Newsletter 27/09/2024

Associate Principal’s Message

Dear families,

Going by the attendance to our Session 6 lessons so far this term, our Year 11s have certainly embraced my mantra that ‘life is a competition’! Our staff have been impressed by the commitment and engagement they have shown in putting in the extra effort, so that they can realise their full potential in their summer exams, and long may that continue. As Year 11s, they are role models to scholars further down the school, and this is an example of going about that responsibility in the right way.

Wednesday night saw us welcome over 500 people into the school to join us for our Y6 Open Evening; children and their families got to experience day to day life at Astrea Academy Dearne, sample the food and talk to staff and scholars about our educational offer. The feedback from the evening has been amazing, and we would not have been able to run the event without the support of the volunteer scholars on the night, so I want to personally thank them on behalf of the school.

Finally, I want to remind you all that we host the Dearne Community Arts Festival this Saturday from 11:00am to 4:00pm. As always, I’m sure it will be an amazing celebration of the community’s artistic talents.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read the rest of the newsletter – there’s a competition for scholars this week, so good luck!

Kind regards

Mr Arezoo
Associate Principal

Key Dates

Saturday 28th September – Dearne Arts Festival
Monday 14th October – School Photograph “mop up” date
Wednesday 16th October – Tutor Review Evening (All year groups)
Monday 21st October – Y11 Climbing the Mountain Event
Monday 28th October – Friday 1st November – Half term
Monday 4th November – INSET Day
Wednesday 20th November – Year 10 Subject Review Evening
Friday 6th December – INSET 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

Bullying in Barnsley Survey

The Bullying, Harassment and Online Harms subgroup of Barnsley Safeguarding Children Partnership has created a survey using Microsoft Forms to collect the views of children and young people in Barnsley.

It will run for the entire month of October 2024 and will help to shape the work of the group moving forward.

The survey is open to all children in Barnsley and can be completed on a smartphone.

As an incentive to complete the survey, those who give their name and school will be entered into a draw to win one of the following Amazon gift vouchers:

10 x £5

5 x £10

5 x £20

20 chances to win!

Parent groups

Caritas Parenting Group

Thank you to those parents who have already signed up for the Caritas parenting group. We now have limited spaces. If you would like to know more and secure your space, please see details below:

We are delighted to see the return of Caritas and their offer to parents of Astrea Academy Dearne.

The purpose of the Caritas wellbeing group is to empower you as parents to understand that your wellbeing is just as important as your child’s.

Their aim is to give you the opportunity to be part of a group which will empower you to give yourself the life you truly deserve.

We all have busy lives, which sometimes take over the necessities of knowing how to keep ourselves well.

If you want to secure a place or find out more about this, please contact Sarah South on 01709 892211 or email sarah.south@astreadearne.org. Please feel free to come along and visit us in our next group on Monday 30^thSeptember.

Please see the fantastic feedback from our last parent group!

“The really friendly atmosphere, I have gained more confidence. The ability to say no when needed.”

“I have gained more confidence, more insight into who I am as a person not just a mother and a wife”.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to see this course through but it has helped me more than I thought and was fantastic how it was put across”.

Find your greatness

Do you know anyone who is interested in trying out for a range of Olympic and Paralympic sports?

UK Sport, Team GB and ParalympicsGB have launched a new athlete recruitment programme called Find Your Greatness, which is looking for sporty and active people aged 16-24.

If you know someone who is interested, they can apply at Find Your Greatness (website details below). The closing date for applications is Monday 14th October. Help them unleash their potential!

#FindYourGreatness | @UKSport | @TeamGB | @ParalympicsGB

Whatsapp Group

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

Astrea Dearne | WhatsApp Channel

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

Dearne Community Arts Festival

Term Dates

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

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

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’.

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

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 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)