Welcome to our new school

I am absolutely delighted for us to have completed our first week at Q3 Academy Tipton. It is already proving to be a calm, purposeful and determined academy where children are punctual, smart and ready to learn. We welcomed Years 7 and 8 on Tuesday and Years 9 to 13 on Wednesday. Lessons have begun, with students focused and attentive, ambitious to achieve their best.

By Monday 10th September we hope to have all our new signage erected and so we really will feel like a new school! I’d like to thank both the amazing site team here, and Stewart Hills of Q3 Academies for their dedication in getting us ready in time. There have been a few teething problems – as anyone would expect – but everyone has rallied around to resolve them.

We have welcomed around 235 new Year 7 students into the school, 55 new sixth formers, and our numbers are still growing!

As Q3 Tipton’s Head of School, I have enjoyed a fabulous week and the future looks extremely positive.

Helping students to get things right

Students should not wear coats or hoodies in their building at all. Fizzy drinks, especially energy drinks are not allowed on site. Large ‘value’ bags of crisps and snacks are also not allowed; we encourage students to bring healthy snacks for break times.

Lunches are now split by year group, which means all children have more time and space:

12:15 – 12:45pm – Year 9 and Year 10
12:45 – 1:15pm – Year 7 and Year 8
1:15 – 1:45pm – Year 11, 12 and 13

Please note that girls’ cravats should be tied under their school shirts and boys’ tied should have the Q3 logo and stripes under the knot.

New Students’ Parents Evening

On Monday 24th September we will hold our first parents’ evening of the new school year. This will be open to any parents or carers of children new to the academy. Although by far the largest group of new students are those that have joined Year 7, we know there are many more new students whose parents are eager to find out how they have settled.

STAFF: this is directed time for all teachers – please be available to speak with the parents/carers of any child in your tutor group; of course we expect Y7 to be busiest!

Parents and carers will have the opportunity to speak to their child’s form tutor and find out how they have settled into Q3 Academy Tipton.

In addition, MACRON will be here with sports kit for parents wishing to try items on for size and/or place orders. We will also run help desks for using ClassCharts and ParentPay.

Invitation letters and instruction about how to sign up will come out next week.

ClassCharts is an online system used within Q3 Academy Tipton which parents and carers can use to keep up to date with their child’s performance and also check what homework has been set.

Today your child has been given two sheets of information to bring home – one for yourselves and one for them, which includes access codes as well as how to log in. Obviously, all information that we hold on file for your children is completely confidential – so please do look after your logins.

STAFF: It is compulsory to record all set homework on ClassCharts so that we can resolve parental enquiries quickly.

All of us at Q3 Academy Tipton are especially proud of Fahima Begum’s fabulous A level results! She is registered blind and did all her A levels in braille. In amongst hyer excellent results, she achieved a grade A in English Literature!

Fahima worked so hard in such difficult circumstances and she is a real reflection of what hard work and determination can achieve.

Meet the Team: Welfare

Q3 Academies approach the education of your children is to do so in a holistic way; as an academy we like to offer support where possible. Every now and then staff, students and their families may need some extra support for whatever reason. We have two members of staff Kimberley Maynard – Welfare Lead and Leigh Turner – Family Liaison Coordinator who can help to provide this support.

Please get in contact with us if you need support for the following reasons:

Bereavement in the family;
Your child is a young carer;
You are having financial difficulties;
Suffering from a family breakdown
Routines and behaviours at home are impacting on the family;
If you feel you or your child needs mentoring. counselling or pastoral support.

This is not an extensive list so if you have any questions about what support is on offer please feel free to contact the welfare team at HERE

Why Reading is Important

We know that reading is important but there seems so many other things to do with one’s time so we push it away to one side and the poor book on the coffee table is neglected. Whilst completing their reading lessons this week, students at Q3 Academy Tipton have been exploring the benefits of reading.

We know in English that reading helps students build their vocabulary, develop a deeper understanding of the structure of writing and also builds their capacity to write in a variety of situations, but we also discovered that reading is a dominate factor is student’s wider life.

Research has shown that reading is 300% more effective than going for a walk if you wish to reduce your stress levels. It has also proven that reading is good for our physical and mental health and helps us build empathy skills.

Dr Seuss tells us that, ‘The more you read the more things you know, the more that you learn the more places you’ll go.’ By this he means that readers go further be that in their imaginations, in their travels or in their careers.

We are bringing in a reading programme to continue develop student’s engagement with reading and continue the great work that was done around reading last year. All students at Q£ Academy Tipton are expected to have a reading book with them every day and can use the school’s library to select a book to read.

The challenge we set for our students is that they should be reading something for 30 minutes a day. This could include: novels, autobiographies, newspapers, magazines, blogs…the list is endless. We just ask that the text is challenging.

But what about our parents? Don’t they need to unwind and relax too? Our challenge to our community is for you to pick up a book or magazine and read for 30 minutes a few times a week. We look forward to hearing for the students about how the whole family is reading more and maybe getting some recommendations on what we can read next.

Brilliant Staff!

Just before the start of term, Rachel “The Machine” Green competed in the Wolverhampton Half Marathon.

Amazingly, she came second in the Female Race in a time of 1:33:00. Wow!

We look forward to some dedicated students joining her next year.

Important Dates

Term One
Monday 10 September – Enrichment Clubs Begin
Saturday 22 September – Open Morning
Monday 24 September – Parents’ Evening for New Students
Monday 24 – Friday 28 September – Open Week
Monday 8 – Friday 19 October – Year 11 Mock Examinations
Wednesday 24 October – Last Day of Term One
Thursday 25 & Friday 26 October – INSET

Term Two
Monday 5 December – School Re-Opens
Monday 26 November – Parents’ Evening for Year 11 Students
Friday 14 December – Last Day of Term Two

Term Three
Monday 7 January – School Re-Opens

This Week’s Letters and Key Information

After School Enrichment Activities for Terms 1 & 2

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