head of academy update - ellacombe c of e academy...john beckett which took them into kent’s...

Head of Academy Update

Together we empower excellence

As we come to the end of this school year, we have been delighted to look back at the achievements of our whole school family. Our children have once again had a stunning year, flourishing both academically and personally and children's self esteem and confidence to talk about their learning has continued to grow and grow. The way in which they talked to our SIAMs inspector this term was just one example of this: “Pupils are exceptionally supportive of one another, recognising and understanding the way the curriculum is differentiated. As a result, relationships throughout the whole school community are strong. Pupils talk of the Christian values of love and friendship as an integral part of school life.”

This year, we have even further developed our links with our Church Communities of St Mary Magdalene in the town centre and St Matthias in Wellswood. With a special Candlemas ceremony earlier this year, our children joined with those from across our LAP family in an event, led by Rev. John Beckett which took them into Kent’s Cavern as well as St Matthias. With the appointment of Rev. Sam to St Mary Magdalene last year, we have been delighted to have been supported by him so much, including the now ‘legendary’ involvements in our services in Church. The retelling of the Nativity Story through chocolate bars I know was a particular hit! It has been wonderful to see our school community come together through these special events and the many events in school. Another special relationship we have is with our incredible PTFA who dedicate so much time and energy into supporting us. Through the many annual events, they not only provide our community with lots of fun but raise vital money which we use to subside trips. The money they have raised has enabled us to take our children to places like Occombe Farm and @Bristol at prices which are accessible. This last term though, the numbers of families supporting the PTFA has declined and meant that just a few members are doing a great deal of work, to benefit all children, right across the school. We have been hugely grateful to those who have committed to supporting at events and are looking at ways to build up large support. Mrs Guntrip, our Assistant Head, along with teachers, will be supporting this. We will be seeking new members to join this bubbly, friendly group as it not only supports our children, but is a great way to meet other parents and be part of the school family- watch this space for key date coming soon for this!

As well as the achievements of our wider school community, our children have impressed us with their academic achievements, which in almost all areas, are above National Averages again this year at Ellacombe. For example, the percentage of Ellacombe children achieving the Phonics Check in Y1 is 94%, a long way above the national average of 82%. This is the 6th year in a row that we have been above nationals for this and we are hugely proud of our staff’s skilful teaching of phonics and early reading. We look forward the sharing further achievements in September both at Ellacombe and across the LAP.

We are incredibly proud of what we are achieving as a whole school. Right at the end of last year we had our hugely positive Ofsted, grading us as ‘Good’ which the highest category we could achieve under the new Short Inspection Cycle. At the end of this year, we’ve been recognised during our SIAMs inspection, as an ‘Excellent’ Church School’ graded as Excellent across all strands. These external validations show that Ellacombe C of E Academy, truly is a school of choice for families. That brings me to close this article with a huge ‘Thank You’ to all who make our community so special- you- our families, our incredibly hard working and energetic staff, the many who support our work through volunteering and sharing their time and expertise and our Church Leaders. I wish you all a safe, relaxing summer break, see you on Monday 2nd September! Mrs Semmens Head of Academy

JUNE/JULY 2019 NEWSLETTER ELLACOMBE C OF E ACADEMY &

LITTLE STARS CHILDCARE CENTRE

JUNE/JULY 2019 NEWSLETTER

Dates for Your Diary

A warm welcome to the following children who have joined us this

term so far:

Arisa, Arli, Lilly-Mae, Evangeline, Max, Finn, Regan, Rhian, Jakub

and Freddie

Welcome to our academy!

Term Dates 2018/19

Summer Term 2019 End: 23 July

Term Dates 2019/20

Autumn Term 2019

Start: 2 September 2019

Half Term: 21 – 25 October 2019

End: 20 December 2019

Spring Term 2020

Start: 6 January 2020

Half Term: 17 -21 February 2020

End: 27 March 2020

Summer Term 2020

Start: 14 April 2020

Bank Holiday: 8 May 2020

Half Term: 25 – 29 May 2020

Non Pupil Days:1 June – 5 June 2020

End: 21 July 2020 The Head of Academy may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

All requests for a child to be absent from school during term time must be made in writing at least a half term in advance of the proposed absence by completing the absence request form obtainable from the academy office.

Please call into the academy office if you would like to discuss your child’s attendance or any aspect of absences.

Monday 2nd September

We look forward to sharing diary dates for the next academic year with you in

September.


Owls Visit Our Nursery!

EYFS Visit Occombe Farm

Little Stars have been enjoying lots of bird-themed learning through our Favourite Books for

this half term, ‘Owl Babies’ by Martin Waddell and ‘Shh! We have a Plan’ by Chris Haughton. We practised some new wow words such as ‘beak’, ‘feathery’, ‘hatching’ and

‘talons’. The children created some beautiful bird crafts for display. Some strange eggs in a colourful nest appeared in the Curiosity Cube which got us wondering out loud who made

the nest and what might hatch out? We even enjoyed a visit from some real owls, thanks to Torbay Owls and Company, who brought five beautiful owls in to meet us, including a huge,

fluffy baby eagle owl. What an amazing experience!

Wow! What an amazing time Little Lions and Little Bears had at Occombe Farm! The sun was shining, everyone was smiling and we made pizza! Meeting all the animals was

another real treat and a wonderful memory that we hope will stay with your children for a very long time . Having the opportunity to spend time with friends outside school is an

incredibly nourishing experience for young children and such a beautiful way to bring to a close a truly fantastic year together. We hope you all enjoyed hearing about our farming

adventure !


Year 1 Space day

Year 2 Pirate Day

Year one had an astronomically super Space Day! The children came dressed in their

fabulously creative costumes from rockets to green aliens. During the day we created some wonderful pieces of artwork using crayons and

tinfoil, we decorated some delicious space biscuits and we even watched Neil Armstrong

take his first steps on the Moon!

On our first day back this term we enjoyed a pirate themed dress up. We loved the chance to be ‘salty sea dogs’ and explore what is what like to be a pirate on the seven

seas. This was an exciting opportunity to link to our class novel of Treasure Island and the children spent time playing out scenes from the story pretending they were Black Dog or Long John Silver. We spent the day making treasure maps and pirate flags, as well as

creating our own pirate identities. The children looked fantastic in their costumes and had a fantastic day.


Year 4 Skills Build Day

On Thursday 13th June, Year 4 were invited to South Devon College for an exciting Skills Build day. The children had been really looking forward to this trip and were beautifully

behaved throughout the whole morning. They were able to participate in a range of hands on activities, linked to different skills. These included plumbing - where the children created their

own water pipe system, decorating - where they used virtual reality sets to decorate buildings, construction - where they used a computer programme to create buildings, and

many many more. Both classes came away from this day with beaming smiles and spent the rest of the day chatting to each other about all of the different activities that they did. It was

wonderful to see them so enthused about it.

Year 5 Greek Day

Year 5 welcomed in the last term

with an exciting Greek themed day, to celebrate our topic of Ancient

Greece alongside our class novel “Who let the Gods out?”. Over the course of the day the children took

part in lots of different activities, from sending coded messages

using the Greek alphabet to designing and creating Greek pots

to be made out of clay. We also had the opportunity to try some Greek

food including feta cheese and hummus. The children all looked amazing in their Greek costumes

and we had a wonderful day exploring life as an ancient Greek!


Year 6 Heatree Residential

This month, Year 6 went on their residential to Heatree Activity Centre which is located on Dartmoor. The sun shone all week as the children enjoyed a variety of activities from

team building games, rafting and high ropes. The children really enjoyed all of the activities and having the space to run around. During our stay, the children modelled superb values and could talk about how each activity linked to a value we had been

learning in school. All of the staff at Heatree were really impressed with the children and how they encouraged and supported one another when completing the activities.


Year 5 Secondary School Taster Days

On Wednesday 19th and Friday 21st June we were fortunate enough to visit two secondary schools: Torquay Academy and Spires College. The children thoroughly enjoyed visiting the secondary schools and trying out some of the subjects they will be doing in Year 7, such as

science, PE and ICT (we even got to have a go at some coding!). The children behaved beautifully and were buzzing about applying for their secondary school places next term. Please note that further dates for more open days have been handed out. Please take some time to look

closely at this and feel free to attend any open days you would like.

Teddy Bears Tea

On Wednesday 10th July we welcomed our new September children into our amazing EYFS setting,

as they prepare for their transition into reception class. We had so much fun! As the children shared their much loved teddy bears with each other and played with all the incredible learning opportunities

that were available to them, their grown ups were able to step back and watch in wonderment. We can’t wait to see everyone again after the summer holidays so that we can begin to enjoy another incredible school

year at Ellacombe.

“My favourite lesson was

science because we got to change the colour of the flames - just like

Harry Potter!” Lilly


Circus Summer Fayre

On Friday 5th July, we welcomed families into school to celebrate our Circus themed Summer

Fayre. Thank you to all children who contributed items towards our fayre, the PTFA made an impressive total of £811.65 which will be used to support our children’s learning next

year.

The playground was filled with different stalls, families and music while the sun shone.

Our choir and Samba band entertained us all, showing the pieces of music they have been

learning this year.

A huge thank you to the PTFA for another amazing Summer

Fayre raising £811.65


SIAMS Inspection

Earlier this month, we shared the outcomes with you of our recent and very first SIAMs inspection. We are delighted that this reflects our vision and Values that ‘Together we

take strides towards a brighter future” and wanted to share some of our favourite quotes from the report. Our whole staff have been overwhelmed by the kind messages of

congratulations and support we’ve had from our school family as well as senior church leaders from across Devon, including the Archdeacon of Totnes and the Bishop of

Plymouth.

“Christian values and spiritual reflection are

seamlessly threaded through the curriculum strengthening

the impact of the vision.”

“An exceptionally wide range of imaginative

strategies are used to differentiate the curriculum to meet the needs of each

child, enabling all to flourish.”

“Pupils recognise and understand that the

’brighter future’ of their vision means that their

dreams and hopes can be fulfilled through learning.”

“The curriculum at El-lacombe empowers pupils

to be confident skilled learners who challenge

themselves to be the very best they can be, as God

created them to be.”

“The teaching (of RE) is highly motivating and challenging. It enables

pupils to be fully engaged, reflect deeply and critically explore their own beliefs

and those of others. Consequently RE makes a substantial contribution to pupils’ spiritual growth.”

“Staff wellbeing policies reflect the school’s vision and create a culture where

all are supported in practical and

compassionate care. As a result staff morale is high.”


Worship

This half term, our value has been

Trust In collective Worship and Family Groups each week, the children have been exploring

who they trust and what it means to put their trust in others. This has been put into action with transition this half term, where the children met their

new teacher and thought about how trust supported this change. During our last collective worship this year, we revisited our vision (together, we stride

towards a brighter future…) and our values (love, trust, hope, perseverance and stewardship) and thought about how bible stories have helped us to leave positive

imprints on others this year. We cannot wait to see how they children continue to live out our values as they take on

their new adventures next year.


Attendance

Little Foxes! Congratulations to Little

Foxes for winning the final celebration breakfast for this

year. They enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the

academy with their families this week.

We can’t wait to find out who is our overall

attendance winner this year. Names of children who have had 100% attendance this year will go into a hat and our winner will be drawn at random on Tuesday. This

year’s winner will get a £100 Halfords voucher to spend

on a new bike!

Visitors Feedback


A Chat With Our Team

Miss Ingham—Higher Level Teaching Assistant

I started working at Ellacombe Academy in 2016 as PE Lead and HLTA. I love being able to inspire and enthuse the children and staff in my passion for all sports. My

favourite sports are cricket, badminton, squash and hockey. In my spare time I enjoy doing voluntary work with local brownies, guides and youth

groups. I also enjoy walking my crazy dog ‘Luna’! When I get any spare time I like to read and my favourite book is To Kill a Mocking Bird.

Mr Heyse—Learning Support Assistant

I have been an LSA at Ellacombe Academy since 2017 and during that time I have helped in KS1 classrooms, with various trips and with KS2 residentials.

I often spend my free time completing DIY projects or walking on Dartmoor and I volunteer with a Scout group in Paignton; a group I first joined when I was just five years old!

A book I recently finished is The Red House Mystery by A.A.Milne and it’s quickly become a favourite of mine.

Visitors Feedback


Colour Run

On Saturday 22nd June a team of staff and families from Ellacombe Academy took part in the 5k Colour Run in aid of Children’s Hospice South West. They had a fantastic day whilst raising money for a great cause and all together raised an amazing £322.50. Huge thanks to those who supported them both on the day and through sponsorship. There was also a team from Warberry Academy who took part and both teams enjoyed cheering each other on! Huge thanks go to Mrs Davey for arranging to take part in this event. We look forward to more events in the future!

Staff News

At the end of this Summer term, we are saying ‘Bon Voyage’ to a few members of our team who are moving abroad. Miss Symons, who started her teaching carer as a

student teacher with us, is heading abroad to teach for a few years. Miss Robbins, who joined our EYFS team this year, is also moving across the Irish Sea to teach in

Northern Ireland. We will also be saying ‘good luck’ to a few of our staff who are taking up positions at some of our partnership schools; Miss Perry who has been part of our teaching team for two years and Miss Baldwin who joined us this year. We will also be saying ‘good

luck’ and see you soon to Mrs Huish, as she takes up a new position within the Learning Academy partnership. Mrs Huish started her teaching career with us and has

been one of our Assistant Heads over recent years. I know you will join with us in thanking her for her dedication over the years.

Visitors Feedback


Ellacombe C of E Academy Ellacombe Church Road Torquay TQ1 1TG

01803 293040

[email protected]

www.ellacombe-lap.co.uk

@EllacombeLAP

OFFICE OPENING HOURS

8am—3.30pm Monday—Friday. Closed for lunch

daily 12.45-1.15pm. Closed Mondays 10.30-11.30am for

staff training.

Clubs

Thank you for your feedback regarding after school clubs. Many of you have

told us that you would like to see more variety and availability of clubs. We will be looking into this next year and hope to secure some more external providers to provide a wider variety of after school

clubs—watch this space!

Future newsletters

Following parent feedback, we have been reviewing our weekly and monthly newsletters.

From September we will be doing weekly newsletters per year group rather than per class

and our monthly newsletters will move to half termly (6 per year). These half termly newsletters will have a new format which will ensure they are

shorter yet still celebratory and informative. Thank you for your feedback.

We have recently been informed that as of 1st September 2019 ISS will be increasing the price

of school dinners to £2.30. Please remember that all school

dinners must be paid for in advance.

Visitors Feedback


head of academy update - ellacombe c of e academy...john beckett which took them into kent’s...

Documents