4 March 2024
Dear Parents / Carers
As an Academy we are always looking for ways to work with our parents and carers to ensure that all Erdington Academy students get the most out of their time with us.
We understand and appreciate that our students live and learn in two worlds, home, and school. Therefore, it is important to ensure how the two connect and communicate is as effective as possible so that students achieve their final goal of learning and achieving.
In this week’s letter I will be outlining some of the ways we can work together so that your child is maximising the opportunities available within and from the Academy.
Communication
You can find out what is happening in the Academy in a variety of ways. The main vehicle we use to communicate with parents/carers is via the My Child at School App (MCAS). The MCAS app will tell you day to day information such as your child’s timetable, attendance to date as well as sending you important notifications and announcements. The MCAS app not only pushes important information out to you but is also a means for you to communicate directly with the Academy. The MCAS enquiry box is monitored daily, with all the enquiries received being forwarded on your behalf to the relevant staff. As well as the MCAS app, you can stay abreast of all communication sent via the Academy website and social media accounts.
Curriculum
At Erdington Academy we believe that the curriculum includes both the taught and the untaught. The “taught” curriculum are the subjects that your child follows on their timetable and the “untaught” curriculum are all the many clubs that happen before, during and after school. You can support your child in both aspects of their school life in numerous ways. A simple way to find out what your child is learning about at any given time, is to look at the Academy website. Each term we upload Home Learning Collaboration Documents for all the subjects. These documents give you a concise overview of the learning, along with practical strategies, key words, and activities that you can do as a family to extend the learning. These documents are a great conversation starter and a way to show an interest in your child’s learning. In addition to this, you can support develop your child’s “untaught” curriculum by encouraging them to join in with at least one of the many activities which are put on, before, during and after the Academy’s usual hours.
Collaboration
We understand that life can be hectic and busy, for all parents, but we very much want all our parents and carers to know and feel that we value the time and effort you put into coming to all the Academy events, from parents’ evening, to plays to sporting fixtures. We recently launched the Parent Teachers Association (PTA,) which has got off to a tremendous start and encourage anyone who might be interested in volunteering to be part of this. We also want all parents to know that your opinion counts, we thank each parent who takes the time to complete the parental survey’s and attends the parental forums. If you have not been involved in any of these, please do. We are monitoring your feedback closely and use it to help shape some of the decisions we make. Please continue to share both the things that you think we can improve and let us know about the things that are working for you and your family.
If you would like any further information on any of the resources or things that you can use to support your child and maximise their learning, please ask. In the meantime, please see below a summary of tangible things you can do to support your child to get the best out of their education.
- Look out for Academy communication via the MCAS app, website, or social media.
- Look out for notices and posters for parents/carers.
- Try and make it to Academy events, such as plays, sporting events and parents’ evenings.
- Encourage your child to attend as many extracurricular activities as they can.
- Talk to your child about what they are learning and their future aspirations.
- Take an active interest in what your child is learning about and carry out some of the activities suggested on the home learning collaboration documents.
- Have your say, by attending parents’ forums and completing the parental surveys when they are sent out.
- Let us know if you are worried about anything. We will always try and help.
I would like to thank you again for all you do to work with the Academy. I would also like to reiterate that the next training day will take place on Monday 8th April 2024.
Best wishes
Ms Cross
Vice Principal
