Dear parents and carers,

It has been another busy term at Nottingham Girls' Academy.

Keeping in Touch

I hope you have been able to keep up to date with all of the exciting events and activities via our bulletin, website, and social media (X and Facebook).

We are putting more and more information onto our website at the moment. This is because the website allows users to translate the content into almost any language using the 'globe' button: 

You can also find our new careers hub on the website which provides access to lots of information and tools to help pupils consider what they might like to do in the future.

Staff Departures

At the end of term we will be saying goodbye and good luck to some colleagues who are moving to new roles:

• Ms Harding (Head of Creative Arts).

• Ms Tucker (English).

• Mr McFaul (SEMH Lead).

• Mr Anto (Science).

We would also like to wish Mrs Bishop (Head of Spanish) a very happy and healthy maternity leave with her new baby when it arrives.

Staff Arrivals and Changes

We have worked hard to replace these excellent colleagues with equally excellent people, and we are looking forward to seeing staff in new roles as well as welcoming new staff to the academy in January:

• Mrs Pye has been promoted from teacher in charge of Art, to become our new Head of Creative Arts. 

• Mrs Fisher will return to the academy to rejoin the English Department. 

• Mrs Sharma joins us as our new Head of Physics. 

• Mrs Wilson joins us as Deputy SENDCo, to lead our Alternative Curriculum groups as we plan for the new focussed SEND provision. 

• Ms Sanchez is joining the Spanish department to cover Ms Bishop's maternity leave.

• Mrs Mora (Deputy Head) will assume the leadership of Spanish while Mrs Bishop is on maternity leave. 

Key Dates:

      Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

• Wednesday 11^th December, 7pm
• Thursday 12^th December, 7pm
• Friday 13^th December, 7pm
• Saturday 14^th December, 2.30pm and 7pm

      Christmas Dinner

• Wednesday 11^th December: Year 7, Year 8, and Year 9 (first sitting)
• Thursday 12^th December: Year 10, Year 11, and Sixth Form (first sitting)      

[please note: sandwiches, pasta and baked potatoes will be available to all pupils. Pupils being served in the second sitting will only be able to get sandwiches, pasta and baked potatoes.]

      Christmas Jumper Days

• Wednesday 11^th December and Thursday 12^th December
• Donations for Save the Children gratefully received.

      Last Day of Term

• Friday 20^th December.
• School will close at 1.20pm (following lunch and afternoon registration).
• Pupils who take the 77 bus service or A2 bus service from outside of school should make alternative arrangements. The normal 77 service will be running from Aspley Lane.

      Start of Spring Term

• Monday 6^th January, 8.45am: all pupils.

I would like to wish you and your families a happy and healthy break. We look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

Mr D Tungate

Executive Principal

15 October 2024

Dear parents and carers,

Re: Absence and Punctuality

Attendance

I wrote to you in July and September to inform you of the new changes to the national threshold for Penalty Notices, these changes are now in effect. As a reminder:

This means that if a student is absent from school for 10 unauthorised sessions, over a rolling 10 school week period, then it is likely that we will ask for a Penalty Notice to be issued. Of which, the 3 stages of fines would commence.

Having time out of school can have a significantly negative impact on your child’s attainment:

• Pupils that have severe absence (below 50% attendance) only have a 5% chance of achieving 5 GCSEs at grade 4 or above including English and maths. 
• Pupils that are persistently absent (below 90% attendance) still only have a 36% chance of getting 5 GCSEs at grade 4 or above including English and maths. 
• Whereas pupils who are rarely absent (above 95%) have a 78% chance of 5 GCSEs at grade 4 or above including English and maths. 

Punctuality

It is also important to note that being late to school in the morning (after 9.15am) must legally be recorded as a session of unauthorised absence. Therefore, if your child is regularly late, we will be contacting you for a parent meeting to look at how we can improve punctuality. Ten lates within a rolling 10-week period could therefore mean a Penalty Notice.

 

Making a Difference

As the nights draw in and the weather becomes gloomier, it can be tempting for pupils with a slight cold to take time off. Of course, if they are too unwell to attend then they should remain at home. However, you may find that, with some paracetamol and plenty of water, your child feels well enough to attend later in the day and we would encourage you to send them in if that is the case. Every lesson counts! If your child is too ill to come into school, there should be medical evidence to support this, you can send us a screenshot of the appointment or ask your GP receptionist to print you an appointment card. This will help when authorising absence.

I am sure that you will continue to support Nottingham Girls’ Academy in ensuring that your child attends school regularly. If you have any questions or need any support regarding attendance, please do not hesitate to contact the pastoral team or Mrs J Steeples, we are happy to help.

Kind regards,

Mrs Turner-Ramadan

Assistant Principal Behaviour & Attitudes

Nottingham Girls’ Academy                                                                                      

11 October 2024

Dear Parents, Carers and Friends of the Nottingham Girls’ Academy

Re: Admissions Proposals for September 2026/27

Every school in the country must review its admissions arrangements on an annual basis. Further, admission authorities are required to consult at least once every seven years, even if there have been no changes during that period.  As the Nottingham Girls’ Academy last consulted for 2019/20, we must therefore consult for the 2026/27 academic year.

In accordance with the Schools Admissions Code, we are required to seek the views of those within our local community about the proposals. We are beginning a six-week consultation period on Monday 14 October 2024 which will run until Monday 9 December 2024.

You can view our proposed new admissions policy on the Admissions page of the Academy website
at www.nottinghamgirlsacademy.org or on the Schools Admissions page of the Nottingham City
Council website at www.nottingham.gov.uk.

If you have any comments to make on this proposal, please contact Mrs M Brown, PA to the Principal, either via email (mbrown@nottinghamgirlsacademy.org) or by post to the above address.

Please mark your emails or letters with ‘Admissions Consultation’.

Your comments should arrive by Monday 9 December 2024.

Yours faithfully

Mr D Tungate

Executive Principal

11 October 2024

Dear parents and carers,

Re: Term Time Leave

We have received a number of leave of absence requests for holidays. I must remind parents and carers that family holidays should not be taken during term time, and it is highly likely that any requests to take your children out of school will not be authorised. We have 13 weeks of well publicised holiday during the year that should be sufficient.

I wrote to you in July and September to inform you of the new changes to the national threshold for Penalty Notices, these changes are now in effect. As a reminder:

Requests for leave of absence must be made directly to the principal. The form to make a request can be found on the NGA website here. The principal will then determine the response to the request, but please note that authorisation for term time leave will only be given in exceptional circumstances. In particular, we will not authorise requests for holidays during term time. It is very likely that we will request that a Penalty Notice is issued if holidays or other unauthorised leave of absence is taken. Taking your child out of school for a length of time is detrimental to their educational attainment and progress. Long absences could put their school place at risk.

It is also important to understand that the recent changes mean that there is an escalation to Penalty Notices depending on how frequently you have taken your child out of school for unauthorised term time leave:

Please note the impact that having time out of school can have on your child’s attainment:

• Pupils that have severe absence (below 50% attendance) only have a 5% chance of achieving 5 GCSEs at grade 4 or above including English and maths. 
• Pupils that are persistently absent (below 90% attendance) still only have a 36% chance of getting 5 GCSEs at grade 4 or above including English and maths. 
• Whereas pupils who are rarely absent (above 95%) have a 78% chance of 5 GCSEs at grade 4 or above including English and maths. 

I am sure that you will continue to support Nottingham Girls’ Academy in ensuring that your child continues to attend school regularly. If you have any questions or need any support regarding attendance, please do not hesitate to contact the pastoral team or Mrs J Steeples, we are happy to help.

Kind regards,

Mrs Turner-Ramadan

Assistant Principal Behaviour & Attitudes

Nottingham Girls’ Academy                                                    

10 October 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

Spanish Revision Materials

With the Year 10 summative assessments coming up in November, students have enquired about purchasing revision resources for their course. If ordered through the school, we can purchase the resources at a discounted price.

On Parent Pay, you will now see the following items:

• Year 10 Pearson Edexcel Revision Workbook - £3.50 (RRP £6.99)
  Pearson Revise Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Spanish Revision Guide: Amazon.co.uk: Halksworth, Vivien: 9781292739687: Books
• Year 10 Pearson Edexcel Revision Guide - £3.50 (RRP £6.99)
  Pearson Revise Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Spanish Revision Workbook: Amazon.co.uk: Halksworth, Vivien: 9781292739748: Books

These books are designed to compliment each other. In the revision guide, there is a page spread of the content and there is a corresponding page in the workbook to practice.

If you wish to purchase either of these resources, please do so by Friday 1 November. Purchases on Parent Pay will close after this date, and you will need to purchase them via the Pearson/Amazon website at normal price.

If you have purchased items already, please ensure that they are for the Edexcel course and for the 2026 exams. If you have any questions about which resources would best support your child, please do not hesitate to contact me: abishop@nottinghamgirlsacademy.org

Many thanks,

Mrs A Bishop

Acting Head of Modern Foreign Languages                                                                      

30 September 2024 

Dear Parent/Carer 

Re: NGA Way Personal Development Programme 

I am writing to share with you an overview of your child’s personal development journey whilst they are studying with us at Nottingham Girls’ Academy.  

We are proud of our commitment to offer all our pupils the support they need to become positive contributors to their communities. Our Personal Development Programme encourages, enables, and inspires our pupils to be happy, healthy, safe, and confident young people. Through their engagement with our Personal Development Programme, our pupils will contribute to the world we live in now and in the future as employable, active, and responsible citizens.   

Relationships, Health and Wellbeing 

During the 5-year programme we teach young people to stay safe in society and online. They learn how to enjoy positive relationships and how to make informed decisions. We equip pupils to adopt healthy behaviours and strategies using positive communication, problem-solving abilities whilst developing healthy coping skills, resilience, and recognising emotions and how to manage them. This is delivered through during a weekly lesson during tutor time, a drop-down day and through assemblies. These sessions cover a variety of topics such as healthy food choices, physical activity, balanced lifestyles, drugs and alcohol education, first aid, sleep and dental health. 

Careers and Employability 

Careers and employability are delivered throughout your child’s time at NGA. Every child receives personal careers guidance to support them to make informed decisions about their future and enhance social mobility. Our careers and employability programme fully incorporates the Gatsby Benchmarks, this has led us to achieve the gold standard careers mark. Pupils learn about the current labour market and our taught curriculum is linked to careers through BEE moments. We ensure all pupils have meaningful encounters with further and higher education, employers and employees, and are offered the opportunity to take part in work experience in both Year 10 and Year 12. 

Enhancing the Curriculum and Extra-Curricular Opportunities 

We aim to enhance the taught curriculum through events such as practicals, workshops, visits and external visitors.  

We also aim to offer a wide variety of extra-curricular opportunities to harness your child’s interests such as attending science fairs, taking part in our annual school show, the opportunity to participate in instrumental lessons, alongside a wide variety of clubs available to all pupils during social times and after school; chess, flag football, dance, choir, reading, equality group and gardening club to name just a selection. 

NGA PD Passport 

This year, we are also proud to introduce the NGA PD Passport. Our aim is to provide pupils in each year group with the opportunity to attend one passport trip that academic year. 

This year we have planned the following Passport trips: 

Year 7: Walesby; Year 8: Cadburys World; Year 9: Matlock; Year 10: Sherwood Pines; Year 11: Theatre Experience; Sixth Form: University Visit 

Equality and Diversity 

We want to nurture a positive school culture through respect, understanding, and acceptance, fostering a sense of community where everybody feels valued and appreciated. We have many cultural celebrations throughout the year such as Lunar New Year, Eid, Black History Month and our annual Nations Day held in the summer term. During the celebrations we have guest speakers, we provide food representative of the culture we are celebrating, we encourage pupils to wear cultural dress, and provide information about the different cultures is presented in assembles, through performances and in lessons. We truly enjoy celebrating our diverse community.  

Citizenship & Fundamental British Values 

Citizenship fundamentals are delivered throughout all aspects of school life and are developed through our BUILD qualities. We aim to create an awareness and understanding of democracy, government and how laws are made and upheld. We want to enable our pupils to play a full part in democratic society, as active and informed citizens. There are weekly Citizenship lessons taught in tutor time as well as assemblies. We use a democratic process to elect our pupil parliament – the structure of which mirrors the structure of the UK government. We also appoint additional leadership roles such as our tutor representatives and prefects. We hope to offer some members of our pupil parliament and student leadership the opportunity to take part in an educational visit to Parliament. 

 

 

The NGA Way for Personal Development 

Below is our NGA Way Personal Development which is an overview of all aspects of our Personal Development program. 

 

We hope you take the time at home to discuss your child’s Personal Development experience at NGA, if you have any queries, please contact me through our administration team admin@nottinghamgirlsacademy.org 

Yours faithfully   

Mrs M Heron   

Assistant Principal