Dear Parent / Carer 

It is always a pleasure to welcome the students back after any break and this week was no exception. I have had lots of conversations with many different students about what they spent their half term doing.

With it being the start of a new half term, I led the assemblies for all year groups and the theme was ‘Making time count.’ We started by talking about Leap Years but the main narrative was about time being our daily currency. I shared concepts from a film called ‘In Time’ where every member of society has a body clock and how they have to earn time through work as well as paying for everything with specified amounts of time. We talked about how everyone has a finite amount of time in their life, that there are just 1400 minutes in a day, and how to prioritise that time for the important things in our lives. I finished the assembly by sharing some of the incredible wonders of our planet with a view to inspiring students to want to go and see them first hand in later life; every person needs a little awe and wonder in their lives.  

A number of our Year 13 students travelled to India with Mrs Owen during half term to undertake some work with the charity, Salt of the Earth. The photos from the trip are amazing but equally emotional after seeing some of the poor conditions people are having to live in out there. The students all got a huge amount out of the trip and Mrs Owen is already looking at providing a similar opportunity for our current Year 12s, next year.

Year 11 students have been completing mock examinations all week which will provide them with an important update on how they are progressing ahead of the final exams in May and June. All Year 11 students should be revising daily at this point and their teachers will be providing them with specific feedback following the mock examinations on which areas or skills they need to practise.  

Next week, Year 9 students will have the opportunity to undertake some ‘taster’ sessions for the course they are thinking of choosing next year. This will give them an important insight into whether the subject is a suitable choice for them whilst also providing them with an overview of the content they will cover if they choose the course.  

The highlight of the week for me was the work of the Social Action Squad who started a new community reading project. Under the careful guidance of Mrs Bird and our Ethos Team Youth Worker, Rosie, two squads of students walked to Denfield Primary School and spent the morning helping the primary school students with their reading. Reading is such an important skill and it warms my heart to see our students giving up their time to help the future generation learn to read. The positive correlation between a high reading age and academic success is irrefutable and so I wanted to share the following clip sent to me by our fantastic Librarian, Ms Raven, if you can spare just 2 minutes of your time to watch it: Ten minutes a day could change everything

I hope you all have a pleasant and restful weekend,

Yours sincerely,

Mr B Baines

Principal

Dear Parent / Carer 

As the final week of the term draws to a close - and with the half term break imminent - there is still plenty to share from another action-packed week at Rushden Academy.

With it being the final week of the term, Mr Smith led rewards assemblies for all year groups to celebrate both individual successes and collective achievements. It was lovely to hear form tutors justify the reasons for choosing their tutees of the term with lots of wonderful things being said about each individual. In addition, it was great to see Ms Raven handing out a number of certificates and star badges to students who have read over a million words since September.   

Our Year 9 students were all given the opportunity to participate in some careers workshops organised by Miss Ridley via our Ethos Team. We welcomed Vince, from the Grace Foundation, into school who led the workshops and got students to explore the importance of communication skills. They looked at all different types of communication and did various exercises to practise and develop their own skills. The aim of these sessions is to increase the students’ employability skills to increase their chances of being able to pursue the career they are interested in most. 

Year 11s spent the week completing their final lesson in all of their subjects ahead of their mock examinations which will take place immediately after the half term break. These examinations are another opportunity to test their strengths and weaknesses and receive detailed feedback from teachers on topics and skills which they will need to prioritise for revision ahead of their final examinations in May. Mr Bocking will be leading an assembly for all Year 11 students on the first Monday back to go through the mock timetable and provide them with final guidance and advice ahead of the examinations.

Our Year 11 dance and drama students also completed their final practical examinations this week and I know many of them had worked exceptionally hard in preparing for these. I look forward to seeing their practical grades following these performances.  

A small number of Sixth Form students will be embarking on a trip to India this weekend and will be visiting various tourist sites as well as undertaking charity work in conjunction with Salt of the Earth. This is a fantastic opportunity for our Sixth Form students and I look forward to hearing all about their visit upon their return.

Finally, I wanted to talk briefly about our Team Rushden value of respect. We work hard to promote respect at all times and a large part of this is about ensuring good manners around school. It costs nothing to say please and thank you but ultimately makes the school a much more pleasant place for staff and students alike. The significant majority of students demonstrate excellent manners on a daily basis but where students fall short of these expectations, please support us in reinforcing the importance of good manners at home. Equally, never underestimate the importance of sitting down with your children to have dinner as a family in the evening which sadly seems to be on the decline in today’s world, for many reasons.  

Whatever your plans next week, I would like to wish you all a restful and peaceful break.

Yours sincerely,

Mr B Baines

Principal