Dear Parent / Carer 

Every week that passes, I am increasingly proud to lead such an incredible school with such talented students and staff.

It was Mr Firth’s turn to lead the assemblies and with Mind’s ‘Time to Talk Day’ scheduled for Thursday 1st February, he delivered a presentation produced by the mental health charity to all year groups. Students were shown a number of statements about mental health and had to decide whether they believed them to be true or false. It was great to see their reactions to the different answers being revealed and it was an overwhelmingly positive presentation aimed at reducing the stigma surrounding mental health issues. 

On Wednesday, Mrs Nixon took a team of 4 students to compete in a local Boccia tournament. The team were all raring to go and competed extremely well against 9 different schools. After all their valiant efforts they finished the tournament in 4th place which is commendable and Robert, Dakota, Jessica and Thomas should all be very proud of themselves.

On Wednesday, Mrs Raven arranged for the author Matt Oldfield to visit the school; Matt is the author of the Ultimate Football Heroes books which are very popular with many of our students. Matt gave talks to groups of students from Year 7 and Year 8 which were very well received. Anything that promotes a love of reading is very welcome here at Rushden Academy as our students who read regularly benefit from a significantly enhanced vocabulary as well as heightened inference skills.  

Next Thursday evening is Year 9 parents’ evening. If you have not already made appointments via the online portal there is still time and we will be following up with parents and carers to ensure that attendance at the important evening is as high as possible. This is especially important given that all Year 9 students will soon be choosing their GCSE options and discussions with teachers will help both you and your child to decide on the best options for them.   

In terms of student uniform, on the whole, students are looking very smart but there has been an increase in the number of leggings being worn in school this week. Leggings are not part of the school uniform and any student wearing them will be expected to borrow a pair of school trousers as a non-negotiable. We accept there are occasional unavoidable situations which is why we have purchased brand new pairs of school trousers to support your children in such instances.

Finally, Year 11 students will be receiving letters imminently which state whether they are currently eligible to attend their Prom. This is based on a number of factors related to attendance, behaviour and academic progress so please do not hesitate to get in touch if you want to know what else you can be doing at home to support your child in being eligible to attend Prom at the end of the year. Where attendance has been due to legitimate medical appointments, this will not affect their eligibility. Thank you for your support with this. 

Have a long and restful weekend,

Yours sincerely,

Mr B Baines

Principal