Headteacher’s Message

As another academic year draws to a close once again as staff we question just where the time went. It seems a very short period of time since our new Year 7s arrived, shortly to be replaced by our even newer Year 7s. Our new Year 11s similarly have just been replaced by our newest Year 11 who still respond with surprise when we refer to them as such and our last Year 13s barely seem to us to have settled at university before we are now getting ready to ensure that our current Year 13 are supported with the final stages of their applications.

The year has been filled with trips, visits, guest speakers, sporting events and of course the school production with many similar plans for next year already in place. It is the way of schools to have a sense of momentum and to move quickly through each term, but this year has been punctuated sadly by times of silence and stillness as the school community has stopped to remember those who tragically lost their lives following the terrorist attacks that have taken place over the last few months.

Difficult for adults to process but even more challenging for our students who are still working out their place in the world and what a difference they might make once education is behind them. I have been very proud of the student body response. The need to observe the seemingly regular silences, the searching questions asked to which often there are not any answers, but most of all to the collective response from students that we are a community who ultimately need to look out for one another.

Our student body cares, really cares, and there have been many examples throughout the year: simple acts of kindness on a daily basis in and around school, the involvement in local community issues and politics, the help offered to members of the local community who have become ill in the street, lost bus fares and had students pay for them, carrying shopping when it looked too heavy, charity fundraising events and students themselves contacting local charities to see what else they can do to help others.

Yes the world can be a terrible place but right here at Orchards we have the very best of humanity in the young men and women that we work with and so with another year's hard work at an end I would like on behalf of the staff, students, governing body and our business partners to wish you all a safe and relaxing break before welcoming you again at the start of September rested and ready for another year.

Natalie Willbourn Headteacher

We took a combined Year 7 and 8 football team to Northfleet Technology

College, where we were playing for the chance to win a trophy. After going

2-0 up and looking comfortable, the opposition came back to lead the

game 3-2, then 3-3, then we were 4-3 down.

Thanks to 4 goals from our summer signing from Real Madrid, Kakra (Year

8) the final score finished 6-4 to Orchards!!!

Well done to all

On Tuesday 25th April, The Free Vocals made their debut

performance at Orchards Academy.

Made up of students from years 7 to 11, they performed a selection of

songs by artists such as Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and Jess Glynn.

We were very fortunate to have Claire and Mark from Singology come and

run a series of workshops with the students over six weeks, and we are

looking forward to continuing our choir for the rest of the year.

COLLECTION OF GCSE EXAM RESULTS - SUMMER 2017

THE SUMMER 2017 EXAM RESULTS CAN BE COLLECTED FROM THE

AUDITORIUM AT ORCHARDS ACADEMY ON THURSDAY 24th AUGUST

2017

BETWEEN 10.00 AM UNTIL 12.00 NOON

ALTERNATIVELY, YOU MAY HAND A STAMPED ADDRESSED ENVELOPE TO THE

EXAMS OFFICE BEFORE THE END OF THE SUMMER TERM FOR YOUR RESULTS TO

BE POSTED HOME

STUDENTS RETURNING TO ORCHARDS ACADEMY IN SEPTEMBER 2017

IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO COLLECT YOUR RESULTS, THEY WILL BE MADE

AVAILABLE TO YOU AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR

ANY QUERIES REGARDING THE ABOVE PLEASE CONTACT THE EXAMS OFFICE

ON 01322 616128

Year 7 100% Attendance for the whole year

Sophie Frew Elm

Timothy Coulson Maple

Grace Martin Maple

Tobi Abdulsalam Maple

Jack Furniss Oak

Leyla Asaf Pine

Micha Gordon Pine

Libby Coe Willow

Hanna Kitazawa Willow

Megan Kelleher Willow

Katie Robinson Willow

Science Visit to Canterbury Christ Church University

Fifteen year 9 students became Forensic Investigators for the day, investigating the case of a murder in the kitchen. The students identified the victim and then visited the scene of the crime.

At the crime scene they found blood splatters on the window blind, finger prints on the drinks bottles and a suspected murder weapon in the bin. Further analysis of blood on clothing, enabled them to eliminate some of the suspects.

They learnt that even if you clean up a crime scene you still leave behind traces of blood that can be seen using LUMINOL. The rolling pin was confirmed as the murder weapon and the cleaned bin lid showed up blood stains with the Luminol.

They also examined the fingerprints left at the crime scene.

From all the evidence they identified the murderer.

Thank you to Mr White for driving us and sharing his experiences of life on campus at university and thank you to all students who took part in the day, they were outstanding and real ambassadors for Orchards Academy.

Mrs Miezis

Year 10 100% Attendance for the whole year

Mohammad Altaha 10TCA

Neola Charlemagne 10AFR

Archie Chenery 10AFR

Libby Fox 10AFR

Millie Twyford 10FJA

Ben McCullough 10RKI

Sophie Bates 10TCA

Klaudia Burzynska 10TCA

Daniel Ogunniyi 10TCA

Governors Lunch On Friday 7th July the Year 9 Hospitality and Catering students put on a buffet lunch for the Governors to thank them for all their hard work this year. With senior leaders of the school also attending, this meant the students catered for over 15 people. The pupils researched suitable dishes and did all the planning, organising and making themselves. They chose a variety of challenging and complex dishes to make

including cheese and pesto bread swirls, mini caramelised scotch eggs, chocolate profiteroles and cannoli. The pupils worked extremely hard for a number of weeks in the run-up to the event, and on the day itself spent many hours working in the kitchen on one of the hottest days so far this year. They demonstrated excellent teamwork, dedication and hard work and wowed their guests with their high quality food and superb customer service skills. Rightly so, the pupils were exceedingly proud of what they achieved and on Monday morning were asking when they could do it again! Ms Jakes

Charlie Metcalfe, year 9, undertook a charity walk in March to raise money for The Royal Marsden Hospital. Charlie walked an amazing 14 miles in 5 hours and 45 minutes and raised an incredible £110!!! Well Done!!!

A group of students, all part of the Orchards Academy debating club, attended a school trip to the Houses of Parliament. They enjoyed a fascinating and detailed tour of Parliament where they saw first-hand where our laws are debated and written into legislation. We also made time for a whistlestop tour of some of the main attractions of London: Big Ben, Downing Street and Buckingham Palace.

Overall, the students had a fun and educational day out! Mr Starr

Year 8 100% Attendance for the whole year

Hannah Bartlett 8DWH Harry Charles 8GBY

Matthew Bartlett 8DWH Alex Atere-Roberts 8NNA

Daisy Cross 8DWH Angela Garcia 8NNA

Samuel Jackson 8DWH Kakra Koranteng 8NNA

Jack Squires 8DWH Panin Koranteng 8NNA

Emma Weale 8DWH Breeze Morris-Zammit 8NNA

Harry Bell 8HRO Jake Kelly 8HRO

Harvey Day 8HRO

We entered some of our Year 7 and 8 students for the Junior Maths Challenge which is aimed at pupils in Year 8 or below in England and Wales.

The UKMT Individual Maths Challenges are lively, intriguing multiple choice question papers, which are designed to stimulate interest in maths in large numbers of pupils. The challenge involves answering 25 multiple choice questions in one hour and is sat in school under normal exam conditions.

All really enjoyed taking part!

Mr Bani

Sports Day at Orchards Academy took place on

Friday 7th July. The events were designed to

enable all students to be physically active and

represent their form class. The morning

session involved year 7 and 8 with years 9 and

10 competing after break.

Each form group elected a male and female

sports captain and with support organised a team for rounders, tennis, athletics and the

popular Tug of War. In what turned out be a closely contested competition in the results

for year 7 and 8 are as follows;

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Position From Group Points

1 Elm 42

2 Maple 36

3 Oak 32

4 Pine 30

5 Willow 25

Position From Group Points

1 Pine 46

2 Birch 43

3 Elm 39

4 Willow 33

5 Maple 29

6 Oak 24

Position From Group Points

1 MHA 43

2 BS 31

3 JA 30

4 WA 13

Position From Group Points

1 Jakes 35

2 Clarke 32

3 Killick 26

4 Freeman 18

Orchards Academy warmly invites parents and students transferring

to secondary school in September 2018 to visit us for one of

OPEN MORNINGS

SATURDAY 23rd SEPTEMBER 2017 from 9.30am- 12.30pm

- Headteacher’s speech at 9.45am and 11.45am

THURSDAY 28th SEPTEMBER 2017 from 8.30am-10am

(by appointment only)

THURSDAY 5th OCTOBER 2017 from 8.30am – 10am

(by appointment only)

TUESDAY 10th OCTOBER 2017 from 8.30am – 10am

(by appointment only)

St.Marys Road, Swanley, Kent BR8 7TE 01322 665231

www.orchards-tkat.org

Year 10 Art Trip to Saatchi Gallery

Year 10 gifted and talented Art students visited the Saatchi Gallery in London to

view the exhibition ‘From Selfie to Self-Expression’, celebrating the creative potential of the selfie.

The exhibition allowed pupils to investigate the debate around the cultural position of the selfie and its place in our contemporary visual landscape, i.e. –

can selfies be considered art?

Pupils enjoyed interacting with a variety of different exhibits that included work

displayed on interactive smartphones which they could ‘like’, as you would on Instagram.

The work produced by these pupils will be discussed in extracurricular sessions, where they will create their own work investigating their sense of self.

Miss Weedon

Year 7 Basketball

The Year 7 Basketball team took part in the district

competition on Monday 26th June, playing in their first

tournament the boys did well but did not manage to

reach the semi-final stage. Both group games ended in

defeat to an excellent NTC and a narrow loss to

Wilmington. Well done to the boys who represented

the school at the tournament.

TKAT Games

The TKAT games took place on Monday 19th June at the Allinaz Stadium in north west London on an exceptionally hot day. The students performed well throughout and many qualified for their respective finals. The following students managed to place in the top three and were presented with a medal. The day was a great success and brought together all the TKAT schools across the region. Kakra Korenteng 1st place 200M Ellis Jerman 2nd place 200M Alex Atere Roberts 2nd place 100M Alfie Wall 2nd place Javelin Harry Thorne 2nd place High Jump Harvey Horton 3rd place Long Jump Megan Heath 3rd place Long Jump Mojere Adeymo 3rd place Shot Putt Year 10 Boys 4 X 100m relay 3rd place

Year 9 100% Attendance for the whole year

Nicole Garcia 9MHA

Courtney Russell 9MHA

Rebecca Cove 9RWI

Robin Gray 9RWI

Justin Sirike 9RWI

Jack Youens 9RWI

Year 7 Athletics Team

The year 7 Athletics team took part in the Dartford School Games on Thursday 25th May, there were some good performances from both the boys and girls. Archie Emin in the shot putt and Leon Buckley in the 800m both coming 4th and Fern Partington who also came 4th in the 800m.

Retirement News The best of wishes go to Mrs Chase who retires at the end of this term after 39

years teaching here at Orchards! This incredible length of service is unprecedented and on behalf of the students, staff and Governors I would like to wish her a long and happy retirement and to thank her for all she done for the school and the generations of Swanley residents that she has taught and supported over the years.

Polite Reminder: Drop Offs and Picks Ups from School

As we break for the summer holidays just a reminder that the school gates and the area in front of it should not be used for dropping off, picking up or turning please. Not only does it cause considerable delay but also those gates provide the main route on site for the emergency services should they be needed. Any delay in them gaining access could literally have life threatening implications; the gates must be kept clear at all times. There are plenty of bays in St Mary's Road and car parking in and around the town centre. Thank you for your co-operation.

Important Message from Attendance

Since becoming an Academy we have continued to improve not only our

students' attainment but also attendance. We believe that our students

continually succeed due to their hard work, determination, and regular

attendance.

As a school we pride ourselves on challenging and supporting our students with

their academic development, but we also ask all our parents to help support us

with this objective by ensuring that their child attends on a regular basis. Missed

lessons will have an impact on a student’s academic progress, and could result in

an individual not reaching their full potential. Therefore we actively support all

government legislation in regards to term time holidays, unauthorised absences,

and irregular attendance.

With repeated unauthorised absences we will refer each case to Kent County

Council for either a fixed penalty notice or a referral to the school liaison officer.

If a fixed penalty notice is requested the fine is £60 per parent per child, rising

to £120 per parent per child if the fine is not paid within 21 days. If a referral is

made to the school liaison officer and attendance does not improve you could be

taken to magistrate’s court for non-attendance where you could receive the

maximum penalty of imprisonment.

We are also introducing a late report for students who are repeatedly late for

school. Each student will be monitored on this report for a 2 week period and if

their punctuality does not improve we will extend the report for a further 2

weeks to support their inability to arrive on time. If a child is late while on this

report the sanctions for lateness will be an after school detention. Parents will

be notified on each occasion that a detention is issued. If your child is going to

be late due to a medical appointment please notify the school so that detentions

are not issued unjustly.

If you have any questions in regards to your child’s attendance please contact

the Attendance officer, or alternatively you can view the schools attendance

policy on our website.

Mr A Lazenby

Deputy Head

The Orchards Academy Duke of Edinburgh group completed the first stage of their practice expedition on Tuesday 23rd May.

The group had to self-navigate a route around the Ide Hill area. Despite having to reroute slightly the group did were successful and managed to complete the 5 mile route on schedule and in good time.

Mr Nicholson.

Year 9 had the opportunity for a Taster Day at Canterbury University. The trip was a real success, with students able to partake in a variety of activities led by the Student Recruitment Team at the university. Orchards Academy students thoroughly

enjoyed the day and came back to school buzzing with excitement over their experience. Their attitude and enthusiasm was of real credit to the school and I am very proud to have been given the chance to accompany them as their Head of Year. We look forward to offering more opportunities like this in the future. Mr Gregory

District Table Tennis

Well done to the Orchards students who took part in the District Table Tennis event held at Orchards Academy on Monday 22nd May. An Orchards team of 10 players, both boys and girls ranging from year 7 to year 10 took part. Each game was closely fought by the competing schools. Overall winners were St. Johns from Gravesend.

Well done to all the Orchards players who participated.

Dates for your Diary 2017/2018

Whole School Photos – Tuesday 12th September

Year 7 Meet and Greet evening- Tuesday 3rd October

5.00pm- 7.00pm

Year 11 Parent's Consultation evening -Wednesday 18th October 5.00pm - 7.00pm

Year 10 Parent's Consultation evening - Wednesday 6th December 5.00pm- 7.00pm

Year 9 Parent's Consultation evening- Wednesday 7th February 5.00pm- 7.00pm Year 8 Parent's Consultation evening- Wednesday 14th March 5.00pm- 7.00pm Year 11 Parent's Exam Consultation evening- Tuesday 27th March 5.00pm- 7.00pm Year 7 Parent's Consultation evening- Wednesday 20th June

5.00pm -7.00pm

Term Dates 2017 – 2018

There are five staff development days (Inset Days) throughout the course of the year

when students should not attend.

Start of Term 1 (Week 1) Monday 4th September 2017

End of Term 1 Friday 20th October 2017

Start of Term 2 (Week 2) Monday 30th October 2017

End of Term 2 Wednesday 20th December 2017

Start of Term 3 (Week 2) Thursday 4th January 2018

End of Term 3 Friday 9th February 2018

Start of Term 4 (Week 2) Monday 19th February 2018

End of Term 4 Thursday 29th March 2018

Start of Term 5 (Week 2) Monday 16th April 2018

End of Term 5 Friday 25th May 2018

Start of Term 6 (Week) Monday 4th June 2018

End of Term 6 Tuesday 24th July 2018

Bank Holidays 2017-18

Inset Days 2017-18

Monday 25th December 2017 Monday 4th September 2017

Tuesday 26th December 2017 Monday 6th November 2017

Monday 1st January 2018 Monday 19th February 2018

Friday 30th March 2018 Monday 23rd July 2018

Monday 2nd April 2018 Tuesday 24th July 2018

Monday 7th May 2018

Monday 28th May 2018

Monday 27th August 2018

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