Monday 16th December 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are in the final week of the first full term, and I want to take a moment to thank you for your continued support. It has been a fantastic term at Northampton Academy, and we couldn’t achieve the successes we do without the partnership we have with you.

We have lots of exciting events planned to round off the term in style. On Thursday, our Year 7 students will be treated to the much-anticipated staff pantomime— a wonderful way to bring some festive cheer! On Friday, the whole school can look forward to the annual Winter Fayre, a fantastic opportunity for students to celebrate together before the break.

Attendance is particularly important this week as we want every student to participate in the celebrations and make the most of these final days. A reminder about the weekly incentive, all students who are present for the full five days receive a ticket for the prize draw to win an iPad. Additionally, golden tickets—which reward excellent character, effort, and contributions—will be worth double this week, giving students even more opportunities to be recognised for their hard work.

Finally, I’d like to wish you and your families a brilliant holiday when it comes. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to your child’s education and for helping to make Northampton Academy such a special place.

Attendance

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the families that have supported us this term regarding our ongoing drive to raise attendance and support us in educating students on the importance of attendance and punctuality.

Here are some points I would like all families to consider in advance of returning to school in January:

• Arbor parent portal is the place to communicate absences with us: arbor-parent-portal

• Students who are feeling a ‘bit off’ or ‘under the weather’ in the morning often quickly improve and end up engaging well in their schooling that day. If however this doesn't happen, we will contact you and discuss a further course of action.

• Parents should make appointments outside school hours wherever possible. When this is impossible students should only be absent for the duration of the appointment.

• Advanced notice is required for medical or dental appointments and must be supported by providing the school with sight of, or a copy of, the appointment card or letter – only then will the absence be authorised.

Foodbank – Saturday 11th January 2025, 9.30am – 11.30am

We are hosting a foodbank to support our Northampton Academy students and their families. We want to create a welcoming and confidential environment where families can come and choose the items they need and ensure every family in our school community feels supported. Whether you need a little help or just want to explore what’s available, we encourage you to come by.

The foodbank will be stocked with a variety of essential items, including non-perishable foods, snacks and household essentials. Our catering team will be providing breakfast rolls and refreshments on the day, and the ‘Uniform Swap Shop’ will be open to purchase pre-loved, great quality uniform.

Follow us on social media!

Since the start of the new academic year, we have been working hard to increase our presence across social media to help raise awareness of the wide range of fantastic work the school, its staff and students are delivering—both inside and outside of the classroom. We cover many positive aspects inside the school, including highlighting our students’ incredible work, trips, guest visitors, Student Council updates as well as putting a spotlight on the work we’re doing within the local community. Plus much more to come!

We’re encouraging parents and carers to follow our official social media accounts, so you can keep up to date with our latest news, key events and teaching initiatives, find us:

Instagram: northamptonacademyofficial

Facebook: NorthamptonAcademyOfficial

X: @northacad

Weekly Golden Ticket Draw

We are delighted to announce an exciting new addition to our rewards system! In addition to our termly Golden Ticket Draw, we are introducing a Weekly Golden Ticket Draw to further celebrate and encourage student achievement. Starting this week, three winners will be selected during the week to receive a voucher as a reward for their outstanding efforts.

Winners will be announced every Friday and will have the opportunity to collect their prize from the Principal at the Proud Table during lunchtime. This initiative aims to highlight and reward the fantastic achievements of our students on a more regular basis, fostering a culture of recognition and motivation throughout the school. Thank you for your continued support in celebrating the success of our students!

Student Council

The Northampton Academy Student council continues to thrive. Meeting weekly the student council are the voice of our whole school community and provide staff and students ideas and initiatives that impact positive change. Most recently the council have voted on ideas around student enrichment and extra-curricular activities, ways to provide information around mental well-being support for students, repeating some successful message from our recent antibullying week campaign and provided feedback on ideas around a NA podcast. These 18 student council members from all year groups consistently impress staff with their energy and effort towards creating a successful working environment for all stakeholders.

Year 9

On Tuesday 17th December we are going to have a pop-up library at the top of the canteen promoting some of the best books for Year 9 pupils. Year 9 pupils will be able to come to the pop-up library and select a book from the exciting collection.

Year 10

Year 10 have had a fantastic start to their mid-year assessments, these will continue into the last week of half term. As per the letter sent in November, Year 10 students will also have assessments at the beginning of January. This is a great opportunity for the students to use the break to complete revision for these. These could be, practice retrieval questions from online platforms, using the home learning teachers have set to support, and also practicing timed exam questions.

Year 11

Feedback week has been fantastic, and students have had a real buzz in lessons, decoding and reevaluating their answers for all their subjects. Over the break students will receive past papers based on feedback from multiple subjects, as well as knowledge retrieval on the many platforms that the school uses, such as Seneca. It is very important that students take a break this holiday but also complete some work so that they are raring to go in the New Year.

Sixth Form

Year 12 and 13 have now completed their mock exams, with reports for Year 13 being issued next week at Parents’ Evening (Wednesday 18th December). Year 12 Parents Evening will be on Tuesday 28th January 2025.

Free School Meals

You may be entitled to free school meals for your child(ren) if you receive one of the following benefits:

• Income Support

• Income Based Job Seekers Allowance

• Child Tax Credit Only (with income up to £16,190) with no element of Working Tax Credit

• National Asylum Seekers Support

• Guarantee Element of the State Pension Credit

• Employment and Support Allowance

• Universal Credit (Income Related)

Please use this link for more information and how to apply:

Northampton Academy > Parents > Free School Meals (northampton-academy.org)

In closing

We wish you all a relaxing and peaceful break and if you and your family are celebrating the festive period – “Happy Christmas”.

We welcome our students back on Wednesday 8th January 2025.

Kind regards,

Owen Jones,

Principal