Welcome to a new school year! It has been wonderful to see our staff and students back at the Academy this week. Our inset day on Monday was focused on staff training and development to ensure that all colleagues were properly prepared. It was a packed agenda, with an exam results review followed by sessions on our strategic planning, working within the Lighthouse Schools Partnership, behaviour management, safeguarding, and SEND (special educational needs and disabilities), before faculties and houses met with their own specific agendas.

On Tuesday, we welcomed Year 7 and 12 into school – our two “new starter” year groups. Both settled immediately into the routine, with really positive feedback and some excellent learning taking place. Having the Academy to themselves for the day ensured that new students could find their way around and get properly settled, before the rest of the school returned on Wednesday and Thursday.

In my “welcome back” assembly on Wednesday, I explained all the work that had gone on over the summer. Our site team and the IT network team have been busy, as have contractors completing projects across the site including improved dining facilities in Windsor, with new flooring and additional seating; the completion of our decarbonisation project in Sixth Form, Hive, Hall & Gymnasium, which means that these areas are all now running air conditioning from a low-carbon air source heat pump. New paving was laid outside the Turing building, additional new social area furniture has been placed around the site (inside and outside), the Windsor and Hanover toilets have been refurbished, the Sports Centre has been emptied with works starting on the roof, windows, doors and the heating system, and there has been lots and lots of painting! As a result the student social areas and circulation space in Lancaster, Stuart and Turing all look fantastic as our students have returned.

As always at the start of each term, I also outlined our expectations of student behaviour, including the new approaches we are taking this academic year. It was fantastic to see such a positive response from the students – and I am very grateful to families for their support in ensuring correct uniform for school.

Although it has been very warm this week, we have got off to a very good start!