Senior Leadership Team Update
This week in whole school assembly, Mr Thornton and Mr Aram delivered an excellent assembly on hate speech v free speech. This was to illustrate to the students that although they have a right to their own opinions, that is not at the detriment of any individual or group of people. We talked about British Values and protected characteristics and what these mean to us as individuals and as a community. It was very thought provoking and helped our students have a better understanding of how to behave in society in an acceptable way. Please take the time to talk to your child about the assembly.
Important dates to remember
- 5th March 2024 - Year 9 Options Evening
- 13th March 2024 - Year 9 Parents Evening
- 19th/20th March 2024 - Matilda Performance
- 20th March 2024 - Year 7 trip to Nottingham university
- 28th March 2024 - Break up for Easter holidays
- 15th April 2024 -All students return for term 5
- 18th April 2024 - London trip to Swan Lake
- 28th June 2024 - Year 11 Prom
Feeling ill at school
To support our students not missing their valuable learning time, we have introduced a new system for monitoring a student if they feel unwell. This does not include if they are injured at school and require first aid.
If a student informs a teacher that they are not feeling well, their teacher will monitor them for 10 minutes and check they have had some water, eaten etc. After 10 minutes, if they are still feeling poorly, they will be sent to reception where their symptoms and details will be logged in our comfort book. At this point they can take some paracetamol if they have some in school. They will then be issued with a monitoring card and sent back to lessons. They will give this to their teacher who will continue to monitor them and sign the card at the end of the lesson. The student will then go to their next lesson and give their monitoring card to their next teacher. They will continue to be monitored and if there is no improvement throughout the day after a break and an opportunity to get some food and some fresh air, they will go to reception to check back in and a decision will be made by key staff including the attendance team and SLT, as to whether they need to be sent home. This will hopefully reduce students going home if they are just feeling a little under the weather and build their resilience, one of our CRA values that is so important for life beyond CRA as well.
Uniform
Please see our uniform page on the CRA website which states:
- No more than one small stud in the lobe of an ear may be worn. No tragus piercings
- No ear stretchers are acceptable. Putting ‘spacers’ in or plasters over piercing is not acceptable. If you have a piercing – nose, eyebrow, lip etc. the stud must be removed.
- No more than two small finger rings are allowed. No bracelets or other jewellery should be visible
- No other jewellery or piercings anywhere on the face are permitted. Plastic wristbands should not be worn.
Year 11
To celebrate the end of the GCSE examinations, we will be holding the year 11 Prom on the evening of the 28th June 2024. We hope that all year 11 students will come and enjoy themselves. Further information and ticket sales will follow soon.
In addition to Prom, we will be inviting students to purchase leavers hoodies and we will shortly be asking students for their order details and payments will only be accepted via MCAS. We will advise in due course when the payment amount has been agreed and set up for parents to view.
Year 11 Focus
Year 11 students have now completed the first week of their final mock exams before the formal exams in the Summer. Students' conduct so far has been exemplary and they have been modelling exactly how it needs to look in their formal exams. These mock exams will run until Wednesday 13th March. It is important that students are preparing effectively from home with their revision to ensure these are as purposeful and successful as they can be.
Students were reminded this week to make use of their revision strategies booklet when revising at home that includes a lot of the information that has been shared both in assemblies and on the revision information evening. This includes steps to success in implementing each revision strategy as well useful guidance on tips to avoid exam stress/anxiety. It is a valuable booklet that I ask you to speak with your child about and make use of.
Year 9 - GCSE Options Evening
We look forward to welcoming you all to the Year 9 Options Evening on Tuesday 5th March from 6:00-7:30pm. Attendance at this event is important for all students and parents so that the best possible choices can be made for the next step in your child's educational journey. Please bring the GCSE options booklet that your child would have received prior to this with you on the evening to support your understanding of options subjects and discussions with Heads of Departments.
Students will be receiving their GCSE options form on Friday 22nd March for them to select their option choices. This form will be emailed to their CRA student email account so please ensure your child can access this.
Why We Do What We Do
Over the next 6 weeks we will be sharing different aspects of our Houseopoly boards which feature in all our tutor rooms.
Week 3
You can see at the top left of the picture we have some key messages that we regularly reinforce with students. Having them on the reward board just gives us another opportunity to remind students of our three rules: Be Safe, Be Ready, Be Respectful, of our three consequences, Warn, Move, Remove and of their entitlement to have disruption free learning.
Duke Of Edinburgh
Duke Of Edinburgh award has now been launched to our year 9 students we have already had some students sign up and many more students interested. We have managed to obtain funding towards the enrollment fee, reducing the cost to £10. if your child is really interested in taking part in this amazing scheme and there is an issue with raising the funds for your child to take part please contact Mr Rollin, the DofE manager as there is funding available so everyone that is eligible can take part.
CRA Character
Our cross country team performed excellently on Wednesday at the DRET cross country cup. It was amazing to see some stand out performances, but also real CRA Resilience shown throughout the day with the result of most improved academy for the second year in a row! Congratulations to all students who took part! There were some achy legs on Thursday!
Word of the week
Cred: believe (Latin word root)
- Credit the ability of a customer to obtain goods or services before payment, based on the trust that payment will be made in the future, or publicly acknowledge a contributor's role in the production of (something published or broadcast).
- Credence belief in or acceptance of something as true.
- Credible able to be believed; convincing.
Times Tables
At the end of all lessons students stand behind their chairs in silence to prepare for themselves for the next lesson. From September, on a weekly rota, Years 7 and 8 will be reciting their timetables to help embed them in their long term memory.
Week commencing 4th March 2024 - 9
Accelerated Reading
Week commencing 4th March 2024 - Period 4
Teen Support..
One of the main issues online in Lincolnshire with students is Malicious Communications. Making hateful comments, causing harassment or fear. Many aren't aware, this is a crime. A quick video of what you need to know as parents.
Table Talk
The Israeli Gaza war continues to have momentum and media coverage. This can be concerning for many young people and as parents it is a very difficult subject to start a conversation about to try and talk through any fears our children may have. The following link has some excellent support for parents in starting a conversation around the impact of the war.
Attendance..
Attendance – Term 4, Week 2
Year 11 have achieved 1st place with a top attendance score beating all the other year groups, well done Year 11, great effort.
The girls have pulled their attendance back this week beating the boys to 1st place by a fantastic 2%.
Caeli have finished first with the highest overall attendance this week, beating Terra and Aqua by a healthy 3%, well-done Caeli! Special mention for Caeli 11 who have achieved 100%.
Thursday has seen our highest percentage of absence this week, missing just one day can have an impact on students learning experiences and outcomes.
Well done to the following students how have shown great resilience with their attendance:
If your child is absent from school, please ensure you contact school daily either by email/MCAS or by telephoning the attendance line 01476 550333 ext 502. It is vital we are notified everyday of any absence for safeguarding reasons, unless previously authorised. A reason for illness will always be requested, this is to observe attendance patterns and outbreaks of illness amongst students.
Please do not hesitate to contact myself kcoleman@charlesreadacademy.co.uk on 01476 550333 ext 515 or tsandison@charlesreadacademy.co.uk ext 502 to discuss ways to support your child's attendance.
CRA - Lets work together to make every day count!
Mrs Coleman - Attendance Manager
House News
House Photography Competition
This year’s house photography competition is underway. The theme this year is ‘Nature’ with the competition open to all students, staff and wider families.
We have received some excellent entries already.
Each person is able to send in a maximum of five photos.
Photos to be sent to housechampionship@charlesreadacademy.co.uk
The deadline for entries is Friday 12th April.
Term 4 Competitions
Term 4 offers an array of different house competitions to get involved in. 2000 points will be available throughout the term with competitions including Gardening, Photography, Table Tennis, Wii Sports and Bullseye Quiz. We will also be revealing this terms Mystery House Competition next week which promises to be popular. This terms academic competition, worth 500 points is the house most improved attitude to learning (ATL).
The Sporting Post
Please can all students be collected from the BACK of the school when being picked up from after school clubs and fixtures.
Sports Kit
Please can any borrowed sports kit be returned as soon as possible. We have trainers, hoodies, netball dresses and football kit (shirts, shorts and socks) that have not been returned. This means that students are unable to also borrow these items for fixtures and limits teams when wanting to wear a full, matching kit.
Term Dates
Please see the latest term dates for 2022-23.
A list of diary events can also be found on the CRA Website by clicking here