Students in Year 9 and 10 who attended our Globe Theatre trip to London to watch a performance of ‘Macbeth’ spoke very highly of the experience when I chatted to them last week. It was wonderful to see our students as ‘groundlings’ in the famous theatre and the English team who led the trip told me how the Globe staff commended our students for their engagement, manners and uniform – the CORE value of Respect in action!
Year 11 have come to the end of the final series of Mock exams and their conduct has been impeccable throughout the last two weeks. These assessments will help departments to understand where the gaps are in our students’ knowledge and skills, particularly in terms of the advance information released by exam boards, ahead of the Summer exams beginning in May. A full provisional timetable for the exams is now online. We are looking forward to supporting our Year 11 students even further with a programme of Easter and after-school sessions – more to follow next week.
Easter is certainly going to be a busy time on site: Aspire Sports will lead our ‘Easter Extra’ club and this is a FREE holiday club open to students in Year 7, 8 and 9 running from Monday 11th April – Thursday 14th April. Running from 10am – 2pm for four days, there are a range of activities to get students out of the house and staying active, as well as seeing friends. Places are limited. We encourage families to apply early for a FREE place and it only takes about 5 minutes to complete the short online application form. A link to the form is here.
I met with PC Steve Mason, our police-school liaison officer to discuss the horrific ‘Child Q’ case. Students have also done sensitive and well-planned form time sessions, reassuring them that this could never happen at JQA. We have a positive relationship with our police partners, rooted in mutual respect and they are certain of our challenge should that not ever be the case. Our first duty is always to our students in a strong culture of safeguarding.
We welcomed a representative from the Home Office on Thursday and she was so impressed with our after-school safe travel arrangements with the STEP Together programme from First Class Foundations.
We are keen to take feedback from students as part of our regular termly survey. This is now open on our Piota app. Please encourage your child to complete it as they could be in with a chance of winning a prize from our Reward Shop.
I have had to move the date of the Parent Symposium in Spring term to Wednesday April 6th due to diary clashes but I look forward to welcoming parents/carers onto site for a 5.30pm start. The termly survey will also be released online for you to complete.
Our partnerships and opportunities continue to expand for our students and there is a chance for our students to connect more with the local history and heritage of the Jewellery Quarter with our Heritage Club. Please see the flyer attached and email [email protected] for a place for your child.
We are recruiting a new Pastoral Manager and will shortly appoint.
Please call us on 0121 729 7220, leaving a message if lines are busy, and we will support you.
You can always contact me directly at: [email protected]