Summer Edition, July 2022

July is a strange time of year in education.  On the one hand we are coming to the end of the teaching year and looking forward to a summer of sunshine.  Staff will be taking a well-earned rest before their thoughts turn towards preparing for the new year.  It is a welcome time to recharge for everyone.  On the other hand, the sense of endings is more poignant for some – Year 6, Year 11 and Year 13 students will be moving on, some leaving the IET family entirely. 

This is also the time of year when we see most staff changes.  We thank those who are moving on, and wish all of those who are not returning in September the very best of luck in their new endeavours and adventures. 

If you are one of those people moving on for (staff or student), then I think Dr Seuss (“Oh, The Places You’ll Go!”) sums up exactly the sentiments I and IET want to send you off with

“You’ve got brains in your head

You’ve got feet in your shoes

You can see steer yourself any direction you choose”

“You’re off to great places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So…get on your way!”

If you will be returning in September, refreshed and ready for new challenges, then we look forward to working with you to make sure that when your day comes, you will be equally well prepared to climb the mountains of your choice.

However you are spending your summer, enjoy and steer yourself carefully, safely and well.

Sarah Sprack, CEO Isle Education Trust

Wow, what an amazing year! I hope you enjoy our latest newsletter which showcases individual and team excellence as well as student experiences within and beyond the academy. It has been wonderful to see life and schooling return to normality post pandemic. There is nothing that quite beats the buzz of students in lessons enjoying their school life.

During the last term it has been a pleasure to be involved in our school prom at the Doncaster Hilton Hotel, and most recently seeing over 300 students and proud family members attend our annual Academy Awards evening. The South Axholme Mindset is evident day in, day out at the academy and our strive for excellence can be seen in abundance within this edition.

I would like to thank my staff for their tireless hard work this year, I am so privileged to work with such brilliant colleagues. I wish those staff moving on in their careers well and look forward to working with some new staff after the summer break. September will soon be upon us with nearly 200 Year 7 students about to embark on their journey at South Axholme.

To all our staff, students and parents/carers, please enjoy the summer break and I look forward to another successful year on our return in September.

Scott Barlow, Principal

Catering at South Axholme Academy is changing.  From September, we will be providing this service in house.  We are delighted to welcome back Kelly Rose who joined IET in July as the new Catering Operations Manager.  Kelly used to be the manager in the kitchen some years ago. For the last 6 years,  she has been working for a catering company and with her return, Kelly brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to take the catering at South Axholme in house.

Q, What does this mean?

Locally sourced produce will be used daily, and a bespoke menu tailored for South Axholme students will be available.  We are in talks with local suppliers to supply meat, veg and bakery products, so we can build our menus on what is in season, cut down on food miles and be greener in our approach.

Students will also have a chance to have an input into what they would like to see, regulars taster session and many more exciting ideas.

The changes you will see are: -

• A wider and varied breakfast offer which will include free porridge and various toppings for students and a Friday fry up
• Hot daily main meal deals with traditional puddings, fresh soup and home baked bread plus a variety of hot and cold deli choices which will include potted salads, fruit pots and mezze bags with dips
• Involvement with student council to get feed back and ideas
• Joint working with the Mrs Stockwell in the Food department, so we can sell ingredients for students to cook with in their lessons from their online school accounts if for some reason they do not have them/could not source them 
• Exciting new meal deals
• Regular themed days so students can experiment with new flavours and try foods from around the world

After a rigorous process of hustings, votes and interviews, the following students were successful in their bid to become the new student leadership team:

Emily Collins 10G, Jacob Halkon 10H, Joshua Pearson 10G and McKenna Wilkinson 10F and our Prefects 

(Student Leadership featured right, and the Prefect Team on the left)

On Tuesday 21 June Jonathan Millea of Millea Group Ltd visited the academy to meet with sixteen of our KS3 Student Councilors.  Jonathan presented his company's draft proposals for the redevelopment of the current Epworth Garden Centre site and some adjacent land, as well as taking the students on a short tour of the site. 

The students had an opportunity to feedback their thoughts on the proposals and make some suggestions as to what they would like to see included.  Jonathan was very impressed with our Councillors, saying "the ideas and interest in the proposed project from the children today was magnificent and from my point of view speaks volumes for your school".  Well done to all involved.  We look forward to seeing how the plans develop moving forward. 

Should you wish to share your views on these proposals and you are an Epworth resident, there is a survey being conducted by Andrew Percy MP which can be found HERE.

A Atkins, Associate Assistant Principal l 

(Pictures of  the site and proposed development provided by Millea Group)

Home Learning - Satchel One

At South Axholme Academy, Home Learning is an essential part of school life as it supports the curriculum, subject interests and develops core skills such as organisation and independent learning.  

Research from the Education Endowment Foundation shows that ‘the impact of homework on learning is consistently positive leading to on average five months’ additional progress.’ 

To help support students, all home learning at South Axhome is set on a platform called Satchel One.  We have been using this platform for 6 months, and it is proving to be very successful  allowing parents/carers to keep track of their child's homework.  As we embrace an increasingly digital approach to work, this provides an up-to-date way of working for all of our community.

Please encourage your child to download the Satchel One app onto their devices.  Students can also access Satchel One via any computer if they are unable to download the app.  

If you have not yet got your parent information to enable you to access Satchel One to support your child at home, please contact the academy.

We thank parents and students for their cooperation whilst we have introduced this new way of working.

L Bullars, Vice Principal

We regularly celebrate the achievement of our students at South Axholme Academy, and this week, students have attended the annual Academy Awards Evening. Students were awarded certificates in a wide range of areas including: 

• Subject Specific Awards
• Attitude to Learning Awards and 
• Governors' Award for Outstanding Attitude to Learning

Students who received an award for 100% attendance were put into a draw to receive an Amazon voucher.  Four students out of each year group were lucky enough to receive these.

Well done to everyone!

C Barnes, Assistant Principal

A huge congratulations to the winners of the Scunthorpe United Reading Stars football tournament listed below. The team played superbly and have been an absolute credit to the academy since the Reading Stars programme began. 

We are proud to teach such talented students and look forward to them becoming Reading Ambassadors in the future.

Joshua Aisbitt, Alfie Appleby, James Coldwell, Jacob Davies, Henry Gibb, Kaiden   Harrison, Rion Long, Kayden Milton, Cameron Mole, Joshua Matthews, Rohan   Moncuit, Barney Parker, Oliver Reardon, Kyle Smith and Luke Trewick

L Dyer, English Teacher and Literacy Lead and M Smith, Assistant Subject Leader English

(Reading Stars pictured below)

Art Clay Work

Students in Key Stage 3 have had the opportunity to work with clay for the first time this year. 

Year 7 have created their own tile based on the work of Russian artist, Wasily Kandinsky. Students listened to music and then transformed what they heard in to a piece of abstract art. Year 8 based their tile on a form of art known as Zentangle Art. Students created their pattern work then used their acrylic paint skills to add colour to their design. Year 9 designed their own donut which they then sculpted from scratch adding details such as icing and sprinkles.

A fantastic start to adding in some 3D and sculpture work to the art department!

(Students working on their clay pottery tiles and the outcomes)

Music Showcase

This term there have been two very successful shows from our musicians and performing arts students this term.  The Summer Showcase on Wednesday 8 June saw students who play instruments, sing in school or take part in our ensemble groups performing.  A fantastic evening of music from our wonderful musicians showcasing the hard work they have shown this year.

We Will Rock You

Performing Arts students who have been rehearsing tirelessly for months put on the first show since Covid at the academy.  The show was a sell out over two nights and what a fantastic show it was!

We are very proud of all students who took part - well done!

L Sheppard, Music Teacher and S Brook, Subject Leader Expressive and Performing Arts

(Musicians below and We Will Rock You Performance, below)

Year 9 have been studying many different ethical issues this term and have continued to amaze me with their fantastic contributions and ideas!

The level of critical thinking and evaluation skills shown are outstanding. Keep up the good work Year 9!

The Year 10 construction class have also showed some promising work. 

This group of students are the first year group who have used the new construction area built last year.  We definitely have some budding builders and construction workers in our midst.

J Clark, Subject Leader DT

(Example of work below)

Sports day results.

Year 7

1st 7G 109pts, 2nd 7F 101pts, 3rd 7N 98pts, 4th7W 93pts, 5th 7T 85pts, 6th7 H 80pts 7th 7E 70pts.

Year 8

1st 8T 91pts, 2nd 8E 83pts, 3rd 8G 78 pts, 4th 8F 77pts, 5th 8W 61pts, 6th 8H 59pts, 7th 8N 54pts.

(Students taking part in activities below and presentation of certificates  in assembly)

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to students for a hugely successful football season!! Scunthorpe Schools U12, U15s and Y11 won the trophy for their age groups.

South Axholme Academy finished overall 2nd at the Scunthorpe and District.  Well done to everyone who participated.

(Participants below)

Mr Dwyer was successful in securing tickets to see the tennis at Wimbledon this year.  Students travelled on an early train to London, before heading over to watch the doubles in centre court.  They even managed to do some sightseeing.  

A fantastic day and experience for the Year 10 boys lucky enough to go.

Hull University

Year 10 students visited Hull University this term to discover more about higher education having missed out last year. They explored the campus and were able to use and experience some of their facilities including the mock court.

Visits have also taken place to New College and John Leggott College, giving students opportunities to explore their next steps and make informed choices.

(Pictures of Hull University above)

Students took part in a Pride walk on 30 June to show that diversity is strong at SAX.

Join Mrs Marsh and fellow students on Friday lunchtimes, between 1.00pm and 1.30pm in the Drama Studio at Pride Society. 

"We are all different and that's beautiful"

We are looking forward to welcoming you back in September

Arbor

We now have 80% of our parents /carers registered with the Arbor App. 

Don't miss out! 

If you have not activated your account, please contact the academy and we will send you the information that you will need to register.

This is an excellent way to view your child's dashboard which includes attendance data and achievements.

In addition, you can update your personal information without needing to contact the academy.  Please see the link below to access your account.

https://login.arbor.sc/