It has been a very positive start to the new academic year and it was fantastic to welcome our new Year 7 pupils for their first day on Tuesday, as well as our returning pupils across Year 8-11 on Wednesday. I am very optimistic about this year and with a collective focus on Consistency Across the Academy (CATA), I have every confidence that we will continue to shift our culture positively.

Your support as parents / carers is crucial to our positive culture shift and I’ll share with you all my three-legged stool analogy that I shared with Year 7 parents / carers at our Transition Evening in the summer to explain our collective responsibility:

The education and successful development of our pupils is a three-way partnership, like a three- legged stool. The pupils, their parents / carers and us an Academy represent a leg each of the stool and we all must be equally committed and value each other, fulfilling our individual responsibility to keep the stool balanced. If one leg of the stool isn’t fulfilling their responsibility, then it doesn’t matter how strong the other two legs are, the stool is imbalanced and will fall over.

To set the tone and start the year well, I have delivered assemblies to all Year groups on their first day back focusing on our Routines, Rewards and CATA – sharing with pupils our commitment as a staff body to provide them with the best educational experience and their responsibility as individuals to support a positive culture across our Academy. As the third leg of the stool, I have detailed some key reminders below so you can reinforce our key messages at home and I thank you all in advance for your support in upholding our high standards and expectations of and for your child.

Attendance Matters

Attendance to school is our number one priority and it is essential for your child’s academic and social development that they attend school every day, aiming for 100% attendance. The odd day of absence may not seem a big deal, but every hour of learning missed contributes to gaps in learning. A day of absence every other week equates to 10% absence and over the course of your child’s school life, this totals half a year of lost learning. Every lesson, every day counts.

Uniform Standards

We have high standards and expectations of our pupils and the correct wearing of our BHA uniform continues to be a focus as we expect all pupils to wear their full school uniform every day. The overwhelming majority of our pupils are upholding this and to support those who aren’t, I urge you all to read our Uniform Standards from our website for full details: https://bircheshead.org.uk/uniform/

Areas I would like to specifically highlight from the above Uniform Policy are:

  • Shoes – Black school shoes to be Trainers / leisure footwear / canvas type are not allowed.
  • Jewellery / piercings – only a watch is permitted and no other jewellery or piercings are Piercings, including spacers, must be removed, no exceptions.
  • Black V neck jumpers – these can be school badged or plain black V No other ‘alternatives’ or badged / logo items are allowed.
  • Skirt length – skirts should be worn on the knee or just below to allow for
  • Mobile Phones – are not permitted and should not be seen or heard on the school

Ready to Learn

Pupils should arrive to our Academy ready to learn. This means that all pupils should have their Academy bag, a pencil case containing pencils, pens, ruler, eraser and their knowledge Organiser. Pupils will also need the correct PE kit as outlined in the above Uniform Standards on the appropriate day for PE lessons or extra-curricular clubs. This year pupils will also be responsible for their exercise books and will be expected to keep these safe and bring the appropriate books each day. We are focusing on exercise book expectations currently and all pupils should take pride in their work and use their books as a learning tool.

Communication / Parental Engagement

To keep you updated on successes and activities that have taken place across the Academy and provide reminders for you to support your child, I will write to you fortnightly via a letter such as this. I will write to you at the end of each half term if this falls outside of the fortnightly cycle.

As shared before the summer break, we have moved to a new communication tool – Synergy. All pupils have received login information for parents / carers and we will continue to develop the use of Synergy to keep you updated on your child’s attendance, behaviour and academic progress. If you have yet to receive your login information, or you are facing difficulties accessing the Synergy platform, please contact the Main Office and our staff will be happy to support you with this.

Parent Forum

After successful meetings with a small group of parents in the Summer, we are continuing with our Parent Forum this year and have placed the five meetings at different times on different days to provide opportunity for maximum attendance.

Our intent is to work pro-actively with parents / carers across the year, focusing on areas such as; Teaching & Learning, Safeguarding, our Be More Curriculum and Consistency Across The Academy including standards, behaviour & rewards. Our first Parent Forum meeting of this academic year takes place on Tuesday 1st October (9:30-11am) and if you are interested in attending the meeting you can register your interest by Friday 27th September via this link: Parent Forum Registration

Parent Governor Vacancy

We currently have a vacancy for one Parent Governor to join our newly formed Local Governing Board and all parents / carers will receive a separate letter from our new Chair of Governors, Mrs Suzanne Finlay, with further details on the role and how to register your interest.

Dates for the diary across the next fortnight

  • Wednesday 11th September – Matilda Jr Year 7 Auditions Year 7
  • Thursday 12th September – Matilda Jr rehearsals begin for Year 8-11
  • Thursday 12th & Friday 13th September – Silver DofE Training Expedition
  • Monday 16th September – Friday 20th September: Celebration Assemblies
  • Monday 16th September – Friday 20th September: Pupil Voice
  • Tuesday 17th September – Open Evening new Y6 pupils

Parental Feedback

I welcome feedback from you as parents / carers and where you feel we are getting it right, please share it widely and proudly. Where you may have any concerns, however, please contact us directly so we can work together positively. I am very optimistic for the year ahead and I am confident that by working positively in partnership, we can support and challenge your child in equal measure to be successful here at BHA. The three legged stool in action!

As always, please contact us if you need this information in any other language or format if you have any questions. You can contact the office by email on info@bircheshead.org.uk.

Yours sincerely,

Mr P Masher

Principal