Heads Newsletter - October 2011

I would like to start with a very big thank you to our parents and carers for the support that you have provided your child and the academy in the transition from primary to secondary school.  Students have been punctual and very well presented and ready to learn daily.  They have responded brilliantly to the high expectations we set for their appearance and performance inside and outside the academy. The next two weeks provides the opportunity for a well-deserved rest.  We have set some independent learning work for students on the Moodle for the second week to ensure they are ready to return bright and focused for the next half term. 

The last six weeks have flown by but it has been a hive of activity here at the academy. Students have used the entire academy from DT on the ground floor through to Science at the top.  We have held various show events for prospective parents and students, as well as a large opening event with our sponsor, The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists.  On each occasion our students and staff have performed as if we have been at the academy for 6 years rather than the six weeks.

Many trips have been taken in year 12 and year 7.  Trips to the Royal College of Music, who have also kindly donated 3 pianos, a Bafta gaming conference, the British Technology Show, the World Skills Careers Conference, a history trip to the docklands and many more.  It is a great way to enliven the learning and make real connections for our students.  Also, girls’ and boys’ teams have played and won football and basketball matches against local schools.  An auspicious start to our sporting future.

We have celebrated Black History Month throughout October.  Students have researched and learnt about the history and impact of black culture in class, tutor time and through assemblies.  Further, I have been amazed by the science projects brought into the academy by year 7 over the last couple of weeks, dinosaurs with different textures in Art, a celebration of poetry in English and many other projects across the subjects.  Year 12 continue to push to reach their targets as the mock exams loom in December.  Our learning culture continues to strengthen. 

It has been a wonderful start for the academy and I would like to thank my staff whose dedication and hard work in the summer and throughout this term is driving our ambition to be outstanding.  Further, I would like to thank the wider community for your continued support and kind messages. 

Enjoy the break and we look forward to seeing staff and students on Monday 7^th November.

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.  

Energised by our outstanding founding staff and students

The excitement is building. The countdown has truly begun.  We have been meeting with our founding staff and students over the last month and we’re now moving purposefully towards our September start.

We really enjoyed meeting all our year 7 students and parents to find out more about them, organise uniform and answer key questions about the Academy.  We look forward to meeting them again at the Academy in July. 

The building is completed and we are now waiting for the delivery of furniture and equipment to change spaces into operational classrooms.  We’ve got a really busy summer ahead for all staff in getting it all perfect!

We held an excellent Founding Staff Induction Day at the Mercers’ Hall on the last day of the month.  This was a chance for all 30 staff, both support and teaching, to meet each other for the first time and start working towards achieving our vision and values in more detail. It was a fantastic event with staff travelling from as far as Bradford and Southampton. We ended our day at the Academy with a continued sense of excitement when many of the staff saw their curriculum areas for the first time – their eyes lit up in anticipation of teaching in such cutting edge facilities. We felt a real sense of pride and collegiality as we became aligned to the vision of starting this exceptional Academy.  It feels like we’ve been working as a staff together for years rather than just one day…

We are still interviewing for more support staff over the next few weeks to widen the team supporting our students with their learning. There’s no let up in meeting our project plan and getting all the right people to join our team.  Keep checking the website if you are interested in working for the Academy as support staff.

The sixth form acceptance letters keep flooding in.  If you want to make a late application, there’s still time, or if you have not had an interview, please contact admissions to arrange one by emailing tahliacoleman@hammersmithacademy.org . 

We are planning to hold a sixth form Open Event on the 23^rd August to give you an opportunity to see and feel the Academy and talk about options for September.  In the mean time, well done for completing your exams, get a good rest and we look forward to hearing about your successes when you come to join us.  Remember to confirm your place as soon as you get your results - we will be waiting for you at the Academy.

Our City Dreams competition was a tremendous success and congratulations to Rowan Enis Race and Hamza Khayoun for their winning entries.  Prizes will be given out at the Academy to inspire the new Year 7 students in the creative and digital media opportunities offered by the Academy.

So the preparations continue.  We will move into the new Academy completely within the next 3 weeks, checking and testing everything to ensure a smooth start for opening on 8^th September.  We are extremely grateful to St Paul’s Girls’ School for hosting us for over a year and look to continue our warm and close partnership over the coming years.

Three months and counting!

The Easter break and a royal wedding seem such a distant memory.  Time is racing on but the vision is very much becoming a reality.  The onsite team are working feverishly as the building nears ‘practical completion;’ it’s a strange term but it means that the technical staff can then begin to connect the IT system and ensure the telephony is working effectively.  In turn facilitating the education team to begin to operate from the building itself by mid July.  It’s all coming together now...

In the meantime, we are still gratefully using St Paul’s Girls’ School facilities.  We are looking forward to seeing all our successful Year 7 applicants when they come to SPGS on 13^th June with their parents for interviews and for fittings of the new Academy uniform.  We will be also be able to welcome our new Year 7 students and their parents into the new Academy building on 14^th July at 6pm.  This will be the first test of our new facilities, it is quite a challenge as most furniture is scheduled for later in the summer but we will keep pressing the theatre seating engineers to be complete on time!

We have recruited all our teaching staff who we communicate with via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).  They are already working on individual aspects pertaining to their faculty areas.  We are confident we have made high quality appointments and have assembled an incredible team to open the Academy.  We are now moving on to complete our support staff appointments.  They will be advertised via our website in the coming weeks.

Potential 6^th form students continue to be interviewed for places in September.  Be sure to check the website for updated information and application details.  Good luck to all those year 11 students’ who are now on study leave preparing to take exams; it is a nerve wracking time for all but good revision and self discipline will support your success.   The City Dreams media competition also continues – year 11 students can submit video entries for the chance to win a digital video camera – so check the website for more details.

Back on site, hundreds of litres of paint are turning plaster walls into classrooms of colour.  Each department has its own identifying colour.   Carpets have been laid, radiators fitted and light switches connected.  Orders are going out for equipment to all subject areas.  It’s truly a monumental task but we are so excited about having it all ready for our first cohort of students in September.

As the dust settles over the next month we will put more photos of the internal spaces on the website – keep an eye on the buildings pages of the website for how it is progressing.  We will have an Open Evening in October for new prospective parents and at some point, we hope to invite the community in to see our building operational with students learning. 

The mid-term break is upon most schools so enjoy the rest.  I look forward to sharing the next instalment and sharing photos of our founding staff, students and parents at upcoming events.  

Building the Team

We have had a real focus on staff recruitment over the last month, and

we have read through over 1000 applications from potential staff, finally we are almost there! 

Since I last wrote, Facilities Manager David Ashley and Assistant Head Teacher Beth Humphreys have come on board. Beth has overall responsibility for performance management, CPD as well as English.

Beth is an English specialist who has spent her teaching career to date in inner London schools: at Aylwin Girls' School, Harris Academy Bermondsey and City of London Academy. In addition to leading in her own subject area, especially at KS5, she has led on student leadership and literacy across the curriculum. She was the Lead Practitioner on a DCFS project, the Transatlantic Schools Innovation Alliance, partnering schools in London with schools in New York to share best practice and improve adolescent literacy.

She achieved a distinction in her MA in Leadership at the Institute of Education where her dissertation focussed on the leadership of brand new start-up academies. She is also on the board of the College of Teachers.      

April Update

 The Easter break is upon us and a great time to take stock of where we are and what we have achieved so far.  The office is somewhat more cramped with new staff getting to grips with various tasks and actions to ensure our educational vision is met for September.  Knee high in Post-it stickies, document wallets and staff applications as well as documentation and plans that

make up the structure of a school organisation.

After trawling through over 1000 applications for assistant heads, subject leaders and main scale posts, we have shortlisted and interviewed almost daily.  Further, we have been accommodated in schools and academies across London over the last 5 weeks, enabling us to employ some terrifically dynamic staff.  This has been quite a challenge but with the help of our sponsors and other key professionals we have completed the majority of staff appointments.

The year 7 student admission process has created a real buzz and we now know who will be coming to the academy in September.  We will be sharing lots of information with parents and students after Easter about induction, timetables, uniform and lots of other key areas in preparation for the new academic year. 

We have also been busy interviewing for sixth form. This will continue after Easter.  If you are in year 11 and have a professional attitude or desire to achieve and be successful, then we want you!  Any prospective sixth form students are able to call and receive information about our courses.  It is not too late to make an application so download a form and send it in.  Visit the website for more details, especially for our Media competition.  Have you posted your entry yet?

We are looking forward to receiving the keys to the new academy building.  

We plan to move in during late June and hope to have an opportunity to meet with the new Year 7 and their parents during early to mid-July.  We will keep you posted on the building’s progress.  For more details and photos please see the Building page on the website.

Enjoy the well deserved rest both for students and teachers alike.  This has been a long term and a good rest this Easter shall prepare all for the summer push ahead.   This will be most notable around exams for students in their local schools and for teachers, the demanding drive to create the dynamic curriculum and systems ready for opening in September.

I look forward to sharing the next phase of Hammersmith Academy’s development after the Easter break.