Headteacher’s Welcome

Welcome to Oxford Spires Academy.

 
I am delighted to have this opportunity to introduce myself as the new Headteacher of Oxford Spires Academy, starting from September 2023. It is with great enthusiasm and a sense of purpose that I join a highly dedicated and passionate team of professional staff, who have created a culture of academic excellence, community engagement and who continue to nurture the growth of every student.

With a deep commitment to fostering a positive and inclusive learning environment, I am dedicated to ensuring that every child at Oxford Spires Academy receives a well-rounded education that empowers them to reach their full potential. I believe in the power of education to transform lives and shape futures, and I am excited to work collaboratively with parents, carers, staff and the wider community to provide the best possible educational experience for our students.

My vision for Oxford Spires Academy is one where we celebrate diversity, promote a culture of respect and inclusivity, and equip our students with the knowledge, skills, and character traits needed to thrive in an ever-changing world. I strongly believe that when we work together as a cohesive community, we can create an environment that nurtures the academic, social, and emotional development of your children.

I am committed to open communication and building strong partnerships with parents, carers and the wider community. I invite you to actively participate in our journey by attending parent evenings, joining in school events, and sharing your valuable insights. Your involvement is essential in creating a vibrant and supportive educational community.

I look forward to meeting more of the OSA community over the coming months and working together to ensure that Oxford Spires Academy continues to be a place where students flourish and graduate happy, responsible and knowledgeable individuals.
 

The Oxford Spires Scholar’s Guides

We will publish a week by week overview of the exact knowledge students will be taught in every lesson. Our curriculums are live documents that are constantly reviewed and developed based on the needs of our students, we are incredibly proud of the knowledge rich, ambitious curriculums that have been written for the next academic year and we are excited at the potential sharing these with our wider community will bring for our students.
We are very excited to launch our Oxford Spires Character Education Curriculum that students will receive during tutor time.
All students will receive a physical copy of their Scholar’s Guide in September. These will also be shared on our academy website.
 

Our Sixth Form

Our Sixth Form students are the role models to all our younger students, and we are proud to launch a bespoke curriculum that will support and prepare our sixth form students to make informed choices about their futures. All year 12 and 13 students will be expected to attend school from 8:30am every day. Students will attend a daily 30 min Character Education lesson before they attend their academic studies. This will also include the opportunity to support our younger year groups with mentoring and paired reading.
 

The Academy Calendar

Our academy calendar will be structured into three 12 week cycles. This supports our teachers to plan well sequenced and structured curriculums that are not impacted by shorter or longer half terms.

Assessment week – All students will be assessed in some format in week 11 of each cycle to reflect on how well students have learnt the intended curriculum. This assessment data will be formally shared with parents and carers.

Super teaching week – All students will experience super teaching week in the final week of each cycle, week 12. In this week students will spend time being taught key knowledge that has been picked up through our assessment as needing reinforcement or reteaching. Our aim is to leave no student behind and the focus of this week is to close gaps in threshold knowledge and skill.

Inset days – Our inset days take place in week 11 of each cycle and support our staff mark assessments rapidly and plan reactive Super Teaching lessons meaning that results and next steps can be identified as quickly as possible.
 

The Spires Start: Inspiring Habits

All students will take part in the ‘Spires Start: Inspiring Habits’. This is a set of assemblies introducing key members of staff and reminders and updates on routines and support systems in place for students at the academy.

These assemblies will be shared with our community to support all our community understand our high expectations and ambition for all our students to reach their full potential.

Louise Cowley, Headteacher