Dear parents and carers,
As we approach the half term break I am writing to you to say thank you for your ongoing support in what has been another busy term at Havelock.
We have much to celebrate from this term and would like to thank all students who have worked hard in lessons and contributed to the wider life of the academy. Our Wellbeing Champions have been trained up thanks to the DRET Sports team and are now running sessions for other key stage 3 students, including launching Wellbeing Warriors for students to join in with after school. Our sports teams have gone from strength to strength, with a particular mention this term to our Rounders, Rugby, Cricket and Football teams, but well done to all students who have shown commitment to our after school sporting clubs.
We are very excited to be putting on our first big musical production since the Covid lockdowns in July, with tickets for our production of Matilda Jr going on sale straight after half term, priced at £3 each. The show will run from 13th to 15th July, at 6.30pm each evening. Tickets will be available from Miss Roberts and we expect them to sell out fast.
Miss Laurie has been working hard to arrange our Summer School programmes, with letters for this also going out this week. We are pleased to have secured funding for this excellent programme which will include a range of activities on and off site. If you want any further information, please contact Miss Laurie directly at the academy. Additional copies of the letter and the consent form will be available at reception, including during the opening hours on Monday – Wednesday in the half term.
Whilst we close for half term this afternoon, the academy will be open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday until 3pm for revision classes for Year 11 and 13 students, as well as Matilda rehearsals. Separate letters have gone out about this with relevant dates and details. Please note that most staff will be on leave during the week so enquiries will be picked up when they return, from 6th June onwards.
We know that the last few years have been very hard on many young people and their families and we have worked hard to increase our pastoral offer with a comprehensive PSHE programme as part of our rolling tutorial. There are a number of documents on our website in the “parents” section with information on help available in and out of school. We are also in the process of updating our Student Guide, ready for the new academic year. We also recently circulated a document that outlines the best ways of contacting the academy, and who to contact in different situations, including direct email addresses for all staff. We have uploaded this document to our website should you wish to refer to it and not be able to find the original message. Paper copies are available from reception. Good communication is very important to us. This sometimes means passing something on to the most appropriate person to deal with it, where the necessary information is all available, but please be assured that we work together as a staff team to support all of our families and we also work closely with outside agencies where appropriate.
We use morning line ups, at 8.20am each day, to share important information and messages with each year group (with Year 11, 12 and 13 directly with tutors) so punctuality is really important, to ensure that students do not miss any important notices. Please ensure that your child is arriving punctually, with full uniform and equipment, as outlined on our website.
Since writing to you earlier this term regarding the issuing of suspensions for internal truancy, I am pleased to say that we have had very few students who we have had to sanction in this way. We are proud of our curriculum and of the quality of our teaching and know that students will flourish in lessons and this is where they should be when in school.
I would like to remind all parents that we have a no mobile phone policy for students in school, other than in the sixth form where they may be used in the sixth form block only, but not in the main building or elsewhere on the site. If your child brings a phone to school for safety reasons for the journey to and from school, then it must be switched off and put away in their bag during the school day, including during break and lunchtime. Time away from screens, social media and electronic devices is hugely beneficial for all young people. We would recommend students not bringing devices into school as we cannot accept responsibility for anything that gets lost or broken.
Myself and the full team would like to wish you a safe half term break and look forward to seeing all students on Monday 6th June at 8.20am.
Kind regards,
Emma Marshall
Principal
