Headteacher Update

March 2023

Firstly, a reminder that there will be an opportunity to meet with senior leaders between 5pm and 6pm on Monday 13th March to discuss the academy consultation, which started last week. It will be an informal drop in for parents to ask any questions about the rationale and the process. The meeting will take place in the man hall. So far, we have received a small number of responses to the consultation, which have been positive about the proposal, but it is important that everyone has the opportunity to ask questions regarding the long term future of John Spence.

It’s been a busy week of activity for our students. We were well represented at the North Tyneside Dance Festival at the Parks with some amazing performances.  The theme for this year’s festival was “New Beginnings”.  The dance academy chose a song called fast car and titled the dance, Direction.  The song “Fast Car” tells the story of a poor woman trying to escape the cycle of poverty in search of her new beginning.  John Spence Dance Academy were inspired by the song and have worked hard alongside the dance teacher, Sofi Condliffe, to create a fast paced contemporary piece with the underlying message – we are all in control of changing the direction we go and the path we will follow.  Miss Macleod was really proud of all those involved due to their commitment both in rehearsal and in the performance itself.

We have also had students attending ‘This is Creative Enterprise’ at Northumbria University which is an annual programme that is supported by the North Tyneside Learning Trust. As well as this there have been the usual sporting activities, including a trip to Newcastle Racecourse and on Wednesday we had 14 schools attend our Disco Dodgeball competition in the sports hall, our sports leaders certainly had their work cut out keeping that event under control! Unfortunately we did have to cancel our Y8 walk in Simonside due to the weather conditions, but these we be back up and running over the next few weeks as the weather improves, hopefully!

During the winter some students and parents have asked us if there is an alternative to the outdoor food pod that has been in place for the past 12 months. As mentioned in updates at the time, the decision to do this is based upon keeping children on site at lunchtime for safeguarding reasons whilst keeping lunchtimes efficient for students and cost effective for the school. I do appreciate that it is not ideal, in particular in the colder weather, but I did think it was probably worth re-emphasising the arrangements to show as well as explain additional measures that we have put in place:

  • Year 10 & 11 students access the dining hall for all of break time and can buy food at this time
  • Years 7-9 can buy food from the pod at break time
  • Years 10 & 11 can buy food from the pod at lunchtime (on the very rare occasions that food has run out in the pod, students are able to go into the dining hall)
  • Years 7-9 access the dining hall at lunchtime for food and then return outside for the remainder of lunchtime
  • Years 10 & 11 are able to access the dinner hall for seating and toilets during the last 15 minutes of lunchtime
  • Alternative arrangements are in place for students with medical conditions (please do get in touch if you would like to discuss arrangements for your child)

Following feedback we made some adjustments:

  • We purchased end panels for the canopy to protect the seating from the prevailing wind direction
  • We purchased heaters, but unfortunately these have not worked and we are currently working with the company to find a better solution
  • On cold days we allow students to purchase their food from the pod and bring it inside to the main hall to eat
  • The food pod is not open during wet breaks and lunchtimes and alternative arrangements are made for Year 7 in the Drama Studio, which is far from ideal due to lessons being taught in there either side of lunch.

Hopefully this will reassure you that our provision at lunchtime has been carefully considered and provides the best possible solution; it is a solution that is used by other locals schools.  If you do have any questions, then please do get in touch, particularly if your child has any medical needs. With situations like this, and any other issues which you may be concerned about, please do contact the school. We take your concerns seriously and will always listen to them and, wherever we can, address them.

Finally, the National Education Union has a further two days of industrial action planned for Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March. We are finalising plans and as has been the case on previous days, there will be some disruption to lessons during the day and potentially an early finish or late start for some students. Full details will be shared with parents of children who are affected on Monday.

That’s all for this week, I hope you all have a good weekend.

Best wishes

Jonathan