This week we took five of our students on a special visit to New City College – Redbridge. The group were given a tour of the Redbridge campus and had the chance to find out about their post-16 catering courses and see the college’s teaching kitchens in action. This was a great opportunity for students to think about their future careers and training opportunities. At the end of their visit our students were treated to lunch in the teaching restaurant, with delicious food cooked and prepared by the New City College students. All our students were also presented with goody bags and a prospectus at the end of their tour. It was a special day and our students were fantastic ambassadors for Olive AP Academy – Havering. They were inspired by what they saw and learnt about the post-16 catering courses on offer at the college. We were delighted that our students have also been offered an opportunity to return to New City College in the new year to take part in an actual lesson in the teaching kitchens with the college’s chef. We’ll keep you updated…
We are very proud of our staff and students who worked together to create this Remembrance Day display in the academy – complete with clay poppies. Anyone who would like to make a donation can do so on The Royal British Legion’s 2019 Poppy Appeal website.
Our impressive new state-of-the-art classrooms and learning space were officially opened at Olive AP Academy – Havering on Thursday 17 October 2019. The special launch event was attended by the Mayor of Havering, local councillors, staff and members of the community, who enjoyed a tour of the academy building and displays of work created by students. Our student ambassadors did an amazing job, welcoming our special guests, putting on displays in the science lab and teaching kitchens and sharing their work. All the guests commented on what a professional job they did – and how impressed they were in the students’ confidence, attitude to learning and new skills. The refurbishment of the academy was funded by the local authority, London Borough of Havering and includes new classrooms, a science lab, new canteen, a multi-purpose hall, atrium and teaching kitchens. Philip Whall, Chair of the Olive Academies Multi Academy Trust said at the event: “The launch of our refurbished building with amazing new teaching facilities for local young people wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Havering Council. We are proud to be working in partnership with them, ensuring that Havering’s young people have the best possible opportunities to succeed and achieve.” The Mayor of Havering said: “Partnership, pride, passion and good old fashioned hard work have brought about what’s been achieved here at the academy. Seeing the students’ work and achievements and meeting the academy’s young people presents the borough in the most positive light.” The improved building will not only benefit our academy pupils. The facilities are also used to run after-school youth clubs and holiday activities organised by Havering Youth Service. The space is available for hire to the local community for weddings, parties, special events, clubs and sports groups. Facilities can be hired on weekday evenings, weekends and during school holidays, with a discounted rate for community groups and registered charities. More photos from the launch event will be shared here soon!
Olive AP Academy – Havering are settling in well to their fantastic new and improved building – everyone is so proud of it and taking good care of it. Our facilities assistant, Mr Siddiqui, has been working with staff and students on all aspects of maintenance – and we thought you would like to see them busy at work looking after the new academy flowerbeds!
The annual Havering Learning Partnership awards were held last Thursday evening to recognise the progress, best practice and achievements of all Havering schools over the past year. A total of 19 schools, academies and colleges submitted nominations and attended the presentation. Three Olive AP Academy – Havering staff were nominated and we are proud to announce that each of them received an award for their outstanding contribution to the students and work at our academy. Congratulations to Lisa Jobson, Yasin Siddiqui and Joshua Law. The academy was also awarded a special prize in recognition of our recent positive Ofsted Report and the improvements made at our academy over the last year. This prize for Olive AP Academy – Havering was awarded by all local schools involved in the Havering Learning Partnership and the Local Authority. Ray Lawrence, headteacher, collected the award on behalf of all the staff. We are proud of our awards and every one of our staff. What a great night for Olive AP Academy – Havering!
Earlier this week a group of students from our academy had the opportunity to meet Tony Adams – ex-England footballer and Arsenal legend. He came to the academy to meet our students and share his story and life experiences with them. He was truly inspirational. Tony was born in Romford and grew up in Dagenham. He spoke with honesty about the challenges he has faced in his life. We hope his story will help our students believe that their ambitions can become a reality too. We are immensely grateful to Tony for coming to visit Olive AP Academy – Havering – we were all so pleased to have had the chance to meet him and hear his story.
As part of the broad curriculum we offer at our academy, groups of our students take part in Olive Way projects. One of the groups have been busy with outdoor learning, constructing from scratch their own vegetable bed using timber and planting their very first crop of vegetables. Our young people worked hard together and we are proud of what they achieved.
Here is a copy of the letter sent to all parents/ carers following our academy’s recent Ofsted inspection: Dear Parent/Carer, As many of you know, Ofsted inspectors visited Olive AP Academy – Havering on 15th and 16th May 2019 and we are now able to share the final inspection report with you. The report has recognised that the academy is improving and states that “strong and determined leadership has led to significant improvement” over the last 3 years. Inspectors found that safeguarding is effective at the academy and “a high priority in the school”. We would encourage you to read the full report which recognises the scope of the good work going on at the academy. The full report is published on Ofsted’s website: //reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/22/143130 If you would like a paper copy of the report or if you would like the report emailed to you, please contact the academy office. Here are some of the key findings from the report: o Pupils feel safe in school. o Pupils experience a broad and balanced curriculum… with high-quality facilities designed for the teaching of cooking, art and science… o The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. o Leaders model their high expectations of the care and attention that pupils receive. A parent commented that, ‘the headteacher cares about what goes on’. o (Pupils) value their relationship with staff highly and feel supported, respected and listened to. o Disadvantaged pupils make similar progress to, and sometimes better progress than, their peers. This is because of the precise approach to identifying and addressing individuals’ barriers to learning. We feel that the report accurately reflects the positive work going on at the academy and which we are proud of – but it is also fair in its recognition that the quality of teaching is not yet strong enough to bring about consistently strong progress for all pupils in all subjects. We are ambitious for the academy and our pupils and have a robust improvement plan to make sure that we deliver the best possible education for all our pupils. The Ofsted report concluded that the effectiveness of leadership and management was “Good’ but that overall effectiveness of the academy was judged to be “Requires improvement”. The grades that can be awarded by Ofsted are Outstanding (1), Good (2), Requires Improvement (3), Inadequate (4). You can access an Ofsted guide for parents about school inspections here : //www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspections-a-guide-for-parents Our academy improvement plan aims to accelerate teaching improvements and further develop the curriculum which we offer our pupils. We have also appointed four highly experienced new teachers (Maths, Science, PE/Outdoor Learning and Humanities) who will be starting to work with our pupils from September. We are relentless in our determination to provide the high quality teaching and learning experiences our pupils so rightly deserve. Ofsted inspectors recognised in their report that “pupils make expected or better progress in subjects where teaching is strong” and that “Leaders work hard to ensure that all pupils are set challenging targets to achieve well by the end of Year 11.” We would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support and the positive feedback you gave inspectors during their visit to the academy. The inspectors commented in their report that parents and carers of young people attending the academy had told them that they “value the close relationship they have with the school” and “value the schools’ work to prepare pupils for life beyond school.” One parent spoke to inspectors and “commended staff for rebuilding pupils’ confidence and restoring their sense of self-worth. As a result of the school’s work, a parent explained that their child now feels as if they ‘mean something again’.” Our staff were so moved to receive recognition like this of their caring approach to working with the young people in our academy community. Thank you. Ofsted scrutinized every aspect of our work during their latest visit to the academy and their final report shows how the academy is going from strength to strength. At Olive Academies we recognise that when our staff and parents/ carers work closely together we can achieve the best for all our students. We will need your support with one of our priorities for the year ahead – to raise students’ attendance to ensure that every one of our young people has the best chance to achieve the qualifications they need to go on to further study or apprenticeships. We will continue to keep you regularly updated about academy news. If you have any questions about the inspection report please do not hesitate to contact us. We always welcome visits from parents/ carers to the new academy and facilities, do contact the office if you would like to make an appointment. Yours faithfully Ray Lawrence, Headteacher E: Ray.Lawrence@oliveacademies.org.uk Mark Vickers, Executive Headteacher and CEO
, Olive Academies E: Mark.Vickers@oliveacademies.org.uk
