Dear Parent/Carer,
As part of my weekly updates, I wanted to inform you all that the entire school building is now accessible and that students can access their entire curriculum. It was lovely to walk through the PE block today and see all of the students actively participating in their sports and activities. It feels like we are now fully back to normal and the staff are delighted with how hard students are working and how well they are conducting themselves around the school. All of our lunchtime and after school clubs are now running so please encourage students to attend their usual enrichment activities.
This week we also have our Sixth Form Open Evening on Wednesday 6th December and next week we have our Year 11 parent/carer subject teacher evening on Thursday 14th December.
Parents’ Meetings regarding School Closure.
There are two Parents’ meeting sessions organised to try to accommodate all parents who wish to attend; one on Tuesday 12th December 5.30 pm – 7.30 pm for parents/carers of students in years 7, 8, 9 and one on Wednesday 13th December 5.30 pm – 7.30 pm for parents/carers of students in years 10, 11, 12 and 13. Of course, this is only a guide, in case there are different queries depending on Key Stages. If the other night is more suitable, then please feel free to attend that one instead.
Due to the capacity of our assembly hall and in order to ensure that we can accommodate as many parents and carers who wish to attend as possible; we are implementing a booking system. We are also having to restrict the number of attendees to two per family per meeting.
The link below takes you to our booking system and we are also sending this out as a text message link:
The booking system is now closed.
The booking system asks for the full name of one of the parent/carers who will be attending, the full name of one of your children within the age range of the parents’ meeting you wish to attend (if, for example, you have one child in year 7 and one child in year 9 you only need give the name of one child), the year group of that child, the number of attendees (due to capacity this will be a maximum of two), any questions that you would like to ask in advance, which meeting you would like to attend and your email address so that we can confirm that you have successfully booked a place at the parents’ meeting.
If you would like to attend both meetings please complete the form twice, once for each meeting. This is a meeting for parent/carers only and unfortunately we will be unable to accommodate or supervise Jesmond Park Academy students or younger children on the evening.
Please could you complete your booking request by 3:00 pm on Friday 8th December.
We will email you to confirm that you have successfully booked a place at the meeting by Monday 11th December 12:00 pm at the absolute latest. However we will email parent/carers throughout the week and not wait until Monday to confirm. In the unlikely event that the meetings are oversubscribed, places will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served basis’. If one evening is oversubscribed and parent/carers have not been successful in booking a place and the other evening isn’t, we will contact you to arrange for you to attend the other evening if you are able to. Please be reassured that wherever possible we will endeavor to accommodate all parent/carers who wish to attend.
If you have any further queries regarding the booking system outlined above please email parentalvle@jesmondparkacademy.org.uk
Performances and Enrichment
As I have said previously, our entire enrichment programme is fully running and this is still one of our main priorities this year. We will not cut back on these activities just because of the school closure.
Last Friday saw the National Theatre perform ‘A Christmas Carol’ to all of our Year 11 students and this was a fantastic experience, which helped our students understand a play that is part of their GCSE English Literature examination.
This Friday sees all of our Year 8 students participate in our ‘Careers in the NHS – Theatre in Education’ event which is always well received.
We are also well under way for planning for our ‘Yellow Week’ activities in the last week of the summer term as we look to a range of exciting opportunities for students outside of the classroom. The last week of the summer term is also work experience week for our Year 10 students (Monday 15.7.24 – Thursday 18.7.24). We will be sending some information out to parent/carers regarding this before the end of this term and we will be having a full launch to all of our Year 10 students in early January 2024.
Finally, can I remind everyone that we have our Christmas shows coming up on our horizon:
- Monday 18th December at 5.30 pm: Nightmare Before Christmas (Drama Production)
- Wednesday 20th December at 6.00 pm: Musical Showcase
We will communicate further information on our website regarding these forthcoming performances and we look forward to seeing our parent/carers and their families there.
Thank you again for your ongoing support over recent weeks. It is greatly appreciated by all of the staff as we work through the rest of this term. If you are attending our Sixth Form Open Evening, our Year 11 parent/carer subject teacher evening or if you are able to attend one of the Parents’ Meetings regarding School Closure I look forward to seeing you there.
Warm regards
STEVE CAMPBELL
PRINCIPAL