Dear Parent / Carer

I hope that you all had a wonderful half term break. Students have returned back to the academy looking very smart, and I am confident that any remaining concerns will be addressed swiftly on Monday, meaning all students will be in school and attending all lessons with their teachers. For those students that need some additional support with any items of uniform, we have already purchased a supply of items ready for students to borrow. Should you have any further questions about uniform, or our expectations moving forwards, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the school office.

Assemblies this week were delivered by veterans from the Royal British Legion. Our guests talked through the significance of remembrance, and our guest speaker, Paul shared his experiences and impact of those involved in conflict to protect our country and values. All students will participate in our remembrance service on Monday next week. Students who are part of organisations with a uniform who are involved in remembrance services are allowed to wear their uniform to school on Monday. 

Before the half term Mr Smart conducted a quick survey to parents of students in year 11 to see how we can improve the arrangements for parents evenings this year. We received some excellent feedback from parents that will impact all future parents’ evenings. We will continue to liaise with our community on how we can continue to improve the academy moving forwards. One instant fix that we are going to make is the time which appointments are released to parents. We appreciate that many parents are not able to book appointments during the day when times are typically released. We will make sure the appointment times are released later in the day so that all parents have equal opportunity at booking times. More details will follow on this.

Year 11 students are busy preparing for their mock exams which start fully next week. I was privileged to see some amazing work in the Art mock exam on Thursday. It is amazing to see how much talent we have at Rushden Academy, and I look forward to being able to share examples of their work later in the academic year. It is important to remind students that mock exams are all conducted under strict rules set by the government. This means that in the unlikely event that s student is unable to complete their exams in the summer, we are able to supply the exam boards with their mock exam papers and results for consideration. All students in year 11 were briefed by myself in a special assembly that I hosted on Tuesday this week.

Finally, we have been asked by the local authority to share the following information with you from the UKHSA who have put together a helpful summary on reducing the spread of winter illness/stomach bugs following the half term break. The information can be found at: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukhsa-issues-health-advice-following-the-half-term-break?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=333bf642-f3ba-45c4-a348-0a6f8fdab321&utm_content=daily 

I wish you all a lovely weekend and I look forward to sharing further updates with you next week.

Yours faithfully,

Mr J Firth

Principal