Dear Parent/Carer
We have finally reached the end of the academic year, and looking back it has been a year of significant achievements and milestones. School life has finally returned to normal post Covid, allowing us here at the Academy to provide an excellent range of learning, extra-curricular and sporting opportunities for our young people.
There has been so much to celebrate over the course of the year, ranging from outstanding sporting successes, such as the Year 9 boys being crowned Rugby League County Champions, and significant achievements for students in their external January exams. We saw the return of trips (Geneva being one of many) and the Summer Concert was back bigger and better than ever. The return of work experience for students in Year 10 and year 12 was another indicator of normality resuming, and we ran four proms in a single academic year, making sure those wonderful prom dresses and suits got worn at least once!
Year 11 and Year 13 sat a full set of public examinations for the first time in three years, and all students conducted themselves impeccably throughout. Results days this year are on the 18 August for Year 13 and 25 August for Year 11, more details to follow.
The Ofsted visit in March went extremely well, with the Academy achieving a ‘good’ judgement in all areas. There are many positive comments in the report, with the opening line stating, ‘Without exception, pupils and students in the sixth form are immensely proud of the school’. I too am immensely proud of the school and as we welcome a record number of 275 new Year 7 students in September I know that we have the full support of our community.
I have included a summary of events per year group and I am sure you will agree there have been a lot of activities and opportunities for our students this term and over the year.
Finally, I would like to wish you all a happy and restful summer break and look forward to welcoming all our students back into school on Wednesday 7 September 2022.
Yours faithfully
Mark Bedford
Head of School
Year 7
Throughout the Summer Term our Year 7 students have continued to build upon the impressive start made to their secondary school career, and have gone from strength to strength throughout the remainder of the year. Miss Tweddle, our Year 7 Team and all of our teachers have been incredibly impressed by the outstanding effort that our Year 7 students have shown across all curriculum areas, within their recent Year 7 exams, Sports Day and through filling our classrooms with enthusiasm, diligence and team work. Our Year 7 students have continued to lead the way in Accelerated Reader throughout this term, with students achieving the highest word counts and passing the most quizzes across the Academy.
Year 7 students have played a huge role in the Transition and familiarisation activities for new Year 5 and 6 students and have been fantastic ambassadors for Workington Academy through their involvement in these events.
Year 7 in-school attendance, as well as attendance at a wide range of extra-curricular clubs has been excellent, as well as contributions made to our student council, community fundraising and wider school events, which we expect to continue into Year 8.
Year 8 and 9
As we draw to the end of this academic year, we would like to focus on the many achievements of our students in Years 8 and 9.
Both year groups have spent a great deal of time this year focusing on the importance of well-being and supporting each other. As a team, we are so very proud to have introduced a vast range of activities and initiatives based on team-work and resilience. We have been participating in project-based work during form time, which has produced some outstanding work and encouraged a sense of achievement and collaboration.
We have also had large numbers of our students apply to be ‘Not in Our School’ ambassadors, which again encompasses the values of many of our students. In addition to this, form time activities have involved sending postcards to each other, developing self-awareness and also preparing for the world of work through the weekly Future Friday activities.
Some members of Year 9 have had the pleasure of making contact with a range of outside agencies, who have provided support and guidance to our students. They have worked closely with The Centre of Leadership Performance, in which they participated in ‘Leading for Change’. As a result of this, the students collaborated with representatives from Sellafield and United Utilities to provide every child in school with his/her very own water bottle.
Year 9 have now all chosen their options for GCSE and are all ready to begin their studies in Key Stage 4. They have had the opportunity for taster lessons and many have expressed how easy and informative they found their options experience. We also welcomed parents back into school for our face to face progress evenings and options evenings, all which were very well attended.
During our summer performance, we were impressed by the talent on display. The singers and musicians from both year groups impressed everyone with their moving and faultless performances, something which we are once again extremely proud of.
The year group team wish good luck to those who are moving on to pastures new for their key stage 4 studies and are looking forward to the next academic year and the challenges this will bring.
Year 10 and 11
There have been many highlights this term, including a fond farewell to our Year 11 students. We ended with an amazing Prom to celebrate the end of year. We did, however, see some of our students return for their Sixth Form Transition week and look forward to seeing them return in September.
Year 10 students, having had a very positive first round of trial exams, are now spending their last week of school out on work experience. Having had a morning of team building and speed networking, students met with several employers from our local area. They had prepared questions to ask potential future employers, giving the students confidence for their upcoming working week. Our students are out on a broad spectrum of placements, ranging from Sellafield to local businesses and primary schools.
Year 12 and 13
It has been a very busy term for students at WCSF. Beginning with external exams, students worked incredibly hard revising and preparing for these assessments, and we look forward to seeing their results in August.
After their exams, Year 12 students completed a week of work experience. Students selected a range of different industries to explore, from education to engineering. The photos on our social media captured how happy students were during their placement and how they are looking forward to their future careers.
Year 13 students left us after they had completed their exams. To mark the end of this chapter, students held a ball at a local hotel. The evening was delightful, a mix of delicious food and great company. We wish all our departing students a successful future and hope that each one achieves their own dream.
As Year 13 left, we welcomed our new Year 12 students who intend on joining us in September. Students started their new courses and participated in team building activities to start developing those new friendships. We are looking forward to welcoming all the new students in September.
Finally, as the year drew to a close, we were able to take our current Year 12 students on some external visits. Firstly, we visited Northumbria University so students could find out more about what a university education could offer them. The following day we were able to visit the local fire station for a demonstration linked to road safety. Despite the heat, the demonstration was fascinating and we cannot thank the crew enough for taking time out of their day to show the potential consequences of dangerous driving.
Extra-Curricular Clubs
It has been great to see so many of our Key Stage 3 students attending our additional enrichment activities and extra-curricular clubs throughout this term, which have included music and instrumental lessons, Drama Club and after school sports clubs. Our Sports Leaders have also taken active roles in leading and supporting sports days at some of our feeder primary and CET schools.
Our Year 7 students have taken part in a series of inter-form sporting events after school and also took part in their first ever Workington Academy Sports Day this term, which was a fantastic event. Students enjoyed competing individually and as a form group throughout a series of athletics events, pushing themselves to be the best that they can be.
A range of students in Year 7-13 also participated recently in our Summer Showcase event – displaying their musical, drama and dance talents, which was a great spectacle.
CET Competitions
We have also been impressed by the number of entries into our range of CET events and competitions over this term, particularly the Queen’s Jubilee Commemorative Pin Badge Competition. Kaitlyn Riley’s (Year 8) design finished in the top 5 across the Trust. All 5000 students and staff were given a pin badge, designed by the eventual winner of this competition – Abigail Bond, Year 4, Yewdale School.
As part of the Queen’s Jubilee Celebrations, our KS3 students also designed over 100 high tea boxes and made British high tea items. These were delivered to care service users and members of the community who would have otherwise not been involved in any Jubilee Celebrations.
Throughout the penultimate week of term 11-15 July, all students engaged in CET’s ‘Be the Best You Can Be Week’, which saw our students engage in a series of opportunities to push, challenge and express themselves in as many different ways as possible – encompassing our core values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience. Across Workington Academy we have hosted a wide range of events, competitions, challenges and celebrations, all focused on ‘Being the Best You Can Be’, including all students taking part in our annual CET mile event.
Well done to following students who were the winners of the CET Mile Events in each Year Group;
7A – Katie O’Leary and Rocco Wilson
7B – Kweeva Whylie and Kori Bateman
8A – Callum Potter and Amelia Conway
8B – Lewis Rodgers and Alyssa Hodgson
9A – Charlie Harrison, Alfie McDonough and Lexi Bird, Ella O’Nions, Demi Norman
9B – Leyton Roberts and Jessica Hollingworth
Year 6-7 Transition
Preparations are ongoing to welcome our new Year 7 students starting at the Academy in September. Miss Tweddle and the Year 7 Team have also enjoyed getting to know our new Year 7 students and families throughout the course of this term through our face to face transition programme. We look forward to welcoming the majority of our new Year 7 students to Summer School over the next two weeks and welcoming everyone into our Workington Academy family in September. For further Year 6-7 Transition information for current Year 5 or Year 6 students, please go to our dedicated Team Year 7 Transition website – https://workingtonacademy.fireflycloud.net/welcome-to-team-year-7
Summer Holiday FSM Provision
We acknowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect many of us in different ways and for some families we understand that school holidays can present many challenges. Free School Meal Vouchers have been allocated to all qualifying students via the WONDE voucher scheme, as they have been in previous school holidays, and food bank vouchers have also been distributed to all families who requested these. If you are in need of any additional help and support, including access to food during the Half Term period, please refer to the following website, which details an array of advice and support information; https://cumbria.gov.uk/welfare/ Furthermore, information regarding local foodbanks can be found here; https://www.thefoodbank.org.uk/
