Issue 11 / Spring term 2018

We are now two thirds of the way through the academic year, and it is turning out to be an exciting year for Nova Hreod

Academy. I recently met a group of parents, and we reflected together on what makes Nova a great school. Parents also shared

with me their ideas about the areas we might improve and develop. I would like to thank everyone who gave up an evening to

meet with me.

This newsletter is a real testament to the hard work and dedication shown by Nova students this term, including a very

successful performance of Sister Act, the fantastic Nova’s Got Talent, and a whole range of achievements and successes both in

school and outside. We were also honoured with a visit from Olympic medallist Shelley Rudman as seen on the front page.

I have spent a lot of time this term talking with senior and middle leaders about the future of Nova Hreod Academy, and the

direction we should take. I have also undertaken a consultation with the whole staff. What is clear is that all of our staff are in

strong agreement that we must continue to nurture a climate of high expectations. Staff wish Nova to be known as a school

where pupils are smart, polite and hardworking. In addition, staff feel that our exemplary behaviour in lessons makes it possible

for all pupils to make the most of their learning, to study and to maximize their potential. Therefore it is important that we keep

Binary Behaviour.

There are a number of areas that we have agreed to develop at Nova:

Pupil Progress and Achievement

Whilst there has been a pleasing improvement in headline

examination results at Nova, achievement is not yet as good

as it should be. Our pupils are hardworking and intelligent,

but I am disappointed with the GCSE progress scores for Nova

in 2017 and 2018. Myself and Mrs Stokes (Secondary Head

Teacher at Swindon Academy) are working closely with Nova’s

Senior Leadership Team and staff to ensure that our pupils are

supported and challenged to achieve their potential in the

forthcoming GCSE examinations. We want every pupil to leave

Nova and go on to study at Sixth Form or to take up training

and apprenticeships with a strong set of GCSE qualifications.

The Key Stage 3 Curriculum

All staff at Nova are agreed that the Key Stage 3 curriculum

should be broadened next year. This means that all pupils will

have a lesson of Art, Music, Drama and DT and two lessons of

PE each week; we believe that pupils are entitled to a broad

and balanced curriculum that provides opportunities to

develop creative and sporting excellence. We have already

appointed an additional teacher for Art and one for DT. In

addition, we have appointed two new PE teachers which

means that our extra-curricular programme and our sports

teams will increase in September 2018.

The Key Stage 4 Curriculum

We have broadened the Key Stage 4 curriculum and included

a number of new subjects that pupils can opt to study in Year

10, including Health and Social Care, Product Design,

Photography and Business Studies. Our teachers are excited

about being able to offer these new courses, and Year 9

pupils are looking forward to having their option choices

confirmed.

The School Day

In order to be able to offer the additional subjects outlined

above, we will be making a change to the school day at Nova.

There will be a Parents’ Information Evening after Easter – I

will inform parents once the date for this event has been

agreed. Parents are welcome to attend this meeting to hear

the details of the proposed changes.

The Pastoral System

We are currently consulting with staff about re-introducing a

House System for Nova. This would mean that pupils belong

to a House, and are able to take part in a wide range of

events and competitions to represent their House. More

details of this will be shared at the Parents’ Information

Evening.

Extra-curricular opportunities

I am a great believer in the importance of extra-curricular

clubs, teams and activities. Having appointed two new PE

teachers, we will be able to offer a greater range of sports and

teams for pupils to get involved with. In addition, our new PE

teachers are both Duke of Edinburgh trained, so we will be

able to run a successful DofE programme at Nova.

I am currently working with United Learning and with our Governors to appoint a new Headteacher for Nova. The post will be

advertised in the near future, and we hope to make the appointment during May. I will keep parents informed of progress with

the appointment.

So, as we reach the end of another busy term, I would like to thank our parents for their continued support. I wish all of our

families a happy Easter – do enjoy the Easter break.

Ruth Robinson

Executive Principal

The school

c o u n c i l

have been

very busy

this term.

Not only did they

organise and run the

very successful Year

7/8 disco they also

helped out with the

box office at the Sister

Act show, expertly

serving drinks during

the interval.

They have been

involved in other

projects including the

recruitment of some

new teaching staff

who join us in

September. Members

of the school council

completed individual

c a n d i d a t e p ane l

interviews and gave

tours of the building to

the applicants.

Our new catering

company, Sodexo,

invited a group of

students from the

council to act as

“Agents for Change”,

representing their

peers in the redesign

of the Stellar Diner

and the catering offer.

The first step was for

students to discuss

how they would like

the Stellar Diner to

look, they were able to

share their views with

Sodexo designers

which are being

considered in the

redesign. The results

of their ideas were

then presented to the

students when they

were invited back to

give feedback on the

new menu ideas.

“The Agents for Change have been fantastic

ambassadors for the school and have really helped

us to find out what Nova students want, both in

terms of the design of their dining hall and the

meals that they have at school”

Sodexo

Year 10 welcomed a representative from The Harbour Project

Swindon. They led a conference about their work with

refugees in Swindon and shared the story of one individual

who had fled Kuwait for the safety of the UK.

Schools motivational speaker Cameron Parker held an

inspirational assembly and workshop with our Year 9

students to raise their aspirations and improve their

self-esteem.

Justin Tomlinson MP was invited into school to hear a

presentation from students about the 100 Million

Campaign. The campaign encourages students to talk

to their local MP about researching the issues and

discuss how we can all play a role in helping children

worldwide have access to safe and sustainable

education.

A group of Year 9 and 10 students sat a UKMT Maths

Challenge paper alongside many other students across the

UK. The challenge aims to stimulate mathematical

problem solving and is a rewarding experience to

challenge all abilities. The papers have been returned and

marked from the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust and

we are proud to share some very successful achievements.

Silver Certificates were awarded to: Ashley, Amy, Hope,

Izzy, Emily, Gemma and Isobel (all 10N1), and Jacob

(10N2). Receiving a Bronze Certificate were 10N1’s Jay,

Jake, Bea and Daniel.

Meanwhile in year 9, Ehren (9N1) scored exceptionally

well with a Silver Certificate and achieving ‘Best in Year’.

Alicja (9N5), Shannyn (9N1) and

Imogen (9N1) also achieved Bronze

Certificates.

The mathematics department

would like to congratulate every

student who took part in this yearly

national challenge.

We are delighted

that Ehren (9N1)

has been selected

to take part in

the next stage of

the UKMT

challenge.

Ehren's success

has put him in

the top 8000

students in the

UK. Good luck

and Well done

Ehren!

Congratulations

to Patrick

(10N1) who was

awarded the

only Gold

Certificate,

along with Best

in Year

Certificate.

Well done

Patrick!

Congratulations to the four Nova students who have reached the regional final of the UKMT Team Challenge.

Liam (9N1), Oliver (9N1) Hana (8N3) and Alexander (8N3) will be attending Royal Wootton Bassett Academy to work

together to compete for a place in the National Final in London later this academic year; we wish our team the very

best of luck!

Well done to our two teams of Year 7 students who both achieved between 98%-100% in the majority of weekly

challenges in the University of Southampton's National Cipher Challenge 2017 - The Mystery of the Lost Legion.

Students had to decipher large messages both by hand and using computer programmes to help them read messages

and solve problems.

Seven students have made a strong start in

the Swindon Maths League, with Ellie (7N3),

Denise (7N3) and Aayushi (7N5) on one team

and Ethan (7N6), Ruben (7N6), Finley (7N6)

and Kenneth (7N5) on the other. The boys’

team scored top marks in the main four

rounds with the girls team scoring very closely

behind.

Our two very competitive teams are

determined, enthusiastic and currently

preparing themselves for another successful

round at Ridgeway School next term.

Weeks of hard work really paid off as our performing arts students delivered

two fantastic performances this term. Well done to everyone for such a

fantastic display of talent.

Achievements

Year 9 students Sam (9N1)

and Liam (9N2) have reached

the final of a national app

competition after being

shortlisted to the final 10

teams out of over 400 entries.

Their idea, The Ultimate Guide

to School, was selected by a

team of judges and they had

to submit a video presentation

to get through the second

round.

The boys have worked hard on

their entry, creating posters

and doing market research to

help with the development of

the app. They have been

chosen to go through to the

final at IBM Headquarters in

London, where they will give a

presentation to a panel about

their design. The winning team

will see their app developed

and featured on the App Store.

Twitter users can follow the

c o m p e t i t i o n a t

#UnitedApp2018. We are very

excited about Sam and Liam’s

success and look forward to

hearing how they get on.

Congratulations to the winners of the Year 7 and 8 French vocabulary challenge.

Year 7, 8 and some of Year 9 came together to raise money for the British Heart Foundation in a sponsored

Skipathon.

A big thank you to everyone who helped raise an amazing £1,292, and a big shout out to Darcy-Jean (8N4) and

Jamie (9N4) who collected the most sponsorship.

Kerry (8N5) and Xander (8N3) wowed the staff and students with their amazing skipping skills.

Primary school transition programme

Our primary school transition programme has welcomed pupils

from our feeder primary schools to take part in workshops and

events at Nova. We believe that being introduced to secondary

school early helps students adjust to their new surroundings

and reduces any anxieties about moving up to Year 7.

We welcomed students from Moredon

Primary School and St. Francis CofE

School for the first of our primary school

science shows. It was an explosive

experience for the Year 5 pupils, who

were thrilled by a series of explosions and

smoke. Dr Clapp demonstrated the

sublimation of dry ice, exploded hydrogen

balloons, and explained how rockets are

propelled into space.

All the visiting pupils were a credit to their

schools and we are looking forward to the

next science show, our Maths Murder

Mystery and Spaghetti Structures

workshops next term.

Haydon Wick Primary School came along to a

storytelling event which encouraged pupils to

think about how we tell stories out loud to one

another. Mr Hetherington went first, telling us a

story about the time he got to play baseball

(badly) in America (everyone seemed to like the

idea of him being hit in the head with a baseball).

The Haydon Wick pupils then spent up to two

minutes telling a true story of their own, which

included some fantastic stories about rogue

shuttlecocks, slippery staircases, trips to Spain,

and Little Mix concerts.

Students from Haydon Wick Primary and Even

Swindon School joined us in the theatre for a

matinee dress rehearsal of Sister Act. The visiting

students were exceptionally well behaved and we

look forward to welcoming them back for our

next performance.

This term has welcomed the start

of the football season with all

year groups taking part this year.

Year 7 have played two games

with a 3-0 win against Abbey

Park and a 1-1 draw with RWBA.

Great performances so far from the boys. Year 8 have also

got off to a winning start with a 4-3 win over Dorcan

Academy after being 3-1 down.

Our Year 9 team won their first two games

with a hat-trick in the first match from Adam

(9N3), who went on to score two more in the

next match. An all round solid performance

from the team. Great start!

The Year 10 team have yet to play a fixture due to the bad

weather, and Year 11 have struggled so far this season,

losing 8-2 to Commonweal and 5-1 to RWBA. Their heads

haven’t dropped though and they keep fighting until the

final whistle. Hopefully they will do well in the cup

competition that they have coming up shortly. The boys in

all year groups have done excellent so far and hopefully as

the fixtures continue we will see more promising results and

maybe a league title or a good cup run.

Moving onto the girls who play 5 aside indoors. Both the

Year 7 and Year 8/9 teams lost their first games against

Abbey Park Academy, but our Year 10/11 girls team won

their first match with a great result 11-2. It’s still too early

in the season to call, but fingers crossed for more positive

results.

Congratulations to Bailey (9N2) who has been selected for Team England U15 Boys Ice Hockey team. Bailey will

be travelling to Slovakia at Easter and we wish him and the team all the very best.

Well done to Joshua (11EN2) for achieving a 1st degree black

belt in martial arts. Josh is also one of our CCF cadets and a

Year 11 Prefect.

GCSE & BTEC PE students were on hand to support two of United Learning’s head office team as they took part in #RideABC,

a gruelling 600 mile bike ride visiting 25 United Learning schools to raise money for Sport Relief and the United Learning

sports charity SITUPS. Olympic silver medallist Shelley Rudman came along to work with Year 7 and 8 pupils as they took part

in a Sport Relief Mile, raising a total of £126.84. More fundraising activities for Sport Relief will feature in the next newsletter.

Lewis (7N4)

reached the final

of the Wiltshire

ASA County

Championships

and achieved 7

brilliant personal

bests.

Well done Lewis!

(photo courtesy of DE photo)

A group of Year 7 and 8 students took part in the launch

of Swindon Stories, an initiative from the National

Literacy Trust that aims to encourage the whole town to

prioritise reading, writing and talking. The students

boarded a literacy bus where they enjoyed a performance

from musicians AJ and Ant from The Tribe who performed

a song that they had written about the importance of

literacy skills.

Year 10 History students visited a 19th century operating

theatre in London to support their studies about health

and medicine for their GCSE, and 100 students travelled

to the Tate Art Gallery where they were able to get ideas

for their practical submissions and learn more about art

and art history.

Many of our Year 9

students were lucky enough

to be able to take part in a

day of activities with the

Royal Air Force Youth

Engagement Team when

they joined forces with the

Engineering Development

Trust and visited Nova to

promote STEM careers with

a day of hands-on activities.

Students have had opportunities to find out more

about their post-16 choices with a selection of

visits to local colleges, universities and businesses

this term. Year 11 have visited Swindon College

and have had a tour of the Honda plant. A group

of Year 9 students visited the University of

Reading and the Royal Agricultural University.

Information about apprenticeships has also been

widely available, with visits from BMW,

Tithegrove and Green Labyrinth. A group of Year

10 girls attended a Women in Engineering event

at Wiltshire College. Ambassadors from a variety

of local and national engineering companies and

prestigious universities were on hand to talk to

students about the different types of employment

opportunities and the routes into engineering.

To mark National Careers Week and National

Apprenticeship Week, the whole of Key Stage 3

participated in a ‘Futures in Public Services’ event

which promoted careers in the Army, Navy, RAF,

teaching, and the police. As well as daily tutor

group activities, other activities throughout the

week included a trip to Swindon Jobfest for 50

Year 10 students and an apprenticeship assembly

and workshop hosted by the Gloucestershire and

Wiltshire Partnership and Tithegrove

Construction. Finally, all students in Year 10 were

given the opportunity to experience Mock

Interviews with employees from Sodexo, PGL and

Arval. We would like to take this opportunity to

thank everyone who has helped support our

careers education programme this term.

“The students’

performance was

fantastic. They did

themselves, the

school and their

family proud”

‘‘Very polite

students. It was a

pleasure to be part

of this experience”

“I met some really

lovely people who

were polite and

friendly”

“Amazing! I think

these students

have done a

superb job – they

have worked hard

and prepared

well. I can’t

believe some of

them are only 14!”

“ A very high

standard. I am

impressed with the

school and its

students”

“ I think this has

been invaluable for

the students but

also for us at

Arval. There is

some real talent

that we have seen

today. This worked

really well – so

nothing to

improve. An

excellent morning”

A full calendar of events and more information can be found at www.novahreodacademy.org.uk

April

Thursday 29th March last day of term

Monday 16th April INSET Day

Thursday 19th April Year 10 Parents’ Evening

May

Thursday 3rd May Year 8 Parents’ Evening

Friday 4th May Year 11 Leavers’ photo

Friday 25th May last day of term

This amateur production is presented by arrangement with MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL (Europe) Photo by Joan Marcus

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