Senior Leadership Team Update
Well what a busy week we have had! Not only some great sporting events and fixtures with students being excellent ambassadors for CRA, but also such courage, confidence and resilience shown on and off stage by our CRA students (and staff!) for our annual musical - Matilda. Well done to all involved! It was fantastic to see our students up on stage performing the show to their family and friends, as well as to Corby Glen Primary School. Everyone did an amazing job and their hard work and ambition to succeed shone through!
Important dates to remember
- 26th March 2024 - SEN coffee morning
- 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
- 2nd July 2024 - Transition day
- 10th July 2024 - Year 5 open evening
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 this week completed a revision questionnaire following the completion of the mock exams last week, where they reflected on the level of preparation that went into them from home and what this specific revision looked like. It was fantastic to see the vast majority of students outlining the increased amounts of revision they completed for their recent mocks in comparison to the ones in November. Continuing this momentum into the formal exams this Summer will really support students in helping them to achieve their potential in all GCSE subjects. Please do reflect with your child about the recent mock exams, what worked really well for them this time, and what changes they need to make moving forward
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 6
You can see on the inside of the Houseopoly boards attendance certificates. These are for 100% attendance for a particular term. These are awarded to students at the end of each large term
Year 9 - GCSE Options
Each Year 9 student met with either a member of SLT or their Head of House this week to discuss their GCSE options and what career pathway they aspire to follow once they finish Year 11.
Each student has now been sent a Microsoft Form to complete their GCSE option choices, this has been sent to their school email address. Pupils will be asked to select 5 subjects - 3 of which will be their priority to study next year, and 2 of which will be their reserve choices. Students need to have completed the form by Wednesday 27th March before subjects will be allocated for them. Please take the time to sit with your child whilst they complete this form to ensure they are making informed choices and opting for subjects that suit their skills and interests.
CRA Character
On Wednesday, we had our 2nd drop down day. Year 7 visited The University of Nottingham for an aspirational FE visit. They learnt more about transferrable life skills as well as experiencing first hand what Uni life is like - talking to students about their course, accommodation and touring the campus. Year 8 did a full day of activities focused on the 7 C's of Resilience, to support them building their strategies to cope when things are hard. Year 9 and 10 had external visitors delivering a carousel of 5 sessions on online safety, road safety, drug awareness, knife crime and cyber-stalking. Feedback from our visitors about our students and the school were both very positive. Year 11 had a targeted intervention day, including a full walking talking mock exam for English and an exam stress awareness session delivered by The Charlie Waller Foundation. Some fantastic support and PSHCE inputs throughout the day for all years, allowing them to develop their CRA Values of Confidence, Respect, Ambition, Courage, Resilience, Aspiration.
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 25th March 2024 - 6
Accelerated Reading
Week commencing 25th March 2024 - Period 2
Teen Support..
Free online courses for all parents, carers, grandparents and teens
Nurturing emotional health and wellbeing from bump to 19+ years
Lincolnshire County Council has partnered with the Solihull Approach to offer free access to expertly designed online courses for parents, carers, grandparents and teens living in the region.
Sign up to understand your child’s feelings, as well as your own, as you go through life as a family. Learn to understand the changes in your child’s development and how to support them, whilst also strengthening your relationship.
Click the link for further details and to sign up
Table Talk
It is always interesting to hear your children’s perspective on things. For the next three weeks we have some thought provoking questions that you might want to talk about over the dinner table.
What are some thought-provoking questions to ask your teen at dinner?
- If you could study one thing in school, what would it be?
- What does your school not have that you wish it did?
- What is your favourite book you read so far in school
Attendance..
Attendance – Term 4, Week 5
Year 7 have achieved 1st place with a top attendance score beating all the other year groups, well done Year 7, great effort.
The girls have had another great week beating the boys to 1st place by a fantastic 2%.
Caeli have finished first with the highest overall attendance again this week, beating Terra and Aqua by 0.5%, well-done Caeli! Special mention for Terra 11 who have achieved 96.3%.
Monday has seen our highest percentage of absence this week, however there were issues on the A1! 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 Table Tennis
KS4 students and the CRA Table Tennis scholars kicked started the house table tennis competition yesterday. Following some closely contested matches there was nothing to separate the teams with all three head to heads finishing in 3-3 draws.
It was great to see the Table Tennis scholars, who compete at both national and international level team up with players from across the academy to represent their house teams.
KS3 round of matches are taking place today where we will find out which house prevails.
House Photography Competition
This year’s theme 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.
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