Month: October 2024

The curriculum and beyond

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In the parent survey conducted in April and May of this year, we received some really helpful feedback to help us shape our work. Families were very positive about the improvements we have made to behaviour over the last eighteen months, with a 30% improvement in families agreeing or strongly agreeing that behaviour in the Academy was good or better. 

Parental feedback also suggested that you would like more information about what your child will learn during the year. We have taken this on board and provided much more detail through our information evenings over the course of September. We have also fully updated the information on our website: if you visit https://www.churchill-academy.org/curriculum you will find an overview of our curriculum plan. At the bottom of that page, you will also find a series of curriculum booklets, one for each year group in the main school, giving detailed information about the programme of study in each subject across the course of this academic year. Information about the Sixth Form curriculum can be found on the Sixth Form Course List page. 

The wider curriculum

Lessons at Churchill are supplemented, supported and broadened by a wider curriculum which sits across and around our taught lessons. This includes our programme for PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education) and personal development, and our thriving extra-curricular and enrichment programme. These aspects of education are threaded through our lessons, and also inform our assembly and tutor programme, as well as feeding into extra-curricular activities including our summer activities week. 

PSHE roadmap

To make it easier for families to understand this programme, we have produced a couple of new documents for you. Firstly, our PSHE roadmap shows how the various aspects of our wider curriculum in this area are delivered through lessons, assemblies, tutor times and some off-timetable activities through Year 7 to 11.  You can download a copy of our roadmap from the Academy website by clicking the image above, or via this link.

Personal Development Programme

The second new document is our programme for personal development. There are so many opportunities for our students to develop their skills, knowledge, character and confidence throughout their time at Churchill, and this document is our attempt to draw those threads together to provide an overview for students, staff and families. The document shows how our curriculum, student leadership, house cup, extra-curricular, assembly and PSHE programmes mesh together to support our students as they develop and grow through their time at Churchill. You can download a copy of our personal development programme here.

We hope you find this information useful!

Sixth Form Open Evening 2024

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This week we have held our Sixth Form Open Evening, inviting Year 11 students and their families from Churchill and further afield to think about their post-16 destinations. I am really proud of our Sixth Form, which balances the importance of academic study with pastoral care and guidance, personal development and independence, and a rich wider curriculum to broaden and deepen students’ knowledge, skills, character and confidence. We really believe that Sixth Form is more than just the courses you study; it’s the whole experience of a Sixth Form that makes it special.

I have always taught in 11-18 schools which have a Sixth Form attached to them. There is something about the presence of the Year 12 and 13 students in the school community that creates a tangible sense of destination and aspiration for our younger students: the Sixth Formers are positive role models and student leaders. And, for the Sixth Formers themselves, there is that sense of the familiar but also the distinctly different that provides a natural extension of their 11-16 education in a school, but seen through a new lens.

There is also the added incentive for teachers of being able to teach up to A-level. The depth, breadth and challenge of the additional subject knowledge required to teach at advanced level brings additional subject expertise to the faculty. I have always found that this strengthens the teaching in the main school, as teachers know and teach the next steps beyond GCSE, enabling further stretch and challenge. And, for many staff, the opportunity to teach post-16 students alongside the main school curriculum is a great incentive to work at an 11-18 school.

In short, the Sixth Form is the jewel in the crown of our Academy’s offer. You can hear more from our students in the video above, and you can find out more on the Academy website. We look forward to hearing from you!

Votes for Schools

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This year we are using a new national programme to help structure some of our assemblies and tutor times: Votes for Schools.

Votes for Schools is a weekly current affairs-based voting platform designed to engage young people in political and social issues. Through weekly discussion and voting, not only are voters learning about the world around them, but they are also becoming active citizens and preparing for participating in our democratic processes as adults.

We have already had some good discussions about cultural appreciation vs cultural appropriation, linked to Black History Month. Families can get involved too – here are some great ways for you to get involved in the conversation!

Check the website

At 4PM every Friday, the latest Vote Topic goes live! Anyone can check the Votes for Schools website – www.votesforschools.com – to see what students across the country will be debating and voting on in the coming school week.

Discuss the topic at home

Ask your child to give arguments for each side of the debate to encourage critical thinking. Votes for Schools produces a weekly Home Information Sheet that can help you with this, which you can download from their website.

Discuss the results

When the new Vote Topic is available, the national results of the previous topic will be too! Why not ask your child how they voted and why, and discuss how the rest of the country voted?

Brush up on your knowledge

You can read up on any topics your child is discussing, or has discussed, to see what your take on it is. For more sensitive topics, Votes for Schools also provide a list of useful resources and organisations where you or your child can find out more or seek support.

Share your ideas and find out more

Please talk to your child about which issues they would like to see discussed at Votes for Schools. You can let them know their thoughts, or encourage them to reach out to Votes for Schools directly. You can email them directly at secondary@votesforschools.com, or visit the website www.votesforschools.com to make suggestions or to find out more.

Continuity through change

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There has been a school on our site since 1956. Churchill Secondary Modern School opened on Friday, 20 September 1957. In 1969, the school became a comprehensive. In 1996, it became Churchill Community School, before adopting foundation status in 2007 as Churchill Community Foundation School and Sixth Form Centre. The school became an academy on 1 August 2011 as Churchill Academy & Sixth Form, the name it retains to this day.

This aerial shot from 1970 shows the original Tudor block in the right of the picture.

And it’s not only the name that has changed. The buildings have evolved, with old ones being demolished and new ones built to replace them; other buildings have been gutted and rebuilt from the inside out. We have embraced new technology, new developments in teaching and learning, and new approaches for our students.

The people in the school constantly change. Every year we bid farewell to one group of students, and welcome in the new. They grow through the school, joining us a children in Year 7 and leaving us as young adults from Year 13. It’s a constant cycle of growth and renewal which is one of the real joys of teaching. And, of course, the staff also change. I am the ninth Headteacher of the school on this site, with the longest-serving being Desmond Foster who was Head here from 1964 to 1983!

Aerial view of the Academy site from 2022

What doesn’t change is the commitment of the people who work here to the education of the young people who attend. Their dedication to do the very best they can for the students who are with us today is something that marks out the staff at Churchill from 1957 to 2024. So, although the buildings, the name, the people and the world around us might change, our school stays true to its purpose: to inspire and enable young people to make a positive difference, and to set no limits on what we can achieve.