March Newsletter

Message from the Principal

Firstly, a big hello as this is my first edition of the school newsletter. This has been an amazing half-term for me. Being introduced to the Cromer Academy community has been my personal highlight. Students, staff, parents and all other stakeholders have made me feel exceptionally welcome.

The year 11 students have been working incredibly hard to complete their spring mock exams and now preparing for the real thing in the summer term. There are so many opportunities in the Easter holiday for students to attend revision sessions, again highlighting the supportive environment in the school.

There have been several successful school trips during the spring term. Some of which you will read about in this newsletter. One of the positives is how our students conduct themselves – mentions from colleagues from other Trust schools about how polite and well-behaved our students are. These always make me smile and swell with pride.

The school production of Matilda was a fitting way to end the term with some truly inspiring performances from the students. To see this much energy and positivity from the staff and students alike demonstrates the wonderful community we have.

You will read about the variety of sporting opportunities for the Cromer students providing a truly enriching experience. We are lucky to be able to provide such a diverse range of enrichment activities and it’s great to see all the students taking advantage of them.

With so much more to come in the summer term we are looking forward to sharing this in the next newsletter. Thank you for supporting what is such a warm school community.

John Vincent

 

Surf Sessions- Cromer Glide Surf School

Cromer Academy has been one of 3 local schools to be chosen and offered 8 places on a mental health and wellbeing surfing project with Cromer Glide Surf School.

Glide Surf School is going to be home to and delivering the North Sea Swell mental health and wellbeing project for North Norfolk funded by the Family Hub Fund, Norfolk.  This pilot is based on the award-winning Wave Project in the Southwest. They use Surf Therapy, an evidence-based programme, which enables children and young people to build confidence and overcome anxiety barriers through surfing.  It is targeted at young people with low and moderate mental health or anxiety issues, so the North Sea Swell project will provide an opportunity to engage in this surfing programme and help in these areas.

We are running these sessions alongside extracurricular surf sessions, open to pupils in Years 7-10. All sessions will be taking place on a Wednesday evening, 4pm-6pm on Cromer seafront. We are the only school in Norfolk that can walk pupils from school to a surf school in its hometown.

We are delighted to be building partnerships with local clubs, offering our pupils access to Cromer’s finest facilities.

Matilda

This March at Cromer Academy, Matilda Jr has been entertaining crowds for three packed nights! Performed by a cast of talented students, all the iconic characters from Matilda were represented with some thrilling performances from our pupils singing, dancing and acting.  Portraying the classic story of Matilda, there were catchy musical numbers, comedic moments and emotional points all leading to a compelling performance from the students at Cromer Academy. It was wonderful to see the students engage with the story and perform to the same high standard night after night in our academy. The cast was full of new and familiar faces as more students have been getting involved in this fantastic opportunity to perform.  A huge thank you to all staff and students that have been involved in our production this year, we are so proud and grateful for the contributions from our community.  

 

Cromer Academy – Showcase on Cromer Pier

Cromer Pier is one of only five UK seaside piers with a full-working, flourishing theatre and home to the only end-of-pier show of its kind in the World!

We are thrilled to be holding our very own show at the pier pavilion on Tuesday 15^th October!

Pupils will be able to showcase their talents on a professional stage in front of the school and wider community. The school will be holding auditions in school for new performers as well as inviting our current performers the opportunity to showcase their talents to a much wider audience.

Assemblies will be delivered to pupils with details of auditions. We encourage all pupils to audition for the show.

Tickets for the show will be available via the pier box office nearer the time.

 

Fencing Club

Fencing Club has been running at Comer Academy on a Friday since January 2023.

Year 10 pupil, Josh CB has achieved great success at his first Eastern Region Youth Championships and BYC Qualifier in January 2024, coming away with a bronze medal in the U16 Boy’s Epee. He earned himself a place at The British Youth Championships in May by placing in the top 8 in his category.

Well done Josh and good luck!

 

 

 

Exclusive Partnership with Royal Cromer Golf Club

Following our offer for pupils to receive FREE golf sessions with Royal Cromer Golf Club professionals, we are thrilled to confirm that 18 pupils will commence the coaching sessions on Saturday 13^th April. They will receive free sessions for 4 weeks and an additional 6 weeks of reduced fees, exclusive for Cromer Academy pupils.  The additional sessions will be free for pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium funding.

Any pupils who wish to continue playing golf will be offered an exclusive membership rate, of £48 per annum. Pupils showing additional commitment could be offered a scholarship with Royal Cromer Golf Club.

This is an incredible opportunity for our pupils. We are delighted to be working with local organisations, offering our pupils access to Cromer’s finest sporting facilities.

 

Youth Parliament for Norfolk

Congratulations to Year 10 Eish Page-Geeves for being elected as a Member of the Youth Parliament for Norfolk (North Norfolk & Broadland).
Eish ran a fantastic campaign to improve teenage mental health and run more school trips, receiving 2,339 votes!

 

Inspiration Trust Piano Competition

After the success of last year, Inspiration Trust held a whole-trust Piano Competition, bringing together pupils from primaries, secondaries and sixth forms across Norfolk and north Suffolk. Nearly 50 pupils took to the Walter Roy stage at Hewett Academy in the competition’s second year running. Similar to the Battle of the Bands competition earlier this year, the Piano Competition was an opportunity for avid players to take part in something that was catered to their music specialism and gain more experience performing in front of an audience. 

All performances were thoroughly enjoyable, with pupils at a variety of different grades competing at their appropriate levels throughout the day. Pupils also had the opportunity to play on a Steinway Model D concert grand piano, enhancing the pupils' experience and giving them a taste of what it is like to play on one of the best pianos available.

Congratulations to Joanne Warren – Initial Grade and Shindy Wang – Grade 7/8 for winning their categories.

 

 

Battle of The Bands Competition

Following last year’s success, the ultimate Rock and Pop competition returned with over 100 pupils taking part from across our family of schools for the first musical event of the year, the Battle of the Bands.

This specialised competition is offered alongside the other Annual Inspiration Trust competitions including the Piano and Annual Music Competitions, with an aim to encourage young people to get more involved with music, and a chance for avid Rock & Pop musicians to showcase their prowess in their instruments.

With more entrants this year, the competition was strong, and every musician played to the best of their ability, impressing other bands, staff, and judges alike!

We are delighted that two of our bands won their categories:

 

Fearless - Charlie Davies, Thaylen Soobrayen, Isla Davies and Raife Steward won KS3 Original song

Apollo (Ruby Alexander, Anae Cass and Freddie Stoker - won KS4 Original song

 

Congratulations to you all, this is an amazing achievement.

 

 

Literary Olympiad

On 22nd March we took a team of pupils down to Hethersett Academy to compete in the annual Literary Olympiad. This is a literary feast of poetry, debate, public speaking, reading and creative writing. Our pupils had entered poems and short stories to be judged beforehand, and prepared pieces to perform on the day. We had an original play, written by two year 8 pupils and performed by a team of actors drawn from the Olympiad team.

The Trust librarians had nominated pupils who were most engaged in our Book Shadowing initiative, and certificates were awarded. There were impassioned performances of favourite existing poems, original poems and speeches on the subject of ‘My Truth’. Debate teams competed in the Student Symposium. Staff were kept busy judging events throughout the day, and awards were given at the end of the day. We were delighted to have a win in the short story competition, on the subject of ‘Refuge’. One of our Year 9 pupils closed the whole day with a wonderful reading of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’. It was indeed an inspirational day!

Year 9 UEA In A Day Visit

Pupils in Year 9 spent the day at The University of East Anglia to experience campus life and the opportunities available to them in higher education. They attended workshops to learn about goals in life and how university might help them, as well as, independent living.

 

 

Year 10 Cambridge University visit

Year 10 pupils visited Gonville & Caius University, Cambridge on 27^th February as part of our careers & raising aspirations programme.  The visit will help to support our pupils in making educational choices to achieve their academic potential.

 

 

 

Year 9 Dance Workshop

Miss Balfour led a group of Year 9 pupils for a dance workshop at The Garage in Norwich. Pupils worked extremely hard during the 3-hour session, followed by a tour and Q&A session with the dance instructors. 

World Book Day

World Book Day activities in the library started early, with pupils completing entries to the World Book Day quiz. There was an extra flurry of entries on the day itself, with pupils forming teams over lunchtime. Pupils also had the opportunity to enter the external World Book Day competition to design the next National Book Token. We had lunchtime ‘Book Blind Date’, with a selection of books wrapped in paper, with only a label disclosing the genre of the book for the pupils to go by. The task was to choose a book in a genre that you think you’d enjoy, unwrap the book and commit to reading it for 10 minutes. This was really popular! There were extra £1 free book vouchers for anyone who needed them, and a photo opportunity with our own Cromer Academy novelist, Miss Clarke. There are competitions, both internal and external, constantly being promoted in the library, and World Book Day is a great way to introduce these to pupils who might not otherwise come in.

 

 

Inter-House Competitions

There has been a wide range of inter-house competitions running this half term. It’s been wonderful to see so many pupils engaging with the opportunities made available to them.

Well, done to everyone who took part and congratulations to the following winners!

Photography Wildlife/ Nature Competition

We received an incredible response for the Photography Wildlife/ Nature competition which made it very difficult for Mr Thomas, Photography Teacher to judge.

Congratulations to the following pupils for their winning entries.

1st Layla Callaby – House Sadler

2nd Ethan Cole- House Blogg

3rd Elsie Richardson- House Sadler

4th Thaylen Soobrayen- House Blogg

               

 

 

 

 

Year 8 Speaking Competition

1st - Ben Stoker- House Shipp

2nd - Siena Butterfield- House Davies

3rd - Callum Bradley- House Sadler

 

Year 7 History Castle Competition

1st - Jack Manders House Shipp

2nd - Mia Walsh House Shipp

3rd - SRB pupils

 

 

Crossbar Challenge

Year 7 –Oscar Davies- House Davies / Kyian Barrett- House Shipp / Sidney Jonas- House Davies

Year 8 Thomas Rolph- House Shipp

Year 10- Jimmy Thornton – House Davies

 

Keepie Uppie Challenge

 

Year 7- Henry Press- House Sadler

Year 8 – Ronaldo Allende – House Blogg & Sophia Colbrook- House Blogg

Year 9- Thaylen Soobrayen- House Blogg / Millie Rogers- House Davies & Louella Glushko Barber- House Davies

Year 10- Jimmy Thornton- House Davies

       

 

Touch Rugby

A new FREE Touch Rugby club is set to start on Wednesday 17^th April, 6.30pm-7.30pm at Cromer Academy.

The club, affiliated with England Touch Rugby and Active Norfolk is open to all abilities from 11+ to adults and will be led by Cromer Academy qualified rugby coaches.

To help manage numbers, if you want to come along, please sign up here.

 

 

 

Surf / SUP Sessions – Cromer Academy discount

10% discount available for local schools.  Contact Glide Surf School to book.

 

Year 11 Sport BTEC

Our Year 11 Sport BTEC pupils travelled to Norfolk Snow Sports Club on Friday 15^th March as part of their coursework. They engaged in beginner sessions on the slopes and came away with very few falls!

The instructors were incredibly impressed with their conduct and commended them for their polite and respectful manners.

 

 

 

SEND at Cromer Academy

Cromer Academy is starting an intervention for pupils who have Speech, Language and Communication needs (SLCN). In a nutshell, this intervention can help solve some or all of the following problems:

• Problems understanding language (making sense of what people say)
• Problems using language (words and sentences)
• Problems interacting with others. For example, difficulties understanding the non-verbal rules of good communication or using language in different ways to question, clarify or describe things.

 

We're expecting the pupils involved to be able to better cope with socialising, as well as understanding better what they read and communicate.

SLCN is often linked to Autism and/or Neurodiversity which brings me on to two exciting opportunities for all families: Norfolk Acceptance Autism Week and Neurodiversity Celebration week.

Please check out the links below or please look at the SEND local offer on the Norfolk County Council website as there is plenty on offer for all:

The Local offer

1. Norfolk Acceptance Autism Week (2^nd - 8^th April) Norfolk Autism Acceptance Week
2. Neurodiversity Celebration week (18^th - 24^th March) Neurodiversity week

Finally, look out for communication from school regarding our next SEND drop in at school. It would be great to see as many parents of pupils with SEND to attend as possible.

 

PE Fixture Updates

U12 netball Norfolk County Cup

On Monday 12^th February, one of our U12 netball squads played in the Norfolk Schools County Cup. With 20 schools attending, we were drawn into a tough pool with Gresham's, Langley Prep, North Walsham High and Aylsham High. With small loses against Gresham's (0-3) and Langley Prep (9-7) we won against Aylsham (4-2) and North Walsham (5-4). This secured our entry into the plate (second tier from three). Now into a knockout style round, we were drawn against Wymondham College. This proved to be a very close and competitive match, with the final whistle ending in a draw. It went into extra time, and we were just pipped 3-2 with them scoring the winning goal in the final seconds. Some outstanding play and potential from our squad. Players of the tournament, Lola B and Evie P.

 

U13 netball Norfolk County Cup

The year 8's county cup was also held at Gresham's. Our pool contained Norwich School, Norwich School for girls, Notre Dame and Sprowston High. Our year 8s have been training very hard this year and they were extremely excited to go against Norfolk's top teams. After small loses against Norwich School and Norwich High for girls in our first round, we were drawn into the plate competition for the knockout round. After thrilling matches beating both Flegg and Aylsham, we made the plate final against Notre Dame. Another highly contested match but they pulled away in the last few minutes. Whilst frustrated not to win the gold medals, they were delighted to receive their silvers and proud of their conduct and performance. Player of the tournament was Athyei D.

 

Mixed netball match at North Walsham

Our new year 8 mixed netball team travelled to North Walsham for their first friendly match. In the first quarter,  they took a little time to settle their nerves and for all players to own their position. However, as the quarters went by, the Cromer squad relaxed into their play and won the match 10-5. Players of the match were Alfie A and Sophia C.

 

Friendly against Reepham High

Some of our year 7 team played a friendly against Reepham A and B team. This was top training for us, as they swapped their two teams over every 5 minutes, we kept a consistent 7.  Our squad grafted extremely hard and improved significantly over the 40-minute match, winning 15-5. Player of the match Hayley C.

 

Year 7-10 netball tournaments at Aylsham

We have attended weekly netball tournaments at Aylsham, playing against lots of local North Norfolk schools. Our teams have proven that by training hard, results will come our way. Many of the teams have won all their matches. Photos below from some of the teams.

 

Ski taster session at Trowse

Our year 11 sport BTEC pupils had the opportunity to experience outdoor and adventurous activities first hand this week at the Norfolk Snow Club in Trowse. We took 16 pupils who proved to be exceptional in their skiing accomplishments and conduct. There were very few falls from the team, they learned to complete mini jumps and the instructors kept commenting on what polite and delightful pupils we have. We will be hopefully back for another visit soon! Skier of the day: Will G.

 

Staff netball

Our annual staff inter-house netball tournament is part of the 14 tournaments held over the academic year at Cromer Academy. With Blogg winning in 2023, all teams had high hopes of taking the 2024 title. Where physicality and competitiveness made up for lack of skill or knowledge of the rules, matches were very close and with incredible support from a huge audience of our pupils, it ended a three-way tie between Blogg, Davies and Sadler. A final will be played after the Easter break. A huge thanks to Izzie, Izzy, Grace and Archie for the difficult role of umpiring these games, they were superb and took full control of the matches. Players of the tournament: Miss Muirhead and Mrs Bumphrey.

 

 

Inter-house competitions

With one day/ three PE groups to go, Davies are currently leading the inter-house competition by 20 points to Sadler. This round of tournaments has included dance, badminton, fitness and bench ball/ dodgeball. Pupils have demonstrated fantastic sportsmanship and been proudly representing their house. The dance performances in particular have been exceptional. Photos below.

 

PE Fixture Results

Year 9 boys Football

North Walsham 2 - 3 Cromer -

In a well fought match but Cromer were deserved winners. The scoreline could and should have been different with Cromer creating a number of chances in the first half. Cromer were passing the ball around really well and looked confident playing out from the back and through midfield. With their slick passing and quick wing play, Cromer looked like they would score from almost every attack, however the Walsham keeper made some good saves along with Cromer's attackers not hitting the target on a few occasions. North Walsham wouldn't give up and kept pushing for a winner, Charlie Davies clearing one off the line and Fallon Chisolm making a solid save at his near post kept the scores level, thankfully Alfie West finished a smart move in the final few moments to seal the win. Good performance all round from Cromer.

Scorers Alfie Arnold x2, Alfie West

 

Year 8 boys Football

Cromer 2 - 7 Attlebourgh -

After going 1-0 up and only being 2-3 down at half time things were looking good and Cromer were confident of getting a win, however Attlebourgh were too strong in the end. There were some positives to take from the game with some good performances from Alfie Arnold, Jack Miles and Tommy Wright. The year 8s still have a league fixture against Sheringham to look forward to.

Scorer -  Alfie Arnold x2

 

Year 7 boys Football

Cromer 2 - 1 Alderman Peel

The year 7s were victorious against Alderman Peel in a very tight match. Cromer were able to withstand early pressure from Alderman Peel to keep the score at 0-0. Cromer managed to get a goal thanks to an own goal, a good cross from Kyian Barrett was turned into their own net by Alderman Peels defender. Cromer's defence were constantly tested, however, they managed to defend well as a unit and keep the shots on goal down to a minimum. Cromer found themselves 2-0 up after another breakaway goal, some smart play from Henry Press saw him free Kyian inside the box who finished confidently into the bottom corner. Cromer managed the rest of the game well, keeping possession on a boggy pitch was difficult but they managed to see out the win even after a late goal from Alderman Peel.

 

Cromer 2 - 0 Fakenham

Another win for Cromer, who were able to control the game from start to finish. Cromer looked dangerous down both wings with Henry Press and Kyian Barrett taking opportunities to run at Fakenham's defence. Cromer's first goal come from a super ball that pierced Fakenham's defence and Henry slotted the ball past the keeper with ease. The midfield duo of Sid Jonas and Rokas Kirksciunas controlled the play, passing the ball to the wide men and pounced on anything loose in the middle of the park. Rokas was rewarded for his hard work and determination with a beautifully struck left footed shot from outside the area which found it's way into the top right-hand corner, this was after an audacious half volley earlier in the half when he was very close to what would have been goal of the season. Cromer were deserved winners with some good performances from Rokas, Kyian, Will Smith. Special mention to Flynn Branston-Tilley for volunteering to go in goal.

Scorers Kyian Barrett and Henry Press.

 

Fixtures coming up!

Inspiration Trust Football championships- Tuesday 25^th March/ Wednesday 26^th March.

Inspiration Trust Basketball Championships- 14/05/2024 & 16/05/2024

Inspiration Trust Athletics Champions Day- 28^th June 2024