Dear Parents/Carers,
As we come to the end of the penultimate week of term, there continues to be so many great things happening at Rushden Academy.
With regards to the arrangements for the end of term, I would like to confirm the following details for next Friday. There will be some slight alterations to the day to facilitate an early finish. Lunch will be served earlier in the day, from 12:10pm to 12:45pm, before students go to their form groups to register and complete some Christmas activities. School will finish at 1:15pm. Should you have any concerns, or if your child needs to remain in school until 3pm, please do not hesitate to contact the school office so we can make the necessary arrangements to support.
I would like to congratulate all students who have completed their most recent BTEC exam units. This has been a huge piece of work for students in year 11. BTECs operate in a very different way to GCSE subjects, with units being completed over the course of years 10 and 11, which are combined to generate an overall grade. We will be sharing some more information for students and parents in year 10 who are studying BTECs, and we will be looking to invite families into school to give an overview of how BTECs work, and how you can best support your child. We will be in touch about this in the new year.
Our Ethos Team leader, Mr Noblett, led the assemblies this week. The theme was Christmas and Mr Noblett talked to students about how Christmas for some families can be a really exciting and fun time of year, but we must remember that for others, Christmas can be a very difficult and challenging time. We will continue to work within our community and ensure that we can support as many families as possible. Through our recent fundraising in school, we have been able to provide Christmas meals to many families in the community.
On Tuesday, our Library held their annual Christmas Cracker event after school. The students had a fantastic time taking part in a number of Christmas themed competitions and challenges. The highlight for myself was the Christmas themed dingbats which were very challenging!
On Thursday we supported the charity, Save the Children, with their annual Christmas Jumper day. This event was organised by the Sixth Form team, and it was great to see so many students wearing their festive jumpers in support of this great charity, raising several hundred pounds!
On Tuesday this week, a group of students took part in the Sports Hall Athletics District event, which involved 8 other local schools. The boys team did a fantastic job, coming second in the event, earning themselves a silver medal and a place in the county finals. The girls team did a great job in a very tough field, finishing in 6th place. We are proud of all students for showing great determination, resilience and teamwork.
Our Maths team continues to do a great job with pushing and challenging students through the use of the PiXL Maths app. Students are provided with bespoke homework from their recent assessments allowing them to work on areas they need to develop further and prepare for future assessments. Further details of the PiXL Maths app can be found in the newsletter.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and we look forward to seeing many of you next week at the Panto!
Yours sincerely
Mr J Firth
Principal
