Headteacher’s Message

Christmas is a time of peace and hope; it is for many a time of reflection and looking forward. As we reflect on our calendar year at Staindrop, we are overjoyed to celebrate the successes of so many of our pupils, whether it be through curricular or extra-curricular activities, our students embody our ethos of ‘We Are All Wonders’ and it is a fantastic time of year to celebrate this with them.

As ever, the first term of the academic year has been incredibly busy: welcoming our new  Year 7 cohort; helping our Year 11 students prepare for their GCSE year with their mock assessments; our Wonder Morning events; Careers and Further Education events; in school and out of school rewards experiences; ALP Advantage subject days; Sports Leader Events; Student councils and transition programme… the list goes on!

None of this is possible without the hard work and dedication of the whole staff body, teaching and non-teaching, and I thank them for their continued support of Staindrop Academy.

We look forward to the new year and the exciting opportunities this holds for Staindrop. Thank you for your support of the academy and I wish you and your families an enjoyable Christmas break, and health and happiness for 2024.

Mrs Mitchinson
Headteacher

Sport and PE

Staindrop Sport standouts! There has been a great deal of excellence this term in the PE Department and for our students outside of school.

Our school football teams have played a number of matches this term with some great success. We saw the reintroduction of girls’ football this term and they have thoroughly enjoyed playing. Our students have also attended cross country and indoor athletics festivals.

Our students also made a fantastic effort to try and raise funds for Children in Need this year by completing the ‘Bearpee’ Challenge in our fitness lessons. All KS3 students were involved, and they truly enjoyed giving it a go to try and raise some money for a worthy cause.

Primary School Festivals

This term there has been lots of primary school festivals taking place. In October, we had cross country, tag rugby and Year 5 & 6 multi-skills. In December, we had Early Years, Year 1&2 and Year 3&4 multi-skills competitions and festivals. Thank you to all those primary schools that attended and congratulations to the winners of each competition. A big shout out to all the Staindrop Sports Leaders who have been exceptional at helping at these events. Well done!

Year 7

It has been lovely to see how well year 7 have settled to life at Staindrop Academy. Pupils have already had lots of opportunities to involve themselves in, such as: extra-curricular clubs, sports teams, sports leaders, poetry competitions, bake sales, school council, Christmas hamper collection and the list goes on. We have also celebrated lots of success in and out of school in our weekly assemblies, Headteacher award every Friday, homework hot chocolate reward and Staindrop Star.

Year 7 are a wonderful year group, it has been a pleasure to get to know all the pupils and I look forward to watching them flourish next term too!

Mrs Turnbull

Year 8

Year 8 have had an amazing start to the year. We have celebrated class charts successes and attendance in our weekly assemblies, as well as congratulating pupils for their achievements outside of school. The pupils continue to show our school wonders and have a positive impact around school.

We have had many wonderful opportunities this term; Year 8 have had careers assemblies, external performances, and rewards events. Many have attended our rewards trip this week and it was wonderful to be able to celebrate their achievements!

This year group have been a pleasure to lead and are consistently praised by staff for their effort, curiosity, and kindness. We look forward to watching them grow next term.

Miss Baillie

Year 9

What a great start to the academic year for Year 9!

We have achieved a huge amount of achievement points on Class Charts, won prizes in assemblies, celebrated our School Wonders and made a really positive start to the term!

Each Monday morning, Year 9 meet for our Morning Meeting, where we share information and work on skills to set us up for a positive week. We have concentrated on the School Wonders and expectations and have now moved on to subject based recall tasks set by Maths and English to make sure we continue thriving academically!

Year 9 have had a visit from an external company, Humanutopia in December – the day focused on “Who Am I?”. It offered students a chance to work with professionals from outside of school, to help us understand why it is important to love ourselves and treat other people with respect. Humanutopia left us with resources to use in school throughout the term in PSHCE.

Year 9 have continued to impress staff with their achievements outside of school – football tournaments, dance competitions, musical shows; we have such a wide range of talent that we love to celebrate!

Here’s to another fabulous half term Year 9!

Miss Munford

Year 10

Well done Year 10 on an amazing Autumn Term this year. The year group has had a fantastic start to the academic year and start to their GCSE courses. The start of the GCSE’s and the extra demand that is expected from the students is high as they transition from KS3 to KS4, but the year group, as a whole, have really risen to the challenge. They have all demonstrated an array of the ‘Staindrop Wonder’ Traits both in and out of lessons such as ‘Grit’, ‘Resilience’ and ‘Integrity’

The students have also started on their career and college pathways and have had a range of informative sessions form the local colleges to provide an insight into college life and what options are awaiting them in the next stages.

Here’s looking forward to an even better Spring Term!

Year 11

Year 11 have started off their final Autumn Term at Staindrop demonstrating resilience, hard work, and grit. The students began this term with their Mock Examinations and were understandably a little nervous. As usual, they completed them with a mature and sensible approach and got that all important practice under their belts in preparation for ‘the real deal’ in May-June this Year.
This term has also seen the introduction of our weekly Year 11 Revision Newsletter which students have been using to help with their revision preparations for their GCSE’s and we have had a wealth of career assemblies to help students make decisions about their next steps after leaving Staindrop Academy. It is all beginning to feel very real!

Year 11, as ever, have been a pleasure to lead this term and I hope they continue their mature and hardworking approach to their studies.