Dear Parent/Carer,

I wanted to write to you at the end of a busy term, just to thank everyone for their support. The build up to Christmas is always jam packed, but it has gone extremely well. We had an early Christmas concert at the start of the month to get us in the festive spirit. This was a joyous event with 150 students performing on stage – a record number for one of these shows. The variety of acts and the talent of the students always blows you away.  Next week, we have our Christmas production of, ‘School of Rock’ – hosting a musical is an exciting new adventure for us.  There are so many students in the show that we have had to put it on over two nights to satisfy ticket demand! Good luck to all those involved; there will be limited tickets available on the doors on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Well done to all those involved.

Celebrating GCSE results success

As you will be aware, we were celebrating in August with our Year 11 students and congratulating them on their outstanding GCSE results.  Although we were incredibly proud of our students’ results, we did not have a confirmed regional or national comparative to see just how well our students had performed. We have had to wait until December, when the DfE published provisional performance data for the summer 2024 results for all schools nationally. 

We are now delighted to inform you that both our Year 11 students’ academic progress and their academic attainment were record high results for the school. Our Progress 8 score of +0.28 is our highest ever figure and places us 21^st out of 156 Secondary schools  in the North East region (Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Gateshead, Northumberland, Sunderland and County Durham).   Further detail on JPA results can be found on the Government League Table website https://www.jesmondparkacademy.org.uk/media.ashx?id=12254  

As you can see from this, we are well above the national average for student progress and attainment.

The reason that we are particularly proud of our strong academic progress is because it is a measure of the grades our students achieved compared to their Year 7 starting points. This means that, regardless of background or prior attainment, on average, all of our Year 11 students have made significantly more than their expected progress. Indeed, many of our students have achieved significantly more than their expected progress.

The success of our Year 11 students this year is a testament to the students themselves, the support of their parents and carers, our extremely dedicated teaching and support staff and finally our primary feeder schools for providing the firm foundations that allowed our students to excel at Jesmond Park Academy.

Gosforth Group Admissions Consultation for 2026

The Gosforth Group follows the Department for Education's School Admissions Code (September 2021). As part of this Code, we consult on admissions arrangements whenever there is a change which requires consultation and at least once every seven years, even if there is no change.

Proposed changes for 2026 include amendments to the criteria used for determining admissions to Gosforth Group Academies and changes to the Published Admission Number for Great Park and Callerton Academies (following a move from temporary to permanent accommodation). There is also a proposed change to the Published Admissions Number for the Sixth Forms at Gosforth and Jesmond Park Academies to accommodate increased student numbers across Gosforth Group Academies.

This consultation process provides an opportunity for stakeholders to comment on the proposed changes. The consultation process will run for six weeks (not including school holidays) starting on Monday 25^th November 2024 and closing on Monday 20^th January 2025. At the end of the consultation period, responses will be considered and the final admission arrangements will be 'determined' by the Board of Trustees. The admission arrangements must be determined by 28^th February 2025 and published by 15^th March 2025.

Should you wish to participate in the consultation, please forward any comments regarding our proposed 2026 Admissions Policies to admissionsconsultation@gosforthgroup.org.uk

The policies and full details can be found on the school’s website: https://www.jesmondparkacademy.org.uk/about-the-academy/2026-admissions-consultation

Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper Day

Our Christmas lunch has been organised for Wednesday 18^th December and we have extended the lunchtime to make sure that we have enough time to enjoy the occasion.  As the kitchens will be incredibly busy, we will only be offering sandwiches as an alternative so please bring a packed lunch if this is not suitable.

On Thursday 19^th December, we will be having our annual Christmas jumper day.  Children wishing to join in this are asked to make a donation on their way into school, anything from ten pence to a pound which will be donated to charity. Although this is officially a Christmas jumper day, there is no need to buy a new jumper as we have merely suspended school uniform jumpers and polo shirts for the day.  If you do not have a Christmas jumper, feel free to wear something else, or maybe accessorise or modify an existing piece of clothing with decorations. Last year the government match funded whatever the school raised.  This year that is not happening, so we are keen to raise as much as possible.  The PRAISE Code will be applied on Thursday as usual to all other areas of school uniform, including trousers, skirts shoes, make up, jewellery etc.    

PRAISE Certificates/Rewards and End of Term

During lesson 4a on Thursday 19^th December, students will be with their Form Tutor and PRAISE chocolates and certificates will be given out to those with the requisite number of PRAISE stamps in the term.  Sixth Form students have the opportunity to join in Sixth Form activities in the Sixth Form Library.

There will not be a school lunch on Thursday 19^th December as students will be dismissed at 12.15 pm. Those children that are entitled to a free meal will be able to spend their allowance during the morning break before they leave school.

Sporting Success

It has been a highly successful first term for our sporting teams, with numerous highlights and achievements to celebrate.

• Football: All of our football teams have participated in the first round of Central Venue fixtures. A special mention goes to the girls' U13 team, who have already qualified for the city league finals, and the Year 8 boys' team, currently sitting at the top of their league.
• Netball: Our Netball teams have started the year strongly. The standout moment so far has been our senior team's victory in the Newcastle City Tournament. Well done, girls!
• Cross Country: In HT1, we took a group of talented young runners to the Northumberland Schools Team Cross Country Championships at Temple Park. Several of them have qualified to represent Team Newcastle at the Northumberland Championships in January.
• Badminton: On the badminton court, our KS3 girls secured second place in the city event and have qualified for the county finals. Although they narrowly missed out on winning the city competition, this is a fantastic achievement—best of luck in the next round! The KS3 boys performed admirably in their city competition but just missed county qualification. Meanwhile, the KS4 boys and KS3 girls will have their chance to qualify at the end of HT2.
• Sports Hall Athletics: Four teams recently competed in the Newcastle Schools Sports Hall Athletics competition at the Walker Dome. Both the Year 7 and Year 8 girls' teams finished second in their respective competitions, earning a place in the Tyne and Wear round. We are eagerly awaiting the boys' results to see if they will join them.
• Basketball: Our basketball teams have continued their strong form in the city leagues and National Schools’ competitions. The U16 team recently achieved a dominating victory over RGS, scoring over 140 points—an incredible feat!
• Chess. A huge congratulation to our Chess Team who are through to the next Regional round after qualifying with two wins and one loss.
• One of our Sixth Form students, Fleur recently won a Newcastle Rising Star Award in recognition of her achievements in kickboxing.  She trains at the Universal Martial Arts club and represents England at International event. The awards dinner at the Civic Centre was attended by many sports stars from across the North East and Fleur was presented with her award by former Olympic and World triple jump Champion Jonathan Edwards.

Looking ahead, there will be even more exciting opportunities for our students to represent JPA in the New Year.

Christmas Services

Just a reminder that Father Jonathan is inviting all of the community to the following Christmas services that are taking place at St Gabriel’s Church in Heaton:

Sunday 22^nd December - 6.00 pm Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

Tuesday 24^th December, Christmas Eve - 5.30 pm Crib Service and 11.30 pm Midnight Mass (incense is used) 

Wednesday 25^th December, Christmas Day   8.00 am Holy Eucharist and 9.45 am All Age Eucharist

Thank you for your continued support, and congratulations to all our students and staff for their hard work and dedication in supporting these activities.

Please take time to enjoy the time with your family and friends and we look forward to the students returning to their studies in the New Year for a normal school day on Monday 6^th January, energised and ready for the hard work ahead!

Warm regards,

STEVE CAMPBELL

PRINCIPAL

Following the release of the DFE school performance tables last week, the Gosforth Group Multi Academy Trust would like to share with you some of the amazing successes in outcomes from across our schools.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Change to school coats purchased through Michael Sehgal

We would like to inform you about an update regarding our school coats. While a school coat purchased from Michael Sehgal is still required and our school uniform policy remains unchanged, our uniform supplier's new stock of our school coats will no longer feature the school logo. Please be assured that your child should continue to wear their current school coats, which carry the school logo until this needs to be replaced due to wear or fit.

Removing the school logo will facilitate stock sharing across all our schools within our Trust, and our parents/carers may get more value from the school coat as without the logo, children can wear their school coats outside of school. This change will also make it easier to pass on unwanted, yet in still good condition, coats to family members or friends who may benefit from them.

Please note that while the coats will no longer carry the school logo, they remain a required part of our uniform policy and should continue to be purchased through our designated uniform supplier, Michael Sehgal, based in Kingston Park. Our uniform supplier will continue to sell the existing stock of our school coats, which have a school logo on them until this stock runs out and is replaced with the new stock of coats without a logo. 

We appreciate your understanding and support as we implement this change. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to the school office.

Yours sincerely

Steve Campbell, Principal

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