Christmas is all about giving. Over the course of 2017,

Bexhill Academy as a school community has raised in

excess of £10,000 for charity.

Bexhill BeaconThe magazine keeping students, staff, parents and carers, and the wider community updated on events at Bexhill Academy.

TERM 2 2017

Bexhill Academy wishes you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Bexhill Beacon 2 3 Bexhill Beacon

O n Friday, 10 November, we held our annual Remembrance Service at St

Stephen’s Church.

Approximately 100 students in Year 7 attended, along with parents and members of our local community. The choir performed some very uplifting songs, including True Colours, which the audience found very moving. The KS3 and KS4 Drama groups performed some pieces which portrayed the horrors of war from different perspectives. There was a sermon from The Reverend which made the Year 7 students really consider the implications of war. It was an extremely successful event which will now become part of our annual calendar of events and we look forward to doing it again next year.

A small group of Year 7 and 8 students were lucky enough to

work with professional actor Milton Lopes in a two hour workshop which took part in Bexhill Academy’s theatre. The students enjoyed the opportunity to explore space and physicality in a professional situation and produced a fabulous interpretation of the opening scene from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Many students gained an insight into working as a professional Theatre group and learnt how to approach a Shakespearian text from a practical perspective, with many delivering their lines of dialogue with subtlety and enthusiasm.

Many thanks to Milton Lopes and Christopher Thompson for facilitating such a fantastic opportunity!

Students Explore Shipwreck in Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Year 10 Spanish Principal lettersMr Knock’s Spanish group have been studying the topic of school and in particular their extended

opinions on school rules. The class thought it would be a good idea to write letters to the Principal to put a ‘real’ slant on their work and in the hope that Mrs Brown would reply. Writing a formal letter is now part of the 9-1 Spanish requirement .

The students were delighted to receive a reply from the Principal in Spanish.

On Thursday, 8 December a representative from the charity

MacMillan Cancer came to Bexhill Academy to pick up a cheque for £426.20. Students had raised this money through baking and selling cakes and popcorn, as well as making donations to this worthy cause.

Lynda Kivity-Ray representing the charity attended Harvard House assembly and thanked all the students for their contributions both on the day, and in the recent past; stating that as a result of the Academy’s efforts the fundraising from the local area would be nearly twenty thousand pounds, almost a thousand pounds more than last year.

Bexhill Beacon 6 7 Bexhill Beacon

ATTENDANCE NEWSLETTER

On Monday 9 October 2017 we launched our Get Smart Week, raising awareness of attendance and punctuality. We are pleased that our attendance rates have improved on last year. We would like all students to achieve 100% attendance so they have an uninterrupted run of learning. Whilst we appreciate that some absences cannot be avoided, please remember to ask the question, “What did I miss while I was absent and how can I catch up?” During the Get Smart Week we rewarded students by holding a 100% attendance raffle where two students per house won an Amazon Voucher. Source Skate Park in Hastings also donated 70 free entry and free hire of equipment vouchers which we awarded to students that had 100% attendance for each week leading up to the Get Smart Week. Winning Tutor Groups also received prizes to share.

Terms 1 and 2 2017/18

HOUSE ATTENDANCE

CAMBRIDGE 94.4 HARVARD 95.7 IMPERIAL 96.0 OXFORD 95.6 YALE 94.2

Written by Bexhill Academy

Attendance Ambassadors:

Sam Mitchell Yr 11, Coren Peck Year 11, Jake Ashby Year 10, Esme Gear-ing Year 11, Haydn Long Year 10, Rosy Grimley Year 10, Ben Ray-Gain Year 11, Charlotte Marker Year 10.

Year 11 Attendance Incentive Scheme

Year 11 is a very important time for our students at Bexhill Academy, and in order to ensure students reach their fullest potential, good attendance is a priority.

To reward students who achieve 100% attendance between Terms 2 and 5, Bexhill Academy are offering an Attendance Incentive Scheme. Students will be offered 50% off the cost of their Year 11 Prom Ticket.

In addition a small number of Year 11 students will receive mentoring from our Attendance Officer, Nikki Ashdown, to support them with working towards their Year 11 attendance target.

Bexhill Academy have launched a new Safeguarding System where we may drive to houses in the school minibus when students are not in school with no reason for absence.

Please note you can use the School Absence Mobile Number 07537436325 to report your child’s absence

THIS IS A FREE TEXT SYSTEM FOR PARENTS

We aim for all students to achieve 97% attendance and above!

When Annette Fearn asked the staff and students of the Academy if they

would like to contribute to the “Warming Up the Homeless” Christmas collection, the school was only too happy to oblige.

Three weeks and many boxes later Annette, who is the Catering Manager at the Academy, was delighted by the response by students, staff and parents alike. On Friday 15th December Lynda Hunter, representing the charity, came to collect the Academy’s contributions and found that her vehicle was not large enough to accommodate them! Students had not only contributed mountains of food essentials but many had made up “essential” packs from the list provided, wrapped them up, and spent hours sorting the items.

Heidi Brown, Principal, was delighted to be able to note that once again, the Academy Community had demonstrated an awareness of the needs of those less fortunate than themselves at this special time of year.

Bexhill Beacon 4

Miss Baker’s year 9 art

students have completed a

4

hour tonal study of Natura

l

Form exploring the full ran

ge

of tone and shade, focussin

g on

the fragility of nature.

Excellent wor

k,

well done!

11 Bexhill Beacon

Academy Sports

Bexhill Academy officially the strongest table tennis school in East Sussex

It’s official! Bexhill Academy is now the strongest overall school for table tennis in the whole of East

Sussex and Brighton.

After competing in the District competitions, three out of our four teams qualified for the county finals, played at Willingdon over the last week. Our under 16 boys, under 13 boys and under 13 girls were all named Rother District champions and progressed to the next round of the competition. At the county finals the under 16 boys took on King’s School from Portslade and the hosts Willingdon Community School. In an enthralling first match the team drew with Willingdon 4 – 4 but were victorious due to the fact they had won more individual games than their opponents. In their second match the team were beaten by an extremely strong King’s side who boasted an England International player in their ranks. Having beaten Willingdon in the first round the boys were named runners up.

The under 13 boys took a similar path to the under 16s beating Willingdon 8-0 but losing to an excellent Varndean team 7-1 to also be named county runners up.

The under 13 girls took on Patcham School of Brighton in a winner-takes-all county final. The first round of matches was extremely close, with two of our girls coming out on top and two losing in some very closely fought matches. Each of the final four matches was taken to a deciding game and it was Sydnie who clinched the County Championship for Bexhill Academy, winning her final match 12-10. She did an amazing job to come back from 1-0 down, win the title and qualify for the regional zone finals, which take place in London in January.

With two runners up and a title win, Bexhill Academy confirmed their place at the top of the East Sussex Table Tennis tree.

SQUADS

Under 13 boysRyan Hedges, Lucas Heynes, Ryan McMahon, River-Jay Gray

Under 13 GirlsEbony Crouch, Courtney Goodfellow, Hattie O’Hara, Sydnie Pallett

Under 16 BoysCharlie Casselden, Tom Swatton, Bruce Praill,Cam Durrant

Bexhill Beacon 10Miss Baker’s Year 7 students have been studying the famous Starry Night by Van Gogh by using different techniques to create the textures. Here are some examples of some fantastic homework.

Well done.

YEAR 7

ART

Cross CountryThe Academy took part in the District Cross Country Championships at Battle Abbey. We

took 24 of our best athletes from each year group to compete against the strong 9 schools in our district.Special mention to the following who achieved some fabulous results:- Hope Sankey - Year 8 : 1st Luke Brundle - Year 11 : 2nd Jamie Ferreira - Year 9 : 8th Isobel Mitchell - Year 10 : 13th Ewan Teague - Year 8 : 13th Congratulations to you all!

13 Bexhill Beacon Advanced IndividualShannon Belcher (Yr8)

Intermediate IndividualBreanne Croft (Yr7)

Novice IndividualMya Saulll-Hunt (Yr7)Evie Remnant (Yr7) Georgia Okines (Yr7)Anja Fisher-Thomas (Yr7)Brooke Harvey (Yr7)Ciera Sage (Yr7)

Novice A PairsCharlotte Canham (Yr8) & Millie Rose Leverington (Yr8)Isabelle Oliver (Yr7) & Honey Copley (Yr7)

Amie Hobson (Yr7) & Anja Fisher-Thomas (Yr7)Novice B PairsSaskia Whyman (Yr11) & Ami Wallis (Yr11)Mia Horner (Yr10) & Emma Beach (Yr8)

Ellie-Mae Freeman (Yr8) & Daisy Carr (Yr8)

Novice B Mixed PairsPiper Horton (Yr10) & Danny McMahon (Yr7)

Regional PairsElena Barry (Yr8) & Mya Kwong (Yr8)Chloe Beeching (Yr8) & Hope Sankey (Yr8)Breanne Croft (Yr7) & Anya Singh (Yr7)

Novice TriosSaskia Whyman (Yr11), Ami Wallis (Yr11) & Danny McMahon (Yr7)

Regional TriosMya Kwong (Yr8), Elena Barry(Yr8), Hope Sankey(Yr8)

Well done to you all.

Bexhill Beacon 12

Sussex Schools Sports Acrobatics

On Saturday, 25 November 2017 twenty seven students from Bexhill Academy competed all day at the Sussex Schools Sports

Acrobatics Competition held at Brighton University.

The other secondary schools that competed this year were; Ark Helenswood Academy, Shoreham Academy, Davison High School for Girls,

St. Leonards Academy, Beacon Academy, Rye College, Ratton School, and Uplands Community College.

We had a very successful day and whilst competing against the 8 other secondary schools, our accumulation of scores resulted in achieving overall 3rd place.

All students performed their routines with precision and confidence, and the support they showed each other was incredible.

The most successful performances were from:

GOLD = Novice B Mixed Pairs: Piper Horton (Yr10) & Danny McMahon (Yr7) SILVER = Novice B Mixed Trios: Saskia Whyman (Yr11), Ami Wallis (Yr11) & Danny McMahon (Yr7)SILVER = Novice 8 Piece Group: Saskia Whyman (Yr11), Ami Wallis (Yr11), Piper Horton (Yr10), Daisy Carr (Yr8), Ellie-Mae Freeman (Yr8), Mya Saulll-Hunt (Yr7), Evie Remnant (Yr7) & Danny McMahon (Yr7)BRONZE = Novice A Pairs: Evie Remnant (Yr7)& Mya Saulll-Hunt (Yr7) whilst competing in an exceptionally large category.

Highly Complimented:

Regional Pair: Chloe Beeching (Yr8) & Hope Sankey (Yr8)Advanced 8 Piece Group: Ellie McDonald (Yr10) Shannon Belcher (Yr8) Mya Kwong (Yr8), Elena Barry(Yr8), Hope Sankey(Yr8), Chloe Beeching (Yr8), Breanne Croft (Yr7), Anya Singh (Yr7)

HONOURS LIST TERM 2STUDENT OF THE TERM

Year 7 Adam Fletcher Year 8 Jameilia Amir

Year 9 Dan Mitchell Year 10 Miya Deeprose Year 11 Pamela Rutland

‘Pride, Strength and Courage’

C1C2C3C4C5

94.9%93.6 %93.2 %92.0 %90.8 %

C6C7C8C9

96.6 %91.9 %95.1 %96.6%

Bexhill Beacon 14

Cambridge House NewsNews Update

It has been an exceptionally busy Term 2 with many activities and special events,

including: Inter-House Sports, Year 8 and Year 9 Parents’ Evenings.

Some students in Year 9 are visiting Brighton University to help plan their future studies. Many Year 9s also continue to attend the “Be the Change” programme run by Hastings Direct and all students attending were a credit to themselves and the Academy: learning new skills and gaining confidence in their abilities.

House AchievementsStudents in the House have started to collect items for the Academy Christmas Appeal for the Homeless and we continue to be proud of their efforts.

We are also planning many events after the festive holiday to raise money for our Charity this year: Sussex and Kent Air Ambulance Service. Students will be encouraged to organise their own charity events and we will be holding many events in the next couple of terms to try to reach our challenging target which will be easily achieved if all students aim to raise £14.

Cambridge House has had an excellent start to the year with students achieving brilliant numbers of carrots awards for their attitude towards their studies and efforts both inside and outside the classroom. Finally, once again, Cambridge House has the greatest number of students with no minus

behaviour points at all!

Congratulations to all the students for their hard work

and positive attitude.

We wish you all a very happy and restful festive holiday.

Total230195195195180155145140135

FormC5C8C8C8C3C5C8C5C9

NameEmily East Aleena SaxelbyMia MorleyGeorge JuppKarolina MostekJamelia AmirAlfie DanielsAmy FriendAzim Ahmed

Form Attendance

Week 1Week 2Week 3

Week 4 Week 5Week 6

Ava CousinsLuke BrundleBen Ray Gain, Megan Mitchell & Matthew BartlettLizzie NewnhamJasmin KempEmma Beach & Amy Shackleton

Top Ten Students – Carrots Points

STUDENT/S OF THE WEEK

News Update

As a house we had the pleasure of presenting a cheque to a

representative of Macmillan charity at our assembly. Thanks to Dylan

and Olivia (our Head Boy and Girl) for helping with the presentation.

We have welcomed in several new students to the house this term and are really pleased with the way they have settled.

One of our students this term, Harriet Haffenden has approached Ms Brown with an innovative idea to help tackle bullying- watch this space!

House Achievements Our attendance this term has been our best yet and was also enough to gain us 5 points in the House Cup as we have been the best attended house this term.

We have also had a lot of sporting success this term. We finished in first place, gaining 12 House Cup points, for our efforts in the Inter House Cross Country event. A special mention to our star performers: Ewan Teague, Ben Hart, Ryan Mcmahon and Jaime Ferreira. We have also had representatives from the house involved in gymnastic competitions- Danny Mcmahon, Chloe Beeching and Elena Barry. These same students have also performed their routine in assemblies. We also need to recognise those who have represented both the House and the school in the table tennis district finals- Ryan Mcmahon, Courtney Goodfellow and Ebony Crouch. Well done to everyone mentioned and all Harvard students that took part in the cross country event.

HONOURS LIST TERM 2STUDENT OF THE TERM

Year 7 Tadi Tekenende Year 8 Lily O’Brien Year 9 Alfie Baker Year 10 Harriet Haffenden Year 11 Hermon Tesfu

15 Bexhill Beacon

H1H2H3H4H5

94.4%97.1 %94.7 %95.3 %97.2 %

H6H7H8H9

97.6 %96.5 %95.3 %95.3 %

Total640425310270255250230200180160

FormH9H2H4H4H3H4H4H5H7H8

NameAdrian BadanAbigail Link-SmithDanny McmahonLuana PizarroTino TekenendePhoenix NichollsEllie EdwardsHarriette WattsMilly FullerJack Elliott

Form Attendance

Week 1Week 2Week 3 Week 4 Week 5Week 6

Abi Link SmithErik DeszpodAdrian BadanGabriella CroftHarriet HaffendenJosephine Chambers

Top Ten Students – Carrots Points

STUDENT/S OF THE WEEK

‘Perseverance for Success’

Harvard House News

House Charities

Barby Keel Animal SanctuaryIkosi Kids

HONOURS LIST TERM 2STUDENT OF THE TERM

Year 7 Polly Smith Year 8 Lucy Speed

Year 9 Elliot Furlong Year 10 Alysha Cook Year 11 Henry Lankston

‘Every Student Matters, Every Moment Counts, Your Future Begins Here’Bexhill Beacon 16

I1I2I3I4I5

94.4%92.2%94.9%95.9%93.8%

I6I7I8I9

93.7%96.1%98.5%95.0%

Imperial House News

Total490430400390390370360315300230

FormI6I8I6I8I8I8I6I6I7I8

NameChloe AskemCruz PorthouseKitty MorphettDaniel MuhilathithanLayla WilsonTaylor BatchelorMegan Chapman-LockLily DenmanChristopher PayneMaxwell Hayler

Form Attendance

Week 1Week 2Week 3 Week 4 Week 5Week 6

Kaiya Star PalmerFrancesca Lavender Katie Ware Max HaylerRebecca Wojcik---------------------

Top Ten Students – Carrots Points

STUDENT/S OF THE WEEK

News Update

Imperial have had a slow start to the term but are now up to speed and flying.

Although we are currently in the bottom two of the English and Maths challenges, we have made up a lot of ground and are the only house to have every form group complete the challenges every week. Well done to all those pupils completing the challenges, keep up the good work.

Imperial had a massive success in the Carrot rewards this term and are way out in the lead. Chloe Askem is leading the House with the Carrots, with Kitty Morphett and Cruz Porthouse chasing her down. Keep logging those stickers Imperial.

This term will see our Inter House Netball and Football competitions taking place. Imperial needs some good results in both competitions in order to chase Harvard down. So please come along on Monday 18th after school to represent your house.

House AchievementsThis term was a successful sporting term for Imperial house. The annual Inter House Cross Country was the first sporting event which saw Imperial house finish second overall but with some amazing individual performances.

In Year 7, Milo Chapman and Rachelle Gravill won their events by some distance with Layla Wilson finishing in 2nd and Evie Remnant finishing in 3rd for an all Imperial top 3 girls finish. In the boys event Ronnie Gray finished in 4th position.

In the Year 8 event we had a number of students finishing in the top 10 positions. In the boys competition Conner Lister finished in 3rd and Theo Turner, George Fox and Tyler Hunt all finishing in the top 6 positions. In the girls competition Daisy Carr finished runner up with Angelina Boardman and Jade Oliver both finishing in the top 10.

Rebecca Wojcik finished overall champion for the girl’s event with Hayley Peck finishing in 2nd. In the boys event Jack Thunder and Finlay Oakes both finished 2nd in their heats. Elliot Furlong also was placed and finished in 6th.

Well done to every one taking part and a special well done to the pupils mentioned. Please see below for our cross country superstars.

17 Bexhill Beacon

HONOURS LIST TERM 2STUDENT OF THE TERM

Year 7 Anvita Kopparthi Year 8 Joshua Murphy Year 9 Jake Jacobs Year 10 Jake Ashby Year 11 Eleanor Isbitt

O1O2O3O4O5

96.5%97.2%96.3%95.4%98.7%

O6O7O8O9

87.1%97.1%97.9%94.9%

Total305300290280210195195195185180

FormO5O8O2O1O8O6O2O1O2O1

NameDino LondonNathan AmessJosh Atkins-BeechingEiona Fulladosa-HurtosRhianna BowleyAmy RimmerAfrah ChaffaElda Fulladosa-HurtosAlethea PalmerJoshua Murphy

Form Attendance

Week 1Week 2Week 3 Week 4 Week 5Week 6

Macy EvansLiam ClarkAnvita KopparthiAfrah ChaffaCaitlyn EllisTayah-May Christie

Top Ten Students – Carrots Points

STUDENT/S OF THE WEEK

Oxford House News

‘Dream, Believe, Succeed’

News Update

Once again a very busy term for Oxford house and all of the fabulous

students in the house. This term has seen the students compete in various challenges in addition to the English and

Maths challenge. This term points were awarded for houses based on overall house performance for the students in cross country. The cross country events were during the year 11 mock examination period. In addition, Oxford finished in 1st position collecting the full 5 points for our school antibullying campaign. Students in each form had to create their own poster to encourage victims of bullying to come forward. O8 were the overall winners in the school so congratulations to them.

Oxford house has also voted a change in this years charity. Oxford will now support the Stoke Mandeville hospital for this academic year.

In addition, Hattie O’Hara of O8 represented the KS3 table tennis squad who have now been crowned East Sussex and Brighton champions, and will now compete in the regional tournament in the new year in London.

Shannon Belcher in O8 has also returned from the USA after representing her gymnastic club at the very highest level. In addition, to representing the school in the district competition.

House Achievements

Maths Challenge

English Challenge

House Cup Points Term 2 Total

1stYale

196 pts

2ndOXFORD192 pts

3rd Harvard180 pts

4th Imperial178 pts

5th Cambridge

175 pts

1stOXFORD152 pts

2ndYale

138 pts

3rd Imperial135 pts

4th Cambridge

122 pts

5th Harvard121 pts

‘Yale, The Golden Key To Success’Bexhill Beacon 18

HONOURS LIST TERM 2STUDENT OF THE TERM

Year 7 Raige Bollington Year 8 Hope Sankey

Year 9 Ferdi Ibrahim Year 10 Paige Willard Year 11 Danielle Hicks

Y1Y2Y3Y4Y5

93.9%94.7%88.1%97.9%93.0%

Y6Y7Y8Y9

94.0%91.3%92.6%93.0%

Yale House NewsNews Update

Yale students have had a very busy term, showing off a wide range of remarkable

skills both in and out of school. On Saturday 25th November 2017, 27 students from Bexhill Academy competed all day at the Sussex Schools Sports Acrobatics Competition held at Brighton University. We had a very successful day and whilst competing against the 8 other secondary schools, our accumulation of scores resulted in achieving overall 3rd place. Many Yale students were involved in this fantastic event. Saskia Whyman (Year 11) picked up two silver medals for her part in a novice mixed trio performance and a novice mixed 8 piece group performance. Hope Sankey (Year 8) was highly complimented for her role in both a regional pair and advanced 8 piece group performance. Mya Kwong (Year 8) and Anya Singh (Year 7,) were also highly complimented for their performances in the advanced 8 piece group. Millie-Rose Leverington (Year 8 ) was complimented for her performance in a novice pairs piece.

The Academy took part in the district cross country championships at Battle Abbey on Friday 24th November. We took 24 of our best athletes from each year group to compete against the strong 9 schools in our district. A special mention must go to Hope Sankey who won the year 8 girls race by over two minutes.

Two Yale students; Tom Swatton and Bruce Praill were part of the successful under 16 table tennis team who came second in the county championship.

House AchievementsMrs Kempson’s form group, Y2 received a certificate of food donation from the Bexhill food bank, for donating 12.1kg of food that will be used to help people in crisis in the Bexhill area.

Massive congratulations to Connor Willard (Year 10) who has been working tirelessly in the local community for the development of the Bexhill and Rother Town Council. Connor has also been successful in being appointed as a member of the Bexhill and Hastings Youth Cabinet. In order to achieve this, Connor had to undergo an application process which included a written application and attending a training day. We are delighted to support Connor through this; he will start his term in January 2018.

It has been a difficult start to the school year for Yale, in terms of the house cup and we are below the high level we have set in previous years. However, this term we have had much improved performances in both the Maths and English challenge, which will help us rise up the overall standings. The much anticipated inter house football and netball competitions that take place on Monday 18th of December will give us an opportunity to score some well

Total290260250195145140130130125125

FormY4Y7Y9Y1Y8Y7Y7Y9Y9Y6

NameBradley Yates Leandri Oosthuizen Cody Gilbert Steven Pake Joseph Gough Mikey Fisher Saskia Whyman Ajay Willard-Smith Tommy-Lee Lands Ellie Coster

Form Attendance

Week 1Week 2Week 3 Week 4 Week 5Week 6

Anya Singh Josh Okines George Brown Bradley Yates Saskia Whyman Harry Masters

Top Ten Students – Carrots Points

STUDENT/S OF THE WEEK

deserved points in the House Cup competition, onwards and upwards.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year from everyone in the Yale team.

Bexhill Academy

Careers IAG

Careers Information, Advice & Guidance

Where to get Careers Information

Careers Advice – Wednesday Lunch Time Drop-In

Useful Websites

Career Guidance - Appointments to see our Careers Adviser

The career noticeboards – outside the student welfare office The school website Career leaflets & prospectuses available outside the welfare office

If you have any questions or queries about careers, college options, apprenticeships etc… you can drop in to see the careers adviser at the student help desk on a Wednesday lunchtime.

If you have a specific question you can email Cheryl.Smith@bexhillacademy.org

www.sacu-student.com The Spartan Test www.icould.com Buzz Quiz & Career Research www.nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk Job Profiles www.ucasprogress.com Search local providers & college applications

During Year 11 (and the summer term in Year 10) you can have a 1:1 career discussion with our careers adviser. Appointments last for 30 minutes and can be used to discuss anything relating to your future education and career choices email: Cheryl.Smith@bexhillacademy.org

Our child did not find the work experience very useful. Because of their age what they can actually do is very limited and often the feedback we had was that it was pretty boring.

Overall feedback from work experience was really positive. We have at least four students who secured part time jobs with the employers they completed their work placement with. Year 10 work experience is optional, in the first year we had 49 students taking part, this year we have 105 registered to take part.

I would like to see more actual careers advice, exploring the student’s interests and abilities and discussing what actual careers they would like to follow rather than just the next step in education. With parents involved in an appointment.

Students are provided with opportunities to explore their own interests, skills and career ideas during career education lessons in Year 7 and Year 8 as well as drop down day sessions from Year 8 – Year 11. Self-awareness is a key learning outcome for careers provision which includes supporting students to understand their strengths, interests and career ideas. We have careers information available in school and

weekly drop-in sessions for any student wanting advice or guidance. Our careers adviser is happy to meet with students and parents.

Does the school offer formal guidance to students in the wide variety of career options available? If so, how does the school offer formal guidance to students in the wide variety of career options available?

We run a number of sessions through timetabled provision where the learning outcome focuses on making students aware, and encouraging them to explore, the wide range of career options available. These include sessions about ‘Jobs of the Future’ and ‘Using the internet to explore your career ideas’. We look at labour market information (LMI) which helps students to understand the competitive nature of some industries and also recognise that there are skills gaps where some industries struggle to recruit. We offer a number of trips and visits and offer opportunities for students to engage with visitors from a range of careers through our speed networking event in Year 10 and our careers fair in Year 11. What advice is given on access to further education (6th form and subsequently University)?

We offer comprehensive information about post-16 education and training options which includes taster days in Year 10, Parents’ Information Evenings in Year 10 and Year 11, support with UCAS Progress (used for college applications), assemblies, publicising open evenings and open events, apprenticeship talks and information and our Year 11 Careers Fair. In Year 11 students receive the ‘What’s next?’ booklet which contains information about post-16 options. We run a number of trips to universities (from Year 8) and offer a ‘Why go to university?’ talk in Year 11. We work with the outreach team (formerly widening participation) from the University of Brighton and they have a presence at some parent information evenings and our careers fair. As part of our new NCOP project we will be carrying out research into the barriers that prevent able students from progressing into higher education. We have run trips to both Oxford and Cambridge universities.

What advice is given on going for access to Oxbridge and foreign Universities (USA, France, Germany....)?

We will support any student with high aspirations and relevant information is made available to anyone asking for support and guidance.

Following a visit from our assessor on 1st December

we are delighted to announce that we have retained the Quality in Careers Standard award (formally Investor in Careers).

“The Quality in Careers Standard is the national quality award for careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) in schools, colleges and work-based learning. To gain the national Quality in Careers Standard, schools, colleges and work-based learning organisations must provide sufficient current evidence to demonstrate that they meet all the national quality assessment and accreditation criteria in their overall CEIAG provision.”

As part of the reassessment process we conducted a parent & carer questionnaire about careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) at Bexhill Academy. We received 54 responses so thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the online questionnaire.

The questionnaire was anonymous so responses to questions raised follow:

I had assumed that as my Children are in year 7 and 8, looking at Careers advice is to early. I had presumed this didn’t come into play until year 10.

Bexhill Academy has careers provision in place for all year groups. It is really important that young people have the opportunity to find out about the wide range of careers that are open to them, but equally they need to develop an awareness of the skills and qualities they are developing and how they might transfer to the work place. Whilst careers advice is targeted at Year 10 and Year 11, careers education and information is an important part of provision for all year groups.

We have done our own research but it would have been nice to have had some information from the college on how important GCSE choices are for future study and careers; this would be very useful to know before they make their GCSE choices. We were not given any of this information from the school.

Information about what GCSE’s needed for courses at college, what apprenticeship are available etc should be discussed more with yr9. If a child knows what job they want to do they need actual information on how to get there. Before choosing their options, there is an Options Evening for both Year 8 and Year 9 which provides the opportunity for parents and students to find out about the subjects on offer. Careers Advice is available at these evenings where you can discuss how subject choice might affect future career ideas. Last year, colleges were invited to attend the Year 9 options evening, and following feedback we will be inviting local colleges to attend both evenings (subject to them having staff available to attend). In Year 8 and Year 9 students have a drop down day of activities that are designed to help students make informed subject choices. This includes taster sessions for subjects on offer as well as sessions looking at qualities, skills and exploring different employment ideas. Student feedback for these days is very positive.

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We support applications for scholarships to independent schools and invite those schools to attend Year 11 parent information evenings. We are affiliated to the Arkwright Scholarship Trust and encourage students interested in studying medicine to apply to BrightMed which is run by the Brighton and Sussex Medical School. There is information about the Sutton Trust on our aspirations noticeboard (and in our how to research your career ideas booklet). With the Fulbright Commission they offer a fully funded trip to high achieving state school students interested in looking at higher education in the US. How does the school try to educate students on the vast career choice available and tying in a child’s abilities (and possible aspirations) with selecting an educational path and consequently a potential career path?

The planned outcome of all of our CEAIG provision is that students are engaged with thinking about their future, actively exploring the options available to them, are self-aware and are able to make informed and positive choices about their post-16 pathway. It is unrealistic to expect all young people to have a specific career in mind and natural that as they explore different ideas they may change direction, but as a

school we aim to give students the confidence and skills to know how to research career ideas and make appropriate and aspirational choices about their future career path.

If a child has anxiety and on the spectrum what guidance do they get provided with please as they may not use the group adventures.

All students are included in careers provision and are able to access 1:1 support. When appropriate, career discussions take place with the career adviser and a member of staff in the Aspie unit. Small group visits to local colleges are organised by the Aspie staff and there is transition support available to support a smooth transition to college.

We are very proud of the careers provision that we have in place at Bexhill Academy which was recognised by the Ofsted Inspectors and Assessor for the Quality in Careers Standard as being of a very high standard. We evaluate, develop and extend our provision continually and have some exciting new projects that we will be working on this year including developing our alumni with Future First (please sign up if you are an ex-student www.futurefirst.co.uk), and our project with the National Collaborative Outreach Programme on

increasing rates of progression into higher education.

All of our provision is mapped against the Career Development Institute (CDI) Framework and the Gatsby Benchmarks which are seen as the world standard for careers provision.

However much provision we have in place, statistically parents & carers remain the biggest influence on the career decisions that young people make. In the AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk survey, 55.7% of students said that their parents/carers were the biggest influence with teachers at 16.3% and careers advisers only 8.5%.

Supporting students to become work ready and career savvy has to be a partnership between school and home. It is really important that we all share high expectations and high aspirations, and encourage all young people to actively engage in thinking about their future and the potential that they have.

There is a careers section on the school website that contains further information about our careers provision and links to resources. If you have any questions relating to careers provision please email

Cheryl.Smith@bexhillacademy.org

Year 9

Experiences of Workplaces This is the second year that East Sussex County Council have organised their Open Doors Project, which encourages local businesses to open their doors to small groups of students. It offers students a fascinating insight into the world or work and this year we took three groups of Year 9 students to visit three very different types of business.

All of the visits were really interesting and student feedback was very positive. Thank you to all of the businesses who opened their doors as part of this project.

BarkWeb is a creative website design, web development and digital marketing agency based in Eastbourne. Established in 1999, they have over 100 clients across a wide range of industries in the UK.

Students got to see the different job roles that are needed to design, create and promote a website. Julian talked to the students about the very varied pathway that led him to set up a web design company and explained what he, as an employer, was looking for from students looking for work experience or job applicants.

Drallim are an Engineering Equipment Manufacturer serving a wide variety of high integrity markets across the Aerospace, Industrial and Utilities markets. They produce a very wide variety of mechanical, electrical and electronic equipment often designed for individual applications. This can range from purely mechanical products such as cargo hooks for helicopters, through to sophisticated electronic monitoring systems for utilities.

The Keep is a world-class centre for archives where you can explore 900 years of history through the collections of the East Sussex Record Office (ESRO), the Royal Pavilion & Museums and the University of Sussex Special Collections. Records include original diaries, maps, personal letters, school archives, oral history, postcards, newspapers, photographs and more.

Looking at old maps showing the area surrounding Bexhill Academy.

This is the oldest exhibit held at the archive which came from Battle Abbey.

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