Dear Parent/Carer,

It has been a very busy week at Rushden Academy with lots of different events taking place. It has also been a great week of successes, including a very significant achievement for our Social Action Squad! We are excited to announce that our Social Action Squad have been selected as finalists for the Environmental and Sustainability Award at the Northamptonshire Education Awards, which take place in November. We are so excited to attend this event, and are proud of the team for their nomination and selection as finalists! 

We are also proud of our sixth form students who are starting their applications to university. This week, Bella was the first student to submit her application to study PE with QTS. We wish her all the best, along with all other students who are choosing to go to university next year. 

We welcomed parents of year 12 students this week as part of our programme to ensure students were settling in well to the sixth form. We want to make sure that all students adjust to the changes and additional freedoms sixth form students have as part of their studies with us. If you were unable to attend this meeting, and you would like to discuss your child and how they are settling into the sixth form, please do get in touch with us.

Next week we have an important meeting for our year 11 students and their families. We are hosting a year 11 launch evening on Thursday 19th September, starting at 6pm. Students and families will receive important information from our faculty leaders of English, Maths and Science. We will also be providing students with resource packs to support their revision, along with providing ideas and strategies to support their learning throughout the year as we prepare for examinations next summer. 

It has been lovely seeing how quickly our new #TeamRushden members have settled in. Students in year 7 have been excellent this week. Attendance for year 7 this week is at 97.86%, which is excellent. Students in year 7 have also earned a grand total of 9494 Team Rushden Points (TRPs) so far this year. Details on how students can spend their TRPs in our reward shop will be shared with students soon. Further details of our TRPs across school, and our weekly top earners, will be shared on social media soon!

It was a pleasure to lead each assembly again this week, meeting and welcoming all students into our lecture theatre where I spoke about the Paralympics and how athletes demonstrated our values of resilience and hard work. Students demonstrated impeccable behaviour, showcasing the very best of #TeamRushden and our school values. 

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to remind all parents that the school behaviour policy extends beyond the school buildings and into the local community. Where students are wearing our uniform, we are able to apply our behaviour policy. All instances of anti-social or poor behaviour will be dealt with swiftly. We have a duty to look after each other and our community, and we thank all families for their continued support with this. 

I wish you all a lovely weekend, and I look forward to updating you on all the great things that are happening at Rushden Academy next week.

Yours sincerely

Jonathan Firth