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Letters

Below you will find the latest school letters, alongside an archive of past communications.

Paper copies and letters issued before autumn 2020 are available on request.

Our most recent letter is pasted below to allow for easy translation for non-English speaking families.

13th December 2024


Dear Parents/Carers
You will be aware of “hoax” calls made to the Academy in recent weeks as part of an effort to disrupt learning at Rockwood.
We, of course, take seriously any threatening behaviour towards our students or staff, and have been in contact with the police regularly over the last fortnight. These “hoax” calls have disrupted the education of hundreds of children, as well as causing considerable distress to students and staff, and wasting police time and resources.
I can inform you that the police have made an arrest for last week’s disruption and their investigations remain ongoing.
I want to reassure you that I will not tolerate any further disruption to your children’s education, therefore Rockwood Academy will only be evacuating or closing in future if specifically advised to by the police. Otherwise, school will continue as normal.
In the interests of transparent and full communication, I would like to invite you to a meeting this Tuesday 17th December at 10.00am at the school, where I will give further information and next steps on how we will keep all our pupils safe. If you wish to attend, please arrive by 9.45am at Main Reception.
This event will be attended by PC Darren-Lee Fletcher, the police liaison for the school, who will talk alongside me and be able to answer any questions you may have from a policing point of view.
I’d like to thank you all for your understanding and support over a challenging period, and stress once again that our top priority is the safety and wellbeing of our pupils, and their continued educational progress.


If you have any questions which you would prefer to discuss in advance of next week’s event, please feel free to contact me via reception.


With all best wishes,


Richard Reeve
Headteacher

10th December 2024


Dear Parents and Carers
Your child will be given their academic report to bring home on Monday 16th December 2024 in Form Time. This will detail their current working at grade in Year 10 or their stages of excellence in Year 7, 8 and 9 towards their targets, their attitude to learning and their attendance. All our students have sat reading tests to ascertain their
reading age, this is now included in their report. This age should be in line with current age, if not please encourage independent reading and the use of Reading Plus below.
I would like to remind parents that all students have login details to the following learning platforms free of charge to support independent study and homework.
Please email individual subject teacher if there are issues with login details.
www.classcharts.com – details merits, behaviour overview, timetables and corrections. All parents must have access to this.
www.languagenut.com – Spanish and French grammar, phonics and vocabulary practice.
www.readingplus.co.uk – English reading practice and fluency (all students should complete a minimum of 1 hour per week as homework in year 7,8,9).
www.mathswatch.co.uk – online lessons of Maths tuition, along with expert videos, quizzes and exam resources.
www.kayscience.com – online lessons of science tuition, along with expert videos, quizzes and exam resources.
Do visit our website under ‘curriculum’ to see what your child will be studying or has studied in each subject. Each area has an individual page with further useful websites to support home learning.
We want to enable our families to support their child to secure excellent outcomes, every lesson, every day is a stepping stone to success. Using the curriculum maps to identify content and then the above websites to learn, practice and revise will support home and independent learning.
I look forward to seeing the increase in completion rates for our students with your support. Our Parent Evenings are detailed on our website and the next academic report will be released in the summer term.
If you have any further suggestions on how we can support our families and student learning, please do get in
touch.


Yours sincerely


Ms V Creedon
Deputy Headteacher

3rd December 2024

Dear parents and carers,
I wanted to write and update you as soon as possible following earlier communications.
Taking pupils out of school is a decision that is never made lightly as we are keenly aware of the impact on students and their families.
However, today we received what turned out to be a hoax explosives threat which we acted on immediately. Having liaised with the police, we took the precaution of evacuating the school, and sending students home as we could not guarantee the safety of our students until police checks had been carried out on site.
These have now been completed, and police have confirmed that the site is secure and safe.
Following this, School will open as normal tomorrow. Please send students to school tomorrow at the normal time.
I completely understand the concern this may have caused you, but I hope you can understand that the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff will always be our top priority. I believe it is only right that we took this matter extremely seriously and we will be supporting the police with any further investigations into the background of the hoax threat.


Yours sincerely


Richard Reeve
Headteacher

25th October 2024


Dear Parents/Carers and Students
HAPPY, SAFE HALLOWEEN/BONFIRE NIGHT – REMINDER FROM WEST MIDLANDS POLICE
With the darker nights fast approaching, it is important that students are reminded what we, as a school community, expect of them in terms of behaviour.
Parents/carers and students should already be aware that as part of our safeguarding arrangements, the school has a two-way information sharing agreement in place with West Midlands Police, and we are active members of the local Police & Schools Panel. This joint approach helps us to intervene early to prevent and reduce crime and anti-social behaviour involving our students and provide support and upto-date safety messages.
In partnership with the police, we would also like to remind our students about the following: –

  • Anti-social behaviour: Halloween can be a scary time for people who don’t like surprises or callers at their door. Think about how your actions and behaviour affect others; elderly and vulnerable people may be frightened by ‘trick or treat’ – only approach houses that have been decorated for the occasion, as they are potentially inviting callers to the door.
  • Personal Safety:
    Be aware of your surroundings, take care of friends and family members and keep
    valuables (such as smartphones/watches/headphones) out of public view whenever
    possible.
    For apple devices parents/carers can active ‘Find My’ which includes Activation Lock – A
    feature that is designed to prevent anyone else from using your iPhone, iPad, or iPod
    touch, if it’s ever lost or stolen. Activation Lock turns on automatically when you turn on
    ‘Find My’ on your device – more details on this feature are available here: Activation Lock for iPhone and iPad – Apple Support – Google have ‘ Find my Device’ & android
    manufacturers also offer similar location apps (Samsung have ‘Find’ for example) these
    can be found on the Google ‘Play store’.
    Don’t drink alcohol, take illegal drugs or unknown substances; they can have a big impact on your health and safety, behaviour, and your ability to do well at school and enjoy other interests and activities. They can also be addictive and have unpredictable side effects and could even have fatal consequences – Information is available at
    www.talktofrank.com
  • Social Media: Don’t allow your use of social media to put you at risk of grooming, exploitation, or regret in future. Use social media positively and avoid being negative about anyone online as comments/actions may be traced back to you and you will be held accountable.
  • Weapons in public places: Carrying a knife or other weapon will get you a criminal record which can have life-long effects on travel and job prospects. Those who carry knives are also much more likely to be injured by them. Don’t take BB Guns, Gel Blasters/Guns, or any other real looking toy guns into public spaces as these can cause alarm to the public – which could receive a Police Firearms response.
  • Off-road bikes: These can only be ridden on private land with the landowner’s permission. Don’t risk your life and future prospects by illegally riding these on the road.
  • E-Scooters: In the UK, you must be at least 18 years old and hold a provisional or full driving licence to ride a hire e- scooter. A privately owned e-scooter can only be used in a private place with the landowner’s permission; they are illegal to use on a road or in a public place.
  • Remember the company you keep: If your friend breaks the law, your association with that
    person may have legal consequences for you, which could be very serious – even if you weren’t the one directly responsible.
    If a student is in a position where they need help, they should talk to an adult they trust. Crimes can be reported directly to the police via 101; alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org. If a crime is taking place or a life is in danger, call 999 immediately.
    Yours faithfully
    Mr R Reeve
    Headteacher
    Rockwood Academy

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