26th January 2024

Weekly Letter 26.01.24

W/C 26th January 2024

This Week at NUSA

We’re over half way there this half term and so much has been going on, especially with Year 11 and Year 13 in relation to exam preparation for the summer – every day counts now, and that’s the message I gave to Year 11 last week in my assembly, too. Thank you to all parents and carers, whatever year group your child is in, for keeping attendance going as a key message to our students.

Over the last couple of days, we’ve had a couple of incidents with our students in the community; please remind your child(ren) about their conduct on the way to and from school – we will continue to do so through our value of “NUSA 24/7”.  In addition, we had a student who was knocked off their bike on the way to school this week; if students are cycling to school we would strongly encourage them to wear a helmet and lights, especially at this time of the year bike safety information can be found at: https://www.think.gov.uk/cycle-safety/).

SEND Drop ins

We offer a number of ‘SEND drop ins’ throughout the year for parents/carers. These are open to any parent/carer who may want to discuss their child’s SEND needs further or parents/carers who have concerns that their children may have SEND needs that are yet to be diagnosed. If you wish to book an appointment in one of the slots below, please contact reception.

 

Wednesday SEND Drop in dates:

07/02/2024

13/03/2024

Coming up at NUSA

29/01/2024 - Poetry Live

31/01/2024 - Math’s Challenge

07/02/2024 - Valentine Bake Sale

 

Free School Meal Vouchers February Half Term

Nottingham City are sending to us a voucher of £15 for each student, that is currently eligible for free school meals. This will cover the February half term, starting on 12th February 2024.

 

For all of those that received free school meal vouchers for Christmas 2023, you will receive another voucher for Huggg, to cover the break and will be sent to the same email address, you do not need to do anything else. Completing the form again where you have received vouchers will cause a delay to you in receiving vouchers, as it impacts the vouchers being processed, so please do not do this.

 

For those that are eligible, that did not receive vouchers, have additional children join our school since the last vouchers were sent, or that have questions, please read the below.

 

My child is not entitled to free school meals – should I complete the form anyway?

No – the data is checked against that received from the local authority and your response will be deleted and reported.

I received vouchers for Christmas, from NUSA – should I still complete the form?

No, please do not apply again where you received vouchers for Christmas 2023, you will automatically receive them for February. Reapplying will cause a delay in receiving your voucher(s). Rest assured, where you received them during the last holiday, you will be included automatically. Unless you have a child now at NUSA, that has joined year 7 for example. In this scenario you should complete the form, but just for the child you need to add.

My child is eligible for Free School Meals, but I did not receive them from NUSA for Christmas 2023, how do I receive them for February 2024?

Please click here and complete the form. Ensure you input all of your information carefully.

If I need to complete the form, when must I do this by?

Midnight on Monday 5th February 2024.

What is the value of the vouchers?

£15 per week, per eligible child.

I did not receive a voucher previously; can I receive my other vouchers now?

No, vouchers that were available for previous holidays have now expired. We only have vouchers relating to the upcoming break.

When will I receive the vouchers?

Vouchers will be issued before 4pm on Friday 9th February 2024.

Valentine Bake Sale

Our NUSA Sixth Form students are excited to raise some money with a Valentine’s Day Bake Sale on Wednesday 7th February. Items will range from 50p - £2. As always, these days create memories for our community and expect this to be another #AmazingNUSA event! Thank you. 

Reports

We are in the process of moving to sharing your child's reports with you digitally. There are many advantages to this system including instant delivery to your registered email address, or via the app, when a new report is published. This will allow you to have conversations with your child about their progress much sooner following an assessment point. It will also reduce the carbon footprint of the system, being better for the planet with less paper being used.

As part of the process we will be sending out a letter to allow you to check and update your email address(es) so you can be sent the reports. Following this we will be running a trial with the reports for a small cohort of students. If you would like to be part of the trial please get in touch with reception and they will let the data team know you are interested.

You will be notified before the final change happens so you are full prepared.

Parent Pay

A gentle reminder to ensure you child(s) parent pay account(s) is topped up regularly. It's important to note that when a student's lunch account balance is insufficient, we are unable to provide them with lunch until the account is replenished. We want to avoid any inconvenience for your child and appreciate your cooperation in maintaining their lunch account balance. If you are having issues accessing Parent Pay, please contact your child(s) Head of Year.

Lost Property

We have had a lot of lost property handed in this term already. All lost property is held in a store room. If your child has lost an item, they can ask reception during break times or after school. They will need to give a good description of the missing item i.e colour, brand, distinguishing marks.

You can also email contact@nusa.org.uk and we will try to reunite your child with their item!

Detention

Should your child be given a Red Flag detention, a staff member will contact you after the end of the school day to discuss this. We kindly request that you avoid calling the school reception as we will be unable to provide any information about Red flags.

Elevate Education – Free parent Webinar: Making Technology the Ally (& Not the Enemy)

Elevate works with our students, delivering high-impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series, you’ll learn how you can help support your child at home by reinforcing the skills they’re learning at school.

Sign up for the session below to learn how you can turn technology from a distraction into an incentive to study.  
 

https://go.elevateeducation.com/ukschoolwebinar

 

 

Have a good weekend when it comes!

Matt Turton