Sent to parents and carers on 18/09/26

Weekly Bulletin for Friday 18 September 2026

Assemblies this week have focussed on attendance and this will continue to be a key focus for the school this year.  We know there is a direct and contributing link between good attendance and academic success, so it is important that we work together to make sure our students come in as much as possible throughout their five years with us.

I was approached by the Ipswich Star for a comment last week regarding the progress we have made since receiving the Termination Warning Notice a year ago.  I was happy to talk them through some of the many improvements we have seen in that time, but I did not expect them to put the article on the front page on Monday.  It is good to see a local school getting some positive coverage.

We have now received our Ofsted report following the monitoring visit in July and we will be sharing this with everyone on Monday, when it is due to be published on the Ofsted website.  I am pleased to say that it recognises the significant progress we continue to make in improving Westbourne. However, the bottom line is that making progress to come out of Special Measures is not the same as being an Exceptional school, which remains our ambition for Westbourne as we move forward together.

We have been consolidating some of the new routines and systems we put in place at the start of term this week, and will be explaining further tweaks we are making from next week to students today.  Our goal is to ensure a calm, orderly and productive environment and lessons which are uninterrupted by disruption, where both students and staff can feel safe and thrive.

Next week we will be finalising our plans for a Youth Hackathon.  This is a student voice exercise linked to the Whitehouse Pride In Place scheme.  Pride in Place is a government initiative to improve local areas through £20 million worth of funding over 10 years.  Mr Mason and I felt strongly that Westbourne students and families should be represented on the Neighbourhood Board which will set the vision for the project and allocate the funding, so we both applied for a place on the Board.  Over the summer we were both interviewed and were successful.  This means that Westbourne has a seat on the Neighbourhood Board and can facilitate the views of our students in what the project should focus on over the next 10 years in improving the Whitehouse area.

 

Co-Curricular Clubs & Activities

Our programme of free lunchtime and afterschool activities for students has now been updated for the new term and can be found here on our website:

Co-Curricular & Enrichment – Westbourne Academy

 

Student Data Check Sheets

By the end of this week, all students in all year groups should have been given a named, printed data check sheet in tutor time. Students have been asked to take these sheets home so that parents/carers can review the information held about their child on our academy systems.

Any changes to contact names, phone numbers, home address, email etc should be written on the sheet and given to your child to give back to their form tutor by 25 September.  It is essential for school to parent communication that we hold up to date contact details for parents and carers and other named emergency contacts.

Please ensure that we have three up-to-date emergency contact numbers on our records so that we can use them to get in touch if needed.  This helps us to ensure that we can contact someone promptly in the event of an emergency or if we are unable to reach the primary contact.  If there are no changes needed, please write that on your child’s data sheet and ask them to return it to their form tutor in tutor time.

If there is anything that parents/carers need to update us that relates to safeguarding matters, please email wes-safe@attrust.org.uk.

 

School Photos

Today, students had their photograph taken in school and they were given a named QR card to take home. This will enable parents/carers to view their photo and purchase copies if they wish to do so. The photos may take a day or so to appear on the Kittle Photography website however.  If your child had their photo taken but mislaid their QR card, please email wes-office@attrust.org.uk and a copy can be emailed to you.

Any orders will be delivered direct to school for free and should be available for collection after October half term.

If your child was absent today, there will be a mop-up session after Christmas although the date is not yet known.

 

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              Mr M Masters

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.

 

 

Dates for 2026/2027 Parent & Carer Evenings

At Westbourne, we use an online appointment booking system which allows parents/carer to choose their own times. We will contact parents/carers by email approximately 10 days prior, inviting them to book appointments to meet with their child’s teachers. Students should please attend these events with their parent/carer.

  • Year 11 Parent/Carer Evening No 1 – Thursday 8 October 2026 (16:00-19:00)
  • Year 11 Parent/Carer Evening No 2 – Thursday 14 January 2027 (16:00-19:00)
  • Year 10 Parent/Carer Evening – Thursday 4 February 2027 (16:00-19:00)
  •  Year 9 Parent/Carer Evening – Thursday 25 February 2027 (16:00-19:00)
  •  Year 9 Pathway Evening – Thursday 15 April 2027 (16:00-18:00) in the Sports Hall
  •  Year 8 Parent/Carer Evening – Thursday 10 December 2026 (16:00-19:00)
  • Year 7 Parent/Carer Evening – Thursday 1 July 2027 (16:00-19:00)

 On Thursday 22 October between 16:00-19:00, we are also hosting a meet the tutor evening and a separate communication will follow about this.

 

 Discretionary Grant Vouchers During School Holidays

The discretionary supermarket vouchers for eligible families during school holidays has ended because government funding has changed. Free school meals during term time will continue as usual. Summer 2026 was the last time that these supermarket vouchers we available.

Please read this Discretionary grant vouchers during school holidays coming to an end information document for the full details.

Suffolk County Council have asked that schools share this with affected families:

SCC FSM Letter To Families Re End Of Holiday Vouchers SEP26

 

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:

https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/children-families-and-learning/schools/school-meals-uniforms-and-trips/apply-for-free-school-meals

Contact: freeschoolmeals@suffolk.gov.uk

The Free School Meal daily allowance will be applied to your child’s dinner account as and when we receive direct written notification either from SCC FSM team (there can often be a delay) or proof from parents/carers by email to wes-data@attrust.org.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 and new menus will be introduced after half term:

Catering & Food Hall – Westbourne Academy

 

 

Key Dates 2026-2027

Wed 23 September                     – Y11 Geography Field Trip

Thu 24 September                      – Y11 Geography Field Trip

Thu 1st October                             – Y6 Open Evening 16:00 – 18:30

Thu 8 October                                – Y11 Parent/Carer Evening 16:00-19:00

Mon 12 October                           – Flu Vaccines

Mon 19 – Fri 23 Oct                    – Y11 PRE Week P1-4 in Sports Hall

Thu 22 October                             – Y7-11 Meet the Tutor Evening 16:00-19:00

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

Fri 4 December                             – Flu Vaccines (Mop-ups)

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                               – Y7 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) & Year 11 Prom

Thu 1st July                                        – Y10 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