Good Luck Year 13!

We were honoured to host a wonderful leaving ceremony for our Year 13 pupils this morning!

Staff and pupils joined together in our Sixth Form Centre to celebrate all that these pupils have achieved and their aspiration for the future. The celebration commenced with refreshments and reminiscing about school life since joining Chase Terrace Academy in Year 7, continuing on with a formal presentation of prizes and trophies.

Subject prizes were presented for every subject taught across our broad curriculum offer and special recognition trophies were presented for outstanding contribution to whole school leadership and extracurricular contributions. 

Pupils received a ‘Poems for Life’ book and it is hoped they will cherish this as a token of our appreciation; referring to it at important points during in their lives.

Mr R Giles, Head of Sixth Form said “We are confident that these bright young adults will flourish in the future in their undergraduate courses, apprenticeships and ongoing careers. It has been enjoyable and rewarding to support these pupils through their Post-16 education.”

Tutors were thanked by way of cards and presents, for further supporting pupils with their personal development. The assembly ended with a speech, thanking this brilliant cohort of pupils for all that they have contributed to our school and community. 

Good luck Year 13!

We love to learn in and outside of the…

To support Year 7 pupils’ study their Ecosystem topic over the Summer term, two trips to Twycross Zoo have taken place this week. The experience offered pupils the chance to visit animals, speak to keepers about how they have adapted to live within their habitats and learn about conservation and biodiversity.

Pictured is Freya W, Mia W, Nieve J and Kody-Lee O who particularly enjoyed seeing the animals. 

Miss O Van Den Bergh, Teacher of Geography and organiser of the trip, said “I arranged the trip to support pupils in understanding key topics and provide them with an experience they would always remember. All pupils were excellent CTA Ambassadors and it was especially pleasing to hear so many asking articulate and interesting questions throughout the day”.

Sixth Form Committee is voted in!

Pupils vote to appoint a ‘Sixth Form Committee’ every year, who support our Head of Sixth Form to organise events, arrange charity fundraisers and assist in maintaining our Post-16 learning environment.

Voting took place earlier this week and we are delighted to announce the following pupils have been appointed:

• Michael C, Chair or Committee
• Alex R, Chair Secretary
• Phoebe C, Social Secretary
• Jackson M, Accommodation Secretary
• Heidi W, Accommodation Secretary

Mr R Giles, Head or Sixth Form said “This is a fantastic opportunity for pupils to develop leadership skills and gain valuable experience, supporting future employment or UCAS applications. I am really looking forward to working with another committee!”

Pupils are excited to make a strong start and will firstly, arrange a charity sport fundraiser at the end of this academic year. The event will be aimed at raising money for a local community charity and to continue to maintain their newly refurbished Sixth Form Centre.

‘Thankful Thursday’ is here!

A programme developed for senior leaders to meet with pupils on a weekly basis to recognise and show appreciation for individual contributions that have made a difference to our school community and key stakeholders.

Miss L Roach, Associate Assistant Headteacher met with George H, Molly N, Harry C, Jasper C and Jayden S to thank them for establishing and developing the ethos of our ‘Pupil Leadership Team’. As they come to the end of their tenure, they have been recognised for working with senior leaders to deliver a range of projects in relation to teaching and learning; community and charity work; mental health and wellbeing and improving the school environment.     

George H, Year 11 pupil said “I have really enjoyed working closely with staff to make changes that improve our school. Working with Mr M Newman, Deputy Headteacher was the most rewarding. I really enjoyed consulting with our entire school community to develop our new school values that will be launched soon.”

Miss L Roach, Associate Assistant Headteacher said “These pupils have been fundamental in delivering projects such as the relaunch of our school logo in September 2021, identifying and training a team of pupil Wellbeing Ambassadors and installing water dispensers around school. It was a pleasure to celebrate these achievements with them!”

Re-Launch of the Pupil Leadership Team at Chase Terrace…

We are honoured to have an exceptional ‘Pupil Leadership Team’ at Chase Terrace Academy. The core team have become firmly established as our whole school ‘Pupil Voice’ and work with staff to make a difference to every day school life and our community stakeholders.

Miss H Pickerill has been appointed as our Pupil Leadership Coordinator and is passionate about getting more pupils involved. To support this vision and to facilitate more pupils having a greater sense of responsibility, the team has been expanded and restructured to include lead roles such as Head Pupil and Deputy Head Pupil.

We have now successfully recruited over 60 new pupils and generated a number of committees, responsible for different areas of school life such as community and charity; teaching and learning and facilities. Each committee will work with a designated member of the senior team, to deliver projects identified by pupils, that will make a difference to our school and community.

Pictured is Jamie B, Olivia T, Grace D, Ben OW, Trek V, Jay W and Dylan H  who represent a few members of the team. All of the pupils are enthusiastic and have created a real buzz around our school. They are coming up with lots of ideas for consideration and getting involved in projects such as reviewing the school’s catering provision.    

Miss H Pickerill, Pupil Leadership Coordinator said “I have been overwhelmed by the number of pupils expressing an interest in being part of our Pupil Leadership Team. It is amazing to see so many wanting to make a positive impact and I am excited to share more about their progress and achievements in the future!”

Former pupil delivers inspirational Medicine talk to the next…

George Brown, a former Sixth Form pupil who is currently studying medicine at Cambridge University, was invited to attend Chase Terrace Academy to deliver a presentation to some pupils in Years 7-10 this morning.   

George spoke about his journey to date and his passion for Neurology and specifically his interest in researching Parkinson’s disease. In addition to the academic requirements, he asked pupils what they thought were the personal skills which were needed to study medicine and what was the number one complaint which patients had.  The biggest complaint was that patients didn’t feel listened to. George talked to pupils about how they could develop this skill in addition to communication, empathy and resilience.

He spoke about the importance of participating in personal and social development through different hobbies and activities including the Duke of Edinburgh Award and gaining some work experience. George told pupils that medicine will always continue to advance. This is something that he loves as it means that training and education will be a constant throughout his career and that he will always continue to learn new things. 

Feedback from students has been superb and they found George’s presentation interesting, approachable and inspiring.   

Mrs Poppleton, Director of Careers, said: ‘We are so very lucky to have former pupils like George who want to return and share their careers journey. George was really honest about the challenges and demands of studying medicine but his passion for this industry has inspired our pupils to aim high and achieve their dreams.’

Smallpeice Trust and HS2 STEM Workshops at Chase Terrace…

Stations of the future- A team-based design activity where pupils competed to design a futuristic train station considering future trends and the needs of all customers.

Tunnel Building- Pupils designed, constructed and tested a supporting structure for a cut and cover tunnel.

Rail Rush- An educational board game-like activity which encouraged pupils to consider the environmental and community impact of high-speed rail construction.

Mr P Wood, Smallpeice Trust said ‘I have been truly amazed at the high levels of enthusiasm, participation and engagement from the pupils. The teamwork, skills and creative ideas have really impressed me. Coming into Chase Terrace Academy and working with your pupils has genuinely made my week!’   

One parent contacted us to say thank you for giving pupils this fantastic opportunity. Their child in particular, was full of enthusiasm after participating and felt they had developed and built skills to the extent they were interested in pursuing a career in STEM!

Mrs Poppleton, Director of Careers said: ‘Pupils clearly gained a huge amount from this day. It was incredibly valuable for our pupils and it raised their awareness of the huge amount of STEM opportunities available to them.’

Pupils at Chase Terrace Academy achieve CSCS accreditation

As part of the Raising Aspirations Programme, several Year 11 students have completed a 6 week training course delivered in partnership with QTT (Quality Transport Training Ltd) based in Lichfield. This training programme has supported students in achieving a Level 1 award in Health and Safety in a Construction Environment qualification along with the CSCS Green Card. This will allow access to building and construction sites as an operative.

The 6 week training course delivered by QTT covered all areas of construction, including health and safety, risk assessments, PPE, manual handling, safety signs and fire prevention.

Students completed workbook modules and practice tests before the final session where they sat their level 1 assessment. This was followed by a touchscreen test at a Pearson centre to qualify for their CSCS green cards.

Carrie Cain, Assistant Headteacher said ‘We are very proud of our students. They have proven to themselves that they can achieve anything if they are determined to succeed. This programme has given students a unique opportunity to develop their employability skills and prepare for future employment and we hope to get more students involved next year.’