The Term Ahead letter 12/1/24
Dear Parent/Carer,
The Term Ahead
We would like to extend a warm welcome back to all our students and now update you on our plans for the term ahead.
Attendance
We would like to remind parents to download the Go4School App so that you can monitor your child’s attendance, behaviour and progress. This is a really helpful tool to trigger conversations with your child about their progress at school and how they can strive to continue improving. A reminder that students’ attendance should remain above 97%. If your child’s attendance falls below this percentage then you may be offered additional support so we can work together to improve their attendance. At the end of this half term and the spring term we will once again be rewarding all students who have maximum attendance during the half term.
Teaching and Learning
Last term, teachers and pupils worked hard at building up assessment folders in all subjects, ensuring that pupils have a clear understanding of their learning journey. We are proud of the progress that pupils are making at articulating their learning. We continue to develop this practice in the term ahead; the better pupils are able to understand how their learning builds, the more securely new knowledge will embed, giving them the best possible chance of success.
Sixth Form
A large proportion of our Sixth Form students are sitting some of their external vocational exams in the next few weeks, which will contribute to their final grades. I am pleased to say that these students are demonstrating a fantastic work ethic and dedication towards their studies and revision in preparation for these exams.
Our Year 12 students started their Employability Skills Programme with CBS this half term, which forms part of our wider Enrichment Programme at Post 16. They will take part in two workplace visits; one to the CBS Head Office in Coventry in February, and one to the BT offices in Birmingham in March. During their Enrichment sessions, they will be looking at building confidence and workplace behaviours to help prepare them to maximise their Limitless Potential in their next steps, either in the world of work or at university.
The majority of our Year 13 students have now completed their UCAS applications. Those students who would like to take a different pathway when they leave school will be attending a trip to one of the National Apprenticeship Fairs in order to help support them with their next steps once they have completed their studies with us.
We would also remind you that next Thursday, 18th January is our Post 16 Parents’ Evening and you should have already received a letter about this. We look forward to seeing you there!
Key Stage 4 Update
A reminder that next Thursday, 18th January is our Year 11 Parents’ Evening. We would like to see as many students and parents there as possible as this will be last opportunity to speak to subject teachers before the summer exams.
Key Stage 3 Update
At the end of last term, it was fantastic to see so many Years 7, 8 and 9 students being rewarded through celebration assemblies, reward mornings and trips for following the Grace Way, academic achievements and attendance.
So far this term we have been delighted to see that Key Stage 3 students have begun the new year how they mean to go on and have been really focussed in lessons. It is an exciting term for Year 9 as they begin to consider their future plans and GCSE choices. With this in mind, please remember that on Thursday 8th February, we will be holding our Year 9 Options and Parents’ Evening, where students will receive their option packs.
Also, a reminder that on Thursday 21st March we will be holding our Year 8 Parents’ Evening.
Events and interventions
Last term we were able to donate 27 shoeboxes to the shoebox appeal, as well as take some students to the local processing centre to pack shoeboxes that will be sent to children across the world.
Students additionally made a trip to the local food bank, where we gave our donations from the Harvest competition. Thank you for supporting your children with their generous donations.
Our Post 16 students ran a Christmas meal for members of the community. Our time together consisted of a 3-course meal, crafts and a game of bingo. We were so proud of our students and how they served our community. One local resident said ‘After the Christmas meal, we all felt very overwhelmed with the students at Grace, they were amazing.’
It was brilliant to see so many of our students and families at our Christmas Fayre. It was lovely to see so many of you enjoying the festivities and we hope this gave you and your families a great start to the festive season.
We continue to work with our KS4 and KS5 students in regards to our careers provision with our Level 6 careers advisor meeting with students on a weekly basis. We are beginning some small group intervention work with some Year 11 students, and will be focusing on National Apprenticeships week and National Careers week this term. As part of these events, we have already booked to take some Year 10 students to Warwick University and a workplace visit to the Tata Consultancy Services (TSC). Our Year 9 students will be taking part in a careers workshop where they will look at what it is to ‘aim high’.
We launched our Year 10 work experience last term and are excited by the fantastic opportunities our students will have by taking part. Please can we remind you that work experience is taking place between 7th-10th May 2024. The deadline for the private placement details form is 22nd January. If you have any queries, then please do contact Mrs Gill (manroopgill@graceacademy.org.uk ).
Please continue to look at our website for information regarding careers, inclusive of the Labour Market Information. This is a useful tool to help research future jobs in the local area and to see the employment landscape.
On 23rd January, we will be delivering our Year 7 Values Day. All Year 7 students will be off timetable for the day to experience a rotation of workshops, led by both external guests and our Post 16 students. All sessions are based around our school values and how we live out the Grace Way – outside of school as well as inside.
Cultural capital awareness events we will be looking at in the Academy this term include Children's Mental Health Week, Holocaust Memorial Day, LGBTQIA+ History Month, Safer Internet Day and International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
We will be holding our yearly drop-down day for both Year 11 and Year 10 students, where we spend five sessions with external facilitators looking at 'Building Healthy Relationships'. We believe this will support students and help them to thrive. If you have any questions regarding this, then please contact Mrs E Williams (emilywilliams@graceacademy.org.uk ).
This term we will continue to work with external agencies to provide interventions, trips and events for all our students, so please do keep an eye out on our website and social media pages for updates (Grace Academy Coventry on Facebook, @GACoventry on Twitter).
It is going to be an exciting term and we continue to appreciate your support.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs N Whiles
Principal