8th September 2014
Dear Parent/Carer
We wish you a very warm welcome to the start of a new academic year and very much hope that
everyone had a good summer. All new parents/carers are warmly welcomed.
GCSE EXAM RESULTS
We are absolutely delighted that we have achieved the best results in the entire history of the
predecessor school, despite the volatility in exam grades that has been reported in the national news
and toughening of the exams themselves compared to 2013. 57% achieved the key benchmark of
5+A*-C including English and Maths based on the requirements of the 2014 Performance Tables. This
could increase further as we are awaiting some re-marks. This will place the Academy within the top
15% of schools nationally for progress made between Key Stage 2 and 4 for this measure. We
are also the only secondary school in Poole that has improved their results. English achieved
76% A*-C (up 16% from 2013 when nationally they declined by 2%) and Maths achieved 70% A*-C (up
5% from 2013). 66% of students secured both English and Maths A*-Cs – this is likely to place
Magna in the top 2% of schools nationally for progress for this specific performance table
measure – an outstanding achievement. A transformation in outcomes! What a fantastic way to
end Year 1!
Many subjects have also transformed their A*-C results, making significant and dramatic improvements
compared to 2013. It was also fantastic to see many subjects outperform the national average A*-C.
Maths A*-C results were 8% above the national average and English was 14% above the national
average. Science also dramatically transformed their GCSE results as well since 2013 - Core Science
A*-C has risen by 46% to 91%!
The future at Magna is so exciting. We have made huge progress in Year 1, achieving record results
and transforming the life chances of our students and Year 2 will be even better.
BTEC LEVEL 3 SIXTH FORM EXAM RESULTS
We were also delighted that 97% of sixth form students achieved a Distinction or Distinction* in their
Level 3 BTECs, with a massive 54% of entries being the highest possible grade of Distinction*. 33%
students achieved a triple Distinction* or more, with Lara Moore and Ben Lane both getting an
outstanding four Distinction*. Connor Smith achieved a triple Distinction* and one Distinction and has
won a much coveted place at the prestigious Anglo-European College of Chiropractic.
We were informed last week that these results place Magna Academy Poole in the top 8% of
schools/colleges nationally for ‘value added’, representing ‘outstanding performance’. These
results are a massive improvement on those seen in previous years at the predecessor school. We are
building on this success with the introduction of a broad range of academic A Levels in addition to the
BTEC Level 3 offer for our new Year 12 students.
NEW YEAR 11 RAISING ACHIEVEMENT STRATEGIES
We are further building on the Raising Achievement strategies that had such an impact last year. Mr
Heap will be writing to Year 11 parents very soon about all the plans we have. As well as the
introduction of Period 6, the Year 11 Saturday Academy becomes a permanent weekly occurrence for
the new Year 11 in the 2014-15 academic year if Year 11 students wish to attend. Further details of the
Saturday Academy programme will be provided soon.
It was also fantastic to see fifteen new Year 11 students attend additional ‘Maths Summer Holiday
Academy’ sessions – excellent commitment and determination to succeed demonstrated by these
students – well done to all those that attended!
STAFFING
As I have previously informed you, we have made excellent permanent staffing appointments for
September 2014. I am very excited about the quality of the staff that we recruited. We are delighted to
welcome the following staff to the Academy:
Christopher Birdsmith:
Richard Chater:
Aysha Chaudhry:
Lucy Cope:
Julie Christian:
Colleen Cross:
Lucy Elsworth:
Kate Giles:
Sarah Gulledge:
Stephanie Higgins:
Tom James:
Rebecca Morgan:
Alison Morton:
Sarah Owen:
Robert Payne:
Adam Potter:
Tabitha Richmond-Cole:
Anne Rutherford:
Jemma Spicer:
Katy Webb:
Teacher of Maths and Sociology
Teacher of English and i/c KS5 English
Teacher of ICT
Teacher of Geography
Deputy SENCO and KS2-3 Transition Teacher
Deputy Subject Co-ordinator – English
Student Support Manager (Blue Faculty)
Deputy Subject Co-ordinator – Head of Music
Subject Co-ordinator – English
Teacher of English
Deputy Subject Co-ordinator – Maths
Student Support Manager (Red Faculty)
Teacher of Science and i/c Chemistry
Deputy Subject Co-ordinator – MFL
Deputy Subject Co-ordinator – Head of Business Studies
Assistant Principal: Maths, Numeracy and Raising Achievement
Teacher of History
Teacher of Maths
Teacher of Geography
Maths Lead Practitioner
Mr Clark will be writing to you this week about communication with the Academy.
NEW KITCHEN AND CATERING COMPANY
I have previously written to inform you that we received a £203,000 capital grant in order to re-develop
our kitchen. The refurbishment work took place over the summer holidays, ready for the start of term in
September and we are delighted with the outcome. We also have a new catering company, Edwards
and Ward, who will provide the meals and snacks at Magna from September. This is a very exciting
development that will significantly improve the quality of food and menus for our students.
The new Menu is on our website in the ‘For Parents’ Information section or you can access it via this
link:
http://www.aatmagna.org/uploads/asset_file/3_0_new-catering-menu-02-09-14.pdf
The Menu prices are also on the website on the same page or you can access it via this link:
http://www.aatmagna.org/uploads/asset_file/3_0_magna-lunch-tariffs-sept-2014.pdf
EXTENDED DAY
Please remember that the length of the Academy day will be extended until 4.00pm every
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for Year 10 and 11 students from this week. This will be
mandatory for all Year 10 and 11 students. The first extended day until 4pm will be on Tuesday 9th
September. This will provide an additional three hours of teaching per week for each Year 10 and 11
student. Educational research indicates that longer school days are one of the most powerful ways of
bringing about school improvement. The very significant benefits of an extended school day were
outlined by Elizabeth Truss MP, Education and Childcare Minister, on the 17th June 2014. The link to
her speech is below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/elizabeth-truss-speaks-about-how-schools-can-supportparents
The additional teaching time will allow all Year 10 and 11 students to receive more English and Maths
teaching compared to other schools. We believe that this is absolutely vital in order to help secure the
very best grades for our students. It will also provide the opportunity for students to study an additional
GCSE or BTEC subject in order to ensure that their curriculum is as personalised as possible and
maximises their post 16 opportunities.
A voluntary homework club will also be provided for Year 7, 8 and 9 students to attend on Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday after school each week. Further details will be provided about this soon. We
will also continue to run our successful Breakfast Club, open to all students, from 7.45am each
morning.
ATTENDANCE
We were delighted that the final attendance for the 2013-14 academic year was 95.1%. This is the
highest attendance ever recorded in comparison to the predecessor school. This was a very good effort
– thank you for working in partnership with us last year to achieve this attendance.
Excellent attendance is vital to academic progress and personal development. As I have said before, if
students are not in school they are not learning. For this reason, we have set an attendance target of
97% for 2014-15 – outstanding attendance, if achieved. Please be aware that I will not authorise
holiday requests in term time, unless there are very exceptional circumstances. If a student is absent
from school for any length of time, they will attend a ‘Return to Academy’ meeting with a member of
staff. This meeting is designed to support your son or daughter with their attendance. If any absence is
not authorised, or is longer term, the Magna Academy Attendance Bus will visit your home in the
morning in order to help support you in getting your son/daughter to the Academy.
HOMEWORK AND EQUIPMENT
Mr Clark wrote to you at the end of last term about the very high expectations that we have for
equipment and homework completion for the 2014-15 academic year. This is supported by the full roll
out of the ‘Showmyhomework’ website which Mr Clark has previously informed you about.
‘Showmyhomework’ (www.showmyhomework.co.uk) links directly to the Academy website. All
homework will be published at the start of each six week scheme of learning and parents and students
will be able to see everything that has been set and will receive email reminders when homework is
due. There are also mobile and tablet apps which will make monitoring this even easier, both at school
and at home. Mr Clark will write to you about these developments.
Homework completion is very important in helping to ensure that your child makes substantial and
sustained academic progress. We expect all homework to be completed well and handed in on time.
Our ‘Behaviour for Learning’ policy has been updated to help enforce homework completion. This is
outlined below.
UNIFORM AND BEHAVIOUR FOR LEARNING
I have been very impressed with the behaviour of the vast majority of our students during 2013-14.
Visitors always comment on how smart and well behaved our students are. The smartness of our
students has had an enormous impact on standards of behaviour, confidence and the reputation of
Magna in the local community. We have worked exceptionally hard to maintain these standards as it
has brought so much benefit to our students. Our behaviour and reward systems have been developed
to promote impeccable behaviour. Good behaviour, effort, achievement, conduct, attendance and
community spirit will always be rewarded by Vivos, phone calls, letters home, certificates, prizes and
Faculty trips.
We will continue with our ‘Zero Tolerance’ approach for both uniform infringements and any low level
disruption in September. Magna Academy Poole is committed to achieving the very best outcomes for
every student in its care, both personally and academically. If students want to be a member of our
Academy community then they need to be respectful, give of their best and not disrupt learning. You
will want to be aware that if students persistently demonstrate that these are not the principles to which
they are committed then I will act quickly and decisively to remove them from the Academy community.
If a student has any uniform infringement that cannot be corrected at the Academy, then they will also
be sent home to change. If you are experiencing any financial difficulties with purchasing uniform,
please contact the Academy.
Please refer to the website www.aatmagna.org for specific information about the uniform and how it is
to be worn. The website contains the Uniform Policy and specific guidance on acceptable shoes and
bags. Our expectations and sanctions are specifically outlined in the Uniform Policy.
Behaviour for Learning Points System:
The points system and associated sanctions have been slightly revised for 2014-15 and are set out
below:
Lateness to lesson:
Lack of effort:
Lack of homework:
Disruption to learning:
points
Serious disruption to learning:
Serious incident:
White Card issued and 1 behaviour point
Blue Card issued and 1 behaviour point
1 behaviour point (and 1 behaviour point if detention not attended)
Yellow Card issued, removal from lesson, detention and 2 behaviour
Red Card issued, removal from lesson or isolation, detention and 3
behaviour points
Red card, isolation or exclusion and 3 behaviour points
Sanctions:
5 behaviour points:
10 behaviour points:
15 behaviour points:
20 behaviour points:
Senior Leadership Detention: Friday 3pm – 4.15pm (failure to attend
will result in three days isolation and re-integration meeting with
parents)
One day isolation and disciplinary meeting with parents
Three days isolation from 8.30am to 4.00pm and re-integration meeting
with parents
One to three days Fixed Term Exclusion and re-integration meeting
with parents
BEHAVIOUR IN THE COMMUNITY
Magna is at the heart of the community in Canford Heath. We want our students to become model
citizens and be role models for others in the community.
The significant improvement in the reputation of Magna in the community compared to the predecessor
school has been hard won and we intend to further build on this during 2014-15. Canford Heath
residents may well be future employers of some of our students. Reputation of the Academy is
therefore vital – if a school has a poor reputation, in part informed by the way its students behave in the
community, it has a direct impact on employment opportunities of students in the future.
Students are expected to wear their uniform perfectly from the moment they step out of their front door
until they return home. They are representing Magna Academy Poole and therefore need to be in
perfect uniform for the reasons outlined above.
As Principal, I have powers to discipline students who bring the Academy into disrepute outside of
Academy hours. Exclusion regulations give me the authority to exclude for inappropriate conduct
outside the Academy if this conduct brings the name of our Academy into disrepute at any time. I will
issue sanctions to students who engage in any form of anti-social behaviour to and from the Academy
while in Academy uniform, smoking whilst in Academy uniform and not wearing the Academy uniform
as expected. I will not hesitate to use these powers for the benefit of members of the Canford Heath
community and to protect the reputation of the Academy for the benefit of our students. We also work
in very close partnership with the local police for the benefit of our students and the community.
In the near future, Magna Academy will be producing ‘Community Expectations’ posters which will set
out the expectations community members should have of our students. These expectations will be
written by our own Student Aspiration Leaders. The posters will be displayed in local shops and
community buildings. The posters will also display a ‘hotline’ telephone number where community
members can contact the Academy to let us know about any incident where students are not meeting
these expectations. Senior members of staff will also have regular liaison meetings with local shop
owners and other organisations.
TWITTER AND FACEBOOK
For daily updates on Academy life you can follow us @MagnaAcademy and on our Facebook page, as
well as looking at our website www.aatmagna.org.
The second year of Magna Academy Poole is going to be very exciting and I look forward to working in
partnership with you throughout the year.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Tutt
Principal