End of Year Letter 2025

Dear Parents/Carers,

As we approach the end of a busy academic year, I always like to take time to celebrate what we have achieved as a school community and would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the support you have given the school.

The students have been a true credit to all parents and carers.  I am proud of how the Hanham Woods community continues to work together in partnership to deliver excellence, build trust and raise aspirations for all. The role that you play as a parent/carer in supporting and working with the school is highly valued by all staff and is a large part of why we are able to be successful.

I am delighted and excited to be taking on the leadership of Hanham Woods Academy over the next twelve months and look forward to continuing to work with you next year as we continue our mission of giving every student the best chance of success.

End of Academic Year 2024/25 Arrangements

Term 6 will end on Tuesday 22^nd July 2025 as per our school calendar.  School will close early at 12 noon.  Students that are entitled to free school meals will be able to collect their lunch at break time. Students will be expected to attend in full school uniform.

GCSE Results Day

We take great pride in the achievements of our students in the national summer examinations every year and look forward to celebrating the application, commitment and dedication of our students and the support of parents and carers as they receive their GCSE results.

GCSE Results Day is on Thursday 21^st August 2025.  Year 11 Students will be able to collect their results between 9.30am-11:00am.

Start of Academic Year 2025/26 Arrangements

The new academic year will begin on Wednesday 3rd September 2025.  To support students’ transition into the new academic year we have planned for a phased return to school.  Please see details below of the start dates and times for each year group:

School Day Structure Update – Tutor Time

Following valuable parental feedback, we have further developed how we plan to deliver our tutor programme within the new school day to ensure that we are able to deliver sessions to the highest possible standard setting students up for success at the start of each day. 

 Routines and Expectations for Next Academic Year

As we return to school in September, I wanted to share with you some of the key expectations we have of our students at Hanham Woods Academy and thank you in advance for supporting them to meet these expectations every day:

Uniform – for our full uniform policy please see the Academy website policies section. Please note that for 2025/26 students can wear black shoes or plain black trainers to the Academy. We will always seek to work with students and families to resolve uniform concerns. Where your child is unable to attend wearing full uniform it is essential that parents/carers pro-actively contact us to enable us to provide the necessary support.

Equipment – All students are required to bring their own stationery equipment into school. Students are required to have their own pen, pencil, ruler and scientific calculator which is checked by tutors each morning. Subject staff are unable to lend students equipment through the day, arriving fully equipped enables students to access their learning fully every lesson.

Attendance, lateness and registration – All students are expected to attend school every day as this will enable them to be successful in securing good grades. The school day begins at 8:35am. The site will be open for students to access from 8:15am. Any student that arrives to school between 8:35am and 9:05am will receive a late mark and receive a lunch time detention. Any student that arrives to school after 9:05am will be considered absent for morning registration and will receive a U mark. This will affect your child’s attendance data at school and could lead to school attendance procedures being triggered.

Mobile phones and earphones – are not permitted to be used on site during the school day between the hours of 8:35am -3:00. If these items are seen during the day, students will be asked to hand them to a member of staff who will secure them safely in the main office. Items will be returned to students at the end of the school day. Refusal to hand these items over will result in students being referred to our inclusion area until the device is handed in and a 30 minute same day after academy detention will be issued

Homework – from September 2025 we will no longer be suing Satchel One for homework, we will instead be using MCAS. Further information will be shared parents/carers and students in term 1.

It is important that we continue to work together as a home-school partnership to ensure all our students are successful and happy.

I would like to thank you all again for your continued support and wish all the school community a safe, restful and enjoyable summer.  I look forward to seeing you all again in September.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Ballard