Newsletter 15/11/2024

Associate Principal's Message

Dear families,

This week’s theme in our morning meetings has been respect, and it was timely that our scholars had chance to demonstrate this during our 2 minutes’ silence on Remembrance Day this week. In addition, Mrs Glover talked to all scholars about the importance of recognising and respecting those who have served in our Armed Forces and in particular those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our collective freedoms.

In addition, I’ve been talking to scholars about how they’re ambassadors for the school when out and about in the community and wider; if you or others in the community witness or hear of our scholars doing great things, don’t hesitate to get in touch – the more role models we can celebrate, the better! We know so many of our young people are doing great things out and about, and we want to reward them.

Finally, as we progress towards the festive season, please do continue to keep up to date with the Dearne Dates for your Diary, there are lots of events taking place in the local area for everyone to enjoy.

Kind regards

Mr Arezoo
Associate Principal

Key Dates

Tuesday 5th November –Friday 29th November – Year 11 Mock exams
Wednesday 20th November – Year 10 Subject Review Evening
Wednesday 20th November – We Care into Future trip (Y9 Careers)
Tuesday 3rd December – England Lionesses Trip (KS3)
Thursday 5th December – Go Higher Trip (Y8,9,10 Careers trip)
Friday 6th December – INSET Day
Friday 13th December – Flu vaccinations (All year groups)
Monday 16th December – Y11 Mock Results Day
Wednesday 18th December – Year 11 Subject Review Evening
Monday 23rd December – Friday 3rd January – Christmas break
Monday 6th January – INSET Day
Wednesday 29th January – Year 7 Subject Review Evening
Monday 17th February – Friday 21st February – Half term
Wednesday 5th March – Year 9 Subject Review Evening
Friday 21st March – INSET Day
Wednesday 26th March – Year 9 Options Event
Monday 7th April – Friday 18th April – Easter break
Monday 21st April – Easter Monday Bank Holiday (school closed)
Monday 5th May – May Day Bank Holiday (school closed)
Wednesday 21st May – Year 8 Subject Review Evening
Monday 25th May – Friday 30th May – Half term
Monday 23rd June – INSET Day
Wednesday 16th July and Thursday 17th July – Year 6 Transition
Friday 18th July – Last day of school
Monday 21st July – INSET Day
Tuesday 22nd July – INSET Day

Traffic at drop offs/collections

We are looking for the support of all parents/carers in terms of drop-offs, collections and traffic at the front of school in a morning.

Everyone doing their bit helps ensure the safety of our young people as they arrive at and leave school at the end of the day:

Please do not park on the yellow chevrons at the front of school – these are to ensure clear access and scholar safety.
The island on the T-junction at the front of school is not a roundabout. Using it in this way blocks access and exit from school site and creates more traffic, making the area more unsafe.
Please only drop off your child in the drop-off zones in the car park or access road. This allows traffic to flow and prevents queues on the access road and coming in from the main road.

Thanks in advance for your support.

Year 10 Subject Review Evening

Year 10 Subject Review Evening is taking place on Wednesday 20th November.

Please use this link to book your appointments with your child’s teachers – https://aad.schoolcloud.co.uk/

The evening will take place online via the School Cloud platform. This is a great opportunity to find out how your child has started the academic year in their GCSE subjects and look at how they can continue to succeed in the weeks and months ahead.

Dearne Dates for your Diary

Please click here for up to date Dearne Dates for Your Diary

Community Events

Further details regarding Acez Tennis Sessions

Award for Girls' Football

Astea Academy Dearne has been recognised as an Equal Access School by the Football Association. This means that we are in the top 5% of schools nationally for girls’ football provision. A huge thank you and well done to Miss Corke for her tireless work and commitment to girls’ football.

HeppSY Survey

As a school, we work closely with HeppSY (the Higher Education Progression Partnership South Yorkshire) to promote university as a potential Post-18 pathway.

In order for HeppSY to understand our school’s cohort with regards to aspirations, plans for the future and understanding of Higher Education, they are running the following survey.

If your son/daughter answers all of the questions, they will be entered into a prize draw to win either a £20 or £100 high-street voucher.

Please use this link: https://shusls.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b15O62ZjNjxrAX4 and the password, SHU, to access the survey.

Homework Schedule

Please see the homework schedule for all scholars:

KS3 Homework (Year 7, 8 and 9)
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Sparx Science	Self-Quizzing	Sparx Maths	Self-Quizzing	Sparx Reader


KS4 Homework (Year 10 and 11)
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Sparx Maths	English	Science	Option A	Knowledge Quizzes
Sparx Maths	English	Science	Option C	Option B

Please click here to access the Astrea Academy Dearne Homework Policy.

Safeguarding

Northern Gas Network (NGN) and NSPCC have partnered up to keep vulnerable families safer and warmer as winter approaches.

They are offering families a FREE Carbon Monoxide (CO) alarm if they don’t already have one, alongside their Safer Homes leaflet which provides tips and links to sources of help with fuel costs.

This offer ends on 30th May 2025, or while stocks last, so please help your families to benefit this winter.

Safer Homes Leaflet

Targeted Youth Support

Gemma, from Targeted Youth Support has been out to Astrea Dearne this week, talking to young people about the TYS LGBTQ+ groups in Wombwell and Cudworth for young people 13-19 years old.

If you or any young people (13-19years) in your life would like more information about Targeted Youth Support LGBTQ+ youth groups, please contact them using:

01226 753406

07766 698025

TYSenquiries@barnsley.gov.uk

To ensure key information is at parents fingertips, we are trialling the use of a new WhatsApp Channel to share key whole school messages.

Please follow and share with other families in the Astrea Dearne Community. Don’t forget to turn on notifications!

Here is the link to the channel:

Term Dates

Term dates for the 2024/2025 academic year can be found below.

We do have spare paper copies in the academy reception if you would like to collect one.

Vaccinations

The school nursing team will be in school on the dates below for vaccinations:

13th December – Flu vaccinations (Year 7 to 11)

29th January – HPV (Year 8)

22nd and 23rd April – DTP/MenACWY (Year 9 only)

10th July – Catch up session for all year groups

MCAS

All payments for school are now made via the MyChildAtSchool App. You can top up lunch accounts using the dinner icon within the App. You will then be given the option to ‘add dinner money’.

Menus

Our catering menus have been updated for the Autumn term. Please see the link here for the new menu.

Nut Free School

Please note that our school is a nut free zone. We have scholars and members of staff in school who have serious nut allergies. Please do not send scholars into school with any products which may contain nuts.

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 Parkin – Clare.Parkin@astreadearne.org
Year 8 Mr Crew – Gary.Crew@astreadearne.org
Year 9 Mrs Wheatcroft – jocelyn.wheatcroft@astreadearne.org/Mrs Laycock – Lindsey.laycock@astreadearne.org
Year 10 Mrs Mason – Julie.Mason@astreadearne.org
Year 11 Mrs Dickinson – Keeley.Dickinson@astreadearne.org

Vacancies

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