Issue 37 June 2018 Henlow Academy NEWSLETTER

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1 Issue 37 June 2018 Henlow Academy NEWSLETTER Dear Parent/Carer, As I'm sure many of you will be aware, our gymnasts shone again at the national competition in Stoke on Trent! I felt privileged to be in the audience as Caitlin Christie, Hannah Cooper, Ellie Hoy, Anna Goakes, Izabella Mcdonald, Bethan McKinally, Bella Reaney and Catherine Woods competed at the highest level. A full report and pictures follow but I must also add here a big thank you to Miss Carter without whom we wouldn't be able to continue competing at such a high level. The Gym and Dance display we hosted ourselves here at Henlow gave us all a chance to see their routines again but also to enjoy a range of pupil performances, including the cheerleading team from All Saints Lower School. The sun stayed out throughout our annual fun run and the PTA raised 4,000 for the school. It is the first time we have held the event over at the pavilion and we all felt the community atmosphere enhanced the occasion. I hope you all agree that it helped being able to see all of the course from the start/finish line - although one lap confirmed for me that it is further than it looks! Thanks to everyone for their time and their generosity. The Summer Fayre had its highest every attendance and thermometer reading too!! 2,500 raised at this event is thanks to pupils, parents, staff and families. The money raised is much needed for a range of possibilities - currently under discussion are IT equipment and development, another minibus and other curriculum enhacing items. The sun hid behind the clouds from time to time in Cornwall but this didn't dampen the spirits of year 8 as they enjoyed their residential marking the end of 4 years at Henlow Academy. The pictures and the stories provide fond memories and were well worth the long journey. SATS are now a distant memory for year 6 and we are very proud of the way they consistently gave of their best during this week of assessments. We celebrated at the end with ice cream, rounders and a one time only experience of a visit to the new sports hall mid construction. The photos show pupils on that special day experiencing the first site visit by pupils. Since then the building work has continued at pace and I'm reliably informed that we are on track - 4 classrooms will be ready for the start of next term in September and the Sports Hall and a further 2

2 Dates Baton Relay Service & BEST Festival - Monday 2nd July Step Up Day - Friday 6th July Enrichment Week - Monday 9th to Friday 13th July HONK! - Tuesday 10th 2pm HONK! - Wednesday 11th 7pm Year 8 Valediction - Friday 13th July Sports Day - Monday 16th July Sports Presentation Evening - Tuesday 17th July Year 8 Exhibition - Thursday 19th July Last Day of Term - Friday 20th July Staff Training Days - Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th September Back to School - Wednesday 5th September

3 Vacancy Mid-Day Supervisory Assistant Required as soon as possible to assist from pm pm daily, during term time, with the supervision and care of our pupils during lunchtimes. This equates to 5 hrs per week. Part-time or job share would be considered. Please visit for the job description and application form. Help Wanted Adult help needed on Tuesday 10th, Thursday12th and Friday 13th July for Year 5 7 helpers needed - Tudor re-enactment in school. 4 helpers needed - Trip out to Milton Keynes Hazard Alley and 360 Play i.e. 11 adults needed on all 3 days (Can be different adults on different days - back approx 4pm). 2 arty people on each day to help create team hobby horses in school. Wednesday 11th July Anyone sporty to help with the Quidditch activities outside if it is fine. This could be 3 different people helping from 9-10:40, 11-12:40, and 1:30-3:20.

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5 British Schools Acrobatics Final After winning the Regional Acrobatics Competition back in February, several pupils attended the National Acrobatics finals in Stoke on Trent. This is a prestigious event with the most competitive schools in the country competing against each other. On Sunday morning Catherine Woods and Ellie Hoy competed in the under 11 Girls pairs and did a beautiful and elegant routine. Their final result was 6th place. Later that day, Hannah Cooper and Anna Goakes performed in the level 1 Disability section a new and innovative category recently introduced by British Gymnastics. They came a fabulous 4th place and performed with smiles and pride. Additionally, that afternoon the under 11 group 6 competed against 14 other schools. This is one of the most popular and competitive categories of the competition. Our group 6 consisted of Catherine Woods, Ellie Hoy, Bella Reaney, Izabella Mcdonald, Bethan Mckinnally and Caitlin Christie. They were beaming with pride when it was announced they had finished in 3rd place. All of their hard work had paid off. Absolutely outstanding results and we are all extremely proud. Congratulations girls; 6th, 4th and 3rd in the country!

6 Sportability On Monday 23rd April, 8 pupils went to Biddenham Upper School to take part in a Sportability Cricket competition. It was a fantastic morning and Henlow finished 4th out of 9 teams. On Wednesday 25th April, 9 pupils went to the Stoke Mandeville Stadium to take part in a regional swimming final. It was a great day of excellent swimming and teamwork. Henlow finished 5th out of 8 teams. We were the highest placed u14 team and have therefore qualified for the u14 national finals due to take place early next year. Well done to all that took part. Cricket Team: Jack Mutch, Tilly Turner, Sarah Jane Gould, Noah Smith, Ben Lack Jones, Ellie Carter, Annabel Church and Colby Houghton Small. Swimming Team: Alex Amner, Devon Luckham, Tabitha Lowe, Megan Causton, Samuel Soden, Adam MacInnes, Lucas Fletcher, Libby Brown and Katelyn Butcher. Very well done to all that took part.

7 New Sports Hall and Classrooms October 2018 To mark the opening of this wonderful new facility at Henlow Church of England Academy, we are launching a Buy a Brick campaign. This means that all those taking part, whether students past or present, parents, staff, local community members or businesses, will have their own engraved brick slip hung inside the building as a permanent acknowledgement of their support. Each brick can be engraved (up to four lines with a maximum of 16 characters per line including punctuation and spaces) with your name, your child s name or perhaps someone else in your family. If you are a former pupil you may wish to add the years you were a pupil here. The donation per brick slip is a minimum of 40 for single bricks (two lines) and 80 for double bricks (four lines). There is no limit to the number you can buy. If you are a UK taxpayer and can complete the Gift Aid declaration, please do as this will increase the amount received at no further cost to you. (Donation page at the end of the Newsletter)

8 Cornwall 2018 Review Going to Cornwall at the end of Year 8 was probably the highlight of the year. As a whole the trips at Henlow are exceptional and Cornwall was no different. The accommodation was average, but other than that, everything was amazing, especially the constant flow of activities. There was no boredom; everything was exciting! Every day we were at the beach doing fantastic and challenging activities in the water and on land. It wasn t a problem if you had never done any of the activities prior to the trip because the helpful and experienced staff of Elemental UK taught us everything we needed to know. They were extremely friendly and their encouragement meant that almost everybody did everything because the instructors were so comforting and reassuring. My favourite activity was coasteering which took place at Swanpool, Falmouth. We jumped off cliffs, swam in caves and climbed up coasts with excellent views. We also did kayaking, double kayaking, SUP boarding (stand-up paddle boarding) and mega SUP. All the activities at Swanpool were fantastic! Furthermore, every day we would walk down to the nearby beach, Tolcarne. This would be to participate in one of two things: activities during the day or evening activities. During the day at Tolcarne we would be surfing or bodyboarding. The only out of the water activity we did was at Tolcarne which was still amazing. I thought I would be really bad at surfing as everyone seemed to know how to do it and I didn t; I was fine and I managed to stand up on at least 3 waves! If we weren t down at Tolcarne during the day, we were there in the evenings. We played beach volleyball, football, capture the flag, rounders, had snacks on the sand, did archery and the list goes on. On the last night we even had the pleasure of visiting a nearby beach pool with inflatables and slides. Everything we did was extremely enjoyable and the week was packed with fun activities. It was a fantastic opportunity to spend quality time with friends as our Henlow experience draws to an end. I will never forget this trip and the lifetime of memories that comes with it! Article written by Georgie Kelly 8SW

9 Lateness and Attendance School doors open at 8:30 Class registration begins at 8:45 and ends at 9. Any students arriving after registration will be marked as late. Any student arriving after 9:15 will be marked as unauthorised. Note: If your child is absent from school more than 15 days in the academic year, this will be picked up by the educational welfare officer. The best learning time is at the beginning of the day! Getting to school early is vital. Being late causes a negative impact on both the child and their class. It causes disruption to the lesson and limits a child s academic achievements. What you can do to help Lay out school uniform the night before: Ensures a quick change in the morning and highlights stock of clean clothes. Encourage good sleeping routines: Helps with getting up in the mornings. Prepare school bag the night before: Homework, equipment, permission slips and packed lunches. Alarm clocks: Having an alarm clock will provide your child with the responsibility of getting themselves up. Keep breakfast simple: Avoid elaborate meals and have something simple for your child to eat.

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11 Pupil Premium Free School Meals Are you entitled? If you would like to find out if you are entitled for your child to receive Free School Meals, please contact Customer Services at Central Bedfordshire on Further information can be found through the following link The qualifying benefits to receive free school meals are: * Income Support * Income-based Jobseeker s Allowance * Income-related Employment and Support Allowance * Support under Part IV of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 * The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit * Child Tax Credit (provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit, and your annual gross income does not exceed 16,190 as assessed by Her Majesty s Revenue and Customs) * Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit) * Universal Credit (during the initial roll-out of this benefit) Please be advised that you can only apply for Free School Meals through Central Bedfordshire. Henlow Academy cannot process the application. If your child is already receiving Free School Meals, please remind them that they are entitled to ask for school dinners in the morning registered through the squid account in form time. This will automatically be available for them. Please be aware that the process for using the squid account during lunch times is exactly the same for children using free school meals or paying for school meals. If your child is currently under a Pupil Premium Category they will receive a letter over the next few weeks with further information as to the support available at School. Young Carers Do you think your child is a young carer? A young carer is someone aged 18 or under who helps look after a relative who has a condition, such as a disability, illness, mental health condition, or a drug or alcohol problem. Most young carers look after one of their parents or care for a brother or sister. If you believe that your child might be a carer, please contact jgregory@henlowacademy.org.uk.

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