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A Message from Principal, Mr Martin
This has certainly been a truly memorable term for the Academy with several notable high points.
Last week, we had our annual Spring Concert, including: bands, choirs, percussion, orchestras and several solo performances. The array of talent on display was amazing and a fitting tribute to many of our Y11 and Y13 students who are moving on to University and Performing Arts colleges next year, to continue their studies of the Arts. I would like to thank Mrs Meadows and the team for all their hard work in putting on such an impressive evening.
This week, we had an evening of Dance, where several of our GCSE and A Level dance students performed their exam pieces for family and friends. The Theatre had a fantastic atmosphere and beautiful pieces were shared and admired by the audience. Last week we also had our Year 9 Achievement & Celebration Evening, featuring our first ever Poetry Slam, which was so successful that I suspect it will become an annual event. At the event ,we also celebrated the impressive results of the debating teams, which have improved year on year under Dr Haynes, and this term narrowly missed out on the final.
For a number of years, a key target of the PE department has been to have teams in national finals in Rugby, Football and Netball all in the same year. This aim was realised this week with the U16 football team travelling all the way up to Newcastle and staying overnight, before winning 2-1 and gaining a place in the national final. The final will be played at Stoke City stadium in May and will be a fitting end to an unbelievable few months for PE at SWA, which also included a fantastic performance at Rosslyn Park 7s, particularly by the girls again this year. We couldn't be any prouder of our athletes - who are now regularly performing at a national level and further building the school’s reputation for sport.
Following last night’s governor meeting, the behaviour policy will be updated to include anti-social behaviour in the toilets and social areas. Mrs Kirkman will be sending the new policy to parents/carers ready for the new term. All students have been made aware of the new rules and sanctions, please see below for more information.
Finally, I would like to wish all the trips going out over Easter, including the ski trip, a bon voyage and safe journey!
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Messages From Heads of Year
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As we draw to the end of the second term of Year 9, I would like to take the opportunity to celebrate and congratulate our Year 9 students on their achievements and accomplishments so far. They have continued to show our school values daily, with 144 students in the year group not receiving a single behaviour point since September, which is absolutely fantastic!
As we move into the final term of Year 9, we will focus on finalising option choices. Mr Nolan is in the process of contacting parents/carers and students to discuss potential clashes and to present solutions for those. If you have any concerns regarding GCSE options, please direct them to Mr Nolan.
We’ll also be saying Goodbye to Mrs Godfrey this term who is leaving us to start her maternity – we would like to wish her the best of luck and we would also like to welcome Mrs Gough who will be joining the Year 9 team as our pastoral support officer.
When we return there will be a push on uniform expectations and punctuality/attendance to registration. Could you ensure your child has the correct uniform for their return in April. If there are any uniform issues, please provide an email outlining the problem to your child’s form tutor otherwise, our normal behaviour policy sanctions will be issued.
Have a fantastic Easter and a well deserved rest and I look forward to seeing all of Year 9 in April.
As we come to the end of another busy term, it’s a great opportunity for us to reflect upon the achievements of our year group. This may have been a team achievement or an individual goal that has been accomplished. We’ve discussed the importance of recognising and praising those within the school community during assemblies and tutor times. The students had the opportunity to send a praise postcard to a staff member, personally I know staff enjoy reading these, and it reiterates the reasons why we love teaching – to support, nurture and challenge young people.
It has been great to hear that many students within Year 10 have been part of a group who worked together to discuss and launch new ideas to develop our praise and behaviour systems. The group has shared ideas, discussed how they will impact the school community and then fed back to staff. The positive communication ensures students do have a voice for change, so staff and students can work together to make positive decisions as a school.
It’s amazing to see students within various subjects look back over the topics they’ve covered earlier in the term and take the opportunity to develop an array of revision strategies. Subjects use different revision resources and recommend specific cards or books.
As Year 10 mock exams draw near (24/04 – 05/05/23), it’s important to remember that the mocks are an opportunity for students to experience exam conditions and expectations. We’ll be working with our pupils to embrace the challenge and see the mock exams as an experience that will support them into Year 11 and beyond. Throughout the week we return, we’ll prepare the students by discussing and teaching them different strategies when taking a test and dealing with nerves. Again, we hope this will help the students embrace the challenge and try new techniques to calm their nerves and revise.
We’re so proud of our sports teams, this term our U15 netball team played in the final of the Sisters in Sports national cup final, losing to St Aidan’s. The team are determined to come back stronger and learn from the experience. Our U15 boys’ rugby was narrowly beaten in the final of the prestigious Leicester Rugby Sevens tournament. Some of our Year 10 girls played on the main pitch at the Rosslyn Park Schools Rugby Sevens competition – this was streamed live throughout the day and it was an amazing experience for our girls. Both our U15 boys’ football A and B teams have qualified through their groups and will play in the semi-final of the district competition when we return after the break. This is some achievement, particularly for the B team who are playing against other schools A teams. Many of the footballers in the year group are also looking forward to a football tour in Holland over the Easter break. The students will not only enjoy the football but will also enjoy the overall experience of being in another country and enjoying different cultures. On a similar note, many Year 10 students are skiing as of Saturday– we wish them all a safe journey and an enjoyable time.
I would like to wish you all a very happy and restful Easter and on behalf of our students, I would like to thank all the form tutors, teaching, pastoral and support staff for all their efforts this term.
At the time of writing this we’ve finished our Year 12 PRE and our Year 12 students have reflected on their latest report. Many excellent attitudes to learning grades were rewarded, and our students have made excellent progress.
It has been a really busy term for trips, events, and team performance and our Year 12 students have also impressed apprenticeship trainers at the latest workshop. The summer term brings many challenges such as external exams, internal progression exams, work experience week and many more opportunities to represent the school in transition days and sporting events.
Towards the end of the summer term, we will start work on personal statements and applications for university and apprenticeships – students need to think beyond their subject courses and take on opportunities as they are offered. We will also be recruiting for our student leadership team, this is an ideal opportunity for our students to take on leadership responsibilities to further develop themselves.
We hope that our students use the holiday weeks to rest, recharge and reflect on the last term, and fully prepare for what will be a challenging yet rewarding summer term. Happy Easter!
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CHANGES TO OUR BEHAVIOUR POLICY
Over the past few weeks we have worked closely with the school council and a student led working party to find solutions to concerns that both students and parents/carers have raised surrounding the use of toilets in school. Our aim was to find solutions that ensure all students feel safe and comfortable when using the toilets in school. The students made some excellent suggestions which have been agreed by governors and will be in place at the start of next term. Please find details of the current actions in place along with the changes below:
Duty staff locations
Staff members are placed outside every toilet during break times and lunchtimes to ensure that:
- Students do not take food or drink into the toilets.
- Large groups do not enter the toilet at the same time. Instead, students will be asked to wait outside to ensure that the toilets are not being used as a social space.
Access to facilities
We ensure that there are always toilets open in every block. At times, some toilets need to be locked for repair if they have been damaged. To ensure that there are enough toilets in each block, the vice principal walks the site every morning to check that they are open.
Hall pass
We believe that students deserve disruptive free learning, we remain passionate that no minutes should be lost, and the best place for students to be is in their lessons. Therefore, we encourage students to use the toilet during their break times, lunchtimes and change over times, should they need to. However, we recognise that there are some occasions when students may need to access the bathroom during a lesson for personal hygiene reasons. Staff members have been issued a hall pass and can use this at their discretion. As we do with time out cards, students have suggested that the use of a hall pass will be logged on Edulink and will be monitored by the pastoral teams for any misuse.
Updates to behaviour policy
During the student working party, students were passionate that sanctions should be increased for students that have been found vaping in the toilets. We discussed this at length and the students have suggested the following:
- Students found vaping/smoking:
- 1st offence-B4 Isolation
- 2nd offence- B5 Suspension
- Students found with vaping/smoking items:
- 1st offence-B4 Isolation
- 2nd offence- B5 Suspension
- Students found congregating in toilets:
- Introduction of a B4 Anti-social behaviour in toilets. When large groups of students are found congregating in the toilets, staff members will log their names on our tracking form. This list will be checked regularly throughout the week and if a student is repeatedly found breaking the ‘no large groups congregating’ rule, then they will be issued with a B4 Anti-social behaviour in toilets and will be isolated.
We are proud of the student’s mature approach in working with us to create solutions that work for them while maintaining our high standards and expectations.
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YEAR 9 POETRY SLAM
In case you missed it, last week we held our first Spoken Word Poetry Slam night.
Being the first event of this nature, we are very proud to say it was hugely successful! Mrs Linehan, Ms Corbishley and Mr Tawede got in the spirit and donned their wigs to judge the event. Well done Year 9s.
The event was kindly supported by Claire at 1st Class Event Specialists.
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YEAR 9 ACHIEVEMENT AND CELEBRATION EVENING
Last week we celebrated the achievement of our Year 9 students and applauded their efforts and successes during our formal celebration evening, which was complete with a red carpet. A number of students presented on their Black History Projects and it was lovely to hear their voices! The event was kindly supported by Claire at 1st Class Event Specialists.
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RAMADAN GREETINGS
We are in the early part of the Islamic month of Ramadan which, for Muslims, is a month of prayer, fasting, almsgiving and spiritual reflection. As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, Ramadan is an opportunity for Muslims to renew their commitment to their faith in God and to the principles of charity and compassion.
We want to wish our Muslim staff, students and friends’ peace and blessings during their holy month.
Philosophy, Religion and Ethics Department
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31 Mar 2023
Year 9 High Attainers have been challenged this year to complete an independent project on Black British History.
This has been part of a pilot scheme from Pearson’s (Edexcel exam board) to make history more representative of the British population. We were chosen as a pilot school due...
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HART INTERNATIONAL DEBATE COMPETITION
We would like to say a massive congratulations to both our Key Stage 5 and Key Stage 3 debate teams for their hard work and successes in the Hart International Debate competition. The debate was organised by Hartland International School in Dubai and included schools from New York, Kenya, Dubai and the UK.
Our teams won both of their debates for the initial round and their semi-final competitions. We also saw a leap in the final scores for both teams showing clear improvement throughout the competition.
The semi-final was particularly challenging, only allowing students twenty minutes to prepare their debate before they had to deliver it. Unfortunately, the final was based on points scored across the competition and neither team quite had enough to be part of the final debates, however, we would like to celebrate the success of the following students for their amazing efforts.
KS5 team: Natasha, Rebecca, Sienna-Chi, Vitalii. Star debaters for this team were awarded to Natasha for the first round and Rebecca for the semi-final.
KS3 team: Josh, Will, Freddy and Toby. Star debater for both rounds was Josh Wheeler.
Our KS3 team was also celebrated at the recent High Attainers celebration evening and poetry slam. All were rewarded with a pizza lunch (thank you Mr Martin!).
 
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SPRING CONCERT
Last week, at our annual Spring Concert, we celebrated the work of our Music department. It was an incredible evening filled with excellent talent across the academy, we couldn’t be prouder of these students. Well done.
A special mention for a few of the students in Years 11 and 13, this would have been their last concert at Samuel Whitbread Academy, and they smashed it. We wish you the best of luck with your future prospects.
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GEOGRAPHY TRIP
Our Year 12 geographers have had a busy half-term travelling across the UK. Earlier in the half-term, they visited sunny Dorset and last week they visited London Docklands. Whilst visiting the capital students completed fieldwork focused on the differences in the area, which will aid them in their studies. The students started in Island Gardens, before they walked their way up to Canary Wolf. After a quick lunch break, the students were back to collecting data at Brick Lane.
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DANCE SHOWCASE
On Wednesday we had our Easter Dance Showcase, a celebration of our A Level and GCSE dance practical work, as well as, the extra-curricular clubs. All the students performed to the highest of standards to a full house audience! We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our dancers for their hard work and commitment, especially those in Year 11 who are leaving us after this term.
In particular, we would like to thank Year 13 student Anna, who has been a constant source of energy and support during her time at Samuel Whitbread Academy. She has performed in every dance show since Year 9 and has helped the department in lessons, clubs and choreographing for other shows. We wish you lots of luck at university Anna and will miss you very much!
 
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HOUSE PRAISE POINTS
This week students in Years 9, 10 and 12 participated in the House Sports Competition. Please see the results below:
- 1st Sims 400 Points
- 2nd Moore 380 Points
- 2nd Whishaw 380 Points
- 3rd Rashford 340 Points
- 4th Obama 300 Points
Current running order:
- 1st Sims 12,397 Points
- 2nd Whishaw 12,267 Points
- 3rd Obama 10,409 Points
- 4th Rashford 9,961 Points
- 5th Moore 9,212 Points
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PRAISE POINTS
This week students in Years 9 to 11 with the most amount of praise points were invited to a dominoes pizza praise lunch and were able to bring a friend. During this time we celebrated their consistent efforts and excellent attitudes to learning. Congratulations to all those invited.
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PATERNAL STAFF PRAISE NOMINATIONS
Dear Parents/Carers,
We are pleased to be continuing our guardian / staff praise nomination initiative where you have the opportunity to send a postcard to a member of teaching or support staff (or even a department) of your choice.
Please use the form below to nominate your chosen staff or department, we will then print and deliver the postcard on your behalf.
This is a quick note of thanks to teachers and support staff for their support, time or effort. We have prepopulated some options, but please feel free to design your own comments.
This will only take one minute to complete so we really appreciate your time as it makes such a difference to our school community.
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READING NEWSLETTER
SWA’s Reading Newsletter for Spring Term 3 is now published.
There is inspiration for all students across the key stages. Click on the newsletter below to read it online.
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STAR READER CHALLENGE
This term we launched our first Star Reader Challenge. This includes seventeen hand-selected books from a variety of different genres and authors. Please visit our library for more information and click on the image to read more.
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READING CLOUD
Year 9 and 10 students have been given access to over 8,000 eBooks through our library platform, Reading Cloud.
To access these, and to browse through our complete library catalogue, students can download the app or visit readingcloud.net. To login, the student's username is their school email address, and the password is their complete date of birth with no punctuation (for example 31032009). Any issues with logins please let library staff know.
Students can then search for a title, a genre or subject, or keywords. Our recent displays and collections can be searched in this way too.
Samuel Whitbread Academy is following the Carnegies this year too, just search Carnegie Shortlist 23 to see what we have in stock. The full shortlist will be available after Easter and you can submit a review through our shadowing group, Sam Whit Readers.
Speak to Mrs Mills or Ms Freeman to find out more.
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ATTENDANCE - AUTOMATED ABSENCE ALERT CALLS
A message for all students. We would like to make you aware that the software used to contact you if your child is absent has been updated. The system will now alert the person who is listed as Contact 1 on your child’s records. The external number that you will be called from is: 0114 303 4042.
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ATTENDANCE STUDENTS IN YEAR 9, 10 AND 11
We would like to remind parents/carers of the process when reporting a student absent from the academy/leaving during the school day.
Absence from morning registration
Student absence should be reported by telephoning 01462 629900 (option 1) or 01462 628041 before 11:00am. If you have left a voicemail, you do not need to send an email.
Appointments
Appointments should wherever possible be arranged outside of academy hours. If this cannot be avoided and your child needs to leave for an appointment during the school day, please could you provide them with a note. This will need to be shown to their teacher if they need to leave whilst in a lesson and to reception staff when signing out. If they have a note, there is no additional need to contact us to make us aware.
If you have medical appointment slips/letters that you would like to share with us, students can hand these in at reception at the time of signing out or a copy can be sent via email to Mrs A Martin.
Term Dates
Term dates are published on our website and may differ from those published by Central Bedfordshire.
If you need any further information or have any questions in regards to attendance, please contact the Attendance Office on 01462 628041 or via email, Mrs A Martin.
Term Dates
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CARERS
Central Bedford Council New Young Carers leaflet is available!
They are excited to share our new Young Carers leaflet with you! This leaflet includes information on who Young Carers are, tasks a Young Carer may support with, and our fantastic offer. There is also a QR code that can be scanned, taking you to our new Young Carers website, for further information.
Please click on the image below to read.
 
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AUTISM BEDFORDSHIRE -
MULTI-SPORT COURSE
Please see the image below for more details.
To book.
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AUTISM BEDFORDSHIRE - ACTIVITIES AT EASTER
Please see the posters below for more details.
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FOOD BANK REFERRALS
If you are finding things difficult and need a helping hand, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I can make a referral on your behalf in complete confidence.
Packages can either be delivered to you or collected from local pick-up points.
Please note that referrals take an average of 24 hours to be processed and anyone at all could qualify.
Please, please don’t prolong your worry by waiting too long - asking for help the first time is always the worst bit - it’s never as bad as you think it’s going to be. If I can help in any way, please drop an email to Miss P Codling
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DISCOVERY COLLEGE WORKSHOP
Please see the image below, for details regarding the upcoming Discovery College Workshop this Easter Half-Term.
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LIFEGUARD COURSE
Saxon Pool and Leisure Centre is offering a lifeguard qualification this April. This is open to Year 11, 12 & 13 students only.
Please see the poster below for details. If you are interested or half any more questions:
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GOVERNMENT EMERGENCY ALERT RISK
Please see attached information regarding the government’s Emergency Alerts. These will contact people via their mobile device in the event of an emergency that will put lives at risk, such as in public health emergencies, severe floods, fires, and industrial actions. Alerts will be accompanied by a loud sound, even if the device is on silent.
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1st XV VASE FINAL
After four years our 1st XV team returned to Twickenham to compete in the National Vase final. Samuel Whitbread Academy showed their support and arrived in seven buses and one minibus, furthermore Sixth Form students and parents/carers joined at the stadium. With the stands filled with black and yellow Oddballs hats, the atmosphere was incredible, with chants sung to cheer the team on.
At full time the score was 33-33, which means the fate of the winners relies on what team scored first. Unfortunately for us, Samuel Whitbread did not score first on the day meaning they came runners-up in the competition. Despite the ending, we are so proud of this team and they should be proud of themselves because they have been incredible.
 
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U14 GIRLS’ FOOTBALL
This term our U14 girls’ football competed in a friendly against local rivals Redborne. The team won 4-0. Well done!
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U15 GIRLS’ HANDBALL
Our U15 girls’ handball team have made it through to regionals.
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U15 NETBALL NATIONAL FINAL
Last week our U15 netball team competed in the Sisters in Sport shield final. The team travelled to Malvern College, near Worcester, to participate in the final game of the competition. For many of the students on the team, this would be their first major competition.
At full time the score was 40-33 to Saint Aidan's CEHS. We’re so proud of this team for their achievements and personal development during the competition, they left everything on the court that day and should be proud of themselves.
The team is already thinking of ways to return better and stronger next year.
 
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NETBALL - ELLIE RATTU
Two weeks ago, London Paulse and England netball player Ellie Rattu, visited Samuel Whitbread Academy. Ellie spoke to our netballers about her professional career in netball, and at the end, students were then able to ask questions.
After the Q&A, Ellie delivered a master class workshop. The students took so much away from this workshop and really enjoyed themselves. Thank you, Ellie.
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ROSSLYN PARK SCHOOLS SEVENS
Last week, teams from across the academy competed in Rosslyn Park Schools Sevens. This is the largest rugby sevens event, with schools competing from across the nation and internationally, we knew this would be a challenging competition.
First up on Monday were our U16 girls’, who set the bar high. They reach the top four in the competition.
Next up was our U16 boys’ team, which included students from Year 10 playing up a year group. An excellent experience for the students.
Our 1st XV had two wins and losses, they narrowly missed the opportunity to make it to day two of the competition.
To finish the week, our U18 girls’ team were undefeated on Thursday and progressed through to day 2, which has never been done before. The girls had an excellent two days of rugby.
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U16 BOYS’ FOOTBALL
This week our U16 boys’ football team competed in the semi-finals of the England Schools’ Football Association national cup!
They made their way to Newcastle on Monday, with a stopover in Leeds where they had a training session at West Riding FA.
The following day, Samuel Whitbread Academy played a competitive St Cuthbert’s High School. At full-time, the score was 2-1 to SWA, with goals from Taylon and captain Tom.
On Friday 5th May the team play at BET365 Stadium, Stoke, for the U16 National final.
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We are delighted to see our Year 9 Reading Group successfully complete their reading of R.J Palacio's 'Wonder'. To celebrate their hard-work and commitment to improving their reading, they enjoyed a screening of the film adaptation this afternoon. https://t.co/TuiZS4TV9g
19 hours ago
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Samuel Whitbread Academy E-Newsletter
You are receiving this because you are a Student,
Parent, Carer, Governor or Member of Staff at SWA.
Samuel Whitbread Academy
Shefford Road, Clifton, Shefford, Bedfordshire, SG17 5QS
Tel: 01462 629900 • Fax: 01462 629901
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