St Peter’s Collegiate Academy
Part of the Three Spires Trust
Message from the Principal
We are now into the final week of the half term with our minds beginning to turn towards the terminal exams for GCSE and A Levels set to start in May 2023. These formal assessments are the culmination of a lot of hard work and sacrifice, requiring our students and those supporting them to be resilient in response to a range of challenges. The grading for the forthcoming exams will be, for the first time since the pandemic, ‘back to normal’. Some arrangements remain in place to support students, these are outlined in an open letter from OFQUAL: Letter to Students In this letter they refer to a student guide which can be accessed in condensed form here: OFQUAL Student Guide The full guide can be accessed via a link on the condensed version. I am mindful that the exam season can become a stressful time for families, not just our students. The Academy will be supportive of all students and families encountering difficulty during this period and request to be informed of any change in circumstance that may affect a students’ preparations.
Over the coming weeks it is critical students use their exam timetable to make preparations for their exams, structuring their revision and making time for rest. In addition to their scheduled exams, students are also required to keep the following dates available for contingency purposes. These will only be used if an exam is cancelled Nationally. All students must be available on these dates, non-attendance would affect their overall grade. However, it is very unlikely these will need to be used. There are two additional half-day contingency sessions. These are on Thursday 8 June 2023 and Thursday 15 June 2023. The standard contingency day remains at the end of the timetable being scheduled on Wednesday 28 June 2023.
I would also like to take this opportunity to wish everybody a Happy Easter. It is such an important time in the Christian calendar and a time for us to remember Christ’s sacrifice, his resurrection and that he is still present in our hearts: principal@stpetersacademy.org.uk
Mr T Mullen-Furness Principal
Notices for the week
● Return to school
Monday 17
April
Tuesday 18 April
● World Heritage Day
Dates for your diary
May bank holidays: 01 and 08 May 2023
Year 7
• 12 May 2023: Form photos
Year 10
• NHS RSE group 4 (rearranged, P2)
• 27 April 2023: University of Leicester trip
Year 11
• 25 - 26 April 2023: GCSE Art Exam (10 hrs)
• 27 - 28 April 2023: GCSE Photography Exam (10 hrs)
• Week beginning, 01 May 2023: GCSE French and Spanish speaking exams week 1
“Gracious Father, you gave up your Son out of love for the world: lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion, that we may know eternal peace through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ”
Wednesday 19
April
Thursday 20
April
Friday 21
April
● Y10 Drama Assessment
● PE A-Level moderation
● Soloist Concert @ St Peter’s Church (19:00 start)
● Launch event for Iceland 2024 6pm
● Y10 Drama Assessment
● PE A-Level moderation
● Y12 Parents’ Evening
Quality of Education
• Week beginning, 08 May 2023: GCSE French and Spanish speaking exams week 2
• 04 May 2023: Post 16 Evening 2
• 15 May 2023: Summer exam series commences
Year 13
• 26 - 28 April 2023: A level Art Exam (15 hrs)
• 03 May 2023: Y13 Recitals St Peter’s Church
• 15 May 2023: Y13 Leavers’ Service
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.
Sparx Maths Homework
Since September, students in Years 7-11 have now correctly completed over 1 MILLION maths questions correctly on Sparx. Students have also clocked up over 13,000 hours of additional learning.
Now we aim to reach 2 million correct answers.
Particular congratulations go to Zohaib Hussain in Yr 8 who has reached Level 25, the highest possible level that can be reached. For comparison, the average student in Year 8 is working on Level 1. Well done to Year 7 students who have the highest completion rate with 80% of students completing all of their 30 homework tasks set this year.
Sparx personalises each child’s homework, creating a weekly set of questions tailored to their level of understanding and learning pace. The questions are designed to be achievable whilst offering the stretch that learners need to make progress.
Each week, topics are set by your child’s maths teacher and will make up the majority of the homework questions. Questions from previous topics will also be included in the homework so that students can keep practising the skills they have learned.
Sparx Homework is deliberately designed to help students really get to grips with and understand the concepts and skills they are learning by ensuring they cover the essential building blocks needed to make progress in maths. Sparx’s research has shown that an average of 60 minutes a week of this type of personalised maths home learning leads to clear progress. It is therefore advised that students do their homework as early as possible, so they have the time to have a go themselves and seek help from their teacher if needed. Homework is not marked as complete until all of the compulsory questions have been answered correctly, so starting early is key to finishing before hand-in time.
Academy Day
You may be aware that in 2021 the Department for Education (DFE) carried out a review of time spent in schools and the impact of time on educational attainment. Following this review the DFE introduced a minimum expectation of the length of a school week of at least 32.5 hours. All schools are expected to meet this minimum expectation by September 2023 and consequently many schools are having to make adjustments to increase the length of their school day. To meet this expectation at St Peter’s we need to increase the length of our school day by 20 minutes. We have been exploring a range of options to achieve this and have also consulted with local schools and transport companies. It is our intention from September to begin the Academy day at 8:30am. The day will begin with a form tutor session encompassing worship and other activities appropriate for each year group including the development of literacy, oracy, numeracy, careers guidance etc…
Please follow the link below for further information regarding the DFE minimum expectation. Further details about the structure of the Academy day will be included in the next newsletter.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/length-of-the-school-week-minimum-expectation
Basketball Selection Day
Wednesday 22nd March 2023 saw the first of our St Peter’s SLAM! Basketball Academy recruitment days, in preparation for the upcoming 2023-24 season. The thirty-two year 11 students took part in a full day of induction activities. There was the opportunity for the potential recruits to be put through their paces on the basketball court and undertake a formal interview process. It was a fantastic day which showcased some real talent both on and off the court.
Throughout the day the students were interviewed, had a video analysis session, tour of the site and performance tested for their on and off court abilities. All recruits met with the coaching/teaching staff and even had opportunities to talk with current academy players.
After lunch, the academy potentials were on-court with our four academy coaches assessing their skills and abilities. Meanwhile our current academy players supported the programme by guiding and mentoring throughout the day.
The academy team were very impressed with the talents, efforts and focus of all the new recruits. Many of the players sparked discussion and debate among the coaches and current academy players. We look forward to getting back on court on the next recruitment day to work with our new potential players.
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.
Caring for our neighbours on Newbridge Avenue and Newbridge Crescent
Please can those parents/ carers using Newbridge Avenue and Newbridge Crescent to drop-off and collect pupils be mindful of the residents and their access to their homes. The roads can become busy with vehicles which can prevent residents gaining access to their drive. Wherever possible we would encourage parents/ carers not to park along the avenue and to wait a little further from the academy site.
In addition, if you are a parent/ carer of an existing sixth form pupil please can you remind them that once they have left the Academy site for home study that they should not be waiting or congregating in the avenue or local area. There have been instances where litter has been left in the surrounding area which could lead to an infestation of rodents. We as an academy will be working with the local authority to increase the number of bins. As parents/ carers please communicate to your child the need to maintain a tidy environment.
Thank you in advance for your understanding and support regarding these requests. We can only address these issues and support our neighbours through collaboration. We are grateful for your support.
Achievement and Rewards
The students below are all winners of our Bronze Award as they have been awarded over 250 achievement points!!!
Sienna Patel 7RB
Deeyan Uppal 9MNA
George Spooner 10 LC
Ellis Wilkes 7LMA
Kayce Baffour 8KVE
Rayan Noori 7RB
Ella Otisi 9MNA
Daniel Ackah 7RT
Jessica Johnson 12NJ
Muhammad Mazher 9PSM
Jevon Paris 8CZ
Shy Reid 7RB
Harnoor Mundy 7RB
Edvards Krakops 9CO
Well done to these students!!!
Current Data
• Staff in the school have awarded since September:
• 141,017 Achievement points.
• 86% of all points awarded have been positive.
Uniform Standards
Being smartly dressed and ready to learn is an important part of developing into responsible young adults.
Students are representatives of St Peter’s whilst in uniform and being smartly dressed will reflect positively on the academy as a whole.
Please find below the list for the academy's uniform standard for the school Year 2023-2024. The following uniform standards are part of the academy's home school agreement.
Key Stage 3 and 4 Uniform
· Plain black blazer with school badge sewn on.
· White shirt & Key Stage school tie.
· Plain black trousers (skinny fit trousers are not allowed) or plain black school skirt (no stretch/lycra).
· Plain black or grey V - neck or crew neck pullover.
· Smart, all black polishable leather shoes. Canvas shoes or shoes with logos are not allowed.
· Plain navy blue or plain black coat.
· Patka/Turban – (Sikh student head covering) navy blue or black.
· Hijab– (Muslim student head covering) navy blue or black.
· Legacy uniform is acceptable until August 2024.
Uniform in the Sixth Form
Students present a ‘business-like’ appearance when in school.
Full Business style suit: Colours should also comply with business style, Black, Navy or grey. Suit Jackets must be worn around the site but can be removed in lessons.
· Cardigan or V neck jumper (optional): Black or Navy with either V-neck or Crew neck. No Hoodies or jumpers with logos on.
· White business shirt/blouse - St Peter’s Sixth Form tie must be worn with shirt.
· Black ‘polishable’ shoes: No Trainers or casual style shoes.
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.
United Against Bullying
As we move towards the end of the Spring Term it is important to reflect on the work that has been carried out at St Peter’s so that we can safeguard all of our children. As previously mentioned as an academy we have signed up to the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s ‘United Against Bullying’ programme. This is a comprehensive programme, backed by the Department for Education, which supports schools to reduce bullying, to improve the wellbeing of the children and to improve the interventions if an incident of bullying does occur (further details are available here). So far this year we have completed an internal audit of the school’s anti-bullying policies and procedures, and we have surveyed the pupils to gather their thoughts and feelings about bullying and wellbeing at school.
Since these have been completed we have acquired an online platform, called MyVoice, which will allow your children to report any concerns that they may have, including bullying, on an online platform. This will automatically be sent to our Safeguarding team, who will follow it up. We are currently in the process of setting this up but as soon as this is complete we will share it with the children and with you through this newsletter. Alongside securing this platform our Pastoral and Safeguarding teams have started their individual training with the Anti-Bullying Alliance to strengthen our understanding of the issues, and how best to deal with them. I look forward to sharing our progress again in the Summer Term.
Wolverhampton Yo!
During the Easter break the City Council are offering a wide range of activities for the children who live in the city. The programme is called Wolverhampton Yo! The details of what is on offer can be found here
The range of activities provided is very wide, including sports, crafts and academic pursuits. The overwhelming majority of the activities are free and include a meal too. Furthermore, the locations where the activities are taking place are across the city so if you are interested please take a look and book. Places are limited so a quick response is recommended.
Mental Wellbeing
In school we offer a range of provisions to support our children to maintain positive mental wellbeing. These include sessions with our Inclusion team, support through the Reflections Service (which is a Mental Health Support Team based in school on a Tuesday afternoon), our Educational Psychologist and we can also refer into CAMHS too. After half term we will have five members of staff who are fully trained in Emotional Literacy Support too.
The holidays can be difficult for some of our students because they are not able to access these support services. In these instances we can signpost the children to Kooth, which is an online service designed specifically to support young people with their mental wellbeing. Their services include online articles, forums and the opportunity to chat with someone too. The other service which we advise the students to access is Childline. The service offered by Childline is both over the telephone (0800 1111) and online. The online service is really varied and includes helpful guides, games and the opportunity to chat to someone too.
