Academy Life - Issue 17

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Life.

Issue 17 | March 2021

Newsletter

INSIDE THIS ISSUE WELCOME FROM THE PRINCIPAL & LATEST ARTWORK | P2 CAREERS | P3 WORLD BOOK DAY & ENRICHMENT | P4 REMOTE LEARNING & LOCKDOWN CHALLENGES | P5 COOKING AT THE ACADEMY & OFF-SCREEN ACTIVITIES | P6 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT | P7 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY | P8

Resilience - Excellence- Respect

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Issue 12 | October 2019 W e l c o m e m e s s a g e f r o m

M

r s

B e t t s

Latest Photography Colchester Academy Competition

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Dear Parents and Carers

What a term! Currently, we are busy LFT testing students and welcoming them back to face to face learning in the Academy - we are so excited to see them back in school. We must say a huge thank you to all for the help and support with learning you have given over the last few months - it hasn’t been easy but you have been amazing. Again, thank you to all of the positive messages and thanks we have received - we do share them all with staff and it is appreciated by all.

Changes to the site have been in progress during this lockdown, with our temporary fencing in the playground replaced with permanent fencing, clearly demarcating the areas for the different year groups, in addition to providing far more picnic benches for students to sit at to have lunch. The Site Team have been on a painting mission and are working their way around the site repainting classrooms to provide an excellent area for learning.

If this hasn’t been enough, we are pleased to announce the Sports Block Refurbishment Works will start in the Easter Holidays and run through to September to upgrade this area for us too.

In the next few months we look forward to continuing to go from strength to strength and celebrating more achievements of our very talented students.

Keep safe and positive - you truly are a great community.

J B etts

Mrs J Betts Principal

Newsletter

Louie Duffett, Year 11

Fabliha Sarwar, Year 10

More News Charlotte Warner, Year 11

Harry Bedingfield, Year 10

INSIDE THIS ISSUE WELCOME FROM THE PRINCIPAL | P2 MEET THE STAFF | P2 RECENT NEWS | P3 FACULTY NEWS | P4 CLUB PROGRAMMES | P6 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT | P7 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY | P8

Culture - Character - Currency Commitment Mollie Year 9 11 IsobelBeilby, Ritchie, Year

Careers News

Last year at Colchester Academy we had a record number of applications to college and other forms of education through to employment, the best year ever for the Academy. This year we want to ensure our students have the same life chances and opportunities as last year’s students. College application season is coming to an end and this year, more than any other, students have struggled to motivate themselves and are too concerned to dream of their future. We at Colchester Academy are relentless in our encouragement of all our Year 11 students to apply for a course at college. Due to COVID affecting many apprenticeship applications we advise that, even if they would prefer an apprenticeship, they apply for college too. In these challenging times it is so important to have a Plan B; this will give students a sense of security in uncertain times and will provide a foundation for them to leap from.

Colchester Institute and Colchester Sixth Form College are fully aware of the difficult choices students are having to make and have, as a direct result, allowed a short extension to their application deadline. This does not mean that we wait until the last week to apply, more that we take full advantage of the time to think clearly about our future and what would be the best move to make.

In challenging times like these it is important to plan ahead and bring some positivity and new exciting opportunities to life and through applying for college now, for those who still have not, this will give you the boost you need to feel in control of your future and your own happiness.

If you need any support, guidance or inspiration please contact the Careers Team here at Colchester Academy, via careers@colchesteracademy.org.

Here are some links to our local college providers:

https://www.colchsfc.ac.uk/applications/ https://www.colchester.ac.uk/how-to-apply/

Mrs Ross Assistant Principal

Realise your Potential with Make Happen Make Happen (www.makehappen.org) is a partner of the Uni Connect programme (formerly known as the National Collaborative Outreach Programme, or NCOP) funded by the Office for Students. Based at the University of Essex, the team are experienced and dedicated, whose mission is to inspire young people at school and college to raise their aspirations, by promoting higher education and degree level apprenticeships as routes to helping achieve ambitions.

This 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 our students had to say.

Some of the team are former teachers and they work closely with partner organisations to deliver year-round programmes, events and Jasmine 7O2 Switch-Up resources that engage and inform. The work is focused on students in school Years 9 to 13, running alongside sessions for parents, teachers. carers, and To start our Bookbuzz journey we watched a video containing a review of

each of the books.I chose the book SwitchUp about two girls who board the progression to higher education is lower than Make Happen phase one (2017 to 2019) reached 66,500 students across Essex, where to London. the area. beginning the craziest plan(2019 ever. to 2021) continues to deliver a varied programme of expected,same givenflight the GCSE resultsIt’s of the Make of Happen phase two activities, with the scope to supporting and encouraging even more students along the way. Partner organisations include a number of educational providers who helpUp usClose deliver the full range of Make Happen programmes, including universities, colleges and local Damiola 7H1 Animals authorities across Essex.

Bookbuzz is a book company dedicated to getting books to Year 7 students Colchester students have benefitted enormously and the wonderful forAcademy free. I think Bookbuzz is a fabulous charity asfrom I wasthis notorganisation a fan of events they have to offer, andwatched we will continue to support our the students through offering everything reading.

In class we a 24 minute film about books and the Colchester Academy students have benefitted enormously from this organisation and the wonderful events they have to offer, Make Happen has to provide, to ensure our students have bright futures.

Below are links and

authors explained the stories. and we will continue to support ourPlease students offering it Happen information areas for you to explore. sign through up for any events everything you wish to,Make they are all therehas to to provide, to ensure our students

havesupport bright our futures.

Below particularly are links and information you to explore. help community, through what isareas a veryfor challenging time. Please sign up for any events you wish to, they Tristan 7L2 Little Bad Man are all there to help support our community, particularly through what is a very challenging time.

If you need any support in accessing these events, please do not hesitate to contact us via Bookbuzz has helped me a greatthese deal. events, Insteadplease of me do having pay fortoa contact us via general@colchesteracademy.org.uk.

If you need any support in accessing not to hesitate general@colchesteracademy.org.uk. book (reading is now one of my favourites) Bookbuzz put it in my hands for

free.

I could not thank Bookbuzz We you every step of of the way.

Weare arewith with you every step the way. enough for putting such a brilliant book in my collection.

Mrs MrsRoss Ross Marleigh-Rose 7L2 City of Ghosts Assistant Principal Assistant Principal and Raising Standards Lead

I’ve always enjoyed mystery books so when I saw City of Ghosts I knew I

World Book Day

Student Story

This year, World Book Day was brought to you virtually. We celebrated it in true style - the #CAWAY

Over 120 students completed a competition to see if they could guess which members of staff were hidden behind their books; the winner will be announced shortly. Keep an eye out for who will claim the £10 Amazon voucher as a prize for scoring FULL marks.

As a whole school we participated in #shareastory. We listened to and read ‘The Red Room’ by H.G Wells. Students (and staff) received the next instalment of the story at the beginning of every lesson. This kept us all eager in anticipation for the next part of the plot.

The virtual book fair had limited success, but we hope to hold an actual book fair in the future. Rachel Cook, the organiser, has kindly donated a huge pile of books to our school for free. You can see the titles for yourself. Please search for her bookshop on Facebook!

Dressing up was still very much a big part of the day. Mrs Cozma dressed up as The Cat in the Hat. Mrs Hawkins excelled at combining Covid safety with her costume. For those of you who may not have read the ‘Harry Potter’ series, Professor McGonagall is an animagus (can transfigure into an animal) and becomes a tabby cat. You may have noticed Mrs Hawkin’s mask - great attention to detail! Mrs Lock was ‘Where’s Wally’ and Mrs Moore ‘Where’s Wanda.’ Many students also got into the spirit of the day and have sent me photos of themselves in character. Entries will be put into a prize draw to win a £10 Amazon voucher.

‘Get Caught Reading’ is still a popular photo competition - we had more entries this year of students getting caught reading their books. We have had some interesting photos. Again, the winner will receive a £10 Amazon voucher. There is still time to enter!

Finally, 19 students from Year 7 to 9 participated in a 90 minute, virtual author visit with renowned teenage and adult fiction writer Sara Grant. The session started with an ice-breaker where students discussed their favourite authors; the books they were currently reading and recommendations. It was lovely to see students engaging with a love of literature! Sara led our students through the planning process of writing stories and guided them step by step to write their own short story or at least the outline. Students were asked to think about 5 key questions ranging from their favourite books to their favourite place. They were very keen and eager to share their ideas and write their stories. Watch this space for some brand new writers!

Thank you to all staff and students who have taken part this year!

Mrs Lock and the English department

Enrichment I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the new Enrichment Leader. At Colchester Academy we are committed to meeting the educational needs of all our students by providing an environment which encourages them to maximise their potential and develop their talents and abilities to the full. My mission, and that of all teachers in our school, is to recognise the need to promote appropriate opportunities to support all our students in achieving these aims. Most of us want challenging, rewarding jobs where we feel that we can make a real difference to other peoples’ lives. It‘s the same for me.

The main purpose of enrichment at Colchester Academy is to provide extended learning prospects – it gives students the opportunity to study concepts with greater depth, breadth and complexity, while also helping students to pursue their own areas of interest and strengths.

Not only can an enrichment programme look great on a CV when students apply for higher education, jobs or training schemes, but the transferable skills learnt throughout the programme are significant. The programme can boost self-confidence, develop leadership skills, instil self-motivation and can evidence good time-management. Away from the pressure of passing exams, enrichment extends students’ education and personal growth. It is all evidence of how a student has a wide array of skills and achievements beyond their subject grades.

If you have any other questions I would be happy to answer them, please reach out to me via email or phone during school hours.

Mr Zawislak Enrichment Leader

• English Writing Club Competition • English use Educake to complete quizzes • Bookworms Classroom and challenge • MyON reading project • Create the Globe Theatre • Onmaths – Demon solving problem • MathsGenie - Further maths and A level questions & videos • Corbettmaths – Further maths worksheets • Playground design project KS2 • Art for fun • Food - Mr Lowther cooking demos • PE - created fitness videos that students can complete using a range of home equipment • Science Poster Competition

Remote Learning R e m o t e L e a r n in g , L e a r n in g O n lin e , L iv e L e a r n in g …

W e h a v e b e e n d o in g it a ll a t C o lc h e s t e r A c a d e m y

Lockdown has been long and tiring. Sitting in front of a screen, day in day out, has been a burden on all of us, including students, parents and carers, and any other poor souls who has assisted in ensuring students at CA have continued to be dedicated to their studies.

However, we are immensely proud of our community and cohort of students for the dedication and resilience they have shown in progressing with their learning. It has been a real pleasure seeing our learners flourish, especially with new features, such as the ‘chat function’ in the Google Classroom.

Such a function has enabled our teachers to question students in a different manner, engaging new responses and developing ideas and thoughts in a different way.

Further to this, the attendance to lessons of all students has been of an exceptional standard, especially when you consider we, as an Academy, have been providing ‘live’ lessons for all learners.

Highlights have seen 78% of the Academy logging on and attending lessons per day, with this peaking in certain year groups to 82.9% in Year 11, 79.3% in Year 10 and 79.5% in Year 7.

Additionally, we have also seen real dedication from our students with 51% attending 4 or more lessons on a daily basis; again, this has peaked at 53.9% in Year 11, 55.5% in Year 10 and 52.7% in Year 9. I hasten to add, these figures are above national averages, as reported by the Sutton Trust.

We know we are all yearning for the return of students to the Academy. We know that whatever measures have been put in place online, it doesn’t make up for the quality of face to face teaching and learning that occurs in the classroom. It is with this in mind that we believe the structure of our online and remote learning offer should support an easier transition for all students back into the classroom.

We are also extremely appreciative and proud of the many supportive comments that have come out of our community. Please see below a few of the many comments we have received. Again, we thank all our parents and carers for your support over this period of lockdown.

Teachers are doing an amazing job online, thank you. Gives the students routine and structure and takes the pressure off parents working from home. Thank you. (Year 8 Parent)

We are happy with the great support that our daughter got during this unprecedented time. (Year 10 Parent)

So far, so good. Weekly call from his Key Worker is great. (Year 7 Parent)

I think the school is doing really well in these difficult times. (Year 9 Parent)

[Name] is working well. Would like to say the online live lessons are a godsend. Really helps him focus and get on with all his work. (Year 7 Parent)

Would like to say a massive thank you to all of the teachers at Colchester Academy for everything you are doing to support our children with remote learning. [Name] has found the new remote learning during this lockdown more engaging and knows there is support if he needs it. You are all going above a beyond and we are very grateful. Thank you, our heroes. (Year 8 Parent)

Adam Pickering Vice Principal

Something else

Lockdown Challenges With normality yet to fully return and a very restricted transition programme once more, it was important to find an effective way to engage with our primary feeder schools. We would normally be inviting our future students in to the Academy to orientate themselves, meet staff and experience life within our community.

However. In order to fill the gap we have launched a KS2 Primary Lockdown Challenge.

For the remainder of this academic year, departments will set a fortnightly challenge.

This is open to all Year 5 and 6 students in the primaries where we tend to recruit from.

The challenges vary from story telling, to art work to baking and through our full compliment of subjects. Challenges are entered online and once judged prizes are awarded to the best ones in each category.

You can see our current challenge organised by Miss Oatham on behalf of the English Department by looking on the transition page of the Academy website.

https://www.colchesteracademy.org.uk/Parents/Year-6-Transition/#Lockdown_Challenege_Writing_Competion

We look forward to judging the entries and posting the results soon.

Mr Stronach Assistant Principal A l p rc P n ita s

Cooking at Colchester Academy During lockdown our students have been practising their cooking and culinary skills with the hopes of becoming the next Gordon Ramsey.

Please see below a range of our students excellent dishes and creations.

Miss Feldman & Mr Lowther Teachers of Food Technology

Off-Screen Activities Hopefully you all enjoyed the snow recently and had an enjoyable half term. The new term will bring many changes but one thing that hasn’t changed immediately is the amount of time that we are all having to spend looking at a screen.

For our young people, this is even more true as not only are they using screens to access their school work, but much of their leisure time is spent on a screen too.

The PE department have been sharing our pupils’ physical activities that they can do away from their screens, Mr Knightly has become the Academy’s very own ‘Joe Wicks’. He has demonstrated things like: • hand eye coordination games with a tennis ball • resistance workouts using their own bodyweight • speed, agility and quickness circuits that can be done in your home (or now the weather is getting a little better, the back garden) • cardio circuits that need no equipment other than a bottom stair

Other activities that can be positive for both the mental and physical fitness of our young people include: • Walking somewhere new – you will be amazed at what you see in your own area that you didn’t realise was there • Gardening – preparing gardens for planting flowers and bulbs can be great exercise and seeing them bloom in a few weeks can make us feel really positive. Planting in tubs and window boxes is just as effective at bringing some colour and positivity as planting in the garden • Kite flying - design, build and then get outside to fly your creation • Night-time star gazing – ok so this one might involve a bit of screen time but not much. Print off a map of the star constellations and then go for a walk (or sit outside) and see how many different ones you can find • Painting a room or furniture - decorating and up-cycling are surprisingly physical, don’t involve screens and give a great sense of satisfaction

We’d love to hear about some of the things that you have all been doing and maybe see some pictures. You can email us on studentwork@colchesteracademy.org.uk with anything that you would like to share with us.

Take care everyone and we look forward to seeing you all very soon.

Susie Crafer Assistant Principal

Student Spotlight

Follow us on Twitter: @ColchesterAcad

In each issue, we pick the highlights from our student’s achievements on Twitter and share them here.

Here are this term’s highlights.

Dates for your Diary Issue 12 | October 2019

Trips & Visits Colchester Academy

Thu 11 Mar

Year 11 Parents’ Evening

Sun 16 Feb

Year 11 Disneyland, Paris

Thu 18 Mar

Year 10 reports issued

Wed 26 Feb

Year 9/10 History theatre

Thu 25 Mar

Year 7 reports issued

trip

Fri 26 Mar

Last day of Spring term

Wed 11 Mar

Year 10 Stratford Field Trip

Mon 12 Apr

First day of Summer term

Thu 19 Mar

Year 10 Walton Field Trip

Thu 15 Apr

Year 10 Parents’ Evening

Tue 31 Mar

Year 10 Aspire GCSE STEM

Mon 3 May

May Day Bank Holiday

Wed 5 May

Bike to School Day

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Nam at mollis ex, eu gravida nisi. In finibus rhoncus nulla, a lobortis metus tempus sed.

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Praesent justo elit, laoreet luctus tempus at, viverra sed massa. In diam elit, hendrerit a Artwork by laoreet in, volutpat at mauris. Nam at mollis Daniel Johnson ex, eu gravida nisi. In finibus rhoncus nulla, a Year 10 Student lobortis metus tempus sed. Nam a magna.

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Trips & Visits Thu 8 Jul Year 7 to 10 reports issued Mon 31 May

Summer Half Term

Year 7 Residential July 2020 - students can Thu 8 Jul Year 7 Parents’ Evening collect information letters from Student Reception.

Cost £190 (monthly payments Fri 16 Jul Last day of Summer term accepted)

Year 8/9/10 - South of France Trip Summer

2020 - £681 (monthly payments accepted) 7 spaces available. Students can collect information letters from student reception

A Different

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Colchester Academy Story Hawthorn Avenue Colchester Essex CO4 3JL

Twitter: @ColchesterAcad Facebook: ColchesterAcademy

Tel: 01206 861217 Email: general@colchesteracademy.org.uk Web: www.colchesteracademy.org.uk

INSIDE THIS ISSUE WELCOME FROM THE PRINCIPAL | P2 MEET THE STAFF | P2 RECENT NEWS | P3 FACULTY NEWS | P4 CLUB PROGRAMMES | P6 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT | P7 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY | P8

CultureResilience - Character - Excellence - Currency- Respect - Commitment