Announcements

We hope you and your families have had a wonderful summer break. We are very much looking forward to welcoming our students back to school next week and beginning another exciting academic year together. We are particularly looking forward to the year ahead and to all the opportunities and experiences that await our students.

All students will return to the academy on Monday 7th September 2026. Please take note of the different arrival and start times for each year group:
• Year 7: Students should arrive from 8:15am for an 8:25am line-up and an 8:30am start.
• Years 8–11: Students should arrive from 11:00am for an 11:20am start. Students should be at their line-up points by 11:15am.

No PE kits are required on Monday.
Our uniform expectations and policy remain unchanged. If you need to check the requirements, please refer to the message shared during the summer holiday. If you are unsure about any aspect of the uniform or would like clarification, please contact a member of the academy staff, who will be happy to help.

Please ensure that all students remember to wear their lanyards containing their ID cards. This is an essential part of our safeguarding policy.

School Meals and Cashless Payments
A reminder that our meal deal prices have increased to £2.73.
Aspens have held off increasing prices for as long as possible, but unfortunately, due to rising costs, an increase is now necessary. We continue to operate a cashless payment system, so please ensure that your child has sufficient funds available on their account via ParentPay. Unfortunately, due to an issue with ParentPay, we have been unable to provide account activation details at this time for Year 7. Please be assured that this will not affect students purchasing their meals. Any expenditure will show as a negative balance, which will clear once the accounts are activated and payments to the account can be made.
At lunchtime, we do allow a small level of debt, capped at £5. We kindly ask that any outstanding balance is cleared as soon as possible.

iPad Contributions
A reminder that iPad contributions are now due for this academic year. As usual, payments should be made through ParentPay. To confirm, the annual iPad charge for our new intake of Year 7 students is £68.20 per student. Charges for all other year groups remain unchanged.

Ready to Learn Packs
We hope many of you have taken advantage of our discounted Ready to Learn packs. To give families a little more time, I have extended the offer at £1.40, but this will now close on 11th September. Please help us to ensure that your child arrives at school fully equipped and ready to learn. Ready to Learn packs can be purchased through ParentPay.
For our new Year 7 students, new packs will be provided during their first week at the academy.

Mobile Phones
Mobile phone pouches will be issued during the first week. We are clear that, in line with Department for Education (DfE) expectations, mobile phones should not be seen or heard within the academy. Further guidance will be shared with students during the first week.
In preparation, we ask that students support our interim expectations by ensuring that their phones are switched off and placed securely at the bottom of their bags when they arrive at school.

We are Looking Forward to Seeing You!
We cannot wait to welcome all of our students back to the academy. A new school year brings new opportunities to learn, grow, make memories and achieve great things, and we are excited to begin the year together.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We look forward to a happy, successful and exciting year ahead.