WEEK Parent Bulletin 37A w/c 29 June 2020 Update from Mrs Grey, Principal The past two weeks have been wonderful to have Year 10 here for their ‘bubble school’. All teachers have told me how much they have enjoyed seeing them and teaching them face to face. If you made the decision to not send your daughter in for this then I fully understand however with the further relaxing of restrictions you may now feel in a position to do so. The girls and staff have all commented on how safe they feel with the systems we have put in place here at TPA and it would be awesome to see as many Y10s as possible prior to the summer to set them up for independent learning over the course of the summer break. We are very excited that our Year 6-7 Transition part of the website is going live this week. It is such a shame that we are unable to run our ‘normal’ transition processes however we are sure that the provision we have been able to put in place will be very helpful to both students and parents. Next week I will be sending you a letter regards the Black Lives Matters movement, the work TPA has already achieved around inclusivity and diversity and how we intend to continue with this work in the future. I very much enjoyed watching Mr Dolphin and Miss Martin’s assembly this week which had a focus on diversity. Today is a bittersweet day – it should have been the date when our year 11s officially left and it is very sad that we have been unable to say goodbye to them in the usual TPA way. I know that Miss Piper, Miss Blackmore and all the staff at TPA have been working hard on a fitting tribute to this year group, so do keep an eye out for that. I know that Miss McKenzie will also be writing to Year 11 soon with details of how results day will run this year. I hope you have been enjoying the wonderful weather. Stay safe! PSHE This week’s topic is online friendships and social media. Social media is growing daily in many different ways and on many different platforms. We will be making pupils aware of the different types of relationships they can encounter online. This will be based around keeping safe online and making sure there is minimal sharing of information. I would like to say thank you for all your engagement in the Black Lives Matter assemblies and PSHE topics last week. It has been amazing to see how caring our students are and that they have looked at this topic in such a constructive and supportive manner. I really am proud of the students at The Portsmouth Academy. As ever, please encourage the students to come to their drop-in sessions to speak to their Head of Year or Tutor. ICT Update Please note, pupils do not have access to OneDrive. There is an update to Teams coming which will allow them to save into work folders for their subjects. Apologies for any inconvenience until that time. Free School Meals Update The government have announced that FSM vouchers will continue over the summer holidays. This will be sent out as a single payment at the start of the school holidays. Further details to follow when we have them. If you wish to make any changes, please contact the school. Mental Health and Wellbeing As we head towards the end of term it is even more important to keep ourselves well. Use the calendar below to ensure that you take care of yourself and everyone around you. Live Learning Timetables The week commencing 29th June is a Week A timetable. You will find the timetable at the end of the Parent Bulletin. Cultural Capital, Social Media, and Online Competitions We hope you enjoyed the Cultural Capital resources provided and had a chance to try some of them out! School Social Media Accounts to look out for; Facebook – TSAT – The Portsmouth Academy. Official school page publishing key information and updates. Instagram; - Outdoor Learning @tpa_outdoorlearning – posts include competitions and all things outdoorsy! - House Competitions @tpa_houseevents – posts include, competitions and official results along with your entries and content from your 4 fabulous House Champions! - Food and Nutrition @tpafoodandnutrition – posts regular competitions and shares photos of your different culinary creations. Can you beat star baker Miss Gomez? - Design and Technology @tpa_design_and_technology – posts include competitions and content created by staff and students. - Geography @tpa_geography – posts information on lessons along with exciting content linking to all aspects of the geographical world. - History @tpa_history – posts include information on live learning and reading recommendations. - Science @tpascience – posts include scientific memes (yes they do exist!) along with updates about what is happening in the world of science at TPA. -Dance @tpa_dance_department – posts include inspiring quotes and snippets of student work. - PE @tpa_sport – posts include inspiration for how to keep fit and exciting challenges for you to complete! - Music @tpa_music_department – currently working through the musical alphabet! - English @tpaenglish posts include reading challenges and Litflix. These accounts are posting regular extra-curricular activities and challenges for you to take part in. We hope you enjoy! Useful Resources Summer Holiday Provision - 2020 Dear Parents, this chart has been put together to provide information about free and paid summer holiday provision over the summer holidays. Please find attached an initial list of information about childcare and activities provision for children and young people that will be running in Portsmouth over the summer holiday period. This includes free family activity days running from four Portsmouth schools funded by the DfE and co- ordinated by Romsey School through the Connect 4 Summer programme. This provision is open to children from any school, not just those attending the host school. Activity Venues Contact/website for more information Connect 4 summer free family fun Medina Primary School https://connect4.org.uk/ days ARK Dickens Primary Academy ARK Charter Academy (DFE funded initiative) Cottage Grove Primary School Connect 4 summer free childcare Activ8 Minds running at Highbury https://connect4.org.uk/ College (DFE funded initiative) YMCA at a location to be confirmed Portsmouth Sports Partnership St Paul's http://portsmouthssp.weebly.com St George's Beneficial /holiday-activities.html Isambard Brunel Junior 29 July - 16 August Various detached and outreach Across Portsmouth, including https://www.pycportsmouth.co.uk youth work for young people aged Heart of Portsmouth, Wymering, / 10-18 including positive activities, and Paulsgrove. social action and volunteering opportunities. Activities for children at home. The PCC website has lots of ideas https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/e for children and families to do at xt/coronavirus-covid-19/schools- home. and-families/activities-for- children-while-at-home Year 7 I hope that this message continues to find you all safe, well and enjoying the mini heatwave that we currently have! This week during PSHE, our students continued to discuss the important current affair of ‘Black Lives Matter’, which I am sure you have seen circulating through all news outlets. Students were then tasked with creating a piece of work to highlight why it is so vital for all of us to be informed correctly on these current global events. As always, Team 2024 continued to do me proud, with many students asking mature questions within their live PSHE lessons to ensure that they had a clear understanding of the impact this movement has had on others and the communities around them. I have already received many amazing pieces of informative work, and I cannot wait to receive more! Now that summer is upon us (hooray!), it is easier for us to venture outside to keep ourselves active. The PE department have launched a variety of challenges and activities to tie in with National Sports Week, and I would love to see as many of Team 2024 getting involved as possible! Our very own Miss Gomez has challenged students to see how many bunny hops they can do in 30 seconds - I wonder whether anyone can beat her attempt? For more information, please visit their Instagram page @tpa_sport. The Deputy Head of Year drop in sessions are continuing to run, led by Mr Martin, on a Friday afternoon from 1pm – 2pm. Mr Martin informs me that there were major shifts in the top half of the leader board last week, so you’ve got to be in it to win it! Please continue to advertise this with your child. Take care and stay safe, Mrs Wilson Year 8 Dear all, Hope that you are enjoying the warm weather that we are currently experiencing; not the easiest environment for home-schooling, I’m sure you’d agree! I have spoken at length with Mr Snookes throughout the lockdown as he, along with Miss Martin, is the person making the vast majority of phone-calls to parents and carers. We would like to say a big thank-you to you all for your continued efforts in supporting the education of your child. As parents ourselves, we certainly appreciate the challenges faced with young people and recognise the effort that is being made ‘behind the scenes’ to keep them on track. It will be worth it in the long term! As we move beyond the halfway point of the final half term, can we ask that your expectations of your child’s engagement and output remains high right until the end of term and that they are being encouraged to ‘gather momentum’ prior to starting Year 9 in September.