St Peter’s Collegiate Academy
Part of the Three Spires Trust
Newsletter: 06 March 2023
Message from the Principal
We are now in the season of Lent which this year started on Wednesday, 22 February and will extend for 40 days. During this season we commemorate the time Jesus Christ spent fasting in the desert while enduring temptation.
During the last week of half term, prior to the February break we interviewed candidates from Wolverhampton, Stafford and Birmingham for the role of Vice Principal. After a two-day process Mr D Sherriff (Behaviour and Attitudes) and Mr T Barnard (Quality of Education) were appointed. These two appointments will allow us to address key areas of strategic improvement, ensuring we can meet the needs of our pupils. As we begin planning for the future we will be increasing our use of parent/ carer voice surveys to triangulate decision-making. Over the next term we will be reviewing; homework, data and the Academy website. Surveys will be sent to you via email, allowing you reasonable time to respond and share your views.
This week we have an important event for Year 9 pupils. On Wednesday, 08 March 2023 we will be hosting our annual options evening between 17:00 and 19:00. Parents/ carers are advised to accompany their child, attending one of the presentations while also being able to visit subject teachers. The evening will be the start of the options process allowing your child to select their preferences for KS4 study. Seats in the theatre are limited, therefore, we have introduced a ticket system for the presentations. These can be booked via this link: https://event.bookitbee.com/43856/year-9-options-evening
principal@stpetersacademy.org.uk
Mr T Mullen-Furness Principal
Notices for the week
National Careers Week
Monday 06 March
Tuesday 07 March
British Science Week (STEM)
● Y10 NHS RSE group 4
● National Theatre day 1
● National Theatre day 2
● Y10 Severn Trent Virtual Discovery Workshop
Dates for your diary
NEU strike actions days: 15 and 16 March 2023
Year 8
• Tuesday, 21 March 2023: Second HPV vaccination
• Monday, 27 March 2023: Options form return
Year 9
• Thursday, 16 March 2023: Options evening
Year 11
• Monday, 13 March 2023: Geography trip group 1
• Tuesday, 14 March 2023: Geography trip group 2
• Wednesday 22 March 2023: Y12 Basketball Academy selection day.
“Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet without sin: give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit; and, as you know our weakness, so may we know your power to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, Amen.”
Wednesday 08
March
Thursday 09
March
Friday 10
March
● Y12 University of Derby: Build your own career
● Y7 & Y8 Willmott Dixon Virtual Discovery Workshop @ 14:0015:00
● St Peter's Big Band Joint Concert with Phoenix Big Band 19:3021:45 (Theatre)
• Wednesday 29 March 2023: Alton Towers trip
Year 12
• Tuesday, 14 March 2023: Y12 Higher Education
Parent & Student Event
• Friday, 24 March 2023: UK University Search FairBirmingham
• Monday, 20 March 2023: Y12 Geography
Residential departs
Year 13
• 8 week countdown to the start of the public exam season.
• Tuesday, 21 March 2023: EPQ presentations (theatre)
• Friday 31 March 2023: Alton Towers trip
Quality of Education
At St Peter’s we believe that a broad and balanced curriculum with a strong academic core is a right for all pupils. We seek to encourage pupils to explore subjects of interest around their in-school learning and to enhance their curriculum experience through enrichment.
Year 13 Mock Celebration
On Wednesday the 1st March we treated all of Year 13 to pizzas to celebrate their excellent conduct and work during the Year 13 mock exams. Staff, including our team of external exam invigilators, have been so impressed with students’ conduct and approach to the exams. They have shown incredible focus and behaved impeccably. With only 8 school weeks to the start of the public exam season it was lovely to be able to celebrate with them.
What was Jesus' mission on earth?
8Y3 have been doing some great work in R.E exploring the question 'What was Jesus' mission on earth?'. On Tuesday they did some writing explaining the parable of the sheep and the goats - Miss O’Leary was so impressed with their
hard work and determination. Well done Bahran Said, Amanjot Randhawa and Ru Havana and all of 8Y3.
GCHQ Languages Day
On February 10th a number of our Year 9 students spent the day working with a language analyst from GCHQ in Cheltenham. Students used their language skills to respond to a fictitious cyber crime scenario.
GCHQ said…
’Our linguists offer in-person and virtual visits to schools to inspire pupils with their language learning, and to promote the importance of language skills in the workplace. They also host language taster sessions to give an insight into how we use languages daily at GCHQ in our work relating to National Security’.
Behaviour and attitudes/ personal development
We encourage our pupils to set high expectations for themselves, developing a range of effective interpersonal skills they will need to be successful in their chosen career. St Peter’s seeks to provide a range of opportunities for all pupils to pursue new interests, develop their skills and to experience different cultural events.
Achievement and Rewards
The students below have the highest amount of achievement points since September:
• Simran Banger - 9MNA - 311 points
• Deea Gardy - 9OP - 284 points
• Mohammed Ali - 7RB - 268 points
• Shekwoyemi Zarmai - 9CO - 256 points
• Tyreese Pal - 9MNA - 253 points
• Christbel Sarpong - 10LC- 251 points
These students are all winners of our Bronze Award as they have been awarded over 250 achievement points. Well done to these students!
Maths Sparx Challenge
The winners of Sparx class of the half term for last half term are:
• 7X3 with 86.6% completion.
• 7X1 got 83.2%
• 9Y1 got 82.6%
• 7Y4 got 80%
Well done to 7X3 who will now receive a film afternoon, with an exclusive own clothes day.
Current Data
Staff in the school have awarded since September:
• 125,618 achievement points.
• 87% of all points awarded have been positive.
Year 13 Rohan Bains - Tae Kwon-Do Gold Medal
On Sunday 5th March Rohan competed in the TAGB (The Tae Kwon-Do Association of Great Britain) British Championships yesterday at the Skydome Arena in Coventry.
He won Gold for the middleweight division. A fantastic achievement - well done!
Enrichment and Enhancement
St. Peter’s has an extensive Enrichment and Enhancement Programme.
A timetable of sessions, for all year groups is in place to support students’ academic progress and attainment. Education at St. Peter’s, however, is not just about exams and exam results. We have always sought to educate the whole child and so we have included a range of non-academic activities. The programme we are providing aims to give students opportunities to learn and explore beyond the classroom, developing new friendships across their year groups.
Our staff are keen to offer enhancement and enrichment activities that students will engage with and enjoy, enabling them to unlock their full potential.
You can find details of the Enhancement and Enrichment Programme on the link below. Be aware that provision is organised by year group. There are sessions available before school, starting at 08:00, at lunchtime and after school. In addition to this, we also run some virtual sessions.
https://stpetersacademy.org.uk/whats-on-offer/
Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
The school is running the D of E Award scheme again following a break of a few years. Currently we have 60 Year 10 and Year 11 Students signed up to undertake Bronze and the award was launched to our Year 9 students on Friday 3rd March.
Students will be completing the following four sections to obtain the Bronze award:
VOLUNTEERING. Students will volunteer to support an organisation/ activity, they will choose to give time to do something useful, without getting paid - It can be helping people, the community or the environment, it will make a difference to people’s lives and use their skills and experience.
PHYSICAL. Students will undertake a physical activity, to encourage participation and improve, it should be enjoyable, fun and improve physical fitness.
SKILLS. Students will develop a skill that helps them get better at something they are really interested in and gives them the confidence and ability to use the skill both now and in later life , to discover and develop practical, social and personal interests.
EXPEDITION. To encourage a spirit of adventure and discovery, to work in a team and use their own initiative, by preparing for and carrying out an adventurous journey as part of a team of 4-7 students.
The students will have to undertake two of the volunteering, physical and skills sections for 3 months and one section for 6 months. The expedition will take place over 2 days.
Hopefully the students will enjoy this challenge, learn new skills and forge new relationships and friendships from this unique activity!
Safeguarding
St Peter’s is committed to safeguarding and promoting the physical, mental and emotional welfare of every child and young person, both inside and outside of the Academy. We implement a preventative approach to managing safeguarding and child protection concerns.
Attendance
We are delighted that our attendance at St Peter’s places us within the top 10% for similar sized schools nationally but we are always striving to improve this. Good attendance to school is consistently ranked as one of the top factors in children making excellent academic progress. The Department for Education has very recently produced some excellent guidance around school attendance. If you would like to read it please follow this link: DfE Attendance Guidance Blog. This Blog talks about the importance of good school attendance, what the risks are of poor attendance and the steps that are being taken to improve attendance.
With regards to the link between attendance and academic attainment the Department for Education has published the following information:
Pupils who did not achieve grade 9 to 4 in English and maths GCSEs in 2019 had an overall absence rate of 8.8% over the key stage, compared with 5.2% among pupils who achieved a grade 4 and 3.7% among pupils who achieved grade 9 to 5 in both English and maths
If your child is absent from school for more than 10% of their possible sessions (a session is a morning or an afternoon), then they are categorised as ‘Persistently Absent’. If they were to miss 50% of their possible sessions they are categorised as ‘Severely Absent’. Please see below for the impact that evidence shows this makes on academic progress:
Of those pupils who were persistently absent, 35.6% achieved grade 9 to 4 in English and maths. Among severely absent pupils, this figure was 11.3%. This compares to 83.7% of pupils with no missed sessions and 76.3% who missed between 0 and 5%.
Similarly, 16.8% of persistently absent pupils and 5.0% of severely absent pupils achieved grade 9 to 5 in English and maths compared to 66.4% of pupils with no missed sessions and 54.4% who missed between 0 and 5%.
Therefore, good attendance to the academy is essential. If you are struggling with getting your child to attend the academy, for whatever reason please share this with us through the email address attendance@stpetersacademy.org.uk. We have access to a variety of support mechanisms and we will work with you and your child to support them in improving their attendance.
If you are aware of any upcoming appointments we ask that they are made outside of school time. We are aware that this is not always possible though. If the appointment is due to be during the school day. We ask that you make us aware in advance so that we can update our registers. In order to do so we ask that you email
attendance@stpetersacademy.org.uk and include evidence of the appointment. This could be in the form of a photograph of a letter, or a forwarded email.
Finally, if your child is unwell and is not able to attend school we ask that you email attendace@stpetersacademy.org.uk before 8:30am. This way we can maintain an accurate register for them. If we do not receive an email we will send out a text message, and if a response is not received from this we will also call.
If you would like any further information please feel free to contact the school directly. Alternatively the Attendance and Absence Policy is available here