Dear Families,
It has been a very busy, but extremely rewarding and successful week for the team at Rushden Academy. I want to start by congratulating Mrs Cherry and our Eco and Sustainability team for their excellent work in gaining the Plastic Free Schools: Surfers Against Sewage award. Students have been working hard to suggest and implement changes across the school to reduce plastic waste, ensuring that systems are in place to increase recycling. It is fantastic to see the passion and determination of our students, knowing that the community and wider world are in good hands!
Parent Communication
We want to remind parents that we aim to respond to all messages within 48 hours of receipt. When messages are sent during the evening, staff are not expected to read or reply until the following working day; we appreciate your understanding in helping us protect our team’s work-life balance.
Additionally, if you would like to speak to a member of staff, please ensure you book an appointment in advance. The reception team will happily support you with this. We want to avoid situations where parents are left waiting for extended periods while our team members are teaching or supporting students.
National Scientific Thinking Challenge
Huge congratulations to all students who took part in the National Scientific Thinking Challenge - a rigorous online competition designed by academics from six top UK universities. This year's challenge saw 16,174 students from 255 schools take part, tackling demanding problems that test deep thinking and scientific reasoning.
We would like to give a special shout-out to the following students for their exceptional performance. Well done to Saanvi (80%) and Callum (78%), who both achieved Gold certificates! These impressive scores place them in the top 10% nationally. In addition, 9 students achieved Silver (placing them in the top 25%) and 10 students achieved Bronze. This is a massive achievement and we are extremely proud of your hard work and success!
Parent Survey Feedback
Thank you to all parents who contributed to the school survey delivered by Edurio. This week, schools across the trust received the results, and we will now begin to explore this data in more detail before sharing a summary and an action plan to address your feedback. The advantage of using a national platform like Edurio is that it allows us to benchmark our results against the national average, giving us a clear indication of how we are performing compared to other schools.
Fundraising Day
Our heartfelt thanks go out to all students and the wider community for their incredible support on Thursday. The Year 10 students worked tirelessly over the past few weeks to coordinate and plan the fundraising day. They did a wonderful job, and we are delighted to report that they raised a total of £1,175 on the day. When combined with their separate online fundraising account, the grand total raised stands at just over £2,000!
Everyone is extremely proud of the work the students have done and the way in which the whole community came together to support them - this is a shining example of what it means to be a part of Team Rushden.
We hope you all have a lovely weekend, and we look forward to seeing all students on Monday, ready for line-up at 8:25am.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. J. Firth
Principal
