Welcome Back

NEWS RELEASE

8 July 2011

Hello Everyone

This is the first Principal’s blog on our newly re-vamped website. We are sorry that we had to shut the site down for a while but a lot of the information on the site was out of date and we wanted more pictures of the students involved in activities. If you go to the gallery now you will be able to see the students doing lots of interesting things at the Academy over the last few months. There are pictures of students from both sites as we were aware that a number of South site parents and students felt that they were not properly represented on the site before. Do have a look and see if you can see your child. Not only are the students on this website they have also been in the local press winning prizes for litter collecting, designing the new school building and working out during the ‘healthy living’ day, that was held at the sports centre at the beginning of this term. We are proud of the work that our students do; they are the best ambassadors for the Academy.

Our chief sponsor has changed. We now have Easton College as our main sponsor, a further education college that is run by David Lawrence. David has long been interested in Thetford and in developing links between his College and the learners of our town. He will be able to bring a wealth of experience in terms of collaborative working and vocational aspects of education. Wymondham College are still involved as a sponsor and we thank them for all the help they have given the Academy since its opening and we look forward to continuing to work with them in the future.

On Thursday 7 July the Sponsors and Governors appointed me as the new substantive Principal.  I am so proud to be the Principal of The Thetford Academy, as Thetford is my home town where I grew up.  I still live in the town and I have the experience of being a Thetford parent as well.  This Academy will strive to provide a high quality education for all of Thetford’s children.  It will be a Thetford school, run by Thetford teachers for Thetford’s children.

As many of you will be aware it has now been announced that the new Academy building will be on the North site at Croxton Road and we are already involved in letting the developers and planners know what we think should be in the new building. If any parents want to share their ideas then you can always contact us at info@thetfordacdemy.com and we will forward your comments to the planners. This is an exciting time for us all and many of the students have made clear what their priorities are. We have the opportunity to be part of a new twenty first century school that will serve the young people of this town and their families for decades to come. It is important that the new building is not just a school but a resource for Thetford and we are interested in hearing from anyone in the town about how that goal can best be achieved. I will report back next month on the work that we have been doing in this area and other areas connected to the new build.

Cathy Spillane

Principal