#ThisWeekatSAW – 8th September 2023

Message from the Head of School:
Welcome back!
It’s been a great start to the academic year and fantastic to welcome students back into the building after the summer break. There is a positive atmosphere around the academy with the students displaying an excellent attitude to learning from their very first day back. We welcomed into the academy our new Year 7 students on Tuesday and their seamless start is no doubt linked to the transition activities pre and during the summer period.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents and carers for supporting the academy and its uniform policy; the students look incredibly smart. As an academy, we will work hard to maintain this high standard of uniform that has being set in the first week back, and I thank you for your on-going support with this.
The impact of attendance on students’ learning and their outcomes was clear in this year examinations. Students who had an attendance of 95% and over, achieved, on average two full grades more per subject than students who had attendance below 95%. Students who are not in school cannot access the curriculum fully and cannot achieve their full potential. It is critically important that you support your child’s learning by ensuring they attend every lesson every day. The academy day begins at 8:30am. It is essential the students are in their Lesson 1 session before this time.
The academy continues to have incredibly high standards of our students’ behaviour and conduct, this is dictated by our consistent Behaviour Policy. The academy continues its vision for all students to strive to be the best version of themselves in line with our RESPECT values. Those students who are Expert Learners now have the added privilege of accessing our Four Seasons dining space at breaks and lunch times.
All students in the academy receive weekly homework, these expectations have been raised/increased from previous years. Students who do not complete their homework weekly will be placed into the detention system. Please support the academy and the academic progress of your child by ensuring this is completed every week and on time.
As you’re aware, our basic equipment expectations have also increased this year. All students need to be entering the academy every morning on time with the following items: Planner, reading book, black or blue pen, green pen, pencil, ruler, glue stick and highlighter. Thank you again, for your support in ensuring the students are ready to learn each morning when they arrive.
All students read every day as part of our curriculum here at Sirius Academy West and it is vitally important students are also ready at home to ensure their progress is in line with peers nationally. Please support their learning by encouraging your child to read widely and often at home. Our resource centre is fully staffed and open before school at breaks and lunch times and after school for students wishing to read or complete homework inside the Academy.
We look forward to a positive year ahead and thank you again for your continued support.
Gemma Ransom (Head of School)
RESPECT for Community- General Academy news
#ThisWeekatSAW Bulletin
For our new Year 7 parents / carers, this weekly bulletin will be shared on a Friday afternoon and will contain messages, share information on the Lesson 1 programme and include student recognition from both lessons and enrichment clubs.
MyEd app
We are aware of and are trying to correct the issue of student timetables and behaviour events not showing on the students MyEd app. We will update you when the company have fixed the issue.
Parental Agreement
When looking through your child’s student planner, please ensure you have read and signed Page 10, the Home-School Agreement.
Dropping off and collecting students
Can parents / carers please refrain from driving onto the Academy site before and after the day to collect students? Our site is a shared site with Ganton Special School, for which specialist vehicles are required to have access onto the site to collect students. Furthermore, at our leave time, from 3pm onwards, our site is extremely busy with over 1500 students leaving the site on foot or bike therefore reducing the numbers of vehicles helps ensure the safety of all.
Homework
This week sees the first set of homework set for students. The homework platforms are SPARX for Maths and SENECA for all other core subjects. Homework tasks are set to a manageable amount and will be checked weekly.
Each year group will have its own check day, and any students who have not completed their homework by this day will be placed into a homework detention on that evening. The year group check days are:
Year 7- Thursday
Year 8- Monday
Year 9- Tuesday
Year 10- Wednesday
Year 11- Friday
The first homework check day will be WB- 18th September and will occur every week after then.
Please ensure you try to support your child in setting effective routines in when to complete homework. ICT access is available before, during and after school in the Learning Resource Centre.
Reading for pleasure programme
Next week will see our students return to their ‘reading for pleasure’ time. This year this time will be within the Lesson 1 programme. All students are required to bring reading material with them each day, and this forms part of the uniform and equipment checks which are completed each morning at the year group door. Can you please support by ensuring that your child has appropriate reading content in their bag as from Monday morning? The Learning Resource Centre is fully stocked for those wanting to loan books, and this can be done before the day or at break and lunch times.
Enrichment Timetable
The enrichment timetable for half-term 1 will be sent out over the next few days. Please look through it with your child and encourage them to attend any clubs that they want to. These clubs are free of charge and students do not need to commit every week if they have other arrangements. For our Year 7 students, these clubs are a fantastic way to build relationships with others who share similar interests.
Rugby Information for the upcoming week
Monday- Year 8 Boys Rugby training after school
Wednesday- Year 11 Boys away at Archbishop Sentamu (Yorkshire Cup Qualifier)- 4pm KO
Thursday- Year 7 Boys Rugby training after school
RESPECT FOR Education- Lesson 1 Content
This week the students have completed the following tasks in their Lesson 1 lessons. Please discuss with them as we continue to develop the knowledge of our students:
Votes for Schools Topic (Key Stage 3 students only- This is a debate topic which pre-prepared materials)
This week the students discussed the topic of ‘Do we need to change our attitude towards e-waste?’
Character Education
Character Education is a time-tabled lesson within our Lesson 1 curriculum in which students focus on skills and traits which will allow them to be successful in not only their academic studies but also in other aspects of their life.
We will share the content which your child has covered in the weekly bulletin.
Next Tuesday, students will take part in a workshop led by performance coach, Kevin Mincher which will focus on the individual module which each year group will study this half-term.
RESPECT for Education- Curriculum Area ‘Students of the Week’
Nominations from subject areas will begin next week.
Final thought
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”.
The next parental bulletin will go live on Friday 15th September 2023; enjoy the week ahead!
Mr A Kay (Assistant Head Teacher- Pastoral and Attitudes to Learning)