Newsletter - Monday 18 August 2008
We are now just three weeks away from our opening day for students – Monday 8th September.
Our temporary accommodation is now complete and this afternoon the Lambeth Director of Services for Young People, Phyllis Dunipace and Councillor Paul McGlone officially handed over the keys to me. We are very pleased with the quality and appearance of our new accommodation. All our visitors have been impressed and the first comment is always that it doesn’t feel temporary at all.
Since the beginning of last week all the new furniture has been arriving and we are putting the finishing touches to the internal and external furniture and fittings.
New pictures of our completed temporary accommodation will appear on the web-site in the next few days.
Parents and carers
We have recently written to all parents and carers with a child starting at Evelyn Grace Academy this September. The letter contained details of the important meetings taking place this week. Every parent and carer will have the opportunity to meet the headteacher of their child’s small school, purchase the new school uniform, sign the home-academy contract and have a short tour of the new accommodation.
The home-academy contract has now been published on our website under information for parents.
Staffing
Since the last newsletter we have held a second very successful weekend planning conference for our new team of middle and senior leaders. We have also completed the appointments of support staff and are very pleased to have recruited new support staff who are as committed as the teachers to our high expectations of success for every student.
All new staff will be in school from 2nd September to make sure that we have everything in place for an excellent start when the students arrive at 8.30am on 8th September.
Opening a new academy
It is a great responsibility but also a great honour to have the opportunity to start a new academy from scratch. During these last three weeks of preparation our focus will very much be on the detail. I am determined to ensure that when our new students arrive on Monday 8th September we are ready to begin as we mean to continue by providing an outstanding education for every boy and girl from day one.
I will be publishing more regular newsletters over the next few months and we will be making changes to our website to coincide with the academy’s opening in September.
Peter Walker
