Dear Parent / Carer
As the final week of the term draws to a close - and with the half term break imminent - there is still plenty to share from another action-packed week at Rushden Academy.
With it being the final week of the term, Mr Smith led rewards assemblies for all year groups to celebrate both individual successes and collective achievements. It was lovely to hear form tutors justify the reasons for choosing their tutees of the term with lots of wonderful things being said about each individual. In addition, it was great to see Ms Raven handing out a number of certificates and star badges to students who have read over a million words since September.
Our Year 9 students were all given the opportunity to participate in some careers workshops organised by Miss Ridley via our Ethos Team. We welcomed Vince, from the Grace Foundation, into school who led the workshops and got students to explore the importance of communication skills. They looked at all different types of communication and did various exercises to practise and develop their own skills. The aim of these sessions is to increase the students’ employability skills to increase their chances of being able to pursue the career they are interested in most.
Year 11s spent the week completing their final lesson in all of their subjects ahead of their mock examinations which will take place immediately after the half term break. These examinations are another opportunity to test their strengths and weaknesses and receive detailed feedback from teachers on topics and skills which they will need to prioritise for revision ahead of their final examinations in May. Mr Bocking will be leading an assembly for all Year 11 students on the first Monday back to go through the mock timetable and provide them with final guidance and advice ahead of the examinations.
Our Year 11 dance and drama students also completed their final practical examinations this week and I know many of them had worked exceptionally hard in preparing for these. I look forward to seeing their practical grades following these performances.
A small number of Sixth Form students will be embarking on a trip to India this weekend and will be visiting various tourist sites as well as undertaking charity work in conjunction with Salt of the Earth. This is a fantastic opportunity for our Sixth Form students and I look forward to hearing all about their visit upon their return.
Finally, I wanted to talk briefly about our Team Rushden value of respect. We work hard to promote respect at all times and a large part of this is about ensuring good manners around school. It costs nothing to say please and thank you but ultimately makes the school a much more pleasant place for staff and students alike. The significant majority of students demonstrate excellent manners on a daily basis but where students fall short of these expectations, please support us in reinforcing the importance of good manners at home. Equally, never underestimate the importance of sitting down with your children to have dinner as a family in the evening which sadly seems to be on the decline in today’s world, for many reasons.
Whatever your plans next week, I would like to wish you all a restful and peaceful break.
Yours sincerely,
Mr B Baines
Principal
