Dear Parent/ Carer
It was great to see so many parents and carers last night at our Year 6 Open Evening. These evenings are always a great showcase for the exciting subjects, curriculum and dedicated staff we have to offer our students. Everyone who attended was invited to come in and see the school in action over the next three weeks – seeing is believing. If any current parents or carers would also like to take the opportunity to visit and tour the school during the school day as well, then you are very welcome too. Here’s a link to the booking site: St Ivo Academy event tickets from TicketSource.
The rest of this week’s newsletter discusses our forthcoming sixth form open evening, an update about the gates, detentions, the PAC minutes and the use of the word scholar.
Sixth form
Next Thursday 10 October 2024 is our sixth form opening evening, 6pm – 8pm. We welcome everyone to come along and talk to our staff and discuss the courses we have to offer.
Mr Braybrook met with Year 11 students today in assembly to update them on the processes ahead of them. The timeline provided below has been updated from last year; we have acting upon feedback from parents and carers, and the students themselves.
- Fri 04/10/2024: Year 11 assembly, outline and explanation of the full sixth form transition process
- Thu 10/10/2024: publication of prospectus and Sixth form open evening
- Fri 11/10/2024: Year 11 assembly, explaining the “Initial thoughts form” (their ideas about future careers, the likelihood of staying with us, and the top four subjects they’d be interested in if they did to help us refine our blocking offer)
- Mon 14/10/2024: My Choice 16 tutorial and slideshow presentation by Year 11 team/ tutors
- Fri 18/10/2024: Deadline for completing the “Initial thoughts form”
- WB 21/10/2024: Opportunity to meet with students informally if chosen subject combinations appear problematic
- Fri 08/11/2024: Updated curriculum blocks published
- Tue 14/01/2025: St Ivo Academy application deadline (in line with all other providers)
- Wed 15/01/2025 – Fri 07/02/2025: Applicant interviews
- Mon 17/02/2025: Sixth form offer letters, and declined offers, sent out. School commitment to courses that will run (no matter what), published.
- Mon 30/06/2025 – Wed 02/07/2025: Sixth form induction days
- Thu 21/08/2025: Summer results’ day
We’re also in the process of investing in the sixth form common room, to further improve our facilities.
X (previously twitter) users may have seen our regional director’s post about the developing Trust sixth form strategy, emphasising everyone’s commitment to improving our offer across the Trust schools with post-16 provision ( https://x.com/jo_myhill/status/1841929075809452227)
Finally, below are a few quotes from our current sixth form students, that you might find interesting:
“Sixth form at St Ivo, gives you the independence and freedom you need in a calm and comfortable environment to focus on what’s important in your next steps, as well as the amazing leadership team who make the sixth form an enjoyable place to be with multiple clubs and activities that everyone gets involved in.”
“I like the Ivo Sixth Form because I am given lots of freedom, with a great environment to learn and make friends with the year 13.”
“In this first month of Ivo sixth form I have really enjoyed my time here. I thought it might be similar to secondary school but it is very different. You have a lot of freedom and independence, the classes are a lot smaller and easier to get the support you need.”
“My favourite thing about sixth form is the sense of community.”
“The thing I like most about the sixth form is how calm and laid back it is. The lessons are so much more different compared to the lower school especially because the classes are much smaller and concentrated.”
“I’m really enjoying sixth form, I think it’s been a really nice experience so far, I’ve enjoyed having more freedom and having smaller classes which gives you the chance to talk to your teachers more if you need help and advice on anything.”
“Sixth form is a great experience, you receive opportunities from the start, as well as a new level of freedom and independence.”
“Sixth form is a great option for further education, the freedom and the independent learning is refreshing. There are lots of new opportunities that are given too you, and it is overall better if you live in St Ives”
“Sixth form gives you a lot of independence to allow you to choose what you want to do when you want to do it. It allows you to go outside your comfort zone and get a better feel of what you want to do for further education. You get the welcoming support from all of your peers and teachers. Therefore, it is a nice environment within the sixth form area.”
“I’ve enjoyed sixth form as you get more freedom, and teachers treat you with a lot more respect.”
“I find that the teachers are incredibly supportive and if you need help you can receive the attention you need straight away.”
Gates at the end of the school
I know a lot of parents/ carers will be interested to know what action we have taken since the incident at the top gate on Tuesday. I hope the information below emphasises how committed we are to this never happening again – I am very sorry it happened in the first place.
Since Tuesday, we have tasked three people (a member of the site team, the member of staff on-call period 5, and a member of my senior leadership team) to attend the gate for 2.50pm each day to ensure it is open fully, and supervised. We have also refitted the maglock system on the left side gate at the top of the service road (picture right), and we have programmed this for auto-release between 2.55pm and 5.00pm. This will mean that students can exit this way at the end of the day, or if a club runs over slightly, until 5.00pm each night. Staff members will still attend at the end of the day to open the two large gates as well, but this should provide a suitable back-up system.
Detentions
We are changing the weekly pattern of detentions. From next week any detentions that normally happen on a Tuesday will automatically be scheduled to Wednesdays or later (there won’t be detentions on Tuesdays). There are two reasons for this, the late bus does not run on Tuesdays (so some detentions were having to be rescheduled anyway) and all teacher training happens on Tuesdays after school. Those staff running detentions have had to miss this training and time to be with their departments. As we move forward as a united staff body, it is important that everyone is able to attend the Tuesday sessions.
PAC Minutes
As promised the PAC minutes can be found here: https://www.astreastivo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/20240710-PAC-meeting-minutes.pdf
Scholar
We have been trialling the use of the word “scholar” with Year 7 (only) this half term, as apposed to using student or pupil. Some of the other Trust schools in South Yorkshire have made this change to strengthen ambition and academic endeavour, and they have seen a positive impact on learning culture in their schools. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that making the change will be appropriate to all schools as we are all unique, hence the trial. I know a lot of parents/ carers feel strongly about this, and you will see the minutes of the PAC reflect this. Therefore, we will review this before half term, talk to the young people in Year 7 and our staff, and then decide whether it is something we wish to pursue as a priority for the school or not.
Yours faithfully
Tony Meneaugh
Principal
Hello YellowSt Ivo Academy are pleased to be raising mental health awareness for World Mental Health Day. We are raising funds for YoungMinds “Hello Yellow” on Thursday 10 October 2024. We are turning the school yellow! Students are welcome to accessorise their uniform with any of the following yellow items:
We will be running a cake stall for students to buy a cake or two! So, remember to bring some loose change. A donation of £1 for all students participating is suggested. Cash can be brought in on the day. We do have a justgiving page set up www.justgiving.com/page/st-ivo-academy-1726750068217 – there is a minimum donation of £2 if you choose to donate in this way. |
Engineering Project
A huge well done to Joe in Year 10 who has been working with the engineering software company AVEVA in Cambridge to produce this scale model, showing the kind of installations that their software can produce.
Joe used his 3D printer to print all of the gold coloured parts for this model.
The model has been almost a year in production and Joe has been very proud to be part of the team to produce it.
It will be used as a display piece and training aid at AVEVA’s office in Cambridge.
Sale of Price & Buckland uniform
The remaining Price & Buckland branded uniform and PE kit has now arrived in school. We have made be this available to Year 8 to 11 families to purchase through My Child At School (MCAS), under “school shop” then “uniform” and “PE kit”. Unfortunately, we will not be able to process any purchases that are not ordered through MCAS. Therefore, we ask that your child does not bring any cash into school.
Quantities of items are limited; we only have what you will see on MCAS available. Once Price & Buckland items are gone, further uniform orders will be through Chroma and therefore in the new style. We would encourage you to purchase as soon as possible. When you have ordered items, please ask your child to come to P26 (the green portacabin near geography) at break time. Collections from P26 will be possible until Friday 11 October.
Blazers are sold regardless of house colour – your child may be given any colour when collecting your order, this is based on the stock we have available.
Please note that Price & Buckland items are being made available to families at cost price – we are not making any profit through their sale.
Attendance
In the event your child is unable to attend school, please contact the Attendance Team on attendance@astreastivo.org by 8.30am each day of the absence.
Thank you.