Dear Parents/ Carers
Dear Parent/ Carer
I don’t generally respond to social media, however, occasionally I’m forwarded a post or article that ‘reports’ something that is so wrong, that it would do more harm to ignore it. I’ve been made aware of some erroneous “facts and figures” that have been passed around, about the size of the school, which may worry parents/ carers. I don’t believe the author has researched this thoroughly; therefore, I thought you might be interested in the facts.
It’s difficult for a school which serves its local community to increase, if the number of primary-age students in the area is, itself, reducing. The local authority publishes the number of primary school students that can feed into each school in their forecasts (table below, and link to their website and their own excel spreadsheet provided). The data is slightly out of date, as our current Year 8s (the 2023/2024 Yr 7 column value is actually 290 not 293, but it was projected to reduce to 291 if you look at the Yr 8 2024/2025 value).
The “Primary 10 Yr Olds” column shows the number of 10 year olds on roll at your feeder primary schools.
You can see that the numbers aren’t projected to return to the 300+ range for the next few years. This doesn’t mean that we will have to cut more subjects, or lose more teachers, as we’re currently running with resources appropriate to this slightly smaller intake.
The other incorrect rumour that I believe is circulating is (paraphrasing): “…there won’t be a sixth form in a few years!” This is not our intention at all and couldn’t be further from the truth. We are committed to delivering a traditional 11-18 school, with a sixth form which allows students to flourish for the seven years they are with us, and with staff who know and support them well. We want to develop our sixth form provision further, but in the correct way. The first step was to make sure that students have the appropriate level of GCSEs to be as successful as possible in A-Levels, that is why the entry requirements were raised for this year to be similar to other sixth forms. It is true that the number of students in Year 12 this year is far lower than previous years, but only eight students were not able to join us due to the new entry requirements.
We want to continue to offer the same breadth of A-Levels for September 2025, but we are also investigating which alternative academic qualifications would be right to supplement that offer.
We’ve only been able to start discussing this expansion now, because the political landscape for qualifications other than A-Levels has changed. In 2021, the government announced that many vocational qualifications would cease to be funded for the 2024/2025 academic year onwards: Level 3 qualifications reform: What’s happening to BTECs? (parliament.uk) Whilst T-Level qualifications (https://www.tlevels.gov.uk/) were introduced to fill the gap, they aren’t something that we are looking into as we feel that larger colleges are better placed (due to their very large students numbers) to offer such a selection of T-Levels.
The decision to pause the end of these qualifications by the new government wasn’t announced until July 2024 (Focused review of Post-16 qualifications reform at level 3 and below – T Levels support for schools and colleges) by which time staffing was already set for September 2024. Whilst this did allow us to continue with a small number of legacy vocational courses for Year 12, it still wasn’t detailed enough to plan properly for our future expended curriculum.
Since then, though, a few new courses have been approved (Overview – List of Qualifications approved for funding (education.gov.uk)), and this is updated monthly by the DfE; we are in the process of reviewing these for possible inclusion in the prospectus 2025 offer eg BTEC Nationals from 2025 | Pearson qualifications
I think the point I’m hoping to convey is, whilst everyone is free to post what they want, I’d take some of the ‘facts’ with a pinch of salt. If there are any queries that our community would like answering, I’m happy to be transparent and give you the figures or the background for you to make an informed opinion.
Yours faithfully
Tony Meneaugh
Principal
Year 7 Boys Football
Next week we will be holding Year 7 Boys Football trials in preparation for upcoming fixtures. This will happen on Tuesday 24 and Thursday 26 September from 15:00-16:00 on the school field. Students will need to bring in their PE kit, football boots and shin pads. If students don’t have PE or Dance on either of these days, they will still need to come into school in their school uniform and will be able to get changed into their PE kit in the changing rooms for the trials.
Any questions, please contact Mr Farr dominic.farr@astreastivo.org
Flu Vaccinations
All students in Years 7 to 11 are being offered a Flu vaccination. Clinics in school will take place on Wednesday 9 October for Years 7, 8 and 9 and Wednesday 16 October for Years 10 and 11.
If you have not already done so please access further information here and fill in the online form to consent for or decline the vaccine. Please do this at the latest 48 hours before the clinic date.
Come Together in Yellow – Thursday 10 OctoberEvery year thousands of schools, companies and communities come together to make World Mental Health Day that little bit brighter by wearing something yellow and donating to YoungMinds. More details to follow about what St Ivo is planning for World Mental Health Day. Full school uniform will be expected to be worn but can be complimented with additional items such as scarves, socks, headbands etc (a full list of acceptable items will be shared nearer the time). We would like to recommend a £1 donation for wearing a yellow item (or two), with all proceeds going to YoungMinds. |
Open Evenings
We are looking forward to welcoming families to our upcoming open evenings:
- Year 6 into 7 – Thursday 3 October from 6pm to 8pm, with talks in the hall at 6pm repeated at 6.45pm and the opportunity to visit subject areas.
- Sixth Form – Thursday 10 October from 6pm to 8pm, with a talk in the hall at 6.30pm and the opportunity to visit subject areas.
Year 7 Bromcom Student Portal
Thank you to Year 7 families who have informed us that their child cannot log into the Student Portal of Bromcom. Please be aware that the login details previously circulated will only work via the Magic Link/ Microsoft Login option at the bottom of the screen.
Practice Critical Incident
Earlier this week we held a practice ‘critical incident lockdown’ exercise. A critical incident is an emergency situation on the school site. Fire alarm drills are relatively common, and hence it is sensible to also prepare students and staff for other possible types of emergency. The likelihood of a critical incident is very small, but we want all members of our school community to be safe. The critical incident exercise was conducted in a brief, calm and controlled manner, and carefully observed by senior leadership staff and the site team in order to learn lessons for any necessary future improvement. Staff and students were prepared for the practice.
Post 16 Providers
Please find a list of Post 16 provider open evenings below for those students researching Post 16 options.
Long Road Sixth Form
Campus tours October – December 2024. Please contact the college to make an appointment.
Open evenings in summer term 2025. Dates to be confirmed.
Hills Road Sixth Form
Saturday 5 July 25
Monday 7 July 25
Timings to be confirmed
Cambridge Regional College (Cambridge Campus)
Wednesday 23 October 2024 (4.30 – 7pm)
Cambridge Regional College (Huntingdon Campus)
Thursday 17 October 2024 (5 – 7pm)
Hinchingbrooke School
Thursday 26 September 24 (5 – 7pm)
Northstowe Secondary College
Thursday 14 November (4.30 – 7pm)
Comberton Village College
Contact the school to register for a tour
CAST
Wednesday 6 November (5 – 7.30pm)
Safer Schools Officer
We are fortunate to have a Safer Schools Officer (SSO) allocated one day a week to our school. Hannah Watkins has been with us for one year now and visits our school every Thursday. Hannah is a Police Officer, but operates within our school as a member of staff. Hannah’s experience within the Police enables her to have a great overview of all issues faced by young people today. Hannah supports the school by helping to us to check in and investigate difficult situations that have occurred in and out of school. Hannah works positively to ensure we do not criminalise young people and therefore does not operate in school to enforce or prosecute. Hannah is a supportive member of our community with many resources to educate our students.
At times, Hannah works with students individually when young people require guidance, support or when students are asked to support the school by providing information for school investigations.
Hannah supports all students who, either inside or outside of school, have become involved with Police. Therefore, Hannah assists with any live ongoing Police investigations and will always try to resolve these without criminalising young people.
Hannah contributes to the safe environment in school and is an active member of our school community. Hannah moves around our school site, especially at social times, to be integrated and approachable by all students and staff.
We hope you agree with us that this is an incredibly positive working relationship with Cambridgeshire Police.
Diary Dates
These are key evening dates for families to plan. Other dates, including assessments, trip and other events, will be communicated separately.
- Thursday 26 September: Year 11 information evening
- Thursday 3 October: Year 6 into 7 open evening
- Thursday 10 October: Sixth Form open evening
- Thursday 24 October: Year 12 parents/carers and tutors meetings
- Thursday 21 November: Year 13 parents’/carers’ evening
- Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 December: Ivolution dance show
- Thursday 12 December: Year 11 parents’/carers’ evening
- Thursday 23 January: Year 10 parents’/carers’ evening
- Thursday 13 February: Year 9 parents’/carers’ evening
- Thursday 13 March: Year 9 curriculum evening
- Thursday 3 April: Year 8 parents’/carers’ evening
- Thursday 1 May: Year 7 parents’/carers’ evening
- Thursday 15 May: Year 12 parents’/carers’ evening