Newsletter 12.02.26

Key Dates

 

Friday 13th February – Valentine’s Pop-Up Swap Shop

Monday 16th – Friday 20th February – Half-term break

Monday 16th February – Year 11 Maths Revision (10am-12pm)

Tuesday 17th February – Year 11 Science Revision (10am-12pm)

Wednesday 18th February – Year 11 English Revision and French Revision (10am-12pm)

Thursday 19th February – Year 11 Drama Revision (10am-3pm)

Friday 20th February – Year 11 Drama Revision (10am-3pm), Year 13 Geography (10am-12pm)

Saturday 21st February – Aladdin Lead cast rehearsal

Monday 23rd February – First day of Term 4

Careers

This week is National Apprenticeships Week. On Thursday, the whole of year 12 participated in an apprenticeships workshop morning hosted by Deloitte, where they learnt more about what apprenticeships are, the different types of apprenticeships on offer, and what the application process is like. On Tuesday morning, year 10 participated in a careers drop-down morning where they learnt about the range of post-16 options, including apprenticeships and heard from apprenticeship providers and current apprentices. Two of the apprentices, Dylan Mahon and Rowan Adcock, were former students of All Saints’ – it was brilliant to get them speaking to students in classrooms and answering questions about what it’s like to follow this pathway. If any year 11 or 13 students are looking to progress into apprenticeships when they leave us, now is the time to be searching for options and applying. Generally, apprenticeships are advertised via https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeshipsearch or Indeed. Some can be found directly on employers’ websites. If any student would like support applying for an apprenticeship or to prepare for an interview or assessment centre, they should come and find Mrs Farrow, who will be happy to help.

Chaplaincy

ASA Prayer Week

Theme: Light of the World

This year’s Prayer Week is centred around the theme “Light of the World.” Throughout this week, students have been invited to reflect on what it means to be a light in today’s world and how each of us can shine in our own unique way.

The chapel has been a hive of activity, with over 500 KS3 students eventually stepping through the doors across the week. It is wonderful to see so many young people engaging thoughtfully and respectfully with the space and the activities prepared for them.

Students have been exploring questions such as:

  • How do we reflect light in our daily lives?
  • What makes each of us different and unique?
  • How can we be a light to others in school, at home, and in our community?
  • Where in the world do we most want to see light shine?

Through prayer stations, quiet reflection, and interactive activities, students have been considering the impact of kindness, courage, compassion, and hope. Many have shared insightful responses about wanting to see light shine in places affected by conflict, poverty, loneliness, and injustice, while also recognising the importance of being a light in the small, everyday moments of school life.

A huge thank you to the volunteers from our local churches who have generously given their time to support this week. Their presence, encouragement, and guidance made a real difference and helped create a welcoming and meaningful experience for our students.

Prayer Week has been a powerful reminder that even small acts of light can make a big difference — and that each of us has a role to play in shining brightly in the world around us.

Blessings

Matt

All Saints’ Academy students impress at CEP Changemakers 

The panel were hugely impressed with our Year 10 students’ idea to launch the ASA Sustainable Uniform Drop-in shop. Our Year 10 student Changemakers team have collected feedback from student voice and Pupil Premium statistics and shared that affording new uniform for ever-growing young people is a huge issue for many families across Cheltenham. The students decided that they wanted funding to set up and launch their Drop In shop to provide a more sustainable, pre-loved and repair system to help students across all year groups with their uniform. The project states that the Changemakers students will communicate with students, families and members of the community to ask for donations of any outgrown pieces of the Academy uniform to be dropped off in the drop-off box in reception. There would be a ‘drop off and donate’ phase at the end of each large term (December, April and July), where a week-long timeline will be provided for families to drop off and donate any outgrown pieces of uniform that students won’t use anymore. The Changemakers team will then use the funding that they have secured to repair and deep-clean all donated items, and then sort them into age groups, presenting them neatly as pre-loved but new items that students can come and collect for free during the ASA Sustainable Drop-In break times. Their application bid included costing for sewing machines, repairing materials, a donation storage box and the initial ‘pop up shop’ launch materials.
 More information will be shared on this soon, but we are so proud of our Academy students for identifying the need for change, for talking with the students to see how they could help out and for using their own initiative and strategic planning to launch what hopes to be a transformative sustainability project.

Congratulations to bronze medallist Paddy!

Written by student journalist Emily Moore.

Year 7 student Paddy recently competed in the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) championships in Belgrade, Serbia following his previous success in the world championship.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport, which combines a variety of fighting techniques and skills from other combat sports. Developing a passion for the sport at such a young age has enabled Paddy to travel and compete for his team and country in hopes of pursuing a career in the sport.

The IMMAF is a governing body of MMA and works on developing, regulating and promoting the sport. It focuses on safety, rules and coaching standards in hopes of one day achieving Olympic recognition.

A win and loss through unanimous decision saw Paddy take home bronze in the competition. He states that he found the overall experience enjoyable and despite his nerves, managed to stay calm and achieved taking home a medal following his successes.

Student success is something we recognise as an Academy, and we strive towards making sure students reach their full potential.

We congratulate Paddy and wish him the best in his future competitions.

Academy Life

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