Dear Parent/Carer,

 

As we all look forward to a well-deserved break to spend with family and friends over the Christmas period, please do take a few minutes to read the newsletter and digest the wealth of opportunity, experience and provision, which is afforded to all of our students at the Priory Belvoir Academy.  Thank you to everyone who has donated to the Grantham Food Bank appeal.  It is always with a sense of pride that the Belvoir community comes together to support those in need. 

 

We have enjoyed a much improved catering provision since September due to our partnership with a new catering provider, Aspens.  Students have certainly positively remarked on the quality and range of food on offer resulting in an increase in the number of students purchasing food at break and lunchtime.  Approximately 550 students and staff enjoyed Christmas dinner, served by the Senior Leadership Team, which was thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by all.

 

I must take this opportunity to promote our new cycle shelter which is now fully installed and being used by students on a daily basis.  This project has been spear headed by one of Year 11 students Clem B.  Clem is a prolific and active fundraiser, prepared to do what was necessary to raise the £10,000.  From a 26 mile challenge – running, triking and swimming a mile over 26 days and a non-stop 90 minute swim, to organising a Christmas raffle and sweepstake to the Euros football tournament, he has been single-minded in achieving his aim of building a new cycle shelter for the benefit of the school community.  His ability to galvanise the local community in supporting his cause through pitching for grants to a range of community stakeholders, such as the Belvoir Lions, Rotary club, Leicestershire County Council and other charities is a testament to his interpersonal skills.  And not least in persuading local businesses and contractors to buy in to his vision to donate their expertise and skills for free in planning, materials, labour and finance.  His work as a volunteer is truly impressive and exemplifies our values across the strands of our Peacock Pride Awards.  Thanks and gratitude are extended to the following organisations and businesses who worked together to provide us with this fantastic facility:

• RPS Group - Newark
• Greasley Property Services
• Belvoir Sawmill
• ABC Concrete
• Belvoir Lions
• MKM Building Services – Grantham
• Sulney Nursery

 

In the spring, now that we have a state of the art cycle shelter, please can I ask you to encourage your child if they live locally, particularly in Bottesford, to cycle to school rather than being dropped off or indeed walk.  This is a much healthier and environmentally friendly mode of travel and will reduce the number of cars coming down Barkestone Lane at drop off and pick-up times.

 

 

Christmas Showcase 2024

The final week of term is always extremely busy in the Music department and this year is no exception! On Wednesday 18^th December, students from last year’s Key Stage three were invited to perform to an audience of their friends and parents after school, to show what progress they’ve made following their instrumental lessons. The students in year 7, 8 and 9 last year were due to give these performances at the Summer Showcase, but we were so overwhelmed with the number of students wanting to take part that we had to postpone lower school – until now!

Added to this were performances from this year’s Rock School – three bands, each performing two different songs – and the talent on show just gets better and better every year! Thanks go to all students who took part, Will Hay, our guitar teacher who runs Rock School every Wednesday after school, and of course, to parents for all the support shown. We literally couldn’t do it without you encouraging your children to get involved and attend every week – so a big thanks from us to you!

 

Final Day Christmas Show

Each year at Belvoir, the whole of year 7 develop their singing skills in Term 2, culminating in two whole year group performances. Firstly, students took part in the singing of the hymn for our Remembrance Service at Bottesford Church, and secondly, as the closing act from the in-school Christmas show that takes place on the very last day of term. The other year groups are invited down to watch snippets from our evening Christmas show, as well as year 7 showing off their vocal talents. With the exception of the current year 11,who were not able to sing during the Christmas of their year 7 due to Covid restrictions, all other year groups in the school have taken part in this fantastic annual tradition. We can’t wait to see how they do!

 

PE and Sport Highlights

There have been hundreds of pupils involved in various sports and physical activities since the start of term.  Many of the younger students have experienced new sports for the first time or played in competitive fixtures they have not done before.  The girls netball teams continued to dominate against the Melton schools winning all of their local games in all 5 year groups.  Years 10 and 11 went one stage further and won their knock-out games to progress into the quarter finals of the county cup competitions. Year 10 comfortably beat their opposition to go into the county semi finals and the year 11s will play their quarter finals in the new year. The year 11 girls won their first two rounds in the national "sisters n sport" competition.

 

The boys football teams had various levels of success locally with the 7s, 9s and 11s all going undefeated.  Unfortunately only the year 11 team managed to win their knock out round to progress into the county cup last 16.  Both the Year 9 and Year 11 teams have been successful in their national cup competitions with the year 9s reaching the 4^th round which will be played after Christmas.

 

In recent weeks students have been competing in local basketball fixtures.  Some teams will be successful and move onto the knockout rounds after Christmas however,  many students have experienced competitive basketball for the first time.  Currently the KS4 girls, Year 10 boys and Year 8 boys are undefeated and should go through.

 

Students have also been involved in "B team" fixtures in both netball and football to give more students the opportunity to play for the school teams.  These were played in excellent spirit and significantly increased the number of students involved in school sport.  Lastly but certainly not least, a fabulous group of Year 9 students went to Bottesford primary school to run the area table tennis competition.  Primary staff and local sports delivery partners were unanimous in their praise for our students and the way they conducted themselves.

 

In the last week of term students have been taking part in house competitions in their PE lessons where they have had  the opportunity to compete in slightly different sports and activities in a fun and lighthearted way.      

 

Awards Evening

Module 2 has seen two big annual events on the Belvoir calendar.  In October, we held our Awards Evening for the previous academic year at St Mary’s Church in Bottesford. Over 80 students received individual awards ranging from the subject year group prize to the alumni Outstanding Role Model Award.  A special feature of this night involved the big prize winners hearing why they were personally nominated by the awarding teacher.  A very proud moment for all involved.   To top it off, the cast of Matilda gave us an enticing taster of next year’s performance and Emma Whewell, a former pupil who left Belvoir in 2015, gave our students and members of the audience a warm and inspirational account of her journey from Belvoir pupil to becoming a teacher at Bottesford Primary.  A journey full of determination, hard work and a passion for dance.

 

Macmillan Cake Sale

More recently we held our annual cake sale for Macmillan Cancer Support.  Thanks to your generosity of time, effort and donations, we managed to raise an outstanding £1032.00, a new Belvoir record!  With the brilliant organisational skills of our Student Leaders, we were able to give each year group their time to attend the sale together and sit and chat over a slice of cake.  Some welcome respite from the demands of a long term! Thank you so much for everything you baked, bought and your child spent on the day.  Lily M’s Christmas tree cake raffle got us over the £1000.00 mark.  She raised £158.00! Thank you Lily – surely a definite contender for the Great British Bake Off trophy in the future!

 

Peacock Pride

Last week we held our Christmas prize giving assemblies for each year group during which sixteen prizes were awarded to a mix of Drive Champion, Tutor, Head of Year and attendance prize winners.  Our range of recognition methods is being reviewed this year and in the last few weeks, close to 300 pupils have been consulted with to determine what they value in terms of rewards and recognition.  Next year, this review will progress with the help of the School Council.

 

Remembrance

Our annual Remembrance service was held in St Mary’s Church, Bottesford and this year our service remembered the courage of 1944. This was a year of significant battles including the Battle of Monte Casino, the bloodiest battle of the Italian Campaign, the Battles of Kohima and Imphal that saw brutal fighting for British and India forces, and of course not forgetting the D-Day landings which marked the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe. So, it is was fitting that we focussed our commemorations on the 80^th anniversary of these significant battles. Year 7 and 11 were welcomed to the church by our cadets and the service incorporated a selection of readings, literature and music delivered by students and staff.  Students’ sense of occasion was exemplary.  Years 8, 9 and 10 participated in Remembrance assemblies in school, mirroring the service at Church.

 

History - New York Trip

In October we took 50 pupils to New York for 4 nights in relation to our GCSE History topic USA 1920-1973. During this trip, the pupils got to see the amazing sights of one of the greatest cities in the world including the Empire State Building, Times Square, Central Park, Harlem, the 9/11 memorial and the amazing view of Downtown Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry. In addition, pupils got to meet and listen to a veteran of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement who was at the March in Washington for Martin Luther King Jr’s famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. The pupils were a credit to the school and showed great maturity whilst navigating such a busy city. It certainly helped that we had beautiful sunshine and 20+ degree weather whilst it was raining back at home! The staff had a great time because the pupils were so great and hopefully many great memories were made.

 

Literacy Intervention

Our Literacy Interventions got off to a flying start in September for selected students in Years 7 to 9.   Since then, we have had many students graduate:

Year 7

• 4 students have graduated from comprehension as they are no longer in the first 20%

Year 8

• 7 have graduated from comprehension
• 5 have graduated from the Herts For Learning group interventions
• 3 have graduated from Fresh Start (phonics) and have moved on to a comprehension

Year 9

• 2 have graduated from comprehension
• 5 have graduated from the Herts For Learning group interventions

 

We continue to offer several interventions such a reading fluency, reading comprehension, phonics and the Herts for Learning program which covers fluency and comprehension.

 

Year 7

Year 7 have become part of the Belvoir community this term and have settled in incredibly well. Friendship groups are quite fluid in Year 7 as they come from 30 different primary schools, so it can take a while for students to find 'a good fit'. It has really helped that they have got involved in the activities on offer. Thank you to parents and carers who have also encouraged their child to try something new. 

During the second full week of term, as part of their PSHCE program Year 7 took part in their first dropdown day. A team from Lincolnshire CC ran a carousel of presentations and activities for each tutor group. They covered: Fire Safety, Online safety, Alcohol and Drug awareness, Healthy Relationships and Anti social behaviour.

Grafham Water Residential

In November,  119 Year 7 students went to Grafham Water for three days. They participated in a variety of activities; Sailing, Canoeing, Archery, Climbing, Problem Solving and Biking. They also had a memorable experience in the evening with Mr Waddingham's DJ and party game skills.

 

Before going, many felt apprehensive. This was a big step for many Year 7 students and possibly parents. Nevertheless, since returning, this has shown to have helped in building resilience, developing new friendships  and generally with the transition to Belvoir.

 

Panto!

In the last week of term, to put us in the Christmas spirit, 134 Year 7 enjoyed a trip to the Nottingham Playhouse to see Jack and The Beanstalk. And as usual the year group did the school proud at the playhouse. Well done Year 7.

 

Year 8

Year 8 have had a great start to the academic year, they have worked extremely hard and been an absolute pleasure to lead.

During Remembrance Day assembly, we had 6 fabulous speakers read out the history and importance of remembrance to not only Year 8 but to Year 10 as well, this takes courage. Well done to Joe W, Holly P, Rosie H, Harriett H, Lucy W and Archie KS.

There have been many sporting events that Year 8 have taken part in this term, particularly our Year 8 Boys Football and Year 8 Girls Netball; they both have participated in fixtures and represented the school.

 

Year 9

Extra-curricular Activities

• Football: The Year 9 boys' football team are having a fantastic run in the National Cup, showcasing their skills and determination.
• Netball: The girls' netball team had a highly successful tour, demonstrating excellent teamwork and sportsmanship which  has continued into this year.
• English: 40 of the pupils enjoyed a trip to the theatre to watch A Christmas Carol, which brought their studies to life.
• Drama: Students participated in a drama workshop, enhancing their acting skills. Many are also working towards the school production, contributing through music, drama, or both.
• Music: Students are preparing for the school's Christmas show, where they will showcase their musical talents.

Special Projects

• A Drop Down Day: A day dedicated to safety and careers, providing students with valuable insights and guidance for their future.

Upcoming Events

• Parents' Evening: An opportunity for parents to meet with teachers and discuss their child's progress.
• GCSE Options: Students are getting ready to make their GCSE options choices early next year, an important step in their academic journey.
• Year 9 Exams week. Getting used to and ready for the real thing starting in early January
• End of Year Rewards Trip. Going to Holme Pierre Pont to take part in water and land based activities

Recently we have given a  warm welcome to Mrs Price and Mr Wood who have taken over one of the tutor groups until Mrs Langley returns after her maternity leave.  We are all very proud of the hard work and achievements of our Year 9 students this term and look forward to seeing their continued progress in the new year!

Keystage 4

It has been a busy term for Key Stage 4 students, with Year 10 making a fantastic start to their new GCSE studies and Year 11 in full swing with their exam preparations. Year 11 experienced a full revision programme in the build up to mocks and have now received their mock exam results, informing both them and their teachers of our aims and focuses for after Christmas. Both year groups have been involved in PSHE days, engaging in sessions including first aid and CPR, money management, gambling awareness, mental health and healthy relationships.

Duke of Edinburgh

During the course of this term, Miss Jones has been delighted to enrol over 50 Year 10 students onto their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award. They are currently all working on completing their activities for their volunteering, skill development and physical activities. Students are looking forward to beginning the training for the expedition after Christmas, developing their first aid skills, camp craft and navigation.

 

 

Revision Strategies

In preparation for their mock GCSE examinations, Year 11 participated extremely well in a two-hour session in the Main Hall with Mrs Torr where they made revision timetables to take them up until the exams in November and then reviewed a range of revision skills to ensure they could use their revision time productively. They also had the opportunity to take part in a four-week after-school revision programme with class teachers offering revision support for the questions and topics that would be examined in the mocks.

 

Year 9 also had a revision skills session with Mrs Torr in November where they learned to create their own revision timetables for the first time in preparation for the Year 9 exams, which will take place in January. They explored how to manage their own time by ensuring that all topics for all subjects were included, but also to schedule in a much-needed day off each week to allow time to process and recharge! Their hard work on this will be hugely beneficial to them as they move into Key Stage 4 next year and work towards their GCSEs. We wish them good luck for their exam week in January.

 

Geography

Autumn always promises to be a busy term and this one has been no exception.

Year 7 pupils completed river meanders fieldwork along the river Devon, testing their hypotheses formulated in the classroom. Pupils conducted fieldwork with much enthusiasm as they observed river processes and landforms in their local area. We are so fortunate to have such a lovely meander on our doorstep!

In year 8, pupils have been learning about the human and physical geography of Africa. Pupils quickly recognised their own misconceptions and embraced an enhanced understanding of this diverse continent.

Year 9 pupils have been focussing on the Middle East. This is a new (and highly topical) unit at Belvoir and pupils approached the various aspects with great interest and maturity. As the unit came to an end, they asked for more!

In year 10, pupils have been studying urban issues and challenges, focussing on Nottingham and Mumbai. Pupils have explored highly topical issues such as waste management, sustainable urban living, urban sprawl and migration.

Year 11 pupils are currently studying natural hazards and have just completed evaluating the responses to earthquakes in areas of differing wealth. November saw mock exams get under way and pupils recognised the value of this rehearsal, ahead of the summer exams!

Next term will see even more exciting GCSE curriculum changes with the introduction of Cold Environments: Svalbard and  Resource Management: Food

English Theatre Trip

On Wednesday 11^th December, 50 excited Year 9 students were treated to an afternoon out at the theatre in Derby to watch a spectacular production of Dickens novel A Christmas Carol. This was a great opportunity to get ready for their exam on the novel in January, and to increase their knowledge of the story. The fabulous cast brought Dickens' characters to life with a whole host of singing, dancing, instrumentals and festive cheer! I think all staff and students would agree that this was a wonderful way to get into the Christmas spirit, and we have all agreed to "honour Christmas in our hearts!"

 

Performing Arts

Matilda

Students are continuing to rehearse and prepare for our school production of Matilda. We have a cast and crew of 68 students, all of whom are working incredibly hard and showing real dedication as we approach the Christmas break. Cast members are committed to getting their lines, dance steps and lyrics learnt; and the crew are busy creating interesting and appealing set pieces to dress the stage with. It's all coming together and we are incredibly excited for the performances on 6th and 7th of February 2025.   Tickets will go on sale after Christmas for the for the following dates:

• Thursday 6^th and Friday 7^th February 2025
• There will be three options:

Adult Single Ticket - £7.50

Concession (under 16 or senior) - £5.00

Family ticket (two adults/two concessions) - £22.50

Please be aware for our previous school productions, tickets sold out so our advice is to put the date in your calendar and book early to avoid disappointment!  A text will go out to advise when the tickets go live on the system and students will be notified in school via tutors.  We hope to see you there!

 

Physical Theatre Workshop

Year 9 students had the opportunity to engage with a physical theatre workshop run by Frantic Assembly, who are a leading theatre company specialising in devised work. Students had a 2 hour long practical workshop in the Drama Studio with a Frantic Assembly cast member, taking them through various exercises and techniques used by Frantic to help them develop their own devising in Drama. 

 

Mrs Appleby hosted a session of staff CPD training by organising a workshop led by Splendid Theatre director, Kerry Frampton. Drama teachers from across the trust came together at Belvoir to take part in this 6-hour practical workshop in the Drama Studio, developing their subject knowledge of Bertolt Brecht and Steven Berkoff. Through engaging in physical exercises and practical techniques in the same way students would, Drama staff were able to expand their understanding of these two key theatre practitioners in a practical and creative way. This workshop was hugely successful and offered a fantastic opportunity for Drama staff across the Trust to converse and share knowledge of their respective settings and pedagogical approaches to Drama learning at Key Stage 4. 

 

Miss Lowe organised a surprise flash mob with eleven Year 8 and 9 students, surprising students and staff during lunch break on Wednesday 18^th December with their dance routine to Elton John's 'Step Into Christmas'! 

 

Food Studies

Year 11 were able to perfect their pasta making skills for their recent NEA 1 (15% final grade), they did a great job in showcasing which flours would be best suited to pasta dishes but it’s safe to say pasta will be off the menu for a while!

 

Lily M, one of our most capable year 11 GCSE Food Prep and Nutrition students, agreed to make a showstopper of a cake to raffle in aid of our Macmillan event on Wednesday 4^th December. A very talented young lady indeed! Lots of staff can confirm that it tasted just as good as it looked!  Thank you for giving up so much time in aid of Macmillan, Lily!

 

Library

• Lending figures are up by 52% overall on this time last year. Non fiction lending is up by 64%.
• Thank you to the Friends of Belvoir donation of  £500 which has been matched by the Vale of Belvoir Lions to purchase new books for the library.
• Our book group has just finished their second book and are enjoying being able to discuss literature in an informal environment and stretch their literary knowledge through extra curricular activities.

 

Next term:

We will be welcoming author and illustrator Sonia Leong for the day to talk to students about careers in illustration, manga and graphic novels and complete illustration workshops.

• World book day 2025
• Carnegie shadowing begins

 

Careers

In October, we hosted our annual KS4 Information Evening. A large range of post 16 providers attended including MV16, Toothill, Confetti, Nottingham College, Priory Ruskin and multiple apprenticeship providers. Staff were available to speak to year 11 students and offer support for the upcoming mocks such as revision guides, knowledge organisers and past papers. Additionally,  year 9 got to meet our post 16 providers for 1 hour at the end  of their day  Students were tasked with talking to providers and asking useful questions to start them thinking about their options after Belvoir. Mrs Suschitzky also gave a small talk to parents on the different levels of options available to our students post year 11, hopefully clearing up any misconceptions about T Levels, apprenticeships, A Levels and BTEC Levels 1/2/3.

 

In November, Year 11 attended the annual Future First Careers Fair at Newark Showground. A good morning was had by all, bonus breakfast rolls were available as a nice surprise! Students were able to speak to a range of apprenticeship providers, as well as a range of current/previous alumni, colleges and training providers. A large amount of national companies attended such as John Deere, Currys & the NHS. Students gathered some useful souvenirs as well, such as lip gloss, torches and pens (no excuses now year 11!).

 

Thank you to all Year 10 students and parents who have organised their 3 day work experience placements for March 2025. We are up to nearly 80%.  If there are any outstanding placements we need to know about, or you need support in finding a placement, please contact cwrate@prioryacademies.co.uk.

 

Welcome to New Staff

When we return after the Christmas break, we will warmly welcome two new members of staff:

Ms Page – Teacher of Science

Mrs Combs – SENCo (Maternity cover)

Mrs Flynn – Technology Technician

 

On behalf of the staff at the Priory Belvoir Academy, we wish all our families a very happy and safe Christmas and new year and look forward to welcoming everyone back on Tuesday 7^th January 2025.

 

Yours faithfully,

Mr L S Newton

Headteacher

 

Calendar for Term 2

 

• Tuesday 7^th January 2025 – Students back in the academy
• W/c 13^th January 2025 – Year 9 Mock Examinations
• Wednesday 22^nd January 2025 – Year 11 Mock Interviews
• Thursday 23^rd January 2025 – Year 11 Parents’ Evening
• Friday 24^th January 2025 – 3-in-1 Vaccinations
• Thursday 6^th and Friday 7^th February 2025 – Matilda production
• Friday 14^th February 2025 – KS4 French Play (in-school)
• 15^th – 22^nd February 2025 – Ski Trip to Italy
• Wednesday 26^th February 2025 – Year 9-11 Drama trip to see Animal Farm at the Curve Theatre, Leicester
• Thursday 27^th February 2025 – Year 9 Parents’ Evening and Options’ Evening
• 3 – 5^th March 2025 – Sciencelive at Disneyland Paris
• 6^th – 8^th March 2025 – Year 9 Battlefields trip to Belgium.
• W/c 10^th March 2025 – Year 10 Work Experience
• Thursday 13^th March 2025 – Friends of Belvoir Year 8 Disco
• Thursday 20^th March 2025 – Year 10 Parents’ Evening