THE LEIGH ACADEMY Spring 2020 Letter from the Principal As I write this letter to you, I reflect on the last two weeks and the last two modules. In the last two weeks, The Leigh Academy's motto of “Opening Minds to Success” has definitely come into play as we have all had to open our minds to very different ways of working, studying, and communicating. Students, parents and staff have risen to the challenges and shown true grit and resilience in facing the current national crisis. I am so proud of the way in which staff and students, with parents’ support, have quickly adapted to this new way of life and learning, overcoming the obstacles in our path. Staff have rapidly developed their online teaching skills and are trying out new and inventive ways to deliver lessons and activities. The majority of students (with parents/carers) support are working well and finding their way in the virtual classroom and the virtual academy that we find ourselves in. Well done to everyone! Please do look at the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs sheet) on page 6 which I hope answers the queries raised by parents in the recent parental survey. Parents and Carers have also recently been sent letters referring to online safety and safeguarding and wellbeing - a summary of contacts can be found on both documents to help ensure your son/daughter remain physically and emotionally well at this time. If you have any worries or concerns in regards to their emotional well being please contact your Head of College or Stuart Lindars the Designated Safeguarding Lead. Whilst the academy is closed to students and staff, there are a small number of children of key workers who continue to attend the academy when their parents are fighting on the front line against Covid 19. It is important that we continue to provide care for these students whilst we can, to enable their parents to work for the nation. These students were interviewed by the BBC this week, and a report was aired on BBC South East on Wednesday 1st April. This video can be viewed on The Leigh Academy Facebook page. Thank you to all staff who have been supporting this provision by still coming into The Leigh to look after these children despite the difficulties we are all facing at this time. Follow us! @theleighacademy @leighacademy @theleighacademy 1 THE LEIGH ACADEMY Spring 2020 Letter from the Principal continued Contents Between January and mid March, there was much taking place at The Leigh and we enclose the articles, reports and photos of these events, trips and clubs. I look forward to us all being back together soon so that we can once again offer these opportunities to our Page 3— Mentor Meetings young people to experience. Page 4— History Trip As we are now moving into the Easter holidays, online learning will not be set by subject Page 6— FAQs for Online Learning teachers. However, Heads of Colleges have set up College Google classrooms that Page 7— Trampolining Competition students can log into to keep in touch with their communities and see activities and Page 8— E-Safety Roadshow challenges, details on Page 4. Page 9— Cycle Safety We will also continue to add challenges and links to activities/resources on the Leigh Page 10— Build a University Academy Facebook page. Next week, a link will also be placed on the Online Learning Page 11— Careers in Construction section of the The Leigh Academy website with Easter activity ideas. I know I’m looking forward to spending time with my family over the break and developing my children’s Page 12—BBC Young Reporters cooking and gardening skills! Page 13— International Women’s Day Page 14— Made in Bluewater Event I hope that we will all be back together again soon. In the meantime I wish you all well. Stay safe, Stay indoors and let's fight this together. Page 15— Heads of College Best wishes Mrs Julia Collins Principal Bromcom—My Child at 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 Spring 2020 Mentor Meetings & Training An impressive presentation was delivered at the recent new mentor meeting at the Leigh Academy. Facilitated by the Director of Post-16, Mr Burton, a group of interested local business people attended the academy to find out how they might become a mentor to guide a Post-16 student over the next year. Delegates introduced themselves, explaining why they were interested in working with students and charted their own educational and career achievements. There were some passionate reasons for wanting to participate and most impressive life stories related. Guests came from a diverse range of sectors with several being employed by John Lewis, a business which has been a regular supporter of this scheme since its inception. Mr Burton gave an overview of how this well established scheme works and illustrated one particular success story to emphasise just how life changing having a mentor can be for a young person. Lee Forcella-Burton, Director of Post-16 Follow us! @theleighacademy @leighacademy @theleighacademy 3 THE LEIGH ACADEMY Spring 2020 Visit to Green- History students from Year 8 attended an artefact handling session led by expert historians and archivists from Greenwich Maritime Museum. They were deepening their understanding of the Transatlantic Slave Trade as part of their MYP Unit of Study which debates the key question: ‘Was the British Empire a force for good in the world?’. The students learnt about the relatively advanced African Kingdoms which predated the trade. They began to handle equipment used to restrain enslaved people, but also the products made by them to craft mini presentations in groups of 6. They explored the difficulty but eventual success in ending slavery by the British Government. Students were asked to question the evidence they had in front of them in new ways, but also to question how historians gain their evidence and make their claims and opinions clear. This is the type of skill that history students will need to master to prepare for their MYP assessments and eventually in their GCSEs and A-levels. Chris Bradley, History College Community Classrooms Colleges have created their own Community Classrooms so that students and staff can keep together during this period of school closure. The codes to join are as follows: Brunel College— wmxw6a2 Da Vinci College—qofjzdy Darwin College—7lrksaz Chaucer College—3ya7ee5 Follow us! @theleighacademy @leighacademy @theleighacademy 4 THE LEIGH ACADEMY Spring 2020 FSB Skills The Leigh Academy is committed to fully supporting all students to make the best choices for themselves when looking at future possible destinations. Accordingly, the academy was delighted to again host the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) Skills 30:30 event for year 13 students who are looking to enter the workplace at the end of this academic year Hosted in two parts, participating students enjoyed an insightful workshop with Paul Andrews, CEO of Jobs in Kent. Topics discussed included how the job market has changed, apprenticeships, financial technology, entrepreneurship, applying for a job and using professional platforms such as LinkedIn. Meanwhile, chaired by Alison Parmar of the FSB, a varied group of small business owners and employees met at the academy for a round table discussion. Alison explained the work of the FSB as a business support and lobbying organisation and Mark Parrin of Kent Supported Employment talked about his organisations work with businesses giving access to employment for those with learning difficulties, particularly those with autism. The group was then joined by Director of Post-16 at the academy, Mr Burton who thanked delegates for volunteering their time and explained the journey of his students thus far. He particularly asked guests to give constructive feedback to the students that our guests were then to meet. The event culminated in a facilitated speed networking session where each student had the opportunity to meet and talk with a number of business guests - in effect, a series of mini interviews. The hour long speed networking passed in what seemed to be no time at all with guests and students keen to talk further!. Thank you to everyone concerned for yet another successful event. “The students were very involved in finding out about the business I am involved in and my career “The students were so path. Their body language and inspirational. I was eye contact was brilliant!” impressed with the Donna (Business owner) questions they asked..” Gospel (Facilitator) “What an exceptional bunch of “It's definitely improved young people. Employers my communication skills in want to see passion and these an interview environment” students had it in droves” Megan (Student) Tony (recruitment professional) “It was really helpful finding out how to further my career.” Alex (Student) Follow us! @theleighacademy @leighacademy @theleighacademy 5 THE LEIGH ACADEMY Spring 2020 FAQs about Online Learning Why isn’t there a google classroom for my child? There should be a google classroom for every subject. Go onto The Leigh Academy website, go to Independent Learning Online (on the home page) and then click on the link to Independent Learning Online documents for each year group. All google classrooms and codes are listed there.