My huge thanks go to everyone who has been involved in making the autumn term such a successful one for ELA schools. It has, as always, been an absolute pleasure to be in the schools each week and to see first hand the exceptional efforts of staff, students and our wider communities.
Please do spend some time reading through the reflections below from our headteachers, which really encapsulate all that fantastic work.
My very best wishes for a restful Christmas break – we look forward to seeing everybody in 2025.
CEO of the Eastern Learning Alliance
Things to celebrate
Impington Village College
This term has been a very busy one at Impington! There has been much to celebrate this term, which has been a most positive and productive start to the new academic year! We have enjoyed visits from the Good Schools Guide, and our visiting team for the five-year IB Evaluation Visit (a three-day Ofsted-style inspection for IB schools); we look forward to sharing the IB Evaluation Report when it is released. Certainly, it was a very positive experience all round, with excellent feedback from the visitors.
Our ultimate highlight, however, was that we were named as the Sunday Times Comprehensive School of the Year in the 2025 Parent Power guide! This award recognises both the academic outcomes of our students at GCSE and IB, but also our extra-curricular offer, approaches to wellbeing and student support, and commitment to ensuring students have a positive experience in the College. It is our fourth time winning East Anglia Comprehensive of the Year, but our first in being selected for the coveted national award. We are grateful to our incredible staff body, and amazing students, for making the College as successful as it is!
This term, across key stages 3-5 several new subjects have been launched as part of our continued commitment to a broad, balanced curriculum. We have launched Mandarin and Italian as language choices for the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) in year 7, meaning our students now select 2 different languages from a choice of 6 when they join us. Both courses have started well, and the resourcing of these has been supported by our generous Parents, Staff and Friends Association (PSFA). We were also delighted to have reintroduced Food & Nutrition into the curriculum, to grow our DT department. Food is now a feature on the curriculum both as part of the MYP and as an option choice at KS4. Mrs Graham, our new Lead Teacher, has been amazed by the students’ creations so far. Economics and Film have proved similarly popular as new GCSE option choices, and we are currently in the process of considering our offer for next year, so that we can continue to tailor our curriculum to the interests of students.
Beyond the classroom, our students have benefitted from a huge range of enrichment opportunities and trips. Our students have been on the first Language Exchange of the year to Tours in France, our sixth formers have been to Munich for the Model United Nations Conference, and our Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions started with the Gold trip to Snowdonia. Year 7 enjoyed their first residential trip to Grafham Water, a great chance for them to bond as a cohort and get to know staff.
Closer to home, the students have been to Framlingham, Orford and Mountfichet Castles, the British Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum, the Cavendish Laboratory, King’s College London, and on a variety of theatre trips. We have also welcomed in the National Space Academy, a variety of visiting performers, and participated in dozens of sports fixtures. As always, our pupils have also embraced a variety of service-learning opportunities so far this term (a core part of all of the IB programmes) and have been volunteering across the local community, raising awareness for key initiatives and generating funds for their chosen charities.
Witchford Village College
With ever increasing popularity, Witchford has felt busy and buzzy as we have started the New Academic Year. It was great to start the term hearing from the many students who wanted to tell us about their destinations, having completed their GCSEs the previous year. With most of our students moving on to continue their studies at A Level, this now sits alongside our already strong vocational offer where we can really celebrate ourselves as truly diverse community where your aspirations are possible, whatever they are. Inspiring the next generation of Alumni have seen us now not only offer our usual excellent program of post-16 and careers guidance added to with events by Hills Road and Long Road who, for the first time, are fully engaging with Witchford.
There has of course been lots going on all over the school this term: We have had lots of trips and visits, from Art Galleries and the West End to Air Forces Bases and Factories. We have been successful in a range of sporting fixtures, some of which have been on Saturdays! We have had guest speakers in for assemblies and events such as the photonics labs travelling road show. We have seen great interest in more extra-curricular activities such as gardening club, and have seen a range of morning super curricular activities added. Reading remains centre stage with staff curating new reading lists for subjects, and Year 7 have successfully completed their NGRT assessments so we can prove the effectiveness of our reading strategies.
It is of course nice to celebrate the successes of staff too. A number of staff have been embarking on National Professional Qualifications, including in cultural change, middle and senior leadership and SEND. We also of course have the trickle of marriages, births, house moves etc… which remind us that we are thankful to all staff who dedicate their upmost to our school, often going above and beyond, on top of everything else they have going on in their lives.
The Cavendish School
As 2024 draws to a close, it’s a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the incredible achievements of our school community this year. At The Cavendish School, we’ve had so much to celebrate, and we’d like to share some of the highlights that have made this term truly special. We’re thrilled to celebrate the many new pupils who have quickly settled in and embraced life here, becoming valued members of our vibrant school. It’s been inspiring to see their enthusiasm and resilience as they adjust to new routines and friendships. Another highlight was our first-ever Curriculum Café, which focused on science. It was wonderful to welcome so many parents to see an inspiring exhibition of students’ science projects, gain insight into their learning journey, and understand our aspirations for their future qualifications. Our sporting enthusiasm shone during an exciting football match against a local independent SEND school. The game was closely contested, culminating in a thrilling 3–2 victory for us! Beyond the final score, the match highlighted our commitment to teamwork, inclusion, and mutual respect.
Vista Academy Littleport
We have entered our second year as Vista Academy Littleport and this term we launched our vision and values that the community helped to create last academic year. Our hope is that everyone in our community can be supported to bring the best version of themselves to school every day in every way.
We continue to develop our partnership with local businesses, schools, and post-16 providers. We have ventured out on a variety of trips around the county. A key aim of these trips is to help our students understand the significant opportunities beyond Year 11 at Vista. This has included taking students to Cambridge University, Hills Road Sixth form and the Year 10 cohort attended the annual Ely Careers Fair. Our KS4 Art and Photography students headed into Cambridge and Ely to aid their amazing portfolio work.
Many of our Year 7 and 8 cohort have also had fun going to the panto this Christmas time. We have hosted an increased number of community events such as a KS3 Halloween Disco, Year 10 pizza party and a mass game of Year 11 hide seek around the as part of their post mock exam reward. We are proud of the ever-improving enrichment programme that we offer as such a small school and continue to think about other collaboration moving forward. Our sports clubs and teams continued to be a place full of energy and commitment and our drama club (Vista Chaotics) are in full rehearsal mode for the upcoming performances.
We continue to run fundraising activities for both the Academy and wider charities. Once again, a heartfelt thanks must go out to the community who have contributed gifts, money, and time spearheaded by Clare Gathercole one of our teaching assistants. This Christmas, we have been able to take a collection to the local foodbank and made a significant donation to Children in Need after our non-uniform day in school.
We welcomed the community into our school for the first time for our Open Evening in October. The evening showcased the best of our students and provided prospective and current parents with the opportunity to meet our staff body and see the exciting work ongoing at Vista. Similarly, we held our first ever GCSE certificate evening to celebrate and reflect on the positive outcomes that our students achieved this past summer.
If you were to look through our weekly newsletter, it shows the huge enthusiasm from our students and staff to maximise their time at Vista. Every week the newsletter is full of highlights celebrating student achievements and successes and we endeavour to point our families in the direction of internal and external support. Our social media pages are also full of reels, photos, and information to keep the community updated on all things Vista.
Cambridge Maths School
After a year of building strong connections with our founding students, we were thrilled to welcome the new Year 12 cohort to our school community this September. Our Year 13s have been incredibly welcoming, and it’s been wonderful to see them forging new friendships, especially through our accelerated curriculum, which has provided an excellent platform for interaction and collaboration.
This September also marks a significant milestone for us, as we have had the privilege of supporting our very first group of Year 13 students through their university applications. Their personal statements are a true reflection of their ambition, intellectual curiosity, and high aspirations. The references provided by their teachers have further highlighted the exceptional opportunities and experiences that have shaped their academic journeys at our school. We are immensely proud of all they have achieved, and we look forward to celebrating their continued success in the year ahead.
We run a lecture series across the year, as part of our enrichment programme. Due to our links with the University of Cambridge, we have speakers from the university and the lectures take place at one of the colleges. As well as being an excellent opportunity for our students, we have extended the invitation to other local sixth forms so that some of their Year 12 or 13 Maths and Further Maths students could attend. The first lecture was in September, when Professor Julia Gog delivered a lecture entitled ‘From Maths to policy: a COVID-19 story’. Professor Gog is a very engaging speaker and is excellent at explaining the applications of mathematics. The second lecture was in November, when Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter gave a talk entitled ‘Living with Probability, Chance, Luck and Coincidence’. Sir Spiegelhalter is an excellent communicator and eminent statistician. We greatly enjoyed both lectures and are looking forward to our next one in February.
With the doubling of our students numbers, the range of clubs and extracurricular activities at the school has grown. A wider range of sports have been able to be offered during Thursday afternoons, including new options such as spinning, running and squash. Clubs from last year, such as Music club, Debating, and Dungeons and Dragons, have increased in size and the year 12s have been keen to get involved and integrate with our yr13s. We also have a number of new clubs: Crochet and Knitting, Robotics, Neuroscience and Art club where students are creating artwork inspired by Yayoi Kusama to decorate the mezzanine. In fact, our students’ art skills have been mined further with one of the new inter-tutor group competitions being to create a drawing of our Deputy Head: Mr Banham. This term has also seen the inaugural CMS chess tournament (well done to Charlie Godfrey for coming first) and teams are currently being organised for our first University Challenge style competition.
The Autumn Term is a busy term in the maths department for super-curricular events. We have launched the National Cipher Challenge and the Ri-tangle challenges with both year group’s – I know that Year 13 are particularly focused on beating their previous best from last year where they were near the top of the leaderboard until the very last round. We had 14 students sit the Girls Maths Olympiad, with all of them achieving a Merit (6) or Distinction (8). In the Senior Maths Challenge, the whole school entered, and we were delighted that around 50% of our students achieved a gold award, thereby qualifying them for Senior Kangaroo. In addition, two students automatically qualified for the British Olympiad, and several more students that just missed the automatic selection have put themselves forward to sit the challenge, which is held in mid-November. About half of our Year 12 students have enrolled on the optional lecture series on Algorithms, which runs on a Mondays, whilst Year 13 have been enjoying a series of lectures based on extension material from beyond the syllabus focused partly on STEP preparation and University entrance exams. As ever it’s been a delight to work with our students this term and to feed their thirst for mathematical discovery.
This November, 39 of our Year 13 students had the incredible opportunity to visit one of the most important scientific research facilities in the world – CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva. Over the course of three jam-packed days, we explored cutting-edge science, delved into the history of the city, and discovered why CERN is at the forefront of scientific discovery.
The interactive exhibition at CERN’s Visitor Centre gave us an immersive experience into particle physics. We learned about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, and how it helps scientists explore the smallest building blocks of matter.
One of the most exciting parts of the visit was the tour of CERN’s state-of-the-art facilities. We got to see the computer control room, where scientists manage and monitor experiments conducted with the LHC. It was incredible to see the precision and complexity involved in every aspect of the experiments. We also visited the cryogenics workshop, where superconducting magnets, essential for the LHC’s operation, are cooled to near absolute zero!
Although we couldn’t venture underground to visit the LHC’s detectors, as the accelerator was in operation during our visit, we were still able to explore a fascinating mock-up of the LHC tunnel. A life-sized model of the accelerator tubes gave us an impressive visual understanding of the scale and engineering marvel behind this massive experiment.
During our trip we also visited the History of Science Museum, the Glass and Ceramic Art Museum and had time to explore the old town of Geneva. Some of our students ventured up to the top of the St. Pierre Cathedral to see panoramic views of the city. Of course, no trip to Geneva would be complete without a visit to some of the city’s world-famous chocolate shops. There were lots of chocolates that were bought as gifts so hopefully they made it to the intended friends and family! It was an excellent trip that our students really made the most of. Thank you for the support from parents and teachers to allow this trip to be such a success.
Chesterton Community College
This term, we are immensely proud of the diverse range of opportunities our students have embraced, showcasing their talents and fostering a strong sense of community. Highlights include our Carol Service at St John’s College, bringing together students, staff, and families in a celebration of togetherness and tradition. Year 9 explored future careers with an engaging visit from the Medical Mavericks, while over 100 students from Years 7-11 joined the Gabrieli Consort for a magnificent performance of A Great Georgian Christmas at Ely Cathedral. Our KS3 performers, supported by KS4 stage managers, collaborated to deliver an outstanding production of Lord of the Flies. Across the school, students have excelled in maths challenges, live lounge music concerts, and PSHE Drop-Down Days, with Year 7 starting their journey into careers through the inspiring “What’s Your Line?” event. Year 11 students have worked diligently following their mock exams, engaging with detailed feedback to refine their understanding and strengthen their preparation for the summer. We also celebrated our community spirit with a Senior Citizens’ entertainment afternoon. The term closed with film screenings for Years 7 and 8, adding a festive touch to our learning. Together, these achievements reflect the vibrant, supportive environment we are proud to nurture at our school.
In the Sixth Form, we started off our year with a visit to Cornwall with our new Y12 students. It was so great to see them come together as a year group and start building relationships from an early point in the year. This is essential because students come to us from such as varied range of schools and geographical locations.
We’re really proud of our early entry students who have secured interviews for Medicine, Cambridge and Oxford. Our students have been working on this process since January and the preparation they have completed as part of our early entry programme.
Six leaders from the sixth form co-led the first ever young person’s summit in Cambridge, as part of our membership of Cambridge Citizens. Chesterton Sixth Form, along with a range of other civic organisations such as Cambridge University; faith groups; ARU; and Parkside school, are founding members of Cambridge Citizens, a broad-based organising group made up of civic organisation that sets out to work with decision makers in the city to improve the local area. Over the past 6 months Cambridge Youth Citizens have been carrying out listening exercises in our institutions and finding out what areas of life students have difficulties or issues with. This then led to a young person’s summit. At the summit we campaigned on 4 actions, biodiversity in the city (Milton Road Primary); youth spaces (Parkside and NCA); cost of living (Chesterton Sixth Form, Long Road, CRC); and bus transport (Chesterton Sixth Form, Long Road, CRC). Ella Hone co-chaired the overall assembly, with Harry Weeks taking the key role of timekeeper. Douaa Benad co-chaired the cost-of-living campaign and was supported by Pradanya Pundir who read testimony. Emma Acheson co-chaired the transport campaign and was supported by Gen Fish, who led the testimonies. At the summit we held key decision makers to account and asked them to work with us to look to address the issues raised. We met Alex Rossiter from Cambridge Ahead, on our campaign around access to part time work for young people – Alex has agreed to working with us to provide a platform to find other entities in the city to enable an easier way for young people to access part time work, that is suitable to their needs such as beliefs, available time, and the location of job opportunities. We have also been in contact with Daniel Zeichner MP, who has offered to meet us at another date to hear our testimony and concerns around increasing the discretionary bursary. We met Mayor Johnson (Combined Authority) about buses and the issues that students face, such as late buses, ghost buses, full buses, and the connectivity to more rural areas of the county. Mayor Johnson agreed to work with us, and he will look to convene a meeting with the bus operators to work through the multiple problems with the bus service, surfaced in the listening campaign.
Downham Market Academy
The academy has been bustling with activity, celebrating visits from distinguished guests, student achievements, and the completion of a valuable new facility.
The school was recently honoured to host local MP Terry Jermy. During his visit, he toured the campus, met staff, and engaged with the Athena student panel. The students eagerly quizzed Mr Jermy about his first months in office, while the discussion also focused on how to ensure the best possible education for young people in the area. His enthusiasm for supporting the school’s ambitions left a positive impression on all involved.
Students were also thrilled to meet Curtis Jobling, renowned writer and illustrator, best known for his *Wereworld* series. Jobling shared his career journey in an engaging talk, sparking creativity and curiosity among the audience. Many students purchased signed copies of his latest book, Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf, and are now eagerly anticipating the Netflix adaptation, set to premiere soon.
Hospitality and Catering students had the opportunity to showcase their culinary skills at the Hunstanton Local Food Festival. Representing DMA with pride, they partnered with the Local Flavours team to demonstrate live cooking, using pumpkins, apples, and onions from the school’s allotment to create a pasta sauce and a pumpkin pickle. Their dishes delighted the audience and highlighted the importance of fresh, local produce. The students’ confidence and passion shone throughout the event, sparking hopes of future TV careers.
DMA also celebrated the success of its Philosophy Club graduates. Nine students from Years 9 and 10 earned the prestigious School Certificate in Philosophy from North Eastern University, London, following a two-year after-school programme. Among them, two achieved the highest possible grade of 9, showcasing the dedication and talent of the participants.
In addition to these achievements, the school unveiled a newly transformed Sensory Room in B Block. Designed to support students with sensory needs, the space offers distinct areas for relaxation, positive affirmations, and sensory engagement. This project was made possible through funding from the DMA Finance team, generous contributions from FODMA, and the hard work of the site team. The Sensory Room is already making a positive impact, providing a calm environment that benefits students daily.
At Athena, our year 12 & 13 students that are studying their Cambridge Technical Level 3 in Sport & Physical Activity, alongside their football programme, had an excellent trip to Norwich City Football Club on 19th September.
Students arrived at Carrow Road for a tour of the 26,000+ seat stadium, accessing behind the scenes areas such as the home & away dressing rooms, the press room, the media room, the director’s box, the tunnel & the dugouts on pitch side.
Students also took part in their media day as part of the programme, having individual and squad photos taken that will be used on the @athenacsf Instagram throughout the year for matchday fixtures.
Finally, students travelled to the excellent facilities at The Nest to have a 2-hour training session delivered by their Norwich City Football Club coach. The student’s took part in a technical session focusing on finishing and ball retention.
With so much happening, DMA and Athena continues to be a hub of inspiration, achievement, and community spirit.
Girton Glebe Primary School
What a brilliant term we have had a Girton! Teachers and children are all busy diving into their first ever term of the Primary Years Programme and it is wonderful to see and hear the children talk so confidently about their ‘central ideas’ and ‘lines of inquiry’. This was really evident during our Open Afternoon, when our Year 5 and Year 6 children were able to talk with ease about the classroom environments and the PYP to parents. We are really pleased with how the PYP has started and are looking forward to developing and improving it further as we venture through the year!
We are really pleased with the range of trips that we have already had this academic year, which include Histon library, two trips to the cinema and the Buddhist centre. On top of this, Year 5 embarked on their exciting residential trip to Inside Out Bushcraft Adventure in Norfolk for 3 days and 2 nights. During their adventure (a new trip for our Year 5 class this year!) they embraced nature and learnt lots of new survival skills by cutting down trees to gather wood for various projects. The children honed their skills by using knives to craft tent pegs, used sling shots in the archery ring and everyone participated in preparing and cooking their meals and then took turns with the cleaning-up afterwards.
In the evenings, Willow Class played thrilling night games around the camp, like Watchman and Sniper, where everyone enjoyed sneaking around the woods trying not to get caught. The experience of sleeping in hammocks and makeshift shelters under the stars added to the adventure, even if we did have to share our evenings with giant spiders and woodlice and brave the rain!
Overall, it was a fantastic trip filled with teamwork, creativity, and memorable experiences! All of the children overcame challenges and their fears, and they all took great care of each other. They were a credit to Girton Glebe; very well done!
One highlight of the year so far was welcoming back The Skipping Ninja for a fun whole school assembly and workshops for each class! It was a day packed with energy, where students from every class participated in an action-packed session to learn the art of skipping. Our wonderful guest instructor Pete led each class through various skipping challenges, helping everyone improve their technique and discover new tricks. Whether it was learning how to jump with one or two feet or developing a new move, each student gave their best effort and had loads of fun in the process!
The highlight of the event was the selection of Skipping Ninjas from each class. These standout students showed exceptional perseverance, kindness, and teamwork, inspiring others to push through challenges and celebrate every success. Our Skipping Ninjas demonstrated fantastic sportsmanship, cheering on their classmates and participating fully in all activities.
Gertie the Goose
We are pleased to introduce Gertie… our new school mascot! Following name suggestions from the children and a staff vote, our very own Gertie The Girton Goose has now been named. Gertie appears in every celebration assembly, where it is announced which class Gertie will spend the following week with. This is decided by attendance.
Working Together
Girton Glebe Primary School
This term, we continue to work closely with Jo Sale from IVC, who is helping us to develop the PYP. Jo Sale meets with Jo Pyle fortnightly to discuss our progress as a candidate school, and she supports Jo in developing the curriculum and everything else that happens behind the scene! We have been lucky enough to have Jo deliver a couple of CPD sessions this term to staff. Most recently, Jo delivered invaluable CPD to staff to support our knowledge and understanding of the PYP philosophy and pedagogy. IVC continue to support our Year 6 class and deliver lessons such as science, art and DT as well as French across KS2. We are incredibly lucky to have these links and make use of such specialist teachers. In October, we were incredibly fortunate to be visited by a trust colleague, Jake, who teaches Science at Chesterton Community College. Jake was very helpful in supporting our teaching staff with planning immersive and interesting practical activities to match our science curriculum. We feel incredibly lucky to be able to benefit from our links with the secondary schools in our trust in this way!
The Site Team have been really busy in school improving our entrance foyer. Over the course of a couple of weeks, they rearranged the entrance foyer making it larger. This allows parents and guests to have
Downham Market Academy
Year 8 pupils visited Cambridge, participating in team-building and oracy activities while exploring university colleges. The trip inspired many to consider higher education, sparking curiosity and enthusiasm. Six students also joined the Inspirational Mentoring programme at Cambridge Maths School, solving challenging problems with Year 12 mentors, showcasing teamwork and determination.
The school marked Remembrance Day with a solemn ceremony, laying wreaths to honour fallen heroes. Meanwhile, five students performed festive music at the Downham Market Christmas Lights Switch-On, delighting the crowd despite windy weather.
Lastly, the Friends of DMA hosted a lively Bingo Band Night, featuring impressive performances by GCSE music students and a memorable bingo-calling debut by Mr. Blomfield.
Our Year 13’s have been working hard on their personal statements and university applications over recent weeks. A huge thank you to Mo Middleton from Impington Village College for running some excellent personal statement workshops and helping our students secure some fantastic offers!
The Cavendish School
Being part of the ELA Trust continues to bring exceptional opportunities. This term, we’ve worked closely with Girton Glebe Primary, providing specialist support for pupils and staff, and hosted an Occupational Therapy workshop on interoception for trust staff to enhance understanding of sensory systems and practical adaptations. Collaborating with IVC has allowed us to offer an expanded range of subjects that wouldn’t otherwise be available, providing our pupils with broader learning pathways. These partnerships highlight the incredible benefits of being part of ELA and reinforce the value of collaboration for our community.
Impington Village College
Within the Trust this term, we have been working closely as an IB Cluster, especially with Girton Glebe, who launched their IB Primary Years Programme at the start of this academic year. Vice Principal and Director of IB Programmes, Ms Sale, has been working with Ms Pyle, Mr Butler, and the team at Girton, to develop the new curriculum and build further links between the schools.
Our students have also benefitted immensely from the support of the Central Site Team, who have refurbished the Science Prep Room, Changing Rooms and our food room, ready for our new Food teacher, Mrs Graham, who started in September, and most recently have painted the Gropius Hall as part of its ongoing refurbishment. We hugely appreciate the work that the Site Team do to support the College, and our students and staff certainly benefit from their support and continued handiwork.
Chesterton Community College
This term, we have been delighted to strengthen our working with the Trust through collaborative initiatives that benefit both staff and students. We are proud to have begun joint work with the Cambridge Maths School to deliver the prestigious Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, offering our students an exceptional opportunity to develop skills, resilience, and leadership. Members of our staff have also engaged in meaningful collaboration with colleagues across the Trust, sharing best practices to enhance behaviour management strategies and improve support for students eligible for free school meals. These partnerships reflect our commitment to working together to provide the best possible opportunities and support for every member of our school community.
Cambridge Maths School
In partnership with ELA secondary schools, we have launched an exciting new initiative to support Year 8 students in developing confidence and excelling in mathematics. The programme aims to address gaps in attainment at Key Stage 3, encouraging students to thrive in the subject and reach their full potential.
The initiative pairs Year 8 students with Year 12 mentors in “student communities” for a six-month mentorship programme. This approach provides younger students with relatable role models and fosters collaboration, helping them become confident, adventurous mathematicians.
CMS has also introduced Maths Circles in 22 secondary schools across the East of England. These sessions engage small groups of Year 7 and 8 pupils in solving challenging maths problems collaboratively. Designed as a long-term programme, it encourages students to approach complex problems with creativity and confidence, aiming to develop high-level mathematical skills over five years.
Additionally, weekly online masterclasses have been launched for Year 11 students targeting top GCSE grades or considering A Level Maths. These sessions focus on building confidence, improving problem-solving skills, and revising challenging topics, supporting all students, including those who may lack access to extra tuition.
This initiative reflects CMS’s commitment to nurturing young mathematicians and providing equal opportunities for all to succeed in the subject.
Vista Academy Littleport
With a Maths specialist school within the Trust, this has enabled us to take some of our KS3 students to visit the Cambridge Maths school, and set-up a mentoring programme with their Year 12 students guiding and supporting some of our Year 8 mathematicians.
Our staff body continue to have opportunities to visit other schools to collaborate and attain CPD from other specialists. As part of our quality assurance processes, we have had Trust colleagues join us to review the work undertaken in the last year since our inception. These reviews have provided hugely positive feedback across numerous areas in the Academy and were informative and supportive to guide our next steps of improvement.
Our ongoing development of the site continues, and we have benefited from work completed by our central Trust site team that has enabled us to further create intervention, teaching and support spaces in the Academy to improve the experience for our learners.
Witchford Village College
We have been busy this term working with ELA on a range of projects. Sometimes these projects are the little things that make a big difference such as replacing the guttering of the Humanities block, and other times can be big investments in staff time and students’ outcomes such as the Insight Program with Cambridge University or the continuing work with the Cambridge Maths school. ELA of course make many of the trips and visits we do possible by providing or subsidising the transport costs involved. We have also benefited this term from a number of senior staff from across the Trust coaching our teachers to be the best that they can be. In the hubbub of day-to-day school life it can often be hard to find the time to go and sit and watch someone else teach, or invite someone to watch you, so to have expert coaching and development staff at hand is extremely valuable and important as we strive for continuous improvement.
Looking Ahead
Downham Market Academy
Year 11 students recently explored future pathways in sport with a visit to Norwich City Football Club’s Carrow Road stadium and The Nest training facility. The trip provided insights into the Level 3 CTEC Sport course, blending practical and academic elements. Students enjoyed a stadium tour, hands-on training, and a match at The Nest, offering a glimpse into professional sport and the opportunities the course provides.
In the music department, funding from FoDMA has enabled the purchase of samba instruments, which will soon be incorporated into the KS3 curriculum. Plans are also underway to launch an extracurricular samba band to perform at school and community events.
Students have more exciting events to look forward to, including a Year 8 trip to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a Maths department excursion to Disneyland Paris for Years 8-10, along with an outdoor maths challenge in the spring.
Year 9 will begin their Pathways Process next term, selecting GCSE options, while KS4 geography students will head to Cornwall during the February half term.
For Science Week in March, Year 9 and 10 students with ambitions in medicine will attend a Medical Mavericks workshop, and Year 8 students will participate in the brain-stretching Faraday Challenge.
These activities highlight the academy’s commitment to providing diverse and inspiring opportunities for its students.
Girton Glebe Primary School
This year, we are really excited to be returning to France for our Year 6 residential! Year 6 will spend a week in France where they will immerse themselves in the French culture and explore local experiences, such as visiting a goat farm to learn about how cheese is made and visiting a chocolate factory.
In March, we will have our IB consultancy meeting. During this two-day visit, out IB consultant will visit the school to see how we are progressing. From the visit, she will provide the school with valuable feedback about our successes and next steps to becoming an authorised school. Throughout this time, we will continue to work closely with Jo Sale and our IB consultant to develop our IB curriculum and pedagogy.
We will be running a range of workshops to support parents in understanding the curriculum and subjects here at Girton. As always, we welcome parent volunteers who come in and listen to readers, run small groups to support learning in class and their support on trips.
Witchford Village College
In the New Year we are looking forward to the completion of our renovation of the Gym; providing for the first time a large purpose-built space for creative arts and fitness. These projects are often the culmination of vast amounts of work and effort by many people, and we are grateful for their ideas and input which drive our provision forward.
We are also pleased to be launching our community action plan in the New Year, named ‘Witchford Words’. This is our school taking our Ethos beyond the school gates and into the community so we can share our values more broadly. We have exciting Arts and Drama programs in the pipeline, as well as working with community groups.
The New Year of course brings resolutions! The New Year in schools of course arrives part way through the school year and therefore is an opportunity for reflection on what we set out to achieve in September. Through our Character and Personal Development curriculum at Witchford Village College we ask students to do this, and as a school we do too. School is really about making progress in two areas: the things we see on our timetables such as English, Maths or Science; and the things we don’t such as compassion, competitiveness, kindness and resilience. We often of course, perhaps after each lesson or assessment, reflect on our academic progress, but January is time to reflect on the other side of school: have we been kind; helpful; dedicated; resilient, for example. Are there things which when we reflect, we could have done differently? This January I ask our whole school community to do the same.
As for the school, we set out our stool in September that we wished to underpin our improvements through being ‘Warm Demanders’. One of the most challenging balances in school is to support and work with those who might not find school easy, or might have difficult homelives, while supporting the quality of education for all. So, for us, our New Year resolution is work with the whole school community in upholding our high standards and ‘school rules’, but ensuring that where they are not yet being met, we understand that children are just learning, and that tomorrow is a new day.
Vista Academy Littleport
In 2025, staff and students are looking forward to our next enrichment week in the summer term including our first Year 7 overnight residential. We have over 30 students in Year 9 and 10 completing Duke of Edinburgh both bronze and silver expeditions and our Year 10 cohort heading out on work experience in the local community. We are looking forward to further welcoming families into the Academy for our termly community events, parents’ evenings and drama showcases.
Impington Village College
In 2025 we are very excited to continue as the year has started, developing our curriculum and providing fantastic opportunities for our students. We are especially excited to be taking a more collaborative approach across our IB Cluster of schools (Impington, Girton Glebe, and The Cavendish School), as we build in opportunities for cluster CPD in the summer term, and a larger conference event in September 2025.
Chesterton Community College
As we look ahead to 2025, there is much for our school community to anticipate. In the spring, our Sixth Form students will embark on a joint trip with the Cambridge Maths School to enjoy a London musical, while February half-term promises an unforgettable Philosophy and Classics trip to Athens. The West Road Concert will once again showcase our students’ musical talents, and the summer term’s enrichment days will see Year 7 students exploring the UK on residential trips and Year 9 students venturing to France, the Netherlands, and Belgium for exciting adventures abroad. We’re also thrilled to host a multifaith celebration at Great St Mary’s, The University Church, with staff speakers sharing perspectives from Christianity, Islam, Humanism, and atheism to foster community and celebrate diversity.
Our Sixth Form students will continue their inspiring social action projects, fundraising to support primary schools in Kenya, including a cinema event for KS3 students at Chesterton. Closer to home, the KS3 production of Finding Nemo promises to be a highlight for families to enjoy. Parents and the wider community are warmly invited to get involved by joining the PTFA, which plays a vital role in organising events and supporting school projects. Additionally, we are excited to begin preparations for celebrating our school’s 90th birthday, a milestone that reflects the rich history and achievements of our community. With so much to look forward to, 2025 promises to be a truly special year.
We are looking forward to meeting applicants for guidance meetings throughout January, February and March. We really enjoy our face-face meetings with students and feel that it highlights our personal touch.
We are visiting Kenya for the third year running for our social action project. We will be running a number of fundraising events over the next few months to support our partner charity and other initiatives such as planting 12,000 trees again.
We also look forward to gearing students up for the final few months before their A Levels officially begin. Year 13 students have made an excellent start to the year, and we are excited to continue to support them sustaining this for the rest of the year.
We are fully aware of the importance of working closely with parents and the community. We are always looking to bolster our provision in any way possible; we are aware of the wealth of experience there is in our parent community and feel that some of these expertise and experiences could really help support students who are part of our Early Entry Programme. Whether it be any facet of studying medicine or experience with Oxbridge, we would welcome parents to get in touch!
The Cavendish School
We’re eagerly anticipating an exciting rest of the academic year! In January, we kick off with the Hilltop residential, followed by the Duke of Edinburgh exhibition and our English Curriculum Café. In the spring, we’re looking forward to our Easter Family Event. This celebration will bring families together for a day of fun activities, creative challenges, and community connection—perfect for the whole family to enjoy.
We’re especially excited about our Community Autism Celebration being held in April for Autism awareness month, stay tuned for the news of our surprise celebrity guest. We encourage parents and the wider community to get involved with these events, which celebrate learning, growth, and inclusivity. Together, we look forward to a bright and inspiring 2025!
Cambridge Maths School
Our Year 13 students have been working hard to produce competitive UCAS applications since their first personal statement writing workshop in June. 74% are applying to Oxford or Cambridge and therefore submitted their applications in October. We took great pleasure in reading through their applications before sending them to UCAS, as their exceptional skills, qualities and passion for their subjects shone through in both their personal statements and their references. It is wonderful to see the offers rolling in. Many of our students have already received one, two or even three conditional offers for highly competitive courses.
We’re looking forward to launching our academic projects with Year 12 in January. We have a great team of project mentors from universities and industry who have kindly volunteered to support them with their research. With projects in areas such as astrophysics, computing, pure mathematics and biology, we look forward to seeing what our students will produce.
Our programme of visiting speakers continues in the new year with one of our parents coming to speak on geosciences – we’re glad to be able to show our students a whole range of possibilities for their future careers and look forward to continuing this next term.
Opportunities with the Eastern Learning Alliance
There are a number of vacancies across our family of schools. Find out more about our current vacancies by visiting our website – tela.org.uk/vacancies/
