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TRANSCRIPT
Year 11 Students Organised and Ready for anything. #playtimeisover (Page 10)
Continued on Page 2...
Autu
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GREENACRE ACADEMY
NEWSLETTER
This issue:
Sixth Form Open Evening
Cruz Hunter: Head Boy
International Poetry Day
Attendance ‘Are you here?’
Medway Flash Mob
Sports Leadership Academy
#playtimeisover
Message from Mrs Bridger Dear Parents / Carers,
The year seems to be flying past quickly and there are rarely quiet moments at
Greenacre Academy, with Term 1 being no exception. As we approach the end
of this productive term, it is important to reflect on the good work seen in the
Academy so far: from the main priority of getting the students settled into the
routines, affirming daily routines and focusing them back on their academic
work after the summer break.
A firm highlight of this term has seen a successful MacMillan coffee morning,
which raised record funds for this worthy charity. Furthermore, our new year 7s
have made a great start to their educational journey with us and now know
their way around the building and have got used to life in secondary school.
Year 7 Parents and Carers, you will receive, by post, your son/ward’s Settling-In
Report over the half term period. Additionally, Year 8 and 9 will receive
progress update reports.
We have also enjoyed an extended Open Week and Open Evening where year 6
parents and students visited us to gain a real insight into the Academy. The
feedback I have received has been incredibly positive, in particular
Towards the conduct, behaviour and attitude of our students.
during term time and, again, we need confirmation of
your child’s absence upon their return.
I am pleased to report that during this half term break,
work will start on the extension of our canteen which
will be due to finish in February 2020. The canteen will
still be operational during this period and, despite some
building work, we will continue operating as normal.
Looking forward, term 2 will commence for students on
Monday 4th November 2019 on week B and I look
forward to seeing our students fully prepared with both
full uniform and equipment ready to start a new
academic term. Next term, we will see Sixth Form
preparation assemblies for Year 11, which will help them
decide on appropriate courses and learn of entry
requirements for Sixth Form next year. The Sixth Form
open evening will be held here, at Greenacre Academy,
on Thursday 21st November between 6pm-8pm and I
urge every year 11 student, and their parents, to visit
and learn what we can offer in the Sixth Form.
I cannot believe I am going to mention the ‘Christmas’
word already (what happened to the Summer?) but, we
will finish term 2, ready for the festive break, on Friday
20th December 2019 at the normal Friday finishing time
of 1.10 pm.
Finally, I would like to thank you for your continued
support of Greenacre Academy and for working with us.
By home and school working closely together, we can
make a difference in the education of all of our students.
It only remains for me to wish you a wonderful half term
break. I hope you find time to relax and enjoy it and I
look forward to speaking with you again next term.
With my very best wishes,
Mrs S Bridger
Headteacher
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 2
We also held a Sports Partnership rowing event where
Greenacre Academy students once again did us proud!
Other highlights of the term included a number of
parental information evenings, including one in which
our year 7 parents attended at the start of term. Year 11
information evening also took place this term, where our
parents attended and learned about: mock exam dates,
form focus groups and mentors for year 11. In a climate
of ever increasing difficulty with exams and less
coursework, year 11 need to be well underway with
their revision programme from home and I urge parents/
carers of year 11 to ensure they are actively revising,
practicing past papers and completing their coursework
over the holiday period. We also welcomed a
motivational speaker ‘Action Jackson’ who came in, with
his team, for a day and worked with our year 11
students. It is also worth mentioning here how smart our
Year 11 students look in their new burgundy ties!
Our students have been proactive in deciding upon ways
to reinforce ‘Skills For Life’ by becoming classroom
ambassadors in all year groups. The ambassadors have
made a fantastic start to the year and continue to make
an excellent impression to any visitors. We have also
welcomed in a variety of guest speakers who have
spoken to our boys about different career paths.
We also had school photographs this term, so I hope that
your wonderfully smart sons are taking pride of place on
the mantel piece!
We have high expectations for our students and the
minimum expectation that we ask is that your child
attends school on time, every day, ready to learn, in full
school uniform. The school’s target for attendance is
96%. Thank you for doing what you can to ensure this.
Please be reminded that all absences need to be
followed up with a letter when your child returns to
school. Otherwise, unexplained absences are recorded
as unauthorised. We do not give permission for holidays
Message from Mrs Bridger
...Continued from previous page
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Greenacre Tweets
Get live updates on what is happening
at the Academy follow us on twitter at:
@GreenacreAcad
Page 3
technical level vocational courses. We offer courses at
Level 3 (A Level/BTEC equivalent) and Level 2 (GCSE
equivalent) in order to suit all skills and abilities.
Students are set challenging targets and encouraged to
work independently, which yields ‘strong
progress,’ (Ofsted, May 2018). We also recognise the
importance of students having a further opportunity to
obtain Level 4 grades in English Language and
Mathematics GCSEs (should students not obtain these
results in their summer examinations) and, as such,
factor ‘re-sit lessons’ (should they be required) onto
students’ timetables, ‘Those students who retake GCSEs
in English and Mathematics achieve above-average
outcomes,’ (Ofsted, May 2018).
Through our ‘Skills for Life’ strategy, we aim to be the
first choice for employers when they look to recruit, as
well as ensuring that those who wish to follow an
academic path in further education are given
comprehensive advice and support.
Our prospectus, proposed blocking structure and on-line
application form can be found by accessing:
http://www.sflt.org.uk/pgw-sixth-form/prospectus/
We look forward to welcoming you on 21st
November at 6pm.
Autumn 2019
Page 4
On Thursday 21st November, Greenacre Academy and
Walderslade Girls’ School will host our PGW (Partnership
of Greenacre and Walderslade) Open Evening, to which
we would like to extended an invitation to our current
Year 11 cohort, any external students and their parents/
carers. The evening commences at 6pm in the Greenacre
hall, where parents and carers will be able to listen to a
brief presentation from Mrs Bridger and Mr Mallia. This
will then be followed by a ‘careers fair’ style set-up of all
the Key Stage 5 subjects we offer. This will be an
opportunity for your son/ward to find out more about
the subjects he hopes to study in Sixth Form.
PGW is one of the largest Sixth Forms in Medway – a
true testament to our success! At PGW, we pride
ourselves on recognising our learners as young adults.
PGW Sixth Form aspires to deliver an exemplary learning
experience to our students through a nurtured
atmosphere of both cooperation and mutual respect.
Ultimately, our main aim is to ensure that all PGW
students leave us with the qualifications, knowledge, and
personal attributes needed to succeed in their desired,
future path – whatever that may be: higher education,
an apprenticeship, or the world of work.
PGW Sixth Form is the perfect progression route for
students to complete: academic, applied general, and
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 5
On the 10th October 2019, two year seven classes had
the pleasure of having a skype call with Whipsnade zoo
to ask questions about the primate section and what
qualifications are needed to become a zookeeper. We
asked many questions but as there were so many, I'll
give just a few examples of the amazing questions and
their answers:
What qualifications do you need to be a zookeeper?
You need 3 GCSEs and good experience with animals.
Have any animals escaped?
A few animals have escaped but they have put measures
in to deal with escapees.
Have any visitors or zookeepers been injured by
animals?
No, that's because there are two wire fences on each
enclosure and each zookeeper is well trained in the
event of any behaviour changes or out of character
movement.
I haven't been to Whipsnade zoo but just hearing about
it makes me really want to go but it is next to Luton
airport on the other side of London. I hope this report
makes you want to think about going to Whipsnade zoo
or become a zookeeper yourself. We look forward to
more Skyping with people from varying job roles.
Toby George Hamblett
Whipsnade Zoo Cruz Hunter Head Boy
My name is Cruz Hunter and this week I was awarded
the role of Head Boy 2019/20. I am very excited to begin
working with my Deputy Head Boys: James May and
Beckley Owolabi and the rest of the Prefect team.
What being a Head Boy, or even a Prefect, means to me
is that they have to be role models to all of the other
students in the academy, displaying Skills for Life in
everything they do. They have to be great
communicators to be able to talk with students about
any problems and work together with teachers in order
to make change for the better.
In my year as Head Boy, I intend to really communicate
with my fellow students of Greenacre Academy, as well
as the teachers, to grasp an understanding of what we
can do to change and make the school a place with more
student and teacher influence, keeping it a safe haven
for all.
I hope James, Beckley and I all have your full support and
we can’t wait for the year ahead, Thank you.
Cruz Hunter
Year 11
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 6
Are you here?
Good attendance is so important to the lives of all our
young people. The government sets an attendance
expectation on all schools across the country because
studies have demonstrated that good attendance has a
direct correlation with good attainment. This target is
96%.
For those students who are in school over 96% of the
time, this means that they are likely to attain three
grades higher than those students whose attendance sits
below 90%.
One Academic year is only 190 days. That means that
our students get 175 days off. That is a huge amount of
free time, much more in fact than the standard annual
leave of an adult in the first three years of employment.
These large numbers of holidays are for students to
recharge and recover from feeling tired and under the
weather during term time. It is not unreasonable to have
an expectation of students being in in excess of 96% of
the time. If a student attends for 96% of the school year,
they are still taking 10 days off. Across five years, this is a
total of 50 school days missed.
Parents who apply to take children off for holidays
during term time will not be granted this request and
Attendance
could face a penalty notice. The school would like to ask
all parents to continue to support us in driving up
standards in results and good attainment for all of our
pupils. This support comes in the form of sending your
sons to school every day. We do understand that
sometimes there are times that children are under the
weather but we do encourage perseverance and
motivation to at least try the day and see how they go. If
your child is ill at school, we will of course send them
home.
It is important that our students are aware of their own
attendance, for many we celebrate exceptional
attendance to school, for others we remind them not to
take any further time off as it is a detriment to their
learning.
Currently whole school attendance sits at 95.2%. We
would love to see this figure continue to improve.
Year 7,8 and 11 are our best attenders. Well done to all
of those students in all years that have 96% attendance
or more.
We hope all of our students have a wonderful two week
break and return revitalised for the next term, leading up
to the Christmas holidays.
Mrs Campbell
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 7
Skills for Life Assemblies Term 1
With the start of the new academic year, we thought we
would change how we run our Skills for Life assemblies
at Greenacre Academy. With our collaboration with
Walderslade Girls’ School growing every stronger we
have decided to hold our assemblies across both sites
and within year groups. So far it has been very
successful.
Our first assembly on 12th September was led by Mrs
Eddy, Deputy Head at Walderslade Girls’ School.
Reminding the students what Skills for life means for
them and how EMPLOY ME is a focus in everything they
do whether that be Greenacre Academy or Waldersalde
Girls’ School.
On 18th September, Mr Gearey spoke passionately
about careers in education and how he became a
teacher by doing something he loved, thinking of ways
he could earn a living by doing something he enjoyed,
sadly his passion for football wasn’t going to earn him a
penny, so teaching it was the better option. Mr Gearey
gave his best advice to the students in the room and
shared his experiences that made him stand out at
interview and helped his application for teaching
positions shine. He linked his assembly to all of the
words in our EMPLOY ME acronym, which gave us all
something to consider.
Frankie Fitzgerald Theatre school owner and Actor came
to Greenacre on Thursday 3rd October to talk about
careers within the performing arts sector. He spoke
about how CHER (Character, History, Environment &
Relationships) help him daily to achieve. He asked the
year 10 students from both schools to also think about
WHY before, during or after they do something. It helps
keep the focus and reminds us of why we do what we
do!!! Year 10 Drama at Greenacre were then lucky
enough to have Frankie drop in and talk in more detail
about his career and offer some valuable advice to those
considering careers in Performing Arts.
Sandhole Vets dropped in on Tuesday 8th October to
excite and inspire our newest EMPLOY ME recruits, Year
7! With the amazing opportunities in the veterinary
world. Hopefully the next James Herriot or Noel
Fitzpatrick will have been inspired by Rebecca Ringrose’s
informative talk.
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 8
At Greenacre we believe that preparing our Pupils for life
beyond education is as valuable as the academic
qualifications they receive.
Our Mission statement:
To prepare our young pupils to be the adults that they
are to become, by encouraging them to reach their full
potential academically through high quality teaching of a
curriculum including life skills.
Additionally, to introduce all pupils to a wide range of
potential careers and mentors from the business world
both locally and regionally so that they are fully prepared
for the world of work when that time arrives.
Our Skills for Life programme and our Mentoring
programme are designed to run alongside their
academic studies, aiming to fully prepare our students
for the world of work or further education.
Why Mentor?
Given the multitude of choices that exist in the modern
world, many young people do not have a clear idea of
what they want to do in the future; faced with so many
choices this can be overwhelming.
Having mentors, from a variety of business sectors helps
our pupils to understand in detail more about the world
of work. As a mentor, we would be looking for you to
help guide our pupils into achieving their aspirations. By
talking to them about what they can expect from the
working environment, being honest and realistic with
them about the goals they have set themselves, you will
help unlock their true potential. You will be guiding them
onto the most appropriate path, seeing their potential
and encouraging them to develop this. Even the offer of
a job!
As a mentor, we would be looking for you to support our
students in the following key areas:
CV writing and application form completion.
Interview techniques – How to survive the process.
Appropriate dress for an interview.
A day at the ‘office’ compared to a day in school.
The list is not exhaustive. As a mentor, you bring a
wealth of knowledge of the world of work to our
students.
Mentoring can be as rewarding for the mentor as it is
the mentee. Our expectations are visiting the pupils in
school at agreed times, approximately three times per
academic year. Contact is then regular and meaningful to
both parties. It may be from one visit to the next you
ask your mentee to work on something specific ahead of
the next session. Between sessions, you may wish to
communicate with your mentee to check on progress or
for them to contact you for advice. This would need to
be authorised at the school and would be on an
individual basis.
As a mentor, you would be required to complete a DBS
check; the school will advise you on how to complete
this.
Should you wish to become a mentor at Greenacre
Academy please feel free to contact Mrs Sam Presneill,
the Skills for Life Manager ([email protected])
Mentoring at Greenacre Academy
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 9
One term down already - time flies when you’re having
fun!
I know I have had a wonderful start to the academic
year, meeting all the amazing new year 7s.
Just a reminder, I am Miss Murphy and I’m the lucky
Head of Year who is looking after your young men this
year.
Already they have made a huge impact on the Greenacre
community. Best attendance in the school, best
punctuality in the school, 2nd place in the year points,
lots of learning ambassadors to celebrate and huge
successes across all subjects.
These first few weeks have seen the boys finding their
feet, having new experiences and making new friends. I
can honestly say they are settling in great and already
becoming part of the furniture - it’s like they have always
been with us.
I would like to say a huge thank you to all my amazing
year 7 form tutors, I know the boys appreciate
everything you do for them.
I hope you all have a lovely rest over the half term and
come back ready for term 2.
Thank you
Miss Murphy
Head of Year 7
Year 7 It is with great pride I am able to write this article as the first
Head of Year 8 at Greenacre academy. I would like to start by
introducing myself to the families, parents and carers who may
not be familiar with myself – I am Mr. McGregor, your son/
ward’s Head of Year.
I would like to extend a thank you to a number of parents and
family members who have touched base with myself so early on
in the year – It has been a pleasure to meet with and get to
know so many of you already. To those who I haven’t met yet,
please feel free to send an email to or if you feel it necessary, to
book a meeting with myself ([email protected]). It is always
welcome to have parents who are supportive of their children’s
education, of the school and how we can all work together to
ensure the best 5 (or more?) years for them here.
I would like to take this opportunity to speak about attendance
very briefly. As you may be aware, it was not too long ago that
we received our ‘Good school’ rating from Ofsted and one of the
areas that we would like to see a considerable improvement in
so that we can maintain our rating is attendance. Please ensure
that boys are not kept off from school for menial reasons –
especially at this early stage in the year, even a single day off can
cause a big dip in their attendance percentage. I’m sure we can
all agree that students can’t get their education if they aren’t
here.
On a final note, I’d like to congratulate Miss Andrews’s form for
being victorious in our first ever interform competition. The
form managed to beat off the opposition in a thrilling football
tournament, which saw many of our year 8 boys competing for
the pride of their forms rather than the houses they used to
compete for. This new way of running tournaments also
encourages a lot more students to take part from any given year
group, so with that being said, it was very nice to see so many
new faces on the football pitch as opposed to last year.
I wish all of year 8 and their families a very well earned rest and a
safe half term.
Mr McGregor
Head of Year 8
Year 8
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 10
Firstly, I’d like to take the opportunity to introduce
myself to anyone I have not yet had the pleasure of
meeting or speaking to yet. I am Ms Ware, Head of Year
9. Year 9 have made a good start to the school year and I
have been impressed by our motivated and hardworking
students.
I would like to congratulate the students who have
achieved 100% attendance this term; this is a fantastic
achievement and shows excellent Skills for Life. I have
spoken to the students in year 9 about the importance of
excellent attendance and the impact that time off can
have on their progress. It is so important that if our
students can be in school, that they are.
The year 9 students have also adapted well to the
changes in the pastoral system, specifically with the new
horizontal form groups. I would like to offer my thanks to
the year 9 form tutors: Miss Tywman, Mrs Duncan, Mr
Edge, Ms Odu, Mrs Lyng, Mr Kirk and Miss Pattinson For
their hard work and support so far this year in making
this transition as smooth as possible. I am looking
forward to seeing the competitive nature of our students
with the introduction of inter-form competitions.
I would also like to congratulate the year 9 students who
acted as tour guides or department helpers during our
open evening; they were absolutely fantastic and
displayed brilliant Skills for Life.
As we begin to look forward into term 2, we need to
start thinking about how we are going to build on the
progress that we have made in term 1. I would like to
see an improvement in attendance and punctuality. I
would also like our students to be thinking about the
way they present themselves, not only in school, but in
the local community. Students must ensure that they are
behaving in a considerate, safe and respectful manner.
Finally, a thank you to, Mrs Cowburn, Mrs Hill, Ms
Boynton and Ms Wall, our wonderful PSAs, who work
tirelessly to help and support our students.
Ms Ware
Head of Year 9
Year 9 I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Year 10
students on an excellent start to the new Academic year!
Both students and staff were unsure how the change
from Houses to Years would work. However Year 10
students made the transition seamlessly and have made
my job that little bit easier. It has been a pleasure to
work with you all and to see you display all of our Skills
for Life principles on a daily basis. Your behaviour has
been exemplary and the hard work and effort you
demonstrate within lessons has been wonderful to see.
I have heard nothing but good comments from teachers
of Year 10 on how you have settled into your new
courses studying the subjects that you have personally
chosen. This is a great start to what will be a very
challenging but rewarding Academic year.
Congratulations to the students who are still on 100%
attendance, you will be invited to vote for the big reward
one lucky Year 10 student will receive in July next year.
Well done to Forms TLN x2, SP & EZM who have won the
weekly Form attendance chocolate prize, this will
continue every week so make sure your Form group is in
the running!
As previously mentioned your behaviour has been
extremely good in the opening few weeks of this term.
Every student isn’t perfect and will make mistakes from
time to time but I do ask that we accept consequences
and move forward by not repeating the same mistakes.
There has been no exclusions so far in Year 10 which is a
credit to the positive choices you are currently making.
I’m sure you will all join me in thanking the PSAs and all
Year 10 Form Tutors for their hard work and
commitment during Term 1. Have a great half term!
Mr Franklin
Head of Year 10
Year 10
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 11
Where has this first term gone? I am certain our Year 11
would all say the last few weeks have flown by and that
gives an indication of how quickly this year is going to go.
For many of our Year 11 it has been an incredibly
successful beginning to this GCSE year with our new
prefects really stepping up to their duties. We have been
impressed by the standards of the majority of year 11
students this term – they are arriving on time every day,
proudly sporting their chosen new burgundy ties.
Building on this, we would like to see it become the
norm for all year 11 students as we move into next term.
A few things we would like Year 11 students and parents
to take particular note of:
For year 11 school start time is 8.30am, arriving in
form after this time will result in a late detention.
Mobile phones and headphones are not permitted
inside the school building and will be confiscated
immediately if seen by a teacher.
We have zero tolerance to disruption within Year 11
lessons.
We expect all invited year 11 to be attending their
interventions afterschool, with notes signed by parents
if they are unable to attend.
We expect all students be striving to achieve the best
of their potential every single lesson.
We expect students to be making use of the PiXL Apps,
Tassomai and GCSEPod regularly. (Please contact
teachers if your son/ward requires support logging on).
At the end of September Year 11 across the Secondary
Trust Schools were lucky enough to have The FixUp
Team in for the whole day. Action Jackson led the
students in whole school assemblies and small group
sessions to really reflect on the year ahead and their
futures, he had students singing and sharing experiences
as well as in competition with one another. It was
amazing to see how he connected with the students in a
short space of time and encouraged them to
contemplate what they want for their futures. A key
theme from the sessions was about happiness, and in
#Playtimeisover
order to remain happy we need to prepare. Preparation
is key to lowering stress levels and ensuring we are ready
for the challenges ahead, for our Year 11 this is currently
their revision in preparation for their exams; remember
little and often! However, the key messages were not
just about exams but about building their futures.
Towards the end of term a number of our students went
through a rigorous application and interview process in
order to apply for the position of Head Boy. Huge
congratulations need to go to Cruz Hunter (See Page 5)
who is our new Head Boy this year, but also to Beckley
Owolabi and James May who will be his deputies
working alongside him.
For the final fortnight of this term we also saw the start
of the Fundraising campaign from Year 11 to improve
rewards that will be given this year to develop their
motivation and perseverance to aspire to exceeding
their targets. The ‘12th man’ fundraising team lead by
Mr Roberts and Mrs Allen have designed fundraising
opportunities that students will enjoy participating in.
This term has seen a Football penalty shoot-out, FIFA
knockout tournament and cake sale among other
activities. Over the course of this academic year we will
be running other fundraising activities to raise the profile
of Year 11 and establish a legacy for other year groups to
aspire towards.
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 12
KS3 Assessments:
Although the end of term brings the relaxation of the
half term break, it also brings with it assessments and
tests to examine what our students have learnt over the
last term.
Our students in KS3 have worked hard in cementing their
knowledge of key concepts and ideas this term and
many have shown a true dedication to their studies.
They have been organised and committed to their
lessons, by being fully equipped, concentrating hard and
rising to every challenge posed to them.
Also, it is fair to say that students have used their
Knowledge Organisers effectively to begin their revision
of topics being covered in class. Quiz scores have been at
an all-time high and assessments have been a success,
with students performing well over the term. Knowledge
Organisers have proven excellent in allowing our
students to reflect on previous learning and learn new
spellings and complete tasks to apply their new-found
knowledge.
All Key Stage 3 parents will be receiving their son/ward’s
report detailing how much progress and effort they have
put into their studies this term. The report will also detail
information regarding: attendance, rewards sanctions,
reading age and maths age.
English KS3 English:
Welcome to a new year of KS3 English! Students have
made a wonderful start to the year with their knowledge
of techniques, SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar)
and sophisticated vocabulary impressing the English
department.
This term, KS3 students have begun studying their topics
that will continue into Term 2. We have been focused on
the context of the texts studied and have been looking
carefully at why: texts were written; the time period in
which they were set and how this influenced the writers.
Year 7 have been exploring the 1950s and witchcraft in
Roald Dahl’s The Landlady. Year 8 have been studying Of
Mice and Men, and have been introduced to the
historical context surrounding the novella, such as: the
Wall Street Crash, the American Dream and the ranches
in California in the 1920s. Year 9 have been introduced
to Shakespeare’s Macbeth and are beginning to explore
stereotypical conventions of gender in the 1600s.
During Term 2, the boys will be building upon their
explanation skills by using ‘because because’ to help
them justify their ideas about character, theme and plot.
To do this, we will be working closely with the schools’
‘Skills For Life’ motto to help students persevere with the
challenging parts of the texts and also encouraging
students to produce work that shows excellence and
motivation.
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 13
Half Term Challenges!
Writing Competition: As Halloween is approaching, we would like KS3 students to write a 200 word scary story as part of our half-termly English competition.
The story should focus around Halloween and should include:
A scary setting
1 character only!
A cliff-hanger ending
Entries can be handed into English teachers during the first week back after half-term (week commencing: 4th November).
English Accelerated Reader
Our KS3 students have continued to work with
Accelerated Reader this term and have been working
hard to improve their reading ages. So far this year, KS3
have read an amazing total of 3,623,141 words!
Please join us in congratulating the following students
who have shown excellent Skills For Life with their
reading over the past term. Well done to:
Charlie Edwards
Noel Jagun
Kyron McConnell
Charlie Almond
Tyrese Jakopo
Adam Easton
We have been thoroughly impressed with the boys’
perseverance and motivation to improve their reading
and would like to celebrate the excellent of KS3 readers.
Next term, we will be continuing to encourage pupils to
read for twenty minutes a day at school and we would
like to see pupils beginning to read more challenging
texts. Therefore, we will be motivating our boys to read
a range of subject specific texts as well as their own
Accelerated Reader book from our library; it would also
be wonderful to see the boys engaging with local
newspapers and blogs.
Spellzone
We would also encourage KS3 students to practise their
spellings in half-term using Spellzone. Spellzone is a
website that provides individual spelling resources for
each student. Every student should complete a spelling
test with headphones, with the results Spellzone creates
a personal ‘Course Pathway’. We suggest students
complete at least 3 courses over the half term.
to take a mature attitude to what is going to be a very
pressured time for them. After the Year 11 Information
Evening many of the boys have taken advantage of the
revision materials that have been made available to
them in the Intervention Room. Those that have done so
have shown great motivation and they all now need to
make sure that they are well organised in preparation
for their Literature mock exam coming up on the 7th
November next term.
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 14
International Poetry Day
This term, in English Key Stage Three lessons, we celebrated National Poetry Day. Our boys showed their poetry skills
by writing poetry about the recent Amazon Rainforest fires and exploring the past and present stature of the
rainforests. As well as writing sophisticated poetry by showing an excellent grasp of poetic technique and vocabulary,
they also developed their knowledge of how the beauty and significance of the Amazon Rainforest is under threat by
the raging fires.
English
Earth’s Final Conflict
The deep sea of life,
On this green luscious land,
A thriving community,
The lungs of the earth.
Secrets kept for centuries,
Being found every day.
But if they could talk,
All they’d want to say,
Is that they don’t really care about us.
But heaven’s garden,
Is now the playground of hell.
As the fires rage,
The loggers make the page
That you read upon now.
Apocalyptic,
Psychotic,
The dream is ending
Life, death
Mother earth can’t breathe.
By Cameron Jones
Hero
The glistening water gingerly flows by,
With the vibrant trees separating the land and sky.
The lungs of the earth so majestic and peaceful,
Now what’s become of the fire and evil.
The tongue of the flame licking each tree of its breath,
The only thing I see is death.
Flames viciously destroying everything in its path,
Hopeless is all I can say there is only cries there used to
be laughs.
Who will save the day,
We need a hero,
We went from millions down to zero.
By Thomas Smith
GCSE English
The Year 10s have also made a good start to their GCSE
studies and are now preparing for a mock exam on
Monday 14th October. This will be on the Language
Paper 1 and material to help with their personal
organisation is available in the Intervention Room. They
need to show great motivation in order to show off their
newly acquired knowledge and skill in this exam.
The Year 11s have also made a good start to this crucial
year and it has been good to see most of them beginning
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 15
Maths Maths Whizz www.whizz.com
Congratulations to the following students who are in our top ten for learning time and progress in Maths
Whizz.
Time Learning – Motivation Progress Made - Excellence
1 MATVEJS KVESKO 1 MATVEJS KVESKO
2 James DOYE 2 James DOYE
3 SULEYMAN KARWHOO 3 ETHAN PAGE
4 Joshua BEADLE 4 Joseph KENNEDY
5 MARTIN WELBY 5 Harry CROSS
6 GORDON STOYANOV 6 SULEYMAN KARWHOO
7 JOSH SUMMERS 7 Max OWEN
8 JONATHAN JESUS 8 MARTIN WELBY
9 ETHAN PAGE 9 GEORGE HAWDEN
10 HARRY HOWLETT 10 ZACK BEDWELL
All year 7 and 8 students have been given a username and password, so please log on and start making
progress.
Target: Four progressions every week.
Recommended usage: At least one hour in maths tutor mode each week, best split over three twenty
minute sessions.
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 16
History
Year 7 have started their history studies at Greenacre by
looking at the events of 1066. They have firmly got to grips
with chronology and narrative by looking at the battles of
Stamford Bridge and Hastings. The whole year group sat an
assessment on these topics at the end of term and have also
conducted ‘Pupil Improvement Time’ in lessons to close any
gaps in their knowledge. Year 8 started the year by studying
the Industrial Revolution and the enormous changes that
occurred in Britain as a result. With a combination of the
knowledge organisers, lesson activities and in-lesson
quizzing, students have developed an extensive
understanding of this period of British history and there
were some outstanding performances in the end of term
assessment. Year 9 studied the aftermath of WW1 in
Germany and have begun to develop an understanding of
how it contributed and linked to the beginnings of WW2.
This topic nicely bridges the gap between KS3 and 4 and the
boys have also been introduced to some GCSE-style exam
questions. In KS4, Year 10 have begun their GCSE by studying
Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman invasion. We have
been really impressed with how the boys have applied
themselves and how they have really got to grips with some
of the more demanding GCSE questions. Year 11 are close to
covering all of the GCSE content and will soon begin revision.
Towards the end of term they sat a mock Paper 1 exam and
will receive their feedback in Term 2.
Travel and Tourism
Year 10 this term has been looking at the introductions of
the Travel and Tourism Industry and how these
organisations are owned. They have also looked briefly at
the effectiveness of marketing for major events such as
Fright Night at Thorpe Park, ready for their upcoming trip. In
addition to this, they have created promotional campaigns
for Chatham as Tourism Promoters. Going in to Term 2 they
will have learnt everything to get them started on their first
official piece of coursework for their GCSEs.
Year 12 have got off to a great start learning all about the
different types of tourism and having a real focus on “dark
Humanities tourism” in particular. They have created promotional
materials for “screen” tourism as well. This is all great
material that will help them with their exam later this year.
Going in to Term 2 they will continue with exam
preparations and how best to answer their exam questions.
This term also sees the first of our trips in the Travel and
Tourism department. Both years are attending Fright Night
at Thorpe Park as part of their curriculum. This major event
allows students to have first-hand experience of being a
customer which they can apply to their coursework.
Law
Year 12 have already hit the ground running in preparation
for their exam in January. Unit 1 is focusing on civil law and
the students have started to look at negligence and the
alternatives to court. Role play has been a key focus with
students looking at cases like Brashear vs McSorley &
Humpty Dumpty vs King. Year 13 have carried on with the
good work from last year preparing themselves for their
exam in January. Unit 3 is focusing on crime against property
and murder. With much detail, students have focused on the
different sections involved in theft.
RE
Year 8 boys have been studying religious festivals this term.
They began by looking at some familiar, Christian
celebrations, such as Christmas and Easter and ended the
term by studying the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. The
academy believes that it is really important for our boys to
have an understanding of other beliefs and cultures as we
live in an ever-increasing multi-cultural society and our
students need to learn tolerance and respect for these. Year
9 have looked at the issue of crime. In this unit they have
studied different types of crime and various deterrents. The
boys have sensibly engaged in some very thought-provoking
discussions and have shared their thoughts and ideas.
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 17
Kent Fire and Rescue Assembly
This term, we were happy to welcome back the Kent Fire
and Rescue Service for their annual fire safety
assemblies. The focus this year was arson with a brief
recap on fire safety for our year 8, 10 and 11 students,
students were not only asked to explain why we need to
take fire safety so seriously, but were also given real life
scenarios to explain the consequences when it isn’t. The
assemblies allowed students to display both listening
skills and manners as they participated in question and
answer segments of the assemblies.
PSHE Kenward Trust
Towards the end of this term we welcomed Kenward
Trust in to deliver three assemblies to year 8, 9 and 10
students. The assemblies were led by Andy who talked
through the different issues surrounding not only class A,
B and C drugs but also smoking, drinking and even the
way in which addicts can often turn to crime to feed
their addiction. This year we also had the honour of
inviting Kim to speak about her son who passed away
last year after taking a prescription drug. The students
were extremely respectful at this time and continued to
discuss her story throughout the day, considering how
an event like that would impact their own mother and
family. The assemblies allowed students to display both
listening skills and manners as they participated in
question and answer segments of the assemblies.
Assemblies
During this term, year 7 had and assembly focused
around one of the British Values; this was focused on
different ways to manage conflict in an appropriate way
and the importance of making good choices. Students
showed excellent listening skills and openly shared
examples of how they may not have made the right
choices in the past while they considered how they could
change this moving forward.
Year 11 have also started off the term with an assembly
focused an overview of mental health wellbeing;
explaining the importance of good mental health, signs
of stress and methods to combat this. In the up and
coming year we plan to continue these assemblies with
more detailed strategies. In the meantime, if you or your
son/ward have any concerns regarding exam stress
please use the following link to the Childline website,
they offer a wide range of stress dealing strategies and
some real-life examples.
https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/school-college-
and-work/school-college/exam-stress/
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 18
Our Trust was invited to participate in the Medway Fun
Palace, which was held at Nucleus Arts Centre on
Saturday 5th October, in both Rochester and Chatham
High Streets. Fun Palaces is a free, fun and inclusive
national event which is held annually across the country
in celebration of art, science, technology and the
community. We saw this as an excellent opportunity to
collaborate as a Trust within the local community.
For the last five years, both Greenacre Academy and
Warren Wood Academy have supported this local
community arts event, by performing a Flash Mob, which
has always been one of the highlights of the day. Groups
of people from different communities join together to
perform in one routine, to one song. This year was no
exception, as once again students from across the Skills
Medway Fun Palace Flash Mob For Life Trust – Greenacre, Warren Wood and Hilltop
Academies, performed in Rochester and Chatham High
Streets, on a busy Saturday morning and afternoon, to
entertain local shoppers and publicise the Medway Fun
Palace.
The event was a great success, everyone had fun and
performed with enthusiasm. Thank you to all the
students, their parents and staff who supported the
children in attending this event on a Saturday. The year
10 Greenacre boys who joined us this year were
absolutely amazing and the department really do
appreciate all your support and commitment to our
performances. Skills for Life in action all the way!!! Thank
You.
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 19
Vocal Group Performance – Year 6 Induction Evening
This year, the vocal group were invited to perform one of
their songs during the Head Teacher’s speech on the
Year 6 Induction Evening.
The boys performed a brilliant version of Ed Sheeran’s
song ‘Thinking Out Loud’, with a couple of solo
performances from Euan Kemm (Year 11) and Ashton
Smith (Year 8). All of the boys did a fantastic job, with no
signs of nerves in front of such a large audience, on a
very important evening for our school. The boys did
themselves and the school proud having showed our
potential new year 6s that boys can sing!! Once again,
our students demonstrated that Skills for Life are at the
heart of Music and Performing Arts. Thank you boys!
Year 6 Induction Evening
The Music and Performing Arts departments were a hive
of activity during the Year 6 induction evening, with a
range of activities on offer to all! The year 10 and 11
music students had set up a band in the music room to
perform for our visitors and encouraged the year 6s to
play the instruments, whilst keyboard and percussion
instruments were available to play in the other (slightly
quieter room). Meanwhile in the dance studio, year 10
and 11 Performing Arts students, along with the dance
and drama clubs, were dancing and entertaining the
visitors with their crazy drama improvisations and ‘Flash
Mob’ dance rehearsals. A good time was had by all!
Performing Arts Recycling
Please donate your empty crisp packets, plastic
drink bottles and bottle lids to
Mrs Hill in Student Services
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 20
Once again, the Greenacre Open Evening and series of
Open Mornings have been an outstanding success!
These events saw year 6 students and their parents
arrive at Greenacre in their masses to see what the
Academy had to offer.
For Open Evening, departments around the school
showed potential new students what they could
experience as a Greenacre student. Lots of own
students, from years 7 to 11, also came along to support
the school with many being department helpers or tour
guides for the evening. They excelled in representing the
Academy, displaying all of the Skills for Life principles
that embodies Academy life.
There were a range of fantastic activities on the night,
ranging from science teachers becoming mad scientists,
the maths department creating the Greenacre crime
scene and the English department showing off how our
boys engage with the wonderful world of David
Williams’s books. We also had performances from the
Greenacre Vocal group who harmonised beautifully.
We would like to say a special thank you to Kian
Campbell and Ollie Tomlin who both gave outstanding
speeches on the evening about their time with us at
Greenacre. Here, they both write about their
experiences of the evening:
At Open Evening this year, I was asked to perform a
speech in front of the year 6s and their parents. This was
not very daunting for me because I have completed
speeches before, such as last year’s Open Evening and
that went great! When you get up there and perform it
is quite nerve-wracking but within a minute it’ll be done
and you’ll get a huge round of applause from the
parents. Before I performed my speech, I had to do a
whole 2 hours of tour guiding showing some year 6s and
parents round the academy, and that was busy!
For a lot of people, performing is very very scary and for
me it was at first too, but the more I do it the better I get
at it. I had to use a range of Skills For Life to help. I had
to use my organisational skills to create, plan and write
Open Evening my own speech, and to get to the hall on time so I wasn’t
late. During my speech I had to persevere and not give
up even when I stuttered on the odd occasion, or
misread a word.
By Kian Campbell
At Open Evening this year I was asked not only to be a
tour guide, but to do a speech in front of all the year 6s
and their parents/carers as well. As a shy person I had to
use perseverance and excellence to make sure I didn’t
break down. I thought being a tour guide was hard, but I
had no idea what the speech was going to be like. I was
so anxious. When the moment to do my speech came,
my arms and chest tensed up but after the first few
sentences I became relaxed and I thought I really out did
myself. At the end of it all I was really proud of myself
and did much better than I thought I would. Guiding
tours is not easy, especially with all the activities. After I
showed around the first group of year 6s and their
parents/carers, I had to do two more large groups on my
own. There were many questions that I was asked, for
example: how many lessons we have of each subject, the
SEN department and how they work.
By Ollie Tomlin
Well done to all students and staff involved in
participating in Greenacre’s most successful open
evening yet!
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 21
Is your son/ward eligible for Free School Meals?
At Greenacre Academy we want to make sure that we
are providing your son/ward with the best education and
support we can. To support this, families who receive
certain benefits may be eligible for free school meals.
Your son/ward is eligible for free school meals if you’re
in receipt of one of the following benefits:
Universal Credit with an annual net earned income of
no more than £7,400.
Income Support
Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum
Act 1999
The guarantee element of Pension Credit
Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for the four weeks
after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
Child Tax Credit (with no Working Tax Credit) with an
annual income of no more than £16,190
Free School Meals
Registering for free school meals could also raise an
extra £935 for the Academy which can be used to fund
valuable support like extra intervention, additional
teaching staff or after school activities. This additional
money is available from central government for every
child whose parent/carer is receiving one of the benefits
listed above.
If you think your son/ward could be eligible for free
school meals please use the website below or scan the
QR code to apply for this funding.
https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200164/
school_information/354/free_school_meals/1
If you would like any support with the application
process please contact Mrs Bennett at
Autumn 2019
Page 22
University applications are underway!
With a deadline of 15th January for university
applications, our Year 13 students are displaying their
well-practised organisational skills by already making a
great start to their applications. Those wishing to apply
to university were given the opportunity to attend two
very helpful and informative workshops to support their
application process.
The first session, “How Do I Apply to University?” was
presented by the University of Kent. Students were
taken step-by-step through the whole application
process, the UCAS timeline, and were given the
opportunity to ask questions and discuss.
“Personal Statement Writing” was presented by the
University of Greenwich. Students were encouraged to
think about what should and shouldn’t be included in
their statements, the relevance and originality of what
was being included, and style of writing that would be
expected. They were encouraged to fill any gaps in their
experiences of their chosen subject by securing work
experience placements or volunteering.
Kings Ferry Coaches are offering up to 2 weeks’ free
transport to any students travelling to London for a work
experience placement.
https://www.thekingsferry.co.uk/commuter-services/
free-travel-students
This is a great opportunity for our students to look
further afield for meaningful work experience that will
link to their future careers, and should be included in
their personal statements.
UK University & Apprenticeship Search Fair
On 27th September, our Year 12 students were given the
opportunity to visit Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium for the
UK University & Apprenticeship Search Fair. It was a
fantastic venue for our students to get an idea of the
possibilities that are open to them after they leave
school, which will assist them greatly in deciding which
course or pathway would be right for them.
Students were provided with the opportunity to talk to a
wide variety of universities, colleges and apprenticeship
providers, as well as attend seminars to help them make
informed choices about their futures.
As always, manners were impeccable, and students
displayed great organisational skills by preparing
themselves for future choices.
Year 13 will also be given the chance to attend an
apprenticeship fair early next year, and there is no cost
to parents for these events.
Events
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER
Autumn 2019
Page 23
In order to ensure that your son/ward is making the
expected progress for his Sixth Form studies, the
following intervention sessions have been scheduled to
run for over the October half term. The benefit of
attending these sessions will be: to ensure that your son/
ward has the support needed to complete any
outstanding coursework/amend coursework that
requires improvements, or to revise key topic material(s)
with his class teacher that may be of benefit to any
upcoming examinations. In addition, these sessions will
also allow your son to develop his ‘Skills for Life,’ such as
perseverance and excellence.
All intervention sessions will take place on the Greenacre
Academy site and will run on the dates and times
detailed below. Please don’t hesitate to contact son/
ward’s teacher should you have any questions about the
intervention sessions detailed below:
Sixth Form October Intervention Sessions
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER
English GCSE retake (Year 12) – English Language, Paper One: Wednesday 23rd
October, 10am – 12 noon (room 25, Miss. Eldridge) – by invite only
English GCSE retake (Year 12) – English Language, Paper Two: Thursday 24th
October, 10am – 12 noon (room 25, Miss. Eldridge) – by invite only
Law (Year 12): Wednesday 23rd October, 10am -1pm (room 107, Mr. Uddin)
Law (Year 13): Wednesday 30th October, 10am -1pm (room 107, Mr. Uddin)
Maths GCSE retake (Year 12 & Year 13): Monday 21st October, 9am – 12 noon
(Mrs. Allen)
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 24
Friends Of Greenacre are a group who run different
events school wide to help strengthen the parent and
school relationship.
If you would like to help organise or run an event please
get in touch on the following email, [email protected].
Welcome back! The start of the year has been extremely
busy for our food share programmes. We continue to
collect from Co-Op in Walderslade Village and their
generous donations have enabled us to continue the
fantastic work we were doing during the last academic
year.
This term, we have also started to collect food donations
from our local ASDA superstore as part of the FareShare
programme. This is an amazing new service offered,
where they donate good quality food which they are no
longer able to sell to customers due to ‘best before’
dates. The food collected normally consists of bread,
fruit, vegetables and sometimes even tinned goods,
which we then bag separately and send out to local
families in the community. The whole programme is a
really incredible idea and is helping to reduce local food
waste while allowing different organisations to help
those in the community around them. For more
information please visit the Co-Op or FareShare
websites.
Friends of Greenacre In terms of our events, please keep checking the
newsletter to see what fantastic events we will be doing
to raise money for our charity. At the end of term 2 we
will be hosting a joint disco with Walderslade Girls for
our year 7 & 8 students as a Christmas reward for their
continued hard work.
In terms of our Skills for Life ethos this truly resembles
organisation. If not for good organisation, these parcels
would not be provided to families on a weekly basis.
SSG Indoor Rowing Competition
On Thursday 26th September, the Greenacre
Sports Partnership hosted the first event of the
Secondary School Games, the Indoor Rowing
Competition, held at Greenacre Academy. 13
schools from across Medway took part in the
competition and a total of 376 pupils
participated.
The Overall SSG Rowing Winners were:
Girls: Rainham Mark Grammar School
Boys: Rainham Mark Grammar School
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 25
Sports Leadership Academy
The Greenacre Sports Partnership have selected and
trained 43 sports leaders from Greenacre Academy and
50 from Walderslade Girls School. Pupils have been up
skilled in all areas needed for them to lead in high profile
sports events that will be held within the school and
around Medway. All pupils have been rewarded with a
unique sports leadership academy pin badge. Massive
congratulations to all leaders who have shown
commitment, high expectations and the drive to help
others enjoy sports.
The Greenacre Sports Partnership team
Greenacre Sports Partnership
GREENACRE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019
Page 26
Make sure that you are wearing your full
uniform, with ties done up correctly!
Bring all of your basic Equipment to school
every day!
Be Ready, Respectful and Responsible Represent Greenacre Academy with pride!
You are the Academy!
Academy Uniform & Basic Equipment