Welcome From The Principal

On September 7th 2009 all our students from Years 7 to 12 returned to begin the second year of the Academy. 180 Year 7 students had spent a special day here on the previous Friday getting to know their way around the site and preparing for their first term at their academy. They were joined by Harris Academy Falconwood’s first “Sixth Form” students beginning Level 3 courses in ICT and Sport. These students were drawn from the Year 11 students of 2008-9 who celebrated unprecedented levels of success in their GCSE exams this year. Read More

Our key focus last year was to raise aspirations for our Year 11 students and to maximize their prospects of achieving the best possible grades in just two terms. Thanks to their own hard work and the support of their hardworking teachers many of the Year 11s met or even exceeded both our and their expectations. 92% of them achieved at least 5 or more A*-C grades, with 42% getting 5 or more A*-C grades including both English and Maths (compared to 47% and 17% achieved in 2008). This was a fantastic improvement and I would like to congratulate all the students and staff on this achievement.

We expect our current Year 11 students to do even better in 2010, and indeed, 45% of the year group has already achieved a C grade or above in Maths, a year early. Students at the Academy now realize that they can achieve excellent results and fulfill their potentials thanks to the support and guidance provided here.

Plans are now well under way for the construction of our new Academy building which is due to be completed and open for September 2011. All our students have now seen the plans and an amazing “fly-through” DVD which shows us what the academy building will look like both inside and out. The first phase of our plans will be completed by November 2009 when our temporary buildings will allow us to relocate facilities for Maths, Art, modern Languages, Sport and the dining hall. This will allow demolition of some or our existing facilities to allow construction to start on the new building by Easter 2010.

We were delighted to welcome so many visitors to our Open Evening and Mornings last month. Over 2000 guests toured the academy and saw our plans for the new building. We were very proud of our students who acted as guides for parents and children. We expect to be meeting many of our guests again when we test applicants for Year 7 entry in 2010, on 14th December.

If you wish to find out more about applying for a place in Year 7, please contact the Academy or your local Education Authority for more details.

Ms T Askew

Principal

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