Weekly Bulletin for Friday 23 October 2026
As we approach the end of a very long first half term, I have been reflecting on the differences we have seen at Westbourne since this time last year. As you know, we have introduced a range of new routines to support a calm and orderly site and calm, orderly and productive classrooms. The Academy is noticeably and significantly improved when you walk around it as a result. Lesson drop-ins by the leadership team, me and visitors from our new Trust see calm and quiet rooms with students either listening respectfully to their teachers, or working in silence. Where there is noise it is rare and we are able to support staff with students whose behaviour needs addressing. Lesson removals, suspensions and internal truancy are all significantly lower than they were in the summer term, which itself had seen significant improvements on the terms before. Uniform has improved substantially with students looking very smart and it now being the norm for them to maintain high standards of uniform in their lessons throughout the day.
We take for granted the benefits of being a phone free academy, but this time last year students were still accessing their phones during the school day, causing no end of interruptions to learning and putting up barriers to social interactions with their friends and their teachers. In summary, there has been significant, positive change and progress since this time last year, but we are not finished improving the Academy yet.
Next term, we will be adjusting the routines and systems we have introduced which aren’t currently working as well as we would like. Currently a significant number of students are not attending detentions and this needs to improve. Too many students are arriving late to school and again, this needs to improve. Some students are regularly leaving lessons to use the toilet without a medical need or it being an emergency and this again, needs to improve. We will be finalising improvements to our systems around these important areas over half term and will share them shortly to parents and carers and to students in the reset assemblies we will hold on the first day back.
Thank you once again for your ongoing support for the Academy. I would like with wish you and your families a restful break. I look forward to welcoming all of our students back into Westbourne on Monday 2nd November.
Parent/Carer Forum: Tue 1st December
The second forum for this academic year, which will focus on the recent Ofsted monitoring inspection and our academy improvement plans for 2026-27, will take place in the main hall on Tuesday 1st December starting at 18:00. To give us an idea of the numbers expected, please fill out our MS Form here:
Registration for Parent/Carer Forum: Tue 1st Dec 2026 – Fill out form
Open Evening Student Volunteers Thank You Breakfast
This morning, Mrs Woodhouse had the pleasure of meeting with all the students who supported our recent Open Evening for a special thank you breakfast of warm pastries and fruit juice.
We were delighted that nearly 150 students volunteered to help on the evening, either as student guides or as subject helpers within departments across the academy. Their enthusiasm, confidence and willingness to support prospective students and their families played a huge part in making the event such a success.
The students represented the academy brilliantly throughout the evening, demonstrating our values and showcasing the welcoming, supportive community that makes our school so special. Visitors frequently commented on how impressed they were by the friendliness, maturity and professionalism of our student volunteers.
We are incredibly proud of every student who gave up their time to help and would like to thank them once again for their outstanding contribution. We hope many of them will choose to be involved again next year and continue to be excellent ambassadors for the academy.
Dance East: Sing Child Sing
On 20 November, Dance East are hosting a workshop for up to 20 Westbourne students who are in Years 10 or 11. This will be a great opportunity for students to fuse dance and theatre together and then follow up with watching the production and witness this fusion transform into performance at a larger scale.
At least 20 students would need to sign up in order for the workshop to take place, either at school for 1.5 hours or at Dance East for the day. The cost is £18 per student.
Expressions of interest from parents/carers of Westbourne students may be sent to wes-office@attrust.org.uk and should be marked for the attention of Mrs Lambert.
Author Inspires Year 7 Students During Academy Visit
Students at Westbourne Academy in Ipswich, were given a unique insight into the world of writing and publishing when acclaimed author Judith Eagle visited to meet with a group of Year 7 pupils.
During the session, Judith shared her journey to becoming a published author and spoke about the six novels she has written. Students listened attentively as she discussed the creative process behind her books and life as a writer, before taking part in an engaging question-and-answer session.
The Year 7 students impressed their guest with a range of thoughtful and insightful questions covering topics such as writing, publishing and the inspiration behind her work. Judith, who writes for a teenage audience, praised the students for their enthusiasm, curiosity and active participation throughout the visit.
The event provided a valuable opportunity for students to gain first-hand insight into the literary world and to learn more about the dedication and creativity involved in producing successful books.
Building on the excitement generated by the visit, the academy is launching a Year 7 writing competition over the coming weeks. The competition will give students the chance to showcase their own creative talents, with the opportunity to win a copy of one of Judith Eagle’s books, personally signed by the author.
Miss Sarah Bird, teacher of English and Head of Year 11 at the school, said that staff are looking forward to reading the entries and celebrating the next generation of young writers.
Help Raise Funds for Thrive Gardening
Mrs Ellis, our Thrive Coordinator would like to introduce an interesting website called easyfundraising to help raise money for The Thrive Gardening Club here at Westbourne Academy, simply by shopping online.
Easyfundraising turns your everyday online shopping into FREE donations when you use them to shop with over 8,000 retailers such as eBay, John Lewis & Partners, Argos, ASOS and Booking.com. Retailers then make a small donation to say ‘thank you’ and easyfundraising gives those free funds to the cause. Plus, once you have raised your first £5, easyfundraising will double it! Please register using this link – just click sign up –
There’s no catch or hidden charges and the students who do the gardening will be grateful for your donations, as this will ensure I can get more supplies for such things as seeds and sundries etc. Please also feel free to share this website with all your friends, family, and anyone else as the more people use it the more funds we can generate.
In the summer term, some of our Year 7 students organised a bake sale in school to raise funds for the Thrive Gardening Club. With the proceeds, Mrs Ellis and her crew of gardeners have been able to plant lots of bulbs for spring in the Owl Garden and install a shiny new water butt as well as a compost bin, which was quickly filled up with weeds and leaves. Garlic bulbs have been planted out and are sprouting and Thompson & Morgan kindly donated 40 packets of seeds. Thank you to Troy, Erin, Sadie, Arthur, Moise and April for helping Mrs Ellis to get everything sorted and in place and to everyone who supported the bake sale.
Apprenticeship Vacancies
Earlier this week, Mr Payne who is responsible for Careers Education, Information and Advice Guidance, sent details to Year 11 students of the apprenticeships currently available in the area. These are advertised online each week by Apprenticeships Suffolk, part of Suffolk County Council:
Heads of Year & Assistant Heads of Year for 2026-2027
We are pleased to confirm the Heads of Year and Assistant Heads of Year for September are as follows:
Year Group Head of Year Assistant Head of Year
New Year 7 Mr D Payne Ms L Robbie
Year 7 into 8 Mr J McLean Mrs G Rockell
Year 8 into 9 Mr C Compton New Appointment tbc
Year 9 into 10 Mr M Agate New Appointment tbc
Year 10 into 11 Miss S Bird Miss K Thomas-Astley Mon-Tue-Wed AM
Mrs A Fulcher Wed PM-Thu-Fri
To communicate with your child’s year team, please email wes-office@attrust.org.uk in the first instance and staff will come back to you as soon as they are able to do so.
Student Absence
Please ensure if your child is absent from the academy, that you have notified the attendance office at the earliest opportunity on each day they are not going to be in school, in order to prevent the automated text messages being sent or absence calls being made to parents/carers – these commence from 8.35am each day.
The ways in which you can contact the academy to inform us of student absence can be found on our website here.
You can contact the attendance team direct on 01473 466145 or by email wes-attendance@attrust.org.uk
Applying for Free School Meals
You can apply for free school meals online direct with Suffolk County Council. You will get an immediate response and confirmation email after you have completed your application. You will not be able to apply over the phone because you need to provide an email address, password and sign the declaration stating that you have parental responsibility. Follow the link below which will take you to the SCC website:
Contact: freeschoolmeals@suffolk.gov.uk
MyChildAtSchool (MCAS)
If you have not yet registered, please do so at your earliest convenience to ensure you have access to all the academy’s communications and services. We recommend that parents and carers use the website version of MCAS rather than the app as the website offers greater functionality than the app. A copy of the self-sign-up instructions can be found here:
Cashless System – Westbourne Academy
NOTE: If you have MCAS, then you won’t receive SMS messages from school so please remember to turn on notifications on your device because any messages will go through MCAS.
Food Hall Menus
The new menu on offer at break and lunch in our Food Hall can be found here on our website. The menus rotate every three weeks:
Catering & Food Hall – Westbourne Academy
Key Dates 2026-2027
Mon 26 – Fri 30 Oct – Half Term Holiday
Mon 2 – Fri 6 Nov – Y11 PRE-Week P1-4 in Sports Hall
Friday 27 November – Staff PD Day (school closed)
Mon 30 November – Flu Vaccines P1-3 (Y10-11)
Fri 4 December – Flu Vaccines P1-2 (Mop-ups all years)
Thu 10 December – Y8 Parent/Carer Evening 16:00-19:00
Wed 16 December – Y8 HPV Vaccines
Fri 18 December – Last Day of Term / Early Close
Mon 4 January – Staff PD Day (school closed)
Tue 5 January – 1st day of Spring Term
Thu 14 January – Y11 Parent/Carer Evening No 2 16:00-19:00
Thu 4 February – Y10 Parent/Carer Evening 16:00-19:00
Mon 8 – Fri 12 Feb – Y11 PRE-Week p1-4 in Sports Hall
Mon 15 – Fri 19 Feb – Half Term Holiday
Thu 25 February – Y9 Parent/Carer Evening 16:00-19:00
Fri 5 March – Y9 MENACWY+DTP Vaccines
Thu 25 March – Y11 Year Group Photo P5
Fri 26 Mar – Fri 9 April – Easter Holiday
Thu 15 April – Y9 Pathway Evening 16:00-18:30
Wed 5 May – Y11 Summer Exam Series starts
Mon 31 May – Fri 4 June – Half Term Holiday
Fri 18 June – Y11 Leavers Assembly 14:15
Wed 23 June – Y6 Transition Day No 1
Thursday 24 June – Y6 Transition Day No 2
Friday 25 June – Staff PD Day (school closed)
Friday 9 July – Year 11 Prom (Venue 16)
Thu 1st July – Y7 Parent/Carer Evening 16:00-19:00
Thu 8 – Sat 10 July – Y10 History Trip/Battlefields
Wed 21 July – Last Day of Term / Early Close
You can view our academy events calendar, together with term dates and PD days, on our website here:
Academy Calendar and Term Dates – Westbourne Academy
Kind regards
Mr M Higgon
Principal
Academy vision: Westbourne is an inclusive academy. We support all students, regardless of starting point, to achieve their potential and develop the skills necessary for employment and life.
Academy values: Be Safe, Be Thoughtful, Be Accountable and Be Respectful.
General queries to: wes-office@attrust.org.uk or 01473 742315