Congratulations to our Year 11 students on their excellent GCSE results yesterday. It has been a particularly difficult time for them being denied the opportunity to take their exams this year and we are just so pleased that they have been able to secure the grades which their teachers predicted for them. They continue the upwards trend in our results due to the hard work and commitment they demonstrated throughout their time at Park Vale. 

So well done Class of 2020 and good luck with the next steps in your education. We hope to celebrate with many of you at the Prom! 

During the coronavirus pandemic, people have been pulling out all the stops to raise funds for NHS Charities Together.

Theo Carey is utilising his talents to raise much-needed funds and has produced and sold plants during the lockdown to raise money for the NHS.

Theo has asked for seed donations to support him in his endeavours.  “If anyone would like to post any seeds into school, I would be very grateful”.

Theo said that “due to the lock down. I thought I would start a summer project (growing my own vegetables) I invested in a small plastic green house, (which blew away). Several varieties of vegetable seeds, compost and pots.

I thought this project would be easy, however I look upon it as being a scientific experiment. You have to keep the seedlings at a certain temperature, watered and lots of monitoring.

I have raised £126.00 so far for the NHS I hope to raise a lot more!!!

My most popular seller is the cucumber plant and the lettuces. I have enjoyed this much more than I thought I would and I am looking forward to developing my skills and trying to grow more challenging plants”

The academy is really proud of Theo’s hard work and initiative to raise money for a great cause. Well done Theo!   

Examples of Student’s Home Learning

We have published some excellent examples of our student’s home learning on our website [CLICK HERE] and Twitter [CLICK HERE].  Well done, keep up the good work!

FSM Updates

Update 24/07/2020

Free school meals vouchers to the value of £90 have been issued to cover the summer holiday period.  If your child qualifies for these you will receive either postal vouchers within the next couple of days or email vouchers, which will be available for download from 24th July.

Update 4/6/20 Free school meal vouchers for the period 1st June to 19th June have either been emailed or posted out this week.  If you receive emailed vouchers please check your inbox (including spam and junk mail) and redeem your vouchers as soon as possible.  The email will be from Edenred rather than the school.  If you have any queries please contact us.  Thank you.

Update 1/5/20: We have now moved to the new Government Free School Meals Voucher Scheme (Edenred).  If your child is in receipt of free school meals and we hold an email address for you, codes will be emailed to you next week which can be exchanged for vouchers at the supermarket of your choice.  For those parents who have not provided an email address, vouchers will be printed off and posted to you sometime next week.  A Guide for Parents and FAQs can be found by clicking this link, but if you have any other queries please contact the school.

Update 17/4/20: There have been some difficulties in accessing the new Government FSM Voucher Scheme, therefore we will be providing vouchers by post again for weeks commencing 20th April and 27th April.  The allowance is £15 per week and you will therefore be sent a voucher for £30 per child, to cover both weeks early next week.

Update 1/4/2020: Asda vouchers will be issued again for parents of students who are in receipt of free school meals to cover week commencing 6th April and week commencing 13th April.  From week commencing 20th April we are moving to the new Government Voucher Scheme, more information will follow over the Easter holidays.

Park Vale Academy Head Boy and Head Girl – The most prestigious roles that our students can obtain. Open to all Year 10 students.

Click here for details

Responsibilities

• Serve as a good role model for other students
• Speak in assemblies and at formal occasions
• Chair and lead student voice and ensure it is effective and that decisions agreed upon are carried out
• Ensure student leaders are fulfilling their roles
• Liaise with members of staff and SLT on a regular basis to support the continuing improvement of the school. 

Why become a Head Boy or Head Girl?

• A position of responsibility
• Serve as a good role model for others
• Develop your organisation and communication skills
• Develop a mature and thoughtful outlook
• Lead from the front
• Give something back
• Improve your CV!

Positions available

• Head Boy
• Head Girl
• Assistant Head Boy
• Assistant Head Girl

Application process

• Please email a letter of application to rharper@parkvaleacademy.org.uk by 12 noon on Monday 6^th July 2020
• Your letter of application should explain what contributions you have already made to Park Vale Academy, why you would like to become the Head Boy or Head Girl and how you would use your position to improve life of staff and students at the Academy?  
• A shortlist of candidates will be invited to interview w/c Monday 13th July 2020.

National Schools Week Information – Click here

Due to higher than normal admission requests, we have provided a few extra school places for new Year 7’s in September but you will need to act quickly as there are only 3 or 4 spaces left at this stage.

Please contact the schools admissions team directly to apply for a Year 7 place at the Academy for the September intake  – You can contact the team by calling 0115 841 5568, you can also apply via their website here*

You can also email them directly at  schooladmissions@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Dear Parent

 As you may have seen, details were published on Friday of how grades will be awarded to students taking GCSEs and A-Levels. Details for how vocational and technical qualifications will be awarded this summer will follow. Sally Collier, who leads Ofqual, the organisation which oversees exams and qualifications in this country has written to students and the letter can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/awarding-qualifications-in-summer-2020/letter-to-students-summer-2020-grading

 Your child’s teachers will provide assessed grades in each subject they are taking. These assessments will be based on what the teacher believes each student would have achieved had they sat exams this summer, and on a range of evidence. This will include:

 Students’ classwork and bookwork, or performances in subjects like PE, music or drama

• Any non-exam assessment, whether or not completed
• The results of any assignments or mock exams
• Any previous exam results.

We have not been asked to set any additional homework or mock exams to make these assessed grades. Instead I would encourage you to support your child in their preparation for whatever route they intend to pursue post-16 and post 18.

 Teachers will also be asked to rank students in order for each subject, so as to split students awarded the same grade. These assessed grades will be confidential and teachers will not be allowed to share these grades with students. We have been asked to send these grades to Ofqual by the end of May/start of June. Ofqual will then look at all the grades and decide what the final grades for each student in each subject should be. It is developing the model it will use to do this, so all grades are fair, but it expects to use a range of information to do this such as students’ prior attainment and previous exam results at schools. Your child will get their final grades in the summer.

 There will be an appeals process and Ofqual has also said that it is working with exam boards so that there is an opportunity, if necessary, for students to sit exams, if they would like to, in the autumn term. More information on that will follow.

 Ofqual has said it would like to reassure you that the grades your child will get this summer will look exactly the same as in previous years, and will have equal status with universities, colleges and employers, so that young people can move forward in their lives as planned. Further information can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/awarding-qualifications-in-summer-2020/letter-to-students-summer-2020-grading

 I hope this gives answers to questions you may have, we will be in touch with any further information once issued.

YEAR 7 SEPTEMBER INTAKE: 

Please see the Admissions Policy for Park Vale Academy Admissions 2020-2021

-Apply before the 31st October.

-National offer day is 2nd March 2020.

(http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/article/23175/Transfer-to-Secondary-School-in-Year-7)

Applying for your place at Park Vale Academy couldn’t be easier. All applications should be made through the Local Authority process and places will be allocated in the spring of Year 6. Please contact the schools admissions team directly to apply for a Year 7 place at the Academy for the September intake  – You can contact the team by calling 0115 841 5568, you can also apply via their website here*

You can also email them directly at  schooladmissions@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

School Closure Update: Key-Workers

Obviously the government guidance remains that from Monday, all children should stay at home if possible. However if you as parents work in essential front-line services and are not able to organise appropriate childcare, you will still be able to send your son or daughter into school as we will be running a daily programme of study and other activities for them. If you think you qualify for this provision, please contact our main office asap with your details, including an up-to-date email address so that we can send you a copy of the daily schedule we will be offering with specific timings included. If you are unsure, whether you qualify for this provision, the link below will take you to the full guidance provided by the Department for Education:

 www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision

The Department for Education has outlined that all Year 11 students will receive a calculated grade to replace this summer’s exams.  Teachers will be asked to submit their judgement about the grade that they believe the student would have received if exams had gone ahead.

To produce this, teachers will take into account a range of evidence and data including performance on mock exams and non-exam assessment – clear guidance on how to do this fairly and robustly will be provided to schools and colleges. The exam boards will then combine this information with other relevant data, including prior attainment, and use this information to produce a calculated grade for each student, which will be a best assessment of the work they have put in.

We do not yet have any further details but will update all parents as soon as we do.  However, we do know that the Department for Education has said it is possible that not all students will receive the predicted grade submitted by their teacher.  Students will be able to appeal this and there will be an exam option for those that wish it as soon as is reasonably possible after schools reopen. For this reason we would urge all Year 11 students to continue to complete the work provided by their teachers.

Please see the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/update-following-announcement-on-exams-and-grades