Year 9 students have enjoyed an extra English lesson with visiting lecturer Dr Claudia Capancioni of Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln. Dr Capancioni spent the day at The West Grantham Church of England Secondary Academy, delivering a series of talks for groups of Year 9 students, teaching the whole year group in one day.

This term Year 9 have been studying examples of travel writing from a range of contemporary writers in their English lessons. In her inspiring talks, Dr Capancioni helped students to learn more about the origins of travel writing through its literary heritage. She  explored ways in which we can identify key features of the genre, and considered how both fiction and non-fiction writers represent travel for their readers. Students worked together to study some examples of nineteenth century fiction writers using features of the travel writing genre, including extracts written by Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker.

The talks also gave students an opportunity to find out more about academic life as Dr Capancioni explained her role as Programme Leader for English at BGU, and described her recent research into travel literature. Many students who are interested in teaching as a career enjoyed the chance to find out more about the world of work beyond school.

Neil Paddison, Curriculum Team Leader for English at The West Grantham Church of England Secondary Academy, said “Our Year 9 students were really grateful for the opportunity to learn more about travel writing from an academic expert.” He also said that Dr Capancioni had generously taken time to talk with English department staff after the talks, helping them to develop their resources to support Year 9 further still.

The talks were arranged by Wayne Martini, Head of Voltaire House at The West Grantham Church of England Secondary Academy, and funded by LiNCHigher, a local partnership of organisations whose aim is to increase aspirations amongst young people and improve access to Higher Education across Lincolnshire.

A group of eight Year 8 students have taken part in the annual Shakespeare School Festival.

The students performed ‘All the World’s a Stage’ at the Lincoln Drill Hall.

Miss O’Malley said, ‘The students performed fantastically, I was very proud of them all’.

SSF Feedback

Staff have been busy cataloging over 1600 books, redecorating and putting up shelves in readiness for the launch of our new library.

Books will be added to the library, including latest releases, popular graphic novels and books recommended by students.

Shortly we will be having induction sessions for all students to guide them how to use the library so that they can undertake research and access resources.

Mrs Bainbridge has very kindly painted a reading tree for students to leave their reviews and recommendations.

An experienced school leader has been appointed to help further improve the academy.

Mark Fowle has been appointed interim Chief Executive Officer by West Grantham Academies Trust, responsible for this school and Bluecoat Meres Primary.

Mr Fowle has over 36 years’ experience of working in schools, with more than 13 years as a successful Headteacher in Lancashire and most recently leading William Lovell in Lincolnshire, which enjoyed significant improvements under his leadership. He brings expertise in school improvement and he is passionate about providing the best possible education for every child.

The appointment follows the end of the Trust’s relationship Archway Learning Trust.

Interim Chair of the Board of Directors, Jackie Waters-Dewhurst said: “We would like to place on record our thanks to Archway for all it has done to bring about sustainable improvements at Bluecoat Meres and Bluecoat Meres Primary academies and for its help during a period of change.

“The Trust is now in a position to provide long term, sustainable improvements for Bluecoat Meres and Bluecoat Meres Primary academies.

“We are pleased to have appointed Mark Fowle as interim Chief Executive Officer. He brings an enormous amount of leadership experience and a proven track record of turning around schools.

“The Board is determined to focus on the future and provide the best possible education for our children.

“To that end, it looks forward to working with the new interim CEO, staff, parents and the rest of the school community as we continue to make positive strides in our improvement journey.”

On Friday 26 April, twelve lucky students enjoyed a masterclass in presentation skills from Nick Boles, Member of Parliament for Grantham and Stamford.

Mr Boles made a special visit to the academy to help students preparing for their Speaking and Listening assessments.  He gave two unscripted talks on topics chosen by the students, then discussed the pros and cons of both speeches.

Mr Paddison (Curriculum Team Leader – English) said, “It is so rare for students to get a chance to be taught about rhetoric by a serving MP!  Our students really enjoyed the session and everyone said they felt more confident about their assessments thanks to Mr Boles.”

Seats for our annual celebration of extraordinarily talented students are available to book now by clicking on this link:

We have a fantastic night lined up, showcasing singers, dancers, bands, actors and much more.

Who will triumph on the big night?  Join us to find out!

Talent Show April 2019

We were thrilled to nominate Hope Temperton (Y10) for the prestigious School Physicist of the Yearaward, on behalf of the University of Lincoln and the Ogden Trust.

On Friday 18 January, Miss Buffham and Mr Butt accompanied Hope and her family to the awards ceremony, where she was celebrated for her hard work and resilience despite facing adversity during the autumn term.

The night also included a wonderful talk delivered by Dr Phil Sutton on the possibility of life on other planets and how we might go looking for this, as well as how to discover planets in other solar systems and measure their atmospheres.

We were very proud to celebrate Hope’s achievements and raise her aspirations through this awards evening.