Dear parent/carer,
I hope this update finds you and your families well. Students are now more than settled back into site movement, it takes approximately four minutes for students to move from one lesson to the next which is remarkable considering the size of our site. It also suggests that our students again are proving to be resilient, adaptable and focussed on achieving success. In lessons there is a focus and positivity that is a real credit to the students, I have been fortunate to show a number of visitors around and to a person the feedback is always positive. What does this indicate about how well our students are doing? Amongst some of the more frequent comments are observations on how polite and respectful students are, saying please, thankyou, opening doors. Reports such as this have been mirrored in the community and serve to only enhance our reputation. Our focus on character and culture is working and will only benefit all of our students as they venture out once they leave us. We are incredibly proud.
Following the latest government announcement, we are ensuring that any future events such as sports day will continue as planned. It is however a timely reminder considering that locally there are anecdotal reports of some cases within schools that we cannot be complacent despite our strong track record. Please ensure that each Sunday and each Wednesday home testing takes place and results are recorded as appropriate. Testing and knowing whether a student is potentially a risk prior to attendance on a Monday is our biggest and our primary prevention measure, strengthened by the measures in place on site. We will continue for the time being with face masks in all lesson transitions, so please make sure your son/daughter has a mask each day. We will also continue with wearing a PE kit for days in which your son/daughter has PE or dance for the rest of this academic year. Please make sure that any hoodies your son/daughter wears on those days are part of the Mascalls branded PE kit, it has always been our intention to ensure the highest expectations in school uniform of which PE kit is a part. Your support as always is very much appreciated.
This week our Year 8 students were able to take part in an army activities day. Focussing on team building, resilience, gender equality and future careers the students participated exceptionally well and is the first of three days each college will be able to participate in designed to support our personal development programme. The students again were a testament to the academy, thank you all and well done.
Our two week sixth form induction programme finished this week to provide a programme of experience for current Year 11 students who have applied to attend Mascalls Academy 6th Form. The programme was designed to give students the best possible opportunity to engage with their subject choices, but also if needed to trial other subjects to see if these were more accessible or suited to onward study/work requirements. All subjects offered three one hour taught sessions and there were keynote sessions on preparation for sixth form study and communication strategies. It was exceptionally well attended and sees the highest number of sixth form applicants in our history showing that our students are happy here and that Mascalls truly offers an exceptionally effective provision meaning our students want to continue studying with us long after GCSEs.
Finally, as with every statement, my gratitude is extended to the parents and carers who so positively support the staff and values of Mascalls both inside and outside the academy. Our reputation as a high performing academy goes from strength to strength and that can only be achieved in collaboration. Have a fantastic weekend.
Yours sincerely
Mr W Monk | Principal
