Welcome

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to the latest newsletter. It captures some of the sporting success and personal development activities that our students have been involved with, both in and out of school. It’s great to see and makes us incredibly proud to see students thriving in these ways. Of particular note is the fundraising event for the Amyloidosis Charity which Year 11 students organised and participated in – with over £2000 raised in the process. This is both amazing and poignant, given that the disease is currently affecting a parent and staff member in our community. Wonderful to see from our students!

It’s also great to see students engaged in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and last weekend we had groups of students preparing for their final expedition, which they will do in a few weeks time. Staff were bowled away by their attitudes and resilience – they were nothing less than outstanding in their approach and conduct! As always I’m grateful for the staff who dedicate their time to developing our students in this way, especially over weekends like this. We are planning to expand our Duke of Edinburgh provision in the future, so watch this space for further information about how your child might be able to get involved in the months and years to come.

Class Charts

We have been exploring how we can further develop the use of Class Charts to support our communications between school and home. We already use Class Charts effectively for individual communications with class teachers, to view attendance, homework, achievement and behaviour records and for whole school announcements to go to students and parents too. Student timetables are also on the app for students and parents/carers to view, although students should not access this during the school day, because they are not allowed to use mobile phones.

We know that parents and carers really value Class Charts and next term, we will be enhancing the way we use it by adding a feature to report student absences (rather than the current MyEd or telephone contact). Class Charts will become the only way to report absences and the system will allow us to confirm that we have received your message, giving you peace of mind that the absence is recorded on the register. We will confirm the date that this goes live early next half term, so please watch out for further information in due course.

Class Charts is also a vital tool for students and they also have their own unique access code for their timetable, homework, behaviour and attendance records.

We need every parent/carer and every student to be accessing and using Class Charts. If you are not yet up and running, please join everyone else: download the free App and contact walkden.info@coopacademies.co.uk for your unique access code!

Mobile phones

I want to re-state our policy on mobile phones in school. They are not welcome in the Academy and students must never use them during the school day. We know that parents/carers and students may still choose to bring them to school, for all the right reasons, but they must be switched off or on silent during the day all times. Parents and carers should always make contact regarding their child, using the main school phone lines rather than direct contact with their child on their mobile phone. 

Students caught using their phone will have it confiscated and placed in reception until the end of the week, unless a parent/carer wishes to collect before that time.

It is perhaps useful for families to be aware of why we take this approach:

1. Smart phones are attention ‘hoovers’. Everything about smartphones is designed to demand our attention, especially the social media apps that quite literally make their money off the number of ‘clicks’ we give them. In school, we need students to be 100% focussed on their learning and at social times to be developing their interpersonal skills in face to face conversations, rather than focussing on the pictures and words on a screen, some of which are highly damaging. They can’t do that when they are continually distracted by their smartphone and this is why they are not allowed in either lessons or social spaces.
2. The misuse of smartphones, particularly to record other people inappropriately, to spread misinformation and to cause upset and harm to others, is sadly prevalent in young people across the nation. If ever we have to deal with conflicts or bullying situations, in the vast majority of cases, there has been inappropriate and damaging activity online, often using smartphones. This is another reason why we do not permit them in school.

We’re regularly teaching students about keeping safe online and the appropriate use of technology. Just last week, we held assemblies about ‘sexting’ and how images and words, once on the internet, are there forever in some format. Both school and home have critically important roles to play in supporting children to navigate the appropriate use of technology in a world that is very different to how things were just 20 years ago. 

Your on-going support with this is very much appreciated.

Ready to learn

This is just another reminder following what I said in last week’s letter. After the half term break, we want to re-emphasise the need for all students to attend school ready to learn. An essential part of ‘being ready’ is coming to school with a suitable bag. This is all the more important as we enter the final term, because students will also be carrying their books more frequently, so that they can revise and prepare for their final assessments. A suitable bag needs to be a rucksack or other sensible and strong bag, which can easily carry books, a pencil case and PE kit as necessary. I will send a reminder about this next week, however if your child does not currently have a suitable bag, please ensure that they do before returning on Monday 6th June. If you need any support with sourcing a suitable bag, please do not hesitate to contact us as walkden.info@coopacademies.co.uk.

I want to finish by wishing all the families in our community a great half term break and we look forward to welcoming our wonderful students back on Monday 6th June.

With best wishes

Matt Hacker

Principal

A Message to Year 11

Goodness, where do we start to compose a message to the best Year group that Co-op Academy Walkden has had the pleasure and  honour  to support and  teach!

Year 11, it’s been an absolute blast working and supporting each and every one of you. We are so proud of you, you’ve given us your absolute best and you’ve smashed it!

May the  next chapter in your life bring along new hopes and new opportunities.  Learn from your mistakes and accomplish your goals for the future with your strength and dedication!

Live every moment, smile every day and always give the best of yourself.

Miss Hodgkinson, Mrs Earley, Mr Simmons and Mr Green

CrossFit Session- Year 8

Some of our Year 8 Students were given the opportunity to attend the Sierra Lima CrossFit gym in Leigh. Supervised by Mr Lamara, the students were given group & 1-1 training by two of the coaches on different ways of exercising and building on their skills, as well as learning new ones.

The coaches took the students through a range of different sets and drills with combinations of muscle building and cardio. In each session they also teach the students a new exercise, The image shows a student rope climbing which was chosen as one of the new skills to learn.

Outstanding Achievements!

Year 9 student Luke, truly knows the values and what’s needed to become a brilliant cadet in school, but his commitment stretches way beyond this. 

Luke recently attended our Cadet Annual Easter Camp, alongside 90 other students, which meant giving up one week of his Easter holidays. For many students that wasn’t an issue but for Luke, who is a very talented swimmer, this meant returning home on Friday for a short rest, before packing his bags again for a week’s Swimming Camp. 

Luke was recently selected to complete  Phase 1 of the Swim England National Development Programme at Stoneyhurst College and has subsequently been chosen for Phase 2 which will see him swim at the Commonwealth pool in Birmingham on Sunday 22nd May. Since then,  Luke has now qualified for British Nationals! This means in the 50m, 100m & 200m, he is in the top 24 in the whole of Great Britain in his age category and will race at Nationals at the end of July.

On top of this, Luke is completing his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award with Cadets.  Trying to fit in all his swimming commitments plus cadet commitments is very challenging, but Luke is certain that he will complete his Bronze award as he truly loves cadets.

We are so pleased for Luke and wish him well with both his swimming success and his future success with the CCF.  

Cadets

May saw our first cohort of cadets undertake their Practice expedition for the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award.  25 very nervous students set off from their start point in Rivington, Blackrod to complete the next 6 hours navigating their way to the campsite where they would then rest, take copious amounts of food and water on board, before a well earned rest.

Day 2 was an early morning start, wake up, tents packed away before ensuring they had a hearty breakfast to set them off for a further full day or walking.  Some of the cadets could have been mistaken for thinking that Sunday was going to be easy, how wrong could they be!!  As the day went on the need to work as a team was more evident, not only in their map reading skills, but in their ability to motivate each other to keep going as the weight on their backs got heavier, legs got more tired and the climb to the top of Rivington Pike was upon them.  

Despite this all of the 5 teams completed the day 2 walk and finally landed back at the start point at around 5.30pm.  After being out for nearly 10 hours the cadets applauded and cheered as they met up with the other teams and saw the minibus in sight.

With a short break to rest and recuperate before they go again on their Assessment Expedition!  Well done to all those involved, you have were superstars over this weekend, you have learnt so much about yourselves, your teammates and most importantly about your commitment to achieving your end goal.  The cadet staff are super proud of you all!

Fundraising

During this past term, we have held a number of different fundraisers such as raffles, tuck shops and events to show our students the importance of giving back and also how we can succeed together as a community.

One charity that is held dearly to us all here at Walkden is the Amyloidosis Foundation. Our very own Mrs Herbert is currently battling this rare disease.

Jude & Luke in Year 11 brought forward the brave idea to hold a charity head shave to raise awareness and funds for the charity that is strongly connected to their mum. Students and staff came together to join them in having their heads shaved (and legs waxed). To watch the video of the event, visit out social pages.

We raised a huge £2000! We could not have done this without all of the staff who helped with all the events and raffles, and most importantly, from everyone who donated.

Thank you.

Sporting Success

Sophia in Year 10 has qualified for the English Schools Track & Field Championships to be held at Sport City, Manchester in July 2022.

She achieved a qualifying time of 10.13 for 3000 metres.

We are immensely proud of Sophia and look forward to seeing her results later this year!

Rugby Grand Slam

Our Year 11 Rugby Team completed their Grand Slam by winning the Salford Schools’ Championship with a 28-12 success over St Ambrose Barlow. 

On a wet evening at the AJ Bell Stadium, the boys produced an excellent performance in the conditions to claim the title. Despite early handling mistakes from both teams, two first half tries from Josh gave the boys an 8-0 advantage, but Ambrose hit back just before half time to make it 8-6, and leave the game evenly poised heading into the second half. 

Into the second half, and a sustained period of Ambrose pressure was met with a superb try line Walkden defence and an equally impressive response of two tries in 5 minutes from Matthew. Jayden burrowed over for a fifth try before Ambrose crossed to make it 22-12 with time running out. It was left to captain Lucas to round the evening off with a game clinching try, with Rowans’ second conversion completing the scoring.  

The boys bow out in style having remained unbeaten for 5 years at Salford Schools’ level, winning every match. It has been an absolute pressure to watch, coach and be part of the squad over the past 5 years and the boys deserve every accolade possible. 

Maths Puzzle

To make a chocolate nest you need:

150g of Chocolate,

75g of Rice Krispies,

I have 1kg of each, How many can I make?

Please email your answer to:

neelam.akhtar.meah@coopacademies.co.uk

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.

Good luck and best wishes to all Year 11 students with their revision over the May half term and the second phase of their GCSE’s in June!