SLT Update
This week has been another very busy week and as I have taken potential Year 7 parents around the Academy, yet again I am filled with pride when I witness the maturity our students show when interacting with visitors. All parents unanimously commented on our evident ethos, focus on core values and the clear work ethic that we have here at Charles Read, embedded in the values that make the school what it is. It is a privilege to be part of this.
These values continue to be superbly demonstrated through the involvement of students in further house competitions this week and Caeli House’s Charity Day, which was for Hello Yellow charity, held yesterday on World Mental Health day. Many children chose to fundraise and support the charity by wearing yellow and we also even had some examples of minions! Every pound raised helps the charity to create a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health.
My thanks go to Mr Aram and the Charity student leads of Caeli house for arranging this.
Earlier this week Mrs Brealey led on a Year 11 evening to further support students and parents with their preparation for GCSE’s. If you were not able to attend this, please look on our website and you will find that the presentation is located there for your reference. May I remind you that Year 11 parents evening is fastly approaching on the 16th October and this will be conducted on Teams.
However, before that we have the Year 7 Induction settling -in evening for parents on Tuesday 15th October. This will be situated in the school hall. I will also be in attendance at that, if you wish to make an appointment to discuss anything particularly with me.
Looking forward to next week, we are also completing the finishing touches to our Harvest Festival service at the church with Year 7 students and as last week I must thank you for all the donations to each House collection.
It seems incredible that half term is nearly upon us and a reminder that we break up from school next Friday 18th October and return 28th October 2024.
Mrs Le Caplain - Acting Head of School & Senco
CRA Character
Earlier this week both myself and Mr Aram held a special assembly with Year 11 students. I picked the core values of respect and resilience to speak about and within this we discussed student plans for the future.
For Year 11 students it can be a difficult time as they are approaching their mock examinations again and the work- load increases with the expectation of regular revision and growth in maturity.
I spoke about self-respect as a tool to continue to strive to be the best version we can be of ourselves. With self-respect comes resilience and an ambition to succeed. Mr Aram spoke to the students about career options and the different post 16 events that are occurring in the next few weeks for Year 11.
Crucially we would ask that you as parents, echo probably what was the most important part of that assembly, that the Year 11 students are not alone and in striving to succeed, maintain self- respect , be aspirational and do well in Year 11: they continue to have the support and guidance of yourselves as parents and the staff of Charles Read Academy.
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 - 7th October 2024 - Times table is 12
Accelerated Reading
Week beginning - 7th October 2024 - Period 1
Teen Support..
Dealing with Emotions for Teenagers
As a teenager, you may find that your emotional reactions to situations feel more intense than they did previously. Do you know why?
Your emotions may feel bigger or more intense because your amygdala, which controls your fight/flight response, can be more reactive during your teenage years, meaning your actions are guided more by how you’re feeling than by the rational part of your brain.
All of this is a natural part of development, but it can feel pretty uncomfortable at times and some people might find it more challenging than others. Here are some videos exploring teenage emotions and some words of advice on how to deal with them from psychologists Dr Tara Porter and Dr Glenn Mason.
Emotions and impulsive behaviour as a teenager - BBC Bitesize
Why we do what we do
The Extended Day
At Charles Read Academy we have an extended day on a Monday and Tuesday from 3.15pm-4.15pm where students from years 7-10 are involved in enrichment opportunities. Students can choose an activity that they would like to participate in from the following areas: a variety of different sports, art, Bushcraft, Duke of Edinburgh and musical theatre. These opportunities will develop students’ life skills which they will use in adult life. We understand the importance of team work , trying new things you may not have had the opportunity to do before, pushing yourselves out of your comfort zone and doing things for pleasure and enjoyment. Year 11 also have an extended day and benefit from two hours of intervention which is targeted to their needed areas of development to close knowledge gaps.
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 character.
The 7 Cs of resilience
Originally developed for children and teenagers by US-based paediatrician Kenneth Ginsberg (2014), the 7 Cs of resilience can also be used in an adult context. They are:
- 1. Competence – knowing how to handle situations effectively.
- 2. Confidence – knowing you are competent.
- 3. Connection – having close ties to family, friends and community.
- 4. Character – having a fundamental sense of right and wrong.
- 5. Contribution – contributing to your community, which can bring a sense of purpose.
- 6. Coping – learning to cope with stress.
- 7. Control – understanding that you can control the outcomes of your decisions.
Reflecting on how developed each of your son/daughter's Cs are can give you and them an insight into where they might need to do work on. For example, they might need to develop better coping strategies, or rebuild important personal connections that have slipped over time.
The Resilience doughnut
Lyn Worsley (2006) has developed a model for personal resilience that illustrates different factors of internal and external support using a clear and colourful image.
This model covers three internal and seven external factors. The internal factors are: I have (resources), I am (self-esteem) and I can (self-efficacy). The external factors focus on support from parents, skills acquired, family networks, education and relationships with teachers, peer friendships, community links and money, i.e. economic stability.
By identifying our strongest positive factors and reconnecting with those in times of crisis, the support and encouragement we receive can help us to be more resilient, providing a sense of purpose to help us recover, sustain and grow through a crisis.
Worsley goes on to suggest that resilient adults will have identified at least three strong factors which they can reconnect with during times of stress or crisis, enabling them to survive and thrive.
Week 5 Character – having a fundamental sense of right and wrong.
Young people with strong core values make the strongest contributions, have the best sense of self, and have the most secure and healthy relationships. Think of character strengths as those things that ensure we do the right thing – even if nobody is watching. We need people who know how to do the right thing!
Adults must notice and nurture children’s inherent character strengths and teach and reinforce others. We also must never forget that our actions speak so loudly that sometimes our kids can’t hear a word that we are saying. In other words, they are watching what we do. We must uphold those character strengths that we hope to see in them.
Attendance......
Attendance – Term 1, Week 6.
Year 8 have ended the week in first place for overall attendance, well done year 8. Year 11 finish in 5th place for the second week running.
The boys have had a great start to the year in 1st place again beating the girls by 4%.
Aqua have finished first with the highest overall attendance this week, beating Terra by 1%, well-done Aqua! Special mention for Terra 8 and Caeli 7 who have achieved 99%, excellent effort.
Tuesday has seen our highest percentage of absence this week please let me know if you begin to see a pattern in your child’s attendance. Missing just one day can have an impact on students learning experiences and outcomes.
Attendance
As many of you will be aware from publicity in the press, and letters we have sent out previously, the government have significantly toughened the law in relation to school attendance and have now published revised guidance which has become mandatory from September 2024.
From September 2024, schools have to consider a penalty notice if a pupil misses 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. Half of a day (am or pm) is considered as a ‘session’. The threshold of 10 sessions can be met with any combination of unauthorised absence, for example, eight sessions of unauthorised holidays in term time and two sessions for other unauthorised reasons would trigger a penalty notice.
The ten school week period may span different terms or school years, for example: 2 sessions of unauthorised absence in the summer term and a further 8 in the autumn term.
National Framework for Attendance Penalty Notices (fines)
The new penalty notice regulations are:
- Each parent will be issued a separate penalty notice, for each child who is absent. For example, 2 parents and 3 children, each parent will receive 3 penalty notices for £160 each, with a family total of £960 in fines.
- The fine amount will be £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days, reduced to £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days.
- The first penalty notice will be considered your first offence.
- The next time an offence occurs, within 3 years of the date the first penalty notice is issued, the fine amount will be £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days, with no reduction.
- The third time an offence occurs this will be presented to Magistrate’s court for prosecution.
Where a child is absent, and it is believed they are absent without valid reason, we will carry out a home visit and see the child on or before the third school day of absence. If the absence meets the thresholds explained above, you will be issued fixed penalty notices as detailed above.
Please review any holiday plans you have for term time this year to ensure you are not issued with a penalty fine or prosecuted in the Magistrates’ court.
The above rules also apply to punctuality as registers must close at the end of our tutor period. Arriving to school after this time will result in an unauthorised absence. To enable our morning registration (AM) to begin promptly, we require all students to be on site for 8.40 a.m. This is the time your child must be in school, ready to be marked into registers (punctuality due to late buses will be coded accordingly). Therefore, we ask that you ensure your child arrives at 8.40 a.m. and they are with their tutor by 8.50 a.m. at the latest.
Your child must register with their tutor and attend P1 to ensure their ‘present’ marks are captured within the AM registration period. Your child must attend afternoon registration and P5 to ensure their ‘present’ marks are captured within the PM registration period. Even if your child is on site they will not be registered unless they are in their tutor room and classrooms and an unauthorised mark will be given. Ten unauthorised sessions in a ten school week period will result in a fixed penalty notice.
Pupils who attend school regularly will achieve higher grades than those pupils who don’t. In the summer of 2024 pupils at Charles Read Academy who had above 90% attendance achieved a grade and a half higher than those who are below this.
If you require any support or advice, please get in touch via email us on enquiries@charlesreadacademy.co.uk
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
House News.
Aqua House Football Champions
The Results are in for the House Football competition. Points were accumulated across each year group, including a girls round of matches. Overall Aqua finished top of the Football competition with a total of seven wins and three draws across the competition. Terra managed to accumulate a total of five victories across the week, which included being crowned year 7 and joint girls house football champions. Caeli finished in 3rd place despite overall victory in the girls football competition.
Well done to everyone who took part.
House Spelling Bee – Wednesday 16th October
It is House Spelling Bee competition on Wednesday next week as students and staff across each year group will put their spellings to the test. In front of an audience on the main stage, participants will be challenged with subject specific tier 2 and 3 vocabulary across a number of rounds – rounds will include a mixture of both spoken and written spellings. This is the final competition of term with a total of 125 house points on offer.
CRA House Championship – Totaliser
Caeli maintain their position at the top of the house totaliser with a lead of over 100 house points to Terra in 2nd and Aqua in 3rd respectively. Houseopoly points and this terms academic competition (best attendance) are still to be added to the totaliser – who will be top of the leaderboard at the end of term1?
Table Tennis
Ella and Abraham were interviewed on the 8th October 2024 on BBC Radio Links. Please follow this link to listen to the interview.
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
A list of diary events can also be found on the CRA Website by clicking here