End of year letter from the Principal Thursday 19th July, 2018

Dear Parents and Carers,

Stronger together

I am delighted to write to you after another fantastic year for our and our Trust. The Thinking Schools Academy Trust continues to grow and will be comprised of 17 schools this September, all working together to shape the success of our students through a thinking school approach.

In July, 2019 TPA will be seeking accreditation as an Advanced Thinking School from Exeter University. There are currently less than 10 schools across the country who have achieved this and I am sure that it will help us to go from strength to strength in terms of our teaching and learning, as well as the way in which we are supporting the personal development of your child(ren).

Within , Penhale, Meon and Moorings Way infant schools are all part of TSAT and so it is possible for parents to choose a thinking school approach from infant, through to junior, and then . I hope you will agree that this is really exciting for our city and opens up a whole raft of possibilities, such as our older students acting as role models to younger students.

Student Leadership

Yesterday, some of our students were at Isambard Brunel Junior School for the day helping students in Years 3, 4 & 5 with their French activities. I am incredibly proud of the student leadership within our school, our new Head Girl and her Executive Team, and also our Debate Team who recently campaigned successfully to reduce plastics within the school and were visited by Stephen Morgan MP to share their work. This September, I am looking forward to working with and Portsmouth University students ‘Scholars’ programme to provide additional mentoring to students in Years 7 and 11.

Facebook: TSAT-The Portsmouth Academy

If you have been following our Facebook page you may have seen all of the exciting things our students have been up to. To name but a few, I have been enormously proud of all of the Y9s who have taken part in the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme; of our ‘Go4Set’ students and those who won the BAE Systems school engineering challenge. Our Year 10s have just enjoyed two weeks of work experience and our visits to them have demonstrated that they have gained a lot and feel inspired about their future paths. In the Rock Challenge this year, we made it through to the Regional finals and I have just heard that we have been nominated for 8 National Awards out of a total of 13.

I can also report that the reward trips to Chessington World of Adventures went extremely well with excellent student behaviour and very short queues, due to the time of the year that we took them there. If your child attended, I hope that this gave you value for money and would like to thank you for your support in us being able to take the children on this fun day out. www.theportsmouthacademy.org.uk TRANSFORMING LIFE CHANCES

Site update

Over the summer, we are investing in our school in the following ways;

 6 top floor classrooms are being refurbished as Maths is moving to the 2nd floor  The CCTV system is being replaced with 30-40 new cameras being installed to support student and staff safety  A card access system is being installed on key doors with an electronic sign in system  The Sports hall floor is being repaired, resealed and the lines repainted  Another 20 windows are being replaced

I am also pleased to report that Phase 2 of the new building works, which includes the new three storey building to house Art, Music and Drama, will commence on 7th January, 2019 with contractors arriving on site in early November. A new entrance for the contractors will be established so that students will be able to continue to use both the front and back gates safely.

We have also won £39,000 from the Wolfson Foundation to invest in our Design and Technology facilities and will be installing new equipment such as a sublimation printer that can be used to transfer images to fabric, plastic, wood, mugs, etc., Photoshop software and a thermoform centre, which can be used for shaping and moulding plastic; meaning we can teach about sustainability and the social and environmental impact of plastics. We are so excited to be able to move forward and provide students with an even more engaging curriculum in Design and Technology.

Online systems

As you will be aware, the school is growing rapidly. This September, we will have 240 Year 7s arriving and there is a long waiting list for places. With this in mind, we have been working on embedding new online systems such as ‘My Ed’ and ‘Parent Pay.’ Can I ask, if you are not currently using these then please action the following before 4th September;  Activate your Parent Pay account by following the instructions included in the Parent Pay activate letter sent to you previously. Please contact the school if you require a further copy of this letter.  The My Ed App which contains the full school calendar so you can check the INSET days, parents’ evenings, and other key events and add them to your own calendar.

Please be aware that in the new academic year, the school ‘bank’ will no longer exist meaning we will not take cash payments from students. All money must be uploaded to their account via Parent Pay.

Start of new academic year

Monday 3rd September is an INSET day for staff with students returning on Tuesday 4th September.

Year 7 and Year 8 students should arrive at the normal time (on-site by 8:40am) and Year 9, 10 and 11 should arrive at 9:45am.

Please be aware that from next year, the back gate will be closed at 8:40am and any students who are late to school will need to walk around to the front gate and buzz through to reception.

Staff

The following staff will be leaving us to move on to pastures new this summer. I’m sure you will join me in wishing them well in their future:

Mr Philip Moore, KS3 Lead Teacher for Science – 6 months’ service Ms Jade Winstanley, Design and Technology Teacher – long term supply teacher Ms Elaine Hutton, Trainee English Teacher – 1 years’ service Mr Tim MacFarlane, Maths Teacher– 1 years’ service Ms Katherine Message, Teaching Assistant: English – 18 months’ service Mr Paul Hunnam, Science Teacher – 2 years’ service Mr Josh Tipping, Lead Teacher for Geography – 3 years’ service Mr Chris Gunner, KS3 Lead Teacher for English – 9 years’ service Mrs Bev Hill, Pupil Progress and Achievement Manager – 19 and half years’ service!

It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to the following staff, who will be joining us from September:

Mr Tom Chatwin, English Teacher Mr Zack Cross, English Teacher Ms Stephanie Lowry, KS4 Lead for English Mr David Thorn, Maths Teacher Mr Mike Richards, Maths Teacher Mr Adam Brett, Maths Teacher Ms Deborah Traut, Maths Teacher Mr Gareth Horton, Science Teacher Mr Jago Staplehurst, Science Teacher Ms Sarah Blackmore, Science Teacher Ms Jennifer Smith, Science Teacher Ms Kirsty French, Curriculum Lead Teacher for Geography Ms Juliet Radmall, Geography Teacher Ms Laura Hudson, Curriculum Lead Teacher for History Mr Raul Ramirez, MFL Teacher Ms Daniella Masters, RE Teacher Ms Kyrie Wallis, Design and Technology Teacher Ms Jennifer McKenzie, Student Progress Manager Mr Ian Brightman, Teaching Assistant: Maths Ms Chloe Hunt, Apprentice Science Laboratory Technician Ms Chantelle Usher, Behaviour Support Officer Ms Kelly Thayanukulvat, Higher Level Teaching Assistant

All the very best for a continued warm summer and I look forward to sharing the success stories of our Year 11s, who sat their GCSEs this year.

Kind regards,

Miss Natalie Sheppard Principal