It is hard to believe that we will soon be celebrating Easter, and a second term in the new Aylesbury Vale Academy will come to pass. Where does the time go?

Staff and students have been working hard adjusting to the many changes and have settled in exceptionally well.  

There has been lots going on and lots to talk about, consequently this blog entry is a little longer than most!

Associate Governing Body

Our Associate Governing Body has now formed comprising of 4 students from each college and from various year groups, making 14 in total. The assigned Chair and Vice Chair are invited to the Academy governing board meetings regularly, representing the ‘voice’ of the Academy students. Not only will selected students benefit from learning how to communicate and debate in public, they will also learn and develop leadership qualities required of a leader and/or governor.

The first meeting, held last December, went very well. After the meeting the student governors briefly met with one of the board, Judith Babb, and shared topical ideas and views. All parties reported to have enjoyed the experience a great deal.

Electives

The students are thoroughly enjoying the electives afternoon on Tuesday, with some great projects underway including a student newsletter, games programming, hockey, rugby, fencing and table tennis.

I have been enjoying taking a cohort to the Aylesbury Squash club where we have been extremely fortunate to receive training from an England squash coach, Tricia Malliff. A noticeable difference can be seen in the students level of performance, as a direct result, which is fantastic.

New Build 2012 Design Users Group (DUG)

As part of the ongoing plans for the Academy new build in 2012 a consultation group, the DUG group, including myself, selected Academy staff and students, Gordon Joyner (Oxford Diocese), Robin Tuset (Development Officer for Commissioning and Business Improvement at Bucks County Council), and Tina Cobden (Business Leader, Bucks County Council), will meet on a regular basis to share and discuss design ideas on the new building and infrastructure. Our first meeting, last November, proved very productive. Some excellent ideas are evolving which will be shared with the project engineers and architects.

My Screen Debut!

At the end of last year I was approached to see if The Academy would feature in a new induction film, commissioned by Bucks County Council, for new starters at the council. Bucks County Council were keen to feature an “innovative educational establishment” and knew that we would deliver exactly what they required.

Consequently a film crew arrived late in December and filmed staff, including myself and students around the Academy. Once the film has been released I will post a copy up to this blog.

Snowdonia Charity Challenge – June 12th

A tough challenge is on the horizon for myself and a three other Academy staff members - Mr Poland, Mr Bacon and Miss Hennessey. We have all greed to raise money for Regain – a charity for sport tetraplegics, by participating in the Snowdonia Challenge. A challenge that  involves cycling a 40-mile route around Mt Snowdon, climbing Mt Snowdon itself and finally canoeing a course on Lake Gwynant. We are all now in training for what will be a very demanding event. Please show your support by visiting our website  here www.theacademy.me/latestnews.htm and read more about this challenge.

Year 7 Birthday Celebrations – ‘Tea with the Principal’

Every month any year 7 student celebrating a birthday that month are invited to my office for tea and cakes. I really enjoy chatting with the students and sharing a little ‘time out’.

Night at the Musicals

I must mention the success of the drama production last December, A Night at the Musicals. Congratulations to cast, crew and Miss Stoddart, for a fantastic, fun, energetic show which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Options Evening

I am pleased to advise that our recent options evening held at the Academy was a success with a positive response from both year 9 and year 11 students. We currently have 57 applications from Year 11 students showing an interest in returning to our sixth form which is great news. So far, as I write this, all year 9 students have their first choices for options.

Academy Visits

Recently we were visited by All Saints Academy (Dunstable), who came to share ideas and best practices and to have a look at some of our innovation room.

Taunton Academy plan to visit soon.

… and finally

Thats all for now. Keep an eye on my blog for future updates. Do not forget, if you have a question go to the Q & A page on the Academy website and complete the  ‘Ask the Principal Question’ form. All questions will receive a response and some will be published.

Mr Johnson.