Principal's Update

Year 11 students have completed their touchstone assessments this week and will be receiving the results and feedback to inform their next steps. Students should use this feedback to help them know what to revise and which gaps to fill in preparation for their mocks in November.

Students will all receive an attitude to learning report this half term and formal assessments for years 7-10 in November.

We have reminded students that we recommend wearing masks in the corridors and in social spaces to minimise the risk of Covid transmission. We have continued with our one-way system and will continue with this at least until half term. Please remind your child about the importance of washing their hands and using hand sanitizer in each lesson.

It was great that we had so many students who were successful in the summer cup trials and the summer cup itself. Our students worked well as a team and were very well behaved. Students will be celebrated in the whole school assembly on Monday and some details have been shared on Twitter.

We had our first open morning event, in addition to our open evening last week and we welcomed ten families into the Academy. We have another ten families joining us this coming week and have had to advertise a third open morning on October 4th due to the popularity of these events. Please let any interested parents know that these events are available for students in year 6 who are thinking about joining us at CRA.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Jones

Home Lateral Flow Testing

With positive cases increasing in Lincolnshire and across the UK, especially prevalent in unvaccinated children, its now more important than ever to ensure we are all following the guidance and recommendations from the academy in respect of face mask being worn in communal areas and on transport. Please also encourage your children to practice regulars handwashing and sanitising procedures both in school and at home, to reinforce the messages we are sharing with them throughout the day.

When you complete lateral flow tests at home on a Sunday and Wednesday evening, please report the results via these links to both the NHS and also CRA.

If you require further kits, students can collect these from reception.

Did you know that parents and support bubbles of school children, as well as anyone who has to leave home to go to work, can now get rapid Covid-19 tests twice a week. Order yours now here.

Further guidance from the Government and Department of Education in respect of home testing can be found below:

A copy of the risk assessment and privacy policy relating to Lateral Flow Testing can be found on the CRA website.

Mr Linforth - Academy Operations Manager

Humanities Department: Geography GCSE

Tutor2u.net Geography have produced a series of live revision events for GCSE AQA Geography students. These will be broadcast at 6:30pm each Thursday from their website or YouTube Channel.

The first of these sessions is on Thursday 23rd September covering Tectonic Hazards: Plate Boundaries. The sessions are recorded and can be watched at an alternative time.

Mrs Cooper- Head of Humanities

Uniform expectations

It is vital that we ensure everyone is adhering to the Academy Uniform Policy - details of which can be found here.

Students without a medical note will go into IE for incorrect uniform.

Outdoor coats

Outdoor coats can be worn during breaks and before and after school, but should not be worn when walking inside the academy. May we also remind you that hoodies are not appropriate, and shouldn’t be worn as a replacement for an outdoor coat.

Face Masks

Masks are recommended to be worn on all school transport, during transitions between lessons and in communal indoor spaces. Please ensure you have a spare mask just in case it requires changing throughout the day. We appreciate that communication whilst wearing a mask can be tricky, so please see the poster below for tips on effective communication whilst wearing a mask.

Masks should be blue or black and plain and worn at all times whilst inside the school buildings.

Thinking Ahead – My Future, My Choice

Attention Year 8 & Year 9!

• What are your future plans & career possibilities?
• What plans to do you have after you have completed your GCSEs?
• Do you plan to go on to further/higher education? If so what courses might you study?
• What career ideas do you have for the future at the moment?

In year 7, 8 and 9 you will be learning new skills and knowledge that will give you the confidence to help you plan your next steps. This process starts with your careers education in school which will encourage you to think about your strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. You will also start to make some important decisions that could influence your future career path as you will be choosing your subjects to study for GCSE. This process will begin for all Year 9 students early next year.

Each week we will show you examples of the various careers linked to the subject you are studying. This week’s career idea is ‘Jobs related to Biology'

Mr Otchere - Career's Lead

House News

Aqua crowned House Limbo champions

On Friday 17th September Aqua, Caeli and Terra went head to head in the first house competition of the year, Limbo. The atmosphere was fantastic as students and staff were once again able to attend the event to show their support for their houses. Each house selected 6 participants, one person across each year group and a member of staff who dressed up in house coloured grass skirts and flowers to really bring the competition to life.

It was the first competition for the new year 7s who showed real courage and confidence to step up and perform on the stage in front of an audience. After a few rounds of singing and dancing their nerves settled and the party atmosphere really got going. Bouncing off the noise created from the audience, participants stepped up their performance ready for the final rounds. More and more students were eliminated as the pole lowered and following some closely contested rounds it was Ryan in Terra 11 who finished 3rd to earn his house 50 house points. The final two saw two year 8 students battle It out for the Limbo crown, Annabell of Caeli and Logan of Aqua. Their was nothing to separate them both heading in to the final round but it was Logan who managed to keep his balance to successfully limbo under the final pole and secure 125 points for Aqua. Annabell with a fantastic performance earned Caeli 75 points to their total.

Well done to everyone who represented their house teams and displayed the CRA values throughout the event. The next house competition is Football taking place week commencing Monday 4th October.

Harvest Festival – House Collections

Two more weeks remaining to contribute to the House Harvest Festival collections, in support of the local foodbank.

To contribute to the Harvest Festival we are appealing for your donations of food items and household products. Please do not donate fresh food products. Items need to have a long shelf life, with the items outlined in the photo being requested by food banks across the country.

Last year the CRA community provided the equivalent of 126 meals for the local community, who were extremely grateful for our generous donations. We would like to top that this year if we can and try to encourage as many of our CRA community to play their part, supporting those in need.

If you feel this is something you can support with please send in your child with your donations. Your child must then notify their form tutor on their donation before placing items in the House box which will be situated on the stage in the main hall.

The deadline for donations is NOW Friday 8th October

Follow us on the House social media platforms, Twitter and Instagram, for all the latest news and results from each event including action shots from the competitions - @CRA_HouseChamp

Mr Webb - Games Master

Word of the Week

(Greek word root)

Cosm: Universe, world, order (Greek word root)

• Cosmos: the universe seen as a well-ordered whole

• Microcosm: a community, place, or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristics of something much larger.

• Cosmology: the science of the origin and development of the universe.

Miss Brealey - Head of English Faculty

Library Update

In true storybook tradition, my dreams came true over the summer holiday, and I started the new school year in the CRA Library with boxes and boxes of beautiful books to unpack! At last, I believe we have a library to be truly proud of, with brand-new books to challenge the most curious minds and encourage diversity and inclusivity – as well as books to tempt our most reluctant readers. I haven’t yet managed to put all the new books on the library system, but they have been flying off the shelves as soon as they are ready to go out on loan. The biographies of the England football team have been particularly popular, along with anything by Malorie Blackman or Alex Bell - but we have also had several students asking for Charles Dickens and Charlotte Brontë because they have been enjoying listening to Great Expectations and Jane Eyre during the DRETreads sessions. How brilliant is that?

This year students have been asked to change their books either in tutor time (on their designated day), or during break and lunch time. Some of the new Year 7s have been taking the lead with this new routine, popping in regularly to quiz and pick up a new book. Please remember that you are allowed to take out two books at a time, to lessen the chances of running out of reading matter during Drop Everything And Read sessions. I would also like to remind Year 10s and 11s that they are still welcome to borrow books even though they are no longer have regular reading sessions or quizzing as they did in KS3. Reading has so many benefits; it helps you to improve your vocabulary, develop empathy, make sense of the world around you, and improve your focus – as well as helping you to relax, lower your blood pressure, and sleep better!

Over the next few weeks, I will be looking for librarians to come and help with the lunchtime rush. Last year we were very limited with what we could do because we had to keep the students in bubbles and quarantine the books; this year, I hope that there will be no such issues! If you are interested, please talk to me, and we will arrange some training sessions in a week or two.

If you haven’t set foot inside the library yet, please come and see the new books we have to offer! My aim is to find something to appeal to everyone in the school, and if you have any requests, I will try my best to fulfil them for you.

A plea for any overdue library books! You can easily recognise a CRA library book by the orange sticker on the spine. I have had a large number returned since we came back to school, but there are still more than 100 books outstanding. Each book costs £5 - £20 to replace, and I absolutely don’t want to start issuing fines! If you leave your books on the library desk, I will put them back into the library, no questions asked. I don’t bite!

Lastly, please follow @CraLibrary on Twitter for occasional updates and photographs of some of our fabulous new books!

Mrs Spilberg - Librarian & TA

Teen Support

Children regularly use different websites and apps from their parents, and it can be hard to keep up in this ever-changing digital world.

But the things that help keep children safe online are often similar to the things that keep them safe offline.

Talk about what they think is normal online and what behaviour to expect from others and from themselves.

Encourage them to think critically and question what they see online. Talk to them about where they go to get information they trust, talk about fake news, fake followers and scams. Help them develop a healthy suspicion of whether people are who they say they are.

Share your knowledge and experience of relationships. For example, sometimes people seem nice at first and then they turn out to be mean. Let them know that you know this, they can talk to you about it. And that you won’t panic or punish them if they do.

The Sporting Post

Afterschool Clubs

We are delighted to announce afterschool sports clubs are starting on 15th September. We will be offering a rugby, hockey, rowing and table tennis in addition to our enrichment afternoons on Monday and Tuesday.

Mr Addlesee - Sports Enrichment Officer