Brayton AcademyNewsletter

Head Of School’s Message

Dear Parents/Carers,As we come to the end of the first half term of our new academic year I would like to welcome the parents of our new Year 7 students. They have settled in to their start to life at Brayton Academy. The transition from primary school can be a worrying time for children and families. We believe that starting our students earlier enables them to under-stand, experience and be part of a secondary school. They can go into the summer holidays and breathe easier in the knowledge of what to expect in September. Part of our work for the forthcoming year is to forge closer ties with our local primary schools. We want to work with them and use their expertise to make sure transition is as smooth as possible for our students.

The new academic year has started for all year groups and it has been exciting to see our new Year 11s step up and respond with a great deal of maturity to their first set of mock exams. They are an excellent year group of which we expect a great deal. With the help of Miss Davis, our senior member of staff directly responsible for Year 11, and all our staff I am sure they will have a successful year ahead. Year 10 are following in their footsteps and have made an excellent start on their option courses. The new GCSE qualifications are more difficult and it has been great to get an early start to their studies in these subjects.

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W3 July 2017

Dates For The Diary 21st July – End of Term 4th September – Teacher Training Day 5th September – New Term Starts

Perfect Prom!

We said a final farewell to the departing year 11s in style.

The tropical downpour did not dampen the celebrations at Escrick Parsonage, as our students dined and danced their way through the evening. It was our pleasure to spend the evening with them in order to celebrate their hard work and mark their progression to new stages in their lives.

It was also fabulous to welcome so many families as part of the celebration.

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Years 8 and 9 have begun Applied Resilience on Wednesday afternoons. The idea is to offer an experience that lies outside of the normal curriculum but can enhance resilience. We look for students to realise that with practise, hard work and a growth mind set they can achieve a great deal. The opportunity to apply themselves all year long is used to enhance their own attitudes to learning in the academic subjects. This year the students have opted to choose an applied resilience course from one of the following: Russian, Horse riding, cake decorating, stage, set design and makeup, acting, singing and activities at Selby Leisure Centre. We have also started our Rugby and Netball acade-mies whereby students have been selected to take part in a sporting programme which will encourage participation and eventually lead to elite levels of performance. We have trained coaches to help us with these activities. It is a real privilege to be able to offer a breadth of different activities.

It has set us up for a flying start in September after the students, and staff, have had rest and recuperation. I hope I have given you a flavour of what students at the academy have been doing in the last four weeks. We want to be able to give opportunities across all areas which compare to those in the best schools in the country. A core value of the Rodillian Multi Academy Trust is to engender self-confidence in our students. A realisation that they are good as anybody else from any background.

I would also like to clarify new roles at a senior level within the academy. Mrs Pirie is our Director of Safeguarding with responsibility for Year 7 and 8 and Mr Greyson who is our SENCO and has overall responsibility for Year 9 and 10. I think it is really important to mention that the first point of contact with the academy should be through the form tutor with more important and urgent matters being referred to the senior member of staff.

Please could I take this opportunity to remind you slight changes to our uniform policy and will be published on our website. These are: All skirts should have a pleated front and be knee-length No piercings No shoes with Velcro fastenings.

I wish you a restful summer and I look forward to our return to school on Tuesday 5th September.

Al Moon — Head of School

Welcome to Year 7!

Our new year 7 students started their journey at the Academy after half term. This is the first time that Brayton Academy has started the new year with all students before the summer holiday. We believe that this aids transition, as it breaks down the nerves and ensures that they continue the huge progress that they have made whilst at prima-ry school. We are looking forward to taking them on their first resilience camp in the autumn. Watch this space for dates!

Cultural Exchange

Chinese students learn about Resilience.

Two weeks ago Brayton played host to thirty Chinese students and their teachers.

During the day they were introduced to our Resilience Curriculum, participating in a range of events from jug-gling, inventing new sports and playing ukuleles. The students were incredibly impressed with the curriculum feeding back that our lessons were,”alive.”

We are looking forward to fostering further relationships, and as a step towards this two of our members of staff, Miss Arden and Mr Dickinson are visiting schools in China during the summer holiday.

Sports Day

On Thursday 13th and Friday 14th July we held Sports Day. Students competed in their forms across year groups in both Track and Field events. On the Thursday afternoon and Friday morning we held the field events, before the whole school came together on the Friday afternoon for the track events. The events were well supported by forms and parents alike, with students en-joying the reward of an ice cream van on the school site.

There were a number of fantastic performances throughout the two days, congratulations to all of the competitors and winners. The results were as follows:

Year 7: 1st LNE 65pts=2nd VGA 50pts=2nd VTE 50pts4th VWR 45pts

Year 8:1st WWH 505pts2nd IDI 395pts3rd ACL 375pts

Year 9:1st CPA 420pts2nd MCO 365pts3rd JED 315pts4th FKI 230pts

Year 10:1st TRO 470pts2nd HCL 455pts3rd SWI 355pts

Year 11:1st HCO 500pts2nd CCL 425pts3rd LSI 275pts

Rugby Academy

The Y8/9 Rugby Academy is in full swing with students be-ing put through their paces by former England international Scott Benton. As part of the applied resilience curriculum students are training for 3 lessons on a Wednesday after-noon as well as a session afterschool on a Monday. The focus so far has been on fitness and a range of basic skills and rules used within games. Students have responded in a really positive manner to the different sessions and chal-lenges presented. The Y9 students have already taken part in a Rugby 7s tournament and we are looking forward to competing against other schools across the next year.

Athletics Records Broken

Students from Brayton attended York University Athletics Semi-Finals and Finals.

Andrew Longton broke the 200m school record in the final from 28.8 seconds back in 1999 to 28.7 seconds.Tom Ni-cholson broke the Long Jump record during his semi final from 5.24m back in 2013 to 5.28m and then beat his own record in the final from 5.28m to 5.36m.

Congratulations to both, and we look forward to watching with interest how their sporting careers progress.

Flying Start For The Netball Academy

The Netball Academy have worked tremendously hard for their first 3 weeks of the programme. The enthusiasm, motivation and dedication from all of the students has been a delight to see. The main focus has been recapping basic rules and implementing these in to game situations. The progress from the students already is remarkable and there is a real “buzz” during the sessions. All students are highly competitive and the derby between the Year ‘s and Year 9s is the talk of the changing rooms. The Year 8s are giving the Year 9s a real run for their money!

It has been a great pleasure working with such talented students and I’m sure it’s going to be a very successful season.

Mrs Wright

Visit to the Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre in Newark The students in years 9 and 10 have the opportunity to visit the Beth Shalom Centre in Newark this week. The centre serves as a memorial to those who were affect-ed directly or indirectly by the actions of the Nazis. The main purpose of the centre is to encourage tolerance and acceptance of all so that history will not repeat itself. The students will visit an exhibition about events in the 1930’s and 40’s, a memorial garden with some of the names of lost ones and complete some work that will help support their academic studies.

In the afternoon they will have the opportunity to listen to a Holocaust survivor speak about their experiences during the time. Students will have the opportunity to ask ques-tions to help them understand the events of the time.

Careers Rock!

On Thursday 13th July 50 students from across the academy visited London along with 10,000 other students from all over country. The trip was to attend a Careers Fair and also a Rock Assembly concert at the impressive Wembley Arena. The main headline act was a band called The Vamps, much to the approval of our students!

Many organisers commented on the excellent conduct and behaviour of our students as they enjoyed the event.

Year 11 Geography Fieldtrip

On Wednesday 12th July, the Year 11 GCSE Geogra-phy students visited the east coast to collect data for their final exam. The day involved visits to three differ-ent locations to gather information. Firstly, we went to Flamborough Head to examine coastal landforms of hard chalk rock areas such as caves, arches, stack and stumps. We then travelled down the coast to Hornsea to investigate longshore drift and coastal management including the impact of groynes (and have fish and chips!). Finally, we stopped at Mappleton to observe the coastal erosion of soft clay rocks. The sun shone all day and the trip was a success!

GCSE Art & Design Exhibition

Last Monday we hosted our annual GCSE Art and Design Exhibition. This was a celebration of the work produced by Year 11 students who have completed GCSE Art and Design this year.

The work exhibited was a combination of Portfolio pieces and work produced for the Externally Set Task including work in response to the following starting points: Still Life, Natural Form, Detail, Angles, Out of Place and Architec-ture. The exhibition showcased the wide range of techniques the students have used to develop their ideas such as Mod roc relief, fabric painting, and mono print, mixed media pieces alongside more traditional observational drawing using pencil, pastels and crayons.

All our students are represented in the exhibition and we are very proud of what they have achieved.