voice

The following pupils from RWBA have been elected candidates for the Wiltshire Assembly of Youth where they attend regular meetings with important people at Wiltshire Council. In their first meeting in Trowbridge they met other members of WAY and spoke to the Educational Officer for Wiltshire. They discussed the differentiation of school funding between secondary schools and how it is a problem for Headteachers’ who budgets are constantly being squeezed. However it was Karl Smithson who had the most votes and They also campaigned to become the next United Kingdom secured his place as the next UKYP candidate. The RWBA Youth Parliament Rep where they ran campaigns in order to get pupils will still be carrying on their work with the Wiltshire rd votes. They all spoke in year assemblies to get votes. Assembly of Youth when they next meet on the 3 May 2018.

Wiltshire North candidates Nicholas Whyatt My name is Nicholas Whyatt. I live in West Swindon and I go to Royal Wootton Bassett Academy. If I am elected to Youth Parliament I will be campaigning on these important issues: Push for a large burst of investment into renewable energy and mitigation of carbon production from fossil fuels, the former to lesson our dependence on ever more expensive non-renewable reso urces and imported energy, and the latter to try and curb the damage caused by our inevitable continuation of some fossil fuel usage.

Continue to campaign for votes at 16. Many very well thought out arguments have been put towards this, however my envisioning of an energy-independent UK requires the youth to decide and vote towards our future if we are to help save our planet and lead in accordance with the Paris climate accord while still maintaining an economic advantage, I believe the youth need to get involved in the decisions that will govern their lives. I consider these to be important issues because, in time, our generation will occupy and control these major seats of power and will have to make difficult decisions about our future too, just as we do now. However, if we fail to act now, those decisions will become ever harder and ever more difficult, all the while the youth will find themselves struggling without a voice. If I am elected to Youth Parliament, I promise to work diligently towards the goals that I believe in and to fight on the issues that concern our youth with upright zeal. I will proudly represent the people who choose me to be the recipient of their vote and I will listen to their views and opinions with respect, in order to do my duty to the community that elected me.

Emily Frith My name is Emily Frith. I live in Royal Wootton Bassett and I go to Royal Wootton Bassett Academy. If I am elected to Youth Parliament I will be campaigning on the important issue of mental health. We as a nation are massively under-educated about such matters. My aim is for there to be one compulsory lesson per fortnight to teach secondary school students all about mental health disorders. This will include the causes, prevention and how to help somebody who is suffering.

Sherwin Kashfi My name is Sherwin Kashfi. I live in Swindon and go to Royal Wootton Bassett Academy. If I am elected to Youth Parliament I will be campaigning on these important issues. Unbiased conversations in UK schools and universities More freedom of speech in both schools and society in general I consider these to be important issues because we need to create better intellectual environments for students.

Drama

Key Stage 3 Summer Production ‘Our Day Out’ to be performed on 11th July.

A funny play about a school trip.

Tickets on sale soon!

Woman In Black workshop

Drama took students from Key Stages 4 & 5 for an on stage workshop with West End actors, then watched the show.

A very memorable day.

Dance Show

‘On Wednesday 9th May, Royal Wootton Bassett Academy will be performing ‘A Celebration of Dance’.

50 very talented students from Years 7-10 have been working exceptionally hard since January, you do not want to miss out!

Tickets cost £3 per person, with all proceeds donated to our chosen charity. Doors open at 6:45pm with the show starting at 7pm.

Any questions then please contact Mrs Beth Westlake.

MUSIC

Music For Youth Last year, Wind Band got through to the final of Music for Youth! This year we have Swing Band, Flute Ensemble, Senior Choir and Wind Band competing at the regional festival on 25th March!

Lion King On Thursday 15th March, 109 Year 7 students went to London to see the Theatre play of the Lion King – fantastic!

A-Level Recitals Year 13 Music A-Level students performed stunning recitals in preparation for the final exam! Kieran Potter, Clare Rabbitt, Benjamin Pope and Felicity Woolnough. Other Year 12s who also performed were Alexander Harris, George Staten and Bethany Taylor.

Radio Broadcast George Staten, Kieran Potter, James Absalom and Benjamin Coombs played on BBC Wiltshire Radio ahead of the Royal Marine Band Concert.

6th Form Chamber Concert Monday 5th February was the 6th Form Chamber Concert. Fabulous event! Congratulations to all who took part.

Royal Marine Music Day

Money raised went to Help For Heroes Drum Corps Woodwind Section

In The Right Place

After many months of hard work RWBA has been awarded the Rights Respecting Schools Silver Award. On Tuesday 27th February Jilly Hillier from UNICEF came to assess the progress that we have made in both being informed about Rights and practising Rights Respecting behaviours. As part of her assessment she spoke to many pupils and staff on the day, observed lessons, toured round the school and looked through a mountain we submitted for evidence. Once Jilly emerged from the room, she was happy to announce our success! In particular, she was incredibly impressed with the comments that were made by the students that she spoke to and I would personally like to thank all of those students who gave up their time to speak to Jilly on the day.

This award shows that as a school we understand the value of rights and the need to respect the rights of others. Our students are constantly reminded of the importance of understanding that they are in a community where the rights of all children are guaranteed and part of the membership of this community is to value this. Many of our pupils have a real interest in rights and an understanding of how large numbers of young people do not receive all of their rights both around the world and within the UK. This mind-set is often what drives them to help the school in leading on charity events and raising a considerable amount of money for donations each year. The Rights have thus become an embedded part of our culture alongside RWBA’s emphasis on Values Education, and Growth Mindset in learning.

Mr Tim Waldron Head of EP and Personal Development Royal Wootton Bassett Academy

Sixth Form News

2018-2019 Sixth Form Leadership Team

This week saw the Hustings and election of the new Head Girl and Head Boy and their Deputies. All the candidates presented well and it was a close run contest. After Easter the following Sixth Form Students will take over as the Sixth Form Leadership team for 2018-19.

Congratulations to all the successful applicants.

Head Boy: George Staten Senior Prefects: Jade Cain Callum Davidson Head Girl: Serena Manchip Rebecca Deverell Katie Hayes Deputy Head Boy: Tom Cliff Sam Heaphy Sophie Hodgetts Deputy Head Girl: Zoe-Ann Bishop Jasmin Thom

A group of Year 12 students spent February half-term in Washington DC on the return leg of this year's exchange programme with Gar-Field High School. The week was amazing!

Two days in Washington visiting the main sites such as the White House, Capitol and Smithsonian museums. A cold but beautiful day at Mount Vernon and a cold snowy visit to New York where they visited Ellis Island, the 9-11 museum (incredibly moving) and Times Square. The students spent time in lessons at Gar-Field High School, attended a basketball match and explored the local

area with their host families.

The competitive nature between the groups resulted in basketball match - declared a draw! A busy ten days where lifelong friendships have been forged.

This year, Bath University decided to sponsor an Award for Inspirational Teachers. As part of this initiative, first year undergraduates studying with the University, who came from schools or colleges with a limited history of sending students to the university were asked to nominate an inspirational teacher who inspired and supported their achievement in an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ).

On Friday 23rd February, the University presented the first awards at the Hilton Hotel in Bath to the 4 winners who each also won £500 for their school or college.

We are proud to Congratulate Mr Chris Morgan, from our Social Sciences Department who was nominated by a former student Lauren Fletcher, studying a BSc Management with Marketing Degree and received the Award.

Lauren’s nomination stated: “Christopher Morgan provided students with an impeccable platform and resources to complete the EPQ. It helped me and my peers understand the processes behind academic writing. I also have resources for referencing and presenting that I will use throughout my career. He helped us tap into what we were truly capable of, I hope he gets recognised for all his hard work.”

Mrs Bell congratulated Mr Morgan in a Year 13 Assembly this week to highlight the work and dedication put in by him in supporting students through the EPQ programme. “This is a very deserving award to a teacher, amongst many in our school, who goes over and above to help students realize their potential.”

Textiles For Pi Day

We had a great time in Textiles for Pi day and it was lovely to see parents attending too!

We made egg cosies from felt, the conical shape being part of a circle, and decorated them with more circles of different sizes. The students learned to construct these as well as blanket stitch, cross stitch and over sewing.

It was a very enjoyable and calming activity. Everyone got an egg cup and a chocolate egg to take home!

Drop The Rubbish Attitude!

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, in partnership with Wiltshire Council and Royal Wootton Bassett Academy competition winners, launched their own litter campaign in January. This is all part of the Recycle for Wiltshire joint venture that has been working in the local area to encourage residents to reduce, reuse and recycle.

As plastic damaging our oceans reaches the headlines, students in Years 7, 8 and 9 have been helping the environment, with the help of The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust through the ‘Drop the rubbish attitude campaign’.

The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust ‘Drop the rubbish attitude campaign’ visited Success Lounge to help them to understand the impacts on wildlife of dropped litter. They inspired them to think about ways to discourage littering and to find out the key items are that get dropped in the school and to encourage them to enter a competition to have their poster or sticker produced for a campaign.

Presenting to Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council, three of the pupils, Owen, Noah and Kameron, gave a clear update on about the work that they had done, which was welcomed by the Town Councillors who are currently working to further reduce costs of litter picking.

At the Royal Wootton Bassett Christmas Lights Event in December, the winners were revealed to the public on stage, with Cindy and Thelma jointly producing the winning bin sticker design and Marquise creating the winning poster.

Funding to enable the campaign to go live, has since been generously provided by both the Rotary Clubs of Royal Wootton Bassett, with local printers Hulbert and Woodall kindly offering a one off discounted rate to support the initiative.

Student’s Work

The following piece of work has been written by a Year 8 student about vulnerability.

Taking advantage of people – why? When there is no need to do it. Horrible words can be a dagger through the heart. More powerful than a machine gun. Saying things not realising the effect it has on the person. What if the person is vulnerable or something happened to him or her? When you take advantage of people for a joke or it’s just banter, you may think it’s no big deal, but how will the other person feel?

Some people are more vulnerable than others. Unfortunately it seems they’re the ones subjected to mean comments – needless, thoughtless comments. Why? Who knows why we treat people in this awful, terrible manner. Why are they treated differently then? They’re human as well. Everyone’s different and the world needs to learn that these vulnerable people need to be protected – not subject to horrible comments.

The message that needs to be conveyed is offer protection to more vulnerable people, not to be taken advantage of and used. Not to be treated differently and left out, but to be protected and treated as you would want to be treated. Would you like to be taken advantage of? NO! We need to stop this problem now!

SCITT

Easter Teaser – Word Search

Our Book door house competition where tutor groups dress their doors as book during ilearn was again successful \\\\ with 1st Place going to Berwick House. Winterbourne 2nd, Wootton 3rd, Compton 4th and Bassett 5th.

Staff and students also braved the snow to dress up as book characters raising £50 for Book Aid.

This year we also held our first D.E.A.R. ‘Drop Everything And Read’ experience where lessons were interrupted for 15 minutes and staff and students read a book for that time. ATTEND TODAY, ACHIEVE TOMORROW!

At RWBA we recognise that regular attendance at school is the most critical element in ensuring academic success. Regular attendance promotes academic attainment and allows you to make the best progress. We have a clear expectation that you should attend 100% of the time. Obviously we understand that sometimes absences from school are unavoidable, especially in times of ill health, injury, family bereavement. In such cases parents should contact the school as soon as possible. 01793 841957. There are 190 school days per year and 175 other days for holidays, birthday treats and non-urgent appointments. RWBA will not authorise any holidays or time off during term time. We may consider authorising individual requests for time off in exceptional circumstances. These requests must be submitted to Mrs Salmon, Assistant Headteacher in advance and will be considered on an individual basis. 0 days off school = 100% = Perfection Equates to 2 days off school each Year = 99% = Excellent Equates to 5 days off school each Year = 97% = Good

Equates to 10 days off school each year = 95% = Slight concern, Parents will be notified of concerns Equates to 20 days off school each year = 90% = Concerning – classified at Persistent Absentee Equates to 30 days off school each year = 85% = Very Concerning

Every Minute Counts!

8.30am – Your Child has arrived in time to settle well and has the best start possible

8.40am – Your child has probably arrived just after most students as the school day starts at 8.40am

8.41am – Your child is late and has missed the beginning of the school day, being a few minutes late often unsettles students

8.45am – 5minutes late a day means 3 lost days a year

8.50am – 10minutes late a day means 6 lost days a year

8.55am – 15minutes late a day means 9 lost days a year

Arriving after the register closes is recorded as an unauthorised absence

If you child is late they are missing out If you child is regularly late it will affect their learning and progress in school

Give your child the best start to the school day by ensuring they arrive before 8.40am All students are given a 10minute breaktime detention on the same day that they are late to school

Absence During Term Time – What The Law Says

Parents do not have a legal right to take children out of school. Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

A request for a leave of absence must only be considered if:  The parent the child normally lives with applies in advance for the absence  We consider the circumstances are exceptional.

If the parent with whom the child normally lives does not apply for the absence, this would be considered as an unauthorised absence and this parent would be liable to the issue of a Penalty Notice. Absence cannot be authorised if anybody else applies for the holiday.

Penalty Notices for Unauthorised Absence If the absence has not been authorised by the School and an absence occurs, where the child’s total unauthorised absences amounts to 10 or more sessions (5 school days), continuous or aggregated within the previous six months within the current academic year (including the most recent unauthorised absence), schools are expected to notify the Education Welfare Service.

This includes parents who remove their children from school during term time without getting authorisation from the School. The penalty is £60 per parent per child if paid within 21 days, rising to £120 if paid between 21 and 28 days of the date of issue as stated on the Penalty Notice. If you fail to pay a penalty fine within 28 days you will be prosecuted.

Truancy Calls As mentioned in our previous Newsletter, we are continuing to run a strategy to monitor attendance which includes supporting the safety of students’ welfare during the school day.

Registers are marked at the start of i-Learn at 08:40am and the system displays all students who have not been marked present at that time. Student Managers check the names and update the system showing the reasons for absences.

Unless we have notification of illness at the start of the day or prior appointments, truancy calls will go out to all the contact numbers on our records for that particular student until we establish a reason for their absence. Please inform us if you have recently moved or have new contact details – we need to know they are correct and up-to-date in case of an emergency.

Lime Kiln Leisure Centre Car Park – NOT For School Pick-Up Use Mr Daniel Spencer, Centre Manager of Lime Kiln Leisure Centre, has raised a concern with the school that has been progressively getting worse over the past year or so.

During the mornings between the approximate times of 8.00am - 8.40am and the afternoons between 2.30pm - 3.10pm they have been getting inundated with RWBA parents using the Lime Kiln Leisure

Centre car park as a drop off / pick up point for their children.

School This has led, on many occasions, to Lime Kiln Leisure Centre customers complaining of there being Car Park Facilities nowhere to park in order for them to use the facility; they pay a premium membership for this use. On When you visit the top of this - to add insult to injury as it were - the majority of waiting parents sit with their car engines School by car, please running for the school pick up which can be anywhere between 5-40 minutes. Mr Spencer has even adhere to the one way had customers inform him they have approached the RWBA parents whilst sat in their cars to ask if they system (clearly marked are going to use the Centre, to which they have replied no and subsequently refused to move their car. by the arrows) and be mindful of the parking Mr Spencer feels he has no other choice but to put two members of his team on the entrance to the car space you use. park to enforce to parents that unless they are using the Leisure facilities immediately after parking they Please keep the will not be allowed to access their car park in the future. disabled spaces free at all times for those who Please, as responsible parents, adhere to the parking restrictions and park responsibly when dropping need them. off or collecting your children. We have parents and visitors coming and going throughout the Residential Parking day, but unless you In addition, residents living opposite and in close proximity to the school have complained about not display a blue disabled being able to park in their designated parking spaces at busy times due to parents dropping off and sticker in your car collecting their child from school. windscreen we will make the assumption The school enjoys a good relationship with all local residents and we would like to keep it this way. that you are parked incorrectly. Thank you Again, we ask you to be considerate at all times if you have a need to park outside of the school for your consideration. premises. THINK BEFORE YOU PARK!