Monday 7 March 2022
Dear Parents, Carers and Students
Spring is in the air and as the flowers bloom so does the school building! The new Main Reception area will be completed by the end of the month and the other building work after Easter!
We will soon once again have a Learning Resource Centre (formerly known as the library) in main school and tomorrow we are interviewing for the LRC Manager and someone to oversee a new initiative, “ACTV” as we explore creating an in-house TV channel! Very exciting times!
Mock exams are now underway and students are really showing strength of character as they focus on their futures after the turmoil of the last two years. They are a credit to you and the school.
Attendance
Our attendance as a school has consistently been higher than National Averages, both during the pandemic and now as we move out of it. This is a wonderful achievement and I am sure the students know they are getting the best possible support at our school. However, as we go forward into ‘normal times’ our attendance still needs to improve. The resilience of students is key to getting them in and keeping them in! Our timetabled curriculum and our extra-curricular offer are outstanding and with late buses running Monday-Thursday every week, your child can make the most of their education here at AC. Please remind them about all the things they can get involved in whilst also encouraging them to ‘Be more Incy Wincy’ and get into school on time, ready to learn and willing to embrace everything that we offer!
World Book Day
With reading high on our agenda, this year we celebrated WBD with a book exchange and form activities which included “The Masked Reader”! Students enjoyed swapping books over lunch and several headed to the book display before getting their lunch – that says a lot! We all know teenagers are always hungry! Thank you to Mrs Beatty and the English department for taking the lead with this.
Live Lounge
It was an exciting week all round, especially when on Thursday evening we reintroduced “Live Lounge” after two and a half years’ wait! It was a fabulous night with our KS4 performers clearly enjoying themselves as they sang and played! Due to Covid restrictions, we couldn’t have the Christmas Concert we had hoped for, so these students have been very patient waiting for their turn to come. Look out for more of their talents in “Bugsy Malone” – tickets are going fast! A huge thank you not only to the performers but also to Mr Wilson and Mr Madden for their hard work!
Student Success
Oscar R in Y9 has been selected for the Sale Sharks Player Development Pathway – well done Oscar! We are all incredibly proud of you!
Year 10 and 11 Duke of Edinburgh Challenge students are also doing amazing things – they got to the top of the highest wall in England at Awesome Walls! Then the Y10 group completed their expedition training at Wythenshawe Park! Great achievements for everyone and a big thank you to Mr Stephenson for leading them all to victory!
Parents’ Association
In 2019, we established a Parents’ Association and, after only a couple of meetings, plans were well underway for some fun events and activities to raise money for the school. We had discussed a Car Boot Sale, a Christmas Fair, second hand uniform distribution amongst other great ideas.
Due to all the events at the end of 2019, subsequently none of these activities took place although the PA were fabulous and gave their time willingly to meet and to help out at after-school events as much as they could.
The time is NOW for us to resurrect the Parents’ Association and we now have new parents of students in Y7 and Y8 who may be interested in joining! There are still many things in school we need but don’t have the money for.
Could you offer a small amount of time to work with us? Please do get in touch – we welcome everyone! Thank you.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
The Jubilee Committee meet tomorrow (staff and Student Council members) after school to plan activities to commemorate this magnificent event. As the jubilee will officially be celebrated during our half term, we would like to do something special for and with the students before we break up as this certainly will be a once in a lifetime occasion for all of us!
I will keep you updated with our plans over the coming months!
Year 11 Prom
We are very excited to be able to have a Year 11 Prom again this year (Thursday 7th July). Students are keeping focused on their learning so that they earn their “Passport to the Prom”. Students should keep their eyes peeled for Mr Guy’s posters! And speaking of Mr Guy….
Department in Focus: History
Welcome to the History Department at Altrincham College!
History is a popular and diverse subject at Altrincham College. The department is made up of Mr Gillan (Head of Department), Mr Guy and Miss Duffy. In our lessons across all years we aim to teach students to make sense of the ever-changing world they live in by understanding how we got to where we are. We teach a wide range of topics, time periods and geographic span – we cover topics from the past thousand years of history and look at history from around the world. We aim to help our students acquire a wide ranging and rich historical knowledge, as well as key skills such as developing arguments, making judgments and checking the reliability of evidence.
The last couple of years have made trips very difficult but, as a department, we are to committed to running an historical residential trip abroad to support our in-class learning, as soon as it is safe to do so. We will also be launching an extra-curricular History Club in the summer term for our KS3 students, as well as offering a Politics Club with the chance to interview local and national politicians for KS4 and 5 students in the new academic year.
Stars of the Week
This week’s Star of the Week goes to…..Akyra in Y7! On Friday Akyra will be competing in the English championship in London and on the 24 & 25 March she will compete at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool in the British Championships! This will be her first big arena competition so she’s very nervous but also very excited! Good luck Akyra from all the AC family (and thank you for featuring in our new video – now on the school website!).
Staff Stars this week were……the Site Team, Admin Team and Catering Team for rallying round in a time of need! Also, Ms Whitworth for her amazing work on the development of the maths curriculum! Thank you Staff Stars!
Thank you for your continued support of our school!
Ms K Earle
Headteacher
