Results for students achieving between a grade 9 and 4 in English and Maths at Ipswich Academy is 62%, despite an unprecedented final year due to the coronavirus lockdown. They will officially receive their results in school from 9am this morning.

Abbie Thorrington, Principal, says:

“All the staff at Ipswich Academy want to say a big thank you to our year 11 students, their families and our wonderfully supportive community today. Navigating such an important year in their education through the coronavirus lockdown has been testing for all of us but their hard work, strength and resilience is demonstrated by the results today. They have all been amazing, we are incredibly proud and will continue to support them as they move into the further education of their choice.”

In line with Government policy, due to the coronavirus lockdown, GCSE grades have been awarded by the school with the support of the official exam regulator Ofqual. Year 11 students have been learning remotely with support from their teachers since schools closed on 20^th March.

Ipswich Academy was rated Good by Ofsted with Outstanding for leadership and management last year. The Ofsted report recognised that the leaders in the school had ‘transformed the culture of the school’ and were ‘building strong and effective partnerships with the community’ ensuring pupils and their families have the best possible experience.

News | 21st July 2020

End of term and provisional plans for next academic year (Y7-9)

Dear students, parents and carers

Following on from my letter on 9 July and the whole school assembly today, I would like to detail the latest information before we break up for summer.

We are proceeding with our plan and will open on Thursday 3 September, as previously announced. We are still awaiting confirmation from our Directors as to whether our local plans have been approved. We have proposed in line with Government guidance recommendations for a staggered start and finish time for the day. This would mean year 10 and 11 students start at 08.45 and finish at 15.00. Year 7, 8 and 9 students start at 09.00 and finish at 15.15. Once these have been passed I will communicate with you via text message and the documents will be posted on our website. In late August I will be hosting a virtual assembly to go through the plans in detail prior to students returning in September.

All year groups will be able to continue to access the work set on Google classrooms, each department has also set summer tasks which I would encourage students to complete.

I am excited to announce that we will be launching a student ‘House System’ in September. All staff and students will be assigned to one of three houses, devised from our Trust’s values. The House System will celebrate student success in all aspects of school life; as well as promoting opportunities for leadership, competition between houses and community involvement. I look forward to sharing this further in September.

Due to the changes that we are proposing to the set up of the school in line with Government guidance, students may not have the same base group tutor as they had last year. We will try to avoid changes where possible, however there will be some. I will be able to share base group tutors from September during a virtual assembly that I will deliver prior to students returning. Lockers will also be out of use for the start of term whilst we redistribute them to the areas of the school that students will be in. If students have any belongings they wish to collect from their lockers prior to September, please contact the school via telephone or email to arrange a visit. We will be continuing with cashless catering from September, if you need any support setting up a sQuidpay account, please contact the school reception.

The last three months have been unprecedented times for us all, the team at Ipswich Academy are very much looking forward to working with you all next year. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will always get back to you.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Yours faithfully

Abbie Thorrington
Principal