End of Term Newsletter

21st December 2023

Dear parent/carer,

What a busy term it has been!

We have provided 45 enrichment clubs for our students to attend so far this year! As well as the clubs on offer we have had a number of trips to various locations; students have visited Brindley Place and the Rep Theatre in Birmingham, Cannock Chase as part of the Duke of Edinburgh award and our sixth form students have taken part in The Lord Mayor Charity quiz in London.

The change to the school day has allowed a keen focus upon reading. We are eager to develop a love of books and with your support, we believe that this is achievable. Below is a link to a series of age specific book recommendations, if you could find the time to discuss reading with your child, I’m sure that it will encourage them to read at home, as well as at school: https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/category/secondary-ks3-ks4-reading-lists/

This term we have continued to educate our students and supported this year’s national anti-bullying week. The theme was ‘make a noise about bullying’. Each year group had an informative assembly and reminded of the various ways to report incidents and access support, both in and outside of school. Bullying is also a topic that is covered throughout our PSHE curriculum.

Attendance remains a strength of the academy. Thank you for your continued support in ensuring that your child attends school regularly. Our attendance figure for Year 7 to 11 is at 93.5%, this is above the national average of 92%. Our sixth form attendance is 94.2%, again demonstrating the excellent commitment of our students. It is now of great importance that we begin to build on these figures as we head into the Spring term and aim to improve on these figures even further.

Punctuality is vitally important to maximise your child’s learning time. Students arriving after 8.40am are recorded as late with a same day 20 minute lunchtime detention issued. Students who arrive after 9.10am not only receive an after school detention for 40 minutes, their attendance record is also impacted negatively.

We set high uniform standards for all our students and any student not adhering to our expectations will be challenged. We now have a supply of uniform items to loan to students, if they are not in possession of any of the required items. Blazers are worn at all times, this is non-negotiable; coats should be black, without logos and shoes must be black and polishable. Students are not allowed to wear any facial piercings and earrings are restricted to one stud earring in the lobe of each ear.

At George Salter Academy we are committed to defying disadvantage. The Pupil Premium funding that the school receives enables us to supplement and enhance provision in a positive and proactive way. Often all children in the class might benefit. The commitment to accelerating pupil progress and ensuring equal opportunities underpins our use of this funding. The full Pupil Premium strategy statement can be found on our website (https://georgesalter.com/key-info/pupil-premium).

Our Year 11 and 13 students have successfully complete their mock examinations and their conduct was commendable. May I take this opportunity to remind your child that mobile phones, watches and any other electronic devices must not be taken into the examination hall. This will be an immediate breach of the

examination rules set by the Joint Council of Qualifications. It will be considered as malpractice and may lead to disqualification from the examinations taken in 2024. 

Thanks to your feedback regarding communication we have expanded our use of ClassCharts this academic year. ClassCharts is an essential and powerful tool that gives you live access to areas such as:

  • Communication with staff – you are able to communicate directly with your child’s subject teachers, Student Welfare Manager and Head of Year without the need for a phone call. This will help speed up response time.
  • Notifications & Announcements – staff will use ClassCharts to send notifications and announcements directly to you to help keep you up to date and informed regarding information, updates and upcoming deadlines.
  • Homework – homework is recorded on ClassCharts so that you too, can see work that has been set.
  • Behaviour – you are able to track positive and negative behaviour logs and receive instant updates on your child’s day. If a student is placed on report you will also be able to view the report instantaneously. We encourage you to monitor behaviour to celebrate successes and also support us with our expectations.
  • Monitoring Attendance – attendance is essential to student progress and it is important that you are aware of your child’s current percentage.
  • Detentions – we ask all parents to monitor detentions so that you are aware of what sanctions your child may have to complete.

We wholeheartedly believe in strong relationships between school and home in order to help support the progress of each and every one of our students. We would like to thank everyone who has provided feedback and engaged in the usage of ClassCharts by downloading the app and accessing regularly. If you have not yet accessed ClassCharts you can access support by contacting your child’s Head of Year, Student Welfare Manager or Form Tutor and they will be happy to provide help.

From January, we will be expecting students not to bring snacks, chocolate or food containing peanuts into the academy. This is due to a serious case of an airborne allergy which could result in one of our students becoming severely ill very quickly. We would really appreciate the support of everyone in our school community to ensure that all of our students are kept safe.  

Our term, as previously communicated, will end on Friday 22nd December 2023. Monday 8th January 2024 is a teacher training day and we look forward to opening our gates again to students on Tuesday 9th January 2024.

Best wishes for the winter break.

Yours sincerely,

Rupi Bellingham

Head of School