The Newsletter - 20th October 2023
A note from your Principal.
Dear parents and carers,
Welcome to the first Co-op Academy Walkden newsletter of the year. The end of our first half-term has certainly come very quickly, but it’s fair to say that all students are ready for a short break, to recharge their batteries and be ready for the next half-term.
There has been a lot to celebrate over the past 7 weeks and you can read about some of those successes here in the newsletter or, as always, on our social media channels.
Our new Year 7 students have now completed their first half-term with us and have settled in really well. Starting a new school can be very daunting, but they have fully immersed themselves in the life of the school. Lots are already involved in our additional clubs, trips and visits and the majority of the year are soon to go away together to the Conwy centre in Wales, which will be a brilliant experience.
I want to take the opportunity to welcome and introduce some new colleagues who have started with us during this half-term:
Mrs J Clarke - Head of Food
Miss A Beech - DT Teacher
Miss L Foster - DT Teacher
Miss E Dassie - Foreign Language Teacher
Mr P Gardner - Head of Science
Mrs L Heppolette - English Teacher
Miss R McGinley - Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mr W McHugh - Head of Year 9
Mrs S Garner - Head of Year 11
Mrs R Vaughan - Communications and Marketing Officer
Many students are already familiar with our new colleagues and are helping them to settle into our community.
I'd like to thank all parents and carers for your engagement and support over the last few weeks. I am particularly grateful for your ongoing support towards improving attendance. Our whole school attendance is currently 93%, but we need all students to be in school unless they are genuinely ill. On this note, I’d like to share some updated guidance about respiratory infections. You only need to keep your child off school if they:
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Have symptoms of a respiratory infection (e.g. cough)
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They have a high temperature
Classcharts and MyEd
After the half-term break, we are introducing a new management information system called Arbor. This is the system that stores all of our student, staff and parental information. It will be a very positive step for us, not least because it will allow us to move towards a single point of communication between school and home. I will write separately after the half term to explain these changes in more depth.
For now though, I want to wish all of our families a good half-term break and we look forward to welcoming all of our students back on Monday 30th October.
Matt Hacker
Principal
Important dates
Year 11 Mock exams - 30th October - 15th November
Careers Evening - 9th November
Year 7 residential trip to Conwy - 13th November -15th November
Inset day (Academy will be closed) - 24th November
Student success update
We are proud to share some of our very own students' success stories.
Emily has had an outstanding result, winning a Gold medal for the Double Mini Trampoline and Silver for Trampolining in the Regional Finals at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham. Well done Emily from all of us at Co-op Academy Walkden.
Amelie has had an incredible year, with accolades including becoming the youngest ever British Senior Champion, Youth Olympic Champion, European Junior Silver Medallist in the pool and now European Junior Champion in 5k open water. Amelie has also broken a number of British age group records. Well done Amelie from all of us at Co-op Academy Walkden.
Open evening for the Class of 2029
We had a very successful Open Evening in September, welcoming prospective Year 6 students. The students and their families were welcomed in and escorted around the Academy by our student guides who offered great insight into being a part of Co-op Academy Walkden. We were able to showcase some amazing talent from our Music and Drama Departments, and we had some pretty impressive Science experiments too!
A huge well done and thank you to everyone involved.
Sports successes
Mrs Walker and Mr Tobutt have shared some of our sporting successes over the last month.
Netball
10th October - Co-op Academy Walkden vs Buille Hill Academy Year 9 won with a score of 11-8 and Year 10 came out on top with an impressive score of 33-3
14th October - Co-op Academy Walkden vs Buille Hill Academy Year 7 won 10-3 and Year 8 took home a 12-0 victory.
18th October - Co-op Academy Walkden vs Bridgewater High Year 7 had a 5-3 win and Year 9 had an impressive 5-5 draw
Football
13th October - The Schools U16A team won 7-5 against Wellington School
18th October - The Schools U15B team won 3-1 against Ellesmere Park High in the Salford Schools Cup group stage
Keep up the good work Teams
Careers events and Information
College assemblies
This term, local colleges, Salford City , Winstanley, Loreto and Bolton colleges have delivered assemblies to our Year 11 students to help them make informed decisions about their post 16 options. As well as promoting their courses, they also explained to students what each qualification was, which was really helpful, particularly as there is a new qualification, a T Level. T Level is similar to a vocational qualification, however some of the learning is through work placements and is a mix of practical assessments and exams..
You can find out more about T levels here: T Levels
Macmillan cake sale
In September, we held a cake sale to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
We raised an outstanding £898.79 which includes an extremely generous donation from one of our colleagues.
Thank you to all who donated their time, effort and money to help with this event.
Upcoming activities
Year 7 Organ Model Competition
Students in Year 7 have been learning about the human body in Science lessons. We are asking them to use this knowledge to make a model of the human organs on a box, old t-shirt, newspaper or any suitable material of their choice.
Students can drop off their model by 10th November to Ms Davies or Ms Lee in room D1. Prizes include three achievement points for every entry, three runners-up will win a £5 voucher and the lucky winner will receive a £10 voucher.
Year 7 Christmas Card Competition
Students in Year 7 have been asked to design a Christmas card that reminds them of the festive season. This could be a Christmas scene, festive food, or spending time with family and friends. Whatever makes them feel in the Christmas Spirit!
Entries can either be digital or hand drawn. They must be portrait style and all entries must be submitted by 23rd November. Entries can be sent to their Art Teacher or email walkden.info@coopacademies.co.uk
Their design could be this year's Official Co-op Academy Walkden Christmas Card!
School Library
Miss Shannon and our Student Librarians have been meeting regularly in our School Library where they discuss the books they are enjoying reading and plan events taking place in the Library.
We have recently featured two of our Year 7 students on our social media sites for being the first to complete their Library Loyalty cards in record timing during the first half of term.
Useful Info
Please see the image below for places where ''kids eat free or for £1 during the October 2023 School Holidays''
Would you like to contribute to our School Newsletter?
Has your child done something amazing inside or outside the Academy?
Why not get in touch and let us know about it?
We want to feature our students’ successes in the newsletter and let our community celebrate with you.
Email success stories and feedback to walkden.info@coopacademies.co.uk.
Got feedback about the newsletter? Let us know at the same address!
We always appreciate your feedback.