Dear Parents and Carers,

We are so looking forward to welcoming your child(ren) back to school next week! Our Testing Centre has been busy today with 6^th Form students coming in for tests. Mrs Careswell and Ms Bruckshaw have done an amazing job in getting everything ready for a very busy week ahead! Well done and thank you!

As a reminder, here is the schedule for returning to school and testing:

Date	Fri 5	Mon 8	Tues 9	Wed 10	Thurs 11	Fri 12	Mon 15	Tues 16	Wed 17	Thurs 18	Fri 19
Yrs in School		11, 12,13	10,11, 12,13	7, 8, 10,11, 12,13	ALL	ALL	ALL	ALL	ALL	ALL	ALL
Yrs testing	12   & 13	11, 13	10 12	7, 8	9, 11 13	10,  12	7, 8	9, 11	10	7, 8	9

Expectations
I have recorded today a short assembly for students to welcome them back to school, reassuring them about asymptomatic testing and highlighting our expectations around standards of uniform and appearance, conduct and behaviour for learning. Heads of Year will direct students to this assembly so they can watch it before they return to school.

A reminder that students who do not have the correct uniform must bring a note in to the Head of Year (or their Form Tutor) which is signed by a parent/carer. Please can I remind you that piercings which have been done within 6 weeks must still be removed for school – plasters over piercings are not acceptable – and dyed hair must be returned to normal colour.

Staff will be picking up on uniform standards and punctuality (to school and lessons) with all students from Monday. Please support us by ensuring your child(ren)/ward(s) are up on time, ready for learning with all their equipment and with clean face masks, dressed in their correct school uniform.

Our school expectations have always been the three Rs:

Ready to learn

Respectful of others and the learning environment

Responsible for your actions

Staff and students worked together to write these expectations and they relate to all aspects of school life. I think they sum it up very nicely!

All students who come in full uniform (including correct PE kit in their bags if required that day) will be rewarded with 5 Praise Points each day between now and Easter by their Form Tutors for meeting our expectations. Students with enough Praise Points will be able to ‘pay’ for an early finish for their Year Group!

Attendance
It’s really important that your child attends school every day if they are well. It’s also crucial that they arrive on time. We are working hard to ensure that any gaps in students’ learning are plugged as quickly and as effectively as possible following this most recent lockdown; however, we cannot do this if your child(ren) or ward(s) are not in school. Intervention and support sessions will soon start again to help with this process outside of lessons. More details to follow!

Please may I draw your attendance to the letter regarding attendance which has been sent out today? It’s a brief reminder on how to let us know if your child/ward is going to be absent for any reason.

 

Paying for food and drinks in school
Please ensure ParentPay accounts are topped up ready for the return to school. Unfortunately, we cannot allow students to ‘owe’ more than £2.50 (the cost of a meal and drink).

Please contact us if you believe you are entitled to Free School Meals and we will support you in completing the application form for this.

SEND News
Altrincham College is excited to be participating in Neurodiversity Celebration Week 15th-21st March 2021. As part of our celebrations, we will be hosting a remote event for parents/carers of SEND students on 18th March, 1-4pm.

Confirmed presenters are:

1. Trafford Sunrise - Mental Health Support for 11-12 year olds
2. 42nd Street - Mental Health Support for 13-19 year olds
3. The charity 'I AM Celebrating Autism in Greater Manchester'
4. Trafford Young Carers

Announcement of more presenters coming soon!

 

 

Student Star of the Week

This week the award goes to……Evelyn in Year 10! Mr Guy said:

“Evelyn has consistently worked well in lockdown but also has produced multiple outstanding exam answers in History showing how hard she has studied and how well she is developing her understanding of the mark schemes to reach grade 8 and 9 answers.” Congratulations Evelyn!

Staff Star of the Week

We had many nominations this week but the person with the most nominations was….Miss Murray! Congratulations! Miss Murray (one of our MFL teachers) has been nominated by her colleagues for her energy and enthusiasm. She cheers us all up! Mrs Painter nominated Miss Murray for:

“her continued positive attitude and her efforts to ensure our online offering in MFL is engaging and challenging for all students at AC! She has worked really hard throughout her NQT year, is always researching new ways to improve teaching and learning, and is a great asset to our team!”

 

New Member of SLT
Mr Brennan, our Deputy Headteacher, is taking early retirement at the end of this academic year. He will be greatly missed, but we will say more about Mr Brennan nearer the time of his departure!

We have tried twice (unsuccessfully) to appoint a new Deputy Headteacher for September and I have now taken the decision to appoint a new Assistant Headteacher instead. I have great pleasure in announcing…Mr Keegan as our new AHT for Behaviour, Pastoral oversight and KS5 oversight! Mr Keegan will formally start his new role after Easter and will work closely with Mr Brennan and other members of SLT to ensure a smooth transition into his new role.

I would like to reassure our students that Mr Keegan will still be heavily involved in the running of the Sixth Form! Many congratulations Mr Keegan!

 

Parent Governor Nominations
Ballot papers for the nomination of a Parent Governor will re-open next week; we had to 'pause' voting over lockdown! Our ballot box is situated at Main Reception. If your child/ward did not receive ballot papers, or you have mislaid yours during lockdown, please let us know by contacting headteacher@altrinchamcollege.com. More information can be found on our Governor pages.

We will continue to celebrate the achievements of our students in school but I’m afraid the Praise Bulletins will cease from next week. The last one will go home on Monday (8^th March). Thank you to all our wonderful students who work so hard and make us proud everyday!

Thank you very much for all your support of our school. Let’s hope next week is an exciting week of real face-to-face learning for everyone!

Stop the Spread! Stay safe!

Kind regards
Ms. Earle
Headteacher