18 July 2014
Dear Parent/Carer
This has been an amazing year for Spires Academy and there is much to celebrate.
On the 9th and 10th July we were at the Marlowe Theatre for our annual Dance Showcase. As always our
thanks go to Michael Head our sponsor and Mark Everett and his staff at the Marlowe. Both evenings were
packed out with over 500 young people having the opportunity to experience what it is like to perform at a
top theatre. We have received many letters, emails and phone calls thanking us for hosting the event. A
special thanks to Mr Palmer for his organisation of it.
Over the year our Sports Teams have represented us in a variety of sports from football and netball to
athletics and cheerleading. Every Team has improved over the season and we now have some very serious
contenders. Notable achievements include Kurt Bryant and Cameron Leitch who won the PFA Golf Trophy,
beating 60 other competitors from 17 different schools. Jordan Maxwell, Charlie Hammond and Ryan Lee,
who have developed their football skills as part of the 6th form Academy and were signed by Whitstable
Town FC in April. To have them step up to Kent Youth football standard in the first year of our Football
Academy is amazing. The Spires Starlets our very own cheerleading squad continue to go from strength
to strength and on 19th July 2014 will be competing in the national finals at Crystal Palace.
Following a successful bid to the Big Lottery who awarded us just over £8000, work has started on our own
Market Garden. Our students working alongside NuSteps have built raised beds, picnic tables and ensured
that the area is fully wheelchair friendly. This will enable students from St Nicholas School to participate
with us in growing our own fruit, vegetables and herbs. A big thank you to the Canterbury Garden Centre
for their kind donations.
Year 11 celebrated the end of their exams at the Tankerton Marine Hotel where their Prom was held. They
looked amazing in beautiful dresses and smart suits. Everyone had a good time and danced the night
away. The GCSE results will be available on Thursday 21st August from 9.30am in the Heartspace.
Our partnership with Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School continues to go from strength to strength, this
year we have focused on developing academic excellence which has included debating for Year 8 students
and the Yr. 11 English Literature students having master classes from Mr Green, a Vice Principal from
SLGGS.
We have been fortunate to act as hosts for a number of visitors over the year. We recently had a number
of Taiwanese students who spent a fortnight with us and have been visited by students and staff from
countries such as Japan, Columbia and Norway.
We were also recently visited by Mr Patrick Leeson the Director of Education for Kent. He wanted to thank
us in person for our part in supporting students transferring from The Chaucer School. He liked the design
of the building and was impressed by the lessons he visited, he commented on the good behaviour of our
students and their positive attitude to learning.
The end of Term is Wednesday 23rd July 2014, we will finish at 2pm on that day (the timing will be the
same as a Friday). Lehane buses will leave from the Academy as per a Friday. Stagecoach will leave from
the A28 bus stop on will not come onto site that day.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your continued support throughout the year. It has been
an interesting year where we have had to cope with a great deal of change. I know that some concern has
been expressed about the changes in teaching staff. We have had to rapidly grow our staff over the last
couple of months and we are now fully staffed for September with quality teachers who I know have the
ability and passion to ensure every student reaches their full potential and this Academy becomes
‘outstanding’.
The new term starts on Wednesday 3rd September at 8.45am for all students in Years 7 to 11. The sixth
form will formally start on Monday 8th September but may be required to come into school from the 3rd
September to discuss courses.
In September we will reissue our Parent Handbook which can be found on the website and has key dates,
contact details and other important information.
A couple of areas to highlight as they will be priorities are:
1) Uniform: We are conscious that our uniform has become a little ragged in places. We expect our
students to wear correct uniform with pride at all times. As part of our behaviour review and to prevent
inconsistencies we will be launching a new uniform behaviour policy in September.
As a reminder Students are expected to:
 wear their blazers at all times
 to have their tie knotted with the Spires star clearly visible below the knot
 to have their top button done up at all times
 to have their shirts tucked in to wear only a black jumper or cardigan with the embroidered Spires
logo
 to wear black shoes
The following items are not allowed to be worn:
 Hoodies
 Leggings
 Coloured socks
 Trainers
 Facial piercings
Please contact Miss A Russell on 01227 710392 or e-mail to m.russell@spiresacademy.com if you require
any new items of uniform for September.
Please contact www.ambitionsport.com to order all items of P.E. kit.
2) Sanctions: We have undertaken a review of our behaviour policy this has included trialing a nightly
detention run by a senior member of staff and introducing restorative approaches. Recent Education
Acts have given school staff the authority to discipline students for breaking school rules, failure to follow
instructions or other unacceptable behaviour both on and off school site. With this comes the statutory
ability to issue same night detentions. We have chosen to continue to give parents 24 hours notice for
any detention lasting longer than 10 minutes. It is important to remember that parental permission
for a detention is not legally required, although the school will listen to reasonable requests for a
change of date for an afterschool detention.
3) Rewards: In September 2014 we will be reviewing our rewards policy. This will involve a student
working party and a parent working party. We are keen to ensure that we work in partnership with our
parents, students and staff to consistently reward positive achievement and good behaviour or
citizenship.
4) Attendance & Punctuality: This will continue to be a key focus.
We wish everyone a safe, happy and warm summer holiday.
Yours sincerely
Principal