In this Newsletter:
- Farewell and Parent Survey Results
- Safeguarding
- Sixth Form Block Sheets
- Competition winners – Sutton Hoo, Christmas Tutor Room and Christian Union, Christmas card winner
Message from Mr Tony Meneaugh
“As we come to the end of this calendar year, I just wanted to spend a few minutes wishing you well and reflecting on my time with you.
It has been an unbelievable privilege being your principal for the last two-and-a-bit years, although with everything we’ve experienced, it feels like it’s been much longer, but in a good way. We’ve had a great Ofsted inspection, seen some great improvements in results, changes in catering, and a massive redevelopment of our sixth form, to name but a few.
St Ivo has amazing students and staff, and I feel very lucky to have experienced this during my career. I feel that, through working together, we’ve achieved a lot in a short time, building on the good work that was started before me.
However, I think it is fair to say that parent perception of the school was not completely positive previously. Whilst the Ofsted inspection was solidly good overall, parent engagement and support for the school was an area that need attention.
You’ve just completed the latest parent survey, and we received the results this week, and I’ve compared them to the results from the Ofsted parent view survey. The last column represents the percentage point increase from the last inspection – there are some huge improvements here!
I think these scores demonstrate that we’re moving in the right direction in many areas. Whilst they are not perfect, and more work needs to be done, they do demonstrate a significantly positive change from where we were. We are currently reading through your comments and will formulate a plan for the next steps. They also give the school a good steer for the future.
Having the opportunity to meet with Ms Pearce regularly this half term has been extremely helpful in ensuring a smooth handover for the school. It is clear to me that the school will be in excellent hands and Ms Pearce will do brilliantly at taking the school to excellence in the next few years. I genuinely wish her well for January and beyond.
But, before I hand over the baton finally, I would like to sincerely thank you for your support during my tenure, and wish students, staff, parents, carers and our community a very merry Christmas, and a happy new year, one last time.
A video of this message, plus a little bit more, can be found below and on social media ;-)”
See our Christmas Video!
Holiday Support
For any safeguarding concerns or queries over the Christmas break, please refer to our student support booklet. Mrs Laura Brasher and Miss Alesia Dickinson will be checking emails periodically for any concerns or queries:
Laura Brasher – Laura.Brasher@astreastivo.org
Alesia Dickinson – Alesia.Dickinson@astreastivo.org
Sixth Form Block Sheets
Sixth form block sheets were slightly amended – please see here
Competition Winners
This week we have had lots going on!
Sutton Hoo Winners, runners up and special commendations:
Category: Helmet
1st prize: Riley, Finbar, Bobby.
Runner up: Florence, Hannah.
Category: Purse
1st prize: Iris
Category: Shield
1st prize: Zeynep
Runner up: Chloe, Eliza, Ava, Eleni
Category: Belt Buckle
1st prize: Albie
Runner up: Mila
Category: Ship
1st prize: Dawid
Runner up: Rory, Freddie, Jamie, Niall
Category: PowerPoint
1st prize: Nenyasha
Category: Poster
1st prize: Willow
Runner up: Miles, Thomas, Soufian, Tom
Category: 3D print
1st prize: Theo
Runner up: Harry
Special Commendation:
Burial Mound: Zara
Sword: Isaac
Astrea Christmas Card Competition
Congratulations to Scarlett for winning with three other students across the trust!
Christian Union Competition – Creative Christmas Competition
CU competition at Christmas. This year it was the Creative Christmas Competition. Anything creative could be submitted – art, writing, music drama
The winners were:
Kelly – both pieces of Art
Sam – for the creative writing.
Tutor Decorating Competition!
See our first, second and third place tutor groups
News
Archive Event Success
We were proud to host our first Archive Event as part of our 70th Anniversary celebrations. It was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with our alumni, hear incredible stories from the past, and reflect on how these experiences have shaped the school we are today.
It was truly special to put names to faces and begin reconnecting our school more closely with the wider community. We are incredibly proud of our history, our community and our alumni, and we look forward to continuing this journey together with your support.
This was just the first of many events planned in the years ahead. A huge thank you to the 90+ people who attended and to everyone who shared memorabilia dating back to 1955, your contributions helped bring our history to life.
We have started a database for each memorabilia item we hold and this has been allocated a number which will enable us to keep a record of names and faces. Our long term goal is to digitise all our archives to make them accessible to everyone who didn’t attend the event.
If you would like to keep up to date with new alumni and community events please email Lauren at community@astreastivo.org to register your interest!
Christmas Lunch by our Sixth Form Food Students
Merry Christmas everyone! 
Our Sixth Form Food Science students enjoyed cooking a festive feast for staff, showcasing their culinary skills while taking important steps towards preparing for their exams.
