Letter from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope this letter finds you well and that you and your family had a restful and enjoyable summer break.  As we continue with our new academic year, I wanted to extend a warm welcome back to all of our students and a very warm welcome to our new Year 7 cohort. It is a privilege to lead Outwood Academy Shafton and to work alongside such a dedicated team of staff, committed students, and supportive parents.

This year, we will continue to maintain high standards and maximise curriculum learning time to ensure the very best education for the children we serve. We encourage students to attend a variety of enrichment opportunities to enhance their lesson-based learning and support exam preparation. We will also continue our weekly celebrations of student success.

As we start the new term, please review the academy's uniform policy and "Positive Discipline for Learning and Life" policy to ensure that you and your child fully understand our rewards and sanctions system. We shared information with families about uniform prior to the summer break and you can find that letter here. Please ensure that your child brings a bag with a pencil case containing essential supplies and their planner.  Supporting uniforms can take up a disproportionate amount of time and we really appreciate working together so that issues are resolved quickly.

Attendance was great last week - thank you. Just a reminder that the government has introduced new attendance rules which are now in effect. Attendance fines are now issued for 5 or more consecutive days of term time leave AND / OR 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in 10 weeks. 1 full day at school is 2 sessions, so missing a day is missing 2 sessions. The changes also mean that we have to close our registers now at 8:55am, so any student who arrives after this time will have to be recorded as (U), and as missing the morning session. So 10 episodes of lateness could result in a fixed penalty notice for attendance. This is a significant change to previously, so it is really important that all of our young people get here on time. 

We will continue to prioritise clear and effective communication. Our busy phone line can be frustrating for parents.  We recognise this.  When you call school, you will be offered a menu of the most frequent extension numbers e.g. Attendance. If you don’t know the extension number of the colleague you are trying to contact, please hold and your call will be answered by Reception. Please note our Reception is only manned by one member of staff, so please only call school if your enquiry is urgent, and an email is not appropriate.

Email is the most convenient way to reach staff members, and you can contact them directly or through the enquiries email address. If the issue is pastoral, please contact your child's form tutor in the first instance. For academic matters, reach out to the class teacher. Each year group also has a Learning Manager who can provide further information.

Social Media Information about school activities and parental messages are regularly posted on our X (formerly Twitter) account, @OutwoodShafton. We are immensely proud of our students’ achievements and enjoy showcasing their exceptional work via social media too. We use text messages as a quick way to share information including reminders about key events and links to parental letters. Please note, all text messages will be sent to the first named contact on your child’s record. Parental letters are published on the school’s website, under the section titled ‘Updates from the Academy’. 

For everyone's increased safety you will be aware we now have secured fencing around the building.  Both gates are open from 8:05 every morning and close at 8:45.  Parents/carers requiring access to the site for pre-arranged appointments should press the buzzer at the gate and they will be allowed entry as soon as possible. The new system will also ensure appointments with staff members can be booked when we have more capacity, i.e. away from the start of the day, breaks and lunches as this is when staff are involved in duties and supporting all students.

Your child’s progress Praising Stars reports provide you with information on how your child is getting on in all of their subjects. Each report will include effort and attainment grades, along with any homework or attendance concerns and requests by teachers to see you at Parents’ Evenings. As with all of our communication channels, I ask that you please always treat our staff with respect. They are working extremely hard to give all of our young people the best experience possible. We know sometimes that situations arise that may be frustrating, but staff always deserve to be spoken to politely so we can solve any issues as quickly as possible. Thank you to the overwhelming majority of parents and carers that always do this. 

I am excited for the possibilities this new academic year holds and look forward to working together to make it a successful and enriching experience for all our students. 

Thank you for your continued support and commitment.

Yours faithfully,