Changes to the Academy Day

Dear Parent(s) / Carer(s) Further to our recent letter regarding the new Behaviour and Detention System, I wanted to outline some other changes that will be happening from September. Since I joined the Academy, I have been reviewing all aspects of how it runs to ensure that your son or daughter continues to receive an outstanding education. I am pleased to say that I have been very impressed with most of what I have seen but realise that there are some areas that need to be addressed. These include low level behaviour issues in class, the detention system, punctuality and attendance, communication with parents, the school day structure and the curriculum offered to students from Year 9 onwards. In tandem with the reviews that have taken place it…

Dear Parent(s) / Carer(s)

Further to our recent letter regarding the new Behaviour and Detention System, I wanted to outline some other changes that will be happening from September. Since I joined the Academy, I have been reviewing all aspects of how it runs to ensure that your son or daughter continues to receive an outstanding education. I am pleased to say that I have been very impressed with most of what I have seen but realise that there are some areas that need to be addressed. These include low level behaviour issues in class, the detention system, punctuality and attendance, communication with parents, the school day structure and the curriculum offered to students from Year 9 onwards.

In tandem with the reviews that have taken place it is worth remembering that there are a number of significant changes happening to the education system over the coming years. These changes include new and more challenging GCSE and A level exams, the removal of national curriculum levels at primary and secondary level, the shift from a grade to number system at GCSE level and a new national curriculum in Year 7 and 8. This is an unprecedented amount of change in the education system and one that we are committed to tackling head on so that Chelsea Academy continues to be recognised as an outstanding school. In this letter I want to outline to you some of the changes that we are making both before and after the summer to tackle not only the areas I feel need to be improved but also to ensure that the Academy adapts to meet the challenge of national changes.

Changes to lesson length and the school day

After full consultation with governors and the parent council, we have decided to make some changes to the length of lessons and also the school day. This has happened as a result of feedback from students, staff and parents who have raised concern about the length of the school day and the fact that a 30 minute lunch break and 15 minute morning break leaves students very tired by the end of the day. We ave decided to reduce the length of each lesson (apart from period 4) by 5 minutes, meaning that the Academy day will be 25 minutes shorter. There will be no change to the start time of the day but students will now finish at 3.20pm instead of 3.45pm.

In taking this decision we have looked at the total time that students have in lessons and this remains true to our founding principle of additional learning time. We have also researched the total learning time at all of our closest schools and we still offer a longer school day than all other schools within the Borough. This change, coupled with the introduction of Show My Homework allowing independent learning to be set before class, means the teaching staff and I strongly believe that this will have a positive effect on the quality of learning, as students will be less tired and lessons will be quicker paced. To ensure that older students have an opportunity to study courses in more depth we have adjusted our curriculum to give A level students six periods of study per A level subject instead of five and GCSE students will now have three periods per option subject, not two. We will also be introducing a period 7  timetable of after school classes for some students to ensure that we continue to offer the best learning experience we can.

The academy day timings will be as follows from September:

  • Academy gates close at 8.35 am
  • Morning break will be at either 9.55 am or 10.50 am for 15 minutes
  • Lunch will either be at 12.00 pm, 12.30 pm or 1.00 pm for 30 minutes
  • The Academy will finish at 3.20 pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
  • On Wednesday the academy will close at 2.45 pm for most students – see below

If you would like to discuss the changes to lesson length and the curriculum please contact Mr Cragg (Vice Principal) at the Academy or via email on thomas.cragg@chelsea-academy.org.

Changes to the school day on Wednesday
As I mentioned at the start of the letter there are a number of significant changes to the education landscape approaching us and I want to ensure that the teaching staff have appropriate training and development to meet these challenges head on. This will ensure that your son or daughter has access to outstanding teaching and that teachers are up to date and ready to deliver the new exam specifications in Years 9 to 13 and the new national curriculum in Years 7 and 8. To facilitate this we will be having a weekly staff development session on a Wednesday afternoon taking place from 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm. We will therefore be removing a lesson from Wednesday’s timetable, so timetabled lessons will finish at 2.40 pm on Wednesday only. With the changes to the curriculum, no student will lose out on core lessons and at KS3 we have ensured that the curriculum is broad and balanced.

On a Wednesday at 2.40 pm most students will go home, unless:

  • Parents wish them to stay in school to complete supervised study until 3.20 pm. We will have study rooms open to students who can complete their independent learning supervised by staff from the Academy. Students will register in these rooms and stay there until they are dismissed at 3.20 pm.
  • The student is behind in English or Maths in Year 7, 8 or 9. If this is the case then the student will have extra maths or English lessons to ensure that they are at the right level to success with the new GCSE and A level
    specifications.
  • If they are in Sixth Form the students will be expected to take part in voluntary work or can participate in a range of unsupervised enrichment activities.
  • They are taking part in enrichment activities which have been provided by the Academy.
  • They have an additional GCSE class timetabled during this period and also after school on other evenings. This will apply in the main to identified ‘more able’ students.

To facilitate the above arrangements, parents will be written to so that they can chose either to let their child be dismissed at 2.40 pm or to sign them up for an after school activity. It is our intention, however, that most students will leave site at 2.40 pm.

We will review this change next academic year and will send out a questionnaire to parents and students to ensure we have a representative sample of reviews.

Comparison between current school times and those from September:

Change_to_Academy_Day

If you would like to discuss the changes to Wednesday afternoon please contact Mrs Blake (Vice Principal) at the Academy or via email on hannah.blake@chelsea-academy.org

Communication with parents

Through the Parent Council sessions and meetings that I have had with parents it appears that there is frustration at the communication from the Academy to you and also frustration with how difficult it is to get in touch with the staff in the Academy. We have put in place a number of different solutions to this and I hope that you will notice a difference in our approach to communicating with you. These changes are:

  1. A redesign of the phone system so that you can get through to reception and Heads of House as well as to any member of staff with an extension (as long as you know the extension number).
  2. A redesigned website so that it is easier for you to stay in touch with what is going on in the Academy. Changes include:
    • A subscription-based Academy calendar so that you can see what is going on in the Academy on any device.
    • A parents’ portal which will allow you to find key information easily and report absences.
    • A subscription-based newsletter so you can see what is going on in the Academy.
    • A policy section so you can find key information.
  3. Daily use of the Academy Twitter feed so that you can see what is happening in the Academy each day.
  4. A commitment to respond to emails within 48 hours.

It is important to note that your first point of contact with the Academy should be through your child’s Learning Coach and then the Head of House. For any subject-related matter it should go to the classroom teacher and then the Curriculum or Faculty Leader. For any serious matters you should contact a member of the Leadership Team who will be able to help.

If you would like to discuss Academy communication please contact Mr Boyle (Director of Finance and Operations) at the Academy or via email on mike.boyle@chelsea-academy.org

Parking and waiting in the local community

I have been asked by the police to remind parents that the only place they should be waiting in their cars to pick up students is in Lots Road. Our local residents have asked me to pass on their frustrations with the careless parking at the student entrance to the Academy and I would ask that you park and wait around the front of the Academy to meet your son or daughter. Parking attendants will be issuing fines to parents waiting at the student entrance so please wait on Lots Road and your child will walk round from the student exit to meet you.

Changes to the Leadership Team

Finally, I just wanted to let you know that we have appointed Mrs Whittle as Vice Principal Inclusion, Mrs Vellacott as Assistant Principal (Inclusion) and Miss Michaelides as Assistant Principal (Progress and Achievement). You will know Mrs Vellacott and Miss Michaelides who have both been doing their respective roles as maternity cover this year and have been key staff since the start of the Academy in Hortensia Road. Mrs Whittle will join us on Monday 22nd June and is a highly experienced Vice Principal (Inclusion) after holding a similar role for 10 years in a school in Hertfordshire. Finally, Mrs Power will be going on maternity leave in September and we are pleased to let you know that Miss Minns will be covering her maternity leave as Assistant Principal (Post 16).  You can contact any member of the Leadership Team via the Academy website.

The governors, Leadership Team, staff and I are committed to ensuring that Chelsea Academy remains a great place to come to school, a place where learning is exciting and students have the best opportunities to ensure academic success. We are looking to build on the excellent examination results achieved last summer and believe that the changes outlined above will help us reach these goals. Please feel free to contact the members of the leadership team leading on each of the changes directly or if you would like to contact me directly about them please do so via principal@chelsea-academy.org

We will be offering you the chance to hear more detail about the changes outlined in this letter at the parent voice meeting on Wednesday 17th June from 6.00pm to 7.00pm in the Academy. So that we can arrange an appropriately sized room and catering, please can you contact Hannah Thomas by the end of Tuesday 16th June at hannah.thomas@chelsea-academy.org if you would like to attend this meeting.

Yours sincerely

Mr M Williams
Principal