Parent/Carer Updates

Dear Parent/Carer

Monkton Wood Academy Parent Councillor Election

Following my letter of 5 October 2023, the Academy has received 3 nominations for the role of Parent Councillor. An election will now take place. Please click here to go to your electronic ballot paper which must be completed by 5pm on 24 November 2023. Alternatively, a ballot box will be located at Reception where you will be able to complete your ballot paper.

The total votes each parent or carer may cast equates to the number of vacancies for Parent Councillors on the Academy Council, in this instance it is two. In this election, parents/carers may each cast one vote, regardless of the number of children you have in the Academy.

The role of the Parent Councillor is to bring a parental perspective to the strategic decisions the Councillors make. This will support the Council to make good decisions and maintain a link between governance and the parent community.

A short message from each person standing for election is given below for your consideration.

Mrs Hawkins

I have 3 children aged 20,18 &14. All three have attended Heathfield and my youngest has just started in year 9. I have a HNND in Business and Finance which I feel would benefit the Academy. I have had many experiences with various professional bodies, some due to having 3 children with SEN needs, which has allowed me to be able to communicate with people on all levels.

My aim would be to help the Academy to improve the communication between school and parents and to communicate new ideas, drawing on my expertise. I am also interested in pathways into Post 16, such as A Levels and modern apprenticeships.

Laura Lewis

The eldest of my three sons, along with many of his friends, has recently taken the big step from primary school into Heathfield Community School, soon to be Monkton Wood Academy. Like many parents of children starting out in a school that has a long improvement journey ahead, I am apprehensive, but also optimistic about the future. I believe that the whole community has a role to play in the school’s destiny – and that parents, carers and families have the power to positively influence the school in favour of better outcomes for our children.

In terms of career, I work in a regional leadership role in Digital Transformation at NHS England South West. There are many key skills that I use in my job role that would be beneficial to the Parent Council, including building positive relationships, influencing and persuading, creating a vision of a better future, evidenced-based decision-making and delivering positive change through people. I have experience in the centre of government, in the Department of Health, working directly with ministers. If you are looking for a parent councillor who is politically astute and confident in speaking truth to power on behalf of the school, I should be a good fit. I am passionate about securing a better future for the next generation and believe that building positive relationships, strong communities and core life skills should be at the centre of our children’s education.

Alison Watson

I have four children, two of whom are still in education.

I currently work as a Learning Disability Trainer for a Health Care Service. My background is within health, children’s mental health and further education. I have been predominantly involved within quality management and staff development for the past twenty years.

I have worked alongside multiple organisations striving to improve the quality of education and well-being for young people and adults. I have had the fortunate opportunity to lead projects within education, the local authorities and the community.

Hopefully I will be able to bring over some of these skills to support the Academy Council.

Yours faithfully
Hannah Jones
Principal

Dear parents and families,

I hope you have had a good week. Thank you for taking the time to read these updates from the school.

In this letter:

• Year 10 work experience
• Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
• Lost Learning – term time leave
• Parent Forum
• Federation Network Night (FNN) – request to remain in school

Year 10 Work Experience 
Our Year 10 students will be taking part in work experience, in the week commencing 06 May 2024. We are determined that all students in the year group will take part in this invaluable part of preparing for working life. Organising a work experience placement can be challenging for some of our students; in particular, students whose own parents’ or carers’ workplaces are unsuitable for children. If your workplace could offer a placement for a Heathfield/Monkton Wood student, irrespective of whether your own child is in Year 10, we would love to hear from you. Please email us at info@mwa.clf.uk and we will be in touch. Mrs Draper will be contacting Year 10 families with more details about arrangements for work experience, shortly.

Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme 
We are delighted to be offering the Duke of Edinburgh scheme once again, to students in Year 9. We are grateful to the Somerset DoE team who are supporting us in the delivery of the award. Students received information on the award scheme in assembly recently. If your child has not yet signed up, and would like to do so, they have until 13 December to return their form to their tutor.

Lost Learning – term time leave 
Students with excellent attendance have a greater chance of leaving school with excellent qualifications. A student even with 95% attendance will have missed 8 school days, or 40 lessons, in one year. We would like to remind families that we do not authorise leave during term time for family holidays, which should instead be taken during the 12 weeks of published school holidays. We are only able to authorise term time leave for circumstances that are exceptional and unavoidable. We thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Parent Forum 
This Thursday, 30 November at 5:30pm, is our next parent forum. We will be discussing our school uniform, and whether the time is right to consider making a change. If you are planning to attend, please make sure you have emailed the school office to let us know. We look forward to seeing you then.

Federation Network Night (FNN) – request to remain in school 
As detailed in my last parent letter, the school day will finish at 2:30pm on Wednesday 06 December 2023, as the teaching staff will be taking part in professional development and training with their subject specialist network from across the CLF.
If you would prefer your child to remain in school until 3:30pm as usual, please complete the form linked here, by 3:30pm on Friday 01 December. This will allow us to make arrangements for spaces and supervision. Please note that, if you do book a place for your child, it is essential they then attend. We will take a register and will follow our usual safeguarding procedures if a child is unaccounted for.

Finally, we are expecting our conversion to Monkton Wood Academy to complete this coming Friday, 01 December 2023. I will be writing again with more details, later this week.

We thank you for your continuing support, as always.

Yours faithfully,
Mrs H Jones
Principal