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Students in Years 9, 10 and 11 had the privilege of attending a careers fair, here in school, where 30 employers and further education providers exhibited on Thursday 7th October, 2021. The event was designed to allow students to seek information from the various employers and The Prom took place on 1 July at Colchester Town Hall. This was a fantastic historic venue for the colleges regarding their organisations, the jobs they seek to employ, the qualifications needed and the level of job satisfaction that might be on students to see out their final hours as students of Colchester Academy. offer, should they choose to peruse that pathway. It fantastic to be able to open our doors and create face to face careers event in school. The benefit of face to face conversations and Students arrived promptly and in style, from big American muscle cars, high-end sport cars and party information gathering was a huge benefit to our students. The interactions and questioning they were able to engage with, was priceless. vans. The atmosphere was electric, with great energy. Students showcased the school excellently and Students and exhibitors were very positive about the event and both gained much from those interactions. made the school proud. Students thoroughly enjoyed themselves and partied right up to the last All the employers who attended stated that the students at Colchester Academy were wonderful; they said they asked some very intuitive song, and then one more. questions, were not afraid to ask challenging questions and sort as much information as they could, to help them make informed decisions about their futures. Students represented the school brilliantly and made us all very proud. We could not be more proud of each and every one of our Year 11 students and we wish them all the It was a privilege to create and host such an event, next year we hope to make it even bigger! It was a proud moment to see the high level of very best in the future. engagement in the activities. Well done to all our students, we hope the information you gathered will inspire you to aim high and seek to be the best that you can be. Mr St. Claire Mrs Ross Assistant Principal Year 11 Leader

Realise your Potential with Make Happen

The Year 10 students in CoPE have been focusing on working with others this half term. The students have done lots of tasks and had lots of discussions about working as a team and what good team work looks like. One of the challenges asked of the students was to ‘work with others to help raise money for a good cause’. The students spent the last 6 weeks planning, organising and researching how they were going to run the event and which charity to raise money for. Sarah, Hannah and Alfie did this with minimal input from the teacher and they came up with all the ideas themselves. The Bake Sale was a huge success and we must also say thank Bake Sale you to some Year 7 and Year 11 students who baked some treats for the Bake Sale. The 3 students raised over £114 for BBC Children in Need. Well done. Miss Fosker Teacher of COPE

This term, Year 7 & 8 students who had achieved 93% attendance and 0 negative points were invited to take part in a colour run and water fight. Students thoroughly loved the occasion and enjoyed getting absolutely covered in paint and water. I believe they also loved that staff were involved and deliberately stood in front of them to get covered. This was a great event to be a part of, and I am already looking forward to the next one. Miss Bull Year 7 Leader

Realise your Potential with Make Happen

Young Carers AwardThis term Year 7 students have had ‘The Bookbuzz Experience’. Bookbuzz is part of the BookTrust – a charity which aims to encourage students to read by providing them with their own books to keep. Here’s what some of On Monday 21st March 2022 Year 10 took part in an all-day session of Jack In July 2021, Colchester Academy was presented with the Bronze Award for supporting our young carers in school. We are our students had to say. Petchey’s “Speak Out” Challenge. During this, many of us developed skills, very proud of this achievement. Last week we finally received our plaque which we will be displaying in Reception for Jasmine 7O2 Switch-Up which we otherwise would not have known we possessed. For example, everyone to see. We are now working towards gaining our Silver Award. improvisation, confidence, independence and perseverance. At the start of the To start our Bookbuzz journey we watched a video containing a review of session, the year group was asked to complete a survey on how confident we We work very closely with Essex Young Carers and Action for each of the books.I chose the book SwitchUp about two girls who board the felt before the session began, and at the end we were asked to do that again, which allowed us to see how much of an improvement we had made during the day. For most people, the most daunting part of the session was the 1 minute speech you had to give on your own at the end, from which, people would be chosen to compete in a large-scale public speaking competition, if they were willing to do so. Young Carers to support our young carers in school. We currently have 33 Young Carers in school and we have drop ins also available for them to come and see me in 2.16 on a Wednesday break time if they just need a catch up. We have raised school awareness of young carers through assemblies and teacher training days. same flight to London. It’s the beginning of the craziest plan ever. Damiola 7H1 Animals Up Close Bookbuzz is a book company dedicated to getting books to Year 7 students for free. I think Bookbuzz is a fabulous charity as I was not a fan of reading. In class we watched a 24 minute film about the books and the authors explained the stories. The activities we completed were interactive and entertaining, the skills that we learnt that day can be used in the workplace, and in our everyday lives. As a parent/carer, if you feel there is anything further the Tristan 7L2 Little Bad Man Furthermore, they can be used to support us in our public speaking and job school could be doing to support our young carers in school, interviews. The skills can help us get through those, whilst presenting ourselves please do not hesitate to contact me. Bookbuzz has helped me a great deal. Instead of me having to pay for a as confident young individuals. Therefore, if you ever have the opportunity to do so I would highly recommend taking part in this, as it will help you see a part of yourself that you never realised was there. Sanskriti Thakali Year 10 Student Sharon Silver Student Support Manager Year 7 Designated Young Carer Lead book (reading is now one of my favourites) Bookbuzz put it in my hands for free. I could not thank Bookbuzz enough for putting such a brilliant book in my collection. Marleigh-Rose 7L2 City of Ghosts I’ve always enjoyed mystery books so when I saw City of Ghosts I knew I had to get it, almost like a connection.

Student Spotlight In each issue, we pick the highlights from our students’ achievements on Twitter and share them here. Here are this term’s highlights.