Newsletter 10 May 2024

Dear Parent/ Carer

This week’s newsletter is a bit of a mixed bag of events and updates, as can be expected as we draw closer to the end of this half term. Year 11 and 13 students have now started the main bulk of their final exams, and we Just-in-time revision sessions are in full swing. Details of these are being posted on our social media accounts the day prior to each exam and have also been emailed to parents and carers.

The rest of this week’s newsletter covers the fantastic Strictly Come Dancing event this week, answers to frequently asked questions regarding the new uniform, further information about Year 11 and 13 study leave, an update about Year 12 work shadowing and biometrics and canteen cards, and finally a clarification about announcements concerning staff changes and Year 10 course confirmations.

Strictly Ivo

Students and staff were lucky enough to welcome Joanne Clifton, winner of BBC One’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, to their school this week for a dance workshop.

Joanne Clifton had just finished touring as Princess Fiona in ‘Shrek’ The Musical and is taking a month off before her next show. Her first day off in a month though, meant putting students and staff through their paces at a special dance class organised by Miss McAdam.

The lucky students were eager to meet Joanne and hear about her Strictly win. She also spoke about how her career has progressed from being a professional dancer, a world champion, and now as a star of the West End as an actress and singer. Students and staff were able to hold the glitterball from her 2016 win with Ore Oduba and see the actual cue card that announced Joanne and Ore as winners.

Joanne had under an hour to get students up to speed dancing her winning number, to ‘Runaway Baby’ by Bruno Mars. She started with a quick warm up for the 50 students, before teaching them sections of the dance. Within 40 minutes they had learnt most of the routine that Joanne and Ore performed in their iconic Strictly win.

If you haven’t seen them already via social media, here are the videos of the sessions:

Student session YouTube link: https://youtu.be/bSm1LRuA4s4
Staff session YouTube link: https://youtu.be/bSm1LRuA4s4

This was an amazing opportunity for our students, and a brilliant event for staff – I personally enjoyed it immensely! I want to publicly thank Miss McAdam for organising this outstanding experience for our school community.

Uniform update (FAQs)

Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback on the new school uniform. Mr Daly has compiled this information and added them to the bottom of the website uniform page, so please check this out: https://www.astreastivo.org/uniform If there are any further questions, not covered on this page, then please email uniform@astreastivo.org and we will get back to you.

Study leave, and leavers’ assemblies

We originally announced the arrangements for study leave in our 16 October 2023 newsletter: https://sway.cloud.microsoft/xI9vyABOJEgiDYst However, provided below are further details on how this will happen:

Year 13:

The last ‘official’ day of required full-time attendance in school will be Friday 24 May 2024. However, lessons in subjects not completely examined will still run after that point and teachers will be present and available, until every subject exam has happened. It is recommended that students attend the advertised ‘just in time sessions’ for subjects also. Students are also more than welcome to come into school during this time to study if they wish and see teachers.

The Year 13 final leavers’ assembly takes place on Friday 24 May 2024 during period 3 in the school hall. We are very much looking forward to celebrating the wonderful achievements of our Year 13 all together for one final time.

Year 11:

The last ‘official’ day of required normal/ full-time attendance in school will be Friday 7 June 2024. However, all students will be in school on Monday 10 June 2024 for exams in the morning, and there will be a science revision session after that in readiness for the science exam the next day on Tuesday 11 June 2024. Attendance after the science exam on Tuesday 11 June 2024 is optional, and parents will not receive absence texts if students do not attend. Students will also be allowed to leave school early if they do not have an exam later that day. Students must leave via main reception, where they will need to sign out.

Just like Year 13, lessons in subjects not completely examined will still run after that point and teachers will be present and available for those who wish to attend, until every subject exam has happened. It is recommended that students attend the advertised ‘just in time sessions’ for subjects also. Students are also more than welcome to come into school after Monday 10 June 2024 to study if they wish to see teachers.

The leavers’ assembly for Year 11 will be on the afternoon of Monday 10 June 2024, after their mathematics exam in the morning, and science revision period 3. Students will spend period 4 and some of period 5 as a year group, having a chance to sign shirts, take photos and have a celebration assembly, led by Mr Hall. Students will be released to go home by 2.30pm.

Year 12 Work Shadowing

Year 12 work shadowing takes place between 8 and 11 July 2024. We would be very grateful if parents/ carers could please speak to their child about their progress in organising their placement and encourage them to do so as quickly as possible. We are aware that completing the paperwork which students need to collect from Mrs Carpenter can take some time, so the sooner that students are able to do this the better.

If students have any questions or concerns about a placement, please could they see Mr Braybrook or Mrs Webster.

Canteen cards and biometrics

Newly purchased biometric readers arrived in school this week, and we hope to have them installed very soon, with the set up for Year 7, 8 and 9 students where we have consent hopefully completed before May half term, ready for full implementation straight afterwards. We aim to use tutorial time to complete this setup for those with consent.

If you haven’t had chance to give consent for ‘fingerprint’ biometrics for purchasing items in the canteen, you can still do this using the following link: https://astreaathena.net/forms/public/67/RDOWLQURAJ

Unfortunately, some students are currently coming to the canteen without their canteen cards, and the manual name look-up process takes a lot longer, making queues take longer. Please can I ask parents/ carers to stress the importance of their child(ren) bringing in their card to ensure swift service for themselves and others. If your child has lost their canteen card, you can obtain a replacement by ordering this through My Child At School.

Staffing changes and Year 10 course confirmations

A few parents/ carers have been in contact to ask for clarity about staffing in September, whether there will be any changes, and what they will be. The final resignation (and therefore recruitment) date for teaching staff in current employment this academic year is 31 May 2024. After this date we will know exactly what changes will be needed, and I will be able to communicate any plans (should they be needed) to parents and carers. Obviously, any communication will depend on when and how staff concerned would like their information to be shared.

Pastoral staff have almost finished seeing all students affected by the removal of our food course in Year 10 next year. The last remaining students will be seen over the next two weeks, and we will be able to confirm individual option choices for all students by Friday 7 June 2024.

Yours faithfully

Tony Meneaugh

Interim Principal

Upcoming diary dates

Thursday 16 May: Year 12 parents’/carers’ evening

Friday 24 May: Year 13 final assembly

Monday 27 to Friday 31 May: half term

House Points

House totals year to date:

Bridge 44,776
Crosier 43,366
Leger 42,730
River 45,023
Wheatsheaf 41,299

Congratulations to the following student who has achieved 200 House points (white award):

George 8Cl
Zaynah 9Go, Jed 9Hx, Zeren 9Hy, Ella 9Ja/Hw, Harrison 9Ja/Hw, Jacob 9Lk, Anagha 9Nn
Ella 10Bf, Lily 10Bf, James 10Hl, Lottie 10Kd, Emma 10Pe, Cassidy 10Sg, Benjamin 10Sq, Prashna 10Sz

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved 150 House points (gold award):

Ellis 9Go, Jamie 9Hx, Antoni 9Hy
Maria 10By, Thomas 10By, Muhammad 10Hl, Riley 10Hl, Rune 10Kd, Daniel 10Sq, Rory 10Sq

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved 100 House points (silver award):

Tom 9Hy, Aiden 9Yo/Ws
Ben 10Pe, Rachel 10Sg

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved 75 House points (bronze award):

Megan 9Le

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved 50 House points (house badge):

Rose 9Le

Flag Football Friday

We will be running an NFL flag football club for Year 7s! If you are interested in NFL or would like to learn a new sport this could be for you!

When: Starting Friday 7 June until the end of the school year

Who for: Year 7 students (boys and girls)

Time: 3.05pm until 4.15pm

Location: Field

Spaces may be limited and on a first come first served basis.

Holiday Voucher Scheme

Please see letter and FAQs from the local authority.

Year 12 Parents’/Carers’ Evening

Parents Evening will be held online on Thursday 16 May from 4pm-7.30pm.

Appointments can be booked via SchoolCloud – St Ivo Academy. Bookings will close at 8am on Thursday 16 May. If you have any difficulties using the online platform, please call the school office on 01480 375400. If you have any other queries about parents’ evening, please contact your child’s Head of Year.

On the evening itself, please once again log on to School Cloud then click the “join video appointments” button. The system will then load your appointments, please see https://support.parentseveningsystem.co.uk/article/801-video-parents-how-to-attend-appointments-over-video-call for further information. You can use most phones, tablets, laptops etc to access this service. Please note that in order for the evening to run to time, calls will automatically cut off at the given end time (there will be a countdown on your screen).