Dear Parents and Carers,

I am writing to you as we end this term.  We have had an extremely busy term with many successes to share with you.

Each year there is a thorough process of checking results that takes place during the autumn term with the Department for Education (DfE).  We now have our final verified GCSE results from the summer 2024 exams, and I am pleased to report that we have performed incredibly well and have raised the standard even further from 2023. We have a strong Progress 8 score (a school's progress 8 score is an average of all pupils' individual scores. It shows whether, as a group, pupils in the school made above or below average progress compared to similar pupils in other schools) meaning that students at Co-op Academy Manchester make progress from Year 7 to Year 11. In terms of progress 8, the DfE’s most prominent performance measure, we performed third nationally against schools of a similar size and demographic. We also have a high attainment rate, stronger than most of the schools in this area, and our robust careers guidance means that our figures for students entering education, employment or training after leaving the academy are very high, which demonstrates that we are working hard to ensure the highest aspirations for our students. 

We introduced our new Teaching Playbook at the beginning of the academic year and this has provided a framework for consistent teaching across the curriculum. Teachers are working hard in CPD sessions with Mrs McMorrow and Mr Scott, focusing upon refining teaching techniques and ensuring a common approach from classroom to classroom, teacher to teacher. We have seen an improvement in engagement in the classroom and are looking forward to seeing the impact the playbook has on results next year.

Our recent Trust SEND review provided some excellent feedback with regard to the significant improvements made during the last academic year, including changes such as Elevate, Bridge, introduction of the zones of regulation, Speech Language and Communication Therapy and improved access to Educational Psychologists to better support our students. We have also appointed Mrs Ferridge as the substantive SENCO starting in January, with a new Assistant Principal for Inclusion appointed who will also be joining us in the new year to add experience and capacity to Mrs Baldwin’s Inclusion team. 

There have been many programmes, activities, trips, sporting fixtures and clubs taking place this term. In particular, the Girls Out Loud programme has begun again with a new cohort of Year 8 girls, providing girls with mentors to help them improve their confidence and resilience. Our First Story young writers group published their first anthology of poetry and short stories. We also held a wonderful celebration evening where our Class of 2024 were presented with their GCSE certificates. We have been working with the Abram Wilson Foundation, inspiring young musicians and recently had a visit to our Eco Club by MP Stephen Morgan that you may have seen on BBC and ITV news. This week we held our annual Christmas Concert, which was very well attended and provided a wonderful festive atmosphere in the academy.  Don’t forget, we also have our upcoming show - Matilda the Musical, which takes place in February 2025. You can purchase tickets at  https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/cam

I am proud that our Community Fridge has continued to operate each week, redistributing good food that would otherwise go to waste. We also have preloved uniform that we have shared with families in need, and there are many other ways we have supported families through some of the issues they face that can impact on their child’s attendance. Our annual Christmas care packages have been distributed within the community to ensure that we all have access to some luxury items over the festive period. 

A GREAT place to learn

We launched the GREAT mantra with students and parents/carers in September. My ambition for the academy is for it to be a GREAT place to learn within a GREAT community. Behind each letter in the word ‘GREAT’ we are spelling out, to students and staff, what we think makes a GREAT place. These are our minimum expectations of all within Co-op Academy Manchester and in the new year I expect to begin to embed this philosophy even further. 

 

It is traditional in these end of term letters to celebrate some of the big events, trips and awards that the academy and its students have experienced over the term. However, this time, I also want to focus on the things that have been happening in the academy every day. What we do matters, but the way that we do it matters even more. At the end of this term, I invite you and your child(ren) to reflect on what makes us GREAT. I will be reflecting on this myself, and asking my staff to do the same.

The new term in January gives us all a chance to set our ‘new year, new me’ resolutions and provides an opportunity to try anew to be GREAT.

• Genuine - demonstrating authentic care in all interactions with ourselves and others. I would invite parents to log in to the Arbor app or portal, and find the ‘Positive Incidents Breakdown’. This will list each occasion where students have been positively logged by a member of staff. Staff are expected, where possible, to reward students on a 7:1 positive to negative ratio.

• Growth - the experiences your child has that elevate their aspirations and knowledge. Perhaps a good lesson, a club or trip, or an interesting career insight.

• Routines - we believe that good habits and routines are the foundation for learning, they provide predictability and consistency for our most vulnerable learners. The challenge for us as adults is to help our children understand how tutor time, line-ups, the start of lessons and other routines help them be ready for the bigger picture of learning and success. This is why we introduced the playbook to ensure predictability from room to room in terms of teaching techniques. 

• Respect - this includes respecting others’ differences and celebrating diversity. Co-op Academy Manchester is more diverse than the average school - with more languages spoken and more stories to tell. This is something that can sometimes be taken for granted, and so it is important to take a moment to think about this. 

• Experts - we want our students to become knowledge experts in their lessons. Has your child received a golden ticket? These are given out every lesson and allow students to be entered into a prize draw - e.g. for a new iPad, a bike, even tickets to music events. If your child has not yet had one, which lesson do they enjoy the most where they can work hard to get one?

• Empathy - we ask our students to work hard every day, and that can be tiring for them. Yet by doing so, they are building resilience for the changing world we are in. 

• Achievements - Each term we celebrate our Co-op Heroes with a special reward experience. At the time of writing, ALL students are eligible for the next Co-op Heroes experience. We ask them to maintain the record of effort in class, their behaviour, attendance and punctuality that they start the term with. 

• Adaptive - No two students are the same, and so we work to ensure that students receive the right support at the right time. I ask all parents and carers to speak to us - to let us know if you have any concerns about your child, to let us know about any challenges they face that we can support them with. In the first instance, I would ask you to contact your Heads of Year (contact details can be found at the end of this letter).

• Tenacious - We ask all students to be ‘ready to learn’ each lesson. Our new 10:10:10 homework model, as part of that, sets out simply how students can work outside of lessons to deepen and strengthen their knowledge. I would ask parents to visit our website at https://www.manchester.coopacademies.co.uk/homework to watch our videos and become familiar with our approach to homework. All students have been set Sparx Reader homework over the Christmas break so that they keep reading and accrue Sparx Reader Points.  

• Together - It is my sincere hope that we share a common vision. We all know that we achieve more when we work as a team. We are part of our local community and have a sense of belonging. 

With this in mind, the next step to becoming a truly GREAT school is to revise our behaviour policy.

 

Achieving GREAT behaviour - changes to our policy 

 

The current policy has had a positive impact. Classroom behaviour has improved significantly with students able to learn on the whole without disruptions. Teachers and staff have access to regularly updated ‘Known, Valued, and Understood’ Pupil Passports to ensure that students' needs are taken into account, and we have introduced the ‘zones of regulation’ to help students understand their responsibilities and to have the time and techniques to self-regulate. This means that they are able to return to the classroom quickly and there is less disruption to their learning. When I have consulted with older students recently, they told me that they feel lessons are calmer and more focussed than in previous years.

In addition, I must thank you for supporting us in encouraging students not to use their mobile phones in the academy. Whilst these are no longer a major cause of behavioural issues in the classroom, we will continue to enforce the ‘no mobile phones’ rule across the red line, to ensure that we minimise any safeguarding risks and disruptions to learning. We understand that mobile phones, turned off and in school bags, can sometimes be vital to communicate with parents/carers on the journey home. 

It is the right time to progress the behaviour policy to the next stage in its development. Students are best served in the classroom. 

I am grateful to all the parents and carers that completed our recent survey. What you told me is that your main priority is that teachers have a positive relationship with students and that positive behaviours are celebrated. We agreed with your response when we asked you to rank behaviours in relation to their severity. As a result, we have developed a three-tiered approach to behaviours and their natural consequences. 

Some of the lower tariff disruptive behaviours that would have previously meant that a student was removed from lesson will now result in detention - we will appreciate your support in ensuring that these take place successfully. The higher tariff disruptive behaviours will remain as lesson removals. 

Thankfully, we all agreed that the red line behaviours remain unacceptable within the academy and, as such, the approach to these will remain unchanged. 

 

What are the policy changes?

• A tiered approach to disruptive behaviours, meaning that less disruptive behaviours will not result in lost time in front of the class teacher 

• We will introduce a detention for lateness to lessons - more than 2 lates in a week will result in an after-school detention.

• We will inform parents daily if their child is truanting and will ask for their support to replace the lost learning time after school the next day.

 

To achieve these changes

• Heads of Year will be supported to ensure that their time is spent with their year group. They can build strong relationships with students, helping them to regulate and return to lessons when needed, and they will also support students at risk of truancy, to get from lesson to lesson.

• We have recruited behaviour mentors to support students on corridors and ensure students get to lessons on time. 

• We have ensured that access to the Inclusion support team will be available every lesson, if required.

The new policy will be updated on the school website when we return in January and I look forward to your ongoing support. 

 

Changes to the Rewards Criteria

I would also like to inform you of an update to the criteria for participation in our Rewards Trips, effective from January 2025.

From this date, in addition to meeting the existing criteria for behaviour, attendance, and punctuality, students will also need to demonstrate consistent engagement with their homework. Specifically, students must:

• Complete 100% of their assigned tasks on Sparx Reader within the set window.

• Complete at least 85% of their Sparx Maths tasks within the set window.

This adjustment reflects our commitment to fostering good routines of independent learning, which are critical for academic success. By focusing on the core skills of reading and numeracy, we aim to support all learners, regardless of their current ability level, in building a strong foundation for future achievements.

We understand that some students may need additional support in meeting these expectations. To assist with this, the school library is available before and after school, as well as during break and lunch times, where students can access the necessary devices and complete their tasks in a quiet environment.

If your child encounters difficulties accessing Sparx Reader or Sparx Maths, their tutor (for Sparx Reader) or their Maths teacher (for Sparx Maths), will be happy to provide guidance and support.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact their Academic Head of Year in the first instance (see contact details at the end of this letter). 

The first day back

Students will be returning at the usual time of 8:20am on Tuesday 7th January 2025. Staff will be returning a day earlier for a staff training day.

Once again, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone for their support over this last term. I wish you and your family a peaceful and relaxing break, and a Merry Christmas to those of you who will be celebrating.
 

Allan Glover

Principal