We find ourselves now in one of the busiest times of the Academic Year, and this year promises to be even busier than usual, as the College enters the final stages of its conversion to an Academy.  Already, much hard work has been invested into ensuring the changeover proceeds as smoothly as possible, and Thornhill Community Academy will be officially opened on Friday 1st June 2012.  At this date, the Academy will no longer be under the control of the Kirklees Local Authority, but will be an independent charitable trust.

Aside, however, from the new branding for the Academy, we want the change to be as seamless as possible in terms of your children’s education.  There will still, for example, be the same level of rigour in terms of providing your children with the highest possible standards of education and enrichment throughout the Academy, and we hope to boost the number of out-of-hours clubs and activities available.

We are also at a stage where we are thinking about the correct structure of the School Day – we intend to reorganise the day so that lunchtimes are shortened and the finish time is earlier, enabling yet more of our students to be involved in clubs and activities after school.  The intended finish time in September is 2.45pm, twenty minutes earlier than currently.  This time will be gained by shortening the lunch break from 50 to 30 minutes.  This still leaves students with more than enough time to take their lunch and relax before the afternoon session begins.  The amount of time spent in lessons will not change.

As far as uniform for the new Academy is concerned, there is no intention to make sweeping changes for September.  Parents of the new Year 7 students will already have made provisions for their children’s uniform, and we have no intention of allowing parents and carers to waste money buying uniform which is no longer relevant.

I would, however, urge parents NOT to purchase items of summer uniform and, for those parents with children already in College; it is advisable to hold off from buying replacement sweaters until decisions have been made for the following academic year (2013-14).  From September 2013, the new Academy uniform will be mandatory for all students.  Although we have some ideas and concepts to discuss in College, we will be seeking the views of parents, carers and students as to the final make-up of the uniform.  Rest assured, however, that we will not be making sweeping changes to uniform which subsequently demand excessive additional expense for parents, especially in such austere financial times.

On a separate matter, I am becoming increasingly concerned by the number of students taking term-time holidays, often for weeks at a time.  I would like to reiterate that term-time holidays are discouraged both by the College and the Local Authority, and such absences from College will only be authorised under exceptional circumstances.  Many schools have already begun the process of issuing heavy financial penalties to parents taking their children out of school without authorisation, and I have little option but to do likewise.  Contrary to popular belief, there is no entitlement to take term-time holidays – many people believe that students are entitled to 10 days absence each year, but this is not the case.  If you are considering a holiday during term-time, I would advise you to contact the College as soon as possible to avoid disruption to your intended travel plans.  

Finally, I would like to thank parents and carers for the support you have offered to the College during the course of the year – I trust I can continue to count on your help as the term progresses to ensure we do the very best we can for your children.

Kind regards

Jonny Mitchell Headteacher