Dear Parent/Carer, We have been delighted to welcome back our students for the summer term. On Monday the focus of the staff INSET day was predominantly on planning for our Year 10 and Year 11 curriculum. However, as mentioned in the newsletter prior to the holiday we also spent time reflecting and reviewing our approach to Behaviour and Rewards to ensure that all students are best supported, through the ethos and culture of the school, to realise their potential. Staff reflection focused on the seminal work by Stephen Covey, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People which we have translated into language to support our students and strategies to support staff in their approach to behaviour for learning. Our focus for this term within our Securing the Standard agenda is “Expect better”. The key question we have asked our students is “How can you expect better of yourself and others to make further progress this term?” “What good habits do you need to maintain every day?” These questions were approached through assemblies this week where each student was asked to review the Archer Way and establish a mindset manifesto for themselves for the term ahead. Within the wider context of this reflective work there have been some revisions to our behaviour and rewards structure and these are outlined later in the newsletter, please do read this information carefully. The summer term will be one where examinations are a focus. To support students success throughout the summer term and in their effective transition to next year, exam week will take place at different points for Yr7 and Yr8 and then for Yr9. Exam week for Yr7 and Yr8 students will take place in the week of the 23rd May and for Yr9 students in the week of the 6th June. Please take note of these details, further information follows later in the newsletter to support students’ preparations for success. We are looking forward to our Enrichment fairs next week. There is a full list of all the courses available to students on our website http://www.thearcheracademy.org.uk/Curriculum/summer-term-2015-enrichment-programme. We have lots of exciting new activities on offer, from Taekwondo to Yoga. Students will receive their Enrichment guides next week. With my best wishes,

Lucy Harrison Headteacher

Key dates for the diary: April 28th Year 9 Amsterdam trip meeting 7pm 29th April – Non Uniform Day to support Miss Alcock & Mr Gillo in their fundraising for the Muscular Dystrophy charity, £1 donation please. May 12th Year 7 Parents’ consultation evening Exam Week, Yr7 & Yr8: Week of the 23rd May Exam Week, Yr9: Week of the 6th June

Reminders: Sign up for Race the Neighbours 10K run here

www.racetheneighbours.com If you can let us know if you are planning to run, we will once again offer some team training/moral support sessions, and help you to start fundraising. Please email sarahg@thearcheracademy.org.uk to keep in touch.

The term dates for 2016 – 2017 are now available on our website here: http://www.thearcheracademy.org.uk/Calender/term-dates

Support Mr Gillo and Miss Alcock in running the London Marahthon: https://www.justgiving.com/Katie-Alcock2 https://www.justgiving.com/Richard-Gillo2

Key information: ParentPay – please ensure that balances have been paid and that accounts are topped up for the new term.

22nd April 2016

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Year 9, Tuesday 26th April – Year 9 students will be dismissed at 3.15pm on Tuesday owing to the enrichment fair for Yr7 and Yr8. Students will be set revision planning tasks, information is below from Mr Savage. ILPs for the summer term – All ILPs have been reviewed and finalised by staff this week and will be sent home in the post to parents next week. Uniform reminders – all parents were issued with a letter last term with a reminder about our uniform and equipment expectations. Please ensure that your child has the correct school bag, shoes and stationery. Show My Homework – homework for all students is now set using this portal. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s form tutor or Head of Year with any problems or concerns.

Friends’ Association – Lisha Taylor & Alex Coric

Brilliant Ideas Lecture – Dr Saul Zadka Wednesday, 4th May from 7.30 – 9pm at school Book tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bright-ideas-lecture-for-parents-with-dr-saul-zadka-tickets-24785761881 Have you ever wanted to come along to the students’ Bright Ideas lectures? Well now we are giving parents a chance too! We have some fascinating talks planned and are kicking off with Dr Saul Zadka, a political analyst and fellow Archer parent, who will deliver a lecture about the recent events in the Middle East and guide us through the minefield of the region. His talk will include a quiz (prize to be won) as well as an auction and other surprises! The ticket price of £11.74 includes a drink and nibbles as well as the booking fee.

Payment for lunches – Leanne Chase, Finance Director It is the school’s policy that a positive balance must be maintained at all times on your child’s lunch money account, ParentPay. Payment can be made online via ParentPay, or by cash which your child can put into the cash loader in the dining room. If your child requires assistance using the cash loader, or you require help with ParentPay please speak to the finance office. If your child has a negative balance our policy is to allow a day’s discretion and ask the child to remind parents to top up the account. Sadly, several student’s accounts have become severely overdrawn and therefore this week we have enforced a stricter policy. From this week any students without a positive balance on their account have been asked to collect a voucher from the Finance Office which they have then been able to use to obtain lunch. From Tuesday, 2nd May students’ accounts will be locked and they will not be able to purchase lunch at school and you will be required to provide them with a packed lunch until a positive balance has been reinstated on the account. May we ask that you review your child’s account and ensure that they have sufficient funds available. If for any reason this balance represents a financial hardship please do not hesitate to contact the Finance Office to discuss if

we may assist you in applying for free school meals or to agree a repayment plan.

Exam Week 2016 – Mr Oakley The national changes to examination structures mean that students’ eventual GCSE and A Level examinations will all take a linear form. Where this more traditional, linear format, may be more akin to what you as parents experienced it is a significant change in relation to the modular approach adopted over the past 10 years in schools. We are committed to ensuring that our students are best placed for future exam success and believe strongly that a key to this is in the building of exam habits and stamina throughout a student’s time at school, the recall of large amounts of knowledge, the application of knowledge to varied situations and extended essay writing will all be core skills that need to be taught and learnt by students. Since opening in 2013 we have held an annual Exam Week to ensure that our students become familiar with the experience of preparing for a core week of extended assessment. As well as the opportunities to build students’ confidence in the process and sitting of formal exams this has also enabled us to focus on revision skills and supporting our students in becoming independent learners. This approach has proved very successful to date. Weekly revision skills and strategies will be shared via the newsletter from next week and shared on the website. This work will begin with revision timetables and flashcards. The timeline below outlines preparations for and the format of Exam Week this summer for our students:

Yr7 & Yr8 students Exam Week, week of 23rd May

Yr9 students Exam Week, week of 6th June

Revision guides, outlining the content and skills required for each subject will be given to students next week and available on the website. Exam timetables will be distributed in the week of the 2nd May. Students will sit exams in all subjects, other than Dance and Drama. Revision programmes will begin in the week of the 2nd May. Formal revision lessons will take place in the week of the 16th May. Exams will be sat in classrooms during normal lesson periods.

Revision guides, outlining the content and skills required for each subject will be given to students in the week of the 2nd May and available on the website. Exam timetables will be distributed in the week of the 16th May. Students will sit GCSE style papers. Students will sit exams in all subjects other than Citizenship/ICT and PE (unless following the GCSE course). Revision programmes will begin in the week of the 9th May. Formal revision lessons will take place in the week of the 23rd May. Exams will be sat in the Sports Hall.

Exam Results Students will receive their exam results from their subject teachers in the week of the 20th June. All students will receive a template to complete with grades and targets for the term ahead.

Exam Results Students will have a mock “Results Day” on Tuesday 28th June. Students will receive their results certificate.

Show My Homework – Mrs Gillham We have been delighted to launch Show My Homework with Years 7 and 8 this week. This new application allows students to access all of their homework online at home. Having launched this with Year 9 in January, it has been a huge success and both parents and students have spoken highly of how easy it is to use and to track, monitor and support homework. Both students and parents should now have received pin numbers to access student accounts, if for any reason you do not have this yet, please send your child to our main reception to receive an additional copy of this information. What can you do with Show My Homework? From your home page you will be able to see any student accounts linked to you. You should also be able to see when your child last logged into Show My Homework and the recovery PIN they can use to access their account in the event of lost login details. From this page you will also be able to reach the Calendar, Homework, Gradebook, and Notice board pages for each student associated with your account. To see homework for the children connected to your account, you can click on the Calendar tab to view all the assignments by week. You can also filter the calendar by date, teacher, subject, class, year group, and type of homework task so you can quickly find what you are looking for. Alternatively, simply click on "Homework" from the menu under the student whose to-do list you wish to view. If you need further help and advice on how to use Show My Homework, please go to the help section on the following website: www.showmyhomework.co.uk/ Here you can find information on how to login to show my homework and how to use all of the tools. There is also a parent tutorial which can be found here: https://showmyhomework.wistia.com/medias/rhfil56mxh

Debate Mate – Mrs McMullan

On Tuesday we took two teams of debaters to the University of Westminster for the climax of our debating programme, the Debate Mate cup competition. This was a full day of debating where our students competed against teams from all across London. The day comprised of one prepared and two unprepared debates where students had just ten minutes to prepare their speeches on a surprise motion. We were so proud of our debaters who won two of the debates, both of which were unprepared motions demonstrating that our students are skilled debaters who can really think on their feet. Well done to all students involved!

Ideas Foundation – Mr Savage

On Tuesday afternoon students from the Ideas Foundation Creative Enrichment took part in the Unilever Ideas Foundation Final. Students had eight weeks to prepare their pitches for Unilever to meet the brief 'Create a campaign that makes the idea of ‘sustainable living’ attractive and popular among people aged 16-24.' Both Archer Academy teams were the youngest in attendance and were competing against Sixth form teams from colleges around London. Both teams made fantastic professional presentations and impressed the judges with their passion, creativity and attention to the brief.

One of our teams 'Sustainabiliteam' came second and was 'Highly Commended' this gains them a place on 'The Ladder' an exclusive group which leads to work experience and job opportunities in the creative industries. Well done to both team Unilove and Sustainabiliteam for their success.

Maths department update – Mr Davies Year 9 end of term 2 test On Friday 29th April all year 9 students will be sitting a 1 hour test paper to assess their recall of all topics covered last term.

The 3 areas for both Foundation and Higher papers are: Unit 3: Angles and polygons Unit 4: Handling data Unit 5: Fractions, decimals and percentages. The breakdown for each topic is available on Showmyhomework for all to download and tick off as they revise. Students will need a pen, pencil, ruler and calculator for the test. Scientific calculators Should students need to buy a scientific calculator the Maths department have some for sale at a discounted rate of £5 each. Please see your Maths teacher should you need to buy one. Maths trip applications Students will be informed next week how to apply to attend an exclusive Maths trip in May to central London where we will be looking at using Maths as we walk the streets, completing tasks and learning about the history of Maths in our capital. This week’s Maths problem Every student who gets the answer on a piece of paper with their name on and an explanation of their working to Mr. Davies in F06 by the end of Monday gets an achievement code. How many squares are in this pattern?

The Archer Reading Cloud – Mrs Wolfe All students have been receiving a small card with their log-in details for access to the Archer library online. This is the Archer Reading Cloud. The link is provided through the school website. Please go to thearcheracademy.org.uk, click on the ‘Parents’ tab and click on ‘Library’. Click the word ‘here’. To log-in, use the 4-digit number as both your Username and Password. This will enable students and parents to browse around 2800 books and e-resources, for enjoyment and for research. Some of the features included are book reservation for collection in school and a place to write book reviews which earn Achievement Codes. New authors can be researched and there is a great ‘Who Next?’ feature where you can type in your current preferred author and have new suggestions given. Students can also build their own online library and share with their friends. Please explore this wonderful resource at home. Any questions should be directed to Mrs. Wolfe in the school library. POETRY SUCCESS I am delighted to announce that Sakina Q, 7IC has had her poem ‘Our Little Friends’ published in an anthology of South East Poets through the Young Writers’ Poetry Trials competition. Sakina entered last year and although not a winner this time, she has the distinction of seeing her work in print. A copy of the anthology is on its way to her and there is one in the library for all to read. We hope to see many more students writing poetry for future competitions.

Bright Ideas lecture – Mr Wick

On Wednesday, the Archer Academy facilitated an excellent Bright Ideas talk by a trainee paramedic. Carolina Fonagy, who is currently studying para-medicine, regaled 20 Archer students with stories of her life on the road responding to emergencies in London. All students were asking inquisitive and thoughtful questions which raised some interesting discussion. With so many students of Archer Academy aspiring to work in medicine, this talk was an invaluable insight into its world.

Virgin London Marathon – Mr Gillo and Miss Alcock

The time has now arrived for Mr. Gillo and Miss Alcock to run the London Marathon. Thank you to the staff and parents that have sponsored us, we really appreciate it. To help raise as much money as possible for this amazing charity the school has kindly agreed to running a healthy tuck shop starting from Monday 25th April through till Friday 29th April, all items will be 50p. The week will end with a non-school uniform day on Friday 29th April, students will be able to come to school in their own clothes for a £1 donation. If anyone is planning to head down to the Marathon on Sunday and wants to track either of us these are our running numbers: Mr Gillo – 43238 and Miss Alcock – 43247. https://www.justgiving.com/Katie-Alcock2 https://www.justgiving.com/Richard-Gillo2

Securing the Standard “Expect Better” – Mr Naylor

As you are aware, the focus for this term is on Expecting Better from our students. Please find below the information which has been introduced in assembly this week by Mr Naylor. It would be helpful if you could discuss these with students over the weekend.

Head of Year updates – Mr Naylor

Year 9 – Mr Savage It has been a great start to the term so far for Yr 9. We have started the summer term with Yr 9 fully embracing our 'Expect Better' mantra and it has ensured a composed and calm start to this half term. If your child is going on the Amsterdam Trip there is a meeting next Thursday evening at 7pm at school, the meeting should last no longer than 20 minutes. If you have any questions you would like to ask on the night do please e-mail them to the school in advance. We've had some great success this week with Yr 9 students competing in creative competitions as well as debating, I look forward to more success from Yr 9 students over the summer term. Have a lovely weekend.

Year 9 Stars of the Week

Keri - her work is consistently excellent, really thorough. She is hardworking and an independent student. Sophie S-H and Ishani T for continually securing the standard.

Year 8 – Mr Hepworth A new term for Year 8 students as we raise the standard to “expect better” on our path to Year 9. Students have had two assemblies this week and the focus of raising our attendance level to the desired 96% is paramount. Please encourage your child to attend every day and focus on being in school on time every time.

Quality Minimum Standards (QMS) has also been highlighted, and paired with Show My Homework, I believe this will give greater control for parents to pursue work from their child. Log in details have been resent to all email addresses for students and parents/carers and I am asking that student log in over the weekend to check their workload. I am able to view who has and has not accessed their home page and will be following this up next week as a priority to set the tone for using SMH as a key learning tool. I ask that parents check their emails and get used to the system too as this has proved extremely valuable with Yr9 parents and students. With reference to the QMS, these also include the appearance of each student and the pride shown in their work. Homework diaries are key for communication between the school and parents and are expected to be used correctly and be neat and tidy. Please do check each diary as this is where homework should be recorded but also trip notices and detentions that you may or may not be aware of. The content in the notes pages may also be of interest to parents and carers. Have a great weekend.

Year 8 Stars of the Week

Camila and Oliver from 8GM - leaders in new expectations. Marli - Achievement codes in Science, PE, registration and other subjects in just 3 days this week.

Nawal, Thomas and Oliver C for improving results in Maths and moving up a set. Anna H & Mufid for regularly doing their best.

Year 7 – Miss Pearson I hope families had a lovely spring holiday and a chance to relax over the last two weeks; Y7 are certainly looking rested yet eager to get on with their final term as first year students! This half term is of course extremely important as students will be sitting their exams in a month's time and tutors and I shall be doing our upmost to support with revision techniques and management of angst as we know that a week of exams can be a stressful experience for pupils. I will be using assemblies to talk about the exam experience and organisation with a focus on positive wellbeing.

In tutor time, students are currently working with resources related to nutrition and the importance of healthy eating; they will be looking at the arguments surrounding the sugar tax as well reflecting on their own food habits. We are extremely fortunate as a parent has kindly volunteered to speak to Y7 about making good nutritional choices and the impact of eating the wrong foods; this is occurring on Monday 25th and I hope students find it interesting and informative. A reminder that Y7 parents' consultation evening is Thursday 12th May, 4-8pm; I shall give more details in next week's newsletter.

Year 7 Stars of the Week

Samiha 7MD and Axel 7IC, for representing the Archer Academy at the Regional Final MFL Spelling Bee Competition.

Kaho 7MD for being so helpful during form time! Albis from 7AN for thoughtful and articulate contributions in class discussions in History