Week 19
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We have had a productive week at Watling Academy and as always I’m very proud of the achievements of our students. I have been pleased to see a slight increase in student attendance this week and I would like to again remind families that students should attend school every day. Attendance is the most crucial factor to student wellbeing and progress.
Update to behaviour points
Following Mr Say’s letter to parents at the start of term, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind families about our slight adjustment in how we communicate behaviour points via ClassCharts. We have allocated points slightly differently, and added clear reasons as to why points may have been given, to ensure clarity for both students and parents. Our behaviour system itself remains unchanged; however the allocation of points is now as follows:
- W1 = 1 behaviour point
- W2 = 2 behaviour points
- W3 = 3 behaviour points
As we are recording points slightly differently, you may find that the total number of points has increased slightly – and I would urge parents/carers to look at the detail that is sent home to be able to review the nature of concerns identified.
I’d like to take this opportunity to reinforce that student behaviour at Watling Academy is good and the vast majority of our students meet our high expectations and do not receive behaviour points. However, for those who do, we believe it is important for parents to be informed, so that we can work together to support positive behaviour. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s form tutor or Head of Year.
This week at Watling
On Wednesday a group of students attended the Action4Youth Big Challenge lunch. I was delighted to receive a communication from someone who works with another Milton Keynes school to share how impressed they were with the Watling students who were attending this event. Their engagement, positive teamworking skills and exceptional behaviour was clearly displayed; thank you for representing our school with such pride.
On Wednesday morning, we held our required fire drill. This enabled us to talk to our Year 11 students about arrangements for evacuating the building during their exams and was a reassuring practice for us all. At Watling, our fire evacuations are conducted in silence and I am always incredibly proud to see the exemplary behaviour of our students on show for the whole school community to see; it is quite an experience to see nearly 1600 people all standing in silence!
On Wednesday, our Year 10/11 Drama GCSE students had the opportunity to watch the highly acclaimed production of “Blood Brothers” at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury. This outing was not just a chance to enjoy a captivating performance but also an important part of their preparation for the set text section of their GCSE written exam. The experience provided our students with invaluable insights into a professional theatre production, performance techniques, and the interpretation of characters and themes, all of which will be essential for their upcoming exams. It is inspiring to see our students so engaged and enthusiastic about their studies, and we look forward to seeing the impact this experience will have on their academic and creative growth.
We have been working with our Year 11 students and their families this week, to focus on the next few months and their futures. On Tuesday evening, we held our Leadership Interviews, which enabled us to have more lengthy individual conversations about preparation for exams, progress towards their GCSEs and also consider career and Post 16 choices. We really enjoyed having the opportunity to have these discussions and are truly inspired by the hard work of our Year 11 students. On Thursday, we held our Year 11 Future’s Day, again encouraging our Year 11s to think about their next steps. We held careers workshops and gave students the opportunity to hear more about staff careers and our journey to working at Watling Academy! We also held sessions with students to gain their feedback on what they would like in their new Sixth Form centre.
As part of our Wellbeing curriculum at Watling Academy, we invited a specialist team from the Safety Centre to deliver a series of workshops on the important topic of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). These sessions were provided to students in Years 7 and 8 and were highly engaging sessions. Year 7 workshops focused on developing a culture of confidence and empowering students to make a stand against disrespectful behaviour, whilst Year 8 focused on our individual responsibility to affect change and considered the historical issues surrounding gender based violence. These impactful sessions are an important aspect of our Wellbeing curriculum and reflect our commitment to supporting the personal development of our students.
We have had another busy week of Sports fixtures and collected a Sports Award – you can see more information on this via our news post. Our Year 9 girls achieved Gold medals in their Football tournament, winning every game and beating Ousedale 5-1 in the final. An excellent achievement, well done! In our other Football fixtures, Year 10 boys football beat Oakgrove 3-1, unfortunately our Years 7, 8 and 9 boys teams lost against St Pauls. The Year 8 girls Basketball team had success against Stantonbury, winning 25-19, whilst the Year 7 team collected a win. Thank you to all those students who continue to represent our school.
Over the coming weeks, staff and students will begin to notice increased activity on site as we get ready for the start of our building project. I look forward to sharing some more details regarding the progress with this project soon.
Please join me in wishing our Year 11 students the best of luck in their Pre-Public Exams (PPEs), which some of us might refer to as ‘Mocks’, which start on Monday. They Year 11 students are working incredibly hard as their GCSEs approach, and the whole school community is behind them all.
I hope you all have a restful weekend.
Mrs Fry
What’s happening next week?
Key events upcoming:
- Monday 3rd February: Y11 Mocks all week
- Monday 3rd February: Big Rock Trip
- Tuesday 4th February: Violence Against Women & Girls Workshops continue for Y7/8
- Thursday 6th February: Y9M Subject Consultation Online
Sports Fixtures:
- Tuesday 4th February: Y8 Girls 5 A-Side Football Tournament
- Wednesday 5th February: Bucks School Cross Country Championship
- Wednesday 5th February: Y9 Girls Football Vs Stantonbury
- Thursday 6th February: Y10 County Cup Semi-Finals Vs Dr Challoner’s
- Thursday 6th February: Y7 & Y8 Girls Football Vs Stantonbury
Updated dates for the diary…
Events in our Community
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the bulletin. Have you enjoyed reading this? Is there anything else you’d like to see included in future? Should you have any questions, comments or feedback, please do not hesitate to email: admin@watling.academy
