A Message from Principal, Mr Martin
The Spring term has started well with a number of highlights already this month.
On Friday we hosted the annual Shefford and Stotfold Student Conference, which this year focussed on well-being. Over 100 pupils, aged between 9 and 19, from 20 schools in our cluster came together to discuss how they can improve well-being of the young people in their schools. The day opened with a national keynote speaker, who talked about well-being and how our knowledge of this area has grown enormously over the last few years. The pupils then spent the second session moving around a carousel of different presenters, including music, art, PE, Forest School, meditation and even Willow, the school dog. During the final session, the pupils spent their time creating presentations for their headteachers, recommending one or more of the activities that they had seen during the day for their school to adopt.
This week we had a fantastic evening of celebration for our high attaining students who shared their achievements with their parents/carers during an evening of performances and presentations. Mrs Linehan was overwhelmed by the students’ work and delighted to share this with the community. If your child is interested in joining The Society they should speak with a member of the team and join The Google Classroom.
This week around 30 of our students took part in the 2nd of a six-week programme on Black Heritage, written and delivered by Sharon De Leonardis, who developed the programme to help students get in touch with their heritage. As CEO of SpectaculArts, Sharon wanted to educate students about their roots and has worked with schools all across the country. Following the initial session, Three Counties Radio covered the programme on their Friday night programme and this was then picked up by the BBC. This week we have also been contacted by ITV News about possibly covering the programme in the near future. We look forward to seeing the outcome of this exciting new programme over the weeks ahead.
The auditions for the musical Oliver are in full swing and the show is already shaping up to be another amazing extravaganza. We will have regular updates over the coming weeks.
In sport, we have had some great results, with the U16 girls basketball team gaining bronze in the county finals and the boys 1st XI beat Windsor Boys 7-1 to gain a place in the quarter-finals of the national cup and the U14B team beat Boston School and then Bedford Academy to reach the last 8 in the country. The U14 girls rugby also beat Robert Clack B 37 - 29 in an exciting game of rugby which swung back and forth throughout the game and was a fantastic experience for all the girls involved. Finally, last Friday, all four of our boys’ rugby teams played St Josephs in a fantastic evening of rugby at Bedford Athletic Rugby Club. Despite the freezing cold weather, all four teams came away with victories and demonstrated yet again how far we have come over the last few years.
Our recent changes to toilets have proven incredibly successful, and we are reviewing the next steps, and liaising with our student leadership team. I am incredibly proud of the maturity shown by our students and how well they have adapted. The Academy has seen no incidents of vandalism or reported anti-social behaviour over the past two weeks. If your child does vape please continue to converse with them, as we do not know the long-term health effects of this activity.
Finally, two incredibly talented students received amazing news this week with offers from Oxford and Cambridge. In addition, four students have received offers to study veterinary medicine. We are very proud of them all!
