JPA Year 8 boys beat St Cuthberts last night in the final of the league cup 5-2, with goals from Zac (3), Adam & Aron. The boys played in hot conditions on a balmy night and were impressive in their sporting endeavour.
The boys are now double champions after securing the league a few weeks ago!
Dear Parent/Carer,
We have had a lovely ‘Culture Day’ at JPA today and I have just been waving goodbye to the students in the sunshine as they head off for their well earned Easter break.
I know that the Trust has written to all parents explaining the changes to leadership at Jesmond Park Academy, but I wanted to say something briefly to our school community. This is not a ‘leaving speech’ as I am not leaving and students will still see me around the place each week! However, I will be less involved in the day to day running of the school. Through my 28 years of education, my proudest times have come through these last years at JPA. Obviously, being part of the team that secured a ‘Good’ from Ofsted and our recent excellent exam results is a significant part of this, but I am just as proud of all the improvements we have made in enrichment and leadership opportunities for students. Furthermore, I believe we are becoming one of the most inclusive schools in Newcastle and this is an exciting journey to be still part of.
I will be handing over the reins to Dave Merrifield, who many of you know well. He lives in our community with both of his children attending Jesmond Park Academy. I feel that this is an important point – he loves the school and our community and he is heavily invested in making sure it succeeds. Dave is an exceptional leader and I know that the school is in fantastic hands moving forward.
Finally, I wanted to regale you with something that absolutely inspired me yesterday. After a day full of looking at budgets and forecasts, a group of Sixth Form students had booked in a slot to talk to me about a project that we were involved in. Olivia, Bella, Rosie and Kenzhegul had put together a thoroughly inspiring and professional presentation which turned out to be the highlight of my half term. “Girls Active” is a national organisation that promotes female sport and our girls successfully applied to be part of the organisation. I now know that 43% of girls nationally feel like they no longer want to continue sport when they arrive at secondary school. There is a group of 10 students in total at our school who have worked to create a range of lunchtime and after school clubs, including volleyball, netball, rugby, basketball and dance. Moreover, due to the huge numbers that are now participating, we are able to field competitive sides that can play against other schools. Our recent U18 netball team recently won a tournament, beating a range of private schools, which did not go down well at all! The students also talked about period education and how they are working with our students not to be embarrassed and to be confident in playing sports all through the month. This is important to ensure equality in sports.
I’ll stop rambling now and let you enjoy Easter. Thanks to everyone for making it a great term!
Yours faithfully
STEVE CAMPBELL
PRINCIPAL
We are delighted to announce Jesmond Park Academy is featured in the Top 11 Secondary Schools in Tyne & Wear, based on the Government's updated preliminary performance tables. Newcastle.com has reported the rankings and created a top 11 listing, which lists our school in the ninth position.
The newly released GCSE performance data, drawn from the Progress 8 Score for the 2023/2024 academic year, reflects our students' outstanding academic performance and overall development. This score assesses student achievements and learning progress relative to peers from similar primary schools across the country. A score above zero is considered "positive," and a score exceeding 0.2 is recognised as "above average." Jesmond Park Academy, has a Progress 8 score of 0.29, which is recognised as ‘above average.’
Our Principal, Steve Campbell expressed his pride and said, “The performance is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff, students, and our parents and carers. We are immensely proud of our students' achievements and remain dedicated to providing high-quality education that empowers them to succeed.”
The Year 8 boys football team were crowned Newcastle School League Champions last week after beating Kenton School 2-1 in the semi-final, this was followed by a 1-0 win over St. Cuthbert’s in the final at Walker Riverside Academy. A great achievement & effort from the boys!