Principal's Letter, 6 November 2020

Year 9 Information Evening
I must begin by apologising to those parents who experienced difficulty joining this meeting virtually yesterday evening. I am aware that a number of you only managed to join after numerous attempts and some weren’t able to join at all. There is no explanation as to why the link worked for some families and didn’t work for others. The link was tested beforehand and no issues encountered. We have also held several parent virtual meetings this term and have not encountered this before. I appreciate how frustrating this must have been. A lot of information was shared and the content of the meeting will be issued to parents and carers under cover of a separate email.

Year 8 Information Evening – Thursday 12th November, 6pm
A reminder that the Year 8 meeting will take place next Thursday at 6pm. May I suggest parents join the meeting in plenty of time in case any technical difficulties are experienced. The meeting can be accessed by clicking Year 8 Information Evening or via the website https://www.ormistonsixvillagesacademy.co.uk.

Year 11 Mocks
Year 11 begin their mocks on Monday which will take place over the next fortnight. We have been reassuring our students, some of whom have natural anxieties. Please ensure that your Y11 child is equipped with the necessary transparent pencil case, pens, maths equipment etc, that they have their individual timetable and seating plan and that they have breakfast to set them up for the day.

Enrichment Clubs
Following my letter earlier this week relating to the latest measures in place due to Lockdown 2, specifically after school clubs are postponed to December, I am delighted to share that a number of colleagues will be holding their clubs at lunch time instead. I am sure this will be particularly pleasing to our lovely Year 7 and Year 8 dancers. Students will be advised of activities in tutor time.

Energy Drinks
We are seeing a surge of students bringing energy drinks into school. These are not allowed on site; moreover, the government took the decision in 2019 to end the sale of energy drinks to children under the age of 16 following a consultation. Some energy drinks have high levels of caffeine and sugar and may affect some children adversely; some carry an advisory note stating ‘not recommended for children’. In addition, research has shown that energy drink consumption has also been associated with unhealthy behaviours and deprivation.

I would be grateful for your support in ensuring that your child does not bring an energy drink into school and if they wish to purchase drinks from shops prior to arriving on site, please encourage them to make healthy choices. As a parent as well as the Principal, I am a strong advocate of students drinking water which has many well-known and proven health benefits including but not limited to helping maximise physical performance, may prevent and treat headaches, may reduce sugar cravings and aid weight maintenance, flushing body waste and maintaining blood pressure, making minerals and nutrients accessible. A lack of water, ie. dehydration, can affect energy levels and brain function so please do encourage water as a drink to bring to school.

Whilst on the subject of purchasing drinks, may I remind parents of the option of adding funds to children’s canteen accounts so that purchases of food and drink can be made at school rather than the local shops, with the advantage of cash not being handled and parents being able to monitor purchases.

Road Safety
We have been contacted by members of the public and parents this week to express concern for the road safety of some students who cycle to and from school, having witnessed unsafe manoeuvres on the bikes and riders not being visible.

At this time of year, when it is darker in the mornings and gets dark much sooner in the afternoon, I would like to issue a plea to the parents of our young cyclists to please ensure children’s bikes are equipped with a working white front light and a red backlight/reflector and that the child preferably wears a high vis. As always, helmets are compulsory for students cycling to school.

Can you please also discuss the following advice with your children:

• Use any designated cycle paths on the journey
• Signal clearly at all times to let other road users know which way they are going
• Be careful at junctions, bends or entrances and be aware of where other people are going
• Ride in a position where they can see and be seen at all times

Public Transport – Masks
Please remind your child of the requirement by law to wear a mask on public transport. Breaching of this rule the first time will result in a warning. A further breach will result in a ban from the bus for a period of time. I am sure you will agree that in the situation we currently find ourselves, we cannot allow any student to put the health and safety of other passengers at risk.

Half Termly Curriculum Foci
As an academy, we have reflected on how to better inform you of the curriculum by subject area that your child is following each half term. Heads of Departments have kindly provided the foci for their subject areas which are summarised in the table below. I hope you find this useful and that it may prompt discussions with your children about their learning.

Mr P Slaughter, Principal