Letter to Parents and Carers from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

As we welcomed students back into the academy last week, staff greeted students at doors with such immense pride. It was such a pleasure to see students again and hear their excited chatter as they caught up with friends and started to familiarise themselves with their new timetables and teachers.  Our conversations with our young people prioritise teaching and learning and educating our young people to be responsible citizens.

I hope your children have had a lovely restful summer break and we know they will now be ready to embrace the new school year ahead. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your support in ensuring that students were ready and prepared for their return.

As always, we have set our uniform expectations and standards from the start of the year and we were pleased to note that BMBC (Barnsley Council) has awarded families with £100 to support with uniform costs; not only will this payment help families, it will greatly reduce the amount of loaned uniform for students.

I would like to remind parents that no jewellery should be worn in the academy.  Skirts must always be worn to the knee or just above the knee and planners and equipment are essential to ensure that students are ready to learn.  We will be meeting and greeting students at the doors daily  and taking the opportunity to set the tone for the day. We know the small things make a difference and as always appreciate the huge amount of support that you give your children.  We want students to always look smart and ready to engage in their curricular activities. 

Attendance in the academy is the best it has been in three years and we appreciate the huge amount of work from families supporting this.  Attendance at school impacts on students' outcomes and we can clearly see the evidence of this with the wonderful GCSE results of our Year 11 leavers.

A reminder that all students should be present in form time by 8:25 ready to learn. Our doors open everyday to welcome students for arrival at 8:15.

If students have medical appointments please, wherever possible, schedule these so that they can gain their morning mark and return to school as soon as possible to minimise any lost learning time.

This year is extremely important for our Y11 as they embark on their final year with us.   It is vital that every member of our school community supports our Y11 students.  

Our Y9 students begin their GCSE journey and KS4 is very important.  Please take every opportunity to discuss this with your child.

We have also had the pleasure of welcoming our new Year 7 cohort to the academy. We are delighted that you selected Shafton for your child’s education and we look forward to the next 5 years!

We encourage you to access key information shared via letter before the summer on our website. 

Finally, I would like to remind parents and carers of key contact information and our expectation of conduct when visiting or making contact with the academy.

Thank you as always for your support.

Yours sincerely, 

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Welcome Back Sept 2025.pdf 536 KB