Newsletter 10th May 2024

Key Dates

Thursday 9th May – Y11 GCSE examinations begin
Monday 20th May – Y9 Options Evening 4pm -5pm
Thursday 23rd May – Y6 Transition Welcome Evening 4.30pm – 6.30pm
Monday 27th May – Friday 31st May – Half Term
Monday 17th June – Friday 5th July – Year 10 mock examinations
Monday 24th June – Year 7 Parents’ Evening
Friday 28th June – INSET Day
Wednesday 3rd July – Y11 Prom
Friday 12th July – Sports Day
Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th July – Year 6 Transition
Thursday 18th July – Y6 Transition Celebration Evening
Friday 19th July – Last day of term
Monday 22nd July – INSET Day
Tuesday 23rd July – 31st August – Summer Holiday
Thursday 22nd August – GCSE Results Day

Year 11

Today has seen the first full cohort exam of Biology. We are really impressed with the fantastic start our Year 11 scholars have made to their GCSE examinations! The next few weeks will be challenging, with exams for different subjects each day. Whilst this will be a difficult time, we look forward to sharing the wonderful results with our scholars on Thursday 22^nd August.

As parents we ask that you continue to support your child, ensuring they have a good nights sleep and are in school each morning by 8.20am. If you have any concerns or questions regarding your child, please speak to Mrs Child who will be able to direct you to the relevant support.

Exam Support

Are you unsure how to support your child with exam stress? Why not help them create an account on the Kooth well-being support page? This allows your child to complete mindful activities and also provides a support chat by NHS qualified well-being staff.

https://www.kooth.com/

If your child is struggling with anxiety, you can help them with some calming breathing techniques. This week’s top tip is Square Breathing:

This technique is useful to help calm your child and to help them focus on their breathing.

Mrs South has put together some exam stress packs for Year 11s. If you feel your child would benefit from one, please email sarah.south@astreadearne.org

Year 10 Shaping Futures

Thank you for your continued support with the Year 10 Shaping Futures work experience. Miss Mills is extremely impressed with the dedication our young people have shown to the programme so far. There have been several exciting visits to various workplaces over the past few months, and there are many more planned, including Wentworth Woodhouse, Brodsworth Hall, VolkerRail and Doncaster College in the next week.

Attendance

We are continuing to see a pleasing rise in attendance during half term 5. However, there is still a long way to go. As mentioned in a previous update, since the COVID pandemic, attendance nationally has seen a huge dip. Sadly, this has also been the case at Astrea Academy Dearne. We must all work together to ensure scholars are in lessons, learning at every available opportunity.

We have had assemblies with all year groups clearly showing how attendance directly links to Year 11 outcomes. Last academic year, scholars with over 90% attendance averaged almost 2 full grades higher than those with less than 90% attendance. By working together to improve attendance, we know that outcomes for your children will be improved.

The three large attendance prizes, drawn before Easter, were handed out last week. There are many more prizes to be given out between now and the summer. By being in school your child will receive tickets to all of the draws.

Another reminder that every year group has its own attendance officer. Should you need to speak to anyone at school about attendance please contact the appropriate Attendance Officer:

Y7 – Mrs Bann
Y8 – Mrs Stringfellow and Mrs Wheatcroft
Y9 – Mrs Mason
Y10 – Mrs Dickinson
Y11 – Mr Crew
Attendance Manager – Mrs Parkin
Attendance Admin – Mrs Laycock
Senior Leader for Attendance – Mr Richardson.

Safeguarding

This week, we have launched the It Stops Now campaign. The ‘It Stops Now’ campaign will run throughout each year group and will have relevant and specific themes at key points throughout the academic year, which will reflect the needs of our students, the school and the local community. This week, all scholars from Y7-Y10 have attended an assembly exploring the topic of sexual harassment, what this means and how any young person who is experiencing this can be supported in school. Any scholar with concerns around sexual harassment can report this to any member of staff however if they do not feel comfortable doing this, there will be a confidential post box on the street for them to access. In addition, there is a dedicated email inbox that scholars can contact to share any concerns they have around sexual harassment in school via itstopsnow@astreadearne.org. We will continue to update parents on the other themes explored throughout the year.

Family advice

MCAS

As you are aware, we currently use ParentPay for our cashless payments in school. During the summer holiday, we will be moving over to MyChildAtSchool (MACS) payments. If you already have activated your MCAS account, there is no further action needed and any balance remaining on ParentPay will automatically transfer over. If you are yet to activate your MACS and need help in completing this, please contact info@astreadearne.org

Absence reminder

What should I do if my child is absent from school?

Students are legally required to attend school every day and should only be absent in real emergencies. If your child is not in school, they must have a justified reason.

If your child is absent from school, please contact school before 8.30am and leave a message clearly stating the reason for the absence.

Telephone our dedicated absence lines 01709 892211 (Option 2)

Send a message via the ‘my child at school’ app

Year 7 Mrs Bann – Emma.Bann@astreadearne.org
Year 8 Mrs Wheatcroft and Mrs Stringfellow – jocelyn.wheatcroft@astreadearne.org and Lydia.Stringfellow@astreadearne.org
Year -9 Mrs Mason – Julie.Mason@astreadearne.org
Year 10 – Mrs Dickinson – Keeley.Dickinson@astreadearne.org
Year 11 – Mr Crew – Gary.Crew@astreadearne.org

Vacancies at Astrea Academy Dearne

We currently have vacancies to join our team at Astrea Academy Dearne. Please see below for a link to the My New Term recruitment site. Please contact school if you would like any further information.

Astrea Academy Dearne – MyNewTerm

Communications

You can contact us by calling reception on 01709 892211 or emailing info@astreadearne.org

We use the My Child At School (MCAS) to communicate with our parents and carers. MCAS is the online platform that allows us to share information live with you. It enables families to view live data including a student’s timetable, list of teachers, number of rewards and behaviour points and so on. If you have not yet registered for MCAS and would like some support to do so please contact school reception or you can follow this guide MCAS and Communication – Dearne Academy (astreadearne.org)