NewsletterEnd of 2022/23 Parent Newsletter

Dear families,

As we enter the final weeks of the summer term, this provides a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the exciting year we’ve had here at Kirk Hallam.

Throughout the year, we have celebrated our 50th anniversary. This milestone means a great deal to us as a community and it has been so rewarding to reconnect with our past. We’ve undertaken a number of events during the academic year to mark the occasion and learn about our school’s journey. We’ve experienced school life as it would have been in 1973, even the school dinners. We’ve welcomed staff and former students from six decades back to our school and learned about how life has changed. Our exhibition at Erewash museum provided a wonderful opportunity to showcase photographs and memorabilia to a wider public audience. Our 50th anniversary drone photo of our students now sits pride of place on the main stairwell and our time capsule is ready to be buried for future generations to find in the future.

More than anything, our anniversary year has taught us how much Kirk Hallam means to its local community and the important role it has for its future. As plans begin to take shape for our new build project, our eyes begin to turn to how the school can provide for the local community for many years to come.

The summer term has been as busy as ever, with year 11 and 13 students undertaking their formal examinations. The students have worked tirelessly with staff and have truly given everything they can. Their hard work and dedication has been impressive throughout and we look forward to celebrating their results with them in August.

As I write this, year 10 students are undertaking work experience. This provides a valuable opportunity for all our young people to experience the world of work, develop their skills and step outside their comfort zone. Staff are looking forward to seeing as many students in the workplace as possible and hearing all about their adventures on their return.

In September, we are looking forward to welcoming our new year 7 cohort to the school, along with a number of new teachers and support staff. Many year 11 students have chosen to continue their educational journey with us and will be studying in our sixth form next year. They will be joined by an increased number of external students as our post 16 provision continues to grow.

Please look out for my end of term letter, which will outline arrangements for the final day of term and students’ return in September.

Chris Turner

Headteacher

Year 13

The summer term is always an exciting time for staff and students in the 6th Form as Year 13 students undertake their final exams, and we have the pleasure of wishing our students well as they finally leave us, many who have been at Kirk Hallam for the last 7 years.  As we come to the end of the summer term the focus moves to year 12 in preparation for their mock exams, work experience and electing our new student union members. We also welcome our new year 12s for the next academic year through our year 12 induction day that will take place during work experience week.

 

Year 11

The exam season is now over and our year 11 students conducted themselves impeccably.  We are hopeful that this positive atmosphere will lead to great things on results day on Thursday 24th August. 

We said goodbye to our Year 11 students last week. Students were able to sign shirts, eat an ice cream and collect their leavers hoodies. We are looking forward to Prom on Thursday 6th July at Morley Hayes as a further opportunity to celebrate their time at Kirk Hallam as well as wishing them well in the future.

 

Year 10 

We now turn our attention to Year 10 as they become de-facto Year 11s! We launched this with a very clear assembly and a recent parents evening. Year 10 students have had a mock exam period and we have worked with students on how to revise, prepare for their exams and look after their mental health and wellbeing.  

 

During 2023 we have been celebrating our 50th anniversary and recognising the amazing journey the school has been on over the last half a century. With average year groups ranging from anything from 100 to 250 children, many thousands of students would have graduated from Kirk Hallam over the last 5 decades.

As part of our celebrations we have reconnected with our history, reached out into the local community and reflected upon how the school has developed and changed over the years.

 

Installation of Jubilee Flagpole

Our 50th anniversary started with the installation of a flagpole at the front of school, so that students, staff and users of the facilities outside of school times walk or drive past daily.

The flagpole provides a focal point and allows us to celebrate key events within our community and in the national calendar. Throughout the 2022-23 academic year, we will be flying the flag with our 50th Golden Jubilee logo displayed proudly.

A day in the life of Kirk Hallam in 1973

Staff and students at Kirk Hallam Community Academy went back in time as they celebrated their Golden Jubilee.

The day began with assemblies by ‘Headmaster Turner’ where students learned more about how much life has changed over the 50 years that Kirk Hallam has served its community, since the opening of the school in 1973. Students considered how local industry has changed and the evolution of the built environment, looking at aerial photographs from the decades before. We explored how our own school site has changed and developed with the addition of the Atrium, the car park, the Sports Hall and the Lakeside building.

In art lessons, collaborative artwork was produced to create a large display piece. Geography focused on the changing face of Europe in the 1970s and in ICT, students learned about 1970s computers. At lunchtime there was a traditional school canteen offer of chicken stew with dumplings and a sausage dinner with cornflake tart and custard.

Mr Turner, Headteacher, said ‘part of our 50th anniversary is about reconnecting with our history and the local community and it has been great to see students engaging with our past today. Many of our students parents and grandparents may have attended Kirk Hallam over the last five decades, and enabling our current students to understand how school would have been back in 1973 has been a wonderful experience.’

The finest fashions of the 1970s were showcased by staff including trendy flares and printed shirts, sports kit, office wear and disco outfits.

Drone technology

As part of our 50th Golden Jubilee, over 400 of our key stage 3 students have taken part in a large-scale aerial photo using the latest drone technology and a HD camera to mark this special anniversary. The children and staff came together to mark out the number 50 on the school field with the drone camera capturing some incredible in-flight images.

Students enjoyed participating in this unique experience with many speaking individually to the photographer about the process of capturing the image and the technology that was used.

KHCA intends to use this image and others collected throughout the year to celebrate the occasion in school.

We are sure you will agree the final result looks stunning and this image will provide a lasting memory for many years to come.

Alumni event

In early May, the senior team at Kirk Hallam Community Academy held a buffet tea for former staff and alumni to celebrate their continued relationship with the school community and thank them for their service over the years.

"[We] enjoyed it enormously and it was so lovely reminiscing and seeing some old faces again." - Mrs Mason, ex-student of 1973

Chris Turner, Headteacher, said ‘we were delighted to welcome former staff and students to the academy, some of whom had taught or studied at the school when it opened in 1973.

Over the course of this academic year we have thought deeply about our place within the community, the history of the organisation and our core purpose as a school. It was wonderful to reconnect and meet with so many people who are just as passionate as us about the school’s rich history. We also had the opportunity to share news about our exciting future as we begin to plan for the new build project. It was lovely to hear so many personal stories from staff and students about their memories of how the school has developed and changed over the years. Students asked a series of questions of our visitors and it was intriguing to hear the opinions of such a diverse group of people, all of whom were so passionate about their time at Kirk Hallam.’

School exhibition at Erewash Museum

On Friday 30th June 2023 a reception was held at Erewash Museum to conclude the events that have been held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Kirk Hallam Community Academy. The reception also launched the schools’ summer exhibition housed at the Museum, where the local community can visit to see memorabilia and images celebrating the rich history of the school.

Local dignitaries including Maggie Throup MP for Erewash and Mayor, Councillor Frank Phillips attended and enjoyed browsing through artefacts including handwritten admissions registers, flyers for events held in the Community Lounge, and various trophies and medals accumulated throughout the last fifty years.

The very first headteacher of ‘Kirk Hallam Community School’ (as it was, in 1973!) Mr Peter Worrall was in attendance, and commented that all attendees had a ‘rewardingly cheerful evening’. We were pleased to also host Mr Shaw, Headteacher from 1984 - 2005, and associates from Big Kirk Hallam and the KHCA Governing Body.

The exhibition was arranged by decade, starting with the architect’s drawings from before the school was built, up until the present day. Mr Worrall was particularly delighted by the exhibits from the 1970’s as ‘by chance I flipped open a staff intro for September 1974 – starting with a letter from me!’

We encourage the local community, parents and carers to visit Erewash Museum over the summer holidays as they have an exciting programme of summer events planned, and, whilst there, enjoy our exhibition which will be in place until September.

We have been incredibly pleased to see how our students have risen to the challenge that we have set them with regards to our push on attendance, punctuality, and standards of uniform. Seeing students taking pride in their appearance and taking responsibility for their prompt arrival to school and lessons has been excellent. Thank you also to parents and carers for your overwhelming support and we continue to drive up the standards and expectations of our academy.

This half term we are partnered with Human Utopia to provide workshops designed to empower students to develop critical life skills and take motivation and ownership of their education.

The workshops encouraged students to reflect on their life chances and choices, encouraging them to have high hopes and aspirations for the future.

Students found the time with Human Utopia to be positive and memorable, helping them grow in confidence, realise their potential and reflect on and modify their behaviours.

We look forward to using some of the techniques and language learned from Human Utopia here in school to positively impact relationships with all here at the academy.

Recently we asked Year 7 students for their experiences this  year, to  help new year 6's who are starting with us in September. Here are some of the lovely things they had to say:

Maria 

"The things that I love at Kirk Hallam are that the teachers are very friendly and the new friends I made at the start of the year."

Thomas 

"At Kirk Hallam Academy, it's welcoming. The staff are always there for you."

Molly 

"My favourite thing about Kirk Hallam Academy are the teachers as I built a great relationship with them in only a few months."

Phoenix 

"Many things are great here at Kirk Hallam Community Academy. For example, the food, the teachers, the positive attitude. Best of them all is the fact that teachers won't give up trying to teach you. Every single teacher has a positive, can-do attitude."

 

Summer Concert

Time Capsule 

Our next event in our 50th anniversary celebration is the burying of a time capsule. This takes place in July and staff and students have been busy generating ideas for what it should contain. We hope that many years from now, students and staff will unearth this time capsule and see what life was like in 2023. With the plans for our new build taking shape, the time capsule will need to be carefully buried!

Jubilee Library Quiz 

Year 9 Bletchley Park Trip

A selection of Year 9 students will be going to Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes, once the top-secret home of the World War Two Codebreakers, on Friday 21st July.

 

Big Kirk Hallam Summer Fair - Saturday 15th July 

 

Sports Day 

This year marks our 40th annual sports day on Thursday 20th July. We very much enjoy this friendly competition and we still track our school bests - some parents, carers and ex-students might very well be in the programme with their previous records!