THE LEIGH ACADEMY Summer 2019 THE LEIGH ACADEMY SUMMER EDITION 2019 NEWSLETTER Letter from the Principal Welcome to the summer edition of The Leigh Academy newsletter as we look back on the range of activities and events that have taken place through Modules 5 and 6. I am extremely proud to share with you that The Leigh Academy has become the first school in Calendar the U.K. to be awarded ‘The Healthy Minds’ kite mark, more details on page 4. Another highlight was The Leigh Academies Trust Sports Day, when The Leigh Academy retained it’s 15th August—A Level results position as the Champions for the 11th year in a row! Although we faced fierce competition, 22nd August—GCSE results particularly from two of the new academies to the Leigh Academies Trust, Sir Joseph Wil- liamson’s Mathematical School and The Hundred of Hoo Academy (pages 6&7). Congratula- 31st August—Year 7 & New Year tions to all participants! 12 students start Module 1 We have also held our REAL Awards evening, ‘Recognising Excellence At The Leigh’ at which 2nd September—Whole students from Years 7 to 10 received academic awards, League of Excellence awards, Academy returns for Module 1 awards for Readiness, Resilience, Relationships, Reflection and Responsibility, as well as 12th September—Year 6 Open many more (page 19). Evening Our Year 11 and Year 13 students have also been challenged with a large number of GCSE, 19th September—Year 7,8 & 9 BTEC and A Level examinations, as well as our first cohort of students taking International Information Evening Baccalaureate (IB) diploma courses in Post-16. I am so proud to share that these results in 7 of the 9 IB subjects studied matched or exceeded the global average! Our students were 24th September—Years 10, 11 & well prepared for these examinations. So many were fully committed to attending all les- 12 Information Evening sons, working with dedication and in addition attending after school, Saturday and even 2nd October—Year 6 Open holiday revision sessions. I am sure that you would wish to join me in thanking all the staff Evening who devoted not only their working week, but also their weekends and holidays to provid- 16th October—Year 7 Parent ing additional support to our Leigh students and of course, well done to the students who Tutor Day, Years 11 &13 Parent worked so hard. We look forward to our results days in August. Teacher Day Year 13 students will be able to collect their results on Thursday 15th August from 9:30am. 18th October—Module 1 finishes Year 11 students may collect their results on Thursday 22nd August from 9:30am. Enrol- ment into our Post-16 will commence immediately after results are collected. Wishing our 4th November—Module 2 begins students all the very best of luck and the success they deserve! Follow us! @theleighacademy @leighacademy @theleighacademy 1 THE LEIGH ACADEMY Summer 2019 Letter from the Principal continued Contents As an IB World School we have also had an IB Middle Years Programme (IBMYP) consultan- cy visit and were praised for the commitment from the staff for the delivery of the pro- gramme, and developing further our broad and balanced curriculum as we will now deliver this to Year 8 from September. Page 3— SLT Changes I would also like to thank parents and carers for your support this academic year. It is our Page 4—Healthy Minds Award partnership that enables every student to succeed and without your support that would not be possible. Pages 5-7—Sport I wish you all a happy, restful summer break. I hope the lovely weather continues and I Page 8—Fundraising look forward to welcoming everyone back next year. Page 9—Justin Williams visit All my best wishes Page 12—Junior Maths Challenge Julia Collins, Principal Page 13—Story Box Challenge Page 14—Visits Page 15—Global Essay Competition Page 17—Deaf Awareness Day Pages 18-19 Student Achievements Tata Young Expressions 2019 Congratulations must go to Arnav Sinha, Year 7, who has come second in the global creative writing competition run by Tata. Tata is a global enterprise group which operates in over 100 countries across six different continents, with a mission to ‘improve the quality of life of the communities they work in’. This competition was about submitting a creative written piece about a‘superpower for a better world’. Arnav came up with an idea of a superhero called ‘Pixel Man’, an online superhero who could save people from online abuse, hacking and attacks. A fantastic idea and a great achievement. Well done! Lisa Bodle, Director of Learning, English Bromcom—My Child at School A reminder that ‘My Child at School’ gives parents/carers a real-time view on assessment, timetable, rewards and consequences and other key data about your child. The primary contact for each child has been emailed a user name and password to access the system at: https://www.mychildatschool.com If you have any questions or issues in accessing the system, please contact [email protected] Sarah Forde, Head of Chaucer College Follow us! @theleighacademy @leighacademy @theleighacademy 2 THE LEIGH ACADEMY Summer 2019 SLT Changes As we approach the end of the end of the academic year, I would like to update you on some staffing adjustments that will take place from September 2019. The College Leadership Teams will be as follows: Brunel College Head of College Mark Shepherd [email protected] Assistant Head of College Michael Williams [email protected] Student Services Manager Allieu Jalloh [email protected] College Administrator Janet Senior 01322 620507 Da Vinci College Head of College Kevin Brewer [email protected] Assistant Head of College Matteo Stamato [email protected] Student Services Manager Sheena Turner [email protected] College Administrator Julie Howell 01322 620520 Darwin College Head of College Stuart Lindars [email protected] Assistant Head of College Patrick Lonergan [email protected] Student Services Manager Donna Neve [email protected] College Administrator Michelle Tuck 01322 620508 Chaucer College Head of College Sarah Forde [email protected] Assistant Head of College Matthew Piggott [email protected] Student Services Manager Louise Taylor [email protected] College Administrator Sandra Cockle 01322 620511 We are very fortunate at The Leigh Academy to have such a strong team of staff and senior leaders with a vast range of skills and experiences. This ensures that each child is fully supported to be academically successful and nurtured to become well-rounded young people fully prepared for life beyond The Leigh. Julia Collins, Principal Follow us! @theleighacademy @leighacademy @theleighacademy 3 THE LEIGH ACADEMY Summer 2019 Healthy Minds Award The Leigh Academy is one of the country's leading Healthy Minds schools. We have worked with Bounce Forward and The London School of Economics as a pioneer of this programme for the last 5 years. Healthy Minds is a curriculum aimed at developing resilience, social and emotional well-being as well as healthy habits, choices and relationships for our young people. Following successful training and implementation of the lessons, we at The Leigh Academy have seen an improvement in attendance, stronger relationships, and students provided with the strategies to make the right choices as well as supporting the mental health of students. On Wednesday 19th June we held an Open Day which was attended by over 25 educational professionals from across the UK, many of whom were from the Trust to showcase the programme as it is delivered here. Visitors were able to visit Healthy Minds lessons and speak with our students. Some of whom also participated in a Q&A session with our visitors and were great ambassadors for The Leigh Academy. We are delighted to be the first school in the UK to be presented with a Healthy Minds Award, in recognition of the ‘successful involvement in the Healthy Minds research project and demonstrating a commitment to the personal development of students’ from Lord Richard Layard from the London School of Economics. I would also like to say a special thank you to Mr Lindars, who is pas- sionate about this programme and ensuring that we support our students to become resilient, confident young people, equipping them with the tools to be successful in life at The Leigh and beyond. Julia Collins, Principal Follow us! @theleighacademy @leighacademy @theleighacademy 4 THE LEIGH ACADEMY Summer 2019 District Cup Final—Years 8, 10 & 11 The Leigh Academy had one of it’s most successful footballing seasons on record this year, with the Year 12 football team reaching the Kent Cup Final earlier in the academic year. This was followed by the successes of the Year 8, 10 and 11 teams who all reached the Dartford and Gravesham cup finals. All three of the later cup finals were played on the Punjab United first team pitch and all were greeted with a large crowd of family and friends that came along to support. Unfortunately, the Year 10 and 11 teams just missed out on victory, but can still be proud of their hard work ethic and determination during both finals. The Year 8 team produced an exceptional performance in their final, winning 3-1 vs Meopham School. This is the second year running that this team have won the District Cup. Next season they will be aiming to keep up their winning record again, whilst also hoping to progress further in the prestigious Kent Cup competition. Andrew Pickett & Kirsty Marshall, Co-ordinators of Learning, PE Accessible Parking A polite reminder to all parents and carers.