End of Year Update - 19/07/24

Dear Parents & Carers,

With the weather having changed for the better, hopefully not too briefly, it seems fitting that the sun is out to end the summer term and year at Sewell Park Academy.

It has been another fantastic year for our students and staff, embodying our ethos of “Enriching minds, enabling success”. This week, we have had a celebration of events with Sports Day, an exceptional performing arts showcase, disco, Summerfest and celebration assemblies. The final two days have given an array of new opportunities for students, with two European trips, a host of new activities and the opportunity to make new friends across the school. I need to say a huge thank you to all of the staff who have given up their time to organise and run these events - without their enthusiasm and efforts these would not have been possible.

It is the time of year where we also need to say farewell to some staff who are leaving us. For a short period of time, this is Mrs Kettle (Spanish) who goes on maternity leave and Mr Attree (PE) who is taking up a one year secondment at another of our trust schools. Moving on to pastures new are Miss Crane (Spanish), Ms Gibson (H&SC) and Mr Clemesha (Raising Achievement). We also say farewell to Mrs Heather Tew, our Chair of Governors. She has been a part of the governing body at Sewell Park for 10 years and 12 days, and has been a fierce advocate for the school throughout the journey of improvement over the years. Her role will be taken up by Mr Sam Webber, a former student of Sewell Park Academy.

In September, we start back on the following days:

• Wednesday 4th September 8:30 am - Years 7 & 11 only

• Thursday 5th September 8:30 am - All year groups

For the full term dates, please see the school website and calendar. We try as much as possible to align with our feeder schools, but as we have around 18, there will unfortunately always be some which do not match. You will have seen that, due to our longer school week, we have a two week half term in October. Hopefully, this gives an opportunity for some families to take advantage of slightly reduced holiday costs before the main Norfolk half term. There is also substantial evidence from other academy trusts, that this break in the really long Autumn term, helps to reduce absence of both students and staff.

The ‘Arbor app’ for our Management Information System has been really well received by parents and carers, providing more real time information for you all. We will be looking to extend this in September, to aid our communication channels. If you have not yet downloaded the app, please do so before the start of the next academic year. The portal will be closed between the 5th and 30th August, to allow us to ensure everything is set up correctly for September.

Finally, in September, we will be welcoming our new Year 7 cohort, where, again, we were one of the 15 schools in Norfolk who were oversubscribed by having more first choice applications than places. At this point, Sewell Park Academy will be full across all year groups - a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the strength and relationships in our local community. NR3 and North Norwich is a fantastic area to be rightly proud of, and we look forward to continuing the work with you all.

Thank you all for your continued support this academic year and have a very enjoyable Summer break.

Best wishes

David Day

Headteacher