CRA Newsletter 27.09.2024 Half Term 1 - September 2024

SLT Update

It has been a fantastic week at Charles Read Academy and wonderful for me to be back. Wednesday evening saw us hold a very successful Open Evening for all new potential parents of Year 6 or even Year 5 children. The evening was well attended, and staff and student ambassadors presented the Academy proudly to our visitors.

The House competitions are well underway this term and this week we saw the turn of competitors for Netball matches culminating in a highly competitive staff match. It was lovely to see students from the different houses cheering on their staff representatives.

Currently we are continuing to prepare for our Harvest Festival celebrations that will be held in the church and further information about this will be sent out in due course. However, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all families who have sent items for the food banks.

Looking forward to future calendar dates, we will soon be holding our Year 7 Tutor evening and SEND review meetings. I look forward to meeting more parents in person at both events.

Mrs Le Caplain - Acting Head of School & Senco

Important dates to remember

  • 16th October - Year 11 parents evening
  • 18th October - Break up for half term

CRA Character

Following the visit from the Army last week the House assembly focuses have been on the character strength of leadership.

In the assembly the differences between being a leader and being a boss were talked about and how leadership does need to be shared to be effective.

At this assembly the opportunity was also used to distribute the house badges by the student leadership team of other positions of responsibility within the Houses; these included:

  • Tutor group leaders
  • Media leaders
  • Charity leaders
  • Student games masters
  • Sports leaders

My congratulations to all students who have been selected to have these roles in their houses, I know that they will represent and lead their houses well in each specific area. All should be very proud to selected.

Student Leadership 2024-5

In Monday's whole school assembly after learning about how good leadership can come in many different forms, and how all students can demonstrate their own version of excellent leadership, Mr Aram along with the Senior Student Leadership Team announced the full student leadership team for the coming academic year.

Over 60 students applied to be part of the student leadership team, and it is wonderful to see over 30 students now part of wider student leadership at CRA, with the group including Year Group Leaders, Charity Leads, Media Leads and the new role of Student Games Masters.

This will be a busy year for student leaders in the academy, starting this week with the launch of Caeli House's charity event, which will be led by the wider Charity Lead team across all three houses. We wish all of our student leaders a successful year ahead!

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 beginning - 30th September 2024 - Times table is 11

Accelerated Reading

Week beginning - 30th September 2024 - Period 5

Teen Support..

Healthy Minds - Lincolnshire

Healthy Minds Lincolnshire provide emotional wellbeing support for children and young people up to 19 years old. If you have a special educational need or disability or are a care leaver we can see you up to the age of 25.Everyone at some point might find it hard to cope with how they are feeling or what is happening in their life. Healthy Minds Lincolnshire provides early support when you start to feel that life is getting out of control and you need some help to cope. Our teams are made up of a variety of professionals. All staff are referred to as HML Practitioners and have a nursing, social work, counsellor, teaching, or mental health background.

Emotional wellbeing is about being happy, confident, having good relationships and being able to cope with everyday events.

We can help you with:

  • Exam stress
  • Worries
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Low mood
  • Low self-esteem
  • Low body confidence
  • Coping with change
  • Self-harm

If you would like support please speak to your teachers or alternatively call the Lincolnshire Here4You advice line. If you are under 16 we will usually need to speak to your parents.

For further information please see the following link: Healthy Minds Lincolnshire :: Lincolnshire Young Minds (lpft.nhs.uk)

Why we do what we do

Every year at Harvest time we run a collection for the local foodbank. We ask students to bring in items the colour of their house. We then hold a Harvest Festival celebration for Year 7 students in the local church where students sing and are thankful for the food they eat and the support they receive from their families. The church then kindly takes our contributions to the local food bank.

Table Talk

At CRA we talk a lot about the 7Cs of resilience. Over the next 7 weeks we will write about each element. This week we are talking about confidence.

Week 3 Confidence – knowing you are competent.

Young people with confidence will have the belief in themselves that they will ultimately succeed. They’ll be more likely to take the chances needed to learn about themselves. They may be willing to try harder and have less fear of failure. More importantly, they’ll rebound from failure, seeing it as an opportunity for growth rather than a catastrophe. Confidence is not gained from an abundance of unearned praise. Rather, it comes from adults authentically noticing effort and nurturing and supporting skills (or competence).

Thinking Ahead – My Future, My Choice

Each week we will show you examples of the various careers linked to the subject you are studying. This week’s career idea is ‘Jobs related to dance'

Mr Rees - Careers' Support

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!

Leave of absence request

A Principal can only authorise a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances. We will take into account the Government guidance when considering what the exceptional circumstances are- all applications are considered on a case-by-case basis. You may be able to take your child out of school in exceptional circumstances, providing an application is made in advance by the parent/carer, this request complies with Government guidance and the leave is deemed to be ‘exceptional’ by the Principal.

If you take a leave of absence without our permission or if your child fails to return by the agreed date if permission was granted, then this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence and noted in your child’s record. You might also be issued with a fixed penalty notice for this absence. If your child has not returned within 10 days of the expected date of return then, after consultation with the Local Authority, we may take your child off our school roll.

As examples, the following reasons are not considered to be exceptional circumstances:

  • availability of cheap holidays
  • periods overlapping with beginning or end of term
  • visits to family
  • renewing passports

Requests for leave of absence will only be considered if made in writing. Please ensure you use the leave of absence request form to do this.

To request a leave of absence, please use this form.

Mrs Coleman - Attendance Manager

Holiday Warning Letter

House News.

2024/25 CRA House Championship

House Netball

This week at CRA students represented their house teams in the first sporting house competition of the year. House teams went head to head across each year group throughout the week, finishing with a staff round of matches on Wednesday.

Over 100 students represented their house teams and there were a number of excellent matches throughout. The overall results will be revealed in assembly Monday morning.

Well done to everyone who took part.

House Football – Next Week

House Football takes place next week, running from Monday to Wednesday during lunchtimes - 250 House Points are on offer for this competition!

Students who have been selected to represent their house in this event must bring in their PE Kits and get changed at the beginning of lunch.

Please note the following dates each year group are competing:

  • Monday 30th September – Year 8 Boys
  • Monday 30th September – Year 9 Boys
  • Monday 30th September - Year 10 & 11 Boys mixed
  • Wednesday 2nd October – Year 7 Boys
  • Wednesday 2nd October – All Girls

Table Tennis

Following on from the announcement last week where Ella and Abraham became England no.1 in the U17 girls and U15 boys, on Tuesday this week they were interviewed by BBC Radio Lincolnshire, for the Hope and Glory sports show. They participated in a discussion about their achievements so far and their ambitions for the future. Both of the scholars did extremely well and as soon as we know when the interview will be on air, we will share that with you.

The Sporting Post.

PE kit reminder - 2024/2025

The standard PE kit is as follows:

  • CRA House PE top (compulsory)
  • CRA PE shorts or skorts (compulsory)
  • CRA PE Hoodie (compulsory)
  • Black socks. These can be purchased from any provider.
  • PE track pants / leggings / skins - optional - must be plain navy or black. These can be worn under the CRA PE top, shorts or skorts. These items should have no logos/writing/labels. These can be purchased from any provider.

Sports trainers- These can be purchased from any provider. No fashion trainers.

Girls will take part in hockey and boys will take part in rugby during PE lessons. Gumshields and shinpads are recommended for their safety.

Shinpads will also be needed for girls' and boys' football.

Moulded football boots are also recommended as students can wear these on the 3G artificial surface and grass field.

Please can all students be collected from the BACK of the school when being picked up from after school clubs and fixtures.

Term Dates

Please see the latest term dates for 2024-25

Academic Term Dates 2024-25

A list of diary events can also be found on the CRA Website by clicking here