Dear GA Families

What a fantastic year we have had and what a privilege it has been to lead the school through its third year as part of the Greenshaw Learning Trust.  We have worked hard this year to ensure we have given our students many opportunities to engage with work places, universities and the local community and this has benefitted all of us in the Academy. 

At the school we have seen so many students climb their own mountains and rise to the challenges that they have had.  It has been wonderful to share the highlights of the year with our wonderful students and parents.  

Please enjoy your summer break and we hope you enjoy reading about all the exceptional things that have been happening here at Gloucester Academy 

Success at the Bronze and Silver DofE training camps

Our fantastic team of Year 9 students have been training hard for their big event.  Students spent the weekends across this unit learning how to erect tents, navigate their way around tricky terrain and work as a team to successfully reach their destination. 

The real lawyer

Our year 8 students had the opportunity to meet a practising lawyer from a local solicitors firm to discuss the career pathway into law.  Year 8s that have shown an interest in law were able to speak to the lawyer and ask questions around what GCSE grades are needed for 6th form, what would be useful subjects to study at 6th form and then explore the different universities that offer law as a degree.  

 

Year 9 visit to the University of Gloucestershire 

Year 9s spent the day touring around the University of Gloucester (Park campus) and taking part in multiple workshops.  Students got to experience university life, seeing the live in dormitories, lecture halls and specialised facilities such as recording studios.  Students could learn about the different degrees that UoG had to offer and even got to practise delivering a news broadcast, live in the studio!

Geography field trip - Gloucester Quays & Weston Super Mare

Year 10 students had a wonderful day at both the quays and the beach during this unit, in which they completed some very important fieldwork for their geography exam in year 11.  Students were investigating two enquiry questions; ‘Has the regeneration of Gloucester Quays been successful?’ And ‘Are the sea defences in Weston Super Mare effective?’ through collecting primary data. 

 

Gloucester services - Making sausages!

It's not everyday that you get the opportunity to make your own sausages, but our year 10 catering students had this chance!  Students visited the Gloucester Services and explored the career opportunities in the catering sector as well as being able to learn and make their own sausages. 

 

Talk from B.E.M.A

The British Engineering Manufacturers Association visited our year 9 students to talk about careers within engineering.  Students learnt about the different pathways that can lead you to becoming an engineer, whether this be through college, 6th form, university or an apprenticeship.  The talk included a live demonstration of how a factory heating element is constructed.  Did you know, it was B.E.M.A that engineered our schools venting system!

 

Cheltenham Science Festival - Tim Peake

Key stage 3 students met a real life astronaut!  The science festival allowed our students to learn about the different scientific industries, ranging across biology, chemistry and physics, whereby students could explore not only different topics but different careers within these unique areas.  The biggest highlight from the day was that the students had a talk from Tim Peake, an astronaut, who in 2015 became the first British astronaut to visit the international space station.

 

Law assembly

Our year 7 students had an assembly from a local law firm, in which the students heard about what a career in law is like, along with the different types of law.  This assembly linked well with our character education lessons as year 7 has learnt about the judiciary system in lessons along with the two types of law; civil and criminal.  The students learnt about the universities that offer a law degree as well as the qualifications needed at GCSE and A Level. 

100% Attendance trip to West Midlands Safari Park

Our 100% attendees from Year 7, Year  8, Year 9 and Year 10 spent the day at West Midlands Safari Park to celebrate their incredible 100%  attendance achievement for the year.  Students got to see a vast variety of animals during the bus drive through the safari, which included; giraffes, lions, elephants and more!  Following this, students spent the afternoon enjoying the adventure theme park. 

Navigation Hub - Children and Young People's Mental Health Pilot 

Gloucester Academy continues to be a proud pilot school for the Navigation Hub, a pilot scheme run by the NHS.  This pilot ensures that our students have access to all the mental health support services Gloucester has to offer and receives this support in a timely manner.  This includes TIC+, Young Minds Matter and Young Gloucestershire amongst many more.  If you feel your child would benefit from targeted mental health and well-being  support please email gbines@gloucesteracademy.co.uk. 

 

Oner Active - Krissy Cella

Year 10 girls had the privilege of being part of a new fitness regime, led by Krissy Cella. The girls were provided with an Oner Active sports outfit; leggings, t-shirt and sports bra, whereby they then took part in a work out session.  The programme's aim is to encourage young girls to be more active and learn how to care for their minds and their bodies, empowering them to be strong independent women. 

 

Sports Day

What an incredible day we had celebrating the sporting success of all of our houses! A huge congratulations to all of our medal winners across the day, it was fantastic to see all students supporting and cheering each other to victory. 

 

Year 7 

I met with  Charlie, Skerdi, Ougzhan, Foyin and Bana  they explained to me that they liked: 

• The football facilities at lunch and break 

• The prayer room for students who need to use it 

• Fun friday as there is always something different to do on a Friday which is great fun

• The new interactive screens in the maths and humanities rooms

They would like to suggest the following: 

• More enrichment activities

• Donate more money to charity 

• Buying uniform from the school 

From their comments and suggestions we have: 

• We are offering more enrichment activities next year which includes sport, drama and music some of which will be available as an alternative to elite sport. 

• Our new Year 11 ambassadors are going to be working hard on ideas to raise money for charity and will collect some ideas from students 

• Buying uniform is a great idea and also making second hand uniform available we will be certainly seeing what we can do to make this happen 

 

Year 8 

I met with Jamie, Alfi, Sulaman, Aisatou, and Darci they explained to me that they liked: 

• The outside space to play in as there is lots to do 

• Having equipment out ready for lessons so we don't need to look in our bags at the beginning of lessons 

• The teachers are great 

They would like to suggest the following: 

• More PSHE lessons as they are really enjoyable 

• IT lessons so they can learn about computers 

• More Sparx lessons in the day 

From their comments and suggestions we have: 

• We are really glad that our students enjoy these lessons but unfortunately there are no more PSHE lessons planned in the timetable but Year 8 will continue to have one a week which will be supported in assemblies. 

• We have IT lessons in the timetable now for years 7, 8 and 9 so they will be able to learn some great skills and ensure they are safe whilst online. 

• Year 7, 8 and 9 will all have a Sparx lesson every fortnight so they can keep practising their maths skills 

 

Year 9 

I met with Logan, Mason, Ilana, and Toby they explained to me that they liked: 

• The gym equipment outside gives something for everyone to do 

• The rewards at the end of the year are amazing and worth collecting praise points for 

• The opportunities like trips and enrichment that are available to all 

• Getting all their options for year 10 

They would like to suggest the following:

• More opportunities for character reps to get involved as there is not a lot to do when they get the role 

• Students should receive excellence postcards on a Friday 

• We should recognise more national days like world book day 

From their comments and suggestions we have:  

• Employed a teacher to run the leadership team to ensure all students in the team including all character reps have training and opportunities to lead their year group 

• This was a fantastic idea - we will be getting staff to award excellence postcards in assembly on top of the praise awards 

• We should recognise more national days and we will use the student leadership team to support with this 

Year 10 

I met with Violet, Mackenzie, Ewan, Archie, Krystian and Duruibe they explained to me that they liked: 

• The uniform which is very smart and we can show our badges that we achieve 

• The chance to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award

• The teachers can explain things well in lessons so that we can all achieve

• The fact that the school is a lot safer than other schools that they have attended. 

They would like to suggest the following:

• Free bottles of water for students who don't have any 

• Introducing lockers and making sure we can access them 

• More competitions with other schools 

From their comments and suggestions we have:  

• We make sure there is water available for students all of the time and encourage students to bring in water bottles, some houses have even bought their house a water bottle with their house crest on. 

• We have lockers available for Year 10 but we will ensure that everyone knows how to get one as they move into Year 11

• We are trying to set up more competitions between the schools and have employed more PE staff this year to ensure our students can attend fixtures. 

I hope you enjoyed finding out all about our sixth term at Gloucester Academy, I have certainly enjoyed reflecting on our achievements.  If you have any feedback about what you would like to read in this newsletter please send it to Mrs Gasher cgasher@gloucesteracademy.co.uk

We encourage everyone to come and visit the Academy, remember ‘Every day is an open day’ at Gloucester Academy, please visit our website and book a ‘school in action tour’.  Come and see one of the most improved schools in the country, we will take great pride in showing you around. 

Remember we are always here to help or listen, so please stay in touch. 

Mrs P Lewis 

Headteacher