Up and running at last!

We have now completed our second full week since opening.  The students’ arrival has transformed the building in to a live functioning academy and it feels brilliant.  To see our incredibly smart and professional student body arriving on day one, with anticipation and excitement, made my heart leap.  All the hard work of the whole academy team came together with the smooth transition into a place of learning.

Parents’ anxieties were soothed by the confidence of their sons and daughters.  Last kisses and hugs at the gate and a wave goodbye after our ceremonial cutting of the ribbon at the entrance.  It is always a tough transition from primary to secondary for parents, as well as students.

Our students have come from many different primary schools and secondary schools for our first cohort of year 7 and sixth form.  The preparations have paid off as I visit classroom upon classroom where students are engaged in their learning.  Books being read and journals written in, questions being answered and sports facilities ringing to the sounds of excited action.  It is music to our ears.

The tie ceremony on the first day really made our opening day special.  Students recited our mission statement to their Head of House and committed to be an HA learner.  They have already taken ownership of what it means to be a Hammersmith Academy student and are setting the very high standards required of others in years to come.  Also, the competition for naming the houses has begun.  It will culminate with presentations by students to the governors to select the four best. The theme, of course, is technology around our specialisms in IT and creative and digital media.

And so we begin again.  The Open Evening on the 10^th October is fast approaching.  We are two weeks into opening and we are thinking about the transition of the current year 6s.  It will be so much easier this year.  We have an academy and our own students to show off and I think parents and their children will be impressed.

We are also able to take on a few more sixth form students.  We have had to split courses because of large numbers and so have a few additional places available.  If you are a sixth former and have the grades, then make an application now.  

Contact us at the academy and send in a completed application form available through the website at http://www.hammersmithacdademy.org/

Well, I sign off now with pride in the way our students have risen to the challenge of being the founding members of Hammersmith Academy.

Only days and hours to go....

The final splashes of touch-up paint are going some of the walls.  We want it to be perfect! Pin boards and display cabinets are being erected.  They look empty without the work of students displayed within them.  Furniture is being moved into position.  Cleaners are hoovering and dusting.  No doubt a daily job for the next few months.  Parents are arriving with excited year 7s collecting uniform and asking last minute questions. We await the final plants and shrubs for the bedding areas around the academy. 

This ‘intelligent’ building is new to everyone and we are all quickly learning how it works. Rooms have automatic lighting and filtering of air.  Windows that know when to open if it’s too hot and close when it’s raining. 

The induction of our staff continues.  The buzz of excitement is tangible.  Teachers are beavering away making final adjustments to the curriculum and taking delivery of equipment and books.  They are itching to meet their new charges in both year 7 and year 12. 

Our new catering contractor, Innovate, is providing excellent food for our staff.  Students will be impressed by the sparkly Restaurant area and choices on offer.  We are using an online payment system called ‘Squid.’  Letters have been sent out to parents on how to do this. This means parents can pay online so that students do not have to bring money to the Academy.  Another technological solution to support our student community.

All we need now are the students.  The long summer holidays draw to a close and the anticipation is building toward day one, Thursday 8^th September.  We have enrolled a fantastic group of students into our sixth form and expanded some of our courses as we continue to enrol late applications.   Courses are filling up and teachers allocated, so be quick.   

The vision is truly becoming a reality.