Use of face coverings at Ipswich Academy
2nd November 2020
Dear parents and carers,
Following on from the announcement by the Government of a full lockdown starting Thursday 5th November, I have taken the decision to make face coverings compulsory for adults and students from Tuesday 3rd November for safety reasons.
They will be compulsory for students on school site at all times unless:
a) you are sat down and eating/drinking or
b) you are sat down in a classroom in a structured learning session led by an adult.
In some exceptional circumstances individuals may be exempt because they:
- cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment or disability;
- speak to or provide assistance to someone who relies on lip reading, clear sound or facial expression to communicate.
If you think that your child might be exempt from wearing a face covering, please email the school directly and a member of the senior leadership team will be in contact with you prior to students returning on Tuesday 3rd November. We will then communicate any names with staff by 8.30am.
Ipswich Academy does have a small supply of face coverings for students struggling to access one, where they are unable to use their face covering due to having forgotten it, or it having become soiled or unsafe. I would strongly encourage students to bring their own.
Students who are not exempt from wearing a face covering and have been offered one and refuse will be isolated to ensure the safety of others.
I will communicate the expectations and the safe wearing of face coverings to all students tomorrow morning during a virtual assembly.
In the event of a confirmed case at Ipswich Academy I will seek immediate guidance from Public Health England and the Department of Education. I will then communicate this with you without delay. In the event that Ipswich Academy is advised to close a year group bubble or a full closure occurs we will support students’ education online through Google classrooms and regular welfare calls home. All students were invited to new Google classrooms by their teachers prior to the holiday, this week students will be trained again on using the platform. As we have done previously, we will be able to loan out computers and dongles if they are required.
Extra curricular clubs and interventions will continue, we are however expecting further Government guidance. If anything changes then I will communicate with you.
Finally, on days students have PE, please can students come wearing their PE kit. Correct PE clothing will be expected to be worn, it is not a ‘dress down’ day for students.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
Once again, thank you for your continued support.
Yours faithfully
Abbie Thorrington
Principal
Communication from the Principal
Dear parents and carers,
It has been brought to our attention that a student within the year nine bubble has recently returned from foreign travel and not followed the quarantine measures. Neither the student nor their family are showing any symptoms of Coronavirus and they are now all isolating.
I have sought advice from Public Health England, who have advised us to continue with the full opening of the bubble and school.
We have no indication that any student has symptoms within the year nine bubble, this communication is to make you aware and ask you to be vigilant.
If circumstances change, I will of course communicate with you straight away.
Yours faithfully
Abbie Thorrington
Principal
Year 11 information session
On Monday, we hosted a year 11 information session, unformtunatley there were a number of technical issues. To view the presentation, please click on this link to access the student hub, your child will need to log in with their school Google account to view the presentation.
If you have any further questions, please use the contact us button on our website.
Virtual Open Evening
Please click here to navigate to our Virtual Open Evening page.
Year 11 information session
Dear parent / carer
We are now into our fourth week of students returning full-time back to school post school closure, for our year 11 students it has been an incredibly positive start. Due to the absence of year 11 ‘boot camp’ due to the current restrictions, we felt it important to officially launch our year 11 support package and make you aware of key information that you need to know.
We will be holding a year 11 information session on Monday 5th October at 5.00pm virtually using google meet. The meeting will cover the following;
- Intervention sessions
- Mock exams
- Effective revision strategies
- Information from the core GCSE subjects (English, maths and science)
- Post 16 options
- Well-being support
We will send invites for the google meet to students’ Paradigm email addresses. We will also record the session to allow you catch up should you miss it.
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me via the school phone number and email address.
Yours faithfully,
Maled Akhlak
Head of Progress
Planning for Post 16
Dear parents and carers,
Planning for Post 16:
The careers team at Ipswich Academy are here to support your child as they prepare for their next stage in education. This letter outlines all the relevant information that I believe you need to know at this time in order to support your child with their next steps.
In order to prepare students for this we will be hosting virtual assemblies explaining post-16 options from both the careers team and our post-16 partners. In addition, students will also have the opportunity to have a personal guidance session to discuss their available options. Every Year 11 student has access to KUDOS, an online careers platform which they can use at home or school to research jobs profiles, labour market information, post 16 and post 18 support as well as creating a CV.
The government’s current policy is that all young people in England are required to continue in education or training until at least their 18th birthday (https://www.thesource.me.uk/learning/faqs-raising-theparticipation-age/). This means that our Year 11 students must decide about whether to continue studying either at a college, sixth form, training centre or to start employment combined with education on an apprenticeship or traineeship. Due to high demands for apprenticeships or traineeships, we recommend students also apply to college/sixth form as a backup option.
Please find attached to this letter a guide which provides detail about the options available to students, along with what they need to do at each stage to research, apply for and secure a college or apprenticeship place for next academic year.
I have outlined below current dates where Post-16 providers have announced their open events. The providers will then begin to interview students for places in late November/early December.
- Suffolk ONE – Saturday 10th October 9.30-12.30 – Applications open from 10th October 2020
- Northgate – Applications and new prospectus are available from 1st October. Each subject area is producing a short video that outlines the courses available and links to careers opportunities. Interviews will run from November 2020 – February 2021. The deadline for applications will be Friday 29th January 2021.
- Suffolk New College – Virtual open event Thursday 15th October 6pm
- Kesgrave – Open event 29th September 6.30pm – 8.30pm. Applications are open now and will close Friday 29th of January 2021.
- Copleston – check website for dates for virtual open events over the next couple of weeks. Applications are open now.
- St Albans – Check website for open events dates and when applications are open.
I am expecting further information from our post-16 providers in the next couple of weeks. As soon as I receive any updates about open events, applications or virtual tours, I will forward this information on to you.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at school.
Yours sincerely,
Victoria Addis
Careers Lead