Message from the Head of School:

Dear parents / carers,

We have had a fantastic week at Sirius Academy West. Our nature themed Mental Health Awareness Week has been received incredibly well by students, staff and parents. Thank you to all parents who have contacted the school with positive comments and ideas moving forward, and thank you to the students who have entered our competition, (the deadline for this is Sunday). Please encourage your child, if they haven’t already, to take part. Sirius West now has an active Facebook page where you’ll find lots of up to date information, Beat the Teacher competitions, adverts for our enrichment clubs and activities, writing competitions, and lots of celebration of students’ work.

I am very proud of those students who have been out showing RESPECT for their community this week litter picking in our local area.

I have also had the pleasure of presenting two more students with the Head Teacher Award. Both students consistently showing RESPECT across all of our six values. Hot Chocolate Friday continues, with 10 students this week being praised for their RESPECT and continual hard work.

As you’re aware, National restrictions are beginning to lift and as part of step 3 of the Government’s road map out of the current pandemic, the guidance around face coverings in schools is due to change from Monday 17th May 2021.

As an academy we work closely with the local authority, and together with their guidance, we no longer require students to wear a face covering in the CLASSROOM from Monday 17th May 2021. We will, however, still need them to wear them in corridors and communal areas. Any student who wishes to continue wearing a face covering in school at all times, are welcome to do so. As the guidance on public transport remains unchanged, students who access school via public transport will still need to wear a face covering throughout their journey.

Can I thank you again for the fantastic support you have given and continue to give during this unprecedented time.

Regards

Gemma Ransom (Head of School)

General Academy News

RESPECT for Community- General Academy news

Friday Attendance from Mr Gordon

All parents and carers will have received an update regarding attendance on a Thursday evening to promote attendance for Friday. Friday absence is generally 3% higher than other days and equates to about an extra 50-60 students not attending.

All absence will continue to be unauthorised unless we have proof of illness or are aware of a current situation preventing attendance. Unauthorised absence can lead to a fine and prosecution. We are only two weeks from another Half-Term and a well-deserved break for all students. Please ensure your child attends.

We acknowledge that repeated Friday absence does not affect all students and thank those parents and carers for their continued support. There are plenty of opportunities for students to be rewarded for regular attendance at the academy.

8-T and Mr Rickard are the latest to receive their free breakfast after a second consecutive week of 100%. Rewards still available for Tutor of the Month and our weekly 100% individual winners too. Keep up the good work!

Mental Health Awareness Week

Students are encouraged to be involved with the Mental Health Awareness theme of ‘Connect with Nature’ through entering the competition beow:

Nature Photo Competition- throughout Mental Health Awareness Week we are inviting students to get out and take photos of them in nature or of nature. All entries should be sent to [email protected] or tweeted to @siriusacademy. The winning entry will win a digital camera. The deadline for entries is 5pm on Sunday 16^th May 2021.

Year 10 Events Team

A small cohort of our Year 10s are enrolled on the Event Operations course and are required to plan, promote and deliver events as part of their coursework. The students have already had great success with running a Charity Staff Car Wash and our Guess-athon Comic Relief activities.

Please see below for two new events that involve our students and their families. There's a Spelling Bee competition for students in Year 8 on Monday 17th May and a Family Quiz night on Thursday 27th May. Prizes and rewards available! Places can be booked on [email protected].

Enrichment Information

Please discuss with your child and encourage attendance within our Enrichment programme as this element of our Academy is crucial for experiences and social development:

RESPECT for Education- Highlight of the Week

This week we are out of the classroom as we look at the extra-curricular success of our students. Elise Hill and Isabelle Brown (Year 10) both represented the Academy and Hull FC in last weeks Under 16 match. Well done girls!

RESPECT for Education- Curriculum Area ‘Students of the Week’

Each Curriculum Area will nominate a student each week who has shown through their lessons that they have met the RESPECT values of the Academy. The reason for the selection is highlighted below:

Curriculum Area	Student Name	Reason for Nomination
English	James Gooch (Year 10)	Consistently producing excellent work, well above expectation and being a role model for the rest of the class.
Science	Ellie Jagger and Millie Foster (Year 10)	Both produced excellent demonstrate tasks on planning a method to investigate energy changes in an exothermic reaction.
Maths	Lia Medd (Year 11)	Lia has continued to always try her best and has made excellent progress. Throughout lockdown, Lia completed all tasks set and her excellent results recently show that she has a thorough understanding of the higher level topics. Lia always listens carefully in the lesson. She is polite and co-operative and is keen to support other students when needed.
Geography	Liam Carter (Year 7)	For a fantastic Geography lesson - lots of contributions and some brilliant work!
MFL	Maddison Tottem (Year 9)	For brilliant effort in her language class.
PE and Sport	Jayden Mercer (Year 7)	For excellent batting skills in cricket.
PE and Sport	Will Gaze (Year 8)	Outstanding effort in Rugby.
ICT	Cory Garner (Year 10)	His attitude and effort to his coursework has been outstanding, he goes above and beyond - well done!
IMedia	Jacob Duffy Lucy Proudlove Tasniha Hussain (Year 10)	I was blown away by the excellent and insightful analysation of publishing products in terms of gender and equality.
Beliefs and Values	Mia Sykes (Year 8)	For consistently producing high quality work in BV lessons.
Humanities	Wade Endacott (Year 8)	For continued hard work in History and Geography, always willing to share his ideas with the class.
Technology	Lewis Baker (Year 10)	Demonstrating excellent cooking skills.

RESPECT for Education- KS3 Year group spellings for the upcoming week:

The spelling of the words below will be tested in all year group English lessons this coming week. Please ensure that your child has spent time practicing these words as part of their English practise for retrieval activities:

Year 7- Spellings – HT5 week 6

Challenging
Scuttling
Doomed
Wailing
Grotesque
Misshapen
Creature
Mansion
Lurching
Suffocate

Year 8 – Spellings- HT5 week 6

Orphanage
Impertinent
Destitute
Imperious
Altercation
Commiseration
Magnanimous
Consternation
Dexterous
Ravenous

Year 9 – Spellings- HT5 week 6

Photographer
Transparency
Psychological
Chronological
Uncertainty
Anxious
Confession
Tactile
Desensitised
Agonising

Final thought

“In the rush to return to normal. Let’s take time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to”.

The next parental bulletin will go live on Friday 21^st May 2021; enjoy the week.

Mr A Kay (Assistant Head Teacher- Pastoral and Attitudes to Learning)