This week marks the start of the Summer exams for Year 11 as we see the first ‘whole-year-group’ exams in Science, English and Maths. I have written to all Year 11 parents with clear expectations of them and their child during the exam season – and 5 key tips to make sure their child is successful. We encourage all Year 11 students to come in for 8.15, get a free breakfast and also take part in our morning masterclasses before their exams – this week, Mr Dowe is leading a Science masterclass on Tuesday, Mrs Joandel in English on Wednesday morning, Miss Dhinsa in History on Thursday and Mr Nisar in Maths on Friday morning. We have scheduled text reminders to all parents as to what exam their child has the following day so they can encourage and support with nightly revision. The full exams timetable can be found here. It has been a focussed start from RE candidates this morning already!
A reminder to parents of Year 7 students that it is Year 7 Parents’ Evening on Thursday from 4.30-6.30. This takes place on site at JQA and is a good opportunity for parents to meet with teachers and discuss the progress their child so far this year. Appointments are booked via our SchoolCloud system and a guide to using SchoolCloud can also be found here. We look forward to a busy evening with lots of families on site at JQA.
Last week at Year 10 Parents’ Evening, I met with some families and I was interested to hear how their child had a tutor at home. It is important we collaborate on this and that if your child does have a tutor that they are ‘on the same page’ as the subject teacher at JQA. With that in mind, if your child does have a tutor in any subject, please fill in the form here and let us know – your child’s Head of Year will then be in touch to give their tutor course materials to further support their learning.
Some of our Year 7 and Year 8 students who have taken part in our tutoring after school have the chance to ‘graduate’ from the programme in a ceremony at University of Birmingham today, followed up by Year 9 and Year 10 students next week. Follow our social media on Twitter and Instagram to see some lovely pictures of the ceremonies.
We also featured in SchoolsWeek on Friday as they ran a feature on our link with the wonderful CORE Hello programme which has been supporting students that have come to JQA from all over the world. I was fortunate to visit last week and see our two latest students to join the CORE Hello programme, Yehor and Daria, both from Ukraine. We are committed to being a school where all are welcomed, looked after and supported.
Next week is national ‘Thank A Teacher Day’ and we are encouraging parents to show their gratitude and appreciation for members of Team JQA by sending us messages to pass on. You can do that by completing the short form here.
Miss Raj, Head of History and RE, has started her maternity leave on Friday and we are looking to bring in a teacher to cover her lessons.
Last week, we had stronger attendance at the Academy. We do expect your child to attend every day and it is important Year 11 students attend for every exam – they will not have a second chance to do these public examinations if they are late or absent.
As always, please call us on 0121 729 7220, leaving a message if lines are busy, and we will support you.
You can always contact me directly at: [email protected]