Weekly Parents' Newsletter
Dear families
Hopefully all the staff, students and parents will be taking a big sigh of relief today having completed the longest half term of the school year. It has been a brilliant eight weeks in school with so much new information learnt in almost 1000 lessons. All the students have done so well, especially Year 7s and everyone deserves a well-earned break. We all wish you a lovely half term with your children. To celebrate the successes and events this half term, the Parents’ Post is also published today for you to enjoy.
Thank you to all our families; it has been an excellent start to the year which in many respects is down to the ongoing work of families supporting your children at home and working in partnership with us.
Best wishes
Mrs F Bowler, Principal
Whole School Messages
WEEK A MENU
This is a polite reminder that we are a nut free school. Please ensure your child does not bring nuts or food containing nuts as part of their lunch. Many thanks.
Battle of the Bands has been postponed – new date to be advised.
New This Week
We’re thrilled to share some fantastic news — our school’s attendance is 93.35%, which is 1.4% above the National average.
👏 A huge thank you to our incredible students, dedicated parents and carers for your commitment to making school attendance a top priority.
📈 High attendance means more opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive — and we’re proud to see our community embracing that with such enthusiasm.
Let’s keep up the momentum and continue building a culture where every day counts. Together, we’re making school a place where everyone belongs and succeeds.
Thank you once again for your support and dedication!
Attendance Statistics
Year 7 – 96.8% (+0.9% Above national average)
Year 8 – 93.1% (-0.3% Below national average)
Year 9 – 91.4% (-0.9% Below national average)
Year 10 – 94.3% (+2.3% Above national average)
Year 11 – 91.0% (-0.6% Below national average)
Students in receipt of Free School Meals – 87.3% (-1.4% Below national average)
Students with SEND – 89.5% (+0.6% Above national average)
Key Patterns
We’ve noticed that certain patterns of absence, such as frequent late arrivals and regular days off can have a significant impact on students’ learning, progress, and confidence.
While occasional absences are sometimes unavoidable, consistent attendance is key to helping students stay connected, achieve their potential, and feel part of the school community. With that in mind, we want to share with you the below absence patters for each year group for you to be aware of to help us ensure that all students are regularly attending school.
Year 7 – No pattern
Year 8 – Fridays
Year 9 – Fridays
Year 10 – Fridays
Year 11 – Thursdays
Freedom Centre Harvest Collection
Thank you to everyone who donated food for the Freedom Centre's Harvest Collection. Ms Britton's year 8 tutor group brought in the most items and won the box of Quality Street!
Contact with School
Please use the email contact list on our website (link below) to help you direct your enquiries to the correct members of staff.
If you feel you need to arrange to meet with a member of staff in person please direct your enquiry via email to the appropriate team / member of staff who will contact you to make suitable arrangements at a mutually convenient time.
Specific Contact Options - Braunton Academy - Aspire and Achieve
Head Lice
There have been further cases of head lice around school. Please be vigilant and check your child's hair. Please seek treatment or heavily condition and comb regularly.
Airborne Viruses
As the colder months approach, we can expect to see increases in common airborne viruses. Illness is the biggest single reason for school absence; while some absences due to illness are unavoidable, many can be reduced through simple, proactive measures that minimise the spread of infections. Scientific evidence demonstrates that vaccination, disinfection (cleaning), handwashing, and ventilation can significantly reduce the transmission of infectious diseases.
Please take time to read the two links below to help us reduce the number of student absences this winter:
Is my child too ill for school? - NHS
Top tips on how to keep your child healthy at school – The Education Hub
Messages for Students During the School Day
Any messages for students that are requested during the school day need to be shared with Reception no later than 3.00 pm on that day.
Please remember messages to students during the school day should only be required to be delivered in rare/emergency circumstances.
Lost Property
Any lost property that has not been claimed by the end of each half term will be either disposed of or donated to charity. Please label all children’s belongings and encourage them to check lost property for anything they may have misplaced.
Clubs and Activities
KS4 Sophrology Club – Supporting Exams Wellbeing
As exam pressures continue to rise, many parents are understandably concerned about how their children cope; not just academically, but emotionally. At our school, we are proud to introduce a new initiative aimed at supporting students’ mental wellbeing and enhancing their exam preparation: the KS4 Sophrology Club. Tuesdays after school in Room 40 with Mrs Duthuit. Full details on the website.
Year 11 DT GCSE Club every Tuesday in the DT ICT room until 4.30 pm
Homework Club All years, every day after school in the library 3.15-4.15pm
Julius Caesar Rehearsals
Week A – Thursday after school until 4.30 pm.
Week B – Tuesday after school until 4.30 pm.
German Music Club Every Thursday lunchtime in room 43, bring your packed lunch and let’s listen to and study German songs together! Open to all year groups (and staff!)
French Pen Friend Club Every Friday lunchtime in room 43, bring your packed lunch and let’s write letters in French to send to two French schools and get a pen-pal friendship going! Open to all year groups.
Creative Writing Club After school (15:30-16:30) in the Library. A great opportunity to explore all forms of creative writing with like-minded people from across the school. Limited spaces. All years welcome. Please see Miss Reed (Room 66) to sign up!
Music Clubs - Please see Mr Thomas at break or lunch to sign up
Tuesdays - Lunch Time - Choir Rehearsals
Thursday - Lunch Time - Music Club
Thursday - 3:15 - 4:15 - School Orchestra
Friday - Lunch Time - Jazz Band
PE and Sports Clubs
Students playing Football on the AGP at lunchtimes must wear their shin pads with trainers or football boots. They do not need to wear PE kit.
Rugby
Year 7 & 8 – Wednesday after school until 4.15 pm
Year 9 & 10 – Tuesday after school until 4.15 pm
Please find a link below to the PE page of the website where you will find the updated fixtures list for this year (near the bottom of the page).
Physical Education - Braunton Academy - Aspire and Achieve
Competition
Rotary Young Writer Competition
The English Department have been in contact with the local Rotary Club who have agreed to judge our entries to the Rotary Young Writer competition this year.
Rotary Young Writer is a yearly, national writing competition which will commence with a local heat before a regional and national heats to decide overall winners from across the country.
The topic of the competition is Happiness and Nature (this does not have to be a literal interpretation) and entrants are asked to write either a prose piece (maximum 550 words) or a poem of (maximum 40 lines).
Please get thinking of ideas! See Miss Reed for more information (Room 66)
Deadline – Wednesday 10th December
Year 11 News
November Pre-Public Examinations (PPEs)
A reminder that all students will have received their timetables for the upcoming PPE exams that are taking place in November. Please support with revision at home. The PowerPoint from ‘Countdown to GCSEs Evening’ was shared in the newsletter on the 19th September.
Year 11 Petroc Newsletter Careers - Braunton Academy - Aspire and Achieve
Year 10 News
Work Experience
The work experience programme for this academic year has been launched this week. All students will have received a letter, addressed to their parent/guardian, giving instructions on how the scheme works. Please follow the link below to our Work Experience webpage for all the information you need. All student Work Experience placements need to have been entered onto the Unifrog platform by Thursday 2nd April 2026.
Work Experience - Braunton Academy - Aspire and Achieve
Year 9 News
Changes to Assessment in KS3 (Year 9)
Further to last week’s message, if you have any questions about assessment or your young person’s recent MTA, please contact the Head of Year.
You may wish to visit our Assessment page on the website here, which explains what Mid Term Assessment Reports (MTAs) will look like.
Assessment - Braunton Academy - Aspire and Achieve
Accessing Sparx Reader from home
If you’re struggling to access Sparx Reader from home, please see our new video guide on how to access and log in to Sparx through the school website. It also has some handy tips on how to make reading on a screen more accessible by adjusting the font sizes, screen colour and using the reader guide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hw7GRvEBY8
If you ever need to come back to the link, it can be found on the English section of the school website under ‘Useful Links’
https://www.braunton.academy/curriculum/english
Year 8 News
Students will be bringing home their Autumn term MTA on Thursday 6th November.
Changes to Assessment in KS3 (Year 8)
Further to last week’s message, if you have any questions about assessment or your young person’s recent MTA, please contact the Head of Year.
You may wish to visit our Assessment page on the website here, which explains what Mid Term Assessment Reports (MTAs) will look like.
Assessment - Braunton Academy - Aspire and Achieve
Accessing Sparx Reader from home
If you’re struggling to access Sparx Reader from home, please see our new video guide on how to access and log in to Sparx through the school website. It also has some handy tips on how to make reading on a screen more accessible by adjusting the font sizes, screen colour and using the reader guide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hw7GRvEBY8
If you ever need to come back to the link, it can be found on the English section of the school website under ‘Useful Links’
https://www.braunton.academy/curriculum/english
Year 7 News
Changes to Assessment in KS3 (Year 7)
Further to last week’s message, if you have any questions about assessment or your young person’s recent MTA, please contact the Head of Year.
You may wish to visit our Assessment page on the website here, which explains what Mid Term Assessment Reports (MTAs) will look like.
Assessment - Braunton Academy - Aspire and Achieve
Accessing Sparx Reader from home
If you’re struggling to access Sparx Reader from home, please see our new video guide on how to access and log in to Sparx through the school website. It also has some handy tips on how to make reading on a screen more accessible by adjusting the font sizes, screen colour and using the reader guide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hw7GRvEBY8
If you ever need to come back to the link, it can be found on the English section of the school website under ‘Useful Links’
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