And like that the summer holidays (and the summer weather) have come to an end and our schools are gearing up for another year. The walls have been decorated, the classrooms are equipped and we’re raring to go!
With an inset day today, here at North Star Academy Trust we welcome back half of our students tomorrow and the other half on Monday in order to ease our young people back into the school routine. A long break from school or work can be difficult for children and adults alike and for some of our students this time away from their safe space of school and the key relationships they have with staff members can be very challenging. This makes it so important for us as a trust to make the start of term as easy as possible for our pupils by being welcoming, enthusiastic and excited whilst maintaining the firm boundaries we had set last year.
We hope that this year NSAT can continue to grow and improve the provision we offer our students and create more and more opportunities for them in our schools. We are excited to be launching a different package to a group of students who have found engaging with a more typical curriculum delivery model very difficult. These young people will be part of our Horfield House project. They will be spending some time in very personalised core learning but they’ll also be developing their self-esteem, independence, resilience and trust in others through activities. The activities will take place at Mendip Outdoor Pursuits Centre – involving climbing, caving, using the forest, making meals & tackling various challenges. Our new base in Horfield isn’t ready for us to move into yet so we’ve got a temporary base in the Sea Cadets building, TS Enterprise, in Shirehampton. Whilst there, we’ll be using the amazing facilities in the local area as well as following accreditation in core subjects and learning about work-related skills.
In the current social climate, it is certainly going to be a tough year for everyone and we can’t ignore this. School budgets will be under pressure and our staff and young people will all be challenged by what is going on in the country at the moment. However, this just means we need to work even harder to support our students in every way possible and continue to provide them with a safe and secure environment and the opportunities that they deserve.
NSAT would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate our year 11s on their GCSE results. In total, they received 13 GCSEs at grade 4 and above in the subjects maths, english, science, art and business studies. The year group also achieved a number of vocational qualifications in construction, IT and catering, as well as several entry level passes. As a whole, the group left NSAT having achieved 42 qualifications which is amazing! The students will now be going onto colleges such as City of Bristol, SGS, Reflections and Weston College to do courses ranging from Hairdressing, Animal Management, Construction and Art & Design. Massive well done to all ten of our students and we wish you all the best for the future. Please come back and see us!
