Letter to Parents/Carers (03/11/2021)

Dear parents and carers, 

As we start the new half term and the run up to Christmas, I wanted to write to you with some updates, including sharing successes from the last half term and updating you on events to come in the term ahead.

Thank you to all parents, carers and students who joined us for our Annual Awards Evening in October. It was a pleasure to be able to celebrate the successes from the last academic year and announce our new Student Leadership Team.  Following a competitive round of interviews with students from Years 11, 12 and 13, we now have an excellent team of young people, headed up by two Head Students, Harry and Lewis, from Year 13, who are already working hard to support developments across the academy.  We look forward to sharing more in the coming year and the team will be writing to you directly to share what they have been doing as well as their plans for the future.  In addition to our Student Leadership Team, we have Academy Council representatives from each year group and each house, so I am confident that this group of students will ensure that the student voice is heard and we are able to plan lots more things for the future.

We also achieved some great successes in sport during the first half term, culminating in the rescheduled DRET Summer Cup. Many of our students were able to attend this event and they were all excellent ambassadors for our school.  Lots of students have been taking part in the regular after school activities in sport, as well as in the arts.  We look forward to our “Matilda” auditions after school on Friday this week, as well as some of our students travelling to Ely Cathedral to perform with students from across the country in a classical music spectacular. Please do encourage your children to get involved in some of the after school activities and events that are on offer at school.

It is disappointing to share that we have been made aware of some problems caused by a small number of our students in the wider community, outside of school.  We have spoken with students about the consequences of their actions and the responsibility that we all have to our community and sanctioned those identified. We do appreciate your support in talking to your children about the importance of safe and sensible behaviour in the community. Thank you for your support with this.

We are continuing to educate all our students on being safe and responsible citizens within our extended community. As the nights draw in, and it can be dark on the way to and from school, it is imperative that students are aware of their own and others personal safety on these journeys.  We urge parents and carers to remind their children to have helmets and lights if travelling by bike, and for all students (walking and cycling) to be mindful that motorists will find it more difficult to see them and  therefore they must conduct themselves in a safe and responsible manner.

Online responsibility and safety also continues to be an area of focus for us, and we urge parents to monitor their children’s online activity closely to ensure they keep themselves free from harm as well as not putting themselves at risk of formal or potentially legal action. Recently, we have had some growing concerns around TikTok and a number of accounts being set up under the umbrella of Havelock Academy.  These accounts include offensive and inappropriate content and as a result, relevant authorities have been informed and are investigating.  We would urge you to ensure that your child is not involved as any students found to be bringing the academy into disrepute in this way will be sanctioned accordingly.

We are encouraging parents and carers to sign up to National Online Safety which provides a host of information and guidance around a range of popular social media platforms. Please see below how to sign up to the website.  To access over 100 guides on the latest social media channels, games and online safety topics, please follow this link: http://nationalonlinesafety.com/enrol/havelock-academy, complete your details and select “I am a: Parent/Carer” to register your account.

National Online Safety release a brand-new guide weekly to help keep you regularly updated with what children may encounter online. This aims to help empower parents with the knowledge to protect their children from online risks and make informed decisions about their internet usage to ensure a safer online environment.  The current guide available is around TikTok.

Academy staff are always available to provide further information and support should you have any concerns about your child’s online activity.  As always, we can be contacted during office hours via telephone, or via email at enquiries@havelockacademy.co.uk .

Tomorrow afternoon and evening we are looking forward to welcoming students, parents and carers from Years 9 and 11 for our Futures Evening, along with a range of local employers and education providers.  If your child is in Year 9 or 11 and you have not seen the letter about this event then please get in touch immediately so that we can forward you another copy.

We are aware that Covid-19 is still very much present across the country and encourage everyone to continue to take the appropriate measures to keep themselves safe.  One of these measures that we take in school is to have adequate ventilation and use outside spaces as much as possible.  Please ensure that your child has a coat now that it is turning colder and it is also often a good idea to wear a plain t-shirt or similar underneath school uniform as we do have windows open in classrooms to support ventilation.  We do have some good quality pre-loved academy coats that can be available from student services if any students would like one.

To close, we had a very positive visit from Ofsted before the half term break and we are just waiting for the formal letter to be published.  Whilst this was only a monitoring visit (Section 8 Inspection) and so no judgements or ratings could be given or changed, it was a very productive day and we received positive feedback from the inspector which I look forward to sharing with you in the coming weeks when it is published.

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support.

Very best wishes,

 E Marshall

Principal