Hewett Academy Prospectus

An Inspiration Trust Academy

We care, we share, we dare to do more

I am proud to be the Principal at one of Norwich’s most iconic schools, with a proud heritage, a strong family community and a great tradition of excellence.

Nestling on the edge of the city centre, we are fortunate to have outstanding and unrivalled facilities. These include; The Walter Roy Theatre, Eileen Ash Sports Hall, a swimming pool and extensive sports fields.

Our curriculum has a rigorous and academic core, with a strong undercurrent of rich creative and STEM options. We encourage our students to explore their interests and passions offering the tools and knowledge they need to succeed, as well as the facilities for clubs and societies.

We are most noted for our strong Art & Design Technology curriculum and, along with Music and Drama, creativity is at the heart of our school.

Our students are given a range of opportunities to build confidence in their abilities and gain the life skills to go on to reach their full potential. Our students secure places at Norwich’s most prestigious sixth forms, begin apprenticeships, or launch into successful careers.

We are a school of and for our community. Once a Hewett student, always a Hewett student - you are part of the family. We look forward to welcoming you to see our excellent school.

Antony Little, Principal

Our Core Values

Our academy is built on three core values: Respect, Aspiration and Dedication. These values guide our actions and the decisions we make.

At Hewett Academy we respect each other, our peers, our environment and our community. We seek out different ways to show that respect, from our Diversity Awareness group, to holding doors open for one another.

We have high aspirations for the future. We know that our students are capable of greatness and we support them in their journey towards this with our aspirational curriculum and careers programme.

We are dedicated to our studies by making sure we always try our hardest in every lesson and all that we do. Our children display good behaviour, a solid work ethic and have great attendance.

Friends of Hewett Academy

The Hewett Academy is a landmark school with a long and proud history in Norwich. We have a fantastic relationship with our local community and the cornerstone of this is our “Friends of Hewett Academy” group.

Founded in September 2019 by three parents, Friends of Hewett has raised over £350,000 so far. Parent volunteers have created a welcoming community lounge within the school to support pupil wellbeing and encourage families to connect with the school.

Other events have included the creation of an eco garden and the provision of support to families during the Covid-19 crisis including gifts of art materials, laptops and Wifi to ensure no Hewett Academy pupil was left without online access to maintain their education and social contact.

Friends of Hewett Academy is parent-run, but works closely with school leadership to support our school to thrive.

We look forward to welcoming new families to join Friends of Hewett. You can find more information on facebook.com/ friendsofhewett.

Supporting Pupils Through Every Step

We pay a great deal of attention to the care and wellbeing of all of our students, as we want everyone to enjoy their time at Hewett Academy.

New students joining Hewett Academy in Year 7 enjoy a structured programme of transition days. During this time, parents also have the opportunity to come along to meet the students form tutors and staff members.

We offer an intensive support programme that includes school visits, tours of Hewett Academy and opportunities for additional transition. The purpose of the transition period is to:

Introduce students to their form tutors and key members of staff

Find out about high school and begin to understand the differences between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3

Reassure students and parents alike that they will be well cared for when they arrive at the academy

Ask academy staff any questions whether they are pastoral or academic.

We aim to work with parents and carers to help our students flourish and develop into accomplished, cultured young adults over their time with us. Our new students have:

An allocated pastoral support adultwhich we call their Head and Assistant Head of Key Stage

An allocated SEND key worker - if required Opportunities to work closely with existing pupils within the academy.

Our Curriculum

In our classrooms, our teachers are professionals in their field, providing calm, quiet spaces for learning.

We encourage all of our students to develop a thirst for knowledge and we promote a love for learning that is instilled in our students throughout their lives.

We have a broad, robust and academic knowledge-rich curriculum, which means our students have lots of opportunities and subject choices. We believe students should be able to develop their talents - whatever they may be.

Alongside our strong core subjects, we’re proud to dedicate a large proportion of our curriculum to the Arts as well as Modern Foreign Languages, Design Technology and a wide range of sporting opportunities.

At GCSE, all students study English, English Literature, Maths, Science (Double or Triple) and have core PE. Students then have the option to choose four subjects, including History, Geography, French, Spanish, Food Technology, Graphics, Drama, Art, RE, Sport, Statistics, Photography, Computer Sciencethere really is something for everybody!

At Hewett Academy, students from a range of backgrounds work hard to achieve great GCSE grades. Our students’ outcomes have improved year on year and has resulted in 100% of our students in the last two years going on to sixth form, further education or employment.

We are passionate in our mission to deliver an exceptional, knowledge-rich curriculum. All students are expected to study the English Baccalaureate, that is to say every student leaves our school with at least one Humanities subject and a Modern Foreign Language. We provide this education because it is the strongest and most reliable foundation for any future career paths our students may choose to pursue.

Our Subject Leaders work closely with the Inspiration Trust Curriculum Team to develop high-quality teaching materials that benefit our students at The Hewett Academy, as well as the many students across the Inspiration Trust.

Creative Learning

The Hewett Academy believes in the power of the Creative Arts for the professional and personal development of it’s students.

At Hewett Academy we understand that creative thinking is part of a set of highly desirable skills and qualities sought by employers such as entrepreneurship, adaptability, innovation, problem-solving, curiosity, imagination and vision.

Students are allocated a significant proportion of learning time to creative endeavours, with students taking two hours of Art, one hour of Graphics and one hour of Textiles each week in addition to a rotation of Food Technology and Drama in our very own specialist theatre.

We ensure that students have access to a full range of facilties and equipment including a 3D printer, vacuum former, digital drawing tablets, 3D pens, sewing machines and digital cameras. Students also have the use of computers with the full Adobe Creative Suite, dark rooms for photograph development, a photographic studio, a theatre and a professional kitchen. Students are provided with an artist studio space and toolbox, stocked with a range of art supplies.

Every student at The Hewett Academy will visit an art gallery and museum at every stage of their education, enabling them to visualise creative outcomes in situ.

Our Creative Faculty participate in a number of local and national initiatives and competitions with regular successful acknowledgement and recognition for Hewett Academy students.

Working closely with Norwich University of the Arts and The Sainsbury’s Centre, students are encouraged to participate in a range of exciting workshops and opportunities.

Recent highlights include working with Norwich Puppet Theatre, a large number of awards and prizes to Hewett students on Manga Day with University of East Anglia, collaborative art work displayed at The Forum with Young Norfolk Arts, and four student’s artwork selected to exhibit in the Young Artist’s Summer Show at The Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Extra-Curricular Activities

The Hewett Academy has a strong commitment to the added value of learning outside the classroom and beyond the academy’s premises. We seek to provide a broad and balanced range of opportunities for all of our students.

We arrange and facilitate activities that take place out of academy hours. These activities include:

Clubs (Music, Drama, Art, Science, Sport, homework, etc.)

Workshops and events (e.g. Manga Day)

Sports teams

Day visits for particular groups

Local and national visits (e.g. Museums, galleries)

Overseas trips

Adventure activities

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is the world’s leading achievement award for young people, aged between 14 and 24.

It aims to create a world where young people can reach their full potential whatever their circumstances. Their ethos is to enable every young person of every background to do their DofE and succeed, regardless of any barriers.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award provides a balanced programme of activities that develops the whole person – mind, body and soul – in an environment of social interaction and teamworking.

Taking part builds confidence and develops self-esteem, and the award requires persistence, commitment and has a lasting impact on the attitudes and outlook of all young people who take part.

Music Matters at The Hewett Academy

The Inspiration Trust strongly believes in the power of music to enhance lives, both through the sheer pleasure of listening to and enjoying music, and through the discipline of individual and group playing and singing. As part of our extended Arts and Culture Programme, pupils have the opportunity to take part in a variety of plays, concerts and music competitions.

As part of our commitment to music education, we also offer our students a range of peripatetic lessons with our highlyskilled and experienced team of visiting

Music Teachers - these include piano, guitar, singing and drum lessons. Learning to play an instrument helps students to develop cognitive and social skills, expand language and motor skills, as well as help build determination and patience. Plus, it is fun!

Our pupils are encouraged to participate in numerous Trust-wide music competitions and Inspiration Trust has made a pledge to have a full orchestra or musical ensemble in every one of its schools by 2027.

Every year our students get to take part in our Trust-wide Carol Service.

An annual tradition, the Carol Service sees pupils from all across our sister schools - primaries, secondaries and sixth forms - join forces to perform a series of traditional carols and hymns in the Winter Term.

Always a big calendar event, the Carol Service is a fantastic opportunity for our students and staff to showcase their brilliant musical capabilities, whether through playing instruments or singing, while getting to perform in an iconic location.

The Carol Service is a fun Christmas event that always makes for a lovely family evening.

Partnerships

Our partnerships give our students the opportunity to build connections with experts in their field, as well as develop skills in problem-solving, leadership, speaking in public and confidence in themselves. Our partnerships make the most of connections within our local community including sports groups, digital businesses and theatres, to name a few. We also benefit from strong relationships further afield with universities, sixth forms and our sister schools within the Inspiration Trust.

The English Experience

In partnership with The English Experience, a Norwich based organisation that teaches English all over the world, we welcomed 36 Spanish students from Vigo in North Western Spain to Hewett Academy. The students visited us as part of their school integration course to experience life in an English school, and stayed for a total of 3 weeks.

Each student was paired with a Hewett Academy student, attending and participating in lessons, eating lunch together and forming new friendships. The Spanish students were accompanied by Spanish speaking monitors who also took part in lessons. Students involved in the project found it rewarding, having the opportunity to try out lessons and activities that they would not usually do in Spain, such as cooking and photography. The students integrated into school life quickly and impressed with their outstanding levels of English and desire to learn and actively participate in lessons. The Hewett Academy will continue to participate in the initiative for the benefit of all students involved.

Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form

At Hewett Academy, we run a Computer Club. Sixth form students studying Computer Science at Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form, known as the Technovators and AI, have partnered with the group to offer Hewett Academy students tutorial sessions using BSD and covering topics including programming and animation. As a result, we have begun offering a GCSE Computer Science course to our students.

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The Hewett Academy tries to give everyone a chance to go further in their interests. They try to motivate all their students to do as well as they can.

ANGELINA, YEAR 9

SEND Support

We work closely with our families, Norwich Priority Area and Norfolk County Council to ensure our provisions for students with Special Educational Needs are second to none.

We work with students and their families to clearly understand the barriers to learning and develop strategies to support the whole family. We take an inclusive approach to all students, finding creative ways to keep students in education and find the right approach for them. Bullying is rare and not tolerated. Our students are respectful of each other and this is clearly seen in school.

At Hewett Academy, we are committed to keeping our students safe and happy. Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) ensures that effective support is provided to students that need it and our strong pastoral system ensures that all pupils are well known and their needs understood.

Our House System

Our Houses are named after former Lord Mayors of Norwich: Colman, Gurney and Jewson. These were a key part of the former Hewett High School; we’ve retained them as part of the Academy’s legacy to past alumni. Today each of the Houses is linked to our core values: Respect, Aspiration and Dedication.

The House System promotes unity and encourages a healthy attitude to competition through varied school events, including art competitions and sporting events. Students are awarded House Points across all their activities at school and they’re awarded badges for the different stages they reach.

Our Student Leadership Team is led by the Head Student who works with a deputy from each House to ensure the student voice is linked to our values. Each House also has two school council representatives from each year group so that student voice is an integral part of our school and ensures our students needs are at the core of what we do.

Each House has a tutor group in each year of school and form tutors and subjects are linked to the House System. Form tutors support students with their personal development in how they demonstrate respect for each and everyone, seek out what they aspire to and reward dedication.

Taking Part in Trust-Wide Sports Competitions

At Inspiration Trust, we pride ourselves on our sports provision which not only includes a nationally-recognised sports curriculum, but includes half-termly Trust-wide sports competitions.

These competitions include football, athletics, swimming and rugby, and sees us working in partnership with brilliant local organisations such as the UEA Sportspark and The Nest in order to offer our students the very best facilities in which to compete. The atmosphere at these events is always described as electric!

Through taking part in sporting competitions our students are given the chance to shine outside of the classroom and learn vital skills such as the importance of team work, determination, patience and perseverance.

It is also proven that taking part in sport encourages higher standards of achievement, improves cognitive function and improves overall well-being through having fun and making friendships. Whilst outstanding sports provision is often overlooked within the state sector, all of us at Hewett Academy believe it is a core part of what every pupil should expect from their time in education and we are proud to deliver that.

Secondary Olympiads

All pupils have the opportunity to be involved in our Trust-wide Olympiads. These see pupils compete in competitions within their favourite subjects, allowing them to shine in areas where they are gifted.

One of our strategic aims is to ensure each and every child fulfils their potential. We believe this potential is not only reached through academic success, but through wider opportunities such as competitive programmes.

Our Olympiads cover everything from Maths and Modern Foreign Languages through to Geography and Computer Science. They help children learn about teamwork and morals, and offer a fun, alternative way to explore the subjects they love.

School Meals

Breaks in the morning and for lunch ensure that students have time to relax, recharge, and socialise, with all students staying on-site to enjoy their meal.

Students may bring a packed lunch from home. Alternatively, students can enjoy a broad range of hearty, delicious hot and cold lunches through our catering team, with options including gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, Halal, and international foods.

Our Catering Manager, Jackie Sweeney was awarded first place as East of England LACA School Chef of the Year 2022.

Hewett Academy has a really friendly and diverse community. I think that anyone would enjoy their time here.

I feel really supported in trying and learning new things across all subjects, specifically in the creative department.

LOLA,

YEAR 9

The academy day runs from 8:40am to 2:55pm on Monday and Friday, and 8:40am to 3:55pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and is split into five and six periods, with a mid-morning and lunch break.

Our extended school day helps ensure protected time for Sports and the Arts so that all students get access to these essential pursuits in addition to the exams they are studying towards.

Our Uniform

Our uniform is smart and traditional. We encourage our students to take pride in their appearance and to be proud of belonging to The Hewett Academy, and so to represent the school by their uniform in the wider community outside school.

We believe good standards of dress and personal presentation promote a positive attitude to work and behaviour whilst identifying students to the local community and future employers as proud members of a high quality educational establishment.. We take our social responsibilities seriously and we are proud to support our families in providing a full uniform where necessary.

You can order your uniform from our supplier, Stevensons, on their website or at the store. Our uniform includes:

Royal blue blazer with The Hewett Academy logo

Blue and gold tie

Grey knit jumper with gold trim (optional item)

Grey trousers and/or grey tailored shorts or skirts no shorter than 10 cm above the knee.

White long-sleeved or short-sleeved shirt, with buttons up to collar

Black/grey socks or tights

Black shoes (no trainers or canvas shoes, high boots, or heeled shoes).

Our PE Uniform includes:

Black PE Top Black PE shorts.

Preparing our Students for their Next Steps

We want to ensure that every student at The Hewett Academy leaves us with the skills and knowledge to make informed and ambitious decisions about their future.

We want every student to set their sights on high aspirations for the future and we will support them every step of the way. As part of our Careers and Aspirations Programme we offer our students workshops, guest speakers from universities and professionals,

work experience, CV writing sessions and one-on-one guidance with a careers advisor. We also work closely with the county’s most prestigious sixth forms, including Jane Austen College and Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form to facilitate taster days for our Year 11 students.

Post 16 Provision and Sixth Form

As part of the Inspiration Trust, our students have opportunities to pursue A-Level courses at two of the most prestigious sixth forms in Norfolk, Jane Austen College Sixth Form and Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form.

Jane Austen College Sixth Form

Jane Austen College has been established in recent years as one of Norfolk’s top sixth forms, with students consistently achieving some of the county’s leading results. The sixth form specialises in English, Humanities and the Arts, with students benefiting from outstanding expertise and facilities.

Offering excellent teaching and academic support, students also have the opportunity to get involved in a wide range of societies and electives. The college is a vibrant, diverse, and social community, whether you choose to join the debating society or choir, or get involved with sports clubs or drama productions, students are able to develop their passions.

Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form

Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form is one of the UK’s best sixth forms, specialising in Science and Mathematic provision. Rated Ofsted Outstanding, the A-Level provider has an academic focus inspiring the next generation of leaders in STEM industries.

At Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form students learn from experts in their field and benefit from state-of-the-art facilities. Students recieve the very best learning opportunities to achieve the very best outcomes. Bespoke support is provided to every student, helping them to develop into a scholar and a wellrounded, happy young adult.

Both Sir Isaac Newton and Jane Austen College Sixth Form courses are rated Outstanding by Ofsted, and students benefit from their unique partnership with the opportunity to explore courses at both sixth forms.

Their city centre locations provide easy transport links and a thriving social environment. Their iconic and extensively redeveloped buildings are tailored to their specialisms.

Student Voice

We strongly believe that students should play a pivotal role in shaping the future of The Hewett Academy. Students from all year groups take part in setting the agenda for the school, with leadership opportunities built into a structure that mirrors the staff leadership structure.

Student Council

Each year students apply for a position on the School Council or for other positions of responsibility. Pupils are appointed by the Student Senior Leaders and assigned the most suitable role, e.g. Student Council, AntiBullying Ambassador or Charity Committee.

The School Council meets every other week and is chaired by the Head Student. The Head Student takes feedback and suggestions, and reports this back to the Head of School. The Head of School attends the meetings once per half term to provide an update on actions being taken as a result of student voice. This format ensures that students are taking responsibility for their role in school and students feel there is real purpose to their involvement.

Student Senior Leaders

Each year students in Years 10 and 11 are offered the opportunity to apply for one of the following positions:

- Head Student

- Deputy Head Student for Respect/ Aspiration/Decication for Colman, Gurney amd Jewson House Captains respectively

Students who apply submit a reason for

wanting the role and the whole school votes on who they would like to see in each of these positions. The votes are counted and used to inform which students are invited to interview with an outgoing Student Leader, a teacher, a member of support staff and the Head of School. Students are then appointed to each role based on their overall suitability.

Subject Ambassadors

In addition to the Student Senior Leaders, we have a Student Subject Ambassador for each faculty who is appointed by the Head of Faculty. Students appointed to these positions are in Year 10 and achieve this position through their dedication and aspiration within the subject area throughout Key Stage 3.

These students support the subject through competitions, listening to student feedback about these subjects and sharing it with school leaders and they support these subjects during Open Evenings.

Interview Panels

Students help the Leadership Team to select candidates for vacant positions at the school. They write their own interview questions and conduct student panel interviews, and subsequently present their views about who should be appointed.

The Admissions Process

Most students join us at the start of Year 7, however we do accept students mid-year or into other year groups when we have capacity to do so. Applying for a place at Hewett Academy is straightforward and as with all secondary schools in Norfolk is organised through Norfolk County Council.

The process tends to begin in the autumn of the year prior to when the student wishes to start with applications closing at the end of October. Norfolk County Council then allocates places with offers sent out at the beginning of March. Should more students apply than we have places, spaces will be allocated based on our admissions policy of which can be found on our website - thehewettacademy.org/admissions.

Admissions Team, County Hall

Martineau Lane

Norwich NR1 2DL

We are part of Inspiration Trust, twice ranked the country’s top family of comprehensive schools for pupil progress.

Telephone: 0344 800 8020

Email: admissions@norfolk.gov.uk

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