Dear parents and carers,
I’d like to start by thanking you for your support this year in helping us to ensure that your child is in school and receiving the best care, support and education to help them in achieving success in their future.
It has been a busy, fulfilling, and productive year with our Year 11s achieving a wonderful breadth of qualifications and experiences; with some of our learners achieving up to 12 different qualifications. We have students who will be going onto courses at CRC, West Suffolk College, Long Road and into apprenticeships. We wish all of them the best of luck in the future and look forward to hearing of their successes.
The Year 11s completed their BTEC Arts Award this year at Cambridge Junction and produced a film and documentary which is being premiered at the Junction in July. Our Year 10 and Year 9 students have also completed a set of workshops with Shean Williams, where they produced their own music whilst gaining mentoring support and developing confidence.
As you are aware we have now transitioned to become part of the Olive Academies family and we can see the immediate positive impact of this already. The move will allow us to support each of our pupils even more next year.
During the summer there will be extensive building works occurring which will include a new outdoor sports facility, a brand new modern kitchen and food technology classroom as well as extensive work on our wonderful Grade II listed pavilions. We are very much looking forward to the young people enjoying our new facilities and along with our updated curriculum, which includes outdoor learning, we know they have a great opportunity to engage with their education.
Support during the summer break
Our academy will be closing for the summer holidays on Friday 16 July. Should you or your child need to contact a member of our staff or need any help during the summer holidays, you can leave a message for us on 01223 375514 and a member of staff will call you back as soon as they can. You can also email the academy team during the summer holidays at info.cambridge@oliveacademies.org.uk We will do all we can to support you through the summer break.
We thought it would also be helpful to share details of a few organisations which can offer support to you and your family during the summer break:
- You can reach the Gingerbread Single Parent Helpline on 0808 802 0925 with COVID-19 information for single parents at www.gingerbread.org.uk/coronavirus
- Find out about your local foodbank at www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/find-a-foodbank
- You can get help and advice from a confidential family and parenting advice line run by the charity Family Lives on 0808 800 2222 or visit www.familylives.org.uk
- If you are worried about the welfare of a child or young person over the summer, please contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or visit www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/our-services/nspcc-helpline
COVID-19 update
As you may have seen from the news, the government has said that from 19 July, there will be a further relaxation of guidance about COVID-19 control measures. As has always been the case, we will continue to follow government guidance for schools. This means that when your child returns, they will be asked to do two LFD tests at school in the first week, and after that to continue testing at home until at least the end of September. We will be in touch with you before your child is due to return to school to let you know about arrangements for these tests. If you have any questions about how we are managing risks and what control measures we will keep in place in September, please do let me know.
In the meantime, I hope you have a restful and safe summer break.
Best wishes,
Tony Machin
Head of School