What a busy term this has been, we have achieved so much at The Holgate Academy!

On October 2nd & 3rd, The Holgate Academy hosted DALP colleagues who undertook a FAR (Full Academy Review). They visited lessons and spoke to staff, governors and students. We now have the final full report, which identifies a key strength, which I want to share with you:-

Leadership and management Good 2
Teaching, learning and assessment Good 2
Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good 2
Outcomes Good 2
Effectiveness of 16-19 study programmes Good 2

“The Principal and her team are totally committed to doing the right thing for the students at The Holgate Academy, focussing on the whole child and providing an education to set themselves up for positive futures and life chances.”

This statement clearly demonstrates our unrelenting ambition to provide our young people with the very best education possible.

School Show 2018
Mrs Morris produced the School Show this year, along with the directing team of Miss Burridge, Miss Blackburn and Mrs Mathews. High School Musical was performed at the end of November. This year, we are applying to increase our Arts Mark Gold Status to Platinum, as we are the Arts Mark lead for DALP. The School Show was a fantastic launch for our Platinum year. It was brilliant to see our students perform in front of a live audience- they did us proud!

Charity work
At The Holgate Academy, we continued to support a variety of charities.

Fundraising/DALP Charity
Student voice/ academy council members attended the DALP event and gave a brilliant presentation; because of this DALP has adopted Macmillan and Cancer Research as their charities for this academic year. Ms Forsey and Mrs Morris would like to congratulate these students for their excellent work. We intend to hold non-uniform days throughout the year to raise money for these very worthy charities.

Christmas Jumper Day
Christmas Jumper Day is an annual charity event held on 14th December. Many of our students supported this charity by wearing their fantastic Christmas Jumpers – 100% of the proceeds will go to the charity “Save the Children”.

Key Craft Garden Centre Christmas lights
It was great to meet so many of you at this event. Staff and prefects attended to support with raising money for the “Wishing on a Star” charity – thank you to all of you who made a contribution to this and to our prefects who attended to support the fund raising.

Our annual Carol Concert took place at St Mary’s church in Hucknall on Wednesday 12th December– this was a fantastic event. The church was full and the standard of performance from primary, secondary and sixth form students was excellent. It takes great courage and confidence to perform in front of a full church. Holgate choir and the A Capella group were outstanding! Thanks to Miss Blackburn, Mrs Mathews, and Mrs Morris for organising this event.

Year 11 Mock Interview Day
Can I take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Mrs McKenna and Mrs Pearson for their brilliant organisation. This was a great event that always gives our students the opportunity to see what an interview is like, to see if they feel nervous or confident, to see how they can improve their responses, but more importantly to build their experience and confidence for when they need to do this for real. External visitors carried out the interviews and commented on the profession way that our students conducted themselves- well done year 11!

The year 7 and 8 discos were a great success this was an opportunity for our younger students to celebrate their achievements and successes – thank you to Mr Diamond and Mr Lees for organising this event and to House Leaders for supporting.

Hucknall Sixth Form Centre (HSFC)
The HSFC continues to impress all students who have chosen to continue their education with us. On Thursday 20th December the Year 13th Awards Evening was held at the Hucknall Town Football Club. I presented two special awards at the event to students Worrall and Kimbley who were the highest achievers for 2018- congratulations!

We return to school on 7th January 2019. Uniform guidance is on our website. Please ensure your child is well presented in full uniform and appropriate footwear. A suitable coat is also essential during the cold weather due to the spilt site nature of the academy. Basic equipment- including a bag which is large enough to contain an A4 folder (a handbag is not suitable) and a copy of the timetable (10p) can be purchased from student services in order to ensure your child is fully prepared for the school day during 2019.

Can I take this opportunity on behalf of my colleagues and myself to thank parents and carers for your ongoing support. You and your children make this academy a great place to be.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Ms S Forsey
Principal