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Two of our Year 11 students have started at boarding schools this September having secured scholarships for their sixth form education. Shea Carter has started at Pangbourne College and Shannon McGlade is at Dean Close School.
It's been an action packed summer and return to the Academy, with lots of visits, events and of course, celebrating the successes of both our outgoing GCSE students and our new Year 7 cohort.
I am delighted to be able to say that we’ve had a fantastic start to the new academic year. Our new Year 7 students have arrived with real excitement and have settled really well into their new surroundings. Furthermore, the other year groups have returned ready to begin the year positively.
As we ushered in a new academic year, there was an air of excitement and anticipation that filled the hallways of our academy. September 6th marked the first day for Year 7 students at Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent, and it was a day filled with bright smiles, smart attire, and the promise of a remarkable journey ahead.
Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent's class of 2023 gathered today to collect their GCSE results. This special day marks the end of many years of determination and resilience on the part of our students. We are proud of all their achievements and pleased to see how these results open up places at colleges, sixth forms and apprenticeships.
We are so pleased to announce that we have yet again been successful in achieving the prestigious nationally recognised 360 Online Safety Mark. We have been accredited for another 3 years and can celebrate our good online safety policy and good practice. We have met or exceeded all benchmark national standards in 28 aspects of online safety that the award assesses, under the 4 main categories: Policy & Leadership, Infrastructure, Education, Standards & Inspection. This is an opportunity to celebrate how we manage Online Safety and all the great ways we keep ourselves safe.
As part of the Academy’s reading for fluency programme, all students in Years 7, 8 & 9 are currently reading ‘Fight Back’ by A.M. Dassu. A special video, created by the author for the Academy, will be shown to all students next week. The 60 students who have most engaged with the book will also be invited to virtual workshops with the author on Wednesday 14th December, where they’ll have the opportunity to hear about the inspiration behind the book and to ask their own questions. We are really looking forward to virtually meeting A.M. Dassu and learning about her writing and the plans for her next book.
As part of our wide-ranging extra-curricular offer, every week students descend on the Maths Department for a super competitive afternoon of chess! Playing against other students and challenging teachers, the club is open to new players and experienced competitors alike.
The popular club is run by Ms Godwin, our Lead practitioner and Specialist Leader of Education; “Chess is always a game I loved since school. It was joining the chess club with my headteacher at primary school that really sparked my interest, then entering local competitions made it fun.
“It gets really competitive, I have learned a new skill and I really enjoy playing against teachers and other students”.
KS3 MEMBER OF CHESS CLUB
So when I got the opportunity to do a chess club again at school, I jumped at the chance. It’s not just students who come, it’s staff as well! We are currently practicing and the group is growing week by week. There are a couple more sessions for kids to really get into learning how to play if they are nervous, or just up their skills, then we are going to start a mini competition in the group. We would love to play other schools in the summer term!”
Well done to everyone involved, and we’re looking forward to those upcoming competitions! You can learn more about our extra-curricular offer by clicking below:
Thank you to Stoke Reads and Kreative Foundations, who led a creative writing workshop with a group of Year 7 & 8 students from the Academy on Monday 21st November. With a range of tools and activities, the students developed their writing skills; learned that no idea is to odd to be useful and realised that sometimes the ideas we want to throw into the bin can lead to the most interesting stories!
The Academy students will use their new skills to develop a creative writing competition for Year 5 and 6 children from across the city. Alongside developing a theme and designing all of the promotional materials, the group will deliver workshops to support the younger children with their ideas and with practical writing tips. They are really looking forward to the next stage of development in December – and to announcing the competition in January.
We are hosting our annual Christmas Fair on Friday 9th December from 4.30-6.30pm.
The event is open to everyone and there will be a variety of stall, games and refreshments. In addition, there will be a book-signing from our talented young authors.
We need your help! We would like a pre loved toy stall & raffle prizes (must been in good working order and prizes must be unused)
If you are able to help us please send your donations into the Co-op Academy FAO Mrs Garrity & CYL.
Year 7 have been putting their scientific skills to great use, completing a practical experiment investigating bacterial growth on an agar plate. With very obvious real world applications, the students focused on how the spread of pathogens are spread, and specifically how bacteria can be prevented by looking at the effect of sanitiser.
Mrs Woodward, our Head of Science, promotes experiments and practical lessons wherever possible across the curriculum, saying: “Practicals help students to develop important skills, understand the process of scientific investigation and enable students to learn scientific knowledge and how science works in the real world.”
“Practicals help students to develop important skills, understand the process of scientific investigation and enable students to learn scientific knowledge and how science works in the real world.”
Mrs Woodward, Head of Science Faculty
Learn more about our Science curriculum below:
